P3D A Vote for smileys

[BK Nowlan <bknowlan@xxxxxxxxx>]

John R writes:

> Another source of misunderstanding is when a reader is from another country
> and/or uses English as a second language. This is especially apparent in the
> use of the onomatopoeia (a word that's supposed to sound like what it
> represents). Dogs in the US go "woof" or "bowwow" - dogs in France go "ou"
> (if I recall correctly). In the US, "Bzzzzzzzzz" could represent the sound
> of a bumblebee, while "Zzzzzzzzz" could represent the sound of snoring
> (in other words, boredom, lack of interest).
> 
> So if Dr. T posts a comment on formulas, and receives a posted reply from
> Andrea (with no smiley) that could plausibly be interpreted to mean "your
> comments on formulas interest me so little that they're putting me to sleep",
> I would consider his followup post to be pretty mild.

I considered it mild.
 
> Though it may have been a sequence of misunderstandings, unfortunately a
> thousand of us had to read that unpleasantness. 
> 
> Morals:
>  - Please use smileys when posting jokes, even if it seems obvious to *you*.
>  - Please bear in mind the possibility of misunderstandings in email, and
>      be slow to anger.

Thank you John.  I thought maybe I had lost my sense of humor too as I
interpreted Andrea's bzzzzzzzzzz as boredom (with either a typo or just
how Andrea chooses to snooze.  :^) )  I then thought Dr. T had answered
that post in a polite and clever way (after just being dis'd by Andrea)
by refering to a bumble bee.  And then Dr. T was called nasty?  No
way!!!  I think smileys would have helped!

I am actually interested in this stereo base discussion but not a math
wiz.  Could it be put in visual terms.  For example, the Tuscany show. 
How far do you think Bloomberg moved the camera to take the landscape
shots?  5 ft.?  8ft.?  Just approximate.

Brenda


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