When you hit a snag when writing your code, and you need help, where do you go? Do you hit up one of your contacts who is just better at it than you? Crack open a book? Hit the forums? Or do you just fire up Google?
I'm thinking of starting (with mdakin) a help instance akin to the MIT help instance. It would be a live chat system that has a UI designed to not let you use focus. No idle chatter, just crowd sourced Q/A.
The intention is to have a core group of hackers essentially leave it on all the time and answer when available. When it works, it is much faster and often more useful than forums/Google.
If interested in beta-testing before full release, please email. We obviously need a core group of interested parties.
Have you looked at Fluther (http://fluther.com) at all? They're building something of this nature (but w/o a specific hacker slant). I know they're planning on releasing an IM interface shortly along with an API.
PS as a side note, I think an issue with this format that I see on irc is similar to telling a crowd of people "someone, call 911." No one is really compelled to answer if they think someone else will...
at MIT had almost exactly the opposite problem: people were charged up/competing to be the first one to provide the correct answer. It worked shockingly well, as a consumer and it was fun to kill some time as a supplier of answers. (My time at MIT all pre-dates the interwebs, so I can't directly compare/contrast it to a world with Google as an option.)
Google is the #1 resource if your question is the sort that can be summarized in a few words. Like if you want information about a particular function in a particular library, or to read how to integrate two different systems. Google is also the way to go if you have an error message and you can quote it to find people talking about the exact error message.
For some problems, though, it's harder to search for an answer. For example, a question of good javascript style for a particular thing you are trying to do. For this sort of thing I ask friends of mine.
There's also generally mailing lists and forums that are appropriate for your specific topic. Stack Overflow too if your question doesn't fit nicely into a topic. The problem with these is that you generally don't get an immediate answer, and you might not get an answer at all, so you have to kind of ask your question, then keep trying on your own anyways, or do something else for a while. So this is definitely not as good as the instant methods. You also are more likely to get bad advice if it's not from someone you trust.
I never use books to solve specific programming problems. Much too slow. Maybe if they were searchable.
As Tichy alluded to, I make heavy use of IRC in what I have learned to be are some polite and efficient channels. It takes a while to see which channels are going to help you and which are just going to waste your time, although the latter is easier to spot.
Sometimes I find forums to be too slow and good only for search purposes - in IRC, if I have a problem with Linux, Windows, or a programming language that can't be easily found in a timely search session, then there are an abundance of folks willing to help out in real-time. A lot of folks knock IRC for the shit that tends to float around, but I just keep my client open all the time and then go to it when I need to ask a question. It's kind of like my own support team that I haven't paid for in terms of currency. If you've served your time over the years, such as helping others out, then your service will be answered in kind when you have a problem - it's almost like a respect has been built upon, folks remember you; some channels have karma points to increase the reputation of active helpers.
Some of the best professional working relationships I've built have come from IRC, which these days I talk to and consult via direct IM, say with Pidgin instead of clogging the channels.
If you decide to use IRC, I have the same handle there too. :) Hope to see you there!
Mailing lists that are specific to the larger issue, such as a list for a framework, in my experience have shown to be more helpful than forums... your results may vary.
Depending on the language, usually...
Google (of course). Then apidock.com (for ruby / rails) pretty much the best doc site for either in my opinion.
For Rails I have found that just browsing the source/comments on github is the best source for figuring out really tricky issues. I stay logged in to IRC but most of the time never feel like bothering anyone. I kind of enjoy figuring things out for myself, even if it's a trivial problem I still get satisfaction from solving things on my own.
(1.) Google. (2.) Speak to friends and colleagues. (3.) More Google. (4.) Then I crack open the source code (if available). (5.) Then I hit the bookshelf, including Safari Online. (6.) If I still haven't got it, I'll ask in a forum, but at that point it's a toss up whether I'll get an answer or not.
After I've exhausted all the usual suspects (google, newsgroups, etc.), I'll take a nap. I now do it on purpose and it's amazing how often I wake up with the answer in my head.
