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What is FPS?
FPS, or Friendly Penpal Service, is a pen pal service that caters
specifically to gays (but non-gays are also welcome). We offer
you several methods of finding pen pals you may write to. We
have both free and pay services.
Who runs FPS?
FPS is owned and operated by Arnie Kassirer and his long time partner Phil.
We have been in business since before 1988. Arnie mainly runs the office
and custom list service. Phil mainly runs the printed newsletter, the
computers, and is webmaster for this web page.
Where is Gaypenpals.Com?
This *is* the Gaypenpals.Com web page, owned and operated by Friendly
Penpal Service (FPS). We already had a web page when we registered
the Gaypenpals.Com domain name, so we set it up with a forwarding
service which links our domain name to our aka (www.mimulus.org/fps).
(We also sometimes use our other aka, www.mysteria.com/fps.)
Is formal membership required?
No; not for gay males. We have several options available which do not
require formal membership if you are a gay male. Our printed quarterly
newsletter (of gay male personal ads) is available for purchase without
the need to submit personal information (except a mailing address).
Also, gay males may submit personal ads (or read them) online (or by
mail) without formal FPS membership. Of course, you are also welcome
to join FPS if you want to do so. Note that if you are not a gay male
you will need to formally apply for membership to participate.
Who may join FPS?
FPS is open to anyone, although some of our services, such as
the free online ads, are limited at this time to specific groups.
How do I join FPS?
We have a single page written questionaire which you need to fill out
and mail back to us in order to formally join FPS. Joining in this
way enables us to potentially custom match you with other members. Both
free and for fee plans are available.
How old must I be to participate?
Most of the people who participate in FPS are eighteen years of
age or older. We do have a small number of members younger than that,
but we require signed parental permission. Our web page is
limited to eighteen years of age or older, even though it is
generally 'G-rated'.
May lesbians participate?
Yes. FPS has hundreds of lesbians in our files. Most of these
are in the U.S., however. If you participate in our customized
service, we would perform matches using these files.
Why don't you have lesbian pen pal ads online?
We do not think there would be enough interest in online lesbian
ads to make them worthwhile at this time. We feel much better
results are achieved with our by-mail service.
May straights participate?
Yes. FPS does not have many straights in our files, but we do
welcome any who are our friends. In addition, some of our gay
and bi members are available for correspondence with straights.
May prisoners participate?
Yes. FPS has hundreds of prisoners in our files. All of these
are in the U.S. Matches to or from prisoners are available through
our customized service. We only match prisoners with those who
checked an interest in them.
Why don't you have prisoner pen pal ads online?
We do not think there would be enough interest in online prisoner
ads to make them worthwhile. (We also think that those other
services which charge inmates for online ads are ripping them off.)
We feel much better results are achieved with our by-mail service.
How are the online ads arranged?
At this time online ads are gay male only, arranged by geographic
location. There are currently 6 pages of ads. The first two pages
have the most recent ads. Page 1 contains ads from the USA, arranged
alphabetically by state. Page 2 contains ads from other countries,
arranged alphabetically by country. Pages 3 and 4 ads are about 3 months
old. And the oldest ads are on pages 5 and 6; these have been re-verified
by email (or soon will be). The email addresses in new ads were verified
when they were submitted to us.
Why does it (sometimes) take so long for new ads to appear online?
Processing new ads and updating and verifying the old ones is very
time consuming. However, since we do not make any money directly from
our online ads, I am only able to spend a limited amout of time on them.
As a result I often get behind with ads processing. Please be patient.
Placing new pen pal ads online is actually a multi-step process which begins when a new ad is submitted to us on our web page, using a cgi script. The cgi script converts the ad submission to an email messsage which it sends us. The script also sends a confirming email message to the email address in the new submitted ad. Generally we will get another email message back if the email address is invalid. If that happens we don't use the ad.
From time to time I read through the ads (in email). Most of the ads
pass, but a few of them are thrown out at this point as inappropriate.
The good ads are forwarded to another email address (we use one address
for US ads, and a different address for other countries). Then I go
read the US ads email and export each ad to a separate file. I do
the same thing for the other countries. Then I manually edit each
ad file and copy it to a working web page. If there are street
addresses or phone numbers in the ad I also make a separate copy to
a working text web page (for later inclusion in our printed newsletter).
We do not post street addresses or phone numbers on our web page.
Then the working web page is merged into our online web page where
the ads are alphabetized by hand. Out of all this processing, the
manual editing is by far the most time consuming. Over and over I
see the same problems in submitted ads. These relate to spelling,
grammar, ad length (the ad is more than 60 words), or content (we
cannot accept X-rated material). It would really save me a lot of
time (and I could post the ads more quickly) if those who submit ads
were more careful about it.
What does FPS Offer?
We offer you several methods of finding pen pals you may write to.
Our custom list, which is matched to your specific needs; our
general pen pal list, as a quarterly newsletter, for gay males only;
and our free online ads on this web page.
What languages are available?
FPS is an international pen pal club with members all over the
world. Most of our members write in English. A few members are
multi-lingual and can write in other languages besides English.
There are also a few members who only write in their native tounge,
usually Spanish, or French. (FPS also has Spanish and French
written questionaires for our custom list.)
What countries are available?
Since FPS is located in the United States, most of our members
are located here also. We also have members in dozens of other
countries throughout the world, primarily in Europe, Asia, and
Australia. If you are interested in a specific country or region,
ask us. There is a good chance we have at least a few members there.
What do you mean by custom pen pal list?
See our
custom list page.
What do you mean by general pen pal list?
See our
newsletter page.
Is FPS a matchmaking service?
Not specifically. Our primary function is to match pen pals for
correspondence. However, some life mates have met though our
service, and certainly there is no reason why you could not use
FPS for this purpose. Many do.
In addition, we now operate a free matchmaker web page as a separate
service. The matchmaker web page is open to anyone 18 years or older.
For further information, please visit our
matchmaker page,
at http://www.coolfriend.net
Is this a sex club?
No. We are what we say we are. A pen pal correspondence club,
primarily for gays. We are both reputable and serious in what
we do.
What is your mailing address?
FPS, Box 234, Sierra Madre, Calif. 91025 USA.
Do you sell my address to other companies?
No. However, it is possible other companies may obtain your address if
it is posted in an online ad on our web page (as a post office box), or
if we released it to prospective pen pals in our printed newsletter or custom
list.
Will you be discreet with what you mail me?
Or normal mailings are plain envelopes of various sizes. They may include
a return address (either printed or sticker) which says "FPS" or a printed
business envelope which says "Friendly Penpal Service". (If you request
extra discression we will endeavor not to use the printed envelope.)
Can you send the list by e-mail?
Yes, we can send you a custom pen pal list by e-mail for an extra
$2 charge. We also offer other special services, such as rush
service for $5 extra.
How much does this cost?
We offer both free and pay services. Naturally, our pay services
are more effective. The cost of a custom list of matched pen pal
bios is $20 U.S. A subscription to our quarterly newsletter of
general male pen pal ads is $20 U.S. for four issues, or $6 for a
single issue.
Do you accept foreign money?
Yes. We accept US or equivalent foreign currency (cash). Foreign
customers may also send international money orders payable in U.S. funds.
Foreign checks may also be accepted (ask first).
Do you accept credit card payment?
Not at this time. (We're working on it.)