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In George Orwell's 1984 (click for a full, searchable, online copy), Orwell described a powerful, ever-present, all-invasive government whose sole goal was to continue and increase its own power through the complete oppression of its people and via permanent, everlasting war with its neighbors.  In this world, the war department was called The Ministry of Peace. The propoganda department was called The Ministry of Truth.

With that in mind, hi, and welcome to The Ministry of Free Thought, also known as MiniThink; the political wing of MacAddict Forums (MAF).  Interpret that as you will.

The Rules
1) Don't be a jerk (DBAJ)
- The MacAddict forums-wide edition of "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
- When in doubt, DBAJ.

2) No flamewars.
- Solve personal conflicts at the lowest possible level.  If not quickly in a thread, then take it to email.
- If you can't solve it between yourselves, contact a Mod or Admin.
- Do not take it upon yourself to chase someone from thread to thread to heckle them.

3) No SPAM.
- Any unsolicited advertisement, for profit or otherwise.
-  Duplicate threads. One of a duplicate thread will be locked, either the second one created if they're discovered early enough or the one with fewer posts & at the moderator's discretion. 
- Topics with no discernable suggestion for the course of debate.
- Topics specifically about other posters at MAF. 

4) Stay on topic.
- Don't derail threads.  Someone probably put some effort and/or thought into creating them.
- No personal attacks.  If you disagree with something, refute the post, don't flame the messenger.

5) Stay off the grass.
- Our groundskeepers work tirelessly to maintain the grounds.  Help them keep the place tidy.

6) No direct personal threats.
- No threats of death, bodily harm, theft, harm of family or friends, etc.
- No threats against elected officials.

7) Don't break any laws.
- Do not post anything that violates US federal laws, US state laws, or local laws in your area.
- MacAddict is a for-profit magazine.  They're not in business to keep you out of jail.  They will, without qualms, turn over your posts as evidence against you if they?re so directed.  Don't put them in the position of having to do it.

8) No porn whatsoever.
- Chances are if it's nude, it's not acceptable. (Most Muppets don't count.)
-  If you post a link that you have the slightest doubt about being acceptable, post "NSFW" with it.  It might be the saving grace that lets it stay.

9) Ex Post Facto Rules may be implemented at any time.
-  Holding posters accountable to rules that disallow behavior that was not prohibited when a post was first made. 
- We're not able to predict every situation.  Sometimes someone will do something that's such a violation of DBAJ that a new rule will need to be created.  If it happens, that person will be held accountable even though the rule was made explicit after they broke it.

10) You don't have free speech here.
- Topics may be closed, edited, or removed at any time, at the moderator's discretion, when a rule is broken.
- Trolling - the posting of deliberately inflammatory content in any form - will not be tolerated.  It is up to the moderators and administrators to determine what content trolling consists of.
- As a rule, topics will not be closed, edited, or removed in order to further any one viewpoint or to "win" a discussion.
- If I feel the need to edit or lock a topic, I'll at least try to explain why I feel it was necessary.

11) No Zombie Threads.
- If a topic is worth discussing, it's probably worth starting a new thread with a fresh take on it.
- If you feel that an older topic has something worthwhile in it, feel free to link to the topic, the post, or quote the post.
- A topic should be considered dead if there has been no posting in it for two months or more.

12) Do not plagiarize.
- Plagiarize, as defined by the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary is
         transitive senses : to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own :
                                                  use (another's production) without crediting the source
         intransitive senses : to commit literary theft : present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source
- Don't do it.  Any thread that starts with plagiarism will be locked as soon as the theft is discovered and the person who stole another's idea will be exposed.
- Cite your source when you quote something from another website; include a link back to the source whenever possilble.


From time to time moderators from other forums or our administrators may visit us here.  Just because they're out of their forums doesn't strip them of their mod status.


And finally, a couple of links that you might find useful here.
BugMeNot.com - "BugMeNot.com was created as a mechanism to quickly bypass the login of web sites that require compulsory registration and/or the collection of personal/demographic information (such as the New York Times)."
Oatmeal's Max-icons Page - This is a page of potentially useful (or frivolous, depending on your point of view) emoticons, all of them of Max, the MacAddict mascot.  
The Rules - Discuss  -Don't understand a rule and need clarification? Don't like a rule and have a good reason for wanting it changed?  Come to this thread, tell us about it. 


Welcome to the Forums.  Have fun.

- Oatmeal, MiniThink Moderator