orcus's Journal: spell checkers - get rid of them

Spell checkers are one of the worst things to happen to communication.
Why? No - not because I advocate a country/world full of people who can't spell worth a damn - but because TOO many people use them as their final check before publishing.

Way too many times have I read articles like the following - articles with GLARING grammatical errors (but not spelling errors) that even a simple proofreading would have caught immediately.

And now - I present to you - the article about the kidnapped Filipino Truck - from the AP!

Kidnappers say hostage is still alive

By Associated Press, 7/12/2004 12:21

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BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) Insurgents holding kidnapped a Filipino truck said they had taken their hostage to the place where he will be killed if the Philippines fails to meet the militants' demands by 3 p.m. Monday, Al-Jazeera television reported.

The Philippines government had said Monday that the kidnappers extended the deadline for killing Angelo dela Cruz until 3 p.m. EDT Tuesday.

But in a videotape and statement broadcast by Al-Jazeera, the group holding dela Cruz said they were only extending the deadline for 24 hours, until 3 p.m. Monday. The reason for the disparity in the deadlines was unclear.

The group last promised to kill dela Cruz by Sunday if the Philippines did not agree to pull its small peacekeeping force out of Iraq by July 20, one month earlier than planned.