[plug] [OT] Nit-Picking (was: CommIT Day 2, summary)

[Cameron Patrick]

Jeffrey Lim wrote:

> We all have to make sure that we stick to at least some basic proper
> rules dont we?

Well, we have to make sure that we can understand each other.  As Ben
has pointed out, your own post was hardly a shining example of
grammatical perfection.  Human language can take a surprising amount
of distortion and still be comprehensible.  I think that people
posting to this list should show respect for the hundreds of readers
that they have and make their messages easily readable.  That doesn't
involve going to great lengths like you would for formal writing.
Simple things like putting capital letters in the right place, not
using those stupid abbreviations (like "4" for "for" and "pls" for
"please") and not making too many glaring typos can make a message a
lot easier for people to read.  Not doing so smacks of laziness.

However, not everyone has James's ability to pick up on typos (and so
may not notice them in their own writing, even if they are aware that
what they wrote is somehow "wrong"), and a lot of the things that
James comments on are utterly inconsequential.  There's a phrase often
trotted out about network protocols, "be liberal in what you accept,
and conservative in what you send".  Perhaps it's good advice for
human communication too.

Cameron.