I consider myself a ‘teeming million’ because I’ve read more that 1/100th of Cecil’s responses in the Archives (and 'cause I know the definition of ‘teeming’). One thing, however, irked me. When would I find an ‘officially & recommened Cecilled’ link after one of his amazingly detailed (almost perpetual) answers to the millions (6 zeros) of swarming questions? I haven’t found one yet, that is why this message I am writing is more of a plea with a side order of petition than anything else; I’m asking you, fellow millions, to support me in the fight for links! It’s time Straight Dope expands its horizons! Ex. I read the response to “Where does the Vice President Live?” and was left with a question unanswered; what does his house look like? “BINGO!,” I said, “Maybe I should ask Cecil to be more liberal with links.” So, in conclusion, with no link…s…uh…strings attached, respond to this message if you support “Give me links, or give me death!”
Not knowing which column you are speaking of, I can’t exactly comment on whether a description of the house would have been necessary or helpful. Did the question include a request for the description? Considering that it is first a newspaper column (1) a link/URL won’t do much good if the person is reading the column in the Chicago Reader and doesn’t have access to a computer and (2) Cecil has to fit his column into the space alloted and thus may leave out information, however interesting it may be, that doesn’t directly address the question asked.
Is it just me who thinks this should go to the CCC forum with a link to the column in question?
Your Official Cat Goddess since 10/20/99.
Thunder’s just a noise, boys; lightning does the work. --C. Brock
Many of the more recent columns have links, but remember, Cecil has been answering questions for 27 years, so most of his columns appeared long before the Internet existed.
We should be grateful for the large number of complete columns that are available for free at this site. (If it were up to me, I would have ended each on-line column after a couple of sentences with “Want to know the rest of the answer? Well, here’s a link for buying the book. Have your credit card ready.”)
It’s too much to expect the Chicago Reader add and keep up-to-date links for hundreds of columns. Cecil isn’t going to do your homework for you–that’s what search engines are for. It took me about 2 minutes, using www.google.com to find a photograph of the Vice Presidential residence at: http://www.quaylemuseum.org/backup/triv.html
I believe my post went directly over your head. (1) To clear things up, the response I BRIEFLY spoke of can be located by doing the following: type www.straighdope.com in the address bar at the top of your screen, scroll down to “Search The Straight Dope Archive,” click on it, scroll down the screen (about 40% the way down stop), click on the question posted as “Where does the Vice President of the U.S. live?” It immediately follows “Do insects sleep?” It is directly before “What’s the busiest airport in the world?” (Both of which would have made perfect examples if I had chose not to us the VP one) (2) One rule of journalism is never to leave the reader with unanswered questions. Unless that rule does not apply to Cecil’s column, it does not matter whether or not the question required a description of the house. (3) Obviously, a newspaper does not expect just the person with the question to read Cecil’s column. So, even though the reader without the computer won’t have access, most readers will have access and would appreciate a little more effort on the part of the newspaper to ‘educate’ the ‘teeming millions.’ The computer, by the way, is a great tool. Why put limits on a limitless web by saying, e.i. because one person hasn’t a computer, we should take it out on the rest? (Oh, by the way, the reader without the computer could go down to the local library and read the online version there) (4) Online, my friend, Cecil does not have limits. And, of course, it doesn’t “directly address the question asked,” it does create a stir in the topic. Ex. If I ask, “Who was the first president of the U.S.?” A teacher responds, “George Washington.” But a great teacher responds, “George Washington was the first president. He was a general during the Revolutionary War, he was a Founding Father, and most important, he had wooden teeth.” (Remember, that is just one example among many) (5) If you would have payed attention, there was no need for your final question. “The column in question” was an example, and just an example. But, if you’d like to attach this post to the VP column, attach it to all of them without a link.
OK first of all the link is here. I think Kat has been around this board long enough to know how to look for a link, uppie.
Uh huh. Thank you William Randolph Hearst. By the way, it was Jill and not Cecil who fielded the question.
You’ll pardon me if I don’t join your crusade. The question that was asked was answered. In great detail I might add. Just because your somewhat related question wasn’t answered does not indicate a lack of journalistic integrity to me.
Don’t be such a lazy twit. Look it up yourself.
Gypsy: Tom, I don’t get you. Tom Servo: Nobody does. I’m the wind, baby.
If it was up to you, we’d all have small microchips in our heads, programmed to buy your book. What book did you write again?
It is not ‘too much to expect’ the Chicago Reader to keep up to date links to all the columns. You said it yourself, it only took you 2 minutes to search for an answer.
2 minutes/column times 200 columns = 400 minutes
400 minutes/60 minutes = roughly 6 h. 45 min.
If 7 extra hours of work a year is too much for them, I’ll do it, FOR THEM, for nothing. (We know that you’d charge money and ask them to purchase your book. What was the title again?)
Oh, one last thing, I never asked Cecil to do my homework. But, if he doesn’t do homework, why did Cecil do the homework of the guy who asked him where the Vice President lives. Explain that phenonemon, Mr. Paperback.
That was a very clever openning paragraph, Zulugene. But, if you would have read Kat’s response closely, she could not find a specific link. I, merely, directed her there.
It is fair to assume that I’m an not William Randolph Hearst. Why, you ask? Because I’m responding to your crude post. I would like to point out, however, Cecil is not Mr. Hearst either. I mention that because you seem to consider Hearst the standard for journalistic writing. Is he Mr. Never-makes-mistakes? Does he edit an entire newspaper in one bound? Nah, I don’t think so. (I bet you’re, now, wondering the same thing)
I don’t care whether or not your join my “crusade.” (It wasn’t designed for such genius’ as yourself, Betagene)
Don’t be such an ignorant fool. Stop reading between the lines.
OH, I almost forget, Alphafool, read the last sentence of my first post. You’ll be pleasantly surprised to learn that you’re an arrogant idiot.
Thankyou Alpha-beta-zulu-gene, I hope you enjoyed.
Boy, upstatic has a helluva way of introducing himself, doesn’t he?
Consider this, uppity: Everything on this site is absolutly FREE! If you need more information, go to a search engine. The internet is a research tool. Use it properly, and it will serve you well. The SDMB is also a research tool. Use IT properly (and treat those you meet here nicely) and it will serve you well.
And be glad no one took apart your style of writing.
I’d ask for this to be moved to the pit, but you’re not worth further effort.
“I drive way too fast to worry about my cholesterol.”
OK, I read her response closely, and yours to her. In all your posts here complaining about a lack of links, you post one link, and that’s to the Straight Dope homepage. Either you’re a tad hypocritical or you’re easily satisfied. I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt, and assume the latter. In which case, your original question should be satisfied with this universal Straight Dope link. Enjoy. Welcome to the Straight Dope.
The particular item referred to, about the VP’s sleeping arrangments, was not answered by Cecil, but by the Straight Dope Science Advisory Staff.
It is always difficult to know how much information to give and how much resource to cite. We are not trying to write college papers that need a huge bibliography. We are trying to give an answer to a question, plain and simple, and we usually do not try to answer all the other questions that could come up around it… although sometimes we do cover peripheral stuff.
In the case of the VP’s house, we could easily list a gazillion (q.v.) links to how the VP is elected, how DC was chosen as the site of the capital, who is the current VP, and where does the VP’s cat live. Our general feeling is that we are NOT a search engine, and we are NOT a replacement for individuals looking up stuff they find interesting, by themselves.
Also, my guess would be that the inside of the VP’s house is kept fairly secret for security reasons, as is most of the White House.
And finally, very often, the information we’re looking for is not necessarily online (or, to be more correct, we don’t necessarily look for it online.) We sometimes cite the book or magazine article, but not always.
Sorry, I did not feel like scrolling through the entire page of columns, reading each title, at 2:46 am, so I did a search of Classic Columns and Recent Columns and found nothing. Considering you specified Cecil’s Responses, why would I search the Mailbar Archives, which are not written by Cecil?
So now Cecil and the SDSAB are required to be mind readers of all SD readers? In any case, there’s an extremely large possibility that Cecil or the SDSAB may have gotten their information from these things called books and they can’t link to those.
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(3) Obviously, a newspaper does not expect just the person with the question to read Cecil’s column. So, even though the reader without the computer won’t have access, most readers will have access and would appreciate a little more effort on the part of the newspaper to ‘educate’ the ‘teeming millions.’ The computer, by the way, is a great tool. Why put limits on a limitless web by saying, e.i. because one person hasn’t a computer, we should take it out on the rest? (Oh, by the way, the reader without the computer could go down to the local library and read the online version there)
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So, only one person who read the SD column has no computer? But his/her local library does and has no usage restrictions? And none of the SD readers who do have computers can do further research (such as web searches) if they want to get information beyond what is offered in the column?
Yeah, but he only get paid to write one column a week. Not two.
No, a great teacher would say “George Washington was the first president. Go do research and find out what else he did and write a 20 page paper telling why that was important.”
I did pay attention. You feel that posting links to information not directly pertaining to a question being answered is important, but posting links to an example showing exactly what is to be commented upon is unimportant.
Your Official Cat Goddess since 10/20/99.
Thunder’s just a noise, boys; lightning does the work. --C. Brock
Well, this one is eventually going to wind up in the Pit. I can see that. But first I’m gonna send it to Comments on Cecil’s Columns. Partly because it is, and partly because I owe JillGat a favor for sending the lovely “Porn Stars and Viagra” thread. < g >
Maybe we can play “around the horn” with this one. Jill can send it to Mailbag, Dex can move it to GD, those guys will send it to MPSIMS, and then the Pit. Someone ask a question about how to link so we can get Tuba in on this.
But I haven’t been staring at a screen all day or anything…
Okay I see where upstatic is coming from but I also see the point of the opposition here. However, the one thing I would like to present is that Cecil really doesn’t even have to do what he does. I believe that he goes into plenty of detail in writing his columns. Often if he doesn’t have enough to fill his column he does go into seperate facts about the article so it sounds to me like your just mad that he didn’t answer YOUR question. But hey that’s what these boards are for…continuing the discussion. So upstatic if you really do care about what the vice president’s house looks like…ask! And oh yeah by the way if I asked a great teacher who George Washington was they would tell me George Washington was the first president. They (like Cecil) don’t do everything for you just because you ask. But if it’s in the lesson plans for today (just like if it’s in the column for today) they’ll explain it. And if not you can talk to the teacher (or us, Cecil, or one of the moderators) for more information.
Yeah, it took two minutes to address one related question. You’re assuming there is only one related question that the entire readership of the SD might have for each column. Not likely.
(back to the “great teacher” comment) Again, no great, good, or even adequate teacher is going to spoonfeed everyone all the information that they want or need to know, especially since no teacher can know all the information that someone wants or needs to know. (and back to the OP) The question that was asked was answered. Some questions not asked were also answered. It’s impossible to answer, or know, all the questions not asked. If your wasn’t, either ask it in the appropriate Comments forum or spend the two minutes or so to find it yourself.
Most of this has been covered in the thread, but I’ll repeat the gist of the answer, anyway.
Most SD columns in the archive were written before the internet was such a primary resource for information.
Cecil often gets info. (or simply KNOWS it) from sources other than the internet, even today. Can you believe it? Interviews, books, etc.
I wrote the Vice President’s House mailbag column, and did include a link for the source of some of my information. Other information I got from a book that did have a lovely picture of the house. I don’t remember the name of the book now, but I bet if you searched at your library, you’d find it. In the future, I’ll try to add those citations, too.
Jill