I have an Inspector Gadget page. It has tons of answers on it for questions you may have, plus a FAQs page. I still get the dumbest questions when the answers are on the page! For instance, “What is the name of the dog?” Or “What are Gadget’s gadgets?” There’s a page dedicated to what Gadgets he has, people! I swear, I think these people just think of an answer, search for an IG page, then just e-mail me without looking. With some of the dumbest questions I tell them to go back to the page and look. These idiots need to be self-reliant.
PS: This “peeve” of mine appeared on Pet Peeves of the Day mailing list. Just in case some of you recognize it.
I don’t make money off of them. If I wanted to advertise my site, I would have put the whole address on. I had to put that I run an IG site to write that people ask me about “the dog’s name” or what “Gadget’s gadget has.” And I put the Pet Peeves part just in case people do recognize it and don’t accuse me of copying off the list.
Anake, you don’t see anything odd about starting two threads in the pit within a matter of minutes of each other that not only mention a mailing list you apparently offer, but also reveals a new signature line containing personal contact information, that strikes you as self-promotion of a product or service?
I mean, why are bitching about people E-mailing you and then giving everyone and their brother a way to do just that?
I also get e-mailed dumb questions quite a bit. I have a page devoted to the (long-cancelled) show Cupid. People e-mail me and ask me what songs were on such and such episode. Hmmm… did you try the page marked “Music from the show”? Or they ask for information on obtaining episodes when one of the first things on my page is a clearly marked link to the tape trading page. Guest stars? Cast? It’s all on the page!
sigh
I get so happy when I get an e-mail asking a question to something I don’t have on my page already.
Sigh. First of all, when is it a crime to post two threads minutes of each other? Secondly, I’m not the only person in the world who has their ICQ and AOL IM number/screen-name in their sig. It’s not a new concept. You’re the first person who has ever complained about it. Third, the complaint was, originally, not about people e-mailing me dumb questions but people e-mailing me dumb questions that are on my webpage. I didn’t say, “I hate it when people e-mail me or contact me randomly. Just so you see I’m serious, I’m putting my ICQ and AOL IM information for you to see!” as you put it. You had to turn it into some tirade about “self-promotion.” And how I am I self-promoting a product? Because I mention a mailing list/webpage? I do not make money off of those, hell the mailing list isn’t even mine, I’ve mentioned that. I’ve also mentioned that if I were real serious about “self-promoting” I would HAVE PUT THE ADDRESS OF THE PAGE on the post, and the address of where to sign up to the mailing list. Plus, sorry for putting a quote in my sig from my favorite show. If that’s promoting, then call me guilty.
I get the same thing on webpages I’ve authored for destination weddings.
Q: “Where can I get married in Italy?” Um, how about looking at my links on Italy?
Q: “How do I write a Save-The-Date letter?” Uh, why not look at the example on my webpage?
I also get tons of vendors suggesting inappropriate links. I finally put a statement on my page explanining what sort of links I will make, and I put it right by my email address. I’d say my requests have dropped all of 1%.
A few months ago I started getting dozens of requests from Tawanese university students, all asking me to answer questions about wedding etiquette. Also other etiquette. Everything from “What does one wear to a wedding in Spain?” to “What would make a good gift for my friend who is getting married in America?” to “How does one behave at the dinner table when visiting a host family in another country?” Argh, I finally set an autoresponse for any/all emails from Taiwan. I can only assume that a lecture hall of students were given a link to my page as “someone to consult” for a class project. If you knew me, you’d know how hilarious it is to consider me any sort of authority on etiquette.
I have a file in my home directory that contains the following:
“Please read the Frequently Asked Questions page. Here is the URL: . . . If you still have questions after you have read the FAQ, do feel free to email me again.”
When I get a stupid question that’s on the FAQ: Reply. Include file. Send.
Ever so efficient.
I swear, there’s a significant segment of the population too damn dumb and/or lazy to do any research themselves. They have to have somebody else do the work and summarize it in Readers-Digest 5-second factoid pap-form presented on a silver platter for their very own edification before they can cram it through the tiny little hole into their tiny little brain.
If only I could find a way to get PAID to do this. . . what a sweet freakin’ job. I get to do all the interesting reading, then spend approximately two minutes of my precious time writing (in small words) what some goon wants to know. And imagine all the answers I’d know already.
Who’s Inspecter Gadget’s dog? Brain. That will be twenty dollars. Next?
Cnote: slap Snap out of it. People mention their websites on this board, as well as their ICQ numbers, all the time. Especially considering that s/he didn’t even include the damn URL, stop picking on Anake.
Anyway: Yes, Anake, that pisses me off. I have a website on Wicca and magick, and people were forever writing me, “can u send my a love spel PLEEEEZE!”
So finally, I went to the trouble of putting up a humorous explanation and clarification of why one shouldn’t do love spells. Guess what, the letters keep coming. (Now I just C&P the part of my page that I wrote.)
What a coincidence! I got an e-mail just now asking me “What was the dog’s name? Isn’t there a little girl on the show? Are you really Inspector Gadget?” Yes. People actually think I’m Inspector Gadget even though I put on the page that I am an 18 year old girl. I’m wondering if it’s a “trick” from someone who read my complaint. Could be, but then they asked if I was Inspector Gadget.
And you notice that the laziest people are the ones that type out like matt_mcl wrote: "can u send my a love spel PLEEEEZE!"
All I know is that I had the BBQ page up while I fiddled around with Internet Explorer. I see his first post pop up and decide to read it. I don’t respond and move on to other things. I then spot the second post with the added sig line. It struck me as being a strange coincidence given the topic of that thread.