Most people write as if they are using a typewriter. In other words, they type their paragraphs in paragraph form. This makes it more difficult to edit. Not only because the surrounding text can hide errors, but because it's simply not using the wordprocessor technology efficiently.
This, of course, does not apply to arenas like this, where you are forced to intersperse actual English with HTML.
Note: I did little of this with this post because of the cumbersomeness of posting on/.; this is not wordprocessed; and I further give a crap about the final result here, as this is transient in nature, not a finished product.
For instance:
If your desire is to write more than a simple sentence, break up your sentences into one-liners.
This paragraph is an example of that approach.
That way, the sentences can be rearranged quickly and each one can be inspected for correctness.
They can be moved up or down with ease, adjusting the flow of ideas until they feel correct.
A short list of dos and don'ts follows:
Turn on the spellchecker and keep adding the words it does not contain.
Turn off most (Microsoft's) grammar checkers, as they (it) suck.
Use color to indicate areas you have concerns about.
Never think you can write something without one or more edit-throughs. Never think that you can edit your own writing with adequate efficacy.
Learn how to friggin' capitalize correctly.
Oh, yeah. A final P.S. Learn words. It's horrible reading technical writing that sounds like a third grader trying to talk like an adult. Along that line, do stress that grammar is important.
You might give an out of class assignment of having them read/. posts, as these are excellent examples of how your writing can make you look retarded.
"When a country is forcing BOTH parents to work..."
Yeah, forcing parents to spend beyond their means of providing a stay at home parent. That's bullshit. I was a single parent from the time my daughter was 1 1/2 to 15, and had no trouble at all affording what we needed or I wanted. I just didn't want a mansion, new car, European vacations, etc. Don't conflate people's greed with "country" coercion.
"Remember it's been shown by many studies that humans are vegetarian primates..."
Chum, you're lying. Another example of someone making a pronouncement that is only personal opinion. There is not a single ape (we're an ape) which does not eat meat, either on occasion (gorilla/orang) or frequently (the rest). Just where did you get your information?
"If you are affraid of what you are saying then that is an imposition of the freedom of speech."
Bzzzt! Incorrect, sir. If you are afraid of what you are saying, then that is personal paranoia, nothing more.
"implied freedoms of Privacy"
There's a problem with implied. You get to read into the implication and others get to read into it. You and them may have diametrically opposing inferences.
"The point of protection against criminals with guns is moot too: they will just make sure they either have the advantage in arms or agression. You owning a gun is not going to make any criminal decide to stay clean instead."
That isn't, nor was it ever, the reason to have a gun. The reason is to shooth the asshole dead that breaks into your home and threatens you and yours.
P.S. In one sense, the dead fucker will "decide to stay clean".
First, not funny; flamebait. Second, bullshit. Having actually worked in banking IT from 90-2003, I can verify it is no different from any other company that invests money in a product and has competitors. They don't share their internally developed software that they spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on with competing banks? Heavens to mercy, why not? Perhaps it's because they are not stupid.
Do you have some retarded idea that the software they deveop would be useful to you? No, it's accounting, checking, funds management, and wire transfer software and more. And, by that, I don't mean personal account, checking, etc., but software to manage other peoples accounts, checks, funds, etc. Something you, no doubt, do not do. They also must link to and provide their information to the Fed systems. Again, something you don't do, and -- I'll wager -- the Fed's wouldn't allow anyway.
As for why gov departments and universities do, it's because you have a direct investment in them in the form of taxes, and that gives you a vested interest in their product. They should, indeed, give back to OS. They use it, and it's your dime they operate with.
"It's to the point that they act almost paranoid that everyone is out to get them."
Wow. Thirty five years in MA and only a couple of strains, here. You must either have been taught how to hold your hands very wrong in relation to your forearms by an incompetent teacher, or you didn't listen to a competent one.
Excuse me? You're thinking of claiming WC because you choose to sit with your elbow flattened on a hard surface. No self-responsibility there I suppose, because your boss forces that position on you. If your post was humor, give a clue, else wise get one.
I'm not sure I can believe that. The place would be in court in a nano. If some jackass, friend or not, sucker-punched me there would be true and actual violence at the workplace, we would both be fired, and the shithead would wind up in the hospital. If this is true, and you take this shit, you're a fucking fool.
You just did the same thing with "dataveilance". If anyone thinks the gov's goal isn't dataveilance, then "but come on", "its obvious" (ie: you're crazy or stupid and therefore on their side). You were a bit more subtle, but it's there, nonetheless.
"The impetus for creation of intellectual property right flowed from the goal to improve society by providing a carrot to innovators. It was government intervention in economics, not the development of a fundamental right akin to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."
Before you go blathering, you might at least understand the economics of the time. It wasn't like today, Virginia. The kings and rulers and such simply took what they wanted. If you had an idea, you also needed the patronage to see it through. And if, lo and behold, the patron didn't appreciate the results, HE and not you got to trash it and you couldn't even open your mouth if you valued your head. Sometimes the patron even refused to pay you. Just ask Leonardo.
"... and yet we're conditioned to get hysterical over this stuff."
Not really. It's only the broadcasters and their whores -- the politicians -- who do this knee-jerk reacting (aside from some truly disturbed up-tights). If the pol's wouldn't pander to the fringe vocalists, we wouldn't have these problems.
No, you're wrong. Disorderly is when you yell and scream and call people names and such. Exactly what she did. A sit-in, for instance is an orderly protest. Disorderly does not mean disobeying some law, it means creating a vitriolic disturbance.
Nice rant. Phrased as if relying upon statistics and logical conclusions. Missing something though. Oh year, links and actual references to support the well-stated, but personal opinions.
Slashdot Mirror
Flame, nothing else. Support your stats. My personal experience is exactly the opposite.
What's wrong with applying for a job working on one?
"Now get back to your 3270 terminal and XEDIT that REXX script to help you manage DASD on your VM/370."
This simply shows your ignorance. Over fifteen years ago we quit using 3270's. XEdit? Before that.
Here's a hint. Join the current technology.
/.; this is not wordprocessed; and I further give a crap about the final result here, as this is transient in nature, not a finished product.
/. posts, as these are excellent examples of how your writing can make you look retarded.
Most people write as if they are using a typewriter. In other words, they type their paragraphs in paragraph form. This makes it more difficult to edit. Not only because the surrounding text can hide errors, but because it's simply not using the wordprocessor technology efficiently.
This, of course, does not apply to arenas like this, where you are forced to intersperse actual English with HTML.
Note: I did little of this with this post because of the cumbersomeness of posting on
For instance:
If your desire is to write more than a simple sentence, break up your sentences into one-liners.
This paragraph is an example of that approach.
That way, the sentences can be rearranged quickly and each one can be inspected for correctness.
They can be moved up or down with ease, adjusting the flow of ideas until they feel correct.
A short list of dos and don'ts follows:
Turn on the spellchecker and keep adding the words it does not contain.
Turn off most (Microsoft's) grammar checkers, as they (it) suck.
Use color to indicate areas you have concerns about.
Never think you can write something without one or more edit-throughs.
Never think that you can edit your own writing with adequate efficacy.
Learn how to friggin' capitalize correctly.
Oh, yeah. A final P.S. Learn words. It's horrible reading technical writing that sounds like a third grader trying to talk like an adult. Along that line, do stress that grammar is important.
You might give an out of class assignment of having them read
Perhaps this explains the rabid anti-copyright attitude of /.? Cant' write on their own?
Yeah, I really need to be working up on roof joists and have a friggin' display that won't turn off.
"When a country is forcing BOTH parents to work..."
Yeah, forcing parents to spend beyond their means of providing a stay at home parent. That's bullshit. I was a single parent from the time my daughter was 1 1/2 to 15, and had no trouble at all affording what we needed or I wanted. I just didn't want a mansion, new car, European vacations, etc. Don't conflate people's greed with "country" coercion.
I wonder if these guys were in the crowd who condemned the idea when it was presumed the eeeeeevil government would be doing the implanting?
"(one not poisoned by eating meat)"
Gee, an agenda? Provide links proving eating meat poisons the bowels, chum. Me, I think you're lying.
"Remember it's been shown by many studies that humans are vegetarian primates..."
Chum, you're lying. Another example of someone making a pronouncement that is only personal opinion. There is not a single ape (we're an ape) which does not eat meat, either on occasion (gorilla/orang) or frequently (the rest). Just where did you get your information?
"If you are affraid of what you are saying then that is an imposition of the freedom of speech."
Bzzzt! Incorrect, sir. If you are afraid of what you are saying, then that is personal paranoia, nothing more.
"implied freedoms of Privacy"
There's a problem with implied. You get to read into the implication and others get to read into it. You and them may have diametrically opposing inferences.
"The point of protection against criminals with guns is moot too: they will just make sure they either have the advantage in arms or agression. You owning a gun is not going to make any criminal decide to stay clean instead."
That isn't, nor was it ever, the reason to have a gun. The reason is to shooth the asshole dead that breaks into your home and threatens you and yours.
P.S. In one sense, the dead fucker will "decide to stay clean".
Flamebait. Gun ownership != "The right to kill fellow citizens on a whim".
It's that kind of bullshit logic that makes the side for gun confiscation so undesirable. But then, the far left was never strong on real-life logic.
"With a vendor, we have contracts in place..."
With Open Source, you don't.
"To use the banking industry as an example, there's no need for everyone to write their own accounting packages."
It's not that simple. Most banks use vendor software for their main processing. It's the ancillary hooks that are written in-house.
First, not funny; flamebait. Second, bullshit. Having actually worked in banking IT from 90-2003, I can verify it is no different from any other company that invests money in a product and has competitors. They don't share their internally developed software that they spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on with competing banks? Heavens to mercy, why not? Perhaps it's because they are not stupid.
Do you have some retarded idea that the software they deveop would be useful to you? No, it's accounting, checking, funds management, and wire transfer software and more. And, by that, I don't mean personal account, checking, etc., but software to manage other peoples accounts, checks, funds, etc. Something you, no doubt, do not do. They also must link to and provide their information to the Fed systems. Again, something you don't do, and -- I'll wager -- the Fed's wouldn't allow anyway.
As for why gov departments and universities do, it's because you have a direct investment in them in the form of taxes, and that gives you a vested interest in their product. They should, indeed, give back to OS. They use it, and it's your dime they operate with. "It's to the point that they act almost paranoid that everyone is out to get them."
Sounds like most slashdotters to me.
Wow. Thirty five years in MA and only a couple of strains, here. You must either have been taught how to hold your hands very wrong in relation to your forearms by an incompetent teacher, or you didn't listen to a competent one.
Excuse me? You're thinking of claiming WC because you choose to sit with your elbow flattened on a hard surface. No self-responsibility there I suppose, because your boss forces that position on you. If your post was humor, give a clue, else wise get one.
I'm not sure I can believe that. The place would be in court in a nano. If some jackass, friend or not, sucker-punched me there would be true and actual violence at the workplace, we would both be fired, and the shithead would wind up in the hospital. If this is true, and you take this shit, you're a fucking fool.
You just did the same thing with "dataveilance". If anyone thinks the gov's goal isn't dataveilance, then "but come on", "its obvious" (ie: you're crazy or stupid and therefore on their side). You were a bit more subtle, but it's there, nonetheless.
"The impetus for creation of intellectual property right flowed from the goal to improve society by providing a carrot to innovators. It was government intervention in economics, not the development of a fundamental right akin to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."
Before you go blathering, you might at least understand the economics of the time. It wasn't like today, Virginia. The kings and rulers and such simply took what they wanted. If you had an idea, you also needed the patronage to see it through. And if, lo and behold, the patron didn't appreciate the results, HE and not you got to trash it and you couldn't even open your mouth if you valued your head. Sometimes the patron even refused to pay you. Just ask Leonardo.
"... and yet we're conditioned to get hysterical over this stuff."
Not really. It's only the broadcasters and their whores -- the politicians -- who do this knee-jerk reacting (aside from some truly disturbed up-tights). If the pol's wouldn't pander to the fringe vocalists, we wouldn't have these problems.
No, you're wrong. Disorderly is when you yell and scream and call people names and such. Exactly what she did. A sit-in, for instance is an orderly protest. Disorderly does not mean disobeying some law, it means creating a vitriolic disturbance.
Thank you, good read.
Nice rant. Phrased as if relying upon statistics and logical conclusions. Missing something though. Oh year, links and actual references to support the well-stated, but personal opinions.