[NTLK] 20 MB memory cards FAQ

[Frank Gruendel]

Hi all,

if you are interested in one of my 20 MB linear flash memory cards, please
get your favourite beverage, lean back, relax, and read the following FAQs
(no, there isn't an apostrophe in FAQs) thoroughly. I apologize to all list
members who already know this by heart.

Q: Are they new?

A: No.

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Q: What size are they?

A: 20MB.

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Q: Where are they from?

The seller assured me they were used in medical instruments. He mentioned
cardiac pacemakers. One of the stickers he forgot to remove confirms this.
These cards have probably not seen more than one write cycle.

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Q: Why is the number of write cycles important?

A: Flash cards tend to develop bad blocks after a certain number of write
cycles, hence they are of dubious value on the second-hand market. If your
Newton were to write to a new card ten times every day starting tomorrow,
problems wouldn't surface before the year 2040. Unless the card is at the
wrong end of its specification, chances are good that it would take much
longer.
Routers like the old Cisco routers, on the other hand, can write to their
card every couple of seconds. This can make a card unreliable within some
days. Usually cards are replaced before this happens, but you can't know how
many reliable write cycles, if any, are still left. Unfortunately, once a
card starts having this kind of problem, it might easily give up for good. I
once learned this the hard way when all my notes from a developer conference
were suddenly gone. Along with a fair amount of packages that I didn't
install in the internal memory. My card became toast for good while copying
a note.

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Q: How much are they?

A: If you promise they won't end up at eBay or be sold elsewhere for a huge
profit, they are 12 Euros apiece. Otherwise they are 30 Euros apiece. If I
see them end up at eBay nonetheless, I will start appearing in your dreams.

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Q: Why should I be concerned about your appearing in my dreams?

A: Because the unanimous opinion of all card resellers in whose dreams I am
currently appearing is that this is something you should avoid at all costs.

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Q: Will you ship to where I live?

A: Yes. I ship worldwide. Three of these cards once reached Brazil only days
after setting off in Germany.

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Q: Talking of shipping: How much is it?

A: Only what I pay at the post office for stamps. Packaging material and the
cost of the post office trip will be on me. The following rates are valid
December 1, 2012 and assume a purchase of one card. Rates might be slightly
higher if you buy more than one. "Confirmed" means that the postman is
supposed to have someone sign before he hands the letter over (not all
postmen seem to be aware of this, but most are). A card with the signature
is sent back to me. That way we could find out who the postman gave the
letter to in case it wasn't you. Insurance is available worldwide.
Confirmation is only available for selected destinations. For details see
<http://www.pda-soft.de/stories__monday_morning.html>.

Germany:
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0.90 Euros (no insurance, entirely your risk)
3.45 Euros (insured)
5.25 Euros (insured and confirmed)

World (air mail):
-----------------

1.45 Euros (no insurance, entirely your risk)
3.70 Euros (insured)
5.50 Euros (insured and confirmed)

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Q: How can I pay?

A1: PayPal. Please add 3.9% of the total price plus EUR 0.35. This is what
PayPal will charge me.

A2: Wire transfer.

A3: Amazon gift certificate. Since PayPal will reject people from certain
countries, you might find this payment method convenient. Sending an Amazon
gift certificate only requires a credit card number regardless of where you
live. Gift certificates must be purchased from amazon.de, otherwise I can't
redeem them. Unless your German is fluent, you might want to get in touch
with me first so that I can walk you through the ordering sequence.

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Q: I'm wondering about the insurance. Is it really necessary?

A: During the last 35 years I've sent hundreds of letters and parcels by
mail. During this time I've only lost three letters. Two were sent within
Germany and did not contain anything valuable. One, which thank God was
insured, was sent to the United Kingdom and contained a 2100. It is very
unlikely that your letter will get lost in the mail, but I can't guarantee
it won't. I do seem to lose one letter per decade, and the fourth decade
started five years ago...

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Q: Is there a warranty?

A: Yes. I have been using the cards without a problem for quite some time
now, so I don't think a warranty is required. But since the cards are used,
I offer a one month money-back-no-questions-asked warranty.

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Q: Is there a legal backing for the warranty you offer?

A: No. Vain as I am, though, I think most of you must have noticed by now
that dealing with me is fairly risk-free. However, while your wallet is
still  safely tucked away in your trouser pocket, please be aware that I'm
not a company with a legal obligation to compensate. I'm just a guy who
spends the time that should be spent on sleep on Newton issues instead. If I
were run over by a tractor before posting your card, you'd lose your money.

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Q: Are you planning on being run over by a tractor in the foreseeable
future?

A: No.

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Q: Are you interested in a trade?

A: Well, why not make an offer!

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Q: Will the card work in my eMate?

A: Yes, but you will not be able to write to it. The eMate will mount it
read-only.

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Q: Will the card work in my Newton?

A: Yes. I will test your card in the Newton model of your choice before I
send it. I have every Newton model there is. The test will include
formatting the card, loading a 2MB package (OS 2.x models) or a 180kB
package (OS 1.x models) onto it and ensuring that said package can be
opened.

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Q: Can you install packages on the card before you send it?

A: Yes, provided they are freeware, shareware or public domain software.
It'll be your job to prove this for every package you want me to install.
It'll also be your job to provide me with download links. Please have me
install only packages that you really need. Package download and
installation takes time that'll be missing from what family and the job that
pays the rent require.

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Q: Will you also install commercial software?

A: No, unless it is a demo version.

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Q: I do not have a dongle, and I'd rather not buy one since they are very
expensive. Can you install Ethernet drivers and solve my bootstrap problem?

A: Yes, no problem. However...

The card would contain all the drivers in the form of a Newton backup. This
is because some of these drivers cannot be installed on a card, but must be
installed in the Newton's internal memory. The only way to copy them to
another Newton is by backing up an (except for the drivers) virgin Newton to
a card and restore this backup to your Newton.

Although backups can be restored selectively, there's a chance that the
current data on your Newton might be harmed, so if there's anything on your
Newton that you can't live without, it would make sense to back it up to
another card first before you restore the backup from the card I sent.

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Q: What if I do not have a second card for backing up my Newton before I
restore the backup from your card?

A: Buy two cards and let me know. If you send one card back after you are
finished, I'll refund the price.

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Q: Speaking of bootstrap problems: Can you install Bluetooth drivers, too?

A: Yes, no problem.

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Q: Will you also install the WLAN (WiFi) driver?

A: Yes, no problem.

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Q: If I buy a card, how long will it take until I have it?

A: This depends on...

1) The current length of my to do list

2) Whether you want me to install drivers and packages

3) The time it takes for the letter to reach you after I dropped it in the
mailbox

If you just need a card without packages or drivers, I usually drop it in
the mailbox the day after receiving your payment. Shipping stuff in the
space of Europe usually takes one to ten days. Worldwide shipping time
depends on where you live. The shortest I had for a letter sent to the USA
was two days. The longest I had for a Christmas present sent to Australia
was about three months. It eventually arrived around Easter.

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Q: May I answer this post by replying to the list?

A: Sure. Provided you don't mind hard objects moving at an alarming speed
towards body parts you'd rather keep intact.

If you are interested in a card, please reply off-list. If you just want to
comment or praise, by all means post to the list, but PLEASE only quote text
you are commenting and delete the rest before you click on the "Send"
button. Scrolling through heaps of quoted text you already know by heart
isn't exactly fun.

Cheers

Frank

-- Newton software and hardware at http://www.pda-soft.de