[VOP]:Chess Set Ads

[Paul S Person]

For some time now, the ads on the Windows News thingy have been
entirely about chess sets. That's a lot of chess sets.

Since the only place I have discussed chess in right here on rasw, I
am naturally wondering if someone here has sold my info as a prospect.

I haven't played chess for a long time, not even Battle Chess, but, if
I did, and needed a chess set I would use the Renaissance Chessmen
with Board set I got back in the 50s or 60s. The box may not be as
intact as I would like, but the set itself is complete.

So, if whoever is responsible would be so kind as to inform these
frantic chess set salespersons that they are barking up the wrong
tree, I would appreciate it.

Thanks.

[William Hyde]

Post by Paul S Person
For some time now, the ads on the Windows News thingy have been
entirely about chess sets. That's a lot of chess sets.
Since the only place I have discussed chess in right here on rasw, I
am naturally wondering if someone here has sold my info as a prospect.

Actual chess players are not generally the target market for these sets. We
generally buy plastic roll-up boards and plastic weighted pieces, which are
quite inexpensive. The real cost is in buying a decent chess clock.

Expensive chess sets are for decoration, or to demonstrate how intellectual
the owner is.

An exception would be those who collect chess sets as art, but replicas of
chess sets by (e.g.) Max Ernst are not normally on offer (and you can get
the instructions necessary to make one on your 3d printer, anyway).

Post by Paul S Person
I haven't played chess for a long time, not even Battle Chess, but, if
I did, and needed a chess set I would use the Renaissance Chessmen
with Board set I got back in the 50s or 60s. The box may not be as
intact as I would like, but the set itself is complete.
So, if whoever is responsible would be so kind as to inform these
frantic chess set salespersons that they are barking up the wrong
tree, I would appreciate it.

That would never, ever, work. Once upon a time I accidentally clicked on the website
of a company that makes cheap pseudo-classical statues for gardens. It was three
years before I stopped getting ads.

Web based organizations never seem to want to correct anything. Every few months
academia.edu offers me a chance to look at a paper I wrote, with someone else
listed as the author. I finally managed to get in touch with a human who works
there, only to be told that the only recourse would be for me to join
academia.edu and make the correction myself. Do their work for them, in other
words, and pay for the privilege.

William Hyde

[Scott Dorsey]

Post by William Hyde
Expensive chess sets are for decoration, or to demonstrate how intellectual
the owner is.

They are also heavy, and can be used as convenient bludgeons to attack the
person who put your bishop in check when it's clear that there are only two
options that both result in losses.

Post by William Hyde
That would never, ever, work. Once upon a time I accidentally clicked on th=
e website=20
of a company that makes cheap pseudo-classical statues for gardens. It was=
three
years before I stopped getting ads.

Did you check to see if they made giant fake marble chess sets for your
garden also?

"I move king's bishop to the hosta."

"You squished my hosta!"
--scott

[David Duffy]

Post by William Hyde
quite inexpensive. The real cost is in buying a decent chess clock.

The phone apps are pretty good, except they lack that tiny clink of flagfall.

[Charles Packer]

Post by William Hyde
Web based organizations never seem to want to correct anything. Every
few months academia.edu offers me a chance to look at a paper I wrote,
with someone else listed as the author. I finally managed to get in
touch with a human who works there, only to be told that the only
recourse would be for me to join academia.edu and make the correction
myself. Do their work for them, in other words, and pay for the
privilege.

They do something different with me. They present me
with the title of some paper whose author is C. Packer and
ask me to confirm that I'm the C. Packer who wrote the paper.
For a while I dutifully responded in the negative until I
realized that it was a promotional gimmick.

[William Hyde]

Post by Charles Packer

Web based organizations never seem to want to correct anything. Every
few months academia.edu offers me a chance to look at a paper I wrote,
with someone else listed as the author. I finally managed to get in
touch with a human who works there, only to be told that the only
recourse would be for me to join academia.edu and make the correction
myself. Do their work for them, in other words, and pay for the
privilege.

They do something different with me. They present me
with the title of some paper whose author is C. Packer and
ask me to confirm that I'm the C. Packer who wrote the paper.
For a while I dutifully responded in the negative until I
realized that it was a promotional gimmick.

I've the same experience. There is a W. Hyde who has written a lot on forestry and forestry
economics, they often ask me if I have written those papers. With all due respect to
that W. Hyde, if I must be spuriously credited with work, I'd rather it was William Hyde
Wollaston's.

William (not the forestry guy) Hyde

[Lynn McGuire]

Post by Paul S Person
For some time now, the ads on the Windows News thingy have been
entirely about chess sets. That's a lot of chess sets.
Since the only place I have discussed chess in right here on rasw, I
am naturally wondering if someone here has sold my info as a prospect.
I haven't played chess for a long time, not even Battle Chess, but, if
I did, and needed a chess set I would use the Renaissance Chessmen
with Board set I got back in the 50s or 60s. The box may not be as
intact as I would like, but the set itself is complete.
So, if whoever is responsible would be so kind as to inform these
frantic chess set salespersons that they are barking up the wrong
tree, I would appreciate it.
Thanks.

Did you discuss chess sets in the presence of your smart phone ? If so,
your smart phone ratted you out. After all, the microphone is always on.

Lynn

[[e-mail]]

Post by Paul S Person
For some time now, the ads on the Windows News thingy have been
entirely about chess sets. That's a lot of chess sets.
Since the only place I have discussed chess in right here on rasw, I
am naturally wondering if someone here has sold my info as a prospect.
I haven't played chess for a long time, not even Battle Chess, but, if
I did, and needed a chess set I would use the Renaissance Chessmen
with Board set I got back in the 50s or 60s. The box may not be as
intact as I would like, but the set itself is complete.
So, if whoever is responsible would be so kind as to inform these
frantic chess set salespersons that they are barking up the wrong
tree, I would appreciate it.
Thanks.

Did you discuss chess sets in the presence of your smart phone ? If so,
your smart phone ratted you out. After all, the microphone is always on.

I used to think that this was paranoid nonsense, but I was recently
discussing possible future vacations with my wife (I just retired, and
have more time). I mentioned cruises, and a return visit to Hawaii. At
no point did I query the net on those subjects. But within a day, I got
a burst of ads for 'cruises to Hawaii'.

Pt

[Robert Carnegie]

Post by ***@gmail.com

Post by Paul S Person
For some time now, the ads on the Windows News thingy have been
entirely about chess sets. That's a lot of chess sets.
Since the only place I have discussed chess in right here on rasw, I
am naturally wondering if someone here has sold my info as a prospect.
I haven't played chess for a long time, not even Battle Chess, but, if
I did, and needed a chess set I would use the Renaissance Chessmen
with Board set I got back in the 50s or 60s. The box may not be as
intact as I would like, but the set itself is complete.
So, if whoever is responsible would be so kind as to inform these
frantic chess set salespersons that they are barking up the wrong
tree, I would appreciate it.
Thanks.

Did you discuss chess sets in the presence of your smart phone ? If so,
your smart phone ratted you out. After all, the microphone is always on.

I used to think that this was paranoid nonsense, but I was recently
discussing possible future vacations with my wife (I just retired, and
have more time). I mentioned cruises, and a return visit to Hawaii. At
no point did I query the net on those subjects. But within a day, I got
a burst of ads for 'cruises to Hawaii'.

Is it possible to attribute this to
your wife?

Is this a time when people go to Hawaii?

I still buy the _Radio Times_ TV (and radio)
listing magazine. It starts including a
holiday brochure section right after
Christmas / New Year.

[The Horny Goat]

On Thu, 1 Feb 2024 17:19:35 +0000, Robert Carnegie

Post by Robert Carnegie

Post by ***@gmail.com

Post by Paul S Person
For some time now, the ads on the Windows News thingy have been
entirely about chess sets. That's a lot of chess sets.
Since the only place I have discussed chess in right here on rasw, I
am naturally wondering if someone here has sold my info as a prospect.
I haven't played chess for a long time, not even Battle Chess, but, if
I did, and needed a chess set I would use the Renaissance Chessmen
with Board set I got back in the 50s or 60s. The box may not be as
intact as I would like, but the set itself is complete.
So, if whoever is responsible would be so kind as to inform these
frantic chess set salespersons that they are barking up the wrong
tree, I would appreciate it.
Thanks.

Did you discuss chess sets in the presence of your smart phone ? If so,
your smart phone ratted you out. After all, the microphone is always on.

I used to think that this was paranoid nonsense, but I was recently
discussing possible future vacations with my wife (I just retired, and
have more time). I mentioned cruises, and a return visit to Hawaii. At
no point did I query the net on those subjects. But within a day, I got
a burst of ads for 'cruises to Hawaii'.

Is it possible to attribute this to
your wife?
Is this a time when people go to Hawaii?
I still buy the _Radio Times_ TV (and radio)
listing magazine. It starts including a
holiday brochure section right after
Christmas / New Year.

Which is ESPECIALLY weird since I'm subscribed to all the chess groups
and am NOT getting these messages - and if anybody's grazing the net
for likely chess players to market to I would certainly be on their
list since I'm on the national executive of the Chess Federation of
Canada.

Meaning that whoever the spammer is either isn't paying attention to
who's subscribed to various newsgroups NOR to chess websites that have
'contact me' tabs on their site. And no question that having both a
rare first name and a rare last name I get targetted a lot but have
developed very good spam filters. Go figure...

[Paul S Person]

On Tue, 2 Jan 2024 17:55:20 -0600, Lynn McGuire

Post by Lynn McGuire

Post by Paul S Person
For some time now, the ads on the Windows News thingy have been
entirely about chess sets. That's a lot of chess sets.
Since the only place I have discussed chess in right here on rasw, I
am naturally wondering if someone here has sold my info as a prospect.
I haven't played chess for a long time, not even Battle Chess, but, if
I did, and needed a chess set I would use the Renaissance Chessmen
with Board set I got back in the 50s or 60s. The box may not be as
intact as I would like, but the set itself is complete.
So, if whoever is responsible would be so kind as to inform these
frantic chess set salespersons that they are barking up the wrong
tree, I would appreciate it.
Thanks.

Did you discuss chess sets in the presence of your smart phone ? If so,
your smart phone ratted you out. After all, the microphone is always on.

I don't have a smart phone.

My phone is so dumb -- how dumb is it? -- so dumb that it plugs into
the wall.

And I don't recall clicking on any chess-related ads at any time.

I suppose "they" could be scanning Usenet to find people who might be
in the market for a chess set.

Yesterday, even the interstitial ads in the (very few) slide shows (or
whatever they are) I chose to move through were for -- chess sets.

And I am using an invalid email precisely because I had a similar (but
much much worse [1]) episode in the 90s -- and fixed it by first
isolating it to a specific usenet group and then using an invalid
email address.

[1] At the time, I was working, so I downloaded once a week. While
this was going on, I was getting 10MB (the limit) of emails each week,
most of them bounces. Simply changing the email did not work, so I
split it into several that I used in different contexts and Usenet was
the winner. Apparently I pissed someone off and, not being able to
actually counter my arguments, this individual chose to exact revenge.

This also protected the One True Email, the one that actually
controlled my account with my then ISP.

[Lynn McGuire]

Post by Paul S Person
On Tue, 2 Jan 2024 17:55:20 -0600, Lynn McGuire

Post by Lynn McGuire

Post by Paul S Person
For some time now, the ads on the Windows News thingy have been
entirely about chess sets. That's a lot of chess sets.
Since the only place I have discussed chess in right here on rasw, I
am naturally wondering if someone here has sold my info as a prospect.
I haven't played chess for a long time, not even Battle Chess, but, if
I did, and needed a chess set I would use the Renaissance Chessmen
with Board set I got back in the 50s or 60s. The box may not be as
intact as I would like, but the set itself is complete.
So, if whoever is responsible would be so kind as to inform these
frantic chess set salespersons that they are barking up the wrong
tree, I would appreciate it.
Thanks.

Did you discuss chess sets in the presence of your smart phone ? If so,
your smart phone ratted you out. After all, the microphone is always on.

I don't have a smart phone.
My phone is so dumb -- how dumb is it? -- so dumb that it plugs into
the wall.
And I don't recall clicking on any chess-related ads at any time.
I suppose "they" could be scanning Usenet to find people who might be
in the market for a chess set.
Yesterday, even the interstitial ads in the (very few) slide shows (or
whatever they are) I chose to move through were for -- chess sets.
And I am using an invalid email precisely because I had a similar (but
much much worse [1]) episode in the 90s -- and fixed it by first
isolating it to a specific usenet group and then using an invalid
email address.
[1] At the time, I was working, so I downloaded once a week. While
this was going on, I was getting 10MB (the limit) of emails each week,
most of them bounces. Simply changing the email did not work, so I
split it into several that I used in different contexts and Usenet was
the winner. Apparently I pissed someone off and, not being able to
actually counter my arguments, this individual chose to exact revenge.
This also protected the One True Email, the one that actually
controlled my account with my then ISP.

"They" is Google. And they scan EVERYTHING ! Google built google.com
so they could scan your information queries. Google bought DejaNews so
they could scan Usenet. Google built the Android phone so they could
track you and scan your words, both spoken and written. Google scans
EVERYTHING. And they delete nothing.

Lynn

[Paul S Person]

On Wed, 3 Jan 2024 15:17:34 -0600, Lynn McGuire

Post by Lynn McGuire

Post by Paul S Person
On Tue, 2 Jan 2024 17:55:20 -0600, Lynn McGuire

Post by Lynn McGuire

Post by Paul S Person
For some time now, the ads on the Windows News thingy have been
entirely about chess sets. That's a lot of chess sets.
Since the only place I have discussed chess in right here on rasw, I
am naturally wondering if someone here has sold my info as a prospect.
I haven't played chess for a long time, not even Battle Chess, but, if
I did, and needed a chess set I would use the Renaissance Chessmen
with Board set I got back in the 50s or 60s. The box may not be as
intact as I would like, but the set itself is complete.
So, if whoever is responsible would be so kind as to inform these
frantic chess set salespersons that they are barking up the wrong
tree, I would appreciate it.
Thanks.

Did you discuss chess sets in the presence of your smart phone ? If so,
your smart phone ratted you out. After all, the microphone is always on.

I don't have a smart phone.
My phone is so dumb -- how dumb is it? -- so dumb that it plugs into
the wall.
And I don't recall clicking on any chess-related ads at any time.
I suppose "they" could be scanning Usenet to find people who might be
in the market for a chess set.
Yesterday, even the interstitial ads in the (very few) slide shows (or
whatever they are) I chose to move through were for -- chess sets.
And I am using an invalid email precisely because I had a similar (but
much much worse [1]) episode in the 90s -- and fixed it by first
isolating it to a specific usenet group and then using an invalid
email address.
[1] At the time, I was working, so I downloaded once a week. While
this was going on, I was getting 10MB (the limit) of emails each week,
most of them bounces. Simply changing the email did not work, so I
split it into several that I used in different contexts and Usenet was
the winner. Apparently I pissed someone off and, not being able to
actually counter my arguments, this individual chose to exact revenge.
This also protected the One True Email, the one that actually
controlled my account with my then ISP.

"They" is Google. And they scan EVERYTHING ! Google built google.com
so they could scan your information queries. Google bought DejaNews so
they could scan Usenet. Google built the Android phone so they could
track you and scan your words, both spoken and written. Google scans
EVERYTHING. And they delete nothing.

I think a bad actor on this newsgroup is a far more likely explanation
(keep in mind my prior experience, as given in [1] above). Or has
anyone else been suddenly and overwhelmingly targetted by ads for
something they have discussed here but never ever clicked on or
searched for?

Still, you may be right. I may simply not be paranoid /enough/ in this
regard. (I regard someone, including myself, as paranoid enough when
that person ceases to worry about whatever-it-is because it is clear
that there is nothing to be done, and so becomes free to continue to
live that person's life without worrying about it.)

[William Hyde]

Post by Paul S Person
On Wed, 3 Jan 2024 15:17:34 -0600, Lynn McGuire

Post by Paul S Person
On Tue, 2 Jan 2024 17:55:20 -0600, Lynn McGuire

Post by Paul S Person
For some time now, the ads on the Windows News thingy have been
entirely about chess sets. That's a lot of chess sets.
Since the only place I have discussed chess in right here on rasw, I
am naturally wondering if someone here has sold my info as a prospect.
I haven't played chess for a long time, not even Battle Chess, but, if
I did, and needed a chess set I would use the Renaissance Chessmen
with Board set I got back in the 50s or 60s. The box may not be as
intact as I would like, but the set itself is complete.
So, if whoever is responsible would be so kind as to inform these
frantic chess set salespersons that they are barking up the wrong
tree, I would appreciate it.
Thanks.

Did you discuss chess sets in the presence of your smart phone ? If so,
your smart phone ratted you out. After all, the microphone is always on.

I don't have a smart phone.
My phone is so dumb -- how dumb is it? -- so dumb that it plugs into
the wall.
And I don't recall clicking on any chess-related ads at any time.
I suppose "they" could be scanning Usenet to find people who might be
in the market for a chess set.
Yesterday, even the interstitial ads in the (very few) slide shows (or
whatever they are) I chose to move through were for -- chess sets.
And I am using an invalid email precisely because I had a similar (but
much much worse [1]) episode in the 90s -- and fixed it by first
isolating it to a specific usenet group and then using an invalid
email address.
[1] At the time, I was working, so I downloaded once a week. While
this was going on, I was getting 10MB (the limit) of emails each week,
most of them bounces. Simply changing the email did not work, so I
split it into several that I used in different contexts and Usenet was
the winner. Apparently I pissed someone off and, not being able to
actually counter my arguments, this individual chose to exact revenge.
This also protected the One True Email, the one that actually
controlled my account with my then ISP.

"They" is Google. And they scan EVERYTHING ! Google built google.com
so they could scan your information queries. Google bought DejaNews so
they could scan Usenet. Google built the Android phone so they could
track you and scan your words, both spoken and written. Google scans
EVERYTHING. And they delete nothing.

I think a bad actor on this newsgroup is a far more likely explanation
(keep in mind my prior experience, as given in [1] above).

It occurs to me that I have posted about chess on several actual chess
groups, as well have here, and have visited sites like chess.com,
chessgames.com, the web sites of writers on chess like
Tim Krabbe and Edward winter, perused countless youtube videos
on chess, yet have never had such advertising directed at me.

Perhaps they think I can't afford it?

Prior to my acquisition of decent email filters I did get plenty of advertising,
but for the usual reasons, Nigerian princes, sex aids, more sex aids, drugs
of various kinds, stocks, real estate. But never chess.

Many of them had randomly worded titles of which my favourite by far was:

"Your Future, Opium Poisoning".

I have no idea what they were trying to sell me there, naturally I didn't open
it.

William Hyde

[Paul S Person]

On Thu, 4 Jan 2024 11:24:48 -0800 (PST), William Hyde

Post by William Hyde

Post by Paul S Person
On Wed, 3 Jan 2024 15:17:34 -0600, Lynn McGuire

Post by Paul S Person
On Tue, 2 Jan 2024 17:55:20 -0600, Lynn McGuire

Post by Paul S Person
For some time now, the ads on the Windows News thingy have been
entirely about chess sets. That's a lot of chess sets.
Since the only place I have discussed chess in right here on rasw, I
am naturally wondering if someone here has sold my info as a prospect.
I haven't played chess for a long time, not even Battle Chess, but, if
I did, and needed a chess set I would use the Renaissance Chessmen
with Board set I got back in the 50s or 60s. The box may not be as
intact as I would like, but the set itself is complete.
So, if whoever is responsible would be so kind as to inform these
frantic chess set salespersons that they are barking up the wrong
tree, I would appreciate it.
Thanks.

Did you discuss chess sets in the presence of your smart phone ? If so,
your smart phone ratted you out. After all, the microphone is always on.

I don't have a smart phone.
My phone is so dumb -- how dumb is it? -- so dumb that it plugs into
the wall.
And I don't recall clicking on any chess-related ads at any time.
I suppose "they" could be scanning Usenet to find people who might be
in the market for a chess set.
Yesterday, even the interstitial ads in the (very few) slide shows (or
whatever they are) I chose to move through were for -- chess sets.
And I am using an invalid email precisely because I had a similar (but
much much worse [1]) episode in the 90s -- and fixed it by first
isolating it to a specific usenet group and then using an invalid
email address.
[1] At the time, I was working, so I downloaded once a week. While
this was going on, I was getting 10MB (the limit) of emails each week,
most of them bounces. Simply changing the email did not work, so I
split it into several that I used in different contexts and Usenet was
the winner. Apparently I pissed someone off and, not being able to
actually counter my arguments, this individual chose to exact revenge.
This also protected the One True Email, the one that actually
controlled my account with my then ISP.

"They" is Google. And they scan EVERYTHING ! Google built google.com
so they could scan your information queries. Google bought DejaNews so
they could scan Usenet. Google built the Android phone so they could
track you and scan your words, both spoken and written. Google scans
EVERYTHING. And they delete nothing.

I think a bad actor on this newsgroup is a far more likely explanation
(keep in mind my prior experience, as given in [1] above).

It occurs to me that I have posted about chess on several actual chess
groups, as well have here, and have visited sites like chess.com,
chessgames.com, the web sites of writers on chess like
Tim Krabbe and Edward winter, perused countless youtube videos
on chess, yet have never had such advertising directed at me.
Perhaps they think I can't afford it?
Prior to my acquisition of decent email filters I did get plenty of advertising,
but for the usual reasons, Nigerian princes, sex aids, more sex aids, drugs
of various kinds, stocks, real estate. But never chess.
"Your Future, Opium Poisoning".
I have no idea what they were trying to sell me there, naturally I didn't open
it.

Which, to my overly-suspicious (not to say somewhat paranoid) mind,
only increases the likelihood of my being specifically targeted.

But life goes on, and since I skip /all/ ads, these are simply ...
boring and repetitious.

[Robert Carnegie]

Post by William Hyde

Post by Paul S Person
On Wed, 3 Jan 2024 15:17:34 -0600, Lynn McGuire

Post by Paul S Person
On Tue, 2 Jan 2024 17:55:20 -0600, Lynn McGuire

Post by Paul S Person
For some time now, the ads on the Windows News thingy have been
entirely about chess sets. That's a lot of chess sets.
Since the only place I have discussed chess in right here on rasw, I
am naturally wondering if someone here has sold my info as a prospect.
I haven't played chess for a long time, not even Battle Chess, but, if
I did, and needed a chess set I would use the Renaissance Chessmen
with Board set I got back in the 50s or 60s. The box may not be as
intact as I would like, but the set itself is complete.
So, if whoever is responsible would be so kind as to inform these
frantic chess set salespersons that they are barking up the wrong
tree, I would appreciate it.
Thanks.

Did you discuss chess sets in the presence of your smart phone ? If so,
your smart phone ratted you out. After all, the microphone is always on.

I don't have a smart phone.
My phone is so dumb -- how dumb is it? -- so dumb that it plugs into
the wall.
And I don't recall clicking on any chess-related ads at any time.
I suppose "they" could be scanning Usenet to find people who might be
in the market for a chess set.
Yesterday, even the interstitial ads in the (very few) slide shows (or
whatever they are) I chose to move through were for -- chess sets.
And I am using an invalid email precisely because I had a similar (but
much much worse [1]) episode in the 90s -- and fixed it by first
isolating it to a specific usenet group and then using an invalid
email address.
[1] At the time, I was working, so I downloaded once a week. While
this was going on, I was getting 10MB (the limit) of emails each week,
most of them bounces. Simply changing the email did not work, so I
split it into several that I used in different contexts and Usenet was
the winner. Apparently I pissed someone off and, not being able to
actually counter my arguments, this individual chose to exact revenge.
This also protected the One True Email, the one that actually
controlled my account with my then ISP.

"They" is Google. And they scan EVERYTHING ! Google built google.com
so they could scan your information queries. Google bought DejaNews so
they could scan Usenet. Google built the Android phone so they could
track you and scan your words, both spoken and written. Google scans
EVERYTHING. And they delete nothing.

I think a bad actor on this newsgroup is a far more likely explanation
(keep in mind my prior experience, as given in [1] above).

It occurs to me that I have posted about chess on several actual chess
groups, as well have here, and have visited sites like chess.com,
chessgames.com, the web sites of writers on chess like
Tim Krabbe and Edward winter, perused countless youtube videos
on chess, yet have never had such advertising directed at me.
Perhaps they think I can't afford it?
Prior to my acquisition of decent email filters I did get plenty of advertising,
but for the usual reasons, Nigerian princes, sex aids, more sex aids, drugs
of various kinds, stocks, real estate. But never chess.
"Your Future, Opium Poisoning".
I have no idea what they were trying to sell me there, naturally I didn't open
it.

I don't know now if I'm accurately remembering
old spam titled "Attract men with large breasts".

In 2024 I suppose the only question -
though not for me - is how. It used to
be funny. I don't mind that now it isn't,
but I'm a little sad about it.

[[e-mail]]

Post by Paul S Person
On Wed, 3 Jan 2024 15:17:34 -0600, Lynn McGuire

Post by Paul S Person
On Tue, 2 Jan 2024 17:55:20 -0600, Lynn McGuire

Post by Paul S Person
For some time now, the ads on the Windows News thingy have been
entirely about chess sets. That's a lot of chess sets.
Since the only place I have discussed chess in right here on rasw, I
am naturally wondering if someone here has sold my info as a prospect.
I haven't played chess for a long time, not even Battle Chess, but, if
I did, and needed a chess set I would use the Renaissance Chessmen
with Board set I got back in the 50s or 60s. The box may not be as
intact as I would like, but the set itself is complete.
So, if whoever is responsible would be so kind as to inform these
frantic chess set salespersons that they are barking up the wrong
tree, I would appreciate it.
Thanks.

Did you discuss chess sets in the presence of your smart phone ? If so,
your smart phone ratted you out. After all, the microphone is always on.

I don't have a smart phone.
My phone is so dumb -- how dumb is it? -- so dumb that it plugs into
the wall.
And I don't recall clicking on any chess-related ads at any time.
I suppose "they" could be scanning Usenet to find people who might be
in the market for a chess set.
Yesterday, even the interstitial ads in the (very few) slide shows (or
whatever they are) I chose to move through were for -- chess sets.
And I am using an invalid email precisely because I had a similar (but
much much worse [1]) episode in the 90s -- and fixed it by first
isolating it to a specific usenet group and then using an invalid
email address.
[1] At the time, I was working, so I downloaded once a week. While
this was going on, I was getting 10MB (the limit) of emails each week,
most of them bounces. Simply changing the email did not work, so I
split it into several that I used in different contexts and Usenet was
the winner. Apparently I pissed someone off and, not being able to
actually counter my arguments, this individual chose to exact revenge.
This also protected the One True Email, the one that actually
controlled my account with my then ISP.

"They" is Google. And they scan EVERYTHING ! Google built google.com
so they could scan your information queries. Google bought DejaNews so
they could scan Usenet. Google built the Android phone so they could
track you and scan your words, both spoken and written. Google scans
EVERYTHING. And they delete nothing.

I think a bad actor on this newsgroup is a far more likely explanation
(keep in mind my prior experience, as given in [1] above). Or has
anyone else been suddenly and overwhelmingly targetted by ads for
something they have discussed here but never ever clicked on or
searched for?
Still, you may be right. I may simply not be paranoid /enough/ in this
regard. (I regard someone, including myself, as paranoid enough when
that person ceases to worry about whatever-it-is because it is clear
that there is nothing to be done, and so becomes free to continue to
live that person's life without worrying about it.)
--
"Here lies the Tuscan poet Aretino,
Who evil spoke of everyone but God,
Giving as his excuse, 'I never knew him.'"

T h i s i s a t e s t.

I'm looking to buy a chess set.

W o n d e r i f I ' l l g e t a d s ?

Pt

[Jack Bohn]

T h i s i s a t e s t.
I'm looking to buy a chess set.

What is the chess aficionado's opinion on themed chess sets? I haven't seen an ad in ages, does Franklin Mint still make them? A gaming company once got the suggestion to use the 3D-printing files of their spaceships scaled down to be chesspieces: the cost of eight frigates, two bases, frigates, and light cruisers, plus a heavy cruiser and battleship was quite prohibitive, even in cheap plastic.

(I remember in Disney World seeing an Alice Through the Looking Glass set for more than I wanted to pay to carry it around the park... come to think of it, it must have been in Epcot's world village, as the designs were based on Tenniel's illustrations. No, after this time I don't know if the characters matched the pieces assigned to them per the book -- would that mean a piece for Alice as a pawn and another as a queen? I'm thinking some of the pawns were the oysters from the poem "The Walrus and the Carpenter" Play against characters from a poem in your dream, something Douglas R. Hofstadter would do.)

W o n d e r i f I ' l l g e t a d s ?
Pt

[Scott Dorsey]

What is the chess aficionado's opinion on themed chess sets? I haven't see=
n an ad in ages, does Franklin Mint still make them? A gaming company once=
got the suggestion to use the 3D-printing files of their spaceships scaled=
down to be chesspieces: the cost of eight frigates, two bases, frigates, a=
nd light cruisers, plus a heavy cruiser and battleship was quite prohibitiv=
e, even in cheap plastic.

My uncle, who was a candidate master, was a huge fan of them. He said that
they make it confusing for players who don't use them all the time, thereby
giving a severe home team advantage to the person owning the set. He suggested
that they don't have to be very different-looking to make an appreciable
difference in a player's performance.
--scott

[Paul S Person]

Post by Scott Dorsey

What is the chess aficionado's opinion on themed chess sets? I haven't see=
n an ad in ages, does Franklin Mint still make them? A gaming company once=
got the suggestion to use the 3D-printing files of their spaceships scaled=
down to be chesspieces: the cost of eight frigates, two bases, frigates, a=
nd light cruisers, plus a heavy cruiser and battleship was quite prohibitiv=
e, even in cheap plastic.

My uncle, who was a candidate master, was a huge fan of them. He said that
they make it confusing for players who don't use them all the time, thereby
giving a severe home team advantage to the person owning the set. He suggested
that they don't have to be very different-looking to make an appreciable
difference in a player's performance.

I thought the official tournaments (the ones relevent to becoming a
master) used regulation pieces on regulation boards.

Bland, but at least everyone knew what the pieces were.

[Scott Dorsey]

My uncle, who was a candidate master, was a huge fan of them. He said =

that=20

they make it confusing for players who don't use them all the time, =

thereby

giving a severe home team advantage to the person owning the set. He =

suggested

that they don't have to be very different-looking to make an appreciable
difference in a player's performance.

I thought the official tournaments (the ones relevent to becoming a
master) used regulation pieces on regulation boards.

Yes, there is a reason for this. This is specifically done in order to
keep players from doing the same thing my uncle advocated.
--scott

[William Hyde]

Post by Paul S Person

What is the chess aficionado's opinion on themed chess sets? I haven't see=
n an ad in ages, does Franklin Mint still make them? A gaming company once=
got the suggestion to use the 3D-printing files of their spaceships scaled=
down to be chesspieces: the cost of eight frigates, two bases, frigates, a=
nd light cruisers, plus a heavy cruiser and battleship was quite prohibitiv=
e, even in cheap plastic.

My uncle, who was a candidate master, was a huge fan of them. He said that
they make it confusing for players who don't use them all the time, thereby
giving a severe home team advantage to the person owning the set. He suggested
that they don't have to be very different-looking to make an appreciable
difference in a player's performance.

I thought the official tournaments (the ones relevent to becoming a
master) used regulation pieces on regulation boards.

Unless both players agree, tournament games are played using the Staunton design,
one recommended by the English player, Howard Staunton, in the late 1840s. As he was the
strongest active player in the world at that time, and the organizer of the first
international tournament, it caught on. However, the actual designer was one Nathaniel Cooke.

Post by Paul S Person
Bland, but at least everyone knew what the pieces were.

I learned the game using the Calvert set, but never had any problem with other
sets. It's pretty clear what the pieces are, in my experience. But in time
pressure, you don't want any additional confusion, however slight.

William Hyde

[The Horny Goat]

On Sun, 07 Jan 2024 08:50:49 -0800, Paul S Person

Post by Paul S Person
I thought the official tournaments (the ones relevent to becoming a
master) used regulation pieces on regulation boards.

They do now but 40 years ago not so much. The international body has
also given the tournament director the right to reject any set that
goes too far from the standard.

(Though as one who has directed 100+ tournaments from local club
events to national championships I think I've invoked that rule
perhaps twice ever)

[The Horny Goat]

Post by Scott Dorsey
My uncle, who was a candidate master, was a huge fan of them. He said that
they make it confusing for players who don't use them all the time, thereby
giving a severe home team advantage to the person owning the set. He suggested
that they don't have to be very different-looking to make an appreciable
difference in a player's performance.

Yeah as a junior player (more years ago than I care to admit) a few
players brought "unusual" (e.g. most anything other than some form of
the Staunton design - which all regular players know though perhaps
not by that name) to tournaments way back when but I haven't seen
anything other than minor variations of the Staunton design in a very
very long design.

I'm halfway convinced that 100 years from now that Bobby Fischer may
be best known as the inventor of the digital chess clock since the
digital clock made 'incremental' time controls (e.g. where you get a
fixed amount of time added to your clock with every move - the idea
being that you can never lose on time unless you abuse the control
since you're getting more time with every move - which has been the
type of time control mostly used in tournament chess for the last
20-30 years.

[William Hyde]

Post by Jack Bohn

T h i s i s a t e s t.
I'm looking to buy a chess set.

What is the chess aficionado's opinion on themed chess sets?

The market here is not serious chess players. I don't know of any tournament player who has
bought one of these. But I do know at least one US civil-war buff/serious chess player.
Now that he has money, perhaps he bought something of the kind. I'll ask.

The makers seem to understand this. I've been to many chess tournaments, which
usually have some vendors associated, and I've never seen one of these for sale there.

The late Edward Lasker, who made a decent pile of money in his day, had an interest in
chess sets as art (the Ernst set I mentioned earlier), and Marcel Duchamp designed
at least one set. The great American player, Sammy Reshevsky, was asked what chess
sets he owned, to which he answered "none". When you're that good, who needs a set?

William Hyde

[The Horny Goat]

On Wed, 03 Jan 2024 09:01:05 -0800, Paul S Person

Post by Paul S Person

Post by Lynn McGuire
Did you discuss chess sets in the presence of your smart phone ? If so,
your smart phone ratted you out. After all, the microphone is always on.

I don't have a smart phone.
My phone is so dumb -- how dumb is it? -- so dumb that it plugs into
the wall.
And I don't recall clicking on any chess-related ads at any time.
I suppose "they" could be scanning Usenet to find people who might be
in the market for a chess set.
Yesterday, even the interstitial ads in the (very few) slide shows (or
whatever they are) I chose to move through were for -- chess sets.
And I am using an invalid email precisely because I had a similar (but
much much worse [1]) episode in the 90s -- and fixed it by first
isolating it to a specific usenet group and then using an invalid
email address.
[1] At the time, I was working, so I downloaded once a week. While
this was going on, I was getting 10MB (the limit) of emails each week,
most of them bounces. Simply changing the email did not work, so I
split it into several that I used in different contexts and Usenet was
the winner. Apparently I pissed someone off and, not being able to
actually counter my arguments, this individual chose to exact revenge.
This also protected the One True Email, the one that actually
controlled my account with my then ISP.

I get such ads all the time but then I've been national secretary of
the Chess Federation of Canada for 10+ years and there's a link to me
on their website (www.chess.ca) so I just killfile some of the more
obnoxious ads - and I don't have a cellphone (long story why) so I
miss most of the telemarketers.

(I have 3 top quality boards including one used in the 2003 Canadian
championship - it wasn't a perk, it was auctioned after the event as
part of a fundraiser for the Chess Olympic team. Plus a couple of nice
wooden sets of pieces none of which ever leaves the house - I use my
cloth board with plastic pieces for competition play)

[a***@yahoo.com]

Did you discuss chess sets in the presence of your smart phone ? If so,
your smart phone ratted you out. After all, the microphone is always on.

Someone knows I could use Metamucil.....