But, you may be asking yourself, "Oh wise and knowledgeable VogonFord, I do not know how to help in the war against spam!"

But, I know the answer!



When you click that button, you will get this message:



Do not fear the type box! Type in this simple message:

SPAM

If you do this, my fellow Simaqians, you will help keep this community safe from HOT DEALS ON GENERIC ORGANIC LEVITRA VIAGRA SUPER ERECTION PILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks, V

Hello guys,

I would like you to utter your criticism of our work in this thread. Feel free to say what you like or don't like about our staff team here. But don't forget that your criticism should be constructive and honest. Our staff team will check this thread regularly and discuss all the issues raised by you.

Best wishes,
holala

SMQ Staff Information

The SMQ staff is a small team of people involved in helping to run this community. Other than participating in the history discussion, they also help to take care of this community and make sure that this forum is in good order through the various moderation work they do. Please read the following info so that you understand what our staff's power are, staff application and who our staffs are.

Our staff team is organized into 3 groups according to their power:

>>Administrators:
The Administrators are the heads of this community. They have complete control and administrative rights over the whole forums. They also have the power to recruit or dismiss staffs, not to mention the power to ban/unban members.

>>Global moderators:
Super moderators have full moderation power to all forums. They also have the power to warn or ban/unban potential troublemaker.

>>Moderators:
Moderator have full moderation power to only a few forums assigned by the administrator. They also have the power to warn or ban/unban potential troublemaker.


Information about Staff Application

Interested in becoming a staff moderator of SMQ?

Although staff works here on a voluntary basis, we do have some basic requirements to become a staff as follow:

1. Basic world history knowledge
2. Able to be active at all times (at least 5-10 minutes per day in CHF doing posting, moderation work etc.)
3. Good conduct and behavior

If you satisfy the above 3 basic requirements, you can apply to become a moderator by contacting (General Zhaoyun) Pelgus or any of the administrators through PM or e-mail.

The administrators will first check if you satisfy the above 3 requirements based on your posting and conduct in the community. We will also check if there is any staff vacancy. Normally, we do not accept very fresh member to become staff because we will not be able to gauge how this member is through the limited posting he has.

Other bonus consideration includes good (expertise) history knowledge, maturity as well any other special skills etc.



Our Current Staffs

General Zhaoyun, the founder of SMQ has retired from SMQ since January 2005

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>>1. Pelgus

Group: c

Info:
Born Helsinki, Finland in 1967, where he has lived all his life. Married with three children. After graduating high school, Pelgus went to Army (compulsory in Finland). Started studying Astronomy at Helsinki University in 1987, switched to General History, then to Scandinavian History. With a growing family, he had to start working, ended up in National Public Health Institute as computer support person and programmer. Nowadays administers databases and sequence analysis software.

Pelgus has always been interested in history, and been a regular visitor at university library's history section. In spare time, he also took part in a project recording oral history of Finnish ww2 pilot veterans.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


>>2. Teyes

Group: Administrator/Webmaster

Info:
Teyes is a Singaporean who owns the much acclaimed buddhist community website E-sangha. He is currently the webmaster of SMQ and own the site. Teyes is not involved in the running or moderation of SMQ.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> Lordomni

Group: Administrator

Info:
Lordomni comes from South Bend Indiana, home of Notre Dame university. Graduated high school in 2000.

He recently finished university at Indiana University South Bend with a B.A. in History, Political Science, and Philosophy. This was complimented by a Certification in International Studies. After university, he has since moved to Japan.

Lordomni's interests in history began early in life, he had a deep love for middle age videogames and novels which slowly grew into a love for actual historical events. His favorite time period has always been the Roman era and classical Japan, but lack of such classes in his school has made those more pasttimes than areas he is an expert in.


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>Aktarian

Group: Administrator

Aktarian was born in late 1970s in Ljubljana then Yugoslavia now Slovenia. He has college diploma and his diploma thesis was comparative analysis of islamic resistance movements at the turn of century.

He is currently working for a radio covering European issues.

He is interested in modern and ancient history, specially WW2 and ancient Sparta.

He is also Stumbler and his profile can be viewed here

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

>>Mind

Group: Global Moderator

Info:
Mind was born in Samara, Russia, which, by sheer coincidence, is exactly where he lives now. Some years ago wanted to move to some other country, USA or Canada, but the family opposed the idea.

In various periods of his life he wanted to become an astronomer, a geologist, an ancient Greek scientist or an archaeologist in the XXV century, but ended his life as a systems adminstrator. Prefers to pretend he's got nothing to do with this low and dull profession.

Political position is uncertain but may be described as a 'disappointed democrat'. Participated in an ecological movement but had to quit when the organization started drifting towards anarchism. He is a cosmopolitan, takes words like 'patriot' or 'nation' as insults.

Favourite period in history: from the Upper Paleolithic period up to the Ancient Rome and Greece.

Loves books, music (blues, jazz and country), fried potato, dairy, forests, mountains and sea. Enjoys hiking, cycling, skiing and smoking. Being married, cherishes short periods of loneliness. Speaks Russian, English, basic Latin and very basic modern Greek. An escapist: all his hobbies -- history, languages, astronomy -- have something to do with getting out of abominable 'here and now'. Still searches for where to escape to. A long-time member of Unilang.org. A weird nerd.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

>>Global Crazyazn

Group: Moderator

Info:
Crazyazn was born in India, grew up in Singapore, residing in Taiwan ROC for the last 20 years running a Trading Company.

He came to SMQ looking for info on The History of Taiwan and found GZ!!! Interest in Chinese and Taiwanese History. Getting interested in other areas since joining up. Very interested in current Asian Affairs.

Interests,Surfing the net, Reading and Music (Listening) Spend most of my free time giving tips to tourists visiting Taiwan on sites like Virtual Tourist, Trip Advisor,Lonely Planet, Yahoo Travel and Holidays (Singapore) e.t.c.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>Vogonford

Group: Global Moderator

VogonFord was born in Portland, OR, USA. He currently lives in a suburb outside of that city. He is currently still in High School.

Found SMQ on a Google search for "World War II Forum" and has stayed ever since. His favorite period in history is the first half of the 20th century.

He is slightly conservative, although in high school this makes him look like a member of the John Birch Society.

Loves debating, correcting textbooks, acting, eating (especially greasy food), video games, Boy Scouts (THE PROGRAM! THE PROGRAM!), random organizing, moonlit walks on the beach and a bit of the ultra-violence. Oh, and Guinness.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>SlayingtheHun

Group: Global Moderator

SlayingTheHun was born in North Carolina in the United States, and resides with his family in central Virginia or at school in Washington, D.C. He is now earning his B.A. in history and philosophy. Afterwards, he plans to attend either law school or a graduate program in philosophy.

His interests outside of history include hiking, reading, political and ethical philosophy, civil aviation, law, and economics. His political and philosophical opinions are jumbled, but generally libertarian. He is interested in the study of distributive justice, civil liberty, pluralism within liberal and illiberal societies, and (what does or does not count as) anarchism.

Within history, he studies the last few centuries of human life--especially in Europe and the Americas. He enjoys the history of the colonial, early Republican, and antebellum United States. One of his favorite hobbies is hiking in the Civil War historical sites that dot the upper South and mid-Atlantic.

One of his proudest moments was clinching a victory in a tie-breaker for his Battle of the Brains quiz team in high school. the answer to the tie-breaking question was "Walter Mondale." He is, therefore, a geek.

He maintains a blog here: http://justabill.wordpress.com


(..to be updated..)

Hi Simaqians,

Below list the ranking system for the forummers of SMQ community:
----------------------------------------------------------

[ Title ] - - - - [ posts required ]
Fledgling Member - 0

Settling Member - 10

Aspiring Historian - 50

Potential Historian - 100

Apprentice Historian - 250

Active Historian - 500

Fullfledged Historian - 1000

If your post reaches above 2000, you may request a custom title from us.

Please note that your rank will increase with number of posting, but do not spam just to increase post count. We favour quality of posts to quantity of posts. All spams are deleted without warning by staffs.

Hi newbies and long time members of SMQ! The other day GZ suggested we write and pin a list of books about General History that are a good read and informative, so we don't get so many "Good General History Books?" questions. I thought it was a good idea, so here it is. All the titles of the books have links to the relevant amazon.com page. Anyone who has more to add can offer their own suggestions via PM, and I'll add it to the list!









History of the World
J M Roberts
(various volumes between 1976 and 2004, published by Penguin Books and Oxford University Press)



This work is earmarked by many as the best single volume of general history ever. And in many ways, it is. Roberts has a way of not bogging down the pace of his narrative with dates and figures, while still keeping the reader aware of the times, places and people involved. For the beginning reader to history, this is a godsend, and even for those who have had a long love affair with the subject would marvel at the way Roberts deals with the subject we are so passionate about. Those who love the details of history will finish the book slightly frustrated, this book is selective and brief in this regard, as any 1000 page volume on the history of the world has to be. By his own admission Roberts has always been interested in the influence of the European hegemony during the age of colonisation, so those interested in the history of India or China, or pre-Columbian America will also be disappointed. This work is still wonderful despite these flaws, and every new edition includes more and more about non-Western cultures.

A good overview for those who are beginning to trevail the paths of history, or those who haven't read a general history before, or those who are interested in a Eurocentric perspective. If you want the gory details for an assignment, or are interested in a non-European history, then read something else, but put this book on your to-read list for a later date.


A Short History of the World
Geoffrey Blainey
(Ivan R Dee, 2002)



Blainey's belief in the importance of Western civilization upon the course of world history is similar to Roberts', yet Blainey's book is different in a number of respects. The fact that is is half the size means the detail is skimmed over even more - Alexander the Great and the Crusades are only mentioned as interaction of cultures, little more. Blainey is also from Australia, so he goes out of his way to add more about South-East Asia and the Pacific. And lastly, Blainey explores the interaction and isolation of societies as the prime factor in moving the wheels of history.

Blainey's focus on Western civilization's importance in history will please those who want a quick overview of the development of world history in this context, and at the same time goes further to satisfy those interested in Asian and Pacific role in world history than many other historians do. Like Roberts' work, those looking for detail should avoid this book but it is a worthwhile, if at times conventional, read.


Guns, Germs & Steel: The Fate of Human Societies
Jared Diamond
(W. W. Norton & Co, 1997)



Diamond's book is seeped in two assumptions that are problematic: that all human societies are the same when given the same inputs, and that geography is the determining factor of history. In applying these two assumptions to the development of societies and it's affect on world history, we see that Diamond believes that all the important, determining forces of history began in pre-historic times. In this way Diamond avoids the problem of Roberts' book and has a geographic explanation for the West's rise, becoming a celebration of the equality and diversity of humans in history. In doing this, Diamond has created problems of his own, in that European hegemony is implicitly agreed upon and challenges and threats to it are not explored at all. Even if people disagree with the first two assumptions, and can see problems in the way Diamond builds his explanation of history, there are still reasons they should read this book. Diamond explains a lot of pre-history, and rises above the assumption that most historians have that all the forces of history lie within it, to be examined by the historian.

I recommend this book to beginning historian and those who have been with the subject for a while. If anything it is well crafted, and gets the potential historian thinking outside the box of traditional thought. For those who want a more traditional explanation of history, read Robert's book instead.


A History of Civilizations
Fernand Braudel
(Penguin Books reprint in 1995)



Braudel is a fantastic history writer, his work in The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Phillip II was marvellous and revolutionised the way we think about history. In this book Braudel shares the same theory as is running through all his books at to the shaping force of history: geography. This may sound similar to Diamond's work, but Braudel does it with more grace and more historical scholarship. Even historians who don't share Braudel's theories must marvel at his scope of thought in history. However, A History of Civilizations is however getting a bit dated (it was written in the 60s), and is too indepth for a beginner to read and get satisfaction from. A long-time history student confident in their ability to be critical and recognise outdated political influenced history will get a lot out of Braudel's book, beginners would be well advised to read other works that will foster their budding love and knowledge of history, not drown it out with indepth study.




More soon!

Lordomni suggest that we should have an introduction thread so that all Simaqians can get to know each other better.

Please indicate the following when introducing yourself:


Your nickname and real name (optional):

Where you're from:

Age:

Interests:

Other forums you visit:

Background info:

What is the greatest ancient civilization?

Which one is the most important to the development of history?

Which one was the best in terms of culture, military power and political dominance?

Which one would you have liked to live in and why? What event would you experience? What would you do and see?

What is the defining event of ancient history?

Who are the greatest people of the ancient period and why?

In keeping with SMQ becoming a world class history forum, I've worked with teyes and the other mods to give out a few awards each month, so we can appreciate those who contribute so much to Simaqian Studios forums. The awards given out will be:

Member of the Month: This award will be nominated and voted for by fellow SMQ members. To nominate someone who you have noticed has contributed well to our discussion here, send their name via private message to me. In nominating a deserving member, you might want to consider:

* Regularity of posts.
* Use of sources (both book and Internet).
* Clear discussion.
* Friendliness and politeness.

I will set up a poll in the Meeting Hall near the end of the month, and you all will have a week to vote. Any member, including staff, may vote. Whoever gets the most votes will be awarded the prize. Winners of this award will be able to choose their title under their name (rather than "Aspiring Historian", etc), as well as recieve a lovely SMQ plaque that appears beside all their posts:

///Edited by holala: For we hardly receive any nominations from the members, we now nominate appropriate candidates for this award on our own. That doesn't mean that the members are not allowed to nominate their favourite members, that just means that we'll nominate members as well.

Quiz Champion of the Month: Each month a Quiz will appear in a different historical forum on Simaqian Studio, and any member can take part. Do not answer it in a post, send a private message to me with your answers. If you cannot answer all the questions, never fear! Send in what you can answer. At the end of the month, I will reply to your posts and tell you how successful you were, and the person with the highest score will recieve the title of Quiz Champion for that month, and recieve this lovely SMQ plaque that appears on their posts beside their name:

There will also be a prize for the Newbies. The Newbie of the Month will be decided from among the new members who joined in that month by the moderators, and title given to acknowledge the award, as well as this lovely plaque:

At the end of the year, the Mod of the Year () and Member of the Year will be voted for. But that is a long way away. For now, the awards will start in Febuary. I will post the first quiz in the Modern History Forum today so members can have extra time for the Febuary award. Good luck to all!

What is your favorite history movie?


http://www.uwstout.edu/socsci/burkholder2/

If you like, post a summary about any military conflict from about A.D. 1500 up until WWI (which is a totally different sticky). This is sort of a mix between and article and a discussion, something like Captal de Bosch's post about the Guerre de Holland. I will post some summaries soon myself.

Be creative, post about wars no one has even heard of!

I've dedicated a topic to educating users about the Medieval time period. It works very easily, if you have a question(you can ask more than one at a time) you can ask here, and others will answer it to the best of their ability. I only ask that if you wish to discuss a question or answer posted here, that you create a seperate thread for it. Janissary and I will be watching this closely.

So, if you want to learn of the castles, the mighty Yuan, or maybe you want to learn of the Turks, here is where you ask.

To get a feel for our users' likes and dislikes, I've created this thread.

I'd like to know what kinds of history you have the most knowledge on/like the most, and what kinds of history you find uninteresting/don't study.

<> Information for New Users
-------------------------------------

Hi Simaqians,

This information and forum rules are created to help the staff run and manage history forum simaqianstudio. While we often want to allow more freedom in using this history forum, we understand that without forum rules, this forum would not be in good condition and the staffs will not have a 'legal' justification in doing certain moderation job. The forum rules need to be read and followed by all Simaqians. The information and forum rules presented here are valid for all forums of SMQ.


>> Avatar Size Limits
The maximum size for avatars in this forum is 20KB. Please make sure your avatar falls within this size. You can use the forum's preloaded avatar by selecting gallery. OR you can upload your own avatar into our server.

>> Signatures
The maximum number of characters that can be placed in a signature is 255 (and this limit is enforced by the forum). Graphics are prohibited. These rules improve forum readability (forums exist to have text-based conversation and to exchange knowledge) and page download times. Please try to avoid too much vertical space in your signatures. We will PM you if needed to.

>> Post Formatting
Please avoid changing the color of your whole post as it makes the forum difficult read (you can use color to accent post contents, however). Note that not all forummers have the same board style as you. Some may have a different color and it will affect the display if you change the color of your whole post. Do not change the default size of text in your post unless it is to accent certain points inside.

>> Post Counts
We value quality of posts rather than quantity of posts. Although your rank might increase with no. of posts, if you spam to reach a high post count, you will be respected much less than a newcomer. When it comes to applying to be a moderator, your post count or rank will not be considered. Things like contributions, grammar, knowledge, and active participation in the forum are criteria that we seek when you are applying for moderator.

>> Registered vs. Guest
Unregistered users have very limited posting rights. In order to participate you must be a registered user. Guests may only post in the Technical Support Forum.



>> Qualities of a good Simaqian?
----------------------------------------------------
<> Activeness
A good Simaqian should, if possible, demonstrate his/her activeness, by participating in our history debate and discussion. Some forummers come down every day to post reply or start new topics. We do not expect you to be hyper-active as in spending more than 5 hours on the forum per day. We understand that coming down here is rather voluntary, but your activeness will make the forum more vibrant and lifely. This forum would cease to exist or be dead, if no Simaqians come down for discussion.

<> Good conduct and behaviour
SMQ Forum is a forum for intellectual history discussion and exploration. It wasn't meant to be a forum where you can swear, spam or verbally abuse someone. We do appreciate if you can made an effort to be polite, respect all Simaqians and be friendly. Good conduct and behaviour will earn you respect from all Simaqians and you will be very welcomed in this forum. Good conduct generally means being friendly, respectful of others.

<> Follow the forum rules
Following the forum rules will make SMQ forum a good and friendly place for discussion. Although moderators and administrators will be monitoring all posts and conduct of all Simaqians during posting, please try to make their jobs easier by following the forum rules. You do not want to receive constant warning from moderators, do you?

<> Helpfulness
Helpfulness means that if a Simaqian is asking a question or need some form of help, one is able to respond and help him/her. Helping someone will not only make him/her grateful for your assistance and you will earn more respect, but also make the forum more attractive in the internet world. The reputation that "SMQ" has many helpful forummers will spread around the internet and more forummers will pour in to get some sort of help. This is typically how we Simaqians can all play to help this community grow.

<> Maturity
Even if you're only 12, this doesn't make you any difference from a 30 year old historian. This is because we are all here to learn and discuss history. You can demonstrate your maturity by learning from how other forummers debate and argue, in a polite way rather than a hostile childish manner. We are a forum that help all Simaqians learn and grow. Therefore, you will learn to be more mature when you come down to this forum more often.

<> Knowledge and Wisdom
We not only would love to see your history knowledge increases, but also your wisdom. This doesn't come in a day if you're just arrive. However, if you participate daily in our discussion, you will not only realise that your history knowledge increases daily, but also your wisdom. That's because you are learning during the process, and your mind will develop ultimately.



>> Participation Suggestions
-------------------------------------
<> New Topics
If you want to make a new topic please go through the old pages and use the search feature to see if someone has already made the topic you have in mind. Some forums also have 'Common Topics' lists that you may check. If someone has already made a topic you are interested in, please feel free to reply to the old topic no matter how long it has been inactive. We encourage members to revive old threads. You don’t need permission to make new topics and, in fact, making good new topics is a great way to earn respect from administrators and moderators. Take a moment out to think of the proper forum for your new thread so the moderators don’t have to move it.

<> Getting Along and Fitting In
SMQ has a very friendly environment for history discussion. A newcomers will be able to get along and fit right in as soon as he/she is here for quite some time. All Simaqians should always strive to be polite and humble, and avoid verbal attack, slandering or bragging.

<> Activeness and Contribution
The functioning of SMQ community relies not only on our staffs but also all forummers. Without your active participation, the forum would be dead. You can contribute to the community in several ways as follow:

1. Initiate new discussion topics
2. Posting reply and contribute your view on certain discussion topics
3. Provide accurate answer to history questions.
4. Contribute article
5. Contribute links (for Library)
6. Invite new friends to come over to this forum, which help to increase membership
7. Helping to spread words about us in the internet, in other forums or add links to your website

<> Becoming a Moderator
There are a few requirements in order to be a moderator. You must have knowledge regarding the forum to which you are applying, you must have demonstrated your skill through productive posting and following the rules, and you must have respect from the moderators. Breaking rules in this thread and being unkind to people will prevent you from ever being a moderator. If you're interested in becoming a staff moderator, you can PM or e-mail me.


>> Tips on History Debate and Discussion
----------------------------------------------------------

<> Attack ideas and not person.
This is a forum where you can share views on certain discussion topic. It wasn't meant to be a verbal abuse forum, where you can attack someone saying "how stupid you're?"..or "you're a moron" etc. Such attack doesn't make discussion more fruitful. Instead you will only receive a warning from the staff or make others resent you.

<>Support your argument
A good debator should always support one's argument with good historical information and evidence or even sources. Though you may not remember all the details, sometimes referring to a book is what is needed. Be on the look-out for more senior Simaqians. Learn how they debate and do the discussion, as well as how they counter-argue when they disagree.

<> Types of Topics
There are different types of topics in this community, separated into many different forums. There are various types of topics which are listed as follow:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Question type of Topic
Normally, a forummer will ask a certain history question for e.g How did the Germans launch a blitzkrieg?. Please try to answer it so that he obtains an answer. If you can't find the answer, you can ask your teacher, or surf the internet, or research into books. All Simaqians wish to get an answer, so please be helpful towards all.

2. Debate or verification type of Topic
Usually, the historical view has been mentioned in lots of book. But you discover that it might be wrong or inaccurate or just want to verify it with others, or hear different perspective and views . So you post a question asking "Is it justified to use Atomic bomb against Japan during WWII?"
Please participate in such discussion and put down your view. Such type of discussion are normally very interesting.

3. Alternative History Topic
This is the "What-if" type of discussion, for e.g. "What if Hitler's army conquered Britian, what would happen?" Well, just put down your view. Be analytical, normally 'what-if" type of discussion are meant to test your ability to interpret historical facts, understanding history pattern and consequences and your prediction of the future from history.

4. Polls type of Topic
You get tonnes of such discussion in the forum. For e.g. "who is your favourite emperor in history?". It can be in the form of polls (listing different historical figures or options). Put down your view, and say why you choose that particular option. Normally, polls type of question are used to do some form of statistical ranking of certain qualities (such as "the best", "most favourite", "the greatest", "the most influential" etc.)

5. Research Type of Questions
This is usually posted by people doing research and are having problems finding information. For e.g. "Where I can find more information about Alexander the Great?". Sometimes, such question can range from history information, maps or even graphics etc. Be helpful towards all Simaqians asking such research question. You can put down the link, books or even try to answer the question for him if possible. Like I say, all Simaqians wish to obtain answer. If a new Simaqian arrive and do not get an answer, he will just leave and get on to another forum (something that we don't love to see). If we want to be the best history forum on the internet, please try to be helpful.

6. Article-type of posting
About article posting guide, please refer to the Guide to Article and Essay Posting for more information. Generally, someone posted a good article and expect someone to read it. Please help this person by reading and then give some comment on it. Please do not make your article too long in one post. If it's too long, separate it into different post in one threads. Not all Simaqians have the stamina to read long articles, so please understand how they feel when they see your long article.

Above list the most common type of posting in this forum. Of course, there are other types of posting.


>> Forum Rules (Important)
-------------------------------------
<> Spam
Do not spam in the SMQ forums. Spam is any post that does not directly further the objective of a thread, which includes off topic posts, posts which only contain a few words and/or emoticons, and inappropriate replies to a thread. All Spam will be deleted by moderators/administator without warning.

<> Plagiarism
If you post information found somewhere else or written by another person besides you, make sure you indicate the source or author. We consider this a very serious issue; make sure you don’t break this rule.

<> Unwholesome and Illegal Content
You may not post anything that is porn-related or are illegal such as hacking, mp3 etc. Anything that is unwholesome or illegal will be deleted or moderated without warning.

<> Vulgar Language
Vulgar language is not allowed in this forum. Though we have a filter against certain vulgarity, the vulgar text will be displayed as "*****". If your text is displayed in such a manner, you will most likely not be so welcomed in this forum. We value polite and courteous Simaqians, as opposed to rude and vulgar ones.

<> Member Relations, Flaming and Verbal Attack
Do not blatantly attack another member because you don’t like them or because you disagree with their opinion on a matter. If you have personal words to share with them do it via private message. Open attacks will result in warnings or banning (temporary or permanent). Unwanted private attacks (flames sent via PM to a member), if brought to our attention, will cost you the loss of posting abilities. What is a flame? A flame is a blatant attack on another member (not their argument). If you insult another member purposefully to any degree, even in a foriegn language, it will result in a flame warning.
If you encounter cases of flame, please report it to the staff, so that the staff can take action in the form of warning or even in the worst case ban.

<> Hate speech
In SMQ Hate Speech is not allowed. We define it as any slander or libel, inflammatory attacks or defamation of persons or groups based on personality, race, religion, marital status, gender, age, nationality or profession. The SMQ staff will evaluate each statement suspect of fitting this description on a per incident basis.

<>Incitement to crime
We do not condone promoting or encouraging to commit crime, nor intructions on performing illegal activities. The SMQ staff will evaluate each statement suspect of fitting this description on a per incident basis.

<> Listen to the Administrators and Moderators
These people run this forum. It is his or her job to make sure this is a friendly and rewarding place for everyone that participates. If you get a message from one of them pay careful attention. Do not assume a moderator has no power in forums they don’t moderate, because they do.

<> Complaint
We appreciate your complaint about a certain person or his/her action for e.g. flames, insult. However, this will have to be done in private through PM or e-mail. If it's a complaint about the staff, the staff will investigate and respond to you quickly.

<> Warnings
Breaking any of these rules will result in a warning from the administration and moderation team. You will see this warning level on the left hand side below your avatar. All justification has to be done in private through PM. Public complaint/justification will be deleted without warning

Hi Simaqians,

For all those who are new to this forum, I would especially like to brief you on some tips on history discussion and posting in this forum.

History debate and discussion has been common activities among the historian world. Historians not only study historical facts, interpret them, study the pattern, but also examine and check for its accuracy and truth etc, together with the help of archaeologists. The invention of internet forum (bulletin board system) such as the one we are using now, is transforming the way we share information across the internet and the world. It literally makes our discussion more fruitful as we are able to see different views and information from different people. It offer us an insight into how a simple fact can be interpreted differently by different people from different country, culture and languages.

The internet forum is a great tool especially for people who are studying and learning history. It works not only for novice but also for history professionals. The advantages of history forum discussion can be listed as follow:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> 1. History Answer
Get a history answer and discussion from different perspective, views from different people. It allows more insight into history discussion.

>> 2. Learning more and deeper
It allows you to get deeper and learn more. Often a question and discussion will lead to more question, which will prompt you to research for more information related to the discussion. So, generally speaking, you get to learn more.

>> 3. Memorise and remember better
Often, you have to input and type the history facts into the history forum discussion. If you can't remember the facts, you often have to refer to a book and put them down. As you type them, you are learning history in the process, because it allows you to better memorise and remember these history facts.

>> 4. Getting more help
Sometimes, you have difficulty searching for history information on the internet. Someone can help you and put you a link to the necessary website. This is a faster means of getting information what you want.

>> 5. Sharing of history sources
Share history sources from different countries and languages. It gives you a greater insight.
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For TIPS ON HISTORY DISCUSSION and DEBATE for all Simaqians, you can refer to our forum rules. Here, I would like to briefly mention a few tips and advice:

>> 1. Do not be afraid to participate

For newcomers, if you're new to history discussion, do not be afraid to participate in the discussion. Many Simaqians here start fresh from nothing here, but gradually advance to become EXPERTS in history discussion and debate. We have here a wide range of people ranging from youngster as young as 11 year old to older people around 70. Do not be afraid to speak up, just because you're new.

>> 2. Do more reading
For people who are completely new to history, I would recommend you to do more additional readings (if possible), not only on the discussion topics here, but also from books and other history website.
This is because a basic knowledge of history is sometimes required for you to participate and enjoy the history discussion here. It also prompts you to learn and inquire further.

>> 3. Ask your questions clearly
If you're posting a question, always post your questions clearly, so that you can invite people to answer them. While we very much wish that people can help with essay-type of question, please do not expect people to write an essay for your question (or for your homework). We can help you by pointing out some facts, points and arguments, but simply writing an essay for you defeats the purpose of you learning history. The homework still has to be done by you, but we can help with your research work by showing you the sources etc.

>> 4. Support your argument
When putting up with a debate, always backup your argument with facts and historical evidence. Do some examination of your logic, whether your writing is logical. If you are putting up a counter-argument against another forummer, please be polite and refrain from verbal attack. If you're pointing something written by a forummer that they are wrong, always point out why they are wrong, instead of just saying "you are completely wrong". Saying why they are wrong will prompt further discussion, convince the other forummers and make the debate more interesting.

>> 5. Improve your language and grammar
If you are a non-english speaker, we always welcome your participation here. Many of the Simaqians do not speak English as their native language, but they try and improve their english through the participation here. If you have language problem, many of us will be able to help you.

>> 6. Learn from other more experienced Simaqians
Sometimes, learning from others how to debate will help you to be more skilled in debating. For more experienced Simaqians, please be humble. You can still learn alot from newcomers and even help them.

>> 7. Emoticons
Sometimes, you can add emoticons to your posting to express the mood. It makes the discussion more fun and interesting.

>> 8. Images, Maps and Pictures
Images, maps and Pictures are a great way to explain your posting. There are many free remote image hosting sites where you can upload pictures (e.g. ImageShack). You need a scanner to scan pictures into computer and then upload to the site. Then in this forum, use the IMG bbcode to add the link to the image and it will display the image.

>> 9. Using QUOTE
Using a QUOTE is a great way to refer to someone's writing. To COPY someone's writing, simply highlight the person's writing by clicking the left mouse button and holding them down, then right click and press "Copy". Then on your posting, right click and press "paste". Then use the QUOTE bbcode in this forum to refer to that post. Always type the name of the person's writing into the Quote, not only to refer to that person, but also to prevent plagiarism.

>> 9. Technical support
If you have problems posting in this forum, post your question under technical support forum OR you can refer to Help

That's all I have to say.Enjoy the discussion here.

If you have anything you would like to contribute on "tips on posting", please put it down in this thread.

Thanks
GZ :shock:

Hi ALL Simaqians,

Simaqian Studio is a non-profit history discussion community. This forum was established by a group of people who are interested in learning and discussing history. Although we are listed in the major search engines, we do not have the capacity to spend money on advertising, as the running cost would be too high (as we have experienced in the past) and the effect wasn't as good as we expected. Current running cost is funded by Vishruth, mostly on webhosting and me (the domain name).

Recently, we've seen a steady increase in our membership growth, partly due to search engine positioning (I try to optimise the positioning of our listing in the search engine), but also due to the effort of some of our members who put the link to this forum in their website. I would like to thank these members for doing so.

All Simaqians (and any new members) can help make this community grow into a thriving forum. The more members we have, the discussion activity would be more vibrant and would be more interesting.

(REMEMBER our forum link will always be http://www.simaqianstudio.com )

You can do your part to make us grow by doing the following:

>> 1. SPREAD WORDS ABOUT SIMAQIAN STUDIO

You can tell your friends or teachers (professors) about us and invite them to join our discussion. You can e-mail them and put a link to our history forum. In other forums, you can PM or e-mail your friends and invite them to this forum for history discussion.

>> 2. CONTINUE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE DISCUSSION

We would love to see you come back. Without your participation, there would be no discussion activity and this forum will almost be dead. The more discussion you participate, this forum will become more lively and vibrant. Consequently, there would be more interesting discussion topics and people will be more attracted to come and stay here for discussion. We aim for quality discussion and our reputation will be spreaded among the internet.

>> 3. PUTTING LINKS ON YOUR WEBSITE OR SOME OTHER FORUMS

If you have a website, you can put the links ( http://www.simaqianstudio.com ) to this forum . This will allow more people to come to this forum. If you participate in other forums, you can also put a link to our forum, so that people can come to this forum.

>> 4. BOOKMARK OUR FORUM SITE

You can bookmark this site in your internet explorer. Just go to "Favorites " and "Add to Favourites". By bookmarking this site, you save the trouble of remember our URL. If you forgot our URL, you can just go to YAHOO and type "Simaqian Studio" and search for our site. It will be listed there.

>> 5. PARTICIPATING IN OTHER FORUMS AND PUTTING A LINK IN YOUR SIGNATURE TO US

Putting a signature in other forums that have links to our forum is one great way to help publicize our name and also the link. You can add signature that is large, colorful and eye-catching like say "Forummer of History Forum Simaqian Studio"

You can copy the following BBCODE into your signature:



However, beware, some mods in other forums do not like your signature to look like a big advertisement. Most likely they will want you to remove the color or reduce the size. In anycase, a link to this forum would be good enough for your task.

ALWAYS REMEMBER OUR NAME "SIMAQIAN STUDIO".

>> 6. E-MAIL PROMOTION
If you came across a history website, and this website happens to have the contact (e-mail address) of the webmaster or the owner, you can do your part of spreading our words by e-mailing him/her and inviting him/her to this community for history discussion. If possible, ask him/her to review our forum site and request to put a link on his/her website.

You can use the following e-mail format:



>> 7. PASTING AND LINKING BANNERS ON WEBSITE
You can also paste our banners on your website and when one click on it will point to our site.

You can use the following banners:
Small banner

Use the following html code:



which is displayed as




Large banner

Use the following html code:



which is displayed as



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E-mailing and estabishing links is a good way of helping to promote this site and spread words about us. However, please do not spam it by continuously e-mailing the person. Spaming will spoil our reputation.

If you have other suggestions on helping to make this community grow, please put down your suggestions here and the staff can consider them.

Cheers
GZ