Confusing warning

Here’s a warning I saw the other day (click the image to see it full size if it’s unclear):

But what does it mean? The first part is simple and clear enough, but what’s the ‘(For Australia and New Zealand only)’ bit all about?

Does it mean that only young children and infirm persons in Australia/NZ can’t use this sewing machine without supervision, but they can if they don’t live in Australia/NZ? or if they aren’t operating the machine in Australia/NZ?

My guess is that there’s some sort of regulatory compliance thing happening here, where the Australian and New Zealand authorities require specific wording in a warning for certain products.

But it’s not clear.

Weird and wacky warnings

The threat of litigation—real or perceived—has led to the creation of some very weird warning labels. Some of the ‘best’ are featured here: http://www.wackywarnings.com/

[Link last checked December 2007]

Safety and hazard symbols

Ever needed a safety/hazard sign or symbol to use in your documentation? Then try the ones available here: http://www.cptec.org/symbols.html

They are in EPS and GIF formats and are free to use in technical documentation; there are restrictions on their use for other purposes, so make sure you read the legal notes.

Update 26 August 2008:

Note: As at April 2011, the instructions below do not work. I have emailed the website owner to find out how to access these symbols.

1. When you get to this page, click the graphic for the symbols. You get taken to the Forum page (mostly in German but with enough English words to figure out what’s what).
2. On the main Forum page, click a set in the top section (they have “N” next to them).
3. When you get to the next page, all the symbols for that set are listed individually, and the complete set is ‘pinned’ at the top. To see all the symbols in that set, click the link for the ‘pinned’ set; to see an individual symbol, click its link.
4. Once you can see the symbol (or the complete set), you’ll find a link to download it.

[Link last checked April 2011]

Somebody got burned…

I came across this warning list of things to look for when trying to identify a scam publisher. It’s pretty comprehensive and mostly good advice. I get the feeling from the tone of the writing – especially the list of nasty companies and websites at the end – that the person has been badly burned by the ‘get rich quick by publishing your own book’ schemes.

I like the title of the page too – ‘Preditors and Editors’. Clever.