I'm Sorry ....

[CaryMG]

About 2 years ago or so I got the flatshade polygonal 1st person perspective bug.

I was absolutely dying to make a World War II flightsimulator for System 6 Macintosh computers .

"mu0n" -- a contributor here & a moderator at "Macintosh Garden" -- was so kind to email me a

PDF of what amounted to "C++ For Dummies" lol

It's written in an extremely easy-to-understand way but for wahtever reason I just never got around ta reading it

and kept it in storage.

Thinking I could get someone to do it for me -- while I act as the "Creative Director", if you will -- I asked around

looking for a System 6 programmer.

I came across one -- I forget where -- who identified himself to me as being named "Tim Novak" from Calgary.

We corresponded back & forth for awhile and finally came to a agreed upon price of $1500 for a year's + work.

I didn't think anyhting of it since I wanted this project

so badly ....

That was in February 2006.

Not wanting to be a pest I kept the "How's It Coming Along ?" emails to about 2 a month or so.

I'd get a response every once in awhile but with no physical results -- like a screenshot, a layout : something like that.

Then the emails stopped coming.

I took that to mean he was really getting into it, would assume I'd think

"No News Is Good News" and the game was taking substantial shape.

After what I thought was a reasonable amount of time -- August 2007 -- I sent him an email but didn't get anything back.

I figured Canada's kinda/sorta like Europe so maybe he was taking August off like they do there.

While I was waiting for September to arrive I checked the Calgary phonebook for a "Tim Novak".

There isn't one listed.

There's a T. Novak but when I called the number a girl answered.

Then what'd been in the back of my mind but I guess I wasn't willing to accept was that I'd just gotten burned.

When I Western Union-ed the money I got an email confirming receipt so whoever this person is is in Calgary

but I can only assume is using an assumed identity

I'm not destitute but I'm no Warren Buffett either.

$1500 represents to me a substantial financial hit.

It took me a bit to get over the utter embarrassment & shame and mention it here.

To everyone who was behind me & was looking forward to a "System 6" flatshade polygonal World War II flightsimulator

that at least halfway lived up to the hype, I profoundly apologize.

I guess now I'll hafta read the PDF after all.

It's here just in case anyone's interested > "Beginner's Macintosh Assembly" -- It's A .BIN

Thanks For Listening

:b&w:

 

[Dan 7.1]

eh, sorry to hear that.

i could say some rather obvious critical stuff about that situation, but i don't think it would really be necessary. hope you can get something going.

 

[CaryMG]

Thank you, Dan

:b&w:

 

[Torbar]

Sucks to hear that. Good luck!

 

[CaryMG]

Thanks, Tor !

:b&w:

 

[gobabushka]

dude, ive lost money before, and i remember how bad that felt. i can only imagine how this feels for you, im really sorry dude!

 

[benjgvps]

I just lost $45 from a pci wifi card that was the worst thing I have ever got it barely picked up the signal and I'm in the next room from the router. I got it from tiger direct and they wouldn't return my messages and now I can't return it because they said we have a month to return it. It has been a month. At least I had enough money left for another wifi card. I got it at the same price as the other one on sale at my local "The Source" and it works perfectly and is the same brand as my router.

Sorry to hear about that large loss of money. If I were you I would do anything I could to get that money back. DON'T GIVE UP! Can't you look at that receipt and get his his bank account number and give that to the bank or someone and get his address?

 

[LCGuy]

Man...i'm sorry...that must have hurt I don't know what else i can really say

 

[CaryMG]

Thanks guys for all the pats on the back.

Gobabushka & Ben > I so am sorry ta hear about your losses.

Ben

Off the top of my head I don't think there's a backaccount number on my Western Union reciept.

If there is I'm sure TN has that covered as well.

My reaction is that really really weird feeling ya get when you're so angry ya have a burning sensation behind your eyes as if you were gonna cry.

Not cry cry with bawling & stuff -- but just tearflow.

That's how I felt.

Now I'm resigned to the fact that it's over & I'll just have to literally bury somewhere in my subconscious.

Thanks again for all the wellwishes, guys.

:b&w:

 

[Charlieman]

Off the top of my head I don't think there's a backaccount number on my Western Union reciept.If there is I'm sure TN has that covered as well.

Sorry to hear.

I don't believe that there is a "backaccount" concept for Western Union transfers. Given money laundering concerns and restrictions on banks for anonymous transfers, can you still perform a transaction of this kind?

 

[LCGuy]

From what i'm aware, once you deposit money with Western Union, its gone forever, which is why eBay doesn't like you using it.

 

[madmax_2069]

CaryMG: i am very sorry to hear that this happened to you.

i know that this is something that you been wanting to do for a wile. and it suck's that someone would take advantage of someone like that. $1500 is allot of money to lose and can hurt allot when you have nothing to show for it.

take it as a lesson learned ( a expensive lesson at that). i hope you are able to do what you have wanted to do and make a WW II flight sim. if i knew how to program i would help you any way that i could.

 

[pee-air]

Why don't you just sit down with CodeWarrior and start coding the game yourself. I bet you'll find that writing the game is as much fun as playing it. I can't begin to tell you how it feels to write some code, compile it, and see it actually work. It's an amazing feeling to produce code that actually does what you wanted it to do. There are few things in life that could possibly compare.

 

[gobabushka]

i have to agree, the feeling you get when you compile and run new code for the first time, its incredible, especially if it works right off the bat!

 

[equant]

Hopefully it's been cathartic to open up about it. Don't be too embarrassed, a little faith in humanity isn't the worst thing in the world.

In lui of what's just been said about how much fun coding can be; it can also be just as much fun to have someone else do it for you Sorry it didn't work out.

Nathan

 

[pee-air]

In lui of what's just been said about how much fun coding can be; it can also be just as much fun to have someone else do it for you

An old friend of mine once said, "I like apple pie. I derive no joy, however, from watching someone else eat it."

Interpret it as you will. [] ]'>

 

[chris]

Sounds like a fortune cookie.

"Revel in the handiwork that is your, and take pride in it, for it is a reflection of you."

 

[FerazelX]

CaryMG, have you called the cops in Calgary to arrest the scammer?

 

[pee-air]

CaryMG, have you called the cops in Calgary to arrest the scammer?

He doesn't know who the scammer is. He doesn't know if he has his real name or not. Besides, if the scammer actually is a scammer, he would have used an alias. I'll bet that CaryMG doesn't even have a legitimate email address for this guy. So he wouldn't even be able to track him down through the ISP. Although, if the scammer was dumb enough to use his home computer without going through a proxy, you just might be able to track him down through the ISP.

In all likelihood, there's probably very little that the police could do. You're also dealing with an international border, and the amount of the loss was not that significant that the police would expend a whole lot of effort into locating the guy. I hate to say it, but CaryMG is probably SOL.