Rules and Guidelines

Here are the forum rules:

1. Vulgar language and inappropriate material are not allowed.
   
2. Posts that discuss illegal activities, transactions or websites such as warez, cracks, etc. are not allowed. This includes the posting of information obtained illegally.
   
3. Do not post copyrighted materials (articles, videos, audio, etc.) without explicit permission to reproduce or distribute. Give credit (post links) to the author/website from where you got the article.
   
4. Advertisements are not allowed. Generally speaking, posts made specifically for the promotion of a website, product or service are considered advertising or, at least, posts made that unnecessarily send people to a website that you are in some way affiliated with, whether it's a commercial website, a personal website, a non-profit website, etc. Likewise, posting an affiliate URL that leads to earning cash, banner impressions, credits, points, etc. is not allowed, nor are these links allowed in profiles or signatures. This includes a link created to simply redirect someone to an affiliate URL.
   
5. When linking to outside websites, please ensure that the content of the link is appropriate for our community, and in line with the guidelines laid out here. This includes mentioning or referencing a site, even if the mention is not hyperlinked.
   
6. When posting and linking to images, videos, files, etc., please refrain from hotlinking. This is the direct linking to of images (.jpg, .jpeg, .gif, .png, etc.), video (.avi, .mov, .mpg, .mpeg, .wmv, etc.), audio (.mp3, .wav, etc.), archives (.zip, .rar, etc.) or otherwise downloadable or streamable files, on servers that you do not have permission to link to, instead of linking to the page where the item can be found. This includes providing a direct link to the file, even if that file is not embedded into your post. This practice costs the server owner money and resources.
   
7. Do not post personal, real-life information such as home addresses and home phone numbers. Do not demand or continually press other users for personal information. Ask once, if you must. If the person asked refuses to answer, do not press them further.
   
8. Harassment of other posters on this forum will not be tolerated. Harassment will include personal attacks either by public post, private message, or by the e-mail account used to register. Exposing your e-mail account through your profile is not recommended. If you feel you are being harassed by another poster, contact a moderator or administrator immediately.
   
9. Each user is allowed to create one account. Usernames may be changed by contacting a moderator. In most cases usernames can be changed with all profile data, posts and other content retained. Banned posters may not assume another username and identity. IP addresses as well as e-mails are tracked, so staff members will be able to determine if you are a banned user.
   
10. Moderators and the administrator(s) have the final say on anything. If you have a problem, please make a complaint to them directly and not publicly on the website. Creating threads or posts that question or reference administrative decisions or potential administrative decisions, such as post removals and thread closures, is not permitted. We are not perfect and if you feel that we have made a mistake, please privately contact a staff member and we will review the situation. If you have a problem with any of the moderators on this forum, contact any of the other moderators and we will deal with it.

Failure to comply with the forum rules will result in the following actions:

• First offense: the offending thread will be locked or deleted. You will receive a warning from one of the moderators. If, however, your first offense warrants it, we will apply what would normally be the second offense.
  
• Second offense: the offending thread will be locked or deleted. You will be banned. The banning may be permanent or temporary, depending on the severity of offense.

All disciplinary actions here are final with no appeals allowed. Generally, these rules are fairly easy to follow with some common sense and they are also very fair. Staff members will not make exceptions in applying the rules for anyone.

The following are forum guidelines and violations of these guidelines may result in your threads or posts being locked, split, merged, or deleted, depending on the situation:

1. Respect is the name of the game. You must respect your fellow members. Please refrain from inflammatory and defamatory comments as well as flaming, taunting and general disrespect. Do not simply put down the opinion or advice given by others. If you don't agree with it, say why - respectfully.
   
2. Please post discussions in the appropriate Forum. Posts made in the wrong Forum may be moved by our Moderator staff.
   
3. Cross posting is not allowed and will result in the removal of one or more posts. Cross posting is defined as posting the same information in two or more locations.
   
4. Stay on topic. A limited amount of thread drift will be allowed, but if a thread starts off about Iraq, and turns into a thread about gay marriage, that will not be allowed.
   
5. Cite sources in order to bolster/refute arguments. Making fun of a source is not debate, and posts mainly concerned with that tactic will be deleted. You source your "facts" at your own peril. If your source is poor, or non-factual, this may very well come out in the ensuing discussion. On the other hand, you can discredit a source, but only if you provide an alternative source that proves your rebuttal. If someone states something that requires a source, a single request is all that's needed. If the poster refuses to post a source, then just walk away. You can consider that poster's statements to be discredited if they did not cite a source for their "facts".
   
6. Political correctness is a non-issue on this forum. However, always keep the rules in mind. Racial slurs (and we know what they are) are a violation of the rules.
   
7. Please keep in mind that you can always "walk" away from a debate. The idea behind this discussion board is to discuss and debate ideas, thus, ultimately there will be no "winners" or "losers" in the traditional debate club sense. If you find yourself arguing in circles, then it is a good sign that the discussion is over. Also, if someone is violating the rules or the guidelines, do not antagonize that poster, simply report it to a moderator.

Repeated failure to follow the posting guidelines will result in disciplinary action. Basically, if you cause more work for the moderators than you should, you will be warned and subsequently banned if necessary. In other words, if find ourselves having to move, lock, split, or delete your threads or posts with some frequency, then we will either warn you or ban you as if you had broken one of the rules. The moderators and administrator(s) would prefer to not do anything but simply discuss and debate here. We all have lives outside of this forum as well, and if we are forced to frequently visit this forum in order to clean up your messes, you will find yourself on our bad side.

Any advice given by anyone on this forum, be it medical, financial,legal, technological, or otherwise, should be taken for what it's worth. Though posters here may be lawyers, doctors, accountants, etc., follow any advice given here at your own risk.