TheMacJedi | I’m figuring out what can go wrong with your Mac before it actually does.

NetShare

By Rob Jones "TheMacJedi" | August 16, 2008

When NetShare became available on the App Store (the second time 8/1/2008) I bought it and downloaded it. I hadn’t even tried to set it up or use it. Within an hour of downloading it the apps on my iPhone stopped opening. So I did a restore to my iPhone which took more than an hour. Everything looked good but when I went to open an app on my iPhone it wouldn’t. So I went into iTunes and told it to not sync apps, therefore removing them. Then I syncing again to reinstall them. It didn’t work, the apps on my iPhone still wouldn’t open. I decided to delete all of the apps from iTunes, re-download them and then reinstall them on my iPhone.

Hours later I had re-downloaded all my apps except one, NetShare, why? Because it wasn’t available anymore. Apple had for the second time pulled the app from the store. Only they removed my ability to download it even though I bought it.

After sending iTunes Support a message that I was unable to re-download NetShare they sent me this reply on 8/4/2008.

Dear Rob,

Thank you for purchasing from the iTunes Store. I apologize for the inconvenience, but I am unable to add “NetShare” back to your account.

The iTunes Store is not responsible for the loss of purchases and encourages customers to back up their purchases regularly. If an item needs to be replaced, you can restore your purchases from the backup and avoid the need to purchase replacement copies of titles from your collection.

Additionally, please make back up copies of your new purchases on a regular basis. These articles explain the backup process:

How to back up your media in iTunes
http://www.info.apple.com/kbnum/n302392

Use a Smart Playlist to make regular backups of your music in iTunes
http://www.info.apple.com/kbnum/n93474

iTunes: How to backup and restore playlists
http://www.info.apple.com/kbnum/n93763

To learn more about purchasing on the iTunes Store, choose “iTunes Help” from the pull-down Help menu in iTunes. Click “Purchasing music, video, and more” on the right.

The iTunes Store Terms of Sale is available for your review at:
http://www.apple.com/legal/itunes/us/sales.html

Thank you for your understanding Rob. We appreciate your business and look forward to your reply.

Sincerely,

Eric
iTunes Store Customer Support

Their reply being completely unacceptable I replied back with this message today (8/16/2008 8:09 PM).

Your reply is unacceptable. The reply is basically saying “Thank you for buying from the App Store but you can’t have what you paid for.”

I did download the app one time but due to problems with my iPhone I cleaned out my apps from iTunes because they wouldn’t open on my iPhone at the time. I then redownloaded them all except NetShare because it was no longer available.

But why is it not available to me when I bought it? I understand that it’s not for sale anymore, but I should still be able to download it. Like I can every other app I bought.

You’re letting the fact that it was pulled from the store carry more weight than the fact that a customer bought it and would like to download it.

It doesn’t even matter if I had not downloaded it or if I had downloaded it 10 times. I’ve had the iTunes store allow me to redownload music that I hadn’t backed up before my HD died.

If you’re not using the magic kill switch on this app and giving everyone who bought it a refund then I should be able to download it again.

I don’t want a refund I want what I paid for. Please re-add NetShare back to my “Check for Purchases” so I can have it back.

Thanks

Within 5 minutes of sending that message I received this email (8/16/2008 8:14 PM).

Dear Rob Jones,

iTunes has issued you a full or partial refund for your payment.

Message from merchant: memo

—————————————————————-
Original Payment Details
—————————————————————-

Date Payment Sent: Aug. 1, 2008

Amount: $10.69 USD

At first I didn’t think that I could have received a refund that quickly from a message that was 5 minutes old until I received this message from Apple (8/16/2008 8:31 PM)

Dear Rob,

Yes, I understand that you want it back, but it simply isn’t going to happen. It is no longer available. That means it doesn’t exist, thus, cannot be downloaded again. What your asking for is basically the same as going to your local car dealership and telling them that you should be able to buy a model of car from them that they stopped making and selling, just because you had one before.

Please accept my sincere apologies for any inconvenience this download has caused however. I have taken the liberty of refunding your purchase of $9.99 plus any applicable sales tax. The credit will be posted to your account shortly. Unfortunately, as I stated, I can’t add the item back to your account for download.

I hope the information I’ve provided proves to be helpful to you Rob, and thank you for your understanding.

Thank you for being a valued iTunes Store customer. We appreciate your business and hope you have a wonderful day.

Sincerely,

Eric
iTunes Store Customer Support

Wow, his analogy is so wrong I don’t even know where to begin. Apple did exactly what I said I didn’t want which was give me a refund and didn’t do what I asked for which was re-download NetShare.

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Posted in Apple, News, Software, iPhone, iTunes | Tagged iTunes Store Customer Support, NetShare | Leave a comment

IP Telephony

By Rob Jones "TheMacJedi" | August 8, 2008

This morning my client was telling me that their dog Sterling, who had been left alone overnight peed on the telephone that was on the floor. Even more funny than that, it really was an IP Telephone.

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I finally finished the transfer.

By Rob Jones "TheMacJedi" | August 7, 2008

I transferred about 30 to 50 posts per day and topped that off with the comments and now my previous RapidWeaver site is running on WordPress.

I’m still learning my way around WordPress but I’m very impressed.

Now I can get back to making regular posts.

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WordPress is making my head spin

By Rob Jones "TheMacJedi" | July 27, 2008

I just figured out how to add forms to my new WordPress website and my head is spinning with ideas.

I certainly won’t be able to rebuilt any (RapidWeaver) form heavy clients sites soon but the prospect is there.

Right now the hardest part is waiting for theme developers to update their themes to be compatible with WordPress 2.6. A few free themes work and look great while others are broken and that makes it difficult to choose. I think I changed my theme today 10 times.

Themes is an area where RapidWeaver is currently ahead. Most WordPress themes have a single color, the same theme in a different color is completely seperate file and appears as a separate theme. RapidWeaver solved that problem a couple years ago when they incorporated the ability to modify most of the colors for any new theme.

Some WordPress themes have settings thay can be changed but nowhere near the level of RapidWeaver. I’ll just work around that until both WordPress and its theme developers catch up.

Once I have a good grasp of most aspects of WordPress then I only have to convert my other blog, my daughter’s blog, my other daughter’s blog and my wife’s blog.

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Posted in Software, TheMacJedi | Tagged WordPress | Leave a comment

From RapidWeaver to WordPress

By Rob Jones "TheMacJedi" | July 25, 2008

I’ve been using RapidWeaver for my own sites and client sites for 4 years. I’m not a coder but I have taken the time to learn some code to customize my sites. RapidWeaver is an awesome website tool, which has benefited many of my clients. However, my sites are blogs, and while RW produces great blog pages they are missing a few features that I want.

The main drawback to a RW blog is that it’s machine dependent, meaning which ever machine your RW project file is on is the only one that can update the site or blog. In some cases, changes to the RW project require it to republish the entire blog (hundreds of posts). There are options and plugins that allow for some of the functionality to be added to RW but I finally decided I wanted a more flexible solution.

WordPress, after spending some time online looking for database driven sites I concluded WordPress was best for my needs. Since yesterday I’ve replicated the majority of the layout options I had before and I’m very satisfied.

More importantly than the layout is the ability to post to my blog from just about anywhere. For instance this post is being created from my iPhone while I sit outside with my dog. However, I could post from almost any computer on the internet, that’s the flexibility I was looking for.

I’m going to take the time to manually port all of my RW blog posts to my new WP blog. There isn’t a tool to import directly from RW. I’m OK with that, it will give me the opportunity to make sure they are correctly input.

So far I’ve made sure that my homepage is current, only a few hundred old posts to port.

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Posted in Articles, Software, Technology, TheMacJedi | Tagged RapidWeaver, WordPress | 1 Comment

iPhone 3G and the Line

By Rob Jones "TheMacJedi" | July 11, 2008

2008-07-11 09:50 AM I was to meet a client at the Oxmoor Mall (Louisville, KY) at 10 AM and wait in line together to get the new iPhone 3G. I arrived at the Mall with a Starbucks coffee I had already picked up. My client was already in line and had been waiting for more than an hour. He was in about the middle of the line and since I couldn’t wait there I was about to head towards the end of the line when I received a phone call; it was my brother Toby. Toby said he was at the end of the line (which I couldn’t see because it wrapped around the corner). I said I would be there within a minute. After saying “I’ll CYA later” to my client, I headed towards the end of the line. As I reached the end of the line Toby stepped back behind the two people he was in front of.

The Apple Store had a couple employees walk by asking if we had any questions and passing out water. The guy in front of me and Toby sat down on the fountain and I jokingly said, “Ohhh come on, we just got here, you can’t be tired already”. The people in front of us (10 people up) were sitting down in the chairs at the Starbucks cafe which was dangerously close to the line. And then they proceeded to scoot those chairs along as the line moved.

2008-07-11 10:45 AM A woman approached us asking if we worked at the Mall. It was an odd question since we were standing in line. After saying no she proceeded to explain that she had just purchased something from Sharper Image (who’s going out of business) and they didn’t have anyone to carry it to her car. She offered pay two of us $15 each to help her. I said, “Sorry, no, but I’m sure you can find help from someone who isn’t standing in line”. The guy in front of me said, “I didn’t know what to say to her.” I said, “She obviously used the least amount of effort to find someone to help her since we were standing outside Sharper Image. She can find someone else.”

2008-07-11 10:32 AM

You can see in this photo a Starbucks chair in the line and further up my client in a green shirt and khakis pants.

2008-07-11 11:15 AM Mall security came along and told everyone they had to put their chairs back. Even the guy with a cast. However, they did get him a wheel chair. I finally finished my coffee and Toby had just got back from getting himself one. Occasionally chatting with the people in front of us and the kid in a wheelchair behind us.

2008-07-11 11:53 AM

In 1.5 hours we had only moved to where the chair is from the previous picture.

2008-07-11 12:03 PM In line for the iPhone 3G, they are telling people they have plenty but the wait could be 5 hours because AT&T servers are down. Sad face

After hearing the AT&T server went down I expected more people to get out of line, but they didn’t. Apple employees still walking around answering questions and passing out water.

2008-07-11 12:05 PM I’m in the Oxmoor Mall in Louisville, KY. iPhone 3G, I can wait. Line is still moving. And I have 2.0 on my current iPhone. SuperMonkeyBall

2008-07-11 12:12 PM I’ve already been in line for 2 hours. My feet hurt a little, which is sad since I used to run the Mini Marathon (13 miles) in under 2 hours

2008-07-11 12:17 PM Twitterrific on the iPhone works very well, while I wait in line for the iPhone 3G. Easy to read and post. I like it a lot. Happy face ;-)

2008-07-11 12:20 PM My brother Toby who was in line with me for the first 2 hours has returned to work. No iPhone 3G for him. I have Twitter to keep me warm ;-)

My brother left and I was still standing without sit down or a restroom break. Now I’m getting hungry.

2008-07-11 01:12 PM 3 hours now waiting in line for the iPhone 3G. Gary did you block me? You listed me in that tweet. Thinking about sitting down

Other than my feet hurting I was still standing without a sit down or restroom break.

2008-07-11 02:04 PM 4 hours and waiting for the iPhone 3G. I’m 50 feet from the Apple Store entrance. I’m going to be quite hungry after I get it.

I’ve already sat down on the floor letting my feet relax. A lady who was sitting up against a wall was asked not to.

2008-07-11 03:02 PM 5 hours now waiting for the iPhone 3G. 20 feet from the Apple Store entrance. Could be done by 4 or dinner time which ever comes first.

2008-07-11 03:05 PM

2008-07-11 03:24 PM My client who waited more than 6.5 hours just left, they could not activate his new iPhone 3G. He has a ticket to come back. Ouch :-(

His problem was he was on a business account and the transfer did not go through as expected.

2008-07-11 03:27 PM I’m standing in the Apple Store foyer, next to the security guard. They can only let so many people in at one time. Need food.

I laughed out loud when I realized there was a line inside the store.

2008-07-11 03:30 PM

I was just let into the store.

2008-07-11 03:48 PM Almost 6 hours of waiting for the iPhone 3G so far and my current iPhone battery is almost dead. I’m close to the middle of the store. ;-)

As I passed the AppleTV display I tuned it to one of my Flickr Sets.

2008-07-11 04:08 PM Finished the purchase of my iPhone, now off to set it up with another Apple employee. As I was switching employees my client had returned to the store to see if they could get him setup now. I told him I would check up on him before I left. After getting setup I went back to check on my client, he was not happy, he wasn’t going to get his iphone 3G today. Not only did he also wait in line 6 hours to get it but he’s 72. As we turned to leave the store I passed my brother Toby who had left 4 hours ago, he was buying two iPhones. He talked his way into the store because I was the guy he was standing with in line and the Apple employees remembered him.

2008-07-11 04:35 PM I just walked out of the Apple Store with my new White iPhone 3G. Time for something to eat.

After 6 hours of standing without a restroom break or food, all of the sudden a restroom break was the only thing I could think about. Follow that up with a soda and some pretzels and I was ready to head home. Several time while carrying my new iphone in a bag I could feel it vibrate, missed calls. Toby said that after I bought my iPhone and left the store Apple bought snacks for people still in line.

As I was walking towards my car I passed the same guy who was in front of me in line all day. He said he was having a problem getting his phone activated and I said “Let me guess, business line” he said yes.

After getting home I rewarded my youngest daughter with my old iPhone, she was so excited it actually surprised me.

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