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Posted by The Wanderer on January 20, 2008, 10:48 am
On Sun, 20 Jan 2008 13:05:29 +0000, Alan Dicey wrote:
> BEI Design wrote:
>> The Wanderer wrote:
>>> On Sat, 19 Jan 2008 04:00:16 GMT, Taria wrote:
>>>
>>>> The message comes right off Kate's msg. with my
>>>> browser.
>>> I think the *real* message was about top posting, which
>>> you are doing....
>>
>> Ding, ding, ding....
>>
>> ;-)
>
>
> You may know the poster you criticise ("Sandra Bodycoat") well,
Not at all.
> in which
> case there is a possibility that your reply to her was understood.
I don't think so, judging on her initial response,
> I
> don't recall any previous posts from her,
Nor do I, but it wasn't me who made the initial comment about her post.
> so there is a danger that your
> post will be misinterpreted. It certainly comes across to me as, well,
> intolerant.
But this is usenet, no good being thin-skinned if you're going to post to
NGs.
> The poster has not come back into the thread, and has no previous
> history in the group, so you may have driven her away. Was that your
> intention, however much you may find top-posting irritating?
Definitely nt *my* intention, merely pointing out that cewrtain conventions
have developed within usenet over a great many years for very valid
reasons.
> I can't see the point of wars over top or bottom posting. To my mind
> they are a distraction from the real target, which is inadequate
> snipping, quoting the whole of a post just to add a few lines. A few
> such exchanges and a post becomes unreadable.
Well, yes. I can only agree with you. That reinforces my comments about
usenet conventions.
> I prefer interleaved quoting, but proper snipping is vital in any
> response to reduce the dead weight in the reply, and is something Sandra
> was guilty of. Top-posting does reduce the irritation of excessive
> re-quoting, but that isn't a good reason to do it.
No, continued top posting is laziness in the extreme[1]; it says much about
the attitude of the poster. Abiding by accepted usenet protocol is about
consideration for others.
> A pointer to an article, such as the ones below, is probably the best
> way to respond, if you want to change the "offenders" mind about how
> they quote.
>
> http://www.cs.tut.fi/~jkorpela/usenet/brox.html
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top-posting#Top-posting
> http://www.mail-archive.com/mac.webmasters@mail.maclaunch.com/msg00068.html
>
> (I don't usually quote Wikipedia as a primary source, but the article is
> pretty comprehensive.)
Those may be valid references for newbies, but the TPer in this thread
appears not to be a newbie. I quote:
> That's how I always post. If you are griping about
> someone top posting why don't you just do that?
>
> I always top post. Pretty consistently. Might be
> easier to just block messages from folks that post
> in a way that bugs you.
That signifies to me someone who is reasonably conversant with usenet, if
not usenet protocol.
I suggest that the particular individual would have little or no
inclination to actually look at any of those URLs, given her apparent
stance from her post quoted above.
> I think the main reason for top-vs-bottom posting wars is that each side
> finds the other's approach to be seriously irritating.
My original comments were intended as a rather light-hearted reflection on
BEI's post, nothing more. BEI's response seemed to me fully in keeping with
the tenor of my comments.
> However,
> short-tempered or cryptic responses are most likely to drive each side
> back into entrenched positions, from which they lob rocks at each other,
> to nobody's benefit.
It wasn't me who wished to push the matter further, although I have no wish
to engage in a battle of wits and intellect with anyone who is patently so
ill-equipped to make it worthwhile[2] [3].
[1] I fully accept that newbies who don't know any better may start by
TPing. It's to be hoped that they take on board the suggestions copntained
in the numerous URLs that can be found about usenet protocol.
[2] As I am responding to Alan, that comment was not aimed at him.
[3] But you may wish to look at what your other half has already commented
in this thread. And to be honest, which I fully agree with, certainly in
this NG. Except that a good lunch and a glass or three of wine has prompted
me to respond to your post.....
:-)
--
Richard
the dot wanderer at tesco dot net
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