Jahar Aabye

Io, your problem is that, much as you like to pretend otherwise, you care. You care deeply about some issues.

Jahar Aabye

Btw, the Whitesnake reference made me pull up "Here I go Again"

Ahhhh, memories of college and drinking.

Joshua Nightshade

Cris should ban these discussions around Prokofy simply because she's clearly reading this site with rabid determination and can't wait to reply to everything said on her own site.

"Joshua's attempt to insinuate that I or others cannot do this merely serves his own interests as the boyfriend of the founder of the grid creating the software for LCO, as he wishes it to remain with a good reputation. But if there are problems, if people start coming up with complaints and concerns, sorry, they don't get to be intimidated into being shut up by the software designer's boyfriend."


I would normally say "Go back and read the many posts here where I've said I dislike the commercial grids, LCO included, and have no interest in any of them at all." Ofcourse I know that's a failed effort with Prokofy, but trust me, neither myself nor Adam need to remain "in good reputation" with anyone. I'm also not Adam's spokesperson, neither is he mine. I love how Prokofy gets to be her own person when she's attacked, but if she has a problem with anyone else who happens to know someone or once wrote someone else an IM or an email, suddenly they're minions or cohorts.

It's also another example of her incredible hypocrisy in attacking my personal relationship that has nothing to do with any of this, while at the same time screeching that her personal life be left out of the discussions.

Vivianne Draper

you, jerkface. wtf have you been dammit! i MISS you!

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Phoenix Psaltery

/me looks sideways at some girl with blue butterfly wings



P2

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Five59 Online Graphic Design
Phoenix's Plurk | Phoenix's Flickr| Phoenix's Rarely Updated Blog

Macphisto Angelus

I am all for banning the discussions based on two reasons:

1. This is now being elevated to legal areas.

2. To stop the attention outpouring Prok is getting.

It has elevated that blog to relevance again.. something that took a couple years to go away from. A home run was hit for attention with that first story.. now this is just feeding the machine.

It really does need to end.

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If life is just a joke, why aren't we laughing?

Chantal

I absolutely agree.

Except... Prok always takes everything public. She attacks, is at times sparing with the truth (ahem), and tends to wear down anybody who doesn't share her opinion with the sheer volume of it all and her refusal to enter into debate: she just attacks again, gratuitously and sweepingly (and lengthily!).

Quite simply, she's the most outrageous, vicious, self-important twit I've ever seen blogging.

I see people try to reason with her - and with any halfway reasonable blogger you would get an exchange of views. But she just cannot do that. And it's the sheer frustration of seeing her grasp at anything that she can pontificate on and condemn that makes people want to see her get some form of come-uppance. And I'll be honest - me included.

The only 'truth' with Prok, in her opinion, is hers. She considers herself to be above everybody else. And that gets to people. As she intends it to.

Joshua Nightshade

"Joshua's relationship with Adam Zaius isn't some private and personal matter, as he has flaunted it on every possible social media and in public at SLCC and in public forums precisely because he wants to get as much mileage as he can out of being related to one of the FIC leaders of SL, and envisions himself as a kind of First Couple of the Metaverse.

BTW, I predict this relationship won't last through 2009."


Case in point.

Brenda Archer

Has anyone heard any direct public comments from Simone herself? I haven't. I don't blame her for that either.

Without that, we have even *less* knowledge about how much of what Prokofy is saying is true.

The worst thing that can be said about Simone that all the parties which are talking agree about, is that she may not have paid a bill and then won't talk about it, which is hardly a harsh accusation.

But I know what I *can* see for myself, and what I can see for myself are the blog and forum posts from Lala and her staff. None of these people look ready to responsibly handle money in an online business.

There are serious rules about this stuff, imposed directly by the bank processing the funds - rules and procedures which are to be followed. Now if you're processing transactions via PayPal, Lindens and funny money, it doesn't matter.

But if you plan to take credit cards for three digit figures I do suggest you sit down with the likes of Wells Fargo or Paymentech and see just how friggin' strict they are about merchants handling money, oh yeah.

LL has had its moments but they've never made me afraid for having a debit card on file with them.

Briar Bing

Typical, vicious, and hypocritical bullshit.

I remember her whining non-stop about "The Shunning", which never even ended up happening, yet she had no problem attempting to try and get people to shun me when she invaded a birthday thread someone had started on my birthday, on the old SL forums.

She ranted about people speculating about her RL gender, and them went on to do just that to Aimee, Sensual, and others.

I could come up with examples all night long.

It's a joke.

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The fact that man knows right from wrong proves his intellectual superiority to other creatures; but the fact that he can do wrong proves his moral inferiority to any creature that cannot.
~Mark Twain

Cristiano

Not true - very early on Prokofy said in her comments that Simone was not commenting at the advice of counsel. The C&D letter had not been sent at that time. The C&D letter was a response to the blog entry.

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"At least he died doing what he loved most - blogging on the Huffington Post" - 30 Rock

* slu stuff *

Chantal

Yep, but it's not funny when you're at the receiving end, I think. However reasonable you think you are, however much you think you can laugh it off.

She is extremely talented at getting under people's skin. Also at goading people into replying.

I used to read with that 'trainwreck fascination' - throw the first stone those who never did that.

But I've seen her taking too much pleasure in wrecking things and people to have any, even grudging, respect for her undeniable talent for attracting attention.

Cristiano

You've never obviously heard the horror stories of multiple billings and overbilled tier. Using a debit card online attached to any kind of checking account is bad news in general. At least with a credit card you aren't out any money instantly when there is a problem. The only problem I have with LL is their transactions tend to trip the fraud detection measures on my credit card and I have to call in and approve the charge.

Brenda Archer

I have heard of them, actually, and I agree there have been serious problems with the LL billing. Indeed the thing that made me finally pull out of active participation in SL was the VAT mess (which did not affect me at all directly).

But it's one thing to klutz up a billing situation and then try to fix it (this happens in large companies all the time - for example, I spent four months hammering out a mess involving Comcast), and it is quite another thing to go emo on your customers when something goes wrong. It leaves a bystander wondering if they'd be blamed the same way, if they were a customer with a complaint or a problem.

I don't believe Prok's account of the situation - something is off. But what she has done is make a lot of people go researching through what is already up on the innerwebs, which I did a bit of, and it was enough for me. Not the hearsay, but the posts from the staff.

Customer confidentiality is VERY important. So is a willingness to troubleshoot in an even handed way when issues arise.

And believe me I've had Prok go nuts on me so I know what that is about. That's why I doubt her so much.

But I have to look at all this from the point of view of a former community organizer. Whoever I trust, I ask others to trust. It's a very big deal to me.

Cristiano

Brenda,

I do actually agree with you, I was just mentioning that. I remember a long time ago, when Gaming Open Market was still around, and there was a forum discussion about them. Sensual Casanova posted something critical of them, and one of the owners posted "it's not like you are even using GOM now" or something similar, which I found to be an incredible breach of customer privacy. I was already not a fan of GOM, that sealed the deal for me (I used big EVOL IGE instead).

I agree that privacy is paramount, especially with financial transactions. I do think Prokofy managed to goad LaLa and she overstepped trying to prove herself, which is easy to do in that situation. Many people will judge her based on that disclosure. It goes with the territory, and I can't blame someone for now being wary because of it.

It is a shame that this entire situation did not stay private - being in the public eye has only made it into a trainwreck that has damaged both sides of the dispute.

Brenda Archer

Thank you, and I completely agree. I hope this can all work out for the better.

Off-topic, I used to use IGE myself and they were fine. I was impatient and they were quick.

Cristiano

I never had a problem either - some people did have horror stories though and IGE is a pretty shady company overall. It's funny how the desire for speed will eventually trump everything else. I swore I would never use SLEX/XSTREET for selling L$ because of how I feel about Apotheus, but the allure of instant Paypal transactions vs 5-7 days or more for the Lindex brought me over to the dark side.

Joshua Nightshade

You're also a sell out with no principles.


Speaking of IGE:

The Decline and Fall of an Ultra Rich Online Gaming Empire

Brenda Archer

Interesting, thanks.

MadamG Zagato

If you are being attacked personally by Prok and you feel that posting on the topic is fueling her keyboard, how is banning "everyone" from these discussions going to stop her from attacking one particualr individual? If she is zoning in on someone and replying to someone's comments directly - that doesn't warrant banning the entire discussion, does it? She has not replied to the majority of us directly, it only seems to be a chosen few who she pinpoints.

Briana Dawson

Now i feel special.

Fade Languish

Thanks, quite a story.

AlterEgoTrip Svenska

SO I guess I'm not the only one who's had this problem!!! I can hardly wait for the next billing session

Malachi

From what I've read, Linden Lab is on most credit card company's "has participated in contested transactions enough to irritate us" and so this fraud flagging happens often.

Linden Lab had also been the unwitting (and pretty stupid) vehicle for stolen credit card money laundering which got them a visit from the FBI. It works like this: I steal a credit card, buy L$ with it, give the L$ to you and you cash them out. This is also the reason why LL has obnoxious limits on how much you can transact in L$ and how much you can sell through their site.

Kyllie Wylie

Be glad they do, I had a friend have her account hacked (she still as no idea how) and the person who logged her on purchased $1200 US worth of Lindens, bought a Onrez wallet and started dumping the lindens into it in small amount in a effort to launder the Lindens. the person was also handing out 5-10K tips left right and centre to every person they seemed to meet.

She also uses a Debit card so the money came straight out of her bank account.

Lucky for her the transaction tripped something at LL and they suspended her account. And I have to give LL some kudo's here, upon investigation and determination it was a hack attack they refunded the $1200 US to her within 2 days of the incident.

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