I am commanded by my Benevolent Overlords, and I answer.
Seed Media Group, (the aforementioned Benevolent Overlords) are taking a reader survey. To encourage (i.e. bribe) you to participate, they're holding a drawing among those who actually respond to the survey, with the prizes being a lot of great Apple stuff, including an iPhone 3G, a MacBook Air and a 40GB Apple TV. The good news is that at the moment not too many people have responded. That raises your odds for winning the Apple stuff.
Go forth and tell our Overlords what you think.
I don't mind the poll, but how do I pass on the junk?
If they were offering any prizes worth opening the shipping containers it might be different.
If you win, give all your winnings to me. It's that simple. You don't even have to open the boxes; I'll send you money to cover the shipping charges necessary to forward the boxes to me. :-)
Done!
I didn't see any restrictions about being limited to USAians (or at least N.Merkins) this time around--which what Seed seems to have usually done in the past--so maybe this time I'll even get a copy of this mysterious magazine. (I'm in France, and asked for a complementary copy.)
I REALLY need the Mac-Air so I can start iPhone software development, so I'll take that and Orac can have the other stuff if you win. I'll even pay you a nice finders fee.
Now that I've entered, could you take the post down so as to lower the number of entries and thus increase my chance to win something? :-P
I agree with BionicAtheist, hide this now! ;)
What D C Sessions said. My computing environment is fruit-free and shall remain so. I would have been more likely to do the survey if I did not have to risk winning Apple crapple.
I went to the survey, veni vidi vici. As my interest in it began to flag, there was the unfortunate message that I was only 25% done. Nonetheless, I persisted; that is time I won't get back.
If I win, someone I know will get a nice present; if I can find a friend who wants that stuff.
Orac wrote "If you win, give all your winnings to me. It's that simple. ... I'll send you money to cover the shipping charges ..."
I think the winner is also responsible for income tax on the value of the prize. Are you willing to foot that, too?
Hey, no fair--now the survey is closed! [Insufferable whining]
OOOOOOO ... OOOOOOOO ... OOOOOOO ... PICK ME ...I'll pay the income tax and shipping for the Mac-Air.
Actually, it's the sales tax you have to pay. Income tax only comes into play if you choose to take the value of the item in cash instead of the item itself. In addition, you only pay sales tax if your state charges sales tax.
Now, if you win, but don't want the prizes, sign them over to me. But do it before they get mailed to you. What I will do then is I will do a straight up trade for a top end maxed out iMac with the remainder of the value of the prize in U.S. currency. That will be spent for accessories such as a duplex printer, a good scanner, an external hard drive and paying off the rest of what I owe my cable company. That last means I'll be able to get cable, broadband, and decent phone service. Any money left over will go for bookshelves, clothing, books, subscriptions, and stuff like that there.
(No way will I accept an IPhone. Not because I don't like Apple, but because I detest AT&T. (I'm not fond of cellphones either.).)
Actually, the winner does owe income tax for the fair market value of the item, unless the winner sells it. Then the winner owes on the amount of the actual sale. If the declared value of the prize is over $600.00, the contest sponsor must send the winner a 1099 documenting this.
The trick with fair market value is to be able document, say with a printed ad, a lower value than the value declared by the contest sponsor.
A sales price, on Apple. That's like getting a stable release of Microsoft software before version six.