Second Life Forums Archive - Are Big Words Bad?

Ravenelle Zugzwang

zugzugz.com

Join date: 23 Jul 2004

Posts: 267

09-02-2009 15:11

One should never underestimate the importance of proper typography.

Having said that I do think they left out the part where this woman was also SUFFERING FROM UNCONTROLLABLE FLATULENCE. Which was the real underlying reason to her termination. Bob didn't have the heart to confront Alice about it, so he made something up about her overuse of capitalization.

Guess that really backfired on ol' Bob.

_____________________

Osprey Therian

I want capslocklock

Join date: 6 Jul 2004

Posts: 5,049

09-02-2009 15:11

I can't imagine this is the entire story as a normal scenario would be:

Employer: Don't use all caps, please.
Employee: All right.

_____________________

http:www.atomic-raygun.com
Combat Cards in Europa
[url=http://slurl.com/secondlife/grignano/118/116/]The Photography Studio in Grignano[/url]

Mud! Mud! Glorious mud! Nothing quite like it for cooling the blood.
So, follow me, follow, down to the hollow, And there let us wallow in glorious mud.
Flanders and Swan

Lissa Pinion

Cowgirl at Large

Join date: 29 May 2007

Posts: 48

09-02-2009 15:20

Not having both sides I chose Pie....most states are a No Clause ...means you don't have to have a reason to fire an employee.

_____________________

Goddess of many things too numerous to list here
Lissa

Tod69 Talamasca

The Human Tripod ;)

Join date: 20 Sep 2005

Posts: 4,107

09-02-2009 15:41

From: Rihanna Laasonen

I voted yes. It's one thing to use all caps on your personal time, but at work it shows a basic ignorance of or disregard for netiquette. It's no different than any other kind of rudeness to your coworkers and customers.

As her employer, I'd wonder what other bits of appropriate professional behavior she was ignoring and how it might affect our company's reputation. Firing her without warning, that was unwarranted. But if I'd warned her and she kept doing it anyway, yep, she'd be out.

THIS!

It's also shows a lack of proper writing skills.

I know that if I received an email in ALL CAPS with red colored font, I'd think the person was being

I also consider what state it happened in. There are many states, like Pennsylvania, that are "Hire at Will", which allows an employer to use ANY excuse to fire you as long as it doesnt violate Federal guidelines (race, religion or gender)

_____________________

really pissy & mean right now and NOT happy with Life.

Sling Trebuchet

Deleted User

Join date: 20 Jan 2007

Posts: 4,548

09-02-2009 15:48

From: Lissa Pinion

Not having both sides I chose Pie....most states are a No Clause ...means you don't have to have a reason to fire an employee.

Oh! You better watch out,
You better not cry,
You better not pout,
I'm telling you why:

Say! No Clause, you're going - to town

_____________________

Maggie: We give our residents a lot of tools, to build, create, and manage their lands and objects. That flexibility also requires people to exercise judgment about when things should be used.
http://www.ace-exchange.com/home/story/BDVR/589

Esquievel Easterwood

Deer in the headlights

Join date: 25 Oct 2008

Posts: 220

09-02-2009 17:49

From: someone

"RED IN HER FONT"....? is that like those vampire blood fountains i see in sl ...

For sending emails in all-caps, she should have been fired. For sending email in anything other than plain ASCII text, she should have been drawn, quartered, and fed to the crocodiles.

......

Seven Okelli

last days of pompeii

Join date: 4 Dec 2008

Posts: 2,300

09-02-2009 18:35

Maybe she sent all-caps emails to clients.

.

_____________________

:
: I met most of the people I know in Second Life through these forums.
: I learned most of what I know of Second Life through these forums.
: When I couldn't get inworld, these forums were the next best thing.
: And sometimes these forums WERE the best thing.
:

Bradley Bracken

Goodbye, Farewell, Amen

Join date: 2 Apr 2007

Posts: 3,856

09-02-2009 19:06

From: Chris Norse

Absent a contract between the employee and the employer, any reason should be justified.

OMG, I agree with Chris,(well mostly)

It's a rare situation that an employer would just toss someone out the door like that. It's just too damn expensive. Advertising, hiring, training, etc are very costly.

It only takes about 30 seconds for a manager to tell an employee not to use all caps. Wjat seems likely is they were keeping an extra eye out for a specific person to terminate and they jumped the gun with a damn silly excuse.

Personally I think the company should be fined just for being stupid. I feel positive that there is a lot more to this story than is written.

--Bradley (Proud to say that of the hundreds I've had to fire over the years only two made it to court and they were immediately tossed out by the judge.

_____________________

My interest in SL has simply died. Thanks for all the laughs

Lear Cale

wordy bugger

Join date: 22 Aug 2007

Posts: 3,569

09-03-2009 06:01

/me fires Darien.

Tarina Sewell

Just Browsing Thank you

Join date: 20 Jul 2007

Posts: 2,180

09-03-2009 07:22

Personally, all caps dont bother me.... They really dont... I dont see why people get so weird over it.. But red font.. well thats another matter.

Talarus Luan

Ancient Archaean Dragon

Join date: 18 Mar 2006

Posts: 4,831

09-03-2009 07:43

Maybe she used the blink tag. <.<

Seven Okelli

last days of pompeii

Join date: 4 Dec 2008

Posts: 2,300

09-03-2009 08:10

I finally read the article cited in the OP and the article it referenced.

It said that this woman

From: someone

was abruptly kicked out of her job for sending "confrontational emails" with text formatted in a variety of red, bold, and all caps fonts. Walker had sent the emails to fellow workers within the company, usually with stern and detailed instructions on how forms should be properly filled out.

She commented,

From: someone

"To say that [email] is confrontational is ridiculous."

She is silly enough to think that whatever emotion or impatience or condescension she expressed was all fabricated in the minds of her readers, and none of her fault. As though email is a pure medium, through which only ideas flow.

.

_____________________

:
: I met most of the people I know in Second Life through these forums.
: I learned most of what I know of Second Life through these forums.
: When I couldn't get inworld, these forums were the next best thing.
: And sometimes these forums WERE the best thing.
:

Talarus Luan

Ancient Archaean Dragon

Join date: 18 Mar 2006

Posts: 4,831

09-03-2009 08:16

From: Seven Okelli

She is silly enough to think that whatever emotion or impatience or condescension she expressed was all fabricated in the minds of her readers, and none of her fault. As though email is a pure medium, through which only ideas flow.

.

Generally, that's true. More often than not, people interpret text incorrectly or badly. Humans are just not good at parsing emotional meaning and inflection from variations in textual presentation. Of course, that goes both ways; humans are bad at expressing their emotional meaning in text as well.

As such, one has to learn to stop reading such things from text and just operate on the ideas and concepts expressed, letting the emotional meaning be expressed explicitly, rather than trying to discern it implicitly.

It's still a silly reason to fire someone, unless they were insubordinate.

Darien Caldwell

Registered User

Join date: 12 Oct 2006

Posts: 3,127

09-03-2009 08:36

From: Lear Cale

/me fires Darien.

*Darien opens her Golden Parachute, replete with Red Blinking Text all over it, and floats gently into the sunset."

_____________________

Pserendipity Daniels

Assume sarcasm as default

Join date: 21 Dec 2006

Posts: 8,839

09-03-2009 08:37

From: Seven Okelli

whatever emotion or impatience or condescension she expressed was all fabricated in the minds of her readers, and none of her fault.

I agree!

Pep (See the other thread on being responsible for your own feelings.

)

ETA Damn! I think I just agreed with Talarus. Except he was more long winded and not as smartass.

_____________________

Hypocrite lecteur, — mon semblable, — mon frère!

Seven Okelli

last days of pompeii

Join date: 4 Dec 2008

Posts: 2,300

09-03-2009 08:43

From: Pserendipity Daniels

I agree!

You're fired!

.

_____________________

:
: I met most of the people I know in Second Life through these forums.
: I learned most of what I know of Second Life through these forums.
: When I couldn't get inworld, these forums were the next best thing.
: And sometimes these forums WERE the best thing.
:

Sling Trebuchet

Deleted User

Join date: 20 Jan 2007

Posts: 4,548

09-03-2009 08:51

From: Seven Okelli

I finally read the article cited in the OP and the article it referenced.

It said that this woman

She commented,

She is silly enough to think that whatever emotion or impatience or condescension she expressed was all fabricated in the minds of her readers, and none of her fault. As though email is a pure medium, through which only ideas flow.

.

It takes great skill to explain to stupid people that they are stupid - without offending them.

_____________________

Maggie: We give our residents a lot of tools, to build, create, and manage their lands and objects. That flexibility also requires people to exercise judgment about when things should be used.
http://www.ace-exchange.com/home/story/BDVR/589

Pserendipity Daniels

Assume sarcasm as default

Join date: 21 Dec 2006

Posts: 8,839

09-03-2009 08:55

From: Sling Trebuchet

It takes great skill to explain to stupid people that they are stupid - without offending them.

You only need to avoid offending them if you are getting paid to do so.

Pep (Unlike the forums, which are free.

)

_____________________

Hypocrite lecteur, — mon semblable, — mon frère!

Pserendipity Daniels

Assume sarcasm as default

Join date: 21 Dec 2006

Posts: 8,839

09-03-2009 08:56

From: Seven Okelli

You're fired!

No I'm not! I quit!

Pep (Damn, I'm channelling Ciera/Jig/Lorena/ . . .

)

_____________________

Hypocrite lecteur, — mon semblable, — mon frère!

Lear Cale

wordy bugger

Join date: 22 Aug 2007

Posts: 3,569

09-03-2009 09:33

From: Tarina Sewell

Personally, all caps dont bother me.... They really dont... I dont see why people get so weird over it.. But red font.. well thats another matter.

For most people, it takes quite a bit more concentration to read text in all-caps. How much varies a lot from person to person. It cuts my reading speed in half or worse, and interferes with my comprehension.

But, for something like this, no doubt it's the tone that's conveyed that's the issue.

As usual, there's not enough information in the news reports to judge. I agree with those above who said that it would be inappropriate to fire her peremptorily, without giving her a chance to improve her communications.

/me gazes wistfully at Darien's golden parachute, wondering if that's where all the stock value went!

Marcush Nemeth

Registered User

Join date: 3 Apr 2007

Posts: 402

09-03-2009 14:04

And I thought the topic title was referring to big words as in those that give access to both triple word value and double letter value at once in a game of Scrabble

Argent Stonecutter

Emergency Mustelid

Join date: 20 Sep 2005

Posts: 20,263

09-03-2009 14:24

From: Marcush Nemeth

And I thought the topic title was referring to big words as in those that give access to both triple word value and double letter value at once in a game of Scrabble

GLYCERALDEHYDES? OVERCOMPENSATED?

CRAZIEST? http://gprime.net/flash.php/craziest#

_____________________

Argent Stonecutter - http://globalcausalityviolation.blogspot.com/

"And now I'm going to show you something really cool."

Skyhook Station - http://xrl.us/skyhook23
Coonspiracy Store - http://xrl.us/coonstore

Dagmar Heideman

Bokko Dancer

Join date: 2 Feb 2007

Posts: 989

09-03-2009 19:57

From: Chris Norse

Absent a contract between the employee and the employer, any reason should be justified.

Not a big fan of the Civil Rights Act? Or did you mean the general concept of at will employment which is how we roll here in the good ol U.S. of A. unlike that backwater country of Kiwis?

Tarina Sewell

Just Browsing Thank you

Join date: 20 Jul 2007

Posts: 2,180

09-03-2009 19:58

From: Talarus Luan

Maybe she used the blink tag. <.<

FIRED!

Are Big Words Bad?
Ravenelle Zugzwang zugzugz.com Join date: 23 Jul 2004 Posts: 267	09-02-2009 15:11 One should never underestimate the importance of proper typography. Having said that I do think they left out the part where this woman was also SUFFERING FROM UNCONTROLLABLE FLATULENCE. Which was the real underlying reason to her termination. Bob didn't have the heart to confront Alice about it, so he made something up about her overuse of capitalization. Guess that really backfired on ol' Bob. _____________________
Osprey Therian I want capslocklock Join date: 6 Jul 2004 Posts: 5,049	09-02-2009 15:11 I can't imagine this is the entire story as a normal scenario would be: Employer: Don't use all caps, please. Employee: All right. _____________________ http:www.atomic-raygun.com Combat Cards in Europa [url=http://slurl.com/secondlife/grignano/118/116/]The Photography Studio in Grignano[/url] Mud! Mud! Glorious mud! Nothing quite like it for cooling the blood. So, follow me, follow, down to the hollow, And there let us wallow in glorious mud. Flanders and Swan
Lissa Pinion Cowgirl at Large Join date: 29 May 2007 Posts: 48	09-02-2009 15:20 Not having both sides I chose Pie....most states are a No Clause ...means you don't have to have a reason to fire an employee. _____________________ Goddess of many things too numerous to list here Lissa
Tod69 Talamasca The Human Tripod ;) Join date: 20 Sep 2005 Posts: 4,107	09-02-2009 15:41 From: Rihanna Laasonen I voted yes. It's one thing to use all caps on your personal time, but at work it shows a basic ignorance of or disregard for netiquette. It's no different than any other kind of rudeness to your coworkers and customers. As her employer, I'd wonder what other bits of appropriate professional behavior she was ignoring and how it might affect our company's reputation. Firing her without warning, that was unwarranted. But if I'd warned her and she kept doing it anyway, yep, she'd be out. THIS! It's also shows a lack of proper writing skills. I know that if I received an email in ALL CAPS with red colored font, I'd think the person was being I also consider what state it happened in. There are many states, like Pennsylvania, that are "Hire at Will", which allows an employer to use ANY excuse to fire you as long as it doesnt violate Federal guidelines (race, religion or gender) _____________________ really pissy & mean right now and NOT happy with Life.
Sling Trebuchet Deleted User Join date: 20 Jan 2007 Posts: 4,548	09-02-2009 15:48 From: Lissa Pinion Not having both sides I chose Pie....most states are a No Clause ...means you don't have to have a reason to fire an employee. Oh! You better watch out, You better not cry, You better not pout, I'm telling you why: Say! No Clause, you're going - to town _____________________ Maggie: We give our residents a lot of tools, to build, create, and manage their lands and objects. That flexibility also requires people to exercise judgment about when things should be used. http://www.ace-exchange.com/home/story/BDVR/589
Esquievel Easterwood Deer in the headlights Join date: 25 Oct 2008 Posts: 220	09-02-2009 17:49 From: someone "RED IN HER FONT"....? is that like those vampire blood fountains i see in sl ... For sending emails in all-caps, she should have been fired. For sending email in anything other than plain ASCII text, she should have been drawn, quartered, and fed to the crocodiles. ......
Seven Okelli last days of pompeii Join date: 4 Dec 2008 Posts: 2,300	09-02-2009 18:35 Maybe she sent all-caps emails to clients. . _____________________ : : I met most of the people I know in Second Life through these forums. : I learned most of what I know of Second Life through these forums. : When I couldn't get inworld, these forums were the next best thing. : And sometimes these forums WERE the best thing. :
Bradley Bracken Goodbye, Farewell, Amen Join date: 2 Apr 2007 Posts: 3,856	09-02-2009 19:06 From: Chris Norse Absent a contract between the employee and the employer, any reason should be justified. OMG, I agree with Chris,(well mostly) It's a rare situation that an employer would just toss someone out the door like that. It's just too damn expensive. Advertising, hiring, training, etc are very costly. It only takes about 30 seconds for a manager to tell an employee not to use all caps. Wjat seems likely is they were keeping an extra eye out for a specific person to terminate and they jumped the gun with a damn silly excuse. Personally I think the company should be fined just for being stupid. I feel positive that there is a lot more to this story than is written. --Bradley (Proud to say that of the hundreds I've had to fire over the years only two made it to court and they were immediately tossed out by the judge. _____________________ My interest in SL has simply died. Thanks for all the laughs
Lear Cale wordy bugger Join date: 22 Aug 2007 Posts: 3,569	09-03-2009 06:01 /me fires Darien.
Tarina Sewell Just Browsing Thank you Join date: 20 Jul 2007 Posts: 2,180	09-03-2009 07:22 Personally, all caps dont bother me.... They really dont... I dont see why people get so weird over it.. But red font.. well thats another matter.
Talarus Luan Ancient Archaean Dragon Join date: 18 Mar 2006 Posts: 4,831	09-03-2009 07:43 Maybe she used the blink tag. <.<
Seven Okelli last days of pompeii Join date: 4 Dec 2008 Posts: 2,300	09-03-2009 08:10 I finally read the article cited in the OP and the article it referenced. It said that this woman From: someone was abruptly kicked out of her job for sending "confrontational emails" with text formatted in a variety of red, bold, and all caps fonts. Walker had sent the emails to fellow workers within the company, usually with stern and detailed instructions on how forms should be properly filled out. She commented, From: someone "To say that [email] is confrontational is ridiculous." She is silly enough to think that whatever emotion or impatience or condescension she expressed was all fabricated in the minds of her readers, and none of her fault. As though email is a pure medium, through which only ideas flow. . _____________________ : : I met most of the people I know in Second Life through these forums. : I learned most of what I know of Second Life through these forums. : When I couldn't get inworld, these forums were the next best thing. : And sometimes these forums WERE the best thing. :
Talarus Luan Ancient Archaean Dragon Join date: 18 Mar 2006 Posts: 4,831	09-03-2009 08:16 From: Seven Okelli She is silly enough to think that whatever emotion or impatience or condescension she expressed was all fabricated in the minds of her readers, and none of her fault. As though email is a pure medium, through which only ideas flow. . Generally, that's true. More often than not, people interpret text incorrectly or badly. Humans are just not good at parsing emotional meaning and inflection from variations in textual presentation. Of course, that goes both ways; humans are bad at expressing their emotional meaning in text as well. As such, one has to learn to stop reading such things from text and just operate on the ideas and concepts expressed, letting the emotional meaning be expressed explicitly, rather than trying to discern it implicitly. It's still a silly reason to fire someone, unless they were insubordinate.
Darien Caldwell Registered User Join date: 12 Oct 2006 Posts: 3,127	09-03-2009 08:36 From: Lear Cale /me fires Darien. *Darien opens her Golden Parachute, replete with Red Blinking Text all over it, and floats gently into the sunset." _____________________
Pserendipity Daniels Assume sarcasm as default Join date: 21 Dec 2006 Posts: 8,839	09-03-2009 08:37 From: Seven Okelli whatever emotion or impatience or condescension she expressed was all fabricated in the minds of her readers, and none of her fault. I agree! Pep (See the other thread on being responsible for your own feelings. ) ETA Damn! I think I just agreed with Talarus. Except he was more long winded and not as smartass. _____________________ Hypocrite lecteur, — mon semblable, — mon frère!
Seven Okelli last days of pompeii Join date: 4 Dec 2008 Posts: 2,300	09-03-2009 08:43 From: Pserendipity Daniels I agree! You're fired! . _____________________ : : I met most of the people I know in Second Life through these forums. : I learned most of what I know of Second Life through these forums. : When I couldn't get inworld, these forums were the next best thing. : And sometimes these forums WERE the best thing. :
Sling Trebuchet Deleted User Join date: 20 Jan 2007 Posts: 4,548	09-03-2009 08:51 From: Seven Okelli I finally read the article cited in the OP and the article it referenced. It said that this woman She commented, She is silly enough to think that whatever emotion or impatience or condescension she expressed was all fabricated in the minds of her readers, and none of her fault. As though email is a pure medium, through which only ideas flow. . It takes great skill to explain to stupid people that they are stupid - without offending them. _____________________ Maggie: We give our residents a lot of tools, to build, create, and manage their lands and objects. That flexibility also requires people to exercise judgment about when things should be used. http://www.ace-exchange.com/home/story/BDVR/589
Pserendipity Daniels Assume sarcasm as default Join date: 21 Dec 2006 Posts: 8,839	09-03-2009 08:55 From: Sling Trebuchet It takes great skill to explain to stupid people that they are stupid - without offending them. You only need to avoid offending them if you are getting paid to do so. Pep (Unlike the forums, which are free. ) _____________________ Hypocrite lecteur, — mon semblable, — mon frère!
Pserendipity Daniels Assume sarcasm as default Join date: 21 Dec 2006 Posts: 8,839	09-03-2009 08:56 From: Seven Okelli You're fired! No I'm not! I quit! Pep (Damn, I'm channelling Ciera/Jig/Lorena/ . . . ) _____________________ Hypocrite lecteur, — mon semblable, — mon frère!
Lear Cale wordy bugger Join date: 22 Aug 2007 Posts: 3,569	09-03-2009 09:33 From: Tarina Sewell Personally, all caps dont bother me.... They really dont... I dont see why people get so weird over it.. But red font.. well thats another matter. For most people, it takes quite a bit more concentration to read text in all-caps. How much varies a lot from person to person. It cuts my reading speed in half or worse, and interferes with my comprehension. But, for something like this, no doubt it's the tone that's conveyed that's the issue. As usual, there's not enough information in the news reports to judge. I agree with those above who said that it would be inappropriate to fire her peremptorily, without giving her a chance to improve her communications. /me gazes wistfully at Darien's golden parachute, wondering if that's where all the stock value went!
Marcush Nemeth Registered User Join date: 3 Apr 2007 Posts: 402	09-03-2009 14:04 And I thought the topic title was referring to big words as in those that give access to both triple word value and double letter value at once in a game of Scrabble
Argent Stonecutter Emergency Mustelid Join date: 20 Sep 2005 Posts: 20,263	09-03-2009 14:24 From: Marcush Nemeth And I thought the topic title was referring to big words as in those that give access to both triple word value and double letter value at once in a game of Scrabble GLYCERALDEHYDES? OVERCOMPENSATED? CRAZIEST? http://gprime.net/flash.php/craziest# _____________________ Argent Stonecutter - http://globalcausalityviolation.blogspot.com/ "And now I'm going to show you something really cool." Skyhook Station - http://xrl.us/skyhook23 Coonspiracy Store - http://xrl.us/coonstore
Dagmar Heideman Bokko Dancer Join date: 2 Feb 2007 Posts: 989	09-03-2009 19:57 From: Chris Norse Absent a contract between the employee and the employer, any reason should be justified. Not a big fan of the Civil Rights Act? Or did you mean the general concept of at will employment which is how we roll here in the good ol U.S. of A. unlike that backwater country of Kiwis?
Tarina Sewell Just Browsing Thank you Join date: 20 Jul 2007 Posts: 2,180	09-03-2009 19:58 From: Talarus Luan Maybe she used the blink tag. <.< FIRED!

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