Hi Alphas,
Welcome to Alphaday 5, Season XVIII. As usual there’s plenty lined up for us to savour as it trickles into our inboxes. You know … it’s like Christmas and birthdays; we get that little fluttering the day before, wondering about all the pleasant surprises that are in store for us. Never mind if we don’t run away with a fistful of marks; the excitement is mainly about how fellow Alphas approach the theme and the different opinions they express. That’s what we learn from, and that’s why Alphadays are special.
Here’s the agenda for Alphaday 5:
- This bulletin from me
- The brief for Challenge 4 from Stephen (already in)
- The collated entries for the photo challenge from Suzanne
- The feedback for the Open Page, 1st edition, from Sarah
- A call for entries for the upcoming edition of the Log from Phil
The main Alpha news is really Log material, but I’ll still mention the two Alphas who have just published their latest books, a novel by Ros and a collection of short stories by Phil. We’re proud of you! Ros treated us to a zoom launch which she’d arranged with a fellow novelist who’s also recently published a novel, and it was a fascinating event to join in.
There was one thing in the general news that caught my attention, as it’s one of those annual events that I usually enjoy. The word of the year. The big dictionaries announce which word in their dictionary has shot up in popularity by increased usage. The word “the” may be the word that’s most frequently used, but its popularity doesn’t change from one year to the next.
The Collins Dictionary announced that the honour for 2021 goes to the abbreviation “NFT”. I was disappointed as it meant nothing to me. I found out that it stands for “non-fungible token” … that still didn’t mean a thing to me. Apparently it’s a certificate of ownership of a work of art. Is that like ‘copyright’ then? A copyright certificate that doesn’t go mouldy? Wrong again. “Fungible” is a legal term meaning ‘interchangeable’ that’s been in use since the 1640s. It’s derived from a Latin word to do with ‘function’ not ‘fungus’. Right, so my ignorance has been mended, I’m glad to say, but … I still haven’t ever heard, seen or noticed this famous NFT abbreviation.
Well, have you?
Christine