-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- At 10:54 PM 5/4/97 -0700, Greg Broiles wrote:
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At 11:42 PM 5/4/97 EDT, Dr.Dimitri Vulis KOTM wrote:
Greg Broiles <gbroiles@netbox.com> writes:
example, most merchants try to get location/contact information when they take a check, because there's some risk that the check will be returned (sometimes in as long as 2-3 weeks) after the customer and the merchandise is long gone. If checks cleared instantly, this wouldn't be necessary - and I think merchants would forego collecting this information (they do now, for
As usual, Greg the C2Net shill writes total bullshit about things he knows nothing about. Try paying cash at Radio Shack, and see if they ask for your name and address for their mailing list. I guess Greg is not the type to buy anything at Radio Shack. What a fitting employee for C2Net.
I really knew what specific actions caused people to have such a NASTY opinion of C2net. I have seen mistakes on their part, but nothing to warrent the kind and amount of venom I have seen from people. Maybe I missed something somewhere... (Or is this one of those "people who disagree with me are <fill in insult here>"?)
I avoid Radio Shack as a general rule, because I haven't been pleased with the quality of their products and I find their privacy-hostile behavior annoying. But when I have made purchases at Radio Shack, I've had no trouble with them if I say "This is a cash sale. You don't need my name or address."
I only go to Radio Shack as a LAST resort. Every electronic part I have bought from them has failed. (Usually before instalation.) About the only thing I have ever bought from them that was worth what I paid for it was a printer cable.
But I understand you're considerably less courageous in person than you are from behind a terminal a few thousand miles away, so it's entirely possible that a mousy Radio Shack clerk asking for your name does pose a significant threat to your privacy. I had overlooked the "wimpy nerd" problem in my earlier message. Thanks for pointing out my oversight. In the future, please assume that when I mention a hypothetical consumer, I mean one of average or greater fortitude. Perhaps you can find a friend who's not scared of the Radio Shack clerks to make your purchases for you?
There seem to be more and more companies that ask nosey questions at the cash register. Toys R Us has been asking for a home phone number every time I shop there. (And every time I give them a random number. They just ask for a home phone munber. I never say it is *MY* home phone number.) I suggest memorizing the address and phone number of some local establishment or business. (In Vullis's case, the local methadone clinic might be in order...) Government buildings, stadiums, massage parlors and the like are also useful. When these people start finding out that the data is bogus, maybe they will stop relying on it so much. (Learning to lie to sales people with a straight face it a useful skill. Something I learned being a programmer I guess...) And if you think that is bad, you should hear what I tell the pollsters in the mall... ]:> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 4.5 iQEVAwUBM218neQCP3v30CeZAQHwmgf/RGmn27rEPtdtdBCVkA+3+UdNCEtLBVL3 IRW9Sr2SNEofX4cbjF+kiiYZM/VDOEGSycq9M+13XApaywxNMQE7D4f3jEVjphSH +8sEX17BDBTXSOFTjIJaf4bD2Gx+Qld4id7gCU+VeJDiS35Aelxa5mg5nLsHPwzq qmWMXwvWT8hp5jcN8pwXBqSHb+HMRRpAtkYF+2a6RmpCmjGQ1b48/a3hm01iYi04 sWSAUgEFhJdOwAzu5lFKHYBhQaPVM2kENxzbcHTZha/9f4SKc5mtqGzB/O4aXs1g DMxAENzJn5uCpAG0AtzTk3Kv2C1xdWhYRZS6ANGPzVgqlQUkjaR0Kg== =nTwJ -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- --- | "Mi Tio es infermo, pero la carretera es verde!" | |"The moral PGP Diffie taught Zimmermann unites all| Disclaimer: | | mankind free in one-key-steganography-privacy!" | Ignore the man | |`finger -l alano@teleport.com` for PGP 2.6.2 key | behind the keyboard.| | http://www.ctrl-alt-del.com/~alan/ |alan@ctrl-alt-del.com|