The Draft Charter and Constitution

Mission Statement (Audi)
I have gathered a posy of other men's flowers, only the string that binds them is my own. --Montaigne

In a dire hour of need this site was started by a small and various group of net refugees who had lost their internet home, heroically pooled their talents and efforts spontaneously and organically and founded a Refuge, compelled by the common need for communication on matters of mutual interest. That Refuge was born in a vein of good-humour, fun and playfulness and was nurtured in a spirit of participation and co-operation and we hope that that spirit of co-operation, fun and welcome will persist.

From the outset the site has been non-partisan and has pushed and pushes no party agenda though parties are utterly welcome here to promote their agendas, debate their policies and discuss their histories. Similar other groups in our society and culture are similarly welcome as are individuals, particularly those with strong convictions, beliefs and the power to articulate their message.

What matters more than the matter of the site proper is how we conduct ourselves here - we suggest a willingness to "look under the bonnet" of things and promote the culture of discovering how and why things work. Machine Nation is a workshop for those who want to get their hands dirty with the mechanics of mechanics, politics, economics, philosophy, society and much more. We would see it as a place where processes, systems, constitutions, manifestos and machines themselves get taken apart, mapped out, debated and celebrated or [denounced] in a collegial spirit. Thus the purpose of the site is to raise understanding and share and build knowledge in a spirit of participation and willingness to problem-solve.

We are not all about machines and systems however because MN has already incorporated a light, warm, homely side which should allow individuals to express themselves among their peers without fear of abuse of any kind. We have also developed a lively Irish language area which we wish to be inclusive and natural and itself contribute modestly to the restoration of the language by encouraging spontaneous and playful use. The site has a good Irish feel already as all our garrulous Irishness is evident here in instances of the need to tell stories, whinge, laugh, share music and simply converse.

Finally the site itself is a project which hopes to represent the posters here; it is purposely set up with a Change the System section (Sandbox) where contributors can offer their criticisms of the site as well as posting any ideas they might have for changing or improving it. In that section you should also find a Toolbox tutorial section on how to use the site and take advantage of the site functionality so as to better express your message or communicate a theme or some news. Anyone is free to contribute to that Toolbox section in order to share knowledge and skills in the vibrant and exciting spirit of Opensource which is a lively force on the Internet as we launch this forum.

Hopefully you will think of this site as a collection of conversations of all kinds with the odd dispute thrown in - naturally. You should be free here to express your opinion as long as it intends no harm to posters, admin or real world people. Moreso you are free to ask questions here and though the information you may get cannot always be guaranteed to be the utter best and most perfect it will no doubt be of high quality and itself open to correction by more experienced people. You are encouraged to use the information here as jargon-busting and ice-breaking on any topics - this is may not always be the place for official and definitive information.

Constitution - includes personal abuse, etc(EVM?)
100% objectivity, however, is neither desirable nor possible where humans are involved so in the event of personal attacks, allegations, abuse and general discomfort caused by comments or behaviour between posters, this section will now try to deal with any eventualities that may arise.

Posters should try to play the ball not the player; posters should try to focus on the policy not the politician; when focus slips then mod intervention may happen.

Posters should be prepared to back up with [[some kind of]] evidence anything they assert as 'fact'; where they cannot do so then it would be appropriate if the poster express their assertions as opinion and qualify it suitably with use of 'I believe' phrases which means ultimately that you, the poster, are prepared to [back-up] your assertions in a court of law if needs be. The owners of the site cannot and will not accept responsibility for claims made against individuals or groups which are expressed as fact but are merely opinion. Such speculative 'I believe' statements would be more in keeping with the site if expressed about inanimate objects and processes rather than about human beings. You are asked here and now to limit such speculation about individuals or groups particularly if your assertions are libellous or defamatory in nature (see legalese below).

You will be asked from the outset to refrain from anger and angry tones of voice especially in the case of where it is directed at humans. If you feel it's necessary to vent some steam then please recognise it as anger and open a thread in the area called The Valve in the System Sandbox where heightened tensions can be contained if needs be.

Anger is one letter away from 'danger' and you may be asked to desist from a debate and log off for a period if anger/danger is detected. Such signs will include

(warning signs of impending anger to be copied and pasted by pm or otherwise to a poster)
Use of aggressive emoticons and robust sarcasm, not of the humourous variety
Heavy and profane language
Reference to the person you are debating with as opposed to the issue

If any of these signs appear during a debate then there is a good chance that our mod policy will go into effect which means quoting it to you from here. In the case of outright allegation then






Trolling Behaviour - includes freedom of speech maybe (KP?)
In a forum where freedom of speech is valued, it must be accepted that everyone is capable of trolling under the right conditions. For that reason at Machine Nation we will focus on trolling behaviour rather than trolls; one man's trolling can be another man's guiding principle.

We encourage posters to engage in a variety of discussions and to approach these discussions from a variety of perspectives. We actively support posters who start new threads, follow the resulting discussion and actively engage with the views of others.


Legalese (cactus flower?)


Mod Intervention - role of mods (ibis? or whoever...)

At Machine Nation all posters have equal rights and responsibilities and it is hoped that in that spirit, posters will self-mod as far as possible. Disputes should be taken up by pm and not on the boards - in the interest of minimising needless conflict and side-taking and in the interests of posters who wish to continue a discussion.

Rather than disrupt the flow of conversation with reminders to stay on topic, mods will split threads when it becomes apparent that a viable separate discussion is emerging.

In cases where the constitution is breached mods will endeavour to maintain pm contact with posters. This may include: advising by pm to self mod; advising if and when a thread is moved to the Holding Pen in cases where 'constitutionality' is questionable; when a blatant breach of personal or group abuse is observed and the reference immediately deleted.

Please take up queries re moderation decisions with the mod/mod team by pm. Mods will have a facility to discuss decisions as a group as well as making individual decisions.

It is moderator policy to support posters in the first instance. Suspension and banning will only occur in the event of persistent lack of co-operation.

Posters who have concerns about new members should contac the moderator team if the poster is not in a position to offer constructive advice. We were all first time posters once.

The post above is a work in progress so add your bit in and we can all discuss the additions as they arrive.

You only post under your own section - any discussion about what one of us has written takes place on this thread.

Don't worry about style or language - we can co-ordinate that at the end.

Anything I've left out?

Ok i've posted some shite - I'll sort it out later or someone else can - maybe a morning me - why is the blankness always so hard at first..?

People who look under the bonnet want to know how and why things work. Machine Nation is a workshop for those who want to get their hands dirty with the mechanics of mechanics, politics, economics, philosophy, society and much more.

Machine Nation is about taking things apart and putting them together in a collegial spirit - discussing, figuring things out and sharing knowledge.

The Toolbox offers a range of resources to make your work easier. The Editorial, Content and Moderation Teams are a support network for posters.

Is that too wussy?

What you wrote is not shite!!! Self modding we're on for here but self-abuse we don't tolerate, Mister.

Cut and paste as you wish but add it to what you have/

Right. We should plan a beginning middle and end and two of the above are nearly there. The end will be about the future of MN I suppose and should be left open-ended and participatory and capable of change perhaps...

Your bit about the bonnet is good too - we can tidy it up tomorrow. That's the heavy side of MN - what about the lighter side which is as important? The warm fuzzy feeling we'll be giving off anytime soon? That lighter side perhaps should be part of the middle..

Auditor #9 wrote:

Right. We should plan a beginning middle and end and two of the above are nearly there. The end will be about the future of MN I suppose and should be left open-ended and participatory and capable of change perhaps...

Your bit about the bonnet is good too - we can tidy it up tomorrow. That's the heavy side of MN - what about the lighter side which is as important? The warm fuzzy feeling we'll be giving off anytime soon? That lighter side perhaps should be part of the middle..

This is all sounding very good. At your inspiration Kate I pm'd eamo who was here today and has never posted. He sent a nice pm back saying he is a fan (!) of MN and drops in nearly every day to read threads. He says he is waiting till he has something to say. He also said that MN was much friendlier than P.ie and that the "latest discussions" icon had made the site much easier to navigate (must never have found the portal). Sorry to interrupt your flow here. I was going well on the legal side, until I copped on to the statement on the Registration page that threw me somewhat. I am working on paper, ironically, because of jumping between several references. Will we be able to put a note above the existing Host statement explaining that that is what it is, and point new people in the direction of a "Welcome pack" of information (pointing on to the signing in thread). It would be good to talk to Evom about this too.

I've added to the Moderation policy - any comments on that?

EVM says that we can have a charter page of our own with a link to the registration page.

There could also be links to legal stuff if that helps, I imagine - some posters might like to look into the detail and having it handy or in the Toolbox would be great rather than having to include every detail in the charter. Would that help?

Kate that all looks fairly good and ye've been getting evm to look at the techie stuff too. It'll all be rough enough around the edges but I have to admit that I can't take much more tonight - I'm joining the rag rug trade .. I'll start putting some tutorials together tomorrow for the use of the facilities - it is vastly more complex and functional here than p.ie

hey up, someone's just popped in ...