JimB

OK guys now I have your attention.
It just occured to to me (OK I may be slow on the uptake), but just about all the requests of the "i want project" variety are:

Incorrectly spelt
Badly punctuated
Not using capitals in the appropriate place
Full of cool, brain dead, "text speak"
Wanting everything on a plate with no effort on their behalf
Needing it yesterday

I realise that some of these guys may not have English as their first language but come on, there is no need for this slipshod attitude in someone who has aspirations to be come an engineer of some kind in the not too distant future.

JimB

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

Nigel Goodwin

Perhaps they have Scottish as their first language?

Sorry, couldn't resist!.

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JimB

You could well be correct there Nigel, but be aware of one thing, I am not Scottish!

" Am from Donny, me. Tha noz weer that is dunt tha?"

JimB

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

HiTech

... and now that I have your attention, I agree with you! Sometimes, I wonder of not who, but "what" are we dealing with!!

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Nigel Goodwin

I see English still isn't your first language then?

And, yes, I know where you're from - not far from me, just over the border in foreign parts!

__________________
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JimB

Incorrectly spelt spelled-2 pts.!
The Oxford English Dictionary offers spelt or spelled.

no effort on their own behalf incomplete word structure -2pts!
I believe that in normal English-English usage my version is quite acceptable. (Unless we have an expert here who can show otherwise?)

JimB

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HiTech

What about your dangling participle?

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ThermalRunaway

Those kinds of posts annoy me too. Sometimes, if I'm in a good mood, I might contribute to the post by adding some ideas which they can look further into if they can be bothered. If they can't, then lot's of luck because I'm not doing their college project for them that's for sure!

Most of the time I just ignore posts like that altogether. I don't mind helping, infact I quite enjoy it. But no way am I doing a full project for someone just because they can't be bothered to do it themselves.

Brian

Papabravo

Scots, wha hae wi' Wallace bled,
Scots, wham Bruce has aften led,
Welcome to your gory bed,
Or to Victorie!

I am Scottish and I couldn't resist either.

Hero999

I'm glad to see I'm not the only person annoyed by this, even more so when people bump their threads just because no one has bothered responding or they make multiple threads.

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Optikon

JimB, I agree with you totally. Personally, I woulnd't mind messages like these to simply be sent to the trash can as soon as they appear at the admins discretion. Keep all that garbage "help me please" junk off of here.

Of course, for those who do need help and are looking for ideas, those messages are ok and are EASILY discernable from the junk ones. We all know right away when someone legitimate wants to have a discussion about their problem (because they search, make some effort, describe situation and have clear questions)

zevon8

I find most of these people have the attention span of a 2 year old ( that's how they ended up with nothing, close to a dealine .) So, my general rule is that they are one of the few times where, if you ignore it, it will go away.

PS, if I may, what in the $%#@ is with the massive, coloured, font's lately by the same type of people?

There I feel better. LOL

PDubya

Coming from the position of someone who is just getting started, and frequently feels clueless when reading through threads - what exactly is "enough effort" before you would help someone?

I'm not an engineering student needing someone to do my work for me, but I am a hobbyist who is just trying to figure things out. The last thing I want to do is alienate people who *could* point me in the right direction by seemingly not making any effort. I commonly only submit help requests when I'm completely stuck, but given my level of knowledge on some topics, I wonder if this comes across as not putting effort into finding solutions.

With that in mind, any suggestions on the best way to approach a "help me" post to not put off people who are irritated by the "do my work for me" variety?

Hero999

Choose a more descriptive title for the thread other than "help me", if your question is about transistors for example then say so.

In order to get help you need to show that you've thought about things properly beforehand and if you're totally clueless then the project is way beyoond your level of understanding so it's better to start off with a simpler one first, for example if you've never even soldered before I wouldn't recommend building even the simplest of radio transmitters.

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BeeBop

HiTech,
You got my attention long ago, with that arrogant and abrasive sig. you are wearing. With attitudes like that, it is no wonder Kim Jeong Il launches missiles on July 4th. ;-)

I think the posters who use 'text speak' and 'l33t speak,' and who ask to have everything done for them are young 'teeny bobbers' who really feel they are being smart. I think many of them do in fact, have English as their first language. The faults in GUSP (grammar, usage, spelling and punctuation) I can navigate and make sense of. The arrogant demanding attitude, which says "do it for me," I cannot.