The Big Five

I should be in bed.

Why am I up?

No clue.

However, I have discovered the answers to some questions that I have always had…

Question #1: Who’s the hand model for the iPhone?

Another useless question, until you realize how extremely hard it is to find the answer to. I am still researching, and alas, nothing.

However, something I was not aware of, but seemingly was news, was the fact that Apple used a model with larger hands in their more recent (circa July 2007?) ads for the iPhone, in order to give a sort of forced perspective of making the iPhone look smaller. Clever!

You can read more about forced perspective in this Wikipedia article.

Question #2: Who is The Facebook Guy?

If you were familiar with Facebook before April 2007, then you probably remember that little guy in the top-left corner that always stared longingly as you checked your newsfeed and wrote down people’s home addresses.

Yes, he was The Facebook Guy, and he was officially retired following a website redesign circa early April ‘07.

I came across this page, which has lead me to believe that the visually-impaired /blind now inhabit the Weblog scene, but alas, no luck there.

I then came across this CNN article, which explains how, apparently, a Moroccan man stole the identity of a Moroccan prince somehow through Facebook. Details were very unclear.

Then, I located Chris Putnam, the engineer on Facebook, whose face was believed to be that of The Facebook Guy’s. If you’ll notice, Facebook Chat has an emoticon,, which can be displayed by typing in the text :putnam:. It would seem fairly obvious that, if Chris’s last name is PUTNAM, and the text enclosed in colons is PUTNAM, and Mr. Putnam is a part of Facebook’s inner workings, then obviously there could be a connection!

Anyways, I sent a message to the guy and asked about it. He might message me back, who knows? Shut up. Stop being realistic. More on this later.

Question #3: Is there ever a time when the Oxford comma doesn’t rock? BTW, where did it even get its name? Lastly, can an Oxford comma ever create ambiguity in a sentence?

The Oxford comma (also known as the serial comma, or the Harvard comma) is a completely optional comma that is sometimes used to resolve ambiguity in a list of items. For example, in the sentence, “I like tomatoes, ham, and rice”, the comma after ham would be an Oxford comma. It is completely optional, and the phrase “I like tomatoes, ham and rice”, is also correct, however, there are sometimes appropriate usages where the Oxford comma could make or break the meaning of a sentence.

From the Wikipedia article on the serial comma, the example below shows why this little comma can be extremely useful:

” Resolving ambiguity

Use of the serial comma can sometimes remove ambiguity. Consider the apocryphal book dedication:

To my parents, Ayn Rand and God.

There is ambiguity about the writer’s parentage, because Ayn Rand and God can be read as in apposition to my parents, leading the reader to believe that the writer refers to Ayn Rand and God as his or her parents. A comma before and removes the ambiguity:

To my parents, Ayn Rand, and God.

Consider also:

My favourite types of sandwiches are pastrami, ham, cream cheese and peanut butter and jelly.

According to the two most plausible interpretations of this sentence, four kinds of sandwich are listed. But it is uncertain which are the third and fourth kinds. Adding a serial comma removes this ambiguity. With a comma after peanut butter, the kinds of sandwich are these:

1. pastrami
2. ham
3. cream cheese and peanut butter
4. jelly

With a comma after cream cheese, the kinds of sandwich are these:

1. pastrami
2. ham
3. cream cheese
4. peanut butter and jelly

Some writers who normally avoid the serial comma may use one in these circumstances, though sometimes re-ordering the elements of such a list can help as well.”

From this example, I think we can answer the first part of question #5, with a big fat negative. (..Which creates a double-negative, implying that it always rocks.)

The second question, where did it get its name? It’s called the Oxford or Harvard comma because the Oxford and Harvard printing presses’ house styles both include the usage of this type of comma.

The third question can also be answered via Wikipedia! Conveniently located under the Resolving Ambiguity section is the Creating Ambiguity bit, and what a good example it gives!

Creating ambiguity

Use of the serial comma can introduce ambiguity. An example would be a book dedication reading:

To my mother, Ayn Rand and God.

In the context of the no-serial-comma convention this is unambiguously a list of three, but introducing a serial comma creates ambiguity about the writer’s mother, because “Ayn Rand” can then be read as in apposition to “my mother” (with the commas fulfilling a parenthetical function):

To my mother, Ayn Rand, and God.

This ambiguity could be resolved by restating the preposition before each list item:

To my mother, to Ayn Rand, and to God.

Consider also:

Betty, a maid and a rabbit.

When the serial comma is not used, this is clearly a list of two people and a rabbit (assuming that the unlikely idea that Betty is both a maid and a rabbit is rejected), whereas

Betty, a maid, and a rabbit

may refer either to one person (Betty, who is a maid) or to two people (Betty and a maid) and a rabbit.

Aha! It seems fairly obvious now that that sort of ambiguity could be created, but I am glad I have an example to show for it.

(Here’s another fun fact: Did you know that Facebook has over 30 groups dedicated to the loving, the hatred, the preservation (note the Oxford comma following these parentheses), or the general awareness of the Oxford comma? (I find it fascinating that this particular group regards the usage of an Oxford comma not as a simple preference in language, but as a belief/philosophy. Bravo!) 

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I suppose a final good question would be as to why it is 04:05, and I am still up. I have church in 4 hours, and I need to be able to function during that time.

So, for now, I will sign off, putting my restlessness to rest and resting.

Adieu, Google, auf wiedersehen, Wikipedia, sayonara, Tumblr… ‘til noon.

(Also, I am going to some “Super Sunday” thing tomorrow.. should be interesting. More on that later.)

And.. off!