Comment policy

Your comment and feedback are important. They are essential. You are welcome to criticize form and content, and I’ll do my best to understand your point of view. But first I must clearly state our agreement, and by sending your comment you are consenting with the rules below.

The internet must be free and democratic, but don’t expect this “freedom” here. Freedom of expression guarantees that your voice can be heard without state-sponsored intervention. But it does not imply in everybody being obliged to hear you unconditionally. It doesn't mean that everybody must help you in conveying your message. In other words, you have the right to have a space on the internet, but you are not entitled to any privilege on this space.

I have rules for accepting comments. They might be arbitrary, anti-”democratic” and completely subjective for you, but serve to keep this place clean and on track. I want to create an environment of civility, as any rational communication should be.

Remember that our time -- to read the post, comments, and reply to them -- is limited. Which means we must optimize how we use our time in the most effective way.

Moderation of comments

This blog works with a post-publication review system ;) All comments on recent posts are automatically approved, but I can quickly remove the egregious ones. So if you are planning to advertise me about your product, be it a software or a god, please don’t waste your time because I will not waste mine. If you want more people to understand the special truth contained in your pet theory, this is not the place for you to share it.

Before commenting, make sure you have read the post and the links therein, tried to understand what it is about and then please make your comment reflect these facts. I won’t even read comments unrelated to the post, illogical or confuse. SPAM, cut-and-paste or offensive comments will be rejected without further consideration.
I don’t reject comments based on the particular opinion, but on cogency, pertinence and politeness.
  
And these qualities have nothing to do with your intentions, but on how they are perceived by me and by the other readers. It is of utmost rudeness, for instance, to disdain my baloney detector. If you want others to consider your point of view, please think about the most effective way of transmitting your message. You can make a strong, challenging, critic, unpleasant argument -- just don't be rude, you won't be able to lecture me or anybody else. Suaviter in modo.

I don't know how to stress it enough, but let me repeat: read the whole post, the links and references when necessary, and try to understand them before attacking. When in doubt ask for clarification. It's better than criticizing the argument you imagine I could be espousing. As advised elsewhere, instead of simply asserting the silliness of an argument, explain why this argument would be silly -- in which case you don't need to label it as such.

People who have conquered my respect don’t have anything to worry about, as long as they are properly identifiable. Anonymous comments may be allowed, but I urge you to use your real name (stable pseudonymous and virtual personæ are fine, too) and an associated web address.

How to write, then

A simple rule that can increase spectacularly the quality of comments is to wait for one day before doing a fiercer criticism. If after one day you are still wanting to see me or another commenter hung, wait for another day before commenting. I know the blog format imposes a stressful rhythm, but let’s not hurry.

I would also advise you to save a copy of the comment sent: if by any chance your masterpiece is rejected, you won’t feel like you wasted your time. And don’t forget that we are responsible for what we write: even worse than having the comment rejected is having it accepted and available after you regret your tone or opinion.

And please don't put a link to some company as your signature. This is not a way to attract customers or to rig google page rank. They're smarter than this, and I take offence. Signatures are for personal pages (your blog, google+ e.g.), and if some weird or unrelated link appears anywhere in your comment I'll flag it as SPAM (which I assume does not improve the image of your company).


I apologize for the trouble, but I don’t want to contribute to the hit-and-run culture that is polluting many blogs, rendering the comment area inhospitable.

In a nutshell, this is how we do it here (from http://bizarrocomic.blogspot.com)