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The Rules of Pacers Digest

Hello everyone,

Whether your are a long standing forum member or whether you have just registered today, it's a good idea to read and review the rules below so that you have a very good idea of what to expect when you come to Pacers Digest.

A quick note to new members: Your posts will not immediately show up when you make them. An administrator has to approve at least your first post before the forum software will later upgrade your account to the status of a fully-registered member. This usually happens within a couple of hours or so after your post(s) is/are approved, so you may need to be a little patient at first.

Why do we do this? So that it's more difficult for spammers (be they human or robot) to post, and so users who are banned cannot immediately re-register and start dousing people with verbal flames.

Below are the rules of Pacers Digest. After you have read them, you will have a very good sense of where we are coming from, what we expect, what we don't want to see, and how we react to things.

Rule #1

Pacers Digest is intended to be a place to discuss basketball without having to deal with the kinds of behaviors or attitudes that distract people from sticking with the discussion of the topics at hand. These unwanted distractions can come in many forms, and admittedly it can sometimes be tricky to pin down each and every kind that can rear its ugly head, but we feel that the following examples and explanations cover at least a good portion of that ground and should at least give people a pretty good idea of the kinds of things we actively discourage:

"Anyone who __________ is a liar / a fool / an idiot / a blind homer / has their head buried in the sand / a blind hater / doesn't know basketball / doesn't watch the games"

"People with intelligence will agree with me when I say that __________"

"Only stupid people think / believe / do ___________"

"I can't wait to hear something from PosterX when he/she sees that **insert a given incident or current event that will have probably upset or disappointed PosterX here**"

"He/she is just delusional"

"This thread is stupid / worthless / embarrassing"

"I'm going to take a moment to point and / laugh at PosterX / GroupOfPeopleY who thought / believed *insert though/belief here*"

"Remember when PosterX said OldCommentY that no longer looks good? "

In general, if a comment goes from purely on topic to something 'ad hominem' (personal jabs, personal shots, attacks, flames, however you want to call it, towards a person, or a group of people, or a given city/state/country of people), those are most likely going to be found intolerable.

We also dissuade passive aggressive behavior. This can be various things, but common examples include statements that are basically meant to imply someone is either stupid or otherwise incapable of holding a rational conversation. This can include (but is not limited to) laughing at someone's conclusions rather than offering an honest rebuttal, asking people what game they were watching, or another common problem is Poster X will say "that player isn't that bad" and then Poster Y will say something akin to "LOL you think that player is good". We're not going to tolerate those kinds of comments out of respect for the community at large and for the sake of trying to just have an honest conversation.

Now, does the above cover absolutely every single kind of distraction that is unwanted? Probably not, but you should by now have a good idea of the general types of things we will be discouraging. The above examples are meant to give you a good feel for / idea of what we're looking for. If something new or different than the above happens to come along and results in the same problem (that being, any other attitude or behavior that ultimately distracts from actually just discussing the topic at hand, or that is otherwise disrespectful to other posters), we can and we will take action to curb this as well, so please don't take this to mean that if you managed to technically avoid saying something exactly like one of the above examples that you are then somehow off the hook.

That all having been said, our goal is to do so in a generally kind and respectful way, and that doesn't mean the moment we see something we don't like that somebody is going to be suspended or banned, either. It just means that at the very least we will probably say something about it, quite possibly snipping out the distracting parts of the post in question while leaving alone the parts that are actually just discussing the topics, and in the event of a repeating or excessive problem, then we will start issuing infractions to try to further discourage further repeat problems, and if it just never seems to improve, then finally suspensions or bans will come into play. We would prefer it never went that far, and most of the time for most of our posters, it won't ever have to.

A slip up every once and a while is pretty normal, but, again, when it becomes repetitive or excessive, something will be done. Something occasional is probably going to be let go (within reason), but when it starts to become habitual or otherwise a pattern, odds are very good that we will step in.

There's always a small minority that like to push people's buttons and/or test their own boundaries with regards to the administrators, and in the case of someone acting like that, please be aware that this is not a court of law, but a private website run by people who are simply trying to do the right thing as they see it. If we feel that you are a special case that needs to be dealt with in an exceptional way because your behavior isn't explicitly mirroring one of our above examples of what we generally discourage, we can and we will take atypical action to prevent this from continuing if you are not cooperative with us.

Also please be aware that you will not be given a pass simply by claiming that you were 'only joking,' because quite honestly, when someone really is just joking, for one thing most people tend to pick up on the joke, including the person or group that is the target of the joke, and for another thing, in the event where an honest joke gets taken seriously and it upsets or angers someone, the person who is truly 'only joking' will quite commonly go out of his / her way to apologize and will try to mend fences. People who are dishonest about their statements being 'jokes' do not do so, and in turn that becomes a clear sign of what is really going on. It's nothing new.

In any case, quite frankly, the overall quality and health of the entire forum's community is more important than any one troublesome user will ever be, regardless of exactly how a problem is exhibiting itself, and if it comes down to us having to make a choice between you versus the greater health and happiness of the entire community, the community of this forum will win every time.

Lastly, there are also some posters, who are generally great contributors and do not otherwise cause any problems, who sometimes feel it's their place to provoke or to otherwise 'mess with' that small minority of people described in the last paragraph, and while we possibly might understand why you might feel you WANT to do something like that, the truth is we can't actually tolerate that kind of behavior from you any more than we can tolerate the behavior from them. So if we feel that you are trying to provoke those other posters into doing or saying something that will get themselves into trouble, then we will start to view you as a problem as well, because of the same reason as before: The overall health of the forum comes first, and trying to stir the pot with someone like that doesn't help, it just makes it worse. Some will simply disagree with this philosophy, but if so, then so be it because ultimately we have to do what we think is best so long as it's up to us.

If you see a problem that we haven't addressed, the best and most appropriate course for a forum member to take here is to look over to the left of the post in question. See underneath that poster's name, avatar, and other info, down where there's a little triangle with an exclamation point (!) in it? Click that. That allows you to report the post to the admins so we can definitely notice it and give it a look to see what we feel we should do about it. Beyond that, obviously it's human nature sometimes to want to speak up to the poster in question who has bothered you, but we would ask that you try to refrain from doing so because quite often what happens is two or more posters all start going back and forth about the original offending post, and suddenly the entire thread is off topic or otherwise derailed. So while the urge to police it yourself is understandable, it's best to just report it to us and let us handle it. Thank you!

All of the above is going to be subject to a case by case basis, but generally and broadly speaking, this should give everyone a pretty good idea of how things will typically / most often be handled.

Rule #2

If the actions of an administrator inspire you to make a comment, criticism, or express a concern about it, there is a wrong place and a couple of right places to do so.

The wrong place is to do so in the original thread in which the administrator took action. For example, if a post gets an infraction, or a post gets deleted, or a comment within a larger post gets clipped out, in a thread discussing Paul George, the wrong thing to do is to distract from the discussion of Paul George by adding your off topic thoughts on what the administrator did.

The right places to do so are:

A) Start a thread about the specific incident you want to talk about on the Feedback board. This way you are able to express yourself in an area that doesn't throw another thread off topic, and this way others can add their two cents as well if they wish, and additionally if there's something that needs to be said by the administrators, that is where they will respond to it.

B) Send a private message to the administrators, and they can respond to you that way.

If this is done the wrong way, those comments will be deleted, and if it's a repeating problem then it may also receive an infraction as well.

Rule #3

If a poster is bothering you, and an administrator has not or will not deal with that poster to the extent that you would prefer, you have a powerful tool at your disposal, one that has recently been upgraded and is now better than ever: The ability to ignore a user.

When you ignore a user, you will unfortunately still see some hints of their existence (nothing we can do about that), however, it does the following key things:

A) Any post they make will be completely invisible as you scroll through a thread.

B) The new addition to this feature: If someone QUOTES a user you are ignoring, you do not have to read who it was, or what that poster said, unless you go out of your way to click on a link to find out who it is and what they said.

To utilize this feature, from any page on Pacers Digest, scroll to the top of the page, look to the top right where it says 'Settings' and click that. From the settings page, look to the left side of the page where it says 'My Settings', and look down from there until you see 'Edit Ignore List' and click that. From here, it will say 'Add a Member to Your List...' Beneath that, click in the text box to the right of 'User Name', type in or copy & paste the username of the poster you are ignoring, and once their name is in the box, look over to the far right and click the 'Okay' button. All done!

Rule #4

Regarding infractions, currently they carry a value of one point each, and that point will expire in 31 days. If at any point a poster is carrying three points at the same time, that poster will be suspended until the oldest of the three points expires.

Rule #5

When you share or paste content or articles from another website, you must include the URL/link back to where you found it, who wrote it, and what website it's from. Said content will be removed if this doesn't happen.

An example:

If I copy and paste an article from the Indianapolis Star website, I would post something like this:

http://www.linktothearticlegoeshere.com/article
Title of the Article
Author's Name
Indianapolis Star

Rule #6

We cannot tolerate illegal videos on Pacers Digest. This means do not share any links to them, do not mention any websites that host them or link to them, do not describe how to find them in any way, and do not ask about them. Posts doing anything of the sort will be removed, the offenders will be contacted privately, and if the problem becomes habitual, you will be suspended, and if it still persists, you will probably be banned.

The legal means of watching or listening to NBA games are NBA League Pass Broadband (for US, or for International; both cost money) and NBA Audio League Pass (which is free). Look for them on NBA.com.

Rule #7

Provocative statements in a signature, or as an avatar, or as the 'tagline' beneath a poster's username (where it says 'Member' or 'Administrator' by default, if it is not altered) are an unwanted distraction that will more than likely be removed on sight. There can be shades of gray to this, but in general this could be something political or religious that is likely going to provoke or upset people, or otherwise something that is mean-spirited at the expense of a poster, a group of people, or a population.

It may or may not go without saying, but this goes for threads and posts as well, particularly when it's not made on the off-topic board (Market Square).

We do make exceptions if we feel the content is both innocuous and unlikely to cause social problems on the forum (such as wishing someone a Merry Christmas or a Happy Easter), and we also also make exceptions if such topics come up with regards to a sports figure (such as the Lance Stephenson situation bringing up discussions of domestic abuse and the law, or when Jason Collins came out as gay and how that lead to some discussion about gay rights).

However, once the discussion seems to be more/mostly about the political issues instead of the sports figure or his specific situation, the thread is usually closed.

Rule #8

We prefer self-restraint and/or modesty when making jokes or off topic comments in a sports discussion thread. They can be fun, but sometimes they derail or distract from a topic, and we don't want to see that happen. If we feel it is a problem, we will either delete or move those posts from the thread.

Rule #9

Generally speaking, we try to be a "PG-13" rated board, and we don't want to see sexual content or similarly suggestive content. Vulgarity is a more muddled issue, though again we prefer things to lean more towards "PG-13" than "R". If we feel things have gone too far, we will step in.

Rule #10

We like small signatures, not big signatures. The bigger the signature, the more likely it is an annoying or distracting signature.

Rule #11

Do not advertise anything without talking about it with the administrators first. This includes advertising with your signature, with your avatar, through private messaging, and/or by making a thread or post.
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Need advice on an HDTV

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  • Need advice on an HDTV

    I'm thiking about taking my Christmas money and adding some of my own to get an HDTV for my PS3. However, I don't really know too much about HDTVs. I definitely want a built-in tuner, and $500 is the max I can spend on one. Any suggestions?

  • #2
    Re: Need advice on an HDTV

    Don't buy one until after the super bowl. There are a lot of people who will buy one and return it then. You can also seem to get them cheap after thanksgiving.

    Having an internal tuner is nice but the external tuners are coming down in price and things like DVD recorders are starting to have hd tuners in them.

    Mainly try Sams club or Costco and ask if they have any display models or returns so you can maximize your money.

    Now as far as the PS3 is concerned it will use the progressive resolution on your TV and not the interlaced. So for example if you get a 1080i but only 540p you will only get the 540p resolution. Try if at all possible to get a 1080p TV. If not at least make sure its 780p and 1080i since things like DirectTV, cable and Dish will pretty much all be 1080i.

    The 780p (maybe its 740p) will still look pretty good but of course the very best would be the 1080p.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Need advice on an HDTV

      Hmm...maybe I should hold off on an HDTV until I can save up for a nice one. I still would like to upgrade my ancient TV, though. How much do standard flat-panel televisions go for these days? I would only need something around 27" or so.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Need advice on an HDTV

        Originally posted by Shade View Post
        Hmm...maybe I should hold off on an HDTV until I can save up for a nice one. I still would like to upgrade my ancient TV, though. How much do standard flat-panel televisions go for these days? I would only need something around 27" or so.
        About 500.00 on up.

        -Bball
        Nuntius was right for a while. I was wrong for a while. But ultimately I was right and Frank Vogel has been let go.

        ------

        "A player who makes a team great is more valuable than a great player. Losing yourself in the group, for the good of the group, that’s teamwork."

        -John Wooden

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Need advice on an HDTV

          Ouch. Why pay that for a standard flat-panel when you can get an HDTV at roughly the same price?

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Need advice on an HDTV

            I don't know of any HDTV's with tuners for 500.

            I got mine at Sam's for 700 but that was a returned or floor model. and its only 1080i. It does have a built in Tuner and is 7?0p capable. I love it you defiantly want one with a very clear screen. Some of them seem to have a mesh screen on them and don't look as good.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Need advice on an HDTV

              Shade, even in the lower price range and size stick with the reliable brand names like Panasonic, Sony, or Toshiba.

              Do not be under the assumption you have to get LCD or plasma especially in the size you're looking at to be happy. There are some real bargains to be had with the plain crt tvs that's always been there.

              This might do????

              http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Samsu...oductDetail.do
              You know how hippos are made out to be sweet and silly, like big cows, but are actually extremely dangerous and can kill you with stunning brutality? The Pacers are the NBA's hippos....Matt Moore CBS Sports....

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Need advice on an HDTV

                Originally posted by Shade View Post
                Ouch. Why pay that for a standard flat-panel when you can get an HDTV at roughly the same price?
                Ohhhh I thought you meant flat panel HD prices... I thought when you said 'standard' you were talking about it just being a 27" HD instead of a big screen.

                I wouldn't buy an SD set these days. Total waste of money. It's already obsolete.


                -Bball
                Nuntius was right for a while. I was wrong for a while. But ultimately I was right and Frank Vogel has been let go.

                ------

                "A player who makes a team great is more valuable than a great player. Losing yourself in the group, for the good of the group, that’s teamwork."

                -John Wooden

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Need advice on an HDTV

                  Originally posted by RWB View Post
                  Shade, even in the lower price range and size stick with the reliable brand names like Panasonic, Sony, or Toshiba.

                  Do not be under the assumption you have to get LCD or plasma especially in the size you're looking at to be happy. There are some real bargains to be had with the plain crt tvs that's always been there.

                  This might do????

                  http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Samsu...oductDetail.do
                  I think Westinghouse TV's are great too. I'm getting me a 22" Westy monitor this Christmas!!

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Need advice on an HDTV

                    The only thing you need to know: 1920x1200.

                    That's the resolution of true HD. If the resolution is anything other than that, the TV is resampling the images (and therefore blurring them. The reason they get away with calling them "HD" is that they can read and output the HD signal.

                    Once again: 1920 x 1200. The only information that matters.
                    “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” - Winston Churchill

                    “If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to serve as a horrible warning.” - Catherine Aird

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Need advice on an HDTV

                      Originally posted by RWB View Post
                      Shade, even in the lower price range and size stick with the reliable brand names like Panasonic, Sony, or Toshiba.

                      Do not be under the assumption you have to get LCD or plasma especially in the size you're looking at to be happy. There are some real bargains to be had with the plain crt tvs that's always been there.

                      This might do????

                      http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Samsu...oductDetail.do
                      Do the CRT HD tv's have the same quality pic. as the flat paneled ones? I would like to get one, but can't afford the prices of the plasma and LCD ones.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Need advice on an HDTV

                        Originally posted by Los Angeles View Post
                        The only thing you need to know: 1920x1200.

                        That's the resolution of true HD. If the resolution is anything other than that, the TV is resampling the images (and therefore blurring them. The reason they get away with calling them "HD" is that they can read and output the HD signal.

                        Once again: 1920 x 1200. The only information that matters.
                        Don't you mean 1920x1080?

                        Most HDTV's in Shade's price range (more like all of them) won't meet that standard. The reason they get away with calling them HD is not just because they can read the signal tho.... it's because they can output them within the spec that is considered HD. I believe that is 1280x720 and that is still 'true HD'.

                        Not all HD that is broadcast is even 1920x1080 in the first place. IIRC Fox and ABC use 720p not 1080i. Nor is ESPN 1080i.

                        Some of the gaming consoles output 720p for HD too.

                        Directv downrezzes its 1080i HD to something less than 1920x1080 (IIRC it's 1280x1080i). Once they do that, it doesn't matter if you do have a 1920x1080i capable set, you're not getting the resolution back. They can still call it HD tho because it still meets the definition and apparently HBO and the like are OK with the downrezzing (or can't do anything about it if they are not OK with it).

                        I don't know how Directv handles the MPEG4 HD but most (all?) of the natl HD they offer is not MPEG4 yet anyway.

                        I think DISH does this as well altho they may still have some channels at full 1080i.

                        And any properly adjusted HD set is going look very good. And especially when you compare it to an SD offering. Anyone perusing the HD sets at Sears or Wal Mart or HH Gregg or Best Buy are probably seeing MANY more sets that don't meet the 1920x1080 standard than those that do. And especially those looking at sets with a 3 digit number. How many computer monitors even live up to that standard? Of course if you have the money, go for the top dog. That's why they cost more.

                        Someone asked about CRT HD's.... If you have a CRT computer monitor (not a flat panel LCD monitor) how does that look to you?

                        But yeah, having a monitor capable of 1920x1080i offers the ultimate display capability (and these days some sets are then upconverting that to 1080p). But I just muddied the water some more didn't I?

                        So LA, you're right and wrong at the same time here. A better statement might be that 1920x1080 is the current maximum HD resolution but is certainly not the only (or "true") HD resolution.

                        -Bball
                        Nuntius was right for a while. I was wrong for a while. But ultimately I was right and Frank Vogel has been let go.

                        ------

                        "A player who makes a team great is more valuable than a great player. Losing yourself in the group, for the good of the group, that’s teamwork."

                        -John Wooden

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Need advice on an HDTV

                          Yeah, it looks like I'm just gonna have to wait until I can save the $$$ for a good one. Hopefully prices will drop by then.

                          Originally posted by RWB View Post
                          Shade, even in the lower price range and size stick with the reliable brand names like Panasonic, Sony, or Toshiba.

                          Do not be under the assumption you have to get LCD or plasma especially in the size you're looking at to be happy. There are some real bargains to be had with the plain crt tvs that's always been there.

                          This might do????

                          http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Samsu...oductDetail.do
                          I will NEVER buy another Toshiba product after dealing with the nightmare concerning my laptop. Even if the products themselves were okay, the customer service is the most atrocious I've ever dealt with.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Need advice on an HDTV

                            Originally posted by SycamoreKen View Post
                            Do the CRT HD tv's have the same quality pic. as the flat paneled ones? I would like to get one, but can't afford the prices of the plasma and LCD ones.
                            Ken, I think we can all agree that you do have to pay a certain amount to get top performance. But when you're dealing with smaller sizes the blemishes so to speak are not as apparent. My son has a 30'' inch CRT single tube Toshiba in his bedroom and the picture is fantastic. However if the same technology in that set was in my 42" Samsung Plasma then there would be a problem. In other words don't get hung up on hype and the wow factors you hear sometimes. When you're ready to go for a bigger screen size then the numbers become more important. In some respects movie watching has become somewhat of a hobby and an expensive one at that.

                            Currently my setup is.

                            Not exactly a theater room but a continual work in progress.
                            InFocus 4805 Front Projector with a manual 92" screen.
                            Mitsubishi 65" HD widescreen about 5 years old. Still an unbelievable picture for an oldy on dvds.
                            LG HD tuner box/dvd player combo with upconvert.
                            HD signal provided by a Channel Master 4228 antenna with a CM775 preamp.
                            Low end priced Panasonic receiver that really kicks butt.
                            Sony front towers, center channel, and rear surrounds. Sound ok and one day will go into the tv room, but do get the job done.
                            Yamaha Subwoofer, small with only an 8" speaker but amazingly punchy.
                            Around 2,000 dvds to watch and a 6oz theater style popcorn machine.

                            TV room....
                            42" Samsung HD plasma hooked up to one overpriced Bose Wave II radio.
                            DVDs played on a Pansonic dvd recorder.
                            HD signal supplied by OTA and a Zenith Silver Sensor antenna.

                            AND THE MOST IMPORTANT THING.................
                            No matter what you buy one of the most important and cheapest things you can buy to help your equipment is a video/audio calibration disc. Makes a world of difference in picture quality and keeping your display from premature aging.
                            You know how hippos are made out to be sweet and silly, like big cows, but are actually extremely dangerous and can kill you with stunning brutality? The Pacers are the NBA's hippos....Matt Moore CBS Sports....

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Need advice on an HDTV

                              Originally posted by Shade View Post
                              Yeah, it looks like I'm just gonna have to wait until I can save the $$$ for a good one. Hopefully prices will drop by then.



                              I will NEVER buy another Toshiba product after dealing with the nightmare concerning my laptop. Even if the products themselves were okay, the customer service is the most atrocious I've ever dealt with.

                              After what you've been through I can't blame ya.
                              You know how hippos are made out to be sweet and silly, like big cows, but are actually extremely dangerous and can kill you with stunning brutality? The Pacers are the NBA's hippos....Matt Moore CBS Sports....

                              Comment

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