Freecycle. They said please so they got the item.

HappySad

LuciferTDark wrote: »

Good manners are just not taught in schools any more or in homes either for that matter. Those of us over 30 were taught to be polite & respect our elders, those ideas have sadly gone out the window with most of this generation of little sh1ts. There are some pockets of politeness still around but they get smaller every year.

My friends & I who are all parents are very keen on teaching our children manners. We even choose the nurserys that taught manners to the children. I personally teach my son to say good morning to the neighbours & to ask politely for things. Being polite is free & gets you places.. it lets the other person know that you value them as a person. Being polite has not completely died out.....

MyUserNamesTaken

Here's a wanted post from one of the freecycles I belong to:

I know this is almost wishful thinking but, my lap top has died. If
anyone has one that they no longer need..it doesnt matter how much
memory it has.. Internet ready would be wonderful. Hoping there is one
just sitting around needing a new owner..

I don't have a problem with that post. The poster is polite and friendly. The only thing that does bother me is that the poster has not offered the dead laptop up on freecycle. There are plenty of people out there who can and do like messing about with broken technology just for the challenge of fixing it. Just because it appears to be dead to the poster, doesn't mean it's beyond repair. As for cars, I've seen cars offered on the three freecycles I belong to, as well as wanted ads for them. I am amazed by the wanted car ads, to be honest.

HugoSP

MyUserNamesTaken wrote: »

.....The only thing that does bother me is that the poster has not offered the dead laptop up on freecycle.......

To be fair he may be hoping that if he can't find a laptop he may be able to fix his up via a hardware technician, plus he may have files on the HD that he needs to transfer to his new machine.

But, I would agree, maybe an undertaking to offer the old one up for spares if he sorts himself out would go a long way. Also the message is well written.

missyg_3

If my laptop died I would not be comfortable giving it away, as I would not be happy with a stranger potentially having access to the files on my disk.

Cardew

missyg wrote: »

If my laptop died I would not be comfortable giving it away, as I would not be happy with a stranger potentially having access to the files on my disk.

An excellent point that many people do not appreciate.

Many think that deleting files, and emptying the recycle bin, is sufficient for security - it isn't.

Unless you have specialist software - or really know what you are doing with computers - information can be recovered. Police catch criminals that way and Government organisations take steps to destroy hard drives with sensitive information.(or give the information to courier firms to lose!!)

MyUserNamesTaken

Cardew wrote: »

An excellent point that many people do not appreciate.

Many think that deleting files, and emptying the recycle bin, is sufficient for security - it isn't.

Unless you have specialist software - or really know what you are doing with computers - information can be recovered. Police catch criminals that way and Government organisations take steps to destroy hard drives with sensitive information.(or give the information to courier firms to lose!!)

"Many people don not appreciate"? Obviously, there are some people who don't appreciate how easy it is to simply remove the HDD before giving away or disposing off computing equipment. If the poster offers up her laptop, I would expect it to be without the HDD. If she included the HDD, I would advise her to remove the drive before handing over the machine. If there's info on the drive she needs to transfer/recover, the easiest way to do it is via an external enclosure (stick drive in, plug in two cables, do up case, plug into USB port and bob's your mother's brother). That's assuming the drive isn't dead. Either way, it's not a hard thing to do. You can so easily protect yourself by taking the drive out. It's easier to do on a laptop, too.

HugoSP

MyUserNamesTaken wrote: »

"Many people don not appreciate"? Obviously, there are some people who don't appreciate how easy it is to simply remove the HDD before giving away or disposing off computing equipment. If the poster offers up her laptop, I would expect it to be without the HDD. If she included the HDD, I would advise her to remove the drive before handing over the machine. If there's info on the drive she needs to transfer/recover, the easiest way to do it is via an external enclosure (stick drive in, plug in two cables, do up case, plug into USB port and bob's your mother's brother). That's assuming the drive isn't dead. Either way, it's not a hard thing to do. You can so easily protect yourself by taking the drive out. It's easier to do on a laptop, too.

Did you not read my response to your last post before you posted this????

This I'm afraid, is another of life's lessons in judging actions or lack of them without the full facts.

What you say is essentially correct - but the person may have decided to take a different route, either because he/she wants to keep the old laptop for some reason (nothing wrong in that) or that he/she wants to transfer files.

The person may simply be unaware of how files can be transferred without the hard disk being connected to a laptop. One thing I am often guilty of in my job is assuming people have a good basic understanding of home improvents, so they can understand a very potted version of my proposals - they often don't. In the same way that what you have posted, I only learned recently. That doesn't make me selfish or a receiver and not a giver. It would mean that I am cautious and want to do things at a pace that I am comfotable with.

I'm sorry to nitpick but almost every post I see here that critisizes Wanted ads on this thread IMO has fundemental flaws that contradict the spirit of freecycle, and misguided assumptions that if a person doesn't take this cause of action then this says that about them etc.

It's a human fault IMO and perhaps the same happens when we meet people and take an instant dislike to them for reasons that are really not justifyable. Giving people a second or third chance can often work. If you still don't like them after meeting them a few times then maybe there is a fair reason - A bit like we all see the same style of and level of ambition within wanted posts from certain freecycle members:rolleyes:

MyUserNamesTaken

HugoSP wrote: »

Did you not read my response to your last post before you posted this????

This I'm afraid, is another of life's lessons in judging actions or lack of them without the full facts.

What you say is essentially correct - but the person may have decided to take a different route, either because he/she wants to keep the old laptop for some reason (nothing wrong in that) or that he/she wants to transfer files.

The person may simply be unaware of how files can be transferred without the hard disk being connected to a laptop. One thing I am often guilty of in my job is assuming people have a good basic understanding of home improvents, so they can understand a very potted version of my proposals - they often don't. In the same way that what you have posted, I only learned recently. That doesn't make me selfish or a receiver and not a giver. It would mean that I am cautious and want to do things at a pace that I am comfotable with.

I'm sorry to nitpick but almost every post I see here that critisizes Wanted ads on this thread IMO has fundemental flaws that contradict the spirit of freecycle, and misguided assumptions that if a person doesn't take this cause of action then this says that about them etc.

It's a human fault IMO and perhaps the same happens when we meet people and take an instant dislike to them for reasons that are really not justifyable. Giving people a second or third chance can often work. If you still don't like them after meeting them a few times then maybe there is a fair reason - A bit like we all see the same style of and level of ambition within wanted posts from certain freecycle members:rolleyes:

I'd say the only fault you are demonstrating in this thread is reading too much into other people's posts. I have at no time suggested that the poster of that wanted ad was selfish, nor drawn any conclusions regarding the character and personal integrity of that poster. In fact, I posted that wanted ad to demonstrate what I considered to be a polite and genuine request for a laptop (unlike the chancers out there). I was backing you up, Hugo. Don't be so quick to jump to conclusions. Another thing; just because I did not directly address your reply to me, doesn't mean I didn't read it. I merely chose to respond to a reply that followed yours in order to cover things said mainly in that post, as well as the comments you made. I didn't say the poster of that wanted ad had decided to follow any particular path - that was you.

Try reading my posts again, Hugo. Follow the advice given in your own post above and don't be so quick to judge.

continualdiamond

I had my 1st bad experience of freecyle.

I was successful in being offered a glass display cabinet that someone was giving away. I didn't find out until the next day, so they sent me a second email with a mobile contact number as they were busy moving house so might not check emails as frequent. Fair enough i thought, so i rang, got the address and a time to pick the item up. 30 mins to get to the house, to be told it went to someone else and that they sent me an email with a contact number, i pointed out, that yes that was me who rang and you gave me this time to collect it. They apologised for my wasted journey a few times, but no way was i going to say 'oh thanks ok', cos clearly it wasn't and i was very annoyed. Them telling me they gave me a contact number baffled me some what, cos if i didn't ring, how did i know where to go to collect the item .

Also at the moment i have some things on offer and someone had the cheek to send me an email saying they were interested in the item, but were going away for a few days and gave me a mobile number to contact them on. Also stated it might be out of range so please leave a message :eek: . Needless to say i deleted the email and had no intentions of ringing the mobile, i might want the item gone, but not enough to chase someone to collect it.

caro33

i tried to join freecycle (Hertford group) but they declined me, I have no idea why. Shame as I had loads of useful stuff (furniture,freezer,tools etc) that i wanted to getrid of. They went to the dump instead which is a real shame. I used to belong to a group in Devon when I lived there but up here seems to be more exclusive