There is no denying it, I’m not finding proof reading very easy. Obviously, I can’t for a minute suggest that reading my own book is dull, but proof reading is very dull. Trouble is, its a weird mix of reading and parsing. You have to pay very close attention to every word, whilst at the same time keeping an eye on the flow. Before you know it, you are reading and not proofing and you have to start the whole page again.

This is best explained with this oft quoted example:

Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in
waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist
and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a total mses and you can
sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed
ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh?

This is exactly what happens when you proof read. You simply don’t notice mistakes. Your brain can replace entire incorrect wards with the correct ones without you noticing.*

And, to put no to fine a point on it, that makes it far harder to proof-read than you imagine. I’m sure you can get good at it. But I’m only on page 59 and its going very slowly. Still, I’ll get there.

Website of the day:
Great photos, lovely implementation.

Track of the day:
Well, the randomiser was kind today, some real crackers, Shangri-La by That Petrol Emotion gets an honorable mention but the standout of the night was surely One Step Beyond by Madness. Suddenly I was 12 again. Top. Another point of note is that the new laptop can drive my Sennheisers far better than the old one. Volume, at last!
(I’ll try and get that last.fm recent tracks thing integrated with the blog something soon)

* see what I did there?