The reason you see so many of those "smug" remarks is threefold.

1. The answers to those simple questions are typically simple themselves, and can most often be found in approximately 5 seconds using Google.

2. The questions have often been asked, answered and discussed ad nauseum in several other threads, most notably in the sticky threads at the top of the page.

3. The questions themselves are often stupid. I know many people have been taught that there are no such things as stupid questions, but that just isn't true.