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Cat-loving bookish Texan. Equal time for sushi, barbecue, classical music and classical hard rock.
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Activity Summary
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Reviews Written: 232
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Member Visits: 8,343
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Total Visits: 72,432
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About foxfroggy
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Old fogey/crone with a few brain cells functional. Monty Python lives! I can be contacted through my website, or my posted email address.
About ratings- I try to be fair, rating based on content, not my personal take on the thing being reviewed. Giving low ratings because you disagree with a position violates the spirit of the system. A very helpful rating will be grammatical, spell-checked (not including the occasional typo- we're all human), balanced and free of obscenity, plagarism or excessive cliches. Helpful is a good review, but could be improved with more content or better analysis. Somewhat helpful goes to a review that is poorly written, too shallow, or one-sided- usually needs a rewrite to be higher rated. Not Helpful goes to spam, plagiarism, sloppy, careless junk slapped down in haste. Obscene, racist, or sexist language can win this thumbs down very quickly. I am reluctant to give this rating to anyone who is making any honest effort to communicate even if the writing and grammar are awful.
Whenever I notice any revenge rating, I report it, as I do if illegal activity or violence is advocated. I'm an instructor and really hated grading anything!
About other rating criteria: I will down rate an opinion for vulgarity in the title or in the content. If you can't manage to make your point without adolescent potty-mouth, don't expect an VH. Quoting questionable language may be appropriate to properly review a subject, but using it for shock value or juvenile attempts at humor is not valid.
Off-topic reviews are automatically NH-if there's no category, contact a Category Manager to suggest it, or look for an area where it may be posted appropriately. Ask Advisors in the area for help-most are happy to do so. This is one area that frustrates all of us at one time or another, but ignoring the rules isn't the best way to handle this.
Personal attacks containing names are unethical and inappropriate. They lack the means for the accused to defend themselves. Even when the names given are known, wretched abusers, I will either NH or decline to rate this type of review.
For Pets reviews, I do look for some special qualities. It helps to know how well a product worked for you, how well that compares to the advertising, and whether you think it's a good value. For foods, at least a general indication of main ingredients is helpful, as is any special nutritional points about the product. Availability is another nice inclusion- will this be at the grocery or does it require a special shop?
For pets or any reviews, if you had a problem, did you try to use customer service, and what response did you get? Is there a website for the product? Are there any other products that are comparable, better or worse than the one you reviewed?
I will always answer questions about ratings as best I can. Civility helps.
Please don't bother with "trust me and I'll trust you" messages, IM's or chain letters. Some of these violate Epinions terms of service, and many violate your email or ISP's TOS.
Advice for newcomers- read, rate, then write. In the beginning, do lots of reading and evaluating before giving in to that overwhelming urge to post. Be thoughtful with ratings, and careful with Trust and Distrust. Try to comment as much as possible. And most of all-write about what you actually know-the best reviews are the ones that show your experiences clearly.
Special offer for new Pets writers- help me see your work- email me when you post your first one or two reviews, and I'll check them out. I'd appreciate it.
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