O.T. Actual airline pilot conversations

In article ,
Dylan Smith wrote:

In article qEQod.662427$8_6.443178@attbi_s04, mike regish wrote:
That's just dumb. Can you figure out what this reply is to? Or is it too
difficult for you?

The problem with top posting is:
(a) see witty earlier comment where someone wrote a conversation
bottom-to-top
(b) the vast majority (like 99.9%) of top posters do not trim what they
are quoting. Usenet isn't email, and repeated top-posting leads to two
line comments on top of 50K long top-posted trails of redundant
messages. Now you might say 'well, 50K - big deal' but replicated across
tens of thousands of news servers... not to mention most people STILL
are not on broadband and quote a few still pay for dialup by the minute.
A large NG with many top posted threads can soon add up to megabytes of
untrimmed quotes that a modem user must download (and possibly pay for).

And the vast majority (like 99.9%) of bottom posters DO trim...?

In article ,
Robert Morien wrote:

And the vast majority (like 99.9%) of bottom posters DO trim...?

yes.

--
Bob Noel

In article , Robert Morien wrote:
In article ,
Dylan Smith wrote:
snip
A large NG with many top posted threads can soon add up to megabytes of
untrimmed quotes that a modem user must download (and possibly pay for).

And the vast majority (like 99.9%) of bottom posters DO trim...?

Indeed they do. If you 'bottom post' (or more likely, quote selective
bits and comment right underneath the point you're replying to), by the
very nature of the activity there is an incentive to trim the quotations
down.

--
Dylan Smith, Castletown, Isle of Man
Flying: http://www.dylansmith.net
Frontier Elite Universe: http://www.alioth.net
"Maintain thine airspeed, lest the ground come up and smite thee"

The problem with top posting is:
(b) the vast majority (like 99.9%) of top posters do not trim what they
are quoting. Usenet isn't email, and repeated top-posting leads to two
line comments on top of 50K long top-posted trails of redundant
messages.

I'd rather see the one-liner at the top, and then I know to skip the rest, than to claw my way down to the bottom to do so.

I have no problem with an appropriate mix of top, bottom, and interleaved postings. Each have their merits.

Jose
(rec.radio.scanner and misc.consumers trimmed)
--
Freedom. It seemed like a good idea at the time.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

On Wed, 24 Nov 2004 08:58:34 -0000, Dylan Smith
wrote:

In article qEQod.662427$8_6.443178@attbi_s04, mike regish wrote:
That's just dumb. Can you figure out what this reply is to? Or is it too
difficult for you?

The problem with top posting is:
(a) see witty earlier comment where someone wrote a conversation
bottom-to-top
(b) the vast majority (like 99.9%) of top posters do not trim what they
are quoting. Usenet isn't email, and repeated top-posting leads to two
line comments on top of 50K long top-posted trails of redundant
messages. Now you might say 'well, 50K - big deal' but replicated across
tens of thousands of news servers... not to mention most people STILL
are not on broadband and quote a few still pay for dialup by the minute.
A large NG with many top posted threads can soon add up to megabytes of
untrimmed quotes that a modem user must download (and possibly pay for).


And bottom posting doesn't?

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com

On Wed, 24 Nov 2004 13:44:23 -0000, Dylan Smith
wrote:

In article , Robert Morien wrote:
In article ,
Dylan Smith wrote:
snip
and again
Indeed they do. If you 'bottom post' (or more likely, quote selective

That I just don't believe. Many times and even in this group I've
scrolled down through pages of text to find a two or three line answer
to the whole thing.

OTOH I've never forgotten to snip the irrelevant text like a lot of
posters. :-))

The problem with the top posted one liner is you need to look to see
if that was the only comment.

and again

Although this appears to be bottom posted, it was really a piece out
of the middle. (selective quoting) with the whole bottom snipped.

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com

[Long lines hand-wrapped; Google will probably mess them up]

Jose wrote:

I'd rather see the one-liner at the top, and then I know \
to skip the rest, than to claw my way down to the bottom \
to do so.

I have no problem with an appropriate mix of top, bottom, \
and interleaved postings. Each have their merits.

IMNSHO, *appropriate* top-posting is a *very* specialised field.

Please instruct your Netscape to use shorter lines: Usenet convention is
to keep original text within 72 columns, which allows modestly nested
quoting before anything falls off the right hand side of an 80-column
device.

The relevant option in my Netscrape is:

Edit
Preferences
Mail & Groups
Messages
Wrap long lines at [72] characters

YNMV

[NGs trimmed as Roger and Dylan are r.a.p regulars]

Roger wrote:
Dylan Smith wrote:

The problem with top posting is:

(b) the vast majority (like 99.9%) of top posters do not trim what
they are quoting ... A large NG with many top posted threads
can soon add up to megabytes of untrimmed quotes that a modem
user must download (and possibly pay for).

And bottom posting doesn't?

Bottom-posting *with snippage* doesn't, and decent snippage seems to
be quite a bit more common in association with bottom-posting.

Please instruct your Netscape to use shorter lines: Usenet convention is
to keep original text within 72 columns, which allows modestly nested
quoting before anything falls off the right hand side of an 80-column
device.

How many people still use 80 column devices? (serious
question).
All the newsreaders I've seen autowrap, and short lines make
a mess
of autowrap, depending on the gateways they pass through.
This is why I chose to use long lines - they autowrwap
gracefully, and cut and paste gracefully.

But if there is sufficient call for it, I'll change
to 72 chars (or less, since I've seen many widow words)

Jose
--
Freedom. It seemed like a good idea at the time.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

In article ,
Bob Noel wrote:

In article ,
Robert Morien wrote:

And the vast majority (like 99.9%) of bottom posters DO trim...?

yes.

You must post the location of this paradise you live in.