FC: A new Microsoft-English dictionary by Richard Forno (satire)

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

********        

Date: Sun, 08 Jul 2001 21:06:56 -0400
Subject: Microsoft-English Dictionary (Article)
From: Richard Forno <rforno () infowarrior org>
To: <declan () well com>
CC: <politech () politechbot com>

Declan - hope you had a good 4th of July weekend holiday, rain
notwithstanding here in DC. At least from Arlington the view of the national
fireworks was really good!!

This is my latest commentary/missive that - if you think appropriate - is
humbly submitted for POLITECH. If you don't think it appropriate, feel free
to delete it....I couldn't sleep the other night and to fight insomnia, you
know I usually start writing.   :)

ttyl

rick
infowarrior.org / incidentresponse.com

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For his novel "1984" George Orwell developed "Newspeak", a modified English
language using ambiguous or deceptive words, metaphors, or euphemisms to
influence public opinion on various matters - a common business practice
refined to an exacting science by news media, marketing companies, and
corporate PR departments.

Nowhere is Newspeak more perfected than in the halls of the Microsoft Campus
in Redmond, Washington - a place where legions of well-paid spin-meisters
attempt to morph the reality of their company's business, legal, and product
information into innocuous -sounding, politically-correct, calm-inducing
statements when released to the public. Naturally, this has a confusing
effect on the general public who is unfamiliar with this particular form of
language.

As a public service, this article contains a helpful list of terms used by
the company and what, in reality - not Newspeak - such terms actually mean.
It's my hope that such insight - culled from personal experience and the
input of other technology professionals - will cut through the Newspeak fog
and assist readers in determining for themselves what Microsoft is really
saying in its public statements.

The Microsoft-English Dictionary is organized into four sections: (1) Legal,
Marketing, and Internet Community Terms; (2) Security-Oriented Terms; (3)
Product-Related Terms; and (4) Miscellaneous Terms.

Article Found at:  http://www.infowarrior.org/articles/2001-04.html




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