Problem Why be a ...?

[Chris LXXIX]

There's the "search" option, and that exist, in Forums, for a good reason. There's "old" (are those really old, btw?) threads about, where "you" can learn a lot, but really a lot, and from top notch keepers/breeders, but, at the same time, i love to interact "first hand" with people asking for an advice, with my experience, if i can, obviously. Talking, discussing about, that's IMO the essence of a (worldwide) community. I'm not "annoyed" a bit, in that.

Not always the "Use the search function" helps people.

 

[Vanessa]

You know what I have learned over the years? Most people who have tarantulas shouldn't have them... period. The problem is that they do and, judging by the amount of selfies with a tarantula on your face, the wrong people having them isn't going away any time soon.
People want instant answers for everything and the internet has taught people that they can expect that. I'm old school where you actually had to get on a bus and get yourself to a library if you wanted answers, so I am just as annoyed over lazy people as the next person. I agree that google is your friend and I use that line a lot when it comes to many topics.
But none of that changes the fact that if you alienate people from this forum with the egos and the complaints - the tarantula will ultimately pay the price by being neglected. And I would rather that not happen. You also turn a lot of new comers off who might truly be in it for the long haul and will benefit the community a great deal in the future.
There is more at stake than some old timers being annoyed.

 

[Chris LXXIX]

You know what I have learned over the years? Most people who have tarantulas shouldn't have them... period. The problem is that they do and, judging by the amount of selfies with a tarantula on your face, the wrong people having them isn't going away any time soon.
People want instant answers for everything and the internet has taught people that they can expect that. I'm old school where you actually had to get on a bus and get yourself to a library if you wanted answers, so I am just as annoyed over lazy people as the next person. I agree that google is your friend and I use that line a lot when it comes to many topics.
But none of that changes the fact that if you alienate people from this forum with the egos and the complaints - the tarantula will ultimately pay the price by being neglected. And I would rather that not happen. You also turn a lot of new comers off who might truly be in it for the long haul and will benefit the community a great deal in the future.
There is more at stake than some old timers being annoyed.

You are right, Lady. I'm old enough, 37 years (not so old for someone tough, lol) for remember how things worked during the 'old school' years (i'm talking here, now, in Italy).

IMO that 'selfie' & social mania is a plague

I'm always happy if i can (the only 100% true thing i've learned in 25 years of Theraphosidae keeping is: i have to learn) help someone, especially if he/she is a in good faith one. They are the future of the hobby.

We love & care for wild, untamed, "primitive" animals older than the world, knowledge & sharing is the key that will give benefits to all of us, no matter.

 

[The Snark]

A LOT of good information is offered on this thread. For what it is worth, my sincere thanks to those posting.

The search function. Yes, it sucks. And yes, Google is more functional. Even more capable of finding info from AB forums than ABs native search engine. But then, Google sucks too. Paid advertising sites and personal recorded preferences, your browsing history, always get first priority.
I'm a researcher. I believe it would be safe to say I do more searches than anyone else on this forum on the average day. Probably more than the entire active population of AB combined. I use Google too, but very rarely. Research demands unbiased information, if you want unbiased results. Google is an ass kisser, a sycophant, telling you what you want to hear. Narcissist. My wife is a Google slave. She goes frantic when she can't find the Google search bar which is hidden on these computers. She gets -good enough- responses and accepts what they puke in her direction.

Some search tricks to consider.
I use non tracking search engines. Check these out. http://www.howtogeek.com/113513/5-alternative-search-engines-that-respect-your-privacy/
I use all five plus several others. My preferred search engine is based upon a program written in the internet's prehistoric past, Lynx. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynx_(web_browser)
When doing research I will open several browser windows. Searches operate by keywords and use priorities. So I type my query in using different words or the same words in different orders. Then I scan. A form of speed reading that only comes with practice. This hovers mid way between science and art form.
For example, I needed info on the Cherenkov (Cerenkov) effect/radiation a few minutes ago. I got the ballpark hits and now have around 35 web pages open. Sift and sort. Get the general idea what I want, discard garbage (mostly what Google has thrown at me) and now have enough data to pose a question to a group of scientists at Cal Tech that will peak their interest and keep me from sounding like an idiot.
Quite a difference between my searches and the limited AB search engine, yes? It's up to you and how much effort you want to put out.

But we can't expect the amateur T enthusiast to go to this trouble. In the internet world of instant gratification, most of the effort I put into Cherenkov gets glopped together in the form of a posting, asking for help.
If you think about that, this is a sincere compliment. You the AB persons reading the posting have replaced all that tedious morass of technical research. You can be a d***, be curt, answer politely as best you can, or even do the research for the person. And always try to keep in mind, your personal experiences have great value. Often more useful than ultra technical white papers.

 

[The Snark]

By the way.... Are you a slave? Do you bow before your lord and master when you open your web browser?
If your search bar is Google, you are.

In Firefox, on the little search bar there resides a little magnifying glass. I click on mine. My wife does not like to do this. It makes her want to crawl under the sofa and hum complex one note tunes to herself.
Upon clicking a box opens up with ... about 120+ icons. Maybe 30 search engines, raw web searches, another 30 or so technical search engines that only deliver specifics like science, 12 (I think) dictionaries in various languages, 4 etymology sources, a morass of specific web pages like Wiki, a few thesaureses?, various translators, common synonyms/antonyms and so on pages and you get the picture. And Google search. It's icon is now a hand extending the middle finger and it's name is ПОЛОВОЙ АКТ ДОЛОЙ

 

[Vanessa]

In Firefox, on the little search bar there resides a little magnifying glass. I click on mine. My wife does not like to do this. It makes her want to crawl under the sofa and hum complex one note tunes to herself.

I have about two dozen custom search engines under that little magnifying glass and I do use them. I confess that I don't use them as often as google, though. I have bookmarked your link to the other search engine options, thank you for that very useful information. When I did a recent search using DuckDuckGo, that I had recently done using google, I came up with exactly the same results. I'm sure that is not always the case so I will consider using the others more often.

 

[The Snark]

Let's clarify this 'Search Engine' thing.

You walk into a public library. The largest most comprehensive library in the world by far. You go up the the main desk and you ask a librarian to help you find some information. The librarian the majority of people ask is corporate sponsored and gets a little dose of money every time s/he takes you down the aisles to his/her preferred selections. This is Google search at work.

The word 'search' is a misnomer. It's a function like going through a card catalog. But the internet information is far larger than what is in that catalog. You do not need it. You can go directly to the reference section. The popular magazine section. Wherever.

You can plug a couple hundred dictionaries or other reference sources into that search bar instead of a search engine. Most web pages have their own internal search engines. Why not use them instead? Most technical research, publications, journals, and the like have their own search engines and specifically avoid being listed on the popular search engines.

Build your own search criteria. Even if you get several million hits with a Google search, the majority of what is barfed at you is popular tripe. So bypass the bought and paid for middleman.

For example, I have a spider search I often use. Well, a couple dozen. One I use often has keywords +crawford +vetter +jaeger in various formal notations.

Other searches can be specific. The technical Latin name instead of the popular name will often eliminate a ton of garbage and deliver the real deals.

The fact of the matter is with many questions asked today on the internet, if you have the knowledge and acumen, you can get the answer yourself without paid corporate sponsors bloating your databases and diverting you to what they want you to read.

PS I had a little toy program I ran for a while, written by some friends. StripThatB****. Run a search like with Google then run that program. It finds every hit that has advertising and/or corporate sponsorship and replaces it with -STRIPPED-. You would not believe what a Google search looks like after that treatment!

 

[Spidermolt]

OK so thank you to the many people that have helped me out past few days, there's just one thing that I don't understand, as far as um aware this site is used for general discussions between hobbyists and answering questions people have about tarantulas...so...why are there a number of total ballbags that have to rant and rave at me and others for beeing new, I am sorry if my questions offend anyone but I was told by numerous people to fire away my questions, so I have, I came here to gain knowledge not get mouthed at if I wanted a rant ID of asked the Mrs or mother...just please answer people questions but no need to get heated because they're / I'm new ...I was in the army four years I don't have a go at you for not knowing certain skills and drills so don't have a go at me...please

Thank you

So the only thing that I have read in this thread was your question and your question only without reading any other replies... So with that being said I will put my entire reputation from this website on the line. PLEASE look at my post of '"Sick of petco abusing their animals". Honestly and in no offense whatsoever to anyone am I in any type of Peta group or anything but you will see how I just wanted to show how large companies abused their animals but it quickly turned into a huge insult of how I'm a irresponsible owner just for buying a tarantula (it's doing fine now) from them like hundreds of thousands of other people in the entire world do every day and how (off topic) within the same thread people aggressively harassed me at my profile pic just because I took a picture of a T Sp. when it crawled onto my hand and I thought it would be interesting to take a picture at that moment because you know "when ever will I get that chance again.". I have owned animals my entire life and I've been keeping invertebrates including tarantulas for over ten years but even now if I have even a simple question I will risk the chances of insulting remarks. So in short some people on this website want to sound professional enough to the point that they're above you just so that they can belittle you like any where else on the web; Try and not let anybody get the best of you and I'm sorry if anyone has been giving you any hard time but I will honestly help you the best I can if you ever need any help because that's what this website is all about.

-your helpful friend,
Spidermolt

 

[The Snark]

This chewing on people. It's strange, weird even. I can't fathom it.
As a cop I got a radio call to watch for a certain car. As luck would have it I spotted it in less than a minute and pulled it over, just flashing my high beams. They were doing maybe 50 in a 65 zone wide open highway with light traffic. Approaching the driver I never had a chance to say a single word. Every imaginable hate filled comment about cops got blown at me from all 4 occupants of the vehicle. I mean, a solid 10 minutes. From me personally to everything cops had ever done wrong.

Take it back 20 minutes earlier. Some patrons of a cafe saw a dog make an escape from the car at the last moment. The occupants didn't notice and drove off. They managed to corral the dog as a CHP came up for his afternoon break and they told him. The CHP in turn called my dispatch which in turn radioed me: Tell the vehicle they left their dog behind.

A little tolerance, patience and understanding can go a long way.

 

[Lander9021]

So basically what people are saying is ignore the ballbags ask your questions but make sure that isn't something that is asked 365 days a year, got it, @Chris LXXIX your advise is always informative and your funny..never a negative e post from you so thanks.

 

[cold blood]

So basically what people are saying is ignore the ballbags ask your questions but make sure that isn't something that is asked 365 days a year, got it, @Chris LXXIX your advise is always informative and your funny..never a negative e post from you so thanks.

Yup that's it, if you feel someone is being antagonistic, just don't even respond and laugh it off.

As for @Chris LXXIX , consider yourself lucky, this guy is mean to me all the time, I think he's in the mob Sorry, don't kill me Chris

 

[Chris LXXIX]

As for @Chris LXXIX , consider yourself lucky, this guy is mean to me all the time, I think he's in the mob Sorry, don't kill me Chris

I'm always prone in real life to offer shady acts at a very reasonable price

 

[cold blood]

I'm always prone in real life to offer shady acts at a very reasonable price

Yeah you've been trying to choke me on cheap lollipops for a good year now

 

[Iska]

One silver lining I'm always trying to remind myself of is that at least they are asking questions/ asking for help now instead of never.

 

[Casey K]

OK so thank you to the many people that have helped me out past few days, there's just one thing that I don't understand, as far as um aware this site is used for general discussions between hobbyists and answering questions people have about tarantulas...so...why are there a number of total ballbags that have to rant and rave at me and others for beeing new, I am sorry if my questions offend anyone but I was told by numerous people to fire away my questions, so I have, I came here to gain knowledge not get mouthed at if I wanted a rant ID of asked the Mrs or mother...just please answer people questions but no need to get heated because they're / I'm new ...I was in the army four years I don't have a go at you for not knowing certain skills and drills so don't have a go at me...please

Thank you

No question is a dumb question. It only increases one's knowledge.

 

[Ellenantula]

I agree with using search function. It helped incredibly when I first got my ball python and bearded dragon (researching in other forums). You own an animal.... do your research or leave yourself open to criticism for not researching first. Most questions HAVE been asked before. I tend to read hundreds of threads before ever posting a question. Google is amazing for finding message board answers (here and elsewhere).

 

[Trenor]

I've also seen a lot of repetitive posts on simple stuff. If that bugs you and your tired of answering those question just leave it. Simple questions can be answered by a lot of people on here. Someone will answer it.

I agree, people do want instant answers out of laziness a lot of times. Sometimes it is out of urgency though. Say I'm really new to the hobby and I noticed something wrong with my tarantula. I'm going to go to the best source I can for help (hopefully here). I might do some google/searching after I post to the boards looking for help. Experienced people might imminently realize that what I am worried about is not a problem and belittle me for being silly. This, on top of my worry, makes me less likely to post again when something really might be wrong. Really, if I am having a medical emergency I'm going to call 911, I'm not going to google WebMD and try to solve it that way. I mean it could be nothing, could be a heart attack. So keep that in mind, these guys are new and worried. No need to treat them poorly.

But all in all I think it comes down to one simple question. What is it that you want to accomplish on here? Do you want to help out new people, build up knowledge on the care and keeping of tarantulas, talk with others about this thing we all enjoy? None of these things work well without some civility. Yes, you can ream someone out, as you stand there in your righteous indignation, and be correct. But did you really help that person, did you encourage that person to want to know more about tarantulas? Telling someone that what they did in ignorance is the height of stupidity has never inspired anyone.

I have learned so much, in my little time here, that I might not know otherwise. I want to see others do the same.

 

[Tenevanica]

It's ironic that people complain about not using the search function AND complain about reviving old threads...

 

[Lander9021]

It's ironic that people complain about not using the search function AND complain about reviving old threads...

Init site may aswell say..."aracnoboards...ask google "

 

[The Snark]

It's ironic that people complain about not using the search function AND complain about reviving old threads...

Having trouble wrapping my brain around that one. Not denying the truth but circle-logic, Catch 22, always tweaks at my frontal lobes.