Threadiquette ask your questions here

[JBean]

The threads should be topic specific and we should all try and stay on topic as much as possible.
Because there were general discussion threads open, there is confusion where to post things.
If we keep the threads more focused that confusion will disappear.
If you have a thread called The Smiths it doesn't tell anyone what belongs on it.

if you have a thought about something, look and see if it is being discussed. if it is ,bump that thread and continue discussion there. Don't start a thread just to ask a single yes or no question. Look and see if your question fits into a topic. if you have a new topic idea and it is not being discussed go ahead and start a new thread. be sure to search first.

Please don't post the same thing on 2 threads. I know it may have overlap and can go on two threads, but please pick the best one or we have parallel discussions going on.

Think about being able to retirve information at trial or as new developments come up. It is hard to isolate discussion in a general discussion or broad topic thread, but it is easy to find a specific topic and update it with information.

You will get into a groove before you know it and follow the lead of posters that have been here a but longer.They can be very helpful and provide guidance if you are unsure.

Thank you! the goal is to be able to discuss every aspect of the case and devote threads to those apsects.

 

[JBean]

Regarding facebook,twitter, and myspace you can link but do not cut and paste. But the goal is to really only link to those that are directly linked to a case.

IOW, we don't want to post to someone's mother, brother, employer, milkman , or postal carrier just because they know the main player. It just gets too invasive and half the time we are not even sure it is the right person. When a post starts out, I found 5 people with this name do you you think any of these are [insert person here]? that is not a good thing.
It will often be up to mod discretion as to who can and cannot be linked, but the general rule of thumb is if they are named in the media specifically as having some role or are being questioned or have information then you are probably safe to link. No screen caps and no cutting and pasting. If a social media is set to private and you get in the back way and post what you see, that is not a good thing!Private means private.
Just imagine it is you if you cannot decide and you shoulod be able to figure out if it is ok.
You are free to discuss what you may come upon,but if it is just a lot of gossip and rumor it won't fly. People open facebook accounts and post whatever they want and to carry that as some sort of inside info is careless. but, sometimes there is really valuable information that may even come into evidence as in the Caylee Anthony case.So, if you know for a fact it is the right person and they are named outright in the msm as someone linked to the case it should be fine. IF IT IS A MINOR DON"T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!!!
If something was posted as public and then removed you might be able to post it, it is up to te mod of the forum and it depends on who, what, when and where.
The mods are listed at the bottom right of the forum under the index, they can generally help. If not, they will ask admin for guidance and we will all decide what is best.

Generally we try not to invade everyone's privacy and if the linked information has no bearing on anything, then leave it out.

We moderate here. Some people love it and some people hate it. Up to you to stay or go, choice is yours. Complaining about our rules doesn't help. if you have a suggestion or think of a better way, bring it on! We are far from perfect and welcome your input as long as it is civil and basically polite.
More later.

 

[JBean]

>> is it okay for me to post something I think is against the rules and just put 'a mod can delete it if it's against the rules'?<<
This right here will get you a time out.
We don't read every post
If people are giving you some advice, they probably are trying to save you a TO. It is up to you to know the rules. We try and let each poster know what is going on when they screw up, but sometimes it is just too much and the mods can't be sending everyone a personal run down on the rules. PLEASE ALERT on an offending post or one that is breaking the rules. Don't quote it and carry it through the thread. the thread will end up pulled for review until a moderator can get to cleaning it up. The more time it takes the longer the thread with all your hard work will be gone.

 

[JBean]

JBean, whenever you wander back through...would you rather that the "regulars" remind the newbies of the rules or that we back off? It can be a little difficult to keep track of everything, especially since the rules are a bit fluid. (That's not a bad thing, but it takes a while for the word to get around when they change.)

good question. If the old timers want to politely let the newbies know when they have broken one of the mechanical type rules as we are talking about here,(copyright, linking to "bad sites,etc) then that is helpful. But when it gets into admonishing one another then it gets a little annoying. It is bad enough to have mods breathing down your neck, but throw a few hundred posters on that and it is a little much.

If you see that one older poster has let someone know that they broken one of the fluid, mechanical-procedural type rules we probably don't need 10 people telling that person as well.

BIG BIG Exception to this is if you see rude,OT, namecalling, hostile,trollish,attacking,argumentative type rule breaking. Those types of a posts should be alerted on (little triangle in the top right corner of each post) and not addressed in any way at all by other members. Those are vacationing type posts and you should alert, ignore and scroll right by. If you tell someone you are going to ignore them or that they are being rude or otherwise attack them back , you may find yourself on a no expenses paid vacation as well.

Does that help?

ETA: Regarding alerts. The alerts go to the moderators mailboxes. They are not online all the time. So, if time goes by and the offensive post is not acted upon, it may be because no one has been online to look at it yet. please don't threaten us in the alert text box about what you will do if we don't do what you want immediately; and don't alert on the same post over and over. We all volunteer and do the best we can. thanks.

 

[JBean]

If a thread falls to the back page, just post on it and that will "bump" it to the front page. No need to start a new one

 

[JBean]

Hi folks:
We need to get this forum into somewhat of a groove
There is a lot of OT posting going on because you guys are used to a general discussion thread. Now we have a whole forum to discuss specific case aspects!

There will always be overlap in the threads and that is not the problem. Just try and pay attention to the thread topic you are posting in. If you have something to discuss that does not fit into an existing thread, please start a new thread. Just always search first to make sure the conversation isn't going on in another thread already.
Thanks everyone. You will find, as the case progresses and particularly if there is a trial, it is much easier to locate past infomration if the threads are generally on topic.

 

[Herding Cats]

Hi.

I've read that there have been 9, and also 21, women identified. How does one go about getting that confirmed? I know you probably don't have the info, but how would someone get that information, do you think? (I'm really new to all this...).

Thanks,
Herding Cats

 

[brandi]

Hi.

I've read that there have been 9, and also 21, women identified. How does one go about getting that confirmed? I know you probably don't have the info, but how would someone get that information, do you think? (I'm really new to all this...).

Thanks,
Herding Cats

The Huntington Beach Police Department are the entity in this case that released the photos. They are the only ones who can identify who has come forward. So far, the people who have "found alive" in purple in front of their names have been publicly identified. Now, the question is did they contact the media themselves? I just don't think The HB Police Department are at liberty to disclose who has come forward because it invades the privacy of the people who posed(sometimes in comprimising positions, i.e. nude) Also, they have 900 more photos that were unprintable due to nudity, and it's been said that some of the photos have writing on the back, or addresses. So we really don't even know if the identified people came from the batch released to the public... M O O

 

[Herding Cats]

I wonder if they'd say "number so-and-so" or "lady in the fur coat" has been id'd...not the name or circumstances. Although, I did read in the same articles that not one of them are from missing persons cases. And yes, some had names/addresses on the back, but I'm sure they didn't get released, unless they were fake bits of info.

Maybe a call to them on Monday would be good...or an email. If I have the time, I will see if I can't get them to at least give us photo numbers, so we know who to focus on and who not to. There are so many of them, you know?

Best-
Herding Cats

 

[Billylee]

I wonder if they'd say "number so-and-so" or "lady in the fur coat" has been id'd...not the name or circumstances. Although, I did read in the same articles that not one of them are from missing persons cases. And yes, some had names/addresses on the back, but I'm sure they didn't get released, unless they were fake bits of info.

Maybe a call to them on Monday would be good...or an email. If I have the time, I will see if I can't get them to at least give us photo numbers, so we know who to focus on and who not to. There are so many of them, you know?

Best-
Herding Cats

They don't have to give any information. All they need to do is remove the ones from their website that have been identified and put an "updated as of" date. That would be easy enough. Then we'd know who was still being looked for. They haven't even removed the Danish girls or Leanne who's already been on TV talking about it.

 

[Bargle]

They don't have to give any information. All they need to do is remove the ones from their website that have been identified and put an "updated as of" date. That would be easy enough. Then we'd know who was still being looked for. They haven't even removed the Danish girls or Leanne who's already been on TV talking about it.

Or just put up the pic with 'identified- alive' on it. We're not asking for personal details.

 

[RubyJuno]

Is there any standard numbering of these photos? I was just looking at the ones here:

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/alcala-238877-photos-beach.html?pic=1

and there are numbers at the ends of the descriptions. So, for example, the man holding the boy over his head is described as "Picture 191," but he's also picture 75 of the 133 photos the OC Register has. This photo is number 195 in the sequence of 230 at http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/04/21/alcala.photos.pdf.

It's awfully confusing.

Further, has anyone grouped the people in the photos to indicate which ones are of the same person, which are from the same photo session or same apartment, etc.?

I wish I had the time and expertise to do this. These photos hold a real fascination for me. I want to know what happened to all of these people.

 

[Bargle]

No, no standard that we know of. I've complained before that LE did a poor job with the release of these.