Friday, March 21, 2008

StaticOff, again

Anyone reading my blog the last few days will know that there's been a few exchanges between myself and the inventor of StaticOff. I've now made the following Youtube comment:
halleyscomet March 21, 2008
I stand corrected. According to the user "StaticOff" the product will prevent an actual shock. I still think installing a bunch of custom light switch plates in your home is overkill, but if that's what you want to do about static electricity you're welcome to do so.
Hopefully, this will assuage Shalom Wertsberger. He clearly wasn't satisfied with "correcting" me with technical details about his product, but insisted upon getting me to acknowledge that, having never actually USED the StaticOff, I could not say with authority that it didn't work.

This started when I posted a Youtube comment that was based upon a misinterpretation of the commercial he'd posted. He, instead of realizing it was a simple error on my part, reacted as if I were some sort of psychopath out to destroy his business.

Shalom Wertsberger continued his hostile, aggressive tone throughout the subsequent exchanges, going so far as to equate an error about his product to lodging false accusations of child molestation.

I made a simple error. I thought the StaticOff was nothing more than a grounded metal plate. If Shalom Wertsberger has approached me in a friendly tone and explained the product's features in a calm manner, I'd have either deleted my Youtube comment or posted an apology. It could have been resolved in a fairly level headed manner.

Maybe he's been a lawyer too long and is just used to all human interaction being a contest of wills, a battle to the end. Even in his March 21, 2008 post to this blog he refuses to acknowledge that phrases like:

Your comment is 100.00% wrong, ahs(sic) nothing to do with reality, and I believe shows extremely poor judgment: You set up your mind with hardly a clue as to the facts.

Are a poor way to initiate any kind of communication.

Now, I could go though his last contact and write a detailed response but there really isn't much point. He's only going to respond with more hostility and anger. He thinks having invented the StaticOff gives some sort of moral high ground against anyone who criticizes it.

Despite the damning criticism of US Software Patents from actual experts and the fact that the patent office itself has responded by instituting changes to their procedures, despite the fact that the patent office is turning to peer review to reduce its use of internal "experts" Shalom Wertsberger still has an astounding level of confidence in the legitimacy of his software patents.

I wonder how Ron Popeil would react to a lone, apparently inaccurate, Youtube comment about one of his products?

If Shalom Wertsberger is going to continue advertising online, he really needs to brush up on his people skills and work on more level headed responses to Youtube comments. This time his ego and anger issues ticked off a computer Geek who decided to do a bit of research during lunch. Next time, he could start a flame war with someone like Tim Henson of Distorted View (NSFW) and God help him if he steps into that world.

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