#300. Mystery solved. The official Guidelines no one knew existed.

Okay, so I did a little sleuthing...(thank you Nancy Drew)...and guess what I found
hidden in the Help menu of the Hometown page.

Yes, I'm good, but I'm better when I'm bad.  I ain't the queen for nothing.  I keep telling you people this.

So now, you can say you saw it here first, and not from the Editor's whose job it should have been.  But hey, that's what they're getting paid the big money for, and I'm not.

  Hmm...now lets all do a little reading, shall we? 

AOL Journal Guidelines:Please remember you must be at least 13 years of age to create an AOL Journal.

You agree that you will not use AOL Journals to distribute or facilitate distribution of any content -- including text, communications, software, images, sounds, data, or other information -- that:

contains images of sexual acts or sexual language of a violent or threatening nature, directed at another individual or group of individuals or as a method of harassment.

contains personal information not your own and/or posted without permission within the text of an AOL Journal or AOL Journal entry. This includes e-mails addresses, IM conversations, e-mails, or otherwise, regardless of whether they occurred between the member and Journal owner or not.

is intended to victimize, harass, degrade or intimidate an individual or group of individuals on the basis of age, disability, ethnicity, gender, race, religion or sexual orientation. Hate speech is unacceptable anywhere on the service.

solicits personal information from a minor (under 18 years old). Personal information includes full name, home address, home telephone number, or other identifying "offline" information.

contains software viruses or any other computer code, files or programs designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment.

contains material that defames, abuses, or threatens other individuals.

is illegal or incites illegal activity, such as instructional information on how to build a bomb, make counterfeit money, etc.

solicits for exchange, sale or purchase of sexually explicit images, and/or material harmful to minors; including, but not limited to, any photograph, film, video, or picture or computer generated image or picture (actual or simulated).

infringes anyone else's intellectual property rights, including, but not limited to, any copyright, trademark, trade secret, rights of publicity, rights of privacy, or other proprietary rights.

attempts to harvest or collect member information, including screen names.

impersonates or represents any person or entity in an attempt to deceive, harass or otherwise mislead another member. You may not pretend to be an employee or representative of AOL, or any of America Online, Inc. family of companies, or affiliates.

attempts to get a password, or other private information from a user. Remember: AOL employees will NEVER ask for your password.

advertises and/or promotes the sale of products or services on AOL, including, without limitation: lotteries, ammunition, firearms, fireworks and other explosive materials, tobacco, alcohol, adult products and services, such as phone sex and escort services, illegal products and services, and other products and services AOL deems inappropriate.

links to and/or references content not allowed under these guidelines. In addition, AOL reserves the right to prohibit members from linking to or promoting links to any commercial site beyond AOL Journals.

spams, including spamming of search engines or through use of search engine criteria.

facilitates distribution of unsolicited bulk e-mail, advertising or any other unauthorized solicitation including chain letters, multi-level marketing schemes and pyramid schemes.

solicits for advertisers or sponsors and/or contains sponsorships, ads, and banners unrelated to AOL Journals.

offers or solicits for payment information online (home pages or otherwise), including credit card or bank information, in return for the purchase of a product or service.

obscures or eliminates the AOL Journal frameset.

utilizes member web space as a storage for remote loading of graphics or other content; including utilizing member web space solely as a "signpost" or "billboard" linking to an outside ISP or web page.

Note: AOL does not endorse content found in AOL Journals.

AOL Journals are a place for members to share their everyday experiences, thoughts, and feelings. Journaling can also be a creative outlet showcasing a member?s talent for parody and humor, therefore, some Journals may be more graphic than others and may not suit all sensibilities. While using first names of other individuals in Journal entries is acceptable, the use of first and last names or first names in conjunction with a screen name or other identifiable characteristic(s) MAY be deemed harassment or found to be otherwise objectionable under AOL Journal guidelines.

AOL has the right to manage its computer resources for the greatest benefit of its members. Excessive volume of data transmitted to and from Journal pages could impair the performance of this service. Therefore, AOL has the right to monitor the volume of data transmitted to and from Journal pages and to impose conditions against the excessive use of bandwidth as AOL deems necessary.

AOL reserves the right to make changes to these guidelines at anytime and you agree to be bound by any such changes. Please check these guidelines periodically for any changes.

For additional information on AOL's policy, please refer to the Terms of Service Agreement.(AOL members only)

Determination of whether there has been a violation of TOS and/or these guidelines, and whether any action is warranted, is made by AOL at its sole discretion.