on content versus presentation [ was: Re: Why the FreeBSD license will not be changing ]

[KAYVEN RIESE]

On Mon, 17 Mar 2008, Astrodog wrote:

> Just as "I really enjoy drinking heavily then driving like Mario
> Andretti, Officer Smith" is much more understandable, and can be read
> faster than, "ireallyenjoydrinkingheavilythendrivinglikemarioandrettiofficersmith"

i really enjoy drinking heavily then driving like mario andretti,
officer smith.

GET YER FACTS STRAIGHT!!!  {:D

> These rules do not exist for your, personal, outgoing communication's
> benefit. They exist to assist people reading what others have written.
> I know of very few people who follow these rules when writing notes
> for their own use.

fyi, i know a NUMBER of people who write like this because it is
faster to type.  the space bar is very easy to hit i am not
suggesting abolishing that. i don't think sentence beginning
capitalization is significantly facilitating in ease of
reading.  capitalizing can be a distraction sometimes
the rules are subtle.  i find myself spending more time
wondering if things are proper nouns than the *@(#& content.
ppl who COMPLAIN about lack of capitalization waste more
time on that than the subject at hand.

>While you can elect to ignore these rules in
> communication with others, doing so makes understanding things you
> write more difficult. These kinds of mistakes also make ambiguous
> sentences more likely to occur, as the building blocks of the sentence
> are not recognizable by others.

i capitalize things like freeBSD and NaK ATPase as such.  i don't
like to waste bending for the shift key if i am having what my
mom has called distertations if i get on a serious train of thought.

> Needless to say, fluency with these rules will not be consistent
> across a large group of people. However, the fact that some people do
> not know the rules as well as others, is no excuse for not working to
> make your material easier to understand.

sentence beginning capitalization is REDUNDANT as there is such
a thing as a period followed by TWO spaces.  i, unlike the guy who started 
this thread, seemingly, do not support excessive ambiguuous misspellings,
but agree in those who take issue and ostracize some with draconian
fervor in lieu of having a constructive converstaion.

>
> --- Harrison
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   Kayven Riese, BSCS, MS (Physiology and Biophysics)
   (415) 902 5513 cellular
   http://kayve.net
   Webmaster http://ChessYoga.org
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