Hey Ubisoft, THPPPPT! :D

Your take down notice dismissed, my photo work doesn't violate your I.P. You don't own word Assassin. You never did and chances are you never will. You had no business issuing a take down notice. My photography work has been reinstated by RedBubble because:

1: My images predate your game.
2: My images aren't derivative of you game, and they predate your game.
3: UBISOFT doesn't own the copyright to the words/phrase "Assassin's Guild Meeting".

The vindictive part of me would really like to go after you in a legal sense, but you want to know something? I was right, you, UBISOFT, were wrong, and I made sure via Blogs, Twitter, Facebook and other social media that others knew what you did.

Oh yes, with me being a docu-rat, I have all the information should you try this bullshit on me again, or someone else.

So, have a nice.... No, don't have a nice day. I'm not feeling that charitable towards you, as I'm sure I won't even get a form letter apology from you, so you can just suck it.

I waited 15 days, not 14.

My message to RedBubble regarding UBISOFT's claim that my photographs, the ones that predate their game, violated THEIR Intellectual Property.

As you can see, it has been 15 days, not 14 days, and I haven't had any legal action taken against me for my photos. Nor have I taken action against UBISOFT.

I have given you (and Ubisoft) more than ample evidence that:

1: My images predate their game.
2: My images aren't derivative of their game.
3: UBISOFT doesn't own the copyright to the words/phrase "Assassin's Guild Meeting".

Please reinstate my images forthwith.

Regards
Sandra Chung

Dear TollGroup Priority Shipping

It was bad enough that you showed up on December 24th in the 30 minutes I wasn't at home. What do your drivers do? Wait to see the cars/people leave just so they can do a dump a card and run? Nevertheless, my complaint is this: You offered a service online, to reschedule the deliver for December 27, AND I tucked the card into the screen door as per request.

Thank you for not bothering to show up. But that still isn't the kicker. I called to voice my concerns, only to be told that the website wasn't "New" and should have offered me Monday, December 30th as the next available delivery date. Well, you saw my request for the 12/27 delivery, and had all my information, including email and phone number, and you didn't see fit to contact me to tell me about this? So I wasted my entire day waiting for a delivery that wasn't going to arrive?

Screw you... seriously, screw you.

To all my photography friends and their families

Maybe something we should remind families about photographs of family gatherings. Most of us, when taking photos at birthday parties, New Years, Christmas, etc etc pretty much want a chronicle of the day, when family and friends are with us. We don't get in their faces, like paparazzi do (well, I'm sure some do, but most of us don't).

The value of having someone do this chronicling of family events came home. The mother of dear friend of mine was ill, melanoma that went to the brain. for what seemed like an eternity to the family, but was really a very short time, she passed away.

The family was, as you can imagine, devastated. And the saddest thing was they could only remember what she looked like during her passing.

Although it ripped me apart, because Sue was my "Mommy Down Under", I went through each and every birthday, Christmas, etc etc, and got photos of Sue happy, healthy, being silly, wearing a funny hat. I sent them to her kids.

You have no idea how much that helped.

So, keep politely sneaking those photos, discarding the bad/embarrassing ones, because you're not just pestering them. You're treasuring them forever. And just maybe giving solace to someone who needs it.

Proof that those who can't do, review

Found this little tidbit about the Matt Smith's exit and Peter Capaldi's entrance as Doctor Who:

Hollywoodlife.com also reviewed the show, saying Smith had to go.

" ... the storylines had grown stale and, due to the poor writing quality, Eleven's relationship with Clara never quite blossomed like the one he had with Amy," the site said.

Anyone with an IQ above shoehorn knew that in the Whovian universe, 11th Doctor, aka Matt Smith's character, was ripped apart by the loss of Amy and Rory. We didn't see River, but we know what her fate was. After all of this, in keeping with how much the loss of all three of these people tore into him, The Doctor wouldn't have allowed anyone get as close.

As for the complaints that Peter Capaldi is 'too old'.. are you kidding me? Go check the ages of John Pertwee, William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, and John Hurt. Then rethink that comment.

And for the record, I liked "The Time of the Doctor". If the story line was too complicated for you, that's your problem. I didn't have any problem. Were there plot holes? Sure, but every show on TV has some. Did Matt's departure make me sad? Yes, but no where near how David Tenant's exit did.. but then there was that glorious GERINOMO from Matt to make up for it.

So, if you want to rip it apart, do it on your own time and dime, because I will just yawn, and scroll on by.

This made me laugh

I opened VLC media player to watch video.

Me vs Ubisoft - 8 Days down, 6 to go

"Assassin's Guild Meeting" photo series.



It's a case of no news is good news. They have 6 more days to bring legal charges against me.

Ubisoft filed IP/Copyright infringement, saying Assassin's Guild Meeting photo series is the same as their video game "Assassin's Creed", and issued a take down demand. (why is it I'm assumed guilty and have to prove my innocence?). I filed counter with enough evidence to choke a horse that their claims were not valid. So, I have to wait the requisite 14 days for them to file legal charges of IP Infringement. If they actually do that, I have a strong case against them.

Hey, Pickles Auction, I want a word with you....

Just how 'secure' is your secure area?

How the f&&k could someone, obviously in your employ, steal our personalized license plates from your 'secure' auction house, and blithely walk out with them?

You'll investigate, you say? Oh goodie! (dripping sarcasm here) Have fun checking video from all those cameras I saw there... that's *if* they weren't just dummy camera shells.


Investigate? Fuq that. Would have been better it for you to have vetted your workers. I don't give a rats ass about your 'investigating'. We want our number plates back.

END

OF

F&#%$ING

STORY!

With all of the square footage on my body

Why oh why does everything smack/slam into my shin?

Three weeks ago, I slammed my left shin into a heavy planter. It was properly iced, leg propped, took care of it. The point of impact area, about 3 inches wide, 3/4 in high, is still tender and sore, and every #%@$(*&$ thing in the universe keeps banging into it. Loki head butting it, Keito rubbing against it, me forgetting and crossing my leg over it, cabinet door open a fraction of an inch, Wing putting his leg over mine, or kicking me with his heel at night, etc etc.

Plastic laundry basket fell from top of the washing machine, and landed exactly onto the sore area. Sharp radiating pain that had me swearing a blue streak.

Now the waiting begins.

So, AFTER the holidays, AFTER someone might have bought one, I MIGHT get my images reinstated on Redbubble.

The wording of this really bothers me. Take action against me? What the hell for?

"Assassin's Guild Meeting" photo series.

Dear Sandra,

We are contacting you with reference to the issues you raised recently regarding content available on Redbubble.

We have notified the complainant of our receipt of your counter notice. If the complainant has not taken legal action against you after 14 days, please contact us if you wish to have the content restored. We may be in a position to reinstate your content at that time if it otherwise complies with the Redbubble User Agreement and IP/Publicity Rights Policy.

Regards,
Redbubble Content Team

Disturbed a few crickets

Moved my potted plants into the shade of the pergola. Already have my thyme plants indoors, as last year, in almost identical weather, my thyme plant got scorched to the point it couldn't recover.

When I shifted the "Chili Tree", I spotted at least a dozen crickets of varying sizes. After I settled the planter they started hopping toward it. I guess any bit of shade

Got some laundry washed, and hung out. Was dry in under an hour. Now, I'm in a comfy cool house, not too cool, though. And if it feels warm inside, I have the perfect cure. I go stand outside for a few minutes.

Perspective is an amazing thing, yes?

43 kgs and climbing

Went to dinner with Wing , Alan and An for an 'After Wing's Birthday" dinner. It's amazing to see An eat.

She is built like this: |

But she eats like this: l.

She is up to 43kgs now (durring her illness, she was down to almost 35kgs), and she looks marvelous. She smiles, laughs and engages with people. She has become a social butterfly, which we go "YES!" when we hear about another date/luncheon/coffee klatch.

And they wonder why tech support gets a bad name

I accidentally deleted some photos off my SD cards. I immediately ran Sandisk Card Recovery Pro on it. No joy. It found some deleted images, 91 in total, but not the ones I just deleted. Clearned the search, and tried again. Same 91 images, not including the ones I had just deleted.

So, I ran Paretologic. It found 339 files, with the accidentally deleted ones included. I moved them off to the external drive where they belonged.

So, I sent a detailed report to Sandisk about it. What did I get in response?

A fewking copy/paste of their FAQ. The same FAQ that treats everyone as if they have an IQ of an shoehorn.

Looking into Webhosting

Looking at web-hosting services. One of the reasons I chose Redbubble was because they had a great set up, and they used to provide a website, not just their user pages. Well, they've discontinued it because it didn't work well with tablets or smartphones.

Not really in the frame of mind to make a template, code menus, and maintain a multi page site again, but after the rather high handed way Redbubble obeyed a takedown demand on my "Assassin's Guild Meeting" photo series,without looking into it first (guilty before proven innocent?) has made doing this a distinct possibility. Customizable templates would suit me just fine.

And yes, I will keep posting my "Assassin's Guild Meeting" set until either Redbubble reinstates them, or when I get my own website.

Assassin's Guild Meeting Photo Series

After posting 4+ messages on Ubisoft's facebook page about their erroneous takedown demand, someone finally gave me a link to contact them. It's a PR/Press office. This is the letter/email I sent:

Dear Ubisoft;

Iin early 2007, I did a concept photography session in my home. I made prints of these photos and sold them at art show and printed on demand, and have been selling them for the past 6, almost 7 years. I did this before your "Assassins CREED" game came out.

The reason I'm saying this is my 3 photo series is called "The Assassin's Guild Meeting". You filed an IP violation against my images on one my photo hosting/sale sites. My photos predate your game. The titles of my photos predate your game. You don't own the word ASSASSIN, although you did try to copyright it in 2009, a full two years after my concept photoshoot.

The name of my three (3) photo series is "Assassin's Guild Meeting". NOT Assassin's Creed, which I never heard of until now, I had to search the internet to find information about this game. My photos have nothing to do with your game, have nothing to do with the characters in your games, and doesn't violate any DCMA or trademarking of yours. (see attached jpgs of my image on RedBubble, and a google search of your game)

If your claim is my "Assassin's Guild Meeting" photo series is the same as your video game "Assassin's Creed", and since my concept photoshoot predates your game, including the trademark registration of your game, if anyone's copyright was violated, it was mine.


UBISOFT hasn't registered ASSASSIN. It has registered Assassin's Creed under Class: 28 Games, toys; appliances for electronic games other than those intended for television use only; action figures;board games; automatic games apparatus, other than coin-operated and those adapted for use with television receivers only; automatic coin-operated game machines... which doesn't include artwork,especially artwork that pre-dates your game, and have nothing to do with your game. I have the original images, with their EXIF data intact as proof of when they were taken. There are other photo salesites that host these images which also show the EXIF data.


Please, go to Redbubble and remove your erroneous takedown notice. I really don't want to have to hire a lawyer when I've done nothing wrong.


Regards

Sandra Chung

Sandra Chung, Photographer

Lights, Camera, Still Shots, and Action ® http://sandra.redbubble.com/

(attached jpgs)

Up yours, UBISOFT! My images, not your intellectual property, but MINE

Assassin's Guild Meeting



Assassin's Guild - Tools of the Trade



Assassin's Guild - Meetings End




All photos taken and first released in July , 2007.

Sorry, UBISOFT, you do NOT own the word "Assassin"

Although my photos pre-date their game by a year, UBIsoft has decided that the word ASSASSIN retroactively belongs to them and only them. Guess again. My response to them:



Dear UIBSOFT, in early 2007, I did a concept photography session in my home. I made prints of these photos and sold them at art show and printed on demand, and have been selling their for the past 6, almost 7 years. I did this before your "Assassins CREED" game came out.

The reason I'm saying this is my 3 photo series is called "The Assassin's Guild Meeting". You filed an IP violation against my images on one my photo hosting/sale sites. My photos predate your game. The titles of my photos predate your game. You don't own the word ASSASSIN.

The name of my photo series is "Assassin's Guild". NOT Assassin's Creed, which I never heard of until now, I had to search the internet to find information about this game.

I have filed a counter claim, as the EXIF data on my images shows without a doubt, they predate your game.

WTF to the max!

I got this from Redbubble after having these photos, that I took in 2007, on their site were taken down because of IP violation. Huh?

Dear Sandra,

We are contacting you in accordance with Redbubble's IP/Publicity Rights Policy and as a result of having received a complaint in relation to the following content:

Assassin's Guild - End of the Meeting : http://www.redbubble.com/works/show/876917
Assassin's Guild - Tools of the Trade : http://www.redbubble.com/works/show/898532
Assassin's Guild Meeting: http://www.redbubble.com/works/show/280486

As you will be aware from our IP/Publicity Rights Policy, Redbubble requires a certain amount of information before it acts on such a complaint, including that:

- the relevant content is specifically named;

- the complaint came from the owner of the respective rights (or someone authorized to act on their behalf); and

- they have a good faith belief that the use of the relevant content is not authorized by content owner, its agent or the law.

On the basis of that information and in accordance with our User Agreement and IP/Publicity Rights Policy, we've removed the above-mentioned content from Redbubble.


I'm the only one who has the rights to these images. I never signed my rights over, I am the photographer, it was my camera. I even own the objects IN the photos. I have sent a counter claim, attached scaled down versions of the images with the EXIF data still intact with a "please explain". I want to know who made the complaint.

Saddened, but not surprised

As he's been ill for a long long time. RIP, sir.

Nelson Mandela dies at age 95.

Nelson Mandela, anti-apartheid icon and father of modern South Africa, dies




(CNN) -- Nelson Mandela, the revered statesman who emerged from prison after 27 years to lead South Africa out of decades of apartheid, has died, South African President Jacob Zuma announced late Thursday.

Mandela was 95.

"He is now resting. He is now at peace," Zuma said. "Our nation has lost its greatest son. Our people have lost a father."
"What made Nelson Mandela great was precisely what made him human," the president said in his late-night address. "We saw in him what we seek in ourselves."

The world could learn so much from him and his life, if they choose to.

Early risings suck

Was up shortly after 4am, not because of the purr kids, but because of local wildlife. There was a noisy, persistent bird in the back yard making this croaky noise (no, not a magpie, or mudlark or crow/raven). Think it might have been a Cuckoo Shrike, but didn't see it.

So, once that woke me up, then Loki decided "Well, you're up already, so tend to my needs." So, I did. Then I started in on domestic chores.

I emailed the printer of my photo book, as it arrived with the spine broken up near the top, and when you opened the cover, it sounded like it was breaking even more. So, emailed photos of it. They got back to me right away, and said they would send a replacement at no charge. Then I get an email saying that one of files from a different order was corrupted, could I resend. I tried to follow the instrucitons, but the button to upload wasn't in the book creator program. So, I called again.

I told her that I had ordered 3 copies of the same book, so couldn't they just use one of the other files and print two copies of it instead of one? She said yes, as long as I sent and email rquesting it. Done.

Been wearing my glasses all morning, close to 8 hours, and yes, I have a bit of tired eyes, but nothing like yesterday. That augers well for for wearing them all day.

Already starting to feel a bit groggy. Another cup of coffee to power the station, and keep awake.

Guess it's going to take a while

Picked up my new glasses. Wore them for about 3 hours. Then eyes started feeling tired, so I popped my contacts in. Instant relief. I guess it's been so long since I've worn glasses, with the exception of just an hour or so before bed, and when I first get up, that wearing them for long period of time is something I have to adjust to doing.

Masked Moggie Loki