Dear Santa, thank you for the dolls and pencils and the fish. It's Easter now, so I hope I didn't wake you but... honest, it is an emergency. There's a crack in my wall. Aunt Sharon says it's just an ordinary crack, but I know its not cause at night there's voices so... please please can you send someone to fix it? Or a policeman, or...
Back in a moment.
Thank you Santa.
Saturday, February 26
And Two Weeks Later
They cut the price of the iPod by a third.
Grrr.
You can't win.
On Wednesday I ordered a new monitor because I noticed it had come down in price. $770 before Christmas, and only $450 now.
Of course, the reason it's so cheap is that they don't make them any more.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at
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My gf's dad bought a $15000 42" plasma TV a couple years ago, and the burn-in is becoming noticeable. He was a bit steamed when I got a 63" flatscreen 3rd-gen DLP (that never burns in) for $4000 in November.
Posted by: TallDave at Saturday, February 26 2005 11:16 AM (z0bus)
2
Check with the outlet you bought it from you may be able the price cut refunded.
Posted by: Stephen Macklin at Saturday, February 26 2005 07:33 PM (U3CvV)
3
able
to get the price cut refunded.
Posted by: Stephen Macklin at Saturday, February 26 2005 07:48 PM (U3CvV)
4
I bought it direct from Apple.
I've sent them a very polite note pointing out that recent purchasers of iPods may be feeling a little peeved at this point, and suggesting they consider some sort of promotion or rebate to rememdy this.
I
was thinking of getting a Mac mini, but now I'm not.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at Saturday, February 26 2005 07:49 PM (+S1Ft)
5
The interesting thing here is that you're complaining.
So far as I can tell, Moore's Law has drastically slowed down over the last few years. I remember predictions back when I went to college that terrabyte hard drives would be coming onto the market about now. That was about four cycles ago, but processors aren't 16 times faster than they were then; they're actually kinda stuck at about six (at least, in terms of clock speed).
It seems that people have gotten used to relatively stable prices again.
I suspect Apple did what it did because they've started losing market share to Creative and others (Creative alone sold two million MP3 players in the fourth quarter last year), and they need to lower prices because people are realizing that someone else makes MP3 players.
Posted by: John A. Kalb at Monday, February 28 2005 05:48 PM (V/SV3)
6
With hard disks, you tend to see prices ticking slowly downwards, 1% or 2% each week. Sure, after a few months they'll be significantly cheaper, but then you've had your drive for a few months.
Apple just applied six months worth of price reductions in one go. That's going to irritate people.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at Monday, February 28 2005 06:06 PM (+S1Ft)
7
ya pidoras, pizu chujie doors, zaabuzte moi url - http://greatpharmacies.com/ a suda pishite pisma i spamte - admass@pisem.net
Posted by: ya pidoras at Tuesday, July 25 2006 07:34 AM (hNGYv)
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Sunday, February 20
Curiously Enough
While cleaning out the computer room at the old office, I kept finding ten volt, thirty amp power supplies. I have no idea why we'd even have
one ten volt, thirty amp power supply, let alone a whole collection of them. Certainly none seemed to be attached to anything.
I put them aside for later. It's not every day you trip over a box full of ten volt, thirty amp power supplies.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at
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1
Come to think of it, didn't Tesla's Death ray run off of 10 volt 30 amp source?
Hmmmmmmm.
:-D
Posted by: tommy at Sunday, February 20 2005 10:06 AM (VCRgB)
2
I've been wondering where I put those.
Posted by: TallDave at Sunday, February 20 2005 08:34 PM (oDnE7)
3
And you never know when you might need one to save the earth from destruction...:P
Posted by: Susie at Thursday, February 24 2005 02:14 AM (RVXEO)
4
ya pidoras, pizu chujie doors, zaabuzte moi url - http://greatpharmacies.com/ a suda pishite pisma i spamte - admass@pisem.net
Posted by: ya pidoras at Tuesday, July 25 2006 06:48 AM (hNGYv)
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Saturday, February 19
rm -rf /ache
We moved office today. If you've done this, you know what it's like. Brief period of chaos, then everything gets fixed and you settle down in your new quarters and things go on much as before.
Yeah. That's if you're (a) not the lead technical person in the company and (b) it's not a phone company.*
All in all, it actually went smoothly enough. One of the frame relay links isn't linking, half our outgoing lines didn't go out for a few hours, and half our direct numbers didn't get switched across at first. Fortunately, it was the half we don't use much, so we only realised this when we found that we couldn't receive faxes any more.
Oh, and of the three redundant internet links ordered for the new office, a total of zero were installed on time. That led to a certain amount of scrambling.
And my carefully assembled package of rack-mount nuts and bolts got misplaced, and when I unpacked at the new site I found I had a grand total of two of the little clip-in nut thingies, out of several dozen. I have an electrician coming to install some patch panels at the new office tomorrow, and he's going to have a hard time doing that unless I manage to scrounge some more nuts.
* Admittedly, it's a small phone company, but the principle is the same. When you're a phone company, you can't just close for a couple of days.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at
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...he's going to have a hard time doing that unless I manage to scrounge some more nuts.
Heh. Hehe. Hahahahaha.
I think I'm going to take quoting out of context as my new hobby.
Posted by: Jim at Saturday, February 19 2005 09:28 AM (tyQ8y)
2
My sympathy.
Try moving an ISP that handles every major bank on a tourist island with an in-season population of over a million (and yes, we did move in-season). That was fun.
Humming the tune to "Night Moves" the whole time...
And sleeping for about 24 hours after we were done.
Posted by: Kathy K at Monday, February 21 2005 09:26 PM (fHxb2)
3
And we still had screams from late-night ATM users, even though we did most of it in the wee hours. Sigh.
Posted by: Kathy K at Monday, February 21 2005 09:32 PM (fHxb2)
4
Did you find your nuts?
If they are those clippy things you need for HP racks then I have some in the bottom of my toolbag and I can drop them off...
Posted by: Ozguru at Sunday, February 27 2005 07:08 AM (SxdA3)
5
Yeah, went back and picked up another 50 or so. Thanks anyway. :)
Posted by: Pixy Misa at Sunday, February 27 2005 08:16 AM (+S1Ft)
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Saturday, February 12
Paging Nathan Jones
So here I am, browsing through the contents of my iPod. Look, I have three separate copies of Bananarama's
Nathan Jones: The extended version from their album
Wow; the version from the
Rain Man soundtrack, which seems to be the same; and the compress-the-hell-out-of-the-dynamic-range version off their
Greatest Hits. Which sounds like dog dirt by comparison.
Now I'm over the formatting debacle, I'm a lot happier with it. But why can't iTunes rip music from multiple CD-ROM drives at once? Huh? Why, Apple? Why?
(I have six versions of Glenn Miller's In the Mood on there too. It's not that I'm a Bananarama freak... Or not just a Bananarama freak.)
Posted by: Pixy Misa at
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I know why iTunes can't rip from multiple CD-ROM devices. They couldn't build the app as a massive mp3 ripping machine because that would upset the RIAA. Without the RIAA there is no iTunes music store. Without the music store they sell a LOT few iPods. (4.5 million in the 4th quarter of 2004).
Without massive iPod sales no leverage to try to expand desktop market share.
So I blame the RIAA.
Posted by: Stephen Macklin at Saturday, February 12 2005 08:33 PM (U3CvV)
2
First Bananarama... what's next, Bow Wow Wow? Fun Boy 3?
(not that I'd complain, m'self...)
Posted by: Wonderduck at Saturday, February 12 2005 11:14 PM (6iibX)
3
Stephen - yeah, that's pretty much what I figured. Plus with Windows' crappy I/O management, it would probably kill the machine.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at Sunday, February 13 2005 03:05 AM (+S1Ft)
4
Hmm -- I've had an iPod since last September, but I
bought my first iTune just last week. I don't think the store is that huge a driver; there are other mp3 buying outlets, and Napster is using online radio to pull sales.
Posted by: PG at Sunday, February 13 2005 02:22 PM (pvzw0)
5
Call yourself a Bananarama fan eh?????
I challenge you.........
One Question.
A wrong answer = Nothing, not even a disapointed glance, or a tut.
Correct Answer = A reward. not something duff. I will list the prize on ebay under the name of the first person to send the answer. Source proof needed.
Posted by: Nathan Jones at Thursday, November 17 2005 07:00 PM (TdzJ9)
6
Any takers......
Question. Who was Nathan Jones,
What do you know???
I am a Nathan Jones, and i want to meet that one.
Come on, put the ipods down and help me on this quest.....
Do send in any kinda kack about the wrestler, not that Nathan Jones. Only the one from the song
Nathan Jones, you`ve been gone too long....
Nathan Jones
Posted by: Nathan Jones at Thursday, November 17 2005 07:09 PM (TdzJ9)
7
ya pidoras, pizu chujie doors, zaabuzte moi url - http://greatpharmacies.com/ a suda pishite pisma i spamte - admass@pisem.net
Posted by: ya pidoras at Tuesday, July 25 2006 06:43 AM (hNGYv)
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As The Serial Bus Turns
Apparently, it's not supposed to take fifteen hours to format an iPod. It should take maybe two minutes. If it does take fifteen hours, try the following:
1. Your iPod display will be showing a blinking "Do Not Disconnect We Really Mean It" message. Ignore it, it's gone insane. Unplug that sucker.
2. Remember how you plugged it into the USB port because the Firewire port was acting up? Well, the reason the Firewire port was acting up was that the cable that runs from the little USB/Firewire panel to the motherboard has come loose. Plug it in properly. And for good measure, reinstall that video capture card you removed before Christmas. And see if you can get rid of some of the dust bunnies that are multiplying down there.
3. All done?
4. Good.
5. Plug the iPod into the Firewire port. The computer will recognise the iPod, but it will not work, because you do not have the drivers installed.
6. Put the CD back in the drive, and install the drivers. This will prompt you to format your iPod. This time it will actually work.
7. After this, the installation program will die because you already have iTunes installed. Ignore it; this doesn't matter.
8. Reboot.
9. Waiting for the computer to come back... Waaaaiting....
10. Right, it's back. Now fire up iTunes. Click on the Synchronise iPod option or whatever it is. Realise that you're already late for work and you're trying to dump 4500 songs on your iPod. It's fast, but it's not that fast.
11. Leave iPod sitting on your desk at home, and head off to work, where you will spend your entire day moving computers from one end of the office to the other.
12. Your iPod is now ready. Enjoy.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at
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They should really put that stuff in the owner's manual. Or at least on a FAQ.
Posted by: Jim at Saturday, February 12 2005 07:33 AM (MDLz3)
2
I was wondering what on earth was going on, and then I noticed Item Number Two. Let me do a rewrite for you:
2. Remember how you plugged it into the USB port because the Firewire port was acting up? You silly goose, you're using a PC.
3. Go to the store and buy some sort of Macintosh. They're between the Pippins and the Fujis.
4. Plug your iPod into the FireWire port.
5. It's formatted now, so start loading tunes on to that little white bundle of technojoy!
Posted by: Squidley at Monday, February 28 2005 03:05 AM (2qJKm)
3
ya pidoras, pizu chujie doors, zaabuzte moi url - http://greatpharmacies.com/ a suda pishite pisma i spamte - admass@pisem.net
Posted by: ya pidoras at Tuesday, July 25 2006 07:39 AM (kasrv)
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Friday, February 11
Recently Flung At A Wall
Well, that blasted iPod is still formatting, so here are some short book reviews.
The Algebraist, Iain M. Banks
In Brief: A cast of badly-drawn P. G. Wodehouse characters searches for a map of the fabled London Underground, in space.
Banks does what many thought impossible, and produces a bad book, or at the very least a dull one.
Century Rain, Alastair Reynolds
In Brief: Disaffected Slashdotters, deprived of their favourite website by an all-consuming database bug, return to the Paris of 1959 in an attempt to exterminate the human race.
While there are some strong elements to this tale, the background setting and the motivations of the major parties make no sense whatsoever. Features nano-tech handwaving.
Ilium, Dan Simmons
In Brief: Descendents of humanity find themselves at a loose end, decide to while away the hours holding historical re-enactments and All-Solar-System Summarise Proust Competitions.
If possible, the background for this one makes even less sense than Century Rain. It's like a dumb-plague infected the universe of this novel some time back; I can't see any other way for the situation described to have arisen. Again, features nano-tech handwaving and a general disregard for the laws of physics.
Bah. There's a new C. J. Cherry out, Destroyer, book one of the third Foreigner trilogy, and it's apparently quite good. Doesn't seem to have reached Australia yet, though.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at
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did you read absolution gap by AR? if so what did you think?
Posted by: Rob at Friday, February 11 2005 09:32 AM (kXZI6)
2
Yes, I've read
Absolution Gap, and also
Revelation Space,
Chasm City and
Diamond Dogs, Turquoise Days. I think they all hung together better than
Century Rain. Trixie gave
Diamond Dogs a
generally favorable review.
I have, but haven't yet read,
Redemption Ark.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at Friday, February 11 2005 09:42 AM (+S1Ft)
3
Thanks for the reviews.
Posted by: TallDave at Friday, February 11 2005 08:20 PM (oDnE7)
4
hi!
Who are you and how did I get here?
This page just was open on my desktop!
Hmm. A mystery!
Posted by: Steve Racer at Tuesday, February 15 2005 10:06 PM (gPTNn)
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On The Other Paw
Browsing through the little booklet that comes with my iPod while it formats, I come across this goodie:
You cannot switch from using iPod photo with a Mac to using it with a Windows PC (or vice versa) without erasing all data on iPod photo.
You
morons.
This of course explains why the miserable piece of crap decided it had to be formatted before I could use it. (It's still bloody formatting.)
Look, Apple, I have a PC and a Mac. You want to sell Macs to PC owners, you have to make the iPod work with both. None of this insane reformatting bullshit, it has to just work.
Now stop sitting on your thumbs and fix it.
(I deleted the first version of this post, in which I was rude.)
Posted by: Pixy Misa at
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there are alternative iTunes software and firmware patches you can get to address the multi device issue...
I just opted for the easy life and didn't buy an iPod!
Posted by: Rob at Friday, February 11 2005 06:34 AM (kXZI6)
2
What? iPods work with both!!
Posted by: Cleopatra at Friday, February 11 2005 06:57 AM (OL7sU)
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Thursday, February 10
It's Not A Cult!!!
Mmmm. Sixty gig of iPoddy goodness... Charging... Charging...
Shiny.
The packaging is superb, too. I wonder if they learned that from the Japanese, who are fanatical about presentation.
And little details: My Palm T3 charges from the dock, which is a USB 1.1 device, and requires a power adaptor. Without the dock and the power adaptor, no recharging. If you want something different, you have to buy it. There's a cable that will let you sync and recharge from any USB port, but (a) it costs extra, (b) no-one has it in stock and (c) there's no online Palm Store in Australia.
The iPod comes with USB and Firewire cables which will both recharge and sync the device, plus a dock which can connect via either cable, plus a power adaptor which will let you recharge without a computer. (It's a mains to Firewire adaptor, which is probably less generally useful than a mains to USB adaptor, but I'm not going to quibble.)
Tonight, I drop 30GB of (entirely legal) MP3s on it. Yay!
One but: Apple Australia, you need to get a new courier company. It took a week for my iPod to get from Frenchs Forest to my office in the city. (Frenchs Forest is a suburb of Sydney.) Same day delivery might not always be possible, but a week?
Posted by: Pixy Misa at
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Cripes, 60 gig!?! Even if i ripped all of my CD's, i don't think i'd have much more than ... ok, 30 gig, but still, that's a lot of songs.
Posted by: tommy at Friday, February 11 2005 01:03 AM (VCRgB)
2
Double cripes, that's the size of the HD in my laptop. Yeesh.
:-D
Posted by: tommy at Friday, February 11 2005 01:04 AM (VCRgB)
3
I've ripped most of my CDs, and have a bunch of stuff I bought on EMusic, and it adds up to about 30GB. And the 40GB iPod really only gives you 37GB, so by the time I finished ripping the CDs I have now, it would be full. Which would be bad. :( So 60GB. :)
Posted by: Pixy Misa at Friday, February 11 2005 01:52 AM (dd1tv)
4
oh, aye, well that makes sense. And now you have an excuse to get some 30 more CD's worth.
:-D
Posted by: tommy at Friday, February 11 2005 02:15 AM (VCRgB)
5
I'm coming over all envious and stuff.
The closest thing I have to a portable MP3 player right now is my Axiom pocket PC. Not quite up to snuff as a storage device.
Hmmm...how long til my birthday...
Posted by: Jim at Friday, February 11 2005 07:20 AM (MDLz3)
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Tuesday, February 08
One Would Think
One would think that if one were a major telecommunications company and one had a router that crashed every day, and that there was no explanation for this behaviour and that it had been happening for months, and was causing considerable difficulties for one's customers, that one might take steps to correct the issue, and that one might also consider notifying one's major re-sellers.
Of course, one would be wrong.
Oh, and one might advise one's service staff not to fob off customers by blaming the problem on line filters. This applies doubly in instances where there are no line filters installed.
And you know what? You know what? It's bloody hard to write consistently in the first person indefinite subjunctive.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at
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Posted by: Susie at Wednesday, February 09 2005 08:43 AM (MYr06)
2
If one understood, yes.
Posted by: Ted at Wednesday, February 09 2005 11:11 AM (blNMI)
3
Indeed several would, more or less simultaneously.
Posted by: triticale at Thursday, February 10 2005 12:46 AM (8QhBe)
Posted by: Dean Esmay at Thursday, February 10 2005 08:54 AM (zNte6)
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Friday, February 04
But Then
I needed a new pair of jeans. And I speak as a guy here, so when I say I needed a new pair of jeans, I mean that there were real live holes in the old pair, and in inconvenient places to boot.
So off I trek to the local jeans store (Jeans West, Centrepoint), track down the style I want (they rename the styles every six months just to keep the customers on their toes), and grab two pairs in my size because then you get $20 off.
Only as it happens they're marked down just now - to $29.95.
I bought six pairs.
Which probably means that I'm going to lose a leg sometime soon. Or rather, since that wouldn't actually prevent me wearing the jeans, I'll grow a third one.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at
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1
There are so many third leg jokes that I don't know where to start.
So I shan't.
Posted by: LeeAnn at Friday, February 04 2005 11:10 AM (vqSdN)
2
The third leg would at least explain the bruises to 110% of your body ...
Posted by: Debbye at Friday, February 04 2005 03:16 PM (gFiTt)
3
I don't buy it. You're from down under, which means you'd fall *up* the stairs, right? Nice try, bucko.
Posted by: Ted at Saturday, February 05 2005 07:23 AM (blNMI)
4
Haha these are the side-effects of living in a country that it's upside-down. You develop a weird sense of humor and.... a third leg :-PP
Posted by: Cleopatra at Sunday, February 06 2005 04:34 AM (UiLFJ)
5
ya pidoras, pizu chujie doors, zaabuzte moi url - http://greatpharmacies.com/ a suda pishite pisma i spamte - admass@pisem.net
Posted by: ya pidoras at Tuesday, July 25 2006 09:53 AM (GzPTT)
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