A useful health site
Thanks to reader Ryan Becker for suggesting 1Up Health, a valuable online encyclopaedia and health news site.
Just as a test, I looked up "manic depression", in the news here today thanks to a lot of speculation about the health of the great Frank Bruno. (I always use that term when testing health sites, actually: it's a special interest of mine.) Anyway, what I found was sound, unsensational and useful.
Freedom of Information
Not strictly for us, alas, since our Freedom of Information Act has disappeared up a Parliamentary siding, never to return. But here's an excellent practical guide to using the US Freedom of Information Act.
Did you know that foreign nationals can use it, as well as US citizens? The only snags would seem to be that you have to know what you are looking for in the first place, and that you have to pay the costs of unearthing the information. They can be quite hefty. There is an exemption for media organisations, but it is hard to imagine we foreigners would be included in that.
The information comes from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, whose site is well worth a long look. It carries a frequently-updated list of media courtcases, which is intriguing. Apparently the children of the obsessive (and ultimately doomed) fisherman depicted in the George Clooney movie The Perfect Storm are trying to sue the film-makers for posthumously invading his privacy.
BBC Style Guide
If you need a handy but authoritative UK English style book, or if you are drawing one up for a new publication, why not allow yourself to be influenced by the BBC News Style Guide, which has now appeared online? Warning, that's a .pdf file, so you will want to be on broadband or have a good few minutes to spare.
Naturally there is plenty to argue about here, but I find myself agreeing with a lot of it: "Do not start with a question. The audience wants to be informed, not take part in a quiz." Bear in mind, of course, that this guide is meant for broadcasting rather than print.
Now, where's the bit about excessive metaphor, as practised by Andrew Marr?