Introduction
Welcome to Sublime Oblivion Forums! This is a discussion group focused on the major trends shaping our world today, for good or ill, and the regional and global effects they are going to make in the years and decades ahead.
Please be sure to familiarize yourself with the Forum Rules and read and agree to our Terms of Use before posting.
Forum Rules & Posting Etiquette
* The moderators take a very dim view of ad hominems. Avoid unless you're looking for a ban. Attack the message, not the messenger.
* It is OK to call an argument an "idiotic proposition" (be sure to back that up with evidence if you want respect, though!), but calling its proponent an "idiot" is a no-no.
* Though this is a *mostly* free-speech forum, things like unbridled racism and sexism, hate speech and Holocaust denial are decidedly verboten.
* Don't emoticon spam (one or two are quite enough). No brainless one liners. No 1337-speak.
* Try to avoid consecutive posts, i.e. one after the other - please edit your previous one instead. An exception is when you want to post something else more than a few hours after the initial post, but don't abuse this.
* Links to porn, illegal content (US law), warez, competing forums and blatant advertising = verboten.
* Try to acknowledge and cite your sources (e.g. link to website, book name / author, etc) if you want to be taken seriously.
* Double logins / multiple profiles are strictly forbidden.
FAQ
Who are you?
The site owner and administrator is Anatoly Karlin and I run the blog Sublime Oblivion about Russia, geopolitics and future global trends.
How do I use BB Code / HTML?
Just use the BB buttons at the top of the post form. Highlight the text you want to endow with a certain attribute and click on the requisite button.
To embed videos, all you need to do is provide a clean hyperlink. This forum has a plugin that will do the rest of the work.
How can I get myself a cool avatar?
User avatars (profile pictures) are not stored on the forum. Instead, it uses the Gravatar service, a remotely-hosted system for managing user avatars that is accessed by this forum, my blog and many other websites. Registration and picture uploading should take no more than a few minutes. Consequently, your picture will be associated with your email address and displayed on any Gravatar-compatible website.
The advantage is that if you get an account there, not only will you get your custom avatar here but it will also display next to the comments you make on all WordPress blogs that have this feature - which is most of them. Your default avatar is an automatically-generated identicon.
What are the different forums about?
Most are self-explanatory, or have explanations next to them on the main page.
This LOBBY is where you introduce yourself (if you so wish). The NEWS ROOM is for discussion of breaking news over the past few days. The LIBRARY hosts serious discussions, while the adjoining COFFEE HOUSE is where you can kick back and relax. I hope to have SUBLIME OBLIVION: THE BOOK up and running once my book nears publication. For discussions about Russia and its representation in the Western mainstream media, we have DA RUSSOPHILE - the initial theme of this blog back when it was Da Russophile at blogspot.
Please bring complaints about other users or suggestions for improving the site to ADMIN. I will also post site-wide announcements there. Feel free to experiment with BB, HTML, your sig (if I ever introduce that feature), etc, at the TESTING GROUNDS, though note that topics there may be subject to casual deletion after several days.
What is a cross-post?
Cross posting is posting the same message in more than one forum. It gets on everyone's nerves so do not do it. Post a message ONCE only and place it in the most relevant forum.
What if I forget my password?
Contact me with your username from the e-mail associated with your account (so that I can be sure you are you).
What are the forumer rankings here?
New Member = green
Regular (min 10 posts & 30 days) = sky blue
Senior Member (min 100 posts & 180 days) = blue
Mod = orange
Forum Admin = red
Can I be a forum moderator?
Thanks for offering - it is very appreciated. I will be glad to use your help once this community grows to a decent size.
What if I have more questions?
Ask them in Admin or contact me, and I may add it to this FAQ.