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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.

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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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Direct TV & The Pacers

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  • Direct TV & The Pacers

    I am getting stationed in Rapid City SD ( Air Force) and am trying to decided between cable and DirectTV. I have a few questions I figure someone on here would be able to help me with.

    I know you can't get local channels in that area but are you able to get the abc,nbc,cbs,fox east coast and west coast feeds when they say local channels are not avalible in that area.

    My other question is with the sports package it says you get all of these channels that show certian nba teams games, like FSindiana. Do they play the nba games or do they black them out. Here in Biloxi I get FSSouth they show allot of the Hawks games but they always black them out. I have cable though and don't know if that is the case with DirectTV.

    Next worry is if I get Direct TV I will have to go to DSL I guess. Does anyone have it? Is it slower than my Cable modem.

    I just don't think I can handle having cable in a place that shows no NBA games and on sunday all the show are the Vikings, Chiefs and Bronco games. I gotta have my Colts and the Idea of getting to see quite a few pacer games just makes me get choked up.

  • #2
    Re: Direct TV & The Pacers

    I would think FSN Indiana would not be blacked out for you since you war (way) out of market.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Direct TV & The Pacers

      Originally posted by Hicks View Post
      I would think FSN Indiana would not be blacked out for you since you war (way) out of market.
      My cable company down here (Biloxi) said you had to be in the market to get the games. But then agian they said NFL network was not on any cable company. Small city with a cablecompany with no compition.

      They don't even play the Hornet games down here and we are like 45 miles for the big easy.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Direct TV & The Pacers

        Cable is way better than DirectTV believe me. DirectTV is terrible in bad weather, and is in and out constantly (for us atleast). We had it for about a year at our old house and hated it. I'd stick with cable, for that reason alone.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Direct TV & The Pacers

          Originally posted by esabyrn333 View Post
          I am getting stationed in Rapid City SD ( Air Force) and am trying to decided between cable and DirectTV. I have a few questions I figure someone on here would be able to help me with.

          I know you can't get local channels in that area but are you able to get the abc,nbc,cbs,fox east coast and west coast feeds when they say local channels are not avalible in that area.

          My other question is with the sports package it says you get all of these channels that show certian nba teams games, like FSindiana. Do they play the nba games or do they black them out. Here in Biloxi I get FSSouth they show allot of the Hawks games but they always black them out. I have cable though and don't know if that is the case with DirectTV.
          Maybe I'm reading this wrong ( only cuz I tend to intepret things differently ) ....but are you asking if you get Direct TV in South Dakota that you're hoping to get FSIndiana ( Local Fox Sports channel for Indy ) instead of FSSouth for Biloxi?
          Ash from Army of Darkness: Good...Bad...I'm the guy with the gun.

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          • #6
            Re: Direct TV & The Pacers

            You can get local stations with DirecTv. If you want to pay extra you can get all the sports stations.

            I love my DirecTv, but it is very unpredictable during bad weather. Rain is the worst.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Direct TV & The Pacers

              Why does my satellite radio not seem to care if it's raining or not, but when I used to have a Dish it could mess with things? Is it because with the Dish it's trying to receive a lot more information because it's audio and video?

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Direct TV & The Pacers

                If I was to make an educated guess I'd say NBA games will be blacked out. There may be a FSN local to your area and a team that won't be (although off the top of my head I can't think of a team within 100mi to you) but it won't be the Pacers.

                As for rain fade for dishes... ya it happens but it is far less frequent than what some people make it out to be. I have a feeling that those that experience it with every rain shower have a dish that is not spot on aimed (there's little margin for error and just a little tweak can make a big difference) or else they don't have a clear line of sight and already have limbs or other things partially blocking the dish's view of the satellite. The other thing is the possibility the dish isn't securely mounted and the wind that accompanies many storms might be a factor (constantly blowing the dish off target). Or all those things combined.

                That all said, distance to the satellite matters too... closer to the bird you get a stronger signal. I'm not sure how much difference there'd be between me and the satellite and you and the satellite to tell you if that would be a significant factor.

                Cable IMHO is POTENTIALLY a superior product. Satellite tends to waste (IMHO) a lot of their already limited bandwidth (tho MPEG4 helps with that). "Digital" is really almost a meaningless buzzword because what matters is the compression. But digital cable has the same issue but can handle more bandwidth to begin with.

                Cable also has the benefit of offering you internet services. You're going to be hard-pressed to match cable's potential speed offering with DSL although that doesn't mean you might not find DSL "fast enough".

                Satellite ISP sucks IMHO. At least Hughesnet. It's better than dialup (sorta) if that's your only option but otherwise stay far away. They have a draconian FAP that has no margin of error and treats a serial abuser and a 1 time abuser the exact same. It is overpriced, especially when you consider that FAP. The normal plan 'allows' only 200M in ANY 24hour period. That doesn't mean you can download a 100M file on Thursday and two 50M files on Friday... The clock is simply within ANY 24 hour period so if 24 hours has not passed since you dl'd that 100M file, you don't want to DL those 2 50M files until it has. You also need to turn auto-updates OFF so that you don't get burned with a large Windows update. Exceed the FAP and for all intents and purposes Hughesnet shuts off your internet for 24 hours. You'll be able to connect but you'll be at sub-dialup speeds. A 14.4 modem seems fast in comparison while you're in the penalty box.

                That is my 'anti-Hughesnet' ad of the day.

                Lastly, programming.... Does the cable company offer league pass? If not then your decision just got easier if you want to see Pacer games. And if the Colts factor in to, then Directv (and Sunday Ticket) just landed on the top of the pile for you.
                Last edited by Bball; 12-29-2008, 10:21 PM.
                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: Direct TV & The Pacers

                  Originally posted by Hicks View Post
                  Why does my satellite radio not seem to care if it's raining or not, but when I used to have a Dish it could mess with things? Is it because with the Dish it's trying to receive a lot more information because it's audio and video?
                  Satellite TV dishes must convert a frequency 12.2 - 12.9 Ghz into a frequency of 250 - 2250 Mhz. If you have HD it must decompress the information too. Most systems are very resilient. If you experience a lot rain fade, there is more than likely something wrong.

                  Also, for the thread maker. You can't use FSN Indiana out there for Pacers games, as soon as the game comes on it will blackout. You will need NBA League Pass to watch Pacers games, FCC regulations.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Direct TV & The Pacers

                    Hicks,
                    I'll take a wild-a$$ guess but I've not looked into it at all. My guess is the 'radio' satellites (or transponders on the satellites they use) are higher powered (than TV) so the antenna itself isn't nearly the factor it is with satellite tv (where the gain of the antenna is the difference in getting any signal at all).

                    They could also use repeaters in metro areas where skyscrapers and the like might block signal. AFAIK line of sight is still important either way (tv or radio) but obviously a higher power satellite would be more forgiving of small obstacle. I'm not sure how prevalent repeaters would be... but if you have the money for the satellite then I suppose repeaters would be like quarters from under the couch cushions to a company.
                    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


                    • #11
                      Re: Direct TV & The Pacers

                      Originally posted by Bball View Post
                      That all said, distance to the satellite matters too... closer to the bird you get a stronger signal. I'm not sure how much difference there'd be between me and the satellite and you and the satellite to tell you if that would be a significant factor.
                      The Satellite is 19,000 miles away above the equator. I seriously doubt your location plays any significant role.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Direct TV & The Pacers

                        Originally posted by CableKC View Post
                        Maybe I'm reading this wrong ( only cuz I tend to intepret things differently ) ....but are you asking if you get Direct TV in South Dakota that you're hoping to get FSIndiana ( Local Fox Sports channel for Indy ) instead of FSSouth for Biloxi?
                        I know they don't have FS Indiana. I am just wondering if they black out the FS regional channels they get. FSSout in Biloxi always have the Hawks games listed like they will come on but instead they get blacked out due to (I am guessing) the fact we are not in the local market.

                        The sports package they have a list of channels like MSG network shows Knicks games, YES shows Nets games, NESN shows Celtic's games, the list keeps going on. But If I am reading it right I would get almost every teams Version of FSN Indiana. I am wondering if anyone has the Sports package for Direct TV. If the games are shown it seems like a dream come true. I should get a great deal of Pacers games when they play all of these other teams. Plus I get NBA TV. Thats not an option with the local cable company in the area.

                        For the football issue if I got an east & west cost feed for ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox. I would have a great shot at seeing most all of the colts games without fighting with my wife to get direct Ticket.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Direct TV & The Pacers

                          Originally posted by EmCeE

                          Also, for the thread maker. You can't use FSN Indiana out there for Pacers games, as soon as the game comes on it will blackout. You will need NBA League Pass to watch Pacers games, FCC regulations.

                          So your saying FCC regulations requires all FSN channel to black out the games. Do you know if this goes for YES, MSG, NESN, ECT....

                          I know I get alot of the bulls games down south due to WGN.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Direct TV & The Pacers

                            Originally posted by EmCeE View Post
                            The Satellite is 19,000 miles away above the equator. I seriously doubt your location plays any significant role.
                            A satellite has a footprint (and I believe the distance above the equator is 22,300 miles). If you're in the center of the footprint then there's little difference but if you're at the edge of the footprint then there's a difference. I don't know the northern reach of Directv's birds. Obviously, they do reach into Canada (since back in the day many Canadians had ways of getting US Directv) but the signal is weaker by that point. By the same token, Canadian satellites do have some signal in Indiana but it is weaker than Directv or Dish's birds.

                            Someone at the edge of a footprint would experience more rainfade issues than someone in the sweetspot of the satellite's beam.

                            Left unsaid in all of this is that the size of the dish does matter. A larger dish would minimize rainfade issues even more. But Directv now has the custom dishes so just getting a larger dish from some outside manufacturer isn't the easy option it once was. A larger dish = more antenna gain. But I still go back to the point that a well secured, properly aimed, clear line of sight, standard dish should do fairly well against rain fade within the footprint of a satellite.

                            I only experience rainfade on a major downpour.... or the leading edge of it. Showers are no problem.
                            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


                            • #15
                              Re: Direct TV & The Pacers

                              WGN must have some grandfathered agreement as compared to the sport networks. I'm 99.9% sure they will all blackout games. The ones I get do.

                              -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

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