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The original English beyblade theme was awesome.
Saturday, 01-Sep-12 17:38:51 UTC from web-
@techdisk42 I remember that! It was sweet.
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@lovetolerateandsquee it really was. I play it whenever I get out my old blades.(the way they call them beys now is stupid)
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@techdisk42 I think you should just confront your parents and be all like, "yo I'm receiving this in the mail I just want something cool to display on my laptop and I'm not paying anything for it"
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@crusader8 hmmm... you see, they would be fine with that, but they don't like the idea of me giving out out address to people... ugh. Parental beurocracy.
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@techdisk42 this is where I know for certain your parents won't be THAT unreasonable. I think your fear isn't completely unfounded however you are pre-empting your parents with what you think will happen. Because a guy who lives in VA and works 2 jobs will totally exploit the knowledge of a stranger's address. Think about how ludicrous that sounds, and how much of an absence in common sense it would require to create the reaction you presume from your parents.
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@techdisk42 if your parents are convinced I will instead mail you anthrax-laced pipe bombs, they can talk to me themselves.
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@crusader8 or we could do some trickery... you can make it look like you sent it to a random address, or something
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@techdisk42 no. The truth is the only way the problem here can be solved.
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@crusader8 There've been enough horror stories of things happening to kids who give their address to someone over the internet to make any parent nervous about their child considering doing it. @techdisk42 Get a PO box.
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@redenchilada I'm aware of this. Like I said, if they're convinced I'm hatching a terrorist scheme or plan to spam them with mail or something, they can talk to me
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@crusader8 The thing is, it's easy for someone to promise to be good over the internet, but that doesn't mean they will. I'm not saying anything bad about you in particular, but parents have to be paranoid like that when their kids get involved, because god forbid something bad happens and they feel terrible for not stopping it.
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@crusader8 hmmm... then it seems I'll have to talk to them...
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@techdisk42 You could always use a postal office.
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@crusader8 To be honest, the distance factor only worsens this issue, since if it's a local thing they're going to you'd be able to meet the parents and talk with them first. Nobody on the internet can really be trusted with sensitive information until you've met them in real life to disprove those fears.
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@redenchilada lol how do I do that when I'm 16, don't have any money, and would have to ask my parents about that too? the more I talk though, the more I think that I'm over exaggerating how strict my parents are... I really should just ask.
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@redenchilada That's borderline paranoia.
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@nerthos If you had a child, would you let them give internet strangers their address without being ABSOLUTELY sure nothing bad could come of it? Because that would make you a pretty bad parent.
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@redenchilada I would be the worst parent, I'm sure of that. The only reason why I wouldn't let them give the address is because it's MY address too.
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@techdisk42 I'd bet your parents would be much more willing to set up a PO box, since they can't glean your specific address from it, just the town you live in.
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@nerthos my parents won't let me get my own email because... actually I dont know. All I know is they know the password to the email I use.
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@redenchilada I would just open a PO box.
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@techdisk42 Just open a second email.
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@techdisk42 Because, that's stupid, letting them read everything.
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@nerthos Exactly! PO boxes are the proxies of the postal service and more people should use them.
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@redenchilada Meh, I don't even use the postal service.
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@redenchilada that just might work, except the fact I don't get any mail whatsoever, and would be quite worthless unless I can just use it once... or... you know, my mother has a PO box...
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@techdisk42 Ask her about that, then.
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@redenchilada anyone can promise, whether they say it in person or over the phone. (Also, ouch!) There's literally no statistical difference in risk. Someone standing in front of them can give the same explanation as I can over the phone. Also, since I'm actually *not* trying to screw over anyone, a plan to work around his parents will jeopardize the trust in that family and actually be worse. They will have sufficient ability to profie me as harmless over the phone.
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@crusader8 OK, so I'm gonna ask my mom if I can receive a package through her PO box. If she agrees, I'll just send you the number and stuff. if not, I'll go from there. Of course, I'm gonna have to find a way to actually remember to ask her...
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@nerthos I'm going to.
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@techdisk42 Write it down on your arm.
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@crusader8 But it's a matter of trustworthiness. Face-to-face communication establishes trust on a level that no other medium can provide; that you know this person; that, if they're hiding something, you can tell instantly; that this person cares enough to meet with you and talk things out. The internet and the phone trivialize all three of these points.
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@redenchilada then, Skype.
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@techdisk42 draw rainbowdash on your forehead. They'll ask you about it eventually.
Scribus likes this. -
@techdisk42 My point is that face-to-face communication is the only kind that can't be faked. You're talking directly to the person, with no possible doubts that they may be manipulating one of the cogs in the process. I'm not saying direct communication allows you to ignore any other worries about a person you might still have, but it's better than the other alternatives.
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@crusader8 that's about the most genius idea I've ever heard. Brb getting blue face paint.
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@redenchilada face-to-face proves nothing. Let's say I lived 15 minutes from techdisk and his parents agreed to meet me to judge my trustworthiness. Agreeing to meet me alone already shows they trust me enough to allow me in their proximity, invalidating any supposed fears of receiving a package from me. Also, there are as many "we always though jimmy was nice" stories as there are internet stories. (What I mean is, if you can't fool someone in a face-to-face engagement why do we have so many surprise shootings and bombings from people whom no one realized was psycho?)
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@crusader8 Like I said, it doesn't automatically absolve all fears. But who would you rather trust; someone who lives far away and swears over the phone that they'll be nice, or someone local who promises in person? Plus, it's easily possible to meet someone in a (sufficiently) safe manner if you meet them at a McDonald's or something, which wouldn't necessarily require trust from either end.
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@redenchilada Face-to-face communication is a bless for people who are used to manipulate, because you can fake all the body language people recognize as "trustworthy". You don't even need to speak really well, you just have to generate a sense of trust.
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@redenchilada I can swear to be good in person too. I'm not suggesting one way to contact a stranger is better than the other: I am affirming that talking over the phone and meeting in person both provide the average human sufficient information to profile the trustworthiness of the other. If someone talking to me over the phone can't gauge that, then I consider that an abnormality in judgment. They should be able to profile me just fine.
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@crusader8 But you can't associate a face with a phone call. To a paranoid parent concerned about their kid's safety, having a face to go with the trust can make all the difference.
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@redenchilada it is also common to be wrongfully misjudged and mistrusted from looks. My mom did it all the time.
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@crusader8 good point
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@crusader8 I won't try to argue that. People are imperfect. My point that a face makes trusting someone easier still stands, though.
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