Bob Faulkner (bfaulk@spamstop.ionet.net)
AOL-free since 3/17/96
(Delete spamstop to return e-mail)
Need a real ISP? http://thelist.internet.com
From: artstone@ibm.net (Art Stone)AOL sees this as opening the door to business customers AOL -may- charge for this in the future It promotes the AOL "Brand"Some of my theories, in addition:
Internet Messenger probably defeats the idle timeout of ISPs AOL may count IM-only users in its user base Ex-AOLers may start talking with (and miss) their AOL friends AOL gets a database of email addresses of ISP users for marketingArt Stone
In an unusual sequence of events, the techonology writer who wrote about AOLs "latest way to keep in touch" picked up his phone on the first ring. So I politely inquired as to why technology which has existed for eons was not once mentioned on his article.
He was surprised and asked me what the name of the software was. It took a bit of back and forth to get him to understand that the software's name was "talk" (the conversation reminded me of "Who's on First?") and that it was distributed with almost all, if not all flavors of Unix.
Well that wouldn't do any good he thought, since Unix is not a mass market OS of choice. So I finally got it through to him that all he had to do was establish a telnet session (telnet he knows...) and from there issue a talk session.
Okay. Then he says, well you can telnet from MS IE but not Netscape, so you are still not talking about a mass market available thing. So I patiently explained to him that he could initiate a telnet session from Windows 95 by going to the Start button, choosing run.... and typing telnet <hostname> in the dialog box.
Oh. I didn't know that. I'll be darned was the gist of his reply. So I said I was looking forward to a follow-up article in which he would spell out that this technology has existed for years. He seemed to beg-off, as I was really talking about "Unixy" (his word, not mine) stuff and it wouldn't be worth writing about.
.....the lesson I learned here.... ...resistance is futile....
OMEGA
sdoliov
From: lindellj@spambusters.org (Lindell B. Jones, Jr.)
Newsgroups: alt.aol-sucks
Subject: Re: seen the latest AOL commercial?
Date: Thu, 15 May 1997 00:49:41 GMT
Organization: Spambusters, Inc.
On Wed, 14 May 97 18:08:36 GMT, pearce@ANTIhalcyonSPAM.com (Jani
Pearce) wrote:
>In article <5lbe3e$8d3$2@jake.probe.net>, dok@probe.net (Hanz0) wrote: > >>Just saw a new AOL commercial. They show some AOLer saying "I couldn't >>believe it! I can't even program a VCR and I'm online!!!!!(1)" >> >>Hits the proverbial nail on the head, doesn't it? > >Oh good grief, is this for real?Sad to say, yes, it's for real. I nearly gagged when I first saw it yesterday...
>Sheesh, nothing like trying to >attract the completely raw newbie. (Then again, who else would have >them?)A complete idiot?
>I can just see their next ad, probably be something like: > >"I can't even dial my telephone and I'm online!!"How about "I can't even type, and I'm online!!"
>*Sigh* Another shining example of the dumbing down of America...The dumbing down of America is exactly what companies like AOL thrive on. Yet another reason not to support such corporations...
>
>--
>*Remove spamblock to mail* Member, a.a-s Troll Patrol(tm) - Policy Division
> The Official a.a-s Web Page: http://www.halcyon.com/pearce/aas.htm
> Why & How to Leave AOL: http://www.halcyon.com/pearce/why.htm
-------------------------------------------------------------
Lindell B. Jones, Jr.
E-Mail me at ---> lindellj@mindspring.com
or ---> lindellj@mo.net
Why is AOL sucks?
What can you do with ther cd rom bisk?
Why ain't I using no good english?
Find out at http://walden.mo.net/~lindellj/aol
-------------------------------------------------------------
"Exchange email with anyone who's online, including the Internet."
As long as your message isn't larger than 2MB.
"Get the inside sports story on ABC Sports Online - an AOL exclusive"
See: http://www.abcnews.com/sections/sports/
"AOL keeps everyone happy"
That would explain all the lawsuits.
"AOL puts almost any information imaginable at your fingertips"
Operative word - "almost"
"AOL is there when you need us - 24 hours a day"
Except when we're down.
"There's a place for everyone on America Online"
What's the keyword for Christian Coalition? the NRA?
Art Stone
--
Detroit News - May 1st, 1997: AOL is "the online equivalent of getting drunk and making a fool of yourself."
From: NOT@case.offline (K.)
Newsgroups: alt.aol-sucks
Subject: Re: IE security patch: AOL's customers still left in the lurch
Date: Thu, 24 Apr 1997 09:37:15 -0700
Organization: Sprynet
On 15 April 97, njkahn@no-spam.hooked.net (Mimi Kahn) wrote:
>On Sat, 12 Apr 1997 09:58:26 GMT, NOT@case.offline (K.) wrote:
>
>> However, AOL vice president David Gang said his company only recently
>> received Microsoft's revised computer code, and is now designing a
>> patch for the problem. When the bug was discovered, Microsoft warned
>> users about the problem on its Web site. But AOL chose not to issue
>> warnings to its customers. [...]
"We are dedicated to providing our members with the most effective tools to protect themselves against all threats to their computers' integrity. We believe that the best offense is educating our members ... "Tatiana Gau AOL Integrity Assurance
"At AOL, we place the highest priority on security. We are committed to ensuring the highest quality online experience possible for all of our members."Tatiana Gau AOL Integrity Assurance
Yes, maybe Mr. Case is "...winging it ... in the finest entrepreneurial
tradition of playing it close to the line". But I think customers and
shareholders of AOL might appreciate it if he spent a bit less time
"winging it" and devoted some attention to growing his company in a
responsible manner: by providing customers with the service they have
every right to expect. Then perhaps AOL will be rewarded with that other
tradition of a well-run company: profit. Who knows, he might even get
some good press.
Mark G. Scheuern
--
Mark
From: artstone@ibm.net (Art Stone)
Newsgroups: alt.aol-sucks
Subject: Economist: In search of the mouse potato
Date: Fri, 18 Apr 1997 17:22:39 GMT
Organization: Altopia Corp. - Affordable Usenet Access - http://www.alt.net
http://www.economist.com/issue/19-04-97/wb8714.html
The Economist has a profile on Robert Pittman and his current situation
with AOL (at the above URL).
An interesting statistic:
>AOL's subscribers spend 80% of their time looking at the company's own
>"content" -- a miscellany of entertainment, chat and travel services -- rather
>than using it as an inexpensive route to the Internet.
This story includes a new claim about AOL's influence and power:
>At first glance, AOL is well placed to do this. It has some 8m subscribers -- m
ore
>than MTV on most nights
Is this stating that MTV has less than 400,000 people watching, or that
the Economist doesn't understand that AOL only the capacity for 400k
simultaneous users? Or did they buy the pointless "number of sessions"
statistic?
In case it isn't obvious, a "mouse potato" is the Internet equivalent of
the Couch Potato.
Ouch. I resemble that remark.
Art Stone
--
Get the "scoop" on using AOL's secret access numbers.
http://kode.net/~artstone/isptest/sprintnet.html
From: xrickb52x@aol.com (XRickB52x)
Newsgroups: alt.aol-sucks
Subject: Meg: Up and at 'em
Date: 16 Apr 1997 03:09:02 GMT
Organization: AOL http://www.aol.com
Here's part of Meg's AOL Insider report from 4-15-97:
=====================================================
"It's a few minutes after 7:00 a.m. as I input the list, and I'm not sure
if I'm awake, but I'm definitely upright. In fact, I'm sitting in front of
my home computer listening to my modem hooking up to AOL -- on the first
try! And that's when I (blearily) thought of today's column...because
it's so easy to sign on at this morning hour.
You see, Meg is not a morning person (You can tell?), but I'm trying to make a few adjustments. Why? Because lately those low volume hours (7 a.m. to 3 p.m.) have been mocking me with their tempting promise of easy access.
So I'm making an effort to apply some creative time-shifting to my
personal online habits. (Yes, Meg has a personal life, even though some of
my friends have reported it missing). I'll be logging on before breakfast
instead of after dinner; over lunch instead of after work; before I leave
the office rather than with my favorite bed time snack."
=====================================================
Yes, boys and grrls, you too can utilize America Online, if only you
rearrange your entire life around it. Why should AOL upgrade the system if
the company can just train YOU to be obedient lap dogs?!?
If you ask me, Meg has been doing too much caffeine in the morning. Does she realize she is a spoof of all that is wrong with AOL? How embarassing for her. I really hope "Meg" is a PR guy who's just writing this persona.
Rick Brown
rickb52(at)aol.com
(No X's to reply)
Meg is AOL's equivalent to Tokyo Rose during World War II.
"Come on, Joe. You know AOL is superior."
From: rmartin@spam-foiler.voicenet.com (RM)
Newsgroups: alt.aol-sucks
Subject: Re: Steve Case interview on MSNBC
Date: Wed, 19 Mar 1997 15:24:20 -0500
Organization: None Whatsoever, Inc.
In article <332f988e.1695805@news.ionet.net>, BFaulk@spamstop.ionet.net
(Bob Faulkner) informs:
> I was up watching late-night TV (actually early-morning TV), and saw > Steve Case on MSNBC. It seems that the network is doing a series this > week on the problems our least-favorite online service has had. They > also interviewed some current and former AOL customers. Case trumpeted > the company line, that they went to fixed-rate pricing because they > were "listening to our customers" (never mind that ISPs were kicking > their asses). One of the former users they talked to cited AOL's > crappy service, useless customer support and endless promises of > system enhancements as reasons for leaving. She held a bisk in her > hand that she reportedly got in the mail the day of the interview, and > said how ridiculous it was that AOL was hustling new members while > being unable to adequately service the ones they already have. > > It's amusing viewing. They will run a different segment every night > this week, for all you night owls. I don't recall exactly when I saw > it, but it was between 2 and 3 AM Central. > >
It's funny, because I remember that edition of The Site on MSNBC. It just so happened that the host, Soledad O'Brien, did a segment on the "ABC's of Chat" the very same show. And guess what the demonstrator, Leo Laporte, used to show how fun and easy chat was?
Yeah, AOL.
If I recall correctly, this was pretty much the rundown of the ten minute chat tutorial:
Laporte went into your typical "Lobby" on AOL with about eight other people. After he had greeted the room, and went back to the chatting explanation for the host, he was phished for his credit card number, password, etc.
And he called it a "hacker." Now you would think that a computer focused show could tell the distinction between your run of the mill AOLamer on a phishing binge and an actual hacker. Apparently not.
A few moments later, he decided to join another "room" and clicked on the rooms made by AOL staff. Your typical "Life", "Books", and "Family."
All were almost completely empty.
Next, he decided to show the member created rooms. You can imagine some of the titles: "realsubmission", "hairym4m" etc.
All filled with 23 people.
I was laughing loud enough to wake the dead that morning. Finally, AOL's idiot chat exposed on national television.
At least he *said* the acronym "IRC..."
> Bob Faulkner (bfaulk@spamstop.ionet.net) > Ex-AOL user since 3/17/96 > "Some people are born psychotic. Others have to work at it..." > (Delete spamstop to return e-mail)
RM
--
"I became insane over long periods of horrible sanity."
-- Edgar Allen Poe
>Well well, after causing all sorts of acrimonious >remarks by sending out posts with enormously long lines, AOL is now >back to its second favourite annoying trick of sending out two or more >posts of selected messages. I honestly don't know why people sign up >with them and stay after their free connect is over. I tried them last >year and hated them, even before they gave everyone free access. I can >only suppose that if you mail multiple diskettes to everyone on earth >with a mailing address, you will get buyers. The things are even >materialising on my desk at work now, without even an address.I was just about to post something about this, but thought better of it. Bashing AOL is much too easy these days. It's amazing to me how they stay in business. It's even more amazing that they recently won a PC Magazine Editor's Choice award as the best on-line service for Internet access. I don't know of any single entity that is as hated on the 'Net as AOL is (except possibly Microsoft :-). I think we need to lure Steve Case onto a rope bridge over a lava pit, then cut the ropes...
To all the AOL users out there: if all you have AOL for is 'Net access, take a look at www.thelist.com to see if there are any real ISPs in your area. There are some good deals out there if you look hard enough. You'll get much better service, and you'll be helping to make the 'Net a better place.
There is one thing I do like about AOL, though. The free start-up kit CD-ROMs make really nice coasters. :-)
-- Tony DeBari debari@net-gate.com "Another day, another defilement." - Autolycus, King of Thieves
>Wendy Goldberg,If a code change at AOL "fixed" the problem, then that pretty much admits it wasn't "bad data", doesn't it?
(who?)
>an AOL spokes woman, said the company acted as swiftly as
>possible. She said AOL first learned of the problem Tuesday
>and by the end of the day had a new computer code installed
>that resolved it.
>She noted that AOL has a disclaimer that it cannot vouch for >the accuracy of the stock information it provides but that >it is believed to be accurate. She said the company immediately >posted a note in its help area to explain the problem and what >the company was doing to fix it.How about posting the information right on the quote screen?
> Kevin dafler | "I know there's a Devil; the son- > Dorffler@inforel.com | of-a-bitch keeps making commercials!" > ================================================ > http://www.inforel.com/~dorffler > ================================================From: NO_UCEcujo@pacbell.net (Rich Maher)
>On 11 Feb 1997 06:15:49 GMT, mcgatney@access.digex.net (DAwn, >(hv)) wrote: >> >>DAwn Writes----->>> >> >> Seen the fetching Steve Case commercial where the kindly CAse, >> wearing an AOL T-shirt, says in effect, "We gave you flat-rate >> because you wanted it, we underestimated just how much you >> loved us, and we're working day and night to increase our >> capacity to match our popularity?" Seen that one? >>
Heh! Yeah.. a laugh riot!
>> Anyway, CAse notes that AOL will be adding 150,000 modems by >> the end of June to handle all this extra love for AOL that >> flat-rate has brought to the surface. And then, in the next >> breath, he gloats, "And that'll mean we can handle 6,000,000 >> more sessions a day." >>
<snip>
The one thing that stands out about that ad...... The part where he gloats about the fact "our technicians are working AROUND THE CLOCK working on the problems on the network" (paraphrased) and there is a shot of two minimum wage garbage cleaners looking at a LAPTOP COMPUTER on a card table!! My daughter said it best: "Is AOL really run on a laptop computer??"
BWWWAAHHHH!
Check that ad out.. it wins my award as the best anti-AOL TV ad I have ever seen. Yes, it beats that wonderful black screen with the busy signals Compu$erve ran during the SB.
If someone is good at MST3K parodies.. give that new AOL ad a try. It
is ripe for a rippin'....
--
Allan W. Schlaugat allanws@primenet.com
Eau Claire, WI USA Amateur Radio: N9ISN
From: artstone@ibm.net (Art Stone)
Newsgroups: alt.aol-sucks
Subject: AOL 10-Q (Oct-Dec '96)
Date: Wed, 19 Feb 1997 21:17:06 -0500
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/883780/0000883780-97-000002.txt
AOL's 10-Q for the 2nd quarter (Oct-Dec '96) is now available on Edgar.
Year to year, Revenue was up $160 million for the quarter.
Cost of Revenue was up $100 million, General and Administrative up $25
million, and Marketing was up $94 million.
For the 6 months, AOL's cash position "improved" by $11 million because:
Prepaid expenses dropped $22 million============== The Class Action Lawsuits ==============
Accounts Payable increased $27 million
Prepayment of accounts increased $51 million
Short term investments of $10 million were liquidated
Preferred Stock of $15 million (Asia AOL) were sold
Common stock of $21 million was sold
From the notes:
OnlineHost: *** You are in "Town Square - Lobby 640". ***
OnlineHost:
Alovatak: What's up?
D RAB 003: nothin' much. where from?
Alovatak: Alabama
D RAB 003: really? im from Florida!
D RAB 003: Pensacola
Alovatak: cool. Ive been to Disney world a few times. Do you
live near there?
Leeko24: helloo
Leeko24: i do
D RAB 003: nope. have u ever heard of Pensacola, FL?
Alovatak: nope.
D RAB 003: its in the panhandle right near Alabama. Mobile is an
hour away.
Alovatak: cool. Do you have a boyfriend?
D RAB 003: nope, but that's fine by me. im not looking for one,
nor do i desire to have one at present
D RAB 003: do u?
Alovatak: not at the moment. my so called "best friend" was goin
out with him behind my back.
D RAB 003: really? that's sad. who was she going out with? your
ex-boyfriend?
OnlineHost: *** You are in "Town Square - Lobby 661". ***
OnlineHost:
DBowers621: why
ARN 40: any teens here
JUGGY 001: age/sex is stupid
DBowers621: yes
RevMansn8: FINALLY SOMEONE AGREES WITH ME
Diddle7274: yes
ARN 40: age\sex check
JUGGY 001: me?
BECK1597: racecar
DBowers621: 14m
RevMansn8: duh
ARN 40: m 17
JUGGY 001: thanx!
Diddle7274: 15/f
ARN 40: Manson rules
BECK1597:
11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
BECK1597: manson sucks
JUGGY 001: 222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222
DBowers621: what
RevMansn8: If I cant have u then NO ONE will
ARN 40: beck you suck
BECK1597: 3333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333
JUGGY 001: who?
JUGGY 001: 333333333333333333
BECK1597: 4444444444444444444444444444444444444444444
DBowers621: stop
DBowers621: p
DBowers621: p
[8 more lines of the same]
ARN 40: stop
DBowers621: p
DBowers621: p
DBowers621: p
JUGGY 001: Rev, who do you want?
BECK1597: 5
BECK1597: 55
[9 more lines of the same]
NoDoubtMS: age/sex check?
BECK1597: 5
BECK1597: 5
[5 more lines of the same]
JUGGY 001: NO!
ARN 40: m 17
DBowers621: 14m
Keroppiaad: 15/f
JUGGY 001: no more age/sex!
Diddle7274: f 15
RevMansn8: NoDoubt?yuk! What does MS stand for MY SCROTUM?
Keroppiaad: 15\f white girl 15/f black girl
RevMansn8: ?
JVinsonjr: hello
JUGGY 001: 62
JUGGY 001: +654
Diddle7274: bye
OnlineHost: *** You are in "Town Square - Lobby 655". ***
OnlineHost:
Kissalive8: bye cow
ToMsTeR187: {S CHRONIC
MBerger19: define a real lady for me sugar
PoloBEAR20: Hey Whats up everybody
STP5171229: hi
PoloBEAR20: {S Welcome
Kissalive8: anyone wanna talk about being alive ??
STP5171229: wheres everyone from?
ToMsTeR187: I THOUGHT TODAY WAS SOME OFFICIAL HACKER DAY?
PoloBEAR20: {S Hello
ToMsTeR187: I GUESS NOT
Kissalive8: Detriot
MBerger19: ruby whats a real lady
Ruby19790: someone who knows how to have fun
PoloBEAR20: Hey how come that didnt work??
MkWrd: Greetings from San Francisco.
MBerger19: what do you do to have fun
PoloBEAR20: Does anyone Have any gifs?
Kissalive8: {s welcome
MkWrd: Hey Kissa!
Ruby19790: :-)
Kissalive8: {S WELCOME
Ruby19790: :-)
PoloBEAR20: Hey kissa
Kissalive8: hello there
PoloBEAR20: Lets get together and kissa
**************************************************************
Rich MaherWell it's good to know AOL cares so much about their customers. However, I hope some attorney will file a class action suit on behalf of people who have been damaged by AOL's failure to perform to their own TOS.
Personally, I would like to charge them what my time is worth. However, it
does give a new meaning to the idea of the roach motel; you can check in
but you can't check out.
Hi.
I have a site that has frequent changes. Yet AOL users complain that they
are not seeing any changes. I have heard that the problem is something
with the proxy server. How can I counter this problem? Does the Meta tag
have anything to do with this?
This is really aggravating.
Thanks
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
That always seemed kind of circular to me. I propose it should be....
[Sorry for the earlier post. I was trying to indent the paragraph above,
but AOL interprets "tab" as "Move my cursor over the SEND button"...and
the space-key as "Send".]
[I'd "CANCEL" the post, but that requires cutting and pasting the
message-ID from the newsgroup post into an e-mail message to the
designated-canceller on AOL.]
Anyhow, enough about my problems. Remember...
I don't know what that bra means for the contest, though.
I'll give Paddington the upper hand, though, since he's got a suitcase to
whack Pooh with. And Paddington doesn't have that wimpy Christopher Robin
following him around everywhere, hallucinating about pigs in striped
shirts.
That said, I venture that Teddy Robinson would win over both.
From: "Frank&Arlene Hendricks" <afch@ny.tds.net>
Newsgroups: alt.aol-sucks
Subject: re: an article in today's local newspaper
Date: 28 Dec 1996 14:30:47 GMT
Organization: TDS Telecom - Madison, WI
"MAN CHARGED WITH PROMOTING OBSCENE MATERIAL"
NEW YORK - Members of the Brooklyn district attorney's office had a
surprise waiting for a Connecticut man who thought he had a rendezvous set
with a 13-year-old girl he met through a computer online service.
The girl turned out to be an invention of the DA's squad and officers were
waiting when James Barrows arrived at Gerristen Beach in south Brooklyn.
He was charged with promoting an obscene sexual performance by a child,
obscenity and giving indecent material to a minor, Brooklyn District
Attorney Charles Hynes said Tuesday.
Barrows, 55, of Madison, Conn., also was charged with engaging in sexually
explicit conversations with a minor and sending e-mail showing a minor
having sex. He is due back in court on Friday.
Prosecuters say Barrows drove about 100 miles from his central Connecticut
home on Monday, prepared to meet what he believed was a 13-year-old he
courted for four months via the AMERICA ONLINE computer service.
"This case should serve as fair warning to adults who would prey upon
children that they will pay a heavy price for such conduct in this
jurisdiction," Hynes said in a statement. /end of article/
/no comment other than support of entrapment, inducing paranoia and
"somebody is watching you."/
I don't endorse what Mr. Barrows done but then again, this article falls
far short of "hearing both sides of the story."
From: Bobt741
Subject: Cannot get a site to update
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Dan
[ I had this problem as well, Bob. Even hitting AOL's "Reload"
button returned the old version of the web page. ]
Previous posts of the day
From: artstone@usa.net (Art Stone)
Newsgroups: alt.aol-sucks,alt.internet.media-coverage
Subject: AOLSucks: More trouble in the big AOL "City"
Date: Mon, 09 Dec 1996 12:08:21 GMT
Organization: Sending Userid gbisc@ibm.net
Over the weekend, I stumbled onto yet another "Internet abduction"
story. This alledged abduction and 20 hour torture happened after the
woman met a Columbia University doctoral candidate whom she had met "on
the Internet". (At least in this case, there was no corpse.)
One account of this Nando/Reuters story can be read at:
http://www2.nando.net/newsroom/ntn/info/120796/info2_9904.html
This morning (Monday), WCBS-AM Radio (New York City) reported one little
detail that the original story lacked - the "Internet chat" where they
met was an America Online Chat room (which last time I checked had
nothing to do with the Internet)
Art Stone
--
Have you mastered the Internet? Take the quiz and see.
http://kode.net/~artstone/isptest/
From: kelani@NOSPAMkelani.com
Newsgroups: alt.aol-sucks
Subject: AOL's New Phone Marketing? Morons.
Date: Wed, 04 Dec 1996 16:05:36 GMT
Organization: Kelani HTML
There's nothing that pisses me off more than being woken from a sound sleep
at 11am, except maybe being woken from a sound sleep at 11am by some Idiot
trying to sell me an AOL book.
Here's how the conversation went, Obviously AOL is not making money online
and really IS taking this 'media' thing seriously.
ring...ring...ring....ring..
Me: mmmmmm.....whut?
Federico: Good morning! my name is Federico and I am looking for [real name
smipped]
Me: ummm.. that's me.
Federico: Well, good morning [snip] I am calling because you were a
valuable AOL subscriber and I'd like to offer you a new Book that will tell
you *everything* you need to know about the net! It comes with a 30 day
free evaluation period and a CD which is good for one FREE month on America
Online! You get ALL this for only $19.95! Now all I need to do is verify
your addresd and we can have this shipped out to you today!
Me: hold on a minute Jack
Federico: My name is Federico
Me: Whatever. I'm not interested.
Federico: Well [snip] let me tell you what this book can do! It teaches you
all about the World Wide Web, how to check email, what Telnet is, how to
save money using the Internet, and even how to post a USENET message!
Me: (silently laughing at at that one) Well, Federico, you see, I sort of
own my own domain ON the internet, and I've been online in various forms
for the past 10 years. I think I know everything in your little book and
probably a lot more.
Federico: Well, you still need this book, because you can take what you
know and compare it to what's in here, and see if you're up to date! Even
for the most experienced internet user, this book has its place!
Me:
Federico: I'm not using a script, I read the book!
Me: Oh really? Can you tell me what the book says about setting up a
delayed-trace dual-redundancy DNS server?
Federico: I think that's in Chapter 11 under 'Telnet'
(note to Art Stone: I "know" a delayed-trace dual-redundancy DNS server is
an absolute bullshit term, I couldn't think of anything else in my
early-morning stupor.)
Me: Ok, well, thanks Federico, I'm simply not interested. Goodbye
Federico: Ok, [snip] and thank you for shopping America Online, your best
value!
*click* *fling....Krash*
After that little experience, I had to slam my phone against the boor. It
was utterly traumatic.
AOL is Sucks, Federico is Sucks, AOL Books is Sucks.
Kelani
From: "Olin K. McDaniel"
Newsgroups: alt.aol-sucks
Subject: Truth in predictions
Date: Mon, 02 Dec 1996 21:48:26 -0500
Well, for those pundits who said when Dec. 1 rolled around that we would
have trouble accessing AOL - they were correct in this area.
I've been with AOL for about a year now, and never before encountered a
busy signal, either on the 28.8 or 14.4 local number. Until today, that
is. I've been unable to access their system for the past 3 hours, all
tied up with the wave of new "UNLIMITED USERS". Thank goodness for a
little foresight - I reduced the service I had, instead of opting for a
double cost service. I chose the $4.95 for 3 hours. Now I wonder if
I'll even be able to use those 3 hours. Or if I'll even try much more.
Maybe the smart thing is to cancel completely and do it quickly.
Olin McDaniel
From: NYLRC
Newsgroups: alt.aol-sucks
Subject: AOL HELP PHONE IS A JOKE
Date: Tue, 03 Dec 1996 12:16:33 +0100
Organization: Union Bank of Switzerland
The help number given to new AOL customers
800-827-6364 is a JOKE! I've spent a large
effort convincing a recent business contact
to get ONLINE!! Now that he has an AOL account, he was pleased with the
access. However, 3 days into having the account activated, he signs on
only to receieve "INVALID ACCOUNT".
All attempts to get assistance from the 800
number are FUTILE! He calls repeatedly only
to go through a lengthy recording, then hear that "all operators are
busy...please call back later".
Hasn't AOL heard about ACD's!!!????
Get with it, AOL. You can't espouse
"new technology" if you can't service your
customer base with something as old-hat
as Automated Call Distribution.
The problem is not resolved, but at least I now feel
better having had the opportunity to rant and rave.
From: ABBAfan@[CLIP_THIS]hayburn.com (Gary Kirchherr)
Newsgroups: alt.aol-sucks
Subject: Re: AOL will rise to $200 a share by 1998
Date: Tue, 03 Dec 1996 18:17:17 -0500
Organization: Springfield Nuclear Power Plant
In article <19961203200700.PAA12696@ladder01.news.aol.com>,
jhunter234@aol.com wrote:
> you heard it here first
jhunter234, using hallucinogenic drugs while online is a violation of
America Online's Terms of Service. Please enter keyword: TOS now!
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
A friend told me to try America Online.
I said, "Why? I've got a brain!"
ABBAfan@hayburn.com
http://www.hayburn.com/~abbafan/
From: gbisc@ibm.net (Art Stone)
Newsgroups: alt.aol-sucks
Subject: Re: Pedophile used AOL - Held with out Bond in Chicago
Date: Fri, 29 Nov 1996 05:15:50 GMT
"Michael J. Domark Jr."
>This evening on the 4:30 news they had the following story:
>
>Athough the Chicago Tribune says the Internet, The Channel 2 news
>reporter made references to AOL.
Are you aware that the Tribune Company owns over 4 milion shares (about
$140 million) in AOL common stock?
Art Stone
--
Have you mastered the Internet? Take the quiz and see.
http://kode.net/~artstone/isptest/
From: gbisc@ibm.net (Art Stone)
Newsgroups: alt.aol-sucks
Subject: AolSucks: AOL has a *NEW* Class Action lawsuit
Date: Tue, 26 Nov 1996 05:02:50 GMT
C/Net is reporting this at:
http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,5726,00.html
AOL is being sued in New York in a class action suit over the $9.95 to
$19.95 account conversion.
Back on November 3rd, gbisc@tir.com made this astute prediction:
>The email-only accounts don't hear that their rate is going up to
>$19.95/month, and 3 or four months into next year, this newsgroup will be
>flooded with complaints when people finally do their semi-annual check of
>their credit card statements. Expect another class-action lawsuit.
Art Stone
--
Have you mastered the Internet? Take the quiz and see.
http://kode.net/~artstone/isptest/
From: soloingles@aol.com
Newsgroups: alt.aol-sucks
Subject: "AOL is the AOL" guy
Date: 14 Nov 1996 08:17:02 GMT
A while back in this newsgroup, someone had in their sig file, "AOL is the
AOL of on-line services."
"AOL is the BARNEY of on-line services."
Discuss among yourselves. (Who *was* it that had that in their sig?) "AOL is the Barney of On-Line Services."
^
|___ Done with space key.
From: cjenkins@mindspring.com (Cujo)
Newsgroups: alt.aol-sucks
Subject: FBI Agent and 6 computers...
Date: Thu, 14 Nov 1996 02:07:46 GMT
Organization: Dead Bisk Poet Society
An interesting note.
The other day whilst listening to NPR, the broadcaster had this to say
about the internet.
It seems that in an effort to curb child pornography the FBI has
brought on a whole "Task Force". The Task Force consists of
an agent in a office room with 6 computers located somewhere in
Maryland.
The agent has posed as a underage female in AOL chat rooms to
determine the amount of activity that actually occurs. It seems that
he received over a hundred *un-solicited* pictures of material that
could be considered child pornography.
What I really wonder is how many times did someone do either an
age/sex check or tried to *phish* him ? B-)
luego,
cujo
Subject: Re: AOL and the newsgroups...A question
From: Becky Boone <sis@mindspring.com>
Date: 31 Oct 1996
ATC Shane wrote:
>
> Ooops, also...
>
> << Can you connect to IRC through AOL?>>
>
> Absolutely. It all works.
I have been a lurker here for two years, so I think it's time to post;
expect a ramble.
No, it does not all work. We have hundreds of AOL users writing to us
every day because they cannot get onto our chat server, which AOL does
not allow because it's not one of their servers. We are, of course,
accessible to anyone with a real Internet account. Our Web staff is
largely former AOL remote staffers, myself included, and we run our
chats the way chat should have been on AOL - civilized, intelligent,
funny. Perhaps that is why AOL'ers are not allowed to come visit.
I downloaded the Mac AOL 3.0 beta yesterday, just to see if it was an
improvement, and if it gave me faster Internet access from AOL (and if I
could access our chats from AOL). Nope, same old lame InterCon browser,
though I know MSIE will replace it since AOL got in bed with MS and
shafted Netscape. The AOL software also ate my TCP connection, and I
had a lot of deleting and re-configuring to do before I could get back
on Mindspring and real Internet access.
As a former AOL staffer, I still have an AOL account with megacredited
hours from the work I did for them. Of course, I will lose those with
this new payment plan. Am I surprised? No. Will I pay to keep an AOL
account? Probably not, since my heart is on the Internet, and at this
point, the only thing I like better about AOL is the ease of finding and
downloading shareware. And yes, I have tried shareware.com and other
sites, but AOL is simply easier.
Make no mistake: AOL is not a full-service Internet provider, but will
probably become one out of necessity. I feel sorry for those trying to
browse the Web from AOL.
AOL is clearly moving toward an advertising-supported model, and will
undoubtedly become profitable. If you had a magazine or newspaper with
a circulation of 6,000,000, the ad rates would be mind-boggling, and you
could literally afford to give away the service to make the ad money.
My major current complaint with AOL is their shabby treatment of remote
staff volunteers, the people who built the service into the success it
is today. I have my own horror stories about overbilling, poor service,
long phone waits, and "have you checked your modem string" suggestions,
as if my modem string that had worked for years suddenly morphed itself
into something defective. But those stories pale beside the cavalier
treatment of folks like myself who truly, idealist that I am, believed
in the community we were building on AOL, were willing to pay our own
money to create that community, and believed that we were valued for the
time, energy, and care we expended to help AOL to grow. Of course, this
new model of $19.95 for unlimited time totally eliminates the need for
remote staff to host chats on AOL and keep people online. When members
were paying by the hour, it was advantageous to keep them talking as the
meter ran. Now, it's a disadvantage, i.e. will cost AOL connect time.
What will count now is not the time members spend online but the numbers
of people viewing ads.
Make fun if you like, but it was an amazing thing to be part of, and
Adam, I don't think you were stupid to do it; I did too. I have been
online since 1983 (with Compuserve), and with AOL since 1991, and I was
proud to help build the forum I volunteered in into the largest on AOL.
However, in several significant and painful ways, I learned that I was
expendable to the corporate machine. Lesson learned.
Now I am using those skills to build community on the Web, and you know
what? I find more civility here, more helpfulness, more democracy, and
more fun than I ever found on AOL. Perhaps it's because most of the
Webmasters I know do this for the love of it, and while we all hope that
we can make enough money to support our sites, that's only part of why
we are here. Sure, there are some jerks here too, but it's easier to
deal with them myself than to rely on TOS.
I have moved most of my relatives and friends off of AOL and onto
Mindspring/Internet accounts, and they are all happy. It's harder to
set up, and initially harder to learn to use, but the benefits of being
able to have a customized setup are worth the trouble. I guess it's the
difference between those who buy a Packard Bell and those who choose
their own hard disk, modem, tower, monitor, CD-ROM, power supply, etc.
and build their own superb machine from the best available choices.
Becky
Becky Boone, Ph.D.
Publisher
http://www.qworld.org
http://www.wowwomen.com
http://www.transformations.com
Previous posts of the day
From: kmennie@chat.carleton.ca (K.M. Mennie)
Newsgroups: alt.religion.kibology
Subject: Re: Pooh vs Paddington
Date: 21 Oct 1996 23:44:00 GMT
Organization: Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada
Paul A Sturm (stur0028@gold.tc.umn.edu) wrote:
> Anyway, I posited this question to a friend of mine. Who would win,
> Winnie the Pooh, or Paddington Bear?
I saw a bra'n'panties set today with Pooh printed on it (Disneyized Pooh,
not Shepard's Pooh -- his is presumably printed on tablecloths or
something, and he and Milne are both rolling and vomiting in their
graves). A curious combination. `Sex and childhood, together at last.' Oh,
wait, that's AOL. No mind.
--
<news:alt.fan.kia-mennie> <web:http://aaln.org/ht_lit>
From: richj@superlink.net (Rich Jankowski)
Newsgroups: alt.aol-sucks
Subject: His boy Adam!
Date: Tue, 01 Oct 1996 16:18:59 GMT
Organization: Saturnlink Technologies - http://www.saturnlink.com/
I guess desperate times call for desperate measures. AOL seems to
have got a new ad company working for them. Gone are the daze of Adam
West (Who's doing the Psychic Friends Network now, BTW), AOL has got a
new strategy.
Their new commercial, to the tune of "The Jetsons", shows the impact
technology has on a family. They're driving the kids to school, while
bullshitting on a cell-phone, pumping quarters into a coffee machine,
and using America Online (!).
It pretty much has a trendy atmosphere where everyone gets their info
from AOL. Whether it's a personalized newspaper, or the Internet a
click away, AOL has it all. It gives it a hip-business type Greenwich
Village look, like everyone who's fashionable is using AOL to download
art.
One thing that hasn't changed:
AMERICA ONLINE INC
(NYSE:AOL)
Date: 10/01/1996
Time: 12:10:00
Last : 31 3/4
Change: -3 3/4
Newsgroups: alt.aol-sucks,alt.stupidity,alt.religion.kibology
Subject: Re: New AOL "Jetsons" Commercial
Date: 1 Oct 1996 14:40:52 GMT
trandall@mhv.net wrote:
: Saw that new AOL commercial today. Man are they stretching it!
: Ruined a perfectly good cartoon song too!
AOL crashed George Jetson's computer. He tried to sign back on, but was
told "Sorry, you're account is already logged in." As the billing kept
going, he was heard to cry out...
"Jane, stop this crazy thing!"
Newsgroups: alt.aol-sucks
From: kelani@kelani.com (Kelani Larethian)
Subject: The Second Coming of the Bisks?
Date: Thu, 26 Sep 1996 10:08:30 GMT
Yesterday I went to check my snail mail, and I found the following in
my box.
THREE 'new' 15 hour AOL Bisks
Somehow, they were all to the same address. I haven't received any in
such a long time, I thought they had cut back production. Obviously I
was wrong. I am scanning a copy of the Bisk cover itself, and it will
bne under a 'Bisk' link at my http://www.kelani.com/aol/ site by 7am
EST. These new bisks show a bunch of 20something people sprawled in
some kind of group hug. it's quite comical, actually. I've seen the
AOL members' gallery, and the people listed there are NOT the people
on this booklet!
Grounds for false advertising?
Also, have you ever noticed, AOL won't do anything to improve their
service, but they will pay graphic artists their high fees to create
an ever-improved bisklet? Priorities. that's all these is to it.
Priorities.
Kelani+----------------+Bisk
"and he looked upon it, and it was bad"
From: "Josef Faulkner" (panther@gate.net)
Subject: Cyberpromo Ban Banned
Newsgroups: alt.aol-sucks
Date: 9 Sep 96 17:57:54 GMT
I think that AOL should not be able to block any spam it recieves from any
sites. Considering how many of their users constantly flood the net with
their ignorance, it is only equal that they accept as much spam as they
send out. AOL takes the resources of the net and profits from them at a
much higher margin of taking than giving back, and I say they should get as
much noise if not more due to this fact.
Now AOL will have net-phone access, so they can eat up more of the net's
bandwidth and resources, while they attempt to protect their own from the
spammers.
I don't normally support the spammers, but in this case, I think AOL should
not censor email based on address. It would be like the post office
throwing away all of the junk mail for a certian city. I think it should
be left up to the individual's decision to add spammers to their own
killfile. If AOL doesn't supply their users with a killfile system, then
they deserve to lose business.
From: jkonarz@juno.com (Jason)
Newsgroups: alt.aol-sucks
Subject: Re: They're coming for you
Date: Mon, 19 Aug 1996 04:21:14 GMT
Organization: Netcom
destiny@crl.com (David Cassel) wrote:
>The St. Louis stop August 21 is at Union Station, 2-7pm. (Although either
>AOL's photographer is confused, or Union Station is a giant free-standing
>arch.)
The photographer must've had a bit too much to drink in preparation
for the big trip... or actually... c'mon... do you really think they
hired a photograher, or just stole a picture of the Arch from a
website or something? (Remember AOL & that bikini case...?)
For your information since I remember someone mentioning trends for
this road trip, Union Station is now a mall... Used to be a train
station, but hasn't been used for that purpose for quite some time...
I guess I'm probably gonna end up checking this out...
Question: Should I wear my WOW! shirt for being a charter member, or
my MSN beta tester shirt? : )
(I don't have any shirts from any ISP's... sorry...)
Jason (jkonarz@juno.com)
MMF scam information -- *without* spamming. :)
http://www.usps.gov/websites/depart/inspect/chainlet.htm
From: wendyg@cix.compulink.co.uk ("Wendy Grossman")
Subject: Re: WIRED Likes Us -- And Not AOL!
Organization: Compulink Information eXchange
Date: Sun, 25 Aug 1996 21:35:33 GMT
> alt.aol-sucks; and, let us not forget, 6) "You've got mail."
>
In the UK, it says, "You have Post."
wg
From: mgscheue@io.com (Mark G. Scheuern)
Newsgroups: alt.aol-sucks
Subject: Ned Brainard on AOL
Date: 20 Aug 1996 14:15:06 -0500
Organization: Illuminati Online
Nice piece in today's Flux (http://www.packet.com/flux/) He quotes
a "market sage" present at the conference call announcing AOL's
fourth-quarter results as saying "They missed all key revenue-generation
metrics, including subscriber additions and revenue per subscriber."
Also, this is in the current Wired:
"AOL Landfill: AOL disks have quickly replaced the Publishers Clearing
house come-ons as the most irritating junk mail we receive. And that's
not all. The disks are plastered across magazine covers, bundled with
just about every software title imaginable, and even served with pretzels
on airlines. One senses AOL is starting to get a little desperate in its
attempts to feed a teetering growth model that can no longer scale."
I certainly cringe at the thought of AOL's promised Fall "re-launch".
They've claimed to have drastically cut back on marketting for the summer,
but I got _four_ bisks last week. If not a new personal record for me,
it's close. And yesterday I got a GNN bisk. I hate to think of the
coming onslaught from these monkeys.
Mark
From: jegelhof@cloud9.net (James Egelhof)
Newsgroups: alt.aol-sucks,alt.online-service.america-online
Subject: Lawsuit Settlement Protest
Date: 2 Aug 1996 16:35:46 -0400
Organization: Cloud 9 Internet, White Plains, NY, USA
It's been a long time since I last posted to alt.aol-sucks :)
Last year, a class-action lawsuit was brought against America Online in
California. That suit claimed that AOL had overbilled its users by
rounding up connect time, charging for art, and providing a very slow
service; the damages were put back then as being in the millions of
dollars.
AOL, as you may know, is now trying to settle this suit. However, instead
of reimbursing users for the money that was stolen from them, the company
plans to give out near-worthless free hours. Also, as part of the
settlement, AOL users permanently waive their right to sue AOL for other
billing issues, such as illegal checking account deductions.
AOL would love to settle the suit this way. The plantiffs' lawyers, who
are going to receive $2.75 million from AOL once the case settles, are
also happy with it. The losing player in this arrangement is the AOL
user. The only hope they have of getting a better deal is to protest.
The Why America Online Sucks site (http://www.aolsucks.org) has set up a
Lawsuit Protest Petition. The list of signers-on will be presented to the
judge when the time comes for him to rule on the suitability of the
settlement. If enough AOL users reject this unfair agreement, then
perhaps he will see our position.
Please consider paying a visit to the lawsuit section on the web site
(http://www.aolsucks.org/lawsuit/). If you know any current or former AOL
users who haven't heard about what's going on, let them know; the lawsuit
will be over and done with on August 24th unless action is taken.
Thanks for your time.
-james
--
---
James Egelhof jegelhof@cloud9.net
Cloud 9 Consulting, Inc. +1 (914) 696-4000
White Plains, New York http://www.cloud9.net
A class action may damage a smaller company but, as a rule, has very
little long term effect on a big one. In fact, class action lawsuits
have become the darling of big business. It allows a company to settle
for a paltry sum, not publicly admit any wrong doing and be assured
that they can not be suied again for the same offence. It is
interesting to note that most companies come out of class actions
stronger from an investment stand point. There are cases where
companies even *pursue* such lawsuits knowing them to be cheaper to
get out of the way now than to risk hundreds or thousands of
individual cases down the road.
From: pilgrim@teleport.com (Vinny Hrovat)
Newsgroups: alt.aol-sucks
Subject: Re: Tuck FOS, what a joke.....
Date: Thu, 2 Feb 1995 17:22:15
Organization: Joe Bob's Kansas City of Japan
In article <3gmehj$9cr@newsbf02.news.aol.com> andrew686@aol.com (Andrew686)
writes:
>Sexy Kathy (sexykathy@aol.com) wrote:
>>The chat rooms in AOL have become a joke. I was talking to someone in a
>>room about her newborn and discussing baby bottles. Just when we said
>>"nipple", a room guide came in and gave us a TOS (term of service)
>>warning. This while another room was titled "Jack me Off" and not getting
>>shut.....seems with all the rediculous shit going on, thisstock is a good
>>one to short......
>Kathy, I'm starting to wonder if you are really an AOL member for 2
>reasons. 1:You keep bitching about it(AOL), yet you still use it.
>2:You don't seem to know anything about AOL.
>For one thing, guides won't show up unless someone asks for one. It's not
>like they sit and watch waiting for a chance to pounce on you, you fool.
Incorrect. The "guides" regularly wander throught the chat areas, especially
the areas with names which are in contention with fundamentalist christian
beliefs, such as those for gays or atheists. Kind of like the rent-a-cops who
randomly shine flashlights in your faces at rock concerts. Sometimes the
guides will be invisible to the paying customers... big brother is indeed
watching! Off duty guides, in their "plain clothes" screen names, often will
sit in these chat areas too, not contributing to the conversation, just
looking to harrass or "tell on" the paying customers.
>Another thing, rooms with names like "Jack me Off" are member-created
>rooms. TOS isn't enforced in those.
Horseshit. You're trying to tell the world that someone could go in create a
public chat area name like "Fuck me raw", or use language like that in one of
these rooms, and that would be acceptable by AOL's standards? Incorrect;
Steve Case said as much in the addendum to his January status letter - the one
about child pornography, remember? Case said those types of rooms and that
type of discussion WERE against AOL's standards but it was difficult keeping
up with enforcement. Probably because much of the "volunteer" staff is
randomly harrassing people for talking about baby bottles.
Andrew, it's bad enough that you didn't have two facts to rattle together in
your head when you posted here (all right, you didn't even have ONE
fact...). It also seems that you're implying that it's ALL RIGHT to harrass
and censor Sexy Kathy for talking about the business end of a baby bottle,
because that's just the way they do things at AOL. You are PAYING for a
service from America Online, and you have the right to complain, to negotiate,
to ask for more, and to walk away if they continue their policies of
subjective and unilateral harrassment. Actually, you're probably NOT paying,
Andrew, but your parents are (just a guess), and i bet they'll be pissed when
they see their credit card bill; at $2.95 / hour it gets expensive to keep up
with these newsgroups and to sit around in chats exchanging party line
misinformation.
>Quote from a no name:
Yeah i just quoted a no name and he didn't have much to say.
Ahhh, flames and coffee on a quiet afternoon... life is good.
_/ _/ _/
_/ _/ _/_/_/ _/_/_/ _/ _/
_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/
_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/
_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/_/_/
"Omni ignotum pro magnifico est" _/
_/_/
(Opinions expressed herein are mine, etc.)
From: sexykathy@aol.com (SEXY KATHY)
Newsgroups: alt.aol-sucks
Subject: Tuck FOS, what a joke.....
Date: 31 Jan 1995 08:57:38 -0500
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)
The chat rooms in AOL have become a joke. I was talking to someone in a
room about her newborn and discussing baby bottles. Just when we said
"nipple", a room guide came in and gave us a TOS (term of service)
warning. This while another room was titled "Jack me Off" and not getting
shut.....seems with all the rediculous shit going on, thisstock is a good
one to short......
From: toofisback@aol.com (ToofIsBack)
Newsgroups: alt.aol-sucks
Subject: Re: Tuck FOS, what a joke.....
Date: 3 Feb 1995 05:10:26 -0500
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)
But if you would notice and any given night, that 95% of ALL of the member
rooms have something to do with either 1.)Sex 2.) Pornography 3.) Child
Pornography. But yet they still do nothing about it.
From: mfranowski@aol.com (MFranowski)
Newsgroups: alt.aol-sucks
Subject: Germans! DESTROY AOL!!!
Date: 21 Jul 1996 16:52:29 -0400
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)
In Germany we have a paying method which the americans do not have. its
called Lastschrift-Verfahren. you use it with a bank account called
"giro-konto"
You can pay with it at AOL. aol can not verify the account number very as
fast as they can it with credit cards. so you can use aol 2-3 weeks
freely. then, when they got the picture and cancelled your account, you
can do it another time. and another. that is cool.
so, try it!
-640k should be enough for everyone-
Bill Gates, 1981
From: artstone@tir.com (Art Stone)
Newsgroups: alt.aol-sucks
Subject: AOL Stock Watch - AMER closes below 30
Date: Tue, 23 Jul 1996 01:08:45 GMT
Organization: AOL Truth Squad
AMER closed at 29 1/2 today (Monday)...
During last week's market unrest, AMER dipped down to 27, but today's
close was near the low for the day. Volume continues strong - well
above the average volume. The trading range for the past 52 weeks is
23 7/8 through 71... In one or two more weeks, AMER will be trading
at a 52-week low if it just stays in the high 20's
AOL's fiscal year earnings are due out around August 10th +/- a few
days.
If this keeps up, those 26 million options at $13/share won't be worth
a whole lot...
Art Stone (ex-AOL customer since 3/1/96)
--
Are you ready to leave AOL for the Internet? Take the quiz and see.
http://kode.net/~artstone/isptest/
From: artstone@tir.com (Art Stone)
Newsgroups: alt.aol-sucks
Subject: Steve Case reassures Wall Street that Everything is OK
Date: Tue, 23 Jul 1996 01:41:39 GMT
Organization: AOL Truth Squad
http://www.cnet.com/Content/News/Files/0,16,1880,00.html
Mr. Case telegraphed that AOL finished the year at 6.2 million members
*worldwide*... He also indicates that earnings are OK and will meet
the street estimates of $.16 per share.
It is worth mentioning that AOL seems to have an "extraordinary"
one-time writeoff almost every quarter, which tends to make AMER have
"earnings" from operations, but still wind up with little or no
income...
At .16 per share and today's stock price close of $29 1/2, that still
would be a PE ratio of 46.... beginning to enter the realm of
reasonableness...
Art Stone (ex-AOL customer since 3/1/96)
--
Are you ready to leave AOL for the Internet? Take the quiz and see.
From: destiny@wco.com (David Cassel)
Newsgroups: alt.aol-sucks
Subject: AOL 3.0 is late
Date: 10 Jul 1996 17:38:35 GMT
Organization: West Coast Online, Inc.
Steve Case's July letter says AOL 3.0 for Windows 95 and the Macintosh is,
of course, late. Case's promises are legendary; "some of our most active
customers have been asking about 'heavy user pricing'" Case wrote -- in
August of 1995 -- adding that AOL was also modifying the software so
"you'll be able to enter new areas much faster and start exploring while
the graphics are being sent". It took eleven months.
http://www.aol.com/about/updates/1995/950803.html
Now for today's riddle.
Q: How does Steve Case say "It's late"?
A: "I've got good news for Macintosh and Windows95 members -- we're
making terrific progress on the development and testing of the 3.0
versions for those platforms, and we're on track for a Fall release!"
http://www.aol.com/about/updates/1996/960707.html
destiny@crl.com /\ ONGOING COVERAGE of class action settlement opposition
/ \ Do you support the proposed settlement?
==============================================================================
/__________\ http://www.crl.com/~destiny/time.htm
From: mgscheue@io.com (Mark G. Scheuern)
Newsgroups: alt.aol-sucks
Subject: AOL "most overvalued stock"
Date: 16 Jul 1996 06:49:27 -0500
Organization: Illuminati Online
Summary: WSJ on AOL stock
Keywords: AOL,sucks, stock,overvalued
Some interesting stuff in today's "Heard on the Street" column in the Wall
Street Journal:
"David Rocker, head of Rocker Partners, a well-known New York hedge fund,
considers America Online (which sank 8.4%,or $3.25, to close at $35.25
yesterday) the most overvalued stock in the market. He says that America
Online is making the same mistake made by Apple Computer 'seeking to
maintain a proprietary architecture,' while rivals have 'embraced the open
standards of the Internet.'"
"Moreover, Mr. Rocker says, America Online's 'cancellations are running
1.4 million per quarter, net new sign-ups are way down from last year's
level, and the company reported $14 million in net income for the last
nine months only because [it] capitalized $200 million in marketing costs.
The president, brought in with great fanfare, left after only four
months.'"
Mark
From: destiny@crl.com (David Cassel)
Newsgroups: alt.aol-sucks,alt.online-service.america-online,alt.aol.rejects,
alt.america.online,alt.online-service
Subject: Mandatory art downloads *worse*
Date: 5 Jul 1996 22:52:32 -0700
Organization: CRL Dialup Internet Access (415) 705-6060 [Login: guest]
I was on AOL tonight. When I went to sign off, I was told
Please wait while we add new art to your system.
AOL forced me to wait while they downloaded artwork for an advertisement
for Nick at Night before I could log off!
Below that ad was a plug for AOL's tips area. Incredibly, that area's
slogan was "Make the most of your time online."
destiny@crl.com /\ UPDATED DAILY: AOL Watch * Hackers, censors & disks
/ \ Saturday: Class action suit settled
==============================================================================
/__________\ http://www.crl.com/~destiny/time.htm
Visit the "Life on AOL" series...
From: Sean Smith (smthsen@bcvms.bc.edu)
Newsgroups: alt.religion.kibology
Subject: Re: Life on AOL - Part III
Date: 9 Jul 1996 08:53:12 -0700
Organization: Zippo
In article <4rkv3h$eu5@crl8.crl.com>, destiny@crl.com says...
>
>
>I was on AOL tonight. When I went to sign off, I was told
>
>
> Please wait while we add new art to your system.
>
>
>AOL forced me to wait while they downloaded artwork for an advertisement
>for Nick at Night before I could log off!
"Halt! Do not step away from your computer or you will be disintegrated!
And now, we will download a 500 MB reproduction of 'The Scream.' Remember,
if you attempt in any way to interfere with this procedure, you will be
destroyed! Balok has spoken!"
>Below that ad was a plug for AOL's tips area. Incredibly, that area's
>slogan was "Make the most of your time online."
I think they meant that, while you're waiting for all the downloading,
data transference, etc., you should read a book, pay your bills, give
your raccoon a flea bath, conceive a child, and so on.
Sean ("Not necessarily in that order") Smith
smthsen@bcvms.bc.edu
/////////////\\\\\\\\\\\
{~"Music is the brandy of the damned." --G.B. Shaw~}
From: Dan Meredith
Newsgroups: alt.aol-sucks
Subject: Re: New AOL to be supported by ads.
Date: Sat, 06 Jul 1996 18:26:27 -0600
Organization: IDT Corporation
If you are still on AOL you can download a utility called "art-valve"
that will bypass all of the ads..automatically.I don't remember where
it is but I downloaded on AOL when I was there and it really works!No
more waiting for ad updates...It's shareware for around $5 but is
worth the bucks..
From: knewkirk@pacifier.com (Kathryn Graham)
Newsgroups: alt.aol-sucks
Subject: Interesting News
Date: 6 Jul 1996 08:14:37 GMT
Organization: What organization?
---------------------------------------------
This saves them from making nice with the droves of people who dumped the
'service' over the billing question to say nothing of others who gave up
due to crappy access.
It will be interesting to see how much time they dole out to 'certain'
customers. Time really means nothing to them as it's now the ads and
commercial accounts they want to cozy up with. Tech support can hand out
time in 3 hour blocks. This is going to be fun.
Kathie
From: jaffo@onramp.net (Jaffo)
Newsgroups: alt.religion.kibology,biz.books,biz.general,biz.misc,alt.business,
alt.business.home,alt.business.import-export,alt.business.misc
Subject: Dear Business Week
Date: Wed, 03 Jul 1996 20:17:52 GMT
Organization: Crossroads Entertainment
First, let me congratulate you on your excellent product, Business Week Online
on AOL. Your service delivers exactly as promised, every article, every week,
Online.
I have a suggestion on a way you could improve your service that would mean a
lot to me personally.
Every week, I go through your Online publication and I'm continually
frustrated. Your articles are so good, that I feel the need to print them out
for posterity. To show them to friends, file away for future reference, or
perhaps just to capture those excellent photographs.
I don't have the disk space to store everything, but I'm willing to spare a
little space in my paper files for these printouts.
That brings me to my idea.
Why don't you guys offer some kind of "Business Week Printout Service" where
you can print out the full content of your Business Week Online section and
mail the results to people who request it. Perhaps for a reasonable fee.
I think I would be willing to pay up to $50 a year for quality printouts of
your publication. If you need to bring the cost down, I would even be willing
to look through pages of commercial advertisements.
I would be happy to pay for these "transcripts" just to have a permanent
record of Business Week I can pass on to my children.
It's a shame to have such a quality product vanish each week into some
computer. I think this Printout Service would bring your publication to the
cutting edge of Online technology.
Perhaps you can start a trend?
Thank you for your time.
Jaffo
--
Chief Executive In Charge of Wheel, Cog, and Bimbo Greasing
Certified In Bribery, Collusion, Graft, and Bimbo Eruption
Kibo For President Campaign, 1996
http://rampages.onramp.net/~jaffo
From: mgscheue@io.com (Mark G. Scheuern)
Newsgroups: alt.aol-sucks
Subject: NY Times on AOL email outage
Date: 24 Jun 1996 08:31:33 -0500
Organization: Illuminati Online
Today's New York Times reports, in an article entitled "When On-Line
Service Cannot be Counted On", that "The electronic mail system of
America Online, the largest commercial on-line service with more
than 6 million subscribers, was knocked out for an hour Wednsday
afternoon when a planned system software upgrade backfired." It
continues "A spokeswoman for America Online said overall system
reliability has improved significantly since 1994, when hordes of
new users overwhelmed the service's network capacity, causing
widespread shutdowns and slowdowns. The company also has periodic
scheduled shutdowns for system maintenance."
Do they still have these "scheduled shutdowns" nearly every morning?
It's also not clear to me how making excuses about AOL's problems with
lack of network capacity in 1994 helps explain what happened on Wednesday.
From: declan@well.com (Declan McCullagh)
Newsgroups: comp.org.eff.talk
Subject: The Violence of Censorship -- An open letter to AOL
Date: 17 Jun 1996 08:49:04 -0700
Organization: EFF mail-news gateway
I was forwarded the following message about the latest sex-related speech
suppression incident at AOL. After a visit to the web site in question, I'd
say that Susie Block's ("Dr. Suzie's") web site falls within the compass of
prohibited material that's defined by AOL's notoriously broad terms of
service agreement.
What a surprise. Big news here, folks -- AOL is antsy about sex.
Of course, as with overbroad speech codes at private universities, AOL has
the *power* to restrict this type of speech -- it doesn't mean that the
company's actions are justified.
I spoke with the AOL supervisor, Lexie Haines, earlier today. She told me
she's unwilling to comment "at this point" and might be willing to talk
tomorrow. "I only just got in and read this email myself. I'd like to
discuss the situation with the rest of my staff."
-Declan
http://fight-censorship.dementia.org/top/
---------------------------
>Date: Sat, 15 Jun 1996 03:02:11 -0700 (PDT)
>From: Ben Schlaver
From: bladex@bga.com (David Smith)
Newsgroups: comp.org.eff.talk
Subject: Re: The Violence of Censorship -- An open letter to AOL
Date: 20 Jun 1996 04:53:55 GMT
Organization: Real/Time Communications Internet customer posting
Rahul Dhesi (dhesi@rahul.net) wrote:
: In
: (Declan McCullagh) writes:
: >Of course, as with overbroad speech codes at private universities, AOL has
: >the *power* to restrict this type of speech -- it doesn't mean that the
: >company's actions are justified.
: I don't understand the problem.
It is not so much that AOL has terms of services (TOS) but that they are
inconsistent in application, that there are clear double standards, that
the enforcement doesn't make much sense, and in this case enforced without
adequate notification.
There is no reason that Lexie whoever couldn't have examined the web site
and ask for material to be removed *before* they shut it down.
: It's a global market. Somebody who
: chooses to gets Internet connectivity via AOL is not obliged to also
: choose to keep Web pages there. There must be a few thousand other Web
: page providers that would not mind hosting the Web pages in question.
: And from AOL you should be able to telnet/ftp/http to any of them.
: --
Agreed 100%. Let your checkbook do the talking.
But that doesn't mean you can't call AOL goon squads, either, when they
deserve it.
--
David Smith * Next EFF-Austin meeting:
bladex@bga.com * Fifth Anniversary Cyberdawg
President, EFF-Austin * Steve Jackson Games, 2700-A Metcalfe
512-304-6308 * Saturday, July 20th, 6:00 p.m. to dusk
From: smythe@slip.net (Smythe)
Newsgroups: alt.aol-sucks
Subject: From alt.humor.best-of-usenet
Date: Thu, 20 Jun 1996 17:11:24 GMT
Organization: ConGlomCo, Inc
I had to share this one :)
Subject: Re: ALERT TO ALL PARENTS!
From: rep@sky.net (REP)
Newsgroups: soc.men, soc.women, sci.med, alt.pagan, sci.math, sci.astro,
uk.misc, soc.bi, rec.boats, rec.video, alt.beer, rec.nude, alt.rap,
alt.slack, alt.rave, sci.chem, comp.arch, alt.bbs, rec.pets, alt.irc,
alt.teens, sci.lang, sci.crypt, sci.econ, alt.wired, talk.bizarre
[Submitter's note: The "Blue Star" (kids tattoos laced with LSD) urban
legend is circulating again.]
MORPH10625 (morph10625@aol.com) wrote:
: This was forwarded to my email. I can't believe that people would do
: this to children, it just shows how sick the world has become and how
: scum like drug dealers would do anything to make money. I apologize
: for posting this to newsgroups where it might not be strictly on
: topic, but this is very important and should be of interest to
: everyone!
------------------------------------------------------------
-
WARNING TO EVERYONE: If you have a computer or know who does, regardless
of their ages, you should read this! A form of fake software, called "AOL
FREE TRIAL OFFER" is given away free of charge to knuckle-draggers and
mouth-breathers. It is either a small floppy diskette or a bright shiney
CD. This software is soaked with free hours in order to addict the unwary
to this braincell-destroying on-line service.
The inks used on the packaging react with the moisture and oils in your
hands, and SIMPLY TOUCHING IT is likely to cause huge bills and the
uncontrollable urge to post urban legends just about everywhere.
THERE HAVE BEEN SEVERAL DEATHS FROM OVERDOSES, AND MORE DUE TO THE
OVERCHARGING. AOL is EXTREMELY DANGEROUS and extremely addicting.
Symptoms to watch for include: hallucinations, mood swings uncontrolled
vomiting, drop in body temperature, dizziness, severely dilated pupils,
and severe vomiting. Up to an hour can pass between contact with AOL and
the beginning of the AOL "trip". If you suspect that someone has become a
victim of one of these free software diskettes, you must take him or her
immediately to the hospital and call the police.
These usually come wrapped in shrink-wrap. Some have been reported to have
different designs, but the FREE HOURS design is the most common.
NOTE: Please feel free to reproduce this article and spread it within
your community and work place. This danger must be made known. Distribute
the warning as wide as you can, this is growing faster than we can warn
parents and professionals.
----------------------------------------------------------
-
-
-
Moderators accept or reject articles based solely on the criteria posted
in the Frequently Asked Questions. Article content is the responsibility
of the submittor. Submit articles to ahbou-sub@acpub.duke.edu. To write
to the moderators, send mail to ahbou-mod@acpub.duke.edu.
--
Smythe smythe@slip.net
http://www.slip.net/~smythe
Secret message for Federal CDA Greppers follows:
Fuvg, cvff, shpx, phag, pbpxfhpxre, zbgureshpxre, gvgf!
Pursuant to US Code, Title 47, Chapter 5, Subchapter II, §227,
any and all nonsolicited commercial E-mail sent to this address
is subject to a download and archival fee in the amount of $500
US. E-mailing denotes acceptance of these terms.
From: bunny@cam.org (T'Caro de Vulcain)
Newsgroups: alt.aol-sucks
Subject: Dozens of AOL disks in the building's trash !
Date: 15 Jun 1996 04:01:38 GMT
Organization: CAM
Last week, as I came home, I saw a bunch of AOL "introduction" packs in
the trash can that usually sits empty next to the row of mailboxes in my
building. Most people that live here don't even own a computer and still,
they got this nice little package adressed to them personnally. Mine also
went to disk heaven since, of course, they sent me a WIN95 disk and for
some "unknown" reason, my Mac just won't let me install the thing (!!)...
They did the same at the office and sent each and every employee their own
little package and all of them _also_ took a trip down the alley with the
garbage man. I can't recall ever seeing that many of the same publicity
item being thrown out unopened !
What a waste, really, what a waste, no wonder they overbill people over
and over, they need money to pay for useless maillings such as those.
Where the hell do they get their mailling lists from anyway ?!!! Geeeeez
! ...and to think such a poorly run network actually has peying users,
dear Lord !
From: nickb@primenet.com (Nick S Bensema)
Newsgroups: alt.religion.kibology,alt.society.generation-x,alt.doobry
Subject: Re: Things that make you say..."Hmmmmmm."
Date: 13 Jun 1996 18:51:02 -0700
Organization: Primenet (602)416-7000
In article <4pq7u7$k1b@doc.jmu.edu>,
Lee S. Bumgarner <bumgarls@falcon.jmu.edu> wrote:
>
>Bill Introduced to Ban Ads TV for Liquor
>
>
> WASHINGTON (Reuter) - A bill to ban liquor commercials on television
> and radio will be introduced Thursday in Congress, Rep. Joseph Kennedy
> said.
>
> Kennedy was responding to the decision by Joseph Seagram and Sons to
> begin running television commercials this week for whisky on KRIS-TV,
> the NBC affiliate in Corpus Christi, Texas.
When I get elected to Congress, I will ban all commercials.
Starting with liquor. The beer-to-girls association is just the most
misleading dreck one can scome up with. As it the beer-to-volleyball
association, beer-to-sports, and beer-to-television association.
Within six month they'll establish a beer-to-Internet association, and if
you thought AOL was bad up to now, wait until those 500 million
subscribers start posting drunk!
--
N i c k B e n s e m a <nickb@primenet.com> KUPD Red Card #710563 ,-._|\
" " " " " " " " " " " """""""""""""""""""" ''''''''''''''''''''' / \
On 22 July, 1996, at 6:00 pm GMT, everyone in the world Phoenix-->*_,--._/
just START HUMMING. Those who don't know will freak. Tucson-->v
From: radix@pentagon.io.com (())
Newsgroups: alt.aol-sucks
Subject: Re: TOS: "THREE STRIKES AND YOU'RE OUT"
Date: 18 Jan 1995 02:16:59 -0600
Organization: Illuminati Online
[...]
ObAlt.aol-sucks: Well, I decided to take an advanced psychology class at UT
this semester for fun. When I went to the University Co-op last night to buy
the text for it, you'll never guess what I found printed on the fucking back.
Actually, you probably will... Yup, a fucking AOL advertisement similar to
the one on the McDonald's bag...
...On my friggen $65 psychology text!!
Now every damn time I pick up that book I have to look at their stupid
advertisement...mother fuckers...FOAD, AOL.
From: bechtel@email.unc.edu Andrew Bechtel at University of North Carolina, Chapel H
Newsgroups: alt.aol-sucks
The distribution of campus phonebooks was delayed this sememster at
UNC-Chapel Hill because each book was shrink-wrapped with an AOL disc.
Everyone should have the new directory by Thanksgiving, according to the
Daily Tar Heel student newspaper.
Now, why any student or faculty member would want AOL when they have free
Internet access thru the university is beyond me...
From: me
Newsgroups: alt.aol-sucks
Subject: Destroy America Online Finacially
Date: Sat, 08 Jun 1996 12:19:30 -0700
Organization: none
i used to be a member of aol. they constantly ripped me off so
thats why im anti-aol. keep on calling there 1800 number and request a
software package on cd. the cds cost them atleast$5 per person they send
them to. the cds cost them the most money
-matt ex-customer since april
From: dpinero@pobox.com (David Pinero)
Newsgroups: alt.aol-sucks,alt.aol.rejects
Subject: Re: Phishers galore!
Date: Tue, 04 Jun 1996 12:34:51 GMT
Organization: Netcom
On Tue, 04 Jun 1996 05:22:40 GMT, herriman@cris.com (Richard Cretan)
wrote:
>>Apparently, AOL hasn't solved its phishers problem with its little notes
>>on the bottom of IMs.
Here are some of the Post-Notice Phishings that have been tried:
** If your account is displaying our warning about giving out your
password with with distorted punctuation at the end, please enter your
password now to correct the problem. (The distorted punctuation, is
of course, the emoticion that many newbies are unfamiliar with and
which appears at the end of the message).
** Enter your password now to turn on pass-block, which offers
protection beyond the simple password warning given below. Pass-block
uses national caller-ID and is absolutely free.
** Enter your password to confirm that you understand the warning
below.
** Attention, your new AOL password is (fill in the blank). Please
go to member services and change your password to (fill in the blank
again). If you do not wish to use this password, please enter your
current password now to retain it. This message will reappear for
your convenience every six months. Also, please note our security
reminder below!
** Please help conserve passwords. Receive your next hour on AOL free
by volunteering to use the password (fill in the blank). Go to member
services. Once your password is changed to (fill in the blank) you
will begin receiving free time immediately.
** Just a friendly reminder to never give out your password. To see
if your password has been violated this session, enter your password
now and wait for results.
....and the list goes on. As you can see, the little warning is not
enough when dealing with newbies.
Dave
**
David Pinero
dpinero@pobox.com / http://www.pobox.com/~dpinero
DigiCom, Inc. Web Site http://www.pobox.org.sg/~digicom
From: tdave365@aol.com (David Pinero)
Newsgroups: alt.america.online,alt.aol-sucks
Subject: Officials Surround AOL Compound
Date: Mon, 18 Mar 1996 04:43:42 GMT
APA Newswire -- March 18, 1996
Federal market-influencing authorities surrounded the compound of
AOL cult-leader Stephen "Online" Case today in an early morning siege
geared at ridding the marketing master of his stronghold, and freeing
what authorities call "hostages of knowledge".
"We figure he's got 5 maybe 5 and a half million of'em in there..."
said one official at the scene who spoke on the condition of
anonymity.
The task force, composed of authorities at Compuserve, AT&T,
Netscape, Microsoft, and a handful of national internet providers;
surprised the compound while henchmen were blissfullly backing up
system tapes. Officials who arrived at the scene were first told by
brazen system messages to "Return after 7:00 a.m.".
But officials did not retreat.
Just after 10:35 a.m., the following transcript of the hostage
negotions with cult leader Case were released to the clammering media:
(Transcript Begins)
Task Force Commander (TFC): Steve Case! Come out with the flat rate!
Do it NOW!
Steve Case (SC) (From an isolated window): Up yer ass copper! Make
yer move and I'll fry'em all! Ya hear me!
TFC: Don't be stupid Case! Your number's up here! The Internet is
too big for you to take on! Come on out now and we'll go easy on ya!
SC: Not a chance, flat foot! We're goin' on wid' "inte-grattion".
Ya hear me!? In-ter-graaation! Fuck you all!
(spray of gunfire erupts from the window where Steve Case is shouting
from. Heads duck all around.)
TFC: There's no chance in the world, Case! Think of your innocnet
members. They have FAMILIES, LOVED ones....
SC: And I've gott'em ALL by the balls, Hoover-Boy! I've gotte'm ALL!
So come take yer' best shot and woe this glorious day! My members are
prepared to DIE! Woe unto us this glorious daaay!
TFC: Just lower your rates Case! The days of $2.95 an hour are OVER.
You can't win this one, just do it and play nice! Don't make us play
hard ball!
SC: It is NOT over. Never!
(more spraying of gunfire)
COMPUSERVE: Listen to him Steve! It's inevitable! Look--WE did it.
We are your friend, Case. We only want what's best for you!
SC: You were weak! You're ALL weak! Bastards!
COMPUSERVE: No, Case. NO! We were not weak. But it's the future.
The Internet is here to stay, and it's bigger and better than ANY of
us! Now come out of there before you kill someone with those bytes!
NETSCAPE: It's true Steve! C'mon, -we're- pals aren't we!? GNN and
Netscape (crosses fingers to demonstrate a tight bond). GNN and
Netscape all the way! Waddya say old boy!?
(there is a long silence between anxious members of the task force and
the madman held up inside. Suddenly, there is the faint sound of
sobbing, and then a small voice which is that of a blubbering Steve
Case)
SC (still sobbing): Netscape?
NETSCAPE: Yeah, Steve. What...what is it?
SC: I--I'm sorry I let Microsoft in.
NETSCAPE (taking deep breath and lowering head): I know you are
Steve.
SC: I know Explorer sucks.
NETSCAPE (nodding): I know, Steve. We all know. We'll...we'll make
it with GNN, okay?
SC: But, but...but I can't let go of $2.95 an hour. I just CAN'T!
(suddenly an ominous chanting comes from within the walls of AOL. It
is described by witnesses as an eerie chant of death)
CHANTING AOL CROWD APPEARING ON ROOFTOP IN HUNDREDS: We want to pay
$2.95 an hour...We want to pay $2.95 an hour...We want to pay $2.95 an
hour...We want to pay $2.95 an hour...We want to pay $2.95 an hour....
AT&T: You've got'em brainwashed, Steve. You know it and I know it!
Set them free Steve! Set them FREE!
(End of transcript)
At that point Case pulled out the holy "TOS", official scripture of
AOL, and began reading it to the swelling mass of support from behind
him. Authorities readied for an imminent attack upon the defiant
leader.
Microsoft officials were later quoted as saying, "Our browser
definietely does not suck. Hey, did Windows suck?"
More details will be released as they develop.
Dave