Blog

Well I decided with the upcomming release of the EYNTO Show that it was time to update this site as well. I do plan on getting the show Slashdotted, as others have done, as an ultra-cheap technique to get some extra audience, so I figured I better make this place look better too. :p That and of course rid myself of the many bugs that plagued the previous blogging PHP tool that I was using.

Anywho, hope you enjoy the new look!

A few updates today:

RESUME: Updated my CV.

EYNTO: Went out today to film the rest of the away-from-home footage for the show. However, as it was extremely cold at at least -20C, opted to film the rest another day. Tomorrow is the first Friday of the month, which means a 2600 Hacker Meeting (or script-kiddie… we’ll see how the crowd is). I’ll go and see if I can get a few people to tip our viewers on general safety practices.

Some leading music labels are in talks with online retailers to raise wholesale prices for digital music downloads, in an attempt to capitalize on burgeoning demand for legal online music.

The moves, which suggest that the labels want a bigger slice in the fledgling market’s spoils, has angered Steve Jobs, the Apple Computer chief executive who is behind the popular iTunes online music store.

But music executives expressed caution about their ability to push through unilateral price increases. Among the biggest groups, Universal Music and Sony BMG are known to be particularly reluctant to disrupt the market for downloads. One top label said it would not raise wholesale prices now because the market was not yet mature enough for a price increase.

Because raising the cost to $30CDN for low-quality restricted music files that only play on select computers will motivate people. Riiight. The labels that make up the RIAA should really get it into their heads that paying $30 for a CD is bloody expensive as is, and that paying $30 for what essentially broils down to something much worse than a CD will not make people wish to purchase it. Rather, they’ll opt for an alternative. Any alternative: be it piracy or otherwise.

I swear: the music industry could be better managed by brain-dead monkeys.

Full Article.

*UPDATE* *UPDATE* *UPDATE* *UPDATE*

The East Carolinian newspaper has an article on the RIAA’s fight for justice in its war against piracy. I replied the following to the article:

Well, I do believe that the piracy situation is only as a consequence of the RIAA’s own actions.

People don’t want to spend $20 on a CD that they may or may not enjoy. But how are they to taste test this music? The radio? Most radio networks play over the same 5 songs repeatedly over a 24 hour period. Television (ie. MTV)? They only stick to mainstream. That’s fine if I enjoy Brittany Spears, less so if I wish to hear a newcomer Jazz artist. So how am I to try the music? Via friends and their personal collections? They may have some CDs of interest, but I like different music than they do. And I am not going to spend a day’s pay on a shiny new disc that could potentially be crap.

So what do I do? I download it. I listen to it. If I like it, I buy it. That’s how I’ve come to buy all the CDs and concert DVDs currently in my possession.

But beyond that, the RIAA is continually shooting themselves in the foot. The Internet. Its a new business platform. And what do they do? They charge incredibly high royalties on legal P2P alternatives! This is for music files that are low-quality, DRMed (ie. plays only on certain computers under the right conditions… will not work in a few years), and a pain to deal with. And yet the labels the RIAA represents want to hike the price? Oy vey! Charging $18 for a downloaded album, which costs $0 to replicate and distribute, and that is limited in both quality and flexibility of use. Talk about a good dynamic.

I have little respect for the RIAA, as you can see. Don’t get me wrong: I love the artists. But I hate being ripped off. If I want to steal music, I’ll rob a bank first and then go buy the CDs at the store… After all, the RIAA lobbyed itself so well within the justice system that the penalties for me robbing a bank are less worse than me downloading one music file.

Way to go RIAA!

Julien McArdle

Well, I’ve done three transactions on eBay, two of which left very poor tastes in my mouth. The first of these two was a PDA keyboard I had ordered; it came in DoA (Dead on Arrival). Though three of the keys on the wireless keyboard worked, none of the others did. Replacing the battery was to no avail. I finally confirmed that the unit was disfunctional with an infrared sensor which registered that the broken keys did not send any signal out at all. Fortunately, I was able to get an identical [functioning] replacement through alternate sources.

The second case has to do with someone I was pretty sure was attempting to defraud me. The setup: I just sold my old PDA to this individual over eBay. Here are the strings of emails and events:

February 2nd
The Clie PEG-T415 PDA goes for sale on eBay.

February 7th
The PDA is sold to someone who I shall only refer to as Herschel P.
I set up the transaction via Paypal, and he pays up. I then send him the following email:

From: Julien
To: Herschel P.

Hey mate,

Thanks for purchasing the Sony Clie, and for the rapid payment.
I’ll be shipping it to you first thing tomorrow morning, and will email
you the tracking # and more details.
Thank you so very much again, feel free to email me if you have any
questions.

-Julien

February 8th
I go to the post office and ship the item. I then follow up with this email.

From: Julien
To: Herschel P.

Hey mate,

I sent the package this morning. The post office informed me it should take 9 days.
To track it, go to the following website:
https://obc.canadapost.ca/emo/basicPin.do?language=en
If that link doesn’t work, go to www.canadapost.ca, choose “English”, and then click “Track a Package”.

Once on that page, enter “CX [removed] CA” as the Item Number (the first field of the three that are there), and click the submit button. It may take a day for the Item to be registered by the system. If the number still does not work, try removing the CX and/or the CA (ie. Item Number: [removed]).

Thanks again,
-Julien

I also leave him the following feedback:

+ Fast Payment. Smooth Transaction. A+ Seller [removed] ( 2 ) 08-Feb-05 11:39

February 15th
The post office registers him receiving the package according to the tracking site:

February 17th
He gives me positive feedback on eBay for the item he received.

+ Item as described great ebayer Buyer [removed] ( 54Feedback score is 50 to 99) 17-Feb-05 06:34

Well when someone says “Item as Described” it pretty much solidifies the fact that he received it. That and the fact that the package was confirmed as delivered to his address as per his eBay identity by the postal office.

February 24th
I get an email via eBay which goes as follows. Unfortunately I cannot seem to find the original text itself, eBay doesn’t seem to store mail sent/received via its internal messaging system. Therefore the following is an approximation of what he said:

From: Herschel P.
To: Julien

I can’t seem to get the backlight to work [on the PDA]. Can you tell me how to get it to work?

Okay, so he had gotten the unit, but he couldn’t figure out the backlight. I can’t blame him: it took me three months to figure out the PDA even had a backlight. So I sent him back another email, again through the same wonky eBay messaging system, informing him that you have to press down the power button for 5 seconds while the unit is in operation to turn on the backlight. I also told him that he could turn it on via reconfiguring the buttons in the PalmOS Preference menu.

Then, it all gets weird.

February 26th

From: Herschel P.
To: Julien

I have not received the tracking number or the item. Please let me know if you
sent it out.
Thanks
Herschel

What? He hadn’t received the tracking number, nor the item? Being defrauded once on eBay and sensing another such con coming on, I decided to tread carefully. I suspect that had I lost the tracking number, he would of tried to convince me that he had never received the unit, and therefore force me to refund him the money. For eBay/Paypal it would be another case of someone selling an item, but not delivering on it once the seller received the payments. The “backlight” message proving that he had indeed received the PDA could not be retrieved, thanks to eBay’s horrid messaging system. The only proof of my innocence left would be the feedback he had left on me stating that the item was “as described.” But feedbacks can always be removed as well.

I decided to refresh his memory:

From: Julien
To: Herschel P.

Below is a copy of the message I had sent with respect to the package number.
-Julien

PS. With regards to the backlight (as per your last email), did you figure it out?
———————————————————————————-
[Contents of original email containing tracking number…]

With the records from the post office that he received the item, there was nothing for him to do. Nothing to do, that is, but retract his statements.

February 27th

From: Herschel P.
To: Julien

I got the item, thanks great transaction and item.

Thanks

Herschel

In truth, it could be that he just got me confused with someone else with which he was dealing with. But to be honest, being already conned once, and given the likelihood of him mistaking an email adress that begins with “j”, I suspect it was an attempt at fraud. With 2 of my 3 transactions being as such, I now have a much different take on eBay. My advice: track all your shipments to eBay-ers. Even if the tracking is worth more than the cost of the item.