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Feeling tense about tense - a call for examples please
Subject:Feeling tense about tense - a call for examples please From:"Bal Simon" <wordmuse -at- earthlink -dot- net> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Thu, 22 Mar 2001 07:42:59 -0800
Hi,
All this discussion about future tense, past tense, present tense - <grin>it's making me tense!</grin>. It's also far too abstract for me. How about some examples so that we can see the animal we are looking at. I'll start.
Something similar to what I did on a recent job (which I have altered considerably because of proprietary concerns):
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MiddlePoint enables a special technique for capturing the data and using it. One technique is called the "middle technique." (See Figure 13) Using this method, MiddlePoint sits in a secure building and intercepts communications between direct line microwave transceivers in two different buildings. It receives a messages from a transceiver in Building A and captures it. MiddlePoint then passes the message to the receiving device in Building B unchanged. When B responds, MiddlePoint captures its response and then passes it back to A. This technique significantly affects system overhead. Processing time is added while the communication is taking place. The advantage lies in that the captured data can then be modeled at one's leisure.
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Now, granted that this does not comprise a user manual and really just forms a basic abstract, I wrote it in present tense. How would it look written in future tense. I could re-write it, but I'd like to see (a) whether this is the kind of beastie that we are discussing here and (b) how a proponent of future tense would rework it. Thanks.
Regards,
Bal
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