It recently occurred to me that handgun and amateur radio enthusiasts generally tend not to fit my political or occupational profile, let alone come from my background. I'm not exactly sure what this means, but it is and has always been a bit weird.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Old hobbies die hard
It recently occurred to me that handgun and amateur radio enthusiasts generally tend not to fit my political or occupational profile, let alone come from my background. I'm not exactly sure what this means, but it is and has always been a bit weird.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Fuck You, Waves
So.
I recently had a bad experience: I lost a USB copy-protection key containing software authorizations for many of the programs I rely on for my work. Or maybe it was stolen;
This has not yet been determined. The net result was that I was in an unfortunate position -
I had to contact all of the software companies whose product authorizations were contained on the key and see about obtaining replacement authorizations (worth thousands of dollars in total) for my hurriedly-purchased replacement key. My point? It's worth noting that all of the companies were willing to provide replacements for prices ranging from free to modest. All, that is, except for one:
A company called Waves.
I had previously bought one of their packages, costing about $1200, and they of course had a record of this on file. I had reported my lost key missing to the company which makes the key and handles all the coordination of software authorizations to and from their users' keys, and notified Waves of this. However, I was informed that the best they could do on a replacement authorization (which costs them nothing, as it is not a physical product but merely a one-time electronic process) would cost me 50% of the list price of the product I'd purchased ($2000). In other words, $1000. My only recourse, I was told, would be to have already purchased Waves' own insurance policy against key loss or damage, which of course I hadn't known about. What a fucking racket.
This is unacceptable.
In the process of obtaining the replacement authorizations from the various companies, I was warned by many people that Waves would be hardasses and impossible to reason with in my situation, and this proved quite true. As it happens, they are infamous in the industry for this, and now I see why. This approach has made them universally reviled as a company, despite the fact that they make very good products. A lot of people hate them and have subsequently refused to deal with them further. In fact, I was told by my local music shop about a customer of theirs who'd bought $7000 worth of Waves software and had lost his key like I had. The company refused to do anything for him, so he'd given up in disgust and switched to a "cracked" version of the software. While I don't advocate this sort of thing in general, it's not hard to understand in this scenario- A legitimate customer, having paid full price for a completely non-physical product, being treated with absolutely no respect or courtesy whatsoever by the manufacturer.
I believe this attitude will ultimately be Waves' undoing in the long run. You can't survive long-term if your customers hate you, and they've done a lot to create ill will among their user base. The moral of this particular story, however, is insure your damn iLok and try not to lose the fucking thing.
And don't buy Waves products.
I recently had a bad experience: I lost a USB copy-protection key containing software authorizations for many of the programs I rely on for my work. Or maybe it was stolen;
This has not yet been determined. The net result was that I was in an unfortunate position -
I had to contact all of the software companies whose product authorizations were contained on the key and see about obtaining replacement authorizations (worth thousands of dollars in total) for my hurriedly-purchased replacement key. My point? It's worth noting that all of the companies were willing to provide replacements for prices ranging from free to modest. All, that is, except for one:
A company called Waves.
I had previously bought one of their packages, costing about $1200, and they of course had a record of this on file. I had reported my lost key missing to the company which makes the key and handles all the coordination of software authorizations to and from their users' keys, and notified Waves of this. However, I was informed that the best they could do on a replacement authorization (which costs them nothing, as it is not a physical product but merely a one-time electronic process) would cost me 50% of the list price of the product I'd purchased ($2000). In other words, $1000. My only recourse, I was told, would be to have already purchased Waves' own insurance policy against key loss or damage, which of course I hadn't known about. What a fucking racket.
This is unacceptable.
In the process of obtaining the replacement authorizations from the various companies, I was warned by many people that Waves would be hardasses and impossible to reason with in my situation, and this proved quite true. As it happens, they are infamous in the industry for this, and now I see why. This approach has made them universally reviled as a company, despite the fact that they make very good products. A lot of people hate them and have subsequently refused to deal with them further. In fact, I was told by my local music shop about a customer of theirs who'd bought $7000 worth of Waves software and had lost his key like I had. The company refused to do anything for him, so he'd given up in disgust and switched to a "cracked" version of the software. While I don't advocate this sort of thing in general, it's not hard to understand in this scenario- A legitimate customer, having paid full price for a completely non-physical product, being treated with absolutely no respect or courtesy whatsoever by the manufacturer.
I believe this attitude will ultimately be Waves' undoing in the long run. You can't survive long-term if your customers hate you, and they've done a lot to create ill will among their user base. The moral of this particular story, however, is insure your damn iLok and try not to lose the fucking thing.
And don't buy Waves products.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Not even a little recession-friendly
These guys are not fucking around. They're going for the jugular-
making THE BEST chocolate ice cream ever made. It's worth noting that they've lost distribution at most supermarkets around town
due to not moving enough units, even the high-end joints, probably
because people have a) never heard of it and b) get instant sticker shock. In fact, the only place you can get it here now is Bristol Farms, which is strictly for the "money no object" set. It's $7 a pint and the most complex, near-hallucinatory chocolate ice cream experience it's possible to have without the addition of actual hallucinogens.
I know the picture shows vanilla, but trust me, it's all about their chocolate varieties. Given the current economic climate, they're probably not long for this world, so track some down before it's too late.
Lately
This is a good record.
It took a lot of work.
Worth it though- Go get it.
This is a good television show.
Been contributing a few overdubs on various instruments for the composer, Anton Sanko, a longtime friend. I think his scoring on this show is fantastic and has real musical substance, unlike much of what one hears on TV.
It took a lot of work.
Worth it though- Go get it.
This is a good television show.
Been contributing a few overdubs on various instruments for the composer, Anton Sanko, a longtime friend. I think his scoring on this show is fantastic and has real musical substance, unlike much of what one hears on TV.
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