From: utzoo!decvax!duke!unc!mcnc!rlgvax!thekid Newsgroups: net.flame Title: small is better Article-I.D.: rlgvax.1073 Posted: Tue Feb 22 13:52:49 1983 Received: Thu Feb 24 08:08:35 1983 yes, i would tend to agree with that a (semi) skilled reader uses cues like word-shape, punctuation and case. however, good readers do not read single words, they read groups of words, often on several sentences at the same time. this allows not only faster reading (i don't know what the limits are, i've been tested at 1200 words per minute, with 80% comprehension, and i know people who are much faster than i am) but faster "thinking" in that you learn to ignore words that are insignificant in terms of the idea to be communicated. thus, the more skilled the reader the less such `flouting' of conventions will slow them down. this has a logical conclusion, someone who reads very poorly needs far more `clues' to ascertain the meaning of the sentence, i.e. needs the fact that a word is capitalized to be sure of its meaning. admittedly, if one is "reading" a spec for the downloading of a new line protocol, one does not "read", one does something else, i'm not sure what. in such a case the document must have been prepared following an exact set of rules... which if you'll re-read my first message i never argued against. second point, true, ee cummings' poetry is another issue. but ALL writing is an art form. contrast the books of Hemingway, Faulkner, Maugham etc. with a copy of the Monarch study notes for same. both document the same ideas, one does it beautifully/artistically, one lists them. i am often more interested in how an idea is stated than in the idea itself. needless to say, this applies (although to a lesser extent) to technical papers too. since the net is as much non-technical as technical, it certainly applies here. finally, i use all lower-case when i type for a very practical reason ... IT IS FASTER! my typing tends not to linger as far behind my thinking, so i can communicate ideas/feelings more effectively. personal mail so far is: 1 for lower-case, 0 against. keep those cards and letters coming! thekid ...!decvax!duke!mcnc!rlgvax!thekid