A present for paulears

[TimStannard]

paulears,
You have written a lot in the last 24 hours and I'm brain dead from reading it. No so much the content but from simply looking at it.

Here



are



some


carriage



returns



and



line



feeds.


Feel



free



to


use


them.


If you run short, I can always supply some more

I'm sure if your students handed in work like that you'd struggle.

In good humour,

Tim

[TimStannard]

Replying to my own thread, it seems, paulears, that you have taken exception to my post.

I am replying for two reasons - firstly to clarify why I posted as I did and secondly to explain to others why I posted the above (as you have removed the posts, my post above no longer makes sense)

My "criticism" was not the content but the way it was presented in blocks of ten to twenty lines unbroken by white space. This makes them extremely difficult to read. Really. It does. I wanted to point this out.

There were three ways i couild have done this.

1. Posted to you privately
2. Posted a straightforward "please could you put some white space in your post"
3. Posted with some humour

I rejected 1. because it would be transparent to other users who might see your posts and assume solid blocks of text are the way things are done around here and thus might do the same themselves.

I rejected 2. for fear of sounding officious and stuffy and like I'm telling you what to do (which I have no right to do).

So I opted for 3.
I rather thought there was humour in the irony of making my post difficult to read by going to the other extreme (too much white space), but I appreciate not everyone shares my sense of humour.
So, just to make it really clear it was meant in good humour I had a winky smilie and said "in good humour".

Of course I may be barking up entirely the wrong tree as you also refer to messages you've received privately and I have no knowledge of those - it may be those you've taken umbrage at.

Irrespective, I would urge you to repost your posts (possibly with some white space) as there should be no reason to "penalise" the rest of the community because you've got the hump with me or someone else.

[Rembrandt Rob]

In defence of Tim...

Tim is one of our senior mods and (he will dispute this because he is very modest) one of our true experts. He is also a gentleman and would never deliberately upset anyone.

Some of our posters can be a bit "aesthetically challenged" when it comes to making posts easy to read and, I agree with Tim, large blocks of text are hard to digest from a computer screen. I found Tim's post above a "bit of fun" and think that there has been a bit of "throwing toys out of the pram" about it. This forum is like the saloon bar of the pub. Someone makes a comment, someone else answers, suggestions are made and it gets discussed and sorted. Some of the people know what they are talking about, some don't, nobody gets hurt and the conversation moves on.

It's only a forum.

[Zero]

In defence of Paul . . . As a very knowledgable contributer to this and other forums it would be sad if he has felt obliged to keep his head down over this. I didn't read his repsonse/s, so can't judge the mood, but I guess, like anyone facing the 'tease' posting it could/would have offended many who weren't really close buddies. Tim's post was a joke, but I didn't really see the need as he could also have mentioned the same observation in any post by Paul, without the risk of the public ridicule.
All respect to both parties!

[CaptionWorld]

Have to agree some posts are to long. And ones with no paragraphs I just scan and move on. Also the use of "And Quote" The whole post is quoted instead of just the topic from this. Just highlight a portion relevant to what you are talking about copy and paste into your post then select italics is good enough.

I would say all posts on this forum are meant in good faith. Though the power of words and phrases can dramatically change how the reader reacts to a comment. Even though there is no intended offense it can backfire. Depends a lot on what frame of mind we are on at the time of reading. It does say in the forum rules somewhere though, If you are offended or cannot take constructive criticism then do not post.

I remember my first post about introducing myself. The replies I got I took as negative the wrong way. of course it was all my fault for doing so. And I am still here.

[TimStannard]

In defence of Paul . . . As a very knowledgable contributer to this and other forums it would be sad if he has felt obliged to keep his head down over this.

Indeed.

I guess, like anyone facing the 'tease' posting it could/would have offended many who weren't really close buddies. Tim's post was a joke, but I didn't really see the need as he could also have mentioned the same observation in any post by Paul, without the risk of the public ridicule.

In retrospect that may be where I went wrong. I was treating paulears, who has been a reasonably long time contributer here, as one of my "buddies" as far as this forum goes, like I might treat you or Midnight, or Rembrandt Rob, or Z or Andy or even some relative newcomers like CW or vidmanners. A joke at his expense, indeed, but hardly public ridicule.

I would not have dreamed of posting similarly if he had been a newbie to this forum.

I think Rob summed it up quite accurately - (thanks for your support, Rob and indeed I do dispute both "expert" and "gentleman"!)

To CW - exactly! (though the business about not being able to take criticism is specifically with regard to posting videos for criticism)

I suggest we put this to bed now.

Sorry for causing such upset.

[Zero]

Just too many spaces between sentences for me to read properly lol Bed time it is