Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!mnetor!yetti!geac!chris
From: chris@geac.UUCP (Chris Syed)
Newsgroups: comp.cog-eng
Subject: Re: comp.cog-eng
Message-ID: <975@geac.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 27-Jul-87 18:07:22 EDT
Article-I.D.: geac.975
Posted: Mon Jul 27 18:07:22 1987
Date-Received: Tue, 28-Jul-87 02:04:28 EDT
References: <386@sdics.ucsd.EDU> <974@geac.UUCP>
Organization: GEAC Computers, Toronto, CANADA
Lines: 36
Summary: new interface, old technology

In article <974@geac.UUCP>, sigrid@geac.UUCP (Sigrid Grimm) writes:
> 
> I like *all* the names suggested ...
> Can't we somehow employ the concept of aliasing here ?
> ... yeh...  that's the tickit ...
> A WHOLE NEW INTERFACE FOR THE NEWS APPLICATION !!!

When I first stumbled onto comp.cog-eng it was after searching
for something with 'hum' or 'fac' in its name.
Maybe there could be a limited number of variant forms,
contained in a thesaurus, any one of which might lead an unsuspecting
'novice' to the actual name... after all, the 'expert' already knows.

It could say, "known as comp.cog-eng" and PUT you there.
Maybe it could also say, "See also: comp.foo and comp.foo1"
        e.g.      g comp.hum-fac
                    ... known as comp.cog-eng...
                        There are xyz unread messages in comp.cog-eng...
                        etc. etc.
That's it! We've now invented, (wait for it...), THE
CATALOG (...known as catalogue), at your local public library!
This issue being resolved, we could then discuss who got to update
the thesaurus!
(Half of knowledge is knowing where to find it).

The above is only a semi-flippant entry. It has always bothered me when
I've dialed a whole load of numbers... e.g. (617) 555-1212 and gotten
a recording telling me that I have to put in a "1" before the area code.
If the durn machine is smart enough to tell me my mistake, why dosen't
it just stick the silly '1' in there for me? It could always, for the
sake of overkill, say, "I presume you meant 1-617... and unless you press '#',
within 10 sec, I will put the '1' in for you...(thank you for calling AT&T)."
Instead, I get the pleasure of looking up the number again and re-keying it.
Of course, one solution would be an editable last-dialed buffer in the phone,
but why bother the user *at all* if their mistake wasn't fatal?
Down with controlled vocabularies! (apologies to any Aussies, make that 'up').