And this is why I cannot place orders at Element14.com.au: The CC verification system has been told that the amount to be paid is $0.00

#creditcards #element14

People in #hobby #electronics and such, is #element14.com still a good place to use.

it was “the place” when I last looked, around 2010 and then life happened and I stopped.

Today, I used the telephone. I know that sounds like something weird from before the turn of the century, but hear me out: mobile devices have a legacy app that emulates telephones from a bygone age if you want to cosplay Alexander Graham Bell using a "talking telegram" or something.

I was driven to doing this because Element14 has terrible systems, and this brokenness extends into their Customer Service system.

As shops go, Element14 has a garbage attitude to managing orders and customer service.

I've had a Raspberry Pi Compute Module on order from Element14 for nearly a year. Yeah, everyone knows about global logistics problems and manufacturing delays. But, recently, Raspberry Pi announced things were flowing again.
While waiting for news or an email from Element14, I'd been checking their website for news or a status update for my order.

Last week, I used the "Live chat" widget on the Element14 website. No reply.

When I phoned today, I discovered Element14 a bunch of broken stuff:
- Orders marked as "Processing" (see attached screenshot) may not be processing. It might say "Your order has been received and is being prepared to ship", but this may be far from reality.
- Orders older than 90 days can get cancelled at the whim of the system.
- Orders that get cancelled "by the system" disappear without any human interaction or responsibility. When this happens, neither Element14 nor the customer gets told about this.
- If a customer interacts with the "Live chat" widget on the Element14 website, staff might get back to them by email. Or the email might not get sent. Element14's system might be hungry that day and eat that email without leaving any trace.
- If the customer updates the order "manually" (I think they mean verbally), it sorta acts like reordering the product, but this leaves no trace in the customer-facing part of the system. There is no sign on their website that this has happened. Thereafter, if the customer wants to know about the order status, it's up to them to email Element14. Or use the telephone.

#Element14

Converting a Super 8 movie camera to digital using a Raspberry Pi

#diy #element14 #raspberrypi #super8

Most of them I already know, some I just came to learn about. Even #TempleOS gets a mention! I also learned that today's #element14 used to be known as #Acorn.

12 Alternative Operating Systems You Can Use In 2020.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATwT4DwoXnM

Hack Like Heck: MAYER MAKES - VRpi - Virtual Reality DOOM on Raspberry Pi

https://diode.zone/videos/watch/7482fab8-3bbd-4a32-ae32-4523ba2f2260

Enjoyed watching the second part of the build process of Benjamin Heckendorn (#BenHeck)'s Neo Geo Mini Portable.

Cool to see most of the design- and build-process from start to finish. Definitely a neat way to play #MetalSlug ;)

Enjoying this format better than while he was still doing the #Element14 shows.

Part 1: https://youtu.be/y2mkHTdN4w0
Part 2: https://youtu.be/lJomuuq4QZ4

#NeoGeo #NeoGeoMini #DIY #Teardown #electronics