Comments for Digital Bits Technology Column QnA

Comment on Analog and digital time sync problems with Casio G-Shock 3335 by shabnam

shabnam — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 16:53:41 +0000

i have gshock watch which is 10hrs late how to set the time

Comment on Recorded Audacity tracks are off sync by angeli_kpop

angeli_kpop — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 19:45:40 +0000

Yay! Thanks for posting this up! Mine was off sync bcuz the sample rates weren’t the same!~ ^^!

Comment on Analog and digital time sync problems with Casio G-Shock 3335 by Roland White

Roland White — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 18:57:56 +0000

I have a digital G-Shock. the face (screen) recently went blank. Has been blank for almost 24 hours. What is the problemand how do I correct it?

Comment on Annie Leonard’s “The Story of Stuff” review and analysis by John

John — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 19:03:47 +0000

“…our stuff simply moves along these stages: extraction to production to distribution to consumption to disposal. All together, it’s called the materials economy.

Well, I looked into it a little bit more. In fact, I spent 10 years
traveling the world tracking where our stuff comes from and
where it goes.1 And you know what I found out? That is not the
whole story. There’s a lot missing from this explanation.

For one thing, this system looks like it’s fine. No problem. But
the truth is it’s a system in crisis. And the reason it is in crisis is
that it is a linear system and we live on a finite planet and you
can not run a linear system on a finite planet indefinitely.2″

Do we live on a finite planet? What about sunlight and …(?)?

Do we live in a finite universe?

Comment on Scam alert: Problems with DVDAvenue.tv by Robert M

Robert M — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 05:57:34 +0000

I was interested to read the above comments as I have most probably been scammed having naively purchased from dvdstore. If anything turns up it will be unlikely to play by the sounds of it. At least I have taken people’s advice as noted above and may get some redress from my bank.

What is REALLY annoying is that I thought they were legit because the links I followed were from the websites of the SF chronicle and Time magazine which did lull me in to false impression.

Comment on Scam alert: Problems with dvddonkey.com by Paula

Paula — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 23:07:19 +0000

During a search on EBay for Everwood DVD, I noticed under Sponsored Links that they had several of these scam websites advertising boxsets.

I have alerted EBay to the scams these websites are running and just got the standard “we’ll look into it reply”

So maybe if a few more of us complained to EBay they will do something about it.

Comment on How to make a karaoke song and remove song vocals by Edwina

Edwina — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 02:17:19 +0000

Finding your web site gives me hope in creating music for my church choir. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

Comment on Will plugging in a stereo to a computer’s MIC jack damage the microphone? by Karen

Karen — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 20:36:35 +0000

I have a similar question. I tried plugging in my digital tv receiver’s audio outputs through a mini stereo plug into my laptop’s microphone jack. I wanted to be able to hear the audio only through my computer. I had the coaxial cable hooked at the same time to my tv to be sure I was on a channel that was coming in through my attenna. Is it even possible to do this? Do I have to have special software to play the sound on? I thought it might just play from the computer’s speaker. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Also I already checked all the different volume levels. Thanks.

Comment on ThinkVantage System Update install problem: The wizard was interrupted before System Update could be completely installed. by Stephane

Stephane — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 19:17:24 +0000

Thanks a lot ! Google brought me here, and that was exactly what I needed to get the drivers for my newly installed T30

Stephane

Comment on Scam alert: Problems with dvddonkey.com by Nick

Nick — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 09:18:24 +0000

Can anyone comment about this website: http://www.the-dvdshop.com ??

It looks like just one of these other scam websites (with the difference that the site seems very bugy and not as sleak in his design… it won’t even let you order as it shows “under contruction”).

The reason I am asking is the site mentions these scam web sites such as dvddonkey, etc.. and makes a point to say it it not linked to them at all… I thought this was believable yesterday, but after reading all of your comments now, these crooks seem so shameless that I wouldn’t be surprised if they made up this site themselves (now that they have nothing to lose) to lure unhappy customers from DVDdonkey and so on..

Hopefully i am wrong, but would appreciate any comments from anyone who may have used them in the past …

———-
Read below the comments the-DVDshop makes about the “Canadian Scam:

“This page is assist anyone who has been ripped off by one of the web sites that the Crooks in Canada had running for several years.

These web sites include but are not limited to the list below.

DVDAvenue.tv, Ultimatedvdshop.com, DVDDonkey.com,
DVDCraze.tv, TVAddicts.tv Allmyfavoriteshows.com,
DVDdiesel.com, TVMilk.tv, and more.

If you have order from one of these sites and have not received your order, or if your order was damaged, or incomplete, then this page is for you.

First let me say if you are still waiting for an order from one of these sites, I can tell you will not ever get your order. The crooks that operated out of Canada and several of these web sites have finally at long last been busted, and all their DVD’s and burning equipment have been seized by Police.

These crooks have been ripping people off all over the world for several years. I myself was also ripped off by these people. But I got all my money back from them, and in a quick time frame also.

I highly suggest to everyone ripped off by these people follow these simple tips to get your money back too.

First contact your credit card provider and dispute the transaction. If your card provider requests any type of documents to support your claim, simply go to http://www.ripoffreport.com or http://www.complaintsboard.com and copy one of the thousands of complaints filed there. Chances are your card provider has already had many other card holders file a claim against these people and filing your dispute will be a snap.

Make sure to cancel your card number also. In the past these people have been using card numbers from people disputing their charges for all kinds of stuff. That has hopefully stopped since their recent bust. But better to safe in this case. If the crooks are still able to log on to the internet from any computer they could still get access to your card numbers and since they have lost everything they might try anything to get a couple of bucks.

If you are unsure if you ordered from one of their many web sites, review your card statement they usually listed their merchant name as DVDSHOP. Please make notice yes that name is very close to our own name and we have been getting complaints from many of their victims who have thought we were the people ripping them off. But believe me, this web site is not now, and has never been connected in any way to these crooks. Because they list their merchant name this way and it is so close to the name of our web site, we have been working very hard to get them shut down.

This web site you are visiting right now is not connected to anyone at all. This is THE-DVDSHOP.com and is and always has been operated by 1st Texas Sales and we have always been located in Texas. Any transaction with us would appear as 1st Texas Sales listed as the merchant.

Even though we offer many of the same items as those people did, and the product pages may appear to be very similar, that is only due to bad luck. Our product pages were created using the item descriptions mainly found on the web site TV.com. I am only guessing that those people did the same when making their web sites. We did get some reports last year that those people were copying pages from our site as well.

We are very proud to report that this web site has NEVER had a single consumer complaint filed at any of the complaint web sites. Unlike the other guys, our customers are very important to us. We have continued to grow over the years from steady repeat customers. We do not advertise and only rely on people being satisfied when shopping with us.

Once you have been able to successfully get all your money back from these rip off people, we invite you to return to our web site for that special rare DVD set of your favorite TV Show. You will not ever regret shopping this web site.

Anyone having any questions about one of the Canadian operated web sites, please feel free to send us your questions. We will happy to assist you in any way we can. Simply click on our Contact Us button to send your questions to us. We will answer your questions as quickly as possible.”

Comment on Annie Leonard’s “The Story of Stuff” review and analysis by David

David — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 13:52:33 +0000

Most people look at things like this little story and never check out if the data is correct or not. My first objection is with the socialistic opinion that the government is there “to take care of us”! I could take apart 3/4 of the “story” but it would take up too much space. Example: We do not dump all our garbage in poor little helpless countries. It’s the Liberal view that we do…we, the U.S. is always thought of as the bad guy. Fact: Since 1997, the U.S. IMPORTED 48 million tons MORE waste than we exported. European nations, Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico are some of these that export waste to the U.S. etc. etc. I must give credit to Congressman Paul E. Gillmor R-Ohio who has offered legislation to stop foreign waste imports. I enjoyed reading the answers posted here…all very good and fair crits and thinking. Yes, certainly we have to take care of the planet! However, one issue Annie did not address is that all problems come from over population. Until we address this, the world will always have major problems.

Comment on Annie Leonard’s “The Story of Stuff” review and analysis by Courtney

Courtney — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 18:19:48 +0000

This movie really made me mad. I agree entirely with the idea, but so many of her claims are way off based. There’s a hypocrisy in telling people to think for themselves by doing exactly what I tell you. If you’re going to “enlighten” people, you’d better check your facts first. It doesn’t matter how right you are about the need to change our ways, but don’t take advantage of the country’s laziness to feed them information just as inaccurate as the government you’re so quick to bash.

As an environmentalist, I feel like we’ve taken two steps back with this video. It’s extremist, and simply distances us away from the true middle-of-the-road thinkers who are actually going to check the facts. When they don’t check out, we’re going to look like the crazy extremists who can’t be trusted.

The truth is enough to push people into action. Hyperbole just turns people off.

Comment on Audacity recording records background noise, but does not record line input from cassette by Andy Kaiser

Andy Kaiser — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 15:44:43 +0000

>How do you tell a CD disk from a DVD disk?

Look at the disk itself - it’s often labeled or embossed with “CD” or “DVD”.

>What do I purchase for cassette to CD burning?

Here’s the article that describes the process:

http://www.andybrain.com/archive/convert-cassette-to-cd-digital.htm

Comment on Audacity recording records background noise, but does not record line input from cassette by David Kinsella

David Kinsella — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 15:09:42 +0000

Audacity.. I’m new to this form of copying.
How do you tell a CD disk from a DVD disk?
Or.. What do I purchase for cassette to CD burning?
Thank you.

Comment on Sony camcorder won’t finalize by Louis Grenzer

Louis Grenzer — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 07:41:55 +0000

Order the program CD roller which I saw when I searched this topic. I have the same problem with 3 disks, on a Sony. All the rest work OK. It’s not the camera, just a problem with some of the disks. Maybe if you just use Sony disks there would not be a problem.

Comment on Scam alert: Problems with DVDAvenue.tv by Steven T

Steven T — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 14:28:40 +0000

To ALL

I have made a number of posts regarding these Crooks.

YOU CAN BEAT THESE CROOKS AND SCAM ARTISTS IF YOU TRY.

IT IS A LONG PROCESS BUT YOU WILL SUCCED IN THE END.

IT HAS TAKEN ME 4 MONTHS BUT I HAVE GOT MY MONEY BACK.

The best advice I can give everyone is.

1. Contact your Bank immediately and tell them you have been scammed,
It’s embarrassing but you can’t let these bastards beat you.
All banks have a fraud resolution process.
This process takes 3 to 4 Months so Start straight away.

2. Send whichever incarnation of this company you are dealing with one or two e-mails back to them (although it won’t do you any good).
This will give you a reply audit trail if necessary.

DON’T WASTE ANY MORE TIME THAN THIS AS IT WILL ONLY LEAD TO FRUSTRATION.

3. Most bank processes require you to mail the DVD back to the retailer, these crooks won’t return your e-mails or send you the return address details, but you can now go back to your bank and say that they won’t provide this information.

4. Be determined – It will take time but we all have to FIGHT THESE CROOKS.
The Bank will credit your money back to your Visa card, and then they will debit it back to the retailer,
Then they will eventually credit the money back to you if the retailer doesn’t dispute your complaint.
It is not likely that these crooks will dispute you, and their Bank must get a couple of these disputes a week.

In the end I got back the cost of the DVD’s and the cost of the postage to Australia.
So they were out of pocket for ripping me off.

Comment on Scam alert: Problems with DVDAvenue.tv by Steven T

Steven T — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 14:26:29 +0000

To ALL

I have made a number of posts regarding these Crooks.

YOU CAN BEAT THESE CROOKS AND SCAM ARTISTS IF YOU TRY

IT IS A LONG PROCESS BUT YOU WILL SUCCED IN THE END

IT HAS TAKEN ME 4 MONTHS BUT I HAVE GOT MY MONEY BACK

The best advice I can give everyone is.

2. Send whichever incarnation of this company you are dealing with one or two e-mails back to them (although it won’t do you any good).
This will give you a reply audit trail if necessary.

DON’T WASTE ANY MORE TIME THAN THIS AS IT WILL ONLY LEAD TO FRUSTRATION.

In the end I got back the cost of the DVD’s and the cost of the postage to Australia. So they were out of pocket for ripping me off.

Comment on NetInChina domain name registrar spam by fido

fido — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 15:27:58 +0000

Same here.. thanks for the heads up.

Comment on ThinkVantage System Update install problem: The wizard was interrupted before System Update could be completely installed. by Bratan

Bratan — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 01:08:09 +0000

Thank you very much. I also had this same issue and google brought me here to find solution

Comment on Recorded Audacity tracks are off sync by Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 12:49:51 +0000

try changing your sample rate to 48000 hz. worked for me.

Comment on Scam alert: Problems with DVDAvenue.tv by Evangeli

Evangeli — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 00:11:19 +0000

Dear all who have been scamed,

I was ready to pay after selecting over $1600 worth of box set dvd’s. It was an expensive move for me but I thought I’ll stinge on almost everything for a couple of months and make up for it. And then there site gave me sort of a warning that my ip has been recorded to there records and I thought that was pretty suspicious because it registered unfriendly to me, so I googled the word scam and there company name and all of your comments came up. I cant tell you how grateful I am! If I had paid all that money and it turned out I was taken for a schmuck I might have had a stroke. These people who are behind this are responsible for so much frustration and misery it angers me to bits that they haven’t been caught yet.

Comment on Scam alert: Problems with dvddonkey.com by Alex K

Alex K — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 18:50:18 +0000

I recently ordered about 500 dollars of DVD’s from TVADDICT.com, seeing judging amy, providence, boston public etc got me into a buying frenzy, and since I was able to obtain ally mcbeal for region 1(via amazon), I figure why not…Fortunately after having 25 dollars of minor fraud charges a few days later, I was able to cancel my card prior to the 500 being charged due to “backordered product”…Thank goodness for this website, saved me from losing a lot of money, sadly however, I wish they would just release these shows on DVD…obviously there is a market if we are all willing to try an unknown.

Comment on Cassette to Audacity recording problem with heavy static by Didier

Didier — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 18:20:52 +0000

Colin and Jed,

Try restarting your computer with your slave drive as your 1st boot device. Install only the necessary software on your slave drive.

Comment on Scam alert: Problems with dvddonkey.com by Paula

Paula — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 11:29:14 +0000

Yet another victim here - I purchased the Everwood series from tvdvdworld.tv and did receive the boxset but it turned out to be the tv shows taped directly off the TV and dumped onto DVD. Some of the discs have the wrong episodes on them, others are scratched and the picture quality is very poor.

I tried to email them to ask for a refund and when I received a bounce-back, I felt my heart sink to my toes and knew I had been scammed. I’m pretty sure they are the same mob that are hiding behind all those other websites listed above, they have a very similar website to dvdavenue.tv.

I also received an email from boxsetblowout a few months ago (whose website now seems to have disappeared) giving me a promo code for $5 off etc etc. So glad I didn’t buy anything from them as well.

So annoyed with myself for not checking them out before spending money. I’m looking into making a complaint but being over here in Australia, I’m not sure how effective it will be

Comment on Scam alert: Problems with DVDAvenue.tv by Mike

Mike — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 12:36:03 +0000

I wished I’d found this site also. I ordered Chip’s T.V. show from dvddonkey. They sent a e-mail the next day with a fake tracking number from the Canada Post. I cant contact them through email or phone.

Comment on Scam alert: Problems with DVDAvenue.tv by Cathy

Cathy — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 00:17:11 +0000

Please add TVDVDStore.net to the list of scammers. They appear to operate out of Canada, but the merchandise is sent from China. My story is similar to many already posted above. The DVDs I received were pirated copies and did not play on any system. I went to my credit card company after having no success trying to communicate with ‘Mike’ from TVDVDStore. I had to return the product (to China - the Post Office was able to decode the address!) and my bank placed a charge back to the company and refunded my money. Only then did I receive an immediate e-mail from ‘Mike’ saying he had already refunded my money in full, and asking why I had involved my bank. The only reason for his communication was because he found he was unable to re-charge me as I had also cancelled my credit card! Got him! It appears from this long list of complaints that almost all of the online websites selling old TV DVDs are scams. Buyers beware!!

Comment on Scam alert: Problems with DVDAvenue.tv by Andrew VanBelkum

Andrew VanBelkum — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 21:44:48 +0000

I purchased the Dharma & Greg series for DVDAvenue about a year and a half ago and was in contract with them until January of this year trying to get them to send replacement DVD’s for the defective ones, at which point they told me they were shipped. Yeah, right! Ever since then I get no reply from them. Is there anything that can be done about this? Also, does anyone know anything about “Unforgettable Tv Shows”? Thank you and GOD bless!

Comment on Annie Leonard’s “The Story of Stuff” review and analysis by Sean Bennett

Sean Bennett — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 01:47:20 +0000

Well done. As with all things in life there is truth and fiction in all. What is more important is to understand the bias in which the data is presented. For me, Ms. Leonard proved her bias in the first few minutes when she stated that “it is the job of government to take care of us”. No…it is not. But unfortunately much of our society believes this to be the case.

With that said I am one capitalist who believes we should do all we can to limit waste and improve sustainability.

Comment on Annie Leonard’s “The Story of Stuff” review and analysis by Don Berg

Don Berg — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 17:29:52 +0000

I agree that this is not a math problem, it is a moral problem. Consider that morality is ultimately about how we create well-being. The moral path is the path that leads to well-being. The assumptions we make about how to best ensure our well-being are the assumptions that will drive our actions in the world. There is an active assumption in many people’s minds that the unrestrained pursuit of self-interest by powerful people and the organizations they lead (meaning corporations and governments) will magically produce well-being for everyone. This is not merely a passing thought in their head, not just a position they chose to take, it is a deeply felt unconscious conviction based on hundreds (maybe thousands) of years of cultural history.

The foundations of this moral view are based on experiences of family life, as is the alternative moral view. In one case the proper organization of society is based on strict obedience to the person who is assumed to know best due to their having earned their position of authority, while the other is based on the mutual obligations of care for each other. There are a number of authors who have discussed variations on this theme. George Lakoff, Riane Eisler, David Korten, Sharif Abdullah, Jonathan Haidt, to name a few.

We are in a situation in which the strict version happens to be in power in many aspects of society. Hopefully, a more nurturant point of view is on the ascent.

On a side note: take a look at this 20 minute presentation that calls into question the division of the world into categories of First and Third: Hans Rosling’s 1st TED Presentation

Comment on Annie Leonard’s “The Story of Stuff” review and analysis by refute 2

refute 2 — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 21:37:19 +0000

If radio production is SO efficient that you use NO workers, and pay NO employees in the line, just some energy, material, and water costs - your radio will be CHEAP, CHEAP, CHEAP… but simple water (or fill in any number of things essential to life and the sustinence of it long term) becomes expensive to the extreme, and your “efficient” radio has been a local opitmum of no systemic importance. You might have heard the story of the guys at Bell Labs in the 80’s (I think that’s when the story was) - trying to optimize the Unix Kernel, so one has to be careful what one is measuring… Annie is saying “I think we’re not seeing forest from the trees here, folks” — and that’s a good thing.

ARGUMENT:

A. Slave labor is abundant in the world.
B. Labor rights are non-existent in third worlds. It is so corrupt and so dangerous that most people are making an average of 10 cents a day based on a purchasing power of the labor with the American dollar. We extract resources by lobbying with corporations to their political system to have almost complete autonomy over third world economies without regard to civil liberties, property rights, and labor laws. Why? Oppressed societies striving to find rice. (Haiti, Somalia, India, etc) FOOD RIOTS. These are some of the companies staff.
C. The currency power in other countries that are Third World. Go to Thailand and see how much you can get. Its currently 30-1. Thailand, Indonesia, Burma, Laos, Brazil, etc have an extremely inequal economy and resorts to sex trade, human trafficking, drug cartels, slavery. They also have millions of people living in Shantytowns and Favelas. What do American Companies do? Support it. They find that all this corruption is in their interests because it makes things so cheap to produce for Americans to consume. We contribute and assist the most corrupt countries in the world to profit off their terrible living conditions for cheaper labor. Indonesia’s working people are SELLING their CHILDREN to the orphanages to pay the bills. This is not a MATH problem, folks.

Americans and the capitalism is a very efficient vaccuum cleaner that creates a black hole. GROWTH = More use of RESOURCES which we do not have enough. This level of coercion with third world nations and consumption is a threat to international security and all life on earth.

Comment on Annie Leonard’s “The Story of Stuff” review and analysis by refute

refute — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 21:21:26 +0000

“I am not sure if anyone has mentioned this already, but to answer your question in the review about US using 30% of the resource and produces world’s 27% GDP–GDP (Gross Domestic Product)is the total market value of final goods and service produced in a given country–though the term emphases on “prodution”, it’s measured by the yearly “consumption” + “gross investment”+ “government spending” + “export”- “import”, in which “consumtion” definitely plays the biggest part. IN other words, products produced in a given year, but not purchased within that year, does NOT count into the year’s GDP.

It’s true that 27% GDP shows that people in the US have strong market power, yet at the same time, it also illustrates the problem of over-consumption, whereas it really supports very little about the efficiency argument.”

ARGUMENT BELOW:

GOODS AND SERVICES = Hotels, teachers, government officials, retailers, labor, and physical products exported from companies, businesses that also allocate resources from both FOREIGN and DOMESTIC areas of earth to PRODUCE products in the USA.

The argument wasn’t about how much we LABOR and PRODUCTS we OUTPUT… the argument was about how much EARTH can provide in RAW MATERIALS based on how much and how fast Americans CONSUME. There is no “Balancing” act going on here.

Comment on Stereo Audacity recording keeps appearing as mono by KHEHLA

KHEHLA — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:04:22 +0000

please can you explain to me in details (step by step) as to how to split tracks after finishing recording or during the recording from audio tape/cassette.

Comment on ThinkVantage System Update install problem: The wizard was interrupted before System Update could be completely installed. by Jerry

Jerry — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 20:52:43 +0000

Thank you for documenting this. You were the first hit that came up in my Google search. I thought that would have been installed since I’d already put in XP Service Pack 3, but alas, no.

Comment on Review of Cinematic Titanic and “The Oozing Skull” by John

John — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 01:23:52 +0000

I love MST3K but was disappointed with the Oozing Skull.

Comment on Cassette to Audacity recording problem with heavy static by Colin Middleton

Colin Middleton — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 09:41:25 +0000

Jed,
I have just seen you comments from last January. I am experiencing exactly the same problems using a Lenco turntable with a USB connection to my computer. It records perfectly for a variable amount of time and then the “huge wash of static”arrives and completely blocks out everything else. Solution, starting and stopping, is also just as you describe. I have looked around many settings, cables etc but cannot see any obvious causes for this.
Did you ever find out what the cause, and hopefully solution, for the problem is?

Regards Colin Middleton

Comment on Scam alert: Problems with DVDAvenue.tv by Lee

Lee — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 21:46:16 +0000

Everyone:

Call your credit card company fraud department and dispute the charges. That is what I finally did, and it worked. The person at the credit card company told me I had just made it under the wire. In the US, you apparently have 120 days to dispute credit card charges. She said one of the tactics of these fraudulent companies is to keep delaying so that the 120 days will run. For example, with me they kept sending emails saying first to allow 6-8 weeks for delivery, and then that the order was on back order and would take another few weeks, and then that that supplier was out but please be patient while they looked for a new supplier. The emails were so friendly and semi-plausible that it took me a while to realize that I was being scammed.

Comment on Converting 4 track to MP3 with Audacity by angela

angela — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 17:14:13 +0000

I am kind of new at this. when you say the 4 track i …well am lost, what exactly is this
thank you!

Comment on Scam alert: Problems with DVDAvenue.tv by Nancy Hass

Nancy Hass — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 18:11:12 +0000

Actually, Warlock Videos came up off of the Amazon Website, I guess that’s what amazed me so much, and I didn’t really think much about it until I got the series I ordered. “Vengeance Unlimited.” I had many of the same problems: poor quality, taken off TV, some of the commercials uncut, one DVD wouldn’t even work at all. The other copies were flaky, static on them. What a joke — after I received them, I went back to the website and they indicated they “believed the shows to be in the public domain.”

Comment on How to add a file to the iTunes library by Jeff Burke

Jeff Burke — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 13:34:07 +0000

I converted some cassette tapes to wav files, put them in my iTunes library and even burned a CD from one to be sure all was OK. Then I copied them to my iPod. When I went to play them this morning, nothing appeared in the iPod. FYI, I copied the entire tape, using an auto-reverse player, as one track, if that makes any difference. I followed all the usual steps to add something to my iPod nd it all went without a hitch. Is the format wrong for iPod, maybe? My computer is a PowerMac G5 running the latest OS. I used only Audacity in converting the audiotape. Thanks for any help.

Comment on Cassette to Audacity recording problem with heavy static by casper

casper — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 11:58:18 +0000

oops, a typo - Try recording with power adapter disconnected - mac’s power adaptor is a source of this static.

Comment on Cassette to Audacity recording problem with heavy static by casper

casper — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 11:57:32 +0000

Try removing recording when your mac is running on a battery with power adapter disconnected.

Comment on CD ejects without burning by Andy Kaiser

Andy Kaiser — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 01:26:02 +0000

Hi Sonia,

Assuming you’ve tried this with multiple CDs, it sounds like your CD player is faulty. It’s probably due for a replacement. Take it in to the dealer - if it’s under warranty, you should be able to get a free replacement.

Comment on CD ejects without burning by sonia n

sonia n — Sat, 31 May 2008 14:52:26 +0000

the cd player in my mazda mpv van which is factory, will not play cd’s. The radio works fine but the cd player ejects the disc without even playing. As soon as I put the cd in, it is ejected

Comment on Scam alert: Problems with dvddonkey.com by Miss Z

Miss Z — Thu, 29 May 2008 19:31:33 +0000

Hello again Andy: Your site is excellent. I was just checking in to leave an update. I received an email directing me to http://www.boxsetblowout.com They were nice enough to offer me a promo code for $5 off my order at the checkout page. Again they claim to have even more dvd boxsets available. And they tell me that they even have “unreleased dvds” including the hottest tv shows. Wow! These guys just keep the scam alive! Not only did they scam me the 1st time and steal my identity, but now they’re trolling for repeat business. That’s sheer marketing genius. Stay far away from this “new and improved” website. As stated in my previous post - monitor your financials and credit reports. Thanks to all!

Comment on Scam alert: Problems with DVDAvenue.tv by Ro

Ro — Tue, 27 May 2008 19:49:04 +0000

I got scammed but thank goodness found this website so did a chargeback with my credit card company, closed the credit card acct, called the company and cancelled the order, closed the e-mail acct we ordered from!

When I called about my order they gave me a fake Canadian Post tracking.

Today the DVD’s arrived~ they are fake!

Will see what happens~ also filed a report with the Canadian authorities~

Contact kimdoug9514@verizon.net for the report to e-mail~~

Comment on Annie Leonard’s “The Story of Stuff” review and analysis by yarko

yarko — Wed, 21 May 2008 01:11:39 +0000

I would echo and add to Jasmines observation about your GDP analysis - it’s a circular argument, saying (if you step back) that “sure we use 1/3 of the resources but we’re not just harvesting and directly incinerating; we’re actually doing that consumer-menagerie thingy in the middle with it all, so what’s wrong with that?” — and Annie’s argument is precisely missing the closed loop nature of the system, the planet we populate— we’re reaching finiteness limits. I have a similar thought about the breath of view in your argument on the $4.99 radio… let’s say it _is_ efficiently (as defined by the cost of running the linear model as she describes it), but her entire point is that’s NOT the correct systems model, she’s challenging our accounting system - the “simplicity” of telling you the store clerk is “giving something up, perhaps in healthcare” - is just that, a nice simplification to get us all thinking and talking more around this. The more significant thing: If radio production is SO efficient that you use NO workers, and pay NO employees in the line, just some energy, material, and water costs - your radio will be CHEAP, CHEAP, CHEAP… but simple water (or fill in any number of things essential to life and the sustinence of it long term) becomes expensive to the extreme, and your “efficient” radio has been a local opitmum of no systemic importance. You might have heard the story of the guys at Bell Labs in the 80’s (I think that’s when the story was) - trying to optimize the Unix Kernel, so one has to be careful what one is measuring… Annie is saying “I think we’re not seeing forest from the trees here, folks” — and that’s a good thing.

Comment on Recorded Audacity tracks are off sync by Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 19 May 2008 18:27:50 +0000

hi ducky brown, i got the same problem. what program did u download instead of audy. let me know pleaseeee im so bored of not being able to amke my music!

Comment on Annie Leonard’s “The Story of Stuff” review and analysis by Don Berg

Don Berg — Sun, 18 May 2008 23:21:36 +0000

Found that someone else had previously presented the link, sorry.

So, what got me to look for more information was your mention of not finding information to support her claim about BFR’s on pillows. In my visits to the sources she cited I could not find any reference to the use of that specific flame retardant in pillows. There was one document that mentioned that pillows are a possible product on which some kind of flame retardant might be used, but they could not confirm what kind.

Looks like the factoid was a stretch, though it is within the realm of possibility.

I also read an interview with her and it’s clear that while she has done a ton of research she was simply trying to make her overall point in a way that could reach a broad audience. Consider that she is an activist, not a journalist, so you have to expect that she is going to place a higher value on making an emotional connection than getting everything technically correct. She’s got a message and this video was a good vehicle for it.
–

Enjoy,

Don Berg

Site: http://www.Teach-Kids-Attitude-1st.com
Blog: blog.Attitutor.com

Comment on Annie Leonard’s “The Story of Stuff” review and analysis by Don Berg

Don Berg — Sun, 18 May 2008 23:00:21 +0000

Just wanted to give you head’s up on this annotated script in which she cites the sources for her facts:

http://www.storyofstuff.com/pdfs/annie_leonard_footnoted_script.pdf

Thanks for raising your concerns, I hope you will check out her sources and critique them in a follow-up to this post.

–

Enjoy,

Don Berg

Site: http://www.Teach-Kids-Attitude-1st.com
Blog: http://blog.Attitutor.com

Comment on Scam alert: Problems with DVDAvenue.tv by CK

CK — Sun, 18 May 2008 17:00:08 +0000

Wanda~KEEP TRYING!!! I probably sent 10 cancellations messages within 2 days. I left multiple messages on their “voice mail,” left messags on their chat lines(even though there was no response), cancelled via their order confirmation e-mail, and cancelled through another e-mail sent to their “contact us,” location on their web site. In addition, my e-mail (exerpts contained in a posting on Jan 19,2008; feel free to utilize it or any portion of it!)contained some legal sounding language. Then when I notified my card company, I was told that the charge had to remain until there was evidence that I had attempted to cancel the order (copies of my cancellation e-mails and attempts), and 30 days had passed. After that, I could dispute the charge and at that time it could be removed. BUT I was lucky enough to have dvddonkey cancel the order with the multiple requests I sent in. DON’T GIVE UP! Be aggressive with both dvddonkey (or whichever morphed version you are dealing with)and assertive with your credit card company. I know the cc companies are all different, but keep trying! Mine was on a Bank of America card, and they were really nice. I called so many times that I eventually was given a direct number to the fraud department! I even asked them to review this website so that they would no longer allow these companies to charge and the woman said she would send on the information to their headquarters, but obviously that did not do the job! I wish you luck.