ifenn's dashboard

We changed our name! AXLIB can be found at http://groups.google.com/group/axlib – ifenn, on April 06, 2009 10:57

I'm not sure what you mean by 'implement my own stencils'... With AXLIB we've essentially done just that - we've created a collection of masters made up from widgets and images where appropriate. Do you mean import stencils from another program, perhaps? – ifenn, on April 06, 2009 10:57

It looks like my paid backups to Crashplan Central haven't been running either. I can't help thinking that Crashplan has sold their original paying customers out by offering the ad-supported version. We didn't have problems like this before. I can't even backup locally due to this authentication issue.

I've been getting this problem repeatedly over the past three hours. Annoying as I've got five PCs to setup and I can't do anything due to this error.

Diane, I have replied to your message and await your reply. Many thanks. – ifenn, on December 01, 2008 21:40

Case confirmation code 00D0hgdL.50001od2e. My complaint is that I've paid a lot of money for book downloads only to discover that book downloads are limited to two over a period of several months. And this wasn't evident from the free trial. Others have suggested that I could have joined the cheaper Safari plan and paid for the book downloads that I want for less than the cost I paid for the library subscription. Would like to know if that's true. – ifenn, on December 01, 2008 18:02

I'm still awaiting a reply from customer-service@safaribooksonline.com - this is very poor.

Hi,

Just thought I'd highlight that I emailed customer-service@safaribooksonline.com as requested yesterday and am still awaiting a response more than 24 hours later.

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Ian

Thanks for the clarification. However, this still means I'd need to wait four months to download a book I'd like to obtain NOW. It also means that the table should be updated to show 'Full Book Download - One every three to four months'. – ifenn, on November 26, 2008 19:40

Hi John,

Amending the 'Free Trial Details' content doesn't solve the issue, unfortunately. I think the effect would be neglible. For a start, the link appears beneath the fold and after a strong call to action, i.e. 'Click CONTINUE to choose the subscription plan that is right for you...'

You hope I enjoyed my Safari trial. Well, the truth is that I didn't experience the trial for very long. When I found I couldn't download the books as promised, I swiftly subscribed to the full service thinking that this would solve the problem. Sadly it did not, hence my email here. – ifenn, on November 26, 2008 16:57

Hi Tim,

Thanks for the lengthy reply. I must admit I _was_ surprised when I was mislead by this. I've sat next to you at conferences and follow you religiously on twitter. I believe you to be a jolly nice fellow and have faith in O'Reilly as a company to follow your lead.

However...

1) The title of the left-hand column is 'Which Safari is right for you?', not 'Which Safari TRIAL is right for you?'. The fact the table relates to the Safari plans is further underlined at the table where it says, 'Click continue to choose the subscription plan that is right for you.'

2) I appreciate you say you can save tokens, but that my understanding is that tokens expire after 90 days. If that's the case, then I wouldn't be able to gain enough tokens to purchase the books I'm looking at, which are listed as 20 tokens or more. Furthermore, waiting four months to download a single title I'd like to get my hands on NOW just isn't practical.

So, to download the books I'm interested in, I need to purchase, at two dollars a pop, further tokens. (In other words, it's not possible to download those books in full with the Safari library subscription alone.)

I do appreciate your explanation of how Safari works. However, it was the promise that I could download full books that got me hooked and not the online access to titles, which I could do without.

I should add that I already posses in print form the books I wish to download. It's just that carrying around a download would be much more convenient.

I have been a professional writer and I am sympathetic to publishers and fellow authors. I also appreciate your explanation that Safari is a joint venture. However, that shouldn't negatively impact on how I'm treated as a consumer.

My previous loyalty as an O'Reilly customer and my past enthusiasm for its books just isn't being rewarded or maintained here. :-(

All the best,

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Ian

It's funny reading my post from months back. Little did I know that months later I'd be participating in the production of a design pattern library for Axure RP.

Loren, I'm grateful for the mention but just a small addition:

AXLIB is an open source initiative to create a robust library of design patterns for use with Axure RP. While Luke Perman and I created and currently manage the library, we do see it as a community-driven initiative and could see others manage it in future. So, while we're grateful for the personal credit, we'd prefer if the library were just known as AXLIB to reflect the community ownership. :-)

Also, the project homepage is cuurently http://groups.google.com/groups/axlib - I'd prefer it if this address could be used as it may encourage people to contribute to the project.

Thanks to the kindness of David Travis from Userfocus Ltd, the 960px Grids will be absorbed into version 1.1 of AXLIB due out later this month.

All the best,

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Ian

Is it not worth the effort if you can get a decent partner in the UK? The only reason I ask is that quite a few people in the UK have asked me about both books who don't want to pay the USA->UK postage and who aren't interested in the ebook versions. I do think you have an untapped market here. How big, I don't know...

Well, there was a case of books at Indi's workshop in Brighton. I assume (and hope) that she didn't carry it in her flight luggage. :-) So, you've already done the first part of the process once?!

Lou, It looks like that won't be necessary. If I click on the download link for the Web Forms order, I'm then given download links for both books. So, all is good, if a little complicated. :-)

It seems that my order of Mental Models is also missing from my order history. But I guess it's no big deal - I'm happy to contact Louis directly should I need another download of my electronic copy.

Given Rosenfeld Media's reputation, a local distribution problem does seem to be most likely. Mech, I'd be complaining to the Singapore postal service if I were you.

How about sending a case of books to the UK and then using an agent to post them locally?