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How to ask questions the smart way. — Parallax Forums

How to ask questions the smart way.

BeanBean Posts: 8,129
edited 2006-02-08 17:54 in General Discussion
I ran across this website.
Should be required reading for all newbies.

http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

Bean.


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"SX-Video·Module" Now available from Parallax for only $28.95

http://www.parallax.com/detail.asp?product_id=30012

"SX-Video OSD module" Now available from Parallax for only·$49.95
http://www.parallax.com/detail.asp?product_id=30015

Product web site: www.sxvm.com

"Ability may get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there."
·
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Comments

  • gibbmangibbman Posts: 98
    edited 2006-01-30 13:34
    And maybe a sticky with a link to it on the main forums page for ease of reference.
    Jim
  • Paul BakerPaul Baker Posts: 6,351
    edited 2006-01-30 14:27
    Its a little too general to be a sticky for this forum, perhaps a distilled and tailored version for the forum.

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    ·1+1=10
  • Jon WilliamsJon Williams Posts: 6,491
    edited 2006-01-30 15:51
    Are you crazy, Bean!· That document suggests you actually read the manual first!· Come on.... tongue.gif

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    Jon Williams
    Applications Engineer, Parallax
  • BeanBean Posts: 8,129
    edited 2006-01-30 19:40
    Jon,
    · Sorry I lost my head there. Like many users I too am allergic to paper.
    Bean.

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    "SX-Video·Module" Now available from Parallax for only $28.95

    http://www.parallax.com/detail.asp?product_id=30012

    "SX-Video OSD module" Now available from Parallax for only·$49.95
    http://www.parallax.com/detail.asp?product_id=30015

    Product web site: www.sxvm.com

    "Ability may get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there."
    ·
  • Washer MedicWasher Medic Posts: 39
    edited 2006-01-30 21:10
    Well I find even when I read the manual 100 times its not as valuable to me as working it out hear on the forums Thank you Parallax and forum members for all your help. Google is my friend I just need to ask the question the right way
    Brian

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    There's nothing a good wack with a hammer won't fix

    Darn I let the white smoke out again
  • NavNav Posts: 23
    edited 2006-02-01 15:39
    My two favourite lines in that article are the following;

    Use meaningful, specific subject headers.
    Write in clear, grammatical, correctly-spelled language.

    I've been reading the Parallax forums - and occasionally posting to them- for about a year and a half and find that these are the two that are most often disregarded.
  • John R.John R. Posts: 1,376
    edited 2006-02-01 17:08
    While I totally agree with the subject line, I woudl be a little more forgiving on the spelling and grammar for a number of reasons.

    First, even being the Imperialist Yankee Pig that I am, I would not want to discourage posters whose native language is not english.

    Second, without a spell checker, we'll all make mistakes, either as typos or just plain wrong spelling on some words.

    How about someting like:

    "A reasonable effort towards good grammer and correct spelling."

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    John R.

    8 + 8 = 10
  • RsadeikaRsadeika Posts: 3,837
    edited 2006-02-01 17:22
    Has a·paperback dictionary gone out of style; I had to dig mine out, and now it is right next to my laptop. Sometimes I mispell a word so bad that even the spell checker does not know what I am trying to spell.

    For the grammer part, if you just take the time to read the sentence a couple of times, that should take care of the problem.

    Ray
  • Tom WalkerTom Walker Posts: 509
    edited 2006-02-01 18:12
    ...and when you encounter a grammatical error, kindly chastise in the offender's native tongue [noparse]:)[/noparse]

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    Truly Understand the Fundamentals and the Path will be so much easier...
  • John R.John R. Posts: 1,376
    edited 2006-02-01 19:33
    I don't own, nor am I currently aware of, anyone with a paperback, or any other type of "paper" dictionary. I'm not necessarily proud of that, but I generally haven't had a need for one. I too have mangled things bad enough for the spell checker to go "huh???" or come up with alternatives that have nothing to do with what I had in mind. There are other tools I use when necessary, all electronic.

    The question is:

    Are these forums meant to be an excercise in spelling and grammer, or are they ment to be a place to get and share information?

    I'm not saying users shouldn't strive for good grammer and proper spelling, just saying that we shouldn't expect perfection, just a reasonable effort.

    Besides all of the above, some of our posters are actually working for a living, either in electronics, or in other endeavors. We may not all have as much time as we'd like to make things perfect. There is a difference between a few errors and an incomprehensible (spelling?) post because of "chat room" abbreviations, etc. and a post we can all understand, but the grammer and spelling may be a bit off.

    Let's get real!

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    John R.

    8 + 8 = 10
  • PJAllenPJAllen Banned Posts: 5,065
    edited 2006-02-01 19:58
    It's grammar, not "grammer."·

    Someone posted: "Sometimes I mispell a word so bad that even the spell checker does not know what I am trying to spell.· For the grammer part, if you just take the time to read the sentence a couple of times, that should take care of the problem."·

    Was that intentional?· You must be kidding.·

    Obviously, the re-reading thing isn't working·with regard to grammar -- or spelling.

    As a radio commentator has often said, "Words mean things."· If grammar and spelling are·meaningless then·we'll all soon·be grunting ("glub, glub, glub") and typing our own·private code/s --and wondering why others just can't get it.
  • Beau SchwabeBeau Schwabe Posts: 6,568
    edited 2006-02-01 20:25
    How about the misuse of a word that spellcheck will not catch?

    When you affect something here that can effect what's happening over there. smilewinkgrin.gif

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    Beau Schwabe

    IC Layout Engineer
    Parallax, Inc.

    Post Edited (Beau Schwabe (Parallax)) : 2/1/2006 8:29:02 PM GMT
  • John R.John R. Posts: 1,376
    edited 2006-02-01 20:36
    Bean - See what you started?!!

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    John R.

    8 + 8 = 10
  • Tom WalkerTom Walker Posts: 509
    edited 2006-02-01 20:40
    Beau,
    There should be a comma between "here" and "that" in your last post, otherwise it's an incomplete sentence...:^)

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    Truly Understand the Fundamentals and the Path will be so much easier...
  • Beau SchwabeBeau Schwabe Posts: 6,568
    edited 2006-02-01 21:08
    Tom,

    Hmmm

    attachment.php?attachmentid=40296

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    Beau Schwabe

    IC Layout Engineer
    Parallax, Inc.
    GRAMMAR.JPG
    485 x 141 - 25K
  • SN96SN96 Posts: 318
    edited 2006-02-01 21:31
    Nav said...
    My two favourite lines in that article are the following;

    Use meaningful, specific subject headers.
    Write in clear, grammatical, correctly-spelled language.

    I've been reading the Parallax forums - and occasionally posting to them- for about a year and a half and find that these are the two that are most often disregarded.
    I failed English; I don't know how to communicate any other way.... turn.gif

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    Mike

    ·
  • Tom WalkerTom Walker Posts: 509
    edited 2006-02-01 21:51
    Beau,
    Leaving the smiley right side up was a nice touch <golf clap>...
    ;^)

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    Truly Understand the Fundamentals and the Path will be so much easier...
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2006-02-02 12:12
    I like the part about 'grovelling is not a substitute'.
    Do we have anyone grovelling?

    [noparse][[/noparse]Whip me, beat me, I'll come back for more.
    Whip me, beat me, throw me on the floor.....] Old Italian opera song

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    "When all think alike, no one is thinking very much.' - Walter Lippmann (1889-1974)

    ······································································ Warm regards,····· G. Herzog [noparse][[/noparse]·黃鶴 ]·in Taiwan
  • NavNav Posts: 23
    edited 2006-02-02 12:24
    SN96 said...
    I failed English; I don't know how to communicate any other way....
    Well, in that case you are excused.
    Beau Schwabe said...
    When you affect something here that can effect what's happening over there.
    Beau, without wishing to be overly pedantic, I think you've got them the wrong way around.· The 'affect' and the 'effect' should switch places in the sentence above.·tongue.gif·· My admiration for your knowledge of electronics however, remains undiminished !· Okay. I'll shut up now.

    P.S.· I consider guys like Beau, John and Chris to be·electronics gurus and I hope my insolence will be overlooked next time I come grovelling to them for help !

    Post Edited (Nav) : 2/2/2006 12:39:08 PM GMT
  • John R.John R. Posts: 1,376
    edited 2006-02-02 13:52
    Nav said...

    P.S.· I consider guys like Beau, John and Chris to be·electronics gurus and I hope my insolence will be overlooked next time I come grovelling to them for help !
    I really hope you mean Jon, not John, and/or that John isn't John R.· If it is John R. (me), you could be·in for some interesting opportunites for learning the hard way...

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    John R.

    8 + 8 = 10
  • NavNav Posts: 23
    edited 2006-02-02 14:11
    Whoops, I meant Jon, not John.· I'll just put that down to a spelling mistake !
  • Tom WalkerTom Walker Posts: 509
    edited 2006-02-02 14:23
    Nav,
    I think Beau's sentence could actually go either way depending on the "intention"...

    Beau Schwabe said...
    When you affect something here that can effect what's happening over there.

    <purist_mode=OFF>



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    Truly Understand the Fundamentals and the Path will be so much easier...
  • Paul BakerPaul Baker Posts: 6,351
    edited 2006-02-02 15:57
    Um, his original phrasing works best, a person's action (affect) produces a result (effect). Affect is a verb while effect is a noun. A "subject" cannot "noun" something, saying "You effect the outcome" is grammatically the same as "You computer the dog".·

    To further add to the confusion, effects is a verb (and a noun as in "personal effects" turn.gif ROFL I love the english language).

    After talking with my Haitian officemate effects is only valid for third person singular, He/She/It effects is valid while·I/We/You/You all/They effects is not valid.

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    ·1+1=10

    Post Edited (Paul Baker) : 2/2/2006 4:24:18 PM GMT
  • NavNav Posts: 23
    edited 2006-02-02 16:18
    Tom, having thought about it a bit further, I think you are right.· Beau's sentence does make sense - apologies to Beau for my previous post.

    Paul, with all due respect, I think you are mistaken.· His original phrasing may well be correct but I don't think·your explanation supports this.· 'Effect' can be a verb as in the expression '... effecting change'.· In that context, 'effect' means 'to cause'.· Surely, this is a verb isn't it ?· Please correct me if I'm wrong.
  • Paul BakerPaul Baker Posts: 6,351
    edited 2006-02-02 16:25
    "Effecting, Effects, Effected" are all verbs, "Effect" almost always is considered a noun.·

    Ok I relent, through the bastardization of the english language (evolution as linguists say), the use of effect as a transitive verb started use within legal phrasing, since then it has spread to a wider use as a transitive verb. But to the english purist, effect is only a noun.

    <final edit performed on this post, I promise>

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    ·1+1=10

    Post Edited (Paul Baker) : 2/2/2006 4:40:05 PM GMT
  • Chris SavageChris Savage Parallax Engineering Posts: 14,406
    edited 2006-02-02 16:32
    Paul,

    ·· I see you found www.dictionary.com· =)

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    Chris Savage
    Parallax Tech Support
    csavage@parallax.com
  • Paul BakerPaul Baker Posts: 6,351
    edited 2006-02-02 16:35
    Haha, yeah I use it everyday. I deleted the quote from dictionary.com when I found not only a legal use of effect as a transitive verb, but a common use of effect as a transitive verb, according to Princeton's WordNet.

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    ·1+1=10
  • Chris SavageChris Savage Parallax Engineering Posts: 14,406
    edited 2006-02-02 16:38
    Anytime my wife and teenage boys come home and use some word I don't know I go look it up there myself.· Seems like a trend this last year.· I'm learning of words I have never heard of!

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    Chris Savage
    Parallax Tech Support
    csavage@parallax.com
  • Paul BakerPaul Baker Posts: 6,351
    edited 2006-02-02 16:49
    Every once in a while a lawyer will throw a legal term at me I don't understand, or they argue the definition of a limitation in a claim, or I have to explain the definition of a word and its connotation in technology. For instance a lawyer was furious with me for interpreting "register" to be equivalent to his limitation "memory location", I had to bust out the definition for register to show it was a type of memory and hence the patent I used to reject him which disclosed doing the operation in a register, anticipated his claim of performing the same operation on a memory location, since a register is a _type_ of memory and it has a concrete location. He couldn't get the patent with what he was claiming, but he finally got it by specifing the operation on a "memory location external to the processor" [noparse]:)[/noparse].

    I often feel like Ken Starr trying to pin down Clinton on what the meaning of "is" is.

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    ·1+1=10

    Post Edited (Paul Baker) : 2/2/2006 5:00:06 PM GMT
  • PJAllenPJAllen Banned Posts: 5,065
    edited 2006-02-02 18:45
    This is from Microwaves & RF, Feb. 1983, "Eighteen errors that foul the air", by Michael Kachmar (Copy Editor):

    Affect / effect.· These two run neck and neck with "that / which" as the pair of most commonly abused words.· Just remember that affect is the verb and effect is the result.· (There is a verb "effect", but don't use it.)· Grammar school teachers explain it best: The "a" in affect stands for "active."

    ·
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