"You can also write an email to a mailing list or newsgroup. While you will not have the acoustic feedback in this case, at least it forces you to bring your th

"You can also write an email to a mailing list or newsgroup. While you will not have the acoustic feedback in this case, at least it forces you to bring your thoughts into order. So in 90% you will not need to send the email because you've already found the solution. In the remaining 10% you can just send your posting." So very true. I'm endlessly annoyed by coworkers who come up with questions when they haven't yet worked through the problem in their mind. Regularly in the process of writing out an e-mail containing my question, I notice an assumption I made or step I ignored. Failing that, the process gives me time to think of a way to figure out the problem my self, with a test program or scenario. The nice thing about externalizing the process is that it almost inspires you to ask questions that 'someone else' might ask, but that you almost certainly wouldn't! Schizoid? Perhaps - but quite useful.