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� In this diary, I record my life as a transvestite. Perhaps it will help somebody else, who finds their lifestyle doesn't quite match that endorsed by the 'tranny mafia'. Well, I've been there... and survived. The debriefing starts here.

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The end of Haloscan
9:32 a.m. -- 2010-02-02

I just learned that Haloscan is going to disappear by mid-February. Maybe this is old news to you, but I only just checked through the stuff in my junk mail filter, and there it was.

Lots of us use Haloscan to allow readers to comment on our diary entries, but unfortunately the service will be discontinued because the "hardware and software is physically failing and we have no choice but to discontinue the service."

Well... if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys. And if you pay nothing at all, you get something even further back down the evolutionary tree.

I can't complain. In fact, I'd sympathise, were it not for that fact that Haloscan's proposed solution sets my scam senses tingling: switch to Echo. Which may or may not be a good solution, technically; all I know is that you have to pay for Echo.

I'm realistic enough to recognise that this was the whole point of the exercise, all along. There's no such thing as a free lunch, and the Haloscan people always intended to ratchet the cost up, once they had built a user base.

I don't particular object to paying $12 a year, although I note that none of the Google bloggers pay to have a similar capability. That's fine; each company chooses their pricing structure, and the public can decide if they want to do business with them or not.

The real bind for me isn't the money; it's the loss of anonymity. If I hand over that $12, I'll be telling another on-line company who the Man From Venus really is - and I don't want to. Remember, I'm not just a tranny; I'm a citizen engaged in a difference of opinion with the 'Church' of $c��nto�og�; the billion-dollar cult that stalks its critics. I'd rather not leave a trail of electronic breadcrumbs that leads back to my front door.

So, I'll be looking for a new on-line commenting service, and about a month from now all your kind and incisive comments of the past year and a half will disappear.

When I follow the link to the Haloscan site and try to export my comments, it says:

"Sign In to the Members Section"

So I disregard the apparently random capitalisation, and do so. It says:

"Welcome, manfromvenus"

...and then, whichever option I choose, it says:

"Sign In to the Members Section"

At which point, I say:

"Arse."

I mean, that is the extent of my experiences at the Haloscan website, since they announced its impending closure. (Maybe their hardware and software really is "physically failing", after all.)

Do I want to pay $12 a year to people who can't maintain a log-in page? I don't think so. Thanks all the same.

So, apologies to those of you who have written comments. (I have read 'em all...)

If anybody cares to recommend a good alternative that will allow me to remain anonymous, please let me know. But if you're going to write it in a comment... better hurry!

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