We recently received a file by email from someone with the extension .docx, which is the new Word 2007 format. They redid everything, probably to make us shell out more money. We had to email our friend and ask them to save the file in a different format and send it back to us. It is easier to find ways to do it ourselves.
Lifehacker alerted us this week to the release of Rockbox 3.0. Rockbox is a product we already use on our MP3 player. It is an alternative open-source firmware which includes not only expanded music support, but album art, games, video playback, and more.
For those of you wishing to try it, but not willing to give up the manufacturer’s firmware, it installs a dual-boot firmware loader, allowing you to press a hotkey to boot into the old firmware.
We have switched from MP3 to playing files encoded using open-source format OGG and this software allows us to do so. It runs on a variety of players produced by Apple, Archos, Cowon, iriver, Olympus, SanDisk, and Toshiba. More will come, as people work to port it.
So, check Rockbox out. If you don’t like it, you can uninstall it.
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You can check out Dropbox at their site, and download a Windows, Mac, or Linux client.
We still love this product in theory. After two years, we finally saw it being sold at the counter at our local Microcenter. We’re still charging them, which takes 5-7 hours, as we speak, and the product is everything we expected. It is small, easy to recharge, and is perfect as emergency batteries for the peripherals we carry in our bag with our laptop.
However, despite our high hopes, their website two years later has not changed much. The AAA, C/D, 9V and various other batteries have not yet been released for sale. Maybe thre are problems with the longevity of the products.
We checked out what people were saying about these batteries..Here’s a review from one blog. It notes that the shipping process should you buy direct from the manufacturer is efficient, and that the batteries have half the charge of a standard rechargeable battery. They have 1300mAh, but bear in mind the charger is built in so that likely takes space in the form factor.
Senator Herb Kohl, Chairman of the Anti-Trust Subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee sent a letter this month to the four major wireless carriers, AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, and T-Mobile asking them to explain the increase.
Carriers limit the number of characters in a text message to 160. Assuming a maximum of 140bytes stored per message, that means that if you were charged the same per-byte rate to download a 4MB song, you would pay about $6000. Nothing has changed particularly in the cost of providing the service, however, companies have the right to charge whatever they can get away with.
The odd thing is that math. We have a phone where text messages are 20 cents each, yet megabytes of downloaded data are 1.99 each. If we want to use Instant Messenging applications provided on our phone, they use text messages as opposed to using data time so they can charge more(We’re Verizon customers, in the interest of disclosure).
Kohl has asked for a response by October 6th. Some experts feel the increases may be a reflection of the decrease in competition as the four major players absorb smaller regional providers.
We look forward to hearing the response from the providers and hope it sparks some sort of change. The current system is ridiculous.
Then Home Depot came along and announced they would accept these lightbulbs for recycling. Happy day. Except the last two times we’ve delivered old bulbs to Home Depot, no one seems to know the procedure. We went to their desk, and the clerks there just took the bulb and left it there. We worry they are just dumping it in their garbage. We’d feel better if we at least saw a bin.
Does anyone have any evidence the agents at these stores are recycling these items? The same goes for Staples and other stores which take in spent batteries. and electronics. We’ll just wait for someone to do an expose.
So try out your friendly neighborhood Linux distribution today. We recommend you consider Fedora or Ubuntu. Both have a reputation for being new user friendly and easy for those who have no Linux knowledge to use even if they don’t want to delve into the guts behind the graphical interface. You can even download bootable CD versions to try out before deciding if you want to switch.
For information on Linux distributions and their estimated popularity, visit Distrowatch.
We just love the look of this thing the Unclutterer turned us onto. It is available in white or red and is perfect for places like a guest room or a kitchen. Current list price at IKEA is $59.99.
Update (2014) – The IKEA PS Workstation has been discontinued. The closest Ikea product if you are interested in a fold down workstation is the Ikea Bjursta(Product Link), images below.
When you make a search, each resulting device/gadget is ranked by a combination of “value†(the number of desirable features at the price point) and community sentiment (the combined wisdom of experts and consumers). The results pages offer the product’s model number, a picture of the product, its price range and two cartoon thumbs. One thumb represents value, the other represents community sentiment. They can point up, sideways, or down. The top ten results contain a reasonable mix of high value, low cost products with good buzz around them and medium and high-cost products that deliver what you would hope to get at those price points.
The site lets you choose between the expert and consumer opinions.
The company says its product index doesn’t contain out-of-date products or those that aren’t widely available in stores. This compares favorably with CNET, where I often find myself reading positive reviews for last year’s technology. It’s also more simple and elegant than Buzzillions, which requires more input to find devices you might like.
So check out Retrevo at www.retrevo.com. We did some random searches, and intend to try this product a bit more.
It requires all major cable operators to give up cable boxes that they lease to subscribers at a significant profit and replace them with ones that will accept a CableCard…an decoder that plugs into their box or any other equipment that will accept it. Customers will be able to use the CableCard, which they must provide, into equipment from any company. Cable companies have delayed on this decision because most subscribers have paid the cost of their box many times over.
Currently, the options for hardware are limited. Few televisions include CableCard slots…no computer cards sold commercially do…and the only company that has supported it and promises to support the new generation of cards is Tivo.
Once the technology is more mainstreamed…consumers could purchase cable-ready devices that could do much more than a box from the local cable provider. Features could include the integration of internet data onto the screen with the television signal, boxes that also act as media servers for media stored on computers, etc.
The accusation of companies like Comcast is that the requirement amounts to a tax…as they will not absorb the cost, but pass it along to use as the consumers…Conversely, since this mandate has been delayed so long….cable companies had plenty of time to phase in the technology over time and devote proper resources to it.
Our issue is this…you go out and buy a television. It includes a tuner you can’t use because you have to rent a $10 a month box from the cable company. What is the point of a tuner in the TV anymore?