My comment policy

The policy is simple: this is not a democracy I can delete anyone's comment at any time for any reason. Of course, the only reasons I'm likely to delete anyone's comments are for violating any of the rules below:

• Show respect, be civil, no ad hominems. No swearing please. Golden rule and all that. If you'd like to berate me, feel free to send me an e-mail. If you show respect to me I'll show respect in return.
• If you provide a link to a site in the website field, it should be your personal web site.
• E-mail and website fields are optional. Please don't put fake information.
• Don't post something that's off-topic.
• Advertisements are usually unwelcome. If you come here with the sole intention of leaving a comment to advertise something, your comment will be removed.
• Don't copy entire articles into a comment unless you have some compelling reason to (such as that the resource is likely to disappear). Provide a link to the resource if you can. Of course, feel free to excerpt relevant portions of anything you'd like.

Regular commenters get some leeway. So if I know you, I'll be less mad if, for example, you post something that's off-topic. But if you post anonymously (without an e-mail address or a web site) and aren't a regular, I'm not likely to care much about deleting your comment if I feel it's warranted.

Note on anonymous comments

I think it's important that people be able to post anonymously if they choose to. Anonymity is an important part of freedom. So, I don't require a name or e-mail address for anyone to post a comment. (Not that it would matter much if I did, since they're trivial to fake anyway, so all making this information required would do is annoy the commenters for having to provide and me for having to receive fake information.)

However, putting your real name and identity behind your words immediately earns you some respect. In addition, people who don't provide their identity when commenting often do so in order to feel free to say things they wouldn't say if they had put their name behind their words. So while I allow anonymous comments, I encourage commenters to put their name behind their words. In addition, along with the added respect I have for someone who posts a comment with their identity comes a much higher threshold for deleting a comment I might otherwise delete had the person been anonymous. Correspondingly, anonymous commenters who don't use their real name or website address start out with a higher rating on the annoying meter.

Page last edited: January 25, 2006 (utc)