Top 10 Most Useful Posts
 

Exactly 3 months after Reggie kicked off this feature, the results are in (by # of Thanks):

1. Say 'Thanks!' to other members with one click / Announcements by Reggie

2. Download and Repository Issues! / 2008 OS by admjo

3. Nokia Releases First Official OS2008 Update / News by Noneus

4. KDE/Koffice Install made easy for everyone / KDE by penguinbait

5. ATTENTION: How to fix Maemo Extras Repository / 2008 OS by technut

6. mplayer_1.0rc1-maemo.21 / Apps by Serge

7 (tie). Nokia Releases First Official OS2008 Update / News by anidel

7 (tie). How to mount USB CDROM on 2008 OS / General by penguinbait

7 (tie). AIM/MSN/Yahoo/etc.. without needing to install Pidgin / General by zerojay

7 (tie). To upgrade or not to upgrade, that is the question / Nokia N800 by dblank

Enjoy!

Re: Top 10 Most Useful Posts
 

P.S.: Nokia, make sure these ITT users get approved for the next round of developer discounts.

Re: Top 10 Most Useful Posts
 

8. dkwatts putting that list together. :D

Re: Top 10 Most Useful Posts
 

2008/03/15 -- Two new posts top the all-time "Most Useful" charts:

1. Advanced Backlight Statusbar Applet / Apps by rm_you

2. [Announce] OS2008 Statusbar Clock / Apps by fiferboy

3. Say 'Thanks!' to other members with one click / Announcements by Reggie

4. KDE/Koffice Install made easy for everyone / KDE by penguinbait

5. Download and Repository Issues! / 2008 OS by admjo

6. Nokia Releases First Official OS2008 Update / News by Noneus

7. [Announce] OS2008 Personal Menu / Apps by fiferboy

8. New Port: Duke Nukem 3D / Gaming by ArnimS

9. ATTENTION: How to fix Maemo Extras Repository / 2008 OS by technut

10. mplayer_1.0rc1-maemo.21 / Apps by Serge

Enjoy!

Re: Top 10 Most Useful Posts
 

Just out of curiousity, how can one make such list? I poked around in 'advanced search' form now but cannot find how to sort by thanked posts or search for most thanked posts, threads or people or whatever.

Re: Top 10 Most Useful Posts
 

I dunno, fanoush. I'm wondering how to put together a list of who has Thanked the most. I think I have that one covered. :D

Re: Top 10 Most Useful Posts
 

I don't think that a post about advanced backlight applet can possibly be the most "useful" post. This shows how deceptive statistics can be. The most useful post would have to be one that helps many people not brick their device, or something of that nature. I have never seen anyone say they were returning their N8xx to the store because they don't like the way backlighting works.

Re: Top 10 Most Useful Posts
 

good point, geneven. further, while the 'thanks' feature is nice, it's tantamount to a popularity contest. I wouldn't necessarily dub a post "most useful" just because it garnered the most thank-yous...

Re: Top 10 Most Useful Posts
 

hey I made #4 and a tie on #7, two in the top ten, woohoo!!

Re: Top 10 Most Useful Posts
 

Not necessarily, because very few people brick their tablets, or would without any particular post. But many people gained a lot of utility (though less per capita) by being able to turn the backlight down.

There is the possibility that lives were saved, of course. I don't have a GPS, so I don't use Maemo Mapper much in the car anyhow. But I have occasionally, and at night, the display is blinding on "level 1" from the Nokia applet. I consider it dangerously bright, as it impairs my ability to see anything coming from the side of the road (until it's in my headlights' main beam, and too late to do anything). But that's a stretch; most people simply didn't use it while driving at night, I'd guess.

While I think the backlight applet (thanks to a program announcement post reflects on the program, not the post) could be the most useful, I agree that these statistics aren't necessarily helpful. It's too easy to click thanks; there's no reason to select only the top few useful posts. If thanks were limited (receive an allotment of 1 per day), or if you had to go to some trouble to thank someone (even a captcha), then these statistics would be more reliable by far.

Re: Top 10 Most Useful Posts
 

Amazing how subjective viewpoints can be. ;)

Re: Top 10 Most Useful Posts
 

I am obviously biased (being in two of the current top ten posts) but I don't think it is easy to compare the quality of help a post provides.

I agree that a post that prevents a person from bricking their device is definitely an important post. But isn't a post that introduces hundreds of people to an application that they would like to install and use everyday important too? How would people find out about the availability otherwise?

I think it boils down mostly to popularity in the end, but that is what this thread is all about. If a post about preventing bricking only gets 50 thanks and a post about software gets 100 thanks, didn't more people find the latter post more useful?

Re: Top 10 Most Useful Posts
 

To prove the point: I found Benson's and fiferboy's posts helpful not because they solved some device problem, but because they contributed positively and progressively toward this dialog. To me that value is immeasurable (ironically proving the points about stats? LOL :D).

Re: Top 10 Most Useful Posts
 

There's too many variables either ignored or set equal to "1" in your question to permit a reasonable answer.

Here's a thought experiment for you: For the next month, every time you hear a song you like on the radio, clap once.

Can we draw a valid conclusion regarding the quality of songs you did or didn't clap for on day 29?

What if one you didn't clap for on the 29th day, you did clap for on the 3rd day? Can we assume the song is crap or not?

How do we know, from our limited sampling of an already limited dataset, that you're not just clapping less (or not at all), overall, because of growing apathy with the test?

...just something to think about. ;)

Re: Top 10 Most Useful Posts
 

As a data analyst I have to fight my natural instinct to pick this topic to death... but in the end can't we just accept the system's limitations and flaws and use it for what it is? That is, a way of thanking people for WHATEVER they contributed-- be it something soft and fuzzy or hard and helpful.

Re: Top 10 Most Useful Posts
 

Isn't that Pandora?

Re: Top 10 Most Useful Posts
 

I hear you. Try being a "Systems Project Analyst" in the "Office of Planning, Evaluation, & Data Analysis", and see if that doesn't create the same urges.

I'm not trying to be argumentative, nor (for that matter) show any disdain for any of the listed posts, regarding software or solutions... just pointing out that no real validity can be applied regarding "usefulness" based on the metrics available. :)

I don't know. I've not been to that site, and it's blocked by our IT departments web policy.

Re: Top 10 Most Useful Posts
 

I don't really think that's the point. It's more of a cool/interesting IRC stats sort of deal rather than a "these posts are the epitome of usefulness, everybody else sucks" sort of deal.

Re: Top 10 Most Useful Posts
 

Look: the OP could have added " according to Thanks" to his thread title and this discussion would be even sillier than it is. ;)

Re: Top 10 Most Useful Posts
 

Perhaps it would be more revealing to see a list of the ten posts Texrat hasn't thanked.

Re: Top 10 Most Useful Posts
 

^ Troublemaker :p

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Oooh . . . page break. FAIL! :p

Re: Top 10 Most Useful Posts
 

Fiferboy nailed the exact purpose of the thread:

Filter out ALL posts except the most "useful" (by # of Thanks, a.k.a. quantity of usefulness)

Re: Top 10 Most Useful Posts
 

InternetTabletTalk Power Search - using Google

Re: Top 10 Most Useful Posts
 

do {
usefulness=enum(thankfulness);
} while 1==1;

Re: Top 10 Most Useful Posts
 

I'd also like to see a top-ten list of the users with the most Thanks! I think I have that one covered. :D

Re: Top 10 Most Useful Posts
 

Right... and like I was implying, if the qualifier had been in the original title it might have discouraged some of the arguing. ;)

Re: Top 10 Most Useful Posts
 

Especially impressive, as it was the only post by that member.