Direct link to Adobe Reader X, Adobe Reader 10 (Acrobat Reader)

Reader Phil Ng alerted me about the latest direct link to Adobe Reader.

One of the major annoyances about Adobe Reader, which I have written about previously, is that Adobe insists that it can only be downloaded from its own servers.

The installer stub will force you to download unwanted toolbars and programs. Plus, it also installs Adobe Download Manager (ADM), which I do not want or need.

Here's the direct link:

http://ardownload.adobe.com/pub/adobe/reader/win/10.x/10.0.1/en_US/AdbeRdr1001_en_US.exe

A final request is not the same as a death wish

I was quite appalled to read this headline for a story about an ex-PM of Vietnam:

A Malaysian death wish for ex-PM


This story is among the "Most Viewed" online and has presumably made it to print. You only have to read the lede to realise that what the writer meant was "final request", "last request", or "last wish". None of these death wishes! Here's the dictionary definition of death wish, which has very negative connotations:

death wish n.

1. A desire for self-destruction, often accompanied by feelings of depression, hopelessness, and self-reproach.
2. A suicidal urge that presumably drives certain people to put themselves consistently into dangerous situations.

* death wish. Dictionary.com. The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary. Houghton Mifflin Company (accessed: July 28, 2011).

If you want to use an idiom, make sure you know what it really means!