A Beginner's Guide to Posting On SH

[Sturgeon]

As the title suggests, please read this post before you yourself posts.

First, it's appropriate for me to introduce this forum to the new posters that may be reading this. Sturgeon's House is a forum for those concerned with technical topics. Those of us that make up the core of the website are those who value good information over bad, who value the best sources and documents over those poorly executed. We thrive on sharing primary sources with each other and discussing them. As I once said on another forum, it doesn't matter if the airplane looks good, it matters how well it flies. That's how we feel about sources and documents here on SH. It has to make sense, and it has to fit within the ever-refining context in which it exists. In short, SH is a document-based forum, in the same way that 4chan is an image-based forum. 

 

Before you post, I think it's fair that you know that in this forum I intend to hold everyone to a - relatively speaking - higher standard of posting. It's my goal to make this forum a place with not only a high signal to noise ratio, but also a place with a high level of cultivated humor and levity. So at once, I expect posters to take posting seriously, but also to not take posting seriously. It's easier than it sounds, I think. Perhaps, instead, I should say: "The quality of posts should be high, but the subject need not be serious."

If you're new to the forum, the safest course of action to being accepted here is to try to post sources without commenting on them, and to pay attention to the forum Nobility (they are tagged as such). If you find something interesting, post it without making any comment of your own. For instance, perhaps post a documentary and ask "what does the forum think of this?". Be sure to pay attention to the responses you get, especially those of the Nobility. They should tell you a lot about how we do things at SH, and what a good or bad document looks like.

If I were a new poster here, I'd tackle technical subjects first (by posting sources without commentary), then once you've gotten a few likes from the Nobility, maybe try your hand at humor or the more recreational areas. I would not try to post anything about politics or religion until you are very well established on the forum.

I do not enforce any moral codes here on SH, only anti-obnoxiousness and anti-spam rules. Your language will not be censored, but your content may well be, especially if it contributes nothing to the discussion or is otherwise a deliberate attempt to reduce the value of content on this website. The lack of censorship here at SH is not an excuse to be a cad.

 

There are three basic guidelines to posting at SH that were for a long time unspoken but understood by everyone here. However, since we have grown in membership, it is worthwhile to state them openly:


1. This forum was created to be a place where technical discussions can take place without drama. That is a burden every single poster needs to bear, and it comes before anyone's honor, reputation, etc.

 

2. No one on this forum is an "untouchable"; not even I am, though as a general rule it's stupid to piss off an admin.

3. Any shitstorms that occur are to be worked through, and must not be allowed to wreak permanent havoc on the forum's membership. This is the Internet, and no grudges or bad blood are really very real. If you have a problem, you can work it out like adults. There is no "or else", just work it out.

 

4. Keeping the post quality high here is a group effort. Think of it like a group hike - you don't have to like everyone you're marching with, but if someone stumbles or trips up you pick them up and help them, you don't break your own leg in escalation. Posting here is like that - if someone else, regardless of what you think of them - falters in posting well, do what you can to keep the conversation on track and the posting quality high.

 

 

Lastly, I recommend you read over BabyOlifant's posting rules, which, while they don't always fit exactly right on this forum, are a good starting point to posting well:
 

Quote

 

BabbyOilFaint's Remarkable Guide to Not Shitpoasting So Damn Much:

 

Step One: Acquire alcohol of between 3-12% ABV. Imbibe at a rate somewhere at the mean of "nursing the bottle back to health" and "trying to beat a German at a drinking competition." Note: Do not ever try to beat a German at a drinking competition. No really, I nearly killed a Berliner by giving him Dogfishhead 90 Minute. Note (2): Do not drink to impress. We're trying to gudpoast, not vomit.

 

Step Two: If your post is about anime, Doctor Who, House, Sherlock Holmes (the Benjamin Cumberbatch one), or anything else that is SNCA, don't post it. That's "Shit Nobody Cares About" for those of you who don't lurk at ED.

 

Step Three: Edit your posts. Sometimes you won't say what you really mean. Sometimes what you really mean is stupid. Editing is the solution. Having said that, don't edit away your major errors to avoid taking responsibility for them.

 

Step Four: If you have a questionable idea, use Google to find out if it's idiotic.

 

Step Five: Internal consistency is not the final arbiter of sound logic. If logic is an airplane, it's not good enough that it just looks good, it has to fly.

 

Step Six: The more links you forge, the more people will get out of your posts. Always hyperlink.

 

Step Seven: Condescension and pretension are forgivable. Being wrong is not.

 

Step Eight: Don't post SNCA.

 

Step Nine: Don't bait others to post SNCA.

 

Step Ten: The Golden Rule: Read what you write out loud.

 

Step Bonus: Copypasta Donward's poasts.

[Walter_Sobchak]

So that means I am not allowed to post my fan-fiction Dr Who/Sherlock crossover porn?  Geeez, that seems unfair.

[Xlucine]

Now you've mentioned it, you've got to post it

[Walter_Sobchak]

Now you've mentioned it, you've got to post it

Alas, it does not really exist.  However, if it did, it would have to incorporate the Doctors catchphrase "It's bigger on the inside" somehow.

[EnsignExpendable]

I heard a good quip about tank turrets a while back: "They're like a reverse TARDIS, smaller on the inside"

[Sturgeon]

Topic updated. Everybody should read it.

[Jeeps_Guns_Tanks]

These threads always make me wonder if I'm the shitpoaster who promted the update... 

 

 

Alas, it does not really exist.  However, if it did, it would have to incorporate the Doctors catchphrase "It's bigger on the inside" somehow.

 

 

Are you really sure it doesn't exists, cause dude, I bet it does if you look hard enough. In doing so you may find things that alter your life in a bad way, but still, just saying, always bet on the fetish. 

 

 

Hmmmm..... 

[Sturgeon]

Nobody prompted the update. I am preparing for a storm:

[Jeeps_Guns_Tanks]

Nobody prompted the update. I am preparing for a storm:

 

 

 Cool, but thinking about your inner shitpoaster isn't a bad thing, I think about it before I post something I think is funny, but dog humor isn't for everyone! 

[xthetenth]

I'm pretty sure that it's obvious that I consider joking a numbers game and try to work the law of large numbers into getting laughs.

[Sturgeon]

I couldn't be more satisfied with the quality of posting so far. I've revised this post to try and keep it that way.

[Sturgeon]

OP has been updated to include some unspoken rules of the forum for newbies.

[Sturgeon]

Since there was some controversy earlier, I've decided to clarify something. SH is not entirely work-safe or child-safe, though that does not mean you can go nuts. It was a founding rule of the forum that cursing is fine and that we're all big boys here who can put up with "fuck" and "shit", though it's best if folks stay away from other words that might legitimately cause consternation or drive posters off (racial slurs come to mind).

Posting in general should stay within this sort of boundary. If it is maybe not safe for children or work, then it is probably not a big deal, but something definitely not safe for children or work that is also liable to cause discomfort even among adult audiences is best left un-posted.

 

Accordingly, those who browse SH at work, or with their kids, just be aware that it's not always strictly speaking safe for those environments. That doesn't mean I expect the place to turn into EDF2 or 8chan, but it's worth giving fair warning.

[LoooSeR]

   With recent ban of one of new forum members i'm going to stress few things here for newcomers:

1. Posting DEBKA links with serious face/intention is really bad idea;
2. Trying to bring your shitty political views based on stupid articles on idiotic sites is also bad idea, especially to threads about equipment/gear;
3. Posting something borderline incomprehensible time after time;
4. Making a post that consist of just a quote of your own post from same page; 
5. PM/message harassment.

All this is improves your chances for a trip to Siberia by a lot and Spartan Armed is now Excommunicado for earning this combo by his own hands.

[N-L-M]

Friendly reminder that it is a really, really bad idea to deliberately antagonize moderators. We shouldn't have to point this out.

[Sturgeon]

Taunting a mod is a must-ban action. Either you take our mods seriously, or you don't.