Zod Colville Product Information and Support

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Two New Product Updates

Sunday, 19 December 2010 17:59 | Written by Zod Colville |

Both the Jukebox and the Tip Signs got updates today to resolve some issues.

Deluxe Multi-User Tip Signs Version 2.7

The big fix here was with profile pics. Linden Labs revised the profile webpages which "broke" the tip signs' ability to retrieve profile pictures from the web. I have resolved the issue, and in doing so, greatly reduced the odds that future revisions of the web site will break the signs again.

Also of note on the Tip Signs. There was never a 2.6 update released. The 2.6 version was only available as a full product. The reason for this was that the reason for the 2.6 release was an object redesign. The revised tip signs, as of 2.6, are lower prim and use fewer scripts. The 2.7 update should work with either design, however the 2.6 design is much more efficient. If you are interested in trading in your tip signs which are version 2.5 or earlier for the new design, please contact me by opening a support ticket. You may attempt to contact me in-world, but if your message is left as an off-line, I highly recommend use of the ticket system. My IMs are frequently capped, and I can not guarantee receipt of any offline IMs.

ZTEK Jukebox Version 4.4 (Both Lite and Full Versions)

A less critical update than the tip signs. The jukebox had used a third party service to relay stream information. As that service has now closed down, I set up my own private relay and the jukeboxes will now utilize that.

How to Get Your Updates

There are essentially three methods of getting your product updates:

Your product will periodically poll the update server to see if an update is available, and if so, it should be sent to you.
Re-rezzing your product will cause it to immediately poll the update server.
The update server is throttled in order to avoid spamming customers. For this reason, even if you have multiple copies of the same product, it will only send you a single update until the throttle time is passed. If you would like additional updates quicker, you can open a ticket letting me know how many you want, and I can have the server send them out manually.

New Official Reseller Program

Sunday, 05 December 2010 10:05 | Written by Zod Colville |

After four years offering my products through the Apez vendor network, with the closure of Apez, it is time to bid them farewell. While it was a good run, given the manner in which the closure (and the payment of merchants) is being handled, I can't say I am sad to see them go. Effective immediately, my products are no longer available through the Apez vendor network.

I am going to be establishing an Authorized Reseller Program to make my products available for resale by others. The reseller kit will be available in-world for free and will initially offer a 5% commission on all sales. Resellers will be able to have their location(s) listed on this site as long as they remain active members of the Reseller Program in good standing. Successful resellers, who abide fully by the reseller agreement will have the opportunity to earn higher commissions and "Gold" certification. This certification is something that will be earned through the trust of your customers as well as myself rather than something which can be bought. It will be suggested that all resellers display the authorized reseller image shown here, and I recommend looking for this image prior to making your purchase as it ensures that you are, indeed, buying a current product and not a forgery (which I have already witnessed). When and if the "Gold" Reseller program is implemented, they will clearly display their status as a Gold Reseller and be listed on this site as a Gold Reseller.

The reseller kit will only be available through in-world vendors and will not be offered on the SL Marketplace (formerly known as XSTREETSL).

As our previous ZTEK Money Back Guarantee made specific stipulations in regards to products purchased through the Apez Network, there have been some minor revisions made for all sales going forward from today's date. My ability to control and monitor sales through the new affiliate program will be greatly improved over what I had with the Apez network.

Last Updated (Sunday, 05 December 2010 10:46)

Jukebox Update Version 4.1 Released

Sunday, 30 May 2010 18:33 | Written by Zod Colville |

The former content of the djzod.com site has been transfered to http://dj.zodcolville.com, essentially consolidating both sites onto a single domain. A new version of the jukebox has been released to reflect this change. Unless the jukebox is group owned (required in order to operate on group controlled land), you should receive an update automatically. If your jukebox is group owned (or you did not receive an updater yet), simply pick up your Jukebox and re-rez it and you should be sent an updater. Rez the updater and follow the instructions to perform the update. The process only takes a couple of seconds.

Changes in Version 4.1:

Primary stream has been updated to reflect the new stream server and website address
The webstreams will now automatically be refreshed from the web site every 18 hours. This will ensure that your stream list is kept up to date. Please let us know of any streams which are not working.

Jukebox Update Version 4.2 Released

Monday, 07 June 2010 01:26 | Written by Zod Colville |

I just released a minor bug fix for a bug in the 4.1 version of the Jukebox. Starting with version 4.0, the primary stream list is read from a web server. This allows me to keep the streams up to date and accurate without having to release an update every time a stream shuts down. Version 4.1 added to this by having the jukebox automatically check the web server every 18 hours and update the jukebox's stream list without the owner (or another manager) having to do anything at all. Unfortunately, this introduced a bug which caused the Jukebox to also automatically reset the stream to the jukebox's primary stream every 18 hours. This was NEVER the intended behavior, and I sincerely apologize for any issues or confusion it may have caused.

I also took this opportunity to make it easier for anyone with access to the management menu to seek product support. The management menu now includes a "Support" button which will open up the ZTEK Support Site (this website). As I have noted before, you DO need to register in order to submit a ticket, but your information is never shared with anyone for any reason, and I do not now, nor have I ever, nor do I ever intend to use it for my own marketing purposes. It is uses solely as a means of providing product support.

Where's DJZOD.COM?

Saturday, 17 April 2010 02:11 | Written by Zod Colville |

Last Saturday, disaster struck. I woke up to a completely dead PC. How dead? Well... let's just say there was current flowing through the case itself. While this machine is NOT the machine that hosted the site itself, it IS the machine that streamed the broadcast and contained the database to generate the playlist and other stream information, and actually processed the requests. While that machine is obviously being sent to the graveyard, the hard drive was removed. There is little hope of being able to recover the data (including the music library) at this point, but the possibility has not been completely ruled out.

In addition to this, the drive also contains a large amount of PHP code as well as LSL scripts which were being written offline for a new product I have been working on. Some of these scripts had not even reached the point of initial testing within SL. At this point, these are also assumed to be a total loss.

Right now, I do not have any definite plans to resume the 24 hour stream. Streaming 24 hours takes a heavy toll on the hardware, especially when coupled with maintaining a database which is open to the internet. If there were more interest in the stream and the possibility of generating some income either through web banner ads or audio ads plugged into the stream, then I could justify the expense of server grade hardware which could more easily handle the load. This is, unfortunately, not the case.

As for the product scripts which were lost, I have already begun the process of rewriting what was lost. If you are among the few who know what this new product is (mainly because I was developing with input from some people), then rest assured, it is not forgotten and is something that I continue to work on.

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