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Tangents

review: Adobe tech support, re Lightroom 4

March 6, 2012

My initial experience with Adobe LightRoom 4 … I’m not impressed so far

With Lightroom 4 being released today, I paid for the upgrade and shortly after, I received my confirmation email, as well as the download link. Yay! I install it, and am then asked for the serial nr. Okay, none of the previous serial numbers work. I check the email again, and it says:

For your records, we have included your serial numbers below.
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4 (Mac/Win,English)
Contact Customer Service

A phone call later to Adobe Tech Support, during which I had to punch in numbers for the various options, the automated phone service of Adobe hangs up on me because they are apparently overwhelmed with tech service calls. The recorded voice says I should use the chat feature on Adobe’s site.

So here we go. I log into my Adobe account, and start the chat thingy with Adobe Support. I enter the details of my problem, including my Adobe account email address; my Lightroom 4 order number. All the necessities. Eventually, someone from Adobe pops up on the chat screen.

A few minutes later, with the Adobe person asking me the same stuff again with slow, automated responses, we end up here:

Soni: I understand that you are trying to locate the serial number. Am I right?

Neil van Niekerk: are you actually asking a real question, or stalling for time because you are handling 50 chat screens ?

Soni: Yes.
Soni: I will be glad to help you with this issue.

Neil van Niekerk: I asked a two-part question .. and your reply is yes ?

Neil van Niekerk: yes, you are just stalling and working on 50 different screens ?

Soni: Yes you are right.

Yup, that’s the copy and paste from the chat window.

The upshot of this all is I have to wait another 24-48 hrs for the serial number to appear in my Adobe account.

When I asked why I would have to wait when it appears that other photographers who I know that downloaded it immediately got their serial number, the chat conversation ended with this gem:

Soni: We are facing some technical issues in accessing the records and data and I am sorry to say that I am unable to servce you at this moment.

Shit, I already got *that* message, Adobe.

But there is some light relief at the end of this tunnel:

Soni: I am sure you will be able to view the serial number after 24 hours.
Soni: Are we still connected?
Neil van Niekerk: of course.
Neil van Niekerk: I am waiting 24 to 48 hours.
Soni: Thank you.
Soni: If you are not able to get the serial number within 24 hours please contact back to us.
Neil van Niekerk: it’s okay. I’ll wait. I’ve already invested 2 hours in this. I may as well wait another 22.
Soni: Neil, However, if you do not respond soon, this chat session gets terminated automatically.
Neil van Niekerk: I did respond!
Soni: Yes.

So, that’s my Lightroom 4 experience so far. FML

(And yes, I know I can already use LR4 now with the 30-day trial.)

       Comments (31)

 

 

this image has been lifted from ..

July 19, 2011

In an attempt to deal with some persistent plagiarism and reposting of my work on other sites, I’ve [temporarily] disabled hot-linking of images from my site.

If this somehow affects your viewing of the images in the various articles, please let me know here via a comment, so that I may have a clearer idea of the implications of that.

Sorry if this has inadvertently affected anyone.

       Comments (54)

 

 

Dino Direct – image theft and blatant misrepresentation

February 24, 2011

Dino Direct – image theft and blatant misrepresentation

update: March 04, 2011
I have added the PDF screengrab of the page where DinoDirect was using my images without my consent … because when I confronted them about it on their Facebook page, they removed the page, and are acting dumb about it. Trying to appear innocent. As if.

Someone let me know today, Feb 24, that they had discovered some of my images on the website of Dino Direct. Apparently it is a company that distributes all kinds of electronic goods, including video lights. Dino Direct took it upon themselves to appropriate three of my images; crop out my logo; and add their own logo. Blatant theft of my images.

But worst still, they are misrepresenting themselves with those images …

(more…)

       Comments (53)

 

 

quintessentially inappropriate

March 1, 2009

Some sayings in photography are thrown out there so often that they’ve achieved a life of their own, and become truisms that are summarily accepted and then perpetuated. 
Here they are - the 10 most annoying platitudes in photography …

Actually, I was going to name this post clichés in photography, but that would imply visual clichés. But tastes differ too widely, and I wouldn’t want to be the Style Police and dictate to other photographers which subjects and approaches are deemed cool. Besides, I think the world could always use more photos of pretty girls sitting on train tracks.

So here they are – things that make me grind my teeth:

1.   ”you have to know the rules to break the rules”
2.   “the camera is only a tool”  /  ”it’s the photographer, not the camera”
3.   ”zoom with your feet”
4.   either / or  debates
5.   circular reasoning in order to rationalize something
6.  “fake it until you make it”  /  ”but everyone started somewhere”
7.   the superiority of film because of some mystical qualities
8.   B&W = art
9.   ambient light purists
10. “don’t worry how it looks now, just fix it in Photoshop later”

And here’s why … (more…)

       Comments (49)

 

 

i will like to Make an enquiry

July 15, 2008

Photographers are more and more becoming the target for scammers and con artists.  The latest trick for them is to book the photographer for a date, and then pay via bank guaranteed check or via credit card. The scam comes into play in that they over-pay, and then ask for a refund of that portion of the money.  The bank guaranteed check of course is fake, or the credit card they used is stolen.  And the end result is that the photographer who is naive enough to fall for this, is out of pocket by whatever amount they refunded to the scammers.  

Here’s an example of an email I received last week:

(more…)

       Comments (18)

 

 

Protected: my entire website has been ripped off!

September 1, 2007

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