On 2/26/06, <b class="gmail_sendername">Chris Pinkham</b> <<a href="mailto:cpinkham@bc2va.org">cpinkham@bc2va.org</a>> wrote:<div><span class="gmail_quote"></span><br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
If you had to ask exactly how to comply then you're either an idiot or you<br>don't read anything on this list, because this subject comes up every week or<br>two. It's mentioned over and over again: "Top-Post and trim the email
<br>you're replying to so only the relevant portions remain".</blockquote><div><br>That's great - except I recall plenty of e-mails mentioning not top-posting and none (prior to Issac's) mentioning the need to trim your e-mails. I'm sure you're busy searching right now for some thread which will prove me wrong but someone like yourself, who is clearly much much more educated than li'l ol' me, must know that finding one doesn't mean I *do* recollect, so don't waste your time.
<br></div><br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">I have better things to do with my time than "analyze other people's e-mail",
<br>especially my myth-related time, which I'd rather spend coding than trying to<br>follow breadcrumbs through uneducated users' emails.</blockquote><div><br>Clearly, you don't have better things to do - sorry. <br></div>
<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">If I have to analyze<br>someone's email just to help them, then my desire to help goes away. If
<br>people can't write a legible email that is easy to follow, then they miss out<br>on help from a lot of people who don't want to waste their time trying to<br>decypher emails with the above logic.</blockquote><div><br>
Where to start.... My e-mail *was* legible, apparently what the mail system did with it wasn't. Except, here's what "legible" means:<br><br><h2>legible</h2><form name="entry" method="post" action="/cgi-bin/dictionary">
<table valign="top" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td>
<input name="hdwd" value="legible" type="hidden"><input name="listword" value="legible" type="hidden"><input name="book" value="Dictionary" type="hidden"></td></tr></tbody></table>
</form>
Main Entry: <b>leg·i·ble</b> <a href="javascript:popWin('/cgi-bin/audio.pl?legibl01.wav=legible')"><img src="http://www.m-w.com/images/audio.gif" border="0" height="11" width="16"></a><br>
Pronunciation: <tt>'le-j&-b&l</tt><br>
Function: <i>adjective</i><br>
Etymology: Middle English, from Late Latin <i>legibilis, </i>from Latin <i>legere </i>to read<br>
<b>1</b> <b>:</b> capable of being read or deciphered <b>: <a href="http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/plain"><font size="-1">PLAIN</font></a></b><br><b>2</b> <b>:</b> capable of being discovered or understood<br>- <b>leg·i·bil·i·ty
</b> <a href="javascript:popWin('/cgi-bin/audio.pl?legibl02.wav=legibility')"><img src="http://www.m-w.com/images/audio.gif" border="0" height="11" width="16"></a> /<tt>"le-j&-'bi-l&-tE</tt>/ <i>noun</i><br>
- <b>leg·i·bly</b> <a href="javascript:popWin('/cgi-bin/audio.pl?legibl03.wav=legibly')"><img src="http://www.m-w.com/images/audio.gif" border="0" height="11" width="16"></a> /<tt>'le-j&-blE</tt>/ <i>adverb<br><br></i>
So, you see, it was legible - you could both read it, and decipher it. That's right, decIpher it, not decYpher it. Learn how to spell, get a spell checker, or just read my e-mail - I spelled it correctly. Good job, college boy.
<br></div><br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">So, now you know, "top post and trim replies", you shouldn't have anything
<br>else to say on the subject since you know know "how to comply" and that<br>was "the real aim of my (your) post".</blockquote><div><br>No, there is a difference between telling someone to do something, and telling them how to do it. This concept is prerequisite to even discussing knowledge in the light of things such as the Gettier case, but your advanced degree in Philosophy has prepared you well for this discussion, so I won't bore you with details, Descartes.
<br> <br>Anyway, thanks for your time Dr. Pinkham. I hope it didn't inconvenience you too much, rescheduling that brain surgery. Besides, this was useful, we got a-lot accomplished.<br></div></div><br>PS - If this is such a huge problem, why don't we put together a good citizen guide for the list? The point is to pass information around and get things done not to be pompous, right?
<br><br>PPS - If someone had just said this:<br>"Top-Post and trim the email you're replying to so only the relevant portions remain" sooner,<br>you wouldn't be facing such feelings of inadequacy right now - sorry.
<br><br>