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| Scott Janssen 2009-09-08 14:45:29 |
I knew Ben well and he was a great guy. I really enjoyed his enthusiasm, intelligence, and great sense of humor. He and I had a running joke about butter. I don't even remember how it started, but we were all in the kitchen at the company and every time someone was talking about food, Ben would get that sparkle in his eye and make a joke that it would be better with butter. It was like he was an infomercial host trying to really sell butter to everyone. I doubt anyone else will remember it, as it only happened a couple of times and it wasn't a big deal, but I always thought it was funny. Your son was one of the biggest contributors (in my humble opinion) to a great product and a great team. His technical contributions are obvious, but I think he was really one of the three or four core people who really defined the culture of the company and the team. Great guy! Cheers, Scott Scott Janssen, President QA4U Software Test Labs, Inc. www.QA4U.com |
| Post 2009-08-12 03:43:28 |
Message February 17, 2007 Subject: ZOIL email:contract_programmers@yahoo.com Let us know if you wish to register and your comments. www.nosmokesignals.net is up. New look. Home: Political commentary hash Current Events: Most recent news and commentary rolling previous history. Hot Topics: Hard hitting topics rolling previous on continuing issues. Guestbook: Memorial of Ben Site Author: Biography of author. Request LogID Password send to PO Box email and password plus contact name and phone: Subject:SIGNON REQ. The family of Ben will appreciate a short email to contract_programmers@yahoo.com to express your interest in the web sites: www.zoil.com, www.exreplaytv.com, and www.exreplaytv.net ( an image only of www.exreplaytv.com) Comments first that you are interested to look in from time to time and web site and any suggestions will be appreciated. contract_programmers@yahoo.com Message update: FINAL CORRESPONDENCE IN COURT SETTLEMENT RE: Sonicblue Bankruptcy aka ReplayTV - Watching and controlling television. Sunday, August 9, 2009 11:00 PM From: "Glenn Fuller" To: Cc: The problem with this mirrors the national lack of debate and civility in a number of frantic coverups and artificial gobblins and dragons. The fact is there was no day in court allowed, and the power brokers saw to it. Make no mistake, I understand the weight of your limitations and mine and the lack of discretion you have. Nothing personal. Just business. I've lived long enough to recognize what I can't change and work to change what I can. The journey made has no regrets. I can see some possible merit to the trustee objections, but have seen nothing substantial to stand against what I know is evident in the Proof of Claims filed; but not as administered or tactics employed as a process. The merit lay with concealed likely outcomes which neither of us saw nor are in evidence. The Trustee could no more prove with overwhelming evidence the case for the objection no more than the estate could defend such an onslaught denied discovery of consequence, representation and due process. There is the matter of "missing files" et al. and belligerent police department chief(s)". It is evident that the approach I used to site "Le Armistad" as was the appeal for a pre-trial hearing on the death of Ben, and a hopeful disclosure of late developments that fell on deaf ears was appropriate and the court and the collective army against the estate lost an opportunity in jurisprudence for fairness, due process and justice. The estate is not the only "loser". I allow for my judgment and proofs to have been flawed. However, I will go to my grave at peace that I did the best I was allowed to do, and accept structural hinderances for laymen accepting those that stealth away with treasures they did not earn will have to answer to someone where there will be no options left for them but facing the truth. From a supporter, an honest person. Certainly not one owing to me for anything. BTW FYI. "It happens that scoundrels often enjoy the fruits of their skulduggery. However, I believe fighting the good fight makes them go to extra pains and enjoy the ill-gotten gains a bit less and that with a more guilty conscience. Meanwhile, I find I sleep well without any aids needed, and know the food we eat is not out of anyone else's mouth. Additionally, because people put up the good fight fewer scoundrels triumph and some even get their comeuppance in spades. Each fight, even with a loss, assures greater prospects in the next. The opponents, including their for-hire experts, win a fair share of battles but teach me what I need to know better to help the next client. Finally, people like us know we can safely die today and face God's judgment. Regards, M" That's all I can say about that. We all may very well find we are victims of a wider "skullduggery" which the national conscience is now facing on many fronts. The absurdity in national leadership and world forces arrayed against America we fail to see the greater picture, and possible outcomes we all face. We need each other, not fighting among what crumbs we are allowed by a conglomerate with no face and no conscience. [To quote David's brothers while facing Goliath and the Philistines, "He makes cowards of us all". The Bible, Samuel 17] Glenn -----Original Message----- From: Glenn Fuller To: m Sent: Sat, Aug 8, 2009 4:41 pm Subject: Re: m has a new email address No. Didn't work out well at all. ... Hope all is well with you. Regards, Glenn " Change of address m. Hope everything worked out for you. (paraphrasing) --- On Wed, 7/22/09, Glenn Fuller From: Glenn Fuller Subject: RE: Sonicblue Bankruptcy aka ReplayTV - Watching and controlling television. To: "WillSugden" Cc: "GrantStein" Date: Wednesday, July 22, 2009, 12:25 AM Will, I got the [] check for the unsecured settlement. No electronic image has been delivered of the Sonicblue Sale and disclosure of those benefiting from the assets' sale. I am disappointed that the terms the estate desired to be considered were not. It doesn't seem beyond the collective groups' power to see Ben's name is on the registered patents resulting from the patent applications giving credit where credit is due, and that the evidence is not expunged but turned over to the Sheriff of San Mateo County with appropriate directions for a real investigation that has never transpired faithfully. I can only hope. Consider the dream, "watching and controlling television" under hobbies on Ben's resume attached. It was a dream my son brought to life as a good thing for the rights of man, "automatic commercial skipping" digital video recording delayed broadcasting. He along with some very talented and forward thinking engineers brought a necessary capability for children to be protected from falsehoods and the child in all of us. The right substantiated all the way to the Supreme Court, but like todays circus of politics mean spirited and wayword attorney firms wage a war against the rights of man, the citizens. History can be re-written, we see that; but God knows, 'a few good men' know and I know the value of what Ben gave to all of us along with the team at ReplayTV notwithstanding the forces at work that deny us that gift today. I don't know how long the ReplayTV units we have will survive, but the dream will live on. They cannot take that away. For that I am thankful. Vaya con Dios. "It is finished." Glenn Ben's Dad P.S. FYI Macromedia was decent about their agreement and Ben's name is on at least one registered patent I found with them. I found none from ReplayTV/Sonciblue when I know of two patents minimum with Ben's name on the applications . "Storing valid and invalid markup language in strict and relaxed tables respectively Document Type and Number: United States Patent 6558431 Abstract: The inventive editor allows web authors to edit HTML visually while preserving the HTML source document. The editor preserves the structure and format of the HTML, and permits simultaneous modeless visual and source document editing. When an edit is made with the invention, only the HTML source around that edit is updated, rather than rewriting the whole HTML source document. Furthermore, when an edit is made, the new HTML source code is outputted in a format that is specified by the user. In order to preserve the format of the document, format information is stored in the parsed tree. The format of the node is preserved when its source is regenerated; edits to the node will reformat it according to user preferences. In order to preserve the structure of the document, invalid HTML structures are maintained and not corrected. The invention will either support the invalid structure by reflecting such structure in the parsed tree, and thus allow for editing of the structure, or the invention will not support such a structure, and represent such structures as invalid nodes. Moreover, the invention also maintains structure while editing, as the structure and format of the document is only minimally modified during editing, i.e. only the nodes affected by the edits are restructured and reformatted, and the remainder of the document is unmodified. Representative Image: see attached Inventors: Lynch, Kevin M. (San Francisco, CA) Jaramillo, Narciso B. (Fremont, CA) Edelstein, Hava B. (San Francisco, CA) Fuller, Benjamin G. (Campbell, CA)" --- On Thu, 7/16/09, Sugden, Will From: Sugden, Will Subject: RE: Sonicblue Bankruptcy To: "Glenn Fuller" Cc: "Stein, Grant" Date: Thursday, July 16, 2009, 9:52 AM Mr. Fuller, I am writing on behalf of my client, the Plan Administrator Dennis Connolly. Your suggestion that Mr. Connolly or any other fiduciary in the SONICblue bankruptcy has not complied with the settlement agreement which Judge Morgan approved at docket number 3268 is incorrect. The court-approved settlement permitted you a $[] general unsecured claim in the bankruptcy case. The distribution agent has made distributions to you on the same basis and at the same time as all other similarly situated general unsecured creditors. You received a distribution of approximately $[] in December 2008. Additionally, Judge Morgan has recently approved an additional distribution to all unsecured creditors. Your share of this additional distribution will be approximately $[] as was disclosed in the publicly filed papers in the bankruptcy court. The distribution agent is effectuating these distributions today and you should be receiving a check in the mail shortly. Your suggestion that the failure to pay "Administrative Fees" and other allegations (unsupported by a single factual assertion) constitutes a breach of the court-approved settlement agreement is incorrect and inconsistent with the express terms of the settlement agreement. Regards, Will Sugden ________________________________________ From: Glenn Fuller [mailto:ggfuller@yahoo.com] Sent: Thursday, July 16, 2009 9:40 AM To: Robert Gregory; Sugden, Will Cc: Stein, Grant; RonOliner; Nanette (USTP)Dumas; Connolly, Dennis; Judge Marilyn Morgan; Robert Clark Subject: RE: Sonicblue Bankruptcy I would like to report that finally I have and have had a few months now a ReplayTV 5040 with "automatic commercial skipping". The first one worked fine, but new furniture caused it to overheat so I replaced it. One step in many. Still no check from the bankruptcy court acceptable or even the token "charity" nor the media document CD, and no response from many motions in court, no due process, no process service. I would consider this a breach of contract on the Settlement Agreement, the failure to pay "Administrative Fees" and obstruction of justice unless any of you can find otherwise. It still remains my son's face was "bruised", police work it appears purposely manipulated, a conflict in the coroner's office, possible collusion of bankruptcy officers, prevention of the parents to see the body BEFORE autopsy, his signatures forged from the evidence in Proof of Claims and court documents, no investigation of substance and pre-mature expunging of the evidence for the record in bankruptcy. Regards, Glenn "It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man." Psalm 118:8 the centre verse in the Bible. --- On Thu, 5/21/09, ggfuller@yahoo.com From: ggfuller@yahoo.com Subject: RE: Sonicblue Bankruptcy To: "Robert Gregory" Cc: "GrantStein" Date: Thursday, May 21, 2009, 1:33 PM Bob, Had there been any indication that the Trustee through the Trustee attorney would do anything prematurely, not notify the estate of pending action or steps which trend to obstruct justice and deny access to volumes of court documents and claims register material the estate investigated with blood, sweat and tears to assemble I would not have sign the settlement even with the threats enumerated. Opening the files is my number one priority. The CD ROM image is a necessity, not a luxury and it is aggregious to require the estate strapped as it is for finances, denied Adminstrative Fees, to bear this burden and an act of what may be retribution by the Trustee for being a nuisance to him. The 3rd check quite frankly I doubt will be sent. It seems the implications have been to build a case to deny even this final "token" award. I entered the settlement in good faith to facilitate getting the court off the dime six years in process not surrendering distribution, faulty confirmation and plan of the court; exaggerated and error ridden objections to the claims; and a hope some decency would prevail. Certainly this 3rd check, directly associated with the source of pain should reflect real consideration. Sonicblue would be the payor then some justice for a large 7 figure award would not come close to be enough; but should serve to caution so inclined corprations in the future to beware to think everyone is going to roll over and play dead for them while they escape with the gold they hid from the court. There are unscrupulous players [wackier] still hidden in this tragedy and identity delayed by refusal of an electronic image of the Sonciblue Sales documents and assurances that it is certified and all inclusive of every creditor paid, and every principal enumerated which gained wealth from this situation. Still missing are two key personnel files: Patrick Ellis former roommate hanger on the person to find the "body" in his own condo ; and Phillipe Pignon and the one that a challenged resignation by Ben and other indicators logic and circumstances just do not confirm Ben willfully or ever submitted with several signatures challenged which only original documents could possibly resolve, but no longer exist. The practical situation in burden is that you nor any attorney are prepared, nor committed to the level needed nor do I have time to prepare them for what must be done in due time. I have prepared a record well, and this latest revelation in what the Redwood City Police disclosed that my son's face was "bruised" SEE ATTACHED has been withheld purposely it would seem to me with all the opportunity to disclose, and requests over the years along with other violations of law. Partial fingerprints late and no DNA? Now DNA can paint the face of an assailant. The sum total result is the estate now has been dealt an injustice again not even allowed "Administrative Fees" nor a fair assessment of the proofs by a judge, the public have been denied the right to filter propaganda and malicious lies from the TV through the "automatic commercial skipping" my son invented, and valuable assets in patents et al have been stolen from him and his life taken to seal and prevent "transparency" and "openness" in the rights of individuals to view what they want to view. Further I just within these last few week uncovered that the rtv 2030 we have do not have "automatic commercial skipping" and efforts to date with Pay Pay and Ebay have denied me to purchase one, only now a symbolic relic of what my son authored and paid with his life. The Governors of the State of California, the Attorney's General, California BAR Association, the Redwood City Police Department, the San Mateo Probate Court, the Redwood City Fire Department, and a private funeral home in California acted to coverup the murder of my son or failed fiduciary duty performance, perhaps obstruct justice and deny the family and the estate their rights. The U.S. Federal Bankruptcy Court Trustee seems to have joined in the orchestration to deny justice. That is my assessment, that is my finding which the evidence supports in my opinion and that is what I shall publish. Thanks anyway. Sincerely, Glenn Penned, unsent but for now. Early 2009. Will, Our agreements relied on several elements for the estate yet undelivered and from the estate those apparently required have been enforced by the Trustee to expunge I contest prematurely and to severe any claims even denying Administrative fees which the estate objects and the Trustee proceeded before requisite activities normal in contracts: 1. Delivery of specified distribution a third check still pending 2. Delivery of Sales documents as promised CD ROM 3. Bi-lateral integrity in the contract, reciprocity and balanced consideration for that surrendered normal and required in any contract. Process service. Due process. 4. Delivery by the San Mateo Probate Court a waiver or release by the State of California for the estate to proceed with settlement. This contingency was disclosed before the hearing and repeated. 5. The hope of consideration, even a response to the late, but discovery evidence where perhaps the standard for allow was prematurely disallowed: a: Standards of proof: Co-patent holder contacted for signature which as I understand it was the issue which you ruled did not matter to prevail to disallow the patent claim. b. Email attesting to a contested area set aside for the main distribution to be revisited. I can include the trail of email where this preceded and succeeded the Aug 26 hearing. c. Verbal assurances to delay and access to criminal data in court documents and specifically Proof of Claims Register with Adminstar. Again, many emails of necessity apparently which can be produced. You assured me this link would not prematurely be severed for the estate to have the option in the criminal area. Perhaps I misunderstood some things, but I was careful to keep the essence as this progressed on record. The volumes you claim of emails generated was by a good share in part by absences of response. When there were responses where "not understanding" an excuse used unfairly before proceeding to remedy became more the rule than exception. Cutting off communication as witnessed in this exchange is not new to me. My account of our relationship however regardless of now your recollection your position and partnership with the creditor attorney notwithstanding is more than from memory in my behalf. I struggle to understand where pretense ended and reality set in. I know what all of us said, and I know the results of pressures brought to bear on the estate. There was very little where an open forum and oversight was involved, documentation thwarted as outlined above and verbal mostly between you and I until the new creditor attorney was involved. Mostly it went smooth, but then surpirsed by the premature expunged data and access of course I take exception. I wasn't notified of the impending acts, no process document, no notices. I am disappointed you chose to attempt to attack me personally, and not the issues and data. I simply reported the roles, conflicts and dissatifactions with only a few episodes blighting the process. I have focused on the process, the system and dificiency in the court failing to confirm patent rights before this all began. I have no issues to this level even as partiioned as it is with anyone else in the network. The estate was doing very well with the previous creditor attorney and overcame some obstacles with even the Pillsbury group. That apparently all changed. Its been going on 6 years and patent applications not listed origination to maturity from the patent office? Every patent? Key contracts and requirements from "reorganization" clouding transfer issue unconfirmed only assumed? This would seem to be the work of the Trustee prior to rendering any alloances. I appreciate everyone's patience with this and do understand the difficulties in navigating so much with so little believe me. However, don't misundertand I appreciate the right to do something when nothing was being done nor would be done for the estate to be represented. It wasn't what you or others did out of the kindness of your hearts, but a glaring demand in justice where your role, fiduciary duty and the law demands. I'm not unappreciative but save me the burden to accept the crumbs you did me any favors. The system has its problems and you all know better than I where they are. Or maybe you don't? They don't began and end with a citizen, a pro se or the nuisance of the "unwashed". There is plenty of case law I waded through to see that isn't even on the map. Where are the documents disclosed where the estate can see the allowed claims, the payout and trail of money to the person from the reasons? Where is the data containing criminally sensitive data filed in court and claims register? Will access be allowed in any form or have the records been destroyed? When will the 3rd and final check be distributed to the estate and amount? [You stated May] When will the CD ROM copy of the Sonicblue Sales be delivered? [You stated NEVER]. Sincerely, Glenn Fuller, pro se Benjamin G. Fuller Estate Sonicblue Bankruptcy Case #03-51775 --- On Sat, 4/18/09, Sugden, Will From: Sugden, Will Subject: RE: Sonicblue Bankruptcy To: ggfuller@yahoo.com Cc: "Stein, Grant" Date: Saturday, April 18, 2009, 1:08 PM Mr. Fuller, I am responding to your email below as well as the barrage of other emails that you have sent me and my client over the last months. This will be the last communication you receive from me. As an initial matter, I take exception to your characterizations of Mr. Oliner below. They are false and inappropriate. I know this because I was there for every call. You have been treated by all of the present fiduciaries of the Sonicblue bankruptcy estate (including Mr. Oliner, my client, Friedman Dumas (which is local counsel to my client), and me) with courtesy and respect in this process and we have gone out of our way to accommodate you. You stated as much to Judge Morgan at the hearing on August 26, 2008 and you stated as much to me in an email of the same day (a copy of which I attach to this email). Your attempts now to tarnish Mr. Oliner below are unfortunate. You have in your recent emails made two allegations against me that warrant response. First, you allege that I have acted inconsistently with the settlement agreement by not sending you electronic (rather than paper) copies of the asset purchase documents from 2003 in the Sonicblue case. Second, you have complained that the alleged administrative claim you filed on or about October 21, 2008 in the amount of $2,405,000 has been expunged from the claims register maintained by Administar LLC. For your reference I attach a copy of the settlement agreement that the Court approved on August 26, 2008. With respect to your first complaint - that I have not sent you electronic copies of the sale documents - this is in no way inconsistent with the settlement agreement, which makes no reference to any such obligation. When you requested copies of these documents last summer, I said that I would deliver them as a courtesy to you. While I was delayed in making that delivery until earlier this year, I have in fact delivered these documents to you in hard copy. I have never committed to send you electronic versions of these documents because I myself do not have electronic versions of these records. The Sonicblue bankruptcy estates are not going to incur the unnecessary expense of scanning these documents to CD for your convenience. If you would like electronic copies of the documents, you can scan them yourself or have a service do it for you at your own expense. You now have all of the sales documents that I have in the same format in which I have them. Your second complaint has been that your alleged administrative claim has been expunged. This, however, is expressly contemplated by section 6 of the settlement agreement, which provides "if Claimant or the Ben Fuller Estate file any further claims in the Bankruptcy Cases, Claimant and the Ben Fuller Estate authorize the Trustee to expunge any additional claims (other than the Allowed Claim allowed by [the settlement agreement]) from the claims register without further order from the Bankruptcy Court." I explained this, and all other provisions of the settlement agreement, to you last summer. Your filing of the administrative claim was inappropriate and inconsistent with the settlement agreement. The expunging of the claim - which was done on notice to you and the Bankruptcy Court (though no such notice is required by the settlement) - was appropriate and contemplated. Your continued emails cost the Sonicblue bankruptcy estates (and its creditors) unnecessary money and reduce the distributions to legitimate creditors of the estates (yourself inclusive on account of your $[] allowed claim). You will hear nothing further from me (and Mr. Oliner as well I believe) because of this. Regards, Will Sugden ________________________________________ From: Glenn Fuller [mailto:ggfuller@yahoo.com] Sent: Saturday, April 18, 2009 9:50 AM To: Oliner, Ron Cc: Stein, Grant; Sugden, Will; 'Dumas, Nanette (USTP)' Subject: RE: Sonicblue Bankruptcy Mr. Oliner, The estate has carefully not been "accusatory" but to have raised questions in fact, presented the data, questions in processes and concerns on record and the estate face an enormous handicap in representation and due process. If I have made a mistake it is through the maze of the dual dictionary of the English language clacciscally vacated by legal jargon interlaced with Latin of which I am not schooled and in my opinion no citizen nor attorney at this time in history should need in representation before the courts of the land. I recall well your comments to me at the beginning of this on the phone, the force of your arrogance when you took over for Craig Rankin who was civil and courtious, awarded the estate top 20 status as I remember; and that of the trustee attorney to just communicate to me to "shut up and go in a corner" attitude it seemed following your lead. I've bore your insults in private and your venom, but no more. The arrogance expressed, "we'll bury you" "you haven't a chance" connotations paraphrasing. Even with the settlement the couched hints of the weight of "summary judgement" if I dared not sign a unilateral agreement ultimatum and to be quiet in the hearing was not civil, courteous or kind nor was projecting harm to the one attorney that even coached me on 2 paragraphs of one motion which is missing from the PACER files. The nerve when all I got from all of you was "get an attorney" and the California BAR refused to come to my aid. These are not accussations, but my best portrayal evidenced in ample email and memory of what I've faced in this court with the likes of you. Disclosures? Absent "privilege" exceptions by whom? I was never given a formal rejection for the requested documents denied in discovery nor was I given a formal response to handwriting expert assertions in due process that I know of. A late discovery of one co-signer to my son's patent approached months ago prima facie evidence the disallow of claims was flawed reasonable doubt and unresponded. The estate has addressed the concerns and issues in proper motions. They have not all been answered. Ignoring the estate and silence trends the only responses especially of late. The access to files denied months ago to the estate of Administar records, the access to data and process service obstructed it seems. Rather than answer questions the estate is given reference to PACER when I know PACER has missing information which I cited; and I've not received process service for all that is in the files. The estate certainly appreciate being heard by all and especially the judge and debtor attorney civility Friedman/Dumas & Springwater LLP and latitudes granted this pro se representing the estate and family of Benjamin G Fuller. We understand the challenges leading axieties for officers of the court and the estate in the law suits. The estate is sensitive to these obstacles and carefully has treaded not to add to the anxiety. The estate faces yet the criminal investigation challenge which has never matured in the face of mounting and growing evidence such indications are at a level to consider again. We have earnestly, and sincerely sought a just settlement. We do appreciate your position and understand a little more now. Pressures mount, frustrations rise and that is normal in such an environment. The estate was not delivered as promise all in the terms of the settlement we so assert. I'll leave it at that, and I went directly to the Trustee and offered an olive branch to end this "Soniclbue - Still Getting Wackier" episode in our lives. It is in his hands. I'll make a decision when I have the Trustee's answer. http://legalpad.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/05/pillsburys-soni.html Regards, Glenn Fuller pro se Benjamin G. Fuller Estates 480 276-3065 Regards, Glenn Fuller, pro se Benjamin G Fuller Estate --- On Fri, 4/17/09, Oliner, Ron From: Oliner, Ron Subject: RE: Sonicblue Bankruptcy To: "'ggfuller@yahoo.com'" Cc: "Stein, Grant" Date: Friday, April 17, 2009, 8:09 AM Mr. Fuller, I have followed - because you copied me on these - your enormous number of emails to Trustee's counsel these past many months. I leave it to the court appointed Trustee, his counsel, or the Office of the United States Trustee to respond substantively. Because I have observed your many accusatory emails to some of the parties copied here, I will not respond to any further emails from you. Pursue remedies as you or your counsel deem appropriate. Whatever issues you have, Judge Morgan can address these on proper motion or application. /ron [ SHE DID NOT ADDRESS ANYTHING. - Glenn ] ________________________________________ From: Glenn Fuller [mailto:ggfuller@yahoo.com] Sent: Thursday, April 16, 2009 4:35 PM To: Oliner, Ron Subject: Sonicblue Bankruptcy Mr. Oliner, I see on law.com March 11, 2009 the arbitration ended and an award of $10 million given the Trustee. I have issues remaining with terms in the settlement of the Benjamin G Fuller Estate interests: an electronic CD/DVD WORD (doc) or ADOBE (pdf)image copy of the Sonciblue Sale undelivery, and questions of disclosure for the settlement. There are areas of Administrative Fees, and criminal intent concerning the death of Ben Fuller which are pending this information being disclosed and the files agreed to be available for the estate, and justice personnel. I am waiting on a response directly from the Trustee on ending this amicably. I was referred to PACER, but must dig up the access from my files when I was in New York last year. A simple status would be appreciated for now if that is something you can share. I expect eventually I will be contacted formally by the court. [THIS NEVER TRANSPIRED – Glenn ] Sincerely, Glenn Fuller, pro se Benjamin G Fuller Estate Sonciblue bankruptcy Case #03-51775 |
| How to answer Request for Password 2007-08-01 11:01:01 |
1-Aug-2007 8:00am UPDATE: Signon Guestbook restored... NO COMMERCIAL USE ALLOWED. We qualify all requests. No request will be honored until we have the following information and positively ID the person requesting. If you wish anonymity it will not be granted on this site to qualify. You can select any public handle you wish after qualifying. www.zoil.com will remain strictly the memorial to Ben's work in Photography. There are more slide shows which he began. Those where there is no clear determination possible as candidates for this forum will appear in www.exreplaytv.com for now eventually www.exreplaytv.net. For explanation about the latest information concerning cause of death please reference www.exreplaytv.com Eventually www.exreplaytv.net will have the post death events and data, and a new alias www.nosmokesignals.net a news commentary seperate from Ben's work by his father's political commentary. To have access fill in the following information in the comments: Name in full Feedback and Comments Please complete the following form. You will generally receive a response within 24 hours. Full Name: * Email address to verify: * UserID (may use email address): Password requested: Phone number: PLEASE include the following information in the comments: * Address with which to mail the authorization Reason for access: 1. Friend of Ben one time. 2. Friend of Ben continuous access requested. 3. Reviewed website just want .........one time comment 4. Reviewed website continuous access requested. The information will not be viewable until your logID is processed. Thanks for your patience. Benjamin G Fuller Estate |
| Bev 2007-03-22 22:43:23 |
September 18, 2002 Ben's Funeral Service Mesa, Arizona by his sister, Beverly: Benjamin Glenn Fuller was born May 7, 1969. We will always remember you! [Beverly concluded with this] "I would like to conclude with a poem Sara Fuller Blaine and Niel B1aine wrote: Ode to Ben: Lord we mourn the passing of a brother, a son, and a friend. Though his passing be unexpected, let it be sublime, This loss our lonely hearts doth rend, Help us to reminisce through all time, On the experiences we share, The selfless act, The heart-felt smile, The generosity, Help us to reflect with great care, Upon his mild and meek style, Let us look forward with steadfastness As in Your hands is his soul we confide In anticipation of our Celestial reunion With Ben by our side." In his 33 years he has touched and blessed the lives of many. All who knew him, even if for a short time, have been impressed and honored. He was a man of integrity, kind, forgiving, gentle, intelligent and talented yet meek and humble . I would like to paint you a picture through memories that will carry on forever in your hearts. How do I sum up his past years? How do I share with you thoughts and feelings so that you leave with a picture tatooed in your memory of Ben Fuller? Well, Think of him as Mister Zoil. Mr. Zoil? Who is he, you ask? Mr. Zoil was/is Ben Fuller. It was a nickname given to him by a friend, Don Woodward. Ben liked it, appreciated it and "adopted this silly nickname with gusto", Don said. Ben even created a website using his nickname, www.zoil.com. Don was not only a workmate but also a friend. In the past week we have received numerous e-mails from his friends in California. Everything they shared with our family are feelings we wanted to share today, so I will quote from a few: TM wrote, "I feel sorry for those of you who did not have a chance to meet Ben, I m sure you would have liked him!" "Ben also had a wicked wit and sense of humor, not to mention a great understanding of life itself." "On a couple of occasions he would say things like "do one thing and do it well." Freeze Frame AVS Forum said, " ...ReplayTV borders on a masterpiece and perhaps he will be remembered for this "one" thing. Personally I think the thing he did best was to be a friend and for that I will always be grateful." The list goes on and on... for instance and I quote, "He was a talented engineer, a brilliant mind and a truly good soul." His friends describe him as a "Technology Wizard". He was a problem solver. He could concentrate and dedicate himself to a task for up to 36 hours at a time, amazing! He was always patient with anyone who needed a question answered. And I quote, "Where he really shined was as a friend......How good he made his friends feel through his kindness, humor and intelligence." Your parents and siblings feel the same way, Ben. We have always been impressed by your skills, starting with Quick Nibble a disk copier. The sequel to this was Prpject D, an editor tool and more, that you considered a family affair. Us girls remember shrink wrapping and shipping it all around the world. Ben, you were my first boss and a great leader. Together as a family we had some special times. A couple examples are skating in the basement of our unfinished home and Hide-and-go-Scare. Ben loved scaring us girls. He also loved movies. One of his favorite toys was a screen projector. Ben would set it up in our basement using a white sheet as the backdrop and give us tickets and popcorn. It was our family theatre. I remember Ben’s endless displays of lego cars, boats, and aircraft. He was talented in building and creating never destroying. He was the same in life, building his character from the good he learned. Ben was an avid reader, he loved reading and taught himself many things. Some of his favorite books were science fiction novels like Star Trek and Star Wars. One of the last books he read was called "Who Moved My Cheese?". This book teaches us that we are in control of our own happiness by how we choose to behave to the changes in our life. Ben lived what he believed. Thanks for such a good example big brother. . |
| Glenn Fuller, Ben's father 2007-03-11 18:30:00 |
Replay FAQpost Clarification concerning account posted on AVSForum by ReplayDon: Benjamin Glenn Fuller BGF coded on a phone pad is 243 2-aBc 4-Ghi 3-deF. Ben was known as the owner of this code. December 2, 2002 was less than 3 months Ben Fuller was found dead in his condo. "Ben "owned" Zones and Setup from a programming standpoint...Ben programmed them and gave design input and made the design come to life...Ben solved a lot of tricky programming bugs through the entire product...Channel Guide or Scheduling system, Searth, or the recording/playback sub-system...Ben would not want to mislead a company, or his friends. He was a straight shooter, " Doug Feb 2007 "Quick Skip" is a 30-second skip. Ben confided in me that he had coded the automatic skip, and due to legal fight with Ted Turner Broadcasting et.al. (see EFF Electronic Frontier Foundation) that feature was replaced using the information from the automatic "Commercial Skip" to the Jump key. He was vocal in a meeting that embrassed executive management into not releasing a sub-standard or quality product. Ben was in a legal battle with Sonicblue 2001 to the end of his life. I am in Bankruptcy Court attempting to right some wrongs, and have Ben recognized for his contributions to salvage something that was apparently abruptly taken from him. ... |
| ReplayDon 2007-03-11 18:25:17 |
December10, 2002 http://www.replayfaqs.com/Detail_FAQ_Display?ID=134&Session=IVNFJQWKDIFXAOO Subject: What is the Claw Foot Portal? Answer: This is a account posted on AVSForum by ReplayDon in thread: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=889159&highlight=valentines#post889159 Also see the original thread on the topic: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=82816&highlight=CFP+field ------------------------------------------------------ Clawfoot Hearts, the full account! Hi everyone and thanks for the congratulations. I thought I would provide a full account of the history of the hearts and the clawfoot portal. Let me take you back to 06-13-99: ReplayTV 1.0 had been shipping for a few months and people had discovered the 243-Replay Zones screen. [Admin note: Benjamin Glenn Fuller coded on a phone pad is 243 2-aBc 4-Ghi 3-deF. Ben was known as the owner of this code.] lostboy had run across the text field at the bottom of the screen and wondered about it. See: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/show...light=CFP+field ReplayDoug comes running into my office and he and I had a good chuckle over it. You see, the whole 243-ReplayZones screen started out as a debugging tool for me. I wrote the windowing system for Replay before we even had a graphics library to output anything. In order to test my windowing system I needed some user interface controls so I made text field and button control classes. Then I made a screen to put them on (now the 243-RZ screen) and made the popup keyboard since I knew eventually we would need one, but primarily to test my navigation code. Originally, the only reason the text field was written and was put on the 243-RZ screen was to provide a mechanism for bringing up and testing the popup keyboard. I remember studying my serial port output: Now on Button 'Q'! CIOC_EAST received! Deactivating Button 'Q'! Activating Button 'W'! Now on Button 'W'! etc. So the fact that people on AVS forum were speculating that it was for the purpose of 'secret commands' evoked quite a chuckle! Doug decided that for the sake of humor, we should play fully into their hands and the first order of business was to come up with a cool name for the field, to lend an aura of mysticism and supposed purpose to the field. The conversation went something like this: Doug: "It should have 'portal' in the name since Replay is now supposed to be 'The portal to television'." Don: "I hate that whole 'portal to television' b.s. What a dumb idea." Doug: "I know, but since we as a company are struggling with our identity, and the whole internet thing is huge, and Yahoo is the 'portal to the internet' and Marc Andreesen just joined our board of directors, there is a lot of momentum for us at Replay to brand ourselves as the 'portal to television'." Don: "Harumph." Doug: "Ok, so it should be some type of portal, but otherwise have an obfuscated and semi-meaningless name." Don: "Okay, well last night I helped my old roommate from college move an antique clawfoot bathtub into his house. How about the 'CLAWFOOT PORTAL?'" Doug: "Excellent!" So Doug runs back to his office and decides on a whim to further legitimize the notion that the field is special by writing: "I don't know of any codes you can enter into the CFP field that will do anything." Lostboy's reply: "CFP field? What does CFP mean?" MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! At the time we were working on the 2.0 software release and I decided to amuse myself by actually creating the clawfoot portal: code:--------------------------------------------------------------------------------class ClawFootPortal : public LayoutTextField { protected: void PerformClawFootOperation(); }; --------------------------------------------------------------------------------All that needed to be done was to add some clawfoot operations. The first 3 that were added were: ME LIKE COOKIES PLAY CONTINUOUSLY MODESTO GIRL At the time, however, MODESTO GIRL didn't do anything with hearts, it just printed out "I am for you." I needed Doug to draw the hearts, you see. Eventually (12-9-99) I got Doug to draw them and I added them into the MODESTO GIRL feature. All I had to do was wait for 2.0 to be released to the network (any day now), secretly type it into Cindy's unit and I could impress my girl. Being overly impatient, I called ReplayMike, ReplayDoug, and ReplayBen into my office to show off the hearts and I think it was ReplayMike who suggested, "You should make them show up on all units every Valentine's Day." So that I did. Meanwhile we had signed Panasonic as an OEM and they decided to produce the Showstopper (ironic to all of us in software where showstopper means a bug that prevents product shipment). However, Panasonic had their own requirements such as Closed Caption support and Macrovision support that delayed the release of 2.0 until we could get those features in. Now an avid follower of AVS forum, and notoriously impatient by nature, I was excited to see if anyone would notice the hearts on Valentine's day, 2000. Meanwhile I added a feature of my own, "SPORTS GUARD", which (in the absence of our show extender feature not to be introduced via the 'More options' button on the record dialog until 3.0), would allow the user to automatically add up to 1 hour of extra record time to live sporting events. Panasonic discovered this and because it wasn't approved by them on their already signed off user interface spec I was forced to remove it from the UI. Because of the imminent release of 2.0 and the ShowStopper, and Panasonic's demand to know of any other last minute or 'secret' features, I became paranoid about my Valentine's day featurette. I was afraid that 2.0 might get delayed past Valentine's day 2000, Panasonic would discover the hearts, and force me to remove them prior to them seeing the light of day. So, torn with anguish, I modified the code to only display the hearts on Valentine's days that occurred *after* the year 2000. I had to wait another year, and let me tell you it was tough, to see if there would be a reaction on AVS forum. Meanwhile, to further my anguish, on 12-17-2000 seanriddle reverse engineered the PerformClawFootOperation() function and discovered a few sequences of strings that could be typed in to cause the Modesto Girl functionality to be executed. Serves me right for choosing a non-unique key generating hash function! Finally, though, 2-14-2001 rolled around and I was delighted to see that the hearts were finally discovered. It warmed my own heart to see the delighted reactions and yes it's true, we at Replay (SonicBlue) do love you! -Don |
| Hanford LeMoore 2002-03-26 2007-03-11 18:23:56 |
hanford_lemoore Grand Member (4 years) Joined: Mar 23, 2002 Posts: 1599 Mugs: 31 From: Monolux Posted: 2002-03-26 01:49 am By the way, TikiBen is the programming wizard who helped me install MySQL (database engine) and the BB software (the fourms we're posting on)! THANKS BEN! |
| Targhan. on 2003/7/13 2007-03-11 18:23:21 |
MISTER ZOIL ENTERPRISES TO BE AT AMIWEST 2003! We're sure that many of you will remember the great Amiga disk copier, Project D. Mister Zoil Enterprises, new to AmiWest, will be exhibiting the work of Ben Fuller, the author of Project D and other great Amiga software. We've asked Glenn Fuller, Ben's father and the exhibitor for Mister Zoil Enterprises, to explain a little bit about Mister Zoil and the special meaning this exhibit has. Here is what he had to say... "Mister Zoil Enterprises was founded by Benjamin G. Fuller in 1997. It was a name given by a friend and embraced by Ben. Ben's career with computers began with the 6502 chip Commodore Vic-20 then PET. His last product is unknown but one of his last very popular ones was ReplayTV. He was one of the first developers at 16 years old for the Amiga. The former name of Ben's company was Fuller Computer Systems, Inc. out of Gilbert, Arizona. Ben's father will have a booth showing Project D on an Amiga 2000 with what is probably the last version which Ben had released. . . Ben helped found AAUG (Arizona Amiga User's Group)in 1986. We welcome friends and curious to stop and visit. Rumor has it that perhaps a few "Boing" ball posters will be on display along with some of Ben's original art work, Photography, and a few memoriable items. Ben retired in June, 2001 and continued with an avocation, photography. BIOGRAPHY The major sequence of Ben's life of late follows: Ben left for California in 1988 to join Silent Software and contribute to the "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" computer game distributed by Buena Vista Software, Disney. He returned to Arizona in 1992 to join Softwood, Inc. [developing] another Amiga product, Final Copy II. [In] late 1993 he accepted another position in California and remained. [The] first [product] from this last move was SunRize Industries Studio 16 v3.0. Early [in] 1995 he moved to Iband, Inc., which was purchased by Macromedia. He utilized among other disciplines HTML for Backstage and Dreamweaver web site design products. July 1998 July 2001 Ben was with ReplayTV. Ben lived in Campbell, California from 1993 to June 2001 when he moved to Redwood City, mid-Bay area, to retire. He had just concluded interviewing for consulting work with Moxi/Digeo when the events occurred that ended his life. As a foot note, Ben has "Amiga Forever" software on his Dell Tower, his user account symbol a NASA Astronaut in a space walk. Along with and shoulder to shoulder with his love of computers were his passions for science fiction: Star Wars, Star Trek, Dr. Who et al. NASA and space travel was a high interest also. Space Access 2001 in Scottsdale, Arizona was the last conference he attended and photos are on his web site, www.zoil.com." We have not had an exhibitor like this before and encourage all of you to come by the Mister Zoil booth to check out what promises to be a unique and interesting exhibit. Again, this exhibit is another demonstration of the solidarity of the Amiga community. So remember, AmiWest 2003 is rolling! The facility is reserved July 26 and 27, 2003 at the Holiday Inn Northeast in Sacramento California! New exhibitors are signing up regularly! Keep watching for these releases and tell everyone that you know - the Amiga and the Amiga community is alive and well! See you at AmiWest 2003! Amiga Forever, Brian Deneen, President Sacramento Amiga Computer Club for the AmiWest 2003 Committee HOTEL CONTACT Holiday Inn, Sacramento Northeast 5321 Date Avenue Sacramento California 95841-2597 Phone 1-916-338-5800 or 1-800-338-2810 - Toll Free (Hotel directly) |
| Tom Jones 2007-03-03 00:32:23 |
I recently recieved the notice from a Project D customer mailing about Ben. I remember a very young boy having a great time at Amiexpo. He even helped me in New York one day at the Amiexpo while at the both. Very friendly and helpful person. I remember too being grateful for a product that worked like a charm and the ability to backup even some difficult copy protected disks so I didn't have to risk the only copy I had to run with. I owned QuickNibble too. What a loss. I was shocked to hear about his passing and my condolences. |
| Jack Gruber USA TODAY 02/06/2002 - Updated 05:40 P 2007-03-03 00:31:02 |
02/06/2002 - Updated 05:40 PM ET Photo here. By Jack Gruber, USA TODAY Unsettled: Ben Fuller's paper fortune of $4.4 million dropped to $650,000 after shares in his Web consulting firm plummeted. Who used to be a millionaire? By Jim Hopkins and Jon Swartz, USA TODAY By Jack Gruber, USA TODAY Unsettled: Ben Fuller's paper fortune of $4.4 million dropped to $650,000 after shares in his Web consulting firm plummeted. About 800,000 families worth $1 million or more were thrown out of the seven-digit club last year when the stock market bubble burst, says Spectrem Group, a Chicago research firm that tracks wealth. For many, their freshly minted memberships lasted just a year, or less. "It was like a mirage," says Kevin Schwenger, research analyst at Thomson Financial. Yes, early-retirement plans have been shattered, pricey overseas vacations shelved, invitations to exclusive investment deals canceled. But also lost was a quintessentially American dream: to be a millionaire — the magical marker of success drilled into the psyche through movies, game shows, even the language. "You look like a million bucks," we say. Having been busted back to the ranks of the not-quite, the millionaires of the moment now feel embarrassed and unsettled, and are wondering where it all went — and whether they'll ever get there again. "There was an unbelievable sense of smugness and a 'We're the best' attitude when prices peaked," says Ben Fuller, 33, who wore the millionaire stamp for 10 months. "Now, it's an unsettled feeling of, 'How do we handle being out of vogue?' " |
| Baron Reichart Von Wolfshield 2006-01-31 09:14:28 |
April 14 2004 Reichart was forced from a hiking trail off a cliff spring 2004. His contributions have been appreciated, the insights and photos. Reichart's fate last known was recovering. Ben worked for Silent Software beginning in 1988 which was the creator of "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" game for Buena Vista, Disney; and "Shotgun" a palm pad address book Ben wrote early in 1989 under contract with Fuller Computer Systems, Inc. the family company. There is a site on www.prolific.com where shotgun@prolific.com support is referenced. Some creations just go on and on like the Energizer Bunny. Glenn From: "Reichart" To: "'Glenn Fuller'" Subject: RE: Re: FW: Sad news - Benjamin Fuller Date: Thu, 12 Dec 2002 09:04:42 -0800 Things have been so busy that I have had to simply push all my personal email into a directory, and wait until I got a couple of things out the door. I'm finally reading through all my email right now. I gathered several photos, and will scan them in, two are my favorite, and I will send them to you. Do you have an FTP site? Or would you rather I size them for a website, and send just those. Meaning, I can send you really high quality, or something like 1Kx768. "Be useful." Reichart... Reichart@Prolific.com www.Prolific.com "The crazy place I work." www.SereneScreen.com "A cool thing we make." www.ProGadget.com "Something brewing in the kitchen." www.SafeWorlds.com" "The Alternative Messaging Environment." -----Original Message----- From: Glenn Fuller [mailto:] Sent: Tuesday, December 03, 2002 8:46 AM To: Reichart Subject: Fwd: Re: FW: Sad news - Benjamin Fuller Hi, Just wondered if you are back yet from the islands. Looking forward to anything you have in photos and memories. Sincerely, Glenn |
| Glenn Fuller 2006-01-31 09:07:40 |
Mom and I got to Monterey Cannery and a few other sites. Need more time. Lovely area. |
| AVS Forum 2006-01-31 09:06:21 |
Date: Sat, 7 May 2005 01:01:49 -0500 Subject: Happy Birthday from AVS Forum TEST SITE Hello JustBen, We at AVS Forum TEST SITE would like to wish you a happy birthday today! Your AVS Forum Team http://www.avsforum.com |
| Ben Fuller 2005-08-20 15:53:40 |
“From: "Ben Fuller" <benfuller@msn.com> To: "Studio16 List" <studio16@thule.no> Sent: Thursday, January 22, 1998 18:32 Subject: Some thoughts... First, an introduction: Hi there, I'm Ben Fuller, at one time I was a Senior Software Engineer for SunRize Industries -- makers of the AD516/Studio16 Digital Audio Workstation software and hardware. Among other things, I was responsible for the automated mixer in v3.0, and the enhanced SMPTE handling in v3.01. I also did the Amiga side of the SoundSwitch software -- including getting it to work seamlessly in the Video Toaster interface, and the killer Arexx API. I created the BigBlocks utility. I also served as the Build Master at SunRize. At one time I was one of the most Die Hard Fanatic Loyalist Developer On A Jihad To Bring The Whole World To Amiga -- at age 17 I was one of the first and quite probably the youngest Commercial Developer (# CC01039 -- which for those that don't know, means I was one of the commercial developers that attended the 2nd Annual Amiga Developer's Conference in November 1986 -- which was when CATS started the commercial and registered developer programs -- the numbering started at CC01000). I was there at the beginning, and I was there at the end (which, by the way, was in early 1994 > when the engineering efforts relating to Amiga inside Commodore effectively came to a complete stop). I was very depressed for some time...Then, in late 1994 a funny thing happened... I was lucky enough to be part of the Chicago (aka Win95) beta program... Preemptive-multitasking, 32-bit > addressing, open device architecture, device independent everything, decent development tools... It was like deja vu all over again... I discovered that (like it says on the Deathbed Vigil t-shirt) there is life after Commodore. Now, some thoughts: I have been monitoring this list for a while, and have noticed a few misconceptions that I will now attempt to clear up. Myth #1 -- SunRize produced developer documentation for the Studio 16 3.x release. This is simply not true. A developer kit for the 3.x release does not exist. There were a few developers that SunRize worked closely with and provided limited access to 3.x specific information. Getting the AmiLINK to provide SMPTE timecode to Studio16 using the enhanced SMPTE APIs was one instance. Myth #2 -- There is some way to playback samples directly from RAM. > While this is technically true (the samples are buffered in RAM), an API for > that particular capability was never created *because it was not required > for the product*. If you think about this for a minute, it will become > obvious -- Studio16 was designed from the ground up to efficiently move > sample data from the audio hardware on the card to the hard disk and back to > the card. The only thing that matters is that the sample data gets to the > speakers at exactly the right time -- Just In Time delivery... not Data > Warehousing. Myth #3 -- The Amiga is still a viable commercial platform. This is simply not true. A viable platform for general purpose computing must be able to evolve -- both in hardware and software. A great deal of capital is required to evolve both hardware and software. The risk takers have moved on to investments that will actually give them a return. The quality of Amiga software has degraded significantly since The End, and most (if not all) of those responsible for the best-of-breed applications on Amiga have left the arena. It will be extremely difficult if not impossible to return to the levels of quality neccessary to evolve the platform. Ok, so what about doing an AHI driver or something... Troy Silvey contacted me last year and asked if I could supply developer information for the AD516 and if I would be interested in doing an AHI driver for the card. I did not respond for quite some time -- I'm sure he probably thought that his questions had fallen upon deaf ears. I did some initial research on AHI and after a few unsuccessful attempts at getting the paula driver to work (so that I could examine how the drivers are supposed to function), I put those ideas back on the shelf. When I responded to Troy, in addition to clarifying the mythical existance of developer documentation for the v3.x release, I indicated that I was extremely busy with a project at work and could not devote any resources to an AHI driver at that time, but that I would not rule out doing something after my schedule pressures had subsided. I am now doing some additional research on AHI as time permits, but I have still been unable to get the paula driver to work -- something that will have to happen before I decide to build a driver for the AD516. Best Regards, Ben Fuller “ |
| Dawn Chmielewski author - quote from Mercury News 2005-08-04 14:35:01 |
PERSPECTIVE FROM ESTATE: http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/3829107.htm Posted on Fri, Aug. 09, 2002 Shake-up at SonicBlue: CEO questions loans to directors, is ousted By Dawn Chmielewski Mercury News In a boardroom drama rivaling its courtroom battle with Hollywood, SonicBlue's chairman and chief executive, Kenneth Potashner, was ousted Thursday after he demanded board members repay more than a half million dollars in loans they gave themselves to buy stock in an affiliated company. Potashner said the board voted to remove him after he told the Mercury News Thursday morning that he planned to call for the resignation of three of Sonic- Blue's five board members if they refused to repay their loans early. The loans are due on June 14, 2003. Controversy has become a hallmark for the tiny Santa Clara company. SonicBlue has repeatedly taken on Hollywood and the music industry, whether defending its portable MP3 players against charges of contributing to music piracy or fighting for consumers' right to bypass commercials when viewing television shows they've recorded on their ReplayTV devices. With increased investor scrutiny of boardroom ethics, Potashner said, the loans are in ``very poor taste,'' although they appear to be legal. ``Firing me may not be legal,'' he said. ``That has yet to be determined.'' SonicBlue Vice Chairman Terry Holdt said the timing of Potashner's firing was ``coincidental'' but declined to discuss the board's reasons for dismissing him. As for the loans, Holdt said, ``They're not even due yet. There's been no request to have them forgiven.'' The other directors didn't return calls seeking comment. SonicBlue appointed L. Gregory Ballard, executive vice president of marketing and product management, as interim CEO. Potashner's departure culminates a month of heightening tensions between the executive and the board, which he said began when he demanded that the board investigate alleged ``ethics violations'' by Holdt, one of the loan recipients. Potashner refused to disclose the nature of the allegations. Holdt, whose tenure with the company extends to its earliest days as a semiconductor manufacturer, referred questions about the ethics allegations to Ballard. Ballard said the board took the allegations seriously and hired an independent law firm to investigate. The conclusion: ``There was absolutely no basis for the allegation,'' Ballard said. Nevertheless, Potashner's concerns about Holdt ``effectively put the board and myself into a pretty tense situation,'' Potashner said. ``The board began moving down the path of, `We should talk about a separation.' '' Instead of leaving quietly, the scrappy Potashner, who has led SonicBlue's courtroom fight against 28 Hollywood studios and music labels over the ReplayTV device, escalated the conflict. Potashner said he began to scrutinize about $177,000 in loans that Holdt, board members Robert P. Lee and James T. Schraith and former board member Carmelo Santoro each received in June 2000 to purchase stock in RioPort, a digital music services company that is 32 percent owned by SonicBlue. Potashner, who also received a $261,232 loan in December 1999 to purchase RioPort stock, said the board members voted last December to make their loans ``non-recourse,'' an accounting term that meant the directors would not be personally liable if they failed to pay. Potashner said that investors were worried about such loans in the wake of scandals at Enron, WorldCom and other companies. Potashner, in contrast, is personally liable for his loan. ``We've had several shareholders, in the last couple of weeks, calling and inquiring. . . . `Are they going to pay those back?' '' Potashner said. In a boardroom confrontation Thursday morning, Potashner forced the issue and demanded that Holdt, Lee and Schraith repay the loans -- or resign. ``We had a heated discussion on that,'' Potashner said. ``They asked me to leave.'' Potashner then called the Mercury News about his ultimatum. When he returned to the room and told the board about the conversation, he was terminated for violating the sanctity of boardroom deliberations. ``They made a foolish, foolish mistake with the events of today,'' he said. ``If it wasn't an issue, let's see it and defend it.'' Kent Scott, a professor at Stanford University Law School, said board members could be challenged by shareholders for voting to use company money to enrich themselves. ``The question is: Was that action fair to the corporation?'' Scott said. Ballard said the SonicBlue board properly disclosed terms of the loans to shareholders in its securities filings. However, the board intends to review the terms in light of contemporary ``mores and climate.'' Ballard and Holdt said Potashner's firing had nothing to do with the loan showdown. Indeed, some on Wall Street said the charismatic Potashner had lost credibility with investors because of his overly optimistic forecasts for the company and tenuous grasp of its financials. SonicBlue is burning more cash than it's bringing in, and its stock has been on a steep decline since peaking at around $24 a share in March 2000. On Thursday, shares closed at 44 cents. Trading was halted after-hours. Contact Dawn Chmielewski at dchmielewski@sjmercury.com or at (714) 669-9913. |
| Carl Schwent reposted by Admin 2005-05-25 14:26:41 |
.... a recent issue of RETRO GAMER Vol. 2, Issue 1, has Amiga Forever on its coverdisc. At $12.99 for the magazine it's a pretty good deal, even though it's a limited edition with only AmigaDOS 1.3. (That's all my apps run on anyway.) It seems to run well with no problems. Several games are included.... Unfortunately it doesn't include Cloanto's Amiga Explorer which allows easy file transfer over a null modem. |
| Peter Shay 2004-09-30 12:40:19 |
Ben, you helped ignite my interest in computers some 20+ years ago. While I was learning fundamental computer architecture and BASIC programming, you were coding assembly programs just a few computers down the row. Your friendship from that stage of life will always be one of my fondest memories. Whether it was hanging out in the computer room at school, discussing solutions to the Zork adventures, or just screwing around on your Amiga, those days were crucial to providing a direction for my future career. And more imporantly, it was just a great way to spend the teenage years! You were a great friend, and I'll miss the opportunities to have an occasional chat. Your contributions to this world will be felt for many years to come. |
| JustBen_jtl_jalaniz 2004-07-16 05:18:45 |
Ever in touch with reality.... JustBen private mail selected messages June, 2002. 06-12-02 06:41 PM jtl whining woman Registered: Dec 2001 Posts: 1456 RE, working at SB quote: reverse engineering (you know, what jtl is doing) is not allowed. for what little it's worth, I've spoken several times to SB's in-house counsel and one of the outside lawyers, as well as had email conversations with an engineering manager and a technical consultant, and none of them have ever asked me to stop or take down anything I've posted. That's not to say it's been authorized by any means, of course. I've tried to be careful not to document anything that would actually be harmful to them to have public (the registration code algorithm, for instance, or the security bugs in 4.1), and to some extent I'm glad they've done such a good job on the 4.3 lockdown -- it means that documenting how its locked down isn't an automatic recipe for unlocking. On a completely different topic, were you still with ReplayTV after the SB acquisition? If so, would you be willing to talk about what working there was like? __________________ My ReplayTV notes jtl-avs-replaytv@molehill.org 06-12-02 06:41 PM JustBen exReplayGuy Registered: Feb 2001 Posts: 165 RE: RE, working at SB Lawyers being lawyers and all, I would not be surprised if the ones you spoke with did not fully understand what you are doing... Whether you realize it or not, you are in some small way responsible [don't worry though, if it wasn't you it would have been someone else... ] for redirecting their development efforts from real features to cover-their-naked-hairy-ass coding. That said, having personally disassembled and re-sourced sections of the Amiga ROM kernel just for fun, I can certainly understand why you like 'hacking' on the ReplayTV. I was 'lucky' enough to leave before SB took over, so I don't have any direct knowledge of what it is like to work there. I do, however, live with two engineers that are employed by them. What exactly do you want to know? Ben. 06-13-02 11:32 AM jtl whining woman Registered: Dec 2001 Posts: 1456 RE: RE: RE, working at SB quote: Lawyers being lawyers and all, I would not be surprised if the ones you spoke with did not fully understand what you are doing... You're probably right about the inhouse one, but I think the outside counsel was pretty on-the-ball about it -- of course, his interest was pretty focussed on the lawsuits, not SB's overall business. quote: Whether you realize it or not, you are in some small way responsible [don't worry though, if it wasn't you it would have been someone else... ] for redirecting their development efforts from real features to cover-their-naked-hairy-ass coding. Yeah, and I feel somewhat guilty about it -- but only somewhat. As you say, if it wasn't me, it'd be someone else -- and the someone else could cause more problems for them than I have. And besides that, the *main* reason they're having to do this security stuff is the change in business models, which isn't my fault at all. quote: I was 'lucky' enough to leave before SB took over, so I don't have any direct knowledge of what it is like to work there. I do, however, live with two engineers that are employed by them. What exactly do you want to know? I'm not really sure what exactly I should ask. I've been with a company for almost four years now, from startup to soon-to-be-acquired. I'm committed to up to 6 months of transition time, if the buyers want me that long, but after that it's time to find something New and Interesting to work on. I've gotten a feeler or two from Christopher Dow about working for SB, and I'm just hoping to get some idea of what the work environment is like there -- it would be another relocation, which I was hoping to avoid, but (from the outside) SB looks like it may be worth it. __________________ My ReplayTV notes jtl-avs-replaytv@molehill.org 06-17-02 03:48 PM broken replaytv jalaniz 07-29-02 05:01 PM broken replaytv jalaniz Last online: 05:49 PM 10-20-03 07-31-02 05:49 PM RE: broken replaytv jalaniz Last online: 05:49 PM 10-20-03 05-23-03 03:18 PM JustBen exReplayGuy Registered: Feb 2001 Posts: 165 broken replaytv From: JustBen Hi, I noticed from your profile that you are in San Jose. If you would like some help fixing your friends broken replaytv, drop me an email at benfuller@exreplaytv.com. ben. 07-29-02 05:01 PM |
| JustBen 2004-07-16 01:16:47 |
avs-farewell.txt June 15, 2001 Howdy folks, This is my last post as ReplayBen. I have decided that it is time for me to leave ReplayTV and take a nice long (really long) vacation. In the vernacular of the TV industry, I'm going on hiatus. It's been a blast working on the leading edge of consumer electronics for the past three years -- helping to take Personal Television from concept to reality is an experience I wouldn't trade for anything (well maybe a chance to trade my MACR stock at $120 - d'OH!). Hanging out here in this forum on AVS has also been a fun experience -- being able to feed off of the excitement and energy here as we shipped new features -- watching in amusement as the first shakey steps were taken towards 'hacking' the box -- the spirited debates surrounding macrovision -- being able to drop hints here and there about um, under-documented features... ah, the memories. :) Well it looks like it's time for me to regenerate now, so... in the tradition set forth by my friends ReplayDoug and ReplayMike, say "Hi" to JustBen. Ben. --------------------------------- Hey there... Same old Ben here... Just a new avatar... Ben. [Avatar definition: Person seen as embodying a particular ideal. – Glenn Fuller July 15, 2004] |
| Ben, February 20, 2002 2004-06-21 22:39:20 |
Installing replay ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ben Fuller" <benfuller@exreplaytv.com> To: "Brian Kushner" <bkushner@snip.net> Sent: Wednesday, February 20, 2002 01:43 Subject: Re: exReplayTV Feedback > Hi Brian, > > Well, if >I< had a new replay, and it couldn't connect to get the modem > settings screen, then I'd just install the modem settings panel > manually... > having worked on that beast has it's advantages... :D. > If the Modem Settings screen does not include a "Max Connect Speed" > setting, > try forcing a connection to the ReplayTV Service by performing the > following > steps from the Setup Summary screen. > a.. Select "Change Telephone" to get to the Telephone Connection screen. > b.. Press SELECT to advance to the Zip Code screen. > c.. Press STOP to clear the Zip Code. > d.. Press LEFT ARROW to return to the Telephone Connection screen. > e.. Press SELECT to advance to the Zip Code screen again. > f.. Enter the appropriate Zip Code. > g.. Press SELECT to advance to the Dialing Prefix screen. > h.. Press SELECT to advance to the Connect to the ReplayTV Service screen. > i.. Wait for the connection to complete successfully. > j.. Press LEFT ARROW to return to the Dialing Prefix screen. > k.. Press ZONES to get to the Modem Settings screen. > l.. Highlight the "Max Connect Speed" setting and use the left and right arrows to cycle through the available choices. > m.. Select "Done" to use the new settings. > If you've already tried this, and the unit is still unable to successfully > connect, then I would guess that there is something wrong with the modem > in > your replay, or the phone connection you are using is too noisy. The > steps > above attempt a connection to the 800 number, which can usually be > connected > to reliably. > > You might also try asking for help in this thread > <http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=104752> or > contacting the tech support folks at SONIC|blue. > > Thanks for visiting www.exreplaytv.com. > > Ben. > > -------------------------------- > "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary > safety > deserve neither liberty nor safety." Benjamin Franklin > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: "Brian Kushner" <bkushner@snip.net> > > To: <feedback@exreplaytv.com> > > Sent: Tuesday, February 19, 2002 23:47 > > Subject: exReplayTV Feedback > > > > > > > What happens if you have a new replay that doesnt have the MODEM panel > > > and can't connect? > > > > > > |
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