An outrage! I am leading a rebellion!

[RJDiogenes]

I'm with this new Poster they call galleywest. I've been using double spaces after periods, question marks, exclamation points and colons since 1974, when I took a typing class in Junior High. I heard about the trend toward using one space from my Brother, who was apparently taught this at Zoo Mass (and who is always desperate to latch onto anything "official"), but one space looks stupid to me. Sentences need more space than words.

 

[scotpens]

. . . Must be an American thing, just like those paper sheets that exactly manages to not please the eye (when are you going A4?) . . .

Exqueeze me? What's wrong with good old American 8-1/2 x 11 inch paper? It's the PERFECT size!

I'm only 24 but I learned to type using 2 spaces. I know I don't need to anymore, but I honestly think it looks better. It makes sentences easier to read and not so squished together.

If your sentences look squished together, you need to change the justification settings in your word-processing or page-layout application.

Once more: Double-spacing after a sentence is a relic of the typewriter age. It's NO LONGER NECESSARY!

 

[Vulcan Princess]

I learned the two spaces after a period thing in high school in the mid '90's, but by college it had pretty much fallen out of favor. I'm a law review editor, and we do single spaces after periods. (I'm the one responsible for going and fixing it, since the professors who write the articles generally are from the two space era.) I think it's unnecessary to have two spaces, plus, it slows down my typing.

 

[Rii]

. . . Must be an American thing, just like those paper sheets that exactly manages to not please the eye (when are you going A4?) . . .

Exqueeze me? What's wrong with good old American 8-1/2 x 11 inch paper? It's the PERFECT size!

Don't know about the American standards, but one of the cool things about the German A standards is their length:width ratio of √2:1 which allows for the simple and efficient creation of smaller sheets from larger ones, i.e. an A1 sheet can be folded in half to create two A2 sheets, four A3 sheets, eight A4 sheets, etc. And of course, in a pinch, one can always go the other way and create an A0 sheet from sixty four A5 sheets.

 

[trekkiedane]

. . . Must be an American thing, just like those paper sheets that exactly manages to not please the eye (when are you going A4?) . . .

Exqueeze me? What's wrong with good old American 8-1/2 x 11 inch paper? It's the PERFECT size!

Don't know about the American standards, but one of the cool things about the German A standards is their length:width ratio of √2:1 which allows for the simple and efficient creation of smaller sheets from larger ones, i.e. an A1 sheet can be folded in half to create two A2 sheets, four A3 sheets, eight A4 sheets, etc. And of course, in a pinch, one can always go the other way and create an A0 sheet from sixty four A5 sheets.

Dagnit missed my cue!

The 'A-system' (ISO 216) is quite beautiful in it's mathematical simplicity and because of it's ability to please the human eye - √2:1 simply said looks better* than any other format ever devised.
Add the practicality described by Rii and you have the perfect paper sheet size(s).

____________
*) A few mm longer and it looks like TP and a few mm wider makes it look like a tabloid paper.

 

[galleywest]

Yessss, my fellow rebels. Our movement is growing, growing.

I can no more type one space after a period than I can use one contact or one shoe: it would be terribly uncomfortable and I would just feel silly. Two spaces is too much a part of my typing style now to change.

RJDiogenes, I figure if Futurama can come back, so can I.

 

[Zulu Romeo]

I can no more type one space after a period than I can use one contact or one shoe: it would be terribly uncomfortable and I would just feel silly. Two spaces is too much a part of my typing style now to change.

But there's only ONE space in-between those sentences!

 

[RoJoHen]

I can no more type one space after a period than I can use one contact or one shoe: it would be terribly uncomfortable and I would just feel silly. Two spaces is too much a part of my typing style now to change.

But there's only ONE space in-between those sentences!

Because the TrekBBS is mean, and even if you type two spaces, it automatically deletes one of them!

 

[Orac Zen]

I've never used two spaces. In fact, I only discovered that some people use two spaces when a previous thread on the subject turned up here.

Sorry, galleywest. I'll skip this particular revolution. It's great to see you around, though.

 

[RJDiogenes]

RJDiogenes, I figure if Futurama can come back, so can I.

to both.

Because the TrekBBS is mean, and even if you type two spaces, it automatically deletes one of them!

It deletes all spaces but one, no matter how many you type.

 

[trekkiedane]

/.../ even if you type two spaces, it automatically deletes one of them!

Actually, the excess spaces aren't deleted, it is a little known fact, but they're beamed far, far away into the interstellar void where they cause much turmoil because there isn't enough room for them -hence the universe expands.

 

[Rii]

Dagnit missed my cue!

And who said whiling away the hours by link surfing Wikipedia was a waste of time?

 

[RoJoHen]

Here's a related question: what about indenting paragraphs? I have noticed that I just don't do this anymore. I'm not sure why I stopped doing it, but I don't even think to indent new paragraphs when I'm typing these days. I like the look of the double return instead.

 

[Starbreaker]

I don't own a single thing with 2 spaces after a period.

 

[scotpens]

Here's a related question: what about indenting paragraphs? I have noticed that I just don't do this anymore. I'm not sure why I stopped doing it, but I don't even think to indent new paragraphs when I'm typing these days. I like the look of the double return instead.

For large blocks of text or multi-page documents, the first line of each paragraph should be indented. In any case, there should always be space separating paragraphs.

But then, I'm speaking from a professional perspective. I do most of my typesetting in QuarkXpress, which provides very precise controls over paragraph formatting.

 

[RJDiogenes]

TrekBBS doesn't let you indent, either. Indenting must be as obsolete as Goofy Grape and Star Trek.

 

[galleywest]

/.../ even if you type two spaces, it automatically deletes one of them!

Actually, the excess spaces aren't deleted, it is a little known fact, but they're beamed far, far away into the interstellar void where they cause much turmoil because there isn't enough room for them -hence the universe expands.

I thought it was a cost-saving measure. "In this tough economy, we can't afford two spaces, kids."

Funnily enough, I don't normally indent paragraphs anymore. I like leaving a space between them, I think it makes things easier to read.

Orac Zen, if I said I would make cookies, would you join the revolution then? Delicious cookies....and maybe milk?

 

[trekkiedane]

TrekBBS doesn't let you indent, either. Indenting must be as obsolete as Goofy Grape and Star Trek.

^Does that mean someone will re-make it?

Indent (2011) - perhaps?

 

[RJDiogenes]

TrekBBS doesn't let you indent, either. Indenting must be as obsolete as Goofy Grape and Star Trek.

^Does that mean someone will re-make it?

Indent (2011) - perhaps?

Yes, but it will be a darker, edgier indent for a nu generation. Like this:

I'm with this new Poster they call galleywest. I've been using double spaces after periods, question marks, exclamation points and colons since 1974, when I took a typing class in Junior High.
I heard about the trend toward using one space from my Brother, who was apparently taught this at Zoo Mass (and who is always desperate to latch onto anything "official"), but one space looks stupid to me.
Sentences need more space than words.

 

[Spot's Meow]

The format I write in is largely defined by the styles that I was required to use in college and grad school. So I always indent and never double space between paragraphs. And I'm always forced to use Times New Roman.