Hi, Anton! Recently you wrote in a message to Ardith Hinton:

I didn't see any line on my screen which ran over 72
characters here, although my software can handle up to 80.

Ironically, this very paragrph of yours is written as a
single line 472 characters wrong... er, long :-)

Omigosh! That does seem rather excessive... [wry grin].

It wasn't initially. Although I can go rambling off into the wild blue yonder as I'm typing, my message editor saves lines according to whatever limits I've set... on my screen. I took your query to mean you were wondering if your lines were too long. Not being a techie, I wasn't sure how many you'd be able to handle. And some of my Russian correspondents who use news readers have indicated they prefer lines twice the length generally used in Fidonet... but Alexander & I agree that 60-80 is within most people's comfort range. :-)

Now that I made this slip, it reminds of a Buddy Guy album
titled "74 years young," which I did not care for, but his
guitar work on Big Mama Thornton's "Hound dog" is top notch!

Ah. I see/hear what you mean.

Yes, that was the original "Hound dog" that Elvis
Presley turned into a joke,

I was aware that not all of his work was original...

posing with a hound dog for the promotion poster.

... but unlike some of my contemporaries, I didn't have a crush on him & generally paid little attention to these things. I do remember that one of my classmates was called into the principal's office & told not to wear the gigantic I LOVE ELVIS button her father had brought back from Hawaii while she remained on school premises. This gal seemed to enjoy pushing limits.... :-Q

Here's my friend's take on it:

https://soundcloud.com/anton-shepelev/hound-dog-blues-
version-cover

Interesting... thank you.

Bearing in mind the topic of the E_T echo, the contraction "ain't" is an informal variation probably best avoided by those who are writing exams. OTOH it is acceptable if you're singing the blues or replying to a question in Fidonet with a jocular comment like "Ain't nobody here but us chickens". :-))

I'm not at all concerned about lines which are shorter than
what you intended because I think that makes them easier for
less fluent speakers of English to interpret.

BTW... certain Fidonetters who are blind or visually impaired tend to use software which limits them to 40 lines. I can cope with that because I read newspapers & magazines, and I do want to hear what they have to say. :-)

If the lines are longer than what you intended, or if other
people's software omits words such as "not" when a line is
quoted & requoted, I consider that to be a more serious issue.

Indeed. Considerate treatment of message text is one of the key
requirements in GNKSA -- Good Netkeeping Seal of Approval.

Glad you feel that way. Like various rules of etiquette, it has a number of practical applications nowadays although times have changed.... :-)




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+
* Origin: Wits' End, Vancouver CANADA (1:153/716)

Hello Anton,

I didn't see any line on my screen which ran over 72
characters here, although my software can handle up to 80.

Ironically, this very paragrph of yours is written as a single
line 472 characters wrong... er, long :-)

That could be the editor. This editor I am using now (GoldED) will save paragraphs as one long line. If I were to reply to you with on offline reader like MultiMail lines would be saved as I see them on the screen, likely with CR/LF line endings.

I prefer when editors use one long line for a paragraph. Then readers can wrap those lines as appropriate for the terminal size being used by the reader instead of wrapping as the writer sees it since they could be different.

Ttyl :-),
Al

... Drive not ready; (R)etry, (G)o to impulse, (C)all Geordi
--- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5-b20180707
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Hi, Ardith! Recently you wrote in a message to Anton Shepelev:

I'm not at all concerned about lines which are shorter than
what you intended because I think that makes them easier for
less fluent speakers of English to interpret.

BTW... certain Fidonetters who are blind or visually impaired
tend to use software which limits them to 40 lines.

What I meant was "40 characters per line", which I could easily have abbreviated. OTOH I reckon Anton is smart enough to figure it out... [blush].




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+
* Origin: Wits' End, Vancouver CANADA (1:153/716)

Ardith Hinton:

BTW... certain Fidonetters who are blind or visually
impaired tend to use software which limits them to 40
lines. I can cope with that because I read newspapers &
magazines, and I do want to hear what they have to say.
:-)

We used 40 characters per line in the English translation of
Star Heritage:

https://freeshell.de//~antonius/img_host/star_heritage/ingame-01-3x.png
---
* Origin: nntp://news.fidonet.fi (2:221/6.0)

Ardith Hinton to Anton Shepelev:

Considerate treatment of message text is one of the key
requirements in GNKSA -- Good Netkeeping Seal of
Approval.

I interpreted this comment as a joke.

Now, I meant it in earnest:

https://web.archive.org/web/20160417105503/http://www.gnksa.org/gnksa.txt

There's an American magazine called GOOD HOUSEKEEPING
which reports on testing of common household items by
the Good Housekeeping Institute, and manufacturers who
have earned their "Seal of Approval" for any such item
generally display it on the product.

Whence the inspiration for GNKSA.
---
* Origin: nntp://news.fidonet.fi (2:221/6.0)

Alan Ianson:

This editor I am using now (GoldED) will save paragraphs
as one long line.

I see a lot of posts written via GoldED and formatted to a
limited line width, usually the standard 72 charactes. It
must be configurable in the settings.

I prefer when editors use one long line for a paragraph.
Then readers can wrap those lines as appropriate for the
terminal size being used by the reader instead of
wrapping as the writer sees it since they could be
different.

This is hightly non-standard, for readers are not required
to warp long lines. In Usenet, Fidonet, and e-mail, this is
the responsiblity of the sender. Here is the relevant
excerpt from GNKSA, but you shall find statements to similar
effect in RFC and other standards and guidelines:

14) Try to respect the 80-character line-length
conventions

Any line breaks shown to the user while she is editing
her article SHOULD still be present when the article is
actually posted to the Net. The software SHOULD NOT show
the user four 75-character lines while actually posting a
single 300-character line. Nor should it show the user a
series of 100-character lines while actually posting
alternating lines of 80 and 20 characters each.

It's also a good idea to warn the user if the article she
is about to post contains non-header lines longer than 80
characters. The software SHOULD NOT prevent the posting,
but SHOULD ask whether the user wants to re-edit or post
anyway.

A standard-conforing way to have a flexible line width is
Format=Flawed :

https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc2646#section-4.1
---
* Origin: nntp://news.fidonet.fi (2:221/6.0)

On 2022 Jan 09 20:58:18, you wrote to Alan Ianson:

This editor I am using now (GoldED) will save paragraphs
as one long line.

I see a lot of posts written via GoldED and formatted to a
limited line width, usually the standard 72 charactes. It
must be configurable in the settings.

that may be a function of the display code in whatever BBS, terminal, or mail reader one is using... these days line lengths are generally not forced except in cases of charts and tables but it depends on the software used to create the message as well as the software in use at the other end...

quotes, like mine above, are a different but similar matter...

)\/(ark

"The soul of a small kitten in the body of a mighty dragon. Look on my majesty, ye mighty, and despair! Or bring me catnip. Your choice. Oooh, a shiny thing!"
... RADIO SHACK - You've got questions! We've got blank looks!!!
---
* Origin: (1:3634/12.73)

Hi, Anton! Recently you wrote in a message to Ardith Hinton:

We used 40 characters per line in the English translation
of Star Heritage:

IOW you were one of the translators?

Makes sense to me... particularly if you can't be sure who's in the audience. I understand this is a video game & I reckon other folks might want to play it on whatever device(s) they have available. It seems you are making allowances for their hardware/software & for those who don't read books. :-))




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+
* Origin: Wits' End, Vancouver CANADA (1:153/716)