Since the comments made by Ed pertain to specifically me, I would like to respond. Ed accused me in a personal email of making an ill- mannered comment that I thought was pretty humorous and well disserved because of the lack of information provided by the questioner. But we all have different senses of humor, and I asked Ed for a little tolerance on that subject.(posted 8260 days ago)What I also said in my email response to Ed is that "I think that you [Ed] should spend more time getting people to read the archives before asking redundant questions. And furthermore, there is nothing more ill-mannered, un-courteous, and uncivil than someone asking a question without bothering to provide even the most basic information about their current technique that is necessary for someone to accurately diagnose the problem."
It seems to me that we are answering the same questions over and over again, and usually as not as well as we do the first time because we get tired of repeating ourselves. One of the things that makes this forum unique from rec.photo.darkroom (in fact the only thing that makes it unique) is the archives. Using the archives, we as as the photography community can build upon our knowledge and provide newcomers to photography a place to get comprehensive answers to questions. But for some reason we seem to be failing in this regard, because we get the same questions over and over again every single week.
The other issue I have with the moderator is that if someone wants to ask a question (and I welcome beginners or anyone who has questions or problems), they need make a reasonable effort (not expecting perfection here) to give us enough information to help us adequately resolve their problem. If they don't do that, then I believe that I have every right to complain, even if the complaints include sarcasm. And further, I would ask the moderator to assist in this effort and send personal emails to persons who don't provide enough information in their questions, to ask them to restate the question and provide the necessary information. For me. this would be more useful than acting as a censor for comments that the moderator thinks are rude, etc., and would show a genuine interest in trying to actually help those who have problems, instead of just trying to be a "good ol boy."
And Ed, this has nothing to do with where you are from. I was born and raised in Texas. But I genuinely care about the problems that people ask, and if they are too careless or lazy to provide the necessary information for someone to respond with a reasonable answer, then I think I should be free to express my indignation.