E-Mail Addresses (From John Weigle)

From: John Weigle
Date: Wed, 24 Jan 2007 15:31:37 -0800
To: VCS Editorial Group

Subject: E-mail addresses

We're getting some very strange e-mail addresses in stories (i.e., jweigle//www.venturacountystar.com).

No matter what a source might say, that won't work. The form has to be, using the same sample as above, jweigle@venturacountystar.com.

Here's the introduction to the Wikipedia article on the subject:

"An e-mail address identifies a location to which e-mail messages can be delivered. The word e-ddress is also used as the formal pre-registered authoritative electronic mailing delivery site for an individual (example: an attorney's e-mail address registered for delivery of proof of service digital copies of legal pleadings).

A modern Internet e-mail address (using SMTP or Usenet) is a string of the form jsmith@example.com. It should be read as "jsmith at example dot com."

The part before the @ sign is the local-part of the address, often the username of the recipient, and the part after the @ sign is the domain-part, which may be a host name or domain name which can be looked up in the Domain Name System to find the mail transfer agent or Mail eXchangers (MXs) accepting e-mail for that address."

John Weigle
Copy editor and stamp columnist
Ventura County Star

Ages in Stories (as of Jan. 22, 2007)

From: dpeschka
Date: Mon, 22 Jan 2007 14:05:16 -0800
To: vcsuniversaldesk@venturacountystar.com
Cc: "Moore, John"

Subject: Ages in stories

Hi all,

Because there is still debate over ages in stories, please do not delete or put in notes mode any ages that come across in copy. A policy on this is still in the works.

Thanks,

Darrin

Nothing to "Boast" About: List of Banished Words

My apologies to Melinda Brown for posting this so late. In mid-December, she sent me a link to Lake Superior University's 2007 "List of Banished Words." One of the words on it is one of my pet peeves: "boast." We often say "the home boasts four bedrooms, three bathrooms, a media room and sun room." It sounds so boosterish, like a real estate advertisement. When I see the word, I always change it, generally to the simple word "has." Check out the list here. And you can see others' comments about the list (and add your own comments) here.