While it's great to have gargoyle say nice things, and say them about me, I'm not sure about that suggestion that it's best to go to newsgroups for tech advice.

My experience has been that, if you ask a question in those places, you just get back answers you can't begin to understand, from people who can't begin to understand how it is you can't understand what to them seems plain obvious. And very likely don't believe you aren't just winding them up.

Like those "Dummy" books that start off all friendly and straightforward and then after a few pages they turn on you, and you're in a strange country where noone speaks your language.

And the same seems to apply to most helplines.

The good thing about asking a question here is that there are likely to be some answers from people who don't think it's obvious the way computers work, and whose basic level of technical know how extends to more or less understanding which way to turn a tuning peg. (Except we probably don't agree on that either.)

And at the same time there are some real experts around as well - but unlike a lot of places, the experts don't look down on the rest of us. I think that is because, the focus of the Mudcat is around other things than computers, and real respect is centred around things like making music.


(Mixed)