The newbie's secret circuits circus

[CDRIVE]

Here's another title that's dear to my heart.
https://www.electronicspoint.com/need-some-help-project-t250509.html

 

[(*steve*)]

With respect to that thread... Some people want to learn to fish, others just want to be given fish.

 

[CocaCola]

To add to this topic, I love those that pretend or believe they are being sly when they asked for the answer to a question that IMO many times is obviously homework... Most never return when you call them out on it being homework... It's sad to think that they probably spammed enough forums with the question that they will get the answer without actually doing the work, resulting in people getting diplomas and school credit when they can't actually do the work...

They are probably (likely) the same people that come back spamming "HELP" post a few months/years later when they actually get a job but can't perform the task they are supposed to know how to do, since they cheated their way to a diploma...

It really has to suck being an employer today since I have a strong feeling A LOT of students are using the Internet to bluff and cheat their way through school... And I don't think I'm that far off in from the real picture in stating that...

 

[KJ6EAD]

That's why you hire the one's with the high GPAs. The cheaters fail the tests and get barely passing grades. Simple interview questions will also sink the posers.

Do you have macros programmed for "Google is your friend." and "Read the datasheet."?

 

[CocaCola]

Do you have macros programmed for "Google is your friend." and "Read the datasheet."?

No, but I might in the very near future

This one just boggles my mind... Ask for help, I request a better picture and in return I get told there is no need for a better picture as I wouldn't understand?

https://www.electronicspoint.com/need-help-arduino-and-l293d-chip-t250532.html

 

[donkey]

with titles the reason I hate the lack of info is because I use this site for reference.
If I get a solar hut going (damn cat got diabetes... whole other story but lets say 2 grand for a kitty to make wifey happy) I like being able to come here to people I actually respect, and have a good feeling they will answer me in a way that makes it easy to read.. in most situations.
so when someone puts up a post like "help" then the next topic thread may be EXACTLY the same and its more effort to go through them both.
I remember not long after I started here, I posted a topic and put the weirdest heading on it. from memory it was for an aquarium heating pad for lizards... I believe I put something like "lizards are everywhere man". the thread got retitled in less than a day and I fully understand and appreciated the reasoning without anyone even telling me why. there are times when a catchy title will do very little for you.


oh an to coca cola... that guy is just rude. I mean seriously rude...... asks for help but won't supply the criteria we require to fulfill an adequate answer.

 

[(*steve*)]

I should send someone this.

 

[donkey]

I like information.
too much is better than not enough. we need a way of emphasising this.
if you tell us the ambient temperature but not that the ciruit is rated for 110V and you are supplying 12V kinda shows why too much info is better than little.
I had a few projects at home and at first I thought I was blowing LED's by using wrong resistor. as it turns out the anti static mat was conducting and the bare solder ends were touching thus creating a circuit before the LED. it took me about an hour to figure this out, and only when I picked it up to show a friend that the soldering was adequate (trust me adequate is the right word here) that the LED's lit up. simple fix but a true headache.

 

[KrisBlueNZ]

A problem with some posters is that they really find it hard to express themselves clearly. Often this is partly because English is not their first language, but in most cases there seems to be a general lack of ability to THINK clearly. If the thought is not clear in the first place, there is no way it can be written clearly.

In these cases I don't see that there's much we can do to help. We need to try to explain the situation clearly, to try to make them think in a structured way, and ask simple questions. If the poster still can't be coherent, it's a losing battle, it seems to me...

 

[Harald Kapp]

I admire CocaColas patience and endurance. I think I'd have given up after a few tries.

 

[donkey]

This is because nubes get this wacky idea that they think they're inventing something new and if they post the details it's going to be stolen. News flash.... Not probable!

ok back to this. does anyone know the current copyright laws? a post in the beginning linking to them will show that a person has copyright over material if it is truly unique and they can prove that they came up with it first. posting an idea on this forum will show a rough time of when someone came up with an idea and also who came up with it.
having said that there is a huge legal arguement for anyone helping in a design, so if they say they came up with an idea but for example someone on here told them to use a fishing wire hooked up to a peizo instead of a laser to detect a trip/motion then the legal argument still stand, no matter if they have disclosed the full idea to us or not.

as for asking for help can we PLEASE add to the generic thread about faults the simple troubleshooting guide such as, CHECK YOUR BATTERIES, check your connections, if possible check your components (just a little of topic but how do you test to see if a IC is working?)
simple things like that help out so much too. as I said before it ended up being a short that if I had the brain power I would have checked in 30 seconds not the hour it took.
also just adding something, have a tick box selection before they can post it will be annoying for them but it may get them to read stuff.
eg ask them have they checked the above and add something like "has the cat sat on it?" if they don't tick any boxes they can't post, if they tick the last one they can't post, only when they have ticked the correct boxes can they post, and hopefully they read the generic troubleshooting guide before posting.