Survey posted 2003-02-03 22:24 by Magnus.

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The question is gramatically incorrect. It should be, "What is there to look for..." or "What should we look for...". Also, the prepositional phrase "in new archiver" is incomplete. It should read "in a new archiver".
Oh, the irony! Geniuses can make calculator programs that are magnificent but have trouble with simple grammar. Well, that's life.

That's my problem too ;)

Also, not to be an annoyance, but that should be "Many calculators" with an 's'.

What's wrong with "What should we look for?" -- It's like "What should we look for in an archiver?" That sounds right to me! (or maybe I'm just stupid)

I'm sure you're right :-) That's what happens when a non-english native write this stuff up while being way too tired.

Unfortunatly I have not yet fixed up any good tools to actually *edit* a survey, so it'll have to stay this way. I think people still understand it ;-)

I understand :-) I spell stuff wrong too, except I do it in about every other post (and if it's not spelling, it's grammar).

Hm... would smileys be incorrect grammar? I use them quite frequently.

I understand it! Even if it is incorrect, it is still really easy to understand.

You know what happens to a native English speaker when he hasn't slept in over 48 hours? he accidentally sends an e-mail full of obscenities and spitefulness to the hiring staff....... sorry again.

don't end a sentance with a preposition.

"For what should we look?" is right. Nominally

If you're annoyed by the "Grammar Mavens", read The Language Instinct by Steven Pinker. If you can read it cover to cover its quite worthwhile.

Or anything by Professor Strunk; it's much shorter and more direct than anything I've seen so far.

*Actually*, in this case, 'for' isn't a preposition - it's part of the verb. "To look for" is a verb in itself, with an entirely different meaning than "to look." Therefore, "What should we look for?" is as gramatically sound as "Where should we look?".

I'll just take your word for it :)

I must disagree.
*ahem*... 'What should we look for' is the interrogative rearrangement of 'For what should we look.' 'For what,' so 'what' is the object of the preposition 'for,' no matter what order the sentece is in. 'For' is always a preposition.
When you say 'to look for' is a verb in and of itself, that is also incorrect. 'I am going to look for' is incorrect. 'For' must have an object, because it is a preposition (and not part of the verb 'to look'), and you can't end a sentence with a preposition.

"To look for" is a special case. Let's leave it at that. bleeeeh :-p!!! time for immaturity! BLEH. nah, never mind. I'm slowly going insane...

dude... you're on something. i'll say one last thing. 'for' needs a preposition so it can be a sort of 'adverb' for 'to look'. 'for' is never part of a verb! even in special cases! i can't just 'leave it at that' knowing it's wrong! you're corrupting the minds of these poor-english-speaking people, and just making it worse! >_< ahhhh! lol

I'm already corrupt.

I'd vote for a combination of time and someone who won't change the contents of the file....

Why would they WANT to change it?!

when releasing your work through a middle-man it's always a concern... although I'm willing to bet that anyone who volunteers their time here for this probably wouldn't do anything like that...

Nah, I doubt anyone would. I wouldn't, and I doubt that anyone hired would either.

And with 1000+ files, I don't think they'll have much time to do that :)

Yeah, lol, can you imagine trying to upload 1000+ files AND look at each one's source?

Maybe someone who doens't accidentally send the hiring staff obscene e-mails... eep.

Did that happen or something? (You've mentioned it twice)

Yes. I did actually do that.

Lol, poor you (and them)

Disaster narrowly averted! I sent an IM to Magnus, he checked the newstaff@ticalc.org inbox, and deleted my message without reading it. Many thanks.

So...... why did you send it anyway?

.... but somehow IE decided to pick newstaff@ticalc.org out of the AutoComplete box...

I meant to send it to the owner of another site.

Oh... stink, lol :)

Ah, well. Magnus deleted it for me without reading it. I blame the whole thing on Microshaft.