On Fri, 23 May 2003 22:38:44 GMT, Repeating Decimal
wrote:

in article , Gyve Turquoise at
wrote on 5/22/03 11:57 PM:

I'm not sure Bill was flaming, I think he was making a joke! I said I didn't
know what "hydroponic supply store" was in Japanese, and he said not to ask
about elementary stuff. Obviously this question is very difficult for
everyone to answer, so I think Bill was being ironic. I think he really
meant "don't ask this kind of difficult question to me".

I normally try to be nice to posters even if they ask inane questions. On
the other hand, when it seems that someone asks for help without making the
slightest effort to learn but expect others to do their leg work for them, I
do tend not to suffer them gladly. I do realize, however, that sometimes
their effort is not well expressed by their words. I apologize for those
lapses in my decorum.

I tend just not to answer questions that will require a
basic book on the subject.

If it's apparent from the question that the questioner
hasn't read even one book on gardening, for instance, I'm
not going to endeavor to write a book for him on the
newsgroup.

It's just beyond the scope of Usenet to do this, plus I
haven't the time, PLUS if I did have the time and ability,
I'd write a book for publication and expect to be paid for
it.

Problems like that tend to show up in scientific newsgroups. Students
sometimes ask for solutions to their homework without any effort on their
own behalf. Such posts greatly irritate me, and my replies cannot hid my
frustration with them. I also get irritated when someone expects specific
answer they can look up as well as the people they are asking. For this
group such a question may be: how much nitrogen is there in ammonium
sulfate? Even if you do not have enough chemical knowledge to do that for
yourself, it is something easily looked up in a gardening book that covers
fertilizers.


I'll sometimes (if feeling charitable) instruct someone how
to search for an answer on the Web. I think a lot of folks
STILL don't know how to do this.

Pat