home bbs files messages ]

Just a sample of the Echomail archive

Cooperative anarchy at its finest, still active today. Darkrealms is the Zone 1 Hub.

   ENGLISH_TUTOR      English Tutoring for Students of the Eng      4,347 messages   

[   << oldest   |   < older   |   list   |   newer >   |   newest >>   ]

   Message 3,738 of 4,347   
   Ardith Hinton to Anton Shepelev   
   To find a subject... 1B.   
   04 Aug 21 23:52:57   
   
   MSGID: 1:153/716.0 10b5f0c1   
   REPLY: 2:221/6.0 60def07a   
   CHRS: IBMPC 2   
   Hi again, Anton!  This is a continuation of my previous message to you:   
      
   [re double spacing]   
   AK>  *roff -- the oldest and nerdiest document-formatting    
   AK>  system -- has natural support for it.   
      
      
             Nice bit of description!  While I know very little about programming   
   some of my favourite people are nerds & in my own way I am too... [chuckle].   
      
      
      
   AS>  It was desinged and implemented by die-hard UNIXoids.    
      
      
             Ah, well... UNIXoids are a special breed.  I take it this system was   
   designed years ago when folks learned double spacing in typing class.  And the   
   authors realized some users might want to communicate with others....  :-)   
      
      
      
   AS>  As my boss told a colleague who asked me to help her    
   AS>  with transation into English, "Anton is much better    
   AS>  at translating from Russian into C#."     
      
      
             Apart from a few typos & misspellings, which you often recognize ten   
   seconds after they've scanned out (as I do with my own), I'm content with your   
   ability to translate between Russian & English.  If other people think you can   
   translate better between Russian & C# I'll admit both are beyond my ken, and I   
   congratulate myself when I can decipher "Russian volka" in your alphabet.  :-Q   
      
      
      
   AS>  I know very few programmers who care about their (natural)    
   AS>  language and have a taste for prose.     
      
      
             I am reminded here of someone I tutored in the version of grade nine   
   English modified for the "low & slow" class.  Years later he was introduced to   
   me as a programmer by his wife, who didn't realize we knew each other already,   
   but I was surprised because everyone else I knew who did programming seemed to   
   be far more intelligent & capable of writing good prose if necessary.  I guess   
   the difference was that computerwise they did more advanced stuff too....  :-)   
      
      
      
   AS>  Their attempts to refactor (to use programming jargon)    
      
      
             No problem AFAIC.  I studied Latin for four years....  :-))   
      
      
      
   AS>  your text may destroy it. But their optionion of what    
   AS>  is said wrong and unclear is often correct, only the    
   AS>  writer should be the one to make amendments!                                
      
      
             Uh-huh.  I don't correct every error you & Alexander make because as   
   often as not you'll do it yourself... and in many cases I'm more interested in   
   what you have to say than in how you say it.  But I encourage my students & my   
   friends to ask for clarification if they don't understand what I said....  :-)   
   --- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+   
    * Origin: Wits' End, Vancouver CANADA (1:153/716)   
   SEEN-BY: 1/123 14/0 30/0 90/1 103/705 105/81 120/340 123/131 129/305   
   SEEN-BY: 134/100 138/146 153/105 250 757 7715 154/10 218/700 221/1   
   SEEN-BY: 221/6 226/30 227/114 702 229/101 424 426 700 1016 1017 240/1120   
   SEEN-BY: 240/5832 249/206 317 261/38 282/1038 301/0 1 101 113 317/3   
   SEEN-BY: 322/757 335/364 342/11 200 460/58 712/848 920/1 3634/12 4500/1   
   SEEN-BY: 5020/1042 5058/104   
   PATH: 153/7715 757 221/6 301/1 229/426   
      

[   << oldest   |   < older   |   list   |   newer >   |   newest >>   ]


(c) 1994,  bbs@darkrealms.ca