World says 'meh' to 3g iphone
 

what were the jackasses who bought up AAPL last week expecting?

Typical buy the rumor sell the news.

Paging burger
 

we have 3 mac laptops and agree that all of them do not hold a charge as long as they once did. is there some upkeep or replacement to the batteries that we should de doing?

Paging burger
 

Like all rechargeables, it can handle a certain number of discharge/recharge cycles before it poops out with declining performance. I don't think there's really anything you can practically do to make it last. It's a consumable. I replaced my PB battery after 2.5 years or so.

Open the never-used Application called Terminal and type "ioreg -l | grep Capacity". The returned values will tell you your current cycle count as well as your battery's current capacity. Or just order a new battery on Amazon. It will cost you about $120 if you don't shop around, and maybe $90 if you do.

Paging burger
 

Conditioning the battery helps a little. That means running it all the way down, then charging it fully.

http://www.macworld.com/article/5423...mobilemac.html

Seems easier to just buy a new battery.

Paging burger
 

I would try this first to see if it improves things significantly. If not, buy a new battery, as Atticus says.

Okami help
 

OK, so what area of Craigslist would I advertise on to get someone to do Catcall Tower on Okami on my Wii for me? And is it fair to pay only for completion? I am getting serious carpal tunnel from trying.

Okami help
 

you think ass exercises will help?

Okami help
 

On a related note, how do you like the Wii? Have you played Rockstar on it? Or Guitar Hero?

Okami help
 

I think Rockstar just came out (today? yesterday? tomorrow) and I have not played it. I like Guitar Hero. I like bowling. I like Mario. But, more than any of those, I like Okami and I'm stuck. How much will it cost to get someone to do this for me? $30? If they have done it and have the knack, it should take like 5 min.

Okami help
 

Sounds good. We walked by the Wii in some store, or maybe it was Guitar Hero or Rock Star, and my wife and I talked about getting it. She said that it would be more time in front of the tv (which caught me off guard, as she is the tv person of the two of us), and I said that that we already spend time in front of the tv; this would be a nice alternative to just watching whatever is on.

Okami help
 

Hm. I ended up just having to say "thank you" to a friend who has considerably more (generalized -- he'd never used a wii before) game skillz than I do.

Paging burger
 

download a freeware program called "coconut battery" and it will show you the stuff that AG said.

Re: Other Gadgets (general gadgets)
 

So my DVD player sucks. So I need to get a new one. I don't have HD or whatever; I don't anticipate getting it soon, but probably will someday.

Any recommendations? Even just a brand recommendation. Help me narrow things down. I hate having too much selection.

Re: Other Gadgets (general gadgets)
 

If you don't have an HDTV but figure you will get one soon, just pick anything labelled "progressive scan" that has HDMI and component outputs. You'll find a brand name one at Costco for around $80. It will future-proof your DVD collection. If you pay more than $130 for a DVD player in 2008, you've overpaid, unless you bought an Oppo upconverting player, which you should only do if you have an HDTV to begin with because upconverting means hi-def.

I have had poor luck with Toshiba DVD players, FWIW.

iPod Battery and PC Photo Software
 

Speaking of batteries, I have a 2G nano. It's got a smallish drive that only holds about 500 songs. The battery is hardly holding a charge these days and only lasts about an hour. I'm planning to get one of the new nanos in the near future and probably hand the old nano down to a kid in the family. Does anyone have any experience replacing a nano battery? I'd like to get the problem fixed before passing it along if possible. A cursory search indicates that the 2G nano is the hardest one to replace on one's own and I'm not about to buy a soldering gun for this. I plan to bring it to the local Apple store but I'm curious to know if anyone here has any experience with iPod battery replacement.

Also, I've been using a cheesy photography software that came with my desktop and it's apparently corrupted. I use a PC. Is there another program besides Photoshop that I should be checking out?

TIA for any insights.

Re: iPod Battery and PC Photo Software
 

I have not replaced an iPod battery and I've never known anyone who has had to replace an iPod battery. I would ask at the Apple store. I doubt they will try to screw you on a battery and it sounds way easier than doing it yourself.

I'm not really sure what other good photo software there is besides photoshop, but I will mention that photoshop (and all other Adobe creative suite programs) will be coming out with a new version in a week or so. I haven't heard that there will be big changes to photoshop (as opposed to, say, flash, which has big changes coming), but just an fyi that there is a product release coming up.

Re: iPod Battery and PC Photo Software
 

I thought I overheard a genius tell someone it was $25 to replace a battery on an ipod mini.

Re: Other Gadgets (general gadgets)
 

I just heard there are gps watches that count movement distance, like when you run somewhere unfamiliar. anybody have a recommendation?

Home Theater Questions
 

Last year I bought a Sony Bravia 40" HDTV. Now I'm thinking about getting a Blu-Ray player and a home theater system. In the past, people had recommended just getting a PS3 instead of a stand-alone Blu-Ray player. Does the Sony BDP-S350 player change that calculation for me? I've read that the step-up Sony BDP-S550 is the choice only if you have some sort of home theater set up already because it has some backward-compatabililty with 5.1 surround sound components.

I was considering getting this Sony Home Theater setup as well: Sony-HT-SS2300 home theater.

I don't want to get a PS3 because I'm afraid I'll lose my job if I get one.

Any advice from the technically inclined? All that I have hooked up to the TV now is an ancient Sony DVD player and a Comcast box with DVR. I have an old Tivo Series 2 that is sitting in my closet because it's not HD.

Re: Home Theater Questions
 

I'll have less, atticus or Ty answer this depending, I need to know if you'll mainly be looking at classic movies, japanese video games or porno. once we know this background info I can make sure the right man will respond. it's horses for courses iykwimaittyd.

Re: Home Theater Questions
 

It has been awhile since I shopped, but I bought a PS3 because it played blue ray, was cheaper than the other options, and, of course, also played games. I also have an Oppo upconverting DVD player. I have been happy with the combination in particular because not every movie is available on blue ray from netflix.

I'm not exactly sure why, but I have alway been skeptical of home theater packages. It's probably irrational, but I have had a Onkyo surround sound tuner and JBL speaker set, which work great.

That said, the price certainly seems right for that Sony package, and it is probably as easy an option as you are going to get.

Gadget lust
 

I really want a Blackberry Storm. It's not logical... completely visceral. Me. Want. One.

Anybody have any input/feedback/thoughts?

Re: Gadget lust
 

I saw one a few weeks ago and it looked very cool. The person using it said it was a bit hard to get used to the virtual keyboard, but it was very nice.

It looked a bit clunky next to an iPhone, but not very many lawyers can get an iPhone to work with their email, AFAIK.

Play me a song, your the..(ahuugugugugughyghhhgghh)
 

Anybody know anything about pianos? And more specifically, buying one? My musical knowledge is limited to being a snobby rawk fan and wannabe critic. No skills with the real deal. But 8-year-old daughter has been in lessons for going on a year, doing well, liking it quite a bit, and outgrowing the non-full-size digital keyboard we borrowed.

Anyone?

Re: Gadget lust
 

For me, the big issue is Verizon's exclusivity. I don't know any verizon users here who are happy with their service.

I tinkered for a couple of minutes with a co-worker's Storm. I felt the touch-screen was a bit more user-friendly, because something actually responds when you press it. Unfortunately, it hadn't been set up with all the connectivity because our IT people have to sterilize our devices before they work with our firewall, so I can't tell you it surfed the interwebs at a bazillion miles a second or anything.

Re: Gadget lust
 

I don't know any cell phone users here who are happy with their service. My wife has Verizon and we've not had a problem with reception. I realize this is regional, but is there really a difference between providers anymore? I thought handset exclusivity was the only thing left that truly differentiated them.

Re: Play me a song, your the..(ahuugugugugughyghhhgghh)
 

I don't own a piano but people close to me are "musical" in the non-homosexual sense. (Others are "musical" in that sense too, but I digress.)

Three major questions will determine nearly everything:

Upright or baby grand? (Serious musicians will tell you it can't be upright, but these people probably have a room dedicated to music, and a learner will find nothing wrong with an upright.)

Heirloom or just-need-it-to-last-until-she-gets-to-college?

Willing to buy a used piano with better fundamentals, or would rather have it new because it will spend its life in a common room where it needs not to stick out in terms of quality of furniture?

Re: Gadget lust
 

Indeed. And it's always the service you don't have that seems better.

The disadvantage of Verizon is that its network is more closed than ATT/Tmobile, as phones are harder to buy from third parties. And no overseas roaming.

Re: Gadget lust
 

I am quite happy with Verizon. It works great here, works great at the family compound in Colorado (which is a feat) and works at all the airports in between.

All of my friends and family are on Verizon so I talk to everyone for free, all the time.

The only place it hasn't worked the past year that I've been is the Bahamas, and not much works there anyway.

Re: Gadget lust
 

Then from what I saw, it's pretty cool. If AT&T offered it, I'd buy one.

Re: Gadget lust
 

Be sure to give it a test run at the Verizon store before you buy. I have not yet seen one, but others have told me that while it looks cool, the software seems to have real problems - it gets hung up, takes forever for functions to execute, etc. This is purely anecdotal and second hand, of course, so YMMV.

Re: Gadget lust
 

My boss ordered one since they were all sold out in the stores on Friday. I think I'll see what he thinks of it before I buy one myself.

Re: Play me a song, your the..(ahuugugugugughyghhhgghh)
 

Apropos of none of this, other than I will use my blackberry storm to make calls related to the subject matter, looks like I finally got sucked in to HtoC for the '09. I may need to email u for advice.

Currently, most specifically, van rental-do you have knowledge?

eta: this may have been more appropriate for the pm, but I was here and wanted to note the use of the storm thing.

Re: Play me a song, your the..(ahuugugugugughyghhhgghh)
 

I've been lucky enough to escape van responsibilities, but from what I hear, you should be reserving them now. My team was too lazy to get an application in this year; the Mrs. may be running on a womens' team, though.

Being in van 1 gives you a substantial head start on post-race drinking. Something to think about.

Re: Play me a song, your the..(ahuugugugugughyghhhgghh)
 

Yes, I hear Portland is sold out of vans. I am the sole PacNW person in the mix and have been hit up to get vans in Seattle. although I am considering spending the week before the race on the coast and thinking maybe I can get vans in Cannon Beach or Seaside or some such place.

And yes, again, from my past experiences in similar races in NorCal and NE, earlier finished and earlier to hitting the bottle is preferential to doing the last leg, notwithstanding the fanfare (which last leg I have done 2x).

Re: Play me a song, your the..(ahuugugugugughyghhhgghh)
 

Whatever. Was the chick with the sex contract retarded or just borderline retarded? Inquiring minds want to know.

Re: Play me a song, your the..(ahuugugugugughyghhhgghh)
 

which one?

Zune has real y2K bug
 

http://www.informationweek.com/news/...it_mostpop#mon

Steve Jobs must be LHAO

Re: Other Gadgets (general gadgets)
 

Notwithstanding the BlackBerry's most famous fan, this new software demonstrates why it is doomed.

Re: Other Gadgets (general gadgets)
 

For when RT goes to VOIP:

http://www.everythingusb.com/images/...tor_news_1.jpg

http://www.everythingusb.com/star-tr...tor-16046.html