The discussion of the Alien series of films and the props used in them is the aim, but if it's got Big Bugs and Big Guns, then they are welcome too!





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 Post subject: Posting tips
PostPosted: Sat Apr 04, 2009 4:27 pm 
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Location: United Kingdom
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Capital letters:
Sentences always begin with a capital letter. If you’re using the letter i to refer to yourself then it should be capital, not lower case. “I like the film Aliens” is right. “i like the film Aliens” is wrong.

People's names begin with a capital letter too. This applies to their first name and surname. Speaking of names, in British culture it’s considered rude to refer to someone by their last name (unless it’s in the context of commanding them as part of a USCM squad for example) so: “The website run by Harris contains props galore” is considered rude. “Harris, weld that door shut!” is okay.

Using surnames is okay if, for example, you're writing an article about someone and mention their full name first, such as: “Willie Goldman, who runs http://www.alienscollection.com has been amassing his collection of Alien memorabilia for 57 years. Goldman, who lives in L.A. is also a writer and producer….” In informal places like the board though it’s best to stick to either the first name or both names.

Don't write in capitals unless you really mean to shout (presumably for comic effect): “I’m Christian Bale and I’m VERY ANGRY!” Most computer users consider the use of all capital letters to be the Internet equivalent of shouting, so shout wisely.

Full Stop (period):
Sentences normally end with a full stop (period). If what you have to say is an exclamation then just one exclamation point at the end of the sentence is fine. “Wow, Kevin looked very smart in his dress uniform!”

If you’re leaving a sentence open for effect then three dots is enough…

Commas:
Don’t use too many commas in one sentence. Usually one or two will do, and then begin another sentence. When you add a comma it goes directly after the last word, then a space like this, but not ,like this.

Use a comma to separate words, phrases, or short clauses in a series:

“I ordered a new pulse rifle, two flamers, and a welder.”or “Go into your office, sit down at your desk, and don't come out until you've written that report on LV-426!”

Or to separate between independent coordinated clauses joined by a conjunction:

“This weapons requisition must be done this morning, and it should be delivered by dropship.”

To set off clauses and phrases not essential to the main thought of the sentence:

“Mr. Cameron, who has been a director for 40 years, will retire this June.” or “The new Aliens Legacy logo, designed especially for the board’s 20th anniversary, will be used beginning May 1.”

Apostrophes:
Use an apostrophe before the "s" in forming the possessive of a singular noun; Before the "s" in forming the possessive of a plural noun not ending in "s"; after the "s" in forming the possessive of a plural noun ending in "s":

The man's pulse rifle

The ladies' pulse rifles

The men's pulse rifles


Dash:
A dash is used to indicate a sudden interruption in thought: "Miss Ellen Ripley - her address is in my GridCase laptop - should receive a copy of this E-mail."

Or instead of commas, if the meaning is thus made clearer: "The parts of a letter - inside address, date, salutation, etc. - must always be included."

Note that there's a space either side of the dash. So this- is wrong, but this - is right. This applies except when the dash appears in what would be a whole word, such as 'e-mail' for example.

Entering text on the AL:
This was mainly a problem on the older version of the board as the text window was quite narrow. When typing in the text window on the AL there’s no need to hit the ‘enter’ key at the end of every line inside the box. If you keep on typing the text will just wrap itself automatically.
If you do hit
enter at the
end of every
line inside
the text window
then your
post might look
like this and be
harder to read.


Paragraphs:
Start a new paragraph once in a while, usually when you change the subject. A huge block of text is much harder to read than a few smaller blocks. Paragraphs should be separated by one blank (empty) line.

Clarity / readability:
Be clear and concise. Try to imagine the person reading what you’ve just written has little or no idea of the subject matter.

This applies to thread topic titles too; if you want others to read your post it helps to make the title as clear as possible. "Original Pulse Rifle for sale, only $20.00" will attract more attention than "For sale".

You're and your:
"You're" is a contraction (two words combined to form one) of the words 'you' and 'are'. Here are some examples of where 'you're' would be used:

“You’re a Xenomorph” means the same as “You are a Xenomorph”. “I believe you’re a Xenomorph” means the same as “I believe you are a Xenomorph.”

'Your' is the possessive (i.e. belonging to you) form of the word 'you'. Here are some examples of where 'your' would be used:

“I left your pulse rifle in the case.” or “I like your slimy exoskeleton, Abe.”

If you are unsure if you have used the correct you're/your then simply substitute the word for 'you are'. If it makes sense go with 'you're' and obviously if it doesn't make sense, use 'your'. Consider this example:

“Is that you’re pulse rifle?” And if you substitute you are, it becomes: “Is that you are pulse rifle?” Which doesn't make sense, therefore 'your' is the correct one and the sentence should read: “Is that your pulse rifle?”

There, their, and they're:
Use 'there' when referring to a place; “The atmosphere processor is over there.”

Use 'their' to indicate possession. It indicates that something belongs to them; “Harry and Dom won’t be happy, you just ate their cornbread!”

'They're' is a contraction of the words 'they' and 'are'. “I was right, Harry and Dom aren’t happy, they’re coming over!”

To and too:
'Two' is the number 2. It’s better to use the written form ‘two’ than to write the numeral '2', unless you’re listing things out for example. “Mantroon has only got two friends: Jack Daniels and cider.”

'Too' is used with adverbs and adjectives in sentences like “Building a power loader is far too complicated for me.” or “My PR counter is far too bright, I’m a walking target!”

'To' is the most common of these three words. It has several different uses. It is used with verbs in their infinitive form: “I think my ammo is going to run out soon.”

'To' is also used in the sense of 'towards'. “Next month I am travelling to LV-426 and then to Earth.” or 'Get to the chopper!'

Spell checking:
These days there’s almost no excuse for major spelling errors. Most browsers have spell-checker add-ons that will check your spelling in real time and highlight or underline anything that needs changing. Alternatively some people write their reply in Word or OpenOffice, spell check it then copy & paste it into the post window, although this takes slightly longer of course. It’s always a good idea to preview your post first so that you can check what it looks like and have another look for any spelling, grammar or layout mistakes.

Recasting:
The word 'recast' is one of those words that doesn’t change when you use it in different ways, so: “I recast, you recast, he/she recasts, they recast,” etc. There is no such word as "recasted". Even if you’re talking about recasting something in the past, it’s still been 'recast' and not 'recasted'. The same rules also apply to something being 'cast', not 'casted'.

...ful and ...ful:
Taking the word success as an example something may be a success, but when it becomes successful note that there’s only one L at the end of the word, not successfull. Other examples are ‘stressful’, ‘playful’ and ‘tuneful’ etc.

Every day and Everyday:
If something happens every day, say "it happens every day", not “it happens everyday”. 'Everyday' means commonplace (or dull). e.g. "Most of my collection is just everyday stuff". Written wrongly (using ‘everyday’) you’re saying “it happens commonplace”, which doesn’t make sense. A well known London Movie museum has the phrase "Tickets available everyday..." on the front doors. Oops!

Know and no:
‘No’ is the opposite of ‘yes’. ‘Know’ means you have information or knowledge about something. “Do you know where I can get patches from?” asked Geordi. “No” said Harry.

Here and hear:
Here means the place where you are, as in: “Friendlyskies get over here now!” Hear is to do with noise, as in: “What? I can’t hear you over the dropship engines!”

Break and brake:
To break something is to cause damage to it; "Try not to break my armour Rook!". To brake is to apply the brakes on a vehicle that has a Xeno on the hood, causing it to fall off, then accelerate quickly to squish it under your smoking tyres.

Breath and breathe:
To breathe is to take air into the lungs and expel it, although not if you're swimming through a flooded kitchen in a bad movie - in which case you'd hold your breath, which is what comes out of your mouth when you breathe. "He was a Marine until his last breath."

Lens or lense?:
Both are correct, although lense has become the obsolete way of spelling it - most people see lens as being correct.

'Text speak' (txt spk):
Many people view the writing of posts in text speak as immature and lazy. Your posts are much more likely to be taken seriously if they're written properly. Even if you're posting from a mobile (cell) phone it doesn't take much more to compose a proper message, most phones have predictive text.



Miscellaneous:

There's no such word as 'alot'. It’s 'a lot'.

If you're presenting something as if to say 'ta-daa!' the word to use is 'voila', from the French ‘voi’ meaning ‘see’ and ‘là’ meaning there. Click on this link to see how it’s pronounced. A common mistake is to spell it 'walla' which has another meaning. 'Voila' is often spelled wrongly as 'viola' (“vee-o-la”). A viola is a musical instrument similar to a violin.

If something in a discussion becomes irrelevant in that discussion it’s a 'moot' point. Not a 'mute' point.

Birds go cheep. An SD Studios pulse rifle for $150 is cheap.

A 'till' is a cash register, 'until' (or ‘til, the apostrophe replacing ‘un’) means to indicate continuance to a specific time, as in "I'll be a Colonial Marine until I die", or "I'll be a Colonial Marine 'til I die".

A 'manual' is a book or leaflet of instructions or directions. 'Manuel' is the Spanish waiter who works at Fawlty Towers.

There is no such word as 'prolly'. The correct spelling is 'probably'.

If you’re giving someone a quick, private look at something the term is 'sneak peek' not 'sneek peak'. 'Sneak' as in to be stealthy, 'peek' as in to glance briefly. Sneek is a city in the Netherlands, a peak is the pointy bit at the top of a mountain.

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