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List:       kde-look
Subject:    Re: ui contribution
From:       Rik Hemsley <rik () kde ! org>
Date:       2000-04-24 21:26:44
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#if Torsten Rahn
> You don't design traffic signs in a way that makes them look
> nicely integrated into the neighbourhood either ...

I used to live in Scotland. There the traffic signs are 'personalised'
by artistic souls who will either obliterate the text and symbols with
spray paint, giving you the far-more-useful information that they have
been to this particular location. I mean, everyone knows what the signs
say, because you're there already. What you really want to know is which
particular clan of 14-year-olds is dominant at the moment.

If you venture further north, you find that many signs are full of
holes. The locals use them as target practice. This can be very useful
if you're a shotgun-wielder yourself. You can see how good the local
competition is. If you're a poacher and you see signs where the shots
are off-centre or have just clipped the edge, it's a good bet the local
farmer won't be able to pick you off too quickly.

Another tradition, applicable to England this time, is that an attempt
to convert street names into anglo-saxon words is made by anyone with
access to a permanent black marker and some time on their hands.
This, I believe, is a ritual intended to inject some anglo-saxon back
into the local culture.

Rik

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