Thanks for this @Karamu. By standardizing style I just meant to make whatever stylistic choices you make (your “house style”) consistent for the sake of clarity. I didn’t make any objections to British English as opposed to Am. English, so am not entirely sure what this is referring to.
The suggestions I made are just that—suggestions Though for things like semicolons … there are of course rules around when to use or not use, and my suggestions above had nothing to do with style, but purely with grammatical correctness. (All of the semicolon uses I pointed out are, strictly speaking, grammatically incorrect. There may be times when you want to break with grammatical correctness—I’m actually not a stickler about this at all—but I think it’s important to at least be aware of when you are breaking grammar.)
Anyway I hope I’m not stepping on toes here. I tried to indicate when something was a stylistic suggestion vs. incorrect according to established rules of grammar (so … not really a matter of opinion), but I probably could have done a better job with that.
And again, if you disagree with any of the suggestions that aren’t marked as stylistic suggestions (“I would suggest …,” “might want to …” etc.), please let me know and I’d be happy to discuss.
Also I didn’t mean the post to obscure my esteem for the website—including the writing. As mentioned in my first post, you guys are hands-down the best communicators in the space IMHO.
Tricky area. I agree with all of @dlux’s suggestions. The great thing about the English language is that it’s loose and flexible so you can be creative, and the worst thing about the English language is that it’s loose and flexible - so you can never be sure you’ve got it ‘right’ (see Oxford Comma debate). But we all use consistency as a proxy for trust, so if in doubt it’s best to follow the rules, and if you are going to break them then break then deliberately.
@Viv, so sad to see you go. I only met you briefly and its a shame to see such a brilliant mind leave the project, but is very understandable after 8 years the effort that must have been needed for that role and you need to consider your future since you were in the top position there for technical work.
Hope whatever position you find yourself in after leaving that it is enjoyable and fulfilling.
I’m so high up on that dumb peak for the english language, that i don’t even know what that is.
Not me, I don’t even know what it is
Is that the New Zealand influence that is coming out in that comment?
I remember when proof of resource was first implemented. It was released to the greater community for global testing. My machine failed the test and quickly opened my default browser. A page began loading and my heart nearly jumped out of my ass For a split second I thought my machine was compromised and I would have to spend hours assesing the damage and fixing the intrusion. @viv can you remember what happened next?
Thanks maidsafe for candid and transparent updates as always. The updated road map on the website is very clear and should be most useful for newcomers.
The decision of Viv to step down is somewhat concerning and disheartening, despite all the good things mentioned in the update.
This might be off the mark, but I’m sure from the outside you can understand that when a CTO steps down it gives the impression that the reason for leaving is either a lack of faith in the project, or imminent drying up of funds. I certainly hope this is not the case but it is hard not to. I am also surprised no one has really probed this line of thought.
Nevertheless wishing @Viv all the best in the future and a huge gratitude for keeping going for so long.
Not only a great update but I’ve learned what an Oxford Comma is - thanks a lot @Sotros25 I will now be noticing it all the time when before I really didn’t care!
To be different I’d like to say I used to not use it, drifted into using it, and now rarely use it again - all without ever knowing it had a name or that I was supposed to take a position.
I’m the same with tabs v spaces: an agnostic, have used both, just… NOT IN THE SAME PROJECT OK
hell yeah! I just realized that you can click on the items in the roadmap and a detailed description appears… Really good stuff, this is better for a noob like me than the github lists.
But I have some questions/comments, it says ‘The Roadmap to Beta’, but for me it’s not clear which features are needed for beta. I suppose we don’t need all the features listed there… So is it only Fleming and Maxwell? Some ‘coming soon’ features as well?
Which are needed for the MVP? Would be nice to have some clearer picture about that.
It was meant as a gentle dig and an illustration that there is often no black and white with language - obviously forum posts not the best medium for humour…
For example I disagree with your suggestion to capitalise “network” (obviously I have been over ruled here by Marketing!) as it is not a proper noun - “SAFE Network”, yes of course should be capitalised. I guess the argument here is that “Internet” was capitalised in its early days (not generally now) but on the other hand we wouldn’t capitalise “electricity”. Anyway, just an example.
Re the semi colon thing - yes, you correct that joining two independent clauses is the most common usage of them but it is not the only situation. I personally agree with you that it is used poorly in the examples you cite and my instinct was to raise a bug for it (I tested the new site pre launch). However, after some research I found similar examples of this use and decided to “let it slide”. Probably I should have stuck with my instinct!
With regards to the content overall, it has been on my radar to do an in depth review and indeed as I tested the functionality of the site I raised many issues which have been fixed pre launch. Obviously there are still many in there so we appreciate your feedback.
I also find this quote of the Wikipedia page page funny:
The Times once published an unintentionally humorous description of a Peter Ustinov documentary, noting that “highlights of his global tour include encounters with Nelson Mandela, an 800-year-old demigod and a dildo collector”. This would still be ambiguous if a serial comma were added, as Mandela could still be mistaken for a demigod, although he would be precluded from being a dildo collector.
Apologizing in advance for stringing out this grammatical discussion any further but wouldn’t eliminating the OC but rephrasing the sentence slightly be the most effective solution? Changing "I invited Bob, Joe and Susy to the party” to something like “I invited Bob and Joe/Susy to the party” if they are a couple or “I invited Bob, Joe and Susy to the party” if they are not be preferable? Guess it really is a matter of style. Wonder what the various style books say.
Though for things like semicolons … there are of course rules around when to use or not use, and my suggestions above had nothing to do with style, but purely with grammatical correctness. (All of the semicolon uses I pointed out are, strictly speaking, grammatically incorrect. There may be times when you want to break with grammatical correctness—I’m actually not a stickler about this at all—but I think it’s important to at least be aware of when you are breaking grammar.)
I agree with all of 
For a split second I thought my machine was compromised and I would have to spend hours assesing the damage and fixing the intrusion. 
sized chunks 
roadmap.
- all the best with whatever you transition to!