[Phossil]

I just receieved my minimac from [munged spam link removed --tooki] sans the dashes (the forum blocks this site). I couldn't be happier, It's the higher end version, but without wifi, bluetooth or a superdrive. I just ordered a RAM upgrade (from 256MB to 1GB) and I'm waiting on internal bluetooth and wifi upgrades to be available (right now I'm wired internet and a bluetooth dongle for the keyboard)

Happy to be a new member of the minimac community! This will have to hold me off until a satisfactory powerbook is released (I'm waiting for 64 bit, better video card, non-aluminum, hopefully carbon fiber case)

[kitcho]

yay for pyramid schemes?

[Randman]

Originally posted by Phossil:
It's the higher end version, but without wifi, bluetooth or a superdrive.

Riight.

[turtle777]

SPAM !

Reported !

IBL.

-t

[-Q-]

[mitchell_pgh]

I wonder why the site blocks the link?

[Commodus]

I don't think this is spam - the guy just seems to want to talk about his Mac mini - although it's a very bad idea to mention one of those free fill-in-the-blank sites around here.

[MacME]

just curious, do ppl ACTUALLY get a Mac, even in the odd instance? or is it a complete scam and no one ever gets one?

[anthonyvthc]

Originally posted by MacME:
just curious, do ppl ACTUALLY get a Mac, even in the odd instance? or is it a complete scam and no one ever gets one?

I've met several people who have received the free ipod. They make you jump through the hoops to get it, but it does actually work. Just make sure you read the fine print.

[icibaqu]

why's it such a bad idea to mention the free giveaways here? so what... you didn't pay for it. you won it. difference being?

[doopstr]

Even though it is a pyramid, they do give you the thing if you follow the rules. I know several that have received iPods. Too much work for me to do.

[MrForgetable]

Mac mini

[Phossil]

No spam - I'm not posting any links of any kind - I've already recieved my minimac.

For you disbelievers, yes those things do work, I've gotten a free ipod, free mini mac and free ipod shuffle - working on a free ibook now. It's not hard at all, and for students like me, it's a much better alternative to paying for hardware

Anyway, back to the topic, I really like the minimac. It's a bit sluggish on 256MB but my RAM should be arriving any day (got it for about $130 from newegg). So far, my only exposure to OS X has been on an older ibook, which worked fine for what I wanted to do with it, but the mini is much faster. I'm a Linux man, and I hated OS 9 (still do) so I didn't pay much attention to OS X. Eventually I tried 10.3 and once I found out about it's UNIX base, I knew I had found my new OS. Getting the best of both worlds, commercial and open source, you can't beat it.

[Phossil]

Originally posted by Randman:
Riight.

By higher end version I'm talking about CPU speed and HD space - it's a 1.42 with 80GB HD - combo drive, 256MB ram.

[Commodus]

I'll bet that you can't wait for the RAM. 1 GB should cut down on HD access to the point where you'll only notice the drive kicking in if you're using an app that virtually depends on frequent disk use (such as iMovie).

[andreas_g4]

Originally posted by MrForgetable:
Mac mini

Thank you, you stole my words!

[yikes600]

Originally posted by Phossil:
No spam - I'm not posting any links of any kind - I've already recieved my minimac.

Then what do you call that garbage in your sig?

[tooki]

Originally posted by Phossil:
(the forum blocks this site).

Indeed we do. And considering that, did you really think it was a good idea to post the munged URL, and to put it in your sig? No, it's a way to get yourself banned from here in a heartbeat. We ban those spam messages because they add ZERO value to our forums -- we don't want our readers to have to wade through that shit to get to what they want to read.

I didn't ban you because you do seem to be a normal member otherwise. (Anyone whose first post is a spam link gets banned on the spot.) But remember that we have an absolute zero tolerance policy on spam.

tooki

[Phossil]

sorry about that - I had forgotten those were even in my sig - I had no need for them anymore as I've already gotten my mac.


I know I've been saying mini mac instead of mac mini - I just got used to it because that is the way it was referred to on the site I used to get it lol

Yes - I'm really excited about the RAM - it's ok right now, but I know how much of a difference RAM makes for OS X

[AssassyN]

tooki, take the pole out your anus.

Slamming a new member here does WONDERS, I'm sure. Why discourage a new guy? So he's thrilled he got a FREE Mac and found a board to discuss it with fellow owners, I see no harm in him sharing the love in his sig. It's just a small bit that one can easily scroll over, not some huge picture. But even disregarding that, it's retarded to be so anal about something that works. If it was really a scam, yes, block it by all means. But treating it like a "burn the books - kill the knowledge" episode is stupid, as was your above post.

To Phossil, congrats on your Mac! Welcome to the board (not everyone is so moody) and feel free to post questions and tips The RAM upgrade will do you wonders; 256MB simply isn't enough for OS X to operate smoothly. Enjoy your stay

[tooki]

We've been strict about the free electronics sites since they started, and we're not about to change. It's not that they're illegal, it's that they substantially reduce the signal-to-noise ratio if they get out of hand. If we allow some people to post the links, and not others, where's the fairness in that?

I already didn't delete this thread because it wasn't asking for people to click, it was just mentioning it -- but some of the other admins wanted it gone, and wanted to ban the member. So don't yell at me, I was the tolerant one.

tooki

P.S. Your personal gripes with me belong in Feedback, or in a private message. This is not the correct place to be discussing it.

[markb8705]

ha

[zeebe]

tooki, no disrespect to you on what you said, as I am sure you do not make the rules. But if I remember correct, for the longest time, the only banner ad I would see when visiting this site were the ones that said "shoot the robber and win an iPod". What is the difference between the free iPod sites and the ads that were posted by MacNN?
Just wondering.

Originally posted by tooki:
We've been strict about the free electronics sites since they started, and we're not about to change. It's not that they're illegal, it's that they substantially reduce the signal-to-noise ratio if they get out of hand. If we allow some people to post the links, and not others, where's the fairness in that?

I already didn't delete this thread because it wasn't asking for people to click, it was just mentioning it -- but some of the other admins wanted it gone, and wanted to ban the member. So don't yell at me, I was the tolerant one.

tooki

P.S. Your personal gripes with me belong in Feedback, or in a private message. This is not the correct place to be discussing it.

[tooki]

1. The big difference is that those banner ads pay to keep MacNN running. We don't put 'em there for free, ya know. On the other hand, every time someone makes a post, and every time someone reads a page, it costs us money (admittedly, it's a microscopic amount per post, but it does add up when you're talking about thousands and thousands of page loads per month!)

2. Banner ads appear in a very controlled part of the page. It's not umpteen different people posting "Click MY free iPod link!" -- "No, click MINE!" in a dozen different threads, all cluttering the forums. The biggest reason for not allowing the free stuff sites is that they intermingle advertising with the content -- something we never do. Our banner ads are ALWAYS outside of the content area of the page, making them much easier to ignore or mentally block out. (Ask me what the banner ad on the last page I looked at was, and I couldn't begin to tell you.)

tooki

P.S. I'm an admin, I do make the forum rules, together with a few others, actually. I don't have much control over ads, though -- they're posted automatically by the ad networks, and if we don't like one, we have to manually tell them to pull that ad from circulation on our site. The advertising staff takes care of that for us, when we ask them to pull a banner.

[tooki]

Note also that our terms of service prohibit posting advertising anywhere outside of the Marketplace forum. We will also allow small developers to post new product announcements in the appropriate forum if they ask us in advance.

tooki

[kitcho]

**** every single pyramid schemes out there. thats great you got your mac mini but this is a place to share knowledge, NOT to recruit new people at the bottom of your pyramid. since you already got your mac mini, why even bother saying it was free, like you said since you already got it you're just rubbing it in.

i agree with tooki on this one, except i would of banned him anyways.

[turtle777]

So WhyTF is this thread not locked yet ?

-t

[anthonyvthc]

Originally posted by kitcho:
**** every single pyramid schemes out there. thats great you got your mac mini but this is a place to share knowledge, NOT to recruit new people at the bottom of your pyramid. since you already got your mac mini, why even bother saying it was free, like you said since you already got it you're just rubbing it in.

i agree with tooki on this one, except i would of banned him anyways.

What's wrong with this kid? Calm down man, everything will be OK.

[funkboy]

Welcome to the Mac community. Hopefully your experience hasn't been too negative from some of the comments here - we just like to be careful of Spam and other possibly-untrustworthy offers.

Congratulations on getting it, though - and I hope you enjoy it!

[Phossil]

haha - this thread has gotten a little off topic.

My stance is that I agree with tookie that links should not be posted on this forum (sorry about the sig) because then the forums would be flooded with 1 post members who don't care about the community. I also don't think that speaking about the free offers should be a taboo - which I can see that it is not by the fact that my thread is still here

For me, working for the referrals was not that hard - I just finished my last one on notebooks4free and I'll be getting $1000 - very good for a college student - as mentioned above these sites, although they do generate some annoying spamming on boards, can be very helpful for people who don't have the cash to buy electronics like the mac mini.

Thanks to all for the congratulations - I just upgraded to 1GB of RAM and I'm very happy - everything is speedy and responsive. I'm waiting for the bluetooth/airport package to be available at the apple store so I can get wireless (I won't let them install it though - they'll probably charge me enough to make getting the mac free not worth it).

Anyway thanks for being tolerant mods. And thanks for the warm welcome members

[neowolf]

Count me in the same boat! I was already a Mac user but I recently got my free Mac mini as well.

[Randman]

Phossil, if so, why haven't you edited your sig yet then?

[turtle777]

Originally posted by Randman:
Phossil, if so, why haven't you edited your sig yet then?

His sig has just been tookinated

-t

[Randman]

Originally posted by turtle777:
His sig has just been tookinated

It's been that way for a few days. And it was like that after some of the last posts.

[worldwearyeyes]

I too got my free mini from the unmentioned website. They communicated well throughout the entire process, and the product was just as described. All it cost me was $1 and alot of harassment from friends and family!

[danbrew]

your mama should have told you that nothing in life is free.

i've spent about 10 seconds reviewing some of the "get this stuff for free" sites and have decided that I didn't want to sign up for a new Discover card or a new long distance service or that I didn't want to turn over email addresses of my more gulliable friends.

having said all of this - that it ain't right for me - it clearly appeals to some people. in addition, there's probably some of the sites/offers that work a whole lot better than others. why not add a forum for such discussion? Or, for that matter, why not permit posts that discuss this subject if a certain taxonomy is used? For example, subject headings: "FREE OFFER DISCUSSION: www.freestuffforme.com" or something along those lines?

the one thing I just cannot stand is some well intentioned dumbass deciding what is "right" for me. it's pretty clear that some here think that these discussions are ok. who are we to suggest these offers aren't for everone? especially if that someone has the time/skill/patience/whatever to jump through the required hoops? if the admins are going to start policing content, I see a huge workload in their future.

i know, i know - it ain't my board. not even sure if these boards are a commercial venture.

that's my totally unsolicited (but 100% correct) free internet advice.

[shastaX]

Let me just say I never would have read this thread or posted a reply to it had it not been linked to from a mildly intriguing description on the MacNN home page (i.e., "pyramid"). I don't have a Mac mini and I'm not really interested in reading discussions about them, but more importantly I would have assumed by the title of the thread that it's about one of those "free" burdens and avoided it like the plague. I say "burdens" because you're only getting your ipod or mini by placing a burden on yourself or those you know, and in the process, burdening everyone in textual shouting range with your sig links or your pleas for referrals. It's clever how marketers have turned the target audience into sub-marketers, but that doesn't make it any less annoying than banner ads urging me to shoot something (Bumblebee, Santa, Bill Gates) to get a free iPod.

But those banners I can tune out or even block depending on my software. It's much harder to block out clever and disingenous ads masquerading as message board posts. I'm sorry, but I don't buy the defense of this post. Why would you even include the word "free" in the thread title, why was that important? If this really was just an innocent question or comment about the Mac mini and memory, why not then have a more relevant title? No, I think you're being disingenuous, especially considering someone who can register on a message board forum and has posted to it 35 times surely knows what kind of memory a system is going to need. I think the admins have been very generous in not taking more actions than they did. No, I'm glad MacNN has been so ruthless about cutting out dreck like this and I hope they keep it up.

And wow, this thread has brought out the mega-watt star posters, but, um, the level of discourse among those with hundreds or thousands of posts is . . . not quite what I expected . . . what with your "anus" poles and "well intentioned dumbass" talk. Yikes! Why would anyone ever be so nasty and blatantly rude to an admininstrator? That seems so ungrateful and disrespectful.

[skateray]

http://www.macnn.com/articles/05/03/....ipod.schemes/

This is a discussion about a news article about the free ipod stuff. If feel like I made some good points, though abe2 brings the conversation off track a little at the end. Anyways, just thought I would post that discussion because it applies to the topic.

If you disagree with me, please don't argue with me. I just feel that people don't understand why this is okay and kinda of fun to do. And it IS free, in my opinion. You get something pretty expensive for 0 dollars, and I hardly consider completing offers "jumping through hoops". I got a free shuffle from gratis internet, and I have gotten no SPAM. I actually would recommend trying to get something for free through them.....

[Drakino]

I'm working on getting a "free" Mac Mini as well from one of the sites out there. However, I refuse to screw people over in a pyramid scheme. There are sites out there dedicated to trading referral links. Thus the community stays self contained and prevents the spam from coming to sites like this. Basicially I find 10 free or cheep trial offers to do for other people referrals, and they do offers to get me a "free" Mac.

Thus far, I have 9 of the 10 needed referrals, and will probably get the 10th this weekend (i usually do about half an hour a weekend). While I didn't pay $600 for one, I did spend around $100 thus far. It's a cheep deal, but is only worth it if you remember to cancel the trials and such. Otherwise, it could cost more. And of course, it all depends on how you value your time. I think after the Mini, I'm going to stop.

Privacy wise, they get a temporary e-mail address that will be deactivated when this is over. Thus far I am surpised. I've been signed up 2 months and haven't gotten any spam e-mail. I'm sure it is just a matter of time. Postal junk mail, well, it's hard to tell if that has increased or not. I own my house, and for anyone else here who does, I'm sure you see 5-10 credit offers a week already.

[Faceplant]

is on eBay where people sell a link under the guise of selling an iPod. Many will tell you not to bid out front, which is fine, but others will tell you only in very small writing at the bottom of a listing that they are only selling a link. Many of those I have reported to eBay.

[metfoo]

i was very skeptical of these free sites, until i started to see the proof. now i'm waiting for gratis to ship my mini. i too used trades, and have spent very little to earn my system. now i am working on a free photo ipod (60GB).

these are legal pyramids, and they are not that hard to do. some of the offers are actaully worthwhile as well. i have joined blockbuster online, and greatfun. Each one has been worth the small amount of cash. i am also considering sticking with these 2 sites, because it has saved me money compared to before. Greatfun gives me access to entertainment book coupons online, and blockbuster has cut my rental fees in half!

email orders at ribitch.com if you are interested in details on how to get the most out of these sites

[Slayed]

Originally posted by tooki:
Indeed we do. And considering that, did you really think it was a good idea to post the munged URL, and to put it in your sig? No, it's a way to get yourself banned from here in a heartbeat. We ban those spam messages because they add ZERO value to our forums -- we don't want our readers to have to wade through that shit to get to what they want to read.

I didn't ban you because you do seem to be a normal member otherwise. (Anyone whose first post is a spam link gets banned on the spot.) But remember that we have an absolute zero tolerance policy on spam.

tooki

Yeah, thanks for showing us how to put shit into a post without it being censored. I think the normal admin would clean up posts without bitching about it. And should avoid profanity at all costs.

MacNN has lost most of it's value to me. I'm removing it from my bookmarks, especially since the admins (as represented by Tooki) are loud and obnoxious.

[finboy]

Originally posted by Slayed:

MacNN has lost most of it's value to me. I'm removing it from my bookmarks, especially since the admins (as represented by Tooki) are loud and obnoxious.

After 13 whole posts?

Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.

[Phossil]

I think you guys are analyzing this too much, time for this thread to die.



yes, I realize that by posting it bumps the thread, I didn't think about that until after I had done it

[turtle777]

Originally posted by Phossil:
I think you guys are analyzing this too much, time for this thread to die.

Amazing that it survived so far. Where is The Lock (tm) ?
Hey mods, anyone alive ?

-t