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Help for those with real problems**

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49 replies

by wancona

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I like this website, I really do. I was just wondering how come you all spend so much time jumping on someone's back and everybody gangs up on that person to talk about what they don't do, but when there are real IT questions out there, you all miss them because you are so busy cursing other people out.

I am a student who happened to land a job in my field while still going to school. I check this site everyday to see if there is some useful information that I might be able to use. When I actually do post real IT questions, not that BS about how to break into something, they never get answered. I've even went into detail as to the troubleshooing I've already done, to prove to you all that I have some knowledge of what I am doing, but the real questions don't get answered. I see the same people on here all the time, and they aren't really giving out useful information, except to tell others what they won't do. Instead of telling people over and over what you want do. Try helping someone by telling them how to do something.

**NOTE
Title was previously changed from "Do some work!" because original title was an error in the natural of this site, and the suthor of this particular question would not like to be blackballed from being able to get an answer from the brillant minds that are responding to the questions.

***Note
Do not take this as a suck up, or a kiss ass. This is mutual respect for your knowledge and intelligence as individuals and as a group. The statement and point still remains the same, why spend time dogging indivduals out for coming on the site for the wrong reasons. Why not spend your time wisely. There are people have checked the site for days to waiting to see if someone can offer assistance, and they are passed right up, for some idiot with a possibly stolen computer.

49 replies

by veeesta

Keep in mind that those engaging in regular e-lynching exercises are just a handful...the rest of us "are" working.

Probably your best bet is to look for people that are more serious-minded and bookmark them.

by ic-it

You have one question that was posted just after mid-night going into a Monday morning, that wasn't answered.
Your complaint is what?
Part of the problem is, most folks that post here ARE working. Sometimes we can sneak in a preview of questions and answer those.
Sometimes questions posted around midnight are gone by the time we logon.
You complaint is invalid.
Still have a Merry Christmas and quit bitchin. ;-)

by wancona

First of all I have several questions that have not been answered. I can redirect you to them if you'd like. Secondly, I do recognize that there are some people on here that are actually helpful. That's why I keep coming back to the site, to gain whatever information possible. But then you get the people who blow a question up with all these post, who's titles and years as members seem to hint that they may know a little something that's useful besides running there mouth.

I appreciate the ones who work. I work. You have a Merry Christmas also. Hope you enjoy the day off. ;)

by cmiller5400

People VOLUNTEER their time here. We do this because we like to help people. I try to answer as many questions as I can. We are NOT paid to sit here and answer your questions. It is that simple. And sadly, yes sometimes legitimate questions do get pushed down.

Edit: Happy Holidays!!

by wancona

I really do appreciate it. I look through the questions myself to see if there are any people that I may be able to help also. I'm not trying to just take what I can. If I find an answer to a problem, even if it was one of my problems, I try to post it so it may be used by someone else.

by cg it

about your SBS users OU.

no reply from you on it either with a thumbs up, or a "nah, didn't work" ....

What's with that?

Those that get suggestions often are those that show their appreciation for the help by a thumbs up, or at the least another post indicating a resolution or problem solved.

There are to many on here who play the "lets see who's chain they can jerk".

Since you didn't take the time to post resolutions or replies to suggestions given, why should we spend the time answering your questions?

by wancona

You can check back on the questions you did help me with, I gave you two thumbs up, plus I let you know that I appreciated the help. I even marked you down, so that way I can follow some of your answers to other people's questions, because I was able to see that you are the real deal. I also did post my resolution for others. Albeit, I did that part today, but I attempted to post the resolution in the past and I kept getting a "Unavailable Thread" when I tried to post the reply.

by thechas

It is true that some of the peers here will flame some questions. There are 3 categories of questions that most of use will not answer for ethical reasons.

Homework problems. We will not do someone's homework for them.

License and activation work-arounds. This includes sites to download commercial software.

Password cracking.

On the license and password questions, it does not matter how much information you post backing up your legitimate need to crack a password. We do not know you. Even if we did know you, this is a public forum. Any password cracks we might post to help you will also aid anyone trolling for information to break into a system.

As to your question on VB Scripts, there are not a lot of software people that spend time in the forum. Ask us about hardware or networking issues, and there are plenty of people to help out.

My best to you this holiday season, and best wishes for a successful career.

Chas

by wancona

I know what not to ask, and I know what I have to figure out on my own. I would actually only ask a question if I believe I've exhausted everything that I could think of. I don't need help with homework questions, because the answers are pretty much placed right in front of you. That's what the school book is for. Yet, books do not always reflect real world situations. So, I try to troubleshoot first, then I ask a question.

You also have a wonderful holiday season.

by tig2

But we all have lives too. I am only on for a few minutes at a time and try to answer what I can in that narrow window of time.

No one here is paid to be here. No one is paid to answer questions. And the old timers here have seen enough bad questions to last a lifetime. So there is an even chance that you will not always get answers of the quality you want.

We are also not a moderated forum. That means that no one is telling us how to answer anything. Password cracking will always get a "not here" response at best and a dangerous "fix" when Pond Scum is in a good mood.

Finally, you haven't been here long and probably don't know this, but attacking us is likely to result in people being less motivated to answer your questions. For myself, I am less, not more, inclined to help someone who attacks.

by wancona

Just wanted to you all to realize that there are real people out there who need help with real IT problems. I only have a problem with the thousands of answers and comments on why you don't hack computers and passwords, while skipping over the real questions. I believe the person will get the hint that they aren't going to get any help from here when they don't get response.

Also, I am not knocking any of you all's intelligence. I know that you are not getting paid for this, and it is at your own expense that you help someone. I'm just asking to spend it actually helping someone. Maybe I worded the title wrong with "Do your work!" because this is not your work. I just meant if you are on here to help someone with a probblem, then help someone.

by tig2

I do help people. See the 74 near my name? That is the number of times I have provided a helpful answer to someone and they actually came back and rated my response. I have answered significantly more questions than that.

Attacking the peers is not the way to become remotely popular. You want to know who are the "go to" folks on this site? Take a look at the top 100. Look for the numbers next to their names. Those are the folks that take time from their lives to do this.

I would advise against wholesale attacks. We tend to band together.

by cg it

no wonder I'm broke...

maybe we should have a by minute charge....

by the scummy one

for people to answer stupidly, often.
Trollers looking for a paycheck! What would be worse?

by boxfiddler

My work is done until the Spring 08 semester. Papers and tests are graded, grades are submitted, syllabi are written and or updated. I don't have any work to do for the moment, and if I did I wouldn't do it just because you tell me to.

I, like you cruise for information, offer help when I think I have an answer, and participate in what are mostly the more light-hearted discussions.
Like the others, I won't help with homework, password cracking.

The title of your post was rude and insulting. Thanks for making what is already a remarkably blah Christmas so much more pleasant.

by wancona

Before I read your comment, I apologized for the title. I shouldn't have named it "Do your work!" Again, I appreciate the help that is there when it is.

I just don't appreciate real questions getting skipped over because everyone wants to jump on the "F*** you, you password cracker" bandwagon.

by tig2

Then fix it. You have that power. Press edit on the original post. Note in the body of the post that you have edited and why.

There is an etiquette here. Take a moment to learn it. At the rate you are currently going, you are inviting a flame war.

by boxfiddler

and 'letting off some steam' at the idiot question posters harms no one and helps us to relax and get a giggle now and then.

Real questions don't get answered for a variety of reasons and it is more than likely not related to the fact that we have some fun at the expense of those who ask 'idiot' questions. If a question is not getting answered, it is because those who answer questions don't have the answer, or the post has disappeared too quickly. If a post disappears too quickly, post to it again to 'bump' it back into view. Many of us do this regularly.

The 'regulars' who answer questions do not appear to me to cruise the questions on an hourly basis or even a daily basis. Posts can easily disappear before they ever have a chance to see them.

edit to add: some members don't answer questions at all.

by the scummy one

As mentioned previously, there are many reasons for no answers.
A few things to consider.

When posting, look at what time it is. You want the largest viewing audience, too early and it drops off the list and few will even see it, too late and few people are on line to answer.

If your post drops off the list, reply to it, to bring it back up. This will do 2 things. A. It will show that you are actually monitoring your questions and seeking an answer. B. It will bring the post back to the top of the list.

As many people are here, and have differing experiences/backgrounds/knowledge it may just be that what you are asking has not been tried by us. You should do more research instead of depending on this site to answer all of your questions. Also, it may be a problem that takes some time and someone else is researching as well.

Based on your profile and questions started, you have more ANSWERED than UNANSWERED. So why are you complaining that nobody EVER answers your questions???

As for that, it has been mentioned that you do not reply to those AFTER answers are given. How will anyone know that it was not solved? Also along with that, thumbs up's are motivational as well for some.

As for me, I usually skip questions that have quite a few answers already. Sometimes I hit them anyway, but often I just bypass them as I feel that my time is better spent elsewhere. I am sure others are like that too unless they are involved in that question already. When I do, I often read through the answers before posting (not always though). If I think it has been addressed, I move on.

Many of us DO work, therefore (as Tigger mentioned) we are online for hours, but only refresh pages maybe once or twice an hour. Take a quick glance and post to what we want to.

If you are looking for complete answers to everything, maybe you should spend some time researching yourself instead of complaining that 2 of your 7 questions in a period of less than a month was not answered. The best way to learn is to research it yourself, and when done that way, it not only sticks better, but you may get a more in depth understanding.

Merry Christmas!
Pond Scum

by wancona

A lot of the questions I do ask have been researched by me thoroughly. If ever asked, I can give the breakdown of what I have tried, the results and my next plan of action. When I have exhausted my own resources, I then post a question. Just because I've only now become a member and have asked many questions, doesn;t mean that I haven't researched first. They are just things that I have been working on and haven't been able to fix, so I thought I would see what type of advice I could get. And I know for a fact that hands on is the best approach to learning. I am always open to advice.

by thumbsup2

Each and every one of us has our own area of "expertise". And, we all tend to gravitate to the questions that we know we can answer, either from experience or because we know where to go look up the answer.

Also, IF a question isn't suitably "titled", it may well disappear because we think it's out of our realm of knowledge. One example might be a post titled "Win2003 Server Problems", when in fact the problem they're really having is with Outlook formatting email. Personally, I'll skip over a Win2003 Server question because I have no experience with it, unless I have a few spare minutes to go back and read it. Had I seen a request for help with Outlook, which I do have experience with, I would be sure to read it to see if I could help.

Now, we all know some questions may go unanswered before they drop off of the list and poster doesn't know enough to "bump" their own post back to the top of the list with a reply to themselves. But, just because they disappear off the list doesn't mean that we don't read them. I don't know how everybody else feels. But, in my case, I let questions go that I know I can't [b]accurately[/b] answer. I might have an idea, but I hate egg on my face. Sometimes, it's better to not answer than it is to answer incorrectly and lead the poster astray.

All that WE can do when posts disappear is to hope the poster wants an answer bad enough to keep bumping it back to the top until someone with the experience and knowledge in the area the poster has questioned us about is actually online and FINDS the question.

Also, if you watch the board long enough, you'll see there are slack times with few posts and there are busy times with questions hitting the board VERY fast. While most of us refresh once in a while to see what's showed up new... durring those busy times, we may not refresh often enough to catch all new questions before they disappear. We work hard to try to catch them all, but some "just slip through". And, if you REALLY watch closely, you'll see that when we're blowing off some steam in a rediculous thread (especially cracking), usually the board is at a slack time when few other questions are coming in. THAT is our relaxation time. As you gain experience and start helping with answers here.... You'll learn how important it is to blow of some of your own steam once in a while. ;)

by thumbsup2

I tried to edit my own post to add an afterthought, but I'm getting proxy and 404 errors.... so I'm trying to reply again to your post....

Also, if you watch the board long enough, you'll see there are slack times with few posts and there are busy times with questions hitting the board VERY fast. While most of us refresh once in a while to see what's showed up new... durring those busy times, we may not refresh often enough to catch all new questions before they disappear. We work hard to try to catch them all, but some "just slip through". And, if you REALLY watch closely, you'll see that when we're blowing off some steam in a rediculous thread (especially cracking), usually the board is at a slack time when few other questions are coming in. THAT is our relaxation time. As you gain experience and start helping with answers here.... You'll learn how important it is to blow off some of your own steam once in a while. ;)

by wancona

I am just a student about to graduate in a few months with the first of many degrees and educational experiences to come. I would just like to gain as much information as possible.

by the scummy one

And some members (myself included) switch between spending lots of time in forums, and bnot hitting questions at all, to spending most of the time in questions and barely looking at the forums.

Just some interesting facts.

by wancona

Are able to do multiple things at one time.

by boxfiddler

that you have an irresistable need to insult people you don't even know?

by tig2

Are cooking Christmas dinner for fifteen, wrapping last minute gifts and caring for children while grabbing a few minutes to check the forums.

I was a student- nursing school- who worked full time- nursing home- and still was learning computers. Yeah. I can multi-task.

You are begging for two things to happen here by being as insulting as you have been. You are looking for a flame war and you are asking folks to never again answer your questions.

by boxfiddler

***Note
Do not take this as a suck up, or a kiss ass. This is mutual respect for your knowledge and intelligence as individuals and as a group. The statement and point still remains the same, why spend time dogging indivduals out for coming on the site for the wrong reasons. Why not spend your time wisely.

So you change the title of your post and then follow that up with a note letting us know that we are not spending our time wisely? Who are you to determine what is a wise use of our time?

edit to add: What definition of mutual respect includes berating people about whom you know nothing for not using their time wisely?

by wancona

Just about everyone said that they come here to help who they can. It is not spending your time wisely i.e. helping people who NEED help, with everyone ranting about a possibly stolen computer. They come on this site over, and over, and over again. And everytime, everyone posts a hundred responses to why they aren't going to help them. If you spent the time, helping someone instaed of telling someone why you aren't going to help, then it would be more wisely.

If anyone feels berated, my apologies again. It took for this post for someone to go back and answer my other questions.

by the scummy one

are templates anyway. Do you think we all write up long answers for this? I have several templates for PW cracking, website cracking, yahoo/msn email cracking, etc. Sometimes I make small modifications to them, but it only takes a minute or 2.

Many, ;ike Tigger have templates stating that they should not look here for this, and we will not help. This isnt all typed up every single time. Copy/paste works for us.

by wancona

My Christmas is great, I bought my two daughters a lot of educational books, and I bought my wife the things she wanted. I don't have to run around with the last minute shoppers, and I get to enjoy my dughters first christmas tommorrow.

How's your Christmas going?

by wancona

I don't mean to insult anyone, and I'm not looking for my questions to be black listed. I was making a simple observation. I noticed a lot of questions that had gotten skipped over. A few of them were mine, yet, at the same time, Everybody was ganging up on DannyBoy, and whatever girl brought the laptop on ebay and everthing else. I know you all have valuable knowledge. That's is a part that most of you are missing, I KNOW you all have knowledge, there just doesn't have to be so many post to something that's irrelavant, Such as a stolen computer

by tig2

We aren't here for you. We are here for US. Each individual is free to do as they wish. We don't know you, aren't beholden to you, may or may not answer any question you have. We have no requirements. We are free to do as we wish.

If you think that you have taught any one of us how we can be better, you are wrong. I guarantee that you have managed to tick off one or two people.

People will always play in the password threads. I've been around since the late 90s and that has been the case. It isn't going to change.

And you might want to keep in mind that the people you are flaming with this nonsense are the same people you want help from. Help that not one of them is required to provide. Help that they may not choose to provide in the future because you attacked first.

I am generally one of the first to welcome someone new. But I can't really say that I am motivated to do so given the tone of this thread- a tone that YOU chose to set.

Seriously, you may want to rethink.

by the scummy one

is our descisions based on how we feel. As for multitasking, I do it quite well, thank you!
As for my browsing habits, it depends on how I feel and what I want to do. If one week I avoid discussions, then that is that. Who are you to tell me what I want/need to do with my time???

by boxfiddler

I thought you folks did that fresh from your incredibly vast storehouse of IT/IS knowledge gleaned from your brilliant memories!

by cg it

Ha! I'm happy to remember who I am every 5 minutes.

The nice thing about Microsoft is that they have one vast database of articles on how to fix stuff with Windows.

There are few posts here about Windows operating system or Office that can't be answered with a MS KB article.

by the scummy one

and I will sometimes refer people to MS KB's, mainly because they can be more confusing than me typing an answer.. :^0

Often not, but some of them....

by tig2

A great memory aid, that! Even tells me where I live!

Anything Mac related I pull from either one of the Mac forums where membership is required to access content, or the material that I have pulled together for my blog.

Cut and paste are pretty easy on a Mac!

Merry Christmas, CG!

by boxfiddler

dang. I was just beginning to rethink my entire personal theology in order to accomodate Wancona as the center of the universe and purpose for TR. :D

edit yet another freaking typo

by wancona

I'm just me. Wanting to gain as much as possible. I didd't set any tone. You are not able to hear my tone. If you could, you'd be able to tell that I am humble to the answers you all are able to provide. If I didn't make anyone reconsider how they manager there time, That's fine with me. That wasn't mu goal. My goal was to just get people to realize that people with real questions get skipped over becuase of some idiot with a stolen computer.

by wancona

I did not know that you used templates for the responses. My apologies. But, I do know know.

by wancona

You will not ever see me on here posting a BS question that I have not thoroughly researched. If I ask a question, it's because I'm all out of options. There is no need to make me the center of your universe boxfiddler - I'm happily married, I think my wife would get a little jealous.

by boxfiddler

We have made it more than clear that people with 'real questions' do not get skipped over because of the idiot questions we play with.

As we cannot hear what your verbal tone might or might not be, it is your written tone to which we respond. Your written tone is aggressive, rude, and judgmental.

It should be obvious to you by now that whatever defense of yourself you think you are making is simply escalating the problem we have with you and your written tone.

Stop trying to defend yourself, pay more attention to how you phrase your posts, and get a clue as to the fact that TR does not exist for you or even for other questioners. It exists for TR members from around the world to get together and [mostly] do as they please.

edit to add: Are you implying that your wife thinks you are God and will not tolerate other worshippers? You must be the laughingstock of all the other gods with only one devotee.
edit again another darn typo

by wancona

That was funny. No she doen't think I'm a GOD. But look, I would like to apologize to all the TechRepublic regulars who have given of their free time to help others in need. You are all appreciated and would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas. I'm not leaving or anything, but just don't want anyone to hate me, that was not my intentions.

by cg it

Yep I use that ole DL trick as well...

Merry Christmas Tigger!!!!!

by maniacman

As others have stated, we are volunteers here, not paid employees and it's not our obligation to assist you or anyone else for that fact. We try to help in any way we can, but our lives don't revolve around this site, nor can we answer every possible answer posted here. We also don't take lightly to noobs dictating to us how we should conduct ourselves because we've been here long enough to tell you how you should be conducting yourself. If you don't like how this site is operated, you can do yourself a favor and unsubscribe yourself, but don't be coming here and giving us an a--hole attitude and telling us what we need to do.

by thumbsup2

Board Flukes!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We just experienced a board "fluke" which prevented us from replying and editing. That, in itself, can cause your unanswered questions to drop out of site when the board comes back up and people start slamming questions into the que.

I had replied to you, but it didn't bump the thread back to the top of the list like it normally does.

This discussion is closed to new replies.