MSGID: 1:153/716.0 00a55062
REPLY: 61.fidonet_englisht@1:218/840 244788a7
CHRS: IBMPC 2
Hi, Bob!  Recently you wrote in a message to Ardith Hinton:

BR>  Maybe Denis needs to practice his introductory
BR>  statements.  :-)


         Yes, from my POV it would be helpful if he indicated the source of
the material & whether or not he'd like other folks to add corrections....  :-)



BR>  I noticed you always indent the first line of
BR>  your paragraphs... something I haven't done
BR>  since I handwrote my school assignments on lined
BR>  paper.  Very unusual in the digital age.


         That's how I was taught too.  I gather it's considered "fussy &
dated" in business nowadays, where a "sleek & modern" look is preferred (maybe
because the employer can save a fraction of a cent each time the typist
doesn't have to use the tab key).  I hear it is generally not done in email
either.  However, I don't care what's fashionable & I'd much rather
communicate in Fidonet....  :-)



BR>  An old habit?


         Perhaps.  But IMHO our ancestors knew things which we'd do well to
pay attention to even if other folks think they know better....  :-)



BR>  I still use two spaces after my punctuation,


         I still use two spaces at the end of a sentence because that's what
my mother, i.e. the stenographer who was a stickler for detail, taught me to
do... and because I realize as a teacher that if I don't distinguish between a
period at the end of an abbreviation & a full stop at the end of a sentence
some of my readers may find the interpretation more challenging than it needs
to be.



BR>  which is apparently not appropriate anymore.


         There's still a lot of controversy about that.  If I use a text
editor designed for programming I must find ways of persuading it to do what I
want... to make my intentions clear to readers who aren't native speakers of
English or are emotionally upset.  To this end I often use "white space" in
ways which are
... as Dallas just informed me... unacceptable in computer language.  I find
it annoying when programmers insist on "correcting" my spacing, but I see now
that their priorities are very different from mine.

         When I find myself at the mercy of programmers who don't understand
my needs I do my best to tune into the computer's learning style... as I did
years ago with a friend who seemed to like telling people he thought like a
computer. With him I learned to put various complex ideas in point form &
avoid metaphors he couldn't easily find in the dictionary.  With his wife I
also learned not to speculate as to whether (e.g.) Mrs. XXX might be having an
affair with the milk man because she'd announce it to everyone else she knew
as an established fact.

         One of the difficulties I see re Fidonet is that although we're at
the mercy of programmers they don't necessarily agree with one another.  I
know how to fill a line in such a way as to reassure QEdit I can be trusted
not to leave an orphan character on the next... but other folks use different
software.  :-Q




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+
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