Forum Announcement: Forum Rules
06-14-2009, 05:56 AM
Forum Rules
The purpose of these forums is to help each other learn and resolve computer security problems.

Please adhere to the following rules:-

Exercise good judgment, reasonableness, and mutual respect - Personal attacks and name-calling as well as profane, pornographic, racist, sexist, or otherwise demeaning or offensive messages will not be tolerated. Recognize that there's a human being behind every post, and behave accordingly.

Post responsibly - Due to the public nature of these forums, be aware that what you post here will become part of the permanent archives and will therefore be available online for an indefinable period of time. Other web sites, including search engines, may link to what you wrote, making it easy for others to find. Moderators will NOT honor requests to delete, edit, or otherwise alter your posts or username. If it is important to you to keep certain details of your life private, do not share those details here.

Do not spam - These forums are intended to be kept spam-free. Posting off-topic advertisements is completely unacceptable and will likely lead to your account being banned. In general you can expect the moderators to be more lenient with long-term members who have a history of solid contribution and more heavy-handed with new members who are posting for the first time. If one of your very first posts is a solicitation, it will almost certainly be deleted.

Do not troll - "Trolling," i.e. posting inflammatory, off-topic, highly immature, or insulting messages to provoke a reaction from others, is completely unacceptable and will result in your account being promptly banned. However, friendly debate, socializing, and good humor are perfectly welcome here. What crosses the line is when someone behaves in a manner that degrades the quality of the forums for other members.

Do not whine - It's okay to share your problems and challenges and request advice and help from others here. It is NOT okay to incessantly whine, complain, unload negativity, or seek commiseration. Members who exhibit a pattern of negative "poor me" posts with minimal receptiveness to change will be banned. These forums are for people who assume full responsibility for their lives, not for those who are looking to be objects of pity or to assign blame.

Do not post copyrighted or illegal material - Do NOT post copyrighted content here such as articles or images without the express permission of the copyright holder. If you wish to reference a copyrighted item found elsewhere online, simply link to it. If you acquire permission to repost a copyrighted piece here, add the phrase "posted with permission of the copyright holder" to your post. If you don't know whether or not something is copyrighted, assume it is. Do not post messages that invite or encourage visitors to engage in illegal activities such as hacking or piracy.

Use reasonable signatures - Signatures that include links to free content-based sites are generally fine. However, in order to prevent forum abuse by internet marketers, the following types of signatures are unacceptable: visually obnoxious signatures; signature links that go directly to sales pitches, lead generation pitches, or email capture pages; or links to known scams or pyramid schemes. Signatures that ignore this rule will be censored or deleted, and continued abuse is cause for banning. If your intention is to use these forums primarily as a marketing outlet, you've come to the wrong place.

Use meaningful thread titles - Meaningful, descriptive titles greatly improve forum usability. Ambiguous, cutesy, or clever titles diminish forum usability. Most members only have time to selectively read a small percentage of posts, so please respect their time. If you want to be clever or cute, feel free to do so in your post content, but keep your titles as clear and direct as possible.

Stay on topic - When starting a new thread, use your best judgment to select the appropriate forum. If a thread drifts far from its original topic, please start a new thread for the secondary topic in the appropriate forum. Follow the rule of one thread, one topic.

Avoid thread-hijacking - Thread-hijacking is when a member attempts to derail a pre-existing discussion and take it away from its original topic. This behavior can be frustrating to members who want the discussion to proceed on course. If you wish to take a topic in a new direction that would otherwise derail the original topic, simply start a new thread for your own topic. Do not engage in thread-hijacking, as it reduces the quality of the forums for others.

Avoid cross-posting - Don't cross-post the same message to multiple forums or to multiple websites. This will be treated by the moderators as spamming. Use your best judgment to select the single most appropriate forum for your post.

Adequately describe linked content - When posting links to files or web sites, include a clear description of the linked content. This allows members to more easily decide whether a link will be of interest to them.

Quote efficiently - When quoting a lengthy post or posts in your response, quote only the passage(s) relevant to your response. This makes it easier for others to understand the context for your message.

Post in English only - The official language of these forums is English, so please don't make posts in other languages. This is a diverse, international community though, so be respectful of contributors whose native language isn't English.

Exercise cultural and religious sensitivity - A wide variety of belief systems are represented here. Feel free to challenge any belief system, but honor others' right to choose their own beliefs. It isn't necessary to be "politically correct," but it is necessary to show basic respect.

Notify moderators of problems promptly - These forums are attentively moderated in order to maintain a high level of quality and usability for members who are committed to personal growth. If you feel another member is violating these guidelines in a manner that degrades forum quality, please notify the moderators. The easiest way to do that is to click the "Report Post" icon in the upper right corner of any post. This will notify the moderators, and you can include your own message to explain the problem. Most problems are quickly resolved.
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