Forum Rules: PLEASE READ

Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports
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This forum is for posting comments about Staff Reports. Staff Reports are not written by Cecil, they are written by staff members of the Straight Dope Science Advisory Board (SDSAB), and occasionally by guests.

If you’re new here (or even if you aren’t), please read the following threads before posting on the SDMB:

FAQ - Rules for Posting at the Straight Dope Message Boards
How and when do I report a post?
What’s the policy on copyrights?
How do I know which forum to post in?
Are there any forbidden topics, like sex and drugs?
What happens to rules violators?
What are the rules about file-sharing software?
Must I post in English?
What links are permitted? What’s “workplace safe”?
Are there any rules on insulting the other posters?
Can I modify other posters’ quotes?
Can I edit my own post?
What’s with ignore lists and buddy lists?
What are the rules on profile signatures?
What if I want to change my username?
FAQ - Guidelines and Etiquette on the SDMB
Good manners and common courtesy are expected
Use descriptive titles when you start a thread
On resurrecting old threads
Reporting inappropriate Google ads
Use of spoiler tags
How do I find out what happened to a thread or poster that’s vanished
“Private Messaging” and meaning of “private”
FAQ - Technical issues for Posting
New User problems
User titles
Changing username, password, or email address
How do I report a bad post (one that I think is rules violation?)
Board speed/performance
vB Features
vB coding and tips (bold, italic, spoilers, etc)
Displayed time
Ignore lists
Funny abbreviations
How to post pictures and links
How to search the Straight Dope Message Board using Google
How to use the automated polling feature
Contacting the staff directly
Beginner’s Guide to Glossary of Terms on Straight Dope Message Boards

Variations specific to this forum:

**When you start a thread, please include a link to the Staff Report you are talking about. ** This helps keep us all on the same page, and avoids someone making a brilliant comment that was already made in the Staff Report, for instance.

How do you post a link? The easy way is just to include the web page location in your post (make sure there is a space before and after the text of the URL).

The fancier approach is to type: [url=“http://the.address.of.the.page”]Your Text Here … (including the equal sign and quote marks, but using the real url, obviously) and you’ll get the words Your Text Here as a link.

And, please, be sure that the link is clear and obvious. A simple link might be missed, especially for newer members. Please be obvious about it, like this:
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mhornedhelmet.html or Straight Dope Staff Report: Did Vikings really wear horns on their helmets?

Thanks for your cooperation.

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Each forum has its own rules. Generally speaking, the Straight Dope Message Board sort of frowns on resurrecting very old threads, primarily because the posters may no longer be members. How old is “very old”? As a guideline, more than six months old.

However, there are times when new information or new ideas come to light, or a new member wants to talk about something in an old thread. Staff Reports are timeless.

So, in this forum, we permit people to respond to old threads and to resurrect them, with some constraints:
– Don’t resurrect an old thread unless you’ve really got something to add. Just putting an “I just saw these comments, and I agree with you!” on a two-year old thread does not accomplish anything at all.
– If you start a thread and get no (or few) responses, you may re-post to it once (ONCE!) to put it back on the front page. After that, let nature take its course. You may not continue to resurrect your own threads, hoping for a response THIS time.
– If you’re really starting a new discussion about a Staff Report, but think that a reference to an old discussion might be of interest, then start a new thread and provide a link to the old thread.

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These Message Boards are more strict than legal necessity in protecting copyrights. Our sponsor, the Chicago READER, applies the Golden Rule: they don’t want other people abusing their copyright material, and therefore they don’t want persons on their Message Boards abusing the copyrights of others.

If you want to quote outside material, the proper approach is what’s called “Fair Usage” – you can quote a small bit and give proper attribution. If you need to reference more than a small amount, provide a link to a site that has the rights to publish the entire work.

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You may of course continue to question and dispute what you see as ill-founded posts or ideas, but in this forum let’s pretend to be reasonably polite to each other. Thus avoid in this forum the use of “fighting words” (including but not limited to “moronic,” “crap,” and “stupid”) when directed against thoughts and beliefs that SDMB posters have previously expressed in the same thread, or against the thoughts of any SDMB poster identified by user name. This guideline does not apply to attacks on the thoughts and statements of public figures who do not post on the SDMB. This guideline is not an instant-banning type offense, but don’t make a habit out of breaking it.

Naturally, direct personal insults (insults directed at a poster’s person rather than the idea he or she expresses) remain strictly forbidden in all forums outside the BBQ Pit.