Buondì.

A decades-old computer programer habit, when packaging up multiple files together in a folder, is to add a very simple .txt file named ‘read me’ or similar.

Anything the buyer or user needs to know, in order to make the software function, i.e. which of the other enclosed files to click on first, is explained in the read me.txt file.

Simple, but effective. Assuming people read the ‘read me’ file, which I’m guessing that most of us don’t.

Incidentally, the file to click on first is probably the one ending in .exe, which is a file format that will actually DO something, rather than, say, contain graphic elements or styling information.

Wikipedia puts it like this “.exe is a common filename extension denoting an executable file (the main execution point of a computer program) for Microsoft Windows.”

And not so incidentally, whenever I visit Wikipedia these days I get a message like this one:

We ask you, humbly: don’t scroll away.

Hi reader, this Friday, for the 8th time recently, we ask you to defend Wikipedia’s independence. Thanks to the 2% of readers who donate, Wikipedia remains open to all. If Wikipedia has given you €2 worth of knowledge, take a minute to donate to keep it thriving for years. Show the editors that their work matters. If you are one of our rare donors, we warmly thank you.

For the eighth time? Oh wow. They keep asking me for money, yet I manage to ignore them, despite actually thinking that Wikipedia is a great cause, and even having access to a company credit card so not having to dig deep into my own pocket.

Either I am extremely lazy, then, very mean (though as it wouldn’t be my money, it’s probably not that), rather busy, or… and it probably IS this, it’s the ‘humbly’ in the title that is putting me off. Along with the paltry €2 being asked for. I betcha Donald Trump would never ask for $2, and certainly not humbly. I betcha also that he gets more donations than Wikipedia does, poverini. Is there justice in the world? OF COURSE NOT.

OK, here’s what we’ll do.

For every club member that leaves a comment on this article saying how Wikipedia has helped or informed them, I’ll send a €5 donation, up to a maxiumum of €100, or £, or whatever.

If none of you can be bothered to leave a comment (visit the website, find this article, scroll down to the end, your email address is required but won’t be published), then I’ll make no donation, on the grounds that you guys are just as lazy as I am. At least until the Wikipedia people get themselves a copywriter with some balls, anyway.

And in the unlikely event that there are more than 20 comments (from different club members, mind) I’ll consider upping the maximum donation. It’s the club’s money, and probably tax-deductible.

N.b. Emailing me doesn’t count. I get enough emails already. I want COMMENTS on the website, in return for the donation (visit the website, find this article, scroll down to the end, your email address is required but won’t be published). OK?

Why? Because comments show the world that the club website is still alive, that there are people who value it, whereas emails to me simply add to the pile of stuff I have to get through today, or over the weekend.

Where were we? Ah yes, ‘read me’.

So anyway, I was short of ideas this morning and thought I’d try out something that I’ve been mulling over for a while. That I occasionally, or perhaps regularly, post a link to something on another website, and suggest that club members have a go at reading it (in Italian, obviously).

Why? Because many of you won’t, otherwise. But if I can encourage just a few of you to give reading authentic articles a try, who knows, you might make it a habit. And then your learning will be accelerated, and then we will all feel good.

Here we go then: one of the websites I look at on my phone before getting out of bed in the morning is RaiNews.it. It’s free, with no registration required, and is reasonably reliable and unbiased, unlike most of Italy’s ‘proper’ newspaper sites, which are over-expensive and often hard to make head or tail of.

There are lots of articles on RaiNews.it that I’d read if I had time today, and so may or may not have suggested that you do, too. However, because I am rather pushed this morning, I’ve gone for something short, with pictures:

Benvenuta Priscilla, la cammellina appena nata al Bioparco di Roma.

Read me. Or at least look at the pictures.

Animal mums with their spring newborns – what’s not to like?

A lunedì, allora.

P.S.

On Wednesday I was so busy ranting I completely forgot to try to flog this week’s half-price ‘eBook of the Week’ offer. Sorry. Here’s a cut and paste from Monday’s article, to make ammends:

Giacomo works as an electrician for the municipality in a small Italian city. He had dreamed of becoming an astronomer but is now happy to devote himself to his family and especially to his young son, Tommaso. Then one day, the boy asks his father why there are so few stars to be seen in the night sky…

Customer reviews, unfortunately everyone seems to have loved it, are here.

Buy Cielo libero, just £3.99 | Free sample chapter (.pdf) | Catalog

N.b. If anyone’s studying another European language besides Italian, we have half-price versions of this story also in German, Spanish and French. But only until Sunday night!

P.P.S.

Thursday’s bulletin of ‘easy’ Italian news should also be on your ‘read me’ list today.

While I haven’t had time for this one yet, I suspect there are probably no baby camels.

OnlineItalianClub.com | EasyItalianNews.com | Shop

Buondì.

Sorry, an unwanted ‘l’ somehow got into that title.

What I intended to write was “The end of the word is nigh!”

For lo, there came a time when people no longer read, or wrote. Communications from that age on were only spoken (Youtube ‘how to’ videos), or for those with feelings to express, emojis (those little yellow blobs in your Whatsapp messages that you can’t make out without putting your reading glasses on…)

Libraries stocked only audio books, God’s children rediscovered using the phone to ask Customer Service their silly questions and receive unhelpful answers, and all forgot that once their forebears had read the FAQ, or could decipher written replies from customer service to pleas for help using their, by now ubiquitous yet still infernal, iPads.

Emailed articles, of course, were no more.

One man alone was sad, and rather frustrated, and cried to the heavens to ask why he had been forsaken. Why had he spent his life learning to read, and write? Why did he reply to each and every email, only for his words to disappear unread into humanity’s spam/junk folders?

And a voice thundered that the man should consider making a nice Youtube video, or better still, a series of videos, explaining common problems. That way, other members of his tribe could watch the man’s solutions to their issues, given that they were no longer able, or willing, to read them.

But the man cried out to know how his customers would find the right video to watch, if they could no longer use words to search.

What’s more, he insisted, how will people learn a foreign language or languages, if they are unable even to read simple instructions in English?

But besides a circular, yellow cloud with a tear-shaped hole in it, there was no further reply.

A venerdì.

P.S.

Talking of words, yesterday I prepared a new ebook for publication next week. It’s advanced-level, thought-provoking, and rather sad. Shame there’s no one left to read it.

Twenty-eight pages of text written by a talented Italian teacher, over thirty minutes of online audio, read by an equally talented native-Italian speaker, and all for the special launch price of just £5.99.

Sure I can’t tempt you?

Watch this space for details on Monday. And have a box of Kleenex handy!

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