text:
e-commerce Hall of ShameDecember 10, 2004
I ordered a product for download from the Adobe Store last week, for the first and last time.
I've made it a policy of never ordering downloadable software when physical media can be had. I've paid for various programs that are only available as a download, but when shrink-wrap is available, shrink-wrap is what I opt for.
Backup has long been the reason for my bias — at least with physical media, there's always a safeguard. I'm not responsible for keeping the software protected from data failure, aside from storing the CD properly. Never did it occur to me ordering downloadable software might have even more consequences than data loss.
We're currently in the 'first pass' phase of editing, which means chapters have been submitted, edited, and dumped into the book template. This is more or less the final review, unless enough needs to be changed to require second (and heaven forbid, third) passes.
Since the content is now visually mocked up, obviously Word isn't going to cut it anymore. We've been passing back and forth PDF files which are best edited and annotated in Adobe Acrobat, a product I've never had reason to own.
So, time being an issue, off to the Adobe Store I went to pay for and download my copy. (Side note: as I'm sure is the case with most outside of the US, prices are magically increased by a margin I've come to refer to as the "non-American tax". Acrobat Standard: $450 CDN in stores [pre-tax], $299 USD online [no tax]. Given the currently weak American dollar, it's a no-brainer.)
Now here's the process I expected, as my incentive for buying the downloadable version was to have it immediately so I could begin my notes:
- Add to cart.
- Input personal information, credit card, etc.
- Checkout.
- Download.
- Install.
- Begin editing.
I guess I have more faith in technology than I should. Murphy's Law and a decade and a half of computing experience has taught me that nothing ever goes that smoothly, but ever the optimist, I still expected to have the product in my hands shortly after paying for it. You know by now, don't you, that this wasn't to be?
I made it as far as step 4, Download. Adobe has a custom download application that allows you to resume broken downloads, a great idea… with a horrible execution. Instead of ensuring I get the file, the download manager itself refused to start. Double click, wait, crash. Try again: double click, wait, crash.
Why not re-download the download manager? I couldn't, the download had already been purged; as far as Adobe was concerned, the first few steps had been fulfilled and I now had everything I needed to complete the next steps. Except, of course, I didn't. After a last-ditch effort involving a reboot and some finger-crossing, it was clear that I could do nothing but call the Adobe support line and have them help me out.
Here's the process that ensued:
- Hit up Adobe.com for tech support phone number.
- Call support line, get told that hours are 6am to 8pm, and they're closed for the evening.
- Wait a night.
- Call support line, summarize the problem.
- Provide name, phone number, order confirmation number.
- Listen and write down the non-toll-free number of the Acrobat support line.
- Call non-toll-free Acrobat support line, wait on hold for 10 minutes.
- Connect with Acrobat support technician, summarize the problem.
- Confirm that yes, I'm running Panther. Further explain that Panther translates to OS X version 10.3.6, more than enough to meet the 10.2 minimum requirements. Wonder if perhaps support technician ought to know that Panther is better than 10.2.
- Ask which file I was supposed to delete in order to try again? Confirm that I didn't have that file, as I hadn't even made it that far in the process. Suggest that download wasn't the issue, whereas software quality might be.
- Listen and write down the toll-free number of the Online Store.
- Call toll-free online store support, wait on hold an additional 8 minutes.
- Summarize problem, explain support technician recommended a download reset on the online store.
- Receive confirmation of reset, hang up.
- Re-download download manager. Install. Watch it crash.
- Call back toll-free online store support, greet support line attendant with a growing sense of familiarity.
- Summarize problem, explain again that it really doesn't seem like the download manager wants to work on my Mac, ask what further options are available.
- Confirm that no, I don't have "Netscape" on my Mac, but okay fine, I do have Internet Explorer 5.02.
- Re-download download manager before hanging up; confirm that nothing has been fixed, suggest that perhaps the browser is not the issue since the crash happens only upon install, and not during download.
- Confirm that yes, okay, I do have a Windows computer.
- Boot Windows computer. Ask if I must really load up Internet Explorer to do this. Confirm that yes, I suppose I do have "Netscape" on this computer. Use.
- Login to online store. Download download manager, install, and run.
- Thank attendant for help.
Adobe has always been an extremely Mac-oriented company, by necessity. Have they lost touch with a large part of their core customer base? Needless to say, shrink-wrap is all that I will buy from now on, if at all possible.
Reader Comments
"I would be tempted to tell the Adobe tech support guys "Just give me a working serial number and I'll download the software from someone more reliable, like a Bittorrent site"
Heh. Wish I'd thought of that at the time.
I've had similar problems, and it's for this exact reason that I only buy shrinkwrapped products unless there is no other alternative. If I do buy online, I only buy where I can also order that a physical media gets mailed to me in the event that I ever need to re-install said product.
I totally feel for you… This is for a pretty popular product too… I can't believe they don't make something a little more generic for the sake of reliability in downloading their products. The whole point of buying it online is so you can have it as soon as you've downloaded it. Scrooging your download is not a good thing.
"Just give me a working serial number and I'll download the software from someone more reliable, like a Bittorrent site…"
Heh, too funny. Software companies need to treat filesharing networks as competition the way Steve Jobs and iTunes do, instead of punishing their customers. Be better, easier, and safer to use, and customers will choose you over free alternatives.
I've had great experiences purchasing software online from companies like Panic, but from the sounds of things, I'm best off avoiding Adobe.
I've had the same problem before when I had a dedicated windows 2000 server. I had to download the software, because I didn't have physical access to the machine. And it was horrible… because of that, I too, always opt for the box.
It seems, however, that smaller companies that sell programs for $20-30 have a seamless system and I've never had a problem downloading and paying for that software… the big guys make it too complicated…
Keep It Simple Stupid!
And I bet you don't want to hear about Adobe E-books (i.e. e-books bought at Amazon in PDF format). They are so called encrypted and secured by Adobe Digital Rights Management Software.
But of course, it doesn't work that easy. First you need to obtain MSN Passport (at Adobe site!!!), activate the book (e.g. receive a kay). OK, page with message Activated comes up. Great. However nothing changes and when trying to open e-book, Adobe Reader says "You don't have rights to read this book". OK, trying once more, but nothing happens. Explorer sucks. Starting Firefox, pasting the link, downloading to desktop. Running the digital key. OK, finally activated.
Second day. Bringing the e-book somewhere else to print it. Tryin to open it - "It's not possible to view this e-book. It has already been activated. If you want to use it on more computers, you need to activate this and that…"
However, when activated on the second computer, it stops working at first.
Adobe sucks pretty much, I can tell you. I know for sure that if I had known this (whole activation process), I would have rather bought paperback. Do Not Ever Buy E-Book at Amazon, I really warn you. You can't read it properly.
Let me play devil's advocate for a second.
Apple has taken Adobe's video editing market entirely. If I were Adobe, I would not invest heavily in a market where the OS manufacturer has such a record of introducing new products and killing my market. Microsoft obviously did this with Netscape, so I'm not saying they are excused from this, but Apple has done it time after time.
Add to this that the Mac is a ever dwindling Photoshop/Indesign market (most have switched to Windows for various reasons), and as Adobe I would not be investing too heavily in this.
Anyone else notice the post-stub for the URL is "ecommerce_ha"? E-commerce, ha! Oh dear.
On a more related note, I'm wondering why they still ask about "Netscape" rather than Mozilla, or Firefox - especially considering the poor quality of its most recent releases. Surely if someone was savvy enough to be using an online store to download one of Adobe's products they wouldn't be using such an out-of-date browser.
Wow that story reminds me of another Adobe blooper:
"Add to this that the Mac is a ever dwindling Photoshop/Indesign market (most have switched to Windows for various reasons)"
This comment intrigues me as it flies in the face of what I've heard. Can anybody confirm and/or elaborate? I'm curious.
This may or may not help you, but if you are trying to create PDFs from word, you may be able to do this from your print menu, depending on your printer drivers (and perhaps your computers mood). Go file to Print and on the print options that pop up, many printers will have an option to Save as PDF and you can tell it where to save the file and what to name it and all that good stuff. This will generally work with most software, though not always. The graphic design firm I interned at showed me this trick, and it worked from Quark XPress on their computers, but my computer won't do it from Quark (but it will from Word and Illustrator). Go fig.
I don't see much validity in Martin's devils advocate position. Sure there have been cases where Apple has pretty obviously shafted a software company, in this case, I don't think that has happened. There is plenty of room for competition in the video editing market.
Apple saw the products that were available and knew that they could do better, so they did. How did Adobe respond? They backed down, obviously defeated. Rather than innovate and one-up Apple, they seemingly gave up. So much for competition. Yeah it makes Apple look like a bully, but what they did seems fair to me - they made better software. Simple as that.
Even if Martin's position does have validity, how is Adobe's shafting Mac users going to do them any good at all? It puts an even further bad taste in people's mouths and when the time comes that there is once again a choice when it comes to page layout apps (or any of Adobe's other significant footholds), do you think people are gonna stick with Adobe?
Treat your customers right and they'll be customers for life. Yeah, Adobe makes good products, but they also don't have much competition in many areas. Someday perhaps they will. Then we can have a say and they'll have no choice but to listen.
Had a very similar experience just last week actually. Even worse, however, I had deleted Mac IE from my machine a few weeks back, having absolutely no need for it any longer. Oops. Kinda got stuck after checkout. Went through about a 2 hour process to reinstall IE, get tech support on the phone, and all that garbage.
Mac IE of all things??! Crrhh… Adobe… Hello?… Over… Crrhh…
Case in point as to why I use Windows. No offense.
Wow, that really is a pain in the backside, I can imagine that you were very frustrated after going through all those steps.
I have to say shrink-wrapped would also be my preference, you pay alot for the software, why miss out on all the extra goodies that comes in the box?
Plus, no proprietary download managers ;)
I don't have any hard figures on this, sorry. But what I do know is that Apple's marketshare has decreased from 5% in 1997 to less than 2% in 2002. It will probably be under 1.5%.
The Windows machine switching thing is purely from what I've seen, heard and read. Back in 2000 or so nearly every newspaper was running Mac with Quark. Now they all run Windows with InDesign or Quark. Why? Because Windows admins are far cheaper, Windows programmers are much more available (for writing custom apps which are vital in a newspaper style organisation) and also the fact Dell whoops Apple's ass when it comes to enterprise support, pricing and warranty.
As for Apple shafting people, sorry, but this most definitely is a case. Yes, maybe Apple's product was and is better. Yes, Adobe should probably of invested more in Mac than it did. But go look on Apple.com's special deals - you'll find plenty of 'buy a dual G5 and get Final Cut Pro half price'. Adobe cannot compete with that, and Apple fans are fiercely loyal and a hell of a lot of them would happily buy FCP just because they got it half price with the Mac, just like Windows users are not going to go to the bother of downloading Netscape when their is a big OEM-mandated IE button on the desktop.
Also, on a purely technical standpoint Apple is far better off. Say they wanted to go after Photoshop directly. What they could do is use the Cocoa APIs which are far more responsive and fit in better with OSX as a whole. Adobe would be stuck with using the Carbon APIs and have a shockingly huge project to port it over to Cocoa to be competitive with Apple - remember, they'd have to ensure all the plug-ins still work with it. They'd look at the total, say 'no way', and drop/slowly phase out Photoshop on the Mac (I don't think this will happen - for a long time, at least). Apple could then push 'Final Photo Pro' or whatever with the new G6 Mac and happily wave Adobe good-bye.
Another example would be IE on the Mac, Apple releases its Cocoa based Safari, a few months later MS decides it's not worth porting IE to Cocoa from Carbon and gives up.
The main trouble with this option is that Apple is increasingly scaring developers off and also increasing the amount of developers and engineers they need. They didn't really used to supply much of the Mac's software, now many people use nothing _but_ Apple's software on their Mac - iChat, Safari, Final Cut Pro, iPhoto and iTunes. In the past you'd of used AIM, IE, Premiere/Avid, some third party photo manager and Musicmatch. I think this trend is very worrying and if I were a Mac developer I certainly would be thinking seriously about my future.
Sorry Martin, but the APIs to which you refer? You mean the APIs which Apple release to all developers who ask for it?
Are you talking about the same Steve Jobs who basically went on to say that they are hoping that they can ensure that Adobe will work with them to create a better integrated system of software packages?
Final Cut Pro special deal? Personal users perhaps but if you are talking about businesses then you will see that they are offering £300 off on Quark purchased with a G5.
With reference to IE:mac and any comparison with Safari is definitely laughable. I actually installed IE:mac and nearly fell out of my chair laughing. It's terribly out of place with the rest of the Mac experience. Don't forget, Microsoft had access to the same APIs which many other mac developers have had.
iTunes - personal music program, iChat - personal chat client, iPhoto - personal photographic software, iDVD, iMovie, iCouldGoOnForeverProbably.
Adobe Creative Suite - Enterprise level multimedia suite, Macromedia, Quark. Anyway, I think I've just about got my point across. Apple are trying to boost software design for the platform. They are doing their best to actually promote creativity, synchronisation and amalgamation of application suites with a Mac OS X system.
The only non-boxed software I've bought is McAfee VirusScan Online. The good thing about their system is, because it's subscription based, you have a site you can log into and redownload whenever needed. For instance, i got a new computer recently, and I didn't have to worry about what to do for virus protection, I just logged in and downloaded.
It seems foolish for Adobe to disregard Apple/Mac for any aspect of editing or design software. Yes, Apple does maintain a very small percentage of overall computer users, but I would venture a guess that many who do use Macs do so because of the design software element.
Even based on assumptions (always dangerous), many Windows users will agree that Apple has a better grasp on the design/editing environment than PC's. However, Adobe seems to forget this and does not offer Premiere Pro for the Mac! You have to use XP: http://www.adobe.com/products/premiere/systemreqs.html
I had a similar experience with Adobe once (although thankfully I didn't have to go so far as to use a Windows machine to download it), and from that point on I made a point of always buying the boxed software. It's stupid that they've had to ruin what should be a relatively quick and painless process.
Yikes! I was just about to buy a big purchase but i guess i won't be, seeing as how i'm running on a similar setup but with no windows alternative to use.
Wow, that's shocking and appaling. You would think things like this would be worked out before, or at least have some sort of fault tolerance for instances like this (besides using IE) - like possibly even downloading without using the manager?
Casey — though it would surprise me if so, it's possible not all Adobe products use the same download manager. That I was referred specifically to Acrobat support, despite clearly identifying the download manager as the problem, suggests perhaps the applications have their own custom managers. Which wouldn't make much sense, but what do I know, I'm not working there.
Jason — exactly. A 200MB ZIP file on a broadband connection wouldn't be a problem, but the only alternative to using the download manager they came up with was mailing me the media. At that point I'd have asked for a refund and hit up the local Mac store.
The last download I paid for online was some Emigre fonts… their system was flawless. Macromedia was pretty good too; we bought a copy of Contribute (ugh) for a customer that way.
It sounds to me like the key flaw here was the fact that Adobe insists on forcing people to use their download manager. I'm sure they have several reasons for it, but I'm also sure fear of piracy is a big one… but it that's the case, they're wasting their time… nothing is ever going to stop people from illegally copying software, and furthermore, there is the potential of alienating the people who ARE willing to pay for the software.
Now, not that I'm condoning piracy, but one would think that it should be easier to download software that you pay for than it is to get the same software illegally. However, installing a p2p program and finding an illegal copy of Acrobat sounds like a lot less trouble than what you went through, Dave… I would be tempted to tell the Adobe tech support guys "Just give me a working serial number and I'll download the software from someone more reliable, like a Bittorrent site…" :)
(Just reminded myself of a funny sidebar "News In Brief" headline from The Onion a few months ago: "Photoshop Actually Bought…")
You'd think the Adobe Downloader would work smoothly on the Mac since most of their clients use the Apple platform. I guess it is a Windows world after all.
And Adobe wonders why they have to fight rampant piracy. Maybe this is one of the reasons. Probably not, but it makes you wonder.
I know that at least in the marketing/advertising world, Macs are being pushed aside more and more in favour of Windows machines. The reasons for this are (imo) at least partly to do with a switch in corporate culture and structure. Several years ago, the creatives were the big computer users. Others may have used them only for word processing, etc. Now that everyone in an agency, from the Intern up to the Principals have computers - and do almost all their work on them - the agencies want things more uniform, and don't want to shell out $2500 for the "fussy" creatives when they can just get a Windows box for half as much. This is not to mention that a different platform usually requires a separate and very expensive group license on the software. Another factor is now you have Project Managers and a lot more IT/Tech people in an agency, and these people tend to not have a creative background and are more comfortable with Windows. So everything comes down to efficiency and utilisation. Stick everyone with the same generic box which Tech can troubleshoot without special knowledge.
Just wanted to clarify some earlier comments regarding FCP: Apple actually bought it as a nearly-completed package from Macromedia, rewrote the GUI to meet their own guidelines, and called it Final Cut Pro. They didn't develop it from scratch …
On a related note, DVDSP actually came from a company called Astarte, who had developed it as an Xtra for Macromedia Director. Apple bought it, killed it as a Director Xtra and turned it into DVDSP v1.
Dave, do you have this download manager still on your Mac? Could you log in as a root and try again?
I am suprised that such a large (and otherwise brilliant) company such as Adobe Software would not only develop such a poor "download manager" for the Macintosh platform, but they'll even make you call 3 different tech support offices… and even when you finally reach the right office; they treat you like dirt (by the sounds of it).
Thanks for the heads up though. I won't be buying anything from the Adobe store. They're are plenty of local computer stores that sell (holy) shrink-wrapped versions of such software.
> Adobe has always been an extremely Mac-oriented company, by necessity.
Your a bit behind the times. They are anything but extremely Mac-orientated.
I've been cautiously unsettled about a shift in Adobe's quality axis for a year or two now. Shows up most in a change in focus in their seminars here in Sydney. Presentation seems to have changed from professional expertise, leading, or at least, keeping up with the way ahead, to more recent times, where pitch rather than content is king, and belief in product comes across as stretched as a used-car salesman selling the worst car on the lot. Don't know if that goes hand-in-hand with the change over recent years from a Mac market focus to Windows, but the change in attitude has turned me off listening to their pitches, even though I'll keep using their products.
I'd love to stay in love with Adobe forever, but relationships have gotta be two-way, hey.
Paul, you managed to miss my point entirely. The point is that Apple can start from scratch with the latest APIs when they buy/start a new app. Others can't or don't feel it is a good value proposition. Rewriting Photoshop into Cocoa for Mac might requrire the revenue of 3 years of Mac photoshop sales. It's just not going to happen. Instead, they'll focus on Windows where Microsoft is not going to intervene.
And as for buying it FCP, it's doesn't matter. The person who started it could start using Cocoa straight away instead of Carbon. That gives you a huge leap in intergration and performance.
I really can't see any change to this when Apple charges $2,500 for a Dual 2GHz Mac. Dell would do you that for around $1,000 (wouldn't be dual CPU, but then again, dual-CPUs are very hard to take advantage of) and it'd have a much more HDD, RAM and GPU power.
Apple has also 'killed' Konfabluator or however the hell it's spelt, by having dashboard in Tiger. They have went to Windows. Same thing will probably happen with most Mac RSS clients with Safari RSS.
To me, this is a bit like Macromedia sending your final design comp to them and at the very last minute Macromedia takes your design contract and gives them a very similar design. It seems to me that 'shareware' developers are doing little more than market research for Apple at the moment.
Martin A. said:
" The point is that Apple can start from scratch with the latest APIs when they buy/start a new app."
Huh? *Anyone* can start from scratch using the Cocoa APIs when they "start a new app."
When Apple *buys* an App, converting it to use the Cocoa APIs is just as much work as if they were converting a legacy App that they had written themselves.
You are confused if you think that, being Apple, they can just wave a magic wand and convert a 3rd party App to Cocoa, whereas a company like Adobe would have to sweat blood to do the same.
I happen to think that using Cocoa has a lot of benefits over Carbon. Most Apple users, however, could care less.
Do you even *know* which Apple Applications use Cocoa and which use Carbon?
I doubt it. (Hint: Final Cut Pro is a Carbon App.)
Well there's a new one:
"Do you have netscape?"
I was supprised it wasn't more like:
"Do you have IE6.54436 Windows Service Pack 4? No, you don't? Oh well. (Hand up)"
>> "Add to this that the Mac is a ever dwindling Photoshop/Indesign market (most have switched to Windows for various reasons)" <<
> "This comment intrigues me as it flies in the face of what I've heard. Can anybody confirm and/or elaborate? I'm curious." <
I don't know the stats, but it wouldn't surprise me if it's true. My experience in a newsroom is that there is a lot of pressure to switch Mac workflows to PC when the opportunity is available.
The daily paper where I work wants to switch the newsroom to one system… currently there is a main PC-based copy flow system. Illustrators, photo desk, and design desk use Macs with separate servers and software that ties into that PC-based copy system.
TPTB have an opportunity to purchase an upgraded version of this copy system at a very low cost. It will use InDesign as the pagination app. If they do this, they'd move to one platform for all reporters, copy editors, and designers. But that platform probably won't be Mac because of cost and the lack of one key program on the Mac side.
(Photo and Illustration, though, still use some Mac-only apps that would preclude their switching to PC)
Wow, thats not cool at all. You would think that a company as big as Adobe would have that figured out for all platforms and OS's. And, as many of you have said, let us use our own download manager/program. Thanks for the warning. I've never done it, but this just reinstated what was already in my mind - the CD's always better.
Hmmm….seems Adobe really needs to get back to their roots and start listening to customers.
I have visited the support forums at Adobe a number of times to get questions answered and man, is there a pile of disgruntled registered users. The download manager problems are minor compared to some. Its Sad.
My own horror story with Adobe…I had my Illustrator disks (V9) stolen and had not upgraded to V10/CS. I reported the theft to Adobe. They said I could upgrade to 10 or CS given that I was a registered user of every product they have ever made. Except they can't find my original order for Illustrator (bought online at their store) as well as LiveMotion (not that it matters). So they tell me I have to provide MY ORIGINAL box and INVOICE from the original version of Illustrator. Not any of the NUMEROUS upgrades but a box and receipt from 9+ years ago.Yikes.
I call support again after looking for the receipt and they advise its quicker to order the product using a competing product upgrade (I am a licensed Macromedia Studio MX customer). I spend 45 minutes on the phone writing down codes and numbers. Twice I get hung up on. I finally get a real person, given them my case # and information, they advise me that I DON'T qualify and that I am a pirate who is in their system with stolen software. This accusation after buying close to $13,000 in software from them.
Sad what Adobe is doing to their clients (MAC or WIN).
Dave, your reference to 'non-american tax' really made me laugh, but it's one of those things that really gets my goat too. I actually had three phone conversations with people from Adobe (and the same with Macromedia) asking why their prices were so high outside of the US.
I too was accused of trying to obtain software illegally (even though I was trying legally to purchase four licensed copies of Adobe Creative Suite Premium) and only because I was trying to find out why I was being charged so much.
Jokers - it wouldn't bother me so much if the prices were the same, but I don't see why use brits should have to pay £927 when the product retails for $1229 - the equivalent (at time of writing) of around £640.
I'd really love an explanation of what the "non-american tax" is actually in place for.
"Non-American Tax": There are lots of reasons:
1. Remember sales tax in the US states is not paid for online purchases, whilst in the EU (for example) the national rate for VAT is applied. In the UK that makes a difference of 17.5%. When adding VAT you'll find that the difference can often disappear.
2. Exchange rates differ by the day, and that difference cannot be taken into account. The weak dollar should mean international sales are cheaper, but of course they aren't. Agreements with distributers are made infrequently, if indeed more than once. It's not exactly the software vendors fault, but they aren't helping. Even Apple didn't set a price on the iPod mini for Europe initially, waiting closer to the release date so the exchange rate could be accounted for.
3. Shipping must be accounted for, when selling internationally. It costs money for vendors, based in the US, to sell a product overseas, even if it only comes down to posting the box by USPS.
In the UK we love to claim we are being ripped off when we compare prices internationally, however a recent TV programme showed us we paid 70 UKP more than our US cousins for an iPod. One guy flew to NYC to buy this (and other things) and saved money doing so. However, he broke the law by not paying VAT or duty on entering the UK. What the programme didn't cover was that after VAT, and duty was added, the difference was only 13 UKP. Not so much of a difference after all, and that difference probably accounts for the difference in the exchange rate.
If anyone is to blame, it's international governments: the British government, and the EU directives which are generally greed driven. Hello? Highest taxes in the world are found in Europe.
Martin said:
"But what I do know is that Apple's marketshare has decreased from 5% in 1997 to less than 2% in 2002. It will probably be under 1.5%."
Martin, those are quarterly sales numbers. The actual market share when you count actual users is still more like 10%.
Not only that, but current figures indicate the so-called "halo-effect" of the iPod is resulting in an increase of switchers from Windows to Mac.
Yes, you can get a Dell cheaper than a G5. It will still run an inferior, virus- and spyware-prone OS (I mean Windows, in case you're wondering) and it will be obsolete far faster than the Mac will. There are still folks out there still getting use out of 15 year old Macs, but when was the last time you saw anyone using a 286 or 386?
The up front cost of the PC is still not the best way to judge the total cost of ownership. The Mac still gives better value and return on investment with a better, more stable OS, better productivity and longer lifespan. Just MHO.
Adobe's been trying to foist this Download Manager on us for a long time. It doesn't work for me, either. Yes, I'd stick with the boxed product.
Jacques, I haven't actually used Final Cut Pro so please disregard my comments on it. Yes, thinking about it is most def. is a Carbon app.
My point is that Adobe cannot convert their apps to Cocoa like Apple can, or anyone else. They cannot just drop millions of lines of code and port them over to Cocoa while it being a good investment. Apple (and anyone else) can, because they can start from scratch, get rid of all the cruft in the code and streamline it. People will also not expect it to look and work exactly like the carbon app, which Adobe's ports will have to.
Interesting comments indeed, but I must say that, last time I checked, I didn't need to pay import duty on bits and bytes downloaded on the internet.
Actual physical products - fair enough, there are certain things you have to pay (well, actually, it was a gift from a family member…)
Downloads? There's no way that anyone will convince me that I should have to pay a greater price elsewhere in the world if I don't want boxes, manuals and CDs.
Martin A wrote:
"My point is that Adobe cannot convert their apps to Cocoa like Apple can, or anyone else. They cannot just drop millions of lines of code and port them over to Cocoa while it being a good investment. Apple (and anyone else) can, because they can start from scratch, get rid of all the cruft in the code and streamline it. People will also not expect it to look and work exactly like the carbon app, which Adobe's ports will have to."
This describes the situation with respect to *any* entrenched software leader and any would-be upstart competitor. The words "Adobe", "Apple", "Carbon" and "Cocoa" have little to do with it.
The entrenched leader has an existing code-base, and a locked-in user-base. Doing anything really radical means throwing away a big part of that code-base and "unlocking" those locked-in users.
The upstart competitor has neither of those. This is both a disadvantage and a (potential) advantage.
In the world of software, thus it has always been and thus it shall always be.
>>"I know that at least in the marketing/advertising world, Macs are being pushed aside more and more in favour of Windows machines. The reasons for this are (imo) at least partly to do with a switch in corporate culture and…"<<
Show me an ad agency/marketing agency/design studio that switches to an all PC/Windows shop and I'll show you a business that has a VERY difficult time retaining and or hiring those "fussy" creatives that actually make that company function.
Where's John Gruber, www.daringfireball.com, when you need him. I've seen plenty of articles from him and others that take these same WinBlows propaganda arguments and blow them out of the water. Much of the corporate "switching" to PC is overblown and or rumor.
"Show me an ad agency/marketing agency/design studio that switches to an all PC/Windows shop"
I can give an example of a company that will not. Printing.com, and that is the shop name as well as the domain name, set up in my town and I popped in to get some business cards.
I knocked a nice jpeg up of the design and wandered around to the shop. iMac G4s every one of them with 20ish" displays and some very smartly dressed men and women taking my details. I felt stupid. Needless to say, I returned several hours later with a CMYK PSD so as to avoid their conversion and design fees.
Top service, nice prices, nice iMacs. Think they'll be switching any time soon? Heh
Wow, remarkably this does not surprise me. I actually downloaded ATM last week cause I had what seemed to be a corrupted Type 1 font and wanted to see how it handled it. They actually gave you an option there that bypassed the download manager. Too bad they don't do that for paid downloads.
I too have had a bad experience with ebooks like dusoft (http://www.mezzoblue.com/archives/2004/12/10/ecommerce_ha/comments/#c010328).
I downloaded an ebook for friend at work a couple years ago. I didn't have a couple days for waiting and even overnight wouldn't work as it was late in the day, so why not just download. It was a cliff notes thing or something. Naturally it was not readable anywhere except for my work computer, I couldn't even activate it somewhere else. So I thought, ok, I'll just print out the relevant stuff but that was also a no go. It had 100% restriction on printing anything. So now I wasted 10 bucks on something that was utterly useless.
In all my attempts to use it in another way besides just reading it through adobe on my work computer something happened to the file. It was a couple years ago so I don't remember what exactly but basically now I couldn't re-download it either as it expired. I called up Amazon and was told there was nothing that could be done. The publisher was responsible for the restrictions and I basically had just wasted 10 bucks for now having nothing.
I will never buy an ebook again related to this type of software. It's too bad my little voice won't make them wake up and smell the coffee that restricting things just pisses off paying customers. I'm sure if I tried and had some extra time I could have found a way to kill the restrictions.
I'd really like a Mac sometime, but the price is just too out-there. Besides, I can make myself believe that a PC is even cheaper by just upgrading components one at a time instead of purchasing a brand-new box.
Supporting small-time developers is one thing, but I don't think I'd ever purchase > $50 worth of software as a download without them also mailing me a disc.
I liked that 'Non-American Tax' as well… I recently bought Paul Graham's book online, and the cost to buy it from Amazon.com (halfway across the continent) and Amazon.ca (in the same city) was almost identical.
I'm really digging the crappy US dollar, though. It's a great time to purchase online for us Canucks.
I had a similar experience on the Symantec site, where, after checkout, it said to "Click on download button". There was a button, but not clickable. It took me about 10 minutes to find a phone number for "Client support". And I got to listen to some nice music for another 15 minutes before my call was answered.
@Martin Alderson: Don't want to start a Mac/PC thing but I am sorry all your arguments are sounding typically PC. Forget about those market share numbers since a lot of the PC's sold today are being used as dummy terminals for all kind of operations. If those research firms would actually check if these pc's are being used by a person and compare those with Apple's figures you'll get a complete different picture. Also Apple stores are proven to be hot sellers and 50% percent of the people buying there are formally Windows users. So yes Apple is losing market share quickly! They have 5 billion in the bank so it's going downhill since 2000 and no please it's not because the iPod.
And Dell whopping Apple's ass I don't think so, please check your facts and prices and compare systems as they should be compared. A good read about this is found on this Linux site.
Remember you can't compare a Porsche with a Honda.
Paul Connelly:
"With reference to IE:mac and any comparison with Safari is definitely laughable. I actually installed IE:mac and nearly fell out of my chair laughing."
ROTFL. I couldn't agree more, Paul. And you know why IE was on the Mac in the first place, too, I'll bet. But in case anyone else doesn't, I'll paste the link in below. It's a very small part of a much larger story concerning a company that really does "shaft competitors".
Basically, Bill G told Steve Jobs that they'd cripple Apple by withholding Office for Mac if Apple didn't take IE for Mac, so that dear Bill could shaft Netscape. Steve Jobs couldn't let Apple go down the pan, so his hands were a bit tied.
MS used every dirty trick in the book to destroy Netscape. I'm tempted to say that anyone who decides not to use a certain platform and to move to Mac or Linux after knowing the full facts is making a moral stand as well as moving to a technically better alternative:
Radsoft also have an interesting Mac site by the way:
Karma dude … have you been mean to people lately? ;)
The great potential of E-Biz is that thing should get done automated and quickly. From the sellers perspective they don't need to have a lot of manpower to do stuff by manual. From the buyers perspective it is easy of use. This was obvious not the case for you. It is in Adobe's best interest to make buying go smooth.
(I haven't read the other comments so this might have been said already)
Admittedly I wasn't buying from their store, but last time I downloaded something from Adobe.com, I unchecked the box marked "use Adobe download manager" and downloaded it the old fashioned way.
Perhaps if its not already there, the store ought to have that option?
I must admit that I prefer a downloadable version. All manuals etc. become obsolete pretty fast anyway. However, here in Luxembourg we aren't able to buy a shrink wrapped copy online.
OK, you say. Buy it at the local supplier. Sure, as long as you buy a full version. I have a copy of Adobe Elements 2.0 for Mac, that I can't update unless I buy a full version. The upgrade version is not available here.
Adobe is more and more similar to Microsoft as far as customer service is concerned.
You know, it's a pity when comments lapse into the "holy platform wars" back alley like they have here. Get over your platform bigotry please - the topic was (and still should be) the fact that Adobe does not get e-commerce or customer service.
As a lifelong Mac user who currently works for a Windows and UNIX software company and happily uses a Tablet PC all day long (yes, I also have a lovely Mac G5 dualie in my office) as well as someone who has bought just about every product Adobe has ever released, I can feel Dave's pain. I made the recent mistake of ordering an upgrade to Acrobat Pro 7.0 before it began shipping and now no one at Adobe can even tell me when I'll get it (the order info page says it's "back ordered"). This despite all their marketing blather that it would ship "before the end of the year".
I guess they still have a week left then.
Their DRM on e-books is absolutely heinous. Their once fine customer and technical support has become as bad as Dell's (they're both companies I once recommended and now steer clear of pointing others to).
This is where there is plenty of room for smaller companies that still value their customers to prosper. My little company has over 1 million licenses sold in 103 countries - all by download. We sell to Fortune 50 companies and college students. No e-mail goes more than 4 hours without receiving a human response.
Bottom line: Adobe has taken its eye off the ball. They've forgotten who they once were.


text:
Easy Pantry Dinners: 5 Meals with Artichoke Hearts
Buried deep in your freezer or perhaps in a jar in your pantry, I'm betting you have some artichoke hearts stashed away. If not, you should! These artichoke hearts are the start of many delicious, easy meals that we can toss together just about any night of the week. Here are five favorites to try this week.
Personally, I am a big fan of frozen artichoke hearts. I find that these usually have a fresher flavor and a more firm texture when cooked up in a hot dish.
Another good option are cans or jars of marinated artichoke hearts. These have the advantage of being pre-cooked. You can throw them right into a salad or sandwich without needing to thaw or cook anything.
Frozen and jarred artichokes can be used interchangeably in all these recipes - or if you're feeling adventurous, try preparing fresh artichokes!
• Artichoke Heart, Kale, and Ricotta Pie
• Quick and Tangy Barigoule
• Baked Chicken with Artichokes, Cinnamon, and Preserved Lemons
• Big Hearted Macaroni & Cheese with Artichokes
• Greek Chicken Pasta with Olives, Feta, and Artichokes
What are your favorite weeknight dinners with artichokes?
Related: Easy Pantry Dinners: 5 Recipes with a Can of Chickpeas
(Images: Leela Cyd Ross, Emma Christensen, Kathryn Hill, Faith Durand, and Elizabeth Passarella)

subset: commoncrawl


text:
knolli wrote:Sure, why not. It's been ages since I last played a dungeon crawl. (That is, if you don't count the Diablo clone I played last night.)
Haha! Awesome. One player is enough for me to start formulating and setting up. Go ahead and review the PD:O rules and if you have any questions, please ask.
Also, pick a class and generate a character at your earliest convenience. You'll have Ross as a party member on this one, so coordinate with him if at all possible.


text:
Detail Images
Current Color
Free 2-Day shipping on orders over $50. Learn More
Select style & size:Select options
Be the first to review
Dura-Ace SL-BSR1 TT Shifter Set
We're proud to say that we still believe in mechanical shifting. And even though Di2 makes sense for when you're locked into the time-trial-tuck, you simply can't beat the feeling and reliability of mechanical shifting. That's why the Shimano Dura-Ace SL-BSR1 TT Shifter Set is the perfect addition to your wind-cutting steed. The aesthetics are stunning, the feel is unparalleled, and even better, all of the new additions work symbiotically to achieve the perfect harmony between your body and the bike.
It's too easy to go on and on about the SL-BSR1's 11-Speed shifting option, and while it adds a powerful advantage over the field, we know that the new Dura-Ace shifters can't be defined by one feature. Dwarfing all other advancements, however, is the shifting itself -- this is where Shimano's 'Rider-Tuned' philosophy really makes itself known. This is the title given to Shimano's campaign of providing you the best rider-experience of your life. Throughout the group, every component has been given little custom touches, but the levers have received several. The required effort has been lessened by around 47% for the rear derailleur and 43% for the front derailleur. In tandem with the reduced stroke, the shifting experience has been minimized to light touches that pit mechanical and Di2 shifting speed toe-to-toe against each other.
Not surprisingly, the mad scientists at Shimano weren't satisfied with simply making the smoothest mechanical shifting in their history. Instead, the bar was set even higher, and Shimano aimed to make the shifting effort seamless across every sprocket of the cassette. That's right, the effort has been equalized, regardless of if you're moving across the bottom or moving across the top of the cassette. Even more obsessive, Shimano decided to also equalize the actual feeling of shift throughout the cassette. If you're familiar with Shimano, you'll know that in prior Dura-Ace generations, down-shifts felt more like 'dropping' the chain down the cassette, rather disproportionately in comparison to moving up it. No longer. Now, with Vivid Index Technology, down-shifting feels just as crisp, engaging, and as smooth as up-shifts. This is due in part to superior mechanics, but in the larger scheme of things, it's more attributable to something as simple as proprietary shift cables. SL-BSR1 uses Shimano's exclusive polymer-coated shifted cables. We know that it doesn't sound like a big deal, but the new cables play a key role in the near-elimination of mechanical drag, and they also provide a flawless shift performance.
The Shimano Dura-Ace SL-BSR1 TT Shifter Set is available in one color and one size. Please note that these shifters are specifically designed for use with Dura-Ace 11-speed components and Shimano's polymer-coated and PTFE cables.
- Bar end TT shifters for your TT and tri bike
- Dura-Ace quality ensures durability and crisp shifts
- Includes cable and housing
- Maintain an aero position while shifting
- Item #SHI00N0


text:
Florham Park-based-HFF announced Thursday it has secured a $28 million refinancing for a 232,134-square-foot warehouse and distribution center in Carteret.
According to the announcement, HFF senior managing director Jon Mikula and director Michael Klein worked on behalf of The Hampshire Companies to place the five-year, fixed-rate loan with TD Bank. Redeveloped by the borrower in 2012, 200 Milik Street is 100 percent leased. The facility features 36-foot clear ceiling heights, 25 truck loading docks, seven drive-in docks and parking for up to 42 truck trailers.
Stay informed: Subscribe to free NJBIZ newsletters


text:
Fill out this form or call 1-800-401-0486
to speak with one of our Area Experts.
The data relating to real estate for sale on this web site comes in part from the Broker Reciprocity Program of The Pike Wayne Association of Realtors. Real Estate listings held by brokerage firms other than Weichert Realtors are marked with the Broker Reciprocity logo (a little black house) and detailed information about them includes the name of the listing brokers. IDX information is provided exclusively for consumers' personal, non-commercial use and may not be used for any purpose other than to identify prospective properties consumers may be interested in purchasing.


text:
OWENSBORO, Ky. -- An Owensboro, Ky. man has been sentenced to eight years in prison and ordered to pay $1.6 million in restitution for a scheme to defraud investors in three states.
The U.S. attorney's office said Chief U.S. Judge Joseph H. McKinley Jr. also Tuesday ordered 28-year-old Cory B. George to forfeit contents of three bank accounts totaling about $484,000 to be applied toward final restitution.
George, the owner of G3 Capital Management, pleaded guilty to 11 counts of mail fraud. He admitted to setting up G3 offices in Owensboro; Palm Beach, Fla.; and Houston.
Prosecutors say between December 2009 and April 2011, George mailed fraudulent certificates of deposit, deposited investor checks into a bank account in G3's name and mailed small interest payments to a Kentucky investor.


text:
Unemployed, perennially confrontational talking head Keith Olbermann aimlessly wandered around Central Park South earlier this week, seemingly looking for a friend or a purpose.
Our spies snapped unflattering pictures of Olbermann decked out in a giant red pullover and clownishly baggy jeans as he strolled 59th Street near Seventh Avenue, smelling the roses — or, in this case, the horse manure, allergens and aromas from a nearby food cart.
Spies said dejected Olbermann parked himself on CPS and stared into space for several minutes before slinking off by himself.
But in contrast to Wednesday's schlumpy appearance, he looked ready to take on the world again yesterday, when he declined to speak to The Post outside his Upper East Side pad. A clean-shaven Olbermann, in sunglasses and a blue golf shirt, politely waved at a reporter before quickly walking the other way. He didn't return calls from Page Six, and his manager, Michael Price, didn't return e-mails.
Olbermann last month was fired from his $10-million-a-year Current TV job, where he hosted "Countdown." He joined the channel last June after his departure from MSNBC in January 2011. He filed a wrongful termination suit against Current TV seeking $50 million to $70 million, and the network countersued.
Olbermann's MSNBC protégée, Rachel Maddow, said she couldn't believe they axed him.
"Totally shocked," Maddow said. "I did not know it was coming, it was crazy."


text:
Forex.muganbank.az: Speedtest.net Mini Bandwidth Speed Test
2017-12-05 · Live examples: Forex with Real Money in Metatrader 4. Forex Trading Forex Trading A-Z™ - With LIVE Examples of Forex Trading Forex Trading
Forex Trading A-Z™ - With LIVE Examples of Forex Trading
Forextrading.org makes forex trading easy! We review and rank the best forex brokers, promotions alongside the latest financial news & guides.
Forex Reviews | Find Forex Broker or Forex Service
Trade with a Licensed, award-winning broker and competitive spreads. The best option for all investor types with deep liquidity.
Open a Forex Account - OANDA
Make fast and secure international money transfers online with OFX. Register today for better exchange rates and less fees than the banks.
Forex Tutorial: What is Forex Trading? | Investopedia
2016-06-15 · The Forex Charts offer over 1000 graphs in real-time with Interbank rates (including Commodities and Indices, 22 different time frames and flexible line
Forexlive | Forex News, Technical Analysis & Trading Tools
How to Open a Forex Trading Account? To open a trading account and start trading, you need to open an eWallet - a tool for managing your funds and trading accounts in
Forex Trading - Forex Brokers Reviews & Financial News
BeForex.net. 1.7K likes. http://beforex.net/ What Are Factors That Make The Forex Markets Move. Financial News Releases For The Forex Markets.
Home - Forex Finance
Quarterly magazine devoted to online forex trading issues. Editorial, archive and contacts.
FX Trading Online – Trade Forex with AvaTrade
Trade with the best STP Forex Broker with low spreads from 0.0 pips, low commission and extremely fast execution below 200 ms.
Forex Us - Sök Forex Us - Hitta Forex Us.
Forex eğitiminde lider. Forex kursları ve seminerleri. Günlük Forex haberleri ve Forex yorumları.
www.forex-az.info - Welcome to FOREX World | INVESTAZ
Libertex is a fundamentally new trading platform for making money on financial markets. Gives free access to prices on the most popular financial instruments, to the
Markets.com | Forex trading | Currency Trading | Trade
Forex Factory provides information to professional forex traders; lightning-fast forex news; highly-active forex forum; famously-reliable forex calendar; aggregate
Ana səhifə | Lider Forex
Online forex CFD trading with Markets.com – Online currency trading, fast and secure, no-commissions, 1:200 leverage, mini accounts from $100. Free demo account for
EarnForex - Forex Trading Information, Learn About Forex
FXNET is a leading forex broker specialising in forex trading, CFDs, stocks, commodities and spot metals. Start trading forex with Fxnet!
XE - The World's Trusted Currency Authority: Money
Hitta Forex Us. Sök Snabbare, Bättre & Smartare!
How to Trade Forex: 12 Steps (with Pictures) - wikiHow
These articles discuss currency trading as buying and selling currency on the Forex market, trading basics, and tools and techniques.
Forex Us - Sök Forex Us - Hitta Forex Us.
The OnlineForex.net Video. Online forex and technical analysis There are many reasons why online forex trading works so well with technical analysis.
OFX | International Money Transfers & Currency Exchange
FOREX Bank är ett företag som säljer och köper resevaluta samt har olika banktjänster (lönekonto, sparkonto, lån, Visakort med mera). Företaget är bank sedan
Forex | Forex Quotes - Investing.com
Follow all the latest forex news, trading strategies, commodities reports & events at DailyFX
Why Day Trading Forex Is A Scam - YouTube
Forex, cfd trading on stocks, stock indices, oil and gold on MT4 and MT5. Trade forex online with XM™, a licensed forex broker.
Forex & CFD Trading on Stocks, Indices, Oil, Gold by XM
Online Forex trading with AvaTrade - trade currencies with us, and enjoy zero commissions, low spreads, leverage up to 400:1 and fast execution. Join now!
Trading Systems Forex Expert Advisors MT4 Indicator
Forex Tutorial: What is Forex Trading? Find out what kind of net interest margin is typical for banks or other financial institutions,
forex-az.net Alternatives - SameSites
Tuesday, February 22, 2011. 123. 1:12 AM | Posted by Hello WorlD | Edit Post
Forex Calendar @ Forex Factory
AtoZForex - All you need in Forex: Reliable Forex news, Free Forex Signals, Webinars, Trading Strategies, eBooks, Brokers, regulators and more
FxNet | Home
Take profit by exchanging foreign currencies via Internet using Forex Online. Free software Forex Trend that doesn't need any installation.
Forex News by DailyFX - YouTube
2015-10-26 · Why Day Trading Forex is A Scam. In fact the mother of all scams. There is more manipulation in the trillions upon trillions Forex Market than any other
Forex trading account | Open Forex Account at FXOpen Broker
2016-04-18 · How to Trade Forex. Trading foreign exchange on the currency market, also called trading forex, can be a thrilling hobby and a great source of income. To


text:
The Effect of Protease Inhibitors on the Pharmacokinetics of Oral Norethindrone Contraception (NET)
|The safety and scientific validity of this study is the responsibility of the study sponsor and investigators. Listing a study does not mean it has been evaluated by the U.S. Federal Government. Read our disclaimer for details.
|ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01667978
Recruitment Status : Completed
First Posted : August 17, 2012
Results First Posted : August 20, 2015
Last Update Posted : August 20, 2015
- Study Details
- Tabular View
- Study Results
- Disclaimer
- How to Read a Study Record
|Condition or disease
|Pregnancy HIV AIDS
|Drug: Norethindrone acetate
|Not Applicable
Show Detailed Description
|Study Type :
|Interventional (Clinical Trial)
|Actual Enrollment :
|35 participants
|Intervention Model:
|Single Group Assignment
|None (Open Label)
|Primary Purpose:
|Official Title:
|The Effect of Protease Inhibitors on the Pharmacokinetics of Oral Norethindrone Contraception
|Study Start Date :
|June 2012
|Actual Primary Completion Date :
|September 2013
|Actual Study Completion Date :
|September 2014
Experimental: PI
Study group with PI: atazanavir ritonavir
Drug: Norethindrone acetate
Other Name: Both control and experimental group with take norethindrone. However the experimental group will be taking a protease inhibitor: atazanavir and ritonavir
Placebo Comparator: Control
o PI therapy, control group
Drug: Norethindrone acetate
Other Name: Both control and experimental group with take norethindrone. However the experimental group will be taking a protease inhibitor: atazanavir and ritonavir
- AUC Norethindrone [ Time Frame: following 21 days of continuous ingestion ]0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12, 24, 48, 72, 96 hours post-dose on Day 21
Choosing to participate in a study is an important personal decision. Talk with your doctor and family members or friends about deciding to join a study. To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contacts provided below. For general information, Learn About Clinical Studies.
|Ages Eligible for Study:
|18 Years to 44 Years (Adult)
|Sexes Eligible for Study:
|Accepts Healthy Volunteers:
Inclusion Criteria:
Ages: 18-44 years Gender: female Accepts: healthy volunteers and HIV-1 infected women Acceptable medications include: no other medications, NRTI combinations, entry inhibitors, integrase inhibitors, and CCR5 agonists. NRTI combinations may include but are not limited to: zidovudine (ZDV), lamivudine (3TC), emtricitabine (FTC), didanosine (ddl), stavudine (d4T), abacavir (ABC), and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF). NNRTI: etravirine, and rilpivirine.
Exclusion criteria:
History of bilateral oophorectomy, ovarian dysfunction or no regular periods. CD4+ cell count <200 cells/mm3 No current or uncontrolled thyroid, liver, or renal disease BMI <40 kg/m^2 Current pregnancy, breastfeeding or pregnancy within 30 days of enrollment. Depomedroxyprogesterone acetate injection (DMPA) within 180 days prior to study entry.
Other hormonal therapies (e.g. oral contraceptive agents, Provera, vaginal ring, contraceptive patch, monthly contraceptive injection, hormone replacement therapy, anabolic therapies, including nandrolone decanoate or megestrol acetate) within the 21 days prior to study entry.
To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contact information provided by the sponsor.
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier (NCT number): NCT01667978
|United States, California
|Los Angeles County Hospital University of Southern California (LAC USC)
|Los Angeles, California, United States, 90033-1029
|Los Angeles County University of Southern California
|Los Angeles, California, United States, 90033-1029
|Principal Investigator:
|Jessica M Atrio, MD
|University of Southern California
Publications automatically indexed to this study by ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier (NCT Number):
|Responsible Party:
|Jessica Maria Atrio, Principle Investigator, University of Southern California
|ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
|NCT01667978 History of Changes
|Other Study ID Numbers:
|First Posted:
|August 17, 2012 Key Record Dates
|Results First Posted:
|August 20, 2015
|Last Update Posted:
|August 20, 2015
|Last Verified:
|August 2015
Keywords provided by Jessica Maria Atrio, University of Southern California:
mini pill
pregnancy prevent
birth control
Additional relevant MeSH terms:
Atazanavir Sulfate
HIV Protease Inhibitors
Protease Inhibitors
Norethindrone acetate
Enzyme Inhibitors
Molecular Mechanisms of Pharmacological Action
Anti-HIV Agents
Anti-Retroviral Agents
Antiviral Agents
Anti-Infective Agents
Cytochrome P-450 CYP3A Inhibitors
Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme Inhibitors
Contraceptives, Oral, Synthetic
Contraceptives, Oral
Contraceptive Agents, Female
Contraceptive Agents
Reproductive Control Agents
Physiological Effects of Drugs


text:
By Kevin Siembieda
It has been sort of a strange week. Half the staff (Wayne, Chuck, Kathy) are either out sick or here working at half their usual capacity. As a result, everyone has been keeping to themselves, locked away in their rooms, coughing and feeling worn out. So far, I have somehow managed to escape the plague outbreak. Fingers crossed that things stay that way.
There are a lot products in the pipeline and all are moving forward, so I'm not sure why I am feeling frustrated and a little down this week. Probably because I've been steeped in paperwork and bookkeeping matters most of the week when I want (and need) to be writing. It may also be that I've worked too many weekends without a break and the fact that we've been flying high and working at top speed since Gen Con. You just can't keep up that pace indefinitely. I wish you could.
It didn't help that our air conditioning went on Wednesday morning. A 90+ degree day no less, and the frozen air conditioning line sent a steady stream into the ceiling tiles of my office. One tile got so soaked it came crashing down, and drenched part of my couch and the paperwork laying on it. The most frustrating part of this being we had this same issue only 5-6 weeks ago and had it supposedly been repaired. I was out of the office much of Wednesday, so I was not present to recognize the water issue. Wahhh. Yesterday was another hot and humid day, making work at the office miserable despite an array of fans going. I actually have one of the repair people here as I write this. I hope it is an easy, inexpensive repair.
UPDATE: Rifts® Poker Decks are hot, hot, hot
Both of the Rifts® Poker Decks are gorgeous and fun, and continue to sell like crazy. Nice. And remember Rifts® Savage Worlds Kickstarter supporters, the two Rifts® Poker Decks are now available as add-ons for Rifts® Savage World Kickstarter backers.
The two Rifts® Poker Decks have been selling like lightning, with a restock order arriving the morning right after we sold out the initial run of 150 decks! Whew. Talk about perfect timing. We'll keep a close eye on stock and keep placing orders as necessary so we do not run out of stock.


text:
|2012-09-16, 15:09
|Link #5241
Zettai Ryouiki Lover
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: The Bay Area
|2012-09-16, 15:27
|Link #5244
Zettai Ryouiki Lover
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: The Bay Area
EDIT: Ah, I see. I wasn't expecting that pick to happen, helps lighten up my day a bit. How, the wait for the 5:30 game against Detroit begins…
|2012-09-16, 15:31
|Link #5245
'Sup Ballers
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: North Carolina, USA
Age: 29
On the bright side fantasy-wise: Nicks went from being iffy to even play to having 200 yards receiving and a TD.
On the bright side reality-wise: The Panthers beat the Saints for the first time in three years! And rather dominated the 2nd and 3rd quarters on top of it. Cam made minimal mistakes (aside from the soft lateral attempt during a 4th-and-inches at the goalline, but I blame the offensive coordinator for getting too cute in playcalling) and with Tampa Bay giving up the loss to Giants at the end, I don't feel as bad about last week's lost. I still feel that playcalling is too gimmicky, and although it worked against the Saints, I wish to line it up with Cam under center more often. And less designed runs from Cam through the middle, Cam will get hurt if it keeps up.
The defense shows flashes of being decent, but comes and goes through various quarters. It needs to be more consistent.
Arizona upsets New England.
|2012-09-16, 15:43
|Link #5246
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2008
Age: 32
Ravens lost because of the new refs failing to call Pass Interference multiple times. One of which was very blatant (Torrey Smith's jersey being pulled for quite a while), and would've put the Ravens in FG range on that drive. Ugh, I hate losing because of an outside party.
|2012-09-16, 16:10
|Link #5247
Wiggle Your Big Toe
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Milwaukee
Age: 27
Though I agree about some of those pass INT calls, although I think overall pass INT calls are complete BS with how utterly specific they are with how they're called. Especially if Jersey pulling is enough to constitute one (although in the case you described it was indeed being held and tugged for a long time). There is so much contact that comes from both the reciever and defender when both are attempting to get at a ball that I don't see why INT should be called unless it is an overbearing amount of contact. Just my opinion though.
Either way glad my Eagles were able to fight back yet again, but we ended up with a lot of injuries and I still feel unconvinced by the OL. Brent Celek sure is a beast though.
|2012-09-16, 16:15
|Link #5248
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2008
Age: 32
Hell, in this Redskins/Rams game, the Rams got off without being charged a 15-yard penalty on the goal line. Fisher challenged a fumble call, which isn't able to be challenged because it's automatically reviewed, and trying to challenge it is supposed to result in a 15-yard penalty.
I want the old refs back.
|2012-09-16, 19:11
|Link #5252
World's Greatest
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: San Francisco
Age: 31
|2012-09-16, 19:42
|Link #5253
Zettai Ryouiki Lover
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: The Bay Area
EDIT: This Yahoo! Sports from last year provides some statistics on the "0-2" phenomenon.
Last edited by FDW; 2012-09-17 at 00:07.
|2012-09-17, 00:56
|Link #5257
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: somewhere on this planet
No disrespect FDW and any other Niners fans on here but damn some of their fans are so cocky and annoying. You would think the team sucking for most of last decade before Harbaugh came would humble them. Reminds me a whole lot of Laker fans except for the sucking part. Then again since I don't know them personally, half of them could be bandwagon fans.
Anyway going with the Falcons in the MNF since its in the Georgia Dome.
|2012-09-17, 01:39
|Link #5258
Zettai Ryouiki Lover
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: The Bay Area
Last edited by FDW; 2012-09-17 at 02:00.
|2012-09-17, 12:42
|Link #5259
World's Greatest
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: San Francisco
Age: 31
|2012-09-17, 13:44
|Link #5260
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: somewhere on this planet
Fair enough I guess it mostly applies to teams with winning traditions in the past like the Niners and Cowboys. It does get annoying that they start appearing out of nowhere like they were in hibernation. Cowboys fans I could at least say are always there to annoy you. I guess thats how it is if you stay relevant to media.
|american football, sports
|Thread Tools


text:
People wave as President Dwight D Eisenhower and Mrs. Mamie Eisenhower arrive to attend Sunday services at Gettysburg Presbyterian Church.
President Eisenhower and Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery, tour Gettysburg National Military Park, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. President They deplane, Marshall Montgomery, in uniform. Later, Marshall Montgomery, in mufti, and the President tour the park and visit the Gettysburg National Museum. Sign on building reads 'Battle of Gettysburg on Electrical Map.' View of Gen George Meade's statue in the park.
Church sign reads: "Gettysburg Presbyterian Church". Scenes of the Eisenhowers with their grandchildren at their farm home in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. President Eisenhower's grandson, David, wearing a Civil War hat, holds reins of a horse. President Eisenhower and First Lady, Mamie, sit in a golf cart and speak to granddaughter Barbara, who holds reins of a horse. President and Mrs. Eisenhower walk in garden at back of their farm home in Gettysburg. Brief view of the "Frisco Bell", a gift to the Eisenhowers from the St. Louis-San Francisco Railroad Company. Hood of the golf cart has "Mamie" and "Ike" painted on it. Mrs. Eisenhower holds youngest grandchild, Susan, while sitting with David and Barbara in back of the golf cart. Scenes of house and garden. David astride a horse, next to President Eisenhower in front seat of golf cart and Mrs. Eisenhower sitting with Barbara and Susan in the back. Grandson, David, rides by on the horse, and reporters make notes. David poses wearing his Civil War hat. Scenes of folks moving all around in the Eisenhower yard and horses being led and ridden by David. The Eisenhowers in golf cart with their three grandchildren. President Eisenhower takes the wheel and drives the golf cart with Mrs. Eisenhower and the grandchildren in it. The Eisenhowers stroll in their garden. View of large sand bunker on Ike's home golf course. View of house and barn. End view of house with windmill.
Eisenhowers in golf cart with grandchildren confronted by phalanx of photographers.
Statue of Lincoln sitting on a chair in Lincoln Memorial, Washington, DC, United States. Memorial Day parade including "The Boys in Blue", Union soldiers,veterans of the Civil War, in uniform, followed by Boy Scouts. Setting changes to Gettysburg battle field in Gettsyburg, Pennsylvania at the 1938 Gettysburg Reunion, commemorating the 75th anniversary of the battle in the American Civil War. Surviving Union and Confederate veterans reach across stone wall known as "the angle" to shake hands (average age 94 years old). Civil war veterans salute at the unveiling of the Peace Memorial monument, near a cannon. A Civil War Union soldier places flowers on a bed in the room where Abraham Lincoln wrote his famous 'Gettysburg Address'. He salutes and looks at a copy of Lincoln's handwritten speech, displayed on the wall. Civil War veterans sit around a camp fire, some in wheelchairs. One of them waves a Confederate Battle flag.
Former United States President Dwight David Eisenhower and his wife Mamie Eisenhower at their home in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Dwight Eisenhower and his wife Mamie Eisenhower celebrate their golden wedding anniversary in the United States. They stand in the garden in their house. The couple walks on a path. Both of them sit on a bench in a garden.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower (wearing a boutonnier in his lapel) and Mrs. (Mamie) Eisenhower step from an office in the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, surrounded by well-wishers. They are followed by Press Secretary James Hagerty. President and Mrs.Eisenhower, and Vice President and Mrs. Richard Nixon, in a formal pose in a living room. The President and Mrs. Eisenhower, filling out forms in an office in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. They walk through a large crowd outside.
Scene of Eisenhower's office in Gettysburg. Former President Dwight D Eisenhower and Chinese Vice President and Premier of Nationalist China go and pose in front of the house. Cheng waves and goes inside with Eisenhower. Cheng in discussion with Eisenhower and others. Photographers click photos. Cheng reads and signs some papers and others watch him. People with umbrellas watch Eisenhower come with Cheng. they have umbrella held by Vice President Cheng. Eisenhower enters car and driver takes umbrella from Cheng.


text:
Lexmark supplies are engineered to give your documents high quality, vibrancy and crispness to meet the highest professional standards. Lexmark's focus is on quality and consistency so your focus can be on your work.
Office & Business > Office Equipment & Supplies > Supplies > Print Supplies > Toners & Cartridges


text:
PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii (AP) - Navy Secretary Ray Mabus is visiting one of the Navy's newest ships during the Rim of the Pacific naval exercises off Hawaii.
Mabus is flying out to the USS Independence on Thursday. It's a littoral combat ship capable of operating in relatively shallow water.
The Navy designed the littoral combat ships to have smaller crews and lower costs than other surface ships.
But a Government Accountability Office report earlier this month said the vessels cost nearly as much or more to operate than other surface ships.
The Navy also has a slightly different model of littoral combat ship in its fleet. The first of these is the USS Freedom. It went to Singapore last year in the first of what are expected to become rotational deployments.
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


text:
The drama, the talent and the battles: MBC's The Voice starts
Evidently too many talent shows don't spoil the broth - or at least MBC don't think so. The group already own the rights to 'Idol' and 'Got Talent' but were keen to snap up the latest talent show phenomenon 'The Voice' as well. They have been plugging the show - which is set to hit TV screens on Friday - as an entirely different kettle of fish. 'The Voice' is aimed at people with genuine musical talent - semi-professionals and even former one-hit wonders can apply. Continue reading below »
There will be three phases for the contestants to pass through - blind auditions, the battle round and the final live stage. But, this is the Arab world and there's no contest without a bit of pre-show drama. Already, coach Sherine Abdel Wahab has given us a glimpse into the madness during an earlier press conference. When she wasn't falling asleep at the table, she was flirting with fellow judge and divorcee Kadim al-Sahir. And - never one to miss out on the action - Haifa Wehbe waded in with her thoughts on the show. Unsurprisingly, she was none-too complimentary having been passed up for a role as coach.
All the ingredients are there for a scandalous show in the making - let's just hope Sherine manages to keep her cool until the final episode!
Are you looking forward to The Voice hitting Arab TV this Friday? Share your thoughts and expectations!
Top Headlines
- Diva tantrums, AWOL contestants and 'bad hijabis': Mideast's talent show stars
- The Voice recap: And the winner is...
- The Voice recap: Twists and turns as coaches whittle teams down to two
- That's not funny! Fellow 'Voice' coach thinks Sherine's fall is a screamer
- The show is on the road! Arab Idol is Bahrain bound for first time ever


text:
Led by senior Emily Martin, the King women's wrestling team placed third overall at the prestigious Harry Geris Memorial Duals.
LONDON, Ontario -- The No. 1 King Lady Tornado wrestling team traveled to London, Ontario to defend its team title at the Harry Geris Memorial Duals, held on Saturday afternoon. King finished third overall with a short lineup while Emily Martin was named the top American Wrestler of the tournament.
King defeated three different Canadian teams en route to a rematch with the No. 2 Oklahoma City Stars, where they dropped a 16-11 decision. They were put in a third place dual with Alberta, where they were victors by a 20-10 score to take third place as a team.
No. 3 Simon Fraser University defeated OCU in the finals, 21-11, to take the 2012 team title.
Senior Emily Martin earned the Henry Pillard Award for top American Wrestler.
More details will be provided at a later time.


text:
Inventing the American Woman: An Inclusive History, Volume 2: Since 1877, 4th Edition
Inventing the American Woman: An Inclusive History, Volume 2: Since 1877, 4th Edition
Jan 2007, Wiley-Blackwell
525 pages
In Stock
When the first edition of this groundbreaking survey of U.S. women's history first appeared in 1986, no one could have predicted its spectacular success and widespread support—or the vast proliferation of women's history courses in the nation's high schools, colleges, and universities.
Informed by the generous feedback of many of "Inventing"'s loyal users—student readers and instructors from every region of the nation—the fourth edition of Glenda Riley's dynamic text remains the most inclusive, accessible, and affordable choice as a core text for the Women's History course, as well as useful supplementary reading for courses in Women's Studies and the U.S. survey.
Completely up to date, with expanded coverage of women in the military, sports, women's healthcare, divorce, and women of color—especially Spanish-speaking, American Indian, African American, and Asian American women—this well-balanced, interpretive account portrays the myriad of women's experiences as they shaped and were shaped by American history, and redounds as a remarkable feat of insight and inclusion. As always, each volume features a stunning photographic essay, a visual account from the colonial era to the present.
Introduction: Gender Expectations Across Cultures ix
Chapter Six "Reordering Woman's Sphere": The Gilded Age and Progressive Era, 1878 to 1914 261
The Gilded Age, 1878 to 1890 262
Reform during the Progressive Era, 1890 to 1914 271
Employed Women during the Progressive Era, 1890 to 1914 288
The New South during the Progressive Era, 1890 to 1914 297
The New West during the Progressive Era, 1890 to 1914 299
Study Guide 308
Suggestions for Further Reading 309
Chapter Seven The "New Woman": World War I and the "Roaring Twenties," 1914 to 1929 319
Women during World War I, 1914 -1918 319
Woman Suffrage Triumphant 329
Change and Continuity during the 1920s 340
Racial Issues 353
Study Guide 362
Suggestions for Further Reading 363
Chapter Eight "Making Do and Pitching In": The Great Depression and World War II, 1929 to 1945 370
The Great Depression of the 1930s 370
Life during the 1930s 386
World War II, 1941-1945 396
Survival of Regionalism during the Depression and World War II 407
Study Guide 412
Suggestions for Further Reading 413
Images and Realities (Photographs) Follow page 418 418
Chapter Nine The Feminine Mystique and Beyond, 1945 to 1965 419
Back-to-the-Home Movement of the Late 1940s and the 1950s 420
Beyond Suburbia: The Late 1940s and the 1950s 431
Emerging Feminism: The Early 1960s 443
Women's Lives: The Early 1960s 452
Study Guide 462
Suggestions for Further Reading 463
Chapter Ten Modern American Women: 1965 to the Present 468
The Feminist Movement, 1965-1985 469
Assessing Gains and Losses, 1965-1985 488
Since 1985 500
Study Guide 517
Suggestions for Further Reading 518
Conclusion: Looking Toward the Future 526
Index xii (follow page 530)