A thought-provoking post, my dear sir (or madam, as the case may be).

Yes, I have posted some shorter and even longer postings that basically said, "have you tried these resources?" because quite honestly, I didn't think they had made an effort. And no, I didn't do them for the XP, because I think XP is just a way to show if a particular posting was interesting or useful to someone. In the former, I gave a short description of the process involved; in the second, I suggested searching, and provided a link to a previous posting which covered much of what was being asked; and in the latter, perhaps I did "go off" on the poster, but it seemed very obvious that so little effort had been put in at that point-but even then I provided links to two or three relevant pages both on and off-site, as well as additional resources s/he might consider.

Short of a few postings in Discussions or Meditations, though, in each response I have at least tried to give a suggestion I though would be helpful. And yes, I feel I have been burnt by a [id://143064}home]work question or two before, but even in my responses then, the information is there (in that case, though, obscured only to those not willing to take the time to get work to get it). I really doubt, however, that responses that don't at least give some direction get rated all that highly. Questions asked in the pursuit of knowledge are never stupid, even when we fall on our face in the process. My opinion, however.

You say to put ourselves in the shoes of those new ones just coming in. I did. I looked for an answer to a problem, couldn't find one, signed up, and posted what I thought/hoped was an intelligent question, got back useful responses, and stayed. Then, after a few posts, I slowed down to take in the feel of the site, and started posting only when I felt I could make a contribution (however small). I learned about the CB, more about how to use the site, and tried to make my use of the site more effective. Now it has been over a year, and I'm still working at trying to use the site more effectively, as well as trying to offer a glimmer of knowledge once in a while in all the noise I might generate.

There seems to be a growing feeling that the Internet is a panacea, that you should just be able to sit at a keyboard and the answers should come without having to expend even so much effort as to type briefly. I'm sorry-yes, the Internet is a great thing, but it's a great thing only because it allows easier communication of ideas and questions. The Internet may be a rather nebulous cloud (as it is oft depicted in network drawings), but the "silver lining" to it is merely people like you and I, sitting behind a machine.

Perhaps there are some terse answers, and perhaps some of them hurt the feelings of the recipients sometimes, but that may be as much from being thin-skinned, too expectant of something for nothing, and too wrapped-up in the idea of being "politically correct." Well, TANSTAAFL, and real life is an even harsher place than on-line. I'll try to not smack people so hard with the rod, but I fully expect the rod of correction (of thought processes, or behaviors) to be applied (with sufficient guidance) when it will be of appropriate effect.