Truth in Advertising

This isn't so much about writing as something that caught my attention.

I have long been a proponent of truth in advertising.  I was watching Cash Cab the other day, when an advert came on for a dating site.  One of their claims was that people who used the site were three times more likely to find a partner than those who don't.   Almost instantly I found a interesting flaw in that claim, given that the human race survived for thousands of years without dating web sites. After all, most (>50%) people find a partner eventually. Since the advertisers don't qualify the statement, their claim means that more than 150% (=3*50%) of their customers find a partner.  That is very impressive indeed.  Maybe 75% of their customers end up with more than two partners.

No wonder I ignore most TV ads, muting the TV, leaving the room to do a quick chore or even changing channels.

New Look for Web Site

I've just uploaded the files for the web site.  For the technical and hobby pages, not much has changed, but for the creative pages, the whole look is different.  It's still at the same site: http://members.shaw.ca/jessopc

First Post

Hello bloggers

This is my first posting.