• I should never label anything as possible homework?
• I should have been smart enough to notice this one wasn't?
• I should have replied to the original poster privately to first determine this?
• There's no positive content, so only the people that routinely vote all of my posts negative won out?
• Something else I've completely blanked out on?

So, 'fess up!

-- Randal L. Schwartz, Perl hacker

I'll fess up.
1. I should never label anything as possible homework?
   Nope, but one should be cautious.

2. I should have been smart enough to notice this one wasn't?
   Yup. Granted, everyone makes mistakes, but given the relative rudeness of saying "Homework" (Which is absolved if you're right), this was a negative. (The giveaways were that the poster had achieved rank, and a hash slice isn't commonly used)

3. I should have replied to the original poster privately to first determine this?
   Nah, If this had been an anonymous poster I'd have done the same thing.

4. There's no positive content, so only the people that routinely vote all of my posts negative won out?
   I'm not in that group, so I can't say. Probably, as time passed, this became more prevalent. I voted pretty early on.

5. Something else I've completely blanked out on?
   Well, I don't recall getting any money from you ....:)
In general though, I think most people would go back and drop an Update in their post once the error had been detected. You didn't, so the negative votes kept rolling in (because the voters have no idea the post is negative until after they vote, unless they checked Worst Nodes)

At this time, your post has a -5, which means 5 more people thought you were wrong enough to be negative than thought the post was good enough to be ++'ed. Given that we all pretty much agree that your post was incorrect (however well intentioned), this doesn't seem surprising.

The actual code that generated my query was considerably more complicated. In a forlorn attempt to make, what I knew was a easy question, more readable I created a simple test case. Sorry!
Thanks to arturo I now know its a hash slice (having read 5 books that mention it - including your llama you'd have thought I'd have remembered but its not a construct I would normally use).

Personally I don't have a problem with homework questions. I don't see any moral case at all. After all whats the difference between an ignorant student and an ignorant contractor who's bluffed his way into a job? By your rationale you'd freely help one but not the other.

If I didn't want to answer a question I'd just ignore it or perhaps suggest to the 'students' another educational theory...

s/HOMEWORK/FO&FO/

FO&FO = F*** Off and Find Out

"We are all prompted by the same motives, all deceived by the same fallacies, all animated by hope, obstructed by danger, entangled by desire, and seduced by pleasure." - Samuel Johnson

After all whats the difference between an ignorant student and an ignorant contractor who's bluffed his way into a job? By your rationale you'd freely help one but not the other.

No. I'd not help either, if I could detect it. Or at least I'd lean much more toward teaching them to fish, rather than handing them a fish.

-- Randal L. Schwartz, Perl hacker

You have my full backing (as if you need it... :) to post notes like this whenever it seems fit.


Perl Monks is a great thing and helps alot of people. Your posts help people (me included). Generaly speaking, sometime it helps to give the right answer, sometimes it helps to suggest to the asking person to find the answer himself --- and thus learn more.


If the question is a homework one, and you are fast enough to warn people, then you just helped others to avoid being accessory to this dishonesty. If it is not homework, then no harm was done, as this will be cleared out soon enough (as just did on this thread).



Regarding the XP's... I'm sure you have enough and few --'s of random people (the other classmates?) won't hurt too much.