On Tue, 24 Aug 2010 10:12:10 +0100, Jim Lesurf
wrote:

In article , Mike Coatham
wrote:
On 23/08/2010 11:12 p.m., Jim Lesurf wrote:
In , notme
wrote:

i would like to sign off now,and thank some of the less prissy folks

althoughyoumaywanttodismissitasprissysomeofusthink itmakessenseto
[snip]

Nice one Jim. As an aside,I hope your PHD students didn't write their
assignments in that style. I can see it now -- FAILED!

One of the duties of a PhD supervisor is to make sure the PhD is readable -
if only by the chosen examiners! :-)

Glad to say that none of my students ever failed a PhD or even failed to
submit. Although I think that tells you more about them than it does about
me. :-) One of my best students later admitted he chose me as supervisor
because he found me one day using a stereo microscope to read microfiches
of old copies of SF magazines. Decided I was mad enough to be his preferred
supervisor. 8-]

However one of the reasons I've become 'sensitised' to poor presentation is
the sheer number of exam scripts, essays, etc, I've had to assess over the
years that were virtually unreadable. Some had no paragraphs or sections.
No page numbers. etc. Some were 'handwritten' illegibly.

To me this is a concern on a number of levels. It shows lack of thought for
the *reader*. It may mean in exams, etc, marks are not given because the
info was indecyperable. And employers (or potential employers) presented
with such rubbish might not be best pleased.

But for me the bottom line is that writing for others to read is a form of
*communication*. So it seems daft or lazy or even arrogant to write in a
way that makes the result needlessly harder for others to read. Matter of
being considerate as well as an aid to clarity.

However I do realise that some people find this much harder. e.g. some have
difficulty with various aspects of language, etc. And I'm sure that some
devices like tiny phones may make 'normal' typing hard. But "cannae be
bothered" doesn't seem to me to be decent reason when you are trying to ask
other for help/info.

Slainte,

Jim

I wish you could have helped more widely, Jim. I've read many PhDs in
my time, and they have been pretty much universally bad. Far too much
text on each page. Non-proportional fonts (must they really look
typewritten?), one paragraph per two pages, roughly. Add to that
nonsensical chapter ordering, and finally a conclusion that always
read "More work is needed on this subject" and the sinking feeling
was complete.

Oh yes, graphs. A microwave filter usually figured somewhere. If it
was centred on 20GHz, and had a bandwidth of 100MHz, it would be
presented on a scale of 0 to 60 GHz. There would also be upwards of a
dozen different plots on the same set of axes. An indecipherable mess
would be my kindest description.

d