A little OT as I am not specifically talking about SO - when people ask me some technical question my expectation is that they would have done some upfront research and put some effort into it. Often I find people don't do that. I tell them nicely that I would be happy to help them but they should be prepared to answer the following -

1. Have you Googled the problem / solution? What did you find?

2. Tell me what all you have tried.

3. Tell me what do you think the next steps should be.

It's amazing how many people don't even to bother to do a cursory research before approaching someone with a technical question.