There have been instances of unwarranted rudeness to newbies. Mostly, though, I think it's the frustration with people who, when they don't know what a "ring buffer" is, won't do their own search in order to find out. Heaven knows, it's been handled repeatedly on 8052.COM.

I recall one thread, in which there was ample justification to be curt with the O/P, as he was that fellow from Egypt, whose English was adequate, but who repeatedly demanded we provide him with a packaged, ready-to-hand-in scrolling message display design. Though he was asked several times, "What have you done so far?" he always replied with a repeat of the demand and, when he provided any information at all, it was clearly "lifted" from another website.

Now, in that rather long thread, quite a bit of useful information was presented, but the "flavor" of the event was rather unfriendly. This was probably because of the general uncooperativeness of the O/P.

In the course of the possibly somewhat confusing argument involving Per, Erik, and me, numerous key issues were extensively discussed, and several solutions, including the "ring buffer" were exposed and explained in detail. Several valid methodologies were described in considerable detail, along with a few that were less valid, and it was made clear why they wouldn't work so well. I thought it was a very informative thread, though I was disappointed with the flavor.

It seemed as though Per, Erik, and I were fighting, but, I, for one, wanted only to knock that O/P over the head because he ignored most of the questions, and, in the ones he did answer, though somewhat obliquely, it was clear that he hadn't done any work at all, and had spent at most five minutes effort on his project. He was angry that we didn't simply ship him schematics, code listings, and binaries so he could hand them in.

People have become tired of the same old homework assignments every term. I can't blame them. Students have learned that it's not so easy getting those 8052.COM guys to do their homework. They can still get help, but they do have to do some of their own work, and, perhaps, a little thinking.

If that sort of thing causes fewer lazy students to visit 8052.COM, it's too bad. I suspect, however, that a contributing factor to the reduction in the number of posts is due, not to a reduction in the number of visits by lazy students, but by the fact that they can find completely solved homework on 8052.COM without having to post, since it is, after all, the same thing over, and over, and over again.

RE