# Navy stops shouting in electronic communication **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 12, 2013, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/navy-stops-shouting-in-electronic-communication/660829 "2013-06-12T18:06:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2013, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/navy-stops-shouting-in-electronic-communication/660829/1 "2013-06-12T18:06:23Z")
They can now handle lowercase > **[Navy ends century and a half of ALL-CAPS messages](https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/06/navy-ends-century-and-a-half-of-all-caps-messages/)** > > New message routing system means Navy can now use lowercase in messages. Wonder how long before Tom Clancy novels change Brian ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2013, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/navy-stops-shouting-in-electronic-communication/660829/2 "2013-06-12T18:33:30Z")
How long before the operators break the habit? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2013, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/navy-stops-shouting-in-electronic-communication/660829/3 "2013-06-12T21:43:19Z")
> [@N9IWP](#): > > They can now handle lowercase > > [Navy ends century and a half of ALL-CAPS messages - Ars Technica](http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/06/navy-ends-century-and-a-half-of-all-caps-messages/) Two comments: Congratulations to the US Navy for joining the rest of us in the 21st Century! …and… That is a brilliantly written piece that you linked to. It’s informative, snarky and concise. I give it all ten thumbs up! ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2013, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/navy-stops-shouting-in-electronic-communication/660829/4 "2013-06-12T21:44:26Z")
The NWS still originates some messages in all caps. The [Nat. Hurricane Center](http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/MIATWOAT.shtml?) is like that. When sent on, Hurricane warnings are apparently poorly converted to mix case (possibly automated?) resulting in some random cruft. Obscure place names in lower case. Words that might be place names in uppercase. The time lag on switching over on these is amazing. The last all upper case device I saw in a computer lab was a “glass tty” in the mid 70s. And nobody liked to use it even then. (I guess there were some personal computers in the early 80s that were limited at first, but those were essentially first generation devices. Didn’t take long for those to be passed by.) I wonder if there’s going to be a glut of Naval Model-33 Teletypes hitting the surplus stores soon.🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2013, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/navy-stops-shouting-in-electronic-communication/660829/5 "2013-06-12T22:51:47Z")
The NWS has to use uppercase because the World Meteorological Organization requires it. They actually want to change it and there have been attempts in the past, but most of their products are still uppercase for whatever reason. I don’t know why my local forecast discussion needs to meet international uppercase requirements, but apparently it does. I think products from the Hurricane Center will end up being uppercase holdouts because their information is useful to other countries, and that may force them to stick to uppercase longer than NWS offices in flyover country.