Can we have a "Help Vampire" icon?
-
It'd be handy to know before answering that the member is a Help Vampire - I'm specifically thinking of this guy: ahmed_sa[^] who Richard Deeming described as "our resident Nosferatu-level help vampire" and is currently running at 475 questions and zero comprehension - he appears to be holding down a job purely by getting us to write code for him, and learns absolutely nothing from it. If we had a "Help Vampire" icon which appeared on the Home page questions list and the QA list as well we could all save time by just not answering him again, and again, and again ... It'd would probably make the company he's paid by ("working for" is definitely not the right phrase) better off in the long run as well.
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
-
It'd be handy to know before answering that the member is a Help Vampire - I'm specifically thinking of this guy: ahmed_sa[^] who Richard Deeming described as "our resident Nosferatu-level help vampire" and is currently running at 475 questions and zero comprehension - he appears to be holding down a job purely by getting us to write code for him, and learns absolutely nothing from it. If we had a "Help Vampire" icon which appeared on the Home page questions list and the QA list as well we could all save time by just not answering him again, and again, and again ... It'd would probably make the company he's paid by ("working for" is definitely not the right phrase) better off in the long run as well.
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
I agree 100% as I also spent teh time in trying to answer a question to the best of my ability only to realize that it is the infamous ahmed_sa! Nowadays I look first and jsut ignore his questions. It will be great if an icon shows up to alert us before we go through the process of opening, reading, thinking, drinking coffee and then see the name at the post's bottom to just exit the question.
-
It'd be handy to know before answering that the member is a Help Vampire - I'm specifically thinking of this guy: ahmed_sa[^] who Richard Deeming described as "our resident Nosferatu-level help vampire" and is currently running at 475 questions and zero comprehension - he appears to be holding down a job purely by getting us to write code for him, and learns absolutely nothing from it. If we had a "Help Vampire" icon which appeared on the Home page questions list and the QA list as well we could all save time by just not answering him again, and again, and again ... It'd would probably make the company he's paid by ("working for" is definitely not the right phrase) better off in the long run as well.
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
OriginalGriff wrote:
and learns absolutely nothing from it.
Are you sure we don't need a "Help Renfield" icon instead?
-
It'd be handy to know before answering that the member is a Help Vampire - I'm specifically thinking of this guy: ahmed_sa[^] who Richard Deeming described as "our resident Nosferatu-level help vampire" and is currently running at 475 questions and zero comprehension - he appears to be holding down a job purely by getting us to write code for him, and learns absolutely nothing from it. If we had a "Help Vampire" icon which appeared on the Home page questions list and the QA list as well we could all save time by just not answering him again, and again, and again ... It'd would probably make the company he's paid by ("working for" is definitely not the right phrase) better off in the long run as well.
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
There's a couple of options here. 1. If a member is abusing the system, causing grief for everyone, diverting the energy and patience of everyone, or otherwise making life unpleasant, he can be reported. 2. If a question is asked that isn't clear, is not something that can be answered, isn't a focused question but rather a "write my code for me" question that isn't actually a question, then close the question and move on. I'm not a fan of building infrastructure to handle one person, but would rather find a solution that is generally applicable to the core issue. What would you say is the core issue here? Asking too many questions, or asking questions that aren't actually 'questions', or is it that the person isn't providing acknowledgment, or thanks, or giving back help in turn?
cheers Chris Maunder
-
There's a couple of options here. 1. If a member is abusing the system, causing grief for everyone, diverting the energy and patience of everyone, or otherwise making life unpleasant, he can be reported. 2. If a question is asked that isn't clear, is not something that can be answered, isn't a focused question but rather a "write my code for me" question that isn't actually a question, then close the question and move on. I'm not a fan of building infrastructure to handle one person, but would rather find a solution that is generally applicable to the core issue. What would you say is the core issue here? Asking too many questions, or asking questions that aren't actually 'questions', or is it that the person isn't providing acknowledgment, or thanks, or giving back help in turn?
cheers Chris Maunder
It's a difficult one to describe ... In this specific case, I think what annoys me (and probably others) is the way he is using us to keep his job, to get paid without actually learning anything: he posts code with the same problems over and over again. For example, every time he accesses a DB, he uses string concatenation and sometimes that is what causes his problem because a quote is present in the resulting SQL command. And we've told him over and over "don't do that, use parameterised queries" but he never learns, he isn't even trying to learn what he is paid for. At a guess he grabs code from SO, throws it into his app, hits it with a hammer, and then posts here when it doesn't work. And he's been doing this for eight years! :laugh: No, he doesn't give back help - but that's because he doesn't know what he is doing ... and is probably quite proud of that. So I stopped answering him because it's pointless doing so. But then I get reminded who it is because I deliberately don't make a habit of looking at the username to avoid any unconscious bias and answer him again. What he's doing isn't - technically - abuse, hence we haven't tagged him in S&A. But it is annoying, it is frustrating, and I'd like to find a way to avoid him (and the other Help Vampires) because not getting answered by people who do know what they are doing would be good for his personal development: he might start to learn his job. Eventually. Either that or the sudden drop in productivity might be noticed by the company and he loses said job when they realise he's been ripping them off for at least eight years.
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
-
It's a difficult one to describe ... In this specific case, I think what annoys me (and probably others) is the way he is using us to keep his job, to get paid without actually learning anything: he posts code with the same problems over and over again. For example, every time he accesses a DB, he uses string concatenation and sometimes that is what causes his problem because a quote is present in the resulting SQL command. And we've told him over and over "don't do that, use parameterised queries" but he never learns, he isn't even trying to learn what he is paid for. At a guess he grabs code from SO, throws it into his app, hits it with a hammer, and then posts here when it doesn't work. And he's been doing this for eight years! :laugh: No, he doesn't give back help - but that's because he doesn't know what he is doing ... and is probably quite proud of that. So I stopped answering him because it's pointless doing so. But then I get reminded who it is because I deliberately don't make a habit of looking at the username to avoid any unconscious bias and answer him again. What he's doing isn't - technically - abuse, hence we haven't tagged him in S&A. But it is annoying, it is frustrating, and I'd like to find a way to avoid him (and the other Help Vampires) because not getting answered by people who do know what they are doing would be good for his personal development: he might start to learn his job. Eventually. Either that or the sudden drop in productivity might be noticed by the company and he loses said job when they realise he's been ripping them off for at least eight years.
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
Chris's second point may be the answer. We close his questions and he reposts, we close again. Eventually he may ask why we keep closing his questions and we can get through to him. Or possibly you post the above message as a solution to his next question.
-
Chris's second point may be the answer. We close his questions and he reposts, we close again. Eventually he may ask why we keep closing his questions and we can get through to him. Or possibly you post the above message as a solution to his next question.
Richard MacCutchan wrote:
Or possibly you post the above message as a solution to his next question.
Thats ... not a bad idea. It tells him why it's happening and gives him an opportunity to discuss it instead of just getting more and more annoyed because his questions just "disappear". I'll try it.
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
-
Richard MacCutchan wrote:
Or possibly you post the above message as a solution to his next question.
Thats ... not a bad idea. It tells him why it's happening and gives him an opportunity to discuss it instead of just getting more and more annoyed because his questions just "disappear". I'll try it.
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
I see 2 questions posted by him again today (still under Unanswered) which I marked as unclear along with someone else...
Quote:
Or possibly you post the above message as a solution to his next question.
I will leave this to the higher ranked hierarchy rather than doing it, Paul maybe? :-D
