swansont

! Moderator Note This is a science thread. If you want to discuss non-mainstream topics, take it to speculations. (see rules 5 and 10) Responding to this modnote here would be also be a rule 5 violation.

I finished Deborah Blum's The Poisoner's Handbook. Very well written. A story of the rise of forensic pathology in NYC in the context of poisoning deaths, largely during the prohibition era. Then I read Angel Killer (same author) which is about tracking down a mass murderer/cannibal.

joeman has been suspended for hijacking and repeated soapboxing

http://www.scienceforums.net/topic/73025-thread-hijack-basic-building-blocks/#entry730261 Was a thread hijack. The rule (10) here is quite straightforward Meaning that if a moderator sees a statement which starts "I have theory that…" , it could not be clearer that thread hijacking is taking place. It's spelled out in the rules for a reason.

We ask that if you have an issue with moderation you use the report post function rather than further derail a thread, and we thank everyone for doing so. This thread can be used as a response for communication by the staff, to further clarify the actions. ____ http://www.scienceforums.net/topic/72856-how-many-photonscm3/page-3#entry729892 The post was a hijack with non-mainstream physics ("heavy photons"), though that remark has since been edited; mechanisms for creating and annihilating photons is (currently) beyond its scope. The thread in question was not split off from an existing thread (as the report claimed), though it would not matter — discussions are supposed to stem from the OP and legitimate, related answers. It is not permission to ask about or post information that is unrelated to that discussion. The discussion in this case is about numbers of photons, and brightness of areas of space from various objects. Short version: a thread is supposed to be about what its originator wants to discuss.

We get the occasional posts asking for survey or poll responses, or other kinds of scientific participation. This will be a clearinghouse thread for such posts. Do not use a link shortener - the actual url should be displayed Since these are generally one-way communications, responses will be deleted.

alpha2cen has been banned for repeated violations of the thread hijacking rule. Despite many warnings and a previous suspension, the disruptive behavior did not abate.

I think this bears repeating. (Negative) reputation is a way for the rank and file user to voice (dis)satisfaction with a post, for whatever reason you want. Positive rep for some positive aspect, and negative rep for a negative one, perhaps for a post that is treading into the territory of rules violations, via e.g. rudeness. It's a way to give feedback without having to derail a thread by pointing/calling out the behavior, which is something we don't want to see happen — tangents are often a distraction. Not everybody responds to authority, as we mods know all too well, but such people might respond to social pressure that reputation affords.

As has the cleverly-named incompressible-fluid

Because time is a variable in physics, one is compelled to investigate what can happen if you can run time backwards, or if it's not continuous, or whatever. But you have to pay attention to the conclusion that there's only a very narrow class of time travel that hasn't yet been conclusively ruled out — all the rest have been.

delayed-choice and max_planck have been banned as more sockpuppets of mpc755. Let up hope he has run out of socks.

Viczareliz banned as another sockpuppet of Victor Elias Espinoza G.

illuusio is banned for multiple attempts to reintroduce a closed topic both as new threads and as attempts to hijack threads started by others.

The running gag in our D&D adventure group: "Your first-level party enters the cave and is ambushed by a group of minotaurs" "We kill them and go on"

Qualified dragons, sure.

EquisDeXD banned because he asked/dared us to.

Just saw this on twitter

A-wal suspended 3 days for being abusive.

angela860 has been suspended 3 weeks for hit-and-run preaching. The term is long because the user posts infrequently, so a normal suspension might not be noticed.

deepnessdawn has been banned as a sockpuppet of Blusupernova

Started reading Chris Mooney's The Republican Brain and have polished off several of Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series. Recently finished Daniel Okrent's Last Call, about the US prohibition movement, which was fascinating. (Nice to be reading books again, now that I have an electronic device that lets me change the text size.)

eyesOpened has been suspended 3 days for trolling and confusing bravery with stupidity

rigney has earned a three-day suspension for violation(s) of the prohibition against slurs and prejudice

From the vantage point of Fox news and their viewers, saying global warming and evolution are real is probably considered crazy.

I also must point out that stating a whacky deeply-held belief is not a gaffe. It's having a whacky deeply-held belief. For example, Todd Akin's views on rape is not a gaffe. It's misogynistic lunacy.