In every group there is one of these guys. They are great to have around but they are very easy to take the wrong way, and many are irritated by their very presence. I don’t really understand that latter perspective, because “that guy” is usually right.
I love to hang out in a virtual community called the “E-type forum” on Jag-Lovers.org. I don’t use the forum, but instead receive the traffic from it via a mailing list. I realize mailing lists are very “retro” but that is how I prefer it. The smart geeks at Jag-Lovers have built a great system that works both ways, so web people can do a forum, mail people can get mail. Anyway, the group is a wealth of information, and camaraderie. I have made it a point to do my best to meet these people in person, both here in my area, and whenever I travel. The benefits of making human contact with people you know electronically are wonderful.
Whenever one of “those guys” rattles off a pronouncement of learned fact in a seemingly (because via email, you can never really know!) tone of know-it-all-ness… I just mentally picture something like the above and smile.
Lighten up guys. Don’t take anything personally.
(Apologies to Matt Groening and Ray Livingston!)