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mud
Draconis Combine
Tai-sho
Joined: 23-Jul-2002 00:00
Posts: 1618
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 Posted: 01-Nov-2002 22:54 Post subject: I've done had enough |
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You know, I'm really sick of the way the internet is turning into a combination mall/big brother. I just tried to post a message at another btech board, and found that i was required to complete a registration form with some company which wanted to sell me stuff and put me into their marketing database. Jesus, what happened to the idea of the internet being a place of free give and take, and the free exchange of ideas outside of the purview of government or corporate control. Lots of message boards have been contaminated with this trend towards greater control over users. Although this board is not really as freewheeeling as it once was, and has an unfortuante censorship problem it is generally not particularly odius; at least I am not asked to sign up for home delivery of the New York Times when I register. But by and large the internet as a whole becomes more and more bound by restrictions all the time as people try and cash in and make a quick buck. The collapse of the market bubble has only made accelerated the trend; as competition becomes more fierce more websites are forced to look to ad revenue in order to survive, (and you'd be a fool to think the increase in advertisments on the net won't eventually lead to content restrictions designed to please no body, but at least not horribly offend anyone either ala network TV).
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"The enemy's gate is down."
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Hardware
Clan Ghost Bear
Star Colonel
Joined: 04-Feb-2002 00:00
Posts: 605
Location: United States
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| Posted: 02-Nov-2002 00:49 Post subject: RE: I've done had enough |
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I don't know why... Since the operators of this board are exposed to spurious lawsuits because some weenie has to vent an adult joke in a forum accesible by minors. Junior's parents happen to look at what he's reading on the b'tech board and blammo, call out the lawyers.
And you wonder why the internet has become commercialized? Get a good spam blocker and stop whining. Better yet, stop using the internet and free up the bandwidth for someone else.
Your signal to noise ratio is WAY too low.
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The more I get to know people the more I like my dog.
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Gangrene
Federated Suns
Leftenant General
Joined: 04-Feb-2002 00:00
Posts: 939
Location: United States
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| Posted: 02-Nov-2002 01:03 Post subject: RE: I've done had enough |
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Investors decided that the internet was not the great evolution of communication it was thought to be, so now consumers have to pick up the tab for all the servers and workers keeping it running.
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Gangrene
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Gunslinger Patch
Royal Black Watch Regiment
Major
Joined: 04-Mar-2002 00:00
Posts: 1611
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| Posted: 15-Nov-2002 02:57 Post subject: RE: I've done had enough |
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What steams me is how it is getting mighty hard to download a game patch without first "registering" at the download site. The freakin patch is free! They neither need nor have the right to demand my name and address.
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"Those who beat their guns into plows will plow for those with guns..." -Thomas Jefferson
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chihawk
Clan Blood Spirit
Master Bartender
Joined: 04-Feb-2002 00:00
Posts: 8081
Location: United States
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| Posted: 15-Nov-2002 06:11 Post subject: RE: I've done had enough |
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You want their product, you follow their rules.
Of course, there's no rule saying you have to provide the correct information...
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www.210sportsblog.com
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Kyu Kage
ComStar
Captain
Joined: 16-Sep-2002 00:00
Posts: 503
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| Posted: 15-Nov-2002 07:36 Post subject: RE: I've done had enough |
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Yes the internet has become one big marketing tool.
Get over it!
All you haveto do is negotiate your way around it, and enjoy what you still have access to without some annoyance creeping in to ruin it.
Yes there is alot of junk out there, and yes there is alot of marketing going on. All you need to do is find the few areas left that are still "free" (in all the variuos connotations of the word).
NB: Please forgive my rant. I take my studies seriuosly and the internet falls into it.
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Loyalty above all else except honour!
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Kraken
Federated Suns
Marshal
Joined: 04-Feb-2002 00:00
Posts: 2755
Location: United States
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| Posted: 15-Nov-2002 09:28 Post subject: RE: I've done had enough |
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I had a teacher that on a regular basis, would give slightly different spellings of her name to these groups; this way, if she recieved mail from a solicitor with the incorrect spelling she gave, she knew where it was from.
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"I wish I could write as mysterious as a cat." -Edgar Allen Poe"I knew there was something special about you, but I never realized you were really a cat." Wolfwood to a random cat (Trigun)
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Jade_Dragon
8th Sword of Light
Sho-sho
Joined: 05-Feb-2002 00:00
Posts: 1326
Location: United States
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| Posted: 15-Nov-2002 09:52 Post subject: RE: I've done had enough |
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I may have to try that one...
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The JadeDragon
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Kyu Kage
ComStar
Captain
Joined: 16-Sep-2002 00:00
Posts: 503
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| Posted: 15-Nov-2002 10:43 Post subject: RE: I've done had enough |
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Thats a good way to avoid spam and such.
Another is to reply to an e-mail and check the error message that reports back (assuming they don't remove you if your e-mail is read and you request it). When you get the error, ask your e-mail provider to block them, and provide a copy of the original and the error message.
No marketer can continue to send you stuff if you don't want them too. It is your rgiht to privacy and to not have your time wasted by endless CRAP! (scuse the language!) 
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Loyalty above all else except honour!
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Jade_Dragon
8th Sword of Light
Sho-sho
Joined: 05-Feb-2002 00:00
Posts: 1326
Location: United States
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| Posted: 15-Nov-2002 14:32 Post subject: RE: I've done had enough |
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The email server I am on now has a heafty SPAM blocker on it.
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The JadeDragon
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chihawk
Clan Blood Spirit
Master Bartender
Joined: 04-Feb-2002 00:00
Posts: 8081
Location: United States
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| Posted: 15-Nov-2002 16:56 Post subject: RE: I've done had enough |
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NEVER REPLY TO SPAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
When you do all you're doing is confirming that your address has a live person on the other end.
And I use the name change "trick" myself and it does work in helping to determine who sold your name 
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Warmonger
Clan Blood Spirit
Star Commander
Joined: 04-Feb-2002 00:00
Posts: 84
Location: United States
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| Posted: 15-Nov-2002 17:49 Post subject: RE: I've done had enough |
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I'd try that myself, but my family has yet to recieve a call from a telemarketer that has correctly pronounced our name. 'Course, that in itself helps us figure out if the call is from a friend or not.
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"A man who does not speak his own words, does not think his own thoughts." -me
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Kraken
Federated Suns
Marshal
Joined: 04-Feb-2002 00:00
Posts: 2755
Location: United States
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| Posted: 15-Nov-2002 20:47 Post subject: RE: I've done had enough |
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However, there is a problem on my end with the name-change trick.
I've seen so many varient spellings of my first name that almost any of them can at any time be considered my name. (Likewise, I've also learned to answer to reasonable variations as well.)
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"I wish I could write as mysterious as a cat." -Edgar Allen Poe"I knew there was something special about you, but I never realized you were really a cat." Wolfwood to a random cat (Trigun)
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Gunslinger Patch
Royal Black Watch Regiment
Major
Joined: 04-Mar-2002 00:00
Posts: 1611
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| Posted: 19-Nov-2002 06:09 Post subject: RE: I've done had enough |
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I've been putting off just telling these people some made up name for a while now, but I think it is time to start. Lord knows there are plenty of others out there doing that.
I'v worked for the post office over 7 years now, processing scanned letters on computer. You would not believe how much junk mail, esp, credit card junk mail, goes out with obviously unusable addresses, obviously made up ones, etc. And you don't even want to think about how much money those poeple just wasted that you will be paying for at the checkout counter.
I see it every day, on the weekends it is the worst, I can reject hundreds of letters in every hour that I know very well are not going anywhere but back to the sender. I have no doubt left that all the companies who hire out other companies to send out junk mail for them never even bother to check up on it and see if they at least used a decent list of addresses or if they just tossed all that postage moeny down the drain. Ofers for Texaco gas cards, by the way, are usually the worst about this, I figure at least two thirds of those get tossed, not delivered.
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"Those who beat their guns into plows will plow for those with guns..." -Thomas Jefferson
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