Someone sent me an email this morning thanking me for answering his
questions over the years. It happened to be someone whose name always
makes me perk up, because even though he nearly always asks questions and
rarely answers, he nearly always asks really GOOD questions.
If you're not addicted to answering questions on USENET, then this may
not have occurred to you, but there are certain people who mostly or
entirely ask questions, yet are still welcome names to me when they pop
up.
So, even though the subject has been gone over in length, I thought I'd
publish _my_ guidelines for what makes a good question to me, and why I
appreciate seeing them. I'm about to push "send" and I'm not entirely
happy with what I've written -- but what the heck, it's drooled out of my
cerebrum, through my fingertips and onto my editor screen, and I don't
want to just delete it now. So here goes:
1: Ask questions that can be answered:
"How much string do I need to bind up a 50-pound bale of alfalfa?" is a
useful question, compared to "how much string do I need for a bale?"
Mostly, asking a question that can be answered means supplying enough
information to the experts so that they can give you a meaningful
answer. Counter-examples would be things like:
"Should I use and IIR filter or an FIR filter" (this doesn't anything
about the available processing power, or about performance constraints
that may put more weight on one filter or another -- it's like asking if
a motorcycle is better than a car).
"What emitter resistor should I use with a 2N3904?" (without knowing the
circuit it's in, any answer would be meaningless).
"Is H-infinity control the best design approach?" (without knowing how
much information you have about your plant, whether it's strongly
nonlinear, how much it'll vary in practice, and a host of other factors,
there's no way to tell).
2: Ask for guidance, not for your work to be done for you:
"My boss wants me to implement a left-handed franowitz by Tuesday.
Please respond with schematics and code." Personally, I'm happy to do
the work that your boss needs done -- as long as I'm under contract to
him, and as long as I get paid.
"Given a triangle with sides of lengths 8, 9 and 10, what is the area?
Find an answer without using integration." I am absolutely, positively,
not going to do your homework for you. "I'm having trouble finding the
area of a triangle given the lengths of the sides, can you suggest an
approach?" will get you lots of help. Barfing out homework problems and
insisting on solutions won't.
Note that I (and many others) will NOT do your school work for you, even
for money. I've had one person approach me about work that appeared
legitimate, then turned out to be doing the core work for a graduate
degree. I was not amused, except for the faint ironic humor of having
him stop emailing me anything at all when I informed him that I'd be
happy to get under contract if I had written authorization from his
thesis advisor, and could he please supply me with contact details?
The reason that we won't do this is twofold. First, we're not rats.
Second, even if our consciences had been surgically removed, most really
competent engineers don't like working for incompetent managers, and
intensely dislike working for incompetent managers who cheat. If you
can't do your technical homework at all, then you probably aren't cut out
for engineering. If you know this, and you try to get it done for you,
then you'll only be fit for management, and then you'll only be the kind
of manager with a reverse-midas touch who turns everything he touches
into raw sewage.
3: Ask for specific answers
"I need to design a filter in the z domain. How do I do it?" You might
think "take three years of signal processing courses at an accredited
engineering school" or "read this pile of books" followed by "then do
what comes naturally" is a facetious answer -- but it's not that far off
track. Some questions just have answers that are book-length or longer,
and you're not going to get an answer in a newsgroup posting.
When that happens you either need to narrow your question down, or go
away and start studying. Incidentally, one good way to narrow down your
question is to respond with "clearly I need to narrow down my question --
what do I need to tell you?"
4: Don't get too obscure/don't ask us to do too much work
Asking some specific question about a hearing-aid processor, or asking a
question about equation 73 in some obscure scientific paper generally
means -- unless you're very lucky -- two things: one, that no one knows
the answer, and two, that figuring out the answer will take an inordinate
amount of time.
If you can phrase the question in more general terms, then you'll bring
it more in line with guideline 1.
5: Work with us
If you ask a question and someone comes back with a request for
clarification, be polite and informative. Don't get all bent out of
shape. Don't assume that everyone is against you -- we don't know who
the hell you are, we're only judging by the questions you ask and your
responses to our posts.
Sometimes you'll ask a question and it'll turn out to be entirely the
wrong thing to ask ("how do I patch a hole in a tire", for instance, may
have the answer FOR YOUR SITUATION to "stop driving over the spike
strip"). I do this myself, and it can be frustrating to be told that I'm
asking the wrong thing -- but on the other hand, finding out that I don't
need $500 worth of electronics or machine tools that can be solved with a
Popsicle stick and a whack with a big hammer really is to my benefit.
6: Stay engaged
This will get lost in the smoke, but one of the more frustrating USENET
phenomena is when someone whose never posted asks a question, gets a
bunch of responses on the order of "that's interesting, tell us these
exact particulars", and then never responds.
We're working for you, but we're not working for money. We're working
for satisfaction -- even coming back on and saying "thanks for your
effort, guys, I found the answer somewhere else" will give us more
satisfaction than not saying anything.
--
Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
http://www.wescottdesign.com
On Good Questions
Started by ●August 9, 2014
Reply by ●August 9, 20142014-08-09
On Sat, 09 Aug 2014 14:39:30 -0500, Tim Wescott <seemywebsite@myfooter.really> wrote:>Someone sent me an email this morning thanking me for answering his >questions over the years. It happened to be someone whose name always >makes me perk up, because even though he nearly always asks questions and >rarely answers, he nearly always asks really GOOD questions. > >If you're not addicted to answering questions on USENET, then this may >not have occurred to you, but there are certain people who mostly or >entirely ask questions, yet are still welcome names to me when they pop >up. > >So, even though the subject has been gone over in length, I thought I'd >publish _my_ guidelines for what makes a good question to me, and why I >appreciate seeing them. I'm about to push "send" and I'm not entirely >happy with what I've written -- but what the heck, it's drooled out of my >cerebrum, through my fingertips and onto my editor screen, and I don't >want to just delete it now. So here goes: > >1: Ask questions that can be answered: > >"How much string do I need to bind up a 50-pound bale of alfalfa?" is a >useful question, compared to "how much string do I need for a bale?" > >Mostly, asking a question that can be answered means supplying enough >information to the experts so that they can give you a meaningful >answer. Counter-examples would be things like: > >"Should I use and IIR filter or an FIR filter" (this doesn't anything >about the available processing power, or about performance constraints >that may put more weight on one filter or another -- it's like asking if >a motorcycle is better than a car). > >"What emitter resistor should I use with a 2N3904?" (without knowing the >circuit it's in, any answer would be meaningless). > >"Is H-infinity control the best design approach?" (without knowing how >much information you have about your plant, whether it's strongly >nonlinear, how much it'll vary in practice, and a host of other factors, >there's no way to tell). > >2: Ask for guidance, not for your work to be done for you: > >"My boss wants me to implement a left-handed franowitz by Tuesday. >Please respond with schematics and code." Personally, I'm happy to do >the work that your boss needs done -- as long as I'm under contract to >him, and as long as I get paid. > >"Given a triangle with sides of lengths 8, 9 and 10, what is the area? >Find an answer without using integration." I am absolutely, positively, >not going to do your homework for you. "I'm having trouble finding the >area of a triangle given the lengths of the sides, can you suggest an >approach?" will get you lots of help. Barfing out homework problems and >insisting on solutions won't. > >Note that I (and many others) will NOT do your school work for you, even >for money. I've had one person approach me about work that appeared >legitimate, then turned out to be doing the core work for a graduate >degree. I was not amused, except for the faint ironic humor of having >him stop emailing me anything at all when I informed him that I'd be >happy to get under contract if I had written authorization from his >thesis advisor, and could he please supply me with contact details? > >The reason that we won't do this is twofold. First, we're not rats. >Second, even if our consciences had been surgically removed, most really >competent engineers don't like working for incompetent managers, and >intensely dislike working for incompetent managers who cheat. If you >can't do your technical homework at all, then you probably aren't cut out >for engineering. If you know this, and you try to get it done for you, >then you'll only be fit for management, and then you'll only be the kind >of manager with a reverse-midas touch who turns everything he touches >into raw sewage. > >3: Ask for specific answers > >"I need to design a filter in the z domain. How do I do it?" You might >think "take three years of signal processing courses at an accredited >engineering school" or "read this pile of books" followed by "then do >what comes naturally" is a facetious answer -- but it's not that far off >track. Some questions just have answers that are book-length or longer, >and you're not going to get an answer in a newsgroup posting. > >When that happens you either need to narrow your question down, or go >away and start studying. Incidentally, one good way to narrow down your >question is to respond with "clearly I need to narrow down my question -- >what do I need to tell you?" > >4: Don't get too obscure/don't ask us to do too much work > >Asking some specific question about a hearing-aid processor, or asking a >question about equation 73 in some obscure scientific paper generally >means -- unless you're very lucky -- two things: one, that no one knows >the answer, and two, that figuring out the answer will take an inordinate >amount of time. > >If you can phrase the question in more general terms, then you'll bring >it more in line with guideline 1. > >5: Work with us > >If you ask a question and someone comes back with a request for >clarification, be polite and informative. Don't get all bent out of >shape. Don't assume that everyone is against you -- we don't know who >the hell you are, we're only judging by the questions you ask and your >responses to our posts. > >Sometimes you'll ask a question and it'll turn out to be entirely the >wrong thing to ask ("how do I patch a hole in a tire", for instance, may >have the answer FOR YOUR SITUATION to "stop driving over the spike >strip"). I do this myself, and it can be frustrating to be told that I'm >asking the wrong thing -- but on the other hand, finding out that I don't >need $500 worth of electronics or machine tools that can be solved with a >Popsicle stick and a whack with a big hammer really is to my benefit. > >6: Stay engaged > >This will get lost in the smoke, but one of the more frustrating USENET >phenomena is when someone whose never posted asks a question, gets a >bunch of responses on the order of "that's interesting, tell us these >exact particulars", and then never responds. > >We're working for you, but we're not working for money. We're working >for satisfaction -- even coming back on and saying "thanks for your >effort, guys, I found the answer somewhere else" will give us more >satisfaction than not saying anything.Yes. Good questions have value, because they make us look into things we might not have thought much about before; that sure works for me. I agree about bad/fuzzy questions, and people who post once and never respond afterwards. Posting a schematic is immensely clarifying, both about the content and about the poster. You can tell a lot about a person from his schematic. -- John Larkin Highland Technology Inc www.highlandtechnology.com jlarkin at highlandtechnology dot com Precision electronic instrumentation
Reply by ●August 9, 20142014-08-09
"John Larkin" <jjlarkin@highNOTlandTHIStechnologyPART.com> wrote in message news:fgucu9h5p9cq8pi3104lipb2dviv7h6m9e@4ax.com...> On Sat, 09 Aug 2014 14:39:30 -0500, Tim Wescott > <seemywebsite@myfooter.really> > wrote: > >>Someone sent me an email this morning thanking me for answering his >>questions over the years. It happened to be someone whose name always >>makes me perk up, because even though he nearly always asks questions and >>rarely answers, he nearly always asks really GOOD questions. >> >>If you're not addicted to answering questions on USENET, then this may >>not have occurred to you, but there are certain people who mostly or >>entirely ask questions, yet are still welcome names to me when they pop >>up. >> >>So, even though the subject has been gone over in length, I thought I'd >>publish _my_ guidelines for what makes a good question to me, and why I >>appreciate seeing them. I'm about to push "send" and I'm not entirely >>happy with what I've written -- but what the heck, it's drooled out of my >>cerebrum, through my fingertips and onto my editor screen, and I don't >>want to just delete it now. So here goes: >> >>1: Ask questions that can be answered: >> >>"How much string do I need to bind up a 50-pound bale of alfalfa?" is a >>useful question, compared to "how much string do I need for a bale?" >> >>Mostly, asking a question that can be answered means supplying enough >>information to the experts so that they can give you a meaningful >>answer. Counter-examples would be things like: >> >>"Should I use and IIR filter or an FIR filter" (this doesn't anything >>about the available processing power, or about performance constraints >>that may put more weight on one filter or another -- it's like asking if >>a motorcycle is better than a car). >> >>"What emitter resistor should I use with a 2N3904?" (without knowing the >>circuit it's in, any answer would be meaningless). >> >>"Is H-infinity control the best design approach?" (without knowing how >>much information you have about your plant, whether it's strongly >>nonlinear, how much it'll vary in practice, and a host of other factors, >>there's no way to tell). >> >>2: Ask for guidance, not for your work to be done for you: >> >>"My boss wants me to implement a left-handed franowitz by Tuesday. >>Please respond with schematics and code." Personally, I'm happy to do >>the work that your boss needs done -- as long as I'm under contract to >>him, and as long as I get paid. >> >>"Given a triangle with sides of lengths 8, 9 and 10, what is the area? >>Find an answer without using integration." I am absolutely, positively, >>not going to do your homework for you. "I'm having trouble finding the >>area of a triangle given the lengths of the sides, can you suggest an >>approach?" will get you lots of help. Barfing out homework problems and >>insisting on solutions won't. >> >>Note that I (and many others) will NOT do your school work for you, even >>for money. I've had one person approach me about work that appeared >>legitimate, then turned out to be doing the core work for a graduate >>degree. I was not amused, except for the faint ironic humor of having >>him stop emailing me anything at all when I informed him that I'd be >>happy to get under contract if I had written authorization from his >>thesis advisor, and could he please supply me with contact details? >> >>The reason that we won't do this is twofold. First, we're not rats. >>Second, even if our consciences had been surgically removed, most really >>competent engineers don't like working for incompetent managers, and >>intensely dislike working for incompetent managers who cheat. If you >>can't do your technical homework at all, then you probably aren't cut out >>for engineering. If you know this, and you try to get it done for you, >>then you'll only be fit for management, and then you'll only be the kind >>of manager with a reverse-midas touch who turns everything he touches >>into raw sewage. >> >>3: Ask for specific answers >> >>"I need to design a filter in the z domain. How do I do it?" You might >>think "take three years of signal processing courses at an accredited >>engineering school" or "read this pile of books" followed by "then do >>what comes naturally" is a facetious answer -- but it's not that far off >>track. Some questions just have answers that are book-length or longer, >>and you're not going to get an answer in a newsgroup posting. >> >>When that happens you either need to narrow your question down, or go >>away and start studying. Incidentally, one good way to narrow down your >>question is to respond with "clearly I need to narrow down my question -- >>what do I need to tell you?" >> >>4: Don't get too obscure/don't ask us to do too much work >> >>Asking some specific question about a hearing-aid processor, or asking a >>question about equation 73 in some obscure scientific paper generally >>means -- unless you're very lucky -- two things: one, that no one knows >>the answer, and two, that figuring out the answer will take an inordinate >>amount of time. >> >>If you can phrase the question in more general terms, then you'll bring >>it more in line with guideline 1. >> >>5: Work with us >> >>If you ask a question and someone comes back with a request for >>clarification, be polite and informative. Don't get all bent out of >>shape. Don't assume that everyone is against you -- we don't know who >>the hell you are, we're only judging by the questions you ask and your >>responses to our posts. >> >>Sometimes you'll ask a question and it'll turn out to be entirely the >>wrong thing to ask ("how do I patch a hole in a tire", for instance, may >>have the answer FOR YOUR SITUATION to "stop driving over the spike >>strip"). I do this myself, and it can be frustrating to be told that I'm >>asking the wrong thing -- but on the other hand, finding out that I don't >>need $500 worth of electronics or machine tools that can be solved with a >>Popsicle stick and a whack with a big hammer really is to my benefit. >> >>6: Stay engaged >> >>This will get lost in the smoke, but one of the more frustrating USENET >>phenomena is when someone whose never posted asks a question, gets a >>bunch of responses on the order of "that's interesting, tell us these >>exact particulars", and then never responds. >> >>We're working for you, but we're not working for money. We're working >>for satisfaction -- even coming back on and saying "thanks for your >>effort, guys, I found the answer somewhere else" will give us more >>satisfaction than not saying anything. > > Yes. > > Good questions have value, because they make us look into things we might > not > have thought much about before; that sure works for me. > > I agree about bad/fuzzy questions, and people who post once and never > respond > afterwards. Posting a schematic is immensely clarifying, both about the > content > and about the poster. You can tell a lot about a person from his > schematic. > > > -- > > John Larkin Highland Technology IncAnd don't ask questions that can easily be answered with google. Example - What is the maximum collector voltage of a 2N3904? tm
Reply by ●August 9, 20142014-08-09
On Sat, 09 Aug 2014 16:08:40 -0400, Tom Miller wrote:> "John Larkin" <jjlarkin@highNOTlandTHIStechnologyPART.com> wrote in > message news:fgucu9h5p9cq8pi3104lipb2dviv7h6m9e@4ax.com... >> On Sat, 09 Aug 2014 14:39:30 -0500, Tim Wescott >> <seemywebsite@myfooter.really> >> wrote: >> >>>Someone sent me an email this morning thanking me for answering his >>>questions over the years. It happened to be someone whose name always >>>makes me perk up, because even though he nearly always asks questions >>>and rarely answers, he nearly always asks really GOOD questions. >>> >>>If you're not addicted to answering questions on USENET, then this may >>>not have occurred to you, but there are certain people who mostly or >>>entirely ask questions, yet are still welcome names to me when they pop >>>up. >>> >>>So, even though the subject has been gone over in length, I thought I'd >>>publish _my_ guidelines for what makes a good question to me, and why I >>>appreciate seeing them. I'm about to push "send" and I'm not entirely >>>happy with what I've written -- but what the heck, it's drooled out of >>>my cerebrum, through my fingertips and onto my editor screen, and I >>>don't want to just delete it now. So here goes: >>> >>>1: Ask questions that can be answered: >>> >>>"How much string do I need to bind up a 50-pound bale of alfalfa?" is a >>>useful question, compared to "how much string do I need for a bale?" >>> >>>Mostly, asking a question that can be answered means supplying enough >>>information to the experts so that they can give you a meaningful >>>answer. Counter-examples would be things like: >>> >>>"Should I use and IIR filter or an FIR filter" (this doesn't anything >>>about the available processing power, or about performance constraints >>>that may put more weight on one filter or another -- it's like asking >>>if a motorcycle is better than a car). >>> >>>"What emitter resistor should I use with a 2N3904?" (without knowing >>>the circuit it's in, any answer would be meaningless). >>> >>>"Is H-infinity control the best design approach?" (without knowing how >>>much information you have about your plant, whether it's strongly >>>nonlinear, how much it'll vary in practice, and a host of other >>>factors, there's no way to tell). >>> >>>2: Ask for guidance, not for your work to be done for you: >>> >>>"My boss wants me to implement a left-handed franowitz by Tuesday. >>>Please respond with schematics and code." Personally, I'm happy to do >>>the work that your boss needs done -- as long as I'm under contract to >>>him, and as long as I get paid. >>> >>>"Given a triangle with sides of lengths 8, 9 and 10, what is the area? >>>Find an answer without using integration." I am absolutely, >>>positively, not going to do your homework for you. "I'm having trouble >>>finding the area of a triangle given the lengths of the sides, can you >>>suggest an approach?" will get you lots of help. Barfing out homework >>>problems and insisting on solutions won't. >>> >>>Note that I (and many others) will NOT do your school work for you, >>>even for money. I've had one person approach me about work that >>>appeared legitimate, then turned out to be doing the core work for a >>>graduate degree. I was not amused, except for the faint ironic humor >>>of having him stop emailing me anything at all when I informed him that >>>I'd be happy to get under contract if I had written authorization from >>>his thesis advisor, and could he please supply me with contact details? >>> >>>The reason that we won't do this is twofold. First, we're not rats. >>>Second, even if our consciences had been surgically removed, most >>>really competent engineers don't like working for incompetent managers, >>>and intensely dislike working for incompetent managers who cheat. If >>>you can't do your technical homework at all, then you probably aren't >>>cut out for engineering. If you know this, and you try to get it done >>>for you, then you'll only be fit for management, and then you'll only >>>be the kind of manager with a reverse-midas touch who turns everything >>>he touches into raw sewage. >>> >>>3: Ask for specific answers >>> >>>"I need to design a filter in the z domain. How do I do it?" You >>>might think "take three years of signal processing courses at an >>>accredited engineering school" or "read this pile of books" followed by >>>"then do what comes naturally" is a facetious answer -- but it's not >>>that far off track. Some questions just have answers that are >>>book-length or longer, and you're not going to get an answer in a >>>newsgroup posting. >>> >>>When that happens you either need to narrow your question down, or go >>>away and start studying. Incidentally, one good way to narrow down >>>your question is to respond with "clearly I need to narrow down my >>>question -- >>>what do I need to tell you?" >>> >>>4: Don't get too obscure/don't ask us to do too much work >>> >>>Asking some specific question about a hearing-aid processor, or asking >>>a question about equation 73 in some obscure scientific paper generally >>>means -- unless you're very lucky -- two things: one, that no one knows >>>the answer, and two, that figuring out the answer will take an >>>inordinate amount of time. >>> >>>If you can phrase the question in more general terms, then you'll bring >>>it more in line with guideline 1. >>> >>>5: Work with us >>> >>>If you ask a question and someone comes back with a request for >>>clarification, be polite and informative. Don't get all bent out of >>>shape. Don't assume that everyone is against you -- we don't know who >>>the hell you are, we're only judging by the questions you ask and your >>>responses to our posts. >>> >>>Sometimes you'll ask a question and it'll turn out to be entirely the >>>wrong thing to ask ("how do I patch a hole in a tire", for instance, >>>may have the answer FOR YOUR SITUATION to "stop driving over the spike >>>strip"). I do this myself, and it can be frustrating to be told that >>>I'm asking the wrong thing -- but on the other hand, finding out that I >>>don't need $500 worth of electronics or machine tools that can be >>>solved with a Popsicle stick and a whack with a big hammer really is to >>>my benefit. >>> >>>6: Stay engaged >>> >>>This will get lost in the smoke, but one of the more frustrating USENET >>>phenomena is when someone whose never posted asks a question, gets a >>>bunch of responses on the order of "that's interesting, tell us these >>>exact particulars", and then never responds. >>> >>>We're working for you, but we're not working for money. We're working >>>for satisfaction -- even coming back on and saying "thanks for your >>>effort, guys, I found the answer somewhere else" will give us more >>>satisfaction than not saying anything. >> >> Yes. >> >> Good questions have value, because they make us look into things we >> might not have thought much about before; that sure works for me. >> >> I agree about bad/fuzzy questions, and people who post once and never >> respond afterwards. Posting a schematic is immensely clarifying, both >> about the content and about the poster. You can tell a lot about a >> person from his schematic. >> >> >> -- >> >> John Larkin Highland Technology Inc > > And don't ask questions that can easily be answered with google. Example > - What is the maximum collector voltage of a 2N3904? > > tmGood point! Google is your friend. lmgtfy.com is _my_ friend, at least when I'm feeling snarky. -- Tim Wescott Wescott Design Services http://www.wescottdesign.com
Reply by ●August 9, 20142014-08-09
"Tim Wescott" <seemywebsite@myfooter.really> wrote in message news:YJOdnVEbrOrVH3vOnZ2dnUU7-c2dnZ2d@giganews.com...> On Sat, 09 Aug 2014 16:08:40 -0400, Tom Miller wrote: > >> "John Larkin" <jjlarkin@highNOTlandTHIStechnologyPART.com> wrote in >> message news:fgucu9h5p9cq8pi3104lipb2dviv7h6m9e@4ax.com... >>> On Sat, 09 Aug 2014 14:39:30 -0500, Tim Wescott >>> <seemywebsite@myfooter.really> >>> wrote: >>> >>>>Someone sent me an email this morning thanking me for answering his >>>>questions over the years. It happened to be someone whose name always >>>>makes me perk up, because even though he nearly always asks questions >>>>and rarely answers, he nearly always asks really GOOD questions. >>>> >>>>If you're not addicted to answering questions on USENET, then this may >>>>not have occurred to you, but there are certain people who mostly or >>>>entirely ask questions, yet are still welcome names to me when they pop >>>>up. >>>> >>>>So, even though the subject has been gone over in length, I thought I'd >>>>publish _my_ guidelines for what makes a good question to me, and why I >>>>appreciate seeing them. I'm about to push "send" and I'm not entirely >>>>happy with what I've written -- but what the heck, it's drooled out of >>>>my cerebrum, through my fingertips and onto my editor screen, and I >>>>don't want to just delete it now. So here goes: >>>> >>>>1: Ask questions that can be answered: >>>> >>>>"How much string do I need to bind up a 50-pound bale of alfalfa?" is a >>>>useful question, compared to "how much string do I need for a bale?" >>>> >>>>Mostly, asking a question that can be answered means supplying enough >>>>information to the experts so that they can give you a meaningful >>>>answer. Counter-examples would be things like: >>>> >>>>"Should I use and IIR filter or an FIR filter" (this doesn't anything >>>>about the available processing power, or about performance constraints >>>>that may put more weight on one filter or another -- it's like asking >>>>if a motorcycle is better than a car). >>>> >>>>"What emitter resistor should I use with a 2N3904?" (without knowing >>>>the circuit it's in, any answer would be meaningless). >>>> >>>>"Is H-infinity control the best design approach?" (without knowing how >>>>much information you have about your plant, whether it's strongly >>>>nonlinear, how much it'll vary in practice, and a host of other >>>>factors, there's no way to tell). >>>> >>>>2: Ask for guidance, not for your work to be done for you: >>>> >>>>"My boss wants me to implement a left-handed franowitz by Tuesday. >>>>Please respond with schematics and code." Personally, I'm happy to do >>>>the work that your boss needs done -- as long as I'm under contract to >>>>him, and as long as I get paid. >>>> >>>>"Given a triangle with sides of lengths 8, 9 and 10, what is the area? >>>>Find an answer without using integration." I am absolutely, >>>>positively, not going to do your homework for you. "I'm having trouble >>>>finding the area of a triangle given the lengths of the sides, can you >>>>suggest an approach?" will get you lots of help. Barfing out homework >>>>problems and insisting on solutions won't. >>>> >>>>Note that I (and many others) will NOT do your school work for you, >>>>even for money. I've had one person approach me about work that >>>>appeared legitimate, then turned out to be doing the core work for a >>>>graduate degree. I was not amused, except for the faint ironic humor >>>>of having him stop emailing me anything at all when I informed him that >>>>I'd be happy to get under contract if I had written authorization from >>>>his thesis advisor, and could he please supply me with contact details? >>>> >>>>The reason that we won't do this is twofold. First, we're not rats. >>>>Second, even if our consciences had been surgically removed, most >>>>really competent engineers don't like working for incompetent managers, >>>>and intensely dislike working for incompetent managers who cheat. If >>>>you can't do your technical homework at all, then you probably aren't >>>>cut out for engineering. If you know this, and you try to get it done >>>>for you, then you'll only be fit for management, and then you'll only >>>>be the kind of manager with a reverse-midas touch who turns everything >>>>he touches into raw sewage. >>>> >>>>3: Ask for specific answers >>>> >>>>"I need to design a filter in the z domain. How do I do it?" You >>>>might think "take three years of signal processing courses at an >>>>accredited engineering school" or "read this pile of books" followed by >>>>"then do what comes naturally" is a facetious answer -- but it's not >>>>that far off track. Some questions just have answers that are >>>>book-length or longer, and you're not going to get an answer in a >>>>newsgroup posting. >>>> >>>>When that happens you either need to narrow your question down, or go >>>>away and start studying. Incidentally, one good way to narrow down >>>>your question is to respond with "clearly I need to narrow down my >>>>question -- >>>>what do I need to tell you?" >>>> >>>>4: Don't get too obscure/don't ask us to do too much work >>>> >>>>Asking some specific question about a hearing-aid processor, or asking >>>>a question about equation 73 in some obscure scientific paper generally >>>>means -- unless you're very lucky -- two things: one, that no one knows >>>>the answer, and two, that figuring out the answer will take an >>>>inordinate amount of time. >>>> >>>>If you can phrase the question in more general terms, then you'll bring >>>>it more in line with guideline 1. >>>> >>>>5: Work with us >>>> >>>>If you ask a question and someone comes back with a request for >>>>clarification, be polite and informative. Don't get all bent out of >>>>shape. Don't assume that everyone is against you -- we don't know who >>>>the hell you are, we're only judging by the questions you ask and your >>>>responses to our posts. >>>> >>>>Sometimes you'll ask a question and it'll turn out to be entirely the >>>>wrong thing to ask ("how do I patch a hole in a tire", for instance, >>>>may have the answer FOR YOUR SITUATION to "stop driving over the spike >>>>strip"). I do this myself, and it can be frustrating to be told that >>>>I'm asking the wrong thing -- but on the other hand, finding out that I >>>>don't need $500 worth of electronics or machine tools that can be >>>>solved with a Popsicle stick and a whack with a big hammer really is to >>>>my benefit. >>>> >>>>6: Stay engaged >>>> >>>>This will get lost in the smoke, but one of the more frustrating USENET >>>>phenomena is when someone whose never posted asks a question, gets a >>>>bunch of responses on the order of "that's interesting, tell us these >>>>exact particulars", and then never responds. >>>> >>>>We're working for you, but we're not working for money. We're working >>>>for satisfaction -- even coming back on and saying "thanks for your >>>>effort, guys, I found the answer somewhere else" will give us more >>>>satisfaction than not saying anything. >>> >>> Yes. >>> >>> Good questions have value, because they make us look into things we >>> might not have thought much about before; that sure works for me. >>> >>> I agree about bad/fuzzy questions, and people who post once and never >>> respond afterwards. Posting a schematic is immensely clarifying, both >>> about the content and about the poster. You can tell a lot about a >>> person from his schematic. >>> >>> >>> -- >>> >>> John Larkin Highland Technology Inc >> >> And don't ask questions that can easily be answered with google. Example >> - What is the maximum collector voltage of a 2N3904? >> >> tm > > Good point! Google is your friend. lmgtfy.com is _my_ friend, at least > when I'm feeling snarky. > > -- > > Tim WescottI like Ixquick.com for searches. It uses google but no google hands in your pocket. tm
Reply by ●August 9, 20142014-08-09
On 8/9/2014 2:39 PM, Tim Wescott wrote:> Someone sent me an email this morning thanking me for answering his > questions over the years. It happened to be someone whose name always > makes me perk up, because even though he nearly always asks questions and > rarely answers, he nearly always asks really GOOD questions. > > If you're not addicted to answering questions on USENET, then this may > not have occurred to you, but there are certain people who mostly or > entirely ask questions, yet are still welcome names to me when they pop > up. > > So, even though the subject has been gone over in length, I thought I'd > publish _my_ guidelines for what makes a good question to me, and why I > appreciate seeing them. I'm about to push "send" and I'm not entirely > happy with what I've written -- but what the heck, it's drooled out of my > cerebrum, through my fingertips and onto my editor screen, and I don't > want to just delete it now. So here goes: > > 1: Ask questions that can be answered: > > "How much string do I need to bind up a 50-pound bale of alfalfa?" is a > useful question, compared to "how much string do I need for a bale?" > > Mostly, asking a question that can be answered means supplying enough > information to the experts so that they can give you a meaningful > answer. Counter-examples would be things like: > > "Should I use and IIR filter or an FIR filter" (this doesn't anything > about the available processing power, or about performance constraints > that may put more weight on one filter or another -- it's like asking if > a motorcycle is better than a car). > > "What emitter resistor should I use with a 2N3904?" (without knowing the > circuit it's in, any answer would be meaningless). > > "Is H-infinity control the best design approach?" (without knowing how > much information you have about your plant, whether it's strongly > nonlinear, how much it'll vary in practice, and a host of other factors, > there's no way to tell). > > 2: Ask for guidance, not for your work to be done for you: > > "My boss wants me to implement a left-handed franowitz by Tuesday. > Please respond with schematics and code." Personally, I'm happy to do > the work that your boss needs done -- as long as I'm under contract to > him, and as long as I get paid. > > "Given a triangle with sides of lengths 8, 9 and 10, what is the area? > Find an answer without using integration." I am absolutely, positively, > not going to do your homework for you. "I'm having trouble finding the > area of a triangle given the lengths of the sides, can you suggest an > approach?" will get you lots of help. Barfing out homework problems and > insisting on solutions won't. > > Note that I (and many others) will NOT do your school work for you, even > for money. I've had one person approach me about work that appeared > legitimate, then turned out to be doing the core work for a graduate > degree. I was not amused, except for the faint ironic humor of having > him stop emailing me anything at all when I informed him that I'd be > happy to get under contract if I had written authorization from his > thesis advisor, and could he please supply me with contact details? > > The reason that we won't do this is twofold. First, we're not rats. > Second, even if our consciences had been surgically removed, most really > competent engineers don't like working for incompetent managers, and > intensely dislike working for incompetent managers who cheat. If you > can't do your technical homework at all, then you probably aren't cut out > for engineering. If you know this, and you try to get it done for you, > then you'll only be fit for management, and then you'll only be the kind > of manager with a reverse-midas touch who turns everything he touches > into raw sewage. > > 3: Ask for specific answers > > "I need to design a filter in the z domain. How do I do it?" You might > think "take three years of signal processing courses at an accredited > engineering school" or "read this pile of books" followed by "then do > what comes naturally" is a facetious answer -- but it's not that far off > track. Some questions just have answers that are book-length or longer, > and you're not going to get an answer in a newsgroup posting. > > When that happens you either need to narrow your question down, or go > away and start studying. Incidentally, one good way to narrow down your > question is to respond with "clearly I need to narrow down my question -- > what do I need to tell you?" > > 4: Don't get too obscure/don't ask us to do too much work > > Asking some specific question about a hearing-aid processor, or asking a > question about equation 73 in some obscure scientific paper generally > means -- unless you're very lucky -- two things: one, that no one knows > the answer, and two, that figuring out the answer will take an inordinate > amount of time. > > If you can phrase the question in more general terms, then you'll bring > it more in line with guideline 1. > > 5: Work with us > > If you ask a question and someone comes back with a request for > clarification, be polite and informative. Don't get all bent out of > shape. Don't assume that everyone is against you -- we don't know who > the hell you are, we're only judging by the questions you ask and your > responses to our posts. > > Sometimes you'll ask a question and it'll turn out to be entirely the > wrong thing to ask ("how do I patch a hole in a tire", for instance, may > have the answer FOR YOUR SITUATION to "stop driving over the spike > strip"). I do this myself, and it can be frustrating to be told that I'm > asking the wrong thing -- but on the other hand, finding out that I don't > need $500 worth of electronics or machine tools that can be solved with a > Popsicle stick and a whack with a big hammer really is to my benefit. > > 6: Stay engaged > > This will get lost in the smoke, but one of the more frustrating USENET > phenomena is when someone whose never posted asks a question, gets a > bunch of responses on the order of "that's interesting, tell us these > exact particulars", and then never responds. > > We're working for you, but we're not working for money. We're working > for satisfaction -- even coming back on and saying "thanks for your > effort, guys, I found the answer somewhere else" will give us more > satisfaction than not saying anything. >Very happy to have you guys around. SED is the reason I actually pay for usenet instead of using the free versions. best investment I make. I talk to my colegues and they dont even know what a usenet is. Is it like facebook? :) yeah its like facebook without the pictures. :)
Reply by ●August 9, 20142014-08-09
In sci.electronics.design Tim Wescott <seemywebsite@myfooter.really> wrote:> So, even though the subject has been gone over in length, I thought > I'd publish _my_ guidelines for what makes a good question to me, and > why I appreciate seeing them.You might know about this, but a guy named Eric Raymond has published a similar guide. It's a little bit more geared to programming and software questions (he writes a lot of open-source software) but lots of it applies to hardware design as well, IMHO. http://www.catb.org/esr/faqs/smart-questions.html Jeff Liebermann in s.e.d has a short list of questions that is in this direction as well. Try <i93bl9pefshm1oc62a166mpfj19nt4kniv@4ax.com> , or one of... https://groups.google.com/forum/#!original/sci.electronics.design/SLZkev2ZDwc/dsG89aacLUQJ <https://groups.google.com/forum/#!original/sci.electronics.design/SLZkev2ZDwc/dsG89aacLUQJ> http://is.gd/S6PEMF> I guess I should mumble something about how to get a sane answer on > Usenet. Please supply: > > 1. What problem are you trying to solve? One or two sentences is > sufficient. For example, start with "I'm trying to design a > turbo-encabulator and am having trouble stabilizing the unilateral > phase detractors". > > 2. What do you have to work with? Hardware, software, VERSION > NUMBERS, expertise level, spares, documentation, patents, etc. > > 3. What have you tried so far and what happened? > > There are plenty of other details that would be useful to disclose, > but the above are the minimum.One item I would add to any of these lists is to not be afraid to say if you're running up against non-disclosure agreements or similar legal things. Sometimes people can't supply too much detail for commercial reasons, but it can be hard to distinguish "I can't give you that detail because I don't know" from "I can't give you that detail even though I know it" without a statement like that. Another piece of information that sometimes is helpful is volume. Are you making one or two widgets by hand for some special need, or maybe to learn how that widget works? Or are you going to make a couple hundred of these a year? Or are you selling it to GM or Dell, millions a year, and every nanopenny/square millimeter counts? (The guy doing one or two by hand probably doesn't want to know about a $300 FPGA that only comes in a 500-ball BGA package and needs $5000 of dev tools, and the guy counting nanopennies doesn't want to know how to do it with DIP op-amps and 74xx TTL.) Matt Roberds
Reply by ●August 9, 20142014-08-09
I'd like to add one to the list... Please make the subject heading very descriptive A subject such as "i have a question" is useless. A descriptive subject helps for searching the archives in the future if nothing else. Thanks Mark
Reply by ●August 10, 20142014-08-10
On 09/08/14 21:39, Tim Wescott wrote:> Someone sent me an email this morning thanking me for answering his > questions over the years. It happened to be someone whose name always > makes me perk up, because even though he nearly always asks questions and > rarely answers, he nearly always asks really GOOD questions. > > If you're not addicted to answering questions on USENET, then this may > not have occurred to you, but there are certain people who mostly or > entirely ask questions, yet are still welcome names to me when they pop > up. > > So, even though the subject has been gone over in length, I thought I'd > publish _my_ guidelines for what makes a good question to me, and why I > appreciate seeing them. I'm about to push "send" and I'm not entirely > happy with what I've written -- but what the heck, it's drooled out of my > cerebrum, through my fingertips and onto my editor screen, and I don't > want to just delete it now. So here goes: ><snip for brevity> Those are good guidelines. I'd add another: Ask in clear, correct English (or whatever language is appropriate for the forum in question) - or as close as you can manage. We are all aware that English is not everyone's first language, and are quite happy to make allowances for difficulties with the language. But when asking a question, you should do your best, and not make obvious mistakes - that means using a spell-checker, avoiding SMS abbreviations, and getting capitalisation and punctuation roughly correct. If the question is easy to read and understand, it will get more answers. And ask politely!
Reply by ●August 10, 20142014-08-10
On Sun, 10 Aug 2014 14:10:43 +0200, David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> wrote:>On 09/08/14 21:39, Tim Wescott wrote: >> Someone sent me an email this morning thanking me for answering his >> questions over the years. It happened to be someone whose name always >> makes me perk up, because even though he nearly always asks questions and >> rarely answers, he nearly always asks really GOOD questions. >> >> If you're not addicted to answering questions on USENET, then this may >> not have occurred to you, but there are certain people who mostly or >> entirely ask questions, yet are still welcome names to me when they pop >> up. >> >> So, even though the subject has been gone over in length, I thought I'd >> publish _my_ guidelines for what makes a good question to me, and why I >> appreciate seeing them. I'm about to push "send" and I'm not entirely >> happy with what I've written -- but what the heck, it's drooled out of my >> cerebrum, through my fingertips and onto my editor screen, and I don't >> want to just delete it now. So here goes: >> ><snip for brevity> > >Those are good guidelines. > >I'd add another: > >Ask in clear, correct English (or whatever language is appropriate for >the forum in question) - or as close as you can manage. We are all >aware that English is not everyone's first language, and are quite happy >to make allowances for difficulties with the language. But when asking >a question, you should do your best, and not make obvious mistakes - >that means using a spell-checker, avoiding SMS abbreviations, and >getting capitalisation and punctuation roughly correct. If the question >is easy to read and understand, it will get more answers. > >And ask politely!I still think that your requirements are a bit harsh. I am working with companies with offices all over the world, in which practically none (including me) are native English speakers. The main point is getting the message through, not the linguistically correct constructs. I would encourage to use simple item lists instead of trying to make correct sentences like * the schematic is this kind (e.g a URL) * voltage is ... * current is ... * shall I do this ... * shall I do that ... Also when answering such requests, avoid long and complicated sentences and idiomatic phrases, use numbered item lists etc instead. if the OP (original poster) is not very comfortable in English.
