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SMH COLUMN 8


Contact: Column8@smh.com.au


Column 8

Column 8 dinkus

12:15am "Newtown has many vegetarian and vegan cafes and restaurants," acknowledges Andrew Erskine Orr, of Erskineville, "but as a former vegan, even I was surprised recently to see a hairdresser offering vegan hair treatments and a tattoo shop offering vegan ink tattoos."

Column 8

‘‘Rest assured, it wasn’t the original incarnation of that strip,’’ pleads a mortified Jason Chatfield, the Ginger Meggs Man (‘‘mom’’ not ‘‘mum’’ outrage, Column 8, Monday).

Column 8

Huzzah! A new word – or at least a new word to Column 8, and we suspect many readers: 'Ultracrepidarianism'. We urge readers to look it up at once – it has a marvellous history.

Column 8

"Regarding Thursday's item on airline departure and arrival times, when a plane departs late the pilot will sometimes announce that he or she will try to make up for lost time," writes Peter Riley, of Penrith.

Column 8

OK, we’ve dealt with time on the moon (Column 8, since Monday), so perhaps it’s time we moved further afield. ‘‘Is it just me that has difficulty understanding the behaviour of the planet Mars?’’ asks a baffled Michael Hayden, of Kiama Downs. ‘‘According to data published by the Herald on Thursday, the planet Mars will be visible (above the horizon) from 10.59 am until 12.11 am (Friday morning). In other words the planet will be visible for 13 hours and 12 minutes. Is this extended viewing period caused by its distance from Earth? Saturn is also visible for more than 13 hours, whilst Jupiter, Mercury and Venus are only visible for around 10 hours.’’ 

Column 8

"What was the local Sea of Tranquillity time when Armstrong walked on the moon?" ex-Herald hypergeek Richard Macey asks.

Column 8

"How long is eternity?" asks Marion Jordan, of Crookwell. "'Live Forever!' – that was the offer in a time-wasting game I was playing on my tablet recently."

Column 8

Winding back the clock ... "Column 8 correctly highlighted the enigma that is tennis scoring nomenclature in its page one column of December 31, 1951," writes diligent reader Andrew Woodhouse, of Potts Point, and we fear he may be right.

Column 8

Absolutely, finally, and without fear of contradiction, this is the last "school lunch" item for 2014. "It's no wonder that, as a migrant child, I had no wish to assimilate to the lunchbox offerings of my peers in the 50s," writes Gabi Duigu, of Cammeray.

Column 8

"I offer an answer to John Zeigler’s questions," volunteers James Duck, of Concord (Can one use 3D printing to make a 3D printer?, Wednesday). "Yes, there are a number of such printers. The generic name for 3D printers that print parts of 3D printers is RepRap."

Column 8

‘‘Those flavoured drinking straws had a couple of serious drawbacks,’’ according to Ros Forrest, of Pyrmont (salvaging playground milk, Column 8, Friday). ‘‘They had a strip of flavoured felt inside, and every now and then you would get a straight burst of the junk that was impregnated into the felt. Not only that, the straws were made of paper and went soggy, and also left a tell-tale splurt of colour in the bottle, so the teachers could see if you were using them. They banned them. My solution was to become a milk monitor.’’

Column 8

"I was curious to see that a person had asked for the price of three metres of gravel," writes Donald Hawes, of Blayney (Column 8, Wednesday).

Column 8

Many readers have told us that the school milk ration was a third of a pint, not half as we suggested on Tuesday, but all agreed that it didn’t taste all that flash after being left out in the sun for hours before recess.

Column 8

"Do you have room for one more mathematical monstrosity?" pleads Jenny Archbold, of Bellingen (innumerate sales staff, Column 8, for ... er ... some number of days). And yes Jenny, of course we do.

Column 8

‘‘In September 2009 I posted to a local Sydney address a letter that was returned to me 18 days later endorsed ‘insufficient address’,’’ writes Margaret Spinks, of Gladesville.

Column 8

‘‘Column 8 readers have recently questioned how newly issued PIN numbers on their American Express credit card could match an existing PIN on a different credit card,’’ responds Dean Chadwick, of American Express Australia. ‘‘I’d like to clarify how PIN numbers are assigned at American Express. For cards issued directly by American Express, Card Members can either choose their own PIN at the time of receiving the card, or have a PIN randomly assigned to the card to enable their continuing use after the phase-out of signature on CHIP cards on August 1. Where an American Express card is issued by a bank, that bank is responsible for its PIN management. We’re not involved in any way, nor do we have access to the PINs of these cardholders.’’

Column 8

‘‘I too, was pleased to discover that my new Amex PIN was the same as my Visa PIN,’’ writes Gary Clift, of Lindfield, ‘‘and surprised, as Amex had only days ago advised there was ‘only a one-in-10,000 chance of someone guessing your PIN’."

Column 8

"I will avoid commenting on the obvious tautology of 'PIN numbers' to share the more serious concerns raised by others about the numbers issued by Amex," writes Malcolm Boyd, of Northbridge.

Column 8

"My joy at the coincidence of getting the same PIN that I use for my Visa card was short-lived, when two other Amex card holders advised me that their new Amex PINs were also the same as their credit card PINs from other institutions."

Column 8

Poetry in weather reports, pharmaceutical uncertainty, and more.
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