venting a bit

[itowbig]

ha ha . i just visited a form that i frequent a lot. it deals with my job. anywho ive noticed that there is a lot of unprofessionalism there. a man ask a simple ? and just about was baned from that site. i thought what a person this was in a professional field dealing with many different walks of life. i was very uptight, still am.
anywho i started thinking about this site and how great it was that every body can ask a ? and receive a good and or pointed to the right place answer. now these people are supposed to be real pros at this line of work. i could not believe that this is the way to help others in this line of business get better knowledge about what they where doing. i hope this all makes sence. i do my job everyday with the attitude of helping them my customers or others get to where there need to be with out the B/S
well i thought id vent just a bit thank you

 

[Cedge]

Itowbig
You've just stated the exact reason that many of use are on this forum. The holier than thou attitude seems to be the norm on many forums and frankly I got real tired of it real fast. I've got memberships on several machinist boards and seldom visit them for that reason. This place has become such a comfortable home that I seldom even think about the others these days.

If a newbie has a question, it's just as paramount in his world as any complex procedural question would be for an experienced hand. If the atmosphere here ever gets as bad as some places I've visited, I'd have to leave here as well. Thankfully, Rick and his dedicated crew are not about to let that happen.

Vent away... you're only preaching to the choir, here

Steve

 

[rickharris]

Good principle - " there are no stupid questions - only stupid people who don't ask!"

And on the other hand people who are confident and can do - enjoy passing on their skills and knowledge - people who are not confident and struggle resent sharing knowledge for fear you will know as much as they and so make them less superior.

None of that here I am pleased to say!

 

[kvom]

I believe that when you join a forum you need to wait a while before posting in order to get a feel for the atmosphere. Some fora, like this one, are very "gentle". Another that I frequent, pirate4x4.com, can be ferocious if you post newbie questions in the "hardcore" section. Most are somewhere in between. I am registered on 3 other machinist fora, and can't say I find them very agressive.

I myself am pretty thick skinned and able to ignore flaming. But I sympathize when a well-intentioned post gets slammed, as it appears on itowbig's referenced forum.

 

[Bogstandard]

There is absolutely no need for any of it.

What those high and mighty people don't realise, they were newbies at one time.

I don't know everything, and don't profess to, but if I can help, even if it is only a matter of pointing in the general direction, I will do, that is then expanded by the more knowledgeable on the subject amongst us.
If it is a total newbie asking in his first post, by giving a reply straight away, even if it doesn't answer his question fully, it shows him that at least someone has taken the trouble to read his request and taken action on it, and shown him that he is on an equal footing with everyone else, rather than having to wait around until someone decides to help.
I have seen other sites where newbies asking their first question are basically ignored. How would you feel if that happened to you? Not very welcoming is it? I am sure you wouldn't want to ask a second question.

I get it wrong sometimes, as a lot of us mere mortals do, and if I do I admit to it.
On other forums, I have seen such twaddle bandied about by so called 'experts' it defies belief. Totally wrong information, given out as though it was written in stone by the 'expert' giving the answer.
At least on here, you will find most of the time, help is given freely and openly, mostly right, but sometimes wrong, but if taken as we do it here, with a bit of humour, almost everyone enjoys the atmosphere, and become good internet and even personal friends.

By the feedback on here from members, it has shown that this method works.

So don't keep it to yourself, share it.

Rambling John

 

[Lew Hartswick]

Totally wrong information, given out as though it was written in stone by the 'expert' giving the answer.
At least on here, you will find most of the time, help is given freely and openly, mostly right, but sometimes wrong,

I think this is the single most discouraging thing to happen on an news group or BB. If the responder
is not a professional in the field in question, then he should wait at least a while to see if a better
qualified individual will answer. It got so bad on a usenet news group I quit even reading the orig.
post on electrical questions due to the preponderance of "bad to dangerous" answers given. The
poor OP (original poster) has no idea of the compentance of the reply.
This is no way intended to discourage "how I did it" answers but they should always include the
appropiate disclaimers and qualifications of the person. [ rant off ]
...lew...

 

[Kludge]

On other forums, I have seen such twaddle bandied about by so called 'experts' it defies belief. Totally wrong information, given out as though it was written in stone by the 'expert' giving the answer.

I'm not an expert on watchmaker's lathes. I own and use them but I've never had to make my living with one (thankfully) but I do know a little. A discussion started on another forum (actually a Yahoo group, of which I'm becoming less and less enamored) regarding the shape of the collets used in one and one of the "experts" whose "little book" (a different edition of a book I have) said that the included angle at the end (the subject of the discussion) was nn degrees in all cases. Period. End of discussion. When I suggested that my experience didn't back that claim ... well, I'm no longer part of that or a couple other fora because experience didn't outweigh the word of one of the local gods. I was a trouble maker and my presence was requested to be elsewhere.

Here, there are no "local gods". There are certainly experts. Of that there is no doubt. But people are friendly and willing to share what they know. And even the experts don't know everything as they're ready to admit - John, for example. And if something comes up I can help with (like drilling really tiny holes like those used in watch jewels), I'll be more than happy to pass along what I know. It ain't much but I hope I can add to the vast knowledge pool here.

Just comments from the meds finally kicking in.

Best regards,

Kludge

 

[jwsvandr]

I would also say that I agree with the comments you have posted. I am fortunate to have found a few very good forums and they have the same policy as here. " There is no such thing as a stupid question".

I think that some members of these other groups have a need to show their superiority no matter how false their delusions of adequacy may be. Keep up the good work and lets keep this group the friendly place it is.


Two of the groups that I enjoy and have the policy that "stupid newbie questions" are to be treated with tact and understanding. are:

http://www.shopfloortalk.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=25

This group is devoted to welding but have sections devoted to and discussions on nearly every metal working field.

The other is the 9X20 lathe Yahoo group.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/9x20Lathe/?yguid=168637634

They also have published a series of manuals on the 9X20 lathe on their sister site
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/9x20Lathe2/?yguid=168637634

that was written by members on the care and feeding of the lathe. It is a free download and around quite large.

 

[Loose nut]

There is only one thing to remember on this forum.

Never ever ask for a comparison of which is better, Metric or Imperial systems, that will let loose the hounds from hell (I don't know if the casualty list from the last time it happened was ever tallied up).

Everything else is fair game, and everyone is very cordial.