RCB information and references for newbies and anyone who needs it

Just thought I would post a general information/FAQ of sorts for RCB, since
we have lots of newbies delurking lately. This is in no way meant to be
authoritative - it's just general informaiton gathered over the last couple
of years by the majority here. If anyone wants to add to this post - feel
free!

Resource Links:

http://www.lampwork.net/beadnotes.html
Bead Notes, a categorized information resource for beaders of all kinds -
compiled by Sooz, taken from past posts to RCB.

http://www.lampwork.net/soozlinkslist.html
Dr. Sooz's Infamous Beading Links List, a giant resource links list -
compiled by Sooz. (no link requests, please!)

http://www.valeriebeads.com/auctionlinks.html
RCB Links - a list put together by Valerie of links to the personal and
professional sites of people who post here on RCB.

General Posting Guidelines:

Topical posts - this is essentially anything related to beads. Of course
there is a huuuuuge gray area here, and the topic of staying on topic has
been hotly debated several times since I have been reading RCB, and probably
tons of times before that, too.

Off topic posting - Anything that does not relate to beads is considered an
Off Topic post. Because this newsgroup is officially unmoderated, off topic
posting is generally allowed in RCB, according to the majority of posters
who have offered an opinion on the subject, as long as a person places OT in
the subject line when posting. People have taken to putting OT sorta or
kinda OT in the subject line when there is a gray area.

Advertisements - This is another gray area. Ads that are about beads or
posted by members which frequent RCB a lot are generally okay, as long as
the person puts AD in the subject line. RCB generally welcomes ads of a
beading nature, because we all love looking at beads - even if we can't buy
any at the time. On occasion, a person will just come into the group and
post a non-bead-related ad, and then leave, without putting AD or any other
designator in the subject line. This is usually regarded as Spam - and is
not tolerated well. See below.

Spam - RCB gets its share of this. Spam is an ad post that has nothing
whatsoever to do with beads, and is posted by someone who does not frequent
the group. Some examples of Spam might include: ads for Viagra or any other
type of drug, chain letters, money schemes, scams, hoax postings, ads for
porn, etc. The definition of Spam is broad and hotly debated. Generally, if
you want to post an ad, and you are even taking the time to read this
newsgroup, and you put AD in the subject line, it will likely be okay.

--
Kandice Seeber
Air & Earth Designs
http://www.lampwork.net