IMHO, it would be beneficial to ALL concerned, if, rather than "showing off" how wise and knowledgable we are, encourage the "newbies" to think and do their own work, including searching both this site and the www in general for the information before going," give me code," or "what's an 8052?"

One scheme would be to have a heading for each search category to which a given query belongs, and require, prior to giving a direct response, that the query contain the code of the category, embedded in each search "hit" by the search engine, in order to ensure, not only that the search has taken place, but that the newbie has, in fact, read it. The code in question needs merely to be, say, a checksum of the text in the "hit" from search, but it can be listed in a database of all the recorded search hits that produce that checksum.

I know this can't be done today, or even next week, but I do think it is worthy of some thought, if not discussion. If the goal is to disemminate knowledge and understanding (of 805x and hardware/firmware in general) then this might prove to be effective. What we want is to avoid having to crack the same chestnuts week after week after week, with the same result each time.

None of the stuff that's asked for requires rocket science. From what I've seen, aside from the philosophical questions, nearly every item introduced has appeared more than once, and, it's never a really "deep" matter. Nearly anyone with an IQ above room temperature can learn to do this stuff if they're sufficiently determined and diligent. It's the diligence that's generally missing, however, and WE are actually in a position to encourage that it be applied.

I don't think it's wrong to tell a guy who wants to program an 8032 to go back and read the datasheet. I don't think it's desirable to promote one chip over another, either. These newbies need to learn how to go through the process of eliminating unuseable solutions to their perceived problem. They also need to learn how to go about perceiving their problem in a way that will lead to a solution. WWW search and site search can teach them a lot about that, and datasheets contain the details to which they have to direct their attention.

Until they ask a specific question, I believe it's wrong to offer them a specific answer, other than, perhaps, "Go back and figure out what you want."

What will help is to block the newbie's thread until (a) he's made a specific request and demonstrates he's searched on its keywords, and (b) withhold all replies until he's demonstrated that he's looked at and read (as evidenced by his finding the key code, e.g. the checksum, and don't tell him that's what it is) in each volume of Erik's favorite, the "bible."

As I said, this won't be easy, but it's one way of saving a lot of wasted bandwidth that serves no useful purpose, yet increases the global consumption of MAALOX, Whiskey, aspirin, and prune juice.

RE