I never needed to call customer service. When my phone broke I went down to the local Sprint store in Orem and they replaced it - twice - for free. I recently had my contract run out and I thought I would take advantage of upgrading to a new phone and get $150 discount by renewing. They have 30 day trials there, which I am gracious for because I wanted to find a phone that fit my needs/likes: and it was nice to know I could try a few. Initially I tried the HTC mogul, LG Musiq, and messed around with a few others. I didn’t quite like any of them so I took them back- and each time I was always using my old plan and the added data plan to it.

Finally they pitch me this “Samsung Instinct, the iPhone killer”. . . the new hotness. . . I double check- make sure I can do the 30 day trial, that I don’t have to buy a different plan, and that if I cancel I will still retain my old plan. With an annoyed looks, my ignorance cost their patience and the rep said in a pissed off tone, “Yeah…. of course…You’ve tried it 4 or 5 times now already, just figure it out and realize that’s how it’ll always be”.

I go to buy the phone, and guess what: I HAVE to buy a new plan. The rep who made me feel stupid was probably laughing inside when he asked, “which plan do you want? $89.00 plan?”… What?! Double what I am paying? .. ..needless to say, I had a debate right then and there. If it is a lot like the iphone, I could love it and only have to pay $100 for the phone and the plan is the same price as the iPhones. Also- this is my last attempt with Sprints phone selection before I stick to my old plan and just get a one of their freebie flip phones….besides, it’s just a trial anyway and I was curious. They sales reps tell me he’s sure I am going to love it, and blah blah blah. I double check that I can cancel and go back to my old plan within 30 days- and pull the trigger and buy it.

So when I decide I don’t like it? The Sprint store in Orem tells me I CAN’T go back to my old plan. No way- no how- their system is programmed that no matter what I do- I can’t have my old plan back even if I return the phone and cancel. I have to pick a new plan? For the same price as my old plan I had to choose a plan that had half of the services I was getting before. But, I am not in contract- but have to pick a new plan? They say the plan is ‘best for the company, an enhancement for more streamlined services’.

I made my decisions based on getting the plan back. I took a cheap plan and tried calling into customer service to see if they could help. Of course they gave me the ‘we upgraded our system’ BS and that I can’t go back. I mention I’ll likely cancel and I get nothing back and the call just became frustrating. If I would have been given clear and truthful information in the beginning, I would have not done the purchase trial of the Instinct- i would have just spent a lot of time in the store testing it out- but my old plan and my desire to stay with it was much higher than risking it on a $100 P.O.S. poor attempt at giving an alternative to the iPhone. Not to mention……. there were 4 or 5 other people at the store at the same time as me, returning their Samsung Instincts too!.

The Iphone 3g comes out not too much later, and I’ve been a very happy camper with Cingular/AT&T/Apple and I really do think my current phone is what I was looking for. AT&T has even proactively called ME 3 times since I signed up to ensure everything is working and to remind me of some benefits.

Share This

Share This

In November of 2007 I made a purchase of Guitar Hero II at a recently opened Best Buy. I paid by debit card and received my receipt as usual. As completely opposite to my expectations for that kind of an establishment, two weeks later I noticed in my online-banking account summary that I had two exact same amounts taken out of my bank for the Guitar Hero purchase at Best Buy. One was posted the same day of the actual purchase (this was charged as a regular debit) and one three days later (I later discovered this was charged as a credit card transaction, AND was dated the same day and time of my original Guitar Hero purchase).

I immediately called the store at the Best Buy in Nampa Idaho where this all took place to express my concern and get more details. They of course promised the manager would call me back very soon. It didn’t happen. Three days later I called back and asked for the Manager to get on the phone right then and there. I explained my situation and she said that she would “investigate it.” She didn’t call me back.

After a few days I, yet again, called back and asked for her by name. She said, “Oh, I will call you in one hour”. This I was naturally very skeptical of, based on past history. She did call me back a few hours later though and said that she had completed her investigation of it and found nothing out of the ordinary. I asked her what she had done specifically in the investigation to which she replied, “We counted the inventory and it came out as it should.” I erupted and said, “What?!!! Do you think that a double transaction for the same item isn’t worthy of doing some accounting investigation?! What is to stop an employee from taking one, when they know the inventory would be just fine?” She said, “Oh our employees would never do that.” Thinking, and knowing that’s absolutely ridiculous, I say “What planet do you live on?! Employee theft is the number one cause of shrink in a store – I work for a large retailer and employees do take money and products.” Well…… I never got anything from her but a denial and the runaround until she could end the phone call. No more investigation followed on BestBuy’s part..

So, I contacted my bank again (previously I had them explain the two transactions which as mentioned before were done at the same exact time – one debit and one credit) and they said that they would put that transaction on hold and would investigate. Two weeks later I got a resolution letter and a copy of just my debit transaction. I had explained to them what they should be looking for and they only provided one small piece, the debit receipt. I called them back and pushed for a supervisor - this call went into an foreign call center.

By now I have lost patience with the whole thing. I am frustrated. I am trying to find someone to just simply help me by either showing actual proof or realizing how easily recognizable this problem is. I explained that they need to get BestBuy to show me legal documentation (signature of a Master Card “credit” transaction would suffice) which should have been posted to the bank. Full well knowing they need to at least prove the two sales, they say “oh, we are sorry about the last investigation, we will do it thoroughly this time.” They again put my transaction in my account on hold.

About two weeks later I received an official letter from the bank that they were satisfied that I had made two purchases at Best Buy – one a debit and one a credit on the same day yes still didn’t provide me with anything other than lip service. Likely, it was yet again coming down to an ‘inventory count’.

I called up the bank and they refused to do any more work. They never provided me with a copy of a credit receipt with a signature which BestBuy requires for credit purchases. I called Best Buy and asked for a copy of my credit and debit transaction. Yet AGAIN, They only sent me a copy of the debit purchase. As far as they are concerned I purchased two guitar heroes but refused to do anything more for me.

So – as you are now gathering, I have truly gotten the royal run around- all co-ordinated by BestBuy. It seems SO obvious that there is a problem needing a legal resolution with had taken place, but I do not have the evidence I asked for, because they (best buy and/or my bank) won’t produce it. What ever they said to the bank made the bank go to their side: but why still leave the customer in the dark with ambiguous nonsense? Neither has produced a copy of my credit card transaction to at least resolve my part of the dispute.

I think that Best Buy has a very poor method of looking for an accounting problem and if any of their employee’s really catch wind, they could easily (if they don’t already) have some serious issues with employee theft via double charging a random shoppers card. Granted the store was newer so we can assume some stumbling blocks, but this whole thing with BestBuy was ridiculous. “Our inventory count matched our records.” Well of course it does and someone at that store is secretly laughing about how easy it was to get a Guitar Hero probably knowing full well you wouldn’t give a hoot.

I guess one would resort to small claims court, but I don’t have any evidence to prove my case at this point. I would need a lawyer and some subpoena’s to get to the bottom of it. Alas, it is not worth that type of effort and I am sure that this retailer and many others know this. What effort is it worth? Telling my story online. BestBuy sucks. If I had to review BestBuys overall service, it’s probably for family friendly for you to enter the expletives/4 letter words of your choice.

Share This

This is a basic how-to on ‘do it yourself’ t-shirt screening using the photo-emulsion method- and doing it with out breaking the bank. I really only intend to point the layman in the right direction. I will give you retailers, wholesalers, and brands of the products I have been using to try and make it as cost effective as possible. Sure, sure, you’ll find someone recommending higher quality products, or different process, but again- the idea is to make it cheap and cost-effective for small production (like.. a 101 class at college, but I’ll delete any comments by some 400 level student going around blogs on the inter-webs getting his jollies off telling people how what they do is ‘wrong’ or whatever ). I totally encourage suggestions and tips for the masses who are looking for this kind of tutorial. My method works pretty well for me, but even recently I am finding out more ways to improve my quality. Don’t forget- the second you plan on making hundreds of prints of the same design the hardware needs change, as well as over-all quality (if I could only qualify for bulk discounts).

T-shirt screening is basically the process of getting a design imprinted onto a screen where only the design will allow ink to pass through it. I started getting interested because a room-mate of mine, we called him Deanis….. hahaha… ( I hope he ranks on google for that term )…. and a friends t-shirt company, Domanate both used the method and produced some rad stuff- so I picked their brains. Mostly I just wanted to be able to wear apparel with designs on them I had in my head (and who knows.. maybe sell one or two).

One of the best resources at first, was actually just buying a Speedball Screen Printing Kit. That site I’ve never purchased from though- I bought mine at a local art supply store in Provo, UT.

The kit only gives you enough to make one design. So for those wanting more info and some good resources to take it past a startup kit: Here’s the process in detail:

You’ll get a wood frame with some polyester mesh stretched and attached to it fairly tight (still called silk screening I guess). I always get mine at a minimum of a few inches larger than my intended design would fit in. I purchase my screens from Standard Screen Supply. They come pre-stretched and I can buy multiple sizes in one order. Also- the cost is actually fairly good (unless you want to make your own, which I hated doing. If you are pretty sure you want to involve yourself in screening: get 8 - 10 since some of the things you’ll be buying (photo emulsion) have limited shelf life an will cover 8+ screens.

Next you’ll need some photo-emulsion. This is a light sensitive material that basically is what will have your designed burned into it, (actually your design will be burned out of it). I use Speedball Diazo photo-emulsion, which comes in a kit (so you mix the activator when you are ready to use it). This post-mixed bottle will last 4 months and should be kept in your fridge. I can usually get 8-12 screens from a single kit. You’ll thinly coat both sides with the mixed photo-emulsion. This is a light-sensitive product, meaning if/when light hits the ink it becomes permanent. So I obviously coat my screens in a dark room and let it dry in a closed box and never let light hit it until I have my design ready to burn into (see next steps). You should buy a Fabric Squeegee to assist you in spreading the emulsion. This is the same squeegee you’ll use later run the ink onto your t-shirt. You’ll want something with a rubber edge, or an edge that gives a little as you slide it. Always make sure your squeegee is larger than your design. So a 10″ design, but an 8″ squeegee is a no go.

I recommend getting your squeegee from a local art supply store. They should have something that looks somewhat like the one below, and that’s one of the best places for a good price. Just eye-balling how thick you are applying your emulsion, imagine if it was dried if it would be thicker than card-stock…. that’s probably too thick. You really will have to do trial and error. If you mess up a design because your emulsion was too thick or too thin, buy some Emulsion remover from the same place you buy your emulsion and try it again. Check out my screens later in the tutorial after they are dried to see if your coloration/thickness appears the same after you do yours. I let these dry overnight, flat with the lip of the screen facing up.

Next you’ll need a design. I don’t care if it’s a Jpeg, vector, gif, png, pdf, power point- you will be printing it off or cutting out a die. Acetate, or transparency/over-head projector paper is what you’ll be printing it onto, (or cutting it out of any material that won’t let light through it). I just always go to Kinko’s and have them do it for me on an 8.5″ x 11″, and I have them print me two copies. Here’s what this is used for. Remember that the photo emulsion is light sensitive? (while still in moderately dark room, place your acetate-printed design onto the inside of your screen. Tape it down where you want it, closer to center is best for lots of reasons. If the lips of the screen are facing up, then the way you are looking at your design as it is taped down is how it will appear on shirts. Sometime Kinko’s ink is a little inconsistent and the black ink might light let through, so I got in the habit of doubling up my designs.

I bought a 300 watt white light bulb from Ace hardware, but for the actually ‘burning of the design’. You can also use, (if you have them) two task lights commonly found on a computer desk or bed post. The more lights you aim at your design, the more even you are sure to get it. I center my light directly above my design, and hit it for 35-45 minutes. The Speedball starter kit mentioned previously has a good graph on what bulbs, at what distance, and for how long. But again, being limited on how spread out my single light gets, the edges might not be hit enough and the design may not be burned exactly the way I made it, ie: if the design is fairly large the outside of it may have a stretched shadow because they are so far away from the center)

Take a breather. After you’ve timed it and pulled the design out from under the light (remember, until you are completely done keep working in a low light environment) - next you just need to wash it out under cold water. Let both sides get wet immediately so they can start soaking, and if you have a hose attachment for your kitchen sink, the pressure and ability to aim will help wash it out. Just keep spraying it. Sometimes my designs come out fast, sometimes they take a few minutes of work. Keep it in low light and keep hitting it with cold water. The design will be lighter than the rest, so make sure nothing else washes out- other wise you might not have burned it in long enough. If the design takes forever to wash out- you might also consider the photo emulsion could be too thick.

After it’s washed out and dried- you might want to tape around the outsides to make sure ink doesn’t seep through. I use Speedball screen filler (in the start up kit and always sold where I buy the rest of my supplies. The screen filler is a ‘paint on’ filler that basically you put anywhere you didn’t get photo emulsion, or where random places washed out that shouldn’t have.

Next, you need to get your t-shirt inks ready. I started with Speedball fabric inks, but then have also liked the Aquabrite textile also sold at Standard Screen Supply, which is where I also get my screens as mentioned earlier. Also in the next step, which if you haven’t picked up is actually the transfer of ink onto the shirts, you’ll need some shirts. I went to GenX clothing and bought a bunch of crap, $2.00 test shirts, as well just went through my closet and found any old pillow case, or 10 year old t-shirt to practice on. For the nice shirts that I use when I give away or sell my t-shirts with designs on them- I use American Apparel. I found the best deal with out a minimum order, to be from Cheapestees.com who also has a bunch of other brands you might like the fit more. American Apparel holds ink well, are fitted (not really one size fits all) but there other brands have great fits for all body types. I order $70 each time from these guys now because it gets free shipping most of the time.

So- now you have your design burned into a screen, your ink, a squeegee, t-shirt of choice, and you’ve taped edges on the screen. Turn your oven on to 375 or 400, and get a cookie sheet. We are making cookies. ACTUALLY, the ink isn’t permanent until it’s been heat treated. I also get a blow dryer with a high-heat mode and hit the shirt again with that.

Clear up some space on your counter/kitchen table. I got an extra piece of vinyl that we put in the shirt (in between the front and the back of the shirt so ink doesn’t seep through) or a board (which I cut to fit through the neck to it’s a little easier to align all my shirts if I am doing multiple of the same design/color (also make sure the vinyl, or wood is LARGER than the screen… if its smaller and the design goes outside of the insert, it’ll make funky lines). Get the shirt set up, and the vinyl/wood block in between the layers, get your taped up t-shirt screen centered where you want your design, then get a spoon or knife and put plenty of ink on the screen.

Next get your squeegee out, get a good line of ink evenly across the whole edge. Lower it down to a 30 degree angle or less, apply even pressure, and run it. tip: Start the ink transfer on the part of the design farthest from you, and bring it towards you. Maybe, sometimes you’ll want to do another pass if necessary. Rest the squeegee on the edge, have someone hold the shirt down on the outside of the screen- and pull the screen straight up. If you did things right, you’ll have a perfect stamp of your design on the shirt.

Quickly, but keeping the image exactly flat and in the shape it is, get it on the cookie sheet and cook that bad-boy in your oven for 2-4 minutes. Afterwards pull it out, let it cool off- and if to the touch the ink still rubs off a little on your hand bake it more or hit it up with your blow dryer. The better heating job you can do- with out over-doing it- the longer the design will last.

White ink on dark colored shirts is really hard to work with, so I usually put it on thicker, (but pay the penalty of having a thicker- less forgiving design when I wear the shirt.) The pro’s have a machine that can perfectly re-align the t-shirt back under the screen exactly where it was before, so that you can spin the rack so the shirt goes under an even heater, dries the ink, and comes back for a second thin coat of white. I can’t do that with the ’sandy at home method’ I’ve been writing about. Also- I usually wash my shirts before judging if the design was done well, or was too thick. Surprisingly, a good wash in cold water, then a drier really reflects how good of a job you did. I’ve had what seemed to be perfect passes of ink-to shirt from the screen wash out- and I’ve had seemingly too thick of designs become soft and wearable. As soon as you’ve finished screening all the shirts you plan to- wash the screen out with water. Rub it with your hands, get a sponge, but get the ink out. While you are cooking your shirts or doing other things- the thin layer of ink left on the screen is drying and can ruin a good screen.

I’ve posted some of my Original t-shirt designs and continue to try to make better ones, mostly for me but I have sold a fair amount of them. I’ll update this post with some more tips and tricks as time goes on and I learn more.

Share This

Share This

I was reassured that no matter what I can always keep my plan if I re-sign. Since nothings satisfied my needy/picky desire, I was encouraged to wait for the Samsung Instinct. Since my biggest problems so far with other phones Sprint offers has been operating system related (and a few times hardware as well), Samsung was releasing their own OS on this ‘great hardware’ to boot. It’s my last attempt to stay with Sprint before I leave for greener pastures (which really might not exist… I know)

Over all features (and if you know the iPhone 3G’s capabilities, you’ll see lots of the same thing): Touchscreen, Large Icons, Expandable memory (up to 8 gig’s micro-HDSD), multiple e-mail accounts, GPS navigation, FULL HTML WEB-BROWSING, extra battery and charging kit, ( each with almost 6 hrs talk time, how awesome it is that they did that? ), customizable features/menu, high-speed data (thought it was 3g, doesn’t feel like it though), blah blah blah.

First ‘con’ I encountered. I was mislead by the original Sprint store employee in Orem, UT who told me I can keep my plan when I inquired about the Instinct. You HAVE to buy one of their data plans, exactly like the iPhone does. Since I don’t like any of sprint’s other phones right now, I had to weigh my options and if I am going to leave Sprint if it doesn’t work out anyway, screw it: Drop my plan and temporarily get an Instinct plan. How much? ……….. $90 bucks a month just to get 900 minutes and unlimited data plan! I might feel it’s ridiculous because I was on the plan that I was. . . But if this is an ‘iPhone Killer’ it sure as hell better be something more than the iphone in at least some area’s and a lot of people are concerned about phone and plan pricing. Well… at least this one was only $130.

Okay okay.. the real review after messing around with it all day.

Over-all I’d say it’s 3.5 stars “IF” the iPhone 3G would be the 5-star standard. It’s won’t hurt the iPhones sales, and it’s not a great solution just offering it to Sprint customers because of the forced data/voice plans you have to get with this phone. What I’m going to end up doing is seeing if I can re-activate my old Sprint phone and get my old plan back. (this… really may be impossible) in which case if it is, I’ll just drop down to a cheap plan to get by with my old phone (thank heavens there is a 30 day return policy), not renew my contract and wait to see what else comes out this year . . . . or just break down and lock myself into an iphone contract. If I am as picky as I suppose I sound, I might be better off just not getting a PDA/Smartphone for a few years.

Update:

I actually do like the phone a lot more after two days of use. For those searching for applications specifically for the Sprint Samsung Instinct: There is nothing really special available. The e-mail is rather nice and get this: Someone from work sent me a word doc which my Samsung Instinct was able to open and view. I didn’t have the ability to edit and send back, but it is likely it did convert it to a .txt format (as no styling from the original document was viewable).

The keyboard is still annoying unless you are using it in the horizontal view. The big one.. no, the internet isn’t any faster than from day one. I like the phone, but it’s probably just prepping me to go get an iphone. I have not been able to successfully pair this with my laptop though the ability is there: ( I hope it’s not an additional massive fee )

Also - if you have a Sprint Instinct- I wanna hear what you think- leave a comment!

Share This

I really didn’t have much skills with trying to get my idea’s implemented over the last year or so that I’ve been doing this. Photoshop’s been pretty much a ‘learn as I go on my own’ process with these designs, and my last one was a good learning process, and I found more of a logo/niche’ to go along with most of my designs which is a picture I took of my younger brother and…. changed a bit as seen below.

To properly view the second image of the two above, you are going to need a modern browser that is not bound by only being able to display basic image types, or turns sites into a Picasso piece. Get Firefox 2. Duh.

So here they are: the most recent t-shirt designs I’ve finished. I’d like to actually produce 2, so for those few voting, choose your t-shirt design numbers and leave them in a comment. For those of your who know Tor, no tricks or robot-voting. Please remember, each image produced on a shirt will be appx 8 inches wide, and/or 10 inches high.

You may or may not recognize design 2 as based off the pattern as seen on my Fabric Panel Patterns.

Oh, and one more thing: Let’s not forget that the designs don’t reflect only black and white shirts. Anything that is black on the design- can be any color, on any color of shirt. I have another 5 or 6 on the way so we’ll do another round of voting for designs in a month or two.

Share This

After I collected my 8 fabrics, I bought 8 canvas, and stretched the fabrics over the canvas. After figuring out what hardware I wanted to use to hang these art fabric panels, I had to double check the length and hang-point of each cable, and graph out and measure the screws to that all 8 panels hang evenly in the center, and all evenly spaced.

How To Make Your Own Fabric Wall Panels

To get the ball rolling and make some of these yourself you need to find some common colors for the wall in question (for decoration). I have tan walls with white ceilings. I wanted some dramatic colors that would be unique and really stand out. I chose gold and maroon for 4, and blue/greens for the other 4.

Expect to pay near 15-22$ a yard. With my 16″ by 20″ panels I easily over-bought by getting a yard + 1/4 - but I have the benefit of making two more sets of the same 8 panels. Fine fabric stores like the ones I got my fabric at will sell any 1/8th yard increment of rolls that are easily between 1.5 to 2 yards in width. The canvas’s were 2 for 5$ the day I went to Michaels and they aren’t the highest quality (for painting) but perfect for what I am doing.

I bought a staple gun using 3/8 inch staples, and measured my cloth to be bout 1.5″ extra on all sides of the canvases. It’s probably best to just pick to opposites sides (top and bottom, or left and right) of a panel to start stapling it on. usually after stapling any given side of the fabric panel, I always flip it over and double check how it’s looking on the side that everyone will actually end up seeing.

Now that you have your two opposite sides done and the front still l looks good, just remember to staple the corner so that from the view of a regular human being, the corner doesn’t have a lip or end up looking too bulky with the creases. This can be achieved in a variety of ways of folding the fabric but you’re smart, and can figure it out.

I just do it somewhat close to the same as wrapping a birthday gift, others pull the corner in, then fold the sides over it. The truth is, some fabrics are just rough to work with because of how thick or unforgiving they are.

If you are working with stripes, a word to the wise: don’t stretch different random parts of the fabric, or you’ll end up with a retarded looking unperfect stripes. This goes for any fabric or material that you use. If you try to make it straight up and down or straight left an right, but you pull to hard in random places when you are stapling the whole canvas can look awkward.

After you’ve got all your panels figure out and ready to go- it just comes down to mounting them accurately, and choosing what panels should go where. I off-set each of the 4 similar ones I have. Naming all the blue/green’s 1’s and the gold/maroons 2’s I chose to start off with the following pattern. Top Row: 1-2-1-2 Bottom Row: 2-1-2-1.

Don’t be afraid to step out side the box and take a risk. I spent $20 or $30 on fabrics I thought I wanted to use, but ended up making better choices after more thinking. One thing I did, was take a shiny two tone maroon silk, and covered it with a two tone brown/gold sheer. To add to the unique effect of that panel, I wadded the veneer into a small ball and stuck it in my back pocket for a few hours. After getting lots of good random wrinkles and covering my gold/maroon silk panel THEN (here’s an important part) sprayed the whole thing with lots of hairspray to hold the wrinkle more permanently the result was a fabric panel I wouldn’t have made if I was bound to just picking out fabrics off the shelf.

Here’s a couple of the unique fabrics I found for my panels.

Update: My Sister’s Variation

Share This

Enter: Isis Dei. Before I get into the cost, first the product. The one thing that has bothered me about most Macbook Accessory manufacturers, is that their products all look like they are made in the same factory, just with a different brand on it. Isis Dei on the other hand, is right up my alley with their designs and Macbook Laptop Sleeves and Cases. Original designs that are appealing and original in comparison to what I’ve looked into in the past. They also are integrating memory foam into some of their Apple laptop sleeves, and with what many people usually pay for those generic brand laptop sleeves you can pick up a couple Isis Dei Macbook Sleeves for the same price. Everyone likes to diversify a little.

Check out their homepage at IsisDei.Com and while you are there, check out their awesome Macbook keyboard jimmy’s (I use the black one and it looks great on my white macbook) and check out how great their prices are for a memory foam macbook laptop case, or even the neoprene ones.

Share This

Alan Taylor Smith is a fan who took some time to mix his enjoyment for V.E.’s music and skills with graphic art. This video is a live action look- at the creation of a picture of the members of Victim Effect.

Victim Effect, considered an Indie Band by staying to a small label/do-it-yourself lifestyle, can be reviewed on shepizzle.com, and Indie Music review blog.

Share This