In Message: 2 on Wed, 17 Sep 2003 13:46:40 -0500, Robbie Webber <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Not everyone is as computer and web savvy as you, Bob. They are just trying to > help out those of us who are a little slower catching on. I think you underestimate people, or overestimate my own "savvy." People have picked up on using the web (not always in the best way, but I, too, digress) a lot more quickly than some people might have thought even five years ago. It's a fairly simple rule and with even the tiniest effort to teach it, I suspect most people would catch on and think it's pretty cool that you can find state and local government information for any place without having to know a specific URL: www.[level of government--state, ci, co].[name of county/city if applicable].[ST].us (oddly enough, school districts are the other way around, e.g., www.madison.k12.wi.us rather than www.k12.madison.wi.us; confusing at first that school districts would go in the opposite order, but once you know, at least you know for others.} To me that's far LESS confusing than something with no rules and having to be told a specific URL. Far from "help[ing] out those of us who are a little slower catching on," making up names that have no consistent pattern only makes it more confusing. And I also know that some people do pick up on this, because I'm involved with making government information accessible to people, and when I give them our URL and I happen to be talking to someone who indicates an interest in knowing not only something about a law/bill/whatever in Wisconsin but also similar things in other states, I point out the convention as a starting point for Illinois or Minnesota or whatever it is they want to know, and I can tell that the light bulb just went on after I explained it. Isn't having an easy to learn pattern a better and more effective way of promoting citizen involvement than making rapid access to government information dependent on having to find an unpredictable URL created on the whim of someone looking for a cute name?? Just my 37 cents worth.... Now go back to lunch Now go have a beer, Bob Paolino >From the Department of Military Intelligence and Jumbo Shrimp: Sign seen on a recently poisoned lawn: TruGreen/ChemLawn ( ) ASCII ribbon campaign X against HTML e-mail: / \ Friends don't send friends HTML-bloated messages! A: Because it reverses the logical flow of conversation. Q: Why is top posting frowned upon? _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.danenet.org/mailman/listinfo/bikies
