Re: Reading google groups, 101. [was: Unangband questions]

On 16 Mar 2006 23:08:20 -0800,"Twisted", wrote

For a small fee, and the large amount of hassle and hoop
jumping that always accompanies any kind of online thing that
requires payments, you mean. Believe me, the jump from $0 to $1
is nonlinearly a LOT bigger a deal than the jump from, say,
$199 to $200. Because you can't just click and go anymore;
suddenly you need to deal with banks and (probably
international) shipping and (probably) currency exchange rates
and "will they, in region X, take Visa/Mastercard/whatever" and
getting credit and Paypal and snail-mail and ... (caveat: for a
news reading service or similar online thing the "shipping"
item doesn't apply).

Until shopping for stuff on the net is as easy (and safe!) as
walking into a neighborhood store, plonking down a few dollar
bills, and walking out with merchandise, I refuse to
participate. I certainly will refuse if the only available
payment method is Paypal; I have never done business with them,
and the sheer amount of spam I get trying to change that fact
is the #1 reason why I never will. Apparently I'm the last
person on Earth who hasn't signed up with them, judging by the
sheer ferocity with which they keep trying to convince me that
I have, but let my account lapse so I should go and reactivate
it, presumably so I find that I need to create a new account,
and as a result they have all six billion of us and all our
base are belong to them or some such. Thanks, but no thanks.
Not if you advertise by junk email. Not three or four messages
a DAY. Not after hearing from all over the place how evil you
are in regards to various policies and service charges. Until
there's something like proper "ecash banks" with real
competition, standards, interoperability, and lack of SPAM!, I
refuse to participate -- luddite though that may make me.

I had to do it last year because my ISP couldn't keep the
server
for the newsgroups running and when they did the coverage was
spotty.
Yes it is a pain, but pain is your friend. It tells you where your
limits are so that you can push past them.
So bite the bullet or the blunt side of a HA Cutlass(+9,+9),
quaff a Potion of Boldness or Heroism, get on the net and buy the
time.

Oh and they took VISA and Mastercard.

I am just a satified (easily) customer with Individual Net and
have no financial interest in either Individual or First Gate.

http://news.individual.net/

Oh yes they send you to another site to pay up. First Gate,
that has loads of security.

And about the other stuff for sale on the net well, I have
bought
a few things due to non-Roguelike interests without any real
problems.
I did watch my statement and found one attempt on a false charge
from
a third party. My CC provider wiped that off my billing.

Luddite is not a title anyone should seek or lightly assume.

I spend $15 a month on my ISP and 10 Euros a year on my news
server.
Both seem reasonable to me as I count 18 groups I check several
times
a day and more that I am ready to post to.

later
bliss -- C O C O A Powered... (at california dot com)

--
bobbie sellers - (Back to Angband) Team *AMIGA*
Formerly of AWest - San Francisco's Amiga Users Group
bliss at california dot com




.

Relevant Pages

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