I’m just sayin’.
Yes, this is a statement - not a general question - but I am one of the moderators, so no smart remarks (unless they’re really, really funny).
Please post stuff in the right forums, people. - Jill
Thanks, JillGat. I was about to post a Pit rant about this. Funny stories, personal anecdotes, and ruminations on the state of the universe have their place, but that place is not GQ, goshdarnit. And if one more person posts an incorrect statement to a thread because it’s “something they heard” or because they can’t be bothered to do a little simple research, I think I shall scream.
I guess that was kind of a mini-rant, but hopefully not so vehement that it was Pit-worthy.
Heh. Took 'em a whole year before they sent me off drooling into a corner and muttering “read the forum description” in my sleep.
Shouldn’t this topic be more appropriatly placed in About This Message Board? 
There is a pit rant about this, but perhaps not the one you were thinking of. Verboten to rant?- Attrayant
It’s just the latest of a long series, that might have been averted if threads had been moved rather than closed.
I say this just FYI, not because I would care if it happened to me.
Since I have your attention, what is an IMHO?
That’s why you should never hesitate.
In My Humble Opinion, kniz, it’s another forum here at the SDMB.
[Moderator watch ON]
IMHO is short for In My Humble Opinion, another forum on this message board. Both IMHO and GQ (General Questions, this forum) are for questions, so there’s some confusion between them. GQ is for questions which have a factual answer, wheras IMHO is for questions of opinion. If we find a thread here in GQ that’s asking for opinions, we might move it to IMHO, or we might close it… It depends on how slow the board is (moving threads is a lot harder than closing), who posted it, and what mood we’re in at the time (generally not good, if we’ve just moved six other threads to IMHO that day).
If we close one of your threads that you think that we should have moved, then a polite apology via email for posting in the wrong forum will usually get it opened back up and moved, later that evening. If we close one of your threads and you complain about it in the Pit, then we’re very unlikely to re-open it. If you’re not sure what forum something should be in, you can e-mail us to ask before posting it: Answering an e-mail is less work for us than moving or closing, especially when the board is slow.
[[And if one more person posts an incorrect statement to a thread because it’s “something they heard” or because they can’t be bothered to do a little simple research, I think I shall scream.]] MsWhatsit
Thank you. My special pet peeve, as some of you may have guessed, is when people do this re. medical issues: diagnosis and treatment of disease. Now sometimes someone will post an anecdote or an “I heard once but I can’t remember where…” and it will at least give a suggestion to the OP about where else to search. So we’re gonna use our best judgment here, as Chronos said, sometimes depending on our mood at the time.
In a similar vein as the medical thing – if someone is asking a fact-based question about the law (“Why is speeding illegal?”), it belongs in GD and it is not an invitation of people to post anecdotes about their last speeding ticket. Conversely, if someone is asking an opinion-based question about the law (“What would you do if you were pulled over for speeding?”), then it belongs in IMHO, and people can post about how pissed they were to be pulled over.
In any event, anyone who would take medical or legal advice they found posted to a message board, without consulting a real doctor (or lawyer) is nuts.
Sorry – sort of a personal peeve, but it seemed relevant.
Factual question; Is it true that ALL lawyers are weasels? …d&r…
Which brings up IMHO vs. MPSIMS. As a few posters have mentioned in the ‘New and Improved FAQ’ thread in the ‘About this Message Board’ Forum, perhaps the line should be more clearly drawn there as well. IMHO:D. Two possibilities come to mind: a clear definition of what should go in each of those Forums in FAQ and/or a more acurate description in the introducing paragraphs on the main page.
I think warnings such as I see on some highways these days might help.
When I first encountered a sign which said “speed enforced by aircraft”, you’d better believe I slowed down in a hurry! Just the thought of rocket fire or napalm toasting me and the kiddies in the car sent chills down my spine. :eek:
Chronos;
Let me go ahead and apologize in advance, since I’m sure I will violate some rule, but it’ll be out of ignorance, not intentional. I do not intend to start a thread until I’ve have been around longer and feel that I know the ropes better. If one of my posts disappears I’ll know I did something wrong, but I don’t feel that anything I say is important enough to try to resurrect. That is why I am apologizing in advance. Also one of the things I like about this board is that it is not completely out of control like many I’ve seen.
No, some of us are minx.
All the trivia I know is “something I heard (or read)”. Now you might say “Try search Google first.” But as is so often the case I find the search results to be completely useless. So, I figure why not ask the experts? Does that make me wrong? 
Um, thanks for the apology, kniz, but it’s not necessary, yet. When and if you do something wrong, we’ll tell you, so you can learn from it, and you can apologize then. It doens’t do anyone much good to go worrying about it already, though.
furryman, there’s nothing that says you can’t ask questions here… That would defeat the purpose of this forum. The point is just that, for many sorts of questions, you should ask Google (or AltaVista, or some other search engine) first. Many questions aren’t the sort of thing that a search engine can help with, and many others won’t give good search results. If you start off by saying “I already searched Google for this, but all I found was…”, then you’re likely to get a lot better responses from folks here.
Dear kniz
Based on this single post of yours, will you marry me?
I feel you have the appropriately sensitive attitude that will ensure a happy union. I am happy to contribute to the cost of your moving to Australia. I don’t even mind if you’re a woman!
But your refreshing attitude makes me want to snap you up, especially when you go on to say
As long as you check with Google before asking a question, and cancel about 20% of your postings before you make them, we will be VERY HAPPY.
Do you like chocolate?
Hands off kniz all you other bitches - I saw him (or her) first!!!
Redboss
And another year before we finally got you out of here altogether.
Bump