Well, on this date in 2006 I joined the TechSpot Community ! I have quadrupled my knowledge of technology/computers and I have all the members here to thank, and I thank you all .

Hey, congrats on the milestone. I think that your participation has been a win/win in that you have also helped many with your comments and advice.

Thank you ! I have been slightly inactive lately, but hopefully with the sumer now in full swing, I'll be a lot more active :unch: !

Its helpful. But with everything it has a focused benefit, I think a majority of the good that comes from this site goes to people with average to slightly above average computer knowledge. I say average and not below because you can't be completely clueless or you wouldn't know to seek out techspot for help. But I think once you reach a certain level of knowledge your chances of getting help here are not as high as they were when you had less knowledge.

I learned almost all of my hardware troubleshooting from people on here and trial and error. So now if I have a problem with hardware I'm less likely to get a response that 'solves' the problem. But that isn't to say posting about it here is worthless, because some good still happens, you still get the interaction from bouncing the ideas off others and even if they don't tell you exactly what is wrong, you may think of a different thing to do to test. I'm just saying the chances of someone nailing the problem right away are much lower than they would have been with me posting 7 years ago.

I think that is going to happen whoever you are and wherever you go, you can never learn everything there is to learn. Probably most people that have over 1500-2000 posts have already gone up the learning curve and are going to learn less from this site in the future than they did in the past.

Why the poll? Probably aren't going to get any "no", and if someone does vote no, then I wonder why they are still here.

SNGX1275, I think that you have hit on a very normal process, be it on a forum, at the office, in a club, etc. When someone first joins a 'group' they receive much more benefit from the experience and wisdom of longtime members than they provide to anyone else. Over time, these newcomers become the senior members of the group and 'give back' to the newer members. Of course, some wizards jump right in and become 'elder statespeople' right away, but I am talking about the average member of a group.

Then there are folks like me: jack of all trades, master of none. Don't learn much, don't help much, just kind of exist and socialize. ;-)

Right. I was trying to word it in such a way that nobody would get their panties in a bunch about it.

You might all hit me for saying this, but I think that I can't remember EVER being helped on this site.

That's because when I have a problem I try to work it out for myself or google it or read a book or something. And, to tell the truth, the sorts of questions I have right now couldn't be answered by anyone here probably, sorry.

Helping people on the other hand, that's different. I really like to do that if I can. I'll take questions from anyone at any stage and answer them gladly.

Come on Phant.....don't you remember that dilemma you were having a year or so ago? I think it was boxers vs. briefs!!!

{runs like hell}

Heheheh.... and what advice did you give again? Going commando was it?

Definitions of go commando on the Web:

* Going commando (or to go commando) is the phenomenon of not wearing underwear under one's outergarments in public.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_commando

i know what you mean, SNGX1275, and agree with it but the thing is, and what's kind of happening with me is that you learn a lot from places like this then you can help other people with your experience. also there's always going to be new hardware and software coming out all over the place so there's a never ending stream of things to learn about. a bit like NetCablesPlus said, i know a fair bit about a lot of things but couldn't be a mod of a particular forum. not that i'm saying i know everything and should be a mod though haha

a bit like cfitzarl though, i've learnt so much from posting on here and just trial and error myself, with a bit of googling trown in because chances are somebody else has had the same problem as you, unless you're using windows vista hahaha

I just put that in there to "liven" the thread up .

Ha, easy to say that now that the old Jawbreaker and ubb boards are long gone and nobody can look

It is fairly rare that I ask a question, and when I do, I usually end up solving the problem myself before I get an answer here.

I do sometimes ask questions, but only when I can't find the answer myself. I can often find it by Googling, sometimes a little, sometimes a lot. Trial and error sometimes plays a part as well. And hey, I did learn a lot from being on TS and reading all the helpful stuff that people posted. I'll have to work awhile yet to reach the point where TS doesn't help anymore.

I have to agree with you, I'm often surprised how many people on here refuse to use Google to solve their simplistic problems. I hardly ever ask for help because most of the stuff I do can be solved with a quick search on the Apple Developer Connection or Google, but I do sometimes ask for brand advice or just opinions on a case or PSU or something.

I do love sticking around just to help people out, so thats why I'm still here.

Usually if I have a problem, I'll google it or search the threads here; but if I can't find the issue, I'll post it . Many of the threads I do create are in the Meeting Spot for entertainment !

Well said. I've been reading to see how others approach system issues and just
how different techniques can be used. I've found some are very useful, others not so.
After many years in the industry, I still find things to learn -- especially in Windows
with such a massive, heavy weight architecture (in the code implementation).

I have seen many threads where the poster said Google search got them here.

You have a point there Mictlantecuhtli :unch: !

wELL CONGRATS!

AND I DONT THINK THAT WE WOULD BE USING TECHSPOT IF IT WASNT HELPFUL.

Hiya,congratulations cfitzarl,i've been here for 6 monthes and the date is around the date i joined.