Not so many adjustments, not constantly trying out new plugins, but here’s an update:

• DB Cache: Hasn’t been updated since January, created some conflicts where I couldn’t edit a page. To edit a post (even small things like tags), I’d have to turn off DB Cache, make the changes, and then turn it back on. I decided turn it off completely.
• PHP Speedy: Hasn’t been updated since February. It caused some problems for me, for which I went on the author’s blog to ask for some ideas on how to fix it, but I was ignored, and the comment was deleted. It wasn’t perfect for me, but I ran it up until a couple of days ago when I found Web Optimizer (covered later in this post).
• cSprites (CSS Sprites): Last updated in June, but doesn’t work with caching plugins. Otherwise it was fine, but that’s a big issue for most. I don’t run this either. Plugin author is nice though and does reply to comments.
• Hyper Cache: This I use. In fact, I donated to the author, and he updates the plugin constantly. Not sure what the updates are but updates are usually a good sign.

Web Optimizer: Like I just mentioned above, I’ve replaced with PHP Speedy with Web Optimizer. Web Optimizer does all the things that PHP Speedy does, but also quite a few additional things as well. I don’t think PHP Speedy’s GZIP ever worked right for me, or it had caused some other slowdowns in the process, but Web Optimizer’s seem legit. My YSlow scores are quite good, and the blog loading speed seems good (but that’s hard for me to really measure because I’m in Vietnam trying to access Bluehost, this site’s US host). Web Optimizer even suggests using it with Hyper Cache.

I sent a bug in two days ago to the developers regarding Web Optimizer breaking the Sociable plugin, and I got a report it was fixed for the next version today!

Strangely, the plugin gets average review scores on its Wordpress plugin page, but I can’t see why it’s getting rated so low, even after reading about people’s issues and feedback in the forums. There are two versions of the plugin, a free version, and a $99 full one. See below for the comparison chart:

While $99 is a hefty charge in some ways, if the other benefits are as advertised, and you have a fairly well trafficked blog, I’d suggest spending the $99 and getting it. Otherwise, you can always check out the free version (it’s not a trial version, it’s a fully operating version with less features) and see how you like it. I’ve attached screenshots of my performance on various tests with Web Optimizer, free version, at the bottom of this article. In all, the plugin looks good, and I’m a big fan so far- tons of features, support, and jeez, tons of documentation.

Widget Cache: I’ve also been using Widget Cache, but I’m not sure how good it really is. I can’t tell what it’s caching, but most reviews of it are quite positive so I’m sticking with it until I hear otherwise or run into problems. I do see some comments that suggest it doesn’t work in the newest versions of Wordpress, 2.83+, however.

Also, from the Wordpress Extend page, there’s:

How to know it works?

You can have a look at the source of the web page, and search

<!--WP Widget Cache End -->

and I don’t see that in my source, so maybe that explains why I can’t tell.

My tests with Web Optimizer:

YSlow:

Is My Blog Working:

IE8 Performance:

IE7 Performance: (oddly enoughIE7 loads faster than IE8 on the initial load)

©2009 I Spit Hot Fire. All Rights Reserved.

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Image via Wikipedia

I had an article about UberNES’ Nintendo Screen Saver bookmarked for a while, but I finally got it fully working a few days ago.

What is it? A screensaver that plays Nintendo games. Multiple ones at once. You can download videos (don’t worry they’re small) of others players’ play sessions and it’s like you’re 8 and watching your friends play again. Like most good software in life, Windows only.

It’s not so hard to setup:

1. Get NES roms (try Torrent)
2. Get the Screensaver: http://ubernes.com/nesscreensaver.html
3. Install and set up rom DB (read the documentation)
4. Watch Nintendo games being played galore- you can even jump in to any game and pick it up while it’s happening!
5. Geek out. (Screenshot of my own shown below)

Features

• Completely stand-alone; you do not need to have UberNES in order to run the Nintendo Screen Saver
• Don’t have any UberNES movies to play? No problem – the screen saver has built-in support for downloading and playing movies from the UberNES online movie gallery!
  • Currently, the UberNES online movie gallery contains over 100 movies that provide over two full days of unique NES gameplay footage.
• Multiple movies can be played at once and tiled over the screen to create a "wall of NES games" effect
• Users can press the space bar to take over for a movie and start playing the game themselves using a keyboard/joypad/etc.
• Movie checkpoints are utilized to begin playing movies from various key points in movies, rather than just playing each movie from the beginning every time.
• Screen saver is highly configurable – the following settings can be adjusted:
  • Length of time each movie is played before advancing to new one
  • Sound on/off
  • Information scrolled along bottom of NES display
• Extensive video options are included
  • Software upscalers such as HQX, ScaleX, and NTSC provide improved picture quality in higher resolutions
  • Custom display modes can be selected for the screen saver to run in
  • Video can be routed through GDI or DirectDraw video subsystems, providing greater flexibility

UberNES – Nintendo Screen Saver

©2009 I Spit Hot Fire. All Rights Reserved.

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Anyway, it’s nearing Christmas time (what, 2 months to go is plenty close enough for wish lists!) and this also means I’ll be returning to the US for my yearly vacation.

What I really mean is that it’s time to buy stuff! I’m mostly focused on getting some books, but here’s what I have planned for the credit card:

For sure:

UFC: Ultimate 100 Greatest Fights (DVD)

In-N-Out Burger: A Behind-the-Counter Look at the Fast-Food Chain That Breaks All the Rules

The Book of Basketball: The NBA According to The Sports Guy

Giro Indicator Sport Bike Helmet

Maybe:

The Art of a Beautiful Game: The Thinking Fan’s Tour of the NBA (Sports Illustrated)

When the Game Was Ours

The Full Tilt Poker Strategy Guide: Tournament Edition

Baseball – A Film By Ken Burns (1994)

Rock Band 2 (Playstation 2)

Already Purchased:

The Bald Truth

Arcade Mania: The Turbo-charged World of Japan’s Game Centers

Tupac: Resurrection (DVD)

©2009 I Spit Hot Fire. All Rights Reserved.

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My stay was about $62 USD per night, (booked through http://www.hostels.com/) which at first glance is really expensive for a hostel. But when you consider two things, 1) It was F1 weekend 2) Singapore is expensive for housing- the cheapest hotel for F1 weekend was about double the price, and that was when I had checked prices over a month before the actual weekend, it was not such a bad cost. At the same time, there are cheaper hostels in Singapore, and the costs don’t work out so well if you’re going with multiple people.

Not an issue for me, however, as I went alone.

Habitat Hostel bills itself at a boutique hostel, and that’s what made me try it out. I don’t feel like I’m really a backpacker type guy, and was always afraid I’d be uncomfortable at a hostel, but this sounded like a good middle ground for a first timer.

I really enjoyed my stay. Yes, I was only there to sleep basically, but the double/queen sized beds were really comfortable, and overall the atmosphere is quiet. There’s breakfast available any time in the kitchen, and there’s always a comfort of cleanliness everywhere in the house (in fact, you’re asked to take off your shoes before you walk in).

The staff is really nice (and remember your name) and understanding, and the people I stayed with were pretty cool too. No one was a jackass or anything. From their website, even for a person who had never stayed in a hostel, it sounded like they really paid attention to the details of creating a good experience, and after staying there, I can say it’s basically all true.

A very nice place I would certainly recommend assuming the price is within your means, and something that will open my mind to other hostels in the future.

Going through their website again for this review, I completely forgot they had a movie room (wasn’t shown to me while I was there)!

Their official description and some pictures I took below: (to see more photos, see my Smugmug: http://ispithotsoleyman.smugmug.com/M-2009)

HABITAT HOSTELS, Singapore’s only boutique flashpackers hostel, is the best choice for budget travelers looking for an environment of personal service, pampered luxury and chic furnishings, coupled with an excellent location.

Our fully air-conditioned rooms feature the unique first-of-it’s-kind pod dorms (to follow the Japanese pod-styled capsule idea) to provide backpackers with unparalleled privacy and personal space. The pod is self-enclosed while remaining spacious, and features its own reading light and a small ledge for personal items.

Capitalizing on personal service that includes regular social activities, games, outings and in-house themed parties (Popiah party, anyone?) will serve as an excellent icebreaker amongst guests at the hostel.

Habitat Hostel is housed in a 3-storey pre-war shophouse with a charming Chinese Baroque façade. We are the only hostel strategically located at Devonshire Road, just a 2-minute walk to Orchard Road – the epicenter of Singapore’s premium shopping and entertainment belt. Being located a stone’s throw away from Orchard Road and Somerset MRT stations gives Habitat Hostel the advantage of being easily accessible yet being away from it all. It’s rich heritage, charming ambience and relaxing atmosphere makes this the perfect location for a boutique hostel concept.

©2009 I Spit Hot Fire. All Rights Reserved.

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Driver’s Parade:

The F1 Race:

Post Race:

©2009 I Spit Hot Fire. All Rights Reserved.

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Saturday: (Qualifying and Practice- other non-F1 racing goes on too!)

Sunday, pre-race:

©2009 I Spit Hot Fire. All Rights Reserved.

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City Shots:

F1 Around the City:

©2009 I Spit Hot Fire. All Rights Reserved.

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Finds Errors in your English Writing with the ESL Assistant

While the majority of international communication happens in English, a lot of these people, who communicate in English on a daily basis, aren’t very comfortable as English is not their native language.

They therefore have to sometimes struggle to express themselves correctly in English, only to be dismayed that native English speakers can immediately notice the flaws in their writing.

When English is a Foreign Language for you

Microsoft Research has created a useful online proofing tool to help people who use English as a foreign language.

This tool, called ESL Assistant, is a web service that analyzes text for the common mistakes that non-native English speakers, especially those from Southeast Asia, often make in their writing such as the choice of determiners and prepositions.

Type some English sentences into the text box and the tool will look for possible problems in your writing and indicate them with wavy green underlines.

Once it identifies possible mistakes in your writing, the tool will generate suggestions for correcting the problems. What’s even more interesting is that the tool will find you real-world examples of both the incorrect and correct usage from other web pages on the Internet using Bing.

You can just hover your mouse over the suggested phrase and the search results in the two Bing windows will change automatically.

Check Errors in your Outlook Emails with ESL

Anyone can use the ESL (English as Second Language) Tool to check their emails and other writings for errors online though the site requires the Silverlight plugin.

The other option is that you download the ESL addon for Microsoft Outlook and integrate the web service into your email program.

There’s a bit of privacy issue here because when you click the ESL Assistant button in Outlook to check your message for errors, the program will send the entire text of your email to the ESL website where you can review it for problems. If you correct errors online, you will have to copy the text back into Outlook manually.

Although ESL Assistant will not catch or correct all errors, it often finds problems that are overlooked by normal spelling and grammar checking tools.  This makes it a great tool to expand your options and make sure that your English sounds as correct as possible.

Finds Errors in your English Writing with ESL Assistant – For Non-Native English Speakers

©2009 I Spit Hot Fire. All Rights Reserved.

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Ate at Thai Express a couple of weeks ago with Ha.

As we were eating, a middle aged white couple who had been sitting near us finished, got up from the table, and dropped their loyalty voucher (one of those buy X meals, get one free things) and said, “you could use this” and walked off.

The first thought that came to my mind was, “wtf!”

“W-T-F”

So I’m thinking that guy must think I’m local Vietnamese. (I was speaking Vietnamese to Ha) But even then, Thai Express is NOT for local people. It is by no means affordable. It’s right in the middle of downtown. Yet, with some poor local guy, how offensive is that to just drop something on someone else’s table and just walk off?

“(You look poor) you could use this.”

How offended would you be if you were in the US, and some random guy dropped his coupon on your table on his way out and walked off. That would be a big slap in the face. There’s no way that guy dropped the coupon thinking I was an expat. I cannot imagine a culture in which that would be considered normal.

Again, “W-T-F”.

Regarding Thai Express, it sucks. Value is terrible. Service is what you expect in Hanoi (eh). Food is average, and quantity isn’t there either. In fact, if you ever ate at Bun Ta (Thai Express took over the Bun Ta location at the Ho Guom/Ho Hoang Kiem), you’re getting the exact same experience: overrated, overpriced generic food.

I think we ended up spending $10 USD per person. I’d never been to any Thai Express locations in Vietnam before (I get a bad feeling when “express” is connected to food, even though I enjoy fast food as much as everyone else) and definitely have no plans to return.

Here’s the info for Thai Express anyway: (image above thanks to New Hanoian)

Floor 2, 7th Dinh Tien Hoang St,
Hoan Kiem District,
Hanoi, Vietnam
Tel: +844 62 822 822

www.thaiexpress.vn

©2009 I Spit Hot Fire. All Rights Reserved.

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(yes, it is “probably” for Michael Jackson. But I was named after Michael Jackson. So there. The circle of life! Or something)

©2009 I Spit Hot Fire. All Rights Reserved.

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My recent purchases! Of course, since I live in Vietnam, not going to get them for a while until I return to the USA.

Clockwise, from top left:

• Batman: The Dark Knight The Joker 1:6 Scale Deluxe Figure – $40 clearance price at Entertainment Earth
• NFL Legends Series 5 Steve Young Action Figure (Mcfarlane)
• Dingoo A-320 2.8″ LCD GBA/NGO/SNES/ NES/SFC/CPS1/2/+ Emulator Game Console (4GB Built-in + Mini-SD) – $83 shipped at DealExtreme
• Street Fighter IV Ken FightPad for Xbox 360
• WD TV HD Media Player – basically a media tank, connect a hard drive with all your music/video files to it, connect the media player to the TV, voila, all your media files on TV. Perfect for pirates, ah, backups.
• Adidas LA Galaxy Rep “Beckham 23″ Jersey – $30 from Eastbay, use Bing Cashback for an additional 50% off

©2009 I Spit Hot Fire. All Rights Reserved.

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What software programs do I get with DreamSpark?

Once you join the DreamSpark program, you will have to option to download the following Microsoft software tools for free :

• Expression Studio 3
• Windows Server 2008 Standard Edition
• Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition
• SQL Server 2008 Developer Edition
• .. and more – see full list.

Additionally, DreamSpark also offers free ebooks, up to 22 hours of free e-learning courses on Microsoft technologies and 1 free Microsoft certification exam.

Will Microsoft ship the software DVDs?

Unlike MSDN or TechNet, Microsoft won’t ship you DVDs but you can download the software installers from the DreamSpark website itself. If you are located in India, you can also walk into your nearest Aptech or NIIT center and request the software on a DVD.

Ok, but isn’t there a catch?

Microsoft licenses the software to you for educational use. This means that you can use the software without restriction for school assignments or personal projects. If you write or design something that you wish to sell, however, you need to purchase a standard licensed copy of the Microsoft software before you sell your product.

Is the software like a trial that will expire when I graduate?

No! The software from DreamSpark is the full version, and according to Microsoft, “You may continue to use the Software you obtained prior to termination of your student status subject to the terms of this license.”

This is taken from the license agreement that you accept before you download the software, so you can be sure that any software that you download via DreamSpark will be free for personal and non-commercial use forever.

When you graduate, however, your DreamSpark membership will terminate so you won’t have access to new software release but the software that you may have already downloaded will continue to work.

©2009 I Spit Hot Fire. All Rights Reserved.

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Going to Singapore for the F1 late next month!

For a few years, I’d been wanting to go to F1 Malaysia, but it’s been an issue of timing and money. I liked Michael Shumacher (greatest F1 driver ever) a lot, and when he announced he would come out of retirement for the rest of the year, I had to make sure I got tickets take advantage of this last opportunity to see him.

Unfortunately, last week, he said he couldn’t make it out of retirement after all (http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/racing/f1/news/story?id=4390787).

But it’s ok. I haven’t been to Singapore in a while, and a short trip would be good for me, and I want to check out some things there anyway.

I’m no F1 superfan- I mainly read about it on ESPN rather than watch it, but I do like car racing, and I used to be a huge Indycar fan when I was a kid when Michael Andretti was still racing (he failed his one year in F1 though). Now, I’ll be rooting for Lewis Hamilton.

I’m going alone, which kind of sucks at first thought, but I’m ok with it- it’s been a long time since I went on a trip alone, and I was quite fine before. I tend to get too dependant on other people, and being alone helps me focus on what I want to do and feel more natural doing it because I’m less self-conscious. I’m also staying at a hostel for the first time- this ones looks super nice and is in an ideal location. Hotels are at least $110 USD (and are rising) per night, but I decided to go with a hostel to try something new and saving money is never a bad thing.

Mapping out the trip:

(Check out Flair Candy for a pretty good article on her trip last year: http://www.flaircandy.com/2009/03/watching-the-singapore-formula-1-grand-prix-on-a-budget/- it helped me plan out what I wanted to do)

• F1 3 Day Walkabout Tickets $135 USD – this is expensive, but also the cheapest option by far.
• Singapore Flyer: http://www.singaporeflyer.com/ – I guess this is the London Eye of Singapore
• Night Safari: http://www.nightsafari.com.sg/ – Wanted to do this a few years ago, but it ended up raining when I was there
• Random Shopping: I don’t think I will actually buy anything (I am sure I will spend enough money at the actual race on random stuff and food) but will probably go look for jerseys (Peninsula Shopping Center) and second hand stuff in my spare time, mainly out of curiosity.

I was going to go see Beyonce for the recently announced F1 Rocks concert, but tickets are a ridiculously expensive $125 USD (not even for seats!) to go see her and Black Eyed Peas on the Saturday of the F1 weekend.

Formula 1 sessions schedule:

The race itself sounds like a lot of fun. I’ve never been to a car race before, and this will be a night race in the city, the only one in F1. I don’t think I will make the Friday session, but I plan to do most of Saturday, and of course Sunday.

• Friday 25th September
  • Free practice 1: 19:00-20:30
  • Free practice 2: 21:30-23:00
• Saturday 26th September
  • Free practice 3: 19:00-20:00
  • Qualifying: 22:00-23:00
• Sunday 27th September
  • Race: 20:00

©2009 I Spit Hot Fire. All Rights Reserved.

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For the launch of GI Joe in Vietnam (Friday, August 14). Megastar hired models dressed as the characters to pose on stands at the theater. They had to hold their poses for 10-15 minutes a time, like statues, great for people to take pictures. It was a pretty unique promotion, I haven’t really seen anything like it where the models (also called PGs/Program Girls- PBs for guys I guess) stay still instead of interact with the crowd. I saw GI Joe at Vincom yesterday with Jimmy and Ha, and while Jimmy liked it, I thought the second half of the movie was just boring. I can’t imagine wanting to see sequels of this, and I’m disappointed how Destro and Cobra Commander came out. Even the movie’s special effects weren’t so good- I’m not sure if I’ve just become eagle eyed over the last few months but bad special effects or green screen work is becoming so obvious and annoying to me now.

Anyway, I thought GI Joe was a 5/10. Strangely though, while Jimmy liked GI Joe, Jimmy hated Transformers 2 (like most people). I actually enjoyed it more than the first one, so I am no judge on quality either.

To see all the pictures, visit my album on Smugmug. (Thanks to Ha for the pictures.)

©2009 I Spit Hot Fire. All Rights Reserved.

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It’s lousy enough when Customer Service ignores you. It’s even worse when they pretend to care, but actually don’t.

And that’s my saga with SRS Labs and their SRS Audio Sandbox plugin. The product itself, when it was working, was fantastic. I bought it about a year ago, and it could be used with any audio, whereas most other plugins will work just with specific software, like Winamp or Windows Media Player. Since I use VLC for video and Media Monkey for music, those pluglins were useless.

So, like I said, it was fantastic while it was working. It stopped working a couple of months ago. I have no idea why. After contacting SRS, I still don’t know why but I also still have a non-working product, and I’ve wasted the money I used to purchase it. And that sucks.

After being ignored (“It’s even worse when they pretend to care, but actually don’t.”), I have no other avenues to pursue, so I figured I’d just write about it.

June 1st, 2009- From me, to the contact form on their website:

Product: SRS Audio Sandbox software
Operating System: Windows Vista
Product Version: 1.9.0.4
Sound Card: Soundmax Integrated Digital HD Audio

Message: A few days ago I downloaded 1.9.0.4 to upgrade over 1.9.0.1. Even though under the Sound applet in Control Panel, it shows SRS working (the application also says it is working without errors), there is no sound. I have checked to make sure the volume is up, the sound is not muted, but there is no sound whatsoever. Once I change the default sound back to the Soundmax, however, sound is there again. While SRS before worked with no problems, the new version doesn’t work at all. I also don’t have 1.9.0.1 anymore to reinstall. I have uninstalled the new version before reinstalling, tried resetting the system to make sure the audio drivers are in place- none of that works. Again, everything from the Vista standpoint is working- everything reports that sound is playing back, but it is not. If I switch to the default sound, everything works fine, but obviously SRS doesn’t work. What can I do?

June 3rd, 2009- From: Michael Gonzales [mailto:MichaelG@srslabs.com] to me

I believe it’s a compatibility issue with your HD sound card. And simply the plug-in probably won’t work with it. Your best bet is to uninstall the plug-in.

Kind Regards,
Michael

Right away, I thought, did he even read my request? It WAS working, for quite a long time, and then it didn’t. Anyway, his reply is basically saying to me, we have no solution for you, that’s your problem. Even though you are probably one of the few who paid for it instead of downloading a cracked version.

June 3rd, 2009- My response to Mr. Gonzales

Hi Michael,
I actually have purchased the SRS software, so I’m definitely invested in finding a solution. Like I mentioned before, the SRS version I was using before ( I believe 1.9.0.1) was working for me fine, would you be able to send me the older version so I can retry it?

Thanks,
Michael

June 8th, 2009- After not hearing back from SRS for 5 days, I sent another e-mail to Mr. Gonzales. Before I was just asking to check out a previous version of the software to see if it would work. Since I didn’t hear back, I actually had to go pirate it. Yeah, I pirated a version of the software I actually own.

Hi Michael,
I’m e-mailing again to ask about support.

Would I be able to provide more information in order to help me fix this problem? I’m using Vista Home Premium SP2 on a Lenovo Thinkpad T61P. Like I said, it was working fine until about a week ago, when it stopped working as soon as I installed the newest version. Windows seems to think it is working (they show audio levels going up and down) but there is no sound, but if I switch back to the default sound card, it’s fine again.

As I have mentioned before, I am a paid customer of SRS, so I am definitely alarmed if my purchase now is completely non-working, especially since I love the product.

Sincerely,
Michael

I still didn’t hear a response after this, so I just gave up, and posted a random complaint on Twitter a little bit after this. To my surprise, SRS found me and responded on July 14th, 5 weeks later. Looks like using social media can help! I e-mailed the guy who had contacted me on Twitter.

July 15, 2009-  I sent the below as well as all previous correspondence to Michael Farino <MichaelF@srslabs.com>

Hi Michael,
Since this last e-mail, I have reformatted and installed the Windows 7 Beta, and the issue still exists. I am still not sure why, and if it’s a hardware issue, I would think the soundcard would be dead completely, not just be a problem for SRS.

Thanks,
Michael

July 16, 2009- Michael Farino asks Michael Gonzales (btw, if you notice there are so many “Michael”s, my name is Michael as well), the guy who ignored me before to help, and I get the following:

Hello,
What type of sound card are you currently running?

Kind Regards,
Mike

Nothing like people not even using your name when replying. Originally, I had already listed the sound card I am using in the original form, but what the hell, I’ll try to do my part to help.

July 16, 2009- From Me, in response to Michael G.

Hi Mike,
I am using a SoundMAX Integrated Digital HD Audio, driver version 6.10.1.5510.

July 17, 2009- From Michael G

Hello,
Where did you make the purchase through our site or through paypal? Did you use your information or purchase it under someone else’s name?

Kind Regards,
Michael

He still doesn’t know my name. And he is doubting that I even paid for the software. Of course, I did make this support request 7 weeks ago. But….I’m willing to prove that I did pay the company.

July 17, 2009- From Me, I send the receipt of my purchase

Hi Michael,
Please see attached for my receipt.

July 27, 2009- 10 days go by and there is no response. This is where I’m starting to get tired of this lets-pretend-we-care-but-ignore-him-until-he-stops-bothering-us tactic. I e-mail Michael F for some help with all the entire dialogue thus far.

Hi Michael,
I haven’t heard anything back from Michael G. Can you assist?

Thanks,
Michael

July 28, 2009- Michael G responds,

Hello,

As I said before this is simply a compatibility issue with you HD sound card, there is no current solution or fix, and I apologize. You should uninstall the plug-in and your sound playback will return.

Kind Regards,
Michael

Now we’re back to to that June 3rd response again- we can’t help. Period. Does he really know if my sound card doesn’t support it? How come it’s not documented on the site? Wouldn’t that be a lousy thing to do with your customers? Hey, let’s sell software that doesn’t run with certain soundcards, but not even tell people that so they can buy it, and THEN find out. But wait, this software already worked with this sound card before, almost for a year. Hmmmm.

Also, why’d he bother asking about my receipt- he didn’t give me any support, he just ignored me further.

So, at this point, it’s like BS.

July 28, 2009- Me, to Michael G

Hi Michael,

As I mentioned before, SRS was working for me for nearly a year. I didn’t change the sound card, the OS, or the laptop, so it doesn’t seem conceivable that there’s just now a compatibility issue.

I appreciate any help, but I don’t feel like SRS is really interested in working with me to figure this out. With the answer you’re giving me, it feels more like I’m being ignored and brushed aside rather than you truly know this is the issue.

-Michael

July 29, 2009- From Michael G

Hello Michael,

I apologize that you feel that way. It’s just that usually in these particular situations, the problem is has to do with the HD sound cards. Could you please further explain how exactly it stopped working for you, it was hard to indentify what the problem exactly was in this thread. I can try to look into it further and see if we can identify any other problems or possible fixes, if not like I said the only remaining option that we have found for HD fixes is to uninstall. If that’s the case I’d be obliged to offer a full refund of course.

Kind Regards,

Michael

We are going around in circles at this point. I have run a Customer Service department before (not to brag, it’s just a fact), and I know how people normally ask for requests. Normally, you have people giving no information whatsoever about the issue, they just assume you can figure it out for them. I had at least tried to be open and very upfront with all the information I knew in the very first request, and even added additional info as I kept trying to find the solution. I was even willing to answer more questions about the issue. In his response, Michael G is just trying to put this issue back on me in a passive manner, yet he doesn’t have a specific question about what (“Could you please further explain how exactly“) I wrote before, which implies that 1) he doesn’t care 2) he didn’t read it.

July 29, 2009- My final response:

Hi Michael,

Here was the original support request:

Message: A few days ago I downloaded 1.9.0.4 to upgrade over 1.9.0.1. Even though under the Sound applet in Control Panel, it shows SRS working (the application also says it is working without errors), there is no sound. I have checked to make sure the volume is up, the sound is not muted, but there is no sound whatsoever. Once I change the default sound back to the Soundmax, however, sound is there again. While SRS before worked with no problems, the new version doesn’t work at all. I also don’t have 1.9.0.1 anymore to reinstall. I have uninstalled the new version before reinstalling, tried resetting the system to make sure the audio drivers are in place- none of that works. Again, everything from the Vista standpoint is working- everything reports that sound is playing back, but it is not. If I switch to the default sound, everything works fine, but obviously SRS doesn’t work. What can I do?

As I said above, when I run SRS, it believes it is working. The sound meters go up normally, but there is no sound. Once I disable the software and switch it back to the sound card, everything is ok. I am not running any additional sound software. Also as I have mentioned before, before upgrading, SoundMax worked fine ever since I bought, 0 problems.

Since then, I have switched to Windows 7 Beta, build 7100, in hopes the error would be solved, but it has not. Under Windows 7, I am using SoundMAX Integrated Digital HD Audio driver version 6.10.1.5510 on a Lenovo T61P.

Please let me know how I can clarify this further for you.

Thanks,

Michael

Today is August 8th, 10 days after the last contact. No response. I’m not going to even bother e-mailing back. I suppose SRS will be happy now, they’ve gotten me to drop it.

I’m just going to post it on this blog and e-mail http://consumerist.com/, and if I’m lucky and this is kind of a big deal, they’ll pick it up.

©2009 I Spit Hot Fire. All Rights Reserved.

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