# Jinx, for God's sake make an effort! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 16, 2008, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jinx-for-gods-sake-make-an-effort/460200 "2008-08-16T05:37:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2008, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jinx-for-gods-sake-make-an-effort/460200/1 "2008-08-16T05:37:00Z")
Listen, I understand that GQ answers can be especially helpful, often containing insights and examples that aren’t to be found in more typical (re)sources. That being said, **Jinx** my lad, at least make _some_ effort to figure out the answer yourself. And, you know, if the question you have is obscure, or vague to the point that you know in advance that researching it yourself will be futile, no problemo - go ahead and ask it in GQ. But tell me, exactly how and why is the question “[What Country Is This](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=478772)” so obscure or difficult that it needs to posed in GQ? Especially when it arises from, “Watching the Olympics, the announcers too quickly announced some tiny country between Spain and France. Any clue what country this is?” That is not a question that will require any deep explanation to answer or particular insight. You’re looking for a simple, isolated, well-defined fact. You could have found the answer in less time than it took you to type your OP. What can I say about this gem: “[Age of Phelps . . . and Spitz?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=479490)” Were you serious? There again, the answers you were looking for are simple, uncomplicated facts. There was going to be nothing to gain by asking other Board members to answer for you. The text of your OP said: “I was just wondering if Phelps is about the same age as Spitz when he won so many gold medals at one Olympics (1972?)”. Can you not do grade 3 arithmetic? Then, again today, you did it again: “[What is astigmatism . . . does it distort images](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=479389)”? Gimme a break. If, despite having God knows how many millions of internet pages out there in front of you, you still need to ask if astigmatism can distort vision it means you’ve, yet again, not done any “research” on your own. And, when I say “research”, I don’t mean poring over PubMed but, rather, doing the most elementary Google search. We have a rule in GQ that we won’t, and don’t, do people’s homework for them. **Jinx** , what you’re doing is worse than trying to get others to do your homwork - you are exploiting the good will of your fellow Dopers (and that’s after being a Board member since 1999!) You are also making yourself look like a total ass. So, here’s an idea: Make an effort. Next time there’s a fact you’re looking for, gather your strength and your smarts, go to [www.google.com](http://www.google.com) and type in your question. D’ya follow? ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2008, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jinx-for-gods-sake-make-an-effort/460200/2 "2008-08-16T05:46:44Z")
It’s because he’s jinxed. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2008, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jinx-for-gods-sake-make-an-effort/460200/3 "2008-08-16T06:01:11Z")
I appreciate the OP but it’s a lost cause. Simply said, **Jinx** doesn’t give a shit and never has. This comes up in the Pit once a year or so and nothing ever changes. People just need to stop answering **Jinx** ’s OPs if we want it to stop. There are a handful of regular posters who I don’t like all that much and annoy the crap out of me. I will still answer their GQ or IMHO posts if I feel like I can be any help. The one exception is **Jinx**. She does nothing but ask stupid lazy questions to my knowledge has made zero effort to give anything back. ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2008, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jinx-for-gods-sake-make-an-effort/460200/4 "2008-08-16T06:11:23Z")
Ah yes. S/he also recently asked the extremely obscure and difficult-to-research question, [When did Toy Story debut?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=473727) At least this one led to an interesting “which is your favorite Pixar movie?” discussion. I can’t imagine asking such questions without doing some basic searching first. Bad enough to be ignorant (which isn’t always shameful, after all – we’re all ignorant of _some_ things until we learn about 'em); but displaying this level of laziness is _really_ embarrassing. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2008, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jinx-for-gods-sake-make-an-effort/460200/5 "2008-08-16T06:16:19Z")
When Jinx was a kid… a google killed his dad. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_fight\_the\_hypothetical](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/59ef9b/32.png) [@Don\_t\_fight\_the\_hypothetical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_fight_the_hypothetical)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2008, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jinx-for-gods-sake-make-an-effort/460200/6 "2008-08-16T06:45:40Z")
[QUOTE=KarlGauss] So, here’s an idea: Make an effort. Next time there’s a fact you’re looking for, gather your strength and your smarts, go to [www.google.com](http://www.google.com) and type in your question. D’ya follow? [/QUOTE] :dubious: What is this “google” thing you speak of and how would one access it? ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2008, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jinx-for-gods-sake-make-an-effort/460200/7 "2008-08-16T07:28:41Z")
Lazy? Perhaps. But I don’t feel that it’s necessary to try to force a change in her behavior. We aren’t limited to so many threads per month or anything. If people want to ask easily-googled questions, then those who are opposed can just not answer. Those of us who don’t mind it as much will answer the question and then have a lovely discussion about Pixar movies or whatever topic the thread gets hijacked with. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2008, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jinx-for-gods-sake-make-an-effort/460200/8 "2008-08-16T07:38:58Z")
[QUOTE=hajario] I appreciate the OP but it’s a lost cause. Simply said, **Jinx** doesn’t give a shit and never has. [/QUOTE] I had never really noticed **Jinx** ’s GQ questions until the Phelps/Spitz thread mentioned by the OP. It struck me at the time as particularly pointless. M general rule of thumb is that anyone thinking about starting a GQ thread should at least do some very basic searching before posting. If your question has a non-complicated solution, and can be answered by the very first Google hit, or by a single Wikipedia entry (those two things are often the same), then don’t tax the hamsters and the patience of other Dopers. All three examples mentioned in the OP seem to fall into that category. I guess that when someone has about 5,500 posts, and well over 1,000 of those (!!!) are GQ OPs, it suggests a certain penchant for letting others do the heavy lifting. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2008, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jinx-for-gods-sake-make-an-effort/460200/9 "2008-08-16T12:48:42Z")
Last night I almost started a thread in Cafe Society because I was thinking about a song I had heard years ago on a classical music station, but didn’t think I had enough info to find it online. All I could remember was that it was two female singers meowing at each other. Before starting the thread, I decided to take a shot at it anyway. Googling “cat duet” quickly revealed that it was “Duetto Buffo di due Gatti” by (or at least credited to) Rossini, as well as a number of youtube videos of various performances. I generally don’t notice who does it, but I am always fascinated by the number of times I’ve seen a question that could be answered, as **mhendo** pointed out, by a simple Google or Wikipedia search. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2008, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jinx-for-gods-sake-make-an-effort/460200/10 "2008-08-16T13:26:29Z")
[QUOTE=hajario] I appreciate the OP but it’s a lost cause. Simply said, **Jinx** doesn’t give a shit and never has. This comes up in the Pit once a year or so and nothing ever changes. People just need to stop answering **Jinx** ’s OPs if we want it to stop. There are a handful of regular posters who I don’t like all that much and annoy the crap out of me. I will still answer their GQ or IMHO posts if I feel like I can be any help. The one exception is **Jinx**. She does nothing but ask stupid lazy questions to my knowledge has made zero effort to give anything back. [/QUOTE] Exactly my sentiments. \*\*Jinx \*\*and **ralph124c**. The latter may be an idiot or a troll or both. As long was someone keeps feeding them, they’re going to belly up to the trough. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2008, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jinx-for-gods-sake-make-an-effort/460200/11 "2008-08-18T22:22:22Z")
It astonishes me that there are still people who just won’t spend a few minutes searching when literally a world full of information is literally at their fingertips. But their enablers have established that it’s rude to even suggest to these people that Google would have turned up the answer in short order. ---
**Author:** ![RedSwinglineOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a9adbd/32.png) [@RedSwinglineOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedSwinglineOne)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2008, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jinx-for-gods-sake-make-an-effort/460200/12 "2008-08-18T23:06:43Z")
If it bothers you, you can send him/her this link. [just fuckin google it.](http://www.fuckinggoogleit.com/) > [@](#): > > Google Is Your Friend > All Smart People Use Google > It Appears That You Are Not One Of Them > [@](#): > > Someone thinks you are an idiot because you were too stupid to check Google before asking a question. They gave you a link to this site as a joke. The fact that you followed it pretty much proves the point. > > Hope that helps. > > Have a nice day. I personally don’t have any problem skipping over posts that don’t interest me, but I rarely pay enough attention to posters names to notice these kind of trends. ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2008, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jinx-for-gods-sake-make-an-effort/460200/13 "2008-08-18T23:37:39Z")
[QUOTE=Don’t fight the hypothetical] :dubious: What is this “google” thing you speak of and how would one access it? [/QUOTE] Surely you could have done a simple AltaVista search before you asked this? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2008, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jinx-for-gods-sake-make-an-effort/460200/14 "2008-08-18T23:52:12Z")
[QUOTE=Bryan Ekers] When Jinx was a kid… a google killed his dad. [/QUOTE] You mean he was…Googlewhacked? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2008, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jinx-for-gods-sake-make-an-effort/460200/15 "2008-08-19T04:37:38Z")
[QUOTE=Inner Stickler] Lazy? Perhaps. But I don’t feel that it’s necessary to try to force a change in her behavior. We aren’t limited to so many threads per month or anything. If people want to ask easily-googled questions, then those who are opposed can just not answer. Those of us who don’t mind it as much will answer the question and then have a lovely discussion about Pixar movies or whatever topic the thread gets hijacked with. [/QUOTE] It is, however, against GQ Rules, listed in the sticky at the top of the forum page, as I noted in one of the threads linked to in the OP. > [@](#): > > 1. Please take some time to consider if your proposed thread is really a General Question . . . Perhaps more importantly, many queries can be solved with a simple web search. Please give your favorite search engine a shot if you can before starting a thread. The problem with inane and stupid questions, such as the ones **Jinx** frequently asks, is that they may bump more interesting questions off the front page. Admittedly, we don’t generally enforce this rule much, and allow many such questions to slide. Most posters (at least long-term ones) don’t do it very often. But **Jinx** has made such a persistent practice of it, I may just start locking such threads when I see them, as I did to one in the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Mbossa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@Mbossa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mbossa)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2008, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jinx-for-gods-sake-make-an-effort/460200/16 "2008-08-19T05:28:26Z")
You’re in for it now, **Jinx**. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2008, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jinx-for-gods-sake-make-an-effort/460200/17 "2008-08-19T16:56:11Z")
Thank you, **Colibri**. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2008, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jinx-for-gods-sake-make-an-effort/460200/18 "2008-08-19T17:04:19Z")
[QUOTE=LurkMeister] Last night I almost started a thread in Cafe Society because I was thinking about a song I had heard years ago on a classical music station, but didn’t think I had enough info to find it online. All I could remember was that it was two female singers meowing at each other. Before starting the thread, I decided to take a shot at it anyway. Googling “cat duet” quickly revealed that it was “Duetto Buffo di due Gatti” by (or at least credited to) Rossini, as well as a number of youtube videos of various performances. I generally don’t notice who does it, but I am always fascinated by the number of times I’ve seen a question that could be answered, as **mhendo** pointed out, by a simple Google or Wikipedia search. [/QUOTE] I had a pretty similar experience–the first time I heard “Young Folks” by Peter, Bjorn and John, all I could remember from the song was that it had whistling and bongos in it. I asked in my LJ if any of my friends might know that song, and someone found it by googling something like song whistling bongos and sending me a Youtube video asking if that was it. I was pretty damned impressed. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2008, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jinx-for-gods-sake-make-an-effort/460200/19 "2008-08-19T20:15:32Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] Exactly my sentiments. \*\*Jinx \*\*and **ralph124c**. The latter may be an idiot or a troll or both. As long was someone keeps feeding them, they’re going to belly up to the trough. [/QUOTE] I’m glad you brought **ralph124c** up. He is the only poster that starts more threads than **BG** , but the bulk of ralph’s Ops and posts makes me think of his his namesake on the Simpsons. I haven’t noticed \*\*Jinx \*\* as much, but there are times when ralph just writes an op for any little thing that crosses his excuse for a mind. ---
**Author:** ![muttrox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a8b319/32.png) [@muttrox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muttrox)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jinx-for-gods-sake-make-an-effort/460200/20 "2008-08-20T12:14:59Z")
The [latest](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=480230) wasn’t so great either. Cutting and pasting his own subject of his own thread in Google gives the answer. If you can type “Internet Explorer: Where did my bar go?” in SDMB, you can type it in Google. [http://www.google.com/search?q=Internet+Explorer%3A+Where+did+my+bar+go%3F&sourceid=navclient-ff&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1B3GGGL\_enUS241US242](http://www.google.com/search?q=Internet+Explorer%3A+Where+did+my+bar+go%3F&sourceid=navclient-ff&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1B3GGGL_enUS241US242) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jinx-for-gods-sake-make-an-effort/460200.md?page=2)