Apology

[Askhow.net]

Hi,

I posted a few times about my site and got an email
stating that this is not the place for such a post. I
personally disagree but I will agree to stop posting
without asking a related question.

I recieved notification of a complaint from my ISP and
from Yahoo. Yahoo closed my email account. It was
stated in the complaint that my post was unrelated to
this forum and again i disagree.

Here is a post I made and will not make anymore like it.

"Hi All,

I posted earlier this week about me new free forums and
would like to thank
all those that took time checked us out.
The response was very good. We had lots of visitors pass
through and added a
quite a few new members. These forums are only a week
old.

We have a wide range of knowledgable people that love to
help others from
all over the world.
You can check out our Hardware forum here
http://askhow.net/askhowforum/index.php?
s=744a355894cbf84e9bf18c5de347915d&showforum=12

Again this is NonProfit

Thanks
Jaks http://www.askhow.net "

 

[David Candy]

Tsk, tsk, tsk.

You exceeded the 4 line limit on advertising.

 

[A.n.n.e.]

Personally I totally disagree with the way you were treated. I for one
would seek help from anywhere I could to resolve the problems I have
with my computer, and I firmly believe there are many out there that
would also do the same.
Those that flamed you should be shot.
I visited your site, found it to be fully worth a return visit. It's a
delightful site, not at all *fuddy duddy*, and one that surely must be
one of the best help sites out there.
You have my vote!
Anne

 

[David Candy]

Another idiot.

 

[A.n.n.e.]

Not at all! Would you take one answer from someone as law? Or would you
do as most people would, and that is seek a reolution elsewhere?
I speak as I find, *experts* in here could not give me the answer to my
problem, I went to AskHow and got exactly what I was looking for.
Anne.
Subject Closed!!




Another idiot.

 

[David Candy]

The issue is spam. You seem to be a spammer.

 

[Cerridwen]

Hi,

I posted a few times about my site and got an email
stating that this is not the place for such a post. I
personally disagree but I will agree to stop posting
without asking a related question.

I recieved notification of a complaint from my ISP and
from Yahoo. Yahoo closed my email account. It was
stated in the complaint that my post was unrelated to
this forum and again i disagree.

Here is a post I made and will not make anymore like it.

"Hi All,

I posted earlier this week about me new free forums and
would like to thank
all those that took time checked us out.
The response was very good. We had lots of visitors pass
through and added a
quite a few new members. These forums are only a week
old.

We have a wide range of knowledgable people that love to
help others from
all over the world.
You can check out our Hardware forum here
http://askhow.net/askhowforum/index.php?
s=744a355894cbf84e9bf18c5de347915d&showforum=12

Again this is NonProfit

Thanks
Jaks http://www.askhow.net "

What you were/are doing is called spamming. It is against the the AUP of
*ALL* ISPs. If you don't agree, then I suggest you cancel your contract,
because you obviously disagree with the terms of service.

 

[None]

The issue is spam. You seem to be a spammer.

I concur.

Although the original poster had a brilliant line:

Lol.

 

[Cerridwen]

Not at all! Would you take one answer from someone as law? Or would
you do as most people would, and that is seek a reolution elsewhere?
I speak as I find, *experts* in here could not give me the answer to
my problem, I went to AskHow and got exactly what I was looking for.
Anne.
Subject Closed!!

Another moron who doesn't know the definition of the word 'spam'. Most of
the 'help' on its site is misleading, ambiguous or just plain WRONG.

 

[Askhow.net]

Thanks Anne for the support.

We need more people like you in this world. It's too bad
some others have to be so narrow minded and obviously
immature. An absolutely free computer support forums
posting on a computer support newsgroup, WOW. This must
be mind numbing to these people that are complaining. I
can't see my site stepping on any toes. As for being a
moron and an idiot... well...if being a moron an idiot
helps some people that need help then I'll be a moron and
an idiot. For those people, be rest assured I will not
make any more post like that again.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

This is blatant spam advertising (and sneaking it in again via
this post will, rightfully so, only garner you more complaints) and is
not appropriate in this news group. Direct solicitation of business
for your site/forum is far beyond the purview of the Microsoft news
groups.

It would, however, be perfectly appropriate for you to include a
link to your forum in your signature on any posts you were making in
response to specific posts while providing specific answers to help
people solve their problems.


Bruce Chambers

--
Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. -- RAH

 

[Cerridwen]

Thanks Anne for the support.

We need more people like you in this world. It's too bad
some others have to be so narrow minded and obviously
immature. An absolutely free computer support forums
posting on a computer support newsgroup, WOW. This must
be mind numbing to these people that are complaining. I
can't see my site stepping on any toes. As for being a
moron and an idiot... well...if being a moron an idiot
helps some people that need help then I'll be a moron and
an idiot. For those people, be rest assured I will not
make any more post like that again.

You, sir, are what we call a ****wit - someone so devoid of clue that you
couldn't get a clue if you smeared your body with clue musk and did the clue
mating dance while sounding the clue mating call in a field full of horny
clues at the height of clue mating season.

(yes, I know it's an oldie - but it's a goody!)

Capiche? No of course not.

MS monitors these groups for spam and persistent offenders (like you) will
be removed and banned. Permanently.

I have visited your 'help' site - and I hope someone sues when you end up
doing irreparable damage to their system.

Yahoo closed your account because you were using their service to SPAM -
something they have zero tolerance on.

You are a *SPAMMER* and a *****WIT*.

 

[Mad Max]

Bruce;
I really don't want to get in the middle of this , but would like to ask a
question. Is it the position of this and other Microsoft NGs that no one
should recommend another site/forum to those seeking help with viruses etc.
and to do so would be considered spamming?
This is a serious question . Maybe I misunderstood the previous postings,
but that seems to be what has been said. I detest spam as much as anyone
and wouldn't want you to think otherwise. Also,
I do understand why the promotion of profit making websites is considered
spamming and has no place on any NG.
Just to keep the record straight, I have no connection with and have never
even visited the site/forum in question.

 

[Cerridwen]

Bruce;
I really don't want to get in the middle of this , but would like to
ask a question. Is it the position of this and other Microsoft NGs
that no one should recommend another site/forum to those seeking help
with viruses etc. and to do so would be considered spamming?
This is a serious question . Maybe I misunderstood the previous
postings, but that seems to be what has been said. I detest spam as
much as anyone and wouldn't want you to think otherwise. Also,
I do understand why the promotion of profit making websites is
considered spamming and has no place on any NG.
Just to keep the record straight, I have no connection with and have
never even visited the site/forum in question.

No, of course not, that isn't what's at issue here. 'Jaks' is using these
groups for shameless self-promotion, IOW, he's spamming.

Spam /n./
Unsolicited "junk" e-mail sent to large numbers of people to promote
products or services. Sexually explicit unsolicited e-mail is called "porn
spam." Also refers to promotional or commercial postings to discussion
groups or bulletin boards.

spamming /v./
The sending/posting of such messages.


*That's* the issue - the fact that he's using these groups as a vehicle to
promote his site. Of course you can post links to useful sites - but
promoting your own via Usenet is forbidden. I've posted lots of links - to
MS pages, to MVPs sites, etc - that isn't spam because I have no vested
interest in any site I've posted a link to.

I hope that goes some way to explaining why what 'Jaks' is doing is wrong.

 

[David Candy]

Advertising is banned. You can refer anyone anywhere. Some companies, such as Roxio, have staff answering here. They get their advertising by doing good deeds - so noone minds.

Also anyone can put anything into their signature. A maximun of 4 lines is allowed by convention. I could put

Oranges $3.55/Kg at Safeways this week only

and as long as it's in my sig noone can object. It's where the point of the post is to advertise that objections arise. Or asking a question that you don't care about the answer to include an ad.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

I don't speak for Microsoft, just myself.

For the "official" Microsoft view, try looking here:
http://www.microsoft.com/communities/conduct/default.mspx As you can
see, unsolicited advertising is clearly identified as a "no-no."

As I told "Askhow.net," it's perfectly OK to reply to someone's
specific problem and include a link to a web site that holds the
solution to that specific problem. Many of us include links to
non-Microsoft websites when answering questions. The difference is
that we do so in response to a specific question, and we provide links
to sites that address the specific issues of the person posting the
question/problem.

What "Askhow.net" has been doing, however, is repeatedly posting a
blatant advertisement for his/her forum, soliciting visits to same,
without even attempting to answer anyone's questions. A further irony
is that the forum being advertised actually has, from what I can see,
very little to do with computers, much less WinXP's Help and Support
feature, which is the specific topic of this particular news group.
(And what little there is concerning computers seems to be, from my
brief examination, to be of questionable technical value.)


Bruce Chambers

--
Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. -- RAH

 

[Cerridwen]

Oranges $3.55/Kg at Safeways this week only

Really, Dave?! Taking AU$3 to the £ that's only £1.18 - bargain! Mind you,
we do have to import them. Not that I'd ever shop at Safeway's - prefer
Sainsbury's, the quality and selection tends to be higher/better.

 

[Cerridwen]

Greetings --

I don't speak for Microsoft, just myself.

For the "official" Microsoft view, try looking here:
http://www.microsoft.com/communities/conduct/default.mspx As you can
see, unsolicited advertising is clearly identified as a "no-no."

As I told "Askhow.net," it's perfectly OK to reply to someone's
specific problem and include a link to a web site that holds the
solution to that specific problem. Many of us include links to
non-Microsoft websites when answering questions. The difference is
that we do so in response to a specific question, and we provide links
to sites that address the specific issues of the person posting the
question/problem.

What "Askhow.net" has been doing, however, is repeatedly posting a
blatant advertisement for his/her forum, soliciting visits to same,
without even attempting to answer anyone's questions. A further irony
is that the forum being advertised actually has, from what I can see,
very little to do with computers, much less WinXP's Help and Support
feature, which is the specific topic of this particular news group.
(And what little there is concerning computers seems to be, from my
brief examination, to be of questionable technical value.)


Bruce Chambers

Well said, Bruce. I reported him to Yahoo again and received a (albeit
automated) reply that I wasn't the only one to have done so and that he was
under investgation for AUP abuse. It's not just MS he's spamming either.
I've also reported him to Rogers (most spammers at least have the
'intelligence' to fake their headers!).

 

[Jaks]

Bruce,

First of all. You had a valid complaint about the way I posted a few times.
I was also answering questions other than those posts. I then began only
answered posts with my signature included. It was your idea to add a
signature to my replies and that is just what I did. As for my site not
having much to do with XP, that is totally untrue. We have 76 posted
questions and 208 replies in our computer forums which mostly deal with XP
related issues. I have bent over backwards here and still I'm getting grief
from some people. Personally I don't really care if you like them. I care
that people like Cerridwen are slandering me and my site and also attacking
my site from within. I have done the most I'm willing to do. I would have
deleted those posts if I could but I can't so get over it, I have. Hell you
even said my apology was spam. lol That is just too funny. Anyway I have
change the user name which you failed to mention previously as a problem and
will do as I said.
Hope this ends this issue.

and Cerridwen,

You are great at guy pointing out things that are not true. This is a
newsgroup and you are doing nothing to help anyone. As for information on
my forum being wrong well I'm sure there is some just like here. There are
over 600 posts by members. All I'm doing is answering questions and helping
people and if that's so bad then I guess I'm a villian. Spammer I am not.
It was brought to my attention that my original posts were questionable and
I did not continue to post that way I was. I did however delete the 2
little dashes between the signature and the response and if they are that
important I won't delete them. You should stop cryin about me and focus on
helping other people if you feel I'm not doing a good enough job. Your
following me around like you love me. Did you ever think that maybe i didn't
mess with the headers in my posts was because it wasn't intended as spam?
Hmmmmmm... now there's a thought.

I am also sending a complaint to your service provider for your actions on
my site and on this newsgroup. Your information was recorded along with
your attempted attacks of my site. Does this IP look familiar? (
81.79.153.81 ) It should because it's yours. You signed up twice on my site
and twice you were removed. You have to grow up.. I have 76 registered
members on my site that feel my site is a good and helpful one. So you go
right ahead and report my so called spamming. You too will be reported.
Stay off my site please.


Jaks

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

I have noticed that you have started answering posts with useful
information, and included a link to your forum in your signature. I
commend you for learning, and for being willing to change your
methods, as well as for trying to help people. I didn't mention the
name you were using for the simple reason that I didn't have an issue
with it. But yes, quoting spam in its entirety, as you did in your
apology, is still considered spam; doing so further propagates the
objectionable material.

As for the merits of your forum, time will tell. When I looked at
it, there were few mentions of Windows (compared to the amount of
other content), and some of the answers I looked at were, as I said,
technically weak. I did not, however, examine the entire contents of
the forum, so it is conceivable that my random sampling just happened
to hit ones that were of a lower caliber.

One suggestion, though, if I may. Try to develop a slightly
thicker skin. No matter what you do, you'll never be able to please
everybody, and some people can be unnecessarily abusive. We all have
our wannabe-nemeses who pester us from time-to-time. Don't let them
(or me, especially) get you down.


Bruce Chambers

--
Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. -- RAH