All lower case typing

elendil · Post by **elendil** » Sun Mar 16, 2003 8:24 pm

Question: how many of you would like me to take my all lower case style and shove it? It's a habit I fell into for brief communications, but perhaps it is aggravating for longer missives.

By the way, can anyone tell me how to change my username? I know I saw how to do it, somewhere, once, but I can't find the instructions now. If I ever find out how to do it, explanations will follow.

Finally, forgive my inexpertness, but I'm trying to do a poll and I'm not sure I'm doing it right, so here's the question:

Where does all lower case typing hurt you the most? Please describe the pain it gives you.

Jack · Post by **Jack** » Sun Mar 16, 2003 8:59 pm

The Weekenders · Post by **The Weekenders** » Mon Mar 17, 2003 1:09 am

Tin:

Lower case isnt that big a deal. What is a big deal to me is something you have right anyway.

Keep the paragraphs short and insert space. Its so very hard to read long full blocks of paragraphs. Especially if the poster uses long sentences, which I am prone to do, btw. Jim Stone does the short line thing, which keeps it possible to read so that works as well.

All the best,
The Weekenders

Jack · Post by **Jack** » Mon Mar 17, 2003 1:35 am

blackhawk · Post by **blackhawk** » Mon Mar 17, 2003 1:36 am

Type any way you want to, T. It's not hard to read, any way you want to do it. No worries!

Jens_Hoppe · Post by **Jens_Hoppe** » Mon Mar 17, 2003 2:00 am

JUST DON'T DO ALL UPPER CASE!!

susnfx · Post by **susnfx** » Mon Mar 17, 2003 7:36 am

Actually, I read a longer post of yours yesterday and found the all lower case typing very difficult to read - it actually crossed my mind to reply and ask you to use the caps key once in awhile! That said, however, it also gives you a "signature" style - feel free to type any way you want.
Susan

burnsbyrne · Post by **burnsbyrne** » Mon Mar 17, 2003 8:05 am

i dONT hAVE A pROBLEM wItH aLL LOWER cASE tYPING aS lONG aS iT iS uSED cOnSiStEnTlY.
mIKe

Martin Milner · Post by **Martin Milner** » Mon Mar 17, 2003 8:07 am

ifindlowercasetypingalotlesstroubleontheeyethan ALLUPPERCASESHOUTING atleastyou'respeakinginanormalvoice

it'sthelackofspacingandpunctuationthatreallychafesthough

Isilwen · Post by **Isilwen** » Mon Mar 17, 2003 8:43 am

Tinuviel, personally, I don't care how you type; it's your way of doing things, and that's fine. I don't think anyone else should have a say in the matter.

As to the Username, I e-mailed Rich to change mine. And just a Q. Why do you want to change your name?!?!? I think it's neat that there are a few people out there with Elvish Usernames.

elendil · Post by **elendil** » Mon Mar 17, 2003 5:36 pm

Thanks to everyone for their input. I guess if I post, it means I want someone to read what I write, so I want to make it easy for people to read. For longer messages (and I do tend to get a little crazy in front of a keyboard) I'll do the standard style.

As for the name change, I e-mailed Rich and I'm waiting to hear back. My reason for wanting to change is simple. Those who know Elvish will realize that Tinuviel is a female name. I picked it as a username because I got all excited about my new Sweetheart Professional D and wanted to shout about, so I registered in a hurry and picked the first name that popped into my head: tinuviel, the name of my computer. Lately I've been feeling self-conscious, so I want to change it to a male name (still Elvish), since the username refers to me, not my computer.

FJohnSharp · Post by **FJohnSharp** » Mon Mar 17, 2003 5:48 pm

Ahh the writer's dilemma. To write what you want to write or write what will be read. If you like the lowercase then stay with it and know that some people will not read your words. If you want to compromise your style and whore yourself out to the masses

, then type in a standard way so people will have less of a reason to NOT read you.

My suggestion, just add a little more 'white space' to your posts and people can read it fine.

But...the standard way of capitalizing was invented for a reason ya know...

Another thing you could do is add maybe three spaces between sentences if you choose not to capitalize at the beginning of sentences. Our eyes look for cues to keep out place.

DCrom · Post by **DCrom** » Mon Mar 17, 2003 6:06 pm

FJohnSharp wrote:Ahh the writer's dilemma. To write what you want to write or write what will be read. If you like the lowercase then stay with it and know that some people will not read your words. If you want to compromise your style and whore yourself out to the masses , then type in a standard way so people will have less of a reason to NOT read you.

My suggestion, just add a little more 'white space' to your posts and people can read it fine.

But...the standard way of capitalizing was invented for a reason ya know...

Another thing you could do is add maybe three spaces between sentences if you choose not to capitalize at the beginning of sentences. Our eyes look for cues to keep out place.

FJohnSharp, I have to strongly disagree with you on this one. Though I know your "whore yourself out to the masses" was largely in jest, one of the major irritants of the internet, in general, is the large volume of folks who deliberately ignore normal usages in favor of "personal style".

Used sparingly, non-standard posts actually do achieve their intended goal - they draw the eye, and the reader's attention. I've no argument with that. whether its an all lower case sentence without any punctuation even when its needed OR AN ALL-CAPS SHOUT these do make the reader pause a bit, read them more slowly and (hopefully!) more thoughtfully.

But unless your main intent in posting is something other than conveying your thoughts to the largest possible audience, using too many non-standard techniques (and slowing down most readers in the process) is counter-productive; it leads to some readers skipping over your post altogether.

I think of odd capitalization, spelling, and grammar as being like spices is cooking - used with care, they lead to a tasty dish, but used too freely they may leave you with something inedible. And if I'm a trifle dismissive of some of the more "innovative" posting styles I've seen, it's because I'm getting tired of Garlic Chocolate Curried Wombat Meringue.

Dana

elendil · Post by **elendil** » Mon Mar 17, 2003 8:36 pm

i like that extra spaces idea. i'll give that a try in future. actually, part of the reason i got into this low case mode is from using linux, where, as in other unices, low case tends to be the norm. but, y'all are absolutely right--standard english punctuation and capitalization has definite advantages.

Aha! I tried three spaces (above) and it didn't work--it came out as you see it. I think the best idea is to format my writing a little more. Thanks to all.

FJohnSharp · Post by **FJohnSharp** » Mon Mar 17, 2003 9:42 pm

DCrom wrote: FJohnSharp, I have to strongly disagree with you on this one. Though I know your "whore yourself out to the masses" was largely in jest, one of the major irritants of the internet, in general, is the large volume of folks who deliberately ignore normal usages in favor of "personal style".

Used sparingly, non-standard posts actually do achieve their intended goal - they draw the eye, and the reader's attention. I've no argument with that. whether its an all lower case sentence without any punctuation even when its needed OR AN ALL-CAPS SHOUT these do make the reader pause a bit, read them more slowly and (hopefully!) more thoughtfully.

But unless your main intent in posting is something other than conveying your thoughts to the largest possible audience, using too many non-standard techniques (and slowing down most readers in the process) is counter-productive; it leads to some readers skipping over your post altogether.

I think of odd capitalization, spelling, and grammar as being like spices is cooking - used with care, they lead to a tasty dish, but used too freely they may leave you with something inedible. And if I'm a trifle dismissive of some of the more "innovative" posting styles I've seen, it's because I'm getting tired of Garlic Chocolate Curried Wombat Meringue.

Dana

Dana, I don't think we disagree at all. While I told tinuviel (sp?) that is was okay for him to post how he likes, I also said that the people would likely choose not to read it. Anytime one does what one wants in opposition to the accepted standards, they risk alienation or being ignored. If tinuviel wishes to express himself uniquely it is because he chooses to take the associated risks. As you can see, I do not. I use the standard style so that you will be more likely to read it. I do not want to have typed this for nothing.

Now, if you want my honest opinion of the style thing, I thnk that laziness and the proliferation of internet chat have ruined standard style to the point that my teen age daughter and her peers don't even KNOW the correct style. I think that in a few years we will see some sort of acceptance of non-standard styles just as we have accepted new words and new definitons for old words because people were too lazy to use the language as it was created (just look at the word 'hopefully'). One day, it wll be acceptable in business letters to use all lower case and sentences like 'r u 2 n luv?'