User:Clarkcol/sandbox

General [M]ayhem, nicknamed by its users Genmay or the "[M]", is an Internet forum containing general discussion forums; its title aptly describing the character of these discussions. General Mayhem has very few rules. Genmay is currently one of the largest message boards on the Internet, with over 19,000,000 posts (considering the relatively small number of registered users). While a diverse and independent community, Genmay is almost directly derived from a now-defunct HardForum sub-forum of the same name. It bears mentioning that Genmay itself is a for-profit LLC.

Community
General Mayhem is administrated by two members - M|22 (Pronounced Mr. 2) and Sanjay. However, General Mayhem is mostly moderated by its users in the form of a unique paid-banning service which generates income for the forum and culls the obnoxious at the same time. Genmay implemented a new donation system, allowing automated changes of usernames (name-rape), thread subject lines, user titles, user avatars, along with automated banning and the ever-popular [H]-mode (Some creative scripting that mimics the ever-mocked instability of the Hard OCP Forums from which genmay derives, allowing the user a 10% chance of actually reaching his or her destination after clicking a link ). However, the Genmay store is currently closed due to potential legal issues. There is no set date for revival as of this writing, although Sanjay has mentioned that it would be functional again soon. The digital items purchased from the store are also used as secondary forms of punishment, or in some cases, rewards.

The forum tends to segregate users based upon their User ID, which are assigned to them upon joining. The general rule is that the higher the User ID is, the newer the user. The usage of User ID as an insult, previously a common practice, has since become an offense that is generally looked down upon and punished by the community, but seniority still garners respect.

Genmay's posting follows a daily cycle to a far greater degree of precision than most forums. Most posters being in North America, a majority of the posts are made during the daylight hours, giving the forum its greatest burdens around the noon and evening hours. Posting then sharply falls off around 1:00-2:00 AM PST.

Forums
The discussion board is divided up into sub-forums as follows:

General [M]ayhem - This is the main forum which shares its name with the site. This forum is for posting anything (hence the name). Sometimes the forum description is changed at the whim of an administrator. As of this writing it says "Worlds Longest Shortbus".

CompuGlobalHyperMegaNet - (CGHMN for short) This forum is for posting anything computer and electronics related. CGHMN is home to many professionals (and would-be professionals) working in these areas. The name of this forum is based on an episode of The Simpsons where Homer decides to start his own ISP.

Games - This forum used to reside in CGHMN as a subforum. The popularity of this forum has warranted a shift to the main page. As the name implies, it is for the discussion of electronic games, whether it be PC, console, handheld, or any other form.

Automotive [M]ayhem - If it has a combustion engine, it is probably posted about in this forum. It was recently purchased from the administators by user IMNobody.

Dangerous Toys - A forum purchased by user wolf for discussion of guns, knives, paintball, air soft, and other weapons.

Home, Garden, and Personal Finance  - A forum for sharing recipes and various types of household and financial advice. The least popular of all subforums. Formally House and Cookery, this forum was also purchased by IMNobody.

Photography and i[M]aging - Like the name suggests, this is a forum specifically made for the discussion of imaging, photography, and cameras.

Altered [M]inds - A recent forum addition used for the discussion of drug related subject matter. Until now, "drug threads" as they're called were posted in the main forum. The new forum is strictly moderated to keep discussion mature and to promote education about drug use. Asking a member for drugs, or where to obtain them on the forum is forbidden and will result in immediate and permanent ban.

The Pit - The forum for any heated debate, including political, religious, conspiracy theory, and racial discussions. It is also the home of callouts, where two members may debate publicly over a disagreement. Callouts can be over real life disagreements between members or simple attempts to destroy someone's credibility. The most common use of the Pit is for discussion of opinions on news items.

Aunt Flo and Uncle Dick  - (Formerly Beast[M]ay,Bone Closet) Serious discussions about relationships and social interaction, sex, and personal fitness. Like the games forum, sometimes considered a forum within a forum; many users who post here do not post in the other forums often. In contrast to the General Mayhem, this forum is strictly moderated, and only mature and sensible replies are allowed. Spamming and personal attacks are strictly forbidden within this forum and will usually result in banishments if posted. The change in name from Bone Closet to Beast[M]ay is probably the result of a recent thread in the General forum where member cuz_why has been shown to have committed bestiality on a dog. The thread itself can be found in the Vault.

Babe Forum - A forum for posting pictures of beautiful women (and sometimes men). Pornographic material is strongly prohibited. Backside nudity and transparent clothing is allowed, however. Exposed genitals will result in a ban.

Deals and Steals - One of the the least viewed subforum on the site; this is where members can sell and buy various things from each other. Unregistered visitors cannot see this forum.

IMNobody bought hell for you! - (Formerly the Kiddie Corral or KC and RMTC's Pigsty, which was named after permanently banned member RedManThatCould.) Currently named after IMNobody, a known-wealthy member who on top of buying more than one sub-forum for General Mayhem, has been responsible for numerous name-rapes and related shenanigans. This is the only forum where banned users are allowed to post.

"Trinity" - A computerized bot that lived in the KC. She was once known for her witty responses inside the (then-called) Kiddie Corral and often tricking the unsuspecting poster into thinking that she was indeed a real person. Trinity has since been turned off, probably for performance reasons.

Vault of [M]ayhem - Notable and otherwise funny posts are kept in here for archival and easy access. It is often suggested that newbies read this forum in order to understand some of the references used in General [M]ayhem. Once a thread is "vaulted" it cannot be posted in anymore. Often members will sarcastically request for a poor thread to be vaulted.

One complaint some users, especially newer ones, have about the current set of sub-forums is that a lot of serious or obscure threads are "doomed to death" by being only suitable for Genmay - where they are quickly spammed off-topic. Others take this as part of the atmosphere, and feel that only the most popular threads should survive, and new subforums would only "dilute the [M]ayhem."

Registration
Before recently it was thought as rather difficult to gain membership to Genmay. This was because one would have to have a non-free e-mail address, which helps prevent spamming and duplicate accounts. After this, each and every registration would have to be approved by an administrator before the user would be able to post. Other than this, registration is closed a large part of the time, so no one can make new accounts at all. In mid January 2006, registration was opened again. New users were also allowed to post immediately. It is believed that this was done to help raise Genmay's rating on Big-Boards.com (a forum ranking site). Some people are concerned that this will reduce the quality of the forum with more spam. However, Genmay has since reverted to letting only people with a paid email account register.

History Of General Mayhem
The current General [M]ayhem was founded after the original HardOCP sub-forum was spontaneously shut down by its owner, one Kyle Bennett, after a server upgrade. Following the upgrade, users found their favorite forum had evaporated. Any disagreement following the deletion was met by immediate banishment, hand-dealt by the infamous Bennett.

Three forum members jumped on the idea of creating a new forum for the displaced community. FLECOM registered genmay.com, M|22 registered genmay.net, and James Crivellone registered genmay.org. The first controversy happened when the 3 domains were consolidated into one forum run on M|22's computer, a dual Pentium 3 which was frequently unable to handle the load that was required, and a question of ownership and control came up between the 3 leaders of the forum. FLECOM was eventually de-admined "from [his] own fucking forum" and disappeared from the site. Crivellone gave up his control over the domain and left as well (going on to administer the more regulated forums of Rage3d). The control of the forum currently rests in the hands of M|22 and Sanjay.

The site is now owned and operated under the name General Mayhem, LLC, of which Sanjay holds a 51%, interest, and M|22 the remaining minority interest. Genmay is run off of a database server with two Opterons, 8GB of memory, and a dual channel UPS backed RAID array. There are four 1U Dell servers that serve Genmay via Squid proxies and Apache/PHP.

Pranks
In the Summer of 2005, General Mayhem created a rumor that Christopher Walken will run for president in 2008. A website, Walken 2008, was later created to ensure the rumor was more believable, accompanied by the production of Bumper stickers to encourage and gather media coverage from well-respected news stations. The rumor was finally shot down when Walken's publicist, Mara Buxbaum, posted on the forum (use search) and reported to many others that it was a hoax.