Problems with Akibado

Visual Novel Community Off Topic
#1

It’s a week that I’m attempting to contact http://www.akibado.com/ for informations (I’ve even compiled a Search & Estimate Form), with no answer so far.
(EDIT: AKIBADO DANGER: Read THIS! You’ve been warned!)
Am I the only with this problem, or the site gives the “silent treatment” even to others? In my case, Akibado was the most easy and efficient solution for obtaining the most difficult-to-find Japanese erogames (unopened/new, not the used games tipically available through Yahoo! Japan and deputy services like http://www.shoppingmalljapan.com/ ), and I’m somewhat fearful, now…
On a side note, J-List’s “Wacky Things from Japan” include Japanese videogames, too? I’ve sent an eMail to Peter with this question a few days ago, but it is still unanswered…

[This message has been edited by Baldo (edited 12-04-2005).]

#2

I wouldn’t be surprised if their e-mail replies are devoured by some aggressive spam-filter who doesn’t like any mail resembling product offerings or advertisement.

It could of course be that they just don’t like you, but I’m assuming here that you haven’t offended them in any way, or for that matter managed to give them the wrong e-mail address for replies, or written the inquiry in a completely foreign language etc etc.

#3

Because I don’t believe in coincidences, someone at Akibado probably lurks in PeaPri’s BBS, because I’ve received a direct answer 2-3 hours after my post.
Apparently, Akibado has received only “deleted mails” by me (namely, my emails have lost all written text -except the title/object- ). ? ?
What’s happened? Perhaps my antivirus (AVG 7 Free, at http://free.grisoft.com/doc/1 ), which doesn’t has never “digested” the Japanese setting of my WinXP system?
Or other causes? I would like to test my Outlook Express with a few members of this BBS, if possible. If someone is interested in a little bit of (useful, I hope ) Baldo’s Spam, leave a note in this thread, thank you!

#4

That deleted text could be because the contents get sent in HTML format instead of plain text. J-List mailed me once and told me that a mail I sent them had arrived without any contents (just my address and the subject remained), and that I would have to resend it and make sure it did not get sent as HTML (there was a setting in the Hotmail compose area I had to turn off). Apparently mail sent in HTML (regardless of whether it contains active HTML or not) is sometimes deleted by security software as a precaution, or the contents simply don’t show up.

Maybe they didn’t reply because there was no content? I don’t know. Maybe they’ve blocked your address because you’ve sent several “blank” mails, or they have a filter against mail with no contents/html contents?

[This message has been edited by AG3 (edited 05-14-2005).]

#5
quote:
Originally posted by AG3:
That deleted text could be because the contents get sent in HTML format instead of plain text.

Heh [img]http://princess.cybrmall.net/ubb/biggrin.gif[/img], this sounds plausible to me, and I've modified Outlook Express in this sense. Am I mistaken, or HTML have a more "nice" feel than plain text?
However, thank you very much for your advice, and...
quote:
Originally posted by Baldo:
On a side note, J-List's "Wacky Things from Japan" include Japanese videogames, too? I've sent an eMail to Peter with this question a few days ago, but it is still unanswered...

Can someone -Lamuness, perhaps [img]http://princess.cybrmall.net/ubb/wink.gif[/img]?- give an answer even for this?
#6
quote:
Outlook Express

Aah! Kill it! Kill it! KILL IT NOW!

That program is responsible for the mass-spreading of many viruses!

Get Mozilla Suite now.
http://www.mozilla.org/

#7

“Spam” much appreciated

I have to second Benoit’s “kill Outlook Express” though. I was at a Microsoft arrangement early this month (related to my studying), and during one of the “lectures” the Microsoft representative said that they did not reccommend using Outlook Express (propbably mostly because they want you to buy regular Outlook that comes with the Office Suite).

It’s not really that it’s so much more “unsafe” than other clients (not if you have the service packs), I just think it’s plain bad. Then again, I’m not all that fond of mail clients to begin with, I kinda like web-based mail. Keeps most of the crap off my local computer. I’ve tried Mozilla Thunderbird though, at it “feels” a bit better than regular Outlook (which I use at school).

And yes, plain text looks a bit bad. HTML looks much nicer, but because the (ab)use of active html (like clickable links and embedded pictures) in spam in recent years, a lot of companies block/purge mail that are not sent in plain text. Before, Outlook and Outlook express as a default showed html mail the way they should, with options to turn it off. In recent years with spam, worms, trojans etc being sent with mail, these two programs default show mail with html contents deactivated, and you have to activate it manually. This “security first, user-friendliness later” is an approach Microsoft has been forced to use for just about all their products (of course, other companies did that long before them).

Why am I writing about Microsoft here? Damn, I must be bored…

[This message has been edited by AG3 (edited 05-15-2005).]

#8
quote:
It's not really that it's so much more "unsafe" than other clients

I beg to differ.

When Sun made its Java engine, they knew that there would be risks in security. So they spent a lot of time getting things right so that Java wouldn't be easily exploitable.

However, when Microsoft wanted to have Outlook code, they just slapped something together and put it in, without thinking of security.

This is why you see more viruses through Outlook than with Java.

quote:
Then again, I'm not all that fond of mail clients to begin with, I kinda like web-based mail. Keeps most of the crap off my local computer.

I'm not so sure about that. While you're right about your local computer, you aren't about your inbox. If you open SPAM from your webmail, the pictures in it will get opened, and the SPAMmer will know that your address exists, and send you more messages.

In a mail client, you can choose to not load remote images.

quote:
And yes, plain text looks a bit bad. HTML looks much nicer

I personally prefer plain text. It looks cleaner, is mono-spaced, and takes up less space.
#9

Actually, active html like clickable links and embedded pictures are disabled when viewing mail in the hotmail spam folder (it wasn’t always though). Likewise, security in Outlook Express isn’t what it used to be. It’s still a lousy/primitive client though, and Microsoft says so too, but they need something built-in for regular people to check their mail with.

Microsoft has more focus on security these days. They were pretty late about it of course, but their security-weak products were made for a time when internet-based threats weren’t something people had to worry about.

#10

Another up-n-coming use of pics in e-mails is the “web bug”, where spam is sent containing a 1x1 pixel image, and html code around it that can notify the spammer that the victim (you) viewed the mail. As I recall, a unique number is involved, that can be correlated back to the email address the spam was sent to. shudder

Just another reason to turn off images in your email client.

#11

That’s more or less the same thing I was saying. :slight_smile:

#12
quote:
Originally posted by Baldo:
Heh [img]http://princess.cybrmall.net/ubb/biggrin.gif[/img], this sounds plausible to me, and I've modified Outlook Express in this sense. Am I mistaken, or HTML have a more "nice" feel than plain text?
However, thank you very much for your advice, and...

I recommend composing all mail in rich text format. You can do almost everything you would want to in an HTML mail message, except it isn't HTML.

#14
#15