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Re: "help" vampires

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Hi,

Besides, note that there was two lines of answers - (1) 'Apply' and (2)
'Sequence'-.  I remember to have read that " 'Sequence' is a very elusive
command"  (according to R. Maeders) which would mean that it is rarely  used
however is very useful though perhaps tricky ('elusive').   The only fact
that the criticized question raised some comments on it  would merit the
post. 

Probably it would be worthwhile to review what Maeders wrote about the
symbol in his "Programming in Mathematica". 'Sequence' was implemented in
Mathematica, though hidden, since the beginning and was not documented until
version 3.

Regards

-----Mensaje original-----
De: Leonid Shifrin [mailto:lshifr@gmail.com] 
Enviado el: lunes, 09 de mayo de 2011 12:20
Para: mathgroup@smc.vnet.net
Asunto:  Re: "help" vampires

Richard,

I am sorry, but this time you missed - the poster of the question that
prompted your reply has a good reputation on the group, and while the
question was simple, the post does not fall into any of the categories
discussed in the article you cite. I think that this time, your criticism
has been misplaced.

Cheers,
Leonid


On Sun, May 8, 2011 at 3:37 PM, Richard Fateman
<fateman@cs.berkeley.edu>wrote:

> There is an interesting article, relevant to this newsgroup, on the 
> topic of "help vampires".  http://slash7.com/2006/12/22/vampires/
>
> What are help vampires and how do help vampires damage mathgroup?
>
> One way is by asking a question that can be easily answered by looking 
> at the manual.
>
> Twenty well-meaning individuals respond with more or less identical 
> answers.
>
> And the vampire "thanks" everyone.
>
> Unknown numbers of individuals download/shuffle through the 22 messages.
>
> Draining the "life blood" of the newsgroup.
>
> In a moderated newsgroup, the moderator could either divert the 
> question or divert the (extra) answers, I suppose. Or after a suitable 
> warning, cutting off posting by that individual.
>
> Note that "help vampires"  are different from trolls or spammers.
>
> [Yes, Richard, this particular thread could have been shorter and I 
> will  try to find a way to avoid this when needed.  I always debate 
> with  myself on which posts I will not send out and especially if  the 
> answers differ even slightly.  As always, I sugest that  readers use 
> the newsgroup where they can avoid lots of emails -  Steve C  
> Moderator.]
>
>
> RJF
>

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Re: "help" vampires "E. Martin-Serrano" <eMartinSerrano@telefonica.net> - 2011-05-10 00:21 +0000

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