Welcome to the Real World Technologies forums! These discussion forums are for computer professionals and serious hobbyists to exchange information and ideas regarding technology and products.
Our forums are unique largely because of the audience, specifically the large number of community members from the industry. The key to being a good community member and getting the most out of the forums is to respect this audience. Remember that there are more readers than posters and many of our community members choose to remain silent. Generally, people come here to read and discuss technical information, posts with lots of technical content or a unique perspective on a particular issue are ideal. If you keep that in mind, and treat other posters respectfully, you will be an excellent contributor.
That being said, we have a number of guidelines that we have found are helpful to successfully running the forums:
- Login with your account. Our forums were custom designed to meet our needs for threaded discussions and anonymous posting. A number of the features rely on our membership system, so sign up for an account to enjoy all aspects of our forums.
- Professionalism is encouraged. Strong opinions are expected, and arguments are inevitable. Stalking, trolling, bullying, threatening, antagonizing or any other form of intimidation tactics will be discouraged.
- Using your real name is encouraged, but anonymous posting is allowed. Generally, it is better for a community if posters feel comfortable using their real identities online and we strive to create an environment where that is possible. However, we recognize that is not always the case for a variety of reasons. The forums are specifically designed for anonymous posting, to encourage discussion. When members are logged in, they can always choose to post anonymously.
- Because this is an ‘open’ forum where there is no validation of a poster’s ID, it is possible for individuals to ‘spoof’ others. This may be in jest, or it may be malicious. If such posts are not marked in some fairly obvious way as being a spoof or a jest, they will be presumed to be malicious and will be removed, with a possible ban. Our membership system eventually will prevent spoofing, which is another reason to sign up.
- No use of derogatory/slanderous terms, or outlandish claims for or against any persons, products or companies, unless the term can be proven accurate beyond a reasonable doubt. For example, if you post that “J. Smith is an ass”, you should be able to produce a photo showing that J. Smith has ears like a donkey, or his cheeks are sufficiently large to completely hide all other facial features. Otherwise, your post will be subject to removal.
- Multiple posts of substantially the same material is subject to removal, regardless of whether it is posted in different threads or different rooms. Sometimes, the same post in two different rooms can be appropriate, but please use good judgement.
- Generally, unless there is a gross violation of the rules, the poster will be contacted to explain his/her comments. If no valid email address is provided, the moderator will make the decision without notification of any kind.
- Forum moderators have the final decision regarding the disposition of any post. Excessive abuse or arguments may result in a ban.
Real World Technologies makes no claims as to the accuracy or usability of any information posted here, and has no ability to track the identity of any poster, so post at your own risk. Messages in moderated forums will be reviewed, however, and could be removed, subject to the guidelines listed. If you believe that a message is inappropriate, please contact us with a link to the message.
Real World Technologies reserves the right to remove any message posted on this forum at any time, and for any reason. Messages will be reviewed using the following guidelines, and messages that violate these rules will be sent to the bit-bucket, so please use your best judgement and professional demeanor. It is possible that messages are removed without violating any rules listed here, depending upon the decision of the forum moderators.
Happy posting, we look forward to seeing you in the forums.
