Waiting for Columbus

Dell ordering

Fri, 10 Sep 2004 02:57:03 GMT

Steve Hoffman writes:

Ordering from Dell is broken. Here's a recent conversation:

Me (on the phone with Dell Computer): I want to order a Dimension 2400 system I see on your website, but I can't figure out how much it will cost without a monitor.

Dell Phone Woman (DPW): One second, sir, let me look that up for you...Oh, first I need to set up a customer account.

Me: Just to get a price?

DPW: Yes sir. Can I have your name? (I answer) Address? (I answer). Thank you. Let me look up that info for you...

Me: (sigh)

DPW: Oh, here it is. That would come to $840.

Me: The Dimension 2400?

DPW: Yes.

Me: Without the monitor?

DPW: Yes.

Me: But here on your website, it costs $449, WITH the monitor.

DPW: That's right, sir.

Me: So, you are going to charge me twice as much to not send me the monitor?

DPW: Yes, sir.

Me: Doesn't that sound just a little goofy to you?

DPW: Yes, sir, but that's the way it is.

Me: (as I hang up the phone, hysterically laughing...) Thanks.

So, not only did I waste my time in some Fellini like zone where less stuff costs more, I'll probably wind up getting Dell catalogs for the rest of my living years since they got my name and address. Off to the Apple Store.....

(Via This Is Broken.)

Dell ordering

Apple, Pixar among most innovative companies

Fri, 10 Sep 2004 02:12:16 GMT

Something we knew all along.

Apple, Pixar among most innovative companies: "Apple was chosen as the most innovative company in the past 75 years, according to a BusinessWeek of..."

(Via MacNN.)

Apple, Pixar among most innovative companies

Trent Starts A Personal Blog

Thu, 09 Sep 2004 02:35:35 GMT

Trent Starts A Personal Blog: ""

(Via Apple-X.net.)

Currently playing in iTunes: Sometimes In Winter by Blood, Sweat & Tears

Steve Jobs Back at Apple

Thu, 09 Sep 2004 02:26:34 GMT

Steve Jobs Back at Apple: "

c|net is reporting that Apple CEO Steve Jobs has returned to work at Apple in a limited capacity. Jobs, who underwent successful surgery for a rare form of pancreatic cancer, has been attending some meetings, and plans to resume his full-time schedule later this month.

(Via dotmac.info -- THE Source for All Things .Mac!.)

Bruce Sterling & PowerBook

Wed, 08 Sep 2004 03:34:45 GMT

Bruce Sterling & PowerBook: ""

(Via Joi's Moblog.)

Currently playing in iTunes: Brothers In Arms by Dire Straits

Security Update 2004-09-07

Wed, 08 Sep 2004 03:01:15 GMT

Security Update 2004-09-07: "Apple has released a security upgrade for 10.2.8 & 10.3.5, now available in the Software Update panel.

Security Update 2004-09-07 delivers a number of security enhancements and is recommended for all Macintosh users. This update includes the following components: CoreFoundation, IPSec, Kerberos, libpcap, lukemftpd, NetworkConfig, OpenLDAP, OpenSSH, PPPDialer, rsync, Safari, tcpdump"

(Via MacMegasite.)

Free VoIP For All: Skype Pros and Cons

Wed, 08 Sep 2004 03:00:17 GMT

Free VoIP For All: Skype Pros and Cons: "

The New York Times gets its eyes on Skype, the most disruptive digital communication technology to become available in the last 12 months. Skype, which is free and works on PocketPCs, Windows PCs, Macs and Linux machines, offers the ability to have one-to-one or multi-party voice conference calls with outstanding sound quality…."

(Via Lockergnome Bytes.)

Apple fixes 15 flaws in Mac OS X

Wed, 08 Sep 2004 02:59:07 GMT

Apple fixes 15 flaws in Mac OS X: "The Mac maker patches a bushel of security issues in its flagship operating system, some of which are considered "critical.""

(Via CNET News.com.)

Currently playing in iTunes: Bononcini - Sinfonia Decima a 7 for Trumpets and Strings, Op. 3 Adagio, Grave, Adagio by Various Artists

Comcast High-speed Internet

Mon, 06 Sep 2004 01:27:12 GMT

Comcast High-speed Internet: "

My Comcast connection stopped working last week, which is unusual, and tech support couldn't figure out what was wrong. I was able to wait patiently for a few days (thanks to a neighbor's password-free Linksys) and finally got through to someone who was able to figure out the problem. It seems our record was inadvertently updated with another customer's MAC address, so he corrected it and it worked immediately. They're crediting the account for the outage.

I decided at the same time to take advantage of their unadvertised $10/month upgrade to 4Mbps down. Not sure it's worth the extra cost, but I'm using Vonage exclusively and the wife's not impressed with call quality. Hopefully the bigger pipe will improve things. In any case, I like the speed!

(Via Mac IT.)

Tex-Edit Plus 4.8

Mon, 06 Sep 2004 01:24:14 GMT

Tex-Edit Plus 4.8: "About Tex-Edit Plus
A scriptable, styled text editor that fills the gap between Apple’s bare-bones SimpleText and a full-featured word processor. It’s fast, efficient, and has a clean, uncluttered interface. Tex-Edit Plus is also great for cleaning up text which is transmitted over the Internet."

(Via Mac OS X Downloads.)

Apple confirms seven new retail stores

Mon, 06 Sep 2004 01:21:56 GMT

Apple confirms seven new retail stores: "An Apple Store Calendar of Events brochure officially confirms the openings of seven new retail stores..."

(Via MacMinute.)

Designer iPod case roundup

Fri, 13 Aug 2004 01:57:11 GMT

Designer iPod case roundup: "The September/October issue of New York's City magazine has a roundup of designer iPod cases, including offerings from Louis Vuitton ($265), Paul Smith ($115), Kate Spade ($55), Coach ($78), Gucci ($195), Dior Homme ($265), and Dunhill ($105)..."

(Via MacMinute.)

The Halo Benefit And Potential Of Apple...

Wed, 04 Aug 2004 03:12:43 GMT

The Halo Benefit And Potential Of Apple...: "The Halo Benefit And Potential Of Apple Software On Mobile Phones"

(Via Apple-X.net.)

A Google Tool For Mozilla

Wed, 04 Aug 2004 03:11:02 GMT

A Google Tool For Mozilla: "If you're using FireFox, you may want to check out LookAhead ( http://lookahead.mozdev.org/ ), a tool for proactively getting Google results in multiple browser windows. Once you've installed the extension,..."

(Via ResearchBuzz.)

21.5 Things You Can Do with Office 2004

Wed, 04 Aug 2004 02:22:16 GMT

21.5 Things You Can Do with Office 2004: "By now you've probably read about all the new features in Microsoft Office 2004. Good. Because we're not going to cover them here again. Instead, Giles Turnbull shows you 21-and-a-half things you can do in Office that you might not have previously realized."

(Via O'Reilly MacDevCenter.com.)

Online petition started in hopes of bringing PalmDesktop back to the Mac

Wed, 04 Aug 2004 02:04:59 GMT

Online petition started in hopes of bringing PalmDesktop back to the Mac: "A Palm Infocenter report details how a group of disgruntled Palm users has started a petition to bring Mac compatibility and Palm Desktop back after February's announcement by PalmSource that they would no longer offer a native synchronization and a desktop client for the Mac OS for the next generation Palm OS Cobalt operating system."

(Via MacMerc.)

iPhone project by Apple

Tue, 03 Aug 2004 02:56:22 GMT

iPhone project by Apple: "

Why when you do a "who is" about iPhone.org you see it's owned by Apple Computer Inc. and now redirected to iPod page. Is there something in the air for Apple with the new agreement with Motorola??
(Via mediaTIC blog)

(Via Smart Mobs.)

Former Mac Tech, Bill Atkinson, has a new book of photos

Mon, 02 Aug 2004 23:15:05 GMT

Former Mac Tech, Bill Atkinson, has a new book of photos: "Announced in a Mercury News story, Bill Atkinson, the man responsible for MacPaint and QuickDraw, has just come out with a book of nature photographs taken over the course of a decade. The book is available for US$39.99 on Amazon.com. And Bill's other photographs are viewable on his web site."

(Via MacMerc.)