Is your time more precious than others? Do you speed read through life searching for information with purpose? For those expecting this forum to be categorized and limited to information worthy of an old school encyclopedia, sorry.
So to best minimize the number of Orbital Fractures as a result of frequent eye rolling, attached are common forum guidelines:
Focus on topics created in the past 100 days. (Let’s face it, information older than your most recent Apple iPhone is not all that useful.)
The first 10 posts in any Topic are the most relevant. Read the rest as boredom allows. (Most forum members have the attention span of a puppy. But not as cuddly.)
When making syrup from Sugar Maple trees be aware that the color and taste is affected by the season’s temperature.
If you come across a post that appears to be written in anger or disgust, skip ahead a minimum of 25 posts. (Your blood pressure and love of all that is good might otherwise suffer.)
The best time to catch up on forum posts are the first 2 hours of any work day. (Everyone else is in the office snack room anyway.)
If you choose to post, please turn off your spell checker. (Rather mistake you for a bad speller than think you’re an ash pole.)
A faster alternative to reading this forum is to join the Reddit or other general laser forums. (Since you do not yet have a Glowforge the best information can be obtained from others who also don’t have a Glowforge.)
I would add #8, follow the rules when you post. I almost got banned because I didn’t realize you aren’t supposed to ask after art sources. (In my case I didn’t even think twice because it appeared to me that the art used in the post was something the maker grabbed online, not handmade, but it’s still against the rules to ask where anyone got any kind of artwork.)
Also, remember to check your alerts menu in the upper right. Depending on your preferences you may not get email for all sorts of forum updates. My email preferences are left at default, so I get email from threads, but I did not get the angry mod messages when I committed an infraction. I only found out I almost got hit with the banhammer a month later when I idly clicked on the alert icon while browsing threads!
BTW if you have not read the forum rules yet, you will get a forum badge when you click the link above.
It’s not quite that dire, and you weren’t even close to being banned. Those messages are automated by Discourse, but the flagged messages get sent to Dan, and he doesn’t do anything about the ones that are just honest mistakes.
Personally, I’d like to see somebody appointed to really mod these forums. Right now they’re a mess. But that’s only due to the fact that there’s nothing else to talk about since we’re all waiting around doing nothing. I think what would appeal to me most is to archive everything here once the fist production units actually ship. Call it “The Before Time.” Still available, but no longer in the spotlight. And then I’d like to see clear, clean forums going forward. Chit-chat should certainly have its place, but I’d hate to see it so wide-spread as to infect every thread. Just my thinking on things like this!
whoa! Thanks! I hadn’t read the rules yet, so you just helped me earn a badge! I think this one is my favorite, and I wish it would apply to all aspects of our culture (even outside the forum).
Be Agreeable, Even When You Disagree
You may wish to respond to something by disagreeing with it. That’s fine. But, remember to criticize ideas, not people. Please avoid:
Name-calling.
Ad hominem attacks.
Responding to a post’s tone instead of its actual content.
Knee-jerk contradiction.
Instead, provide reasoned thoughts and explanations that improve the conversation.
I’ve been teaching my 7 yr old neice what an “ad hominem” attack is: calling names rather than focusing on disagreeing with ideas. Seems an opportune moment in history to teach about that
