#43895
10/06/2001 10:21 PM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 819
old hand
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old hand
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I'm puzzled by the subject word, which seems to have undergone a, um, er, radical shift in meaning. Since it comes from the Latin word for "root," why do we refer to those who go out on a limb as radicals?
Has its mathematical meaning changed in times past, or just its common usage?
Radical: tuber or not tuber, that is the question....
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#43896
10/07/2001 1:52 AM
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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it comes from a phrase in late 18th C. British politics, radical reform, i.e., a thorough reform of the roots, basis and fundamentals of the system; and so a radical change, a radical reformer, the radical right/left etc.
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#43897
10/07/2001 3:12 AM
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Since it comes from the Latin word for "root," why do we refer to those who go out on a limb as radicals?Oh, Geoff--only you would think that up!  But I have to say that I agree that there has been a shift. I didn't know that it first simply meant a thorough change (thanks, tsuwm). Nowadays if I hear someone called a radical, I invariably perceive a connotation of "crackpot" or something similar.
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#43898
10/07/2001 3:50 AM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146
Carpal Tunnel
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No, tsuwm's quite right. Radical hasn't shifted in its meaning at all, it's just that most people never understood its real meaning in the first place, which doesn't matter all that much. A radical change is a shift in the basis on which the thing being changed operates.
Young peoples' use of the term as "Radical!" - a term of warm approbation - actually implies the same thing. But then they don't really understand that, either!
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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#43899
10/07/2001 4:11 AM
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Radical hasn't shifted in its meaning at all, it's just that most people never understood its real meaning in the first place
Gee, I thought I just said that...
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#43900
10/07/2001 12:35 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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"Young peoples' use of the term as "Radical!" - a term of warm approbation -"
I can remember when "radical" meant to the old folks a wild eyed visionary, a crypto Bolshevik,who wanted to destroy the Constitution, and would start by shooting the President if he could.
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#43901
10/07/2001 4:43 PM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 866
old hand
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old hand
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I recalled those chem classes again - "Radical" being some sort of chemical entity (No - not the weirdos in the lab coats with the long hair) - to whit:
"A group of atoms behaving like a single atom and passing unchanged unchanged from one compound to another - now usually confined to electrically neutral entities as distinguished from charged ions" (Chambers 20th C)
So what's a free radical?
stales
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#43902
10/07/2001 4:43 PM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 866
old hand
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old hand
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I recalled those chem classes again - "Radical" being some sort of chemical entity (No - not the weirdos in the lab coats with the long hair) - to whit:
"A group of atoms behaving like a single atom and passing unchanged from one compound to another - now usually confined to electrically neutral entities as distinguished from charged ions" (Chambers 20th C)
So what's a free radical?
stales
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#43903
10/07/2001 5:04 PM
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 197
member
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member
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Posts: 197 |
a connotation of "crackpot"
why does crackpot mean a lunatic?
this phrase stood out to me because last night i managed to do just that (crack a pot) while cooking dinner.
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#43904
10/08/2001 12:17 AM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 618
addict
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addict
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Posts: 618 |
A radical not connected to a compound.
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#43905
10/08/2001 7:06 AM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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A radical not connected to a compound.Hooo no, you don't. It's perfectly logical that a free radical must be one that doesn't cost anything. Same as free lunches, *aktshully ... 
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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#43906
10/08/2001 12:11 PM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 819
old hand
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old hand
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A radical not connected to a compound.Ooooh, boy, am I confused! I thought that Messrs. Blair and Bush were blowing up Afghanistan just for the purpose of destroying some radicals' compounds. Maybe they don't know chemistry. 
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#43907
10/08/2001 3:48 PM
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Oh Geoff. Oh Geoff. Ted, face it--you've been outdone on this one. Ohmigawd.
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#43908
10/08/2001 4:27 PM
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,605
Carpal Tunnel
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#43909
10/08/2001 8:18 PM
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,104 Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 11,104 Likes: 2 |
from Xara: why does crackpot mean a lunatic?
In that context, I suspect, the pot is the headbone, and since it's cracked the brains are leaking out and therefore not working quite right... You weren't by any chance cooking brains for dinner, were you?
(Crack of course has now evolved to have other meanings associated with making the brain not work right, too.)
And "lunatic" comes from the days when the mental processes (among other things) were supposed to be affected by the moon, with or without its phases (just going through a phase, dont y'know), so that the insane were considered to be moonstruck and were not infrequently consigned to the loony bin.
Nowadays of course we know better (I think) but the language doesn't change nearly as fast as the state of our knowledge.
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#43910
10/09/2001 11:40 AM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156
old hand
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I read a great novel this summer called "Crackpot" by Adele Wiseman. During the introduction (by Margaret Laurence), the word crackpot and how it can come to be applied to the main character is discussed in detail. An awesome but strange read. I can't explain it; you'll just have to all read it yourselves.
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#43911
10/12/2001 11:19 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,773
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,773 |
Per Charles Funk, in Horse Feathers & Other Curious Words, "crackpot" comes from the use of "pot" to refer to the head.
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#43912
10/12/2001 11:48 PM
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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#43913
10/13/2001 12:14 AM
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Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 1,385
veteran
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"Young peoples' use of the term as "Radical!" - a term of warm approbation -" Is that what "Radical" means to young people? I thought it described something exceptional or daring or exciting - i.e. a much broader application of the conventional meaning of the word. "Rad" is a derivative (or abreviation) of the colloquial word "Radical", is it not? "That's rad" means "That's way cool" (i.e. exceptional), I believe. Or am I radically removed from reality on this one?
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#43914
10/13/2001 12:15 AM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 819
old hand
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old hand
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Hmmmm.... Don't s'pose we could make a connection between the hippo (horse) pot (head) amus (somehow
connected to the animus) and see that the hippopotamus was originally believed to be the Spirit of the Horse
Head...mebbe fanned with pinnate leaves?I like your crackpot way of thinking, WW! Hippo [horse] potamus[river], but, then, a pot does hold a bit of the river, so maybe you're not such a crackpot after all... 
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#43915
10/13/2001 12:23 AM
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Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 1,385
veteran
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veteran
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Geoff: How do you paste an extract from someone else's posting in blue print at the top of your posting? I have seen others do this as well in their postings but I don't know how it is accomplished. I'm a "Stranger" in the dark. Thanks.
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#43916
10/13/2001 12:46 AM
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Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409
Carpal Tunnel
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#43917
10/13/2001 3:09 AM
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,605
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Carpal Tunnel
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[brazen blowing of kazoo]
or, without leaving AWAD/talk, on the FAQ tab
[/brazen blowing of kazoo]
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#43918
10/13/2001 3:51 AM
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Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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#43919
10/13/2001 6:42 AM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Awww, shucks, Max!  Actually I just rearranged other people's words and ideas. You bin doin' fine on yer own since then.
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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#43920
10/13/2001 1:41 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Dear Max: Perhaps you might add the instructions how to use "charmap" as a quick way of getting special characters. of troy told me about it. And I did not see instructions of the many handy things that can be done with "Edit,copy: Edit, paste". By which I do not wish to seem unappreciative of your splendid work. How I wish it has been available when I first joined.
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#43921
10/13/2001 1:52 PM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 819
old hand
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old hand
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Posts: 819 |
I'm a "Stranger" in the dark.I doubt you're any stranger than I am, Plutarch! As for being in the dark, well, you ARE at a higher latitude, and winter's approaching... I do hope that MaxQ and CK have given you all you need. I struggled a great deal at first, and was chastised by several who were computer savvy for not knowing what to do. Therefore I feel that the posting of the FAQs is a most benevolent radical act!
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#43922
10/13/2001 2:55 PM
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,605
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Max, your excellent page (far too weak an adjective there) has one defect which is unhappily beyound your control. To reach it I must first ramble around to ascertain the URL; in contrast FAQ, though far weaker, is always reachable in one click.
To get the best of both worlds, quality plus rapid access, I have just now put your site on my "favorites" list.
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#43923
10/13/2001 10:23 PM
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Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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#43924
10/13/2001 10:54 PM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 819
old hand
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old hand
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I note that your version of Windows has a rubbish bin. The US version has a trash bin. Does that imply that you guys have a higher grade of trash? Or do you throw people from the land of Rub in there? I wasn't born there, but I do frequently speak Rubbish.
At any rate, many thanks! Great job!!!
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#43925
10/13/2001 11:03 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 328
enthusiast
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enthusiast
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"Young peoples' use of the term as "Radical!" - a term of warm approbation
I can't speak for the whole country (or world for that matter), but around here the words "rad" and "radical" fell out of popular usage among young people in the early-to-mid nineties.
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#43926
10/14/2001 1:29 AM
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Whoa, thanks, Max and Dr. Bill. I've seen my computer's character map before, just while exploring, but never knew what to do with it. And even now, pulling it up again, I couldn't figure out how to make it work--until, Dr. Bill,
I reread your post: "copy, and paste"! Light bulb in my brain! It actually worked! Hooray! Oh--they come out differently here. No surprise. Thank you, gentlemen.
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#43927
10/14/2001 2:59 AM
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
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You don't have to just cut and paste, Jackie-- there are two important areas on the character map-- 1) the name of the font you are looking at.. you can change font if you can't find the right character in the font set -- font sets like wingdings (remember wing dings from the wicked which thread?) can also be imported.
2) in the lower right hand corner, there is a code (Alt +0171)« or some such number. Press the alt key and use the number pad keys for the numbers (be sure num lock is on!) do not use the keys above the letters! and Voila! you can learn and type in any code you want. at work, i have created a chart with the most commonly needed codes, and the alt number for them. but my list include things need by lawyers and scientist.. for language, you might want a different chart.. The code only shows when you have selected a character from the map, by the way!
you can use Run from the start menu to get the charmap (the file name) or you can make an icon on your desktop to it, to keep it handy.
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#43928
10/14/2001 3:51 AM
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Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409
Carpal Tunnel
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#43929
10/14/2001 3:54 AM
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Posts: 3,409
Carpal Tunnel
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#43930
10/14/2001 5:12 AM
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Posts: 3,409
Carpal Tunnel
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#43931
10/14/2001 12:50 PM
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,605
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Max, the idea in your link led to another, which may be particularly helpful when writing a post that need special characters often, not just once or twice.
Some word processors have quick access to these characters. (In Microsoft Word you can reach them by clicking the Edit tab, and then subtab Symbols".) To take advantage of that access, one can simply use the word processor to write the post, and then paste the post onto the board.
BTW: I couldn't find the schma symbol.
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#43932
10/14/2001 3:59 PM
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 5,400 |
the schma symbol
Word Perfect has it, but i haven't found it in any of the default MS Word fonts. and since its not found there, if you copy if from WP, and the person reading the doc doesn't have WP fonts, they will get a which is what happened in one of the threads. i have a lot of fonts, but unless i am printing something, i tend to stick to the standard ones, other wise you can get errors.. even a similar font might not be mapped the same, so things can change..
some users at work used a fancy font for mass mailing.. only for about half the uses, open quotes became @ making the document look very strange! since some users have windows 95, and some windows 98, (and now some are getting windows 2000) there is not a complete agreement on all of the available fonts! we won't even mention the problems that come up with other OS's, or MAC systems!
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#43933
10/14/2001 4:15 PM
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Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 1,385
veteran
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veteran
Joined: Oct 2001
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Wow! Looks like I'm not the only "Stranger" in the dark, Max. I called for a zephyr and I reaped the whirlwind. Only trouble is, I feel like a deer trapped in headlights. This sudden torrent of helpful instructions has left me paralyzed. Its the same feeling I get when I open up the Instruction Manual for some high-tech piece of equipment I just acquired. (Omigawd!) I guess one has to learn this DOS stuff incrementally, like climbing a mountain, one step at a time. Many people like me missed the whole DOS thing entirely, Max. We don't even know how to find the "Alt" key, let alone use it in sync with other vestigial characters of the DOS age. Wouldn't it be great if we could get someone to build a GUI to handle these "markup" options intuitively. Just asking. Thanks to this thread, I'm no longer a "Stranger" in the dark. Now I'm a "Newbie" caught in the Glare. 
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#43934
10/14/2001 5:28 PM
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400 |
What! you made it through law school, and Mark Up has you stymied? square brackets, (to the left of P on the keyboard,) and if they don't work, they do! (see [rant][/rant], [ducking for cover e-icon],[blowing my own horn][/blowing my own horn], etc.)
Mark Up is pretty simple, the problems is, it is also pretty limited.. so, you're safe. those of us in the know (of HTML, that is) can't run circles around you doing really fancy things!
and you must know Alt! The when all else fails combo, of Ctrl + Alt + Delete is a part of computers 101!
You'll get there.. soon, you'll master emotions, (you've already started!) and then color, and then the finer point of color!, and move on to quotes, or urls..
†and in no time at all, you posts will include §, and sub §!
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