Re: looking for a problem's name and possibly algorithm

[Macy]

Interesting, 

I use the mail system provided by BasicISP.net; which provides the most 
excellent shield against virii/malware and for those on dial-up, or billed per 
bit; strips everything back down to text.

As you can see, this system automatically 'top' posts the replies.  However, 
octave's group, unlike many other groups; hitting simple 'reply' only sends 
response to originator, not to the group. Must always remember to take what is 
now an unusual action of hitting 'reply all' Reverse thought process from most 
of the 'new' groups where a simple 'reply' sends to the group. 

Interesting to note that even for gmail account, google also automatically 
'top' posts replies. 

Perhaps, top posting is coming of age, because it saves people time when using 
small screen portable devices. They would otherwise have to scroll down through 
excessively long historical details before finally getting to the new reply.

Definitely saves me time with the snapshot view of any 'reply' posting always 
showing only new information [can instantly decide whether to read completely, 
or not], where as bottom posting would require looking at each item 
individually and scrolling down to find the new information, then deciding no I 
don't want to read this in detail, but I already just did!  

Actually for me, because of the way I archive information; it is far more 
irritating to wade through replies that excessively interlace their responses.  
It is nice to have the reference adjacent to the comment, but often the 
interlacing also quotes paragraphs of unrelated info down to that reference.


Culmination? I say to everyone:

Post your very worthwhile responses anyway you wish. Forget format, and 
concentrate on clarity/content. 

Regards,
Robert


..snip...

Hi

please send your answers also to the mailing list and try not to top
post (i.e put your answer below the quoted text). It makes it easier for
other people to follow the discussion.

...snip...

Regards,
Laurent