One of those days (Amazon)

I am not looking forward to another lengthy and pointless discussion with Amazon... They really are not fun.

What now?

I have listings for things like this...

It is described as "with 3 pin WAGO". The fact it has a WAGO connector is useful, as it is a lot better (in my view) that any sort of plug/socket arrangement or screw terminals, and takes less space as well. It is ideal for this sort of thing (LED strip controller).

Amazon seem to feel that using "WAGO", a trademark name, needs a letter of authorisation.

Thankfully I know someone who is good at pointing me to legislation, and, as I expected "Nothing in the preceding provisions of this section shall be construed as preventing the use of a registered trade mark by any person for the purpose of identifying goods or services as those of the proprietor or a licensee".

So, yes, I can describe the 3 pin WAGO connector as a WAGO connector. I have tweaked to be clear, changing "with 3 pin WAGO" to "with 3 pin WAGO connector", just to be extra clear. And quoted the Trade Marks Act 1994 section 10(6) to Amazon.

I do not hold much hope that this will be a simple "OK, that's fine". But they may yet surprise me. We'll see.

Update: Yep, stock replies, this is going to be a long one.

I've also added this image to the listings :-)

Finally Amazon

It seems only fair to say that Amazon have finally recognised a brand, and so we can now list products once again.

I am not sure we have resolved EAN re-use yet, but at least we can list new products, and have listed a Faikin S21 cable and case.

So well done, even if it took months, and a blog post, to get it done.

Maybe I'll try and get some of our other trademarks added!

Nice neighbourhood

I live in a nice neighbourhood. Really... Well, I thought I did.

After 4 years here this is the first time someone has literally taken a parcel off my doorstep!

Criminal video

To say I am shocked is an understatement.

I never imagined anyone would do this.

I am, however, impressed that the local police has a web page for crime reporting and it seems mostly sane!

Also impressed that they have called me for the raw video so they can try facial recognition.

QR abuse...

I'm known for QR code stuff, and my library, but I have done some abuse of them for fun - I did round pixels rather than rectangular, for example.

The latest abuse was inspired by https://mathstodon.xyz/@divbyzero

His idea was a Truchet style...

I have done some more work on the idea. For a start I did not like the harsh edges and cut circles, so made it slightly different. I also had concerns on the circle hitting the targets as this may cause timing issues perhaps.

Looks good. But I also tried larger and it had trouble reading at an angle, and I think because I had Truchet coded the alignment marks needed on larger codes.

So I made them rectangular, e.g. same code as above with alignment mark intact.

Now it reads better at an angle. (tested on iPhone camera and an app). This allows the 45 degree shown at the top of this blog post.

Do not blame me if you now have a migraine, please.

Oh, and if you are interested, this is created as a proper QR code, but with a grid of black/white circles on top... I have made a video https://www.youtube.com/shorts/9ufN2cpsbPA

Microwave plates

We have many plates.

They work as plates.

They are fine in the microwave.

But not this fucking plate.

I have blisters on my fingers from picking it up. Food was not cooked - but plate was. Still hurts like hell. 

What the fuck?!?

Stupid user interfaces

My shoes are getting a bit worn. They have lasted well. It was a big change some years ago when I realised I needed thick socks and shoes several sizes bigger - before which I was plagued with pain in my feet.

The shows I have now are indeed the ones that caused me to trip and break things! 

So get a new pair, and having shows that work, and are comfortable, I want to get the same.

Why the hell can you not get the same thing?!

Anyway, similar sounding ones, hiking shoes as it happens, but wide and size 13½, so yay.

I click Apple Pay - as that is always very quick and simple.

But no! I get told address incomplete and apparently it wants "Phonetic First Name" and "Phonetic Last Name".

What the hell is a phonetic name?

I don't have time for this, so I cancel and click "Add to basket".

I go to basket and click to pay and, well it is expensive, but I am am not too surprised really, but even then, seems a lot. So it has an "order summary", and that shows the shows and the price.

Note, no need for phonetic anything this time.

Oh fuck it - I can't bet arsed - if they fit as well as the ones I have now and last years as these have, not really an issue.

It says OK, and that is 2 pairs of shoes!

WTF?!?

• I did not order two
• I clicked "add to basket" exactly once
• The order summary did not show a quantity

Bloody stupid ordering page.

But what he hell, if they fit, then next time I will have shoes ready. I was pondering if I find shoes that fit well why not order 10 pairs so I have shoes to last probably the rest of my life, so two pairs is not really an issue.

Tindie vs Amazon

Amazon have been an interesting place to sell, and have sold quite a few things. But oddly the main thing that sells is the Faikin boards. I don't think my other products are not sellable, indeed, I have had direct sales to local A&A customers for a load of other projects, just not so much on Amazon. I generally have a policy of Tindie £ price less 10% for direct sales to A&A customers.

Amazon are making EU sales simple - Amazon buy from us and sell in EU so they sort local VAT. With Tindie the recipient gets a VAT bill on import, sorry.

I started selling on Tindie as well some time ago, and oddly the same is true - most sales are the Faikin. The main reason for listing on Tindie as well was to cover countries Amazon do not do. Well, that is how it started, but now it seems we are selling to people in EU where Amazon do sell. The main reason looks like the extras (a cable, and 3D resin case). These are extremely easy to list on Tindie, and provide a simple up-sell on the original product. They are only a few $ extra but sell well.

Amazon, on the other hand, do not seem to have an easy way to add options or link products that I can see. I will ask for help, though any interaction with seller support needs a deep breath and a lot of patience. But at present I still cannot even list a product - Amazon are actively making it impossible for me to list things, in spite of reassurances. They are insisting I am on the brand registry (something I have tried three times), and they are taking forever to say yes or no. It is odd, it is a simple thing - do I have a trademark? Well yes, there is it with my name on UK trademark web site. How does it take more than a few minutes?!

Well, being able to list the cables and case clearly is helping as Tindie sales are creeping up, and I think this month is the first month that net pay out from Tindie is more than Amazon. That is a milestone I feel.

3D resin printed case, snap together

http://tindie.uk/ if you are interested.