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  3. Should all responses to stupid questions be lmgtfy?

Should all responses to stupid questions be lmgtfy?

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  • J Jo_vb net

    I think it would be a bad reputation for the CP website if 50% of the answers were "use Google or Bing for a websearch" ... And who is stupid - the persons who let others to do the work for them or those who really do that work?

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    den2k88
    wrote on last edited by
    #6

    Jo_vb.net wrote:

    I think it would be a bad reputation for the CP website if 50% of the answers were "use Google or Bing for a websearch" ...

    I mean, why reinventing SO?

    GCS d--(d-) s-/++ a C++++ U+++ P- L+@ E-- W++ N+ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE- Y+ PGP t+ 5? X R+++ tv-- b+(+++) DI+++ D++ G e++ h--- r+++ y+++*      Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X

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    • S Slacker007

      I have never been a big fan of code project members coming to the Lounge to complain about other "stupid" members and their QA or programming questions. I think it is extremely unprofessional, to say the least.

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      den2k88
      wrote on last edited by
      #7

      Sometimes it is warranted, but very rarely IMHO.

      GCS d--(d-) s-/++ a C++++ U+++ P- L+@ E-- W++ N+ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE- Y+ PGP t+ 5? X R+++ tv-- b+(+++) DI+++ D++ G e++ h--- r+++ y+++*      Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X

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      • R rnbergren

        I assume everyone has played with let me google that for you. If not google it. HAHAHA But anyway. I was looking thru the questions in the programming areas and let me just say 2 things. 1. WOW - people are stupid and want others to do their work. 2. WOW - people here on CP are amazingly patient. I am making a suggestion that everyone should just respond with a 'let me google that for you' link. for example a question in one forum about room size calculations. respond with this link. LMGTFY - Let Me Google That For You[^] This teaches them to use the Googlies the way they were meant to be used.

        To err is human to really elephant it up you need a computer

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        S Offline
        Slacker007
        wrote on last edited by
        #8

        I have never been a big fan of code project members coming to the Lounge to complain about other "stupid" members and their QA or programming questions. I think it is extremely unprofessional, to say the least.

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        • R rnbergren

          I assume everyone has played with let me google that for you. If not google it. HAHAHA But anyway. I was looking thru the questions in the programming areas and let me just say 2 things. 1. WOW - people are stupid and want others to do their work. 2. WOW - people here on CP are amazingly patient. I am making a suggestion that everyone should just respond with a 'let me google that for you' link. for example a question in one forum about room size calculations. respond with this link. LMGTFY - Let Me Google That For You[^] This teaches them to use the Googlies the way they were meant to be used.

          To err is human to really elephant it up you need a computer

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          Maximilien
          wrote on last edited by
          #9

          you can just ignore those questions. Or be a good person and make it a learning experience for them by helping them either pointing them to a good answer or suggesting solutions for their questions.

          CI/CD = Continuous Impediment/Continuous Despair

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          • R rnbergren

            I assume everyone has played with let me google that for you. If not google it. HAHAHA But anyway. I was looking thru the questions in the programming areas and let me just say 2 things. 1. WOW - people are stupid and want others to do their work. 2. WOW - people here on CP are amazingly patient. I am making a suggestion that everyone should just respond with a 'let me google that for you' link. for example a question in one forum about room size calculations. respond with this link. LMGTFY - Let Me Google That For You[^] This teaches them to use the Googlies the way they were meant to be used.

            To err is human to really elephant it up you need a computer

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            trønderen
            wrote on last edited by
            #10

            If someone in meatscape asks for your help with a problem, do you then usually cut them off with "Go and fix the problem yourself - I won't help you!"? Most times, when someone asks for help with a problem, the problem can be solved, given the right competence or knowledge. The "stupid" person asking for help doesn't possess that competence / knowledge; that is why he asks. If you seriously think that any questions asked for lack of knowledge deserves to be rejected, then you reject to help with any solvable problem. The only "help" you are willing to give is to state that the problem is unsolvable. Many times I have given up after hours of unsuccessful googling, asking people for help. I have so many times been met with "LMGTFY" that I have made it a habit to include in my question the terms I have tried googling. Yet, I have had people reply "You're just a silly fool - why didn't you google 'xyzzy' or 'abcde'?? Actually, one of the best ways of asking, if you don't want to be called a fool / idiot for googling the wrong terms, is to not ask for a solution, not tell what you have tried googling, but ask "What would be good google terms for obtaining information about xyzzy?" Important notice: I am certainly not referring to CP as a forum where you are typically cut off with a LMGTFY - most other forums are terribly much worse. If you have a real problem, people at CP are generally helpful, even in cases where googling the ideal terms would have lead to a solution. The only requests regularly rejected at CP are of the kind 'please do my homework for me', but that comes from laziness, not that the asker is an idiot. Besides, googling won't do his homework for him. (And chances are that the asker found the BB forum through googling :-))

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            • T trønderen

              If someone in meatscape asks for your help with a problem, do you then usually cut them off with "Go and fix the problem yourself - I won't help you!"? Most times, when someone asks for help with a problem, the problem can be solved, given the right competence or knowledge. The "stupid" person asking for help doesn't possess that competence / knowledge; that is why he asks. If you seriously think that any questions asked for lack of knowledge deserves to be rejected, then you reject to help with any solvable problem. The only "help" you are willing to give is to state that the problem is unsolvable. Many times I have given up after hours of unsuccessful googling, asking people for help. I have so many times been met with "LMGTFY" that I have made it a habit to include in my question the terms I have tried googling. Yet, I have had people reply "You're just a silly fool - why didn't you google 'xyzzy' or 'abcde'?? Actually, one of the best ways of asking, if you don't want to be called a fool / idiot for googling the wrong terms, is to not ask for a solution, not tell what you have tried googling, but ask "What would be good google terms for obtaining information about xyzzy?" Important notice: I am certainly not referring to CP as a forum where you are typically cut off with a LMGTFY - most other forums are terribly much worse. If you have a real problem, people at CP are generally helpful, even in cases where googling the ideal terms would have lead to a solution. The only requests regularly rejected at CP are of the kind 'please do my homework for me', but that comes from laziness, not that the asker is an idiot. Besides, googling won't do his homework for him. (And chances are that the asker found the BB forum through googling :-))

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              musefan
              wrote on last edited by
              #11

              Perhaps allowing yourself to be insulted is just the price you pay for free help.

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              • R rnbergren

                I assume everyone has played with let me google that for you. If not google it. HAHAHA But anyway. I was looking thru the questions in the programming areas and let me just say 2 things. 1. WOW - people are stupid and want others to do their work. 2. WOW - people here on CP are amazingly patient. I am making a suggestion that everyone should just respond with a 'let me google that for you' link. for example a question in one forum about room size calculations. respond with this link. LMGTFY - Let Me Google That For You[^] This teaches them to use the Googlies the way they were meant to be used.

                To err is human to really elephant it up you need a computer

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                Lost User
                wrote on last edited by
                #12

                I (sort of) agree but as pointed out on a few occasions by both Chris and Sean, that does not answer the question. I think maybe the FAQ says more.

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                • R rnbergren

                  I assume everyone has played with let me google that for you. If not google it. HAHAHA But anyway. I was looking thru the questions in the programming areas and let me just say 2 things. 1. WOW - people are stupid and want others to do their work. 2. WOW - people here on CP are amazingly patient. I am making a suggestion that everyone should just respond with a 'let me google that for you' link. for example a question in one forum about room size calculations. respond with this link. LMGTFY - Let Me Google That For You[^] This teaches them to use the Googlies the way they were meant to be used.

                  To err is human to really elephant it up you need a computer

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                  PIEBALDconsult
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #13

                  Just don't engage.

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                  • R rnbergren

                    I assume everyone has played with let me google that for you. If not google it. HAHAHA But anyway. I was looking thru the questions in the programming areas and let me just say 2 things. 1. WOW - people are stupid and want others to do their work. 2. WOW - people here on CP are amazingly patient. I am making a suggestion that everyone should just respond with a 'let me google that for you' link. for example a question in one forum about room size calculations. respond with this link. LMGTFY - Let Me Google That For You[^] This teaches them to use the Googlies the way they were meant to be used.

                    To err is human to really elephant it up you need a computer

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                    S Offline
                    Sean Ewington
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #14

                    I would advise against that. 1. It doesn't answer their question. 2. It doesn't help anyone else (assuming the question is phrased well enough that someone else might be searching for it. 3. I'm not sure they will learn. 4. If I find a question that this response that requires this, I will more than likely delete it.

                    Thanks, Sean Ewington CodeProject

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                    • M musefan

                      Perhaps allowing yourself to be insulted is just the price you pay for free help.

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                      trønderen
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #15

                      When I ask my friend, neighbors or workmates for (free) help with something, they have been positive and helpful; I have not had to pay the price of tolerating their insults. Not yet. That may change in the future, as internet "social conventions" spread to real life.

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                      • S Sean Ewington

                        I would advise against that. 1. It doesn't answer their question. 2. It doesn't help anyone else (assuming the question is phrased well enough that someone else might be searching for it. 3. I'm not sure they will learn. 4. If I find a question that this response that requires this, I will more than likely delete it.

                        Thanks, Sean Ewington CodeProject

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                        Lost User
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #16

                        Comprehension, Not everyone understands the documents they are reading. That's what it boils down to. Sometimes you just need someone to explain it in laymen terms.

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                        • S Slacker007

                          I have never been a big fan of code project members coming to the Lounge to complain about other "stupid" members and their QA or programming questions. I think it is extremely unprofessional, to say the least.

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                          L Offline
                          Lost User
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #17

                          That, and "answers" that barely qualify as comments.

                          "Before entering on an understanding, I have meditated for a long time, and have foreseen what might happen. It is not genius which reveals to me suddenly, secretly, what I have to say or to do in a circumstance unexpected by other people; it is reflection, it is meditation." - Napoleon I

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                          • D den2k88

                            Google is useless if there is not prior knowledge of the subject. Asking a 'human' is the best lazy way to get information without putting in the work. I wonder if my 7 years stint as a programmer with no Internet access (only MSDN) have something to do with me using Google as a last resort (well, after that usually comes customer support or CP).

                            GCS d--(d-) s-/++ a C++++ U+++ P- L+@ E-- W++ N+ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE- Y+ PGP t+ 5? X R+++ tv-- b+(+++) DI+++ D++ G e++ h--- r+++ y+++*      Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X

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                            englebart
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #18

                            Back when there was comprehensive documentation, not just lists of topics on websites. Basically, you had Reference and Guide, and they were discrete. You also had to ship your product on floppy disks! 😊 I still remember that we had multiple stacks of 5.25 in floppy disks to the ceiling after some Microsoft major prerelease programs.

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                            • R rnbergren

                              I assume everyone has played with let me google that for you. If not google it. HAHAHA But anyway. I was looking thru the questions in the programming areas and let me just say 2 things. 1. WOW - people are stupid and want others to do their work. 2. WOW - people here on CP are amazingly patient. I am making a suggestion that everyone should just respond with a 'let me google that for you' link. for example a question in one forum about room size calculations. respond with this link. LMGTFY - Let Me Google That For You[^] This teaches them to use the Googlies the way they were meant to be used.

                              To err is human to really elephant it up you need a computer

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                              M Offline
                              Member 9167057
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #19

                              Not all of them. Sometimes, verbatim answers to stupid questions yield some fantastic entertainment.

                              1 Reply Last reply
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                              • R rnbergren

                                I assume everyone has played with let me google that for you. If not google it. HAHAHA But anyway. I was looking thru the questions in the programming areas and let me just say 2 things. 1. WOW - people are stupid and want others to do their work. 2. WOW - people here on CP are amazingly patient. I am making a suggestion that everyone should just respond with a 'let me google that for you' link. for example a question in one forum about room size calculations. respond with this link. LMGTFY - Let Me Google That For You[^] This teaches them to use the Googlies the way they were meant to be used.

                                To err is human to really elephant it up you need a computer

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                                Wizard of Sleeves
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #20

                                People seem to think I know everything. To be honest, I have a terrible memory. So, when someone phones me, wanting to know something, the conversation goes something like this: caller: ring ring me: hello? caller: Hi, do you know [who|what|why|when|where] is? me: (click home on browser) Hi it's John isn't it? caller: Yes, it's john, from the tech department. me: (typing "[who|what|when|where] " into google) What is connection with? caller: Blah, blah and blah. me: (looking for the most likely answers that match his babble) Well, is [they|that|then|there]. caller: wow, thank you. How do you know so much? me: (bookmarking that page, because the idiot will phone for more details later) I just know stuff.

                                Nothing succeeds like a budgie without teeth.

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                                • R rnbergren

                                  I assume everyone has played with let me google that for you. If not google it. HAHAHA But anyway. I was looking thru the questions in the programming areas and let me just say 2 things. 1. WOW - people are stupid and want others to do their work. 2. WOW - people here on CP are amazingly patient. I am making a suggestion that everyone should just respond with a 'let me google that for you' link. for example a question in one forum about room size calculations. respond with this link. LMGTFY - Let Me Google That For You[^] This teaches them to use the Googlies the way they were meant to be used.

                                  To err is human to really elephant it up you need a computer

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                                  L Offline
                                  Luschan
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #21

                                  They are NOT stupid! Quite the opposite! they are 'smart' or, actually 'street smart'. And they are LAAAAAZY! They have been conditioned to behave like this by our new society. When the 'classical' school is reduced to Google, YouTube, blogs and forums - all easy ways to solve your problems without work or even giving it much thought (they are not even able to articulate the question they want to ask/search for), then why wouldn't they take advantage of them?! Books, manuals, datasheets, etc. all hundreds of pages long must be avoided like the pest! I see them every days on technical forums, mumbling some 'question', mostly asking for 'codes' and the forum 'experts' jumping to serve them like bitches in heat! They go mindlessly thru schools and universities and come out as the new specialists with impressive titles and diplomas. They are the future. Fortunately they are not all like that - just like >95%. God help us...

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                                  • R rnbergren

                                    I assume everyone has played with let me google that for you. If not google it. HAHAHA But anyway. I was looking thru the questions in the programming areas and let me just say 2 things. 1. WOW - people are stupid and want others to do their work. 2. WOW - people here on CP are amazingly patient. I am making a suggestion that everyone should just respond with a 'let me google that for you' link. for example a question in one forum about room size calculations. respond with this link. LMGTFY - Let Me Google That For You[^] This teaches them to use the Googlies the way they were meant to be used.

                                    To err is human to really elephant it up you need a computer

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                                    M Offline
                                    maze3
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #22

                                    in short: no context matters (to me at least) like any skill, something which might seem easy to yourself, might not be so for others. and "just google it" is not so. Add on taking code X and apply to code Y is another head ach. 1. what wanting answer to 2. how to phase question 3. which resources results are useful and which not (my Ad blindess and dark pattern design of how google places ad is tripping me up a bit more often in last year 😒) 4. then reading answer, understanding and transforming to your needs. "how to calculate room size" is missing things like, floor area, volume, my manic self would question do inner walls count toward a houses area or not. Often asking back questions helps prompt them in the direction to solving what they need.

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                                    • T trønderen

                                      If someone in meatscape asks for your help with a problem, do you then usually cut them off with "Go and fix the problem yourself - I won't help you!"? Most times, when someone asks for help with a problem, the problem can be solved, given the right competence or knowledge. The "stupid" person asking for help doesn't possess that competence / knowledge; that is why he asks. If you seriously think that any questions asked for lack of knowledge deserves to be rejected, then you reject to help with any solvable problem. The only "help" you are willing to give is to state that the problem is unsolvable. Many times I have given up after hours of unsuccessful googling, asking people for help. I have so many times been met with "LMGTFY" that I have made it a habit to include in my question the terms I have tried googling. Yet, I have had people reply "You're just a silly fool - why didn't you google 'xyzzy' or 'abcde'?? Actually, one of the best ways of asking, if you don't want to be called a fool / idiot for googling the wrong terms, is to not ask for a solution, not tell what you have tried googling, but ask "What would be good google terms for obtaining information about xyzzy?" Important notice: I am certainly not referring to CP as a forum where you are typically cut off with a LMGTFY - most other forums are terribly much worse. If you have a real problem, people at CP are generally helpful, even in cases where googling the ideal terms would have lead to a solution. The only requests regularly rejected at CP are of the kind 'please do my homework for me', but that comes from laziness, not that the asker is an idiot. Besides, googling won't do his homework for him. (And chances are that the asker found the BB forum through googling :-))

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                                      R Offline
                                      raphchar
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #23

                                      I don't see that happening very often, but when you google for a problem you find someone asking your question on a forum, and guess what's the answer ? "LMGTFY", "Google it", or whatever similar. So please never answer question like that, it just makes google searches less efficient.

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                                      • R rnbergren

                                        I assume everyone has played with let me google that for you. If not google it. HAHAHA But anyway. I was looking thru the questions in the programming areas and let me just say 2 things. 1. WOW - people are stupid and want others to do their work. 2. WOW - people here on CP are amazingly patient. I am making a suggestion that everyone should just respond with a 'let me google that for you' link. for example a question in one forum about room size calculations. respond with this link. LMGTFY - Let Me Google That For You[^] This teaches them to use the Googlies the way they were meant to be used.

                                        To err is human to really elephant it up you need a computer

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                                        B Offline
                                        BillWoodruff
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #24

                                        Thanks for cruising the CP/QA/Forums neighborhood, and dumping your generalizations. and negativity, Given the stupidity you see, it is, of course, a wise choice for you to not contribute anything. In ten years on CodeProject, you have a track record that speaks for itself: Articles 0 Tech Blogs 0 Messages 666 (Master) Q&A Questions 1 Q&A Answers 3 Tips/Tricks 2 Reference 0 Projects 0 Comments 5

                                        «The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled» Plutarch

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                                        • S Slacker007

                                          I have never been a big fan of code project members coming to the Lounge to complain about other "stupid" members and their QA or programming questions. I think it is extremely unprofessional, to say the least.

                                          S Offline
                                          S Offline
                                          Slow Eddie
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #25

                                          I agree with you. Being sarcastic is just plain rude. A reply like " I am not sure. maybe you should go to Google or Stack Overflow and see if you can find the answer there." Particularly if the person asking the question, is doing that frequently.

                                          ed

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