FireLikeThis

If you are reading this, you have either purchased or are considering purchasing software from jcqueen_05. I recently purchased Adobe CS4 Master Collection and received an illegal pirated copy of the software. The package looked pretty professional, but it is not the real thing. I have documented my experience below to warn other users away from buying from this user. Below you will find the images of the illegal package that was mailed to me. (click on images to enlarge)

Here is how you can tell if you were sold illegal software as well:

1) Did they include instructions that ask you to copy a file to your computer before installation? I was told to copy a “hosts” file that included code to disable the software registration. You can check the hosts file on your computer by going to C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\etc. There will be a file called “hosts”, open it with notepad. If you see any of the following entries, submit a claim with paypal:
127.0.0.1 activate.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 practivate.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 ereg.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate.wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 3dns-3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 3dns-2.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns-2.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns-3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 ereg.wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate-sea.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 wwis-dubc1-vip60.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate-sjc0.adobe.com

2) Try to register your product on Adobe’s website (https://www.adobe.com/cfusion/gpr/index.cfm?1001=&email=&nf=0&v=1). If it tells you that your serial number is invalid, then you probably have an illegal one. Or you can call adobe customer service at: 1-800-833-6687 (option 3) to verify your serial. The seller may use other methods to bypass software security, so you definitely need to contact Adobe to make sure your serial is legitimate.

How to submit a claim:
1) Go to your paypal account. Make sure you are in the accounts tab and click on resolution center. Then follow the steps to submit your claim. Feel free to include any of the information above if it matches what you were provided. PayPal approved my claim within 12 hours of submitting it, I didn’t even have to provide them with extra information.

Very important! Do not close your claim until you have received a full refund! After I submitted my claim, jcqueen_05 sent me at least a dozen emails promising to send me the real thing if I would close my claim so she could access her funds. IF YOU CLOSE YOUR CLAIM, YOU CANNOT OPEN IT BACK UP, AND YOU ARE NO LONGER ENTITLED TO A REFUND!

Update: jcqueen_05 posted the following comment to this blog entry! (I have added my comments in Red since most everything in this paragraph is a lie)

first and foremost I would like to respond to this as I have uploaded photos to my photobucket account…. as the links for them are below… as with this guy fire like this or whatever… I had a mishap with the suppliers sending me the wrong software (no, the software was not wrong, it was illegal! Big Difference) indicating the photos below show that my software is original and in fact legal (Here, check out this picture of a real Ferrari, I guarantee it’s the exact one I will send you for $17 dollars!  I have a picture so it must be true) nor have I had any other troubles except for the fact that I have had the mishap (What about Rick who also received a pirated copy?) with the supplier in which when I spoke with Derek he brought it to my attention and as soon as it is shipped back I am returning it to the supplier for a refund….and as soon as I receive yours I’ll give you your refund! (Rick said you are fighting him all the way, so what’s the deal?) Why don’t you post my pictures up here huh? links are

(Here are the links, but they are not what I received.  Anyone can take pictures and screen shots of a legit copy and then sell the pirated copy)

adobe cs3 master

http://s437.photobucket.com/albums/qq91/CandiceQ/?action=view&current=derek.png

adobe cs4 master

http://s437.photobucket.com/albums/qq91/CandiceQ/?action=view&current=derekothercs4m.png

adobe cs4 photoshop ext http://s437.photobucket.com/albums/qq91/CandiceQ/?action=view&current=rickandderek.png

firelike Uncategorized

This is how record labels pay you:

…A word here about that unrecouped balance, for those uninitiated in the complex mechanics of major label accounting. While our royalty statement shows Too Much Joy in the red with Warner Bros. (now by only $395,214.71 after that $62.47 digital windfall), this doesn’t mean Warner “lost” nearly $400,000 on the band. That’s how much they spent on us, and we don’t see any royalty checks until it’s paid back, but it doesn’t get paid back out of the full price of every album sold. It gets paid back out of the band’s share of every album sold, which is roughly 10% of the retail price. So, using round numbers to make the math as easy as possible to understand, let’s say Warner Bros. spent something like $450,000 total on TMJ. If Warner sold 15,000 copies of each of the three TMJ records they released at a wholesale price of $10 each, they would have earned back the $450,000. But if those records were retailing for $15, TMJ would have only paid back $67,500, and our statement would show an unrecouped balance of $382,500.

I do not share this information out of a Steve Albini-esque desire to rail against the major label system (he already wrote the definitive rant, which you can find here if you want even more figures, and enjoy having those figures bracketed with cursing and insults). I’m simply explaining why I’m not embarrassed that I “owe” Warner Bros. almost $400,000. They didn’t make a lot of money off of Too Much Joy. But they didn’t lose any, either. So whenever you hear some label flak claiming 98% of the bands they sign lose money for the company, substitute the phrase “just don’t earn enough” for the word “lose”…

See Gizmodo for the full story: My $62.47 Royalty Statement: How Major Labels Cook the Books with Digital Downloads

So basically you are getting the worst part of a loan, and the worst part of an investment. If they advance you $250,000, you have to pay them back that money (like a loan). But you only get 9% of the profits because they treat it like an investment as well. So you have to pay back that entire loan with only 9% of the profits. So unless you sell 1billion albums, you will never pay it back. The record label convinces you that you should spend more on your second record and you are then further in the hole… the record labels goal is to have you never get out of the hole, then they never have to pay you anything. Meanwhile, the record company is making money the entire time.

This may be the most sneaky, but best idea, i have ever heard. As the record company, you are taking a big risk, by just giving out $250,000 to people who play music. (try getting that from a bank, yeah right).

Morale of this story: If someone wants to give you $250,000 just because they like your “sound”, you should expect to get screwed. They are taking a HUGE risk on you. So if you end up selling albums, they are going to take a HUGE amount of the profits. Every one has seen those “Payday” loan places, and most people know how horrible the rates are; So think of record labels as the same kind of deal… but hey, you don’t ever have to pay the money back, so if you don’t mind touring the country while making nothing, then your golden! Just don’t ever get sick of making nothing for all your hard work

firelike Uncategorized Artist, Band, Economics, Record Label

Using my iPhone with wordpress to publish this post. Get this free app now!

(Link to WordPress)

firelike Uncategorized Iphone, wordpress

(Rating: 4 Stars)

See the video review of the Mophie Juice Pack Air below:

Pros:

- Smallest battery case on market
- Standby switch allows you to charge iPhone only when you need to
- Can leave it on the phone all the time without much added bulk
- Does not add much to the width and height of phone
- Shows charge on LED’s when charging, seems to fully charge in under 2 hours
- It almost doubles the battery life of the phone. (watch 2 hour movie, play games for an hour, and still have enough battery power to use it the rest of the day)

Cons:

- Makes the very sleek and slim iphone  fatter
- Expensive, $79.99 for only 1200mAh of battery power (but still should be enough power for most)
- Does not cover the front of the phone
- Micro USB charge / sync cable might be hard to find if you forget to bring it with you

Overall:

Great Build Quality, Standby switch is great, only flaw is the bulk it adds to iPhone.  I would recommend this product to anyone who is looking for an extra battery / case that can go anywhere that they do.

firelike Reviews 3G, Iphone, Juice Pack Air, Mophie

The following is a guide created for all those out there who don’t know the unspoken rules of the road. If you are violating any of the rules of this guide, we ask you to kindly adjust your driving practices… or get the *&^@ off the road. If you have anything to add, please comment. I plan on adding to this as I remember things.

Intersections:

Don’t enter an intersection if it’s clogged

You see that the other side of the intersection is full, but you pull forward into the intersection because you don’t want to miss the light. The light turns red, and your still sitting in the middle of the intersection blocking one or several lanes of traffic going the other way. You are then instantly added to the shit list of at least a dozen people, all of which, at least for an instant, want to kill you.

What to do?
Pay attention, if the other end of the intersection is clogged, STOP, you might miss the light, but does it matter? You can either wait here, or wait 30 feet ahead, and run the right of pushing a guy who just got fired slightly over the edge and attempting to give you what you deserve.

Don’t change lanes in the middle of intersections, you’re an idiot!

You like to drive really fast, and get where you’re going using the most gas possible. Sure, you can do what you want, but if you try to change lanes in the middle of an intersection, you going to get people killed. Remember, people are turning on red.

Exception: if you’re clogging traffic in one lane, and the light turned red, get the hell out of the intersection and into the other lane.

Passing lane

The passing lane is not for Sunday drivers

The passing lane is where you go when you want to drive faster than others. There are several rules to driving in the fast lane.

1) If you are going slower than other around you, you need to be in the right lane. This also means that if you are on a 4 lane highway, and you are going slower than others, you need to keep moving right until people stop passing you.

2) If you have cruise on and want to move to the left lane to pass a truck. There is a vehicle approaching in the left lane moving much faster than you.

• Right: move into the left lane and accelerate to pass the truck, minimizing the amount the person behind you has to slow down.
• Right: Turn off cruise, let the car behind you pass in the left lane, then turn on cruise and pass the truck.
  
• Wrong: Stay at your current speed, and move to the left lane in front of the car behind you. Take 7 minutes to pass the truck, and get put on someone’s “People to kill list”

If you are riding my ass, you better pass me

You are passing in the left lane, and someone behind you is riding your ass real hard. After you pass a car, you move over to the left, but the car behind you who was riding your ass either a) takes 10min to pass you or b) he moves in behind you and keeps riding your ass. Listen people, if you are riding my ass that means you are in a F***ing hurry and really need to pass me. If that is not the case, back off.

I’m passing on the right because I’m a speed freak

There are times when you have to pass on the right because people don’t understand some of the above rules above, but, there are also times to wait to pass. You are waiting to pass a car that is in the left lane ahead of you, but they are passing another car on the right. You both pass the car in the right lane, but before the car in front of you has time to move over, you dart into the right lane like a bat out of hell and pass him. Here is why you are an idiot: 1) Most people will move over for you in a few seconds, and you can continue on without messing up the flow of traffic. 2) This keeps the slower car from moving out of the left lane, so cars behind you also move right to pass the car on the left. This ends up totally F***ing traffic flow, and slowing everyone down.

Turn signal use

Use your signal, or don’t bitch about traffic jams caused by accidents

You have to move you hand only about 2 inches to flick the turn signal lever, if you complain about this, you either change lanes too much, or you’re a fat, lazy ass. Your turn signal lets other people know what your crazy ass is doing. Even if you are driving like an idiot, people will know what you are doing and take evasive action to avoid you.

Speeding

Speeding gets you to places faster, you don’t have to speed, but if others want to, let them

Never sit in the left lane going slow, but not care, because you are an innocent traffic regulator. Your just an asshole.

Alternate Feed

If someone lets you in, don’t close the door on others

Alternate feed is fair. You are not exempt from waiting at the expense of others, so let other people in.

Cell Phone Use

Some people suck at multi tasking

In some states, talking on your cell phone is illegal. I’m not going to give you a disclaimer about not talking in these states because speeding is also illegal, and we still do it, so everyone should follow this rule:

If you suck at multitasking you should know it. If you don’t, ask a trusted friend. So here is the deal… if talking on your cell phone makes you a drive like a drunk who just robbed a bank, please either invest in a hands free headset, or stop altogether. You can practice multitasking by talking on your phone while folding laundry and petting your dog.

Traffic Jam

Don’t be that ass that flies by everyone and tries to merge at the roadblock

If you see that you need to merge ahead, turn on your turn signal (do you remember how we talked about the turn signal?) and try to get over. If you fail, move up a few cars and try again. Never fly by everyone and try to merge at the last second, this is what makes these types of jams move so slow. I have taken very evasive action to make sure assholes that do this are not able to merge, and so should the rest of you!

I will add more as I get them.

firelike Uncategorized Driving, Etiquette, Traffic

I figured I would title my first post in tribute to the first post idiots out there… I solute you!

Today is day one, and surely there will be no one reading this post.  That is why I will keep the content short.

I talked with AT&T yesterday.  Did you know that if you go way over on your cell phone bill you can call them and have them remove a bunch of the charges.  This is basically a courtesy that AT&T offers to its customers.  You are only supposed to be able to do this once, but if you are nice they might do it a few times

Also, don’t let them fool you with the “You will need to up your plan” garbage, according to the rep. manager, you don’t need to do that.  All you have to do is ask the rep. nicely.

firelike Uncategorized AT&T, bill, cell phone, CSR, First Post