The Star Trek: Bridge Commander Community

I don't normally go apeshit insane about a mod community, but I gotta say, the guys over at bridgecommander.filefront.com are seriously dedicated.

For those of you not in the know, Bridge Commander is a tactical simulator, where the player can pilot starships from the franchise. The only problem with the game was that the ship selection was incredibly limited: you could only choose from around 6 Federation ships, 2 Cardassian, Romulan, Ferengi and Klingon ships.
This is where the mod community came in, a group of people dedicated to modding the game to make it the most authentic Star Trek experience anyone could find. They created a vast array of ships, both canon and non-canon, most of them true to the series and added features to the tactical HUD.
One major feature, created by the folks at The Beginning: TNG, was the WalkFX feature, which enables the player to walk around the selected bridge. Another groundbreaking feature is the NovaFX mod, which improves the graphics, adding new damage textures, plasma trails and a feature which allows the player to select the warp speed.

Out of all the mod communities out there, I gotta say that the Bridge Commander modders are the most dedicated. Top notch stuff!

A Tribute To Neuf Telecom

Who, coincidentally enough, are morons. A few weeks ago, my net got cut off due to not paying the bills. We called them to tell them to take money out of our account, but they only took half of the money out. Now, this presents a problem; we didn't know why our internet still wasn't working until we checked our bank balance. Furthermore, we couldn't get on to a real person via the telephone, it was all automated systems. Where is the logic in this?

So fuck Neuf Telecom. They're incompetent

A slight dilemma

A few months ago I was looking to earn a bit of cash, so I contacted the editor of the Hull Daily Mail, a mister Paul Johnson about the possibility of writing an article for the paper. He was very eager to give me some space, and set out to pay me £80 for the article as soon as it was published. I was due to go to the UK a short while afterwards so I gave him the details of my English Nationwide bank account, which he claimed to have paid the money to. I got back to England only to find that the money wasn't in there, as only a meager £5 lay in the account. I assumed that it was the standard cock-up either with the bank or with the HDM.
After relatives and friends pressured me to do something about the money, I decided to go into the Hull Daily Mail and have a word with Paul. I got into the offices and talked to the receptionist, explaining my problem. She called Paul upstairs and handed the phone to me, telling me to "calm him down", which I thought was an odd thing to say.

We spoke over the phone; Paul said he couldn't come down and talk to me face-to-face because he had a deadline to work up to, which I assumed was a suitable enough thing to say. We exchanged phone numbers, so we could contact each other, and I left. I spoke to him later in the day, and he told me it was probably a mix-up in the financial department. He said he'd email them and let me know once he'd gotten a reply from them. On Thursday I called him again and he still hadn't received a reply. I called him on Friday, and someone answered the phone, saying that Paul had left for the weekend.

My question is this: Have I been ripped off? Now, don't get me wrong, I'm happy that I got a very generous full page spread for my article and that I also got the chance to write something and get it published. Nevertheless, I do want my money. People have said that he's messing me about but he's appeared very cooperative and friendly. I don't have a cause to believe that he's cheated me of my money, I just want to know what the hell's going on.

What do you think I should do? I would really appreciate any advice.

Cheers, and 'till next time!