>My point was related to the large number of posts recently, and that much of it comes from *very short* answers, posted in a flurry of fast activity, that sometimes miss the mark by quite a distance -- presumably because the poster isn't carefully thinking the problem through before churning out the answer.

Yeah, but I wouldn't get down on those people, not everybody can devote all their time to helping others.

Some folks give short answers so the questionee can figure that out own his/her own. Some short answers are just because the poster knows a limited amount about the question, but does what (s)he can do to help. Incorrect answers are just a part of it, trying to suggest something is helpful, even though it doesn't work.

For example, John's Assign question, noone actually could tell him why it didn't work, but threw out ideas nonetheless. If someone gives some wrong information, either some will give the original poster whats needed, or someone will tell the wrong poster, their flat out wrong. JMO