Most often I'll review a website because I'm asked to do so. Other times I'll see a website I really like and I'll feel compelled to write about it. Sometimes, though, a site will be so poorly thought out that I just have to rant about it. This is one of those latter times.

You may know that I drink a lot of Coke (here and here). About, oh, six months ago, I signed up for an account at MyCokeRewards.com to earn something back for my patronage. I've managed to amass nearly 500 points in that sime—about 50 12-packs or 166 20-oz bottles. Suffice to say I'm on the site several times a week, enough that I'm regularly annoyed by several "features" of the site.

First, the site switched shortly after my signup to a Flash-based design. This caused my browser and my password program to be unable to save or fill-in passwords. Instead, I'm forced to enter my password manually every time.

You'd think the "Remember Me" feature on the site would make this easier, but no: the site only remembers your username (e-mail address), not your password. What's the point of a "Remember Me" feature if you're only going to remember my name and nothing else about me?

Far too often, the site displays a survey when I log in. Sometimes I've already clicked "Enter Codes" when this happens, at which time I'm unable to enter codes in the form until I close the survey. Hey, folks! Let me decide how I want to proceed through your site!

The site is slow. I don't have a speedy desktop Mac, but it's slow on my new Mac laptop and my reasonably new PC desktop. Stop it with all the animation and just get me to where I want!

Speaking of surveys, if you want to know what my favorite [insert type of beverage here] is, give me the opportunity to answer either 1) not one of your products or 2) I don't drink these. It's pretty stupid to think that everyone that answers the survey drinks only Coke products and and drinks from every possible category. I end up either lying on a particular question or just canceling the survey; which of those helps you?

It's not bad enough that all of the above occurs, but today you tried to open a popup window. Quit interrupting me!

And get some better rewards up there! There are people other than kids using your site—I think.

I've been looking for some time for an instrument stand which would accommodate all of the instruments I play. I've avoided local music stores, because my previous experiences with many in this area have shown them to be limited in the items that I want and need. So, I've done my shopping for musical instruments and related accessories online.

However, this particular search wasn't going very well, even after contacting various manufacturers to find what is—admittedly—a odd product: a sax stand that also accepts a peg for my oboe. Clarinet pegs won't work, because the bore on the oboe is is conical and more narrow. Finally, though, I was able to narrow it down to two brands of stands that might work, maybe even a third with some jerry-rigging. But to be sure, I needed to have the stand in my hands.

Now, mind you, I had no intention of buying the stand from a retail store, paying full retail for something I knew I could get cheaper online. I just need to know 1) if each stand would accept an oboe peg and 2) if not, if a clarinet peg would work with an oboe.

Nick Rail Music in Redlands was the only store in the area (so I found after some phone calls) that had all three models in stock. That was surprising to me, since I knew the store wasn't very big and would likely have a narrow selection in any product category. I wasted no time in getting over there ( it's about 15 minutes from me).

It's obvious when you walk in that the store caters to school band and orchestral needs, with such instruments ringing the the sales floor. No, they haven't forgotten rhythm instruments, but those items aren't crowding the store to the exclusion of the other.

That helped in another way: I was actually able to walk around the store and find things I needed (or really, really wanted!) without feeling penned in. While doing so, I saw that my initial misgivings were unfounded. The selection of accessories—at least in the areas I was interested in—was quite good.

I found a soprano sax swab I needed and browsed five timpani method books. There doesn't seem to be such a thing as a case that will hold both a clarinet and an oboe, but I found a trombone mute bag that looks like it will hold both instrument cases and leave extra room for other accessories. An electronic upright bass in the corner caught my attention, as did a nice selection of conducting batons.

Students are a big part of the store's business. Several came in to purchase accessories while I was there; several more were involved in lessons; and a pile of local school band instruments was waiting for return.

Chris and Dave were both helpful in answering my questions and finding what I was looking for, even though they were at various times helping other customers. And they let me know that if they didn't have something I wanted, it would be easy to order it from a very large catalog—with prices discounted to put them nearly on par with what I'd find online (with shipping).

Oh, and that instrument stand? I ended up buying two of them.

More Info

The biggest thing to hit the Internet Marketing lately is a product that defies the trend to make your products more and more expensive. $7 Secrets has turned IM on its head and threatens to turn the attention from so-called "gurus" to the common man.

In fact, what Jon Leger (the author of $7 Secrets) has done is redefine "IM" as "Information Marketing." Throughout the 33 pages of this e-book/report, Jon provides compelling reasons for developing your own information product and demonstrates the ease with which it can be done. Beyond that, though, he shows the methods he used to market his own product and earn over $3,000 in just one week.

Key to his success was pricing the product right. As the report suggests that price was $7, although it's certainly not required to use that price. Jon also shows how a product priced at such a low cost can actually be the first step in developing future income streams from the customers who buy your products—and can attract other marketers who will refer your products to their customer base.

The most important part of this report is the link inside to the scripts that Jon uses to handle everything: from order to fulfillment, from affiliate payment to list building, the scripts are the backbone of the $7 Secrets process. And they're free! You upload them to your web server, make a few settings modifications, change the templates to describe your products, and you are soon in business with an easy-to-maintain system for selling your own information products.

My personal experience is that, after seeing the sales letter for $7 Secrets, I immediately purchased the report. Jon's right: the price makes it an easy impulse buy. The report was an easy read, taking just about a half-hour of my time to read and re-read it. I took some time to digest the ideas he put forth, but soon I was implementing them and using the scripts to sell my own information products.

I've not been as successful as Jon, but that's because he started with a list and I started from scratch. Still, I've put more money in my pocket than I expected and have begun building my list. And I credit the ideas found in $7 Secrets for that success.

More Info

$7 Secrets report and scripts
Make $7 Secrets Do More!

By now you know I'm picky and will go to great lengths to find what I want. So you won't be surprised when I tell you that I searched day and night for a week to find the perfect case for my new Treo 650. I admit, I thought this would be an impossible task: track down a case that would not only clip onto my belt, but also be low profile and comfortable to hold. I found it in the Sena Palm Treo 650 Combo.

As the name would suggest, the combo is a pairing of two of Sena's products: the LeatherSkin case and their Lateral Pouch. The leather case (I purchased the black one) is sleek and form-fitting, with an open face that doesn't obstruct my use of the keys. There is no screen protector. The case snaps closed on the top and has cutouts for the ringer switch, speaker, camera, side buttons, and hot-sync and power connectors.

The pouch—again leather—is lined with a soft, padded material and cradles my Treo perfectly when it's in the LeatherSkin case. The catch is magnetic (nice touch!) and there are two pockets for memory cards (or the ubiquitous paper clip) on the back, one on either side of the belt clip.

The pouch and case are separately $40 to $50, but you can get the combo from between $60 and $70. (Mine were $40 each, $60 together.) Many colors are available and a crocodile print can be had.

I've been using the combo for a couple months now and only have one complaint: I wish the belt clip were not the kind that simply slips over my belt, as I've knocked my phone off my hip several times. However, the phone was amply protected when that has happened.

And that's exactly why I bought a case.

More Info

Sena Palm Treo 650 Cases

I was searching for a web page screen-shot utility today. Not just your run-of-the-mill screen-shot utility, but something that would give me an entire web page, even though the web page wouldn't fit on the screen. As a Mac user, I headed on over to MacUpdate to see what I could find and ran across several utilities.

SnapWeb (v4.0.1r1, $17.90) was one of those that I found, but from the comments by many of the "reviewers" it appeared that SnapWeb was overpriced: it wasn't free, like several other utilities or solutions. Had I simply left it at that—listening to the comments alone—I would have ended up with an inadequate solution. However, I actually used the software and compared it to the other suggestions that were made and determined that the other reviewers were completely out of their minds.

Here are my observations, as posted on the MacUpdate site:

Let me help out the author here, as from most of the other comments it appears he hasn't made his case for paying for this software when -- it is true -- there are other, free solutions for capturing a web page.

Normally when I want to capture a web page, I simply print to PDF. As simple as that is, there are times when -- as neutralzone points out -- the PDF does not render properly or a stylesheet defines different styles for printed output. Also, Mac OS X's Save as PDF feature paginates the the output, something not generally suitable for web pages, unless you "first set up a sufficiently long custom paper size" (how long is that?).

(Thanks to nga for pointing out the Export PDF command in Saft, which gives you an unpaginated PDF. I keep forgetting all of the incredibly useful features in this Safari plug-in.)

Paparazzi is great for many people. Give it a URL, press Capture, and save the loaded web page as one of several image formats along with an optional thumbnail. What if you need to log into a web site to see a particular page, though? Here's where it gets a little tedious, because it is first necessary to browse to the page in Safari and authenticate, then load the page in Paparazi.

SnapWeb, however, "has a full-featured browser interface for easy navigation without typing URLs," meaning you can navigate a web site without using another browser.

Speaking of another browser, SnapWeb will capture the current Firefox page in addition to the current Safari page. Paparazzi will only capture from Safari. Also, SnapWeb supports opening of local HTML files through drag-and-drop, contextual "Open With", and a File > Open command.

Paparazzi's four image formats (JPEG, PDF, PNG, TIFF) may be sufficient for many, but some people will want the additional formats that SnapWeb provides -- GIF and PSD -- and may like to save as HTML or text or even to the the clipboard.

SnapWeb offers finer control over the image size. SnabWeb allows multiple windows. Images can be saved by SnapWeb in quick succession to a user-selected folder with incrementing filenames. And, with a professional license ($39.90), SnapWeb can be activated by AppleScript, a Services Menu item, or Unix shell scripts, for serious automation power.

The only complaint I have with SnapWeb is actually the developer's claim of "exactly [sic] timing of animation and movie snapshots (e.g. web pages with Flash, WMV, Real or Quicktime)." In my tests, I could not rely on SnapWeb to capture the video frame I was viewing when I clicked Save. However, this is still an improvement over Paparazzi, which captures the web page only as it is first loaded, not at some point later when animation or video has changed.

If you want a free alternative to saving web pages and don't need the features SnapWeb provides, then by all means use Paparazzi. Don't mistake SnapWeb as something that "does exactly the same," though: its additional features are well worth the price for someone that needs them.

Coffee is a taste I've never acquired, at least as a hot drink. Whenever someone offers me a cup of coffee, my standard response is "I take my caffeine cold." (Why is it they usually don't turn around and offer me a soda?) Perhaps it's coffee's bitterness or perhaps it's the lack of sweetness, but I prefer hot chocolate as a tummy warmer.

Oddly enough, I do like coffee-flavored ice cream and candy and, more recently, coffee-flavored cold drinks. So, given my long-standing love affair with Coca-Cola, with no hesitation I purchased a bottle of Coke Blak when I saw it on the store shelf.

Unlike in my last review of a Coke product, I think Coke has a winner here. There's a bit more of a coffee taste than I would like (its slogan is "Coke effervescence with coffee essence") and a bit less carbonation than other Coke products, but nothing to put me off. It's likely that I will be drinking Coke Blak a couple times a week in addition to my regular Coke habit.

It's probably smart of Coke to package Coke Blak in an 8-ounce bottle, given its potency, and the accompanying bump in price ($1.69–1.99 a bottle) should ensure some hefty profits for Coca-Cola. (Coke Blak is also available in a 4-pack.) If you're counting, a single serving has 45 calories—a small price for one of life's pleasures.

More Info

I headed over to MacUpdate.com, where I found 13 screen capture utilities. I pared the list to eight free products which, in keeping with my guidelines for software that goes on my system, I further pared to six which appear to be actively supported.

(Apologies to Ambrosia Software, publishers of Snapz Pro X, the premiere screen capture tool for the Mac; I just don't use screen capture enough to warrant paying for their utility.)

ScreenCaptureX captures the cursor and lets the user configure the destination folder and image format for screenshots, but the interface was underwhelming. And it was apparent from the developer's description that Capture Me wouldn't have the cursor capture feature I needed. But that still left four tools.

SnapNDrag [2.1] has a couple features that are helpful for anyone taking screenshots. Besides being able to capture the cursor in a timed screenshot, you can define a filename prefix and the number of digits in the numerical part of the filename. But the program doesn't allow you to change the image format it uses and hot keys can only be set if you pay $5 for the Pro version (which also gives you image scaling and removes a fairly innocuous ad for other products at the bottom of the window). SnapNDrag also suffers from an image preview so small that it's unusable.

GrabMac [2.2] allows you to define a screen region, then capture that region with a series of timed screenshots. It adds features like image format, file naming, and destination folder, as well as image resizing. However, it seemed to me to take much too long to setup GrabMac to take a single screenshot.

Screenshot Plus Widget [2.3 modified], not to be confused with an application with a similar name, is not something I would have normally given a lot of thought to. I've disabled Dashboard on my Mac; I'm opposed to having a number of widgets taking up memory on my machine when I'm not using them. However, I was looking for an excuse to buy Amnesty Singles, which converts Dashboard widgets into stand-alone applications.

At first launch, Screenshot Plus simply failed to act when I clicked a button, but I was able to see that its features included setting a destination folder (although it's limited to the folders in your home folder) and image format; sending captures to iPhoto or Preview; and showing a large, usable preview. A later trip to the developer's website revealed that the current version is incompatible with Mac OS X 10.4.7 and above, but a modified version (with a minor loss in functionality) was available and worked well.

Capture [0.7.9] is another widget that I ran through Amnesty Singles. That actually proved to point up a flaw in the process: neither Capture nor Screenshot Plus can hide themselves as an application, which they would normally do as a widget in Dashboard. This isn't as much of a problem for me in Screenshot Plus, which—with its timed screen grab—allows me to get the screen ready, but Capture doesn't wait before the screen capture occurs.

Even so, it has features similar to Screenshot Plus, with destination folders (drag a folder to the widget to change -- not sure how that works in Dashboard) and image formats. It even has the ability to resize the image, unlike Screenshot Plus, but it cannot preview images, send them to iPhoto, or capture single widgets (yes, I did test it in Dashboard).

Conclusion

Well, I found my excuse to buy Amnesty Singles, because I chose to go with a widget. Screenshot Plus edged out Capture, due to its timed screen grab and other features. Its slick interface didn't hurt, either.

You can't blame us for trying to save a buck or two. The Palmolive brand was less expensive than the Cascade Gel Dishwasher Detergent we normally use. We figured it was a good name brand product, so we bought it.

My first thought as I readied the dishwasher and poured in the detergent was, "This stuff sure is thin." I looked at the bottle again; sure enough, it said, "New! Thicker Formula" on the label. "Wow! What was the previous version like?"

My wife emptied that load, but didn't say anything. However, after the next load she asked, "Are you using the new detergent?"

"Yes, why?"

"It's not getting the dishes clean."

Seems that the detergent is leaving the glasses and the silverware looking dingy, despite the "Deep Cleaning Action for a Sparkling Shine" that we were promised. It's not that the dishes are really dirty when they go in. I'm one of those guys who thoroughly rinses each item before washing them (the dishes are my duty). Perhaps the hard water has something to do with it, but I followed the instructions and used more gel for the hard water.

Palmolive just doesn't handle the job like Cascade.

Update: Colgate Palmolive graciously refunded the purchase price for their product when I reported my disappointment.

Since I began using OS X, I've been looking for a note manager—something to not only take the small snippets of information that I was collecting, but also larger pieces of information like PDFs and web archives. When using OS 9, I was satisfied with ScrapIt Pro and QuickScrap, but, when OS X was released, other applications began leaving my previously favored applications behind. I've looked at a couple of the contenders over the past two years, but it's only been recently that several have really caught my attention.

How I choose software

When I begin to look for a piece of software to fit a need, I have several criteria: function, or how well the product's features meet my specific requirements; form, or how the product looks (the interface); intuitiveness, or how well I can use it without looking at a manual; and stability.

Function

I need a note manager that will handle plain text, styled text, pictures, PDFs, and web archives. If it handles audio and video, that's just a bonus. I want it to encrypt all or some of my data, since I want to use it to store information that I want to restrict access to. I want to be able to get information in and out of the application quickly. And I would really like to be able to sync the data to another computer or a Palm.

Form

How the app looks is extremely important to me. Unless I can't possibly use another product, I will not use an ugly application. I'm a Mac user, and Mac users—by and large—don't put up with shoddy-looking products. I truly do judge a book by its cover; I figure if a developer cares how the product looks on the outside, he takes care that it works well on the inside.

Intuitiveness

A user shouldn't have to work hard to figure out the basic features of an application. Menus should be logical, toolbars should have commonly used items, and the workflow (e.g., key commands and drag-and-drop operations) should be similar to other applications. If I need to read the manual to learn about advanced features, that's okay, but I should feel comfortable with launching the program and beginning to use it without reading any instructions.

Stability

It goes without saying that a product should be stable. It should never lose data and it should never, ever crash. Features should also work as advertised. There is no excuse for an application that is released with blatant bugs. There are legions of computer users that are willing to beta test a product—putting it through its paces to shake out its faults—for the promise of a free copy (or just a mention of their name in the credits), so why not use them?

The search begins

If I'm looking for Macintosh software, my first stop is at MacUpdate.com (Version Tracker is another software directory, and includes Windows software). A quick search (in this case, on "notes") gives me a list of apps that may or may not be appropriate for my needs; browsing through the summaries helps me pick out a number of possibilities.

As I next scan the descriptions for each of the possibilities, I'm looking for several things. First, what is the current version? (Is it a new or established product?) Second, what is the date of the most recent version? (Is the developer serious about maintaining and supporting the product?) Third, what are others saying about the product? While the reviews on a site like MacUpdate.com tend to be shallow and often unprofessional, they do give me an idea of how others view the product—particularly if the reviews and comments are heavily weighted for or against the application.

Speaking of reviews, I tend to read computer-related sites for real reviews by real users. For my search for a note manager, I ran across a review on The Unofficial Apple Weblog that pointed me to some applications I would not have considered. http://www.tuaw.com/2006/07/11/get-organized-a-survey-of-digital-junk-drawer-apps/

The real test, however, comes when I download a trial version of each of the products to put them through their paces. I don't download directly from MacUpdate.com; instead, I follow their link to the developer's website for the download. This gives me the opportunity to view screen shots before downloading and to see if there is a user community that supports the product. It also doesn't hurt to see how the developer "packages" the product. (It's that whole "judging a book by its cover" mentality I have.)

The Contenders

Okay, enough about my methods; let's get to the contenders themselves. After downloading a trial of each application, I matched each against my four criteria. Here they are, in alphabetical order:

My Take?

So, what did I decide? If I was looking for wiki software, I'd go with Voodoo Pad; if journaling software, I'd choose Journler. In the end, my requirements, both in terms of form and function, nearly left me with only one choice.

Yojimbo is a 1.x product with a very polished finish, both on the surface and under the hood. I found no bugs and the interface was very intuitive. That's not to say that it couldn't be improved. Several things Yojimbo could borrow from other applications include an integrated web browser; a navigation bar for PDFs (and web pages); custom icons for collections; and Palm syncing. Oh, and better tagging and categorizing.

SOHO Notes started out a close second, but soon it was easy to see that while it looked like Yojimbo, a number of bugs were lurking just under the surface. I'd accept these bugs in a 1.x release, but not a fifth-generation product. (To be fair, version 5.5 integrates a discontinued product, StickyBrain, into its feature set and may be suffering from the transition.)

However, with the release of 5.5.2, Chronos answered my objection and SOHO Notes pulled ahead with the features I'd wanted for Yojimbo. Still, SOHO Notes would benefit from better tagging and categorizing, as well as encrypted notes (which are always encrypted when not being viewed). In a last-minute decision, I went with SOHO Notes.

Now, if you'll excuse me,  I have a lot of information to organize.

But the phone companies are greedy. VoiceWing is $29.95 a month (for unlimited calls) if I am Verizon DSL customer (which I am) or $34.95 if I'm not. Compare that to non-phone company VOIP providers whose plans are in the $20-25 range for unlimited calls. Heck, my phone bills for a simple residential line were $45-$50 because of all the incremental charges that Verizon tacked on.

That and their lousy service prompted me to look at switching to a VOIP solution a couple of years ago. Back then, about the only VOIP provider on the planet was Vonage, but I found the service just wasn't ready for prime time. About half the time the calls would just drop and most of the time the voice quality just wasn't up to par with the phone company.

Because of a move I made recently I wanted to look into getting the service again. I'd have gone with Vonage again, but unfortunately my telephone number -- which I wanted to keep -- couldn't be transfered to them; apparently they don't have a presence where I lived. Fortunately, Packet8 did and their website indicated that my number could be ported to them. So, I jumped in.

The online signup was easy. Once I selected the plan I wanted ($19.95 a month for unlimited calls), I provided my credit card information, etc., and filled out a form for Local Number Portability. (Part of the process also involved faxing to them a copy of the first page of a recent telephone bill, to prove the number I was transferring was mine.) Then I waited for my welcome package.

About five days later I received a box with a small piece of equipment that looks similar to an external modem. Following the instructions, I plugged it into my router, plugged a regular phone handset into the box, and applied the power. I lifted the handset and voila! I had a dial tone. A single call to activate the service and I could now call to my heart's content for less than half of what I was paying before.

The price is only half of the story, though. The quality of the service is what would make or break the deal for me. I found that 18 months down the technology road really made a big difference in the level of quality I experienced. After using Packet8 for a month I'm pleased to say that I have had no issues with dropped calls or lousy connections and I have no regrets in my choice.

A concern I had in the process was the transfer of my number. I knew it would take 6-8 weeks for the transfer to be completed (Packet 8 provided a temporary number in the meantime); in fact, it was completed in just over three weeks. There was a brief period, no more than a couple of hours, when dialing my number resulted in a disconnect message but, soon after, dialing my number rang my Packet8 phone.

I do have one disappointment, though. All of my calls have to be dialed using 11 digits (1 + area code + number). This shouldn't be necessary, since I don't live in area with an overlay area code, but this isn't apparently an issue with most of Packet8's customers and isn't really a big deal to me.

Great service, painless process. Now I can do the same for my business line.

[This review is a work in progress as I transfer my notes to the web.]

Interested in doing business on eBay with a Seller known as zdravokp1? Maybe you'll think again after learning about my experience with him.

[All e-mail messages were copy-and-pasted into place with no changes. All spelling and grammatical errors are those of the author of the message.]

7/28/2005: I purchased a Minolta QMS Magicolor 2200 DL Color Laser Printer on eBay. Looks like a great buy!

7/29/2005: Through eBay, I informed the Seller that I would be sending a cashier's check for the purchase. His response, within several hours, was:

I have a spare paper tray for the DL 2200 printer. Although the handle has a minor crack, it tested OK. Would you like to have it? There will be no additional cost to you. Please advise.

Very generous! I replied that I would indeed like to have the additional cassette.

8/3/2005: The Seller indicates on eBay that he has received payment for the printer.

8/4/2005: I received an e-mailed shipment notification that the printer was shipped today via DHL.

8/8/2005: DHL delivered the printer today. The box was heavily damaged. It was not possible to determine whether or not the printer was damaged without accepting the package and opening it. I chose to accept it, knowing that the shipment was insured and that simply refusing the package would not return my money.

II contacted the Seller via eBay to let him know about the damage:

Hey, [name removed]. The printer arrived this morning damaged in shipment. It appears to have been dropped on the right, rear, bottom corner of the unit, and the access door on the right side of the unit will not latch. Since the package was shipped on your account, DHL said I needed to contact you. Would you please contact them to report the damage?

8/9/2005: I heard back from the Seller today:

I just returned from my trip. I will contact them tomorrow. Please take some photos and have the prinyter availabke for inpection [sic], if needed. Thanks.

8/11/2005: The Seller needed more information:

DHL can not file a claim without a phone number and the exact address the printer and packaging can be inspected. Please send them to me ASAP so I may file the claim for the possible damage. Thank you.

I was puzzled, because the Seller already had this information. Was he stalling? Perhaps. Perhaps he just needed confirmation that the printer hadn't moved from where it was delivered. I gave him my address (the address the printer was shipped to) and my telephone number.

8/18/2005: I contacted DHL today and the rep informed me that no claim had been filed; in fact, they had no record that the Seller had contacted them. I immediately fired off a message to the Seller, this time being more urgent in my request:

DHL says they have not yet received a claim for the damaged printer. I need a claim filed by you with DHL by 8/19/2005.

It occurs to me (belatedly) that I should check out zdravokp1's feedback on eBay. What I find has me concerned:

Buyer (8/21): Fraudulent!Took money,nothing received,PayPal returned amount.Check his feedback. zdravokp1: Item shipped via insured USPS om July 6th. Bad arab mentality: Wants item free! Buyer: Nobody wanted anything free, A $7 case? come on..Invoice was paid, U didn't ship

Buyer (8/19): Case was damaged, no help in replacement. Extreamly rude from the start. F+ zdravokp1: DHL Claim filed. Still waiting for photos to see the damage. Dishonest Not Good.

Buyer (8/15): This seller is acting like I did not pay him this time around, What a Snake. zdravokp1: No payment. No communication. Two wins and no payment for both. Crazi / drugs?

Buyer (7/30): Item as stated. Difficult & Arrogant. Overcharged on shipping. NOT Recommended. zdravokp1: Bids on item. Rejects DHL Ground shipping at cost. Bad experience. Not recomend! Buyer: My feedback speaks for itself. You requested much more money after invoice paid.

Buyer (7/29): Seller wanted MORE MONEY AFTER I ALREADY PAID INVOICE PayPal Refunded MyMoney :) zdravokp1: Dishonest. Lies to PayPal,Ebay, all in effort to cheat on $2.50 Shipping. Avoid! so-unreal: ReadHisFeedback Im not the only 1. I paid the invoice he wouldnt ship w/o More $

Buyer (7/19): Sent a 55mm filter instead of a 52mm filter which was how it was described. zdravokp1: Refuses shipping charges, Notwclaims wrong size filters through feedback ??????

Buyer (7/10): email me : [email address removed] before you bid and get ripped off zdravokp1: Dishonest. Arrogant. Wins $0.99 case but refuses to pay for DHL ground shipping.

Buyer (7/8): Add shipping cost after auction end. Dishonest unqualified seller. Be aware zdravokp1: Dishonest. Arrogant. Refuses $12 S/H for 11lb Item. Treatens with Neg Feedback

Seller (6/2): Why leave negative feed back's over waiting on UPS REFUND?? HAVEN'T RECIEVED CHK zdravokp1: Dishonest. Item shipped trashed,Blames UPS and makes a claim.Lies about refund.. itecknet: i never lied?? ups broke item he never sen't item back? i'm not getting screwed

Seller (5/12): >>>Be WARNED Sellers! Pays LATE - Makes FALSE Remarks, and VERY Rude and UnFair! zdravokp1: Dishonest to the bone. Refuses cash at pickup, gets check and files dispoute.

Seller (3/17): Unsatisfactory Transaction - Bargainland zdravokp1: Knowingly Sold Trash and Collecting Full Payment. What is unsatisfactory to you?

Seller: (3/17): Unsatisfactory Transaction - Bargainland zdravokp1: Payment made for Dead Camera. What is unsatisfactory to you? Are you nuts?

Bid Retractions (Past 6 months): 23

8/19/2005: The Seller's response to my message arrived today:

I spoke to two agents and could not file a claim. Jovani sent me to a bogus web site (www.dhl.cargoclaims@dhl.com) and stated that I have to file the claim online. What is going on?

Would you like to take the lead in tghis [sic] and open the next step dialog with DHL?

Interestingly, the Seller's message also included the text of a message he sent to DHL about a separate matter:

All items show pick up and residential fees. All items were droped off -NO PICK UP and to my knowledge they were delivered to business addresses.
>
> I spoke with your billing department in Houston and I was assured that the bill has been corrected. Why the lies?
>
> Please correct and notify me in writing either by email or regular mail. DO NOT CHARGE CARD FOR THE WRONG AMOUNT.

That strikes me as a rather abrasive tone. My repsonse to him was matter-of-fact:

I have spoken with two separate agents; each has told me that you must initiate the claim; that there is no online process for filing; all you have to do is call (800-225-5345) to start the process; and to authorize me to act in your behalf you must fax me authorization on your letterhead, with your shipper number and signature. You may fax that to me at (951) 639-3797 if you are still unable to file a claim.

I will also be filing claims under the eBay Standard Purchase Protection and PayPal Buyer Protection programs to preserve my rights and options. [Emphasis is in the original HTML message.]

During my talks with DHL, they issued me a contact number for the damage claim: 08191988.

The Seller's response was very quick:

The claim number for your package is 08194604. Within 5-10 working days I will be receiving a written form to fill and file. After that, it will me mailed and they will have resolution within 30-60 days.

You may proceed with whatever other filings you want to make. Please make sure you state to ebay that the item was sold on "as-is" basis, that you received the item and to tell paypal that you paid with cashiers check.

Oops! I had forgotten that I had paid by cashier's check (Bank of America, #411501304). Well, no recourse through PayPal. That was my second mistake (my first was not reading his feedback beforehand)—I should not have bid without that payment option.

I'm trusting that if this does go to an eBay claim, eBay will see through the "as-is" disclaimer to the "fully working" description.

Oh, by the way, the contact number for the claim that I listed above is apparently not the actual claim number; that will be issued once the claim forms are actually filed. When the Seller writes "claim number" he means "contact number." I guess DHL uses different contact numbers for different parties to the claim.

8/30/2005: A week-and-a-half later, after hearing nothing more, I contact DHL and find that the Seller still has not filed a claim (although they did mail the forms on 8/19—his contact number is 08194604). Once again I contact him:

DHL reports today that no paper work has been received from you to initiate the claim. Have you received the forms? Have you returned the forms?

In return, the Seller wrote:

I can not fill the paper work if it is not here. The appendices [?] are ready, but no claim letter from them yet. Maybe it will arrive these days. If you can expedite, please do so

8/31/2005: Attempting to expedite, I called DHL to have the forms faxed to me (although I can't file them without his authorization) and I offer to fax them to him:

Give me your fax number and I will fax the claim forms to you.

9/14/2005: I've been extremely busy and haven't had the opportunity to followup on this lately. Yesterday I spoke with DHL and found that the Seller still has not returned the claim forms to DHL. So, now it's time to ratchet this up.

A brief Google search finds that the Seller has an online presence and the phone number listed for his company matches the phone number on the DHL waybill. I called the number today, but was forced to leave a voice-mail message in which I informed the Seller that DHL had not received the claim forms. I asked when he had sent the forms; offered (again) to fax him the forms; and offered (again) to handle the settlement with DHL if he would fax his authorization to do so. I left both my voice number and my fax number.

That was earlier this morning. I also made good on my earlier notification that I would file an eBay Standard Purchase Protection claim:

Seller states: "Although the printer is in full working order it is sold on 'as-is basis'."

The printer is not in "full working order"; there is extensive damage to the two paper trays so that the printer will not feed paper and the paper cassette cannot be removed so that paper can be added easily.

The printer may have been damaged in shipment; to this point seller has not filed a claim with DHL. Seller has not responded to me in the last two weeks.

Well, that got a response! Within 30 minutes of initiating the dispute, the Seller replied to eBay (even though he has not bothered to respond to me directly):

To date the buyer claimed damage to the printer (his emails). DHL damage claim filed. I have no control over the DHL process. When they resolve the sitiation he will be notified. The printer was sold with one paper tray. The second paper tray was given as gift to the buyer.

The buyer seem [sic] to be obsessed with the control of the DHL process and it [sic] appears to be dishonest. The item was sold on as-is basis and ther [sic] will be no returns or refunds. Until DHL resolves the case I have nothing to add.

Let's just take these in the order given. As of today, DHL says no claim has been filed. The Seller, in my last communication with him, claimed he had not received the claim forms. He has refused to to indicate on what date the claim forms were returned to DHL, if in fact they were. And he has not offered up copies of the claim he says he filed with DHL.

Next, the two paper trays. As shown above, the Seller sent an extra paper cassette with the printer. There's a slight miscommunication here, mostly because eBay's dispute form doesn't allow me more room for explanation, but also because it's easy to confuse "tray" and "cassette." By "tray" I mean the actual input source; by "cassette" I mean the unit that slides out of the machine and is used to provide media to Tray 2. Tray 1 is the manual feed/multi-purpose tray that releases and extends from the right side of the machine. On this machine, both Tray 1 and Tray 2 have been damaged, Tray 2 to the point that the paper cassette cannot be removed.

Then the Seller begins attacking me, characterizing me as "obsessed" and "dishonest." As for the DHL process, it was the Seller himself that suggested I get involved with DHL to get the claim filed (8/19/2005). I suppose it's okay for me to be a little obsessed; after all, it's my money at stake. But "dishonest"? My feedback rating at eBay (100%) speaks for itself, as does the Seller's rating (92.2%). Eight percent of his transactions rated negatively?

9/16/2005: I escalated the dispute to a claim, with the following comment:

Again, DHL informs me no claim forms have been received by them. Seller suggested I contact DHL: "Would you like to take the lead in tghis [sic] and open the next step dialog with DHL?" S.'s last message indicated he had not received claim forms. S. has ignored all attempts at contact in the last two weeks. Tray 1 (multi-purpose tray) and Tray 2 (paper cassette) are damaged--not in "full working order" as described. S. resorts to name calling ("obsessed," "dishonest") to defend his position.

9/18/2005: Oh, this is rich!

Dear Mr. Morris,

Over a month ago you purchased a color laser printer that I sold due to upgrade of my home office. Although I was using the printer until sold (the printed material can easily verify that), the printer was sold on as-is basis, with no warranties or refunds implied. After you received the printer, you implied that the printer was broken in shipment. Claim was filed over the phone and as of September 15, DHL faxed the forms to me. While I was planning to mail the damage claim package on Monday, September 19, 2005 I saw your defamation text on the web. Your lies in the published text, the conditions under which the printer was sold, and the fact that to date I have no proof of any kind that the printer was really damaged, makes me believe that I can certify that your claim has any veracity and that you are simply trying to extort money from DHL. Because of that I will do the following:

1. I will not be filing damage claim until you correct the situation, correct your actions, and retract any and all web lies about me.
2. You will be sued for defamation. Unless I have written retraction letter replacing your current defamation letter, not later than September 19, 2005, I will forward your file to my lawyers and you will be sued for defamation and other charges that apply. If you do not understand the gravity of your actions, please talk to your lawyer and doctors, if any, and they will explain them to you.
3. Any web site involved in the defamation will be named in the lawsuit and you will be responsible to them for not informing them of your illegal activities.

The few dollars your [sic] trying to extort from DHL because they agreed to save you money by picking up printer in a used printer box that was previously smashed in one corner, will be nothing to what you have exposed yourself to.

Please do not take this note not as a treat [sic], but as a request for immediate action on your part. If not, I will use the court system to ensure that you are stopped from publishing lies about me or anybody else you might try to force to help you in your schemes. You will realize that damaging peoples [sic] reputations to make you feel you better will prove to be very costly remedy for whatever mental or other problems you might have.

[Seller's name removed]

The Seller's response to eBay two days ago said "DHL damage claim filed." However, in this communication he states "While I was planning to mail the damage claim package on Monday, September 19, 2005…" Which is it? Has the claim been filed? DHL says "no." Now the Seller says "no": "I will not be filing damage claim…" In addtion,

• I've already addressed the argument for the "as-is" condition, but I'll mention it again: the seller indicated this was a "fully working" printer. I've done a little research on this subject and, while I don't claim to be an attorney, the law does seem to be fairly clear: the implied warranty ("fully working") trumps any as-is clause.
  
  • Under the UCC, for a disclaimer to be valid the seller must a) display the disclaimer language "AS IS" must be conspicuously displayed (no fine print), b) there cannot be a conflict between any disclaimer and what is represented verbally or in writing, and c) the seller must have "bargained" for the disclaimer, i.e. the buyer must know BEFORE they sign the contract that the implied warranty is being disclaimed.
• I have not asked for a refund. I have simply asked that seller file a claim to reimburse him (and, ultimately, me) for a printer damaged during shipment.
• Actually, there was no implication that the printer was damaged in shipment. I came right out and stated that the printer "was damaged in shipment." (8/8) At no point in this process have I suggested that the Seller intentionally shipped me a damaged printer; my assumption has been—from the start—that DHL damaged the printer while it was in their possession.
• The claim cannot be filed over the phone. The Seller is confusing the initial contact with DHL and filing the claim with DHL. DHL confirms that the Seller initiated contact on 8/19 and that they sent him claim forms via mail, but DHL cannot confirm that any forms were faxed to him, either on 9/15 or any other date. It may be that a department other than the claims department faxed him the claim forms.
• Lies? Everything I posted here can be corroborated by the e-mail messages in my possession or by a phone call to DHL. Most of the e-mail messages were sent through eBay, so those messages can be confirmed through a third party. The conditions under which the printer was sold? Again, corroborated by the listing on eBay. Proof that the printer was damaged? I've never been asked to provide proof by the Seller. He did suggest that I take pictures and have the printer available for inspection by DHL; of course, since he has not filed the damage claim DHL cannot make up their own minds about the veracity of my claim. The Seller has taken it upon himself, apparently, to protect DHL from extortion.
• I'm not quite sure why I would need to talk to my doctors. Oh, yes, he again resorts to an ad hominem argument to support his case, suggesting that I have mental problems.
• "…because they [DHL] agreed to save you money by picking up printer in a used printer box that was previously smashed in one corner…"—Okay, this is just confusing. DHL agreed to save me money? I didn't choose to have the printer sent via DHL and I certainly had no conversation with them prior to receiving the printer. The Seller shipped the printer in a box that had prior damage? Is he admitting that he improperly packaged the printer?

9/19/2005: After a brief conversation with DHL's claims department this morning, I sent another message to the Seller:

>you are simply trying to extort money from DHL…
>The few dollars your trying to extort from DHL…

Thank you for your concern that I am trying to extort money from DHL. Since that is your belief, why not let them handle it? As they have a claim process to follow, I'm sure that their investigators would turn up any extortion attempt.

In fact, you have suggested on two separate occasions that I deal with DHL directly:

- "Would you like to take the lead in tghis [sic] and open the next step dialog with DHL?" (8/19)

- "If you can expedite [getting the claim forms], please do so" (8/30)

DHL, in my latest conversation with them today, suggested I deal with them directly. To do so, as I have mentioned previously, DHL needs your authorization, on your letterhead and with your signature. It should take just a few moments of your time to fax the authorization to me and you will be done with your part of this unpleasant business. It will be on me to document to their satisfaction that the claim is a valid one.

The authorization should also list your shipper number and you can restrict my involvement by referring to waybill number 27313978952 or your DHL contact number, 08194604. The authorization may be faxed to 951-639-3797.

As expected, the Seller has no intentions of honoring his contract with me:

Dear Mr. Morris,


Thank you for confirming that you received my request to retract your defamation but you refused to do so.

Today I cancelled the DHL damage in shipment claim I can not longer support or justify. I forwarded your file to my lawyers for further actions. I hope you realize what you are getting into. Having opinions about others is one thing, publishing unsupported allegations for whatever reason is very costly business.

In light of the upcoming litigation, this will be my last communication to you.


[Seller's name removed]

9/20/2005: I filed a case with Square Trade, eBay's preferred dispute resolution provider:

Reported Problems: Damaged merchandise

Further Details: 43 days after notifying seller that item was received damaged in shipment, seller continues to refuse to file a damage claim with the shipper.

Potential Solutions: I would be willing to accept a full or partial refund. I would like the other party's help to file a shipping insurance claim if possible. Since this was damaged in shipping, a claim should be filed with the shipper (DHL). It should be up to them to settle the damage, but I would also be willing to accept a refund ($179.18) from the seller.

9/21/2005: eBay confirmed receipt of my Protection Claim. Apparently it can now take up to 30 days for them to respond.

9/24/2005: Square Trade informs me that seller has not responded to their messages.

9/26/2005:Sixty days after the eBay transaction ended, I am forced to leave negative feedback:

Received damaged in shipment. Seller refuses to file damage claim with carrier.

I really hate leaving negative feedback. Out of 84 prior transactions as a buyer on eBay, I've only issued one comment that was not positive and that comment I left as neutral. This is the first negative feedback I've left.

Of course, the Seller leaves negative feedback in retaliation for my negative feedback about him:

Claims damage, but no evidence. Arrogant to the core. Definitely not recommended

In Help Desk & Web Review issue 1280, Vann Reid wrote:

After a year of publication, and monthly improvements as I learned, I think I've gone as far as I know and would appreciate any and all comments and critiques to bring this site up to professional level without it turning into a site full of flashing ads.

Speaking of color schemes, I like the idea of changing them periodically, whether it's done monthly like yours or only on certain days (as when Google updates its logo). To make it easier to make the switch every month, you're going to want to start looking at Cascading Style Sheets, or CSS.

CSS "free[s] the design experts...to determine the site's aesthetics independently of its content." Rather than go into a long explanation of CSS I'll just point you to the book from whence I got that quote (HTML Utopia: Designing Without Tables Using CSS) and give you a brief example of how CSS would help you.
On your site, you define a table cell with a background color like this:

<td bgcolor="#9999FF">

You do that numerous times throughout the site and then must change each instance when you change your color scheme. With CSS, however, you would define a table cell like this:

<td class="head"> (You name the classes what you like)

and change one line in your style sheet:

.head {background-color: #9999FF;}

to update ALL of your pages. The same goes for any other design element on your page. (Later you'll learn how to get rid of the tables and still have a great looking layout.)

One design element you might look at is the amount of padding you give to your tables. I find that adding a little whitespace to text, instead of running it right up against a border, makes it easier to read.

This is particularly true of your sidebar. You might also consider making the sidebar stand out a little more by making it a lighter shade of the primary color. Right now it looks like a part of the newletter, but I think you need to make the newsletter separate from the rest of the site.

What "rest of the site?" Exactly! I don't see any links here to anything but the newsletter -- except for the Interview archive, which, because you use "Page 7," appears to be a part of the newsletter.

The first thing you need in your sidebar is a subscription form for Palette Peeps. While you've got a link at the bottom of each page, in my opinion you'll have a better subscribe rate if you make it more visble and more automated. By using a form your prospects won't need to wonder if they need to add anything to the email message your link generates.

Internal links (to pages on your site) in this area could include:

• About this site


• A bio: bout yourself, your experience, and your expertise


• Classifieds for your subscribers


• Auction pages


• Your forum


• Your store


• Tutorials


• Calendar of events

To start making money from your site right now, you might consider Google Adsense or Search Feed.
Depending on the traffic to your site you could make a little extra change each month.

Finally, to reach buyers of art you need to figure out who they are and then create a draw (pun intended) that gets them to your site. My friend, Don The Idea Guy, is running a promotion right now that might get you started on that road: Five-Buck Brainstorms.

Hope those ideas help!

It's gotta be tough for Coke to keep coming up with flavors that keep our attention. Sometimes they do it right, like when they bring out my current favorite, Vanilla Coke. But other times I just shake my head in disbelief, which I just did after tasting their newest release, Coke C2.

I can't blame them for trying to cash in on the low-carb "revolution." Everybody and their brother are trying to go where the money is, and right now it's in low-carb snack items.

Coke C2 lowers the per-serving calories from 100 (in Coke Classic) to 45 and the carbs from 27 grams to 12 grams. Great numbers, but how do they do it? By sweetening it with a mixture of high-fructose corn syrup, sucralose, and aspartame.

What were they thinking? Once you put aspartame in it, it tastes just like Diet Coke! So, if you like the taste of Diet Coke, why not just drink that and eliminate another 30 grams of carbs?

(I'm assuming you're like me and drink the entire twenty-ounce bottle at a time. Two-and-a-half servings down the hatch. All 250 calories and 68 grams of sugar -- 70 for Vanilla Coke.)

My Take?

I don't see Coke drinkers switching to Coke C2—it tastes much too different. And I don't see Diet Coke drinkers making the switch either—that would add sugar to their diet.

Will Pepsi swillers switch? I don't think so, for the same reasons. No, I'm afraid that Coke C2 will go down in flames just like New Coke. Sure, the current low-carb craze will drive sales for a little while, but give it a few months and we'll all settle back to drinking our usual.

More Info

I'm sick and tired of spam. It's gotten to the point that I'm receiving several hundred spam messages a day, and there seems to be no end in sight. What's a guy to do?

I could turn on Spam Assassin at my hosting provider, but I risk missing important messages due to false positives (good messages marked as spam). I could use a rules-based filter like Spamfire, but after using that for almost two years I find that it, too, suffers from false positives—unless the sender is in my Friends list (a whitelist)—as well as false negatives (spam messages marked as good), even with an extremely low threshold.

It seems to me that the best way to stop spam is to simply have a list of people that I will accept messages from and another list of people that I won't accept messages from. And wouldn't it make sense to have the sender of a message tell me what list they want to be on?

Enter SpamSlam, a challenge/response spam filter that runs on your desktop. At its most basic level it works like this:

1. SpamSlam downloads all your email.
2. It checks the senders of the messages against a whitelist and a blacklist.
3. If the sender is on your whitelist, it releases the message.
4. If the sender is on your blacklist, it blocks the message.
5. If the sender is on neither list, SpamSlam sends a challenge message, asking the sender to confirm their message by replying with a phrase found in the challenge.
6. If the sender confirms the message, their message is released and they are added to the whitelist.
7. If the sender doesn't confirm the message, their message is blocked and they are added to the blacklist.
8. Your email client gets your mail from SpamSlam's local POP server.

(The idea isn't new; Spam Arrest does this as well, except that Spam Arrest requires you to read all your mail on the web. What a pain! And it's much more expensive than SpamSlam.)

Version two of SpamSlam added some very basic rules filtering and a statistical filter, but I rely mostly upon the challenge/response system. The rules, which can be global (for all accounts) or per account, are great for whitelisting mailing lists or an entire domain.

My ISP mailbox receives mostly spam, so I turned on the statistical filter for that account. As a result, very few challenges are sent out for messages on that account and spam is blocked immediately.

Your challenge settings are configurable for each account you want to filter, including the type of challenge messages (image or ID), the format (HTML or text), the content of the messages, and the challenge phrase. The content of the challenge messages, however, is not configured within the program, but in a text editor.

Another version two feature is the addition of an SMTP proxy server. If you send a message through SpamSlam's local SMTP server, it passes the message to your usual outgoing server and adds the recipient(s) to your whitelist. This also reduces the number of challenge messages sent out.

Version one of SpamSlam was pretty buggy, but the latest version has wiped out most of those critters. I still have problems with the program occasionally refusing to download from an account until I exit and relaunch it (Windows version), and I've found some minor interface glitches. There also seems to be a problem with some valid responses generating a new challenge. My biggest complaint is that SpamSlam does not have an export feature for its address and rules lists.

Having used SpamSlam for nearly a year, I can can say that I'm very pleased. I've not received one single, solitary spam message that SpamSlam didn't catch, and I can now spend my time working or playing instead of pruning spam.

SpamSlam is available for both Windows and Mac OS X, and comes in versions that will filter two, five, ten, or an unlimited number of accounts. A thirty-day, full-featured demo is available.

What makes your product, service, or organization (PSO) remarkable? If you don't know, then you need this book.

Mr. Godin believes that when people are remarking upon your PSO, you've found the free prize—the edge, if you will—that makes your PSO stand out in a crowd of similar offerings. It's innovation, not advertising, that makes consumers sit up and take notice.

Of course, you'll need to change your thought patterns to create those ideas. Mr. Godin pokes at old ways of thinking and encourages you to reach beyond throwing money (in advertising and R&D innovation) at your PSO in order to gain an advantage. Instead, you should find free and low-cost ideas to differentiate your PSO.

It's not enough to have a good idea, though; you need to champion your idea. Can you sell your idea and make it happen? Mr. Godin shows you how.

By the way, if you prepare PowerPoint presentations, you should read this book for the "Avoid Really Bad PowerPoint" tactic. You'll sell your idea, whatever it is, much easier when you avoid these three biggest PowerPoint mistakes.

It took me a little while to get into this book, probably because I've not read Mr. Godin's other works. I also found the book's divisions (three sections, no chapters) rather long. I'm looking forward to reading it again, but I'll probably read his "Purple Cow" first.