Weenie Roast!

[GreenWeenie]

A dedicated thread, in the appropriate place, for people to vent about the GreenWeenie!

[squall458]

u posted some awesome deals, no venting for me

[GreenWeenie]

And while I'm on it, you appropriated someone else's deal for your big claim to fame.Hey Neil... if you ever show up here... would you mind telling me what my "big claim to fame" was? I'm not here for the glory, but I'm curious as to whose deal you think I appropriated? I always try to attribute credit where it's due.

[GreenWeenie]

u posted some awesome deals, no venting for meThanks ... just trying to give people an appropriate place to complain about my non deal posts.

[Degenerate]

Don't know who you are. Never you around before.

[MTL-TechY]

Thanks ... just trying to give people an appropriate place to complain about my non deal posts.

you seem to post great deals, and advice is good too. Also everytime i see your avatar, I have confidence in your advice. keep posting away!!!!!!!!!

[kornstar369]

A dedicated thread, in the appropriate place, for people to vent about the GreenWeenie!


im just curious where it is you got your name from greenweenie? or should i dare not ask?
lol

[fitbrit]

Repost! (http://forums.redflagdeals.com/showthread.php?t=146173)! Please do a search before posting.

[GreenWeenie]

Repost! (http://forums.redflagdeals.com/showthread.php?t=146173)! Please do a search before posting. :D :D Although ... I am surprised no one had started a "What an Ass GreenWeenie Is" thread yet!!

GreenWeenie (and the GreenWeenie logo) are from days of long long ago and one of the first networkable fragfest games, Doom. Due to my net cards mac address, I was always the DayGlo Green player. Post game beer discussions were often "this green weenie pops outta no where and starts blasting away." The name stuck, and my friend's wife made me a t-shirt with the GreenWeenie superhero logo. My avitar is a (poor) scan of that tshirt logo.

As to the purpose of this thread... I'm seriously not looking for "We love Weenie" posts. I'm waaaay too old and well past the need of affirmation from others.

However, self reflection is part of life. You learn much more by objectively listening to your critics, then from any praise you may receive.

[konfusion666]

Don't know who you are. Never [seen] you around before.

ditto.

[dealforme]

Re-opened due to valid argument.

[Neil]

Hey Neil... if you ever show up here... would you mind telling me what my "big claim to fame" was? I'm not here for the glory, but I'm curious as to whose deal you think I appropriated? I always try to attribute credit where it's due.

Sure let's have at it, so you know I see this more as a debate of philosophies than personal.

Anyway, I noticed you restating someone else's idea of buying a Staples items one day, then returning on the next day when the Best Buy flyer is in wider release. The idea being to prevent Staples from doing their OOS tricks. When people made a big PM savings you kept posting in the thread about it and eventually started telling people to reallocate some of their savings to a food bank, establishing some kind of tit for tat linkage that "Green Weiner saves me $x, there for I contribute $y to the Food Bank"

Fair enough, but you didn't invent that price matching technique. Plenty of us have been doing that for years. Nor do you identify the upcoming Best Buy flyer deal either. Someone else did in another thread. In fact there's whole sites devoted to publishing these flyers, in some cases earlier than they would normally be delivered.

But due to your relentless spamming, a person that didn't know the history might wrongly assume you were the progenitor of the deal and who knows might also feel some warped obligation to give to the charity of your choice, a food bank.

[WiZZLa]

IB2ndL!

Second hand info tells me you take other peoples advice as your own.

[Neil]

Now to the issue of the food bank, I haven't made up my mind yet about them. I've worked them, I've donated to them, and I've collected for them.

At first I thought they were a brilliant concept, donate when you're flush, draw out from them when you're needy. Except from what I've seen it doesn't happen that way, ever. The people that donate to them I would say never ever ever would withdraw from them. And the people that withdraw never contribute. So it's not really a bank at all, but a frontage for well off people to give food to less well off people. As such, that's not the worst thing in the world, but it's pretty phony to call it a food bank then. Just call it the poor person's food giveaway center or something honest.

Sure you could say "hey wait I know this one family that donated after they got on their feet again" but for every story like that there's 10,000 of the other.

The next point is that from my experience I'm not totally convinced the people utilizing the food bank are necessarily in need. There is no means testing whatsover. My observation was that people were using the food bank as free food to free up their social assistance money for other pursuits like alcohol, drugs, taxis, lottery, and gambling.

Let me be clear, I'm all for liberty and I think everyone should have the right to do whatever they want if it doesn't harm others. I pass no moral judgement on someone that wants to drink, do drugs, gamble, etc. I especially don't care if someone wants to waste their money doing this stuff either.

But I'm a little put out when it's not their money that's being wasted. When tax dollars that turn into social assistance dollars get used for casino, taxi, etc, that's when I have a problem with it. Frankly I'd love to take a taxi everywhere, but I can't afford to. Nor can I afford to waste money gambling, smokes, or on lottery. Should our taxes go to enable someone else to do the things we can't afford to?

So to the argument that food bank actually increases the poverty cycle. I think you'd agree that when free food increases the discretionary people have to waste on alcohol, drugs, gambling, etc that has a direct increased effect on social problems which in turn leads to more poverty. Responsibility for people taking care of their basic needs is diminished and they have less incentive to take care of their situation when free food and housing are provided.

I would almost argue we'd be better off with the food bank giving out free booze, cigarettes, etc to anyone that can demonstrate they are taking care of their basics (food, shelter, etc) with their social assistance money. The giveaways would be an incentive to be self-accountable and a reward to those that aren't milking the sysem. It's a bit radical but I hope you see what I'm saying here.

Canada has lots of social safety nets that I'm not suggesting are overly generous but exist to make sure anyone that needs or wants will get basic food and shelter taken care of for them. Food bank undermines those social safety nets.

Discuss.

[Neil]

OK lastly is about this concept that you are "helping" anyone by telling them about google. Who exactly in the civilized world needs you to tell them about google?

And furthermore, given how manipulated, sponsored, and irrelevant google has become, you're actually doing them a disservice in most cases.

Your signature implied you are an IT manager, I'd think an IT manager would be more up to speed on the rise and decline of google. Recommending it is kind of 2003-ish wouldn't you say?

Now if you made your link special to exclude all the irrelevant, ad-laden, junked up google responses, maybe you might have a molecule of a point there. Maybe read up on how you can add massive exclusion strings to google to help improve the quality of the results.

Or maybe spend some time with your beloved google, find some reliable and relevant links, post them along with maybe a brief excerpt. Now that would be useful.

I would argue that putting "go look elsewhere" into a thread about a given product, item, or vendor is to subvert and degrade what we have going here at RFD. I've been at RFD since the beginning because there is a community of similar like minded people with similar objectives. I like to be able to scan a thread top to bottom at a glance and find out what I need to know.

This place is a likely source to hear about the Canadian or possibly local scoop on things. I don't care what Epinions says about a product that was discontinued in the USA 2 years ago and is appearing at Future Shop this week as a new full priced item. The 2002 reviews on Epinions might be glowing for a product that was useful or novel in 2002 but nowadays would be considered a lump of junk. I want to know from real Canadians who have real experience with the subject item in the thread. And I don't want to bounce around to google or anywhere else to read it.

I want to glance at a thread and a read someone's mini review, someone else's quizing about options, batteries, etc, someone else's input about the features, etc. That is what I'm here for, not to get a lesson in google.

You break out the old 'give a man a fish' cliche, fine I would say that constant parroting of telling people to use google is like giving a man an unwanted stinky fettid fish.

An example of a useful 'fishing lesson' would be the bit at the end about how we can use vbulletin Ignore feature.

[GreenWeenie]

Sure let's have at it, so you know I see this more as a debate of philosophies than personal.As long as we keep this from being a personal flame war, the mods will leave it open. I hope we can keep it open.

I think my posts speak for themselves. I've been around RFD for years (my join date was reset when they upgraded the software.) I've been price matching my friends at Staples and Futureshop for many many years and have learned a thing or two.

I never claimed to have invented the "buy today return tomorrow for PM" strategy. It is just something I've always done when I have foreknowledge of a sale. My posts are my own research. I noticed many people were losing out on deals because Staples was pulling stock. By sharing what has worked for me, more people are able to save. Nowhere in my posts do I claim "I invented this"... but ... I do reiterate it on every new Staples PM post for newbies to learn.

As for the food bank kick, that was just an idea I had. You're entitled to your opinion on foodbanks. When I saw how many people were saving big bucks on the hard drive deal, I thought it would be a good idea to *suggest* to others that they kick something to those who aren't as fortunate. An easy way is via a food bank donation next time your shopping. Personally I wouldn't care who or what cause they donated to... I'm happy if they donate!

There were 456 posts to that thread and over 22,000 views. I just counted 12 pages of posts. 20 or so were mine over the 10 days. Less than 6 were "Great news ... Please make a donation" type posts. I disagree with you and wouldn't consider that "thread spamming". Once I established the signature with the "Please donate" line, I stopped posting those messages completely.

You spent quite a bit of time discussing food banks. I can only speak from experience. Here in Burlington, the food bank I know is operated by the Salvation Army. There is needs testing. You have an interview when you first register, and then again on every subsequent visit. You show income information.

Of course there are those that will abuse the system. All of the social assistance programs are subject to fraud, but we shouldn't throw the baby out with the bathwater. I have seen and personally know needy families for whom the once a month trip (that's all you're allowed) to the "food bank" (yes ... perhaps a poor name for what it is) is the difference between eating, and not.

I was a hard line conservative in university. Welfare was full of lazy people. Social housing was a mistake. etc etc. Five years after graduation, I ended up working on a contract for a Municipal Government. I got to work on an IT project for the social housing department. I eventually became full time, and a manager. Swweeet I thought ... time to clean things up from within! Now... there were and still are problems. I was part of a drive for increased efficiency that saved millions. The eye opener for me was the people. The people, who are not lazy, who are not drug dealers, who just need help. It's not something I expected, but I have now adjusted many of my opinions as a result of my years there.

Onto your last post ...

As you probably have guessed.... I'm not a young pup. One of the other off topic threads was talking about computer history and how much things have changed. I've been part of what we would call the "modern" age of computing from the start. I still have an original ibm xt in the basement as my reminder of what was. I still have a copy of the first web "browser", Mosaic on disk somewhere. I've also seen search engines come and go.

Google is far from perfect. However, for newbies, it is clean and easy to use. When using proper search terms it still, imo, blows all of the others away. I find many people are too lazy or unable to use the tools that are available to them. They don't think for themselves, and rely upon others to find the answers.

I don't insult the person when I post the google link. I only post the google link and the little google smiley. With it, I'm trying to point out that "hey, in the time it took you to post your question, you could have found your answer on google." If the answer ends up being something interesting, or remarkable you should post that and contibute to the RFD community. In summary ... use your resources and give rather than taking, when you can

You should also remember that your question was not seeking an opinion. It was seeking a fact. I personally disagree with your analysis of RFD vs Google for factual information such as features or limits. With Google it is relatively easy to find accurate relevant information. It is much more difficult to judge the accuracy of an RFD members response.

Part of my goal in life is to help people learn. The "fishing" saying is old, but I believe still relevant. I'm unclear as to why you would say my google posts are "Constant parroting?" I've posted it less than 10 times.

I truely appreciate the time you took to raise constructive discussion items in a non combative way.

I've spent an hour now writing this response. While not as clear and concise as I had hoped, I am trying to get it posted before the mods lock this thread! My goal is not to persuade or get you to "like me". I am a sincere, upfront person, and only wanted an opportunity in the proper forum to respond to what I felt were some misconceptions about my motivations.

Now ... if you'll only unblock me you can see this! ;)

[GreenWeenie]

IB2ndL!

Second hand info tells me you take other peoples advice as your own.No second lock yet! ;) Was this directed at me, or at Neil? If it's for me ... I will plead ignorance, and ask for clarification.

[kornstar369]

Re-opened due to valid argument.

hahaha...see, the mods love ya!

[Neil]

Well you've certainly acquited yourself well. I'm convinced you had good intentions with the frequent google posts. I still believe the thread is the place for discussion of the item and find it much easier to scroll through Freq Asked/Answered Questions than stumbling through google and it's sometimes crazy suggested links.

As for the food bank it's been awhile since I've been there. Maybe it's less of a free for all now. I still think when someone is at a food bank that's a symptom of something else (poverty, abuse, education, addiction) etc and that it would be more enlightened to put our resources to tackle the underlying causes. Supporting the food bank then just prolongs and deepens the root causes then.

I'm glad you agree this is a debate not a scrap and it's been good meeting you and getting to know ya.

[putty]

GreenWeenie (and the GreenWeenie logo) are from days of long long ago and one of the first networkable fragfest games, Doom.

OMG an old time gamer!
Hey gramps, j/k, I was also around in the Doom/hexen/duke nukem/Quake one days. :)

[kornstar369]

OMG an old time gamer!
Hey gramps, j/k, I was also around in the Doom/hexen/duke nukem/Quake one days. :)


wats that...like 8 years ago?

[GreenWeenie]

I'm glad you agree this is a debate not a scrap and it's been good meeting you and getting to know ya.Neil, you have made my morning.

I am who I am (to quote that great philosopher Popeye). It doesn't bother me in the least if people like or don't like me. What can bother me is when people misinterpret my intentions and motivations (which is so easy to do in a forum setting... one of the drawbacks of one dimensional communication).

I don't want this is to turn into mutual admiration society... but I appreciate the time you took to articulate how my actions were annoying you. It would have been easy to step in here and unleash the hounds of hell and watch the resulting havoc until the mods locked it up. Thanks for choosing the higher road, and it's good to know you!

[putty]

wats that...like 8 years ago?

DOOM was released in 1994. I was also playing Wolfenstein 3D before that and it was released in 1991.

[GreenWeenie]

OMG an old time gamer!
Hey gramps, j/k, I was also around in the Doom/hexen/duke nukem/Quake one days. :)Not to get off the top of Weenie Roasting, Doom was such an amazing game. My neighbour and I ran coax cable between the houses and installed Lantastic software just so we could play this game. After a four hour fragfest, we'd disassemble everything again. Our wives mocked us endlessly. So ... that spring we dug a trench between the houses and put the cable in a nice conduit LMAO. 2 years later we upgraded to twisted pair, and today the NeighbourNet still exists.

The best FPS shooter we played was Descent 3... ssssooooooooo much fun. sooooo many hours lost.

8 years ago? Naw... was back in the winter of 93 / 94. "Damn I can't get the network driver to load into high memory. I'll try moving the mouse driver down to see if that solves the problem. Actually I managed to get it. Load the Net driver first, then the mouse driver and it should be fine" LOL nightmare of DOS

[GreenWeenie]

DOOM was released in 1994. I was also playing Wolfenstein 3D before that and it was released in 1991.Wolf 3d :)
Forward - left - spacebar (damn no door) - right - right - spacebar (damn no door) - left ... repeat