[Neil Hurwitz]

An interesting discussion here BUT
There is a TECTONIC SHIFT about to happen in this
industry that you have all missed.
Quantel, The company that is always out in front from a
technology point of view, Think Paintbox,Think A62,
Think Harry & Henry, Think Dylan Disk Drives, has announced at
this years IBC the creation of QTUBE and demonstrated it live
and working. They also announced discussions about it with
a “MAJOR” US Software company. Now any of the major US softies
could buy Quantel for lunch and you get a very interesting
picture emerging. Not this year or next but certainly very soon.
Other companies have a habit of adopting and adapting
the Q’s stuff at a very reduced price point. So soon it won’t really
make a difference what seat your software is It will only have to
link to wherever the Media is stored

Neil Hurwitz

[Neil Hurwitz]

I think that to some extent
We have brought this upon ourselves
And certainly the equipment manufactures have goosed
this along. All the advertising for cheap equipment
has cheapened the perceived value of what we do.
The carpet bombing of adds for a 999.00 edit system
along with the “edit on the beach” pictures
Have taken there toll.

Neil Hurwitz

[Neil Hurwitz]

I StoragePro IT MIS08T 8TB 1644.50
Atto 380 Raid Controller 984.75
Mini Sas Cable 125.00
Total 2754.25
From Burly Storage
Navigate there from the Istorage Add you see flashing on the
COW
I don’t have any experience with this distributor so due deligence
would be advised
I CAN’T BELIEVE HOW CHEAP THIS STUFF IS GETTING
2,750 for 8TB of Raid 5 from a known manufacture
If this is too much cash for you, then you would be well
advised to think of something else to do

Neil Hurwitz

[Neil Hurwitz]

You have got to be kidding
China is the biggest civil rights abuser in the world
You want FREEDOM go to New York
You want the State to rule your life go to CHINA
You Want to live in a Pollution Nightmare go to CHINA
You Want to Only have One child go to CHINA
If you let your son beleive that CHINA is the future
you are NUTS

Neil Hurwitz

[Neil Hurwitz]

Walter,
Here’s the skinny on Payroll Companies.
I would absolutely use one.
The headaches of keeping track of all the various forms,
dates,filing deadlines is just not worth it.
Penalties for missed deadlines are extreme and they change
depending on gross payroll (sometimes on a week to week Basis)
If your payroll changes week to week because of overtime
you can really hurt yourself here.
Also note that lots of Taxing authorities cue off of unemployment
insurance forms, so if you screw up one of these it can trigger
every other taxing authority to look up your butt.
That said their are things you can do to minimize the expense
associated with payroll companies
Go to a 24 payroll check a year policy
ie: Payroll is on the 1st & 15th of every month,
with a one payroll period lag for overtime. If this is not feasable
then go to an every other week schedule.(26checks a year per employee) you will get creamed if you use a once a week schedule.
This will allow you to anticipate your cash requirements
and since most payroll services charge by the check and report
you will minimize this expense.
Request the ability to submit payroll info on-line and not call it in
This is cheaper and almost universal now.
Make sure they will send you the exact Journal entry for your
accounting software, every payroll period.
Most payroll companies have special services for smaller businesses
ask about these and then NEGOIATE .
Ask about doing a free conversion from your records to theirs
(sometimes this is conveniently forgotten in discussions and will cause you great greif if they only give you reports from their start date)
Make sure they send you copies of all tax deposits
Make sure they are bonded & check references of other loacal
customers.
Verify their customer call service center is in the US

Neil Hurwitz

[Neil Hurwitz]

You and I are both somewhat correct and incorrect
I did a google search and it seems that what I thought was the
1000 is in actuality the 100 which, was as you say, very much like the
Vista. Google also turned up a picture of a “500” that is similar to the original ADO, however the search only turned up this unit in PAL.
The youngsters here should note that the original ADO cost
$200,000.00 My oh My, how things have changed, so stop whining
over the cost of a 1,000 input card or hard drive.
Mr. Bob Zelin did the installs for me back in the day
so if he were to chime in here I would take it as the final word.

Neil Hurwitz

[Neil Hurwitz]

I hate to be a stickler by to my recollection is that
there was never an ADO 500
I remember the 100,200,300 all variations of the original ADO
A few years later they came out with the 1000 which kind of
looked like the Vista switcher and was an option on the
Vista to have it incorporated. What is interesting to note here
is that when Ampex introduced the 1000 at NAB they had
hundreds of them stacked up in boxes ready for immediate shipment.
Now if you see a product at NAB your lucky to get a buggy product
before the next NAB. When Chryon introduced the Infinit
they had problems in manufacturing and software that more or less
cratered the company, this was because they killed sales of the then shipping Scribe. In a giant misstep GVG did the same with the famous
GVG 200 switcher. It took them over a year to work out
manufacturing of the molded “Tub” that was its housing. They didn’t
sell to many 300’s after the introduction of the 200

Neil Hurwitz

[Neil Hurwitz]

The single most important thing to have is LIABILITY INSURANCE
You want to be covered if the person you rent this gear to
leaves it out and their 1 year old sticks their fingers in it and
gets hurt, THEY WILL SUE YOU IN A HEARTBEAT
Other than this all you risk is your investment,
Charge for service calls that are operator error

Neil Hurwitz

[Neil Hurwitz]

Ok, Here’s what you do.
I believe you’re in MA. which happens to have a small claims
court which handles disputes under 2,000.00.
So google Small Claims Court MA. Get and file the appropriate
documents and have the court serve a summons. This is
easy and cheap to do. This will usually do the trick.

Neil Hurwitz

[Neil Hurwitz]

Sorry Bill,
I can’t agree with you here.
It is possible to run a business and stay close
to what you love, the creativity.

There is nothing like leading a Team of Good, Fun
Creative individuals. In fact the Most Fun I ever had
by far in this biz was when I had assembled such a Team.

Being the Ringmaster is just as much fun as being the Juggler.

As Most have said, Just offload the Payroll nonsense to
a payroll company.

Neil Hurwitz