Preliminary things and a quasi-abstract

( specifically tailored to the impatient )

I am not a lawyer, nor have I employed one in preparing this document. As a result, there might be a fair degree of ambiguity in interpretation of some of the terms that follow. If such an event comes up, the final interpretation is the way I "meant it", which I will clarify if required, no matter what words I used to say it, and how they could be interpreted.

The content of these pages may or may not be representative of my own ideas. They do not however, reflect the views of the University of Michigan, in any way.

I reserve the right to change the contents of this document any point of time, with or without notice. The most recent terms are always in effect immediately, and cover the site as a whole. It does not extend to sites outside this domain that have been linked to from here. It is assumed you are reading this at regular intervals and your presence on the site assumes compliance with its terms.

This is especially important to certain subsections of this document. These include, but are not limited to, those mentioned in the following list.

• Presence on the site assumes compliance with the terms in this document. If you have an issue with, or do not agree with any of the terms, you need to leave.
• If you have a real life relationship with me, make sure I know that you read my site, especially if I did not tell you personally.
• People who have previously been cut out from my life should refrain from reading this site.
• You cannot and will not use the information you find here to (or relay it to anyone who can and/or probably will use it to) hurt me in any way.
• You have to leave if your intent is to use this site as a means of judging me, or my life.
• If you do decide to get in touch, please don't assume I owe you a response.
• Psycho stalker types aren't welcome here.
• This is my space. I will say and do as I choose (within legal and moral limits). If you find any content here offensive, illegal, in violation of copyright, or anything negative in general, you shouldn't be here.
• You are free to use the licensed content on the site in accordance with this creative commons license, as long as you do not direct link (hot link) to my content.

The bulleted list above functions as an abstract of the "important" import of the contents that follow. It aims to be a quick reference, if you are in a hurry. But, it is in no means a substitute to reading the terms below in their entirety.

Personal relationships and privacy

( ...ooh, dicey )

If you have a real life relationship with me, make sure I know that you read my site, especially if I did not tell you personally.

Please do not assume that you know everything there is to know about me simply because you read my web log or frequent my site on a regular basis. Any judgments you make will be based on information I have provided, which is most probably vague, incomplete or embellished. Whatever opinion you form on about me as a person, other people I mention, or our lives as a whole, is best kept to yourself. You're not welcome here if your intent is to use this as a means of judging me, my life, them or their lives.

Never contact me for more details on events or personal information than what I have already provided on the site. Chances are, if the information you seek is not readily available, I have found it too personal or inappropriate to share. If you are close to me, I will eventually tell you privately, so intrusive questions are not necessary, just leave it alone.

If I do not want you reading my site, you should respect this and please stop reading it. More importantly, never relay any information you gather here to others who might (or can) use it against me.

If I write something about you and you don't appreciate it, please let me know, in a calm, rational and polite way. I realize that you are entitled to your privacy as well. I usually don't use names when I have something negative to say, but if I do, and it bothers you, let me know. More importantly, if you know I care about you, and I say something negative here directed at an anonymous person, and you somehow feel you fit the description of that anonymous person, please don't be annoyed or hurt. It wasn't you.

People who have previously been cut out from my life should refrain from reading this site. If the relationship has ended, I don't see any reason why you should get updates on my life. If you simply can't help yourself, do it quietly, and realize that you shouldn't and can't use what you read against me, in any way.

Feedback and initiating contact

( yaha, like you'd want to )

I have tried to keep my contact details mildly obfuscated, for no reason other than to deter spam harvesting internet robots. I have no issue with you initiating contact, or contacting me in general, as long as it's not for the "wrong" reasons.

Please consider using the commenting scheme (set up for some sections, such as the web log) or the guestbook as a means for providing feedback, before you decide to use other means, especially if I don't know you personally. Constructive comments and discussion are appreciated and will be graciously accepted. This covers criticism and reproaches too, as long as you remain calm, rational and polite. You are not obligated to give me your opinions, and if what you have to say is not remotely positive, I'd appreciate it if you kept it to yourself.

If you do decide to get in touch, please don't assume I owe you a response. I am a relatively busy person, and you have to understand I might be unable to get back to you if I have other things to do. This could also be the case if I feel communicating with you is unwarranted and unproductive, but we'll just assume I am busy and have more important things to do with my time. Either way, don't take it personally.

I am quite a cold person, or as some may know, relatively lukewarm. Don't assume you are magically as important to me as I apparently am to you. It's most probably true, but it doesn't have to be. Remember, it is you who is getting a peek into my life, and sharing my thoughts and views. In this sequence of events, I might have become relatively special to you, but you have to understand you are essentially still a mystery to me. If I appear cold or unreceptive to your advances, don't take it personally, remembering that you are still a stranger to me at this point. I reserve the right to choose whether I want to or don't want to keep it that way.

I reserve the right to stop updating this site for any reason I see fit. I am at no point obligated to justify or explain these reasons to you or anyone else. If you feel differently, I will be forced to remind you this is my space after all, and I do what I choose to with it.

All of this quite naturally leads up to an obvious fact; psycho stalker types aren't welcome.

Offensive language and material

( teehee, he used *$**@#?@ )

I am not known to use offensive language (or images), usually. If I do, I usually substitute certain words I deem not entirely appropriate with ones I deem more appropriate. A good deal of thought goes into preserving the overall decency and quality of the material contained. But, as I realize, this is a medium that encourages free expression, and given such a framework, coupled with different people having different perceptions on what is "decent", there is a possibility that you might be offended by some of the content on this site. If this happens, please leave. I wouldn't recommend contacting me, or my host, and attempting to demand I remove the content or change it in ways you feel fit, because primarily, you aren't obligated to be here.

You are visiting of your own free will. If something bothers you, go away.

Copyright, legality and courtesy

( good manners, in my legaleeze )

A great deal of thought and work have gone into bringing this site as a whole to the state it is today. By this, I am encompassing the site design and programming, content, selection of content distribution licenses and everything else related to the site that list did not cover. I realize a good deal of technology is learnt by just observing and playing around with what other people have done. If you are interested in knowing how a certain aspect was achieved, be it a graphic effect, or script, or anything else, get in touch, and I will try to help. However, I reserve the right to choose whether I wish to reply or who I offer this help to, based on my schedule and other constraints. Please realize, there are tons of good tutorials and other means of support on the internet, and asking me something that's "obvious" will not receive a pleasant response, if it does receive a response. By sending me a query, it is assumed you have given me permission to respond in any tone I see fit.

I, as are most other people, am quite attached to my work. Be it what I "draw", write, photograph, compose, or anything else. I'm not saying it's good, I am saying it's mine, and I don't appreciate it being "just taken". The content on the site has been released on a fairly free creative commons license I found fitting. It basically allows copying and derived works, as long as

• the original content creator, me, is attributed,
• it is not used for commercial purposes,
• and the derived work is also shared on a similar license.

You are expected to read the full license for details.

However, though I have no problems with you using my graphics and other content under the terms above, under no circumstances should you ever direct link anything. This is especially relevant to large graphics images. I expect you to actually download the material and upload it to your own server. Otherwise, my server ends up doing the hosting for you, and what you are indulging in is a form of bandwidth theft. That's just mean.

Sufficient scrutiny has also gone into ensuring the overall legality and copyright compliance of the material contained on the site. If you tend to disagree, you are not welcome here, and can't relay this view of yours to my host or anyone else in an attempt to take down the material, or use this information against me in any way. Furthermore, I decline responsibility for the content (e.g. feedback through comments) published by other users. Such content is owned by the poster.

All trademarks mentioned on the pages are owned by their respective companies

Non warranty

( even more saving my own behind style text )

Essentially, all the contenton the site are available free of charge and you are here attemping to access them of your own free will. There is no warranty for any of this. All of it is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of usability for a particular purpose. The entire risk as to the quality and performance of the material is with you.