At Byte56's request:
I would argue that we are wrong to close such topics, and equally wrong to dogmatically insist in the comments that the original asker edits their question to fit some arbitrary rule. If specifically focused on a certain technique, the fact that the asker used the phrase "how did X do Y" instead of "how can I do Y like X" should not be our cue to close the question. It's not our job to be the secret police dedicated to flushing out miscreants who never intend to implement the algorithm they ask about - if the answer will be useful to the world, then the question is surely useful also.