I don't think anyone over the age of 8 cares about or even believes in such idiocy!


Yes, I've seen cases where "answer is wrong" might have been better presented as "I disagree, and here's why ..." The fact that I disagree with you, or anyone else, doesn't make them wrong. However, when someone says, "That's impossible" and I did it 20 or 30 years ago ... well, then it IS wrong and I feel obliged to point that out.


That, for one thing, is how the entire internet operates. I don't think there are many U.S. 7-year-olds capable of doing what you suggest, though there may be Germans, Swedes, or other nationalities who are.


Yes, but new users are admonished to "search first", as a consequence of which they'd find the exact solution to their homework as presented in abundance for the last five years.


No student is forbidden to ask, or even discouraged from it, once he's looked into the "prior art", i.e. searched the 8052.COM site. He'd most likely find his exact problem solved in a number of ways there.



I doubt very much that anyone has ever been given a "looks like homework" if he clearly has done any work at all in advance of the query. Many of us recognize the recurring themes, however, particularly as they recur at regular points on the calendar ... once when they're assigned, and, again when they're due but haven't even been looked-at by the majority of those who post here about them. In the majority of such cases, if they'd just search through the "help" and "project" threads, they'd find the complete solution to their assignment ten times over. The problem is that most of them just want the diploma, and not the once-accompanying education.

As for the voting ... It's not important, and I don't see what benefit it provides. However, a tally of agreement/disagreement might be warranted. If few people agree or disagree, there's probably not much interest, though that metric is of dubious value as well, as interest in some matters will always be greater or less than interest in others.

I've suggested some things that would significantly reduce the number of off-topic, looks-like-homework, didn't-search-first, and other common votes, which, I guess, can be seen as comments.

Someone clearly thought the voting scheme contributed something, and, AFAIK, you're the first one who's been sufficiently offended by it to comment on the fact.

You may be right about this, but I doubt it harms anything, aside from one's personal pride, and I doubt it helps anything. I personally believe that if a comment such as "looks like homework" or "answer is wrong" or "off topic" occurs, rather than being regarded as a vote, it should engender some form of action by the moderator(s). This is, of course, an unwanted burden on them, but someone has to decide whether a thread belongs on 8052.COM, and on whether a particular post fits their modeland priorities.

I personally feel that every new thread should be examined and only posted if it (a) has a meaningful title, (b) isn't fully addressed by a site search, which could/should have been performed before posting, and (c) is categorized as to problem definition (Hardware, Firmware, Software) by the one posting it. Major portions of that determination can be made automatically. When a post is rejected, the applicant could be immediately notifed as to why, particularly if the title is unsatisfactorily vague, or if anything is missing. It would be helpful, too, if the O/P had a complete set of personal information, particularly his time-zone, so one could conclude some things about his location, culture, and access to technology. This could be verified by passing a token via email, one that, say, encrypts the checksum of his personal information with the time of day, since so many people with poor language skills have been misunderstood because others didn't know where they were located and didn't recognize that their native language probably wasn't English. After all, a gmail address doesn't say where you're located.

RE