One addition to Bruce's appeal: for some subscribers
to the list, large attachments are a problem. For
instance, some people are still working at dial-up speeds (due to
the US' rural digital divide, I was one of those recently), or
even have limits on the amount of data they can download in a
month.
The question, then, is what is a "large" attachment? We've
had some discussion of that on the list previously, and never
arrived at a hard-and-fast rule.
Nonetheless, let me suggest that anything below 1 megabyte is
fine--in fact, it should be encouraged so that we can help with
the kind of questions Bruce just enumerated. Paul's files, for
instance, were 214 KB, or 0.24 MB.
I suggest, therefore, that if you have a project file that is
large because, for instance, it has many, many fits in its
history, please re-save it in a smaller version, and attach
that. You should also be careful with screenshots that they are
not needlessly large--e.g. saved in a resolution far
beyond what is necessary.
In the occasional case that the problem or question requires
a large file to manifest, such as that described by Nirawat
yesterday, some other arrangement needs to be worked out. It's
possible, for instance, to use a service such as Dropbox to make
the file available without actually attaching it to an email.
--Scott Calvin
Sarah Lawrence College
On Aug 5, 2011, at 3:25 PM, Bruce Ravel wrote:
Hi everyone,
This has been a particularly troubling week for me here on
the Ifeffit
mailing list. This week we have seen an unusually large
number of
poorly asked questions. Not bad questions, mind you, just
questions
that have been asked in a manner that makes it hard to
provide a
useful response.
On Tuesday, someone had a question about a fit in Artemis,
but only
posted the project file which demonstrated the problem
after being
prompted to do so.
On Wednesday, someone had an issue about LCF fitting in
Athena that is
contrary to most people's experience with the program.
That person
did not bother to provide an example project file or any
other
supporting information to clarify what happened.
On Thursday, another person had an Artemis problem which
was described
in a short and cryptic email. Only after being prompted 3
times to
post an example was someone able to be of help.
Also on Thursday, we saw the third example in one week of
a problem
with Artemis, but no example project file to demonstrate
the problem.
Today, we see someone with a crystallography problem, but
we do not
see the actual data that would allow someone to reproduce
the problem
on their own computer.
Happily, on Wednesday Paul Bingham posted a clear question
and
attached Athena and Artemis project files. He very
quickly got two
useful answers.
You do see the lesson here, don't you? If your problem
cannot be
reproduced on someone else's computer, it is unlikely that
you will
get a satisfying answer.
Don't wait to be prodded. Supply the project file or
crystal data
that demonstrates the problem *in your first email*.
The so-called experts on this list, including me, really
do want to
help you with your problems. But we are not mind readers.
You have
to meet us half way.
B
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