Sour Swinger Predominantly follows my Army & Iraq Deployment. Also has some Geek, School, and other talk.

While perusing my Google Reader, I noticed a Slashdot article shared by Clint. Sheboygan City gave a cease and desist order to a lady who linked to the police department’s website. Her website rags quite a bit on the city so that’s probably part of the reason they didn’t like the linking. Thankfully she stood her ground and sued back. The cease and desist order was then retracted. I wonder why some people don’t think before they act. Linking to a website is no different then listing an address in a phonebook.

Of course this whole thing is very absurd. Too absurd to even hold a discussion about. Instead, I’m simply providing all the links to said articles and said police station. Just because I can. Its part of that thing called freedom. Btw, here’s the RateMCop link for the Sheboygan Police officers.

Sheboygan Police Website Entrance They need to fix this page. The title is set as New Page 1. WTF???
Sheboygan Police Main Page
Sheboygan Police Contact Information
City of Sheboygan

What better way to show ones inner geek then by owning a binary watch? Having stumbled across this watch on ThinkGeek, I couldn’t resist. With a quick click of the mouse, charge of the card, and a few days wait, I found myself to be a proud owner. Though it’s priced at $70, I was expecting the equivalent of cheap $20 watch from Walmart. A kin to one those really weird but ridiculously priced items that can only be found at a Spencer’s. Where they know you can’t find it anywhere else so they slap on some absurd price while making the damn thing as cheap as possible. Thankfully this watch is no where near that. In fact, what I received is a fabulously crafted and quality product.

The enclosed box was well designed and had a strong modern tech feel. It was the same feeling one gets upon dropping a few hundred on an iPod or a pair of Oakley glasses. AKA, The package showed care and thought. To my surprise a nice manual was on the inside depicting other binary watch models from the same company! You have to understand that before buying I spent a long time searching for other binary watches but found no other. ThinkGeek also made no mention of who made the device or the model name I bought.

The Compay, 01 The One, specializes in making just binary watches. Google “binary watch” and see how they don’t show up anywhere. Odd? Their website reminds me something from Calvin Klein or Zoolander. That ridiculous modern look with crazy looking models standing around. They certainly advertise well as modern, expensive, fancy….and they sure do deliver on mark. Compared to their other products, mine seemed old and outdated. It wasn’t far from the truth.

My watch, The Samui Moon (SMB107) appears to be a discontinued model. At $70 dollars, its far cheaper to their other $200 dollar models! Guess I got a steal? It’s made from stainless steel and has quite a hefty feel. Not overly heavy, just enough to know its tough and will last. Its also rated to 3 ATM for water resistance. The interface is fairly easy. One button lights the diodes that display the time, the other is used for setting the time. Top row of diodes is hours, bottom row is minutes. It only displays the time in standard 12 hour format. There is no AM/PM light. Light on means 1, light off means 0. Above each diode is a number “cheat” for determining the time. I.E. 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, etc. The circuit board design helps add to the geek feel.

I do have a few minor gripes. In direct sunlight, the diodes cannot be seen and requires the hand shadow and look technique. Even then, its tough to see the glowing lights. Also, I was hoping for the option of 24 hour time. Its just one more light on the hours row. Seems too easy to include. My biggest complaint, though, is that number “cheat” above each diode. The only people who would buy this watch are geeks. Seriously, what causal Joe Shmoe wants this? Its a niche watch for a niche set of people. As a computer programmer, I had hoped to drastically improve my binary reading ability. When I can blatantly see the numbers to add, I can’t help but read that instead.

In all, I’m very satisfied with the watch and what 01 The One has made. My overall intent is to use this as my official Army watch for use in Iraq. What better way to test the durability? As you can see in the pictures, I replaced the normal leather straps with the Army’s own camo velcro band. They sell at any local military base.


Fyi, apparently Steve Wozniak wears this very watch. Video Proof.

Its been 8 months since my Tablet took a turn for the worse, 5 months since my open letter to Circuit City, and 4 months since my last post about this whole ordeal. Finally, I can say a resolution has been found and no the Tablet is still broken. Between the Army and bouncing around visiting my family I really didn’t have the patience to continue hounding Circuit City. Were I to send it in for repair…again…I would have to somehow coordinate the return at a different location from whence it came. Granted I could have made it work, however didn’t feel it was worth the hassle.

So where is my Spider-man sticker covered Laptop? Boulder, CO where it is being used my uncle as a web server for his house. The only remaining problem is the tablet writing feature doesn’t work which has no use in a server environment anyway. Initially setting the server up with WAMP was quite the learning experience though I ended up using XAMPP. Much easier process. So now my uncle is satisfied with having his server, and I’m happy knowing I can FTP in from Iraq to backup anything of mine. Note, the server hosting this blog only has 10 gigs of space and I’ve almost used it all up. A far cry to the 60 gigs I have access to on the Tablet.

For a few years now, I’ve been faithfully using AllTunes to download music from AllOfMP3 (now MP3Sparks). First trouble began when credit card companies would no longer accept payments for AllOfMP3. However I was still able to make direct credit card purchases through Chronopay. Even when AllOfMP3 was shut down and no one was able to download music, I still found myself unrestricted. By this past Christmas it became harder to refill my balance. I had to go through CMPASS which in turn accepted money through Paypal. It was a pain, but I managed to refill my balance. In addition, I managed to setup a new account with money as a gift to one of my cousins.

Now, here I sit frustrated that I can no longer refill my balance. For some reason Paypal can longer be used. I tried payment through SMS, but my phone carrier does not like that. Direct phone calls are not accepted in the US and a wire transfer will cost $35…not worth it especially since I have to do it in $10 increments.  Exhausted after extensive searching and tries, I’m finally throwing in the towel.

Does this mean I’ll now pay $1 dollar per DRM infected song…FUCK NO!

Music is not worth that much, especially with such restrictions. I’ve learned of some other alternative sites: MP3Fiesta, MP3Sales, SoundsBox. Over the next week, I’ll check them out. If I can’t find a suitable replacement, I’ll be forced to return to piracy.

UPDATE: 21 Jul 08: I’ve gone ahead and created accounts with said three alternatives.  Began purchasing and conducting evaluation.  Will post a review soon.

UPDATE: 14 Sept 08: I know, I’ve been lazy as hell but an upcoming Iraq deployment will do that. I’m about half-way down. Will finish review before I ship out in a couple days.

I got a reply from Circuit City.  It ended up being just a general response they give to all customers.  They did supply me with a special phone number to call for escalating problems with PC repairs.  My next course of action will be to buy a new stylus and cash that check.  When it fails, I’ll call that number and see what happens.  Here’s a copy of their letter to me.

Dear ______ ______:

Thank you for contacting circuitcity.com.  I apologize for any concerns you may have regarding your PC repair.  Our escalation line for PC repairs under warranty is 1-800-950-9036.  I recommend contacting this department if you have ongoing concerns regarding your warranty service.

We value your feedback and appreciate your comments.  Our goal is to provide the best customer service possible, and we regret that, in this case, we fell short of your expectations.  We will work with our management to ensure that all shortcomings are addressed.

If you have further questions, feel free to contact us at 1-800-843-2489.  Thank you for your interest in Circuit City.

Sincerely,

Marty M.
Customer Support Coordinator
Case # _______

Its been very quiet on the Table PC front.  So quiet, I actually began to worry. Hell its only been 1 month since they said a stylus pen will shipped to me.  Had they forgotten about me?  This morning, I got the following email from Circuit City:

“Hello
We have determined that your Laptop needs to be replaced. Please contact 1-800-555-4615 to view the Replacement Offer Available.
Please refer to the terms and conditions of your warranty. The replacement can be new or refurbished, regardless of manufacturer. The replacement has to meet or exceed the specifications of the original unit.
Please contact us via phone or chat with your decision.

Your satisfaction is important to us.  Please respond to this message through our Support Portal within five (5) days if needed. Do not reply directly to this email message. You can access the Support Portal via the internet at http://www.cityassure.com/cityassure/emailCustomerService.do.  If we can assist you with any product additions or upgrade components for your computer, please contact us at 1-800-555-4615 or simply e-mail a time that we may contact you.

Be Encouraged!
Nichole G. Victor
Assurant Solutions-Atlanta
Warranty Replacement Agent
Email:Nichole. Victor@Assurant.com
Internal Ext. 12265
Direct #: 770-763-2265
Fax: 770-459-8030″

Upon first reading this, I was very ecstatic however some odd things started to pop out.  First one was who the email was addressed to.  I was one of twelve other seemingly random email addresses (Commonly seen in spam).  Even if this was intended for more then one person, why not BCC?  You are exposing all the customers’ email addresses.

What’s up with the .do web extension?  I never heard of that.  A quick google search shows that its normally associated with Java pages.  The web address is a valid subdirectory of their main website, CityAssure.  Since I’m using a Mac, I knew I could safely clink the link.  It took me to a CAPTCHA which then yielded a page to fill out a form with personal info as well as info from some ticket receipt that I’ve never seen before.

What further bothered me was that my Tablet is with me.  I never had to send it back out.  The last we talked, they decided to mail me a new stylus pen even though the previous pen replacement didn’t work.  Why the sudden change of plan?  Also, why an email?  Last surprise change they did via phone.  Calling seems a lot more legit in this circumstance.

The 1-800 stated in the email was the correct number I’ve been calling for help, though I never realized the “555″ until now.  I went ahead and gave a call.  Apparently the whole email was, in fact, legit.  The representative (I missed his name) explained it was a standard mass email.  Though Nichole had made a mistake.  She forget to replace the word “laptop” with “stylus”.  Damn!

I informed the rep about exposing the customer email addresses in the TO section as well as my dislike that now my email has been freely given to other random people.  The rep recorded my comments and judging by his inquiries on the matter, I don’t think he ever heard of BCC (Blind Carbon Copying).  That’s bad.  Btw, I sent out an email to all the customer’s informing them of the mistake and urging them to call in to complain.

I was also informed that I will not be receiving a replacement stylus.  Instead they will cut me a check for $69.  It took 1 month to come to this decision?!?!? The price was an average determined by searching Ebay.  Wtf?  Last I remember, you could directly purchase such items from Gateway’s supplier.  Then to use Ebay as the basis for how much the stylus is worth?  Weird.  The rep also said, instead of them going through the trouble of tracking down a stylus, it would be easier (for them) to simply cut me a check and have me buy the stylus.  Sssooooo, how did they replace my stylus previously?  Oh right, that was WAAAYYYY back in January.  They probably ran out by now.