I was lured to classmates.com like Ken Hanley (ComputerWorld Canada, June 15, 2001, page 19), but through a banner ad I found inviting. (God only knows where I thought I had time for it.) When they asked me for US$30 I immediately set aside time in my calendar to sign up and check this thing out. Over the next few days, I waited patiently for my free 30 minutes to sign up and browse for those old girl friends we all knew and loved.
Then the time came and I thought, “Hey, this is the Internet, home of free information…” What the heck, I had 30 minutes set aside and the laptop was just getting warmed up… 15 minutes later I was e-mailing a friend I had not talked to since the ’80s. It did not cost me US$30. And I did not need to become a gold member of anything.
I found gradfinder.com through a common search engine and was instantly gratified (it’s one of my weaknesses). The problem here lies in that not all the same people are on both sites.
I just wanted Hanley to know that someone out there read his column and was curious as to why a magazine would pay money for something that took absolutely no research. What work was involved in this article? Or is the publishing industry so hard up for filler material that they will pay for any old conversation he wants to have with his laptop (hmmm…I talk to mine all the time…)?
I am a consultant that skipped the heart-removal surgery. I thought it a waste of time since my heart was never that big to start with.
I hope to find time to read more of Hanley’s stuff in the near future and look forward to it.
Shayne Kawalilak
Edmonton
