[_chap]

Agreed, some questions are more easily answered through chat and #RubyOnRails on freenode is a great place to get help.

However, I think the cool part is that it's not text. Personally I've find it to be really helpful when I'm stuck just to talk through the problem with somebody else. Often just the act of vocalizing dislodges the log jam.

[patja]

"Often just the act of vocalizing dislodges the log jam."

Got my next product idea: mashup of SAM and Eliza as a developer help line

[Ygor]

"Often just the act of vocalizing dislodges the log jam."

Hence the rubber duck debugging method:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubber_duck_debugging

[eof]

I don't think it's the vocalizing per se.. it's really about thinking through your problem with enough depth to explain it to someone else.