Subject: RE: Four suggestions for this group<br/>
Date: Aug 02, 2004 @ 05:05<br/>
Author: Ron McConnell (&quot;Ron McConnell&quot; &lt;rcmcc@...&gt;)<br/>
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<div id="ygrps-yiv-916475198">As another newcomer, I go along with Dave.<br/>
Of all the groups/lists/etc. to which<br/>
I subscribe, this one has some of the<br/>
most interesting discussions,<br/>
but is the most frustrating to read<br/>
for the reasons Dave outlines.<br/>
I noticed one message with what appear<br/>
to be at twelve unedited layers of comments<br/>
often with a single word per line.<br/>
My eyes just glaze over and usually miss<br/>
any bit of useful new information<br/>
hidden in the mess.<br/>
<br/>
The lack of any grammar for some posters<br/>
(some of which appear very knowledgable)<br/>
make any of it hard to translate.<br/>
It&#39;s even worse than the old all uppercase style.<br/>
In my experience, most non-native English<br/>
speakers/writers are much better<br/>
than us natives.<br/>
<br/>
A FAQ and glossary of coined terms<br/>
would be a very nice addition as well.<br/>
With such an esoteric subject,<br/>
I understand a need for some &quot;standard&quot;<br/>
appreviations, acronyms, and new words.<br/>
<br/>
I keep struggling through the MESSages<br/>
because the subjects often are of interest.<br/>
It&#39;s hard for a newcomer to become deeply involved.<br/>
I encourage the deeply involved to take<br/>
some time to produce readable text.<br/>
No one expects it to be perfect.<br/>
Heaven knows my notes aren&#39;t.<br/>
<br/>
Some groups and lists periodically<br/>
post guidelines on how to post useful messages. <br/>
Of course, It doesn&#39;t eliminate<br/>
the poorly written and constructed messages,<br/>
but those groups do seem to do much better<br/>
than the average.  If ever a group needed<br/>
such a thing, this one is it.<br/>
<br/>
Cheers,<br/>
<br/>
Ron McC.<br/>
<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="mailto:w2iol@...">w2iol@...</a><br/>
<br/>
Ronald C. McConnell, PhD<br/>
<br/>
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<br/>
 <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://home.earthlink.net/~rcmcc">http://home.earthlink.net/~rcmcc</a> <br/>
<br/>
There are two secrets to success:<br/>
(1) Don&#39;t tell all you know.</div>