4 ms·

Is this legit? It kind of feels like those old scam ads that would say, "Has your credit card number been stolen? Enter here to find out!". Why, especially in

Is this legit? It kind of feels like those old scam ads that would say, "Has your credit card number been stolen? Enter here to find out!". Why, especially in the light of recent privacy concerns, would I just hand over my full name, address and phone number and allow someone I have no relationship with mail a legal document on my behalf?

tsaoutourpants 13y ago
Hello, creator of the Web site here. You can click through the contact page to find out more about me, but I've been fighting government invasion of privacy for several years now. I was the top story on HN for about 3 days last year when I posted a video of me beating TSA nude bdy scanners. I want nothing more than to send the NSA and FISA court a million requests for info! :)
- stfu 13y ago
  Great work, I remember the TSA scanner story! Just a thought: Maybe you could change the buttons to look less 2000'ish. That might give off a bit of an odd vibe ;)
  - tsaoutourpants 13y ago
    Thank you!! Help create new awesome buttons and I'll use them! :)
    - grey-area 13y ago
      Try something like this perhaps: <a href="/retrieve/" class="button retrieve">Retrieve</a> <style type="text/css" media="screen"> .button { font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; text-decoration:none; color:#fff; background-color:green; margin:1em; padding:0.5em 1em; font-size:2em; text-transform:uppercase; letter-spacing:0.1em; } </style> http://jsfiddle.net/zdYbM/ http://jsfiddle.net/zdYbM/
      - alanh 13y ago
        Does feel more modern, but much less clickable. IMO, slight faux 3D effects are still quite helpful on the web
        grey-area 13y ago
        Easy enough to add shadows etc with CSS if you like them, but I do think anything (even just text) would be better than the current buttons - at present they make the site look pretty dodgy and home-made - strange how styling can affect our trust.
- ctdonath 13y ago
  How about a "PDFs of the documents needed so I can file it myself" option? I know that doesn't keep you in the loop as much, but per parent post I'm not clicking otherwise.
  - tsaoutourpants 13y ago
    Basically, you can take the forms that you see when you click one of the two buttons and make a Word doc that looks just like it, then mail to the appropriate place. I don't mind being taken out of the loop -- I just want some guy's desk at the NSA and FISC to be stacked high with papers! :)
- JDGM 13y ago
  "tsaou...tour pants...???... tsao u to ur pants??? ... ts a out our pan ts... TSA out our pants! Got it!" PS. In submitting this - your Web page (!!) - I was hoping to get some feedback from wise old HNers as to whether it was legit or not. Though the page out of context seems faintly scam-like ("We will mail your request for FREE!" "We've got a lot of printing and mailing to do, and can only do it with your support!"), it seemed to check out with the other pages on the site and all the information about you so I figured it was fine, but still was interested in what other folks made of it. I wasn't expecting the author himself to be the first to assure people with his previous HN credentials! Great stuff, and keep up the awesome work.
  - tsaoutourpants 13y ago
    Thanks for sharing it! If you have any ideas for how to make it seem less sketchy while still conveying that we're going to send a free request for you, let me know!
    - JDGM 13y ago
      Needless to say, it's a little unfair of me to so casually and easily remark "the page out of context seems faintly scam-like" without pinpointing exactly why, and offering "ideas for how to make it seem less sketchy". This kind of thing is also very subjective, anyway! However, in my opinion, it might be an improvement to drop the caps on "FREE" and perhaps the exclamation marks on the two quoted sentences too. The comment around here by "stfu" about the buttons is also interesting, and hadn't even occurred to me, but seems like a good observation.
      - tsaoutourpants 13y ago
        No offense taken -- it's good to be skeptical! I've taken your suggestion and un-caps'd and changed some punctuation. :)
    - alanh 13y ago
      Well, the big question for me was, “Why would anyone expect either of these options ever actually work?” and your site does not seem to address this fundamental question. There are a few little things, too, like the ASCII arrow "bullets" and cheap-feeling graphics, that just make it seem less trustworthy. Contact me if you’d like me to donate a wee bit of time to upgrade your look & feel.

tsaoutourpants 13y ago

Hello, creator of the Web site here. You can click through the contact page to find out more about me, but I've been fighting government invasion of privacy for several years now. I was the top story on HN for about 3 days last year when I posted a video of me beating TSA nude bdy scanners. I want nothing more than to send the NSA and FISA court a million requests for info! :)

stfu 13y ago
Great work, I remember the TSA scanner story! Just a thought: Maybe you could change the buttons to look less 2000'ish. That might give off a bit of an odd vibe ;)
- tsaoutourpants 13y ago
  Thank you!! Help create new awesome buttons and I'll use them! :)
  - grey-area 13y ago
    Try something like this perhaps: <a href="/retrieve/" class="button retrieve">Retrieve</a> <style type="text/css" media="screen"> .button { font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; text-decoration:none; color:#fff; background-color:green; margin:1em; padding:0.5em 1em; font-size:2em; text-transform:uppercase; letter-spacing:0.1em; } </style> http://jsfiddle.net/zdYbM/ http://jsfiddle.net/zdYbM/
    - alanh 13y ago
      Does feel more modern, but much less clickable. IMO, slight faux 3D effects are still quite helpful on the web
      - grey-area 13y ago
        Easy enough to add shadows etc with CSS if you like them, but I do think anything (even just text) would be better than the current buttons - at present they make the site look pretty dodgy and home-made - strange how styling can affect our trust.
ctdonath 13y ago
How about a "PDFs of the documents needed so I can file it myself" option? I know that doesn't keep you in the loop as much, but per parent post I'm not clicking otherwise.
- tsaoutourpants 13y ago
  Basically, you can take the forms that you see when you click one of the two buttons and make a Word doc that looks just like it, then mail to the appropriate place. I don't mind being taken out of the loop -- I just want some guy's desk at the NSA and FISC to be stacked high with papers! :)
JDGM 13y ago
"tsaou...tour pants...???... tsao u to ur pants??? ... ts a out our pan ts... TSA out our pants! Got it!" PS. In submitting this - your Web page (!!) - I was hoping to get some feedback from wise old HNers as to whether it was legit or not. Though the page out of context seems faintly scam-like ("We will mail your request for FREE!" "We've got a lot of printing and mailing to do, and can only do it with your support!"), it seemed to check out with the other pages on the site and all the information about you so I figured it was fine, but still was interested in what other folks made of it. I wasn't expecting the author himself to be the first to assure people with his previous HN credentials! Great stuff, and keep up the awesome work.
- tsaoutourpants 13y ago
  Thanks for sharing it! If you have any ideas for how to make it seem less sketchy while still conveying that we're going to send a free request for you, let me know!
  - JDGM 13y ago
    Needless to say, it's a little unfair of me to so casually and easily remark "the page out of context seems faintly scam-like" without pinpointing exactly why, and offering "ideas for how to make it seem less sketchy". This kind of thing is also very subjective, anyway! However, in my opinion, it might be an improvement to drop the caps on "FREE" and perhaps the exclamation marks on the two quoted sentences too. The comment around here by "stfu" about the buttons is also interesting, and hadn't even occurred to me, but seems like a good observation.
    - tsaoutourpants 13y ago
      No offense taken -- it's good to be skeptical! I've taken your suggestion and un-caps'd and changed some punctuation. :)
  - alanh 13y ago
    Well, the big question for me was, “Why would anyone expect either of these options ever actually work?” and your site does not seem to address this fundamental question. There are a few little things, too, like the ASCII arrow "bullets" and cheap-feeling graphics, that just make it seem less trustworthy. Contact me if you’d like me to donate a wee bit of time to upgrade your look & feel.