Ok, folks start behaving like adults! If you don't like a question don't answer it. When someone asks a questions they are looking for helpful answers, not for someone to mock them. As a teacher this disturbs me greatly. The only way to gather information is to ask questions. Smartass answers only turn people away from photography. I will end my stint on the soapbox with this quote, "If you don't have anything nice to say don't say it."

BV

-- Brian Vega (vega@micron.net), August 01, 1998

Answers

I'll leave this up for a while, at least until I have time to put up a good policy statement/reminder.

-- Brad (reloader@webtv.net), August 01, 1998.

Bravo! Since I've just been deleted from photo.nets Q & A for being irrelevant... I just want to say that I believe that their goal IS to turn people off to photography. That way there is more for them and less to share.

I have always thought that they were the "Photo gods". This pretty much backs that theory up. However gods who sit around on Mt. Olympus, run the risk of being out of touch and irrelevant themselves. Thanks and keep on.

Chuck (San Angelo, TX)

-- Charles Hardwick (cwhard@worldnet.att.net), January 04, 1999.

brad... are the same sorts of rules about questionss applying here as they do at photo.net? or is this more of an "ask any question" forum.

by photo.net rules i mean:

- don't ask questions that have been asked before.

- don't ask questions that can only be answered by the poster. (like "is lens XXX good enough for me")

etc...

-- Sean Hester (seanh@ncfweb.net), January 04, 1999.

Being rude is one thing, giving sarcastic answers to an idiotic questions(like I recently did few times) is another! Yeah, don't be rude, but if you see a stupid question taking up space on the forum, tell the dumbo what you think...thinking is FREE.

-- Dariusz Szpunar (dszpunar@flash.net), January 04, 1999.

Darius don't answer the "dummy" they will get the hint if no one answers them. Instead everyone blasts the poor devil. What don't you ream the "dummies" answering the "dummies." The guy/gal is asking a question they think is relevant, if you don't like don't answer it. Or are we here to feel superior to others who are not that for along in their photographic lives? A lot of times folks just want to hear more personal stories/opinions from others with more experience. This can be done with out making them feel like "dummies."

Ok so the first day back from winter break was stressful

Bv

-- Brian Vega (vega@micron.net), January 04, 1999.

even though i'm usually not rude (i just don't answer) it's not as though stupid questions don't affect me. i spent time reading it. i might have to spend time reading the answers. etc.

2-3 years ago, i used to read EVERY question/answer posted EVERY day on photo.net. back then everyone followed phil's rules. now only about 10% of the daily chatter there is useful. better then the 1% on usenet, but much worse then it used to be.

of course this isn't a phil run site. so the rules are different. but i'm secretly hoping that it's closer to phil's rules (except that equipment questions are allowed) rather then usenet (everything goes) rules.

-- Sean Hester (seanh@ncfweb.net), January 05, 1999.

Brian, I don't feel superior and don't give answers that would indicate that. By "dummies" I mean people, lots of them unfortunately, who post something like that: I don't like my XXXXX camera, it's stupid! Am I right, does anybody else have same experience? Well, tell me now that it's a smart question deserving smart, polite answer...

-- Dariusz Szpunar (dszpunar@flash.net), January 06, 1999.

Dariusz, who just don't get it do you? Ignore the question, instead of tearing the folks apart. Maybe that question is helpful to someone looking at buying that type of camera. Maybe it is not a smart question for someone who has already found the answer but to someone new to photography it might be a "smart" questions and even if it is not stop reading it and don't post a rude answer!!

-- Brian Vega (vega@micron.net), January 07, 1999.

Dariusz and others......

When I was learning, I asked a lot of "stupid" questions. Thats how I learned. I've been monitoring photo.net for about two years now. When I started serious photography, I was asking myself many of the same "dummy" questions. As I learned more, I began to realise just how silly some of the questions were, especially to those who were "gods", ie. the moderators and regular respondents. I've been the victim of rude and sarcastic answers and, believe me, they hurt. When you are a student, "there are no stupid questions". I am now sympathitic with the moderators and the regular readers. After reading the same or similar "silly" question for the upteenth time, however, it does sort of enlist a sarcastic response, even from me. Rudeness, however, simply reflects badly on the respondent. As stated above, if you don't like the question, don't read it, and don't respond. Don't you have anything better to do?

A good search engine at the top of the page along with a list of "Keywords" for people to search might help but new lazy people are born every day.

-- Bill (Bill.Wyman@utas.edu.au), January 07, 1999.

Brian and others, I give up. Please, read carefuly what I or other people say, don't take it too personally and think. As I said , thinking is free and everybody should use their brains once a while. For your info, Brian, I am or used to be to be precise, a teacher, too and certain pedagogical/psychological knowledge came with my degree. Reread the sample question I gave in my previous posting and tell me what kind of information can be possibly gathered from it?! And just for reference, it was a question I came upon in the photo.net Q&A. That's all the time I wasted on the subject, see you guys at some other posts.

-- Dariusz Szpunar (dszpunar@flash.net), January 07, 1999.

not answering the question sometimes isn't enough. sometimes you need to inform the person that they asking the wrong questions. i agree that you shouldn't be rude about it, but some people think any response but the one they expect is rude.

here's an example question that i think needs more then a "just ignore it" response.

"which camera god am i supposed to make offerings to to get my pictures to not turn out so green? was it 'odin' or 'hera'?"

just ignoring the question because i think it's silly is probably a disservice to the poster. he/she needs to be told that gods don't control the color of his prints. at least they don't control it as much as whomever produced the prints, or the filters used, or the lighting used, or the film used.

i know it's a dumb example, but i wanted to be obvious.

-- Sean Hester (seanh@ncfweb.net), January 12, 1999.

Asking a question and asking a question properly and intelligently comes through experience in the subject matter that the question deals with. Just think, as a bare bones beginner or even a novice, could you pose a question to photo net with the "political correctness" of the experienced photographer that you feel you are today?

-- Jeff Hallett (franjeff@alltel.net), January 19, 1999.

no. when i first found photo.net i wasn't qualified to ask any intelligent questions. that's why i read 98% of the static content and 85% of the archived questions before i asked my first question.

and even my first question was met with disdain. (it was a "should i upgrade my lenses?" question) but at least it was properly categorized and contained a photographic goal and the like. so i got answers that led me in the right direction. many of the answers were a little condescneding, but that didn't bother me, at least i got answers that led me in the right direction.

my subsequent questions have been much better.

the key here is that 99% of the "dumb" questions have already been asked/answered on photo.net. (one by me ;-) so, if people would read before they typed, they'd find their answer anyway.

-- Sean Hester (seanh@ncfweb.net), January 21, 1999.