<br><div class="gmail_quote"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-left: 1ex;"><div class="im">
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</div><div><div></div><div>On Tue, May 10, 2011 at 8:30 PM, Sherwood McGowan<br>
<<a href="mailto:sherwood.mcgowan@gmail.com">sherwood.mcgowan@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
+1 from me too. The other thing is that when you answer<br>
to say the problem has been solved this goes into the archives meaning<br>
that people can use Google to answer their own questions rather than<br>
having to even ask the list.<br>
<br>
There have been times when I've searched for a solution<br>
to a problem, found like 10 answers, and nobody has said whether they<br>
work or not so you have to try all of them.<br>
<br>
--<br>
Cheers,<br>
<br>
Matt Riddell<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Believe me mate, I feel you, on that note. Not only because of<br>
my time when I was asking more questions than I was answering, but also<br>
from the standpoint of wishing the answers were a little more prevalent<br>
for the searching party to find so that I didn't see soooo many repeats<br>
on the list ;-)<br>
<br>
Cheers guys!<br>
<br>
--<br>
Sherwood McGowan<br>
Telecommunications and VOIP Consultant<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
-1<br>
<br>
Since I was the number 1 poster on this list a couple of years ago, I<br>
think I can speak with some authority.<br>
<br>
I just assume that if that person does not ask any more questions, that<br>
they have either solved the problem on their own, or I helped them by<br>
giving the answer or steering them to it.<br>
<br>
I don't need a public or private "Thank You" When I was posting all the<br>
time, I figured the ratio of "Thank you" emails to silence to be about<br>
20 to 1, maybe as high as 50 to 1.<br>
<br>
People are busy, under a deadline or whatever, I offer help and do not<br>
expect anything in return, not even a thank you. Probably because I<br>
have and will be one of those people, although my questions are usually<br>
a little over the top for the list or can be pointed to something in<br>
bugtracker, I have asked many questions when I was stuck and under an<br>
all nighter deadline.<br>
<br>
I would like to thank anyone out there that has helped me over the many,<br>
many years dealing with Asterisk and VoIP. It is a blanket thank you<br>
for all times I simply moved onto then next hurdle to get my<br>
deliverables out on time and working properly and neglected to post a<br>
thank you.<br>
<br>
Before there was any documentation, voip-info amd this list was my<br>
savior. The volume of traffic has fallen to almost nothing over the<br>
last year or two.<br>
<br>
I wonder if Digium could post totals as it did when I was shocked to<br>
find my name as the #1 poster. It would be cool to see who is the #1<br>
poster now, but I am more interested in what I perceive to be a huge<br>
fall off of posting.<br>
<br>
It could be my email server, since I was getting notices from the list<br>
about excessive email bounces and removing me if I did not click a link.<br>
That seems to have stopped, and I don't think it was on my side.<br>
<br>
Back to getting credit or a thank you.<br>
<br>
What I have received by answering questions or helping to troubleshoot<br>
is worth way more than a thank you. I get some name recognition, paid<br>
work, large call centers, Sr Positions in high profile jobs. Enough to<br>
make a nice living, whether I am independent or in a salaried position.<br>
Asterisk has literally taken me all over the world. My last trip was to<br>
Iraq, but I have been to Senegal, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Ghana, Liberia<br>
to help rebuild the infrastructure for USAID.<br>
<br>
I don't really do job searches, I am usually offered a job or project<br>
and approached by the client.<br>
<br>
For the Dept of State, I set up prepaid call centers to answer questions<br>
and getting a reservation at the various Embassies about obtaining a<br>
visa to come to the US. It is called the US visa Information Service<br>
<br>
For DoD/Dos, I cannot really say much except I can say is that I am<br>
probably one of the few Asterisk people that were issued a Glock and M4,<br>
bullet proof vests, armored cars, and a PSD team.. How many VoIP guys<br>
were taking ak47 rounds while I was on top of the Iraqi Government<br>
building, setting up the Motorola Canopy system. Luckily the AK is no<br>
sniper rifle by an means. I was in IZ and the shooter was in the<br>
redzone.<br>
<br>
I don't need thank yous, although they are nice. I truly have never<br>
expected anything when offering help or ideas.<br>
<br>
I do see why someone "should" be thanked, even if for nothing more than<br>
trying to help, and certainly a resolution to the problem for the<br>
archives, but I am not holding my breath.<br>
<br>
Additionally, having multiple possible answers is not a bad thing. A<br>
similar symptom could be caused by many different things. Having<br>
several different answers is a great help to me.<br>
<br>
At least there are many possible answers to try. Judging by who was<br>
involved in any archived thread, I can usually pick the correct answer<br>
the first time.<br>
<br>
Thanks for listening to my perspective,<br>
Steve T<br></div></div></blockquote><div><br><br>On Wed, May 11, 2011 at 3:49 AM, Andrew Thomas <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:andy@datavox.co.uk">andy@datavox.co.uk</a>></span> wrote:<br>Wow! How self-promoting was that post?<br>
<br>
As for a simple 'that worked' post - as others have already pointed out<br>
before you, it's not for self-gratification - it's to help anyone else<br>
who has the same/similar problem. I used the list archives quite a lot<br>
in my early days - and having the last post in a thread say 'try this,<br>
this or this' and no comeback is a pain. A simple 'option 2 worked for<br>
me' post at then end would make everything a lot simpler (and beat those<br>
deadlines you talked about).<br>
<br>
As for 'off-list' mailing - please do NOT do it without<br>
asking/permission as most people get enough e-mails as it is (from<br>
paying customers).<br>
<br>
Thanks all and have a nice day!<br>
<br>_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________<br><br>I am not a nitpicker on top or bottom posting unless someone deviates from the flow. Don't top post when everyone else is bottom posting. Unless it was a mistake, understandable, if not, you should learn learn how to use mailing lists. <br>
<br>How was my post self promoting? It is all true, so if it promotes me, then that is a good thing.<br><br>You must be new to the community if you. Sometimes it is better to remain silent until you have something worth saying. <br>
<br>Just Google my name and <a href="mailto:asterisk-users@lists.digium.com">asterisk-users@lists.digium.com</a> and you will see. Don't pretend to know me.<br><br><a href="http://tinyurl.com/6zzfdxk">http://tinyurl.com/6zzfdxk</a>. <br>
<br>I do not email people that need help and offer consulting on a problem. I just suggested that if he was going to do that, it should be direct, not broadcast to the list. Your statement has things backwards. Who has the paying customers? <br>
<br>Thanks,<br>Steve Totaro<br><br><br></div></div>