To all the expert Googlers

[ageing fast]

There have been several impatient people today exhorting the people who have asked questions to use Google before they use Answerbank.

Not everyone is a whizz kid when it comes to the internet. I'm sure that many ABers are not as confident at using Google as others. It doesn't say when you register to use the site that you have to use Google first!

My mother, who is in her mid-seventies, a very keen general knowledge crossword puzzler and extremely bright, is very tentative about using the internet. I introduced her to this site and would hate to think that she would be put off using it just because she is not an expert "googler".

You never know,when you answer a question, the circumstances of the person who asked it. Perhaps you could be a bit more patient - just in case the person who asked the question is my mother or someone like her!

Cheers. AF

[teacher1]

well said !

[B00]

Awww bless you AF, well said!
Lets face it if we all used Google they'd be no use for AB at all, then where would we be eh? I for one would have to resort to doing housework to relieve the boredom I'd find myself in.

Loving your name by the way- Know the feeling!

[Alibobs]

I agree! As I have said many times before this is Answerbank !!! It'snot a search engine! People are entitled to use it how they like - some people use it as a last resort but there is no rule saying they have to look elsewhere first!

[dzug]

Googling is scarcely rocket science - type a few words in, get the answers and read the first few of them. I can't see that you need to be 'expert' to do it. If anything the expertise is in speed reading through and discarding the irrelevant information you always get along with the good. Just the same as if you were using reference books.

[commoner]

I agree with all excepting..."misery guts"...sorry, meant to say dzug..........

It's easy to spot the ones that have problem Googling and I just love doing it for them..........:-)

[makemesmile]

I stand by Ageing Fast.

Everyone on this site could google their question and most likely get an answer, but where's the love?

Community - try googling that!

[goldenfield]

In which case I am a 'misery guts' too as I agree with dzug - sorry! My father is also in his mid-seventies and can use Google to find out nearly everything he is looking for. If anything it is even less complicated to use Google than it is using this site. I guess it all come down to whether you are happy to be given an answer or whether you prefer to complete a crossword by yourself. Personally I see no point in doing a crossword if you are going to rely on someone else to finish it for you - but that's just me!

[ontarioice]

Thank you, Aging fast for those comments re Googling.
My other half has lost quite a portiion of his eyesight and calls me when "Googling" is needed to find a particular answer. When he first came on to abers and asked a question about cricket which we here in Canada know very little about he was told very abruptly to "Google it." I happened to be out that day and couldn't "Google" it for him. He was quite upset that the person who told him to do that knew<b/> by the green user name that he was new to the site. We do the questions and answers together and if I am available I act as his eyes. Please, to those of you who are so quick to judge, don't pass judgements on the abilities of other until you've walked a mile in the other guy's shoes.
Thanks to all the other abers who have been most considerate and kind and who receive pleasure in giving and receiving. Isn't that what it's all about anyway?
Here endeth the first lesson.
O-Ice and O-Ice

[Big Al1st]

I like to try and answer questions on answerbank (provided they are not crypic ). I use google many times to answer these questions.
If everone did this I would'nt have any questions to answer.

I like it when i get the question right and I have learnt quite alot looking for answers.

Aging Fast, you tell your mother to keep posting questions!
Rgds Al

[ontarioice]

Oops! Only meant to use bold for the word KNEW. Your star pupil goofed Crofter.

[Argee2]

I agree with Goldenfield. I think Answerbank is very useful when you are stuck on the last one or two of a crossword or quiz and have exhausted other avenues (and yourself!). I suppose it depends on whether you do puzzles to exercise your brain or just to enter for the prizes.

[ontarioice]

to Agree2: We are not eligible to win any prizes so your remarks don't apply to us. We are not doing Marlboro, but are doing UK puzzles that other Abers have told us how to download, BUT we can't claim any prizes. Once again, try walking in the shoes before you judge the reasons why folks do what they do.
Here endeth the 2nd lesson.

[shaneystar2]

I don't mind giving anyone an answer .OK a lot can be found on Google and I have seen the post you are refering to by the way ..but I wouldn't dream of being rude to to anyone like that.!
AB would be out of business if we all Googled.I have come across several people on Q&P who are housebound or disabled and for them this board is a point of contact with the outside world.I myself am not in the best of health and I enjoy doing puzzles and am always grateful for help and the odd chat with others.We can't all be humorless paragons of virtue and I wouldn't want be .I enjoy the rapport with the nice people on here and hopefully shall continue to do so.And lets be fair some people are just not technically minded. My three brothers are all in their seventies ..one is whiz on the computer,one thinks they are the devils spawn and the other one limps along in a happy hit or miss haze because he going blind but he tries !

[ontarioice]

Hi shaneystar2: You've said just about all there is to say about the site - the contact with others, the friendly disagreements, the abilities of some being far above the abilities of other, the way some Abers respond so quickly and politely when asked a question. It truly is a joy to be able to part of the Abers community (for want of a better word). I'm glad we joined and it does give my other half such pleasure when someone answers him politely when he is stuck on a question and doesn't snarl at him "Go and Google." He can barely read the answer on this site never mind "Googling" for it, BUT it gives him great pleasure and I'm not going to let anyone take that pleasure away from him.
Is there a "third lesson" that can just have ended?

[ageing fast]

Just logged-in again and it's nice to see that a few people understand my point. Courtesy costs nothing. If you don't want to help someone find an answer, then don't bother to respond.

My mother isn't doing crosswords to win prizes - she's doing them to keep the grey matter active and if she wants to ask for help sometimes, I don't see why that is a problem. She prefers to use her stack of reference books - but sometimes answers are too current or too obscure.

I like to log in and help people - just as BigAl says - you often learn something yourself. And the only crossword I've ever submitted is the RT - just don't have time for all of the others - and I've never won a prze in my life!

AF

[B00]

Whether some people like it or AB is a community and as such I like ot think we can all enjoy a friendly banter or two as well as helping each out with problems/ questions etc.

I would hate to see people leave never to return just because some twonk has rudely told them to "google it"......AF, long may you and your mum enjoy AB.

love
Boo
xxxxx

[Jules001]

I like helping people, I have asked 47 questions but given 1212 answers. If I can answer someone's question I do so if they say they have Googled and can't find it, it is more of a challenge for me to delve deeper and find that elusive answer. This is a question and answer site and if people aren't prepared to give sensible answers to sensible questions why do they come on here?
As Ageing Fast says we do not know the circumstances of the person who asks a question, so let's not judge people , just let's keep a happy community on here. Life's too short to stress over the small things

[Saucer]

I too am like your Mother AF. Same age and do crosswords and quizzes. I meet a friend once a week and we spend an hour looking through our quizzes to see i we have solved any more since the previous week. Only came across the site by accident a few weeks ago and it has helped an ageing mind. Keep up the good work.
Saucer

[Nell]

Well said everyone - I agree that this is a helpful and friendly site in the main - also it is quite a source of amusement and interest to keep recognising the regular ABs who have such a wealth of general knowledge. The odd rude reply is really a minor problem and not worth worrying about. There is such a huge cross section of varying ages, abilities and knowledge that it is so inspiring to everyone. Kind regards to all of you - Nell

[wordyone]

If you don't get any answers, or the right answers, when you type in a Google search then have a think about the words you used and try using them in a different order, or different words to describe the same thing, or less words, etc. Just have a go and try things out. You get better with practice.
Some answers can also be found by looking things up in a dictionary or atlas without needing to use the Internet.