Buying Things

[DzM]

I don't really need more stuff but if you have a direct paypal deposit link I'd donate.

I'd never say No to people that want to send me moneys just 'cause. You can send whatever you like via PayPal to: dzm@dzm.com

[territa]

Gee, that was fun

Quite, although I have to say it would be helpful if the so-called Associates link had an easily accessible place on Medusa, to save the inevitable frustrating Search for the link in the future.

I'm working on it.

For now, here's a high-level link that can be used to take you to the music section at the various Amazon geographies:

• Germany
• France
• Japan
• UK
• Canada
• USA

[Doktor Avalanche]

Well, I've been wanting to buy the reissues for quite a while now and this got me to "just do it." I bought the first four today and hope you get credit where credit is due, DzM.

Thanks and good luck.

[firehazard]

I don't really need more stuff ...

I don't need more stuff, but I will inevitably get more stuff... And I'll try and remember to use the Medusa link for it. Good work, DzM.

[DzM]

More On Buying Things

It seems that Amazon requires different affiliation for each geography. This means that if anyone was being totally awesome and using one of my links to order stuff from a NON USA-based Amazon over the weekend (or Monday), then I didn't get kickback from that. But I will now if you cancel your order and then submit it again AFTER following one of the links at the beginning of this thread, or from the shopping page (http://pogues.com/shopping.html).

So - You know - If you feel like it.

Thanks gang! You're all stars.

[Irishbookish]

So...if someone wanted to buy my book from Amazon, for instance, and they used your high level link then clicked across to books/games/whatever, it would still serve the intended purpose?

[DzM]

So...if someone wanted to buy my book from Amazon, for instance, and they used your high level link then clicked across to books/games/whatever, it would still serve the intended purpose?

As far as I know, yeah.

I'm not real positive when Medusa stops getting kickback (whether it's time based, or navigation away based, etc). But I do know that for a period of time after following one of those links, Medusa gets kickback (I know this for certain because we got kickback for some Avery printer labels that I KNOW I didn't link to ).

I highly encourage all of you to buy appliances and televisions. And computers. And that Kindle thinger. And (for USA users) the Amazon MP3 service. By buying things you make the terrorists lose.

[LittleCupcakes]

Quite, although I have to say it would be helpful if the so-called Associates link had an easily accessible place on Medusa, to save the inevitable frustrating Search for the link in the future.

I have set the link through the affiliate to Amazon as a "Favorite"/"Bookmark". After you find the appropriate link here on Medusa, simply "right click" the link and select "Add to Favorites". You can rename the link if you want, and then you simply need to use your "Favorites" as you normally would, and the affiliate link will be there. This was on Windows, by the way, but think it should work similarly on other OS.

[DzM]

The entire Filthy Lucre page is also linked to from the front page of Medusa (toward the bottom, where we talk about merchandise). And eventually it will be linked to from the footer at the bottom of each page too.

[IrishRover]

as oi last saw oin coinderbloick, the place(coiuntry) where oim jaoiled at, well.. noiw oits not even loisted tois' no suproise foir me; oi recall oin the past that oi had to oirder Pogues t-shoirts throiugh Amazon, all the way froim USA.. thats hoiw oi managed to get em' .. oim the proiud oiwner of Spew black & Devoil foightoin' green

[Aine]

the tracks are encoded at 256k variable bit rate (read: "High Quality Encoding"), and the tracks are all in non-DRM-encumbered MP3 format.
Thanks for your cooperation, and thanks for your support!

Ah, yes, the ol' "non-DRM-encumbered MP3 format. I have no idea what that means, but I could swoon if a good looking guy said that to me.

[DzM]

the tracks are encoded at 256k variable bit rate (read: "High Quality Encoding"), and the tracks are all in non-DRM-encumbered MP3 format.

Ah, yes, the ol' "non-DRM-encumbered MP3 format. I have no idea what that means, but I could swoon if a good looking guy said that to me.

Let me just nudge up the taped-glasses here...

DRM stands for Digital Rights Management. It's a mechanism used for most online multimedia content (music, video) that restricts whether you can copy the data, play it on more than one device, etc. When you buy something from iTunes Music Store, that media is DRM-encumbered and restricts how you use what you've bought. When you buy a non-DRM-encumbered media file then you can use it anywhere you like, as much as you like, as long as your equipment understands the format.

Think of one as the vendor controlling what you can do with something you bought, and the other as you controlling something you bought.

[Aine]

the tracks are encoded at 256k variable bit rate (read: "High Quality Encoding"), and the tracks are all in non-DRM-encumbered MP3 format.

Ah, yes, the ol' "non-DRM-encumbered MP3 format. I have no idea what that means, but I could swoon if a good looking guy said that to me.

Let me just nudge up the taped-glasses here...

DRM stands for Digital Rights Management. It's a mechanism used for most online multimedia content (music, video) that restricts whether you can copy the data, play it on more than one device, etc. When you buy something from iTunes Music Store, that media is DRM-encumbered and restricts how you use what you've bought. When you buy a non-DRM-encumbered media file then you can use it anywhere you like, as much as you like, as long as your equipment understands the format.

Think of one as the vendor controlling what you can do with something you bought, and the other as you controlling something you bought.

Damn, not only do you know what it means, but you can explain it to the rest of the world, taped-up glasses or not!
Really, quite interesting. Thanks

[DzM]

Damn, not only do you know what it means, but you can explain it to the rest of the world, taped-up glasses or not!
Really, quite interesting. Thanks

But did you swoon?

(Incidentally - there's nothing intrinsically wrong with the concept of DRM. The problem shows up in the way things break. All the devices that use the file have to understand the DRM, and be authorized to use the media. This means the vendor gets to know what you're authorized, etc. For example, iTunes Music Store permits you to play your media on up to five devices/computers (I think), etc. The bigger problem comes in when the DRM schema requires that the DRM client (something you run on your computer or device) is required to communicate with a vendor operated server to "re-authorize" itself periodically. There have been at least two well publicized situations where a vendor has decided that a business it was in was not profitable and decided to turn off the servers that provide that authentication. All the customers that had bought their media through those services suddenly lost access to their purchases and were, in effect, screwed. Kind of like if the record store you bought your CDs from could send you a letter saying "Next week all of the CDs you purchased through us will stop working. Sorry about that. Bye!" and, a week later, the CDs just magically stopped making noise when plonked into the players that used to work.)

[Aine]

Damn, not only do you know what it means, but you can explain it to the rest of the world, taped-up glasses or not!
Really, quite interesting. Thanks

But did you swoon?

(Incidentally - there's nothing intrinsically wrong with the concept of DRM. The problem shows up in the way things break. All the devices that use the file have to understand the DRM, and be authorized to use the media. This means the vendor gets to know what you're authorized, etc. For example, iTunes Music Store permits you to play your media on up to five devices/computers (I think), etc. The bigger problem comes in when the DRM schema requires that the DRM client (something you run on your computer or device) is required to communicate with a vendor operated server to "re-authorize" itself periodically. There have been at least two well publicized situations where a vendor has decided that a business it was in was not profitable and decided to turn off the servers that provide that authentication. All the customers that had bought their media through those services suddenly lost access to their purchases and were, in effect, screwed. Kind of like if the record store you bought your CDs from could send you a letter saying "Next week all of the CDs you purchased through us will stop working. Sorry about that. Bye!" and, a week later, the CDs just magically stopped making noise when plonked into the players that used to work.)

You know, I did swoon. This whole DRM thing is fascinating. Never did I think just stuff would be interesting, and in large part that's because no one has ever made it remotely comprehensible. It does, though, tend to enhance somewhat my ever-increasing despair with certain aspects of technology and people in general.

Are you willing to tell us any more about the "well-publicized situations:?