Rick B....do you enjoy being rude?

[Cat]

I do not see you offer much help, but you are the first person to attack when
someone posts a question in the wrong forum or makes some other insignificant
mistake!

 

[Rick B]

Just don't want them to sit around and wait for an answer if they are in the
wrong group.

 

[Douglas J Steele]

Have you noticed the difference between how you do so, and how the rest of
us do though?

 

[Aaron G]

Cat,

Not to make light of your obvious frustration, but that subject line just
cracked me up. It's true that an off-topic post will often be quickly
redirected by Rick B. However, I see this as an overall service to the
newsgroup as a whole.

As somebody who uses this newsgroup frequently, I can appriciate that the
subject matter is (almost) entirely about Access. If I had to read through a
bunch of outlook, excel, and pottery questions I would simply not use the
forum and look elsewhere.

I don't want to speak for Rick, but if his responses seem curt, I'm assuming
it's because nothing else needs to be said. The off topic questions are
often very involved - much more so to the point of a quick response, and to
start responding in depth would be a disservice to the actually Access users
who are looking for Access answers. It would also be a disservice to the
original poster who could get a better response in the appropriate newsgroup.


As far as correcting small mistakes, I've seen (quite often) users posts
that simply do not make sense. They make sense to the poster because they
are the ones who posted them, but totally incoherent to anyone on the outside.

Again, as a frequent user of this newsgroup I've posted many questions that
have been answered fantastically by Rick B. I find it's knowledgable users
like him who make the newsgroup worthwhile. A newsgroup comprised entirly of
newbies would be a disaster!

That's just my opinion.

Aaron G
Philadelphia, PA

 

[Rick B]

Wow! Thanks, Aaron. Glad I could help at times.

 

[Cat]

I guess I am just one of those rare individuals who believes that treating
people decently has not gone out of style. It is not what you say, rather
how you say it (or write it, as the case may be) Have a Good Evening and end
of discussion.

 

[Aaron G]

Now that I take offense to.

I spoke ill of neither you nor Rick. I offered you a way of looking at your
situation in a positive light, yet you implied that I am not among those who
"believes that treating people decently has not gone out of style".

Your unwillingness to look at the situation from a different perspective and
your backhand attack to someone who would take time to attempt to help you
says volumes about you.

Also, those truly looking for what is right would always be open for more
discussion, and not demand that it is now "end of discussion" like one were
talking with a three year old.

Perhaps to find the rude one here you need go no further than your mirror.

Aaron G
Philadelphia, PA

 

['69 Camaro]

I do not see you offer much help

Ma'am (or should I call you mdavis, the name you usually go by in the Access
newsgroups?), you are _greatly_ mistaken. Please take a look at the
following Web page:

http://www.microsoft.com/office/com...S&guid=&sloc=en-us&dg=microsoft.public.access

Do you see all of those green check marks next to many of the replies?
Those are replies that have been marked as answers to the original poster's
question. Of the more than 1,000 people in the Access newsgroups who have
had their replies marked as answers to the question, Rick B is in the top
10. That means that he has answered more questions correctly and has helped
more people than _almost_every_ participant in these newsgroups, including
almost every Access MVP.

So if you don't see him offer much help, perhaps you need to look a little
deeper.

Have a nice day.
Gunny

See http://www.QBuilt.com for all your database needs.
See http://www.Access.QBuilt.com for Microsoft Access tips and tutorials.
http://www.Access.QBuilt.com/html/expert_contributors2.html for contact
info.

 

[mnature]

Thanks Rick. Appreciate you taking the time to redirect people who are lost.

Thanks Cat. Appreciate you bringing this up, so we could compliment Rick.

 

['69 Camaro]

Ma'am, I see that you read my earlier message identifying who you are. You
may change your profile name to "Frustrated" (we can see your previous posts
no matter which name you used):

http://www.microsoft.com/office/com...n-us&dg=microsoft.public.access&lang=en&cr=US

.. . . or you can change it back to mdavis or Cat or give any name you
please, and we can still see that it's you posting messages to the
newsgroups. However, an apology for trying to be so deceptive will go a
long way to keep you from getting plonked by those who might otherwise
gladly answer any Access questions you desperately need help with.

<Elsethread:>

I guess I am just one of those rare individuals who believes that treating
people decently has not gone out of style. It is not what you say, rather
how you say it (or write it, as the case may be) Have a Good Evening and
end of discussion.

Most of us consider honesty to be a part of treating people decently. Most
of us also consider dishonesty to be a much bigger transgression than being
rude. Or are you one of those rare individuals who believes that dishonesty
has not gone out of style? Or am I being rude to point out your dishonesty?

HTH.
Gunny

See http://www.QBuilt.com for all your database needs.
See http://www.Access.QBuilt.com for Microsoft Access tips and tutorials.
http://www.Access.QBuilt.com/html/expert_contributors2.html for contact
info.

 

[KARL DEWEY]

I guess Cat is one of those new kind of folks that think no one should ever
be told they are wrong or be corrected. It seems to be that is why so many
kids are not learning anything in school these days.

 

['69 Camaro]

Hi, Stephen.

Cat remarked that she doesn't see Rick B offering much help. On the
contrary. He has offered more help than most people have in the Access
newsgroups, and I pointed to quantitative evidence that is available for the
public to see as to just how significant his help has been.

the overwhelming majority of postings to the public MS NG's do not
originate from the Microsoft NG Web interface you are referring to.

If you check the number of posts since the beginning of this year in the 11
most popular of Microsoft's Access newsgroups, you will see that there are
32,053 posts that originated from Microsoft's Web newsreader and 44,047
posts that originated from elsewhere, so obviously the majority of posts are
submitted from elsewhere. However, 13,704 questions originated from
Microsoft's Web newsreader and 6,904 questions originated from elsewhere,
meaning 66.5% of questions posted in these Access public newsgroups have
come from Microsoft's Web newsreader so far this year, and these questioners
are the people who are marking answers. My point is that it's not just a
handful of people who can mark replies as answers to their questions that
are then displayed in Microsoft's Web newsreader, but it's a significant
majority of questioners who have an opportunity to mark anyone's replies as
answers. And those replies can originate from _anywhere_, not just from
Microsoft's Web newsreader, so no one is excluded from getting his reply
marked as an answer just because the reply wasn't submitted via the Web
interface.

My other point is that quite a significant number of those questioners chose
to mark Rick B's replies as answers to their questions because he gives
accurate answers so very often.

IMHO to state that Rick B's contribution, within any context, exceeds
almost every Access MVP, is misleading and innaccurate.

In the context of the number of people who found that a poster gave them a
correct answer to their questions and indicated this with a green check
mark, Rick B has more green check marks than almost everyone else who posts
in the Access newsgroups, including almost every Access MVP. (My most
recent statistics are more than a month old, so I'll gather the latest
numbers and post them later this evening. The numbers come from Microsoft's
database, so if you still believe that my assertion is misleading and
inaccurate when I post them, then please feel free to count them for
yourself, because the Web pages revealing all the posts marked as answers
since early June 2004 are available to the public.)

This certainly isn't the only context to measure a person's contribution to
the Access newsgroups. If you have another quantitative method available to
the public for measuring and comparing a poster's helpfulness with others'
Access newsgroup contributions, then please suggest it.

Finally, again IMHO, the only thing that has stopped Rick B from becoming
an MVP is the perceived attitude in some of his posts.

Thank goodness showing an occasional abrasive attitude didn't prevent
Microsoft from selecting or reselecting MichKa or Albert D. Kallal for the
Access MVP award. I'm sure all of us have learned a great deal from the
contributions of all three of them.

His talent and effort within the NG community is equal to many of the
MVP's.

I wholeheartedly agree. It's an accomplishment to be proud of. And one
that should be recognized.

HTH.
Gunny

See http://www.QBuilt.com for all your database needs.
See http://www.Access.QBuilt.com for Microsoft Access tips and tutorials.
http://www.Access.QBuilt.com/html/expert_contributors2.html for contact
info.

 

[david epsom dot com dot au]

question. Of the more than 1,000 people in the Access newsgroups who have

had their replies marked as answers to the question, Rick B is in the top
10. That means that he has answered more questions correctly and has
helped

Cool,

How do you get those statistics?

(david)

 

[TC]

OT, but, most of the posts that originate through MS's web interface,
do not appear in google groups. Often, I only see the replies to them.
Since I dislike MS's interface, & like google's much better, this is
really annoying :-(

TC (MVP Access)
http://tc2.atspace.com

 

[Frustrated]

I resent my name being brought into this childness behavior. Camaro '69
please check your facts and leave me out of the games.

 

[Frustrated]

And since I have no problem being rude just let me add that I post questions
to this newsgroup all the time, so the fact that I show having 40 posts is,
well, not a revelation. Grow up.

 

[Tony Toews]

Thank goodness showing an occasional abrasive attitude didn't prevent
Microsoft from selecting or reselecting MichKa or Albert D. Kallal for the
Access MVP award.

Michka was last an MVP a number of years ago in the 1997-1998 time
frame roughly. He was on the Access development team for A97 (his
name is in the credits.) and is currently back working for MS in the
area of internationalization.

I meet up with him once a year or so in Seattle.

Tony
--
Tony Toews, Microsoft Access MVP
Please respond only in the newsgroups so that others can
read the entire thread of messages.
Microsoft Access Links, Hints, Tips & Accounting Systems at
http://www.granite.ab.ca/accsmstr.htm

 

['69 Camaro]

Hi, Stephen.

According to the latest count of posts (as of yesterday evening) in 12 of
the most popular English-speaking Access public newsgroups since early June
2004, there are five Access MVP's who have answered more questions than Rick
B has, and the rest of the Access MVP's (current and former) have answered
fewer questions, as indicated by one or more of their replies in a thread
having been marked as an answer (green check mark icon) to the question
(brown question mark icon):

Rank Poster # Answers
---------------------------------------------
#1 Access MVP 1125
#2 Access MVP 963
#3 Access MVP 903
#4 Ofer 706
#5 Access MVP 648
#6 Access MVP 560
#7 Rick B 498
#8 Rick Brandt 476

As you can see, Rick B isn't the only non-MVP who has made a significant
effort in helpful contributions to the Access newsgroups.

Anyone who wants to is welcome to confirm the accuracy of the count of the
number of green check marks any poster has earned by reviewing Microsoft's
Web newsreader. One may start here:

http://www.microsoft.com/office/com...S&guid=&sloc=en-us&dg=microsoft.public.access

And the other 11 newsgroups can be navigated to by using the Web menu on the
left labeled "Access Database." Please note that I've used Microsoft's
criteria for counting, and Microsoft counts only one green check mark per
poster per thread as an answer to one question, despite whether or not
multiple replies from that poster were marked as answers to the question.
So one poster may have three replies marked as answers in the same thread,
but only one question has been answered by that poster, so that's what he
gets credit for: one answer.

HTH.
Gunny

See http://www.QBuilt.com for all your database needs.
See http://www.Access.QBuilt.com for Microsoft Access tips and tutorials.
http://www.Access.QBuilt.com/html/expert_contributors2.html for contact
info.

 

['69 Camaro]

Hi, David.

How do you get those statistics?

Query Microsoft's database to download the data, clean up the data, use ETL
algorithms to consolodate the data, then run the queries for reports. It's
tedious and it takes a while since the source database is across the
Internet, but Microsoft doesn't post the statistics. So it requires some
legwork for anyone curious, but it's one of the capabilities of a tool we
built for our customers.

HTH.
Gunny

See http://www.QBuilt.com for all your database needs.
See http://www.Access.QBuilt.com for Microsoft Access tips and tutorials.
http://www.Access.QBuilt.com/html/expert_contributors2.html for contact
info.

 

['69 Camaro]

Hi, TC

Since I dislike MS's interface, & like google's much better, this is
really annoying

Yes. It's incredibly annoying. I don't know why Google Groups doesn't save
the first post to its archive, although I'm sure that it can because the
rest of the news servers I've subscribed to keep these posts available for
two months or more. And I see other Web newsreaders showing these first
posts, too. Just not Google Groups, which is the best place to research
newsgroup threads.

HTH.
Gunny

See http://www.QBuilt.com for all your database needs.
See http://www.Access.QBuilt.com for Microsoft Access tips and tutorials.
http://www.Access.QBuilt.com/html/expert_contributors2.html for contact
info.