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Developer is MIA, what does it mean?

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MIA (Missing in action) would generally mean that the developer has not responded to a thread or question, does not reply to emails and has stopped development. In other words, they are missing and nobody seems to know why.

A lot of developers, especially rom developers, get to a certain point and either give up or move on to a different device/project. The vast majority do this in their spare time and give it away for free, so we should all be thankful for their efforts and hope they will take it up again, when they have the time.
 
Why use words when a TLA will do?

Irony aside, I'm not a fan of acronyms, especially Three Letter Acronyms. I'm sure the user assumes it has universal meaning but it doesn't; many change meaning dramatically in different countries (CPS* springs to mind) and some are just meaningless to the layman, especially those with origins in the US military. And don't get me started on "GPS" used to mean Google Play Services on a phone...

Rant over, I feel better now :-)

* CPS means Crown Prosecution Service to me, but it's probably Child Protective Services or perhaps Current Population Survey if you're left pond side.
 
John Bean said:
Why use words when a TLA will do?

Irony aside, I'm not a fan of acronyms, especially Three Letter Acronyms. I'm sure the user assumes it has universal meaning but it doesn't; many change meaning dramatically in different countries (CPS* springs to mind) and some are just meaningless to the layman, especially those with origins in the US military. And don't get me started on "GPS" used to mean Google Play Services on a phone...

Rant over, I feel better now :-)

* CPS means Crown Prosecution Service to me, but it's probably Child Protective Services or perhaps Current Population Survey if you're left pond side.
Click to expand...

** tries to sound like Steven Wright **

What's the acronym for "Acronym"? ;)
 
John Bean said:
Why use words when a TLA will do?
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Well for one reason ... TLA to me is the abbreviation for Thom Little Associates ... with ULRs that use it ... my license plate is TLANET.

I worked at a place that had corporate policy for acronyms ...

Every document the acronym had to be spelled out the first time (and only the first time) it was used.

TLA (Three Letter Acronym) and Three Letter Acronym (TLA) are both correct. They only allowed the first one. The reason ... efficiency. If someone already knew what it would just skip over the description. The second form forces people to read what may be obvious.

It should be noted that TLA and MIA are abbreviations and not acronyms. An acronym can be pronounced as a word ... like FUBAR. FUBAR is both an abbreviation and an acronym.

... Thom
 
MIA means the developer don't give a damn anymore.

I remember it happening to Launcher Pro, and I think it happened to Widgetlocker, shortly after I paid for it.
 
Thom, the usage you described is common (and very sensible if the phase is reused many times) bit that's not what my mini rant was about. The OP (there, I also did it!) was asking about an acronym used in isolation and without a definition, and that's what I dislike.

When I wrote "I'm not a fan of acronyms" I should have added "when used in isolation without explanation", as implied by the context of the thread.
 
The OP (Original Poster) didn't specify if he was talking about a ROM (Read Only Memory) developer or an app (application) developer. If it was the former, he probably got tired of being asked for an ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival) for his next update. If it was the latter, he probably wasn't making any money on GP (Google Play) and took his app to iOS (i Operating System?) :)
 
Thom said:
Well for one reason ... TLA to me is the abbreviation for Thom Little Associates ... with ULRs that use it ... my license plate is TLANET.

I worked at a place that had corporate policy for acronyms ...

Every document the acronym had to be spelled out the first time (and only the first time) it was used.

TLA (Three Letter Acronym) and Three Letter Acronym (TLA) are both correct. They only allowed the first one. The reason ... efficiency. If someone already knew what it would just skip over the description. The second form forces people to read what may be obvious.

It should be noted that TLA and MIA are abbreviations and not acronyms. An acronym can be pronounced as a word ... like FUBAR. FUBAR is both an abbreviation and an acronym.

... Thom
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At last! Someone who knows that a 'TLA' is not , of itself, an acronym. I suppose MIA could be in a Mee-ah kind of way. Not sure that I'd agree with the logic of that corporate policy you mentioned. Wouldn't that just lead to those who think they know everything not checking at least once to see if they're right? As you say, TLA means something entirely different to you.
 
It was in support of the Air Force. It documents EXACTLY what the abbreviation means for the record. If someone quotes it wrong then that will be traceable. (This was the acquisition world where million and billions were common.)

The abbreviation at Android Forums that is used over-and-over is always I always read wrong and I have to correct myself ... every time.

AF here does NOT mean Air Force

... Thom
 
Thom said:
The abbreviation at Android Forums that is used over-and-over is always I always read wrong and I have to correct myself ... every time.

AF here does NOT mean Air Force
Click to expand...

Same here. Except my brain always expands it to "autofocus" whenever I see it.
 
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