Well if you look at the clipart used in this article, it almost seems like someone challenged the author to write something that actually could use these three random images and still get it published. I bet he's demanding double the bet as we speak because it made it onto slashdot as well.
I guess that explains why I never could find any good LAN parties when I lived in Cincinnati, they are "20 years behind the times" after all, and just now getting Commodore 64s. Maybe in another couple decades there will be some 21st century style LAN parties in Cincy while the rest of us are gaming with our brain implants...
If you think about it, folders are just tags with restrictions placed on how many "tags" a message can have. So anything you wanted to do with folders or tags can be done with tags; it gives you more fexibility. In reality, the computer is not actually moving the data around anyway, just re-"tagging" the pointers to the data and enforcing those restrictions. I would say go with tagging, but then I'd also say go with Google Apps and / or Google Groups and either set up a mailing list (in Apps) or one private group that everyone has access to.
Add Google Apps (specifically custom start page, email administration, pages, contacts sharing, service integration), Google Groups, and Google Pages in general to that list as well. There always seem to be these weird unexplainable holes in functionality surrounded by otherwise great services. It feels at times that Google has bitten off more than they can chew. They have been neglecting key parts of almost all of their services, I'm sure they can make some room to neglect Blogger even more if there's still a question about it.
what about the Mystery Science Theater 3000s and Cinematic Titanics of the future? Where will they buy the rights to destroy movies for a couple thousand dollars? Honestly, I am more worried about ruining the video game-to-movie adaptation genre than I am a shortage of parody ripe movies. There is definitely no shortage of bad movies while there is a shortage of good video game adaptations.
At the current rate of signature growth (~ 1 per second, it should reach a million within 2 weeks. If we ALL go and sign it now, then I think the slashdotting of the online petition website might send an even stronger message to Mr. Boll.
You are correct, it appears I was missing something. I was checking with multiple keywords but none of them showed ads until this morning; now I can get "rock band" to show an ad whereas it didn't last night.
While I would upgrade this back to threat level "mole hill" from my previous statement, I still do not think it warrants the mountain that the retailers are implying it is.
Unless I am missing something, it would appear that the "Sponsored Links" section that everyone is complaining about along the right side of the page disappears when the "site:" keyword is used. It would appear that this mountain is now not even a mole hill.
CRI is pretty much a non-issue already. See Mona Lisa... They use a mix of LED colors to get whatever color they want. They can actually get a higher color rendering index than incandescent with LED lighting. Without the Fading, and Infrared that standard lighting setups put out.
This is true, but multiple LEDs makes for a very spikey spectral graph whereas a single incandescent is much smoother even if it does smoothly extend down into the heat producing range, which no one in the theatre likes, but I would imagine the museum picked the specific LED colors that rendered the colors in those particular paintings the best. Theatre will be the real resistance to switching from incandescent lighting because you need to have a light that will work equally in a vast variety of situations, or more realistically, mimicking the properties of an incandescent due to the fact that the entire theatrical lighting industry has built up around the 3500K incandescent light that red shifts as it dims. Designers, whom are traditionally very picky about their colors, would need to relearn their specific style of using color as right now it is dominated by the gel manufacturers - Rosco, Lee and GAM - who make transparent colored plastic sheets that are placed in front of incandescent fixtures to change their color. There are literally thousands of different variations of color from each manufacturer and designers are so picky about what is used, some will refuse to substitute colors from one manufacturer for another, even if they are pretty much indistinguishable.
As for the dimming effect I think you could possibly put an LCD over the LED and dim it out with that connected to a controller to output whatever pattern or color you want.
That still doesn't solve the problem of being able to dim the LED cluster by varying the AC voltage being input into the LED's AC / DC transformer / controller. That is actually a more complicated method than the current method of dimming (high frequency "gating") and while it might provide a better dimming curve, it is still depending on a lot more stuff that can break down. Also due to the fact that it is relying on a system that is constantly flashing or refreshing, it poses problems with video recording. We already have such problems with current LED fixtures showing up as strobing on camera due to frequency resonation. Control is not an issue as current LED fixtures already use the same control protocol (DMX512) that moving lights and other effects use.
I don't really see production lighting as all that expensive to operate as far as power goes. So using LED on a cost basis isn't really going to pay out there until you see daily usage of 12 to 6 hours a day.
The energy savings would be substantial. And theatre techs don't even care about the tree saving kind of energy saving as much as the distribution planning that it would simplify. Permanent installs have cicuits running all over the theatre already but you still need a hefty cable run to each light to power it (sometimes 6 are combined into one really hefty multi-cable for minimally increased convenience) and you still have to do the math to make sure you aren't overloading individual circuits (20 amps each) or your main service (averaging around 400 amps per leg / 1200 total). Each light currently uses 575 watts of power, and that is considered a great boost of efficiency compared to the older Altman lights which some theatres still use (750w for the same brightness output).
Incandescent bulbs will still have some commonplaces settings perhaps stage lighting is one of them...
Theatrical stage lighting (Musical Theatre, Opera, Drama and Dance) will definitely be the last holdouts to switching to LED lighting (or some other source) but I think the "industrial" lighting sector will lead the way. We are already seeing much usage in corporate co
Well, speaking from the event production industry (lighting for theatre, film, concerts and conventions) I don't see it coming that quickly. There are ways for LEDs to take over this industry, but they all depend on some other technology or innovation happening first. LED based fixtures are starting to be used as a tool, but they are in their own category, not as a replacement for an already existing tool. The problems that LEDs have are their color rendering index, their lack of brightness and the inability to dim them via the equipment currently used in almost every theater and production company in the industry (dimmers, PARs and Ellipsoidals). Color rendering is being addressed in the same manner as this MIT student (Selador's x7 series uses 7 different color LEDs to expand their palette) and brightness is fast becoming a non-issue as 3 watt LEDs are becoming commonplace. But dimming is the deal breaker as the industry is saturated with SCR based dimmers that control a majority of the conventional lighting fixtures by way of dimming their main AC input.
For LEDs to be viable, they would have to be able to replace the HPL lamp that is used by the defacto industry standard lighting fixtures: ETC's Source Four PARs and Ellipsoidals. These "conventional" lights plug into distribution cabling that goes directly back to a dimmer rack of some sort where the AC voltage is varied by way of using an SCR to chop the AC waveform at various points thus varying the voltage output and dimming the incandescent lamp. LEDs use DC power and are dimmed by flashing them on and off very quickly (at a constant voltage) and varying the amount of time that they are on versus off to create the illusion of dimming. If you were to put an LED controller onto a dimmed AC circuit, it would fry the controller much the same way that an electric motor would get fried if it were on a dimmed circuit. Sine Wave dimming (new technology) may change this, but that needs to happen first and LEDs second.
There other ins for LEDs to take over this industry. The other half of the lighting industry (seen more in concerts and conventions and less in theatre and film) is moving lights. They mostly use arc based light sources and are dimmed by way of a motorized shutter blocking the light coming out of the fixture. The power input for these types of fixtures is then run separately straight from the power source and not from a dimmer (just like current LED fixtures). They are very bright and have a slightly colder color temperature and lower color rendering index (also similar to LED fixtures). LEDs would be a perfect fit for moving lights and it is only a matter of time before we see new fixtures being developed with clusters of LEDs powering them rather than an arc lamp. The only problem with this is that it is hard to make optics that will still focus sharp with a source that has multiple points of origination.
The final point I will make addresses this problem, I believe. Once you start seeing high powered video projectors running off of LEDs rather than arc lamps (as most are now) then there will be no excuse for LEDs not to take hold of the lighting industry as we are also experiencing another revolution where traditional moving lights whose beams are shaped and colored by metal patterns and glass color filters that are mechanically placed in front of the beam inside the fixture are being replaced by essentially video projectors on moving yokes that project all of the colors and patterns by way of a computer video output. Once video projectors have been taken over by LEDs, THEN I predict, at least in this industry, we will start to see some tool replacement rather than just toolbox supplement.
Thank you for posting that. For those of us too lazy to even click on the link, the reason is "Because it is fun." Good afternoon, good evening and goodnight.
That's what I thought the General was actually saying at first when I misinterpreted "YGTBKM!" as "You're Going To Be Killed, Man!" rather than the correct "You've Got To Be Kidding Me!"
The soul of Wikipedia is obviously inclusionism. If you start picking what stays and what goes, then it will become just like everyotherencyclopedic resource out there. The problem is that people are treating Wikipedia as if it were supposed to be "the" resource rather than just "a" resource. If you use it knowing that the information within is not meant to be authoritative, than it can be a great resource to use as a starting point or for situations where incorrect information is not going to cause problems down the line. The word "wiki" itself means "quick" or "fast", as in, an encyclopedia for quick answers, not necessarily absolute answers.
As far as my daily light research needs are concerned, if Wikipedia becomes a deletionsim camp, then they better change the "wiki" part of their name; because even by their supposedcompetitor'sdefinitions of the word "wiki" it would be a lie. And seriously, what would you prefer? One of the ad laden, content starved, dead ended, upselling pages at the previous three links? Or this one?
If anyone would actually RTFA (yeah I know, must be new here) it says that he was accused of submitting a receipt for reimbursement of the $1,300 and that it was denied. I would say that doesn't count as using the funds without permission.
Microsoft has also posted links to download the beta, but none of them are working right now.
I think I can be of some assistance. Here are some working links to download the next generation browser's beta...</!lying></!goatse></!toworry,still!lying>
Yes but I don't think that would have been what he deserved for this infringement. To punish the company, maybe a larger sum, but lawsuits aren't supposed to happen so people can get rich. There is certainly a lot of judgments going around these days that are way overblown. I could get used to seeing reasonable judgments like this and in fact, if I were in his shoes, would not have wanted some ridiculous amount of money either. Consider he is getting half a year's salary (okay, half my salary) for taking a picture and spending maybe a few weeks of time researching / defending himself. If he is a "fool" for not twisting the legal system's idea of what is "fair and just" even more out of whack than it already is, then consider me a fool as well.
I bet you're one of those guys that clicks the fake "No" or "Cancel" button on the faux "dialog box" image popup ads asking if you want your computer raped by malware.
"I disapprove of what you say, but will defend to the death your right to say it."
Google should have, if this really was a trademark dispute, made absolutely sure that they handled it by the book and in the exact same way they would for a similar trademark dispute were the situation reversed. It doesn't really seem like they did in this case and if they did, they probably should have made that more clear. It wasn't illegal and probably not evil, but it sure doesn't feel "good".
So yeah, we talked to Nokia today about that iPhone knockoff of theirs. Turns out they totally neglected to mention that they were trying to show off the iPhone-esque software, not the iPhone-esque hardware. The concept they were driving at is they want to take Symbian S60 into the wonderful world of touchscreen, and that kind of input system they demoed could show up on any form factor device. Why they decided to show off said S60 touchscreen software on a total ripoff of the iPhone (and not, say, on some mockup N-series device) is a little less clear, but it certainly made for some hilarious fodder this morning. Seriously though, don't forget to check the video, you can almost hear the soothing sounds of the iPhone ad mandolin playing.
I have done "internet shopping" for a long time now and would reccommend it to anyone, as long as they are smart about it. I have only once run into an internet merchant that is purposely trying to defraud people, and it isn't even credit card fraud. It's rare and you would have to be damn stupid to try and pull credit card fraud these days. It is so tightly watched and so easy for consumers to fight back against blatent credit card fraud (obtaining a CC number and then charging to it without consent or transfer of goods / services)
The one place that I HAVE run into, and I'm picking on them because they are the ONLY place that has done anything this bad, is http://www.wawadigital.net./ I ordered a Minolta Dimage Z2 from them because they showed the price in their store as and I quote "$188 after $50 mail in rebate". This was a great price because most other stores were doing $219 or $229 after rebate. I decided to give it a shot and ordered the camera. Strangely enough, my final receipt after tax and $15.04 2-day shipping said $203.04. I though hey, maybe they messed up and now after the $50 mail in rebate I'll get a $399 MSRP camera for $153.04. The next day, I was contacted via phone (on a Sunday suprisingly) by a salesman from wawadigital.net to "confirm my order". He double checked my address and order information which I thought was impressive and noble of them to do.
Then he said that the price I paid is after a mail in rebate so he would have to add on the $50.00 to my sale. As soon as I questioned this, charging my credit card a different amount than my receipt, the salesman's demeanor immediatly turned from patient and polite and warm to "I don't have time for this, I'm cancelling your order. " All I had done was question this practice, not say I didn't want the camera. I though about it for a minute and after comparing the price sheet to other retailers, decided that even after adding $50.00 it was still worth it. I called back the number and convinced him that I would go ahead with the order at the higher price if he sent me a proper receipt. He was not patient or nice at this point, cussing at me and giving a very rude version of what I'd call "customer service". After agreeing to not cancel my order he then asked if I wanted to add on any memory cards or - but I cut him off before he could list accessories saying No I don't want anything besides the retail box with the camera and what it comes with from the manufacturer. He had hung up before I could finish that sentance. I figured that my order was still going through.
While waiting for my order to arrive (tuesday or wednesday if he shipped it out on monday) I researched wawadigital.net because that seemed a little fishy. I couldn't find anything about wawadigital.net, they're a yahoo store and there was no feedback about them on yahoo's review system. I looked on their website to see if I could find any better info to cross-reference with. Just an email, mailto:wawadigital@yahoo.com (oops, did I just post that publicly?) and that was it. I checked their domain registration whois information and got a name and address. The name was too generic to bring up anything on google but the address brought up such links as
I read through hundreds of stories explaining situations very similar to mine with all sorts of bait-and-switching going on and started to wonder if they had ever sold a camera in their life. I realized that they had a
I know this gets brought up each time, but let's do it again so maybe some developers that are watching will remember at the next meeting seeing this one issue always brought up when a new PDA comes out.
Why does this still only have mere MBs of memory and not a 60GB laptop Hard Drive in it? Or at least the option to choose a hard drive model... I would buy if there was.
Slashdot Mirror
Well if you look at the clipart used in this article, it almost seems like someone challenged the author to write something that actually could use these three random images and still get it published. I bet he's demanding double the bet as we speak because it made it onto slashdot as well.
I guess that explains why I never could find any good LAN parties when I lived in Cincinnati, they are "20 years behind the times" after all, and just now getting Commodore 64s. Maybe in another couple decades there will be some 21st century style LAN parties in Cincy while the rest of us are gaming with our brain implants...
If you think about it, folders are just tags with restrictions placed on how many "tags" a message can have. So anything you wanted to do with folders or tags can be done with tags; it gives you more fexibility. In reality, the computer is not actually moving the data around anyway, just re-"tagging" the pointers to the data and enforcing those restrictions. I would say go with tagging, but then I'd also say go with Google Apps and / or Google Groups and either set up a mailing list (in Apps) or one private group that everyone has access to.
Add Google Apps (specifically custom start page, email administration, pages, contacts sharing, service integration), Google Groups, and Google Pages in general to that list as well. There always seem to be these weird unexplainable holes in functionality surrounded by otherwise great services. It feels at times that Google has bitten off more than they can chew. They have been neglecting key parts of almost all of their services, I'm sure they can make some room to neglect Blogger even more if there's still a question about it.
I think the more important mystery is How are the Titanic's shipbuilders still in business??!?
At the current rate of signature growth (~ 1 per second, it should reach a million within 2 weeks. If we ALL go and sign it now, then I think the slashdotting of the online petition website might send an even stronger message to Mr. Boll.
You are correct, it appears I was missing something. I was checking with multiple keywords but none of them showed ads until this morning; now I can get "rock band" to show an ad whereas it didn't last night.
While I would upgrade this back to threat level "mole hill" from my previous statement, I still do not think it warrants the mountain that the retailers are implying it is.
Unless I am missing something, it would appear that the "Sponsored Links" section that everyone is complaining about along the right side of the page disappears when the "site:" keyword is used. It would appear that this mountain is now not even a mole hill.
CRI is pretty much a non-issue already. See Mona Lisa... They use a mix of LED colors to get whatever color they want. They can actually get a higher color rendering index than incandescent with LED lighting. Without the Fading, and Infrared that standard lighting setups put out.
This is true, but multiple LEDs makes for a very spikey spectral graph whereas a single incandescent is much smoother even if it does smoothly extend down into the heat producing range, which no one in the theatre likes, but I would imagine the museum picked the specific LED colors that rendered the colors in those particular paintings the best. Theatre will be the real resistance to switching from incandescent lighting because you need to have a light that will work equally in a vast variety of situations, or more realistically, mimicking the properties of an incandescent due to the fact that the entire theatrical lighting industry has built up around the 3500K incandescent light that red shifts as it dims. Designers, whom are traditionally very picky about their colors, would need to relearn their specific style of using color as right now it is dominated by the gel manufacturers - Rosco, Lee and GAM - who make transparent colored plastic sheets that are placed in front of incandescent fixtures to change their color. There are literally thousands of different variations of color from each manufacturer and designers are so picky about what is used, some will refuse to substitute colors from one manufacturer for another, even if they are pretty much indistinguishable.
As for the dimming effect I think you could possibly put an LCD over the LED and dim it out with that connected to a controller to output whatever pattern or color you want.
That still doesn't solve the problem of being able to dim the LED cluster by varying the AC voltage being input into the LED's AC / DC transformer / controller. That is actually a more complicated method than the current method of dimming (high frequency "gating") and while it might provide a better dimming curve, it is still depending on a lot more stuff that can break down. Also due to the fact that it is relying on a system that is constantly flashing or refreshing, it poses problems with video recording. We already have such problems with current LED fixtures showing up as strobing on camera due to frequency resonation. Control is not an issue as current LED fixtures already use the same control protocol (DMX512) that moving lights and other effects use.
I don't really see production lighting as all that expensive to operate as far as power goes. So using LED on a cost basis isn't really going to pay out there until you see daily usage of 12 to 6 hours a day.
The energy savings would be substantial. And theatre techs don't even care about the tree saving kind of energy saving as much as the distribution planning that it would simplify. Permanent installs have cicuits running all over the theatre already but you still need a hefty cable run to each light to power it (sometimes 6 are combined into one really hefty multi-cable for minimally increased convenience) and you still have to do the math to make sure you aren't overloading individual circuits (20 amps each) or your main service (averaging around 400 amps per leg / 1200 total). Each light currently uses 575 watts of power, and that is considered a great boost of efficiency compared to the older Altman lights which some theatres still use (750w for the same brightness output).
Incandescent bulbs will still have some commonplaces settings perhaps stage lighting is one of them...
Theatrical stage lighting (Musical Theatre, Opera, Drama and Dance) will definitely be the last holdouts to switching to LED lighting (or some other source) but I think the "industrial" lighting sector will lead the way. We are already seeing much usage in corporate co
Well, speaking from the event production industry (lighting for theatre, film, concerts and conventions) I don't see it coming that quickly. There are ways for LEDs to take over this industry, but they all depend on some other technology or innovation happening first. LED based fixtures are starting to be used as a tool, but they are in their own category, not as a replacement for an already existing tool. The problems that LEDs have are their color rendering index, their lack of brightness and the inability to dim them via the equipment currently used in almost every theater and production company in the industry (dimmers, PARs and Ellipsoidals). Color rendering is being addressed in the same manner as this MIT student (Selador's x7 series uses 7 different color LEDs to expand their palette) and brightness is fast becoming a non-issue as 3 watt LEDs are becoming commonplace. But dimming is the deal breaker as the industry is saturated with SCR based dimmers that control a majority of the conventional lighting fixtures by way of dimming their main AC input.
For LEDs to be viable, they would have to be able to replace the HPL lamp that is used by the defacto industry standard lighting fixtures: ETC's Source Four PARs and Ellipsoidals. These "conventional" lights plug into distribution cabling that goes directly back to a dimmer rack of some sort where the AC voltage is varied by way of using an SCR to chop the AC waveform at various points thus varying the voltage output and dimming the incandescent lamp. LEDs use DC power and are dimmed by flashing them on and off very quickly (at a constant voltage) and varying the amount of time that they are on versus off to create the illusion of dimming. If you were to put an LED controller onto a dimmed AC circuit, it would fry the controller much the same way that an electric motor would get fried if it were on a dimmed circuit. Sine Wave dimming (new technology) may change this, but that needs to happen first and LEDs second.
There other ins for LEDs to take over this industry. The other half of the lighting industry (seen more in concerts and conventions and less in theatre and film) is moving lights. They mostly use arc based light sources and are dimmed by way of a motorized shutter blocking the light coming out of the fixture. The power input for these types of fixtures is then run separately straight from the power source and not from a dimmer (just like current LED fixtures). They are very bright and have a slightly colder color temperature and lower color rendering index (also similar to LED fixtures). LEDs would be a perfect fit for moving lights and it is only a matter of time before we see new fixtures being developed with clusters of LEDs powering them rather than an arc lamp. The only problem with this is that it is hard to make optics that will still focus sharp with a source that has multiple points of origination.
The final point I will make addresses this problem, I believe. Once you start seeing high powered video projectors running off of LEDs rather than arc lamps (as most are now) then there will be no excuse for LEDs not to take hold of the lighting industry as we are also experiencing another revolution where traditional moving lights whose beams are shaped and colored by metal patterns and glass color filters that are mechanically placed in front of the beam inside the fixture are being replaced by essentially video projectors on moving yokes that project all of the colors and patterns by way of a computer video output. Once video projectors have been taken over by LEDs, THEN I predict, at least in this industry, we will start to see some tool replacement rather than just toolbox supplement.
Thank you for posting that. For those of us too lazy to even click on the link, the reason is "Because it is fun." Good afternoon, good evening and goodnight.
That's what I thought the General was actually saying at first when I misinterpreted "YGTBKM!" as "You're Going To Be Killed, Man!" rather than the correct "You've Got To Be Kidding Me!"
The soul of Wikipedia is obviously inclusionism. If you start picking what stays and what goes, then it will become just like every other encyclopedic resource out there. The problem is that people are treating Wikipedia as if it were supposed to be "the" resource rather than just "a" resource. If you use it knowing that the information within is not meant to be authoritative, than it can be a great resource to use as a starting point or for situations where incorrect information is not going to cause problems down the line. The word "wiki" itself means "quick" or "fast", as in, an encyclopedia for quick answers, not necessarily absolute answers.
As far as my daily light research needs are concerned, if Wikipedia becomes a deletionsim camp, then they better change the "wiki" part of their name; because even by their supposed competitor's definitions of the word "wiki" it would be a lie. And seriously, what would you prefer? One of the ad laden, content starved, dead ended, upselling pages at the previous three links? Or this one?
If anyone would actually RTFA (yeah I know, must be new here) it says that he was accused of submitting a receipt for reimbursement of the $1,300 and that it was denied. I would say that doesn't count as using the funds without permission.
I think I can be of some assistance. Here are some working links to download the next generation browser's beta...</!lying></!goatse></!toworry,still!lying>
I agree with the part about self sacrifice for the benefit of the team, but as for the rest, I hope I speak for some of us when I say ... What??!?
Yes but I don't think that would have been what he deserved for this infringement. To punish the company, maybe a larger sum, but lawsuits aren't supposed to happen so people can get rich. There is certainly a lot of judgments going around these days that are way overblown. I could get used to seeing reasonable judgments like this and in fact, if I were in his shoes, would not have wanted some ridiculous amount of money either. Consider he is getting half a year's salary (okay, half my salary) for taking a picture and spending maybe a few weeks of time researching / defending himself. If he is a "fool" for not twisting the legal system's idea of what is "fair and just" even more out of whack than it already is, then consider me a fool as well.
If you're going to mangle GIF as "jiff" you might as well finish the job and pronounce JPG as "jay-pej".
I bet you're one of those guys that clicks the fake "No" or "Cancel" button on the faux "dialog box" image popup ads asking if you want your computer raped by malware.
You son of a bitch, I palindrome I...
Can we just have it target Fry's Electronics stores?
I would have to agree. After all:
"I disapprove of what you say, but will defend to the death your right to say it."
Google should have, if this really was a trademark dispute, made absolutely sure that they handled it by the book and in the exact same way they would for a similar trademark dispute were the situation reversed. It doesn't really seem like they did in this case and if they did, they probably should have made that more clear. It wasn't illegal and probably not evil, but it sure doesn't feel "good".
Actually, it looks more like Engadget jumped the gun. Ryan Block from Engadget says:
Yeah, about that Nokia iPhone -- they were trying to demo touchscreen Symbian S60
So yeah, we talked to Nokia today about that iPhone knockoff of theirs. Turns out they totally neglected to mention that they were trying to show off the iPhone-esque software, not the iPhone-esque hardware. The concept they were driving at is they want to take Symbian S60 into the wonderful world of touchscreen, and that kind of input system they demoed could show up on any form factor device. Why they decided to show off said S60 touchscreen software on a total ripoff of the iPhone (and not, say, on some mockup N-series device) is a little less clear, but it certainly made for some hilarious fodder this morning. Seriously though, don't forget to check the video, you can almost hear the soothing sounds of the iPhone ad mandolin playing.
I have done "internet shopping" for a long time now and would reccommend it to anyone, as long as they are smart about it. I have only once run into an internet merchant that is purposely trying to defraud people, and it isn't even credit card fraud. It's rare and you would have to be damn stupid to try and pull credit card fraud these days. It is so tightly watched and so easy for consumers to fight back against blatent credit card fraud (obtaining a CC number and then charging to it without consent or transfer of goods / services)
The one place that I HAVE run into, and I'm picking on them because they are the ONLY place that has done anything this bad, is http://www.wawadigital.net./ I ordered a Minolta Dimage Z2 from them because they showed the price in their store as and I quote "$188 after $50 mail in rebate". This was a great price because most other stores were doing $219 or $229 after rebate. I decided to give it a shot and ordered the camera. Strangely enough, my final receipt after tax and $15.04 2-day shipping said $203.04. I though hey, maybe they messed up and now after the $50 mail in rebate I'll get a $399 MSRP camera for $153.04. The next day, I was contacted via phone (on a Sunday suprisingly) by a salesman from wawadigital.net to "confirm my order". He double checked my address and order information which I thought was impressive and noble of them to do.
Then he said that the price I paid is after a mail in rebate so he would have to add on the $50.00 to my sale. As soon as I questioned this, charging my credit card a different amount than my receipt, the salesman's demeanor immediatly turned from patient and polite and warm to "I don't have time for this, I'm cancelling your order. " All I had done was question this practice, not say I didn't want the camera. I though about it for a minute and after comparing the price sheet to other retailers, decided that even after adding $50.00 it was still worth it. I called back the number and convinced him that I would go ahead with the order at the higher price if he sent me a proper receipt. He was not patient or nice at this point, cussing at me and giving a very rude version of what I'd call "customer service". After agreeing to not cancel my order he then asked if I wanted to add on any memory cards or - but I cut him off before he could list accessories saying No I don't want anything besides the retail box with the camera and what it comes with from the manufacturer. He had hung up before I could finish that sentance. I figured that my order was still going through.
While waiting for my order to arrive (tuesday or wednesday if he shipped it out on monday) I researched wawadigital.net because that seemed a little fishy. I couldn't find anything about wawadigital.net, they're a yahoo store and there was no feedback about them on yahoo's review system. I looked on their website to see if I could find any better info to cross-reference with. Just an email, mailto:wawadigital@yahoo.com (oops, did I just post that publicly?) and that was it. I checked their domain registration whois information and got a name and address. The name was too generic to bring up anything on google but the address brought up such links as
http://www.complaints.com/directory/2004/november/ 10/24.htm
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/ripoff146772.h tm
http://www.shopcartusa.com/wawadigital/Details/Rev iewsOrder_Worst/Page_1/
I read through hundreds of stories explaining situations very similar to mine with all sorts of bait-and-switching going on and started to wonder if they had ever sold a camera in their life. I realized that they had a
I know this gets brought up each time, but let's do it again so maybe some developers that are watching will remember at the next meeting seeing this one issue always brought up when a new PDA comes out.
Why does this still only have mere MBs of memory and not a 60GB laptop Hard Drive in it? Or at least the option to choose a hard drive model... I would buy if there was.
Commence Modding...