[HTC Sensation] PeterGuru:
THIS IS AN OPEN POST TO EVERYONE, ESPECIALLY THOSE WHO ARE NEW TO THIS OR ANY FORUM, AND MOST ESPECIALLY TO THOSE WHO ARE NEW TO ANDROID.

I originally wrote this post in the InsertCoin ROM Forum, and it seemed to get a lot of positive feedback. I'm submitting it here because I feel and hope that it will provide help for those who need it, and relieve unnecessary stress from those who have more important things to do.

I urge EVERYONE to read this in its entirety, especially if you're new to Android. Yes, it's long, but I hope it's worth it.

Here's what I said, with certain paragraphs and sections rearranged for emphasis.

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A story to start you off …

If you really want to understand how truly annoying some of you can be, consider this: Imagine you are at a new job, in a position you've always dreamed of, and you're working on an incredibly important project involving a new piece of technology that will save the world. Now imagine that you are alone in the building one night, working in your second floor office, and someone presses the buzzer at the front door. You get up, make your way downstairs, and walk all the way to the door only to discover that the person wants to know directions to the nearest coffee shop. Now imagine that you go back upstairs, start working, and the buzzer goes off again. It's another person who wants directions to the nearest coffee shop. This happens 4-5 times before you finally decide to write a HUGE note with very clear directions to the nearest coffee shop, and you post this note on the front door. Now imagine that over the next hour 10 more people press the buzzer, all wanting to know directions to the nearest coffee shop, and you go downstairs each and every time.

Would you not be extremely annoyed at the last 10 people who didn't read the note ... the very clear note staring them right in the face? Would you not want to punch them in the face? Well?

The moral of this story is, if you have a question, DO YOUR RESEARCH FIRST. Many questions are asked over and over and over again, which upsets those of us who respect the time and effort some people here take in trying to help others. I'm especially thankful to the ROM and Kernel Chefs. They spend a great deal of time, usually their own time, working on much more important things to HELP US make our phones more user friendly. I tip my hat to them.

So, with all that said and done, here are a few recommendations before you waste everyone's time by asking questions that have already been answered.

NUMBER 1: This applies to ALL threads. READ THE FIRST FEW POSTS before you ask anything in the forum. READ THEM CAREFULLY, AND TAKE YOUR TIME. Many questions have already been answered in the first or second post.

NUMBER 2: If you still cannot find an answer to your question, USE THE SEARCH FUNCTION. If, for example, you are interested in a battery percentage mod, simply go to the first page of your intended forum, click on the "Search this Thread" button, put "Battery Mod" in the search box, and hit the enter key. You will get a whole slew of posts relating to this issue. THINK! THINK! THINK! Try to take the most important words out of your question and put those words in the search box. Again, you may be shocked at how easy it is to get the answer you want without having to waste anyone else's time.

NUMBER 3: If you still cannot find an answer to your question, post it in the forum. However, take time to write clearly and, if possible, don't use short forms like BTW, or AFAIK, etc. There are many people in these forums from other countries who do not understand these abbreviations, yet they may have the answer to your question. Therefore, it would be best to keep your question as clear as possible.

FINALLY! This is the most important point of all: DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH FIRST, DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH FIRST, DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH FIRST, DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH FIRST! And when that isn't enough, DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH FIRST!

Clear enough?

Have a great day!

Thank you,

Peter