X-bit labs Community

[CPUagnostic]

Hey folks, we've come up with a few guidelines as to acceptable behavior here. The Xbit Labs staff are eventually going to set up a link to this information (presumably from the forum header, or some other easily accessible location), but until then we're posting this in the General Hardware and Bla-Bla-Bla forums.

1) Abide by the user agreement. Some of the below rules are restatement or clarification of rules already in the user agreement.

2) Respect your fellow members. This entails several points:

• Do not use ad hominem attacks. Ad hominem is any time that you attack the person rather than the argument or idea they have put forth. For example, saying to someone "You are wrong," is attacking their idea. Saying "You are a moron," (or the more likely "U r a moron") is attacking the person.
  
• Do not post any sexually explicit or very degrading materials of any form. The ultimate definition of this is to be determined by the moderators and the Xbit Labs staff.
  
  There has been a historic tendency to post links to individuals whose appearance we admire, who may be nearly in a state of undress. Links to such material are permitted, but only if there is a warning present in the post, and [IMG] tags should not be used. Bear in mind that aside from the fact that children may be present on the forum, many members browse from their place of employment, where such material can land them in big trouble.
  
  Even though this sort of posting is permitted, it is generally not encouraged, as this is a forum for computer enthusiasts, not for pursuits of other hardware. If you would like to engage in regular conversations about that, there are better places. So be considerate, and minimize such posting.
  
• Do not troll. Trolling is making a post that is designed to "get a rise" out of someone -- to annoy them into responding in an inappropriate manner. This includes everything from subtle ad hominem attacks to obvious manipulation.
  
• Try not to overuse bad language. In general, we're not terribly concerned with the occasional foul word, but patterns of excessive bad language are not acceptable.
  
• Respect others' privacy. Never post anyone else's personal information without their permission.

3) Do not post links or requests for pirated software or other material. We respect the rights of others to control their property, intellectual or otherwise. If they didn't see fit to provide you with a copy for free, we don't see fit to support your attempts to get one.

4) Do not spam. Spamming includes unsolicited commercial posts, repetition of senseless or absurd content, or otherwise being repeatedly totally off-topic. Note that we have a Trade Zone forum, and individual members are more than welcome to post "unsolicited" offers of personal equipment, or links to web sites with very good deals, etc. This is not "commercial."

5) Thread subject lines should be clear of questionable language (swearing, obscenities, etc.). Again, people browse from work.

6) These rules are not inflexible or ironclad. They are guidelines for you to follow, but you must use your judgment in any individual circumstance. The moderators exist to interpret the rules and apply them to the forum, and they are the final arbiters in any given situation. Penalties for abusing the rules can include:

• A warning, with subsequent offenses resulting in a ban, at the moderators' discretion.
  
• An immediate ban, if offense is eggregious enough to warrant this action.

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I think I'm pompous enough already. A pompous signature would just be redundant.

[Hammer_Time]

In response to some overly large signatures appearing in the forums recently, we ( the moderators ) have unanimously agreed on the following guideline regarding the overall size of your signature:

Overly large forum member signatures are not permitted. When the size of your signature is significantly larger than the size of your post, we will contact you to reduce the size of your signature. If you fail to comply we will shrink it to an appropriate size for you, as deemed appropriate by us ( the moderators ).

You can use a lengthy signature IF you use a small font on it. Please try to keep the height of your signature to 2 cm or less on your screen. If you are not sure about the size of your signature, just look at existing members signatures on the forums for examples, or contact a moderator for advice on this.

The following type of signature is frowned upon, one with multiple system specs stacked one on top of the other:

[Celt]

The moderators would like to emphasize the X-bit Labs Forum Guidelines posted above.

With regard to point (2) of the Forum Guidelines, the moderators acknowledge that we have not been strictly enforcing this guideline over the past few months with long-standing forum members. However, there have been a number of recent incidents lately where this guideline has been clearly broken, which have culminated in open breaches, including a member being publicly called "an a##hole", which clearly breaches this rule.

As a result the moderation team have decided that we need to begin to enforce this guideline more stringently in future. As a result we will be introducing a new policy with regards to this guideline and the handling of misbehaviour of this sort.

As Guideline 6 says, "These rules are not inflexible or ironclad.", however this has given leniency free rein, therefore if the moderators become concerned about any members behaviour within a thread that is getting close to the "line" of acceptability, we will be issuing that member with a "Yellow Card", which will be reflected in their forum "Custom Title". This will also be issued to anyone deliberately flame-baiting or goading members into actions that may breach the forum guidelines. Failure to amend behaviour after a Yellow Card is issued will result in a moderator enforced ban of either a temporary or permanent nature. The issuing and duration of the "Yellow Card" is entirely at the moderators discretion, and does not prevent the moderators from issuing immediate temporary or permanent bans should the situation warrant such actions.

We believe this retains the spirit of Guideline 6, but provides a direct and public notification to a member of the inappropriateness of their actions, and a public records of wrongs to the wider membership. The issuance of a Yellow Card is not an excuse for other members to criticise or attack the member in question. Any such acts will be regarded as flame-baiting and will be dealt with also.

The moderators hope the creation of this "Yellow Card" will be a useful tool ( besides the obvious one of banning ) , and serve to give strong warning to members that their behaviour is not acceptable, and if they continue to attack other member(s) then they will surely be banned. We hope you will assist us in restoring the reputation of X-Bit Labs forums as a place where debate; even heated debate can occur in a constructive and creative way.

Thank you for your cooperation.
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You don't have to be a megalomaniac to moderate this forum . . . but it helps!


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