i dont get this. you ask a question. they say “you should search google before posting here” as if i broke some barrier of rudeness by daring to put a thread on here that can be found with some easy research. if you find a question so disgustingly obvious, nothing is requiring you to post there. grrr
Link?
You will occasionally get a snarky comment telling you “Google is your friend” which does indeed infuriate me. I happen to use Google a lot, and rarely have to ask a question that could be found through a basic Google search, but a lot of people aren’t that familiar with doing a good search. And seriously, we have GQ because people enjoy answering other peoples’ questions. I agree - if the only thing you have to contribute to the thread is “Google is your friend” then why bother at all? Five minutes after said snarky comment is posted, someone is going to come along with the answer anyway.
theres a link, although thats not a good example because the poster did answer my question. it still annoyed me that they had to include that little google comment.
Nope, that’s a great example. As I said, many people came in with an answer to your question - the Google comment didn’t need to be made. Especially when it’s a subject as technical and complex as XML - there’s no way you’re going to find good information just by doing a basic Google search. That’s where people come in - to give you nuanced info.
It would have annoyed me, as well.
Yeah! Fuck 'em all, man!
I think many questions need more than just a google search. For instance, I was once searching for info on comets and came across the Heaven’s Gate group. Real accurate info there, let me fuckentell ya!
It sometimes take a little insider knowledge to know which fucking gogglefucking resultenfucking is the correct fucking cite.
Fuckers.
Ahh thank you NCB for Pittifying this pitting.
I knew something was missin’.
What you should do is ANSWER THE QUESTION and then explain how you used google to find it (i.e. what search terms you used). Then the OP can learn two things in one day.
Anything else is a waste of bandwidth and time, or unnecessarily obnoxious.
Even that isn’t much good most of the time. You can throw all kinds of data and facts at a person, but it’s alot more helpful if there’s someone who can help make sense of it all. Knowing that E=MC[Sup]2[/Sup] is the theory of relativity does absolutely nothing to explain to me what the theory of relativity is.
I’m right with you, OP - these fucking ‘Nick Burns, Computer Guy’ nerds who constantly berate people for asking a simple question can kiss my ass. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve searched for the answer to a question, only to find twits saying, “Why don’t you Google it?”, and nobody answering the fucking question. Here’s the thing: I AM Googling it, and all I’m finding are snide comments, but no answers. IF YOU DON’T KNOW THE ANSWER - SHUT. THE. FUCK. UP.
Thank you. Don’t forget to buy some orange drink in the lobby on your way out.
[nitpick]E=mc[Sup]2[/Sup] is not the theory of relativity. It is one of the results of the Special Theory of Relativity.[/nitpick]
You should have Googled that. 
Google is a useful tool, no doubt about it and I don’t think it’s inappropriate to mention that in your answer, especially as some people are better at using it than others.
But in most cases, people ask questions here because they would like to discuss a matter with real live humans, beginning with a question - they probably don’t just want the question blandly and bluntly answered; Google is a search tool, not a discussion medium.
Short posts with links to search results can still be useful, as they can act as a springboard for other research by other contributors, but there are good and bad ways to present your results:
“I did a bit of Googling and found this, which you might find interesting or useful” = good.
“Why don’t you learn to use Google and stop wasting our time” = bad.
There are a few categories of question, however, when I’d say it is not entirely out of place to come back with a one-line ‘you really could have worked this out for yourself’ answer; urban legends, for example.
Nitpicking the nitpick: Special relativity deals with the case of no gravity. Whilst E=mc[Sup]2[/Sup] falls out of special relativity, it is a result that applies in general relativity also.
The linked example thread is a good one, particularly when googling unearths such illuminating snippets as:
Google is frequently not your friend, and neither are the people who wrote the above piles of bollocks.
Nitpicking the nitpicking of the nitpick: Well, Einstein published the Special Theory of Relativity first (1905), and derived the result E=mc[Sup]2[/Sup] there. The General Theory was published in 1916. Then again, in another way your nitpick is correct, because otherwise one could assume that E=mc[Sup]2[/Sup] is only valid in the special case, which disregards the effects of gravity. This is incorrect.
Just want to join the choir.
The SDMB is like the world’s favorite search engine only much better: instead of searching web pages, you search through the minds of brilliant people. And they’ll make jokes and tell you stuff from real life and generally entertain you. And never send you to porn sites with pop-up ads (well, almost never).
It’s Braingoogle!
Hey you two, get a room!!
Just wanted to pitch in my two cents too.
I really like hearing about people’s experiences with the things I’m asking about. Can’t get on Google.
Plus, I think that most of the people on the SDMB are reasonably sane, whereupon I can’t say for the people out there on the greater Internet!
Hey! Wait till we start on General Relativity, relativistic fluid dynamics, and quantum theory. 
I am going to try to frame a different perspective. I agree that just typing “Google is your friend” can be very obnoxious, but it depends on context.
There was an OP about seeing Julian Lennon’s drawing that led John to write “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.” I Googled it and found the picture at Snopes.com in about 10 seconds. I replied with what I did and the link and said “Google is your friend;” the original poster thanked me and smacked himself in the forehead. Bottom line - something that simple and obvious should be Googled first.
Also, when someone asks “What is XML?” it really depends on what they are really asking. A basic answer can be provided if a person Googles “xml” or some variant. The issue is that the OP is probably asking a more nuanced question. But until they do a little legwork on their own, they don’t know what they really want to know.
If the OP’er says, instead: "I am trying to find out more about XML. I Googled and found this and this (NOTE: not real links; just illustrative), and after reading those, I realize what I really want to know is X, Y and Z - then that OP’er has qualified their question and made it clear that they trying, but still need help.
It’s when an OP’er comes across as lazy and/or taking fellow Dopers for granted that a “Google is your friend” may be in order. However, it is obnoxious and perhaps fellow Dopers might instead consider something like “well, I found this via Google - does that help?” and let the OP’er take it from there…
I think it can be said though that (apart from the mods and admins who have some kind of obligation to read and/or act on posts) nobody should really complain that their time is being wasted.