Re: As hard as ABC (April 24)
I definitely agree with your point of view. I think that a common practice should be to always use the full text and indicate what the acronym will be
for further reference in the individual article. For example, even simple and generally known acronyms like IT should first be refered to as Information Technology (IT). After that, the use of IT should not cause a stumbling block.
John Mills
Data Processing Manager
Thomas Allen & Son Ltd.
Re: As hard as ABC (April 24)
Interesting rant, but I have two comments to make about it:
Your use of the word acronym in the article is inconsistent, and in some cases, incorrect. “”SMB”” and “”TH”” are not acronyms. “”SME”” could be, but it would be difficult to determine the original it is based on.
Acronym — noun word formed from initial letters of other words (e.g. laser, NATO, or in our case, IT, COBOL).
Most of what we use in IT are TLAs and FLAs (Two/Three Letter Abbreviations and Four Letter Abbreviations).
My other comment is the confusion about TLAs like “”OEM.”” It means Original Equipment Manufacturer or Other Equipment Manufacturer, depending on whether it is used in the IT or automotive industry (don’t ask me, I never remember which one uses which version).
Maxwell Garrison
DBA/OS Management Specialist
EPSB (a.k.a. Edmonton Public Schools)
Re: As hard as ABC (April 24)
Otherwise known as the A-cubed society, the Association for the Abolishment of Acronyms.
Daryl Fuller
Information Technology Infrastructure
Accenture Business Services of BC
Re: As hard as ABC (April 24)
I declared war on acronyms years ago — for all the good it has done me. I started my own war back in summer 1976 when I was on my first University of Waterloo (UW) co-operative study work term at the Royal Bank of Canada Ontario Central Processing Centre (OCPC) located at the foot of CN Tower in Toronto. I had to write up a work term report and could find no one who could tell me what some of the acronyms being used in my job actually stood for. Since then, I have run into the types of problems you refer to in your editorial over and over again.
One acronym can stand for many different things. People are always assuming that the jargon and acronyms they use are — or at least should be — familiar to those whom they are communicating with. Such is often not the case.
Marnie Shaw
Re: It just gets better and better (April 23)
I believe culture is the most important thing an IT leader can bring to the staff. A positive can-do attitude in IT encourages staff to speak up about ideas, process improvements and how to make IT the most loved department in the company.
I have worked in government for a long time and to get people off their ass and do something can be challenging. I developed a 45 minute presentation on how an IT department should operate and what its culture should be.
Peter Dielissen
Director, academic computing
St. Thomas University
Fredericton, NB
Re: Mosaic made simple (April 14)
Mosaic is still with us. Under the Help button for Internet Explorer:
“”Based on NCSA Mosaic. NCSA Mosaic(TM); was developed at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Distributed under a licensing agreement with Spyglass, Inc.””
John Kerr
System expert, security
CAE Inc.
Re: This is going to cost you (April 10)
Economics (in this case, why should I invent something if I am not going to benefit), the law (in this case, collective and personal rights within rules) and rational thought and logic — none of these were well displayed in your editorial on standards and the use of patents.
The use of embedded patents in Standards is a very (very) important issue. You might even be half right, though it is hard to tell which half as your argument is largely “”an open Internet is the only way — ever”” and “”we want the best now, for free””. Tell that to the author of a book, the CDs and the movies, and the medicines — lord, even the developer of the software that runs most systems of manufacturing and back office, as well as much on the desktop.
Try a full article, involving some real arguments for and against, present some facts for us to work with — even case law and precedent. And then show how each player benefits. Then you might have made your case. Until then, please stay way from such editorialising without substance.
David Croome
Mississauga
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