The Logics

With a quiet smile I discovered last night that my Leo Tolstoy articles are ranked in the top-ten on Google® and other search engines. Now that the pages are gaining a bit of popularity, I decided that the pages ought to be updated with a slightly cleaner code for improved viewing.

The writings by Leo Tolstoy are not what we might interpret as being of an enlightening experience, but his words do help lend to us an idea of how ideas have developed over the centuries. If a person’s interest is within psychology, philosophy, theology, or even if the interest is within the topic of prodigies and high IQ, Tolstoy’s words are one of the ingredients of the history that formed the ideas that reign popular today. To me there is sizable humor that Tolstoy’s writings are one of the many links that connect the circular reasoning that has traveled through Socrates, Mill, James, Thoreau, Sidis, and perhaps even Gandhi. If a person does not transcend the beliefs of popular philosophy, then forever will the person be as a link in a circular chain that leads nowhere.

Leo Tolstoy A Letter to a Hindu – A Book Review and Brief Commentary

Leo Tolstoy A Confession – A Book Review and Brief Commentary

All software has weak points, and WordPress® has had its share, but it appears that WordPress has overcome most if not all of its previous major imperfections. I have not had a problem with the editor in over a year, and the last two major automated program updates worked well without my having to do anything more than click the install button. Tonight, after another full update, I am well pleased with WordPress.

There are still several weaknesses in all blog software, none of which are the fault of WordPress, but rather are the fault of low minds whose pleasure is in harming other people. A previous customer of mine had his website hit with several rather nasty trojans, and it appears that the trojans were inserted by the individual that my previous customer had hired to design his WordPress blog. Regardless of how well blog software might be written with security features, the security features are of no benefit if the blog owner makes his passwords public. I would recommend WordPress for use as a blog or as a small website, and I also recommend that the blog owner keep his/her passwords private for both the hosting service as well as the WordPress administration. If there is a need to have a web design company help with your site, then it is important that the company be researched to ensure that they are qualified to handle your site’s security, and when the web design company has finished its work it is important to change your passwords as a precaution against the company itself possibly having its security compromised by new employees.

WordPress has designed its administration menus to be as simple to use as online email; if you can write an email, then you can use WordPress. There is only one good word processor in the world, Microsoft’s® Word, the best spreadsheet is Microsoft’s Excel®, and the world’s best HTML/CSS editor is Microsoft’s Expression® Web 4. In the world of blog software, WordPress is the choice. I am with a great sense of appreciation that I am so fortunate to use all four.

As I mentioned previously, some companies close their doors without notice and disappear with their customers’ money. Last month I was almost the victim of another company that went out of business, closed its website, and now cannot be contacted by phone, mail, or email. I was fortunate that I was able to get my money back after a thirty day wait, but it is unknown how many people were not as lucky. If Amazon.com is not able to handle its customers’ accounts today, then it is a safe bet that if/when Amazon closes its doors that there will likely be thousands of customers who do not receive their orders nor a refund.

When Apple bought Lala we were promised a store credit on iTunes for our Lala purchases, a credit that never happened for many of us (me included). When a big corporation decides to steal from its customers, there is simply not much of anything you and I can do. What we can do is to give our business to a different company and to tell everyone to use caution when dealing with companies like Amazon.com.

Did you know that Wikipedia has a page dedicated to Amazon.com Controversies that alleges quite a few undesirable practices by Amazon.com? I am not a fan of Wikipedia, but I did find it interesting that Amazon’s reputation is bad enough to warrant a full page. Googling “amazon.com complaints” brings up a long list as well.

I did not want my books being sold through Amazon when Amazon bought Mobipocket, but oh well, that’s what I get for not listening to my gut feelings.

At present there are hundreds if not thousands of individuals that Amazon is refusing to pay. I am just hoping that you will not be one of them.

As I wrote about previously, I am very pleased with the quality of River Soaps. During the past several weeks I have had the chance to test their lavender, sandalwood, citrus, lime, patchouli, and the milk and honey, and I have found each to have a similar high quality.

The River Soap lavender remains my favorite (as well as my wife’s), but the other scents are as appealing. Washing my hands with the lime soap, I am far too tempted to take a bite ;-), and it is the cleanliness of aroma within each of the soaps that draws and keeps my attention.

I had tried an imported sandalwood soap years ago, and while the scent was not so bad while the soap bar was still in the wrapper, the scent changed when the soap became wet, and the aroma was one of being dirty with chemicals. In contrast, the River Soap sandalwood has a clean aroma both dry and wet. Nicely surprising is that all of the River Soaps that I have used have had a richer aroma when wet.

I was uncertain of the patchouli soap; the aroma was OK, although not common, but after my being pleased with the other soaps by River Soap, it seemed reasonable to expect the soap to not be too terrible. With a large smile I was very pleased that the patchouli fragrance is also enhanced when wet, and it is quite excellent.

The milk and honey is advertised as being scent free, and surely most people may not notice the aroma, but some of us can smell what many people cannot. The milk and honey bar has a very quiet and gentle aroma that is as light as the soap’s beige color.

An interesting thing: my wife recently said that the River Soap lavender was making her feel better (she had used other brands of lavender soaps for years without saying anything so positive). I replied that I too had been feeling better but I had not spoken of it previously due to my not knowing for sure if it was the soap that might be the cause. If it is indeed the River Soap helping us, then it is likely the cleanliness of ingredients that is allowing the toxic buildup of previous soaps to be eliminated.

River Soaps are cruelty-free, suitable for vegan and vegetarian, and apparently very green.

I rarely speak of a commercial product, my sites are normally free of all advertising and commercialization, but I feel that the quality of River Soap deserves mentioning. I buy River Soap at the local Natural Grocers (the best grocery store my town has ever had), but River Soap is also available online at River Soap. Treat yourself to something nice!

In 2003 Mobipocket was (in my opinion anyway) the best online distributor for e-books. When Mobipocket quality began sliding south a few years later, the reason was obvious; Amazon.com had bought control over Mobipocket, and Amazon was with the goal of eliminating competition for the up-coming Kindle format.

During the past few years the Mobipocket website had become so buggy that about 70% of the available titles were not displayed for sale. A few days ago I received an email stating that within a month no new titles will be accepted at Mobipocket. Yes, Mobipocket is now on its last breaths, and will soon be eliminated completely.

I had grown accustomed to Amazon being slow in paying royalties to associates and pubishers – one check did not arrive for over two years – but now Amazon has fully stopped paying many publishers for both Mobipocket as well as Kindle titles. The Kindle forums are surprisingly active with publishers reporting that they are not getting paid. In spite of my numerous telephone calls and emails, Amazon has now not paid my royalties in over five months, and it appears that Amazon has no intention of paying any of the publishers that have past due royalties.

It is not uncommon for a company to stop paying expenses when the company is preparing to go out of business, and so some of us are asking the question of whether or not Amazon is about to fold. In past years almost everything I purchased from Amazon was of a useful quality, but over the past year at least half of all of my purchases have been of defective products, of the type that are normally found in salvage sales. I did not consider the reason might be due to Amazon’s financial problems, but now the idea appears plausible.

If you are in any manner involved with books or music – or any online shopping for that matter – you might consider using other retailers until after we can get answers of why Amazon cannot afford to pay $200.00 in royalties. My concern for others is that if Amazon is indeed folding, then Amazon may begin refusing to ship orders while also refusing to refund the money paid by customers (it happens with companies far more frequently than most people may realize).

I have discontinued all of my accounts with Amazon, and during the past few months I have directed numerous customers to other online retailers for computers, software, and related products. If Amazon only gets a 10% cut on sales, then they have already lost at least five times the cost of the royalties to me alone: businesses that make those types of decisions are usually always in a world of hurt financially.

We will continue hoping that Amazon has simply hired too many bad employees, and that the problems will eventually get solved, but at the moment I would not bet on it.