Summer Tutoring

Haloscan Basics

1. The admin control panel of Haloscan lists the poster’s nic, the comments, the thread, three options to modify the message, and the poster’s IP.

2. There is no way of knowing how many admins are on at any given time through Haloscan. Admins do not punch a time clock or rotate shifts, they simply keep an eye on the board when online.

3. Haloscan does not record the IP of the person doing the editing unless the admin posts a comment relating to the edit.

4. Should a question arise, “Site Meter” offers an “out click” function which identifies the IP address of the admin who clicked onto the edited comment. However, as with most free stat reports, the data is temporary in that it is lost when the maximum number of records cause the data to purge.

5. Occasionally a person will post remarks thanking the admin for fixing the problem.

Query? If more than one admin repairs blockquotes on the same thread in close proximity, how would you determine which admin an appreciative poster is addressing?

AOL Basics

1. Typical AOL proxy server IP ranges: (* = wild card.)
152.163.100.*, 152.163.101.*, 205.188.116.*, 207.200.116.*, 64.12.116.*, 64.12.117.*

2. AOL Members' requests for internet objects are usually handled by the AOL Proxy system. When a member requests multiple documents for multiple URLs, each request may come from a different proxy server.

3. Wikipedia states that an AOL user cannot be uniquely identified as their IP address is shared with hundreds or thousands of other AOL users.

4. AOL users have the ability of posting comments under two different IP ranges as listed in #1, an outcome that is generated by the process described in #2.

5. Likewise it is not unusual for two different AOL users to post comments under an identical IP as listed in #1, an outcome which is generated by the process described in #2.

6. An AOL user can only be identified by the nic they use when posting.

7. Any person who normally posts with a distinguishable service provider that has access to an AOL account can post with an AOL IP address, utilizing the AOL account, and no one would be the wiser.

Punctuation Basics

Use quotation marks [ “ ” ] to set off material that represents quoted or spoken language. Quotation marks also set off the titles of things that do not normally stand by themselves: short stories, poems, and articles.

For instance, if someone posts a link to an article and introduces it with:

Meet "The family", Anne!

http://www.projo.com/extra/2007/mob/

Pay particular attention to "The Family Tree" and get a clue, Anne!

Papillon 01.30.07 - 12:54 pm

Quotation marks were used correctly in identifying the main story and subsequent article associated with the newspaper edition.

The following sentence indicates the author is referring to a family, not an article.

"Hence, family will deal with it accordingly."

This particular proclamation refers to families in general and does not require quotation marks.

"Rock on Pound! Take no shit but family first! Just saying if you get a chance to check in, make sure our ladies are okay. In between breaking up the fights and taking care of your own homes of course." -Baby Girl 12.15.06 - 12:53 am

Language Basics

"Many studies have found evidence that people really do understand sentences as a collection of phrases. A sentence must have a noun phrase and a verb phrase. Sentences may also have object phrases that specify who did what to whom.

In order to determine where phrase boundaries lie, people must analyze each word for its meaning and its grammatical placement. The process of figuring out each word's role in a sentence's syntax is called parsing the sentence. We can use semantics, the meanings behind words, to help parse a sentence. People tend to parse sentences as they go along, requiring them to make educated guesses about the role each word plays in the sentence."

Example:

I reference the above because I am just now reading this patent nonsense at Usenet for the first time.

I reference = verb phrase, (material was cited)
the above = subject phrase, (points to location of the citation)
because = conjunction , (the part of speech that serves to connect words)
I am just now reading = verb phrase
this patent nonsense = noun phrase
at Usenet = object phrase
for the first time. = noun phrase

There are no garden-path errors in this sentence. The central point is unambiguous. A dialogue was referenced. The subsequent words, “the above” indicate where the illustration is cited. Each phrase in the sentence is structured around the specific quoted material leaving nothing to the imagination. Thus the words “this patent nonsense” refers to the specific citation, as does the rest of the sentence.

Parsing it out of reality is a fishing excursion. And it’s a strategy that most assuredly generates conjecture and faulty conclusions, a convenient device suitable for the likes of Mike Nifong.