Forum rush hour

[bebo021999]

Do you have any idea when the rush hours of the forum is?
At the moment, I am boring with the "new posts" button
Also, when are most of Gurus often present? I need to take a short rest since I alway have not enough time to be the first help, lol

[martindwilson]

mostly when we are awake!
but since this is world wide i'd guess most requests come in about 5 hours after the 9:00 am meeting where people have promised (when they have no idea) "i'll get it done by the end of the day boss" depending on the time zone
then you get the friday/weekend lot who offer out themselves as a consultant(again biting of more than they can chew) panicking to deliver some vast project by a monday morning deadline

[jmac1947]

Martin, that is very cynical... BUT, sadly from reading a large number of thread requests it looks as though you are 100% correct, guess truth is still a good form of defence

(I think you may have missed the group who have an assignment to hand in and are looking for someone to "do the hard yards" for them, a little more difficult to "time box" although i suspect that @bebo021999 is in the right time zone to grab most of these posts

Jmac

[bebo021999]

Yah I think almost requests come from US, EU and for the requesters who are in "rush dead line" and ready to spend overnight for that, due to timezone, I am one of a "GREATEST LIFEBOUY" in the forum.

[swoop99]

Yah I think almost requests come from US

I see many, many more from places like India and Pakistan when I log on. Speaking purely hypothetically....if this forum refused posts from India and Pakistan the entire worlds VBA outsourcing industry would collapse overnight.

I kid of course, but sometimes you wonder how certain posters found a job writing VBA code when it's blatantly clear they don't know what Range("A1").select does.

[john55]

Hello guys,
@ Martin, 3 yeses!
@swoop99, yeap, you're right! lol

[XOR LX]

"I see many, many more from places like India and Pakistan when I log on. Speaking purely hypothetically....if this forum refused posts from India and Pakistan the entire worlds VBA outsourcing industry would collapse overnight.

I kid of course, but sometimes you wonder how certain posters found a job writing VBA code when it's blatantly clear they don't know what Range("A1").select does."

Agreed.

I remember discussing this in a thread some months back and in particular someone's comment that, due to the incredible competitive pressure that these workers are under, posters from that part of the world generally don't feel that they have "time" to "elaborate" on their request; instead it seems to be a case of make as succinct a post as possible to as many different forums as possible and hope that you get lucky.

It's a rather sad fact from the point of few of a helper on this forum, and a scan of the posts from that region over the past six months would seem to suggest that things aren't any better.

Regards

[swoop99]

You may well be right about the nature of the working environment in places like that. However, I've noticed a slight change over the years.....where previously someone might post something like:

"I need macro to do X"


they're now posting things more like:

"I try to write macro but get stuck, help please"

and then post a section of code clearly produced with the macro recorder to make it look like they are actually asking for help to learn rather than "I want someone to do my work for me cos I blagged this job by convincing someone in big business that I could produce MI reports for 35p a day."


God damn I sound cynical. I'm not really this much of an opinionated xenophobe, really.

[XOR LX]

"God damn I sound cynical."

A small dose of cynicism is a desirable (and near-unavoidable) quality in anyone who's moderately reflective these days.

[JBeaucaire]

Personally, I prefer the recorded pseudo code be there. With that, I can often tell right off if what they SAY they need matches what they recorded themselves trying to do.

[swoop99]

See.....I just object to someone who wants one of us to provide him/her with the written code to do whatever it is they're being paid to do. Doesn't matter where he / she is from at all.

This forum is here to help people learn, not to be a free resource for a bunch of lazy ******* who can't be bothered to learn the skills they need to do their job. I learned VBA using mostly this forum, and I thank everyone very much for the assistance, it's a very useful resource for learning and anyone who wants to learn will find some very helpful people here.

But I do think there should be a new forum rule that says: If it's bloody obvious you're a lying little **** who's taking paid work away from the rest of us and want one us to do it for you for free.....then ****** off.

[swoop99]

Let me tell ya a little story......

there's a particular company, who shall remain nameless, that are an India based IT services provider. They basically provide all IT/S services for a large utility supplier in Britain, who shall also remain nameless.

I've had meetings here where a task has been given to this company.....and an hour later they'll be a post on this forum that sounds pretty much exactly what the design brief read out an hour previous was.

Oh yeah?

[JBeaucaire]

Swoop, only a small fraction of Excel users out there use it "for fun or hobbies". MOST questions here on the forum should be expected to be from people who are working on "work" projects. OK? Not a mystery, not a secret. No one is doing anything "wrong" by posting their questions here for help on things they're getting paid for.

On the other hand, you get to decide which posts you will particpate in and which you will not. Build up a thick skin and move past the threads you feel are abusive of the forum in some way, do not post in those threads at all. Your suggestion about the new forum rule makes it clear you might have difficulty following rule #6 in those instances, the courtesy rule.

In the entire time I've been here, it's been clear that the 100s of contributors here on the forum giving answers do so with a completely different mindset, and they are given free license to do so.

Some will ONLY offer partial answers designed to force an OP to figure the final answer out on their own, or provide links to appropriate free resources to do so. Others provide turnkey solutions to even complex questions. I've done both, I've learned TONS along the way, so it's all good in the end.

So, help or do not on each post, but keep a good spirit about it all. No one is fooling anyone, we're all here for different reasons and together we make a very powerful community.

Thanks.

[Olly]

JB, that's a FANTASTIC post, thank you

Swoop - I spent YEARS working with outsourcing consultants in India. Leaving the corporate strategies aside, to a man they were good people, who loved and cared about what they do. Just like me. And probably you.

If you think that by denying Excel solutions to Indians you are somehow preventing Asian outsourcing... well. Far be it from me to insult you.

I'd rather our outsourcing resources are educated, informed and integrated. But maybe that's just me.

[daddylonglegs]

Agreed, particularly this part

...In the entire time I've been here, it's been clear that the 100s of contributors here on the forum giving answers do so with a completely different mindset, and they are given free license to do so....

long may that continue

[alansidman]

@JB
Great post.
Alan

[Mad-Mizer]

I don't understand why it matters who the OP is or what they do? If they do not have a solution they need to get it from somewhere right?

[JBeaucaire]

Mad-mizer, yes, you're right. But Swoop's sentiments are ones we all feel at one time or another, very understandable. Threads like this are good at moments like that where we bring each other back to center.

[Olly]

Mad-mizer, yes, you're right. But Swoop's sentiments are ones we all feel at one time or another, very understandable. Threads like this are good at moments like that where we bring each other back to center.

And this is why you're a good Admin.

FWIW, beautifully handled.

[jmac1947]

I feel the pain of the debate. Not long ago I posted a question about the "location" shown against registered users, partly because at that time I was very annoyed (from a huge distance I admit) with a particular couple of users who were very clearly doing that... using.

I received views from both sides of the fence so as to speak (including a gentle chip that my post also had spelling errors ).

I have then mentally created a list of OP that I mostly don't even bother to read because experience with them tells me what to expect.

I do see the forum as a help forum, I post some very basic questions simply because I often need a single statement that is beyond me, and I get tremendous help albeit mostly from the same relatively small group of experts / gurus / moderators.

There are times I will take a "development work needed" post simply because I can see the business need and think it will be a help to my slowly expanding body of knowledge.

@JB did put it nicely, it is up to us to make our own decisions as to help or not based on our memory of our experiences with OP (although there are times when the staggering lack of even basic skills from a 300+ poster does make me see red.. still... but then there are the rules that remind me that we are all different.

@swoop, trust me I feel your pain many times

[vlady]

In your control panel is option for creating ignore list.
the ignored list is the reverse list for mods and admin

[swoop99]

Yes, JB put it very well. And no, of course I don't think that blocking Asian posts would end world outsourcing of VBA. I did say I was kidding....

It really doesn't help that the outsourcing situation where I currently am is so utterly ridiculous. 18 months of dealing with....er....the company that shall remain nameless.....a fella can start to become somewhat jaded.

[jmac1947]

dude, (that is a shorthand way of saying @swoop99 for this post only ) it isn't only in Uk that the situation is

utterly ridiculous

, we see the same here in OZ and I read of the same problem in USA just to name a couple of "interested communities"

I am also on a performance testing specialist forum and, surprise surprise... I see the same issues every other day.

As @jb said, we make our own rules for ourselves, and @vlady, thanks for a tip on how to use the forum software (although I like to look at the thread title as well as the OP, yeah I know "curiosity killed the cat"

jmac

[swoop99]

heh, watch out for them drop bears mate.

[jmac1947]

some of my family come from Bundy territory, drop bears are a hazard I can tell you

[tony h]

I **ten give partial answers to see if the OP is going to work at the solution or whether they just want me to do it all for them. I also like to know the reason they are doing this - if it is for some worthwhile reason I am likely to give more help.

[Jacc]

Why is the letter o and the letter f replaced with ** when written together in this thread? Or is my computer playing tricks with me?

[daddylonglegs]

Not just this thread - seems to be a temporary glitch, lets hope nobody has to describe how their s**tware, on the ho**, is a one-**f, ***-**f ** Micros**t

[Fotis1991]

Not just this thread - seems to be a temporary glitch, lets hope nobody has to describe how their s**tware, on the ho**, is a one-**f, ***-**f ** Micros**t

Bingo!!!!!!!!!1