Technical Experts March 26, 2011 10:30 PM Subscribe
I love AskMefi for all that it is, but I often get bogged down in things that don't interest me. I'm in Engineering by trade and often times I run into very specific areas of knowledge that either I know or someone else is an expert in. I'd like to make a list of these.
I'm talking about posts where people ask things about a technical subject vaguely and an expert in the field drops right in and answers.
It's hard to pick a specific post, but you might know the ones. When someone asks a little math question and it leads into a great discussion of how complex math theorems relate to regular people. Or when someone asks a vague car question and people nail it in the first few shots. Or when someones furnace is acting up and another guy drops by with a link to the exact manual for the thing and a recommendation of what to do.
You know what I mean. So how about a list of all those best posts, because I know I would sure like to bookmark it.
I'm talking about posts where people ask things about a technical subject vaguely and an expert in the field drops right in and answers.
It's hard to pick a specific post, but you might know the ones. When someone asks a little math question and it leads into a great discussion of how complex math theorems relate to regular people. Or when someone asks a vague car question and people nail it in the first few shots. Or when someones furnace is acting up and another guy drops by with a link to the exact manual for the thing and a recommendation of what to do.
You know what I mean. So how about a list of all those best posts, because I know I would sure like to bookmark it.
Weird. It ate my link. Rightmost tab on the AskMe page. Then from there you can set preferences.
posted by ODiV at 10:39 PM on March 26, 2011
posted by ODiV at 10:39 PM on March 26, 2011
Mitheral once fixed my fridge over the Internet. His diagnosis was spot on, and his estimate for what the repair would cost was within $10. That fridge is still working to this day!
posted by Rock Steady at 11:33 PM on March 26, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by Rock Steady at 11:33 PM on March 26, 2011 [3 favorites]
I'm not quite sure what you're asking for, but would this thread qualify? It's about how to cool a can of soda quickly and asavage drops in and shares his Mythbusters knowledge. Or maybe this thread about auction houses work, and it turns out peagood used to work in an auction house and knows exactly what's up?
If so, you will almost certainly enjoy mining the sideblog for these types of threads, and other general mefi goodness.
posted by lilac girl at 11:38 PM on March 26, 2011
If so, you will almost certainly enjoy mining the sideblog for these types of threads, and other general mefi goodness.
posted by lilac girl at 11:38 PM on March 26, 2011
I love these threads and I would read such a list. Make it so!
posted by loquacious at 12:06 AM on March 27, 2011
posted by loquacious at 12:06 AM on March 27, 2011
Here's a couple of fairly technical molecular biology questions: 1 2
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 4:56 AM on March 27, 2011
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 4:56 AM on March 27, 2011
The best of those technical comments often get sidebarred on the main page. If you scroll down to the bottom of that section you can dig through the monthly archives, too.
posted by empyrean at 7:29 AM on March 27, 2011
posted by empyrean at 7:29 AM on March 27, 2011
I love AskMefi for all that it is, but I often get bogged down in things that don't interest me.
Be stingy with your time and attention. Know what you want from an AskMe question. Give each question a few seconds to grab your attention. If it doesn't succeed, if it doesn't win you over, move on.
posted by jason's_planet at 7:49 AM on March 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
Be stingy with your time and attention. Know what you want from an AskMe question. Give each question a few seconds to grab your attention. If it doesn't succeed, if it doesn't win you over, move on.
posted by jason's_planet at 7:49 AM on March 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
It might be easier to identify MeFites who are experts and often drop into threads with all the right answers. Brockles and Jon-o got a shout-out on MetaTalk a few years back. Then there was the arachnologist Alice Russel-Wallace whose spider collection comment got side-barred in January '11. Those are the three that come to mind now.
posted by filthy light thief at 9:29 AM on March 27, 2011
posted by filthy light thief at 9:29 AM on March 27, 2011
Here's "the question I was born to anwer" on immunoassay.
My advice, if you're interested in a field, find some AskMe's on it and then follow the tags and related questions feature. That should keep you busy for a while. If you really want to go deep, you could make a list of answers / questions you thought were good and browse those individuals comment histories.
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 11:24 AM on March 29, 2011
My advice, if you're interested in a field, find some AskMe's on it and then follow the tags and related questions feature. That should keep you busy for a while. If you really want to go deep, you could make a list of answers / questions you thought were good and browse those individuals comment histories.
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 11:24 AM on March 29, 2011
A question about why chickens aren't used more often to produce antibodies was answered by a person who works for a company that specializes in doing just that.
posted by jedicus at 7:35 AM on March 31, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by jedicus at 7:35 AM on March 31, 2011 [1 favorite]
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posted by ODiV at 10:38 PM on March 26, 2011