If all of us, without exception, swear to each other and sign here in blood (virtually, of course) that we will never, ever, under any circumstance, buy anything from those who post in all caps, maybe they'll stop.
This will require commitment and sacrifice. When the ones who post in all caps begin to get desperate they will begin to lower their prices and we'll be sorely tempted to abandon the cause, But we can't give in, we have to be strong and see this through together. You're either with us or you're against us.
If you suspect that a post is going to be in all caps, don't even click on the headline. If you can't help reading the ad and the price seems too good to pass up, console yourself in the thought that you're making a small financial sacrifice so that someday there will be a world where your children won't have to read posts in all caps.
I agree, but then I think we should also not respond to those who post in all lower case letters as well. I think that these posters are sneaky and have something to hide.
i could care less if they post in all CAP'S or if they even post in english as long as they put up a few pics of what they are selling.
most of the best written proper english & hyphonated ads dont have any pics,i can take my time & read slowly to get past all the cap's running together but i cant see the invisopic.
It might be better, and more effective, simply to vow never to read anything we don't like, even if we have to ignore something entirely without having read it first, ... just to prove blind allegiance to worthy causes.
Reply to Sayles. e e cummings may well have been proud. But even at the start of a headline or a sentence he wouldn't have capitalized that first e. This may be an audiogon grammar checker thing, in which case, should the number of people who make this oath reach significant proportions, we will have to force audiogon to revise their program.
TELL us HOW to THINK, tell US how TO write, TELL us HOW to SPEAK, tell US what WE should SAY and NOT say, TELL us HOW to DEFECATE, tell US, tell US, tell US.
I apologize if you were offended by my original post. It was intended to be humorous, and most people seem to have taken it that way, but it did have a serious point, as well.
Writing in all caps has two immediate effects and both of them are bad for the poster.
It has the effect of making a reader feel as if he or she is being yelled at, not a great way to start a transaction, and it makes the post a lot harder to read.
The form of human writing has taken a few thousand years to evolve but it's now reasonably efficient. Capital letters have a specific function. To use a musical analogy, they contribute to the rhythm of meaning the way percussion marks the rhythm of a musical passage. When every letter is capitalized, there is no rhythm and the meaning is obscured.
Again, sorry if anyone was offended. I may have gotten that critical ratio of caffeine to ibuprofen a little off yesterday morning and not been as sensitive as I might have been.
Sfar,I think that if anyone took offense that they were looking for something to take offence to. The post was clearly for a little light hearted humor. Also, I deal with a number of sight impaired patients and I know of none that use all caps because of vision difficulties. I would recommend a magnified screen or font change.
I tend to gravitate to the all-caps posts. Figure no one will both reading it and, because of what it says about the seller's intelligence level, might contain a real bargain. But that's me :-)
Sfar, I appreciate your response, and your sense of humor. My response was poking fun at your post. That's why I typed it, and chose the words the way I did. Part of my old New York City sarcasm.
On the other hand, I have become sensitive to the erosion of our basic freedom of expression, and it does push my button. Under the guise of patriotism and religion, censorship seems to be slowly eroding our freedom of expression, freedom of the press, etc. And that's not what our founding fathers had in mind.
I agree that the best use of caps is when you are trying to make a point. A better way to increase text size is to go to the "View" tab on your Mozilla or Firefox and go to "Text Zoom". Then you can customize it to your heart's content.
You say you don't use Mozilla or Firefox? What are you waiting for? This isn't the only functionality you're missing out on.
It seems that no matter what anyone posts at this site some people either take it out of context or are contentious with it. Davt for your edification, I simply e-mailed and asked a person why they posted in all caps, hence my response. Thought people may be interested is all.
I agree that caps should be saved for when you are trying to make a point. A better way to increase text size is to go to your "View" menu in Mozilla and click on "Text Zoom" ("Text Size" in Firefox). Then you can change the size to your heart's content. What, you say you don't use Mozilla or Firefox? What are you waiting for? This is not the only functionality you are missing out on.
An interesting note on this from a New York Times article this morning on why Google uses only text ads, "...'the bit rate on text is very fast.' Anything that gets in the way of speed-reading must go. Google does not permit advertisers to use all-capital letters. (Studies have shown we read those 30 percent slower than properly capitalized words.)"
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