LET�S COMMUNICATE
Agriculture Communication Newsletter
October 2004, No. 106

CONTENTS

   Write the Right Word
   Selecting the Best Image Format
   Image Size on the Web
   Software License Reminders
   The Core Rules of Netiquette

Write the Right Word

Here are some errors that have shown up in area publications recently.

* You walk toward something, not towards it.

* If the age is part of a compound modifier describing a person, animal or thing, use hyphens. For example: The 10-year-old boy lived across the street. Or this: Firemen burned down the 100-year- old house. The rule also applies if the person, animal or thing is implied, as in: The 4-year-old was hurt in the crash. Otherwise, you don�t need hyphens. For instance: The boy is 10 years old.

* When referring to an amount larger than a specific number, use more than, not over. For example: She picked more than 100 apples. Over generally describes spatial relationships between objects, as in: The plane flew over the airport three times before landing.

* If someone is speaking nonsense, they are talking mindless drivel, not dribble. Dribble is what you do to a basketball.

* Forgo or forego � Forgo is to give up or do without something. Forego mean to go before or precede.

* Sight or site � Sight refers to the ability to see. A site is a place.

* When turning plural nouns into possessives, remember that the apostrophe comes after the s. So it�s: You drove to your parents� house, not parent�s house unless you only have one parent.

Ellen Crawford, 231-5391, ecrawfor@ndsuext.nodak.edu

Selecting the Best Image Format

Images such as photos and logos are available in three main formats � gif, jpg and wmf. Each format is designed to work best in different programs.

GIF files are made to be viewed on a monitor, so they look great on a Web page. However, they don't work very well for printed pieces or PowerPoints. The edges are blurry, they often have white backgrounds and they look worse the more you enlarge them.

JPG files are the best choice for photographs. They compress the image so the file size is smaller, yet they still look good for laser printing, Web pages or PowerPoint. 

WMF files are best for logos, line drawings or illustrations with large areas of flat color. This format works in any Windows-based program and resizes cleanly. You will get the best results if you use the "Import" or "Insert" feature to add a WMF file to your pages.

One exception to these formats is full-color printing at a local print shop. Photos used for downtown printing should be saved in a TIF format with a high resolution (300 dpi or higher).

Deb Tanner, 231-7891, dtanner@ndsuext.nodak.edu 

Image Size on the Web

Do you have a large image that you just have to have on your Web site? Try using the "progressive" option when saving your image as a JPEG and use the "interlaced" option when saving it as a GIF. These two options allow the image to download in stages, which makes it look like the file downloads faster.

Dave Haasser, 231-8620, dhaasser@ndsuext.nodak.edu

Software License Reminders

Some of our software is available through NDSU's volume licensing program. Remember, the purchase of one license gives you the right to install one copy of the software on one computer. The cost of a software license does not include documentation, disks or CDs.

For ArcView and its extensions, the license agreement is annually renewable and non-prorated. The current license runs from July 1, 2004, through June 30, 2005. The cost is $35 per machine. The current version is 8.3.

Very few orders have been received for the current year. If you don�t renew the license, you are using illegal software. If you are no longer using ArcView, you must uninstall it.

Volume licensed software can only be installed on computers owned by the university with NDSU property numbers or, if the county Extension office owns the system, the computer must be used primarily for NDSU Extension business. In this case, the system serial number is used as the machine identifier. Please include the following information for new or renewable orders:

NDSU property # or system serial #

Operating system

User�s name

Orders for Adobe products are submitted on the 15th and 30th of each month, and licensing information is received in 2-3 weeks. The software cannot be installed until the license arrives.

Macromedia product orders are not submitted until 10 orders have been placed on the waiting list. This means a varying length of time before orders are received. Like Adobe products, the software cannot be installed until the licensing information arrives.

Sue Hendrickson, 231-7397, shendric@ndsuext.nodak.edu 

The Core Rules of Netiquette

In her book Netiquette, Virginia Shea lists 10 core rules. Rule 5 is: Make yourself look good online. Take advantage of your anonymity. As in the world at large, most people who communicate online just want to be liked. Networks - particularly discussion groups - let you reach out to people you'd otherwise never meet. And none of them can see you. You won't be judged by the color of your skin, eyes or hair, your weight, your age or your clothing. 

You will, however, be judged by the quality of your writing. For most people who choose to communicate online, this is an advantage; if they didn't enjoy using the written word, they wouldn't be there. So spelling and grammar do count. If you're spending a lot of time on the Net and you're shaky in these areas, it's worth brushing up on them. There are plenty of books available, but you'll learn more - and possibly have more fun - if you take a course. Look for courses on proofreading and copyediting; they usually cover the basic rules of grammar pretty thoroughly, and they'll be filled with motivated students who are there because they want to be. A side benefit is that taking courses involves meeting people you can actually see. 

Know what you're talking about and make sense. Pay attention to the content of your writing. When you see yourself writing "it's my understanding that" or "I believe it's the case," ask yourself whether you really want to post this note before checking your facts. Bad information propagates like wildfire on the Net. And once it's been through two or three iterations, you get the same distortion effect as in the party game "Operator": Whatever you originally said may be unrecognizable. (Of course, you could take this as a reason not to worry about the accuracy of your postings. But you're only responsible for what you post yourself, not for what anyone else does with it.)

In addition, make sure your notes are clear and logical. It's perfectly possible to write a paragraph that contains no errors in grammar or spelling, but still makes no sense whatsoever. This is most likely to happen when you're trying to impress someone by using a lot of long words that you don't really understand yourself. Trust me - no one worth impressing will be impressed. It's better to keep it simple.

Finally, be pleasant and polite. Don't use offensive language, and don't be confrontational for the sake of confrontation. Swearing is acceptable on the Net only in those areas where sewage is considered an art form.

We�ll cover rules 6-10 in future issues of Let�s Communicate, but if you can�t wait, see www.albion.com/netiquette/corerules.html