Troy Spiral

Since the early days of the bush deficit spending this was a oft-warned outcome of such spending, and oft argued by the bush camp that such spending could be offset by the same things that they are suggesting now. Another time-will (hopefully) tell issue.

WASHINGTON - President Bush (news - web sites) pledged Wednesday to work with Congress to reduce the United States' huge deficits to assure markets that his administration supports a strong dollar. "The policy of my government is a strong-dollar policy," Bush said during an Oval Office meeting with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. "We're going to take this issue on seriously with the Congress," the president said. .... "The best thing we can do from the executive branch of government in America," Bush said, "is work with Congress to deal with our deficits. One deficit is a short-term budget deficit. Another deficit is the unfunded liabilities that come with Social Security (news - web sites) and some of the health programs for the elderly." Full Article: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...n_go_pr_wh/bush

Free players should not have problems logging in anymore , they just udpated the game so that you just are in a "wait list" and login as your turn comes around if the servers are overcrowded when you try to access the game. I tested it out a few times , and my longest wait time so far with a free account has been around 90 seconds.

Slowy working my way through the current issue of Reason (Magazine) per usual. I'm Stalled out around page 900 (again) of The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich Just finished Gone With The Wind Which, i've been avoiding for almost 10 years. Being the artsy snob, most of the intelligencia seems to assume this is a sappy cartoon history / love story and i, despite several recomendations, avoided it on that basis. I more recently had a friend of mine beat me into submission until i agreed to read this thing. As noted by several reviewers as well as my friend paul , truely should be considered The American War & Peace, skeptic though i was, im now a convert. This is a story about what amounts to The Apocolypse and the Post-Apoclypse , how some survive it, and some are destroyed (some emotionally, some physically, and many both) by it. When the destruction of the south is described in the context of the book, it really would be better described as American Armageddon. You almost expect Sherman,Grant,Sheridan and Lincoln (northern personalities virtually synomous with "Satan" in the old south) to come riding in as the four horseman of the apocolypse or to take on a many-handed form of Shiva and scream "..And Behold , I Have Become Death The Destroyer Of Worlds.." Very few of the main characters survive it and the ones that do have massive soul-searching ethica and emotional personality shifts. This book is readable on a "breezy" level , similar to many Hemmingway Novels for instance , but has a very deep undercurrent that is overlooked and continues to be overlooked by academia. About halfway through The Watchmen for a second read. Its amazing peice of work, despite its very un-accpetable subject matter and format.

You guys could never get in? I have litterally 11 different tibia accounts, 9 of them are "free" accounts. I've never had to try more than 4 times to get in with the free accounts and even then only occastionally. (non issue with normal accounts) And, if i was on any of the servers listed as "Empty" i dont know that i ever had a problem logging in with a free account, except if the server was brand new. Soon there will be a "login que" and you wont have to try and re-enter manually, but as i said i've been playing the game for years and at "peak times" (say 8pm-1am EST on USA servers) i've occastionaly had to try 3-4 times to get in with the free accounts but most of the time i just get right in. Just for kicks i tried to login just now with 1 account on the Eternia server (got right in) and then again on Dolera (took 3 tries and then got in) Im guessing you guys were very unlucky and picked uber full servers at peak times. If anyone is perticularly RPG savvy and this looks like something you might be serious about long-term rather than just goofing around a bit , i have a second non-free "premium" account that has nearly 3 months left on it that i have no use for that i could let anyone that plans on playing the game have for free. (PM me)

:pinch:

Omg they come in different brands??? :laughing: I thought there was just "black" "blood red" (glossy or non glossy) and then "all other lipstick" :whistling: The solid red or black "wet" looking lipstick basicly screams "kiss me you silly fool!" IMHO. /drool

Critter, who is on AOL , strangely , virtually imediately after i finished the changes was able to get in just fine. While I, on comcast, wasnt able to get in until 20 hours later.

What is Tibia? Tibia is a Massively Multiplayer Online Role-playing Game somewhat similar to EverQuest / Ultima Online but would be better described as the original version (crappy 2D graphics and all) of the original Legend of Zelda.. but minus the awesome 8 bit sound (as if) It has none. Why should you play it? 1. No one will know WTF your talkinga about! So , on the off chance you'll get hooked on it , you can have no life , similar to us EverQuest / Ultima Online / DaoC players , but with the added bonus that no one has a clue what tibia is and you will get even MORE blank stares when trying to describe tibia , and why you play it, than even EQ or UO players get! 2. Low system requirements. You can run this thing on a dog pc. And/or run other system hogging programs at the same time as tibia and not worry about it. 3. Crappy graphics and no sound! The graphics are original Nintendo style, without that annoying added "feature" called sound. Bah who needs it. 4. Its free! There are additional features , that if you end up getting hooked on the game you'll probably want to sign up for (costs about 7 bucks a month) but all the core features, are free and you probably will play the game 40+ hours before you'll even really notice the lack of any of these features. 5. You a personal tutor.. me. Well maybe that's a negative ? hehe. Im pretty well-versed in the game and also can play sugar daddy for any new players that come along as well as personal tutor. 6. You can kill people. Tibia has many "flavors" but the standard one has limited Player Vs Player combat, although its not a "frag fest" due to in-game penalties for unjustified player killing. 7. (For non RPG vets and vets alike) Its simple. In contrast to other games of its type its pretty simplistic. You don't need a college degree to play this thing. Basically you can either go out and kill monsters (think Diablo 2 but more simple) or stand around in town and chit-chat with people or sell items. 8. Not life-sucking as EverQuest or other similar ilk. While anything can be addictive, Tibia is setup in such a way that its easier to just sit down and play for an hour and then walk away than some of its relationship-wrecking cousins. 9. (if your an RPG vet) , once you get up to speed, can join the new guild ill be working on once the next , after-Christmas update, tibia server starts. Basicly with the pvp nature of tibia, we will, i anticipate "own" the server. (but you'll need to practice >nownow Basically im on DGN, Playing Tibia, or Watching Movies. Tibia seems somewhat lacking at first glance but it has a charm about it that has been bringing me back to it over and over for several years now something that many of the other MMORPGS i've played (some for years) have not managed to do. I have a vested interest in this game , as along with running DGN I usually have some sort of gaming-guild going, currently I do not (the last one was a Ultima Online guild which I gave up about a year ago) and I plan on starting a tibia guild, for powergamers, within the next month or so. Suggestions on getting started: Go to http://tibia.com create an account and just start playing. Feel free to contact me via MSN or Yahoo (im always set to invisible but will respond if free) Choose the Ameria server for now. At the moment if your playing with a free account you may not be able to login, as free accounts cant login if the server they are trying to join is "maxed out" but just try again a few times and you'll get in (there will soon be a login que and you wont have to do this) If you feel like going nuts and just jumping blindly into tibia and playing it as a powergamer you might want to look into joining http://PrecisionStrikeForums.com This thread is intended to be a pitch / commentary for a game I play called tibia. Not a post about RPGs or games in general. Feel free to start a new post on those subjects.

Some of you may have had problems connecting to DGN today and yesterday. This wasnt meant to start until another day or so but due to miscommuncation , Invision (our host) made the changes they needed to make on their end before i wanted them to, thus rather than try and have them "undo" their changes, which would have caused further downtime , i just completed the DNS changes to get it over with. Should be working fine at this point. Basicly , the process of getting Detroitgothic.Net , .com and .org pointing to this new "beta" Invision Power Board (IPB) version of DGN rather than the old EZ board site, took awhile as all the replication made its way across the net.. All the changes were done rapidly , but thoes DNS (and other) changes take time to replicate across the web and some people were able to connect while others werent, when these changes were replicating. As far as i know everything should be cleared up at this point. all the domains now point to this site.

I sort of just tollerate the existance of my clothes currently. Back when i was in my "goth punk" stage at U of M and used to wear the makeup 24/7 and had the long hair the first time, there was a black leather biker-ish jacket with tons of zippers and studs and such on it that i liked allot. Used to really absue it by writing various messages on the back of it in giant psyho-scrawl lettering... thing got stolen at CC when i was drunk off my ass and concentrating to much on dancing and some ranodom goth chick i was into at the time, "bah fuck this jacket to hot in here >tosses on benchforgets about it till 45 minutes later , to find its gone:tongue:

DGN DonationsAll Donation money goes directly into the DGN Paypal account and all costs from the various services are deducted directly out of this same account. We can always use help promoting DGN more than anything else. But, DGN does cost money to run. Your support is greatly appreciated.If you wish to donate but dont want to have "DGN Benefactor" or "DGN Supporter" listed on your profile please just let us know in the notes when you donate. Monthly Donations Goal: $75.00+Current: $60.00Current DGN Bank Account: $17.00Goal: $150.00+Donate (any amount): $5 Continuing Monthly Supporter Donation: $11 Continuing Monthly Benefactor Donation: The DGN supporter icon:Is given to users that contribute one of the following:- A Continuing Monthly Donation Of $5 or- A Single Donation of $30 or more In addition DGN Supporters have the ability to avoid the flood filter, additional upload space, their name shows in red in the "whos online" list (if not logged in invisible) and other additional features. Please show your support for DGN if you are able. The Benefactor icon:Is given to users that contribute:- A Continuing Monthly Donation Of $11 - A Single Donation of $70 or more In addition DGN Benefactors have the ability to avoid the flood filter, additional upload space, their name shows in red in the "who's online" list (if not logged in invisible) and other additional features. Please show your support for DGN if you are able. DGN Benefactors also have the ability to delete their own posts, delete their own topics that they start if they wish and have the "Benefactor Stars" around their "who's online" listing. Paypal Information: You do NOT need a paypal account to use the above donations system just click on "If you do not currently have a PayPal account " and you can pay via a credit card directly no need to signup for paypal if you dont want to. Estimated Monthly Costs:IPB premium hosting and support - $20.00Domain name hosting: (.org , .com , .net) - ((8.99 X 3) / 12) 2.25Meetup.com sister site maintence - $20.00Promotional Costs - $20.00Total: 72.25 In the event that we do not reach our donations goal , or when we end up with a surplus the following services will be paid for in the following order: 1. IPB Premium Hosting 2. Domain Name Registration3. Addtional DGN services / promotional tools / features 4. Meetup.com DGN sister site maintenance DGN Benefactors Troy Spiral Brenda Starr Head Wreck Msterbeau DGN Supporters Bean Water The Eternal StrayBullet42 Odims Sphere Rayne Mikielikesit Homicidalheathen Pomba Gira Mallochai Head Wreck ManicQueen Brenda Starrr The Void Brass Fusion Amerist Phee CandyQuackenbush

DGN Mission Statement, FAQ and Rules 3.1 "Everything you ever wanted to know about DGN" The DGN Code Of Conduct Rule No. 1. Play Nice. Unlike a lot of boards, we like to try and keep ours jerk-free. You should feel comfortable to express your opinions freely, even if they might be unpopular opinions - we're not going for a homogenized, dull community here. But when voicing an opinion, always do so with tact and avoid inciting others. Examples of what we don't want to see: 1A. Blatant Personal Attacks Name calling, threatening or other attacks directly on another poster or non-poster. "Direct Insults" If someone calls another poster an "asshole" or some such, and its not clear they were teasing, that's a fairly clear, obvious break of the DGN rules and they need to be talked to and/or dealt with in one way or another. 1B. "Outing" of People" Some people have very controversial ideas they prefer to keep private. If you're privy to knowledge of another person's views, do not make those views public without permission of said person. 1C. Personal Arguments Heated personal relationship arguments and other very private personal "fighting" between individual posters should be taken off the board into email, IM or otherwise. 1D. Blatantly Disruptive Posts Many threads change subjects during the course of conversation , but deliberately ruining topics that were intended to be serious discussion, on a regular basis, is a sure sign of a jerk. 1E. No Inflammatory remarks/comments about "The Rules", or Moderators actions on the board or "baiting" remarks/questions of such nature. DGN is not a soap box to vent your personal grievances about DGNs members, about DGN's hardworking staff or DGN's longstanding code of conduct. Don't post it on the board. 1F. Blatantly Inciting Anger It's fine to discuss things openly and frankly, and healthy debate is great. But don't incite anger in others purposely. 1G. Blatantly Disruptive Activity Any activity that slows the service of DGN. Any sort of anti-DGN "hacking" activity, denial of service attacks and the like are obviously not in spirit with the philosophy of DGN. 1H. No Pornography or links to pornography No pornography is allowed on DGN nor links to pornography. There might be some room for gray area in some cases on this issue, especially within the context of the Sex & Sexuality forum rules. But keep the porn off the board. 1I. The proper way to address an issue you may have with post, DGN Moderators or with the DGN Rules: If you have problems with DGN moderators, confusion about the DGN rules or an issue with a particular post bring it up with a mod or the mod staff privately. If you don't like the response, you get from a moderator, bring it up with a Sr. Mod. If you still dont like the response, while we try we cant please everyone. DGN is not a soapbox for you to complain about the longstanding DGN rules. If it is a problem with a particular post use the "report" button or link the post directly in your correspondences. If you STILL don't like the response you have two options: 1. Drop it and move on. 2. Drop it and perhaps revisit it in a few months. Other than that its "done". Its a hard job, and requires maturity on both parties especially if your viewpoint is not in agreement with the moderators. Rule No. 2. No blatant spam for message boards/groups unless given special permission outside of the General promotion section. A little goes a long way. After a while it's obvious if you are on DGN to be helpful, or just here to spam. We don't mind a little advertising in the course of a thoughtful post, or in the General Promotion section, but blatant advertising for other boards/groups (this includes "chat rooms") should be avoided. Blatant advertising for LOCAL GOTHY COMMUNITIES is delete-warn and ban if it doesn't stop fast. By posting on this board you agree to abide by these rules. These rules are subject change at any time. The DGN Mission Statement 1. Eventually to be the most active local online Goth / Industrial community in the country. In terms of membership, post activity, event and local scene info. This includes both ideas and people themselves that have little to do directly with anything “Goth”. It is an open-minded Internet-based community with a focus on SE Michigan, but it certainly is not limited to that location. We welcome open-minded people from all over the world, Goth and non-Goth alike. 2. To have DGN become synonymous with the idea of “The Detroit Goth / Industrial Scene”. DGN is designed and planned to be a central online location for "The Scene" to communicate and gather information. We are not there yet but with continued effort we will be. 3. Keep DGN as a haven from many of the rude and immature communities on the 'Net. DGN is a special and friendly place on the net and we want to keep it this way. Often it can be a difficult task to keep things respectful and easygoing in real life - this is especially the case on the Internet. Very often it requires difficult decisions be made as far as what to post and what not to post, and/or deciding when someone has broken the play nice rule or not. We are all human and sometimes say things we don’t mean or should keep private. DGN should be a place that people feel comfortable posting. DGN strives to keep things as welcoming and friendly as possible without discouraging passionate communication. The above goals are ambitious and in the case of the first and second aspects may take several years to accomplish if not more, especially with the view that some cities start out with a larger “scene” to begin with. But with the continued help and support of the members and staff of the community, it can be achieved. If you’d like to help us please do! DGN FAQ What is a DGN Moderator? A DGN moderator is someone that has been selected to help in a more “official” way with DGN and has editing powers (usually in one or two forums). The have consistently over time shown themselves to be active in helping DGN grow. DGN moderators are people that are willing to help keep things friendly on the board and help keep conversations going in the forums they moderate. Basic things such as moderators deleting duplicate posts and moving inappropriately placed posts out of their own forums into more appropriate forum areas are duties of a moderator. They also usually are helpful in welcoming new people and add to the general health of the board consistently and regularly. They are usually very active posters on the board as well as some of our most diligent promoters. What is a Jr. DGN Moderator? Jr. Mods are very similar to DGN Moderators except it is what a "Moderator" will be designated when they first become a moderator. Jr. Moderators are sort of "probationary" mods. After you have been a Jr. Mod for a while and it's clear you understand the role of a moderator and are able to remain active and helpful, your title will most likely be changed. It should not be taken personally if we decide not to promote a Jr. Moderator so as fast as they might like. What is a Sr. Moderator? A Sr. Moderator is a moderator that has proven to be very helpful and reliable over an extended period of time and is capable of all Moderator duties listed below. In addition, they have the power to edit posts in ALL forums ("global moderator powers") and have admin access to most all of the core "back end" administration functions of DGN. Sr. Moderators generally seen as a consistent moderating influence and tend to be involved with DGN more actively due to their own self-motivation as well as the expectations of their position. Non-Sr. moderators' input is greatly appreciated, but Sr. Moderators have access to the Sr. Moderator forum in order to bring issues being discussed directly to my attention (if an issue hasn't been already via email or otherwise). I may not always be actively monitoring the Staff Discussion area directly, but trying to focus my energies on promotion, and other aspects of DGN. They also usually are helpful in welcoming new people and add to the general health of the board consistently and regularly. They are usually some of the most active posters on the board as well as some of our most diligent promoters. All helpful active members and staff are considered to be "part owner" of DGN , but Sr. Moderators are considered to have a vested interest in DGN and have consistently shown motivation , consideration and active participation in DGN issues. Sr. Moderators have administration powers virtually the same as the board root admin (Troy) except in a very few instances. Thus they must be considered to be very trustworthy and responsible individuals. How do I become a DGN Moderator and what is required for existing DGN Moderators? After reading all of the DGN staff requirements slowly and carefully, preferably twice, if you feel you would make a good moderator, please send an email to one of the DGN Sr. Moderators or myself stating that you have read all of the above and fully understand it, and would like to be a moderator. troyspiral@comcast.net Not everyone who asks will be made a moderator, and this isn't to be taken negatively or personally. How do i make or what exactly is an "Official DGN Event/Gathering"? Please contact Troy and/or a Sr. Mod privately before approaching this subject publicly in terms of your general idea for a DGN Event. It causes endless headaches and hurt feelings if things arent pitched properly. If an event does not go off properly, or is badly supported it reflects badly on DGN. "DGN" (read DGN staff) is held repsonsible at least in some sense for what happens at a "DGN event" , if only from a public relations standpoint, as such: A "DGN Event" that is, one that is backed by DGN staff, (and is promoted by DGN) DGN has worked long and hard to get to where it is, just deciding , out of the blue to have a date/time/event and then picking a date and calling it "A DGN Event" is not someting we want. Please dont call your Event/Gathering a "DGN Event" (or Idea) or "DGN Gathering" (or Idea) without getting some at least tenative approval from Troy. A "DGN Event" should have at least one moderator (or troy) that promises to be there for the event no matter what happens once the idea is "finalized". Please get some sort of final approval on the date/time/location before posting the "finalized" event info. Dont want to do that? No problem. Just dont call it a DGN event. Call it "Lets hang out here on this date" or "Whatever Event". Thats partly what DGN is for, to give people a place to promote their own events. Why do we have these rules? Simple, we do not want the name of DGN used in a way that is unsanctioned. While most events may be perfectly innocent in nature, it would not take much for someone to misuse the name so that A.) Their event is interferring with another DGN event, or B.) Used in a way that DGN might not want to get behind (for example if a "hate group" decided to make their events "Official DGN events"). DGN STAFF REQUIREMENTS: These requirements apply to ALL DGN staff DGN moderators tend to influence all board members activities far more than your average poster. Therefore they should act in such a way that encourages all members to behave the way we would like to see all posters behave. Moderators should try to be "model DGNers". 1. Must be active on the board. This means checking your board forum(s) that you moderate, as well as the Staff Chat area at least 4-5 times a week on average. This is a bare minimum. Many moderators check the board 4-5 times a day if not more. Not only should you be active, but its important that you be seen as active. Unless theres some extreem circumstances, it does not benifit DGN for you to be "lurking" (as a guest) nor invisible to the non moderators (anonymous). We all may have reasons for being away from the board for a few days or even a week or two. If a moderator legitimately needs to take a break, or has job / work / health issues that prevent them from being active, that is fine. We all need a break sometimes, but as a general rule Moderators need to be active. 1b. Reading Expectations: We don’t always have enough time to check everything on DGN that we would like, every day. But we do expect all moderators to take their moderator status seriously. As such, being a moderator, your posting habits should reflect your moderator status, over your "general poster" status. Obviously there will be exceptions, especially with the ordering of number 1 and 2, but overall we require that you prioritize your DGN reading as such: DGN Reading Priority for Moderators and Jr. Moderators: 1. Read Staff Chat 2. Check Your Inbox 3. Check your forums The key here is that if you have a little, or a lot of time to spend on DGN, your moderator activities should come before your general posting. Sr. Moderators are expected to read Sr. Staff chat first. After this we’d suggest you check the Detroit Gothic. Net for new folks and welcome them before going on the rest of the board. Unlike the above, this is a suggestion not a requirement 1c. Forum Posting Expectations: Moderators & Jr. Moderators are expected to place at least one post every 72 hours in the forums that they moderate, be it a new post or a reply to an existing post. Hopefully this will never be an issue as this is a BARE minimum requirement. Due to the nature of the forums the following forums are exempt from the above requirements: Your Creations, Promotions. It is still expected that moderators of the exempt forums attempt to post as much as possible. 2. Must understand and agree to abide by the DGN mission Statement, Rules and FAQ document. Its important that you understand and buy into everything covered in this document, so that there are no surprises or misunderstandings later on. It's taken a lot of work and a lot of help from various people to put this together. This document may seem a bit much for a board like DGN. But its being put in place now so once the board becomes much larger and a more complex place to run properly, things will already have been in place that will help the board run smoothly. The mission statement is a basic philosophy that is used to guide board members as well as to make moderator/admin decisions. The mission statement is a framework for coming up with responses to all ideas and issues that affect the board. The board rules exist to help with the DGN mission statement. If you’ve been a disruptive poster, or haven’t been around for several months, it will be difficult for you to become a moderator as you may have no track record or the one that you do have might be in opposition to the DGN rules and/or mission statement. 3. Agree to make proper use of the Staff Discussion Forum. This includes understanding that board procedural questions and concerns should be kept within the Moderator staff discussion area, rather than in the open forums, using tact when bringing up issues, and being able to deal with having to back down from a position (agreeing to disagree), and/or being able to deal with criticism maturely (as noted elsewhere). You should read ALL posts in Staff Chat , regardless if they "interest you" or not. DGN staff discussions stay within the DGN staff discussion, or Sr. Staff Discussion forum this information is to be treated as "private" Additionally: Please comment with some sort of detailed response to moderators questions/ concerns when they make new topics asking for direction/commentary. Not just an emotional response or flippant comment that does not give any sort of suggestion or direction to what they are asking help with or comments on. Try to make sure your responding to what is actually being discussed. Often i feel (and know im guilty of it myself at times) that we just skim over the topic post. Then we make various assumptions about what it is asking/talking about and respond to our quick "impression" of the post, rather than the actual word-for-word content of that post. Comments like : "I dont like it" "Makes me sad" "ha-ha" with no other information are not particularly helpful. Why "dont you like it"? Why does XYZ "make your sad"? This type of commentary gives no suggestion , direction or any real "help" when someone asks for advice about a given post/topic/subject. At least a sentence or two of suggestion and specific commentary is called for. 3a. All staff discussion & Sr. staff discussion posting requirements: Posts that are of the "Request for Feedback from All moderators" nature should be commented on every time you see them. Even if your response is as simple as "I agree", "I disagree", or "I'll have to think about this one a bit more and get back to you when I have a bit more time". The use of this posticon: Within the context of Staff Chat, is to be used only when asking for general feedback from all moderators. Any post that is a "general feedback question" should be posted using this icon, and as such it is required that at least minimal feedback from all moderators and Jr. Moderators be given to all such posts. Do NOT use this posticon if your question is not meant for "question feedback", such as a question put to a specific moderator or a general question. 4. Make good faith efforts to based decisions and thoughts on what is best for DGN as a whole, in keeping with the DGN mission statement. Even if, sometimes, that may not necessarily be what you personally might like. Often this type of thinking will lead to action / activity rather than inactivity if thought is given to DGN as a whole rather than the DGN mods own personal wishes. Self explanatory. Easy to explain but hard to put into practice. 5. Have a reasonably recognizable profile photograph of yourself in your avatar. DGN is a -local scene- board. We do have members from all over the world, but it is primarily for SE Michigan people to chat, discuss, and socialize. If your not particularly social, and have a problem with showing a somewhat public face, you will not want to be a DGN moderator. Also having actual pictures in people’s profiles makes the board seem more “personal” and lends itself to a friendly atmosphere. (Signature size is a minor point, but there are many people that do not like to see big huge signatures under every one of your posts. Less than 100 pixels puts your signature at an X-height at the same size (or smaller) than the DGN banner please try to keep the size of your signature under 100 pixels tall. Just having no signature at all is fine, but we do want a profile picture. Please no rude pictures such as such as flipping the bird, etc. 6. Have at least some basic info in your profile. Make sure you have a "real" email account setup with your invision account. People need a way other than posting directly on the board to contact you. Make sure you have your "real" email address in your profile (applies to Invision only) No one outside of the DGN staff can see your email address unless you purposely enable that feature. People can send messages to your email address via the board, but they cannot see the email address, it is handled by the board itself and they never actually have access to your email address. Board members need to be able to contact DGN staff if needed without you checking the board necessarily. Have your location listed. This goes along with the "local community" concept covered in #7. If for some reason you afraid to put your specific city , listing something like "Metro Detroit" is acceptable (not preferred but acceptable) while " In a place" is not. If your especially touchy about either of the above you might want to rethink your moderator status. Being a moderator on a =local community= board , tends to require at least some minimal personal exposure. 7. Understand that Troy has the final decision on DGN issues. We value input from posters and moderators highly and always try to get input from the community and mod staff on any drastic changes to DGN. But at some point I have to make a decision based on what I think is best, and goes along with my vision for the board. Not necessarily what the “majority opinion” is. Sometimes this is very hard for me but I need to stay true to my vision for the board. Often I do go with the majority opinion on many issues, unless I feel strongly contrary to a particular point. After some deliberation, once I make a decision, it’s just the way it is, like it nor not. Feel free to discuss issues, even if I disagree with the premise, but once I make a decision I'll most likely not comment further and stand by that decision, at least for several months. In case of my extended absence Sr. staff members will reach a decision on an major issues that need to be handled. 8. Must be able to deal with changes. The population of the board changes nearly every day and can change somewhat rapidly (or at least seems to change rapidly) depending on your perspective. DGN is a living, growing entity. It will change - it has to change. The ability to cope with those changes is needed to be able to have longevity as a moderator. 9. Be able to deal with criticism and conflicting ideas without taking them personally. Many people are unable to deal with ideas contrary to their own without taking them personally. This is a bad trait for a moderator. Sometimes we all take things too personally but should be able to deal with disagreement as just that - disagreement. If we disagree with your idea, or don’t like your idea, that doesn’t mean we don’t like you. Also on the other side of this you need to be able to make a point without being overly rude or personal in making that point. If you’re not able to be tactful you’ll probably not make a good moderator. Being tactful is required of moderators both in the “open board” areas and the Staff discussion. Be able to step back, and put things into perspective when you are angry. Don't "quit the board" based on a few bad days or weeks. We all have them. Just take a deep breath and give yourself some cool-down time. 10. Proactively self policing. Moderators should be able to keep themselves acting in accordance with the moderator guidelines without constant supervision, regardless of what any other moderator may or may not be doing. They should check the staff guidelines occasionally to keep them fresh in mind , and actively try to conduct their activities in keeping with the moderator guidelines. What kind of help would DGN like from all Moderators and Posters? The below are not requirements for becoming a moderator (and certainly not to be a poster) but they will help quite a bit if your serious about being one . We put heavy weight and look very favorably on people that can consistently help with the below issues. 1. Actively promote DGN. This is the No 1. priority and will go a long way in helping the board grow. This is not always very easy, and like anything worthwhile, can sometimes feel like a “job”. Promotion is greatly appreciated even more so than some other aspects helping DGN. Promotion directly and indirectly helps with virtually every single aspect of DGN. It is the key instrument that brings new resources of content, ideas and activity to DGN. This is by far the key issue we can use the most assistance with. A helpful consistent promoter is worth their proverbial weight in gold. 2. Actively post new content. Content is king when it comes to retaining the community. Promotion brings them to DGN and content keeps them coming back. Posting new info, comments, ideas, concerns and everything in between is "content". Also specific help keeping the latest event info posted and up to date is immensely helpful. 3. Welcome new people. This can feel like a bit of a “job” sometimes as well but it goes a long way to keeping the board friendly and making new people feel welcome. Time and time again we hear comments how friendly DGN is to new people versus some other boards/groups. Welcoming people is one very good way of furthering that reputation. Even on a day when we may have 3-4 new posters (rare) it only takes perhaps 2 minutes max to just say "Welcome!". How do I become a Sr. Moderator and what is required of a Sr. DGN Moderator? If you've been a moderator for an extended period of time, been very active and helpful with many, if not most (or all) of the above moderator suggestions and requirements - if there is an opening for a Sr. Mod, ask for the job yourself and Troy and the Sr. Mods will discuss it and come to a decision. Again, it shouldn't be taken personally if you are not given the promotion at that time. All DGN staff should be familiar with this entire document and understand clearly the points being made. If you have any questions regarding the information in this post please contact any of the Sr. Moderators or myself and we will be happy to help. troyspiral@comcast.net

BE REASONABLE! Ever hear this? But when was the last time anyone actually broke down what "being reasonable" means? Ever have a class in critical thinking? A collection of quick examples of poor reasoning. There are long discussions of each of these (and latin names for them all) but just a brief reminder of the key idea of each. 1. Unreasonable Generalization Broad statements based on irrelevant, or inaccurate evidence. Example: Of course our students are physically fit; just look at the success of our sports teams this year. 2. Faulty Cause and Effect Reasoning (Post Hoc) Post Hoc arguments are assuming that because B follows A, A must be the cause of B. Example: Tourism in this city started to decline right after Mayor Scott was elected. To save our tourist industry, let's replace her now! 3. Reductive Reasoning Over simplification. Reduces a complex effect to a single cause. Example: People who want to be healthy should eat turnips. My Aunt Alice loved turnips, and she lived to be ninety-four. 4. False Analogies Writers overlook the fact that two things being compared are more different than they are similar. There are tons of different types of these. Example: Why am I required to take certain courses before I can graduate from this school? No one requires me to buy certain groceries before I can leave the supermarket. 5. Begging (Avoiding) The Question Similar to circular reasoning begging the question occurs when a writer assumes as true the very point he or she is arguing. Example: Improving public transportation in this city won't solve highway congestion. Even if public transportation is clean, safe, and efficient, people will still prefer to use their cars. 6. Circular Reasoning The argument merely restates the conclusion it was meant to support maybe with slightly different language. Example: The minister is such a good person because she is so virtuous. 7. Equivocation Equivocation involves using a term in a completely different way than one's opponent uses it. Usually to two or more interpretations and usually used to mislead or confuse and/or make into a joke. Example: My goodness, your honor! It is absurd that I am being prosecuted for stealing a copy of the Detroit Free Press. For one thing, we are guaranteed by the Constitution our right to a free press. And look at the name of this newspaper—does it not say Free Press? 8. Ad Hominem Arguments Ad Hominem Arguments attack the opponent rather than his or her argument. (Ad hominem literally means "against the person.") This one is so common that you almost are forced to make sure you cover it in your discussion because people just automatically start thinking "ok so this guy is saying X... what does he do personally?" Often its better to just deal with this one rather than try to convince people that they are making this error. Example: Senator Jones' bill on gun control should not be taken seriously; after all, this is the same man who has had at least five extramarital affairs. 9. False Either/Or Arguments These assume that only two alternatives exist in a given situation. Example: The case is clear: either we support the death penalty or we allow crime to run rampant. 10. Band Wagon Appeals Band wagon appeals suggest that readers should accept something because it is popular; that is, everyone else has "hopped on the bandwagon." Example: A recent poll showed that seventy percent of the American public believes emissions requirements on automobiles have gone too far; therefore, these laws are unreasonable and should be repealed. 11. Non Sequiturs Non-Sequiturs occur when writers fail to show clear connections between their premise (starting point) and conclusion. (Non sequitur literally means "it does not follow.") Example: Maria loved college, so I'm sure she will make an excellent teacher. 12. Red Herring This means exactly what you think it means: introducing irrelevant facts or arguments to distract from the question at hand. Example, "The opposition claims that welfare dependency leads to higher crime rates -- but how are poor people supposed to keep a roof over their heads without our help?" 12. Straw Man Straw man. This is the fallacy of refuting a caricatured or extreme version of somebody's argument, rather than the actual argument they've made. Example: "Mr. Jones thinks that capitalism is good because everybody earns whatever wealth they have, but this is clearly false because many people just inherit their fortunes," when in fact Mr. Jones had not made the "earnings" argument and had instead argued, say, that capitalism gives most people an incentive to work and save. The fact that some arguments made for a policy are wrong does not imply that the policy itself is wrong. 13. You Too! (Tu quoque) This is the fallacy of defending an error in one's reasoning by pointing out that one's opponent has made the same error. An error is still an error, regardless of how many people make it. For example, "They accuse us of making unjustified assertions. But they asserted a lot of things, too!" 14. Appeal To Tradtion The argument that some policy, behavior, or practice is right or acceptable because "it's always been done that way." Example:"Every great civilization in history has provided state subsidies for art and culture!" But that fact does not in and of itself justify continuing the policy. There are tons more and they all have fancy latin names. Just a list i put together for... some reason. Well this stuff is important! We are told that we should "think clearly" and often have no real clear understanding of what the hell that means. Most of the examples conclusions could be argued ... its the REASONING thats poor.

Spam Spam Spam!

needs a stick to beat off all the hotties.

no that guys an ass. im the nice one.

Just spent an hour and a half working on a updated version of the DGN FAQ ... PC decided to lock up on me ...... all gone. Thought i had autosave turned on, guess not. GOD DAMINT!! okies rant over. (grumble grumble)

haha phee = the man

Im scared.

Rapunzel - Legendary Pink Dots

omfg eeeeeeeek