At 5:30 PM 1/4/96, Jim Ray wrote:

As to the "English lesson," I feel that proofreading messages to 1200+ people is more important than proofing private e-mail, but some folks evidently disagree with me. For an example of posts which I feel are properly proofed, please see Tim's posts. They aren't perfect English (mine aren't either) but there's evidence that he takes the time to proofread them. This not only makes ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ his posts easier to read, it makes them [IMO] more convincing. Of course, I usually agree with Tim anyway. [Hi Tim] I'll shut

Thanks for the positive comments, but I need to clear the air about this "proofreading" business: I usually don't proofread my posts. I write 'em as fast as I think 'em, then I send 'em! A few of my longer essays I've proofed, reworked, etc., but mostly I just respond by typing directly and then sending. I no longer even use a spelling checker, in fact. This can probably be guessed by some of you, as I sometimes leave out words, which careful proofing would normally catch. I figure that informal communications are tolerant to such informal usages. I also tend to write in a conversational style, so the agonized structuring and restructuring that some writers apparently feel they must go through does not enter in to my own writing. (I'm a relatively fast typist, and am comfortable composing at the keyboard, which not everone is, of course.) One thing I try to scrupulously check are the distribution list and the other message headers, usually because I edit down the distribution list and sometimes to change the thread title to something more closely related to my actual message (as I have done here). --Tim May We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, we know that that ain't allowed. ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay@got.net 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Higher Power: 2^756839 - 1 | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."