Sunday, January 7, 2007
I recently received an unsoliciting mailing from Sony Media Software in Madison, Wisconsin telling me about all the great software Sony makes for handling media. I browsed quickly through the catalog—I've been working with computers for 25 years and I've never heard of any of the titles. I tore off the last page with the intention of calling their customer support number on Monday to ask that my name be removed from their mailing list. The text next to the customer service number says, "World-class customer service and technical support at your fingertips." And it occurred to me that I've been seeing this adjective—world-class—for years without really knowing what it means, so I looked it up. Merriam-Webster defines world-class as "being of the highest caliber in the world." Wiktionary says "1. of a standard that ranks among the best in the world, and 2. of the highest order or importance." But world-class really doesn't mean anything at all because it's unlikely that you can get everyone to agree what world-class means in an objective manner and then accurately measure all those claiming to be world-class. So here's my definition of world-class: adjective, 1. an empty word used as filler, 2. having a claim of high status which can neither be proven nor disproven, 3. being associated with a marketing team which uses adjectives that mean nothing. The same definition can be applied to the term "best of breed." Here's another definition for a word I thought of about 10 years ago: necklacelessness, noun, the condition or state of not wearing a necklace. Example: Her necklacelessness at the soiree caused her hours of anxiety. I don't know why I haven't documented this earlier. Shopped online. Errands. Had a fast but disappointing lunch at a nearby pizza place. Home. On my way out to PDD's for dinner I met a neighbor who is a games programmer for Lucas. Dinner by Danny: steamed rice, pig and chicken in tomato sauce, pig and shrimp in shells, green vegetables. Afterwards we went to Bombay for ice cream. I had an ice cream flavor called Star War (just one war) which was light blue with multicolored marshmallows. The flavor seemed like rich vanilla. I tried to get the man behind the counter to explain the flavor before I tried it, but he didn't seem to know English. I guess the light blue is supposed to be sky and the marshmallows are supposed to be asteroids. Danny had jasmine tea ice cream. Drew had rose ice cream. Phil didn't have ice cream. Back at PDD's, we watched a Simpsons episode which wasn't very funny or satisfying (Marge returns to her childhood island amusement park).