City Dweller or Wilderness Junkie?, Which are you?

   Are you a city Dweller? or a Wilderness Junkie?
     Do you love the street lights and cafes? Do you love the sound of the wind whipping through the trees and the smell of pine needles? Or maybe you like both? I honestly feel there are people of both sets of worlds, and yes I mean "worlds". The difference in opinion and location not only echo what one persons choice is, but of what one person feels deep inside.

     Ask yourself this, have you ever felt your mood change, or your spirits lift when heading towards a city you like or a favorite camping spot? I myself am a person of both worlds, I grew up in the cities of California, but also at times resided in the mountain ranges. I have at times felt the need to uproot for a bit in order to get my thoughts straight. I find it interesting that I am not the only one who does this form of relaxation.

     There is something about being in the middle of nowhere surrounded by nature,rivers, and various plants and wildlife that speaks to me. Can you imagine waking up one morning and exiting your tent with your toes reaching into the untouched dirt. Your eyes adjusting to the light that flickers through the tree branches and the birds chirping you a friendly hello. The soft wind caressing the trees and your face with the sweet smell of wild flowers. As your eyes reach back down towards the ground, they find a beautiful view into a ravine only described in books..

    That was my yesterday, and today's zen ...


    Feel free to comment and chime in with your spot in the world that helps you rediscover your passion.
  This was just a bit of Food for thought :)

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Gamefly and its failure to satisfy the old Direct2Drive Customers

      As many of you already know, Direct2Drive was bought out by Gamefly sometime last year.( May 25, 2011 ). What many people don't know is how fractured and flawed the big merge actually was. Also the lack of support on Gamefly's end to fix this ongoing and neglected issue. The only people who have really noticed this problem is the late Direct2Drive customers.

NOTE!-- ( Alright!, I'm just going to throw up a brief summary of D2D and Gamefly for those that don't know what it is. Those who do just scroll down! )

     Direct2Drive was a company that based in online digital distribution of movies,memorabilia, but mainly PC games. It was created and managed by IGN and was at one time the premier online distributor of digital downloads for PC games in 2003.

     Gamefly is a company that dabbles in the video game rental industry. It has even expanded beyond the US borders and now has branched off into the UK. You can pay a subscription fee to the company and rent console games that will arrive to your doorstep via the postal service. 

   

    Over a year has passed now since Direct2Drive was purchased and merged into Gamefly and still,very little has changed in the way of customer support. The D2D downloader would
be renamed the Gamefly downloader and tweaked to provide less then satisfactory service then the original design. Not only that,but previous D2D customers have still yet to be able to access the digital downloads that they purchased from D2D. Gamefly promised during the merge, that there would be a temporary hiatus in the transition, but have yet to fulfill any of those obligations. 

   
   My 2 Cents 
   
   Alright, here is my take on this entire matter, it is either #1 or #2

   

#1 It is possible that Gamefly did not fully purchase the rights to the video games that the company they purchased (D2D), had the rights to sell. 

#2 It could also just be a way of increasing there profit by purchasing D2D company and providing little to no service to D2D customers.I'm sure there were many loop holes in the purchase of the franchise title.

    Whether they are lacking in customer support or just plain ignoring the constant amount of forum posts and blogs such as this one, one thing is certain. It is pretty obvious that this issue will not be solved anything soon, or if at all. Also, ignoring the complaints and claims of your customers which provide the foundation/capital that keep your company afloat, isn't exactly the most modest, or best business plan in this day and age.  Just a little FYI :)

         This was

                      

       

Spotify's new user agreement 5-4-12. Did they sellout?

     Now just to clarify for those who don't know what spotify is. Spotify is a digital music streaming program that was made in Sweden. This program allows you to stream music either through your PC or your phone without the hassle of downloading each and every song. The program is provided by either a premium service in which you pay monthly or until recently a free service that has become extremely limited. In its infant days, the program was solely created to combat piracy and provide free music that it legally had the rights to stream.

   

    The program, if anyone has used it, is an extremely user friendly and no hassle music program. Over the last month I have noticed that it has changed gradually. The programs advertisements have become more of a nuisance then before. At times these advertisements block almost a third of the screen if you have it maximized and even the play lists or action buttons. Granted that I am using the free service so it is bound to have its amount of advertisements which are fine.

     Today though, things have changed drastically. To those who have read the User Agreement that was posted today, have probably noticed it as well.

The Spotify Service can be accessed as an ad-supported free-to-the-user service, having no monthly cap on listening hours or a cap on number of plays of a unique track, during the first 6 months following creation of your Spotify account and thereafter a cap of 10 listening hours per month and a cap of 5 plays per unique track (the “Free Service”)

     So as you can see, after your initial 6 months are done, you are now forced to either limit your playtime severely or upgrade to a premium service. It is sad to see Spotify grow so big and outside of its own roots, especially the roots and ideals that has made the program what it is today.

----My 2 cents----
   
     In my honest opinion, companies will always change and adapt to the market that they are distributing to. It is just good marketing. . . but what I cannot stand is when a company goes against the foundation that created it. Whats it too say down the line that more changes wont be made if such a company can go against the core beliefs that made it. Then again, I don't know the future and cannot say what will happen for this company or its users. I could just be ranting as usual, or maybe... this was just a bit of  Food for Thought :)

"Company cultures are like country cultures. Never try to change one. Try, instead, to work with what you've got. "
Peter Drucker

Feel free to write back, comment, and post how you feel about this topic. Criticism is welcome!