Author Topic: GemX - missing in action (Read 376,645 times)

doublewitt · « **Reply #125 on:** October 05, 2007, 02:47 PM »

Just the same, I don't think that there was enough "negativism" to justify a disappearance. There are probably more serious issues internally. But they did mention in a post that they were somewhat annoyed with the posting (generally). Dealing with clients is NOT their strong point, ofcourse. And I agree, running a business involves lots of responsibilities. Running a forum is also a responsibility. It's a connection between the developers and the clients. Any serious business will watch that closely and carefully post suitable answers. It's a question of competency! This was their 1st forum, and so they never disappeared like that before. Every forum has it's ups-and-downs, but to turn it completely off, well, that really shows a lack of professionalism - as you say. Obviously, they haven't "matured" enough as a business to understand the importance of a client-centered approach. Your clients are like "gold" and you would normally do everything to keep them.

doublewitt · « **Reply #126 on:** October 05, 2007, 02:59 PM »

Quote from: zak11000 on October 05, 2007, 02:32 PM

Isn't it strange - that do-organizer which is better than other PIMs gets so few downloads compared to them. They are incompetent at everything except programming.

The "price" also has something to do with that as well, but until they make a firm committment towards clients, their business will swing like a roller coaster!

zak11000 · « **Reply #127 on:** October 05, 2007, 03:01 PM »

Agree. And if you want to close down the forum. That's fine - that's their right. But out of common courtesy say - the forum is closed - we are changing our approach and just want feedback from our registered beta software subscribers. If there is something going on with the company - fine - post a message to let people know.

They have treated their customers with no respect in the past and still continue to do so - this will never change. So if you want to use their software prepare yourself for this. And how fair were they to you tiptop - you were the moderator of their forum and they are ignoring you as well after all the work you put in. How rude is that???...

doublewitt · « **Reply #128 on:** October 05, 2007, 03:10 PM »

It's kinda rough, I guess. But I can take it with a

doublewitt · « **Reply #129 on:** October 05, 2007, 03:51 PM »

Quote from: zak11000 on October 05, 2007, 03:01 PM

Agree. And if you want to close down the forum. That's fine - that's their right.

Any business has the right...
But as we say; "It's not what you do, but HOW you do it" - or - "it's not what you say, but rather, HOW you say it" that's what counts...

Josh · « **Reply #130 on:** October 05, 2007, 04:06 PM »

Their beta team doesnt have any contact either. I am part of the beta team and the latest release I have was a 3.09 beta release which "fixed the reminders bug", although it really didnt. The way they are handling this is going to shoot them in the foot and IF they ever open their forums back up, I plan to voice my disapproval very vocally.

Darwin · « **Reply #131 on:** October 05, 2007, 04:21 PM »

For some perverse reason, I was a de facto beta tester as well (granted, it appears EVERYONE was). I say this because the download that I received after purchasing the upgrade was for 3.09. It was this anomaly that set me off down this path in the first place. My first DSM to them sought clarification about the version that I was running... I never did receive a response on that one, either...

doublewitt · « **Reply #132 on:** October 05, 2007, 04:58 PM »

No luck with the phone call/fax?
Did you try?

There were only a few beta testers (5-6)... at least in the beta testing forum, that's all there was, and they generally, were not very active. The greater part of all the beta reports were coming in from me.

doublewitt · « **Reply #133 on:** October 05, 2007, 06:40 PM »

Quote from: Josh on October 05, 2007, 04:06 PM

Their beta team doesnt have any contact either. I am part of the beta team and the latest release I have was a 3.09 beta release which "fixed the reminders bug", although it really didnt. The way they are handling this is going to shoot them in the foot and IF they ever open their forums back up, I plan to voice my disapproval very vocally.

You also, have the right...

Darwin · « **Reply #134 on:** October 05, 2007, 07:50 PM »

I never did try the phone number/fax route. Once SWREG started working with me on this I couldn't see the point. Like Josh, I'm still going to monitor the forum and if it is ever revived I'll be making my displeasure known there...

Darwin · « **Reply #135 on:** October 05, 2007, 08:19 PM »

Hmmm... I'm starting to question the wisdom of having requested a refund: I paid $70US in August when the Canadian dollar sat around $.96US. If I get my refund over the weekend I'll be paid back with the US dollar worth $.98CDN! I''m going to be losing money on this deal... Not to mention that the credit card company charged me a fee to do the conversion from Canadian to US currency and will do the same again

vizacc · « **Reply #136 on:** October 05, 2007, 08:24 PM »

hi,
I took a "closer look" at their software.

How would you like to test my software that does more/less the same?

Mine is different in the sense it uses RDBMS to store data.
Choose your RDBMS: - MSSQL, MySQL, Firebird, Sybase ASA, DB/2, Oracle.

doublewitt · « **Reply #137 on:** October 05, 2007, 08:30 PM »

Quote from: Darwin on October 05, 2007, 08:19 PM

Hmmm... I'm starting to question the wisdom of having requested a refund: I paid $70US in August when the Canadian dollar sat around $.96US. If I get my refund over the weekend I'll be paid back with the US dollar worth $.98CDN! I''m going to be losing money on this deal... Not to mention that the credit card company charged me a fee to do the conversion from Canadian to US currency and will do the same again

Well, at least, that's not a bad refund...
better off losing a part of it than to lose the whole sum...
Would it be wiser to lose all?

doublewitt · « **Reply #138 on:** October 05, 2007, 08:31 PM »

Quote from: vizacc on October 05, 2007, 08:24 PM

hi,
I took a "closer look" at their software.

How would you like to test my software that does more/less the same?

Mine is different in the sense it uses RDBMS to store data.
Choose your RDBMS: - MSSQL, MySQL, Firebird, Sybase ASA, DB/2, Oracle.

What is it...???

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #139 on:** October 05, 2007, 08:32 PM »

Quote from: Darwin on October 05, 2007, 08:19 PM

Hmmm... I'm starting to question the wisdom of having requested a refund: I paid $70US in August when the Canadian dollar sat around $.96US. If I get my refund over the weekend I'll be paid back with the US dollar worth $.98CDN! I''m going to be losing money on this deal... Not to mention that the credit card company charged me a fee to do the conversion from Canadian to US currency and will do the same again

You should contact your credit card company and explain the refund - you should be reimbursed in full. If not contact the transaction company and explain to them too.

doublewitt · « **Reply #140 on:** October 05, 2007, 08:36 PM »

Isn't the transaction according to the current rates? Is there another policy that is applied?

Josh · « **Reply #141 on:** October 05, 2007, 08:43 PM »

Darwin, I hope they come back online just so that I can express my distaste with their current method of handling things. I havent been ignoring your PM's, merely waiting until I could gather more information. I really wish I could find more, but without an international telephone line, I cant call them to try and reach them.

Darwin · « **Reply #142 on:** October 05, 2007, 09:37 PM »

Heh, heh - thanks for the comments, guys! I was posting a bit tongue in cheek (though looking back at it it isn't really evident) when I complained about the exchange rate - Doublewitt, you're right getting 95% or so back is nothing to complain about. Carol - if you're right (and I will follow up on this) - then I REALLY have nothing to complain about.

Josh - no worries, things have sorted themselves out from my end. If you're interested in a refund yourself, this route should work for you as well, though there is a process that needs to be worked through (you contact GemX through the SWREG interface, wait for a few days, then write to SWREG via their interface, they write to GemX and give them 48 hours to reply. When they don't, you use the interface again to contact SWREG who then give GemX another 48 hours to respond before issuing a refund).

doublewitt · « **Reply #143 on:** October 05, 2007, 10:25 PM »

Quote from: Darwin on October 05, 2007, 09:37 PM

(and I will follow up on this)

I tend to think that those who process refund transactions will consider this as a "new" transaction as of today, you know what I mean, so I'd be surprised if they revert back to a past exchange rate... who knows... it's worth following up anyways! Maybe Carol is right...

doublewitt · « **Reply #144 on:** October 05, 2007, 10:30 PM »

Quote from: doublewitt on October 05, 2007, 08:31 PM

Quote from: vizacc on October 05, 2007, 08:24 PM
hi,
I took a "closer look" at their software.

How would you like to test my software that does more/less the same?

Mine is different in the sense it uses RDBMS to store data.
Choose your RDBMS: - MSSQL, MySQL, Firebird, Sybase ASA, DB/2, Oracle.

What is it...???

What is it...???

PPLandry · « **Reply #145 on:** October 06, 2007, 12:29 AM »

>What is it...???

Vizacc, for those that don't know, make an excellent free software called HelpMaker. Great for creating hlp and html help files. It is basically a specialized 2-pane outliner. http://www.vizacc.com/. Sally seems to be the brain behind this project which is actively being developped.

As for myself, I develop SQLNotes which is a general purpose information manager. It supports both single-pane oulining with columns (as Ecco Pro) and 2-pane with a rich text editing pane (Ultra Recall, MyInfo, and zillions others). Many many other features. Far too many to enumerate here (calculation, filtering, advanced search, pivot tables and charts, web clippings, auto-assign, Office links ...) It is actively developped, so visit www.sqlnotes.net to have your voice heard. Do-Organizer users input is particularly welcome. Please come to download a free copy and influence its evolution!

vizacc · « **Reply #146 on:** October 06, 2007, 12:05 PM »

hi,
I'm currently re-writing the HelpMaker at version 8.0.
it's under testing and aimed towards content generation.

in general:
[this is based on what is done already, not vapor-ware or hype-ware]

1) It stores data into RDBMS. You can choose the following:
- MSSQL
- Sybase
- Firebird
- MySQL

The "main thing" is the usage of 64-bit primary keys and full Unicode on load/save.

1) It has a Unicode Text Editor
This allows you to edit and save in Unicode to the database.
You can store many text notes as you want.
(Saves to RDMBS as a Unicode Text BLOB field)

2) It has a calender/scheduler system.
You can have as many Calendar/Schedulers as you want, all Unicode based.
(Saves to RDBMS as a table, with fields)

3) HTML Editor.
You can have as many web-pages as you want, all Unicode based.
Instead of saved to wiki, or some filesystem, the files are loaded from database.
(Saves as open standard "HTML")

4) Graphics Editor.
You can save (or dump) all your Graphics and annotations and stored in it's original format.
Instead of saving it all over the place, you save it to Field in Database.

5) RTF Editor.
We developed our own Unicode RTF editor.
It loads/saves your RTF into Unicode BLOB field in Database.

6) Mind Mapper or kpEdit Editor.
We developed our own Mind Mapper editor, loads/saves in Unicode.
It loads/saves in **XML format** into Unicode BLOB field in Database.

7) Outliner Editor
We developed our own Outliner Editor, and load/saves in Unicode.

We have our own PDF development libraries, so it's hassle free to create a PDF File from the database.

This is what I can say for now. Many features are actively developed and since they may or may not be in the final version, i cannot comment on them until they are done.

I hope that helps.

doublewitt · « **Reply #147 on:** October 06, 2007, 01:48 PM »

Looks interesting, thanks for the explanation.
As soon as v8 is available, I will check it out. Do you have an idea as to when v8 will be available?

doublewitt · « **Reply #148 on:** October 06, 2007, 10:32 PM »

OK, I just discovered it on the forum. It's scheduled for the 15th of October.
Thanks

datamill · « **Reply #149 on:** October 09, 2007, 12:15 PM »

I was also one of the beta testers (MikeH) and suffered the same fate. I sent many emails to gemx - all unanswered. It's good to see notes from familiar names from the gemx forum.

Fortunately, I also found SQLNotes, which will replace and surpass ECCO, a package I've used on and off for years. Pierre is very active with the beta group. I think he's sensitive to the plight of the DO community and will turn out a product that will be excellent.

I just found this site today and I really like it already.

Mike