Cafe Society Policies

Cafe Society
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Instead of having three sticky threads I decided to consolidate all of our policy statements into one thread. Any future changes in policy will be posted here as well.

On posting song lyrics

Since we too often have to edit posts containing the complete lyrics to a song, let me restate our policy on posting complete lyrics.

The policy is : don’t do it.

It is okay to post a small snippet of the lyrics and include a link to another site which contains the complete text. But posting complete lyrics verbatim puts us in danger of violating copyright laws.

Thanks for your co-operation.

On Spoilers

If you wish to discuss or ask a question about a story, and you are unable to do so without revealing a vital piece of information which might ruin a surprise for those experiencing it anew, please consider using a spoiler warning. Although there is no official board policy on this matter, it is considered courteous to do so.

When starting a new thread, the easiest way to warn for spoilers is simply putting the word “spoilers” in the title of your thread, like so:

Question about “Smarmy Tucklas” (warning: Spoilers!)

We have also implemented a spoiler tag, which allows you to put spoilers within boxes that must be manually highlighted to be read. To use it, enclose the spoiler text between a tag, and a tag. Here is an example of how to do this:

Here’s what I want to know about “Smarmy Tucklas”:

It’s all Ganoush.

This will appear like this:

Here’s what I want to know about “Smarmy Tucklas”:

It’s all Ganoush.

It’s also recommended that although a work may have been well known for quite a while, some may still be unaware of particular plot points of various works. There are new film students and literary critics being born every day and some may still be unaware that

Rosebud was his sled

or

Heathcliff does not return

or even that

Abner Doubleday invented baseball and the layout of the field is a recreation of the compass and square of Masonic symbolism.

Lastly, remember that the TV show you see on the east coast will not be seen for three to four hours later on the west coast. Therefore, revealing spoilers in a thread title will be considered signs of jerkdom and will be rewarded with an official warning.

You get the idea. We will thank you, your fellow posters will thank you, life will be beautiful.

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the cat???

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No. Heathcliff does not return the cat, either.

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Actually, there is a theory that “Rosebud” was
Warning: adult content (that’ll guarantee 100% click rate)

W. R. Hearst’s pet name for Marian Davies’ clitortis

(explains W.R.'s fury with the flick, don’t it?)

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Kitty :frowning:

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Can I post in here?

Hey I can! Now I am part of the ages! WOOOOOOOOOOOO!!

…

I’ll go now.

(Please don’t ban me).

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Wristy McSlashalot has a cool username… me like quirky. :smiley:

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What if the site we link to has illegally posted the lyrics. Can we still get in trouble? frets

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No, of course not. How could you know that it was illegally posted?

Actually, yes. You will be hunted down by the SDMB Bounty Hunters and forced to sing the song backwards for the whole board until you say you’re sorry.

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In response to Vanyel, what if you saw a website that blatantly stated “Gotcha illegally posted lyics right here !!!” ?

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One other point about spoilers: If it’s not immediately clear from the context, please specify what you’re spoiling, outside of the spoiler box. If I see a post something like

then I won’t know whether I should read that spoiler box. If, on the other hand, I see

In this case, I know that it’s Citizen Kane that’s being spoiled, and if I’ve seen the movie already, or don’t care about it, then I can go ahead and read the spoiler.

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It might also be useful to note that when using spoilers, try to avoid using different colors, because some of those can be seen without highlighting the spoiler box.


like this in blue or this in crimson

(even worse if you use bolded colors)

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Oh good heavens, who has time for such spurious apocrypha as that salacious assertation.

Sadly I am unable to discuss current media entertainment because of my typing style

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pardon me, just trying out how to do a spoiler

<spoiler>if this doesn’t work, I ain’t trying again</spoiler>

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Works better iffin you use instead of <>.

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Further, it’s annoying if you put something that isn’t a spoiler in a spoiler box with no indication as maybe no-one’ll read it. OK, sometimes its funny, but don’t overdo it.

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So remember, whenever you’re referring to the famous Mexican alcoholic beverage, call it t*q**la.

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Question: Can you post url’s to websirtes holding ongoing contests for writers here? (I mean this forum)

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Testing… testing… testing…

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves…

Hey, now I know how to read all those spoilers I’ve been skipping over in frustration! :smiley: Seems to me it would be a good idea to put a note about them in FAQ.

What? You actually expect people to look at the forum policies BEFORE they read and post? :smack:

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Hope I’m not incurring any wrath for reviving this thread. :slight_smile:

I wanted to ask, should I be mindful of the time zones outside of the continental 48 (Hawaii, Alaska) and in other countries? Or do us Pacific time-zoners have nothing to worry about?