It’s a cruel world out there on the internet.

At this point I have all but given up on getting a free iPod. It seams like such an easy proposition to me; sign up for an offer (one you are likely to do anyway) then find five other people that are willing to do the same. And a company that gets paid based referrals will send you a free iPod. Simple enough, right? Well at this point I only have one person that has gone through with the entire process (she signed up for Block Buster online, which has better offer than you get from their direct site). I got nothing from my friends and family to whom I sent a direct email plea, which hurts! You cut me deep man, you cut me real bad. Not really but you can expect me to see more emails from me to get those of you who share blood and or history with me begging for your participation. My buddy Eddie had a lot of success initially (12 people who registered) when posting on various message board soliciting the kindness of strangers. So I figured I would give it a try and went out to a few boards that I know of and posted a strait forward request to “help me get a free iPod please” and got a few hits from people who at least looked at the offer, and a few less who took the first step to register but have yet to complete an offer which provides no assistance in accomplishing my goal. Still I figured that this was working pretty well. Frankly I expect some flack from strangers when I post on any board and choose to just take the high road and address what I perceive as there main objection without getting into a heated exchange(which is exactly what I think some on these boards are looking for) and ignore the replies that are just spewing hatred. Then I made the mistake of posting to a message board without trolling about a little to see how this sort of post would be received. I made the posting and before I could refresh the page to see if the posting was even being viewed I had been flamed with obscenities by three or four board members, I just took it in stride as always acknowledging the post that appeared to have some valid objection even if it was completely veiled in obscenities, and ignoring the ones attempting to bath me in Hateraide. Before I knew it there were twenty or more venom filled responses to my brief posting. Admittedly I received twenty plus hits on my blog entry that explains the program, before I was banned with prejudice and a pointed obscenity from one of the moderators. Alas this turned out to be a fruitless adventure toward my free iPod effort, but an educational experience none the less. So take a lesson from my foolishness; never wander into a knife fight armed only with a donation bucket.