VERSACE ROSENTHAL MEDUSA POTTERY.

Versace and Rosenthal :

The medusa range is the first in the Versace Rosenthal series. It is still in production (correct as of December 2006), although some of the items are being discontinued. The mini coffee pot, fruit saucer, mini candle holder, and small covered box are no longer in production.

These really are georgous items, they contain real gold leaf, balanced predominantly with regal red. Finished with a medusa gorgon in the centre, thoughnot on all items. Some have two cherubs and a dog out hunting merged into the decoration.

If you are thinking of purchasing these items please take note of the following, the advice is given in concern to the amount of fakes currently for sale on the open market.

Watch out for the following initially :

1. Versace Rosenthal Medusa does not produce a sugar bowl with a big medusa head in the centre and gold wings either side, any of this typeis fake.

2. The height of any salt and pepper shaker should be 10.5 centimetres, watch out for items that look fat and stubby, they shall be counterfeit.

3. Lids that appear to not fit onto the sugar bowls.

4. Handle on the Tea Pot, Coffee Pot. Looks too large, out of place with the item.

5. Hallmark stamp, the only letters in capitols should be VERSACE, no items should say ITALY in capitals.

6. Beware of the item description/title. "VERSACE DESIGN MEDUSA PLATE" does not mean its a Versace plate, it just means it has the design of a Versace medusa. VERSACE ROSENTHAL MEDUSA means the real item. Also, "VERSACE" plate (deliberately missing the word STYLE) is a way to deceive a buyer, the speech marks mean its not real. He mighthave a "David Bowie" haircut, or she may do a "Biance" walk, all are mimics.

7. People posting a picture of Rosenthal Pottery onto their advertisement directly from a catalogue or brochure, and not showing the real item. An advertiser should show you the base mark of any item, it is best to see it. Look at the back ground, has the room changed? Is the item suddenly in a nice garden in the next picture ? Nice fake item, but picture of the base is from a book!

I strongly suggest that anyonestarting a collection whom is not buying from a VERSACE outlet, or licensed pottery shop firstly gets hold of some brochures, or "Do not Disturb" book by Gianni Versace. These contain pictures of real items, and prime examples. A good reference point before buying.

Furthermore, even though these items are still in production, the boxes have changed. Originally, they were in a leather look, cardboard black boxwith gold greek key edging, and a Golden Medusa head stamped into the centre. They have now changed to smooth dark blue or black with a medusa (or half medusa head) stamped into the boxin the same colour.

A lot of the originals dont come with certificates, its something that was introduced later on.

I hope you have found this information useful. See also VERSACE RARE POTTERY GUIDE.

From NANDAKARANA.

Paypal THE SELLER'S NIGHTMARE

Ebay has been a great place to trade and not to scare any new sellers 99% of people are very honest

But then there are the 1% the moaner the wingers the scum of the earth

These buyers will just want to use your item or maybe even break your item then they go to Paypal and say

that you sold them something bad which of course is rubbish and it dont matter that you have doneover 1000 Paypal

deals this one person the bad ebayer can make your life hell they will get your account frozen and then you will fight

to get your money back and if your really unlucky the buyer will send back a broken item the same as you sold and you

will then have a hunk of junk and no money because Paypal will have paid back the lier when they proved they sent some rubbish back

This happened to me and Paypal said that buyers must be taken at there word

BUT what about us sellers are we a bunch of liers or just victims of FRAUD

I still take Paypal because without it our sales suffer no one wants to write a cheque anymore and we as sellers should be protected

and why cant we have our good feedback recovered when a complete airhead gives us an undeserved negitive

Ebay and Paypal need to get there act togther and earn the mega money they take from us each year

PAYPAL'S NOT BAD.. Come On 100 million can't be wrong!!

With all those guides out there giving Paypal a good slating - I would like to stick my 2 penneth in to defend this great service.

For a start, Paypal has over100 million members worldwide (and growing), and every second, it handles an average transaction volume of $823 in total payment volume. In 2004 alone, Paypal handled $18.9 billion worth of transactions, and this is growing every year! I think this is quite an achievement, even if no-one else does!! And it also shows that people do use it - and if everyone was getting stung left right and centre, Im sure they wouldnt be as successful as they are.

As with every system - there are flaws, and things do sometimes go wrong - but this is relatively rare given the volume of accounts held with the service, and there are various solution set in place to help you out. Apparently, only 0.01% of transactions, according to ebay, result in a case of fraud. And considering there are millions and millions of listings every day - You have got more chance of getting screwed over by your bank or credit card company - dont even get me started on them. In fact - the odds of winning the lottery are probably higher than you being a victain of fraud more than once!

I suppose our impression of all companies and services stems from personal experience, I have had a few dodgy transactions which, were it not for the protection policies in place by paypal, I would have lost a substantial amount of Money. If you keep proof of posting for all of your items and make sure that postal insurance is at the discression of the buyer, then you really should not go wrong - if a buyer chooses not to pay for insurance, then it is frankly their loss if you can prove the item has been posted.Likewise, if I buy an item and it goes missing in the post, i will file a dispute, and paypal immediately holds the funds until the seller can prove he has posted the item, and if so, if i havent taken out insurance, then its my loss!

An increasing amount of large business are now offering paypal as a convenient payment option. Another indicator to is relative success and security.

Oh, and a little fact im sure none of you knew, paypal is one of the very few websites (oneof 26I would say!) to have a one-letter domain name... if you type in 'x' .com you will be forwarded to the paypal page - pretty cool i thought... shame the cross symbol is synonymous with 'No' And 'Do not use' - a subliminal warning maybe?

ha ha ha

Car buying Guide part three by Dave69700

Is there fresh paint under the sill where youd normally find a brown coating from mud, tar etc.Are there any marks like vice grip marks on the bottom lip of the sill? This may be from the use of a body jig.In the engine bay or wheelarch, is there a difference from one side to the other of the paint surface, one side has stonechip paint, the other doesnt?

Remember: Car bodies are made by robots but the cars are still assembled by humans.So.It is possible that the body panel may not have seated properly on the jig in the factory before the robot welded it. .One man, on one side of the car may apply seam sealer in a different manner to his co-worker on the other side...There may be rectification to a paint fault before it left the factory

Having considered all the above a repaired car may be as good as new, only better!!

Maintenance:-.Is the engine bay absolutely spotless? Power washing can remove signs of leaks..Does the MOT certificate refer to an advisory sheet? ask for it, work may be necessary soon. .Has the car done just under 100k? Allow for the price of a catalytic converter but remember, there are expansive main dealer parts and aftermarket cheaper parts..Ideally tyres should match on the same axle some cars can have 5 different tyres!.Check the overall condition of the exhaust system you may need a new one sooner than you think!

Protect your WalletThere are many other issues which may catch out the unwary, -- well advised elsewhere on eBayIn any case make sure that the seller has the V5 and its in HIS name at HIS address. (in fact ask this in your first email) You may hear many excuses, some kosher, some not.Ask questions Do watch the sellers manner, or his avoidance tactics. Listen to what he doesnt sayMy policy?.If in doubt, -- Dont!Thank him for his time and walk away, dont bid, delete it from your bidding list Look for another one, you dont need problems

Many Thanks To Dave69700 for helping with this guide

Olymps 35 RD Rangefinder for Photographers

Introduction

This is a short guide dedicated to the much sought after Olympus 35 RD. I hope this is helpful to photography enthusiasts who are looking for a controllable compact camera with high quiality optics. The RD was the last of a number of high quality Olympus compact rangefinders. It replaced the excellent RC in the mid 1970's.

Why is the RD so special?
1. High quality optics
How many compact cameras include a fast 40mm f1:1.7 lens? True, the 35 SP lens was even sharper but the RD is a much smaller camera. With modern compacts, you'll be lucky to get a plastic f1.2.8!

2. Top notch construction
Forget champagne coloured plastic, the RD is made out of metal and glass. It is screwed together. This is definitely not a mass-market product.

3. Looks and image
The RD looks stunning. The big glass lens, chrome body and cool rangefinder windows make this camera look classy. The design is aesthetically pleasing, the lens is centred and the body dimensions beatifully proportioned. The RD gets old gracefully, it is a real classic.

4. Control
The RD is a manual focus rangefinder. It includes unmetered manual and shutter priority auto modes. Shutter speeds from 1/2 to 1/500 are available. For slow exposures, the RD has a Bulb setting and can be used with a cable release and tripod.

What to look for
Unfortunately this very special camera can be a liability in terms of servicing and maintenance. Grease from the inside of the lens barrel tends to migrate to the shutter blades. At best, this will cause an inaccurate or erratic shutter. At worst the shutter will not fire at all as the blades get bound with oil and dirt. The only solution is to have the shutter serviced by an expert. The original lens grease should be replaced with a modern alternative that won't migrate to the shutter. Sometimes the oil is hard to spot. You need to look from the front and back of the lens. If your're buying a used RD then you should budget for having the shutter cleaned and serviced.

Don't buy an RD that's been tamptered with or has parts missing. Most camera repairers will only service a complete camera. While these cameras are getting scarce, they do come up on ebay quite regularly so there's no need to buy a faulty RD.

Set neck versus bolt on

When it comes to purchasing an electric guitar there are many myths about which type to buy and what makes a good guitar.

Top manufacturers names are automatically accepted as being 'better' without any real thought about what an electric guitar actually is....it is simply a musicalinstrument.

What is the most important part of an electric guitar? Maybe it's the pickups or the machine heads (tuners) or the wood it's made of?

Well in truth it MAY be all of these but let's take things back to basics and dispel a few myths.

A musical instrument should play in tune. A rather basic thing really but often much misunderstood.

A string vibrating between two points. This is what happens when you pluck or strum your guitar.Each string's vibrating length runs between a nut near the headstock and the bridge at the body end. It is this vibrating length of string that produces the sound of your instrument. An exact half way point of this vibrating length of string is your 12th fret position. If it isn't exactly half way it wont play in tune. What can be done to rectify this problem? You can't move the nut so you have to move the bridge section over which the string runs. Once this has been altered to make the length exactly half way, it will play in tune over the whole fretboard. This is intonation adjustment. You can't be expected to measure that distance for each string using a rule, so the best way is with a tuner, preferably electronic which will show you that the octave is perfectly in tune when the string is fretted at the 12th fret and when played open. If it's sharp (too high) you lengthen the string by moving the bridge away from the nut. If it's flat (too low) you shorten the string by bringing the bridge closer to the nut. Many minoradjustments of the tuner have to be made each time to get the string back to pitch before you check the open and octave note but once done your guitar string should play in tune at all positions on the fretboard. Repeat this for each string. Job done.

Neck - Glued in (set) or screwed in (bolt on)? Which is best?

The simple answer is, it depends how it's been done. Two peices of decent wood with a good contact should transfer vibration. That's all there is to it. If you have ever seen someone use a tuning fork you will notice that the sound of the tuning fork is best heard when it is pressed against a wooden surface. If that surface is a cupboard or a box, the sound is amplified by the vibrations moving air within the box. It is that transfer of vibration that makes your guitar work. The better the transfer of vibration, the more 'alive' your guitar feels. Now, bear in mind that the point of a tuning fork is about 4 square millimeters and you can see that it doesn't take much to create a good contact.

With a set neck, usually the heel sits in a 'socket' area where both sides and the bottom are in contact with the body. A thin, strong glue will not prevent a good transfer of vibration.If a bad 'set neck' joint is filled with glue, the vibrations need to travel through that glue to bridge the gap between the two pieces of wood. With a bolt on,the two pieces of wood are placed face to face and then pulled together by wood screwsso the transfer of vibration will be good. The larger the area, the better the transfer. If those two mating faces of the wood are painted or varnished or aren't well 'mated', the transfer of vibration will be reduced. So, does it matter if it's set or bolt on? You can't see either of them (don't try asking the shop assistant if you can takethe guitarapart to checkbecause I can't be held responsible if you end up sat on the pavement) so you will need to play the guitar to find out if it feels 'live'.

There is a lot more to take into consideration but I'll save that for another 'review' later on.