Watermonkey

You never answered my question, "TrueFusion". Do the personal opinions you?ve spouted off here represent OFFICIAL xisto policy? If they do, then add this to my growing list of reasons for leaving. If they don?t, then stop wasting my time.

(My point is confirmed: Even the Mods (at least this Mod) don't know the mycents system.)I'm just going to respond to this because I don't want to get so far out of focus as to be scattered and nonsensical. Yes. You ARE mistaken, and contradicting yourself all in one paragraph. The max award per post is $1 or 100 "mycents". Figuring things out through observation is what has led the conversation to this point. I know, first hand, that a simple thread starter containing an initial post of fewer than 250 characters, nothing out of the ordinary or earth-shattering, has generated a reward of 100 mycents. I know, from first hand observation, that a single post, such as this one, that is much longer and contains some four or five syllable words generates far less than that. You say the amount given is subject to OpaQue's interpretation... thus completely and totally agreeing with and confirming what I said previously. But to add to what you said, any member whose name appears in RED has this ability. You would be mistaken to put all that awesome power in the hands of one person. What kind of barter system is this? Time is a commodity. And if I'm trading time for money I need to know what to charge per hour. Is this is official policy or your personal opinion? If the former, then why doesn’t admin just say so in the Mycent thread (or here) instead of letting members knock their heads up against a brick wall? I’ve learned more about Mycents right here in my final thread than the hundred some posts in the Mycents thread. But - if this is just your personal opinion I’ll write it off like I write off everything motivated by blind, unquestioning subservience to imposed hierarchy. Any idea who would make that argument? Not any one I respect, I assure you. Since I don’t have a hosted account, I can’t very well do the “math” now can I. You are missing the whole point. I’m not the only one pissed off by this cryptic accounting system and it's only one of many issues leading to my decision to vacate this place.

Well now that you mention, there are lots of things bothering me but I'll hold off mentioning the really nasty ones for now. Let's just say I'm glad I'm not posting for Mycents. Too mysterious and secretive. There are no clear parameters explaining exaclty how many words or characters earn a dollar. WTF? Members keep asking for clarity and this is the latest response I saw on the Mycent thread: Even the mods don't know for sure. If it?s a question of spammer paranoia then don?t punish long-term members by leaving them in the dark on something so vital to maintaining their accounts. Saying that posts that are ?long and quality? earn more money doesn?t tell me anything. It just leaves the door wide open to speculation and potential abuse of authority. In other words, members are confused and powerless while the Mycents system remains some shadowy overlord you better not piss off if you want to keep your hosting account active. Actual people are sitting on their fat butts somewhere going through each and every post and assigning mycents based on their subjective interpretation of your posts. Can you believe that? That's just stunning to me to find that out.

Pffft. It's the EVIL Mods I actually LIKE! Here's the thing. Even if I stay around, and that's a big IF, unless I'm turned blue so I can edit my own posts, I'm not going to contribute to the intellectual value of this site any more. When I signed on three years ago, I was never under any impression that once my posts were made, they'd no longer be under my control or ownership. This web site is worth around $3M USD according to some web site my significant other was looking at the other day. I'd edit this later to correct that with the actual name of the website, but I won't be able to. But the point is, the worth of the site is dependent upon the intellectual contributions of its members who, in return, receive hosting credit and other rewards. This is all fine and dandy, but I'm not working for some evil corporation under a contract that says anything I create becomes the property of the company. Further, not being hosted, I'm not looking for the credit that others look for. Seems like I should be able to transfer my rewards to someone who is, but that's another issue for another thread. I'm probably going to start a blog somewhere or something where I can build up the value of my own site. So much to say, so little time...

Well trappers. I regret to inform you all that I can't post on a forum that doesn't allow me to edit my posts any time I wish and I've become aware that posts from other members have been disappearing, and no one's talking. I can't help but think my stay here is no longer welcome by Admin or staff, so I'm not likely to come back unless things do a major turn-around. I'd like to thank those moderators who have been friendly and helpful to me in the past, and to the others, well, don't quit your day jobs. Mike, good luck with your degree. I hope you find yourself making a living doing what makes you smile.Jim, I'll be seeing you around the corner. Keep up the good Mod work and don't sweat the pettyness.Shree, I hope things continue to work out for you. Stay inside, away from that pollution and don't work so much all the time. It's not worth it if you can't have fun once in a while. And thanks for accommodating my requests over the years.The rest of the people here, take good care of that which matters most to you.WM

It'd probably cost a fraction of that price to just get it sent out and gold plated yourself. I don't know how they're gold plating it, I suppose you can only plate over another metal like aluminum but not plastic so maybe you couldn't get it plated yourself. That's too bad, because a gold plating wouldn't cost much at all. You'd just be paying for the exclusivity and novelty, but not anything of any real value. Anyone who buys this and doesn't have at least two supercars in the garage is a fool. I had my .44 Desert Eagle Semi-automatic pistol plated in nickel after I bought it some years back and it didn't cost that much at all. I even had the extra 10" barrel and all three magazines plated. I doubt it cost more than about $400 for everything. I know that the cost would've been the same if I'd had it gold plated, but, really, gold? How Gaudy can you get?

I almost forgot: There was a common observation from my customers I found interesting but could never explain. They agreed, when switching from DN "Charlie" to Direct TV "DIK", the picture seemed sharper and brighter. I've never been able to determine what would cause this observation, but I swear I heard it from many many customers.

I'm looking at sending my nephew to the Navy as a musician and I was looking to see if anyone here knows someone who's a musician in any branch of the service. He's going to a University toward getting a degree in music, but he doesn't know how to pay for it after this year. The Navy would, according to their web site, pay for the rest of his degree if he chooses to go to school while he serves. They seem to have a top notch program that's pretty exclusive...

You obviously didn't join the Navy. Too bad. For the purposes of this paper, it's incomplete without showing all the detail for the Navy ranks you showed for the rest. I know this post comes way too late to critique, and I'm curious how things are going for you in the... Army?

Having now been an employee for DTV for around nine months, I can shed some light on the way these companies operate. There's a reason DN stock value has plumeted and their subscriber base has gone lower and lower for so many consecutive months I can not count. Originally I worked for Ironwood, but they were soon to be called "Direct TV Home Services", a totally owned subsidiary of DTV. I can't speak for the rest of the country, but I can tell you the installers from the Spokane WA office are mostly completely professional and, on the whole, do a bang-up job even when the conditions aren't the best. I know that many of the DN installs are done by a contract company out of Spokane, but some are done from local contractors too (I don't live in Spokane, but a couple hours away). I've seen the work DN installers do and I've been quite disgusted by some of the shoddy work. I know that if a thoughtless tech were to punch a hole in the roof or cause any other damage to the structure, the office in Spokane would hire a contractor of your choice to repair the damage. If I were to lose my marbles or stop caring about where my money goes, I'd not hesitate to patronize DTV, but they are only the lesser of two evils. They pay their employees only about half of what they should (the install techs in the field), requiring them to drive many hours without compensation. It's unthinkable to treat your hardest working people so badly.

Forgive me, I didn't read past page one, but I just have to laugh at razeredge repeating the same old line that Apple is more expensive then other brands. I find that if I build an XPS on one tab in my browser and an Apple in another and try my best to keep the two equal (though you can't do it, Apple has far superior hardware configurations) you'll always end up spending more money on the XPS. The software argument is gone too because of the ability to run Windoz on the Apple any time you want, even run it in its own window without having to reboot. Kinda handy if you need software for work that you can only run on a Windoz machine, like MS Streets and Trips or something. Another myth that's fascinating to me is that you can't find a Mac for under $1000. False. Way false. One example is the little Mac Mini, http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/ either configuration will cost significantly under $1000. Granted, you'll have to buy a monitor separately, but that's usually the case with desktops. Your starting price point for the Macbook, http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/ , is under $1000, and less at least a hundred less than that if you're a student or employee of the school system. Lie. They never check. You, too can get a student discount without any effort at all. Just order it online in the "education store". My personal favorite non-portable is the imac. http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/ Check this thing out. Admittedly the one I linked to is the high end version with a 27" monitor and a quad-core chip, but for $2k (my configuration put it at $2837 without the education discount), look at all you get! I don't see how you can go wrong with Mac, and Consumer Reports agrees. Can't link, but you can go to your local library to check out their most recent reviews.

Humans are little more than an annoyance to this planet. We can be wiped from her in a matter of minutes if she chooses to wipe us out. Five (I think) civilizations before us have been wiped out suddenly without so much as an effort. We're destined to suffer the same fate again. So don't worry about the population being too big. I live on 20 acres and can't see my closest neighbor. My mother owns 20 acres where one could build a home in the woods next to a creek and be hidden from the roads and neighbors. I can drive miles and miles in Montana or Wyoming without seeing another living soul. There's no danger of people overpopulating the planet any time too soon. But, if you think that there should be a culling of the population, I invite you to cut your own throat just to start it off and stand by your convictions. Go ahead, kill yourself first if you think the population should be diminished. I've heard that CO poisoning is easy if you just lock yourself in a small room with a small kerosene heater and a match. Just light it up and go to sleep. Suicide is truly painless.

Well, I've been resolving to lose about 10 pounds of pure blubber that's accumulated around my waist each week for the past four months or so. I doubt making it a "new years" resolution will help, but what the hay, I'll resolve to do it again. More importantly, I resolve to accumulate considerably more material possessions including at least 10 pounds of silver and several ounces of gold if I can. Don't forget, he who dies with the most toys and stuff, wins. I think I'm a lap or two behind, so it's high time I started making up for it... Must replace one of the vehicles this year too. I'm going to need a pretty good job to accomplish any of this...

Wow. I can't believe all this time has gone by without me responding to this post. Incredible. I must've been drunk for the past two weeks or something. What our friend means when he says "there is no global warming" is that there's no human-caused global warming. I'd take this a step further and state, according to all that climate data the "scientists" at Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia in England were manipulating according to their own emails leaked to the rest of the world via hackers (Russian?), that the planet is actually in the midst of a cooling trend presently. A good place to become informed if you're still one of the Algore minions and actually believe that a tax will solve all of our climate change related trouble would be this keen website: http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/ or try this one for the current events outside of Jolly ole England and it's "scientists" who are clearly a joke and should all be charged with fraud. Oh, wait a minute, I think I just read here, http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/ , they actually are being served! The fallout from this, the greatest scam ever perpetuated on human-kind, is going to be felt for many years.