Conference 7.286::digital

    RE: .0 That's two more then I knew about. Who uses these?
    
    		Alfred

    I agree...never heard of such a thing in 19 years with DEC.  Who told
    you that?

I've received lots of eletronic mail with these prefixes in the subject line.

Some folks apparently think they are useful for the recipient. You know, an
easy way to find out if a memo is informational only (read it later or delete
it altogether) or if action on the recipient's part is necessary.

Just one of those customs some people use.

-Glenn-

    Have also seen (U) for "Urgent", though most memos think that they fall
    into that category.  :-)
    
    Jon

    
    I had never seen these either until I joined IM&T (or DIS or whatever
    we're called now) about 3 years ago. I find them extremely useful as
    long as people stick to them. Nothing worse than having 40 unreads that
    you used the prefixs to determine reading sequence and then 4 hours
    later finally get to the one MUST DO by noon type whose author forgot
    the prefix! Really nothing new - FYR, FYI and so on serve the same
    purpose but these seem to work a little better.
    
    We usually use A - action, * - Urgent, I - informational and ? - what?
    Purely a local standard started by a manager a few years ago and it
    caught on.
    
    -Ray
    

	Here is the convention commonly implemented/used in Europe, suggested
by EUR EIS.

 A:      ACTION - is required by recipient(s)
 U:      URGENT  - action is required urgently by the recipient(s)
 Q:      QUESTION - clarification/additional details etc.
 I:      INFO - is only for information; no action is required
 H:      HELP - support needed - emergency only (used by Area EIS secs)

Antonietta
    

Most of the stuff I get should be marked (D) -- delete before reading.

    I have a fairly advanced method for allowing the recipient
    to figure out my intent in sending a mail message - I state it in 
    English, either in the subject line or at the head of the
    mail message.
    
    Took me years to design, but it was worth it.  :-)

    While a bit too structured for many people's taste, this is a big
    improvement over FYI, etc.  Our former Area Sales Support Mgr. used to
    put FYI on all forwarded mail.  Ever try to find a particular item when
    you've got 25 or 30 FYIs in every folder?
    
    
    -dave

    I've been wondering about that "A:" business.  I thought it was an
    ALL-IN-1 artifact.  Guess I should go back and read some of the
    messages which may contain actions for me.
    
    ----
    
    "Of course, the entire point of a doomsday device is lost if you don't
     tell anybody--why didn't you tell anybody!!!" -- Dr. Strangelove

I guess I support the use of prefixes if it helps others, but I don't find
it helps me at all.  People do things like A/I: ...  or  I/A: ...  so you
can't do a DIR/SUBJ="A:" to get all the action mails.  It won't really 
take off until its a feature of the mail product we use.

Mike

re:            <<< Note 1270.10 by WHOS01::BOWERS "Dave Bowers @WHO" >>>

>    improvement over FYI, etc.  Our former Area Sales Support Mgr. used to
>    put FYI on all forwarded mail.  Ever try to find a particular item when
>    you've got 25 or 30 FYIs in every folder?
    
You know, if it weren't for the fact that I'm in engineering, I'd think we once
worked for the same guy, Dave! You're right - it's a real value-subtracted
approach.

re: Urgent belonging on 'em all.

Yes that would be likely, wouldn't it. In theory this approach sounds good
if you could believe everyone would use it sensibly. Somehow I have visions
of getting messages like:

  SUBJ: U/A: Sandwich seminar on Jazzercise next winter

-Jack

	re .9:

>    I have a fairly advanced method for allowing the recipient
>    to figure out my intent in sending a mail message - I state it in 
>    English, either in the subject line or at the head of the
>    mail message.

	This was exactly my reaction, too. I spend a lot more time than
	most people thinking about the title for any mail I send - that goes
	for Notes, too. It's like a newspaper headline - if the recipient
	doesn't think it looks significant or interesting, it is liable
	to go unread.

	While my initial reaction to the codes was negative, I might
	come round. (My initial reaction to almost everything is negative
	unless you can eat or drink it!)

	First of all, it came from the ALL-IN-1 community. That (sadly)
	starts anything off at a disadvantage in my mind. Next, it looked
	like a substitute for thought - always dangerous. One reason
	senders might not be able to follow Dave's advice (.9, above)
	is that they haven't read what they're forwarding. This might
	apply to a manager who gets lots of mail and forwards it more
	or less indiscriminately. I deplore this, as if you don't read
	it, you don't know to whom it should go, or even if it should go.

	A lot of insidious overwork comes from people who automatically
	forward mail without thinking "what good is this going to do?"

	This applies to the manager (in .11?) who put "FYI" as subject
	on everything he forwarded. That guy needs to learn something
	about communication. The other implication is that he shouldn't
	be getting the mail if he doesn't read it - he's just an
	animated message router.

	/Tom

    re. 14
    I totally agree!
    
    1- I do not want to be told what to do with information. I consider
       the evaluation beeing part of my job.
    
    2- I do not want to preempt anyone elses judgement either.
    
    3- If you rely on electronics to judge what to read first,
       second or never, you might also rely on electronics to your
       job.
    
    The Subject line is very important (and the content if you are
    the author of the memo)
    /fred
    

    I have been pro-activily asking the people with which I am
    communicating to use these pre-fixes, I:/A:/U: followed by a product
    name and consise description and encouraged them to spread this usage
    out in their group.
    
    If you receive every day 30-50 messages with subjects like:
    
    Meeting tomorrow
    Status report
    can you help
    need input or
    even the whole message in the subject line, not bathering to write text
    in the buffer or 
    as I heard from another person, "I don't read mail at all. If people
    want me to action, they are likely to call me after a while when I am
    not responding; then I will know they are serious".......
    
    then communicating effectivily and setting your dayly priorities is
    getting very difficult.
    
    Another reason for me to use these pre-fixes is because I am an ALLIN1
    user. VAXVMS mail users can use the TO: and CC: field to notify for
    whom it meant to be an action and for whom FYI.
    Such a message received by an ALLIN1 user means, that AIO shopps of all
    names from the original header and puts only the receiver's name in the 
    TO: field.
                                                        
    Anyway, 50% of the message i receive have these pre-fixes and it has
    helped me a lot to do my job more efficient.
                      

From:	SHIPS::RKE "Richard Keville-Evans SBP F4/1 DTN 782 2156  06-Feb-1991 150
2"  6-FEB-1991 10:02:41.64	
Subj:	H:Mail prefixes

                  I N T E R O F F I C E   M E M O R A N D U M

                                        Date:       06-Feb-1991 14:58 GMT
                                        From:       Richard Keville-Evans
                                                    RKE
                                        Dept:       CSSE
                                        Tel No:     782 2156

Subject: H:Mail prefixes

       Here follows a list of subject prefixes that I'm proposing to use inorder
       to help you deal with the mail assault that you have to contend with 
       daily.

       Prefix. 	       Meaning.	       	       	       Used by...

       A:      	       Action. 	       	       	       The Ambitious.
       U:      	       Urgent. 	       	       	       The V. Ambitious. 
       I:      	       Information.    	       	       Busy bodies.
       O:      	       Organisational announcement.    Busier bodies.
       H:      	       Humour. 	       	       	       The Village Idiot.
       S:      	       Sorry.  	       	       	       The Wimp.
       VS:     	       Very sorry.     	       	       The Real Wimp.
       TM:     	       Trust Me.       	       	       The Foolhardy
       CM:     	       Chain mail.     	       	       Medieval knights.
       FB:     	       Feedback.       	       	       Nobody.
       SG:     	       Snotogram.      	       	       Everybody
       PT:     	       Profound Thoughts.      	       Management.     		
       PS:     	       Parting Shot.   	       	       Irate noters.
       AM:     	       Abusive Mail.   	       	       Abusors.
       SO:     	       Sod Off.	       	       	       Abusees.
       OJ:     	       Only Joking.    	       	       Jesters.
       LD:     	       Long Document.  	       	       The Hopeful.
       JM:     	       Junk Mail.      	       	       System Managers.
       JDI:    	       Just Do It.     	       	       Product Managers.
       NFI:    	       Not really Interested.  	       Product Managers.
       OYD:    	       Only In Your Dreams.    	       Engineering.
       MMD:    	       Make My Day.    	       	       Storepersons.
       RMM:    	       Read My Mind.   	       	       Product Planners.
       STW:    	       Save the Whales.	       	       Everyone.
       DBR:    	       Delete before Read.     	       Management Message.
       RAD:    	       Read and delete.	       	       Everyone.
       GFI:    	       Go For It.      	       	       Marketing.
       MIH:    	       Make it Happen. 	       	       Management.
       RTRA:   	       Read Then Read Again.   	       Everyone.
       EBBA:   	       Engage Brain Before Answering.  Everyone.
       TPNS:   	       This product is Not Supported!  CSSE.   
       TNSG:   	       Another unreadable message.     TNSG.
       GOMB:   	       Get Off My Back.	       	       The Hopeful     
       YCBS:   	       You Cannot Be Serious.  	       Manufacturing.
       OYWD:   	       Only in Your Wildest Dreams.    Engineering.
       FYISO:  	       For your eyes only.     	       Old world managers
       EXT TT: 	       You just del'd your directory.  Nobody.
       SMYISYM:	       Show me yours I'll show you mine. The Hopeful.
       TQBFJOTSD:      The quick brown fox.... 	       touch typists.
       BBROYGBVGW:     Black Brown Red Orange....      Old Engineers.

       You should use the single prefix first, then use the instructional as 
       necessary, for example....

       	       U:A:TM:RMM:EBBA:subject line....

       This means I want you to do something for me, without telling you how, or
       why, but I want it now, I also want you to fill in the holes, and give me
       a reasoned intelligent answer.

       This is usually followed by the JDI: mail, just incase the RMM: prefix 
       missed it's mark.

       All this in the subject line will allow you to be able to decide how to 
       deal with the mail message, more quickly than actually reading it.

>>       EXT TT: 	       You just del'd your directory.  Nobody.

I remember that one!

-steve-

    Bad Boys Ravished Our Young Girls But Violet Gives Willingly.
    
    now... does that mean I'm *OLD*????
    
    tony (who cleaned up the "R" a little)

Re: .19

Well, I suppose my recognizing this sequence means I'm old too.  I still
remember my high-school physics teacher teaching this to us with a face
redder than a lobster (in hushed tones, after the class was over).

			Steve

P.S.  For those who aren't "old engineers", this is a mnemonic for remembering
the sequence of colors used to encode values on electronic components such
as resistors.  Black was zero, brown was one, through white for nine.

P.P.S.  Whatever happened to Roy G. Biv?  

re: .19 -- you forgot "for Gold and for Silver..."  Probably just as
well, though.

re: .20:
> P.P.S.  Whatever happened to Roy G. Biv?  

Roy  Biv has complained, in a letter published in the Journal of
Irreproducable Results, that there is no color "Indigo" and he name
should not have been used for this mnemoic.

Martin.

    Gee, we had a co-ed class in tech school, so it was presented as
    Bad Booze Rots Our Young Guts But Vodka Goes Well - as near as I
    can remember...
    
    

re: .20 "Whatever happened to Roy G. Biv?"

He changed his name to LEO the GERman.

Or was that LEO says GER...?

What about King Philip came over for green stamps?

25 years or so ago, at the University of Illinois, the Illiac I computer used an
obscure hexadecimal code where the 16 "digits" were 

	0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 K S N J F L

(This was based on some encoded typesetting equipment that was used as a printer
on the system, as I recall).

There were two mnemonics used to remember the last six digits, which must have
been effective because I still remember them today:

	Kind Souls Never Jostle Fat Ladies
	King Sized Numbers Just For Laughs

And one of the professors insisted that KSNJFL was a foreign language word for
horse manure.

And the Illiac II used a hex code with digits  0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 + - A B C D.
It was always interesting to try to interpret hex dumps and not get confused 
with the sign of the number.

Oh, well, back to work........

	/Marvin

    Actually, the Illiac's hex letters came from the 5-bit coding of
    the old Teletype machines (like the model 19) which the Illiac
    used as I/O devices.
    
    (One of my college professors worked on the beast.)
    
    Knowing the color code doesn't mean you are an "old" engineer.  They
    still make resistors, and they still have that code on them.
    
    Other things make you old though.
    
    (I had to buy a magnifying lamp for my workbench so I could even *see*
    the color codes on eighth-watt resistors.)

    0-9 k... Looks like Hollith (you remember the cards) 
    
                  Tom

    ... that's Hollerith.  Gack!  I'm not in this crowd, too, am I?
    I used to do simulations using punch cards ...  I don't even need the
    cute stuff to remember color code ...
    
    Steve

    when i was with Burroughs (aka UNISYS) in the late 60's as a Field
    Engineer and worked on the B2500/B3500 medium systems (well, they
    seemed medium sized _then_) we used a "hex" numbering system which
    displayed "undigit" numbers for A,B,C,D,E.  The "Nixie" display showed
    "undigit-zero" =A hex; "undigit-one" = B hex; "undigit-two" = C hex,
    and so on.  the characters were the numbers 0-5 with slashes (/) thru
    them.

.26 has it correct.  (I programmed Illiac-1 and one of its Swedish
descendents.  Fortunately, the Swedish computer didn't duplicate
Illiac's code.)  The reason for the obscure code was that the Illiac
engineers wanted the paper-tape to have the proper binary representation
of the digits, and the letters  were an "artifact" of the tty's.

Martin (who still has his Illiac manual.)

Sounds like something Alan Turing might have designed.  On the
first Cambridge machine, you programmed it by assembling an
instruction word in your head, then punching the appropriate
papertape characters so that the tape ended up with the
appropriate binary pattern.  The result was instruction mnemonics
that looked like "@/" for "load acc", and so on.

Apparently, Turing couldn't understand why anyone felt this
was hard to do.  

    getting back to the resistor code the one I remember is..
    
    Bad Boys Ravish Our Young Girls But Virgins Go Without
    To keep it as clean as possible I have used ravish in place of ....

            Bye Bye Rosie Off You Go; Birmingham Via Great Western
        

Bad Boys Razz Our Young Girls Behind Victory Garden Walls