Here is a change from the old Computer Jokes from Tech Support such as, 'Open a Window', and the coffee cup holder for the CD caddy. Now make sure that you press the right key to continue..
I am Welsh. Our language, Cymraeg, has the occasional hat on top of a letter, for example my sister is called Siân. Now English is one
of the few European languages without graves or accents; so it is likely that England is where the urban myth that Alt Gr means Alternative Grave originated. As Celts, we Welsh are aware that our
continental cousins use these extra letters, for example á or é or ó. My point is that if you need an accented vowel, then either, you need to add letters from the Symbols font - cumbersome, or
alternatively, remember that alt 144 means é. Note this time I mean the left, plain, Alt key and not the right Alt Gr (Confusing isn't
it!)
From my cousins across the pond in America, I hear that Spanish is big in some
neighbourhoods so presumably Spanish Americans occasionally employ accented letters.
So in a nutshell, the Alternative Grave myth is wrong. To prove it, go to the keyboard, hold down the right hand Alt Gr and type a vowel. Result á é ì ó �. These characters are actually the
acute form of the letter. The grave has the accent sloping the other way à è �.
Conclusion
Alt is indeed an abbreviation of
Alternative, however 'Gr'
may well stand for Graphics in the sense of special characters such as á é. Grant has convinced me that Gr has nothing to do with grave as that accent slopes the other way.
Funnily enough, Alt Gr only appears on English, English keyboards, and seems absent on American English keyboards.
Further Research
If you are interested in Diacritics, as these strange symbols are called, navigate this path: Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools has a Character map. Well worth a visit should you wish to check the precise alt + number value of any symbol,
not just the graves. For example â
is alt + 0226 (Num Lock On, and press the numeric keyboard value).
One day I was running a training course for a Technical support outsourcing
company. At break one of the delegates was on the phone and I could not
help overhearing, 'what's
the fault again - 'Keyboard error 401 oh dear...'
, I
whispered tell '
them to plug the keyboard back in. He put his hand over the
phone and said to me, 'shhh, we can get a nice little earner out of this'.
Then he said to his customer, 'right we will send an engineer around this
afternoon'. Well I was horrified.
With me its often the reverse; I am forever giving free advice. For instance I tell them not to install more domains, so
they do not need to spend out on kit for backup domain controllers. I
always look for cost nothing solutions such as load balancing. For example
rather than having a domain controller do everything, move tasks to the under-worked
member server.
1. Experts Exchange, a
knowledge base where programmers can exchange advice and views at www.experts-exchange.com. There is actually another completely unrelated site at http://www.expertsexchange.com/
2. A site called 'Who Represents'
where you can find the name of the agent that represents a celebrity. Their domain name... wait for it... is www.whorepresents.com
3. Looking for a pen? Look no further than Pen Island at www.penisland.net
4. Need a therapist? Try
Therapist Finder at www.therapistfinder.com
5. Then of course, there's
the Italian Power Generator company... www.powergenitalia.com
6. And now, we have the Mole Station Native Nursery, based in
New South Wales: www.molestationnursery.com
7. If you're looking for computer software, there's
always www.ipanywhere.com
8. Then, of course, there's
these brainless art designers, and their whacky website: www.speedofart.com
9. Want to holiday in Lake Tahoe? Try their brochure website at
www.gotahoe.com
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