I Have A Gripe!

Where in the heck are you from anyway!

[King_Fisher]

It really burns me when some one post a problem/question and 3 or 4 people
log on to help. They write intelligent, insightful replays to help and finally
the original poster logs back on to say that the solutions don't apply because
he is from Latvia/Estonia/Russia/India etc,etc. This is mainly evident in
credit card, banking, money transfer problems. Poster should identify which
country they are from. Also I think all profiles should state what country
they live in. It would be simple, common courtesy to those that are trying to
help! KF

[DrDoc]

That's when you add a follow-up reply:

"Oh, I forgot to mention that for this solution to work, you must move to the USA. For solutions that apply elsewhere, please visit www.example.com"

:)

[BeeDeeDubbleU]

I could not agree more and I have also suggested this more than once in the past. Profiles should include the member's country. That can be revealed without giving anything else away.

[DrDoc]

No, posters should state if they are from a different country, or need information applicable to a different country. Not everyone thinks to check a profile.

If you are on a US based forum and ask a question related to non-US standards/law/regulations/practices, you better state which country your question applies to.

I, for one, am not going to take the time to check everyone's profile for every single question that is asked. Unless you state otherwise in your post, your question applies to the USA.

Besides, what if I am currently in France, list "France" on my profile, but work for a US company, thus need information applicable to the US?

No, country listed on profile creates more problems than it solves.

[LifeinAsia]

If you are on a US based forum and ask a question related to non-US standards/law/regulations/practices, you better state which country your question applies to.

That's a rather country-centric statement. I consider WW to be international, and not just "U.S.-based."

But I do agree that people should specify which country they mean for any questions that might be country-specific (e.g., business, licensing, taxes, law, etc.). Similarly, people working on a specific platform (database) or using a programming language (e.g., PHP) may need to specify which brand/version they're using.

[King_Fisher]

Dr Doc,
I respectfully have to disagree with your assessment on whether it is expedient
to have the poster country of origin listed in their profile or not.

I think anyone who is going to take the time to write out a lengthy well thought out reply to someone problem, could also take the time to move the
mouse over slightly to the left and click on the users profile. Would not only
give him the country of origin but also some clue to the posters level of expertise. All in all a small thing to do to help others help you. KF

[lavazza]

This is mainly evident in
credit card, banking, money transfer problems

I (partly) agree with DrDoc that posters should state if they need information applicable to a 'specific' country (As someone from 'elsewhere', I don't like the word 'different' in this context)

Sure this site is hosted in the US... but have a look at [searchengineworld.com...] and note the word 'world' in the URI

One clue for spotting posts that might pertain to a 'different' set of rules/laws/etc: pay attention for sentence structure/terminology/etc that is 'different' from what you know and use yourself

[BeeDeeDubbleU]

One clue for spotting posts that might pertain to a 'different' set of rules/laws/etc: pay attention for sentence structure/terminology/etc that is 'different' from what you know and use yourself

Clue?

If someone is seeking help those trying to provide it should not have to look for clues to help them do so. The country of residence is often an important factor in how a question is answered. The country of residence can also be provided without compromising anyone's privacy.

[King_Fisher]

Bee Dee, Damn straight! KF

[lavazza]

On the Internet, Nobody Knows You're a Dog [unc.edu] :)

[lawman]

Haha lavazza. Don't we assume all posters are white males from the US? :)

[sailorjwd]

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indicateway orfay ichwhay ountrycay eirthay estionquay
appliesway.

[King_Fisher]

r u frm Ithaca?

[lavazza]

It's all Geek to me

<run/>

[Monkey]

Perhaps sailorjwd is a drunk white male from the US ;O)

[BeeDeeDubbleU]

... or a cusslybold of Stanley Unwin's?

[en.wikipedia.org...]

[Robin_reala]

It's true that you tend to assume US, but as Lavazza points out this isn't WebmasterUSA.com. Yes, if it's pertinent then people should put their country but at the same time the default assumption shouldn't be that US rules apply.