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The correct way of asking questions.

I like answering your questions, but to keep the work for me to be done and the fun I have in doing so as low as possible, note the rules listed below!

You can use the comment functionality on my pages or send an email to     

The chance to get an answer is higher, the more of the following rules are observed.

1.) Be polite!
  1. A correspondence starts with a salutation that mentions the name of the person the mail is addressed to. My name is Norbert (first name) Heinz (family name). Your mail should start with something like "Dear Mr. Heinz", "Hi Norbert" or what ever form you prefer.
    I hate "It's me again" or similar phrases used to start a message! I am in contact with too many "me again" people...
  2. A correspondence ends with your name (first name or both). Nicknames are accepted, pseudonyms rather not.
    Sent from my x phone or y operating system are bad endings for a correspondence, I recommend turning that kind of advertisements off in your cheap phones ;-)
  3. I accept requests without salutation or mentioning your name in the comment sections of my pages which is meant to be a quick way of dropping a message.
2.) Use more than one sentence but don't tell me your life story.
A good question is half the answer!
  1. Use correct references. All the chapters on my pages have a headline and all figures are numbered. Use those labels to tell me what exactly your request is about.
  2. Read the whole chapter and give me the feeling that you have done so (e.g. in referring to what I have written).
  3. If you ran into trouble while trying to make a copy of my projects, add (non blurred) pictures of what you have done, to make me see your circuit or machine (I don't own a crystal ball). A short video also helps to find an error.
    "It doesn't work" is a statement that is useless! Tell me exactly what goes wrong an what you already tried to fix it - I expect you to search for the error before contacting me.
  4. Read, try to understand and forward all error messages! That's the only way to get the core of a software bug whenever one of my programs doesn't run as it should.
  5. Answer the questions I am asking - whether it helped to find your solution or not! It gives me the feedback that you are reading all I am writing.
3.) What kind of question I will very likely answer:
  1. Spotted errors (spelling errors, errors in content, broken links, missing files). That's from high interest for me, thanks in advance!
  2. Questions about my projects, like things you did not understand (but give me the feeling that you read the whole chapter). That helps me to improve the quality of my pages.
  3. You are welcome to ask for help if you run into trouble when trying to copy one of my projects!
  4. Suggestions for additional chapters (but don't expect them to appear the next day).
4.) Types of questions I will very likely NOT answer:
  1. Requests about your own projects, that are not directly related with my projects. Not because I would not like to do so, but I simply have no time for that additional work.
    Nonetheless you can tell me about your personal projects to eventually light my fire...
  2. Questions that give me the feeling I should do your homework. I am not your answering machine!
  3. Questions in languages other than German or English. Using Google translate is no good idea, since the quality of the translations is still poor. If you don't speak German or English, try to find a friend that does so and that helps you to translate.
  4. ..."I have a business proposal for you" questions that don't go into details. If you fear to hand too many details of your secret "next big thing", do it without me.
  5. Comments with an email address will be ignored! If you expect to get an answer by mail, you must mail me first!
5.) How to turn a question that I usually would NOT like to answer into a question that I will very likely answer:
Use the Donate button to transmit.
To make things clear:
There is no need to make a donation to ask me a question! I am providing all materials for free and each kind of feedback helps to improve the quality of my pages and gives me the warm feeling that not all I am doing is in vain...
On the other hand making a small donation whenever I could help you, helps me and my projects, too. Thanks!

Thanks for noting the rules to save my time!



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