LET'S COMMUNICATE
Agriculture Communication Newsletter
December 2004, No. 108

Contents

     10 Steps to Improve Your Computer Performance
     Write the Right Word
     The Core Rules of Netiquette
     Topics Galore in the Staff Resource Library

10 Steps to Improve Your Computer Performance

Does your computer seem to be running slower than it used to? Make a New Year's resolution to regularly carry out these 10 steps to clean up your computer and restore some of the lost performance.

• Clean out temp files
• Uninstall unnecessary or unused programs
• Get your computer organized
• Set SPAM filters in your Pegasus mail and clean out the folder regularly
• Check your disk for errors
• Defragment your hard drive
• Update Windows
• Increase computer security
• Back up important files and data
• Update and run Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware programs

See the Ag Com Computer Services Web site at www.ag.ndsu.nodak.edu/agcomm/accs  for details on how to carry out these important steps. Jerry Ranum, 231-6395, jranum@ndsuext.nodak.edu

Write the Right Word

The word couple can be confusing. When using it to mean two people, it takes plural verbs and pronouns, such as, �The couple were married Saturday. They left on their honeymoon Sunday.�  But if it�s used as a single unit, it takes a singular verb, as in, �Each couple was asked to give $10.� And if you are using couple to indicate quantity in place of two, you must add the word of, as in, �He picked a couple of tomatoes.�

Handbill or train: If you are talking about a small printed notice that you hand out, it�s a flier. An aviator also is a flier. Flyer is the proper name of some trains and buses, such as the Western Flyer.

No versus not: It�s proper to say, �The treatments had no effect on the disease� instead of, �The treatments did not have any effect on the disease.�  However, don�t use both in the same sentence, as in, �The treatments did not have no effect on the disease.�

When to capitalize titles: Capitalize titles when they come before a name and don�t include an article (a, an, the), as in �North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson is running for re-election.� But when those words are used as a description, they should be lower case and be separated from the person�s name by a comma, as in, �The North Dakota agriculture commissioner, Roger Johnson, was one of the panelists.� To avoid doubts about whether to capitalize, instead say, �Roger Johnson, North Dakota�s agriculture commissioner, was one of the panelists.�

Here�s a follow-up on the adviser/advisor debate. The dictionary says both technically are correct, but the Associated Press uses adviser, and Ag Com will follow the AP style. Ellen Crawford, 231- 5391, ecrawfor@ndsuext.nodak.edu

The Core Rules of Netiquette

In her nook Netiquette, Virginia Shea lists 10 core rules. Rule 7 is Help keep flame wars under control.

"Flaming" is what people do when they express a strongly held opinion without holding back any emotion. It's the kind of message that makes people respond, "Oh, come on, tell us how you really feel." Tact is not its objective.

Does Netiquette forbid flaming? Not at all. Flaming is a long- standing network tradition (and Netiquette never messes with tradition). Flames can be lots of fun, both to write and to read. And the recipients of flames sometimes deserve the heat.

But Netiquette does forbid the perpetuation of flame wars -- series of angry letters, most of them from two or three people directed toward each other, that can dominate the tone and destroy the camaraderie of a discussion group. It's unfair to the other members of the group. And while flame wars initially can be amusing, they get boring very quickly to people who aren't involved in them. They're an unfair monopolization of bandwidth.

We'll cover rules 8-10 in future issues of Let's Communicate, but if you just can't wait, see www.albion.com/netiquette/corerules.html

Topics Galore in the Staff Resource Library

Leadership, education, writing, time management, diversity, grant writing. The Staff Resource Library has books, audiotapes, CDs and videotapes on these topics and many more. Check out www.ag.ndsu.nodak.edu/staffres/library/contents.htm  for a good bedtime read or an audio for your next road trip.