Silly Admin Emails (was: Advertising)

I have just received the following inquiry:

Hello,

I’d like to inquire if it’s possible to purchase advertising space on your website.

If there is any space available please let me know and we could discuss further details.

Looking forward to your positive reply.

Thanks,

(name omitted)

So, how much should we charge? Maybe £2.50 to sign up and £1 to post a thread? Maybe £1.50 if you want images in your thread?

[EDIT: changed title]

And in today's admin mailbox, a blues band from Norway is trying to apply for a slot to play for us in 2016.

I'm not sure how they've managed to mistake us for a festival, but somehow I feel reluctant to turn them down. Anyone up for WAN BluesFest 2016?

Is it a TRV GRIM NORWEGIAN KVLT BLACK BLUES band? Like a Robert Johnson/Varg Vikernes cross-over thing?

PS: the halo around Johnson is because he's dead obviously, not because of sloppy Photoshopping.

Here's their Soundcloud page: https://soundcloud.com/9fingers

I think your photo goes quite well, actually.

Meh, they're not bad. I say we give 'em a slot.

My latest admin email of the day actually consists of three emails, sent at very reasonable intervals over a period of a week, basically asking me to post something on an unmoderated message board for her.

At first I honestly thought she was some kind of spambot, but what if she's actually a real person, a Marketing Assistant or something like that, who may even be getting paid a decent wage for what she does?

The idea seems very surreal.

She seemed persistent, so I thought some gentle encouragement was in order.

(First name and assumed sex included; other possibly-identifying details redacted. She can identify herself by her own posts, if she wishes.)

Hi Tiffany,

I'm not sure how to react! I'd seen your earlier emails, but I think I may have mistaken you for a very creative spammer. If so, I'm sorry; please understand that I receive a lot of very varied, and often quite surreal, email to this address.

We're All Neighbours is an unmoderated message board. Anyone is free to sign up for an account and post on the site. The link you're referring to is in the very last post on that thread, so if you sign up and post a reply, your post will appear immediately below it.

If you think that your link would be a helpful addition to the thread then by all means feel free to sign up and post it. I didn't click very far into your website myself, but I'm sure others will.

I hope to see you posting soon!

REDACTED

On 04/09/15 14:13, Tiffany wrote:
> Were All Neighbours,

> Since I haven't heard from you, I can only imagine it's one of three things:

> 1. You're super busy and /really want /to get back to me, but haven't had the time. That's totally fine: I get that! Just let me know and I can ping you again in a few weeks.

> 2. You hate the tutorial and you don't want to use it. That's fine too! That feedback (and any other constructive feedback) would be awesome.

> 3. You've won the lottery, and have used your winnings to get yourself to a private island where no one can bother you with technology. If that's the case, I'm extraordinarily jealous (but very happy for you.)

> In any case, let me know which one it is so I can act appropriately

> Thanks so much!
> Tiffany

> Tiffany REDACTED

> I know not everyone likes getting emails like this, so if you don’t want to to receive emails like this anymore, simply reply (politely, please!) and let me know.

> On Mon, Aug 31, 2015 at 6:12 am, Tiffany wrote:

> Hey Were All Neighbours,

> Just checking in to see if you got my email about the SQL tutorial. I'd really love to know what you think! It's been a great hit with our students and hopefully it can help anyone who comes to your page as well.

> Thanks again,
> Tiffany

> Tiffany REDACTED

> I know not everyone likes getting emails like this, so if you don’t want to to receive emails like this anymore, simply reply (politely, please!) and let me know.

> On Fri, Aug 28, 2015 at 6:10 am, Tiffany T wrote:

> Hi Were All Neighbours,

> I was doing some research for our students here at REDACTED on people using SQL resources and when I came across your site http://www.wereallneighbours.co.uk/idlechat/message.php?id=48648&page=..., saw you were using the tutorial from W3 Schools http://www.w3schools.com/sql/.

> We really like that resource, and actually created our own that we think is a perfect supplement! This SQL tutorial REDACTED is text-and image based, easy to search for quick answers, and super helpful for anyone: as a base for learning or as a reference guide.

> Do you think this would be a helpful resource? If so, please use it on your site. I'd love to see more people learning SQL!

> Thanks so much,

> Tiffany

> Tiffany REDACTED

> I know not everyone likes getting emails like this, so if you don’t want to to receive emails like this anymore, simply reply (politely, please!) and let me know.

Or is this simply a generation gap? I'm used to the idea of entering an email address and password to register with a website, but are today's generation more familiar with using "Login via Facebook / NSA" buttons?

oh dear this is all my fault, sorry guys. that W3 site was more useful for a bit of xslt that i needed to amend than anything else so far in the five months i've been pretending to be tech support

oh dear this is all my fault

Perhaps I should name and shame you.

How much does it cost to register a domain name under .cn?

I can't help thinking that this guy was far too persistent for the amount of money he could have made.

Matt,

No, I do not wish to purchase these domain names. Please feel free to
go ahead and sell them to anyone who considers them to be valuable.

[Lord WRONGFELLOW, O.B.E., M.B.E., B.S.E., L.S.D.]

On 15/02/16 07:57, Matt Lin wrote:
> Dear [Lord WRONGFELLOW, O.B.E., M.B.E., B.S.E., L.S.D.],
>
> Sorry to bother you. Regarding the Domain name and Brand Name
> registration case, we did not receive your any reply until now.
> Concerning the mentioned Domains and Brand Name please confirm
> whether you need to use the preferential right to register these
> domains and Brand Name. If need, please let us know ASAP, we can
> send an application form and the procedure to you. If you think the
> registration of that company or the use of following domain names
> will not bring any negative effect to your company, I suggest you
> can give up to register these domain names, then we can only accept
> that company application unconditionally. Further questions please
> contact me ASAP. Thank you.
>
> Best Regards,
>
> Matt Lin
> Head of International Business
> Phone: +86-55165184482 || Fax: +86-55165128724
> Web: www.preg.asia
> Address: Jincheng Building, No.436, Changjiang Middle Road, Luyang
> District, Hefei City, Anhui Province, China
> 2016-2-15
>
>
> Dear [Lord WRONGFELLOW, O.B.E., M.B.E., B.S.E., L.S.D.],
>
> Thanks for your confirmation. As soon as receiving the application
> of QIANSHANG GROUP, we checked and found " wereallneighbours " is
> your company's using name and brand. We are concerned that your
> brand name might be affected negatively by their application, this
> is why we informed you. But now the company wanted to apply for
> other domain names and Brand Name you have not registered yet.
>
> Following Brand Name and domain names are applied for by QIANSHANG GROUP:
> Brand Name:
> wereallneighbours
> Domain Name:
> wereallneighbours.cn
> wereallneighbours.cn.com
> wereallneighbours.com.cn
>
> the company also has the right to apply for the available domain
> names. For this reason the company is also an licit applicant and
> we have no right to reject them. Your company only own the
> preferential right to register these names.
>
> At present, we haven't passed their application, we need your
> opinion. If your company consider these names of importance to your
> company's business or interest, I suggest that your company register
> these names first so as to avoid confusion or speculation. Of
> course, each company has their own idea. If you don't want to
> protect your intellectual property rights, then my suggestion is
> your company give up these names so that we can finish registering
> for them as per our duty. Please give me your company's decision as
> soon as possible in order to handle this issue better.
>
> Best Regards,
>
> Matt Lin
> Head of International Business
> Phone: +86-55165184482 || Fax: +86-55165128724
> Web: www.preg.asia
> Address: Jincheng Building, No.436, Changjiang Middle Road, Luyang
> District, Hefei City, Anhui Province, China
> 2016-1-21
>
>
> Hi Matt,
>
> Thanks for getting in touch!
>
> This is news to me. I haven't been in contact with Qianshang Group
> in any way, and certainly haven't authorised them to use the We're
> All Neighbours name.
>
> I doubt I could, anyway. We're All Neighbours isn't a company - it's
> a community run message board for people in and around the city of
> Cambridge in the UK. I'm not sure how much of a difference that
> makes.
>
> Shall I ask the community how they feel about this registration? I
> imagine that most people would be happy with them using the name in
> Asia.
>
> Regards,
> [Lord WRONGFELLOW, O.B.E., M.B.E., B.S.E., L.S.D.]
>
> On 19/01/16 14:48, Matt Lin wrote:
>> To whom it may concern:
>>
>> We are the Registrars accredited by China Internet Network
>> Information Center. We have something to confirm with you. On
>> January 19, 2016, we received an application in which a company by
>> the name QIANSHANG GROUP applied to register "wereallneighbours" as
>> their Brand Name and some Asian top-level domain names through our
>> firm.
>>
>> Now we are handling this registration. After our initial checking,
>> we found that the name are identical to your company's. We need to
>> check with you whether your company has authorized that company to
>> register these names. If you have authorized this, we will finish
>> the registration at once. If not, please let us know within 7
>> workdays, in which case we will dicuss the matter more
>> thoroughly. If not otherwise advised within that time limit we will
>> proceed with the registration for QIANSHANG GROUP. We will be
>> waiting for your reply. Have a nice day!
>>
>> Best Regards,
>>
>> Matt Lin
>> Head of International Business
>> Phone: +86-55165184482 || Fax: +86-55165128724
>> Web: www.preg.asia
>> Address: Jincheng Building, No.436, Changjiang Middle Road, Luyang
>> District, Hefei City, Anhui Province, China
>> 2016-1-19

if We're All Neighbours - was China Stuff what do you think we'd be chatting about? local news :p war with Japanese fishing fleets, where to buy a good face mask, pollution what pollution? those pesky democracy protestors, tank man... whatever happened to tank man?

我们所有的邻居，我无聊 :/

Would RORing get you named and shamed?

^Racist! ;-)

Reminds me of the time I was stroking a cat I met near Mill Road. Spotting three Japanese girls over the road, the cat went running over to get some fuss from them, too. "Harro Mr Cat!" said one of the girls.