Hey Bill,
You updated that CD yet? I know it's only May but hey :D
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Hey Bill,
You updated that CD yet? I know it's only May but hey :D
I have all the original stuff done and revamped with changes and appearance. I'm working on the new information as we speak, including the videos. Last night I put in quite a bit of info in the section "How to Buy a Razor on Ebay".
It's getting there
Awesome Bill. We do the final shoot on my video series tomorrow. Now we can have dueling CD's.......
Lynn
Is there any chance that an "update cd" will be offered. You know, a cd that contains only the new info? Just asking as I'd like to pick up the cd, but don't want to replace it in two months. I'm sure lots of guys already own one of the first versions, maybe an "update only" copy at a lesser price than a full copy would do for the guys that already own it. Of course, I'm only suggesting it so I can buy mine sooner and still get in on all the new info.
Matt
Matt...
The original info is tied into the new info. Separating them would be a disaster. Then the people who don't have the first version would have to buy it in addition to just the update to have all the information. Not only that, but the original version has been edited with some current information and small additions here and there in the update.
Look at it this way. You won't be paying for the original information, just for a lot more information that comes on the update.
Are you trying to say that guys who spend $130 for a rock to sharpen a razor, or $400 for a TI or Wunderedge, or $65 on a rusted POS on eBay is going to worry about $25 for a CD packed full of useful information?
Don't buy the current one now, though. Wait a while.
Bill and Lynn, stereo CD's. Anyone else ?, we can have surround sound. :D
Can't wait for both releases, great stuff.
Gary
Actually mine shows only simple restoration techniques. I refer to Bills for more complicated work. I am showing part of my razor collection, talking about razors, ebay, honing/hones, stroppingstrops, mugs, soaps and of course a shave.
Have fun.
Lynn
I don't think they will be "dueling" CD's at all. I'm sure they will compliment each other nicely. I do go into some depth, using actual examples of auctions, when I talk about buying on eBay.
I only cover the surface of honing, with video, to give the restorer a complete package of restoration guidelines. On the first one, I made the incorrect assumption that everyone knew how. The new one is called...
"Bill's Straight Razor Restoration Guidelines"
Right now I am editing some stuff to keep from having to use 2 CD's to get all the videos on this update. Those take up a lot of room.
It might have been done by now had it not been for this new house thingie. We go for the walk-through this Friday and get keys on the 26th.
The pressure is on boys, who will be the first to market with their new CD :shrug:. We can hardly wait.
Bill, is it true that there's a "Buying on ebay" chapter on the new CD? If there is, will there be references on how to deal with (experienced?) sellers and their descriptive nomenclature?- i.e. (Mint, Near-Mint, Minty) Inquiring minds want to know!
Jim :cool:
Quote:
Originally Posted by urleebird
Hey, burn it to data dvd for those of us with dvd readers. Pour on the VIDEO! ;)
Seriously though, I'd rather have a DVD option with more video than keeping it to a single CD format. I'm a visual learner and have to read things dozens of times but can get it good with watching a video once or twice.
Think you can offer both?
Bill
Just a suggestion,you may be onto it already.
A few years ago I wrote a number of Theology books which were published,found that some people overseas were interested ,but due to publcation problems I could not get a distributor. So set up an ebay account with access via paypal and when people had paid..I sent an email link for download. Books were sitting on a server in image format,so when dowloaded they could be burned to CD.
Saves dist costs..and burning..mailing...disks/covers etc. Most people have reasonably fast internet access and those that choose this route will have a burner. Great if you are overseas and want quick delivery.
Cheap to host the files and very secure,with IP logging.
Again a lot of people will only want the CD in normal format,but maybe reduce your workload.
Trinity...
That sounds really good... there are some things I don't do only because I don't know how. I know the guys on THIS forum wouldn't do it, but what would keep one guy over on the other forum from sending the same email link to everyone he knew? Or selling the link himself. Or what would prevent the host server people thingie from selling it or using it how ever they see fit?
I'm a pretty trusting person, but don't know if I would trust someone else with all this info. One of the delays this time around has been to figure out a way to protect this CD from pirating and free distribution.
What's an IP logging? I am putting this together on Microsoft Front Page. Can those files work on what you are talking about? If I had to learn some new program, I'd be lost. Not to say I might already be lost... :(
IIRC, IP-logging means that once you make a payment, you can only donwload the disk image from your current IP. Therefore you can distribute that link to 50 people but you're the only one who can download it.
Creating a CD image is VERY easy. When using Nero, instead of selecting your CD/DVD burner, you select Image Recorder and it will create the disk image, which you can put on your server or just use it for making multiple copies of your CD/DVD.
I can't help you with posting your files online, but if you can't figure out the Nero part on your own, PM me, I'll give you my # and I'll help you with it.
Bill
You can protect a CD from duplication,software available..it puts an encryption on the cd which stops "most" people from ripping it off,the serious hacker would be able to break into it but bearing in mind the content its very unlikely...yours is a very niche market and not the sort of thing which would attract the normal cd hacker...
The download system is pretty secure.
1: Put image on server (ftp) which is secure and password protected,which only you can access.
2: When your customer makes payment,you issue the ftp password link by email.
3: Customer logs onto server using password,and starts download.
4: The server keeps a log of who is downloading..no of times etc and can be programmed for access or cutoff.
5:"one guy over on the other forum from sending the same email link to everyone " Each password given by you to your customer can be made to be used once,then discarded...so the link cannot be passed on. If your customer has a cutoff or interuption in download you can see it on the server,and allow them to start again until completion..it then blocks off that password link.
6:"Or selling the link himself" possible,but again the link is password protected for one download...IP logging means that ..every pc connected to the net has an individual address...the server keeps a note of who has downloaded by IP address.
7:Or what would prevent the host server people thingie from selling it or using it how ever they see fit? Let someone you trust,or do it yourself..the host server can sit on a pc running windows xp...or if you do use a host company,you control the ftp passwords etc,all they do is host your files..they cannot access your ftp account.
You can even encrypt your image file with passwords...so that even if the file is downloaded...in order to open...you would require another password.
So in basic terms your download ftp image etc can be encrypted,so only those paypal payees can get access to the file...so send a password to the ftp server once payment made. Then once they have downloaded...aother password is required to open the download...Just a matter of checking your ftp panels and see who has downloaded/when/how much/
If you need any help..pm me. Maybe worth setting up a trial server to see how it works...can do all this for you to start you off.
FiReSTaRT is correct about image's an image is a highly compressed single file of your cd...if your cd is say 2gb...imaging will reduce it to 700 (estimate) mb...without loss of quality etc...any decent burning software can open an image file and burn it back to the original size..if you decide to go the download route...image files will be easier to download,as it is a single file.
Or you can just burn the damn CD :D ;)
"Or you can just burn the damn CD "
True...Bill has his "intellectual rights" to protect and a cheap way of distribution.
Just making some suggestions on how to save him some money and time :)
From where I am standing, Bill has no way of protecting the copyrighted material, if it was interesting for broader population. There is no "uncrackable" software or hardware protection. But, given his byers demographic for this field of interest, I think he can rely on his public being "gentleman" enough not to mess with the material and not distribute his CD further.Quote:
Originally Posted by Trinity
Nenad
Agreed
"There is no "uncrackable" software or hardware protection."
"You can protect a CD from duplication,software available..it puts an encryption on the cd which stops "most" people from ripping it off,the serious hacker would be able to break into it but bearing in mind the content its very unlikely"
Dont know how I got into this....all I suggested that Bill may consider a download system....which is secure. I have used it and managed it numerous times. (Protection and encryption is very important to me,as I do work for an overseas NGO which is in a highly sensitive country)...any cd or file is breakable if you so wish,by using the suggestions in my post it just makes it more difficult. It was Bill himself that highlighted the potential difficulties in protection and distribution,so he must have his own worries on that score.
Again the secure download system may not suit everyone...their choice,personally I tend to buy software etc on the net,as it is cheaper and saves me the wait and a lot of software companies have realised the potential of giving the option of download or normal cd distribution.
"I think he can rely on his public being "gentleman" enough not to mess with the material and not distribute his CD further. " I agree but their are always individuals who will try and make a fast buck out of other peoples work...the last thing Bill would wish is to see his "book" on a P2P site like kazza/bittorrent. The core of his market are gentlemen who have a genuine interest in his work,but there will always be some who dont wish to pay the price. As I indicated before I published a number of Theolgy books a few years ago...which you would presume be for a limited "gentlemens" market...and certainly of no great interest to the general public,I later found my original drafts floating about various sources on the net...my publisher indicated that I (and him) lost a massive amount of potential sales solely due to this...a search on Google will bring up the original books....plus where to download for nothing on P2P sites. So even in my case of writing "Christian" academic theology books for a niche "gentlemans" market,became problematic.
Apologies for my rambles....early am here...no coffee...lecture in 60 min's and I have not shaved yet. :)
If I might offer my 2 cents in here too :)...
Online content distribution systems, as Trinity has mentioned, are cool and can be very useful. But imo, I think having a CD like before would be just fine. I mean, assuming the downloadable file is more or less a compressed CD image. That's still quite abit to download; and, would require a server with quite abit of bandwidth. That and having a CD is always very simple. Basically all you need to do is put it in and maybe double click something. I could say much more about online content distribution, good and bad, but I'll leave it at that.
The other thing I'd like to say is: Bill, you mentioned having some trouble keeping the video down to a size that kept it on 1 CD. Being the geek I am, I have experience with audio and video compression; and if you'd like, I could take a look to see if any more bits can be squeezed out of the video. I may also be of service in authoring the CD as well. So, if you want, PM me and I can see what might be done.
Honor system, good people and niche markets with honest customers aside:
U.S. Law provides 'fair use' copy privileges to a buyer. Thus programmers and distributors of copy protection breaking software aren't in jail. Each buyer has the legal right to make a copy of the original for backup, regardless of 'copyright protection' efforts.
CD/DVD copies are now being reported to only last 5 to 8 years, versus the 100 years originally expected. That's IF you DON'T scratch it up. I don't know about you guys but I breath near a CD and it's scratched. I Love MAAS. I've salvaged many expensive CD's with it and made my back ups so I can have a clean copy.
I'm not sure about the skill level of Bill's customer base (including the srp gang) but you don't have to be a genius to run the commercially, legally available software packages out there. Heck, I can even get software that will duplicate physical errors on a disk (another form of copy protection).
Decent disk/file protection software/hardware costs mucho dinero. Is this worth several hundred to several thousand dollars to protect a 25 to 35 buck disk or file that may or may not immediately pay for the 'copyright protection' investment?
Bill, if you choose to pursue copy prevention you'll have to do your homework and realize that there's always going to be a way around them. Most schemes only reduce the number of people who break them, and very few reduce the number of copies that get distributed because once it's copied that copy is no longer protected.
Bill,
I am a great fan of your CD. I was very happy receiving the envelope with the CD. The envelope has its special place, because I am very proud to have your "autogram".
In the meantime I have restored many old straights. Ten of them are in daily use.
So I am looking forward to your new one and hope it will come soon ... :)
Arnd
Many thanks for all of the suggestions. I am impressed, and I have learned from you. I know I will be contacting a few of you for further opinions and for the possible directions that I can take.
I know I wouldn't be able to stop anyone from making "illegal" copies, but I am hoping to make it a little harder for those who won't do for themselves because it is easier to leech from others.
I guess you could say that all I am interested in is locking the car doors and installing an alarm to prevent easy theft of the stereo system.
I think this is a very good strategy for your CD.
I work in an editors firm and we publish many CD's. Since we sell them to the government we do not protect the content in any way ... ;)
In october we will launch three CD for law-students. Since they copy erveryone and everything we decided to protect the content on a "normal " level with an unexpensive software. This is a clear signal for everyone that the stuff is protected and not everyone can manage to "get in". It is very near to your "car example".
Arguments abound, I'm sure. People pay for the CD because they want to see the money in your hands Bill. Copy protection only has to be broken once, then by the nature of digital information, it is copyable forever. Even Starforce (which is wicked nasty invasive. Worse than some Trojans) has workarounds.
Also, the argument exists that people who were going to steal it were never going to give you any money anyway. Despite what the record companys say, CD sales have not gone down. People still buy copies of Mary Shelly's "Frankenstein", even though it has been out of copyright for years.
Also, I run Linux, and many people run Mac OS. If whatever system of copy protection you use doesn't work for them, then they won't buy your CD. As much as I aspire to owning one of your razors one day, and as much as I'd like to see your skill and contribution to the community encouraged (in a real financial way), you can bet that if the CD doesn't run on my box, I'll be upset.
At the end of the day, copy protection doesn't stop anyone determined. The most invasive copy protections (which are the most effective) tend to only punish paying customers.
Electronic distribution is a valuable service (especially for those of us in Australia who are getting sick of paying so much for postage), and it is cheap and easy for you. Copy protection is a big, fat hassle and IMNSHO, not worth the effort.
Sorry for being a bit passionate, but it is something I feel very strongly about.
Also, Bill, you might consider an "upgrade" option. People can buy your CD now, for the full price, and upgrade for only $5 or some discounted price later. Since you have a list of your customers, it will be easy to work out who bought after the offer was made. This way you get paid and they get their new disks too. Everyone wins.
You can bet I'll be getting your disk (or hopefully file, damn postage!) as soon as I can. I'm a fan of your work and would enjoy the opportunity to learn the things you so willingly share.
Yours,
Daniel.
Well, I'll be buying the disk too if he ever gets it finished :p.
I've been holding off on several razor restorations because he told me to hold off on his CD til it was updated :rant: .
But I agree with you. Whatever copy protection used needs to be crossplatform friendly as I'm a Linux man myself, and also non-invasive :eek:
Glen F
Put me down for one
Regards Peter