What's an MVP ?

[Gerry Cornell]

Mike

I have no problem with whatever tool you use to communicate your advice.
That some MSVPs use non-Microsoft products in preference to those available
from Microsoft serves to maintain an element of independence from Microsoft
which can do harm to their reputation. The problem which may be encountered
is that one can hardly recommend Microsoft products when you really believe
others are significantly better. Of course each MSVP has their own
speciality so if they use non-Microsoft products for activities outside
their speciality then they can easily avoid the accusation of hypocrisy
unless they say one thing and do another.. Another escape route is to avoid
recommending products and stick to advising on use..

Personally I also find it convenient to use Outlook Express but there are
features which could be improved. However, the next reincarnation of Outlook
Express is to have some fundamental structural changes so that some features
we love and some we hate may just become part of history.

--

Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England

Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Mike Hall \(MS-MVP\)]

Gerry

We are MVPs because we chose to freely support Microsoft products, not
because we necessarily agree with all Microsoft policy or product lines..
Microsoft are well aware of this.. it is seen as one of the strengths of the
MVP program that we are independent..

Lets take MS Streets and Trips 2006 as an example.. if I want to locate each
and every alley where I could just about squeeze by two garbage cans in
Lexington, KY or Bloomsburg, PA, Streets and trips is for me.. but I don't
live in either of those places anymore.. I live in the Lower Ottawa Valley,
Ontario, so I want to know each and every alley where I can squeeze by two
garbage cans in Maxville, Orleans, or Hudson, QC so I use a Canadian street
finder program instead.. that is not to say that I think all MS products are
useless..

How can the fact that I use this..
http://www.brocku.ca/maplibrary/digital/Canada.htm make me a hypocrite in
any way for supporting XP, Win ME, Win 98, just because MS produce a program
called Streets and Trips 2006?.. I can't see it..

What it does mean is that the MS development team responsible are going to
have to do more work before they get me to change from something other than
part of their product line that is useful and works for me..

 

[John Barnett MVP]

Ron i have no objection to 'copy and paste'. in my case i can usually type
out the answer to a query quicker than it takes me to find any 'stock'
answers - hence my posts are individual. But each to their own.

--
John Barnett MVP
Associate Expert
http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org

The information in this post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any kind,
either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this post. The Author shall not be liable for any
direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the use
of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this post..

 

[Mike Hall \(MS-MVP\)]

John

I am a bad typist, having arthritis in both.. I have to pre-empt some
answers, as it were, by typing them into OneNote at my leisure, copying and
pasting where applicable.. where I know that there is definitive work that
will answer an OP's question, I will point them directly to it by copying
and pasting a URL.. this saves me going through the pain barrier during my
'leisure' time..


--
Mike Hall
MVP - Windows Shell/User

Ron i have no objection to 'copy and paste'. in my case i can usually type
out the answer to a query quicker than it takes me to find any 'stock'
answers - hence my posts are individual. But each to their own.

--
John Barnett MVP
Associate Expert
http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org

The information in this post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any kind,
either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this post. The Author shall not be liable for
any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of
the use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this
post..

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

I split 50/50 on the stock answers trying, like Ron, to edit them where
appropriate to the situation, particularly when I know the stock answer has
the bulk of what is needed to help the user. As I save mine in .txt format
(lost count of them), I use Insert/text from file, then type the name of the
file (mostly from memory due to repeated use) to save time in posting

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

Ron i have no objection to 'copy and paste'. in my case i can usually type
out the answer to a query quicker than it takes me to find any 'stock'
answers - hence my posts are individual. But each to their own.

--
John Barnett MVP
Associate Expert
http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org

The information in this post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any kind,
either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this post. The Author shall not be liable for
any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of
the use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this
post..

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Mike

Have not some MVPs been known to use non-Microsoft newsreaders?

Certainly. For instance, I use Thunderbird.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having
both at once. - RAH

 

[John Barnett MVP]

Luckily, Mike i don't suffer from arthritis - you have my sympathy, i know
the pain can be excruciating at times. Mind you i have noticed a slight pain
the right wrist after using the mouse for some time, RSI perhaps?
There are numerous answers to XP questions on my website, so at least i can
'redirect' the OP to those answers if necessary. And, yes, i agree, if there
is a definitive work that will anser the OP's question, then it is far
easier to copy and paste the URL. Or, if you are really brazen you could do
what someone did to me and that is copy the whole of my Faq section and
paste it into his/her own website and pass it off as your own work. Well
he/she would have done if i hadn't come across the site and threatened legal
proceedings for breach of copyright.

--
John Barnett MVP
Associate Expert
http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org

The information in this post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any kind,
either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this post. The Author shall not be liable for any
direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the use
of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this post..

John

I am a bad typist, having arthritis in both.. I have to pre-empt some
answers, as it were, by typing them into OneNote at my leisure, copying
and pasting where applicable.. where I know that there is definitive work
that will answer an OP's question, I will point them directly to it by
copying and pasting a URL.. this saves me going through the pain barrier
during my 'leisure' time..

 

[Mike Hall \(MS-MVP\)]

John

RSI is something I dream about having.. lol.. even copying and pasting
Michael Stevens excellent work would take more than I can do at times, apart
from the plagiurism slant..

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I split 50/50 on the stock answers trying, like Ron, to edit them
where appropriate to the situation, particularly when I know the
stock answer has the bulk of what is needed to help the user. As I
save mine in .txt format (lost count of them), I use Insert/text from
file, then type the name of the file (mostly from memory due to
repeated use) to save time in posting

I never understand the anathema that's sometimes heaped on those who copy
and paste. There's nothing wrong with copying and pasting when what's copied
and pasted is the correct answer to the problem. There's a lot wrong with
copying and pasting when the answer is wrong or the responder hasn't really
read and understood the question, but there would be the same things wrong
with such an answer if it were typed from scratch, rather than copied and
pasted.

In fact, we *do* often see the same questions asked here over and over
again, and copying and pasting from a stock of standard replies saves a lot
of time and effort. Thinking that it's somehow better for someone to retype
the same answer he gave yesterday is just foolish.

In fact, copying and pasting (when the answer is correct) is often *better*
than typing an answer from scratch. Besides being much faster, the stock
answer usually has been cleaned of any typos, and can often be more accurate
(if it's been sent out several times, it often has been honed and improved
over what might be typed at the spur of the moment). If the canned answer
includes a URL, it's very likely to be more accurate than typing it.

I work with a stock of canned answers from which I copy and paste when I
can. Depending on the question, I may use no canned answer, a canned answer
unchanged, part of a canned answer, parts of two or more canned answers, or
a canned answer modified to fit the question.

 

[Joan Archer]

I see no reason to avoid copy/paste answers if it is the correct one for
the problem. I used this method when answering posts in WinME (that's when
there were posts to answer <g>) I keep a folder with such info in but
always made sure that the person who had originally provided the solutions
name was included.
Joan

 

[Mike Hall \(MS-MVP\)]

Joan

That's terrible news.. ME gone forever?.. oh my.. :-(

 

[Joan Archer]

<lol> Well not quite you do still get a few posts with problems but
nothing like it used to be.
The families still there and we still post <g> sometimes OT <g>
Joan

 

[Max Wachtel]

news_svaardt@hotmail_NOSPAM_.com AKA Steve on 12/9/2005 in

Could someone explain to me what MVP really means on this group ?

More
Vicodin
Please

couldn't help myself
max
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[Gerry Cornell]

Max

Do not take more than the prescribed amount of medication or take it for
longer than is directed <g>.

--

~~~~

Gerry

~~~~~~~~
Enquire, plan and execute.
Stourport, England
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Mike M.]

<snip>
"String of flames?.. I was having fun.. did you miss out on that part?..
quel
dommage.."
</snip>

<apology> Same here. Just trying to defuse with levity. </apology>

 

[Mike Hall \(MS-MVP\)]

Mike

I recognise that this is a technical newsgroup, but I don't see a problem in
having fun once in a while.. and we all set ourselves up as a target at some
time or other..

What does amuse me greatly is when somebody thinks that they have gotten to
me just because I reply in a curt manner.. if only my smile as I type it out
could be seen.. methinks their anger would increase somewhat..

 

[Frank Saunders, MS-MVP OE]

Mike

I recognise that this is a technical newsgroup, but I don't see a
problem in having fun once in a while.. and we all set ourselves up
as a target at some time or other..

What does amuse me greatly is when somebody thinks that they have
gotten to me just because I reply in a curt manner.. if only my smile
as I type it out could be seen.. methinks their anger would increase
somewhat..

We'd be madder if we could see your smile? Must be an evil grin.

--
Frank Saunders, MS-MVP OE
Please respond in Newsgroup only. Do not send email
http://www.fjsmjs.com
Protect your PC
http://www.microsoft.com./athome/security/protect/default.aspx
http://defendingyourmachine.blogspot.com/

 

[Mike Hall \(MS-MVP\)]

Frank

The evil grin is to be seen, for sure.. the 'grin' part can dissipate very
quickly however.. I passionately detest racism, selfishness, and dual
standards.. those topics have sometimes endangered the longevity of this
keyboard..

 

[Heather]

It is slow, that is for sure. And yes, *our family* does indulge in quite a
few OT posts, initiated by Joanie usually.....(kidding). I miss the Loon
the most...where on earth does he hang out?? Probably on here.

Cheers....Figgs

 

[Joan Archer]

<lol> Who me !!!
H pops in here and I think I've seen him in XP General as well, don't
think he has that many problems that need solving <g>
Joan