Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Sometimes the hive mind has better knowledge than an algorithm, but ymmv.

Looks like somebody missed snack time................

Ditto to all the above responses. I think if people are internet-savvy enough to use the SE forum, they have to know how to do a simple search. Google is a great resource, but if you're looking for something specific and don't want to sift through all the ads and irrelevant websites that inevitably turn up when Googling, talking to real people is the best resource I can think of.

@simon, someone could say the same thing about your recent Talk posts. Why not just google "NYC Japanese Liquor Store"?

I thought that question regarding sourcing San Marzano Seeds that Simon was referring to was on topic, followed the thread, and a valid question.

LMAO@someone missed snack time........and what's ymmv?....also i agree with french tart....if ya dont like the topic.....dont read it.....duh !!!

One of the best things about online communities like this is that if someone asks a question that might be considered "stupid" or "lazy", 5 other users might have been curious about the same thing and will get an answer that they might not have sought out otherwise.

@onepercent - ymmv = your mileage may vary.

I consider myself search-engine savvy;
and everyone is right.
Serious Eats is my lunch-time/tech waiting site! I love food! So do you!
Maybe you could start a blog with a community that feels the same way?

@Cassaendra - not to incite the noble techies, but.........Huh? You just made my hair flame out! MMOG? And whatever gaming engine means. I need an excedrine.

@simon - I am probably one of the biggest question "offenders". I am old and VERY tech challenged. (I know, I know.........Google, Google, Google) The good new is, I think pretty much everything on this site is entertaining and I learn a lot. Like I just "windowed out" and learned MMOG = Massively Multiplayer Online Game. I'm gonna' get me a Wii and join a new "world" (Still need the excedrine) ~:-O

Some questions are obviously most efficiently Googled. Some are google-able, but the kind of results you get with a search are different than the results you get here.

For example, a common kind of question here is, "what do/should I do with X?" I've asked this question myself. Obviously there are thousands of recipes for any given X out there, but the recipes or tips offered here are, I assume, tested and valued by someone (someone who cares about food/cooking) enough to personally recommend.

Some of the least google-able questions posted here are arguably the most inane, and often the most popular (favorite cereals, kids foods, etc.).

If anything, I think some of the questions that seem misplaced here are just more appropriate for an area-specific forum like the Chowhound boards (eg,where to find a Japanese liquor store in NYC).

And ok, googling ymmv or mmog takes about 3 seconds, but I chalk that up to people treating "Talk" like a conversation.

I turn to the Serious Eats forum whenever I'm looking for quality results from a trusted source. For the most part, the people who participate in this forum, are intelligent, thoughtful, and most importantly, know what they're talking about.

You meant "nitpicking", right Mr.Typo?

You can Google anything. I could Google myself, but I'm more interested in hearing what the people who know me have to say.

The point of posting threads is definitely not getting quick answers, but about getting thorough, diverse answers. Someone might, for example, ask the best way to peel a cucumber. This might be completely obvious to 99.9% of us, but there might be SOMEONE out there who's never peeled a cucumber, and someone else, who suggests a handy cucumber-peeling trick they picked up somewhere, and someone ELSE who gives their favorite cucumber recipe, and someone ELSE who gets the idea or courage to ask about the difference in cucumber varieties, and by the end of it, the 99.9% of us who thought it was a dumb question have probably learned something new.

Sigh. I'm sticking with frenchtart on this one - if you're not interested, skip it.

Um, Simon, I think your nitpicking about the questions that people post is the reason I found it funny that you misspelled inane. You dished it but I guess you can't take it.

Not sure why I should be looking up typo, as there wasn't one in my post.

And you presume to think that I disdain mayo because my nickname is "holdthemayo." I don't like mayo on burgers at any establishment because the tendency is to slather way too much on said burger, so I order it on the side or do without.

Do you work here to DQ people from commenting on your posts?

Since so few have, I'd like to put in a word in Simon's defense. I've seen lots of questions where my first thought was "Duh ... Google!"

Not all "What is ... " questions are created equally. For example (sorry editmom!) if I saw a food item or word I wasn't familiar with, like San Marzano tomatoes, I'd google it. And I would expect others to do that too. But "What is so much better about San Marzano tomatoes" is different than "What is a San Marzano tomato?" The first asks for more information and some opinions, the latter just asks what are they.

I think those are the kinds of questions Simon is referring too -- not the ones that elicit a longer, more thoughtful response but the ones that ask a question that could be answered easily by doing a simple search.

That said, Simon could have been a little more thoughtful in how he phrased it .... pointing out that one thinks another poster's question is inane is pretty much guaranteed to require that one don the flame retardant suit and duck for cover to avoid the flames that will certainly come one's way.

Izatryt, I would agree that it has nothing to do with food or eating, but it's appropriately classified "Site Feedback" and so far has been a reasonably civil discussion about how people might use this site for information about food and cooking.

I'm inclined to agree with kgibson, who seems to get at simon's point in a more tactful manner.

I wouldn't complain about someone posting a "what are san marzano" type question here; it's well within their right. I do, however, think that Googling that kind of a question is a much more efficient way to find out than logging in, posting a question, and waiting for a response.

@holdthemayo: You go!!

I would just like to ask: what do you care about someone else's post? I am going to agree with the others. You see the Headline-if you don't like it don't read the question/thread. I mean, if it makes you feel better to point out someone else's question as being inane-then wow. This is a "Talk" forum. People don't know everything and would rather "talk" to humans than search Google. For the most part (excluding this), it's more pleasurable.

I hope this thread does not make people feel as though they can't ask whatever they want. Not every member feels the way Simon does.

Let's move on to better, more delicious posts. :)

I think some people missed something here.

The title of the thread:
"What to do with fresh San Marzanos?"

Is different from what Simon was commenting on within in that thread:
"Could someone disclose a source for San Marzano tomato plants, or even the seeds?"

(in another thread where he was busy attacking people)

Simon said -- As for you, FastFoodCritic, stick a sock in it. I find the admonishments of a passive aggressive spineless weasel such as yourself, someone who takes pride in touting their affinity for eating garbage no less, to be laughable.
----------------------------------------------

I did not see that comment until NOW, when somebody emailed me about it. Adam closed the thread because it got ugly between Simon and a couple other people. That was of course the right thing to do.

HOWEVER -- I never got a chance to defend myself, and considering I was just trying to be a nice guy, and was coming to the defense of a lady who Simon was needlessly insulting in that thread, I feel I deserve a chance to say SOMETHING.

And it's simply THIS -- Dear Simon, it's quite odd to hear you call me a "spineless weasel" since you don't know me in real life. My name and website is public, but I see you choose to be anonymous. Let me personally invite you step forward like a man, and identify yourself. Otherwise, let me invite you shut your mouth and quit attacking people in this community.

Coward. You would never say a word to my face.

I think it's fair to say that all sides have had ample opportunity to express their opinions on this matter, so we're going to close the thread.