Active Contributor?

Well said, A sage response from a true guru. GA.

Ron, you said "It appears the "active contributors" are tapping us for our knowledge, but contributing nothing in return." So you're saying we should be charging our customers more for our services?

I agree with Sue: There is an ethnically divisive element to your OP that is offensive.

Maybe I didn't explain myself well enough. If you go down the list of threads, you will find a disproportionate number of threads from people form countries, mostly from the mid and far east. They ask all sorts of questions and advise and the respondants are mostly from those in the U.S. U.K, Germany, Canada, etc.

When someone from the U.S U.K, Germany, Canada, etc posts a thread, the response almost always comes from this group; almost nothing from the mid/far east "active contributors". I should like to emphasize the word "contributor", meaning to contribute, not just use this forum as a free source for knowledge. It's ok to ask for help and receive it, but you need to also contribute.

"A cookie jar will soon go empty if no one adds to it".

You NEVER loose you knowledge if you share it with others! The "bottle" does not go empty since knowledge is IMMATERIAL.

Indeed! (See also kramarat's tagline.)

No offence but aren't we here to help others when they ask? I get your gripe but I signed up to give out my (very very limited) knowledge to anyone who may ask. I have asked a couple of questions but mainly try to help. I have found, over the years, that I have had opportunities to learn a great deal from the questions posed by these "active contributers". I say keep them coming and see what they teach us by asking questions.

I agree.....

This just isn't true, we have many contributors from all over the world...and questions as well..

"active contributor" just means you've only made a few posts.

There are people who contribute regularly here, who are not from your list of 'usual'. They are generally professionals with a high level of English as well as professional knowledge. Whereas those who post more questions, or less comments overall, often are obviously struggling with the language. If it's difficult even to ask a question in the language, it may be even more difficult to answer one, even if you know the answer.

Besides, those of us who are here because we love other people's problems are waiting like wolves for a chance to jump in and help! Imagine bullying in on that with half a dozen words of english. (but please, go ahead, reader, if you're in that position. )

You might also consider that contributors from less developed countries may have less leisure or need more support from an educational standpoint. It costs us nothing to help, we're just waiting for a chance to be of service. Why not?

It's great that GlobalSpec provides this resource, where we discuss, ask, answer and are answered, freely. I'm with Sue.

You make some good observations.

Sandeep Lokhande comes to mind. He is a guy working in a spice packing facility in India. He comes around once in a while looking for some help. He tells us that he only gets internet access sporadically; sometimes it takes him three or four days to respond to some posted questions on his threads. This internet service issue may well be common in India and other spots around the world.

Visiting with him has certainly been an experience. The language and cultural barriers, even though he speaks and understands English well, are evident. He is a member, I think, that ronseto is talking about. He is a CR4 member that consumes service rather than contributes. I don't mind it a bit. If the cookie jar gets a little low, I'll do what I can to make some more cookies. Not a big deal.

I hate to say it, but maybe Americans are spoiled?

I know Sandeep. It's great that he and others can come here and get some help. The need is genuine.

We are incredibly lucky to have the internet in the way we do. My cable access is excellent, and I've only found out what it's like to be without on a few rare events. That's when I realize what it's like to be without. I won't say spoiled, unless we forget how lucky we are.

"I hate to say it, but maybe Americans are spoiled?"

If the truth hurts, maybe it should.

I have had, ever since becoming aware of larger global conditions, the feeling of being priveleged, being lucky, being spoiled. There have been some pretty dark times in my life, but on my worst day I would not have traded circumstances with anyone living under the varied types of it-sucks-to-be-me-and-live-here economic, social, or oppressive governmental spheres of influence that exist (we all know they exist, who and where they are).

It is good to be an American. I like it... a lot.

If someone from one of those spheres of influence ask for a little help, I do not feel the least bit of reluctance to offer what I can. I knew going in that there was no reciprocal agreement.

Active Contributor simply means that the user has between 10 and 24 posts on CR4. Here's some info from our site FAQ:

26) What do member titles mean?

Member titles are a fun way to track user participation on the site. The more posts you submit to CR4, the higher you'll rise along the following scale:

0 - Browser

1 - 4 Participant

5 - 9 Member

10 - 24 Active Contributor

25 - 54 Associate

55 - 99 Commentator

100 - 499 Power-User

500 - 999999 Guru

As far as the other comments, we also see a lot of spam from our international users (contributions?), but everyone is welcome to participate on CR4 as long as they play by the rules and converse in English.

Savvy, how are you going to mark lyn when he hits a million posts (Or Del, or Kris...)?

That event shouldn't be too far into the future...

I sorta fancy "Curmudgeon", myself.

Right now Guru is as high as it goes and there aren't plans to add any additional milestone titles. The intent was to not support "ballot-stuffing" because, as we all know, quality is more important than quantity.

I think we could probably swing unique titles for those that surpass 1,000,000 posts - but not if they cheat to get there.

I was wondering, now that we are talking about CR4 numbers...

We know who has the most posts, the most GAs, the most GAs in a single comment, who is member #1... those sorts of admirable distinctions.

Can you confirm: my single post OT count of 11,102,011 has not been surpassed.

Glory Hound!!!!!!!!!!

I have noticed most members don't wear their credentials on the sleeves. I don't necessarily subscribe to that humble mentality.

I have said some pretty stupid stuff. This is my moment in the sun. Let an old man bask in the pleasant glow of blissful indulgence.

Soon I will post something showing, once again, I am really basking in the pleasant glow of utter ignorance and social unawareness.

Truly a thing of beauty.

I don't have an easy way to come up with that information but it's probably safe to say you are #1 in that category.

I think this is the highest GA total on a single post

http://cr4.globalspec.com/comment/262361/Re-Water-Batteries-Joshua-Reply

Well that's quite a vote !

As far as I know, Del managed a record off-topic of about 7 someplace. Given his GA rate, that's an impressive flexibility that would amaze even Zlata.

Just added my GA to it... loved it!

We know that that somehow merphed into a grandiose number!

Yesterday I was sharing in a discussion, and i asked myself the same, why participants have different discriptions, for me I am (member) so what does that meam?

You receive a new member title when you reach a certain number of posts. Our Site FAQ outlines what the titles mean and how many posts are needed for each one.

So by this current post i will be active contributor , as it needs 10 posts

You've got it a little bassackwards ron. It's the questions that make the forum................not the answers. Who cares where they come from?

Most people here are really smart, but in a relatively narrow field of expertise.............................if not for the questions, how else can we show off what we know?

All we'd do is fight without them.

The people that seem to just ask questions now, and not contribute, will be the ones giving the answers in a few years.

It's particularly fun when someone posts a question............. One "active" contributor will point out how stupid it is, and that is followed by 30 conflicting "expert" opinions on what the answer is.

You are right up to the fact that many times the "experts" give answers same level as the question!

I mentioned several times that those poor people asking for help deserve a correct answer -if the question is formulated the right way so that it is clear and understandable - unfortunately this responsibility is not always taken into consideration.

many times the most entertainment is when we move into the wild conjecture part of the program

The "experts" arguing among themselves about hypothetical conditions not contained in the OP

usually somewhere in all that mess, loud declarations of the need for professional oversite [you must be too stupid to understand the answer if you asked the question], any advice on the interweb is use at your own risk...

on the other hand you have members like NickName that will give thoughtful detailed explanations regardless

That's a big part of the entertainment.

How fun would it be, if each question was properly phrased, and followed by one perfect answer that perfectly addressed the question?

Might as well sit around and read the encyclopedia.

what is the meaning of bassackwords ron it is useful to learn english too