JimB

Very fair point.
As far as a hobbyist is concerned, I would suggest:

Bad Question:
Help me!
How does RS232 work?

Good Question:
Help to understand RS232
OK I get the idea about the transmit and receive signals TxD and RxD,
but what do the signals CTS and RTS do?

A lot of difference, and an enormous subject is reduced to something which can be simply answered in a few lines. (A complete answer could take several pages).

JimB

__________________
Experience is directly proportional to the value of the equipment ruined.

BeeBop

JimB,
I agree, but far too often, the 'bad' questions are more like:

i need a prog to talk to my pc it shud hav 4 buttons and shud put on the screen "my greatness" at 14400 baud. cud u send the src schem and info to my mail at...

Even with "how does rs232 work?" it is not too much to post some links to some info.

It really bugs me when someone wants the info sent to them personally, as it does not help others who read the forums.

Often a subject line with 53 exclamation marks after need help, is a warning.

JimB

BeeBop

Where is Suwon?
I have been to Ulsan a few times.

JimB

__________________
Experience is directly proportional to the value of the equipment ruined.

BeeBop

Wow, I'm surprised! Was that in 2002, for the world cup?

Suwon is about 30 minutes (if the traffic is not bad) from Seoul. It is just a bit south, and a bit west of Seoul. What may make Korea worth visiting is the ubiquitous (pronounced UB quote us in Konglish) cities they are building. One of them is in Youngtown, just 10 minutes east of here.

Robert

Papabravo

Let's be clear. Kim launches missiles anytime he feels like it for two reasons. He's a lunatic and there is nobody who can say no. He absolutely does not care what we think.

PDubya

Here are a couple of my posts where I point out the fact that I'm stumped on a topic.

"PIC Random Numbers" - http://www.electro-tech-online.com/m...mbers-pic.html

"Basic PWM with an LED" - http://www.electro-tech-online.com/m...c-pwm-led.html

"12c508a Power Timer" - http://www.electro-tech-online.com/m...wer-timer.html

Do you think I did enough leg-work on my own before posting?

BeeBop

PDubya,
I think you do very good legwork, and you also respond very well when someone does offer help. You are also an 'active member' here, so I don't think you should worry at all.

I don't think Kim JI is anything to worry about. I think, also, that he is very concerned with what others, especially the US thinks. I think this latest launch was to get himself back in the limelight, which I think he loves. I also know that he is a big fan of American movies, but that he is even more in love with himself.
Also, I am familiar with the Korean personality, which is very oppositional, and 'in your face.' People here seem to love bumping into each other, and often it is hard to tell if they are really angry, or just being expressive.
I live in 'the kill box.' From the information I got when I visited the DMZ, the North could rain down 26,000 rounds per minute on us. The funny thing is that I have never felt so safe in my life.

ThermalRunaway

The kinds of people responsible for the "can you do my work for me" posts usually only have 1 post to their name, and that's the one in which they're asking you to do their entire work for them. It's quite clear to me that these people have no intensions of contributing in a positive manner to the group, and infact if you were to do their project for them they'd soon dissapear, never to be seen again. With that in mind, it's difficult to see why I or anyone else would spend the time to help them.

Helping a hobbyist is a different thing altogether. I'm a hobbyist myself, and I don't know everything so I sometimes ask questions. On the other hand, I find that I know more about certain areas of Electronics than some other people do and they undoubtedly know more about other areas of Electronics than I do. So I am able to contribute in a positive manner to the group by answering questions when I feel I'm able to give a useful reply.

I find that it's very easy to tell the people who can't be bothered to do their coursework from those who genuinely want some help, so I don't think there's a need for any hobbyists to feel like they can't ask questions on here!

Brian

Papabravo

I'm not worried. Miscalculation is far easier and far more justifiable if your adversary is a lunatic. We could easily pulverize the Korean Peninsula and say "oops..we're sorry we thought Kim was attacking us. You mean he was just showing off. Too bad." The collateral damage would be horrific for Japan, South Korea, China, and Russia. It would probaly poison the atmosphere and damage the environment of the entire planet. We've been playing the game of Global Thermonuclear War for 60 years and I think the newcomers have a great deal to learn.

There is probably an ancient saying to the effect that "If you intend to wave a weapon around it really should work and not fizzle into the sea"

BeeBop

Papabravo,
While I agree with you on these points, I'm just a bit reluctant to reply, because it is precisely this, which I found disgusting in HiTech's sig. This board has been wonderfully free of politics. When I start reading the news, often I become quite depressed, and angry. I prefer to focus my mind on electronics, which makes me happy. I get depressed from reading the news, because then, I start to believe that civilization, and everything we have done, is nothing more than a lie. This leads to a misanthropic state, where I begin to believe that we are not only doomed to destruct, but that we deserve to be obliterated.

Secure people do not brag about their strength, intelligence, or power. The problem is that there are far too few of these people, and far too many of the other. Is kindness ever really respected? It seems that most humans only respect those who abuse them, and walk on those who are kind to them.

That said, I think I'm stuck on an age old philosophical question which produces pain, so I'm going back to my project.

Regards

Papabravo

Yes indeed, life goes on despite the insanity and the craziness that surrounds us. The outside world touches our professional lives just as our professional lives touch back. Bad things tend to happen when good people remain silent. I did not mean to imply in the previous post that I thought it was a good idea to initiate a nuclear exchange. What generations of Soviet and American leaders feared more than anything was a miscalculation or a mistake leading to unintended consequences. In that case, at least, both sides believed that the other side was a rational actor.

The world now has at least two examples of adversaries that are not motivated by rational considerations. This situation is far more dangerous than the one that scared me from the time I was five years old living in Dayton, OH next door to Wright Patterson AFB. We had enormous targets painted on our foreheads. When Nikita Kruschev pounded his shoe on the table at the UN in 1964 and said "we will bury you!" it was a defining moment for the members of my generation. The situation today is stangely similar, only the names have changed.

Your description of the part of Korean culture involving confrontation and brinksmanship is deeply disturbing. How does a player with that mindset avoid provoking a dispropotionate response?

BeeBop

I'm quite enjoying having someone to discuss this with, however I don't want to be anymore of a thread jacker than I have already been, therefore I'm going to copy our conversation thus far, to a new thread. I will call it global politics.
I hope we can continue there.

HiTech

My sig can be applied to a good number of nations on this earth if you stop to think about it. Britain and Russia for example, has kicked ass and saved others in the past. France, well we'll leave them out if this! It just happens that the USA truly does kick ass when necessary, renders assistance, financially bails out others, etc. and unfortunately to go along with all that, comes some bad, perpetrated by a rotten few that tend to tarnish what good the nation is trying to accomplish. As for Ping Pong Jeong, he's really not an immediate threat to mainland US. And if one of his floundering missles were to make it through someday, most assuredly N.K. would become a totally different looking piece of real estate with a natural glow to it. Prolly wouldn't hurt to start constructing a radiation monitor in your spare time.

__________________
Don't make me reach through this monitor to slap you a good one!

ThermalRunaway

I think England takes the cap for the most cruel civilisation in living history. In the past, England have fought many a brutal war for nothing in return but their own selfish goals. They've been incredibly brutal in the process too!!!

Just to use one example, England went to Australia and slaughtered all of the Aborigine's so that they could settle there instead!

I don't think America can claim to have kicked ass in all of the wars they've ever fought. What about Vietnam?! And in the second world war, America didn't join until the very late stages. I don't think you can say America won that war, when they only joined with a fresh army at the end of it! The winning of the Second World War was the result of a coalition between many countries (which includes America), not just one self-important country wading in at the last minute and claiming to have single-handedly saved the planet.

Brian

ThermalRunaway

Saying that though, I don't really have a "problem" with Hitech's sig. I can remember the first time I read it that I raised an eyebrow in a "yeah right..." kind of way, but I wouldn't say it offends me.


Brian