My series of periods is being reduced to a single period!

Carol, you are cheating! Too cute!

Hmmmmmmmmmmm...........................does that mean we think too much?

"eyes"

Well, this explains a lot. I hadn't consciously noticed this, but when I re-read some of my posts later, I thought they looked awful and couldn't believe that I'd typed something with a single period in the middle of a thought without noticing it. }:(

This message was edited Oct 28, 2007 12:26 PM

Commas or commies, you decide.

Um, what?

:-)

Maybe DG has hit menopause?
hehehehe

Just kidding in my usual bizarre manner, Wuvie.......-..............-..........

R.

Ah, Ray, gotcha.

3Gard, when I first saw the topic title of this
thread, curiosity got the better of me. I've seen some
interesting subject matter on DG, but what I thought
this one was, I just had to see.

LOL

me too!!! I actually just looked the first time to maybe tell them they had the wrong forum!!! LOL

Dreamed of ...last night...had a nightmare...that the .'s key melted!
and there were no more! Woke up in a cold sweat!...so glad it was just a dream...

Chrissy100-- you made my day!

Mine, too!!! ROFL!

Ha ha ha made my day when I woke up and realized my ... was still there! :)

Oh you guys are way too funny! LOL I've been away most of the day and unfortunately (or fortunately) this thread has been on my mind. Isn't that a tad bit bizarre? Sheesh ... ... ...

I feel one coming on, can anyone use an extra . ?

Brinda, that may be a sign that we all need a life. Bwa ha ha!

KM

It is a strange feeling that this topic has come up! I feel like a schoolgirl who has misbehaved. It is true that I am guilty of running sentences and thoughts together with a series of periods, but to be caught red handed with my hand in the cookie jar is a verrrrry uncomfortable feeling. (LOL)

Well, Got to meet The Dave face to face today at the RU. Super nice guy. Asked him about our little conundrum with the periods. He said "yeah, he did it". Looked like some people just went to sleep on the period key, left too many blank spaces for him. Also shortened the "!" because it had gotten too long. We'll just have to think of something else.
I am one of those like Gail, I seldom complete a sentence and certainly don't want to have to remember 7th grade grammar. We had such a great time today. The weather couldn't have been better. Let him know that he had created quite a stir and we were having a good laugh about it.

LouC
BTW, that is pronounced Lucy. Discovered today that a lot of people didn't get it. All I have to do is tell DH "I've got an idea." and he is in a tizzy. (47 years of Lucy and Ricky) hahaha

Very cool, LouC, and I did get it, very clever of you. :-)

What is the RU?

KM

Lou spills the beans!

Still, what do we "expressive" gardeners do about... dot- dot-dot- dot- dot... our trailing thoughts... dot- dot dot dot... and the moods we seek to create with them?

Just go dig in the garden, I guess!

LOL Ray,

I think the idea was not to eliminate the dot dot dot to signify
a trailing thought, but the elimination of dozens of dots; which
would signify, as Dave put it, sleeping on the keyboard. LOL.

:-)

I think it is...some sort of ...swap or plant meet/get together...if "The Man " was there it must have had something to do with plants...or ...
maybe not ...sigh...better go take some vitamins...the brain has to move ...quicker...a scary thought!...((((this will be next)))) or long Botanical names...I figure if I use common names...then I have earned the space...for my ...oh well...do you think...that we ...should cut our...ha ha ha's down to ha ha? or would ha...be better?...

Now I may sleep over the keyboard, I may sleep in front of the keyboard, but I have never, ever found a keyboard that was comfortable to sleep on - well maybe that fuzzy little thing the step-daughter brought into to house from wally-world a few years back.

She, and that keyboard are gone, I have not seen either in more months than I can or care too remember. She shows up on holidays (without the keyboard).

I maintain it is all due to Ernie.

Right, Chrissy. RU=Round Up. Now I would probably call it a Swap but I am new and the name has already been established. My first time to attend. There is another in Dave's hometown of College Station in November. They are held on a volunteer basis in various areas as I understand it. Not too sure how it is organized. It showed up in a thread on the Texas Forum and I just followed the leader. Lots of fun...met at a park in an area that could accomodate a lot of people and sort of midway for the members of about 100 mile radius. Had one gentleman from Oklahoma. Dave doesn't do any of the organization..strictly members.

I can laugh at all this change but I do have mixed feelings about the matter.

Each of us has a different personality and this definitely stops the spontaneity of a lively discussion while each of us needs to be acutely aware of exactly what is being typed. (knowing that the computer might change the punctuation of what the poster intended)

For example, my adult children would snap back at me if I ever chose to correct their grammar, etc. Why? It is rude of me to correct them as adults.

My brother inherited the 'smart' genes in the family passing 70 hours of advanced placement at the University of Texas 48 years ago having come out of a small town high school. He has served as mayor, president of local organizations, church board president and our Sunday school teacher for the last 25 years. I have never, without exception, heard him complete a sentence in conversation as his mind is racing ahead to another thought.

THE POINT BEING: I also have never heard one single person stop him in conversation and ask him to please complete the sentence he started. Why? Except for maybe his wife who fusses at him about this problem, it would be rude for people to correct his manner of speaking. People love him and he has no enemies because he has a very likeable way of letting people live their own lives with full acceptance.

I truly believe that this problem of people like me who use excessive punctuation could be made aware of the problem without the site taking over and correcting what they deem as unnecessary periods and exclamation marks.

Thanks for allowing me to share my two cents worth.
gail

No, Gail. Not Dave's intent at all. Something about the site stuff. If he told me it went over my head. He's not the kind of person to want to control anyone. Strictly keeping the website working. He was going to wherever in Dallas to work on the server after we left the park today. That was already after 4. Planning to drive home tonight which means he will be very late getting there. Has nothing whatever to do with grammar or puncuation.
Everything to do with how the website functions. There are probably 100 or more forums running at any given time. Multiply that by the number of people posting on each thread and the traffic is pretty heavy. Funny today. About 50 or so people there. Sounded like a beehive. Everyone talking at the same time. Much like right now. I am furiously typing while another hundred people are doing the same.

I just wish four or more periods used as an ellipsis were cut back to three, instead of one. Now if someone types four periods, the posts are hard to read, because it reads like you've come to the end of a sentence. And the next sentence doesn't start with a capital letter, making for more confusion.

I adore Dave and his administration and would never ever voluntarily leave this site. What I said was not aimed at any person. It is just that I don't like the computer altering people's posts for any reason unless, of course, it is inappropriate in some way.

****edited to say Claypa I mentioned that earlier in the thread. I couldn't agree more with you.

This message was edited Oct 28, 2007 8:43 PM

I think Chrissy has got it figured out ...and it works.

That is (space, 3 periods) and voila.

Aw, Gessie, don't take it hard, it's just a way to keep the site running
smoothly. There is nothing wrong with occasional ...'s, it is just difficult
to read at times when 37 of them follow every other half sentence. :-)

As an experiment, take your worst post and read it out loud as if
you were speaking. This is how it 'sounds' in print.

LOL. Keeping it lighthearted. :-)

As a mother of one adult and one adolescent, I still correct my children
and always will, especially if they use such horrid language as "Where
you at?" If they are speaking to me, I will indeed correct them. It doesn't
take long for bad habits to become permanent habits. "Ain't got none"
does not fly well with this mom.

Spoken pauses and literal punctuation are two different things.

Claypa, unless I am mistaken, a normal ellipsis is not changed, is it?

Testing one ellipsis; which is three...

:-) KM

Hey, see, it worked just fine, so you see, you can use normal ellipsis.

:-)

Well Lucy, you were right, I was typing while you were... it figures there's some technical reason behind this. As busy as Dave is, I'd be really surprised if he were to start editing people's use of punctuation, good, bad, or in between.

I promise he doesn't have time for that kind of trivia. He mentioned that he has some position with the company he joined DG to last Spring and they have over 1000 websites he works with. How many periods is not the point. It is the technical workings and I don't understand it. Not a geek at all. This thing is like my car. I know how to turn on the key and if it doesn't work. Too bad. huuuummm. One period isn't so bad. I know how to do puncuation but that doesn't always convey what I am really wanting to say. Trying to somehow give inflection. Dave didn't have a suggestion for inflection. hahahaha

I'm sure somehow it was slowing down the site or something along those lines, otherwise there wouldn't be any reason to mess with it. I think people should be able to get their point across using three dots, I don't think adding a bunch more after that really changes anything in how people interpret what you wrote.

One small question .... why are spaces being deleted, i.e. the rule of two spaces after a sentance. Sometime they are and .....sometimes not!!!!! Also,,,how come the commas in numbers.....are changing to periods-----12,492. Not right off the bat......but later when you go back a few hours.....a day later----two???? NO, Brinda.....You-----are,,,,,not****crazy,,,,,,atleast about the number (12,853) part anyway!!@^%#%

This message was edited Oct 28, 2007 9:13 PM
So many changes ridiculous to list. Needless to say, used the space ... and it changed. My spaces were removed. Commas were ok, but will check back later for the magician who is changing them.

SUGAR, look what you started, you instigator!! ;^)

This message was edited Oct 28, 2007 9:16 PM

Just for the record, Wuvie... That is not my post, people! I have three adult children (LOL)

Mine are much worse than that one, but I do get your point. I don't need to take this very seriously.

Trust me when I say, "I don't think for a second that anyone in administration is personally correcting anyone's post." The web site is evidently being set up this way.

You all are just cracking me up-----period. :^)

Is that some form of tuna in a can in MO? ;^) Chicken of the sea!!

Actually it is a form of tuna with a long furry tail. AKA Tessa the fat grey tabby cat who serves as my computer "mouse pad" since she is almost always in my lap when I am talking to you all. :^)

zzzzzzz ... mmmmmm ... !!!!!! *****
7 z- 3 . - 6- m 3. - 6 ! - 10 spaces - 5 *

I can understand limiting repeat characters since they often are the cause of runaway/expanded thread widths especially if there is no space between the repeated characters.

Any letter, number or character when over used can be a problem. But blank spaces can also serve to line up lists on outlines.

1. first point
A. sub point
a-1
a-2
B. sub point

2. second point

3. third point
A. Sub point
B. Sub point
b-1
b-2

But then how often do we outline our points in a discussion forum?

But I thought I would join the fun and try it to see what the system does with it when I indent different levels.

Well, according to the preview I can use way too many z's, m's or !'s but I cannot indent a line.







but I can skip more than one line and leave a lot of ugly white space.

I agree that if it is going to remove extra periods it should remove those in excess of 3 and leave 3 not cut it down to a single.