Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[tikay]

The mullhuzz Post about Bill Gates made me think about the businessmen who impress me most.

Bill Gates would be very near the top of the list, & yes, I know he has his army of haters, but he's changed the world, or helped to, more & better than most. Soon, the whole world will have equal access to more educational stuff than anyone dared dream of just a decade or two ago. It's a stunning change.

Off the top of my head, for different reasons, & in no particular order, these are the names that spring to mind in my "Best Businessmen" thing. Some of them - not all - really have helped change the world for the better. Others are just wow-good.




John Kirkland

Warren Buffett

Bill Gates

Michael O'Leary

Larry Page & Sergey Brin

Terry Leahy

James Dyson

Isai Scheinberg

Bernie Ecclestone

Mike Ashley.

I reserve the right to change the list as often as takes my fancy, & to include Mike Ashley especially for Mondy, Plinop & mully.

One business person that I just cannot help but admire is Denise Coates of Bet365.    I cannot get a bet with them for my life (which is an achievement on her part I guess) but it is just an incredible achievement to have started with nothing effectively in 2000 and built it into one of the world largest gambling brands and made herself and her family billionaires in the process.  I am told by friend that worked there at the beginning that she routinely was in the office at 6am and still there past midnight.  In an industry that is full of people that like to belittle others skills and acheivements I have never heard anyone that doesn't consider her to be absolutely top rate.

I confess, I knew nothing of Denise Coates, but google found this for me.

Most impressed.



http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/against-the-odds-denise-coatess-good-fortune-9169196.html


More, here, in her Dad's Wiki page, too.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Coates


I may have to drop one from my orginal 10 now, to make room for Denise. Hmm, who can we lose from that list?

[AlunB]

The mullhuzz Post about Bill Gates made me think about the businessmen who impress me most.

Bill Gates would be very near the top of the list, & yes, I know he has his army of haters, but he's changed the world, or helped to, more & better than most. Soon, the whole world will have equal access to more educational stuff than anyone dared dream of just a decade or two ago. It's a stunning change.

Off the top of my head, for different reasons, & in no particular order, these are the names that spring to mind in my "Best Businessmen" thing. Some of them - not all - really have helped change the world for the better. Others are just wow-good.




John Kirkland

Warren Buffett

Bill Gates

Michael O'Leary

Larry Page & Sergey Brin

Terry Leahy

James Dyson

Isai Scheinberg

Bernie Ecclestone

Mike Ashley.

I reserve the right to change the list as often as takes my fancy, & to include Mike Ashley especially for Mondy, Plinop & mully.

One business person that I just cannot help but admire is Denise Coates of Bet365.    I cannot get a bet with them for my life (which is an achievement on her part I guess) but it is just an incredible achievement to have started with nothing effectively in 2000 and built it into one of the world largest gambling brands and made herself and her family billionaires in the process.  I am told by friend that worked there at the beginning that she routinely was in the office at 6am and still there past midnight.  In an industry that is full of people that like to belittle others skills and acheivements I have never heard anyone that doesn't consider her to be absolutely top rate.

This is very true. She didn't do it alone though and her brother gets way less credit than he should. He's arguably the most understated man in the business so it's not that surprising. The bet365 growth story really is something to admire. It's like a small village up there in Stoke now. Over 2000 staff. I have a huge amount of admiration for them.

[AlunB]

The mullhuzz Post about Bill Gates made me think about the businessmen who impress me most.

Bill Gates would be very near the top of the list, & yes, I know he has his army of haters, but he's changed the world, or helped to, more & better than most. Soon, the whole world will have equal access to more educational stuff than anyone dared dream of just a decade or two ago. It's a stunning change.

Off the top of my head, for different reasons, & in no particular order, these are the names that spring to mind in my "Best Businessmen" thing. Some of them - not all - really have helped change the world for the better. Others are just wow-good.




John Kirkland

Warren Buffett

Bill Gates

Michael O'Leary

Larry Page & Sergey Brin

Terry Leahy

James Dyson

Isai Scheinberg

Bernie Ecclestone

Mike Ashley.

I reserve the right to change the list as often as takes my fancy, & to include Mike Ashley especially for Mondy, Plinop & mully.

Are you talking about Gates with relation to Microsoft or Gates with relation to his philanthropy?

Both I suppose, but first & foremost, Microsoft.

Incidentally, as to the philanthropic, I'm sure you & Tal-Bloke will be impressed by a word last night I saw to describe the Buffett/Gates philanthropy......


philanthrocapitalism

Interesting you say that. Many both then and now would say Microsoft got in the way of technology progress rather than promoted it.

[Tal]

I've had a conversation today at work about semicolons. In general, pedantishistic as what I am, I'm fairly relaxed about people's grammar in the work they produce. I don't make a thing of it if they put a comma where a comma needn't be or if they miss an apostrophe here and there. It happens. No one's perfect and what matters is the message being conveyed gets across to the person reading it.

A chap today wrote something for my attention that was a bit of a grammar fail. He's a thick-skinned chap who enjoys a Mickeytake or two. In feeding back to him, I went with the somewhat direct:

"It looks like you've drafted it as one long sentence, printed it out, spread the sheets on the floor and poured a bucket of punctuation all over it."

He just laughed.

"Yeah. I'm not really sure where the semicolons are supposed to go"

Language is all about communication and communication is all about understanding both your message and your audience. Some parts of grammar are completely alien to most people, so they are often best avoided, unless you are using them confidently, knowing they're in the right place. 99% of the people reading what you write won't notice.

When was the last time you read a letter from someone that had a semicolon in it, other than in a list?

I've said before that the sight of a well-placed, well executed semicolon is one of the greatest joys in the English language. They are my A380s; my cork-cement composites; my John Deere 9400s.

[AlunB]

The mullhuzz Post about Bill Gates made me think about the businessmen who impress me most.

Bill Gates would be very near the top of the list, & yes, I know he has his army of haters, but he's changed the world, or helped to, more & better than most. Soon, the whole world will have equal access to more educational stuff than anyone dared dream of just a decade or two ago. It's a stunning change.

Off the top of my head, for different reasons, & in no particular order, these are the names that spring to mind in my "Best Businessmen" thing. Some of them - not all - really have helped change the world for the better. Others are just wow-good.




John Kirkland

Warren Buffett

Bill Gates

Michael O'Leary

Larry Page & Sergey Brin

Terry Leahy

James Dyson

Isai Scheinberg

Bernie Ecclestone

Mike Ashley.

I reserve the right to change the list as often as takes my fancy, & to include Mike Ashley especially for Mondy, Plinop & mully.

One business person that I just cannot help but admire is Denise Coates of Bet365.    I cannot get a bet with them for my life (which is an achievement on her part I guess) but it is just an incredible achievement to have started with nothing effectively in 2000 and built it into one of the world largest gambling brands and made herself and her family billionaires in the process.  I am told by friend that worked there at the beginning that she routinely was in the office at 6am and still there past midnight.  In an industry that is full of people that like to belittle others skills and acheivements I have never heard anyone that doesn't consider her to be absolutely top rate.

This is very true. She didn't do it alone though and her brother gets way less credit than he should. He's arguably the most understated man in the business so it's not that surprising. The bet365 growth story really is something to admire. It's like a small village up there in Stoke now. Over 2000 staff. I have a huge amount of admiration for them.

One bit from our (egr) recent bet365 profile I love. They are the largest sports betting operator in Spain. How many staff do you think they have in Spain? One. Everyone else is in Stoke because Denise likes to have them close at hand. For some reason I just love that.

[tikay]

The mullhuzz Post about Bill Gates made me think about the businessmen who impress me most.

Bill Gates would be very near the top of the list, & yes, I know he has his army of haters, but he's changed the world, or helped to, more & better than most. Soon, the whole world will have equal access to more educational stuff than anyone dared dream of just a decade or two ago. It's a stunning change.

Off the top of my head, for different reasons, & in no particular order, these are the names that spring to mind in my "Best Businessmen" thing. Some of them - not all - really have helped change the world for the better. Others are just wow-good.




John Kirkland

Warren Buffett

Bill Gates

Michael O'Leary

Larry Page & Sergey Brin

Terry Leahy

James Dyson

Isai Scheinberg

Bernie Ecclestone

Mike Ashley.

I reserve the right to change the list as often as takes my fancy, & to include Mike Ashley especially for Mondy, Plinop & mully.

Are you talking about Gates with relation to Microsoft or Gates with relation to his philanthropy?

Both I suppose, but first & foremost, Microsoft.

Incidentally, as to the philanthropic, I'm sure you & Tal-Bloke will be impressed by a word last night I saw to describe the Buffett/Gates philanthropy......


philanthrocapitalism

Interesting you say that. Many both then and now would say Microsoft got in the way of technology progress rather than promoted it.

Yes, I'm aware that he's not universally admired & respected, but I'm not in that Club.

[AlunB]

I've had a conversation today at work about semicolons. In general, pedantishistic as what I am, I'm fairly relaxed about people's grammar in the work they produce. I don't make a thing of it if they put a comma where a comma needn't be or if they miss an apostrophe here and there. It happens. No one's perfect and what matters is the message being conveyed gets across to the person reading it.

A chap today wrote something for my attention that was a bit of a grammar fail. He's a thick-skinned chap who enjoys a Mickeytake or two. In feeding back to him, I went with the somewhat direct:

"It looks like you've drafted it as one long sentence, printed it out, spread the sheets on the floor and poured a bucket of punctuation all over it."

He just laughed.

"Yeah. I'm not really sure where the semicolons are supposed to go"

Language is all about communication and communication is all about understanding both your message and your audience. Some parts of grammar are completely alien to most people, so they are often best avoided, unless you are using them confidently, knowing they're in the right place. 99% of the people reading what you write won't notice.

When was the last time you read a letter from someone that had a semicolon in it, other than in a list?

I've said before that the sight of a well-placed, well executed semicolon is one of the greatest joys in the English language. They are my A380s; my cork-cement composites; my John Deere 9400s.

The bin

[AlunB]

The mullhuzz Post about Bill Gates made me think about the businessmen who impress me most.

Bill Gates would be very near the top of the list, & yes, I know he has his army of haters, but he's changed the world, or helped to, more & better than most. Soon, the whole world will have equal access to more educational stuff than anyone dared dream of just a decade or two ago. It's a stunning change.

Off the top of my head, for different reasons, & in no particular order, these are the names that spring to mind in my "Best Businessmen" thing. Some of them - not all - really have helped change the world for the better. Others are just wow-good.




John Kirkland

Warren Buffett

Bill Gates

Michael O'Leary

Larry Page & Sergey Brin

Terry Leahy

James Dyson

Isai Scheinberg

Bernie Ecclestone

Mike Ashley.

I reserve the right to change the list as often as takes my fancy, & to include Mike Ashley especially for Mondy, Plinop & mully.

Are you talking about Gates with relation to Microsoft or Gates with relation to his philanthropy?

Both I suppose, but first & foremost, Microsoft.

Incidentally, as to the philanthropic, I'm sure you & Tal-Bloke will be impressed by a word last night I saw to describe the Buffett/Gates philanthropy......


philanthrocapitalism

Interesting you say that. Many both then and now would say Microsoft got in the way of technology progress rather than promoted it.

Yes, I'm aware that he's not universally admired & respected, but I'm not in that Club.

Noted. As a user of his products I have never been a fan.

[tikay]

I've had a conversation today at work about semicolons. In general, pedantishistic as what I am, I'm fairly relaxed about people's grammar in the work they produce. I don't make a thing of it if they put a comma where a comma needn't be or if they miss an apostrophe here and there. It happens. No one's perfect and what matters is the message being conveyed gets across to the person reading it.

A chap today wrote something for my attention that was a bit of a grammar fail. He's a thick-skinned chap who enjoys a Mickeytake or two. In feeding back to him, I went with the somewhat direct:

"It looks like you've drafted it as one long sentence, printed it out, spread the sheets on the floor and poured a bucket of punctuation all over it."

He just laughed.

"Yeah. I'm not really sure where the semicolons are supposed to go"

Language is all about communication and communication is all about understanding both your message and your audience. Some parts of grammar are completely alien to most people, so they are often best avoided, unless you are using them confidently, knowing they're in the right place. 99% of the people reading what you write won't notice.

When was the last time you read a letter from someone that had a semicolon in it, other than in a list?

I've said before that the sight of a well-placed, well executed semicolon is one of the greatest joys in the English language. They are my A380s; my cork-cement composites; my John Deere 9400s.

Excellent.

You are my Fashion Corry; my dance coach; my Chess guru.

[AlunB]

I've had a conversation today at work about semicolons. In general, pedantishistic as what I am, I'm fairly relaxed about people's grammar in the work they produce. I don't make a thing of it if they put a comma where a comma needn't be or if they miss an apostrophe here and there. It happens. No one's perfect and what matters is the message being conveyed gets across to the person reading it.

A chap today wrote something for my attention that was a bit of a grammar fail. He's a thick-skinned chap who enjoys a Mickeytake or two. In feeding back to him, I went with the somewhat direct:

"It looks like you've drafted it as one long sentence, printed it out, spread the sheets on the floor and poured a bucket of punctuation all over it."

He just laughed.

"Yeah. I'm not really sure where the semicolons are supposed to go"

Language is all about communication and communication is all about understanding both your message and your audience. Some parts of grammar are completely alien to most people, so they are often best avoided, unless you are using them confidently, knowing they're in the right place. 99% of the people reading what you write won't notice.

When was the last time you read a letter from someone that had a semicolon in it, other than in a list?

I've said before that the sight of a well-placed, well executed semicolon is one of the greatest joys in the English language. They are my A380s; my cork-cement composites; my John Deere 9400s.

Excellent.

You are my Fashion Corry; my dance coach; my Chess guru.

Might want to ask him for some tips on proper nouns while you are at it...

[tikay]

I've had a conversation today at work about semicolons. In general, pedantishistic as what I am, I'm fairly relaxed about people's grammar in the work they produce. I don't make a thing of it if they put a comma where a comma needn't be or if they miss an apostrophe here and there. It happens. No one's perfect and what matters is the message being conveyed gets across to the person reading it.

A chap today wrote something for my attention that was a bit of a grammar fail. He's a thick-skinned chap who enjoys a Mickeytake or two. In feeding back to him, I went with the somewhat direct:

"It looks like you've drafted it as one long sentence, printed it out, spread the sheets on the floor and poured a bucket of punctuation all over it."

He just laughed.

"Yeah. I'm not really sure where the semicolons are supposed to go"

Language is all about communication and communication is all about understanding both your message and your audience. Some parts of grammar are completely alien to most people, so they are often best avoided, unless you are using them confidently, knowing they're in the right place. 99% of the people reading what you write won't notice.

When was the last time you read a letter from someone that had a semicolon in it, other than in a list?

I've said before that the sight of a well-placed, well executed semicolon is one of the greatest joys in the English language. They are my A380s; my cork-cement composites; my John Deere 9400s.

The bin

Oh my, step aside, grammatical pedant war imminent.

This'll be a fun read.

Contenders; are you ready?

[AlunB]

Haha! No I'm not getting into a war of wits with Tal. Primarily because I would probably lose, but also because it's just a matter of opinion really.

I don't like semi colons, but I love adverbs. Plenty of people who are the exact opposite. I feel one adds and one detracts to the flow of prose*. Again others feel quite the reverse.


*detracts from obv, but I was in a hurry

[redarmi]

I've had a conversation today at work about semicolons. In general, pedantishistic as what I am, I'm fairly relaxed about people's grammar in the work they produce. I don't make a thing of it if they put a comma where a comma needn't be or if they miss an apostrophe here and there. It happens. No one's perfect and what matters is the message being conveyed gets across to the person reading it.

A chap today wrote something for my attention that was a bit of a grammar fail. He's a thick-skinned chap who enjoys a Mickeytake or two. In feeding back to him, I went with the somewhat direct:

"It looks like you've drafted it as one long sentence, printed it out, spread the sheets on the floor and poured a bucket of punctuation all over it."

He just laughed.

"Yeah. I'm not really sure where the semicolons are supposed to go"

Language is all about communication and communication is all about understanding both your message and your audience. Some parts of grammar are completely alien to most people, so they are often best avoided, unless you are using them confidently, knowing they're in the right place. 99% of the people reading what you write won't notice.

When was the last time you read a letter from someone that had a semicolon in it, other than in a list?

I've said before that the sight of a well-placed, well executed semicolon is one of the greatest joys in the English language. They are my A380s; my cork-cement composites; my John Deere 9400s.

tl;dr

[edgascoigne]

I've had a conversation today at work about semicolons. In general, pedantishistic as what I am, I'm fairly relaxed about people's grammar in the work they produce. I don't make a thing of it if they put a comma where a comma needn't be or if they miss an apostrophe here and there. It happens. No one's perfect and what matters is the message being conveyed gets across to the person reading it.

A chap today wrote something for my attention that was a bit of a grammar fail. He's a thick-skinned chap who enjoys a Mickeytake or two. In feeding back to him, I went with the somewhat direct:

"It looks like you've drafted it as one long sentence, printed it out, spread the sheets on the floor and poured a bucket of punctuation all over it."

He just laughed.

"Yeah. I'm not really sure where the semicolons are supposed to go"

Language is all about communication and communication is all about understanding both your message and your audience. Some parts of grammar are completely alien to most people, so they are often best avoided, unless you are using them confidently, knowing they're in the right place. 99% of the people reading what you write won't notice.

When was the last time you read a letter from someone that had a semicolon in it, other than in a list?

I've said before that the sight of a well-placed, well executed semicolon is one of the greatest joys in the English language. They are my A380s; my cork-cement composites; my John Deere 9400s.

tl;dr

Click to see full-size image.

[Tal]

A beautiful response, red.

 



A semicolon in a sentence is pretty much always a stylistic choice, rather than a requirement. You can generally substitute it for a full stop or a comma without causing any changes to the meaning.

One good test is that we use a semicolon to make the reader think about the relationship between the two clauses (sentences) that are separated by it. So,

"It was the best of times; it was the worst of times"

Could be written as:

"It was the best of times and the worst of times"

Or

"It was the best of times, but also the worst of times"

Or

"It was the best of times. It was the worst of times"

You get the idea. Why would people read Dickens, anyway?!