"Frustration" doesn't even cover this
Well, if you're a Myst fan, then you've probably heard the horrible news: Cyan Worlds had to lay everyone off except for Rand Miller and Tony Fryman. A part of me feels hopeful in the fact that two employees are still there, another part wants to fight this despair and support Cyan any way that I can, and yet another part is afraid that I'm being naive for still having hope.
I want to take my frustration out on someone, but with the Cyan situation, no one is really to blame. I'm certainly not angry at Rand or Tony, for I know it broke their hearts to do this. I'm frustrated at Ubi for not taking risks by fully supporting Cyan, but I know that flaming them will not solve the problem, and that the best thing to do is participate in positive support efforts: http://www.mystembassy.net/supportcyan.html
Honestly, what's really getting me angry now is the failed relief efforts concerning Hurricane Katrina. The government in general, FEMA, the National Guard--they have completely underestimated this disaster. Before the official actual help trickled in on Friday afternoon, both FEMA and the Guard bailed out of New Orleans. Some of the NOPD have quit, some have looted stores themselves. Even now, there are still thousands stuck in damaged regions, and I'm not just talking about the Superdome, Astrodome and Cajundome. There are thousands still on rooftops, waiting for the floodwaters to overtake them. Many more have died in the Superdome lines waiting to be evacuated. There's still fire, flooding, looting, murder, rape, and sniper fire in the streets. So many of these organizations have failed in their duties in this case, and none of them are acknowledging this or taking responsibility.
But strangely, what has sent me to the fucking deep end with all this is Paypal. Yes, Paypal. The story is this: The website Something Awful wanted to do their part and donate. As an incentive, the webmaster's plan was to give free merchandise to those who donated over $10. Seeing as the SA servers are located in New Orleans, they obviously have lost them. So he figured the best way to carry out his plan and give the donations via online to the Red Cross was through Paypal.
Unfortunately, while being popular, SA can be a vicious humor site that has made its share of inept enemies. One of these disgusting wastes of flesh must have decided to report the donation as a fraud, and as a result Paypal has frozen the donation account, and Paypal as a rule keeps all proceeds of frozen accounts. They just shut it down, not giving the webmaster any warning or customer assistance, and does not respond to any customer complaints.
THAT'S RIGHT, PAYPAL HAS OFFICIALLY STOLEN OVER $20,000 FROM THE RED CROSS.
And don't get me started on relief organizations turning away help. There are many who want to do more than give money or canned goods. There was a group of deputy sherrifs in Virginia that wanted to go to New Orleans and assist (this was before Friday). They contacted FEMA, saying they wanted to send food, water, and themselves. They were completely self-sufficient, meaning that they didn't have to rely on FEMA for shelter or operations. They were turned away. Many other gestures of atypical assistance have been denied as well. Look FEMA, they know about the violence that is still happening, and they still want to help. They're just trying to do your job, seeing as how you suck at it.
A good blog to read about all this as it happens is http://www.livejournal.com/users/interdictor/. He's the man who had kept the SA servers running as long as they could, and has been mentioned on MSNBC and CNN Headline News.
I want to take my frustration out on someone, but with the Cyan situation, no one is really to blame. I'm certainly not angry at Rand or Tony, for I know it broke their hearts to do this. I'm frustrated at Ubi for not taking risks by fully supporting Cyan, but I know that flaming them will not solve the problem, and that the best thing to do is participate in positive support efforts: http://www.mystembassy.net/supportcyan.html
Honestly, what's really getting me angry now is the failed relief efforts concerning Hurricane Katrina. The government in general, FEMA, the National Guard--they have completely underestimated this disaster. Before the official actual help trickled in on Friday afternoon, both FEMA and the Guard bailed out of New Orleans. Some of the NOPD have quit, some have looted stores themselves. Even now, there are still thousands stuck in damaged regions, and I'm not just talking about the Superdome, Astrodome and Cajundome. There are thousands still on rooftops, waiting for the floodwaters to overtake them. Many more have died in the Superdome lines waiting to be evacuated. There's still fire, flooding, looting, murder, rape, and sniper fire in the streets. So many of these organizations have failed in their duties in this case, and none of them are acknowledging this or taking responsibility.
But strangely, what has sent me to the fucking deep end with all this is Paypal. Yes, Paypal. The story is this: The website Something Awful wanted to do their part and donate. As an incentive, the webmaster's plan was to give free merchandise to those who donated over $10. Seeing as the SA servers are located in New Orleans, they obviously have lost them. So he figured the best way to carry out his plan and give the donations via online to the Red Cross was through Paypal.
Unfortunately, while being popular, SA can be a vicious humor site that has made its share of inept enemies. One of these disgusting wastes of flesh must have decided to report the donation as a fraud, and as a result Paypal has frozen the donation account, and Paypal as a rule keeps all proceeds of frozen accounts. They just shut it down, not giving the webmaster any warning or customer assistance, and does not respond to any customer complaints.
THAT'S RIGHT, PAYPAL HAS OFFICIALLY STOLEN OVER $20,000 FROM THE RED CROSS.
And don't get me started on relief organizations turning away help. There are many who want to do more than give money or canned goods. There was a group of deputy sherrifs in Virginia that wanted to go to New Orleans and assist (this was before Friday). They contacted FEMA, saying they wanted to send food, water, and themselves. They were completely self-sufficient, meaning that they didn't have to rely on FEMA for shelter or operations. They were turned away. Many other gestures of atypical assistance have been denied as well. Look FEMA, they know about the violence that is still happening, and they still want to help. They're just trying to do your job, seeing as how you suck at it.
A good blog to read about all this as it happens is http://www.livejournal.com/users/interdictor/. He's the man who had kept the SA servers running as long as they could, and has been mentioned on MSNBC and CNN Headline News.
posted by Sorceress @ 1:09 PM
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