No Coke after 7pm.

Ah, another bout of insomnia. 3AM in the morning with a 10.30am class. Man, it’s going to be a long one.

I’ve just gone about my bi-monthly blog romp. Just amazing to see how some people are still going strong with their blogging. Oh, I’m supposed to write the second part of “Disgruntled Forumer”, but the inspiration or more like the acidity as left me. Ok, back to the bloggers.

Keeping a blog in good shape takes quite a bit of work. Well, maybe to me it is. But if you’re a really interesting person and have a lot of interesting images to share, then I guess that’s not the case. But I have to say I’m really impressed with those who have been blogging for more than two years. Especially those from the Xanga clan. I guess when you have an active blogring, then one member keeps the pressure on the others, then yadda yadda yadda.

Anyway, I just got off from a MSN conversation with a good friend of mine. Someone whom I haven’t spoken to in a really long time. I’m really horrible with keeping in touch with people. But I really appreciate those kinds of encounters where you haven’t communicated in ages, then in an intense 2 hours, make up for loss time. After that, the both of you slip back into non-existence.

No mess, no obligations, no attachments. All you’re left with are happy memories, and the little satisfaction of knowing you touched base with an old friend. Scary, but does that mean that I have commitment issues?

Disgruntled Forumer

You can’t have something that’s perfect. This statement goes pretty well with the one that says you can’t make everyone happy. Life is full of compromises. While something may seem real good, there are bound to be some blemishes here or there.

My frustration comes from my experience with some local photography forums. It’s great that there are exists some photo forums for Malaysian photographers. It’s a wonderful place to hang out and share our experiences in a setting that we are all comfortable in. Although all may sound cheery and bright, I do constantly find myself being ticked off with a few individuals.

There seems to be a trend of subservience towards members who are real life professionals or have an impressive collection of equipment. Some forumers’ “jacking” practices can be seen as clear as day. Most of them even belittle themselves just to make the more experienced or loaded member feel superior. Others elevate them to status of lords and gods. This is a trend unseen in western forums. Call them humble, but to me it just initiates a gag reflex.

The other thing that peeves me is the horrible command of the English language exhibited by some posters. There is a stereotype going around that a lot of the local photographers come from very Chinese backgrounds where their exposure to the English language is limited. I guess it’s alright since the English language is so very often butchered in daily conversations anyway. But heck, this is the internet and whatever you say is accessible throughout the globe. But would it be “Malaysian” if all postings were in Queen’s English? Probably not.

When starting a post in such local forums, do not expect to receive a lot of responses unless you’ve already established your circle of friends. I have realized that there are a number of cliques that have formed there. And whichever clique dominates that posting would most obviously depend on whoever the original poster was. Don’t now anybody? Don’t expect to see more than 10 responses on your thread showcasing your images. I must add that there is an exception to this rule. If you post a really stupid question and lower yourself to the status of a “noob”, then of course all kinds of opinions will start flooding in. Take each one with a pinch of salt.

Another thing that frustrates me is when someone starts a whole new thread about a lens, be it inquiring about it in general or showing what it can do. The next question would invariably be “How much?” There too have even been posts which have been price checks right off the bat. Yet another trend that remains to be seen in a western photo forum.

More on this at a later time…

Trading Stories

Trading with the internet as my marketplace does expose me to a lot of different characters. Most of the people I deal with are from North America and that demographic alone yields a handful of difficult customers. Imagine if it was on the international scale. There’s no telling how many stories I’d have for my grandkids one day.

There’s a lot of trust involved with online purchasing. Something that I realize a lot of Asians have yet to come to terms with. That’s exactly the reason why online trading hasn’t caught up in Asian regions. What a shame, because if you haven’t really caught on, then you’re kind of missing out. There’s nothing like placing an order for something through your computer and being greeted by the UPS guy with your stuff the next morning.

Anyhow, a recent incident has sort of inspired me to write about online sales. It was a deal I was working out with an individual who sounded pretty certain about making the purchase. I had his word that he was going to send the funds in three days. Well, three days rolled by and nothing came. Eventually after an electronic reminder from me, he responded saying that he was waiting for a sale to happen so that he would have the funds to pay me. He implied that as long as that sale did not materialize, I would have to wait on my end, warding off other potential buyers.

I personally felt that it was downright inconsiderate of him. How could you make me wait for a deal that has absolutely nothing to do with me to happen? And while I’m waiting turn down potential customers? What if your deal doesn’t ever happen? I have lost both you as a buyer and the other interested parties.

It didn’t help that I ran a little background check on him to see what kind of a person I was dealing with. Turns out that he did have some negative feedback, one in particular stating that he was a “fickle buyer”.

I sent him an email stating how disappointed I was with the situation and he took offence to it. Anyway, in the end we cleared the air between us and now there are no firm commitments. I seriously doubt he’ll be emailing me back.