Cracked.com Topic Article

mournblade

Blue Ring
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Mar 23, 2004
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Hey all!

I didn't know where else to post this in the forums, so I chose this one.

Anyway, I'm getting ready to publish a Topic Article on Cracked.com (yes, THAT Cracked, as in Cracked Magazine) about large squid, including the Humboldt, giant, and colossal varieties.

Anyhoo, since Cracked.com is a humor site, the intent is for it to be funny. However, Cracked also wants its articles to be informative and factually correct.

That said, I wouldn't mind some feedback about my article. I can go back and edit it as the case warrants before it is "official" published (assuming the editors pick it up).

I'd especially like to know if there are any glaring factual errors. Again, this is meant to be humorous AND informative, but is by no means meant to be a research paper or anything of that nature. It's primary goal is to educate readers on an interesting topic in a humorous fashion, with the hopes of exposing the readers to new (to them) ideas.

And for the record, I have a link to tonmo.com at the end of the article, if nobody objects to that.

The link is: Cracked.com - America's Only Humor Site | Cracked.com

BE FOREWARNED, however, that this being Cracked.com, the language can be rather rough at times. Just saying. . . .

Again, let me know. I don't take offense easily (hence, my writing for Cracked), so be brutal.

Thanks!

Vince
 
A couple of typo errors/omissions (from one who reedits her posts constantly for the same problem)

Picture caption:
Well, a man get lonely while on the high seas, ya know? And one thing led to another and. . .

On the trailer video:
Submitted by: mournblade
Sep 21, 2009 | Source: Type in the description of the link here This is a nice introduction to the Humboldt squid.

Really enjoyed the clip with Dr. Gilly
 
I think there's a minor fact-check problem in the first colossal being collected in 2007; there was at least one collected around 1985 referred to in Nixon & Young (ref Rodhouse and Clarke 1985) as having an 1170mm mantle length, and I think there was a Russian trawl that got one in the 70s, but I may be remembering wrong on that.
 
dwhatley;143055 said:
A couple of typo errors/omissions (from one who reedits her posts constantly for the same problem)

Picture caption:
Well, a man get lonely while on the high seas, ya know? And one thing led to another and. . .

On the trailer video:
Submitted by: mournblade
Sep 21, 2009 | Source: Type in the description of the link here This is a nice introduction to the Humboldt squid.

Really enjoyed the clip with Dr. Gilly

Thanks--changed the typo. I'm having trouble with the source, but the video itself shows youtube, and it links directly to that. I'll fool with it a bit tomorrow.

I found a few more typos, and changed them. . . as well as a few formatting issues.

Thanks again!!!

Vince
 
monty;143079 said:
I think there's a minor fact-check problem in the first colossal being collected in 2007; there was at least one collected around 1985 referred to in Nixon & Young (ref Rodhouse and Clarke 1985) as having an 1170mm mantle length, and I think there was a Russian trawl that got one in the 70s, but I may be remembering wrong on that.


Thanks for catching that. What I meant to say was that it was the first intact, MATURE specimen collected. That's per the factsheet that is hyperlinked to the phrase in the article.

I really appreciate the feedback!

Vince
 
tonmo;143064 said:
:thumbsup: thanks much for the TONMO.com reference. Should pique the interests of like-minded folks.


My absolute pleasure, I assure you!

Did you happen to look at the article, and the description of tonmo.com? It's brief, but I couldn't help but mention some forum members' collective obsession with Cthuluh, as well as at lesat ONE member's obsession with Neil Diamond! :lol:

But for the record, I don't know if the editors will pick this to run on the front page, but it is still accessible to anyone who goes to the site--but you'd have to dig for it, if it isn't accepted as a front page topic. (Keeping my fingers crossed.)

Thanks once again!!!

Vince
 
Fun stuff - couple more typos in there... Ammonia is spelled with 2 /m/s. This is one the first part of your description of Architeuthis dux. Also, is you want to be scientifically accurate, when you use the Latin name of the species, you should put the entire name in italics.
 
Do I dare suggest octopuses as the preferred plural? Octopi is linguistically accepted but ... Alternately, for the word fun, list all the plurals (octopuses, octopi, octopodes)
 
cuttlegirl;143098 said:
Fun stuff - couple more typos in there... Ammonia is spelled with 2 /m/s. This is one the first part of your description of Architeuthis dux. Also, is you want to be scientifically accurate, when you use the Latin name of the species, you should put the entire name in italics.

Thanks for catching the mispelling of "ammonia"--the browser in which we post the topic pages does not have a spell checker.

As for the italics, I thought I had the entire names in italics--I'll go over it again.

EDIT: You know, I went over the article again, and don't see where the species name isn't italicized. I know they're not italicized at the very top (in the "Just the Facts" portion), but that's because the formatting doesn't permit it. Could you give me a hint?


Thanks again!

Vince
 
dwhatley;143100 said:
Do I dare suggest octopuses as the preferred plural? Octopi is linguistically accepted but ... Alternately, for the word fun, list all the plurals (octopuses, octopi, octopodes)

Okey doke! I'll change it. I never knew what the "official" plural was, but. . . well, now I do! :smile:

Once again, thank you!!!

Vince
 
There isn't actually an "official" term for multiple octopus...you can use any one that you want.

"Endless are the arguments of mages"
 
tonmo;143139 said:
You can use any one you want, but I will think you are cooler if you use octopuses. :cool2:

Quite!

I used "octopuses," and am, ergo, cool! :cool2:

Man, I think I've posted more times to this forum in the past week, than I have in the past two or three years since I first joined. (Actually, I joined a year or so before that, but messed-up my memberhship, and had to "rejoin" when I came back. . . .)

But I've always been a "lurker," just fyi. I've been obsessed with the giant squid since I was in the first grade (this would have been circa 1976), when I first saw the Collier's Children's Encycolpedia (Volume 5, if I'm not mistaken) entry on deep sea life.

You guys and gals ROCK! :notworth:

Vince
 

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