I wish you all could rcognise

Quote:

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1) What FFF doesn't have a zillion pictures saved in picture files?...pictures from all aspects of the shows, the movies, and the awesome stars themselves?

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Here comes Griz with a wet-blankety post:

Most of those pix are also under copyright.

Plus I don't believe it would be all that effective, honestly. People think we're weird already. They'd just groan and think, oh great, my Moonie/Hare Krishna/Fireflyfan friend is at it again. And they would back away slowly while speaking in soothing tones.

___________________________________________________
High Priestess of Pork and Ag-Related Activities of the MYTHICAL LAND OF IOWA



Click on my profile for my Annoyingly Long List of Firefly Links.

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Quote:

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Originally posted by zoid:
Like I said, I think Cache's heart is in the right place, I really do.

Okay, so s/he stuck her/his foot in his/her own orifice, right off the bat. But, hey, let those of us who have never unintentionally insulted somebody on this board cast the first stone. I've still got folks on this board who are pissed at me because I've misunderstood their intent, and gone off half-cocked on them.

For me, it's all about intent to do harm, intent to give umbrage. Cache stepped on the toes of some hard-battled Browncoat guerillas, true. But, I reckon s/he was just really excited to be suggesting a new approach...

Having said that, I'm convinced that the approach s/he forwarded would be nothing less than disastrous for everyone who loves Firefly. 'Viral marketing' is not the same thing as copyright infringement on a massive scale, using the Federal postal system as a delivery mechanism. ...And even s/he admitted that people would get arrested, tried and convicted.

That's just lunacy. Even if it worked and Vivendi-Universal said, "Hey! People really like this Firefly/Serenity stuff! Let's make lots more!", that'd be pretty hard biscuits to take when you're in prison and the bull-queers/dykes only want to watch "My Name is Earl" on the communal TV, when Firefly is on.

...And when the murderers and rapists asked you what you did to get incarcerated, would you want to trade on your rep as the guy who 'viral marketed' Firefly, to keep your backside squeaky clean?

Like I said before: This is a disastrously bad idea, regardless its intent to be helpful. The only reason why I even piped up on this subject is to avoid anyone coming to the conclusion that it might actually work, beyond improving their 'love life'...

As to getting a CD-R in the mail, along with a heart-felt letter encouraging me to introduce it to my home entertainment network... (*stops typing until the laughter, hiccuping, and tears cease*) ...ummm, sure, I'd do that.

But seriously, I wouldn't throw it away. They make lovely frisbees/doggie chew toys (at least, for the doggies you're trying to promote to The Great Kennel In The Sky).



Responsively,

zoid

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Sometimes I wish it wasn't so taboo to multi post,
but as I can only post one response I will ignore
those who continue to flame me for spelling, (here
is a link for you http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typo)
and respond to one of the posts that I found to be
more thoughtfull.

Yes it is true I did stick my foot into my own
orifice, and for that again I sincerely apologize.
I wrote my initial post at a time when I was in a
state of great anger, which was sadly misdirected.

As for the meat of your counterpoint, the arrest
trial and conviction part of my post was meant as
tongue in cheek. The only way to get arrested
doing something like is to be utterly retarded.
Were you going to mail these out with a return
address? The entire process is risk free, you
purchase some CD mailers, drop in the DVD, label
it with an address, put postage, and drop it in
the mail. You can even wear gloves if you are
really that paranoid, but the likelyhood of police
or FEDS using their resources to run fingerprints
on a mailer when they are chasing down terrorists
murderers and real theives is so miniscule as to
be laughable.

I also believe you are underestimating the common
curiosity of average folk. People like anything
that is free. You can liken receiving a random
DVD in the mail to an AOL disc, but how long did
they do that? They did it until they were the #1
internet provider in the country. Their marketing
campaign worked. Sure eventually they surpassed
the need for ISPs with their flood of discs but
surely if it did not work the first time the whole
campaign would have been shut down. They are as
we all know a corporation, and every corporation
has a bottom line. The point is, this type of
marketing works. It works well. And it is
relatively cheap. One

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Quote:

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Originally posted by zoid:
...Now if only some of the other (moderately) old-timers would check back in, to at least let us know they were okay.

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I'm old, and I'm okay (just a little tired from having to edit so many posts...I really try hard not to have to move threads wholesale to troll country but it's a tough call sometimes -- thanks to everyone who keeps the discussion mature and respectful even when those you are arguing with don't. Makes our job a lot easier!) :)

Keep Flying Everyone!

---

I don't need a gorram back-spaceship driver!!!

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Quote:

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Are you actually still
afraid of legal action?

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I hope I didn't read this correctly, but I fear I did. Cache, do you mean that if you are pretty sure you won't get caught doing something against the law, then you go ahead and do it, because that's all that is holding you back?

What people need, and I hope most of them have, is an innate sense of morality that guides them. Not fear of punishment. That's what most of us parents are trying our best to instill in our little ones, that sense of morality when nobody is looking.

Shiny, tough call, but I'd shunt it, myself. I don't think it's going anywhere.

___________________________________________________
High Priestess of Pork and Ag-Related Activities of the MYTHICAL LAND OF IOWA



Click on my profile for my Annoyingly Long List of Firefly Links.

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Shiny wrote:

Quote:

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...I'm old, and I'm okay (just a little tired from having to edit so many posts...I really try hard not to have to move threads wholesale to troll country but it's a tough call sometimes -- thanks to everyone who keeps the discussion mature and respectful even when those you are arguing with don't. Makes our job a lot easier!) :)

Keep Flying Everyone!

---

Hey, Shine! Sorry if I made your job any harder. It was never my intention to do so. ...Or any of those other times in the past, either (you know the ones). Everything starts out academic-like, and then someone invariably says, "Oh, yeah? Well, your mama!"

As to the old-timers, I just miss hearing from Channy and Gunny and Mmmm-a-lishus (awright, especially 'Lish) and all the others. Makes me all nostalgic. Its good to hear from friends like yourself who've been here since Day One (long before I knew this place even existed), don't get me wrong.

But I definitely miss old friends, perhaps gone, but never forgotten...



Respectfully,

zoid
_________________________________________________

"I aim to misbehave." -Capt. Mal Reynolds, Serenity, a.k.a. 'the BDBOF'

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Quote:

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Originally posted by zoid:
But I definitely miss old friends, perhaps gone, but never forgotten...



Respectfully,

zoid

---

Me too, Zoid... even "middle timers" like myself.


www.goodworkspresents.org

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Thanks for engaging in conversation/debate (the fun kind), Cache.

First off, like I said, I am not a federal agent or any other manner of law enforcement employee. I am not even an acquaintance of any person thus employed.

I am, however, an air traffic controller, as it says on my Profile page. As such, I perhaps know a bit more about the triggers Homeland Security is sensitive to, than the average person.

I assumed that the sly 'viral marketer' in your scheme would send mailers from the drop boxes at a rotating public post offices or street corner boxes, sans return address.

The problem is, the sneakier you get, the more likely you are to get caught. Since 9/11/2001, the USPS has been very circumspect when it comes to anonymous hard-mailers in their sorting rooms. Perhaps you remember the anthrax that was mailed to various members of Congress? I'll let you in on a secret: Almost none of them had a return address (no accounting for intelligence on the few that did), and quite a few of them were CD-type hard-mailers.

So, thinking you're circumventing detection by not including a return address is a critical flaw in your logic.

...But it goes deeper. Assume the USPS intercept your mailers -- and I guaran-damn-tee they will -- and then go through the expense of opening them safely and then examining the contents of your CD-Rs. (NB: And, remember, you're talking about sending out hundreds of them.)

Now, what they find is no threat to national security, so *whew!*. ...But what do they find is a violation of copyright law, automatically made a Federal offense because these have been sent through the United States Postal Service.

But, like I said, I assumed cunning and guile on the part of yourself and your merry band of co-conspirators. As long as you drop your mailers in randomly selected post office boxes, they'll never catch you, right?

Problem: The more elusive you are, the more they will spend to track you down. "Today, it's Firefly," they'll reason, "but what'll it be tomorrow?" And because you've actually broken the law, they won't just sweep it under the carpet or write it off to youthful over-exuberance. They'll build up a pattern of the mailboxes you've used, in what order, and Bob's your uncle, they'll get you triangulated. One day you'll open the box to insert a handful of mailers and find your self surrounded and handcuffed.

Don't think they won't do it. Don't glom over that critical error in your logic. They caught all the persons who mailed the anthrax, and those persons never even sent out hundreds of mailers. Plus, every time the local USPS comes to a stumbling halt in order to isolate one of your 'no return address' mailers, it costs money; when the USPS services are disrupted, and when they remove your mailers to a detection unit. The biggest charge they throw at you (in terms of jail time) will probably be something along the lines of 'Interference with the Federal Mail'.

So, in conclusion, as I said before: Just back away from this scheme you've dreamt up, before you draw back a bloody stump. Dude, it's a bad idea.

Your heart's in the right place, I can sense that. And you're engaging in active thinking about new methodologies, and that's a good thing. Just try and cook up something spectacular that doesn't involve breaking the law.

Most folks around here will fanatically support a good, bold, inventive idea. But we are -- for the most part -- intelligent enough to recognize a 'Guyana Punch' solution when we see one, too...



Respectfully,

zoid

P.S.
It'd actually be better to include a return address, cuz that wouldn't rouse the inevitable suspicion at the Post Office. Of course, if your random mailing landed in the box of somebody with a predilection for reporting people for any old thing -- or if a random recipient was a 'FED' -- you'd still be screwed; but at least you could plead ignorance (much good that'd do ya'.) Best thing would be to forget that pl

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Quote:

---

Originally posted by zoid:

I assumed that the sly 'viral marketer' in your scheme would send mailers from the drop boxes at a rotating public post offices or street corner boxes, sans return address.

The problem is, the sneakier you get, the more likely you are to get caught. Since 9/11/2001, the USPS has been very circumspect when it comes to anonymous hard-mailers in their sorting rooms. Perhaps you remember the anthrax that was mailed to various members of Congress? I'll let you in on a secret: Almost none of them had a return address (no accounting for intelligence on the few that did), and quite a few of them were CD-type hard-mailers.

So, thinking you're circumventing detection by not including a return address is a critical flaw in your logic.

...But it goes deeper. Assume the USPS intercept your mailers -- and I guaran-damn-tee they will -- and then go through the expense of opening them safely and then examining the contents of your CD-Rs. (NB: And, remember, you're talking about sending out hundreds of them.)

Now, what they find is no threat to national security, so *whew!*. ...But what do they find is a violation of copyright law, automatically made a Federal offense because these have been sent through the United States Postal Service.

But, like I said, I assumed cunning and guile on the part of yourself and your merry band of co-conspirators. As long as you drop your mailers in randomly selected post office boxes, they'll never catch you, right?

Problem: The more elusive you are, the more they will spend to track you down. "Today, it's Firefly," they'll reason, "but what'll it be tomorrow?" And because you've actually broken the law, they won't just sweep it under the carpet or write it off to youthful over-exuberance. They'll build up a pattern of the mailboxes you've used, in what order, and Bob's your uncle, they'll get you triangulated. One day you'll open the box to insert a handful of mailers and find your self surrounded and handcuffed.

Don't think they won't do it. Don't glom over that critical error in your logic. They caught all the persons who mailed the anthrax, and those persons never even sent out hundreds of mailers. Plus, every time the local USPS comes to a stumbling halt in order to isolate one of your 'no return address' mailers, it costs money; when the USPS services are disrupted, and when they remove your mailers to a detection unit. The biggest charge they throw at you (in terms of jail time) will probably be something along the lines of 'Interference with the Federal Mail'.

So, in conclusion, as I said before: Just back away from this scheme you've dreamt up, before you draw back a bloody stump. Dude, it's a bad idea.

Your heart's in the right place, I can sense that. And you're in active thinking about new methodologies, and that's a good thing. Just try and cook up something spectacular that doesn't involve breaking the law.

Most folks around here will fanatically support a good, bold, inventive idea. But we are -- for the most part -- intelligent enough to recognize a 'Guyana Punch' solution when we see one, too...



Respectfully,

zoid
_________________________________________________

"I aim to misbehave." -Capt. Mal Reynolds, Serenity, a.k.a. 'the BDBOF'

---

I see your criticisms and they are noted. However
you have made many assumptions which are in my
opinion invalid.

1)I would never choose to use hard mailers which
the post office states clearly on big signs are
subject to inspection. There are plenty of
soft mailers for media which do the job nicely.
They are cheaper too.

2)As for the return address I would use a fake
one, one that does not exist. I do understand
that this cannot be left blank.

3)If for some reason the USPS decided to set up
a sting (I can't stop laughing about that one)
well I won't be there. One would only have to
mail out one batch. That's the beauty of things
that are viral.

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