Is Best Buy SIRIUS?
December 29th, 2007
How’s this for a post-Christmas sale? Best Buy is offering a $50 SIRIUS gift card for a bargain price of $55. That’s right, they’re charging $5 more than the gift card is worth. On what planet does that make sense? Keep in mind these guys are the country’s largest electronics retailers. I personally feel the company preys off of the public’s naiveté of technology and consumer electronics. The company has had a miserable year PR wise within the technology community. Some highlights include:
- Geek Squad Stealing Customer’s Porn
- Lawsuit Alleging that in In Store Kiosks Show Different Pricing Than the Best Buy Site
- Complete Cluelessness about HD
- Open Box Items Costing More Than New Items
- …and who knows about countless others
Gift card story via Consumerist.com.
Sphere: Related ContentGetting MySQL Running in Leopard
December 25th, 2007
I upgraded to Leopard about a month ago and knew I’d have issues starting MySQL (which I installed in Tiger) from previous experiences getting it to start at work. The MySQL starter in the System Preferences in Leopard silently fails and won’t start MySQL. Following the instructions provided on the TomatoCheese blog, I was able to get everything running by doing the following (I didn’t archive Tiger, I simply upgraded to Leopard):
- Copied the MySQL launchd configuration file provided by TomatoCheese blog to /Library/LaunchDaemons (that’s the root library, not your user library).
- Made sure the owner of MySQL was “mysql”:
sudo chown -R mysql /usr/local/mysql. - Started mysql using the command:
sudo launchctl load /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.mysql.mysqld.plist. - I then created a start and stop application using the method described in the comments by opening Script Editor and creating a start application (I changed the code slightly since the provided code didn’t seem to work):
do shell script "sudo launchctl load /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.mysql.mysqld.plist" with administrator privileges(use “unload” for the stop version).
MySQL appears to be aware of the problem but who knows when it will be fixed.
Sphere: Related ContentUsing the Blackberry 8800 as a Modem on my Mac
December 25th, 2007
I finally got around to tethering my Blackberry 8800 to my Mac (on Leopard using AT&T). I’ve had the 8800 for awhile now but for some reason, never got around to actually pairing it so I could use the Internet while traveling through the bluetooth connection. The process was fairly painless after I figured out how to actually connect to the phone. I think Apple may have changed the process slightly in Leopard since the instructions I’ve come across have differed a little from what I actually had to do. The steps I took were basically as follows:
- Pair the Mac with the phone (make sure the Blackberry is discoverable by going to Settings > Bluetooth > Options and remember to make it not discoverable once you’re done).
- Copy the script located at Fibble.org to /Library/Modem Scripts (that’s your Mac’s root library, not your user library).
- Open System Preferences > Network and select Bluetooth and copy the settings from my screenshot (the password is “CINGULAR1″).
- Hit “Connect” and you should be done.
The connection speed seems decent (like an old dial-up modem) and should be fast enough for checking email and news while I’m on the road.
If you need help, check out this thread at fibble.org.
Sphere: Related ContentChristmas Lights Roundup
December 25th, 2007
When Carson Williams hooked up Light-O-Rama lighting controllers to his house in 2005 and set them to music from the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, he started a Christmas light craze that continues to this day. Miller even used his video for a beer commercial. This year, it seems like more and more people have followed Carson’s lead and have gone all out on synchronized lighting and holiday music. Below are some of my favorites. I wonder if next year we’ll start seeing more products that actually target this market since an increasing number of people seem to want to put on a show. In the meantime, Carson has turned his fame into a business where he helps others hook up their holiday lights.
- Lindsay Lights - This family has more than 70,000 LEDs hooked up and synchronized to two songs. He offers a live stream of the house with the music track and an FM signal for people driving by. If you’re reading this after he takes the lights down or you want to find out more about his setup, you can visit his site at lindsaylights.com.
- Funny-blog.com - Funny-blog.com has three videos from an unknown (at least to me) person’s house. These are probably the best sequences and music that I’ve seen this holiday season.
- RV Edition - This man decked up his RV this year.
If you don’t get your fix from those three samples, check out Light-O-Rama’s 2006 customer videos.
Happy Holidays!
Sphere: Related ContentThe Beeb Tells Time Old School Style
December 19th, 2007
The BBC recently debuted a new design of their site (in beta form of course) and curiously, they have an analog (or is it analogue for them?) clock at the top right of their page. Why on earth would you put an analog clock on your site? Since where have you been at a computer that didn’t have a clock built into the OS and why analog? Really bizarre if you ask me.
Sphere: Related ContentCongrats to nobosh Answers!
November 25th, 2007
My friend B.A. has been slaving away on a new site that he created called nobosh (see the definition of bosh if you don’t already know what it means). As a supplement to the site, he’s launched an answers site, called nobosh Answers, where users can ask financial and business questions that are then answered by the site’s community. The answers site alone is pretty spiffy but he also created a version for the iPhone that was featured on Apple’s iPhone Web apps showcase as well as listed as a Staff Pick! Way to go B.A.!
Check out nobosh Answers to get your financial and business questions answered today!
Sphere: Related ContentStop the Junk Mail!
November 3rd, 2007
Earlier in the week, I came across ProQuo, a new site that promises to allow you to unsubscribe from all those annoying fliers, preapproved credit card offers, and other crap that piles up in your mailbox. I decided to try the site out and registered (it’s free). Overall, it was pretty cool. Once you register, they show you a list of…well, lists…that you can unsubscribe from. For some, all you have to do is click a button and ProQuo will send your request to whoever maintains the database. For others, they send you directly to the source (like the DMA) and you handle unsubscribing on the source’s site. Note that not all the sources allow you to unsubscribe online; for some, you have to mail them a request to be removed. All in all, removing my name from about 10 lists was pretty easy. Now I’ll have to just wait and see if I notice a decrease in the amount of junk mail I receive.
There’s also a site called GreenDimes which promises to do a similar thing but costs $15 for their removal kit.
Sphere: Related ContentCongratulations to Al Gore
October 15th, 2007
The best thing to happen to Al Gore was losing the election (or at least the legal battle over the election). Ever since then, it seems like the man has been on a roll. An Oscar award winning movie, an Emmy award winning TV channel, and a Nobel prize, what’s next? An Inconvenient Truth is one of those films that truly changes your life. Before I saw it, I was environmentally cautious; I recycled when I could, I already drove a hybrid car, and I tried not to buy disposable items (I used rechargeable batteries and the like). However, ever since I saw the movie, the environment has been at the front of my mind. What other films have had an impact like that? Not a week goes by where I don’t think of something from that movie.
Anyway, in honor of Blog Action Day, I figured I’d congratulate Al Gore who I really wish would run for President. Although, I somewhat think the presidency may pale in comparison to winning an Oscar, and Emmy, and a Nobel prize in a matter of years.
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Best Buy Acts Shocked That Consumers Don’t Understand HDTV
September 25th, 2007
According to CNNMoney.com, 90% of consumers surveyed in a study commissioned by Best Buy, are confused about high definition televisions. Why the country’s #1 electronics retailer should act shocked that consumers don’t understand what they’re not being properly educated about is beyond me. Education starts with the sales staff and for anyone who has ever stepped foot in a Best Buy, it’s quite clear the sales staff know next to nothing about the electronics industry or technology.
I recently went shopping with my dad for an HDTV. Best Buy was one of the places we stopped by and was by far the worst shopping experience of the stores we went to. Half the HDTV floor models weren’t even working, for the ones that were, the signal they were sending to the TVs appeared to be below standard definition, and the sales people were easily stumped when asked relatively simple questions that I’m sure most consumers ask. They were even stumped when asked questions that don’t relate to technology at all and instead involve delivery policies.
Instead of commissioning studies and then lamenting the results, maybe Best Buy should actually put some time and money into training their sales force in a visible and thorough manner.
Sphere: Related ContentAmazon Launches MP3 Downloads
September 25th, 2007
Amazon.com today unveiled their MP3 download service which is clearly an attempt to compete with iTunes’ dominance. The catalog right now is limited to only Universal Music Group and EMI (I’ve still yet to figure out how consumers are supposed to know what artist is on what label). Anyway, it looks pretty promising. The prices are cheaper than iTunes’ DRM versions of songs and the MP3 format means better compatibility with the majority of portable music players; not just the iPod. It will be interesting to see how much business Amazon.com MP3 gets and whether they’ll be tracking if users are sharing music downloaded from the site.
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