Netflix, Blockbuster, Amazon, Daewoo & Encryption

Netflix:
Ok, you win. I have sent multiple complaint emails to the faceless reply-bot explaining carefully how you are failing to match the number of disks we return with the number of disks we get back. We send 2 in, you send 1 back, then the other one follows several days later. What's up with that? I have read (not heard, nobody ever called or emailed) your standard responses about multiple stocking locations, disk repair, disk inventory and on and on. My wife and I do not own a TV and we only use Netflix for our entertainment. We have been having to supplement with Blockbuster DVDs and also a few delightful DVDs from our local, low-profile, almost surreptitious DVD house called "Scoob's DVD". Anyway, we just upgraded from 5 out-at-any-time to 7 out-at-any-time. That had better resolve the availability issues or I will begin a fax, phone and email campaign of complaints, with cc:s to whomever I believe would be interested. There!... are you frightened now?

Blockbuster:
I guess all the negative publicity about how Blockbuster lied about the terms of their advertised "No More Late Fees" has had some repercussions because our local Blockbuster is being very nice, being very generous with the $1 off early return coupons, and also showing quite a bit of hustle in finding out if a return has come in that hasn't been put back on the shelf yet. I believe Blockbuster is an anachronistic business model though and so I don't expect them to be around all that much longer.

Amazon:
What's the fuss about Amazon buying Netflix? I think it is a logical and obvious thing to do and Amazon has always been very good about doing what they say they will do, and backing it up with lots of data. Did you know that J. Bezos outlined the first proposal for Amazon right here in the community I live in at a small cafe next to where my wife used to work? That kind of info delights me and I still like to stare at the exact spot J. Bezos was sitting when Amazon conceptualized before his eyes *:-)

Daewoo:
Well, it was a very strange experience (as most of my experiences at Fry's Electronics are) and after 1.5 hours, 6 sales reps, 3 store departmental transfers we now own a Daewoo VCR-DVD combo which will copy our old VHS tapes to DVD. I learned a lot, and I believe not very many folks know as much as I do now about DVD-, DVD+, Apple products, Dell products, and the related interfaces.

Encryption:
Which brings me to encryption. We own many old VHS commercial tapes that were copy proofed and we want to copy them to DVD. The Daewoo unit won't do it automatically and so I could use some help in finding a way to getting them copied so we can view them on our DVD player. Remember, we don't have a TV and use Apple products to view our DVDs. Help is welcome via comment to this blog.

Movie Recommendations:
"Bramwell: Series 4" (1998) - Yes, see it. OC+
"Falling for a Dancer" (1998) - Yes, see it. OC+
"The Pink Panther" (1963) - No, don't see it. OC-
"ZZTop: Greatest Hits: The Video Collection" (2004) - Yes, see it. OC+
"Awakenings" (1997) - Yes, see it. OC+
"The Perfect Murder" (1988) - Yes, see it. OC+

Lee's OC Index:
OC+ = High potential healing and/or educational message for people with OCD tendencies.
OC- = Low potential healing and/or educational message for people with OCD tendencies.