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<blockquote data-quote="tarchon" data-source="post: 1405998" data-attributes="member: 5990">For people who claim that it doesn't matter to you whether the thing is useless, you sure seem to be mightily offended by the term.I've probably spent hundreds of hours over the years on dice problems, which are mainly useless.&nbsp; I accept that fact.&nbsp; I have no problem with stating it.&nbsp; It is however a fact.&nbsp; If I asked someone a complex question about it and they someone said to me, &quot;Why are you bothering with this?&quot;&nbsp; I wouldn't say &quot;how dare you say that, you jerk!&quot;&nbsp; I'd say something like what you just said, though without the little juvenile bit on the end.&nbsp; &quot;Yeah, I know, it's just something I want to mess with.&quot;Such posts as you complain about are indeed pretty common because it's pretty common for people who see other people doing things in very inefficient ways and then asking for help with it to mention that there could be better ways to do it, just in case the other person may happen not to be aware of effectiveness of the other ways.&nbsp; It's called &quot;trying to be helpful.&quot;If someone came up to me and said &quot;I was reading a book on ladders, and I've been trying to change this light bulb, and I'm wondering how many people it will take to turn the ladder,&quot; I would say &quot;well, professional bulb guys don't usually turn the ladder in most cases.&nbsp; They can usually kind of look at it and tell whether turning the ladder or turning the bulb would work best, and turning the ladder only works well in a few special cases.&nbsp; Really with that horizontal fluorescent bulb there, turning the bulb is probably going to be your best bet in any case.&quot;Then someone would say &quot;The ladder can be turned in same way as to remove the light bulb - I'll get to work on it when I have time.&quot;And I'd say &quot;Oh, yeah, of course you can do it that way, it's just that it's a very long and useless way of doing it.&quot;And someone would say &quot;shut up, you jerk.&quot;And I'd tell them in more direct terms why this is a bad way to do it, just to annoy them with direct terms.&nbsp; Some people are really annoyed by that, you know?&nbsp; Yeah, I guess you do.I'm kind of tempted to write a combinatoric solution to annoy you more, but that's probably enough for today.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="tarchon, post: 1405998, member: 5990"] For people who claim that it doesn't matter to you whether the thing is useless, you sure seem to be mightily offended by the term. I've probably spent hundreds of hours over the years on dice problems, which are mainly useless. I accept that fact. I have no problem with stating it. It is however a fact. If I asked someone a complex question about it and they someone said to me, "Why are you bothering with this?" I wouldn't say "how dare you say that, you jerk!" I'd say something like what you just said, though without the little juvenile bit on the end. "Yeah, I know, it's just something I want to mess with." Such posts as you complain about are indeed pretty common because it's pretty common for people who see other people doing things in very inefficient ways and then asking for help with it to mention that there could be better ways to do it, just in case the other person may happen not to be aware of effectiveness of the other ways. It's called "trying to be helpful." If someone came up to me and said "I was reading a book on ladders, and I've been trying to change this light bulb, and I'm wondering how many people it will take to turn the ladder," I would say "well, professional bulb guys don't usually turn the ladder in most cases. They can usually kind of look at it and tell whether turning the ladder or turning the bulb would work best, and turning the ladder only works well in a few special cases. Really with that horizontal fluorescent bulb there, turning the bulb is probably going to be your best bet in any case." Then someone would say "The ladder can be turned in same way as to remove the light bulb - I'll get to work on it when I have time." And I'd say "Oh, yeah, of course you can do it that way, it's just that it's a very long and useless way of doing it." And someone would say "shut up, you jerk." And I'd tell them in more direct terms why this is a bad way to do it, just to annoy them with direct terms. Some people are really annoyed by that, you know? Yeah, I guess you do. I'm kind of tempted to write a combinatoric solution to annoy you more, but that's probably enough for today. [/QUOTE]

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