Hey, that sounds familiar...

We've all heard the dilemma doctors face when they're asked medical questions in a casual (read, not office) setting. The savvy ones know
that they can just deflect the question by advising the inquirer to "give my office a call and we'll set up an appointment and look into
it." Sometimes a request for your professional knowledge isn't so easy to dismiss. Case in point, just a few weeks ago I was casually asked (via email) a
question about a computer related matter. I happily (and freely) replied to the emailed question with an email of my own offering a
somewhat detailed response. After all, it was just one professional seeking the opinion of another; one hand washes the other and that sort of thing.
Needless to say, when I later saw my words (verbatim, no less!) online elsewhere, it got my hackles up. Not only was I angry, but I felt I had been taken
advantage of. It would have been perfectly all right had the words been properly cited as mine (or at least some tiny bit of credit to me), but I wasn't mentioned anywhere! All I can say
is, it really soured me to answering anyone's questions at all. Perhaps from now on I should caveat every email I send with a reminder warning
against plagiarism or inquire more deeply.

Hey, that sounds familiar ...

We've all heard the dilemma doctors face when they're asked medical questions in a casual (read, not office) setting. The savvy ones know that they can just deflect the question by advising the inquirer to "give my office a call and we'll set up an appointment and look into it." Sometimes a request for your professional knowledge isn't so easy to dismiss. Case in point, just a few weeks ago I was casually asked (via email) a question about a computer related matter. I happily (and freely) replied to the emailed question with an email of my own offering a somewhat detailed response.

Hey, that sounds familiar ...

We've all heard the dilemma doctors face when they're asked medical questions in a casual (read, not office) setting. The savvy ones know that they can just deflect the question by advising the inquirer to "give my office a call and we'll set up an appointment and look into it." Sometimes a request for your professional knowledge isn't so easy to dismiss. Case in point, just a few weeks ago I was casually asked (via email) a question about a computer related matter. I happily (and freely) replied to the emailed question with an email of my own offering a somewhat detailed response.

Shark Tank: Showtime!

It's the early 1980s, and this young pilot fish is hired by a trade show company to support its leased minicomputer -- for bookkeeping, customer database, that sort of thing -- and also to serve as technical troubleshooter at the shows."This was when the desktop computer was becoming popular and there were many different brands competing," says fish. "All my programming experience was on mainframe computers and punch cards."However, the industry trade show, which was exhibiting heavy machinery, consisted of exhibitors with a hodgepodge of different types of desktop computers."And fish's first show is also the first one at which many of the exhibitors want to use modems to stay in touch with the main office from the show floor.

Shark Tank: Showtime!

It's the early 1980s, and this young pilot fish is hired by a trade show company to support its leased minicomputer -- for bookkeeping, customer database, that sort of thing -- and also to serve as technical troubleshooter at the shows."This was when the desktop computer was becoming popular and there were many different brands competing," says fish. "All my programming experience was on mainframe computers and punch cards."However, the industry trade show, which was exhibiting heavy machinery, consisted of exhibitors with a hodgepodge of different types of desktop computers."And fish's first show is also the first one at which many of the exhibitors want to use modems to stay in touch with the main office from the show floor.

Shark Tank: Showtime!

It's the early 1980s, and this young pilot fish is hired by a trade show company to support its leased minicomputer -- for bookkeeping, customer database, that sort of thing -- and also to serve as technical troubleshooter at the shows."This was when the desktop computer was becoming popular and there were many different brands competing," says fish. "All my programming experience was on mainframe computers and punch cards."However, the industry trade show, which was exhibiting heavy machinery, consisted of exhibitors with a hodgepodge of different types of desktop computers."And fish's first show is also the first one at which many of the exhibitors want to use modems to stay in touch with the main office from the show floor.