full-disclosure - Top posting [was: MM

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Date: Fri Sep  9 15:35:59 2005
From: dee at pestcontroldata.com (Dee Holtsclaw)
Subject: Top posting [was: MM - #$%@ Kill Google!]

It's also quite a pain to inline post for those unfortunates stuck with 
BillCo's LookOut! The quote formatting in many versions tends to get confused 
when you try to insert new text and you often end up with a tangled mess.

Although I do not suffer from this myself (I'm running FC3 and using KMail), I 
tend to top-post when writing a essay style reply (or diatribe) and the 
quoted message is included for reference only (or when sending anything to my 
wife at work since she's one of the afore mentioned unfortunates). If, OTOH, 
there is a list of questions to which separate replies are being made, then I 
reply inline below each question (or salient point). This style has served me 
well so far and most mailing lists I subscribe to tend to follow this style 
as well. Oh, and I keep my digital scissors handy too.

Things could be worse -- you could have to type your replies on an IBM 029 
punch and sort the cards... <shudder>

Ciao,
Lawrence "Dee" Holtsclaw

P.S. "BillCo" and "LookOut!" are shamelessly stolen from an article by author 
Spider Robinson regarding Microsoft Outlook. He maintains [in the article] 
that the mail scripting capabilities which make email viruses possible is the 
ONLY innovation that Microsoft did not buy or steal.

On Friday 09 September 2005 9:44 am, Steve Kudlak wrote:
> First thought A"top or bottom" hmmm sounds kinky;)....if I tell this to
> a 14 year old does someone somewhere have to report it. Anyway my brief
> take is below.
>
> It is Yahoogroups who seeemed to have started the cult of top posting.
> They asked me to do it that way. I never used to do it. Note with all
> the Katrina Messagee relay stuff  I hasve been doing I FELL ASLEEP ON MY
> BAD ARM and so hasve to rest to geet feunctionality back. So u folks
> will be spared much more on this subject.... P.S. AIt was on bcrants I
> was first asked to do it. ...but it seems to be the norm in yahooland.
>
> Have Fun,
> Sends Steve
>
> Gareth Davies wrote:
> > Micheal Espinola Jr wrote:
> >> Ahem, but they still like the products, problems or not. Killing MS
> >> is not the answer.
> >> Contrary to uber-nerd beleif, there is no rule about top posting -
> >> but yea, I shoulda still trimmed.
> >
> > Answer: Usually below the question.
> >
> >
> > Question: Where do you see answers in relation to the question?
> >
> > Isn't that the case?
> >
> > Same goes for points you are addressing, you don't read from the
> > bottom up, you read the top down, so top-posting is just disturbing
> > the natural reading order.
> >
> > Cheers!
<SNIP>