Credit where credits due

[surefire]

Being rather new to this area of computing I have steadfastly followed the advice that is so frequently stated on these forums and read all of the guides (some several times) that pertain to my individual situation. By doing so I feel that I have picked up the basics and feel confident to experiment further.

Whilst reading the forum posts, I still find is amazing that people persist in asking questions that the guides were so obviously designed to cover.

More amazingly, the regular contributors on here like Poopyhead etc, still find the time to answer these inherently annoying requests in the politest possible way.

The whole subject of capturing, converting, authoring, and burning audio/visual media is so fraught with pitfalls and nuances, it can be seen by the vast number of posts received by this site every day.

I would like to thank all the chaps on here who give up their time freely to help all of us who are unfamiliar in this area, and hope that they continue to do so with the same professionalism and enthusiasm that they have shown in the past.

Oh, and lets make their lives a little easier by READING THE GUIDES! they really are rather good.

[pbhalerao]

Whilst reading the forum posts, I still find is amazing that people persist in asking questions that the guides were so obviously designed to cover.

More amazingly, the regular contributors on here like Poopyhead etc, still find the time to answer these inherently annoying requests in the politest possible way.

The whole subject of capturing, converting, authoring, and burning audio/visual media is so fraught with pitfalls and nuances, it can be seen by the vast number of posts received by this site every day.

I would like to thank all the chaps on here who give up their time freely to help all of us who are unfamiliar in this area, and hope that they continue to do so with the same professionalism and enthusiasm that they have shown in the past.

Oh, and lets make their lives a little easier by READING THE GUIDES! they really are rather good.

Agree with you 100%. The people who still ask questions (after/without reading the guides) fall into the following category:

a) They want spoon-feeding all the time. Some of these believe that getting answers is their birthright.
b) Willing but too lazy to read
c) Read the guides but could not find a solution to the problem
d) Read the guides but could not understand them
e) Read the guides, know the answer but still wish an answer (don't believe that guide authors have some expertise)

One of the problems that I face myself is "reading online". I would much prefer the old fashioned black and white (or coloured) printed material. I have another suggestion to the guide authors - if they can please convert the guides to Acrobat Reader format, so that people like me can dowload the guide and print it for reading at leasure.

Now this does sound a little ungrateful - "he isn't satified with what he gets ... he wnts more ..." but again I say "if the authors have the time to spare and not otherwise"

Anyway, it is annoying to answer some of the members who are not willing to do any homework but most of us do try to keep our cool and help as much as we can.

Regards,

[Hardcoreruss]

People want a quick answer and cannot be bothered to read, what are you going to do ?.

Baldrick has put a timer from registration to first post of 24 hours. However many times you see a post like: -

"Could not wait for these 24 hours to expire, been dying to post, how do you backup a dvd".

I mean read the sodding guides in the 24 hours you mug.

[poopyhead]

Baldrick has put a timer from registration to first post of 24 hours.

when did this happen?

you mean the first post needs to come AFTER or BEFORE 24 hrs of initial registration??

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@surefire,

btw...np

[Craig Tucker]

This has been in place some months. A new member has to wait a period of time before making the first post on the forums. This is to encourage new members to try and find the information they need for themselves, rather than registering to ask a question that has been answered hundreds of times before such as how do I play this avi file on my DVD player.

[Will Hay]

This topic must be the most talked about thread in the history of this site and, following the form of the thread, has been said so many times before why bother repeating it?
There will always be people who want something for nothing, no matter what walk of life you're in.
Do you think it's unique to this site?
Measures have been put in place to minimise this but get this folks....
....it will never, ever stop.
Bleating about it on here will never change anything.
Some people want a quick fix, they aren't prepared to work for anything and this is probably echoed in their 'real' lives.
Yes, the author of the original post is wonderful, he even went so far as to thank the site for the assistance (which is very noble, and I'm sure gratefully recieved by all those who have given this member assistance), but the simple fact is people will always skim off the decent members of society.
Get used it, either help or don't.
Easy.
Will Hay

[Will Hay]

when did this happen?

you mean the first post needs to come AFTER or BEFORE 24 hrs of initial registration??

Baldrick has put a timer from registration to first post of 24 hours

Will

[Hardcoreruss]

when did this happen?

you mean the first post needs to come AFTER or BEFORE 24 hrs of initial registration??

Baldrick has put a timer from registration to first post of 24 hours

Will

I don't get it

[Will Hay]

when did this happen?

you mean the first post needs to come AFTER or BEFORE 24 hrs of initial registration??

Baldrick has put a timer from registration to first post of 24 hours

Will

I don't get it

Sounds like a catchphrase
The duration from registration to first post is 24 hours.
Don't worry pal, we all have these mental blocks sometimes, I know I do
Will

[Will Hay]

Sorry, I've been confusing you

Poopyhead posted this:

you mean the first post needs to come AFTER or BEFORE 24 hrs of initial registration??

and I quoted something you wrote, in an attempt to help him understand:

Baldrick has put a timer from registration to first post of 24 hours

You then posted:

I don't get it

I mistook you for poopyhead (insofar as I thought you didn't understand the 24 hour rule) so I posted this:

The duration from registration to first post is 24 hours.

And then this:

Don't worry pal, we all have these mental blocks sometimes, I know I do

I don't know why I'm even writing this, I'm confusing myself but suffice to say ignore everything, it's me, I'm going
Sorry!
Will Hay, losing it (BIG TIME!)

[gmatov]

Pbhalerao,

I don't know what browser you are using, but I use Netscape, and just opened IE6 to check out the "Print Preview" buttons under "File", and both format the page as it would appear in printed form.

They both look good. I don't think you can enlarge the text as you can in Acrobat.

You might, however, have to reorientate the paper to landscape, as it cuts off the text at the right margin.

There's also the "Printer Friendly" icon on the left side of every page, but IE won't open it as I "don't support referrers", whatever that means.
My cookie must be valid for Netscape only, as I am not registered under IE.

Hope I'm not preaching to the choir, again.

Cheers,

George

[Marco33]

I have a high tollerance for newbies cause... not too long ago I was one. If they ask clear and specific questions with the proper topic heading then, I don't mind taking the time out to answer there questions.

The main reason I feel a need to help newbies is cause well... some of the guides here are poorly written. Meaning: they leave out important steps, the program they used are no longer available or if it is, the new version has extra settings.

I myself tried 5-6 guides before I tried one that worked.

Maybe it's our fault. There seems to be two schools here. Feast or famine. We either tell them everthing or tell them to buzz off. I try to stay middle ground. Instead of giving them everything, I try to push them in the right direction. Throw them a couple of morsels and let them dig up the rest.

[Will Hay]

I have a high tollerance for newbies cause... not too long ago I was one. If they ask clear and specific questions with the proper topic heading then, I don't mind taking the time out to answer there questions.

The main reason I feel a need to help newbies is cause well... some of the guides here are poorly written. Meaning: they leave out important steps, the program they used are no longer available or if it is, the new version has extra settings.

I myself tried 5-6 guides before I tried one that worked.

Maybe it's our fault. There seems to be two schools here. Feast or famine. We either tell them everthing or tell them to buzz off. I try to stay middle ground. Instead of giving them everything, I try to push them in the right direction. Throw them a couple of morsels and let them dig up the rest.

Will

[andkiich]

I think the main jist of what the original post was talking about is when you get posts like:

"I have some VHS tapes and would like to convert to DVD, how do I do this?"
"I have an AVI and want to convert it to MPEG, what program should I use?"

Not only are there numerous guides to check out, but there are also forum posts out there that cover these things.
When you suggest that they check the guides, the #1 most annoying response back is(paraphrased), "I did check them and none of them explain exactly what I want. They all had 720x567 resolution and I need 720x480".

These little gems are what they say they are GUIDES. They give you a sugested course of action. They are NOT GOSPEL, to be taken word for word as the end all be all.

The frustration sets in with some of the more experienced folk because some are just not engaging the brain and trying to figure things out. They think that they should just be able to open a file, click some check boxes and have a perfect VCD/DVD/etc. The world doesn't work that way.

[AndThenSome]

I dont think the questions will ever stop. Being relatively new here, I do try to help out by answering some of the easy ones if I know the answer. Hopefully the veterans can then take the time to answer the more challenging posts.

I am proud to say that I did almost all of my own learning by simply reading. The site has some great information but there will always be people who want the information easier.

[cplevel42]

marco33 wrote

I have a high tollerance for newbies cause... not too long ago I was one. If they ask clear and specific questions with the proper topic heading then, I don't mind taking the time out to answer there questions.

The main reason I feel a need to help newbies is cause well... some of the guides here are poorly written. Meaning: they leave out important steps, the program they used are no longer available or if it is, the new version has extra settings.

I myself tried 5-6 guides before I tried one that worked.

Maybe it's our fault. There seems to be two schools here. Feast or famine. We either tell them everthing or tell them to buzz off. I try to stay middle ground. Instead of giving them everything, I try to push them in the right direction. Throw them a couple of morsels and let them dig up the rest.

Well said!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The buzz off thing aint cool. If you feel that it is not worth your time or that the person is lazy, just move on to another post. Flaming a newbie is bullshit, even if it's a lazy newbie.

[poopyhead]

@Will Hay,

i have no idea what all those emtions mean :P

btw, it was late....my brain was fried...read too many posts

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@rest,

give ppl the benefit of the doubt....don't make me quote Ann Frank

[Will Hay]

Flaming a newbie is bullshit, even if it's a lazy newbie.