PF as their own personal search engine

[Cyrus]

How so many people use PF as their own personal search engine. Find XYZ for me, and do it NOW!

Seriously, typing www.google.com[/url] takes less effort than [url]www.physicsforums.com[/URL], and then making an entire thread on the most asinine question.

Correction, do my homework for me, URGENT! DUE TOMORROW!

Reposted in student speak:

How so many people use PF as their own personal search. find XYZ for me, and do it NOW!11!

srsly, typing [PLAIN]www.google.com[/url] takes less effort than [url]www.physicsforums.com[/URL], and making entire thread on the most easiest q's.

Do homework for me, URGENT! XD

Let's review, boys and girls:

(1) - [b]I[/b] is capitalized in a sentence
(2) - you don't...need...to...do this... every sentence... just type normally...
(3) - too and to are different, know this difference
(4) - your and you're are different, know this difference too (see (3) about usage of too)
(5) - if you're working on a project, consolidate all your project question in one thread, it will do us all a favor reading them. :smile:
(6) - show us what results you have come up with so far, but need help with moving forward
(7) - don't throw around acronyms without explaining what they are.

The goal of people helping on PF not just to give students advice, but to help them mature as well rounded scientists and engineers. That means striving to produce clear, understandable posts expected of any college student handing in an assignment to a professor. This also translates to email correspondence with your professors, or companies you work for. Develop these skills now, and it will pay off in the long run. Strive to constantly improve yourself in all areas: be it making presentations, giving a talk, writing, or analytic skills.Edit: Did [b]I[/b] mention that [b]I[/b] is capitalized in a sentence? [b]I[/b] think [b]I[/b] did, [b]I[/b] just wanted to be sure. (i think we all get the point)...wait a minute...

 

[waht]

Excellent suggestions. Basically when asking a question, put yourself in a potential poster's shoes who is going to form a reply. Ask yourself would you want to respond to your own question?

Most forums, including this one have become link relay stations. Somebody asks a question, and then somebody else provides a link and says "here you go, can you read all about it at www.whatever.com" and the thread is dead. This defeats the whole purpose of discussion forums, where as you said it's an opportunity to improve yourself. But on the other hand there are broad questions that you can't fully answer. So I don't know, perhaps putting a cap on giving links, or banning links altogether?

 

[Astronuc]

Don't forget the apostrophe ' in the contraction of "do not".

 

[berkeman]

But on the other hand there are broad questions that you can't fully answer. So I don't know, perhaps putting a cap on giving links, or banning links altogether?

When I see a broad sweeping question and the poster obviously hasn't done any reading or research yet on their own, I generally provide a link or search terms for them to use. I'll tell them that if they have specific questions after reading the link, to post them in the thread along with the parts of the link that they are not understanding.

I think sometimes when students are asked a broad question and told to do some research, they assume that asking a broad question on a discussion forum is a form of "research". It shouldn't be, IMO, at least not for basic schoolwork.

 

[Cyrus]

Don't forget the apostrophe ' in the contraction of "do not".

Haha, edited that!

 

[waht]

When I see a broad sweeping question and the poster obviously hasn't done any reading or research yet on their own, I generally provide a link or search terms for them to use. I'll tell them that if they have specific questions after reading the link, to post them in the thread along with the parts of the link that they are not understanding.

I'm sure that's a good thing, but considering how easy it is to find stuff on google and other search engines, providing links to poor chaps not only becomes a chore, but it's an insult to intelligence. I admit I used give a lot of links to people before, but it always turned out to be a cold transaction except for those few posters who have shown genuine interest and common sense - it was worth it.

 

[Pengwuino]

this thread... its... sigh... i dunno... sometimes i agree with cyrus but... i guess.

URGENT!

 

[DaveC426913]

Just give em a WIYF.

("Wiki Is Your Friend")

 

[Pengwuino]

Or http://lmgtfy.com/"

...

 

[DaveC426913]

Or http://lmgtfy.com/"

...

I prefer this one:
http://justf*ckinggoogleit.com/"

( note: * = u )

 

[Cyrus]

I prefer this one:
http://justf*ckinggoogleit.com/"

( note: * = u )

lol!

 

[CompuChip]

The cool thing about LMGTFY is that you can also provide the query:
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=physics+rocks

 

[drizzle]

....... Bahaahahaaaaaaaaahaa

Sorry but it's quite funny... https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=318795"

P.S. Don't kill yourself laughing @ my replies! Judging from the date and time of my posts, I haven't had enough 'free time' to sleep, so I was a bit off... But I must say, it's interesting that you care for people to type properly!..... I know, I don't believe that either!

As for the meaningless dots, it's totally expressive! Can't you read Pengwuino's post! It's obvious... You should learn how to read between the lines... And dots.

 

[Moonbear]

But...I really --- need ... help NOW! Cyrus ... Plz help --- URGENT! ...



Did they stop teaching letter writing in schools? Forget the way people ask for help here; you should see the way the students address professors in emails now. They have no understanding of where the boundary lies between informal chit-chat text speak with their friends and formal communication with a professor, or other "business" type situation.

 

[D H]

Seriously, typing www.google.com[/url] takes less effort than [url]www.physicsforums.com[/URL], and then making an entire thread on the most asinine question.[/QUOTE]
Flipping amazing. Particularly when the post looks something like this:
[indent][h2]Homework Statement [/h2]
See attached.

[h2]Homework Equations[/h2]
See attached.

[h2]The Attempt at a Solution[/h2]
See attached.

I read the wiki page and don't know what to do can u please hlp?![/indent]
And the attachment? A scanned homework problem, typically with a keyword in bold. The student's work is one or two scribbles, a dark square block that obviously hides an expletive, plus of course please hlp.

They read [b]the[/b] wiki page? ORLY? Which one? The one on the new [i]Arrested Development[/i] movie? Certainly not the one on the keyword that was in bold in the assignment because the answer to their problem is right there on that wiki page. Facepalm.Cyrus: You forgot the rule about spelling "you" with both a "y" and an "o".

 

[Cyrus]

what u talkin bout Willis?

 

[Pengwuino]

Did they stop teaching letter writing in schools? Forget the way people ask for help here; you should see the way the students address professors in emails now. They have no understanding of where the boundary lies between informal chit-chat text speak with their friends and formal communication with a professor, or other "business" type situation.

Instructors need to band together to create a database of emails like that that are so poorly written that... well... they deserve to be in a database.

I feel like PM'ing Cyrus with an URGENT URGENT PLZ HELP IMPOSSIBLE PROBLEM message.

 

[Cyrus]

We should have a filter that detected uncapitalized i's and u's in sentences, and prevents people from posting a reply.

 

[Dembadon]

We should have a filter that detected uncapitalized i's and u's in sentences, and prevents people from posting a reply.

That woUld be IncredIbly UndesIrable. Can yoU ImagIne how annoyIng typIng a sImple reply woUld become?

AbsolUtely not!

 

[Dembadon]

... (2) - you don't...need...to...do this... every sentence... just type normally...

This one strikes a personal chord with me. My younger brother often writes like this in his emails. One day I attempted to explain to him what it was like to read something like this out loud; I asked him to go through a given "paragraph" and replace each "..." with (dramatic pause), and then read it aloud. He saw that it created a sort of stumbling-forward-in-painful-anticipation feel in his writing.

All that to say, yes, it is very painful to read sentences which do not have correct capitalization and punctuation.

(7) - don't throw around acronyms without explaining what they are. ...

Doesn't that defeat the purpose of using one?

 

[Cyrus]

Not if it is repeated often later on in the post. Anyways, a whole new slew of sloppy, poorly written posts are up again. Ugh.

 

[Cyrus]

That woUld be IncredIbly UndesIrable. Can yoU ImagIne how annoyIng typIng a sImple reply woUld become?

AbsolUtely not!

That is actually much, much less annoying to me.

 

[Pengwuino]

What about threads in the homework section that are simply entitled "Problem 5.15"! Really, do these people think that we have ANY idea what they're talking about? I always also find it annoying when someone with 3 posts to their name puts up a question that is simply the question, no attempt or anything, and someone with 5 posts to their name goes and gives them a complete solution. Then again, it's even funnier when that complete solution is dead wrong.

 

[Cyrus]

I no longer answer homework problems.

 

[Redbelly98]

I never believe it when somebody says they NEED URGENT HELP!, if they don't actually give a reason (like "problem due in 1 hour" for example). One time I was helping somebody, and every post ended with "please answer soon, Redbelly98, it's urgent". After some back and forth, it came out that he was doing work that the professor hadn't even covered yet, trying to stay ahead of the class. In other words, this was the opposite of urgent.

 

[berkeman]

I no longer answer homework problems.

Doesn't that adversely affect your grade?

 

[Cyrus]

Oh, I just came up with an EPIC reply: "I will not offer my help until you retype your post in a proper English sentence". I told this guy to write i as I and he STILL replies to me with i's everywhere!

 

[MotoH]

TISC.........UHNN..........!



When PF gets deserted late at night I like to head into the homework section just to read the threads for humor.

 

[fluidistic]

Hi... Cyrus...
I'm the devil's advocate. You wrote

Fourier is named after someone, it is capitalized as well.

"Your" right "its" spelled with a capitalized letter, but it's not the case for units, for example. 1 Newton, 1 gauss, etc. Now of course I'm going to use 1 I.Newton, 1 F.Gauss, etc.

 

[Cyrus]

Hi... Cyrus...
I'm the devil's advocate. You wrote "Your" right "its" spelled with a capitalized letter, but it's not the case for units, for example. 1 Newton, 1 gauss, etc. Now of course I'm going to use 1 I.Newton, 1 F.Gauss, etc.

Fourier are not a set of units.

 

[GeorginaS]

This one strikes a personal chord with me. My younger brother often writes like this in his emails. One day I attempted to explain to him what it was like to read something like this out loud; I asked him to go through a given "paragraph" and replace each "..." with (dramatic pause), and then read it aloud. He saw that it created a sort of stumbling-forward-in-painful-anticipation feel in his writing.

Yes! That's precisely how I read sentences with all of those ellipses in them. As if the writer can't quite breathe. Makes me fairly nuts, it does.

And ? when they're asking a question. It's so emphatic, it makes me cringe. It irritates me to the point that I don't want to even respond.

All that to say, yes, it is very painful to read sentences which do not have correct capitalization and punctuation.

Another pet peeve. When people don't know the correct usage of "which" and "that". But maybe that's getting carried away.

 

[drizzle]

... As if the writer can't quite breathe ...

Ahahaa GeorginaS, that was one heck of a laugh

 

[Moonbear]

Yes! That's precisely how I read sentences with all of those ellipses in them. As if the writer can't quite breathe.

Same here. I imagine them talking like the character in the wheelchair on Malcolm in the Middle; the one who is Malcolm's friend and needs to take a lot of breaths during sentences. See, now you must appreciate my lack of breaths while talking much better.

Maybe he/she is still trying to catch his/her breath after rushing here to type his/her URGENT question.

 

[GeorginaS]

Same here. I imagine them talking like the character in the wheelchair on Malcolm in the Middle; the one who is Malcolm's friend and needs to take a lot of breaths during sentences. See, now you must appreciate my lack of breaths while talking much better.

Maybe he/she is still trying to catch his/her breath after rushing here to type his/her URGENT question.

I hadn't thought of that character, but yes, sometimes reading ellipses do sound like that in my head. Sometimes they sound like an actress from a corny soap opera.

But when you get going, Moobear, I can scarcely breathe.

An emoticon just for Cyrus

 

[Dembadon]

...But maybe that's getting carried away.

Personally, I would rather be corrected. It gives me an opportunity to increase my knowledge.

 

[Janus]

Also, "no one" is two words; "noone" was the lead singer for Herman and the Hermits.

 

[Redbelly98]

Yes! That's precisely how I read sentences with all of those ellipses in them. As if the writer can't quite breathe. Makes me fairly nuts, it does.

Same here. I imagine them talking like the character in the wheelchair on Malcolm in the Middle; the one who is Malcolm's friend and needs to take a lot of breaths during sentences. See, now you must appreciate my lack of breaths while talking much better.

Maybe he/she is still trying to catch his/her breath after rushing here to type his/her URGENT question.

I was thinking of William Shatner in the original Star Trek series. "Must not ... let ... Klingons ... take ship ..."

 

[OmCheeto]

I was thinking of William Shatner in the original Star Trek series. "Must not ... let ... Klingons ... take ship ..."

i resemble that remark...

Well Superman, I'd say right off the bat, that you have not been paying attention. Energy is all around us, and has never been, and has always been, renewable.

Energy either came, or will come from the sun, or one of it's satellites.

...

sorry...

and, I am, still, not, william shatner...

Ok. I'll try and stop.

 

[lisab]

Also, "no one" is two words; "noone" was the lead singer for Herman and the Hermits.

Thank you! I see that so often, I sometimes question if it may actually be a word now...

 

[Moonbear]

I was thinking of William Shatner in the original Star Trek series. "Must not ... let ... Klingons ... take ship ..."

I haven't watched the original Star Trek in a long time, so that wasn't the first reference to come to mind. But, yes, you're right, it does sound like William Shatner.

lisab, what does Microsoft Word's spell check say about no one vs. no one? I think Microsoft has changed the spelling of some words with the introduction of spell check. I leave spell check off...I will not conform!

 

[DaveC426913]

Also, "no one" is two words; "noone" was the lead singer for Herman and the Hermits.

You know, I have always struggled with this. I think I may have learned it as one word in school, but whenever I type it, it looks wrong, so I always change it to two.

 

[Pengwuino]

When I was in elementary school, there was a teacher who's motto was "a lot is two words". For YEARS that statement confused me, I kept thinking "does he think everyone should shut up? Does he not like people who talk too much?". It took me a while to realize that he meant that most people misspell "a lot" by making it into one word, "alot". SIGH.

HEY! What about the fact that people these days don't seem to want to use prepositions or small modifying words (I'm no English major, i don't know what they'd be considered) anymore? With the facebook and myspace generation fully taking over, the phrase "comment my pictures" is ubiquitous. My ex use to say things like "I'm done my essay" to mean "I'm done WITH my essay" sooooo often. This doesn't even include people who should be considered illiterate with how poor their grammar is! It's people who are perfectly capable of writing, but for some reason have simply lost these little words. I see it come up so often in the lab reports I grade as well!

 

[drizzle]

When I was in elementary school, there was a teacher who's motto was "a lot is two words". For YEARS that statement confused me, I kept thinking "does he think everyone should shut up? Does he not like people who talk too much?". It took me a while to realize that he meant that most people misspell "a lot" by making it into one word, "alot". SIGH...

What's the sigh for! It's not you fault, it's your teacher's!
A is not a word

 

[drizzle]

Same here. I imagine them talking like the character in the wheelchair on Malcolm in the Middle; the one who is Malcolm's friend and needs to take a lot of breaths during sentences. See, now you must appreciate my lack of breaths while talking much better.

Maybe he/she is still trying to catch his/her breath after rushing here to type his/her URGENT question.

Hahaa. I don't really mind it in general discussions, it show the sequence of thinking... I guess... Of course I'm not talking about using them within HW posts... Can anyone find one for me... I just want to see how it look like

 

[Redbelly98]

Note for our native German-speaking members:

In English, we use

• "How does it look" or "how it looks" when referring to a subjective description of something. For example, "it looks good" or "it looks terrible".
• "What does it look like", or "what it looks like", when referring to an objective description. Example: "it looks like a horse with black and white stripes", or "it's spherical, with black pentagons and white hexagons covering its surface".

That being said, "how does it look like" and "how it looks like" are considered bad grammar. Native English speakers, even bad ones, do not say this.

 

[drizzle]

Urghhhhhh! It was there! who deleted it! ... And btw, I speak Japanese!


Edit: Forget about the Japanese thing. I'm sure that I look like a bakka right now, hehehttp://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/smiley-ashamed003.gif...

 

[Moonbear]

HEY! What about the fact that people these days don't seem to want to use prepositions or small modifying words (I'm no English major, i don't know what they'd be considered) anymore? With the facebook and myspace generation fully taking over, the phrase "comment my pictures" is ubiquitous. My ex use to say things like "I'm done my essay" to mean "I'm done WITH my essay" sooooo often. This doesn't even include people who should be considered illiterate with how poor their grammar is! It's people who are perfectly capable of writing, but for some reason have simply lost these little words. I see it come up so often in the lab reports I grade as well!

I see that a lot too. It seems to be especially prevalent among realtors! My last realtor would go through a house commenting things like, "door needs painted." When I made an offer on my house and she wrote the draft letter regarding the repairs I was requesting after the inspection, I had to go through and add all the "to be" words.

 

[WiFO215]

Let's review, boys and girls:

(1) - I is capitalized in a sentence
(2) - you don't...need...to...do this... every sentence... just type normally...
(3) - too and to are different, know this difference
(4) - your and you're are different, know this difference too (see (3) about usage of too)
(5) - if you're working on a project, consolidate all your project question in one thread, it will do us all a favor reading them.
(6) - show us what results you have come up with so far, but need help with moving forward
(7) - don't throw around acronyms without explaining what they are.

(8) Do NOT use 'lol' to reply.

Homework helper: "Did you think of using stupid obvious fact X to solve the problem?"
Student: "lol... no..."

Sometimes they even mis-spell lol as lawl. DAMMIT!

 

[ViewsofMars]

(8) Do NOT use 'lol' to reply.

Homework helper: "Did you think of using stupid obvious fact X to solve the problem?"
Student: "lol... no..."

Sometimes they even mis-spell lol as lawl. DAMMIT!

I'm a female adult and I would not use the word "DAMMIT" when talking to youngsters. Now that I think about it, I've never said that word except for writing it in response to your useage of it. However, I will use LOL! And if I wish to disperse a few "..." within a conversation, I shall choose to do so, knowing there is no harm done.

 

[Cyrus]

(8) do not use 'lol' to reply.

Homework helper: "did you think of using stupid obvious fact x to solve the problem?"
student: "lol... No..."

sometimes they even mis-spell lol as lawl. Dammit!

roflcopter.