Shareholder Astroturfing: Latest Tactic In Net Neutrality Debate

If You're A Spellchecking Firm, It Helps To Spellcheck Your Press Releases

from the just-saying dept

Wed, Jul 26th 2006 2:57pm — Mike Masnick

We're certainly not going to make fun of anyone for making typos, especially considering how often we make typos around here. However, when your entire business is based on catching typos, it has to look bad when your latest press release needs to be corrected due to a typo. The company claims its product is supposed to help companies avoid getting a "negative impression" online -- so perhaps it can now use itself as a case study. The PR person who wrote the press release claims it was his mistake, not the company's, that listed the "the 16 million we (sic) pages it has spell checked." However, even if it is the PR firm's fault, you would think that someone at the spellcheck firm would recognize the importance of spellchecking any press release before it went out (and we won't even wade into the debate over whether the press release should have said "spellchecked" instead of "spell checked"). Of course, you could point out that the typo is still a word, which is why it wasn't caught by the spellchecker, but the firm proudly notes that they go beyond just an automated spellchecker, by using human editors as well.

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33 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 26 Jul 2006 @ 3:37pm

Could be an intentional Streisand manoeuvre...
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Kimberly Kubalek, 26 Jul 2006 @ 3:45pm

Aw, c'mon, give them a break. It is shocking how many clients insist that spelling "isn't that important." I have to beg them to spellcheck. And some of these are professional writers! Frankly, I'm surprised this "spellcheck company" business model floats at all. I predict they'll go under--whether anyone (else) catches the mistake or not. Because sadly, more and more, no one reads that carefully.
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freakengine, 26 Jul 2006 @ 4:12pm

Unfortunately, spell checkers don't always catch grammatical errors, hence a lot of "to" where "too" would be appropriate. The quote you listed is in no way a spell check problem.
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Samantha's husband Darin Stevens, 26 Jul 2006 @ 4:21pm

Spell
Andorra didn't have anything to do with it, did she?
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yeah, 26 Jul 2006 @ 4:32pm

Funny thing is that a lot of spelling errors go unnoticed to most people. I think the the rule was that so long as the first and last letter were right, and the word was used in the correct context, 70% of the people missed the typo. I'd have to look it up. Was an interesting study.

Also people rarely noticed the use of double words on line breaks.
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kc, 26 Jul 2006 @ 4:40pm

fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too
Cna yuo raed tihs?

i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!
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- Xcetron, 26 Jul 2006 @ 5:25pm
  
  Re:
  Thats merely an excuse for bad spellers, that thing would certainly not work if you have never seen the word before, or if the word is over 10 letters long.
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  - Anonymous Coward, 26 Jul 2006 @ 8:46pm
    
    Re: Re:
    All cetuars can be dfneeid by tehir Dreoxyniboucleieoxyc aicd, mreo cmonmly konw as DNA.
    It's all about words, and context
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- Anonymous Coward, 26 Jul 2006 @ 8:39pm
  
  Re:
  this is why so many extremely intelegent people like me can't spell to save their lives...
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- Anonymous Coward, 26 Jul 2006 @ 8:40pm
  
  Re:
  you broke the rule twice in the first 3 words you added to this e-mail that went around, the first and last letter need to be correct!
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ElectricMayhem, 26 Jul 2006 @ 5:10pm

Spell checking
The problem is that the education system has denigrated the proper use of language since the 1960's......so called progressive thinkers and the like have sought to undermine basic skills of literacy, comprehension and composition with the result that the ability to spell and or use words that exceed two syllables has been eroded. As for punctuation…..!!!

This is further compounded by the sloppy use of language in emails, blogs and other Internet communication under the guise of being ‘modern’. Interestingly, my spell check device does not recognise the word blog!

English is the most expressive, dynamic and wholly encompassing language in the world. Within its framework is the ability to articulate every nuance possible. True, it ‘steals’ from practically every language in some form or another, but this ‘theft’ merely enhances the ability to communicate.

A gifted writer leads the reader along an exact path creating images and understanding that stays long after the words have been read.

Pity then that there are few who are able to compose and even fewer who are able to comprehend.

A sad state of affairs!
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- Anonymous Coward, 26 Jul 2006 @ 8:11pm
  
  Re: Spell checking
  ha ha, logic has gone out the door. It follows that if there are few who can compose, more than a few must be able to comprehend since composition is clearly more complicated than comprehension.
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- matrixz127, 22 Apr 2014 @ 5:38am
  
  Re: Spell checking
  Which is more than I can say about your constant dick sucking of that no talent cunt Mike Wilkening below:
  
  http://sports.yahoo.com/news/mike-wilkenings-2012-nfl-predictions-150435329--nfl.html
  
  And then there's this little do-hickey from "http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:G3Q2l42mprEJ:forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopi c.php%3Ff%3D69%26t%3D1271151+&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&lr=lang_en%7Clang_ru" as well:
  
  "So your reply is not "Of course I would have, as anybody with a shred of objectivity would," but rather "You're probably the same as what you're accusing me of!" That's pretty telling of where you stand on the issue.
  
  And to answer your question, no, it's not fair. In order to talk about politics, one need not be be a partisan hack. Try looking at things without your Republican/Democrat lens. If something is wrong, it's wrong, be it done by a Republican or Democrat. Are there liberals that do that on this board too? Sure, but I don't think I've seen anyone do it to the extremes you do.
  
  Apologies if I'm wrong, and you actually would have created a thread condemning a Republican Filner for his filthy actions."
  
  Why don't you do the world a favor and jump in the middle of the freeway until a truck runs you down?! And take your cum supplier Wilkening with you!
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Amazed, 26 Jul 2006 @ 5:25pm

Re:
It really is crazy how you can read through that at regular pace...
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MissingFrame, 26 Jul 2006 @ 5:29pm

You misspell web because education?
Although technically it was a spelling error,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copy_editing
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StrongOrderly, 26 Jul 2006 @ 5:35pm

Re: Spell Checking
If English is the most expressive, dynamic and wholly encompassing language then how come there are Japanese words in which no English equivalent is to be found?
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Kevin Heisler, 26 Jul 2006 @ 5:38pm

Does TexTrust Spellcheck Blogs?
Mike, meet Carlos. Carlos, meet TexTrust

"India Says No Thanks To The $100 Laptop
from the priorities dept

One of the most common retorts ... to participate in Nicolas Negroponte's One Laptop Per Child initiative, which wanted to sell $100 PCs to governments around the world for them to distrubute (sic) ..."
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Jul 2006 @ 5:49pm

English, the most expreissive (sic)?
I'd reply in my native language but unfortunately words fail me.
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Jul 2006 @ 6:44pm

I just had some dental work done and had to sign a pile of forms before it could happen. I ended up having to fix the spelling of about 6 words on these (presumably vetted) forms.

I also ended up unemployed a few years back and managed to collect unemployment - during this time I had to attend training (mostly watching videos) on how to get
a job (and the like). One of the classes was on writing a resume and application letters. They stressed several times the importance of spelling - and then showed an example application letter - with at least two words incorrect. Not typo style incorrect, but just plain wrong.
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spam, 26 Jul 2006 @ 7:10pm

spam
spam - mark that
good-bye for good
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Just Me, 26 Jul 2006 @ 8:29pm

Whooptie-freakin'-doo! I understand what's making your eyes twitch, but face it, some things fall through, and it did turn out to be a very minor thing. They knew what they did, they went out to correct the mistake and sounds like they've been doing their service to their customers just fine.
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Jul 2006 @ 11:13pm

Hey ElectricMayhem, if it's informal it doesn't matter unless you're anal
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Alain, 27 Jul 2006 @ 2:50am

Sad
What is sad in this story is that the one who will be fired will be the PR consultant. And the Reuters article will be used against him. Does one spell error justify to make an article and to fire a man ?
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Koz, 27 Jul 2006 @ 5:03am

Could one of you smart people spell out where you think the eroor is - seems to me this is a "kings new clothes" situation.
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Lewis Carroll, 27 Jul 2006 @ 8:07am

Plain and simple
'When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said in a rather
scornful tone, 'it means just what I choose it to mean
- neither more nor less.'

'The question is,' said Alice, 'whether you can make
words mean so many different things.'

'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to
be master - that's all.'
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Anonymous Coward, 27 Jul 2006 @ 8:26am

Koz-- read the article that this is linked too. They tell you which words were misspelled.
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- Anonymous Coward, 27 Jul 2006 @ 9:27am
  
  Re:
  I read the article from the link also. I'm confused what the problem is. Does it relate to:
  
  "million we (sic) pages " ?
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Anonymous Coward, 27 Jul 2006 @ 8:28am

If you mispell things, people might still understand what you write. Couse, that won't keep them from thinking that you are an idiot.
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rOGRE, 27 Jul 2006 @ 8:39am

mist-spelinges
The best example by Navy Public Works Dept. Norfolk, VA: referred to itself in their newsletter as "PUBIC Works..." so appropriate and par for the course for their upper management!
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Robert, 27 Jul 2006 @ 11:41am

Spelling errors for dummies...
I figured this would come up - amazing that AC was the one to ask. Here's the scoop if you can't figure it out.

The word "we" should have been "web."

The "(sic)" was added by Reuters to make sure we realized that THEY didn't just mistype the quote. Then TECHDIRT just quoted the Reuters article.
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Live and Learn, 27 Jul 2006 @ 11:56am

I used to work in the tech pubs department of a manufacturing company. We'd been looking at a big desktop publishing/document management product when we got a letter from the new sales rep for our area, introducing herself. It was so full of misspellings, incorrect word use, and bad grammar that we stapled a routing slip to it and sent it around so all hands could get a laugh. Then we round filed it and never contacted that vendor again.
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koz, 27 Jul 2006 @ 4:10pm

Anonymous Coward - i did read the linked article, and while a lot of people have been convinced there is a problem there quite possibly isn't since it does make sense as originally written .....
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