[Aishah]

Janice - couldn't agree more with you about the selfish aspect of 'me' 'now'. I posted this comment as a possible reason for these repetitious threads; you would think posters would do a search first...

[tacita]

Originally Posted by Aishah

Janice - couldn't agree more with you about the selfish aspect of 'me' 'now'. I posted this comment as a possible reason for these repetitious threads; you would think posters would do a search first...

yeah, i got that, aishah--we're definitely of the same mind on this!

[wonderwomanusa]

agree, except that it's clear that a lot of posters don't do even the most cursory research. to my mind, it's just selfish, which also seems to be an affliction of the "instant society". it all about...me...now!

Well, yes, and that extends, IMO, to those who don't look at a guidebook but instead post here to ask "What should I see in x-number of days in India? Where should I go? What should I take?"

For Pete's sake, I might send them to every weaver and textile museum, where someone else will send them to every fort. How're we supposed to know what sort of stuff interests them?

RTFM before asking, dear newbies.

[dhans]

Originally Posted by Nick-H

W

Did I tell you the joke about the mosquito that kept on asking about ATM machines? Its visa expired....

Not your best one....

[Aishah]

WWUSA - Good points but can you tell me what IMO and RTFM stand for? Sorry i am a bit thick with initials sometimes - is this what we call an acronym? I used initials for your name!

[Nick-H]

IMO... in my opinion, often IMHO, adding a humble.

RTFM originated among support-desk staff, often asked the most basic of questions. It is sometimes translated more politely, but is really Read The F'ing Manual. Neither polite nor intended to be polite!

Neither are acronyms: an acronym is a pronounceable word that stems from an abbreviation. In some cases, the abbreviation has been almost forgotten, as the word has just been adopted into the language. Did you know that 'laser' is actually (IIRC*) Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. NASSA is an Acronym; RSPCA is an abbreviation.

But techies and geeks are maybe not so well educated in these niceties, and so they all get called acronyms these days .

*If I remember correctly

[machadinha]

<cross-posted with Nick>

In My Opinion, and Read The FF'ing Manual, respectively. See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of..._slang_phrases

I think what's nice about IndiaMike is the low rate of "do your homework first" type reactions -- although it's certainly hard to avoid sometimes

On many if not most other forums, if it's clear you don't know at least three guidebooks by heart (or whatever the subject at hand may be) before asking any questions, you'll be guaranteed to have your teeth kicked in.

As noted, those repetitive questions seem to serve a function of getting new people involved -- and one doesn't have to answer them, and we've all been a newbie to the web at some point, and that umpteenth question is still that person's first.

It's always good to think about more intrusive stickies and so on, but at the end of the day until you want to force people to read them all before signing up, you have no control over whether they'll read them (or even this -- now sticky -- thread, for that matter). But yes, one sits there biting one's nails sometimes, doesn't one ("Hi! Can I bring my mobile phone to India?" -- first post on a several-page thread entitled "All about mobile phones in India.")

Oh well, it just comes with the nature of the web I guess. Summer's over and people are planning their winter holidays, and I agree all that fantastically accessible information these days seems to make people lazier if anything, not any cleverer, and it's frustratingly annoying (or annoyingly frustrating?) sometimes.

In any case, the occasional reminder to please read around a little first and find most of your questions already answered certainly never hurt no one

[Aishah]

Thanks fellows for the erudition (think that's the right word, haven't got my dictionary with me and my English is becoming fast Hinglish!)One of the best things about this site is its friendly atmosphere - and i agree with you Machadinha some other similar sites which we won't mention can invite horrible humiliating comments to a poster whose question they consider 'beneath them' or inane. I might add Ihave just tried to locate what to do if your photo attachment times out or something - can't seem to find the answer I need.. Spent 20 mins. looking at threads. Did see handy hints if your computer speed is slow. I think I need Broadband not GPRS! Sorry, this is a bit irrelevant to the Post.

[tacita]

Originally Posted by machadinha

It's always good to think about more intrusive stickies and so on, but at the end of the day until you want to force people to read them all before signing up, you have no control over whether they'll read them.

intrusive?

mach, i hardly think having a link on the home page for our ever-growing newbie population explaining how to make best use of the site is intrusive!. but helpful? oh, yes, to newbies and oldies alike. i daresay some people don't initially think to search, or don't know how, don't know how to navigate the site (remember how we all had to get used to the changes?), or think we are all just awaiting the opportunity to, as as one member said, assist with bathroom necessaries.

i'm suggesting something different from "forum RULES", rather, a helpful "start here" link on the homepage. it would a serve as both a welcome to our burgeoning new population, and an IndiaMike101. i think it would be much appreciated by newbies. it's not as if we'd be saying "read and follow these regulations...and post at your own peril!" or "read this, check four boxes, take and oath that you have read this, and transmit (but not by international credit card--fraud, you know) a non-refundable deposit that we will retain, at the sole discretion of the moderators, if you ask a question deemed by a panel of senior members to be inane, ignorant, lazy or simply annoying. you think nick's grumpy now? when that bell wakes him up, he can be downright hostile!"

a message need not be scolding, contentious, condescending, aggressive, lengthy or unwelcoming. to the contrary, we begin by saying "we're glad you're here, we're not going to bash you...do take a few minutes to try to answer your own question first--here's how--no luck? let us help. perhaps we can direct you the right forum/sub-forum/thread or just get you a range of answers straight-away." will everyone read it? no. will some? you betcha!

yes, it's always up to members whether they want to answer an annoying/redundant post, but when the entire first page is littered with "does india have atm's?" "what are the domestic airlines?" "what is the link for the indian rail system" and "should i take malaria medicine?", well..it just makes me want to log off and go back to sleep. (i'm exaggerating, of course, but you get the point.)

[machadinha]

Originally Posted by janice

intrusive?

mach, i hardly think having a link on the home page for our ever-growing newbie population explaining how to make best use of the site is intrusive!.

Um, yes, I wasn't disagreeing with you, necessarily. As you know, it's not my first language. Maybe I meant something like "more obvious," "more highlighted," "more in-your-face." I'd be all for a "read this first" thing. However I'm not convinced that would make people read it -- after all, they already can with minimum effort, if they so much as take the trouble.

I'm also not at all sure if the newbie population as such is ever-growing. I think it mostly gets replaced on a regular basis. Most people come, get their info, and leave, kind of thing.

How to deal with newbies is universal across the web, I think at IndiaMike at least they by and large get dealt with pretty fairly & get a chance to make themselves at home and out themselves, with people always willing to guide them around, or within certain limits, which seem vastly broader than a lot of web niches I know of though.

well..it just makes me want to log off and go back to sleep.

Nah, I just browse on to the tastier bits (which still and luckily regularly float up by themselves, I think). But of course, I know where you're coming from, no question about it. I'm just not sure how resolvable it is, nor if that in itself is desirable. People who don't know how to search or simply look around a bit before asking will be mostly incurable I think. So you can scare them off or get on their backs (or more kindly put: Try to educate them) all the time or just think "whatever" in the hope they'll pick up on it at some point, I think on this site it's mostly the latter, and that's fine by me, it seems to be a working system and one that keeps the spirits up. Which is not to say it's static and can't be worked on, far from it, it's more like constantly under revision, so your and anyone's input as you should know is much appreciated.

[machadinha]

Another personal grievance btw: If you take the trouble to scour the web, find this forum, sign on, fool around with a cute avatar and personal profile pic, and all that jazz -- Wouldn't it then make sense to when you finally post, at least get the title clear and any placenames you're asking about right? The latter is just copying from the web or a guidebook right, how difficult can it be? People (who may be looking for just the answer to your questions) may have a hard time later finding back your queries on Dehli, not to mention Kattayom (for Kottayam) and so on.

In a more general sense, users are kindly referred to this excellent thread, easily extrapolated to any field of enquiry: How to get the most out of the Itinerary section. .

[gohome]

Hi Guys

I am a 'not so new user' and have found this forum extremely useful, especially finding out obscure information not available in travel guides. However, I have found it quite difficult to search for appropriate threads (maybe its my age!!).

For instance I have been reading a lot of threads on power adaptors (not transformers) and receiving conflicting information. Coming from Australia the only adaptor we can find says 'suitable for some parts of India'. Dosen't say which parts. So I have been searching but my search results dig up lots of US, UK and European discussions with only a brief reference to Australian which says 'can't buy a reliable adaptor in Australia'. Best option so far seems to be to buy an extension cord here and then have one end converted to the Indian plug on arrival!!!!!

So I have been thinking of posting a thread to get more accurate Australian information. But for the reasons you have been discussing (which I certainly agree with) I have been somewhat reluctant.

I certainly would be keen to get some pointers on how to search more appropriately and accurately.

However, after reading a couple of other sites I find the moderators and the general members of Indiamike much more accommodating, tolerant and gentle with their answers. Some of the comments on the other sites are sometimes down right rude. So I hope all of us here on Indiamike keep on maintaining our polite replies.

Cheers and thanks again for all your help, only 7 weeks to go before we depart.

[capt_mahajan]

gohome, I would advise

1. Go to advanced search (click the search box, it is there) search once. Sorry, am an amateur at this so can't give you tips there, but whenever I have searched, it has been interesting. Besides, I think you can get results chronologically there (newest one first), which is very useful.

2. Do not hesitate to post your question on the board once you have searched. That is one of the main reasons for this site's existence.

PS: see the second post here:
digital camera or not

[Dilliwala]

Originally Posted by Nick-H

Neither are acronyms: an acronym is a pronounceable word that stems from an abbreviation. In some cases, the abbreviation has been almost forgotten, as the word has just been adopted into the language. Did you know that 'laser' is actually (IIRC*) Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. NASSA is an Acronym; RSPCA is an abbreviation.

But techies and geeks are maybe not so well educated in these niceties, and so they all get called acronyms these days .

*If I remember correctly

Great aren't they, acronyms? RADAR, SCUBA, MOUSE (that thing u're holding in your right hand).
What's NASSA?

[tacita]

Originally Posted by gohome

...So I have been thinking of posting a thread to get more accurate Australian information. But for the reasons you have been discussing (which I certainly agree with) I have been somewhat reluctant...some of the comments on the other sites are sometimes down right rude.

aw, shucks, that just ain't right... you took a good-faith look around, go ahead, post away! there's a big difference between a question like yours and one like "are the electrical plugs in india the same as in the US?" or "heading to india for the first time...where should i go?"

Originally Posted by capt_mahajan

1. Go to advanced search....

2. Do not hesitate to post your question on the board once you have searched...That is one of the main reasons for this site's existence.

absolutely. and as you've already observed here, neither members nor mods are wont to shoot folks down, even for truly inane questions (see above.) a note on searches: i generally check the "display as posts" option, as opposed to threads. otherwise, you may have to read through pages and pages to find the relevant post. and given our endearing propensity to wander off topic, who knows how many posts about peeing in sinks you might have to endure before hitting on a post relevant to your inquiry.

oh, and btw, welcome to indiamike.

Originally Posted by Dilliwala

Great aren't they, acronyms? ...MOUSE?

mouse is an acronym??? who knew? for what? i thought it was called a mouse because it sort of resembles one.