To be rewritten at some time in the future.
Muddy 6/26/09
Monday, January 26, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Winter 2008-2009 and other thoughts
January, 2009
So far this has been one cold winter. It’s been a winter approaching those we remember from the fifties, sixties, and seventies. Our snow here east of Lake Erie is knee to waist deep…and it melted off to almost nothing twice before! We have had some real snow this winter.
I have not been back to post here as regularly as I had hoped. I’m sure that is not a problem since I doubt there are many following this. It is interesting to note we have had one visitor/commenter since the last bit I wrote. If anyone bothered to read “Mr. Lambkint’s” note (purposely misspelled, who I will hereafter call Mr. L.), one might be wondering what that is all about. We will address that tonight.
The miserable weather, substantial changes at work due to the economic slowdown, and this unexpected comment has had me off-kilter trying to decide just how I want to handle this situation. In the previous post I talked about a particular forum-style web site I used to enjoy visiting. I mentioned that I am now unwelcome at that site and all others owned by the internet web site conglomerate with whom our visitor is affiliated.
I found a similar type of site dedicated to serving a group of users sharing a common field of employment. The introduction there was not smooth…they like to welcome people “their way” and I arrived with an understandable chip on my shoulder, made worse because the new site looked strangely like the one having recently banned me. The only noticeable difference between the two sites, at first, was a difference in color. Knowing the big conglomerate owns a site dedicated to employees of a vaguely similar type of industry, I immediately wondered if I had come across a new production of that very same conglomerate. My early questions about same were not appreciated.
Apparently Mr. L. discovered where I went to hang my on-line hat; hence his poorly structured comment about stories and multiple sides. I was totally wierded-out by his shadowing of me (I want to say stalking, but there has been no indication of ill intent so far). I can’t think of a good reason why a person affiliated with a NASDAQ listed company with a market capitalization of between $200 million and $300 million would spend his time following me around the internet and then make a comment on an opinion piece written by me, unless they are worried about me in some way.
Maybe they are worried in some way. Maybe they should be worried. I don’t know what kind of ground their company stands on.
A different person, their site Administrator, suddenly disappeared from the forum when all of this started to flare. He had exhibited some strange behavior toward me. Unannounced, without greeting or explanation of reason this man sent me a message. That would have been nice had he introduced himself in some way, made some small talk, explained why he was contacting me, then stated his business.
Buy he made no comments about the hundreds of posts I’d made in such a short period of time. There was no expression of thanks for reviewing advertisers’ products on the site. There was nothing…nothing other than “your choice of font and color bother me”.
What the? What was THAT all about? The font? The color? Screw that, I thought. Is this guy is a wing-nut or what? You wouldn’t find fault with a stranger’s handwriting. You better not make fun of someone with an accent or lisp of some kind. What was this man thinking? I simply used an available font style and posted it in the color of my vehicle…it is a truck web site, remember? That’s the kind of thing you do there: write about, ask about, show off, your vehicle…DUH!
I asked a friend about this guy. He knew him some and said of him: “Yeah. He’s just strange that way. He even went off on an advertiser one time.” At the time I thought that that was one strange way to do business.
I experienced difficulty logging on; apparently I messed something up when I hurriedly removed all my personal information from the site. On attempting to return, I could not get in. I thought I was blocked out for not bowing to the fearless leader’s request.
I asked what was going on. Words went back and forth. They let me in, then blocked me out. They let me in again, but never told me. I just discovered it one day, weeks later. Then they took a wild hare and decided I was too much effort to be dealt with. I actually thought I was beginning to befriend Mr. L for a moment, but he tricked me, I think.
Not to worry, however. I told them they would eventually treat me right. I gave up long ago hoping for a humble apology from the errant, Arrogant Administrator. Now all I want is unfettered access to their site using MY choice of username. Nothing fancy, just access…those are my terms.
Username! I almost forgot! In the midst of my negotiations with them they discovered I committed one of their “Mortal Sins” by registering a second user name. For well over a year I had used the new name, abandoning the old one long ago due to its unhealthy resemblance to my actual name. I told their Moderator what I had done and why I did it…identity security. Their own guy said not to worry about it.
And I didn’t, but they seem to put a whole great big bunch of weight on this single identity issue. I put a lot of weight on keeping my identity secure. I don’t know what I was thinking when I set up the first identity. I actually had no idea that site attracted so many people. After posting there for a couple of months I decided I should not use the open identity any longer.
That was a good enough reason for me. They hung their hat on that and complained about my “rule violation” several times. I think it was a cover so they didn’t have to address the rude manners displayed by their site Administrator.
But I kind of got them on that one as well. In searching their site I discovered one member openly posting that he was using not two, but three different user names. And, in the end, his money was accepted and paid membership extended for one year…no ban involved. So, flexibility IS possible, as they have displayed.
They probably didn’t like my having a word with one of their advertisers. Yes, I sent a message to one of their advertisers, just to see if the system would perform. It does! Advertisers, especially those from whom I have already made purchases and with whom I might plan to make more purchases should be sensitive to this customer’s complaints about one of their advertising venues. And they are!
I sent one e-mail message and I got some feathers riled. What will happen if I actually write a pen and ink letter (those are highly regarded as they show additional personal effort on the part of the disgruntled consumer)? As a non-logged on visitor I can still see the names of their advertisers. I have a list of seventy so far. What would be the effect of a seventy letter campaign? Short of that, what would be the effect of a very sincere six or seven letter campaign to those advertisers from whom I have previously made a purchase?
I am loath to launch a letter campaign, honestly. I know there has been a huge amount of work on the part of many people to make all of this work for these companies. I don’t want to spend my time undoing their hard work. It is really not their fault there are jerks operating within their company making life difficult for them. But the other side of me wonders just why they employ such short-sighted strategies when dealing with the end-user/customer. If I am not satisfied, how much am I going to buy from their advertisers? Nothing, nothing at all…that’s the right answer.
You read that right. The site user IS the real customer. The product, the site is offered for use by all. Advertisers hawk their wares and folks buy them. Those companies buy more advertising from the web site. It’s a simple business transaction.
The man paying the bill, the man bringing “fresh” money into the circle is the site user and merchandise buyer. That man is me and many others. The site exists for our use, not as a play-toy for some internet geek to construct his internet kingdom. When the conglomerate realizes that and recants on its ban of MuddyAxles, the threat of advertiser involvement will end.
So far this has been one cold winter. It’s been a winter approaching those we remember from the fifties, sixties, and seventies. Our snow here east of Lake Erie is knee to waist deep…and it melted off to almost nothing twice before! We have had some real snow this winter.
I have not been back to post here as regularly as I had hoped. I’m sure that is not a problem since I doubt there are many following this. It is interesting to note we have had one visitor/commenter since the last bit I wrote. If anyone bothered to read “Mr. Lambkint’s” note (purposely misspelled, who I will hereafter call Mr. L.), one might be wondering what that is all about. We will address that tonight.
The miserable weather, substantial changes at work due to the economic slowdown, and this unexpected comment has had me off-kilter trying to decide just how I want to handle this situation. In the previous post I talked about a particular forum-style web site I used to enjoy visiting. I mentioned that I am now unwelcome at that site and all others owned by the internet web site conglomerate with whom our visitor is affiliated.
I found a similar type of site dedicated to serving a group of users sharing a common field of employment. The introduction there was not smooth…they like to welcome people “their way” and I arrived with an understandable chip on my shoulder, made worse because the new site looked strangely like the one having recently banned me. The only noticeable difference between the two sites, at first, was a difference in color. Knowing the big conglomerate owns a site dedicated to employees of a vaguely similar type of industry, I immediately wondered if I had come across a new production of that very same conglomerate. My early questions about same were not appreciated.
Apparently Mr. L. discovered where I went to hang my on-line hat; hence his poorly structured comment about stories and multiple sides. I was totally wierded-out by his shadowing of me (I want to say stalking, but there has been no indication of ill intent so far). I can’t think of a good reason why a person affiliated with a NASDAQ listed company with a market capitalization of between $200 million and $300 million would spend his time following me around the internet and then make a comment on an opinion piece written by me, unless they are worried about me in some way.
Maybe they are worried in some way. Maybe they should be worried. I don’t know what kind of ground their company stands on.
A different person, their site Administrator, suddenly disappeared from the forum when all of this started to flare. He had exhibited some strange behavior toward me. Unannounced, without greeting or explanation of reason this man sent me a message. That would have been nice had he introduced himself in some way, made some small talk, explained why he was contacting me, then stated his business.
Buy he made no comments about the hundreds of posts I’d made in such a short period of time. There was no expression of thanks for reviewing advertisers’ products on the site. There was nothing…nothing other than “your choice of font and color bother me”.
What the? What was THAT all about? The font? The color? Screw that, I thought. Is this guy is a wing-nut or what? You wouldn’t find fault with a stranger’s handwriting. You better not make fun of someone with an accent or lisp of some kind. What was this man thinking? I simply used an available font style and posted it in the color of my vehicle…it is a truck web site, remember? That’s the kind of thing you do there: write about, ask about, show off, your vehicle…DUH!
I asked a friend about this guy. He knew him some and said of him: “Yeah. He’s just strange that way. He even went off on an advertiser one time.” At the time I thought that that was one strange way to do business.
I experienced difficulty logging on; apparently I messed something up when I hurriedly removed all my personal information from the site. On attempting to return, I could not get in. I thought I was blocked out for not bowing to the fearless leader’s request.
I asked what was going on. Words went back and forth. They let me in, then blocked me out. They let me in again, but never told me. I just discovered it one day, weeks later. Then they took a wild hare and decided I was too much effort to be dealt with. I actually thought I was beginning to befriend Mr. L for a moment, but he tricked me, I think.
Not to worry, however. I told them they would eventually treat me right. I gave up long ago hoping for a humble apology from the errant, Arrogant Administrator. Now all I want is unfettered access to their site using MY choice of username. Nothing fancy, just access…those are my terms.
Username! I almost forgot! In the midst of my negotiations with them they discovered I committed one of their “Mortal Sins” by registering a second user name. For well over a year I had used the new name, abandoning the old one long ago due to its unhealthy resemblance to my actual name. I told their Moderator what I had done and why I did it…identity security. Their own guy said not to worry about it.
And I didn’t, but they seem to put a whole great big bunch of weight on this single identity issue. I put a lot of weight on keeping my identity secure. I don’t know what I was thinking when I set up the first identity. I actually had no idea that site attracted so many people. After posting there for a couple of months I decided I should not use the open identity any longer.
That was a good enough reason for me. They hung their hat on that and complained about my “rule violation” several times. I think it was a cover so they didn’t have to address the rude manners displayed by their site Administrator.
But I kind of got them on that one as well. In searching their site I discovered one member openly posting that he was using not two, but three different user names. And, in the end, his money was accepted and paid membership extended for one year…no ban involved. So, flexibility IS possible, as they have displayed.
They probably didn’t like my having a word with one of their advertisers. Yes, I sent a message to one of their advertisers, just to see if the system would perform. It does! Advertisers, especially those from whom I have already made purchases and with whom I might plan to make more purchases should be sensitive to this customer’s complaints about one of their advertising venues. And they are!
I sent one e-mail message and I got some feathers riled. What will happen if I actually write a pen and ink letter (those are highly regarded as they show additional personal effort on the part of the disgruntled consumer)? As a non-logged on visitor I can still see the names of their advertisers. I have a list of seventy so far. What would be the effect of a seventy letter campaign? Short of that, what would be the effect of a very sincere six or seven letter campaign to those advertisers from whom I have previously made a purchase?
I am loath to launch a letter campaign, honestly. I know there has been a huge amount of work on the part of many people to make all of this work for these companies. I don’t want to spend my time undoing their hard work. It is really not their fault there are jerks operating within their company making life difficult for them. But the other side of me wonders just why they employ such short-sighted strategies when dealing with the end-user/customer. If I am not satisfied, how much am I going to buy from their advertisers? Nothing, nothing at all…that’s the right answer.
You read that right. The site user IS the real customer. The product, the site is offered for use by all. Advertisers hawk their wares and folks buy them. Those companies buy more advertising from the web site. It’s a simple business transaction.
The man paying the bill, the man bringing “fresh” money into the circle is the site user and merchandise buyer. That man is me and many others. The site exists for our use, not as a play-toy for some internet geek to construct his internet kingdom. When the conglomerate realizes that and recants on its ban of MuddyAxles, the threat of advertiser involvement will end.
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