I agree, I was not able to decipher that message either. I also do not see any need for symbols and other means of shortening messages. On the other hand I can handle some poor grammar and punctuation problems, but sometimes it just gets so bad you don't have any idea what the person is trying to communicate. And not using the spell checker that all email programs have is inexcusable. Dennis Reiley Richard McCutcheon <anndick.mccutcheon@sympatico.ca> wrote: Hello Listers: I've been debating with myself all day as to the wisdom of responding to the message below. The author might have something very important to say but I may never know. I have noticed in a few messages by this and various authors that they apparently don't know how, don't care, or deliberately choose not to write in English as I understand it. In this case, there is no punctuation or capitalization, nor evident concern for grammatical correctness and, as a consequence, I don't really understand much of what he/she is trying to say. I understand the trend towards hastily-constructed, terse notes and the use of short-forms or symbols in a lot of the e-mail I receive. I generally don't make an issue of the lack of correctness of spelling, grammar, or the presence of typos in e-mail messages, but I suggest there needs to be enough care taken that the message can be understood by most, if not all, of the intended readers. Am I the only one who finds this style of writing frustrating? It is not my intention to pick on the author of the message below. I merely use it as an example of what I consider to be poor communication. Dick McCutcheon Sault Ste Mare, ON To: Sent: Wednesday, June 09, 2004 10:12 AM Subject: Re: [IRL-CAVAN] wanted more lines of names with DNN to connect more trees > > http://www.familytreedna.com/surname.asp > its basicly 99 or 135 smething the page gives the prices you need a male > because y chromisones are the factor. you will drop 135 american quickly in > research . most of which isnt anyway as factual.its a good deal. takes with sending > you the kit and you returning it and processing aboit 1.5-2mns, ever send > requests by snail mail anywhere? > the best thing to do since there isnt a project going for rusk is to get 3 > people with the name . that you have met and have them form a project. thats > what i did just by myself. most of us irish can go back to maybe 1750 then it > becomes harder this when enough members get done will course the progressions of > lines [branches]. also you get compared against everyone done and will be done > good luck ==== IRL-CAVAN Mailing List ==== To unsubscribe from this list click on mailto:IRL-CAVAN-L-request@rootsweb.com?subject=unsubscribe (list mode) or mailto:IRL-CAVAN-D-request@rootsweb.com?subject=unsubscribe (digest mode)