This online shop offers multi-currency payment. In most cases the Web site will automatically guess the most convenient payment currency for you by default based on your IP address; but you can also select others. At the moment we select Canadian dollars, Euros, British pounds, Japanese yen, US dollars, Bitcoin, and Ethereum. Here are some notes on currencies and how to use them. READ MORE

I've made some changes to the way the Web storefront handles credit card payments to make checking out a little easier. Now, after filling out the order form, you'll be taken directly to the credit card processor's site and you can pay immediately, instead of needing to wait for an email message with a payment link. READ MORE

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The industry has lost several important modular manufacturers in the last year or two, and there's been some talk about why. I obviously don't know all the details of what happened in any company except my own, and at least one of the biggest examples on everybody's mind is pretty clearly an exceptional case, with the founder making a career change for personal reasons not directly related to the general business climate. But I recently heard a claim made that it doesn't matter to the health of the industry whether individuals buy Eurorack modules this year because the "real" problem killing manufacturers is supply-chain disruption. I want to speak against that. READ MORE

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Moving the North Coast Synthesis Web storefront to the new checkout system has been a lot slower and more difficult than I planned or expected. There are still some major issues to resolve. But I have some significant progress, and especially with the Gracious Host release held up waiting for a usable checkout, I can't afford to delay rolling out the parts that do work, even though there's still a critical part missing. READ MORE

On October 26 I tried to log into the administrative interface of this storefront to process an order, and I just got a blank screen. After some research and testing of my own, and a conversation with BigCommerce technical support, it is apparent that they have changed their systems - suddenly, without warning - to be incompatible with my usual Web browser. They will not be changing back, and they offer no solution for me to be able to log onto the system except telling me I ought to switch to a different version of the browser. That is a dealbreaker for my continued use of BigCommerce and I am moving the North Coast Synthesis Ltd. Web storefront off of BigCommerce as soon as I can. READ MORE

I'm looking forward to a little bit of relaxation in December. I won't be going on vacation this year as I usually would, and that means I can fill orders throughout December. However, my local post offices have become unsafely crowded on weekends through a combination of increased demand, closures and reduced hours, failure to enforce safety rules, and the general emergency conditions that prevail in Toronto at the moment. So until further notice, I will only be shipping out orders on weekdays (Monday to Friday). READ MORE

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If you've been following the North Coast Synthesis email newsletter you'll probably know that I've had ongoing quality problems with the knobs I use in most of my products.  The main issue is with the setscrews used to hold the knob onto a shaft:  in many instances, the threads are stripped, or so weak that they immediately become stripped when tightened, so that it's not possible to attach the knob securely.  The problem becomes clear as soon as the knob is installed, so although it is not good in the case of modules I sell assembled, at least with those I can recognize that the knob is bad, replace it, and be sure of shipping a good one to the customer in the finished product.  It's more serious with knobs that ship unassembled in my Eurorack SDIY kits, because then it may be the customer who discovers the problem. READ MORE

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A few days ago I suddenly found myself unable to log in to the admin section of this Web site. That's understandably a problem when I'm running a business through the site. Upon investigation, it turns out that my e-commerce provider had made some kind of internal change which rendered the site no longer compatible with my preferred browser, and the best they could offer me was to say I should switch browsers. For this to happen at all is a dealbreaker, let alone with no advance notice, and so I will be migrating the North Coast Synthesis Web storefront elsewhere and ending my relationship with these people as soon as possible. This is the kind of behind-the-scenes issue that sometimes comes up when running a business online. The Web pages you see as a member of the general public are the proverbial tip of the patch cable; there's always a lot of unseen work and a lot of unseen business going on to support the part you see. READ MORE

This is Part 4 in a series that started with Part 1. READ MORE

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North Coast's first fiscal year ends with this month, and I have a bunch of small news items and progress updates. READ MORE