heavyharmonies

You know, the poll creation, the fast reply, and the smilie selection all use JavaScript. Do you have JavaScript disabled or are you using some ancient web browser?...

C'mere snoogums...

Zzzzz..... waiting for the return of Jericho. In the meantime I'll ogle Summer Glau in the Sarah Connor Chronicles...

Nah...

Well, there is one area where an "English only" policy would make my life easier: moderating the comments on the main site. I frequently get emails from people complaining about what others have written: insults, profanity, etc. That's all fine and dandy, and usually I deal with it with a minimum of effort. Then there are the emails I receive that are written entirely in Spanish from someone on the site complaining about what another Spanish speaker has written. Even using translators, it is a royal pain in the ass to (1) figure out what the complaint is, and (2) verify the veracity of the complaint, and then (3) communicate to the offending party the nature of the transgression. Not having a working knowledge of Spanish, I have no idea what may or may not be said in those comments, which leaves me a little hinky about the whole deal, in the event that threats are bing made, cyberstalking, etc. I'm not at the point yet of adopting an "English Only" policy, but it's getting there... I really feel I should be erring on the side of caution... -Dan

You're never going to see perfect translation software due to idiomatic and contextual differences across languages. What's out there now is not likely to improve appreciably within the near future...

Hmmm.... Since many of the complaints seem to be regarding consecutive comments on the same CD from the same party, do you think it would help if I doubled the character limit per message from 500 to 1000 characters? (There has to be a limit of some sort). -Dan

Take What You Want was never released outside of Japan? Since when? -Dan

C'mon, man... don't sugarcoat it... tell us what you REALLY think!

Fuck reality TV. I absolutely abhor it. Amazing Race, Survivor, Big Brother, American Idol, they all suck. The only ones I can deal with are "The First 48" and "Cold Case Files" on A&E (and those are moreso documentaries than reality TV). In the beginning, so-called "reality TV" was shows like "Cops" where things were not scripted, but rather real-life events. Now it's all scripted garbage putting people in unrealistic circumstances and seeing how ridiculous and over-the-top humans can act. I'll stick with CSI and Law & Order reruns any day of the week... -Dan

I watched. The acting of Sarah Connor is a bit over the top, but the female terminator (Summer Glau from Firefly/Serenity) is an absolute hottie... -Dan

http://www.heavyharmonies.com/cgi-bin/2007best.cgi

Actually, that's not entirely true. If you are purchasing coverage from a legitimate 3rd-party insurance company, it is perfectly fine to pass that on to the customer. The problem is those sellers that "self insure." Theoretically, they are putting aside any amounts paid for insurance into a pool or fund to cover any prospective claims; they are not actually purchasing coverage from another company. The problem with this approach is twofold: 1. Some sellers abuse it, charging the buyer for insurance, pocketing the money, and never paying out even on valid losses. In that case it is fraud. 2. There is some interpretation in certain states that any selling of insurance requires being a licensed insurance agent, which eBay sellers most likely are not, hence it is illegal to self insure (whereas if you use 3rd party insurance, *that company* is the agent since they are writing the policy, not you as the seller). Then there's the issue of charging for insurance and how to do so. Some sellers make insurance optional (in which case most buyers won't pay for it). Some sellers make insurance a mandatory additional charge (which alienates some buyers since they don't want to or think they should have to pay the additional cost). Ultimately, insurance protects the seller not the buyer, since the shipper has contracted with the carrier for delivery. The best way to handle it is to incorporate it into your base shipping and handling charge. "Shipping and handling includes insurance." Easy. Concise. No wiggle room. No options. Or if you wanted to take a page from Marketing 101: "Shipping and handling includes free insurance coverage!" which of course it does not. As with anything you purchase, freebies aren't free... they're subsidized by the price of the things you *are* paying for. -Dan

Trying to figure out what you, as a seller need to do, in order to be protected, is a pain, as is trying to figure out what to charge so you're not ripping off the buyer. I literally spent hours trying to figure out the best combination of shipping methods, delivery confirmation, insurance methods, and valuation tiers for both domestic and international shipping. Since the new USPS rates took effect, small light packages are MORE expensive to ship within the U.S. than outside of the U.S., but over about 6 ounces in weight, international packages have gone up DRAMATICALLY in cost. As a seller, you cannot depend on PayPal's seller protection policy. You *MUST* insure for your own protection. For international shipping, this means using a 3rd-party insurance company, as USPS will not allow you to insure 1st Class International, only Priority and above. Registered Mail is NOT considered "proof of delivery" by PayPal, so it is absolutely worthless in protecting against unwarranted chargebacks. Then you get into situations with the maximum insurance limits. This is less an issue with CDs, but I run into this selling coins all the time. The maximum I can insure a parcel for with my DSI contract is $200, which means that above that amount I pretty much have to send by Global Express Mail (for the tracking number which will conform to PayPal's SPP). Do you have any idea how insane it is to pay $25-30 to ship a package that weighs only 2 ounces? Yes, as Iordan mentioned, Registered Mail is obscenely expensive here in the U.S. compared to other countries. I routinely receive Registered Mail packages from other countries where the sender only paid $1-3 extre for Registered Mail. When I tell people that Registered Mail will cost them $10.50 extra beyond the shipping costs, they think I'm ripping them off. No, the USPS is. I'm told the difference (supposedly) is that U.S. registered mail is literally under lock and key throughout the entire journey, logged in at each stop, whereas the security in other countries' registered mail is not at the same level. Whatever. It still costs too damned much. The only way to ship a package outside of the U.S. with any kind of tracking number that PayPal will consider to be valid is to ship by Global Express Mail, a minimum of $25. The number on customs forms is NOT a tracking number, and is useless. Same thing domestically with packages insured through the USPS. The numbers on the insurance tags, regardless of black (below $200 in value, no signature necessary) or blue (above $200, recipient must sign), are NOT tracking numbers and PayPal does NOT consider them valid proof of delivery. You must have delivery confirmation, and if the payment was $250 or more, signature confirmation. Here's a little-known fact that has screwed over a lot of people: Within the U.S., Registered Mail is the safest way to transport high-value merchandise. Registered Mail shipments can be insured up to $25,000. HOWEVER, if someone pays you with PayPal for a $5,000 item and you ship it Registered Mail, you *MUST* also purchase "signature confirmation" (which is entirely redundant), because PayPal (for whatever insane reason) does NOT consider Registered Mail tracking to be proof of delivery. Even if the Registered Mail tracking shows that the recipient took delivery and signed for the package, if you did not also purchase signature confirmation, you will auto-lose any chargeback filed against you. Logic has ZERO part in all of this. Enough of my rambling. The best thing to do is give you a link to one of my eBay stores listings, and you can see how I've set up my shipping and handling charges, both domestically and internationally. If you have questions as to why certain charges are what they are, I'll try to answer: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...me=STRK:MESE:IT -Dan

Hehehe... just got a message through eBay from this person wondering why they are blocked from purchasing from me. Aww.... too darned bad.

Playing devil's advocate, why were you expecting it to be shipped with "signature confirmation"? Hardly anyone ever ships low-value parcels with signature confirmation. The only time I ship with signature confirmation is when the value exceeds $250, which is the only time PayPal requires signature confirmation. Delivery confirmation, on the other hand, is standard for all PayPal shipments. Did you get an email from PayPal shipping that has the delivery confirmation number? What is the status when that number is tracked at USPS? If the delivery confirmation does NOT show that delivery was made, the seller should make good (that is what insurance is for). If the seller shipped it manually and did NOT pay for delivery confirmation, you will auto-win any chargeback for goods not received. -Dan

Spam filtering? My gmail account absolutely will NOT let me treat messages coming from the board as "not spam." I keep telling the spam filtering to allow messages from the board through, but nope... direct to spam. -Dan

Ehh? I though endangeredcds was koogles, not PJ... -Dan

Where does he say it's from his personal collection? I don't see this anywhere in the auction. I do know that people in Russia cannot sign up for PayPal, so in order for them to accept PayPal payments, they have to go through a secondary processor like CC Now. -Dan

Ok, I've officially exhausted my personal library with respect to adding audio clips to the site. Now I'm going to ask for assistance from those who wish to help out. Call it a challenge if you will. What I need: Any CD on the following record labels that doesn't already have samples on the site: 1. Frontiers 2. MTM 3. AOR Heaven/Metal Heaven 4. Perris 5. Retrospect 6. Retroactive No other labels please, as only the above labels have given their permission to post samples royalty-free. I've repeatedly emailed both Escape and Kivel, but gotten no response from either. The format: I need a direct CDR digital dupe of the original CD. No mp3s, it has to be an exact duplicate of the CD. Nothing needs to be labeled on the CDR other than the band name and CD name. No artwork or liner notes are needed, just the disc. Please send them to: Heavy Harmonies P.O. Box 17212 Urbana, IL 61803 USA Those who contribute to this effort will get their names (or board handles, your preference) added to the Site Contributors page. Please respond in this thread if you are supplying a certain album, so people don't inadvertently duplicate others' efforts. Thanks, and let's see how large we can make the audio samples library here at HH! -Dan

Just added some discs to the database along with audio samples, of some forthcoming Frontiers releases: Markus Grosskopf's Bassinvaders - Hellbassbeaters Khymera - The Greatest Wonder Leverage - Blind Fire Saint Deamon - In Shadows Lost from the Brave Work of Art - Artwork While I've only briefly sampled them thus far, there are some clear winners in that group. -Dan

Heh... Yeah, he and Boob are legendary around here...

Careful. Someone might take offense at the thread subtitle "Head Bangin' for Jesus"...

If it doesn't exist, then you can just recreate it... -Dan

The above is actually an edited version. The original is even more damning. From a list I'm on: