cimo Posted December 22, 2007 Report Share Posted December 22, 2007 hi phineushave you considered building a little checking circuit and testing them ?don t wanna be negative or anything... ;)simone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpmacklin Posted December 22, 2007 Report Share Posted December 22, 2007 The softpots arrived yesterday and they look great. I will be packaging them up over the next week or so as time allows. I'm tempted to wait until after the XMas rush is over to send them out...Good to hear. Take your time, the holiday is already enough of a rush. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phineus Posted January 4, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2008 The softpots went out yesterday. Most went in shipping tubes, a couple went in multiple padded envelopes with a plastic stiffener. Let me know when you get them! Note, I wrapped batches of 5 strips together with "invisible" scotch tape. It peels right off the strips, don't worry. I actually use this removable tape all the time on my prototypes - it holds things together nicely then comes off easily with no residue. One time I used some packing tape to hold things together and though it was much stickier and held longer it did leave some residue, but that came right off with some alcohol - my point is the strips are super-durable and clean easily.I noticed towards the end of packing them up that a couple had very minor nicks in the surface. I hadn't noticed this before but I held these out from the remaining batches. If you got one of the nicked strips (I'm talking barely noticeable little dents) and it bothers you please let me know and I'll replace it with a perfect one. It think it might be that they put the units into the package before they were entirely cured or something, and the crimped-on ends left little edge dents on a couple of adjacent pots. I only point it out because I was surprised to see it - they are usually flawless.I'm now taking orders on full Stribe Prototype kits as well as sub-kits. Come over to the Stribe Project Forum and check it out:http://www.soundwidgets.com/smf/Once I get 10 paid kit pre-orders I can go ahead and start ordering boards and parts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amp1ron Posted January 7, 2008 Report Share Posted January 7, 2008 I just received my share of the softpots. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phineus Posted January 8, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2008 :(Well, PayPal "limited" my account, right in the middle of my first round of Stribe kit orders. Apparently something about how I did the group buy for the softpots struck them as "suspicious" and they froze my account, pending... god knows what, they won't tell me. I have uploaded every form of information I can think of and faxed them a bank statement and written a long e-mail explaining of what I'm doing. Apparently they will review my case within the next 3-5 days and let me know if they need more information.In scouring the web I have come across dozens of sites filled with scary stories about people getting screwed out of their money for good, in exactly the way I just described. Apparently PayPal just keeps asking for more information over and over and won't tell you why until you give up or hire a lawyer. They figure no-one will hire a lawyer over a couple grand, so they just keep the money and everyone goes home. A few of these are anonymous testimonials from people who apparently worked for PayPal.If this turns out to be true I will be very very sad.Anyone been through this? Should I start saving up to buy the kit parts out-of-pocket? Just hold tight? The timing couldn't be worse. I really just can't believe it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilba Posted January 9, 2008 Report Share Posted January 9, 2008 That really sucks.I have also read a lot of horror stories about PayPal freezing accounts and sucking money out of bank accounts without permission... I thought they had stopped all their shonky practices but obviously not. I live in perpetual fear that PayPal might steal my money, before or after I put it back into my bank account. :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amp1ron Posted January 9, 2008 Report Share Posted January 9, 2008 :(Well, PayPal "limited" my account, right in the middle of my first round of Stribe kit orders. Any chance it's just that they couldn't verify some of your info? I see my Stribe kit payment seems to have gone through, but looking at the order details on paypal I see this:Business Contact InformationCustomer Service URL: http://woundwidgets.com/smf/You've accidentally misspelled soundwidgets.I hope paypal gets their act together.In a couple of days, if you've not got your account back, let me know if you want me to email them and say since the vendor (you) has had their account limited, I either want them to restore your account or that I want my money back. If they choose to return my money, I'd then send you a check or send the money however you want. I won't send them such email unless you give me the go ahead.Is there some other kind of pressure that can be put on paypal to get them to give you your account back? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phineus Posted January 9, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2008 ;D Restored! After finally getting an e-mail address out of one of the phone reps I spoke with today (PayPal provides no place to actually type in an explanation, you can only upload images, or fax them. Literally, there's no place to type anything in.... I wonder why) I sent an impassioned note explaining my situation and some other stuff about integrity, trust, justice blah blah blah.In my e-mail, I mentioned (truthfully) that I am presently involved in evaluating on-line donation solutions for a mega non-profit. I wonder if that explains the sudden-ness of the restoration?FYI if you ever need it the e-mail address you write to is: appeal@paypal.comNow I'm trying to decide if I should switch to Google Checkout. Any thoughts?@Wilba: it's interesting, among the things I read about today was PayPal sucking money out of people's bank accounts for questionable reasons, then tying it all up in red tape. Also, apparently there is a feature you can get turned on (it is un-advertised) that does a "sweep" of your PayPal account each night and moves the cash to your bank account. You have to have your limits set high and get the right person on the phone, apparently.Sheesh, I was really worried. I was thinking I'd have to sell the dog or something to pay everyone back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilba Posted January 9, 2008 Report Share Posted January 9, 2008 *phew*PayPal sucks. Google Checkout is a good idea, less fees, infinitely more trustworthy. It's only for the U.S. and U.K. at the moment, not Australia, or I would change in an instant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phineus Posted January 9, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2008 Any players besides Google and PayPal who might be worth investigating? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAncientOne Posted January 9, 2008 Report Share Posted January 9, 2008 Any players besides Google and PayPal who might be worth investigating?This isn't easy. Most of the easily available merchant account providers are aimed at porn sites, and their rates are appropriate to this, (they get lots of chargebacks).We used Worldpay for tickets, but their annual renewal fee is £188 - way over the top for a small business.It might be worth having a word with your own bank - many of them are belatedly catching up with the idea of on line payments for the masses.We used to use 'Nochex' as well, though I haven't looked at them recently - they seem to have fizzled out a bit as an ebay payment scheme - I can't think of the last time I used them.I do think Paypal are trying to clean up their act - they asre mainly US based and as such are ripe for a class action suit if enough people get mad enough.In their defence, I have to point out that they are often the target of major auction + stolen card frauds, This is where crooks set up a load of auctions, 'buy' stuff with hijacked credit card info, then get the money out of Paypal and vanish before the system catches up with the rip off. There are sophisticated communities of 'carders' out there, engaged in the gathering and selling of credit card info. I think Paypal's detection software is a bit 'hair triggered', and coupled with a lack of investigatory staff causes lots of problems. In their earlier days, some of the problems were alleged to be internal, but there isn't much in the way of proof, just statements by ex staff, who possibly might have their own agenda. On the balance, I feel far happier using PayPal for buying than selling.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAncientOne Posted January 10, 2008 Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 Pots arrived today - excellent packing BTW. Thanks Phineus.I'm going to try them with one of the Limor Fried, (LadyAda) "MIDIsense" boards I built, though I night need a small code hack to compensate for the 'finger off' state.The MIDIsense works well with LDR's by the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cimo Posted January 15, 2008 Report Share Posted January 15, 2008 hi phineuspostman knocked at the door, soft pots received.Thanks, excellent packaging.Simone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cimo Posted January 27, 2008 Report Share Posted January 27, 2008 hiis anybody working on a code for these pots, to overcome the last value issue?simone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonMaster Posted January 27, 2008 Report Share Posted January 27, 2008 I'm not as I've done zero programming so far, but I think that the "wiper" contact disconnects itself completely from the resistive trace when the SoftPot is released, so it looks like it would be quite easy to build a software or hardware solution. It simply has to hold the value when there's no more contact. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phineus Posted February 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2008 Yes you just need to detect when it suddenly goes to zero and that is a release. You can interpret that however you like in firmware or software. Keep track of the cycles and set threshholds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaicen Posted March 11, 2008 Report Share Posted March 11, 2008 Anybody here got a spare softpot?? I'd very much like to get my hands on one!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLP Posted March 11, 2008 Report Share Posted March 11, 2008 Anybody here got a spare softpot?? I'd very much like to get my hands on one!!hehe... ;D...how much are you willing to pay ;D ;D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaicen Posted March 11, 2008 Report Share Posted March 11, 2008 Ermm,in short, not much!! I guess something like £5 would be ok?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phineus Posted April 5, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2008 Just an update to anyone reading this thread from the beginning - the prices quoted at the beginning are long gone. This low price was a one-time deal. Now the price to me is higher (due to some shenanigans on another site) and the final price to the buyer is $16.95 USD each for a 170mm softpot. I wish it was cheaper. :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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