[VoodooJoint]

Oh boy, we have another one! Seems every few months or so someone comes along that is going to teach us a thing or two.

Aeon/Kat - What exactly is the point of your post if not to try to get a rise out of people?

If you have such a problem with the rules here then leave. Most people are able to deal with them fine though and it is only occasionally that someone is so smug and self righteous as to try to pick them apart.

If you must know though;

Originally Posted by aeonkat

It's "smilies" not the slang netspeak "smileys".

smilies
emoticon

smil·ey [FONT=Arial Unicode MS]/[/FONT]ˈsmaɪli[FONT=Arial Unicode MS]/[/FONT]Pronunciation Key[FONT=Arial Unicode MS] - [/FONT]Show Spelled Pronunciation[FONT=Arial Unicode MS][[/FONT]smahy-lee[FONT=Arial Unicode MS]][/FONT]Pronunciation Key[FONT=Arial Unicode MS] - [/FONT]Show IPA Pronunciationnoun, plural ‑eys, adjective
–noun 1.a sideways representation of a smiling face, :‑), or similar combination of symbols, as ;‑), a winking face, or :‑(, a sad face, created by keystrokes and used to communicate humor, sarcasm, sadness, etc., in an electronic message. Compare emoticon. –adjective

Seems to me either is appropriate smarty pants.

Originally Posted by aeonkat

I think putting smilies (like a smile face) in my posts shows a friendly tone.

A post littered with 20, unneeded smileys (or smilies) is hard to read and annoying in the same manner that colored and fancy fonts are. If you have to be so juvenile as to need to use a plethora of smilies in every post then join a kids' forum. They love that stuff there.

Originally Posted by aeonkat

Is voicing an opinion considered mouthy

Unless you can read some of the replies we get in our PM boxes then you do not know what we mean by "mouthy". Do not assume that we are incapable of adult and well-manners discussion about infractions.

Originally Posted by aeonkat

free speech that is done in a adult and respective manner.

Unlike your diatribe here--which is sophomoric at best.

Spend a little more time in the real world and spend a little more time researching how forum rules are applied and you will look less like a troll and more like a productive member.

Originally Posted by aeonkat

I have noticed a few moderators have not used the best grammar (laking commas, misuse of commas, past/present tense usage), spelling, and/or punctuation in some of their posts.

We hold the members to the same degree of posting that we do. Therefore the rules apply to all, in the same manner. Find me a post where someone was infracted for misusing a comma, mixing up past/present tense or making a couple of spelling errors in an otherwise well written post and I'll give you a cookie.

Originally Posted by aeonkat

There was a claim that not checking posts before submitting and forgetting capitalization and spelling errors are considered "lazy". I noticed you misspelled 'meant' in your second sentence.

We do not infract people for every misspelled word as everyone, gasp even me, hits the wrong key or gets a word wrong. What we are looking for are posts that are legible with at least a good effort made to spell correctly.

Originally Posted by aeonkat

It may not be laziness as much as hitting a key wrong, shift key not activating (as in my case at times),

Gee, I noticed that you have received a lot of infractions for those incidental times when the shift key doesn't take. Let me count all of those. Wait! You have not received any infractions for that at all! Kinda, blows that theory right out of the water for you doesn't it?

Originally Posted by aeonkat

The idea of punishing or banning someone based on punctuation, spelling, and grammar mistakes is completely condescending and inappropriate.

Do you run a forum? Do you know what it is like to give someone multiple chances to abide by the rules only to have them ignore you again and again? There comes a point where restricting their privileges is completely appropriate. It is also a very rare thing to happen and restrictions are only used in extreme cases.

Originally Posted by aeonkat

Insulting members by calling them "lazy" or "stupid" for making common spelling/punctuation errors in hypocritical as well.

I don't believe we have ever called anyone stupid so that is reaching a bit.

Let me repeat myself. We do not punish people for "common" mistakes but for serious and repeated flaunting of the posting rules.

Originally Posted by aeonkat

As long as the post is clear and understandable it should be acceptable.

This is exactly what we expect. We do not expect or accept a post filled with chat speak, No capitalization at all (to the point of making it difficult to read), filled with ellipses instead of appropriate punctuation or the multitude of other very annoying things people will do to avoid having to move their fingers a tiny bit more.

Originally Posted by aeonkat

I am in college and I am taking English 102 (honors mind you) and my teacher isn't even as strict for final college essays as the rules here . Why? Because as long as it follows MLA format and rules, and is generally error free

Good for you and your teacher but last I checked neither you, nor your teacher are mods on this forum.

It's a good thing we actually do run this forum by those exact same guidelines though. You seem to have been so ready to jump to conclusions that you don't know a thing about it. Prove to me that the accusation you are making are true and I'll reconsider my stance. As it sits now you are, to coin a term, "full of hot air".

Originally Posted by aeonkat

They just want help and info for the beloved pets and yet the focus is on spelling and punctuation!

Please do a comparative post count for me between the ratio of posts about proper posting/guinea pig oriented. I am dismayed to find out that the majority of posting here is about writing habits and not guinea pigs. Like you I thought this forum was about our pets and I guess we really need to crack down on the huge number of topics that only have to do with properly posting since you say that they are essentially taking over the board.

Originally Posted by aeonkat

I truly hope my post is looked at with a mature (adult) and considerate attitude

Just because you can write fairly well does not make your post mature or considerate. It is nitpicking and accusational with no validity to back any of it up.

Originally Posted by aeonkat

Insulting and condescending.

Are you speaking of Ly's post or the thread you wrote? If I had to pick which one was insulting and condescending I would have to pick yours.

Originally Posted by aeonkat

you forgot to put a comma before 'but' in your second to the last sentence.

One should not point out the lacking comma before someone else's but without first pulling the stick out of their own butt.