journal Archive

Apparently, there is some rumor going around that linking to GothicSluts.com will get your PayPal account yanked because of their mature audiences policy. The same people passing this rumor around say nothing about BarelyEvil.com or Cam Whores or their own adult sites. There is absolutely nothing in PayPal’s restrictive policies about what you can link to. They are only concerned with what you can charge for. You may find PayPal’s mature audiences policy at the following link: http://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=p/gen/ua/use/index_frame-outside&ed=mature

According to PayPal brass, some people will be denied PayPal service because they have donate buttons on sites with free adult material on them. Generally having both a cam and a PayPal donate button is also grounds for removal if there is any indication that adult images may be being transmitted. By providing free adult material and asking for donations, PayPal feels that someone would essentially be selling digital adult content. This has been a violation of Paypal’s TOS since May 12 for people who registered adult content with PayPal and since earlier than that for people who did not register.

When I say that I talked to PayPal brass, I do not mean that I talked with one person on low level phone support. I mean that I have met PayPal execs in person and talked to multiple executives at PayPal who specifically deal with mature audiences issues. Unless you are trying to get people to give you donations via PayPal for linking to adult material, PayPal does not care what you link to. Personally, I think the PayPal crackdown sucks for camgirls and I hope another standard replaces it. But camgirls give something for what they get and I think camgirls are cool. The people who just beg for donations and don’t offer a show or a product or anything could stop any time. Orphans and medical research and such can get donations. People who own their own houses and luxury cars and designer clothes and eat at fine restaurants . . . well they can stop whining for unneeded support and posting stolen content on their sites and begging for donations to cover their supposed hosting bills. I think it is just fine that PayPal is getting rid of rich beggars and thieves. I think it sucks that it is making it harder for honest people to be compensated for what they do.

I recently got my PayPal account shot down by someone who found an old newsletter (sent when PayPal not only allowed but was actively courting adult business) with info on how to buy a site membership via PayPal. This option has not been on our sites for months because I was aware of the rules and was trying to follow them. Although I had disabled PayPal payments from my sites, this person used an old newsletter to figure out a sneaky way to send PayPal payment to me. I should have just refunded the person’s payment and told them they could not get a membership that way, but I hated to treat a customer that way. Within hours of getting a password to my site, the supposed customer in question used their access to make software attacks on my system and then my PayPal account got knocked out. I think it was a setup by a site which I guess thinks it is competitive with me. I wish I had not fallen for it. I knew better.

Continuing with the graveyard theme . . .

Ah, the great outdoors:

These two pix feature another cool model of ours in the Gothic Sluts graveyard series we have been doing.

I just posted these to Gothic Babes, so I thought I would post them in my journal as well.

Ah, the great outdoors:

These two pix feature another cool model of ours in the Gothic Sluts graveyard series we have been doing.

Internet Alternatives

Not that I haven’t been trying to think of things I could do offline. I’ve been trying to remember what I used to enjoy before I was online so much. But the problem is that a bunch of those things just don’t exist any more. People know how to forward jokes and memes, but they don’t remember how to converse. At least, most of the people I know don’t. If I go out to a club and greet an acquaintance, more often than not, their conversation is just to tell me to read their journal online. Everyone seems to think they are a celeb with fanatics now. Frequently, people I am only peripherally aware of believe that I must have read every word of their journal for years and have joined every membership site they were ever on and have seen every mention of them ever on an E/N site.

Mind you, these same people will not bother to find out the most basic things about me or anyone else they sort of know. They are that self-absorbed. Today, I actually saw an email someone sent to Blue Blood suggesting that an erotic publication in print would be a good idea. No way! Really? Maybe I will do something like that some day.

Loathing, Catch 22, or How the Internet Makes Us Evil

I think the internet makes people evil.

The internet addicts people to a certain sort of conflict. Humans are often allergic to the same things they are addicted to.

With the vastness of the internet and the number of conflict junkies online, even people who try to steer clear of drama will get pulled in.

A lot of the people, who are the most unpleasant online, do it under fake identities. But if you speak up to one of these phonies, then their real life alterego can develope a complex about you. And you won’t know.

Eventually, the sense that unseen foes wish you ill will cause you to be less sociable in real life. Raise your hands if you are more freaked out about real life interaction since you started spending time online. Thought so.

But, in real life, no one would walk up to stranger and tell them that they are ugly and shabbily dressed. Anyone who did would be considered a lunatic.

On the internet, people seem to genuinely feel like it is okay and even appropriate to try to make other people feel bad about what they look like.

In real life, if you walked up to someone who you could hear talking about you and politely mentioned that the facts were different from what they were presenting, they would not spew invective uninterrupted for ten minutes.

On the internet, people deliberately say rude things in public forums about those more famous and successful than they are in the hopes of getting to have an interaction.

In real life, people with nothing going on in their lives are not the ones most likely to dominate conversation.

On the internet, businesses feel like they do not even need to explain their actions or fees; form letters rule interaction.

On the internet, people treat the personal touch as a sign of lack of success.

Which brings me to the way the internet is a constant Catch 22 i.e. if you are accessible, then people discount your accomplishments, but, if you have trained monkeys/interns answer your email, then people feel you are fake somehow, and, if you don’t pay enough attention to some people, they make it their life’s mission to be irritating.

If you are beautiful, strangers will assault their fabricated perceptions of your morals online. If you are ugly, strangers will hold you up for ridicule by a cast of thousands.

In the real world, people who are all talk don’t get press coverage. On the internet, people who brag more than they work tend to get more positive reinforcement than people who actually do something. I get more newsletters from people claiming they are about to make an announcement than I get actual announcements.

I’ve set my life up so that it more and more revolves around the internet. Hell, if I feel pensive, I jot my not-ready-for-primetime thoughts down in my journal. Maybe I’m doomed. 🙂

Not that I haven’t been trying to think of things I could do offline. I’ve been trying to remember what I used to enjoy before I was online so much. But the problem is that a bunch of those things just don’t exist any more. People know how to forward jokes and memes, but they don’t remember how to converse. At least, most of the people I know don’t. If I go out to a club and greet an acquaintance, more often than not, their conversation is just to tell me to read their journal online. Everyone seems to think they are a celeb with fanatics now. Frequently, people I am only peripherally aware of believe that I must have read every word of their journal for years and have joined every membership site they were ever on and have seen every mention of them ever on an E/N site.

Mind you, these same people will not bother to find out the most basic things about me or anyone else they sort of know. They are that self-absorbed. Today, I actually saw an email someone sent to Blue Blood suggesting that an erotic publication in print would be a good idea. No way! Really? Maybe I will do something like that some day.

I think the internet makes people evil.

The internet addicts people to a certain sort of conflict. Humans are often allergic to the same things they are addicted to.

With the vastness of the internet and the number of conflict junkies online, even people who try to steer clear of drama will get pulled in.

A lot of the people, who are the most unpleasant online, do it under fake identities. But if you speak up to one of these phonies, then their real life alterego can develope a complex about you. And you won’t know.

Eventually, the sense that unseen foes wish you ill will cause you to be less sociable in real life. Raise your hands if you are more freaked out about real life interaction since you started spending time online. Thought so.

But, in real life, no one would walk up to stranger and tell them that they are ugly and shabbily dressed. Anyone who did would be considered a lunatic.

On the internet, people seem to genuinely feel like it is okay and even appropriate to try to make other people feel bad about what they look like.

In real life, if you walked up to someone who you could hear talking about you and politely mentioned that the facts were different from what they were presenting, they would not spew invective uninterrupted for ten minutes.

On the internet, people deliberately say rude things in public forums about those more famous and successful than they are in the hopes of getting to have an interaction.

In real life, people with nothing going on in their lives are not the ones most likely to dominate conversation.

On the internet, businesses feel like they do not even need to explain their actions or fees; form letters rule interaction.

On the internet, people treat the personal touch as a sign of lack of success.

Which brings me to the way the internet is a constant Catch 22 i.e. if you are accessible, then people discount your accomplishments, but, if you have trained monkeys/interns answer your email, then people feel you are fake somehow, and, if you don’t pay enough attention to some people, they make it their life’s mission to be irritating.

If you are beautiful, strangers will assault their fabricated perceptions of your morals online. If you are ugly, strangers will hold you up for ridicule by a cast of thousands.

In the real world, people who are all talk don’t get press coverage. On the internet, people who brag more than they work tend to get more positive reinforcement than people who actually do something. I get more newsletters from people claiming they are about to make an announcement than I get actual announcements.

I’ve set my life up so that it more and more revolves around the internet. Hell, if I feel pensive, I jot my not-ready-for-primetime thoughts down in my journal. Maybe I’m doomed. 🙂

Flyering

Anyone who reads my journal interested in flyering for http://www.barelyevil.com/ and http://www.gothicsluts.com/ and other Blue Blood projects? You can email flyers@blueblood.net or post here.

Anyone who reads my journal interested in flyering for http://www.barelyevil.com/ and http://www.gothicsluts.com/ and other Blue Blood projects? You can email flyers@blueblood.net or post here.

So, I just got more bad news. It doesn’t rain; it pours. Fortunately, I just finished uploading an update for GothicSluts.com and it features my two favorite girls, so I was feeling pretty darn skippy before the universe decided to throw more at me. So, on balance, I am doing pretty good considering.

I have a mobster fetish too, so the pinstriped outfits really helped. I guess you all can only see pinstriped undies in this shot, but I posted a totally dressed image from the set earlier.

So, I just got more bad news. It doesn’t rain; it pours. Fortunately, I just finished uploading an update for GothicSluts.com and it features my two favorite girls, so I was feeling pretty darn skippy before the universe decided to throw more at me. So, on balance, I am doing pretty good considering.

I have a mobster fetish too, so the pinstriped outfits really helped. I guess you all can only see pinstriped undies in this shot, but I posted a totally dressed image from the set earlier.

Pay Pal Sucks

So I just tried to buy something with paypal and got a message telling me I couldn’t, even though I’ve got money in the account. So I log in and get the following message:

“07/31/2003: After reviewing your site, and in accordance with Section 11 of the User Agreement, your account has been closed. Your funds will be held for 180 days from the date of your last accoun transaction. After 180 days, we will release your funds by either mailing a check to the address linked to the account or by bank transfer.”

After reviewing my site? Which site? We used to accept paypal subscriptions for GothicSluts.com and BarelyEvil.com, but we stopped offering that option ages ago. Never mind the fact that a paypal rep had met me at an adult convention and had courted me to use his service. Never mind that he had said they were committed to servicing accounts for adult products.

I know they have been hitting a lot of people recently, but it still bugs me to have it happen to me, especially when I haven’t been using paypal for some time for the stuff I would like to. Believe me, I would have liked to do an ebay magazine sale when I found out that my business bank was no longer in business. But it is against both ebay and paypal rules for me to sell back issues of Skin Two or Marquis or Leg World or Demonia or basically anything I might have. I also really think paypal could have told me what they objected to, instead of just nuking the account.

I guess I will be exploring some of the paypal alternatives I’ve been hearing about. Later on, I will post what I find out. For now, I think the link to visit is PayPalSucks.com.

So I just tried to buy something with paypal and got a message telling me I couldn’t, even though I’ve got money in the account. So I log in and get the following message:

“07/31/2003: After reviewing your site, and in accordance with Section 11 of the User Agreement, your account has been closed. Your funds will be held for 180 days from the date of your last accoun transaction. After 180 days, we will release your funds by either mailing a check to the address linked to the account or by bank transfer.”

After reviewing my site? Which site? We used to accept paypal subscriptions for GothicSluts.com and BarelyEvil.com, but we stopped offering that option ages ago. Never mind the fact that a paypal rep had met me at an adult convention and had courted me to use his service. Never mind that he had said they were committed to servicing accounts for adult products.

I know they have been hitting a lot of people recently, but it still bugs me to have it happen to me, especially when I haven’t been using paypal for some time for the stuff I would like to. Believe me, I would have liked to do an ebay magazine sale when I found out that my business bank was no longer in business. But it is against both ebay and paypal rules for me to sell back issues of Skin Two or Marquis or Leg World or Demonia or basically anything I might have. I also really think paypal could have told me what they objected to, instead of just nuking the account.

I guess I will be exploring some of the paypal alternatives I’ve been hearing about. Later on, I will post what I find out. For now, I think the link to visit is PayPalSucks.com.

Spooky Cash & Larry Flynt for Governor

So, relaunching the affiliate program for GothicSluts.com and BarelyEvil.com ended up being one of my big projects for this past week. It was not supposed to be the priority, but sometimes priorities just choose themselves, darn it. Now I get to go back to working on the projects I was trying to complete before I had to juggle my schedule like crazy.

So Spooky Cash is live with new improved functionality, thanks largely to Forrest being awesome. Members of the new affiliate program can even have the code for rotating banners automatically generated so they can just put it on their site and get paid for referring visitors to GothicSluts.com and BarelyEvil.com. Affiliates make more on a site membership sign up than the site owners do, so it is a good deal for folks who want to promote the creation of more cool erotica.

Which is all great but totally not what I was intending to work on this past week. A belated happy birthday and a thank you to Szandora who helped keep me sane. Let’s see what else have I been up to . . . went to a new doctor who is trying to see if he can figure out why I’m not healing. Spent a bunch of time online talking to other people who got hit by the bank shakeup. Like five of the banks that do site membership transactions went belly-up over the past month or at least stopped doing that sort of business. Three more are expected to be gone by the end of the year. Kinda creepy.

Larry Flynt might run for Governor of California. I’m afraid Arnie won’t be getting my vote if Flynt is in the race. Aside from the reasons folks might think I would have, I want to say that Larry Flynt’s company is the most honest business in his arena. I’ve worked for all the big adult publishing houses in one capacity or another and Larry Flynt’s companies are the only ones which have always paid on time and as agreed. I think the Hustler folks are some of the only decent business people in America and it would be great to have someone in our government who knows how to succeed at business, while treating people right.

So, relaunching the affiliate program for GothicSluts.com and BarelyEvil.com ended up being one of my big projects for this past week. It was not supposed to be the priority, but sometimes priorities just choose themselves, darn it. Now I get to go back to working on the projects I was trying to complete before I had to juggle my schedule like crazy.

So Spooky Cash is live with new improved functionality, thanks largely to Forrest being awesome. Members of the new affiliate program can even have the code for rotating banners automatically generated so they can just put it on their site and get paid for referring visitors to GothicSluts.com and BarelyEvil.com. Affiliates make more on a site membership sign up than the site owners do, so it is a good deal for folks who want to promote the creation of more cool erotica.

Which is all great but totally not what I was intending to work on this past week. A belated happy birthday and a thank you to Szandora who helped keep me sane. Let’s see what else have I been up to . . . went to a new doctor who is trying to see if he can figure out why I’m not healing. Spent a bunch of time online talking to other people who got hit by the bank shakeup. Like five of the banks that do site membership transactions went belly-up over the past month or at least stopped doing that sort of business. Three more are expected to be gone by the end of the year. Kinda creepy.

Larry Flynt might run for Governor of California. I’m afraid Arnie won’t be getting my vote if Flynt is in the race. Aside from the reasons folks might think I would have, I want to say that Larry Flynt’s company is the most honest business in his arena. I’ve worked for all the big adult publishing houses in one capacity or another and Larry Flynt’s companies are the only ones which have always paid on time and as agreed. I think the Hustler folks are some of the only decent business people in America and it would be great to have someone in our government who knows how to succeed at business, while treating people right.