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Welcome to the Stumbleupon and
eBay groups at Flickr and Google.
Did this page load slowly for you, suggesting that the server load at Webring
might be unusually high at the moment? If so - and if you plan to do any wandering
on the group homepage - you could try the
mirror to this page on the resurrected Angelcities.
Flickr, like surprisingly many
discussion group providers, disables javascript, hence the need for
this entry page - a place where one can post the SSNB code is needed.
Not to worry, as you are only a click away from the group, and there
is a clear path back to the ring. This is a good chance to ensure that
those entering the group from Webring read the rules for the group, as
I will be posting an additional copy of them here on this entry page, as
I write them.
Let us understand each other clearly on one point -
this is not a radical free speech forum, where anything goes, nor is
it a democracy. It is a benevolent dictatorship in which the benevolent
dictator reminds you that abusing your host's hospitality is a valid
reason for him to withdraw that hospitality.
A few simple rules
to start you out:
- Common sense trumps all rules. The moderator decides what is or
is not common sense. There is no appeal, but you can always found your
own group if you feel that he has decided unjustly.
- Please keep it clean, folks, with no R or X rated material submitted.
This is a PG rated group.
- This is not a commercial group, even though eBay is, obviously,
a commercial site. Do not try to sell or buy anything while you are
here.
- Do not lie about what others have said, or even what you, yourself
have written. No lawyering or attempts to trap other users with this
one - I understand that memories are not perfect. However, a good faith
effort to abide by this rule is not merely expected, it is demanded.
Those who ignore it will find that they and possibly their comments
are gone.
- Do not resort to the use of ad hominem arguments, "arguments against
the man", in response to substantive commentary. However, note that if
your own argument consists of nothing more than the offering of a gut
reaction then comments on the man are reasonable, because by your own
choice, the man has been made into the argument. Eg. If somebody says
"I don't see why the bank in town needs police protection", mentioning
the fact that he is a convicted bank robber is not an ad hominem, as
that fact is more than slightly relevant under the circumstances. Note
rule one.
- Control your emotions. I will not respond gently to flammage or
trolling, or to those who support either. If you absolutely must fight
each other, take your fight over to the group flamepit, but stay polite while
you're on the main group. Understand that while I may
not always be present to intervene as soon as you or I would prefer, I
will eventually log in and when I do, not only will I eject the person
attacking you, but I will eject anybody who came to his support as well.
Smile and bide your time, if you are in the right, knowing that I will
almost certainly be there for you.
- Any argument along the lines of "it's a free service, so what are
you complaining about" is trolling. The statement that "whether a service
is free or not, it should be run fairly and conscientiously" is dogma
on this group, not even to be questioned, much less ignored.
- Cyberstalking will not be tolerated. If you bring up a dispute that
occurred elsewhere onto this group, and it isn't a dispute that involves
Stumbleupon or eBay, you'd better have a compellingly good reason to have
done so.
- Don't abuse the moderator's hospitality or test his patience. You
are a guest in his virtual home, and while he will seek to be a gracious
host, that graciousness is not an unconditionally given gift. It can be
forfeited through uncivil conduct.
Note that this is a moderated group. Posting here is a privilege, not a
right. While it is not a privilege that I'm inclined to deny lightly
because it's a privilege that I'd like to see people exercise, I'm not
going to be so hesitant to do so that the discussion ends up being taken
hostage by the most clueless or ill mannered participants present, as it
so often is elsewhere. All members start out on moderation, unless I know
them already and feel that they've earned my trust. One gets off moderation,
not by seniority, but by establishing a track record of submitting
worthwhile content; those who start to become the kind of posters reasonable
men groan on seeing won't necessarily be thrown off the group for doing so,
but at the very least, they should expect to be put back on moderation.
Yes, yes, I know. I'm a mean, nasty awful person who doesn't believe in
radical inclusiveness and the universal right to be invited to all
gatherings, and sounds like he might not even believe in the tenets of
self-esteem based education. Well, I don't, but that's life. Mean and
nasty, no, but I do believe in expecting adults to act like adults, and
in insisting that children remember that they aren't adults. I am very
tired of the idea of rule by temper tantrum, and while I'm not looking
to mount the heads of my members on the wall, I am not going to take any
nonsense, either. If you can respect that, I think you'll have a
good time here, or at least a peaceful one, but if not, let us part
company now, while we can still do so amicably.
When you decide to return to your ring, a ring return page linked to from
the main page on the group (which you can return to just by clicking on the
title at the top of any post or page on its site, just as with any other
googlegroup) will take you back to where you need to be. Nothing more to
see here, so shall we continue?
If you'd like to know where this site was for a while, I've
written a brief page about that; one might
note with mild interest that the safest data on my pages proved
to be that located in the supposedly unreliable cloud. The groups
lie ahead.
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