Author Topic: GemX - missing in action (Read 279259 times)

blakelyg · « **Reply #25 on:** September 10, 2007, 06:34 PM »

Well, hello everybody! You guys, you all know me - tiptop from the gemx forum. (or maybe no more).
Before anything, at least for me, the most important thing that's above everything else is... Client service. Service is what people want. If you put it ahead of everything else, then things will go well - it has to - that's simple common sense. When you put your "simple business sense" under the carpet, well, your business will fail. It's like the expression we hear sometimes, "put the horse in front of the cart". But some, when it comes to service, literally have the cart in front of the horse and expect things to move that way.
-doublewitt (September 10, 2007, 05:10 PM)

Hi there all. I too am a registered GemX User (and forum participant). I am the one who (and I admit perhaps rather vocally) had criticized the support issues of Gemx including the DSM functionality, the contact support issues and others. I also had posted a poll in the forum about Service issues/bug reports versus adding functionality. As many of you may remember I took several "hits"

for my stance (being a longtime developer myself) and even removed the poll as many found it perhaps too critical. I also corresponded in PM with Tiptop and expressed my reservations about the support issues.

All that being said, I find it interesting that the registered user section is still up and running and seems to be fully functional. I to have placed messages with the DSM support s well as sending emails to their Gmail account, and like everyone else have not had any luck receiving any kind of response.

Perhaps I am an optimist at heart but until such time as the Gemx registered user area ceases, then perhaps their is still hope. Of course that could also just be a method of still providing sales to new users.
As has been mentioned I too have continued to use the product and have even had limited success in getting certain parts (Finance/Spreadsheet - mailer) to work better - for me (especially with the Beta version).
Yes there are lots of bugs/support issues to deal with, but the product is still quite unique in its approach and functionality and if Gemx can get it's support and development issues resolved then perhaps there is hope.

BTW doublewitt do u still live in Montreal (as I am moving to Laval in a month or 2),

GB

Darwin · « **Reply #26 on:** September 10, 2007, 06:50 PM »

Ha ha. Welcome to Donationcoder, blakelyg! I'm from Vancouver Island so we're getting a healthy number of Canadians in this thread. Interesting. Anyway, like you, I am hopeful that the wind will change and all will be well. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Interestingly, when I purhcased my copy of Do-Organizer, the download that I received and have installed is version 3.0.9.7 dated July 9, 2007. When I check for updates I get a an offer to "update" to a version a month older, 3.0.8. Trying to find out about this was what alerted me to all not being well in GemX land... Like blakelyg, my e-mails and DSM attempts have gone unanswered.

Beth UK · « **Reply #27 on:** September 10, 2007, 07:35 PM »

To quote Darwin...

Wow! TipTop is here

and Blakelyg too! Seems like a whole forum is migrating to Donationcoder. It surely underlines the sad thing that has been going on when even the Gemx forum moderator is kept out of the loop!

I think you'll find lots of really interesting stuff here though - the level of discussion and community is fantastic.

doublewitt · « **Reply #28 on:** September 10, 2007, 07:36 PM »

Ha ha. Welcome to Donationcoder, blakelyg! I'm from Vancouver Island so we're getting a healthy number of Canadians in this thread.
-Darwin (September 10, 2007, 06:50 PM)

Yeah, "agent doublewitt" still lives near Montreal - a little bit north now (St Eustache) - but very close to Laval. Even though I've been in the Montreal region for many years, I was born in Victoria, BC!

A software application I like a lot and I fall back on is TreeDBNotes PRO. Their new version 3 is interesting. I enjoy using this multi-tabbed outliner. I have tabs right across the screen in some databases. An interesting feature is the ability to "lock" tab/trees. And also, you can lock individual notes. That helps to "privatize" data. They have a simple approach and it's useful. It's a devoted russian developer and there have been many, many updates over the last 2 months and apparently, many more to come. If you care to look at it, here's the location:

http://www.mytreedb....treedbnotes_pro.html

blakelyg · « **Reply #29 on:** September 10, 2007, 07:48 PM »

Yeah, "agent doublewitt" still lives near Montreal - a little bit north now (St Eustache) - but very close to Laval. Even though I've been in the Montreal region for many years, I was born in Victoria, BC!

A software application I like a lot and I fall back on is TreeDBNotes PRO. Their new version 3 is interesting. I enjoy using this multi-tabbed outliner. I have tabs right across the screen in some databases. An interesting feature is the ability to "lock" tab/trees. And also, you can lock individual notes. That helps to "privatize" data. They have a simple approach and it's useful. It's a devoted russian developer and there have been many, many updates over the last 2 months and apparently, many more to come. If you care to look at it, here's the location:

http://www.mytreedb....treedbnotes_pro.html
-doublewitt (September 10, 2007, 07:36 PM)

Thanks for the software link.... I will check it out. How is the "support" there.

St Eustache eh? Great flea market there, have been there several times this summer already with my fiance.

gb

doublewitt · « **Reply #30 on:** September 10, 2007, 07:57 PM »

That flea market is something - isn't it?!

The russian developer isn't too strong with the english language but makes good efforts. (simple and to the point) I guess maybe, dialog is a little bit difficult - but in all, it's OK. Support has been constant (not outstanding) - but I have no complaints. I'm happy with the support there so far.

Darwin · « **Reply #31 on:** September 10, 2007, 11:40 PM »

Ah, Victoria... I live in Courtenay, about 2.5 hours north of there (but was born in the Royal Jubliee and wound up back in Victoria for university)... Anyway, you all may be interested in this notetaking overview by superboyac. It's a synthesis of a thread he started a while back that has the distinction of being the longest thread on these boards. Anyway, and finally, there is a separate discussion of his overview here. Treedbnotes pro gets a mention or two in the original (long) thread. Worth a look over anyway.

Darwin · « **Reply #32 on:** September 10, 2007, 11:55 PM »

PS One of the cool things about DC in general and the Notetaking thread in particular is that we often get developers dropping by to discuss their applications. Nevf in the notetaking thread is the author of Surfulater, DonL posts frequently about XYPlorer in other threads, likewise aignes is the author of WebsiteWatcher, nagar writes DirectAccess, Dennis Nazarenko
Tidy Start Menu and Vista Start Menu, and there are lots of others.

sigh... · « **Reply #33 on:** September 15, 2007, 08:05 PM »

Hi sigh and beldeamon...

Welcome to the thread for 'lost and confused' Gemx refugees! Ok, well maybe that's a bit premature but there seems to be a single train of thought along the ideas of everyone not knowing what's going on.

-Beth UK (September 10, 2007, 10:45 AM)

Just out of curiosity, i was wondering how often (if ever) any of you go to the gemx forum site to see if anything has "changed" and if so, about how often.

I am now down to checking about once a week (and not consistently) and have been actively searching (again) for an effective and consistently working PIM. i mostly need a calendar scheduler (and it MUST have the capabilities to schedule multiple calendars (so far no luck with that), and a task scheduler - and overall view of my "day" would be great too - i also need to be able to create fields (or categories).

so, if anyone has any they are using or trying out - let me know. finding a multi-calendar PIM is proving to be very difficult.......

thanks,

from ido2!!! to idon'tanymore!!! (lol)

Armando · « **Reply #34 on:** September 15, 2007, 09:55 PM »

i mostly need a calendar scheduler (and it MUST have the capabilities to schedule multiple calendars (so far no luck with that), and a task scheduler - and overall view of my "day" would be great too - i also need to be able to create fields (or categories).

so, if anyone has any they are using or trying out - let me know. finding a multi-calendar PIM is proving to be very difficult.......
-sigh... (September 15, 2007, 08:05 PM)

Do you need to sync with a Palm or a Pocket PC?
Have you decided to rule out Outlook?

PS : BTW : to all canadians here : I'm from Montreal. So yes, as Darwin said : "we're getting a healthy number of Canadians in this thread"

steeladept · « **Reply #35 on:** September 15, 2007, 10:57 PM »

Akk...A bunch of French Canadians at that

. Actually, one of my best friends from High School was from Toronto, so we used to tease him a bunch about being French Canadian. He would always get flustered saying not all Canadians were French Canadians! We knew that, but it was fun to tease him anyway. Sorry about the aside, the thread just reminded me of that. Good Times....</memory>

Armando · « **Reply #36 on:** September 15, 2007, 11:51 PM »

steeladept, did you know that Toronto was not part of Quebec (the frenchy province)?
Toronto is actually very English.
But who cares anyway : he was speaking French and so you were absolutely entitled to tease him.
J'aurais fait la même chose.

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #37 on:** September 16, 2007, 03:50 AM »

I'm from Vancouver Island so we're getting a healthy number of Canadians in this thread.

My parents live at Bracebridge, about 150 miles north of Toronto, so can I count (by proxy) ?

Darwin · « **Reply #38 on:** September 16, 2007, 07:12 AM »

I'm from Vancouver Island so we're getting a healthy number of Canadians in this thread.

My parents live at Bracebridge, about 150 miles north of Toronto, so can I count (by proxy) ?
-Carol Haynes (September 16, 2007, 03:50 AM)

Sure! Welcome, eh?

sigh... · « **Reply #39 on:** September 16, 2007, 08:28 AM »

Do you need to sync with a Palm or a Pocket PC?
Have you decided to rule out Outlook?
-Armando (September 15, 2007, 09:55 PM)

No, i don't need to sync with anything - but i probably want to be able to use the program from a flash drive.

Outlook is COMPLETELY out of the question!

i had looked at barca www.barca.com and essential pim www.essentialpim.com, but they don't seem to allow for multiple calendars. that is HIGHLY important for me, as are a lot of customizations of categories and fields.

Darwin · « **Reply #40 on:** September 16, 2007, 08:36 AM »

sigh - I check four or five times a week. I run Maxthon 2 and have a "notetaking" group that opens the GemX forum page along with the forum pages for other notetakers. "Maintenance Mode" has gotten very, very old! It's funny you asked this question as just this morning I was wondering why I bother keeping the GemX forum link activated in that group - it's not looking like it's every coming back

Armando · « **Reply #41 on:** September 16, 2007, 11:29 AM »

@Sigh...

Well, there's Info Select. Pretty expensive. But does what you're looking for. And much more, probably.
There's also Sunbird (Mozilla) or Lightning + Thunderbird (free/donations), or/and the Evolution (free/donations) port to Windows (I'm not sure I'd trust this one though...).
There's also Anytime Organizer, but I'm not sure if it handles multiple calendars.
Or other Web based solutions like Google Calendar.

I use Outlook 2003.

steeladept · « **Reply #42 on:** September 16, 2007, 11:49 AM »

steeladept, did you know that Toronto was not part of Quebec (the frenchy province)?
Toronto is actually very English.
But who cares anyway : he was speaking French and so you were absolutely entitled to tease him.
J'aurais fait la même chose.
-Armando (September 15, 2007, 11:51 PM)

Yes, I was well aware of that...That is why it was so fun to tease him about it. He was proud to not be from Quebec province, and so (of course) we had to act like he was - ALWAYS. It was fun, and he got pretty good at returning the harassment. Oh, that and we had to duck a lot!

doublewitt · « **Reply #43 on:** September 16, 2007, 08:18 PM »

Do you need to sync with a Palm or a Pocket PC?
Have you decided to rule out Outlook?
-Armando (September 15, 2007, 09:55 PM)

No, i don't need to sync with anything - but i probably want to be able to use the program from a flash drive.

Outlook is COMPLETELY out of the question!

i had looked at barca www.barca.com and essential pim www.essentialpim.com, but they don't seem to allow for multiple calendars. that is HIGHLY important for me, as are a lot of customizations of categories and fields.
-sigh... (September 16, 2007, 08:28 AM)

How about Yagoon Time...?
http://www.yagoon.com/

Excellant for multiple layers (calendars) - as many as you would like (PRO). You can manage todo's as well. It's very nice. Works with the flash drive too...

When you move the cursor to the left and right of the screen, panels open up... you can view/lock them as you wish.

doublewitt · « **Reply #44 on:** September 16, 2007, 09:04 PM »

There is also the MultiCalendar at: http://www.multicalendar.com/

celtichare · « **Reply #45 on:** September 17, 2007, 06:13 AM »

It's great to find out that I'm not the only one locked out of the GemX thing - but not great to be locked out you understand. I too am a registered user of do-O and the forum. At first I felt that things were working really well, I bought the full product and now I'm a bit naffed to find that it seems to have gone bad. I can only assume the worse since there seems to be NO ATTEMPT from the developers to reassure us as to what the position is. I've emailed regularly and DSM'd with no reply -it's downright rude! I feel cheated, especially since the product seemed to promise so much - there's really nothing I can find to compare, but that doesn't change the fact that I now find myself reluctant to continue investing in it. I am using Essential Pim which seems like a decent application but as yet is nothing like as comprehensive as do-O promised to be. Reading their website it appears that they are open to users suggestions and if they are smart they could capitalise on the apparent demise of GemX - but maybe that's wishful thinking ;0( I'll keep my eye on this thread in the hope that some positive developments take place - but I'm beginning to think it is unlikely - I mean, face it =- if guys like TipTop and the other regulars are feeling doubtful GemX have a mountain to climb to win back our loyalty.

Darwin · « **Reply #46 on:** September 17, 2007, 08:29 AM »

hi celtichare - welcome to Donationcoder! The most disturbing thing about all of this is that the homepage seems to be "business as usual" (though there are no updates, no news notices and not other signs that anything is going on there) and yet there has been no announcement about the forum and none of us here have received a single reply to our attempts at contact through a number of channels. Presumably, it is still possible to buy licences for their products. I'm actually hoping that someone for GemX finds this thread and will enlighten us, but while I am hopeful I am not delusional

sigh... · « **Reply #47 on:** September 17, 2007, 10:12 AM »

in a perfect world (right!), wouldn't it be nice if some other company was in the process of buying out GemX and "when" they come back, it will be under new management and fixed!!

i know, i know, i need to wake up from my dream.....

Armando · « **Reply #48 on:** September 17, 2007, 10:16 AM »

I'm pretty happy I never tried do-O, after all!!!
The only thing that stopped me at the time was the absence of synchronization with palm devices.

Anyway... ANother one -- but never tried : SQLnotes seems like a promising app. All the retiring ecco enthusiasts look forward to its completion. Maybe not before 6months/1year though...

superboyac · « **Reply #49 on:** September 17, 2007, 11:19 AM »

Yeah, I'm a little miffed by this company also. They seem to have a great track record of being responsive to customers, but I tried to contact them several times about texnotes and not once did I get a response. I tried directing them to the notetaking thread here, as well as the review I did, but they never responded. So I don't know what is happening there.