Critique Blogs

Okay - Sharia asked me to do this topic a while ago and I haven't had a chance till now. But I want to. I'm only aware of one blog of this type - where a designer gives the blogger permission to critique their designs/kits and show problems, etc. If there are more blogs of this kind, I'm not aware of 'em.

Here's what I think. If you've given a blog of this kind permission to critique, then you can't really complain when they do - no matter how unpleasant, nitpicky or disappointing it might be. However, I'd assume that the blogger (and, by extension, the comments they allow) would be CONSTRUCTIVE. Not insulting or attacking. If that's the case all the way around, then nobody's got any argument with them.

However, if the blogger is critiquing product without permission or being nasty about it, I think there's no place for that. If somebody has a problem with the quality of a designer's product, there's only ONE PLACE where that should be hashed out. Between that customer and the designer. Not on a 3rd party anonymous blog. For one reason, how is the designer supposed to know there's a problem they need to address if they aren't made aware of the problem? Are we just hoping that designer will stumble upon this blog and find it? For another reason, the issue is really only between the customer who paid for the product and the designer who made it. It's really nobody else's business unless the problem doesn't get rectified.

Now, on the one blog I've seen, the main problem I have with it is that the problems being found are, for the most part, ridiculously anal. As a scrapper, my main concern is that the products look good when put together into a layout and then printed. I don't want a lot of stray pixels or jaggedy edges or blurry images. Is something extracted perfectly to 400%? I don't care. Some of what I saw there honestly made me say, "Are you KIDDING ME??" I know everybody has different standards and should be able to find products that meet those standards, but there is high quality and then there's just plain anal, IMO. I have yet to find a product that I've used that looks like total crap when printed out. I've seen some papers that look "better" than others, but nothing I've used looks really BAD. So I wonder, are we encouraging scrappers to have truly unrealistic expectations about what to expect in a product? I wonder.

Scrapper's Choice Awards at DST

Hey - guess who's still alive?

I don't know if anybody's following this anymore - I really haven't had anything to talk about here (FYI - I'm ALWAYS open to suggestions, ideas, reviews if anybody has something they want to talk about), so I haven't been posting. But, today I have something.

The DST Scrapper's Choice Award winners were announced last night/today and I'm really curious to get some unbiased, uncensored opinions about what y'all think. I'll be perfectly frank - I'm disappointed that I didn't get chosen in the category I submitted myself for, but them's the breaks. What I DID find a bit interesting (and troublesome) was that I was seeing the same names over & over & over again, both in the winner's circle and in the honorable mention circle. I know we can't be completely fair (one win per year kind of thing), but I was just a tad annoyed that the same people were winning practically every category. Some even won both nominated & submitted versions of a category & then went on to take the honorable mentions, too. Seems a bit overkill, IMO.

Anyway, beyond my own disappointment, I'd love to know what y'all thought. Be frank, but be kind. There's no need to tear people apart - just share your feelings honestly.

Clarification

I was totally unclear in the last post, but that's okay. What I was talking about specifically was that there were a couple DST posts where people were either asking "Where can I find journaling classes?" or "Let's talk seriously about journaling..." - wanting to work on making journaling better, etc. After being prodded by some of my CT members, I decided to offer a class that deals specifically with journaling - the problems we have with writing and how to get more comfortable with it - which was specifically what people were asking for.

So, I set it up with online registration and it's only $10 for 8 weeks (which I thought was very reasonable), and went around answering those threads with the opportunity I'd created as a solution to a problem. I got ZERO response. So my assumption can only be 1)the people in the threads just wanted to complain and not actually solve their issue 2)I suck so incredibly much that nobody wants to sign up for my class; or 3) they only want to do it if it's free. I understand #3. I do. I know everybody's budget for this hobby is limited and $10 for many people is just more than they can afford at this point. So I don't question that. I have to charge something because of the time it's costing me to put this together.

It's just frustrating to create something in response to a specific request and then get completely ignored. I don't THINK I suck that much that no one wants to sign up, but maybe I've pissed enough people off along the way....? Oh well. In the time since I originally posted that last post, some people have signed up, so that's awesome. BTW - I can't WAIT to start this class. I think you guys who have signed up are going to be very, very pleased.

No excuses

Sorry, guys. Seriously - I had NOTHING to talk about, so I wasn't posting. I honestly never thought anybody would care.

I haven't abandoned y'all at all. I totally have no ideas for what, in the digiscrappin' world, needs discussing. What about you?

Oh, wait. I do have one thing. What is up with this? People spend time on message boards, asking for some sort of service or product to be provided them. They practically beg someone to give them what they're asking for. Then, somebody (or bodies) does (or do) and these people DISAPPEAR. They don't check it out, they don't sign up, they don't buy it, they don't even ask questions or comment on it to say, "Hey, that's close to what I wanted, but I also need this." Leaving the person who stepped up to think one of 2 things:

1. They, and everything they touch or think about, sucks beyond sucking.
2. Those people asking for whatever it is only desire to whine & complain about what they DON'T have or CAN'T do and have no actual desire to solve, fix, learn, or improve said issue.

What is the DEAL?

Avast ye hearties....

....for the bleeding Jolly Roger be sailing proud!! That's right, folks. Pirates are among us. And they're flipping all of us the bird. At the end of the comments from the last post was this...

What does everyone think of all this blatant pirating that is going on? I am not a lawyer, but it has to have stepped over some legal lines, right? My husband thinks that the blog sites just dont have the manpower or money to prosecute all these things, but I dont know if I agree with that.

I don't know either. I know that it's TOTALLY stepped over the legal lines. A lot of those blogs & forums are set up for the express purpose of pirating, so to report them does nothing. And when I did try to report one blog, I got this email:

Hello,

It is our policy to respond to notices of alleged infringement that comply with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (the text of which can be found at the U.S. Copyright Office website: http://lcWeb.loc.gov/copyright/ ) and other applicable intellectual property laws, which may include removing or disabling access to material claimed to be the subject of infringing activity.

To file a notice of infringement with us, you must provide a written communication (by fax or regular mail, not by email) that sets forth the items specified below. Please note that pursuant to that Act, you may be liable to the alleged infringer for damages (including costs and attorneys' fees) if you materially misrepresent that you own an item when you in fact do not. Indeed, in a recent case (please see http://www.onlinepolicy.org/action/legpolicy/opg_v_diebold/ for more information), a company that sent an infringement notification seeking removal of online materials that were protected by the fair use doctrine was ordered to pay such costs and attorneys fees. The company agreed to pay over $100,000. Accordingly, if you are not sure whether material available online infringes your copyright, we suggest that you first contact an attorney.

To expedite our ability to process your request, please use the following format (including section numbers):

1. Identify in sufficient detail the copyrighted work that you believe has been infringed upon. This must include identification of specific posts, as opposed to entire sites. Posts must be referenced by either the dates in which they appear or the permalink of the post. For example,
http://example.blogspot.com/archives/2003_01_21_example_archive.html#2104575.

2. Identify the material that you claim is infringing upon the copyrighted work listed in item #1 above.

YOU MUST IDENTIFY EACH POST BY PERMALINK OR DATE THAT ALLEGEDLY CONTAINS INFRINGING MATERIAL. The permalink for a post is usually found by clicking on the timestamp of the post.

3. Provide information reasonably sufficient to permit Blogger to contact you (email address is preferred).

4. Include the following statement: "I have a good faith belief that use of the copyrighted materials described above on the allegedly infringing web pages is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law."

5. Include the following statement: "I swear, under penalty of perjury, hat the information in the notification is accurate and that I am the copyright owner or am authorized to act on behalf of the owner of anexclusive right that is allegedly infringed."

6. Sign the paper.

7. Send the written communication to the following address:

Google, Inc.
Attn: Blogger Legal Support, DMCA complaints
1600 Amphitheatre Pkwy
Mountain View, CA 94043

OR Fax to:
(650) 618-2680, Attn: Blogger Legal Support, DMCA complaints

Sincerely,
The Blogger Team



Which I can't do, because I'm not the injured party. I guess each designer has to file for EACH. INDIVIDUAL. POST. Talk about time consuming!! Though all the Blogger powers-that-be would need to do is look at the flagged/reported blog & see that all they're doing is file sharing. Oh well. Because the pirated designers have nothing better to do than mail & fax stuff all over creation to shut this crap down.

I don't know. It totally pisses me off, but it seems futile to fight. I mean, you shut one place down & another will pop up. Plus, it's not like these people would actually buy the products if the sharing were eliminated. I believe that a lot of these people are hoarders. They just want the thrill of getting stuff for free. They're not actually going to use all of it. I know a woman who had a bunch of stuff that, while I couldn't prove it, I think she pirated. Like vBulletin and PS and PSP and other commercial products. She might have used one or 2 of them, but she didn't run a site, so she didn't need vBulletin.

Anyway - I know you either think it's wrong or it's okay, so that discussion is pretty fruitless. Let's talk to the people who believe it's wrong. What, if anything, can we do about it?

And, hey, thanks to those who had my back on the last stuff over on the dish. I took the bait & I shouldn't have, because it doesn't matter WHAT I or any designer does; we're wrong. We're the evil empire bent on sticking it to the little guy - even though most of us ARE the little guy. Even once I prove myself to not be a liar or a thief, then the attack changes to "Well, your stuff sucks anyway. I wouldn't take it if it were free. Naa-nah-naa-nah-boo-boo". I just don't understand how you can make it through the day if you're this stupid. I mean...wouldn't you be constantly setting yourself on fire & stuff??

Whatever.

Apparently...

....we can't please anybody. It seems that all the complaining & moaning by the community about the designers & products out there boils down to this:

Nothing is good enough & everything sucks.

Apparently. No matter what a designer does, it fails in some area. Colors are bad. Elements are scanned & extracted. Too many papers. Not enough papers. Too many patterns. Too many solids. Everything looks too "digital". The designer didn't create anything herself - it's all scanned. It's the same crap you find in 937584685 other stores. I've never seen anything like that & it's stupid. You're too popular of a designer. You're totally unheard of, so you must suck.

I'm ready to give up. I make what I like - what appeals to me aesthetically. Yes, I use commercial use actions, overlays, and other products. I use Dover. I scan & extract. And, according to many people, that means I'm not a designer. I'm not creative, I'm a "scan-artist". But if I made everything using Photoshop with no CU products and no scanning, I'd suck because it would all look "digital".

When did we go from "I don't like that particular designer/design and therefore, I just won't buy it" to "OMGYOUSUCKSOBADIWANNAVOMIT". When did we start deciding who is & isn't "worthy" to call themselves a designer? Yes, there are a LOT of designers out there who make stuff that I simply do not like. It's not my style. It doesn't appeal to me at all. But I wouldn't publicly trash them because I don't like it. I just won't buy it. I won't recommend it to friends. And, if they're as poor as I think, they'll just go out of business.

Why is there such negativity?? Why are we (as a community) so busy tearing each other down? Are we that sad & miserable in our own lives that we have to make everybody else as sad & pathetic as we are?? Is it POSSIBLE that the designs that make you want to vomit actually make somebody else happy?? Yes, it's true. But, of course, in those people's minds, that means the happy people are too stupid to breathe.

:sigh:

Thoughts??

What the H*ll???

So, in reading the DD blog, I come across someone who decides that, in order to bring down the mighty CRD, it's okay to give a link to the 4shared account where pre & post extraction items are being stored. To prove that"she don't do her own work". Which...whatever. So somebody helps her with extractions. Big whoop.

The point is, I point out that this was an idiotic response to it and I'm totally attacked. Called "bullsh*t", "the more you talk, the dumber you sound", and everybody jumps to the defense of someone who SHARED LINKS, Y'ALL.

I gave up after about 3 posts because it was obvious I wasn't getting anywhere &, like I said, it was like trying to teach a pig to sing - wastes my time & annoys the pig. So, whatever gets you through the night. You tell yourself whatever you need to - doesn't change the fact that it was wrong.

Anyway - is this de rigeur for annoyed/irritated customers?? It's okay to bash a designer you don't like by giving out links to "prove" your point? Because if it is, that's just whacked. I have no intention of trying to knock sense into a bunch of onion-heads who think it is, but I have to get some rational, adult POV. What the H*LL???