[Ifeffit] asking questions effectively (yes, *you* need to read this email)

[Scott Calvin]

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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