Carlos Santana shreds

Wow, these guys rock!

I think this is the camera for me.


Last year I bought a Samsung digital camera for about 150 bucks to take with me to Europe with my band. It was a very cool little camera and took decent pictures but it would burn through batteries like there was no tomorrow. We continued to use it for the last year and had gotten quiet used to carrying a box of double "A" batteries with us whenever we traveled. However, it seemed that whenever we really wanted to take pictures we would have the camera but would have not brought spares and the stoopid camera would die. AAarrggg!
A week and a half ago, we finally broke down and bought a new camera. I chose the Nikon CoolPix s51. I got it on Thursday and only used it a bit on Saturday and wouldn't you know it, the battery died by Sunday morning. I was shocked that I just spent a bunch of money on a smaller prettier battery burner. It's a good thing I had my trusty Blackberry Curve 2. That thing is awesome, the camera is only 2 mega pixels but the flash is great and battery last forever.
So I went back to the major big box retailer where it was bought to exchange it. As I was at the counter trying to talk the store employee out of charging me a 15% restocking fee, the nice people at the counter next to me said, "excuse me, is that the Nikon S50?". It turns out they bought the same camera three weeks ago and after some battery issues brought it back in for repairs. It had been there for repairs for 2 weeks. That certainly helped my argument. Long story short... I was able to exchange it for a different camera and they didn't charge me the $60 restocking fee.


I chose the Sony DSC-T200 and I love it! The battery is lasting and the pictures are awesome. The coolest thing is that there is a smile detector. You put it in this mode and you can stare right into the lens for awhile, but as soon as you smile it takes a picture! It's crazy spooky. In addition to the smile detector, it has a 3.5" touch screen. So far, I'm really happy with it. Let's see how long this gadget appreciation last.

The Original Pilot for 24

Bat for Lashes - What's a Girl To Do

While Netflix Lowers Their Rates, Blockbuster Online Raises Theirs...A Lot

How timely. I just posted about my preference for NetFlix over the weekend. It looks like I made the right choice.Netflix recently lowered their rates for their 3-disc plan to $16. Blockbuster's response? Raise their rates by 40% of course! "I just got an email an hour or so ago from Blockbuster Online telling me that the 3 movies and unlimited in store exchanges for $17.99 plan that I am on was going away." It will now cost $25/month.

read more | digg story

Post from techdirt

NetFlix Hopes Good Customer Service Will Keep Mail Boxes Stuffed With Red Envelopes

from the nice-talking-with-you dept

Although Blockbuster sat on its heels for a long time while NetFlix gobbled up market share, the company has aggressively fought back this year, prompting a lot of pain at NetFlix. NetFlix stock has been pummeled lately as its been drawn into a price war in order to stem customer churn. The problem is that its business model is easily replicated, which partly explains the company's attempt to assert a patent on it. However, the company does appear willing to actually compete, which is refreshing. The New York Times reports on the company's unorthodox decision to offer customer support services from friendly sounding Oregonians (as the company puts it), rather than rely on offshoring or email support. Although this is an expensive move, the company feels it will prove to be a key differentiator as it battles back Blockbuster. Obviously, good customer support means happier customers, while bad customer support can turn customers away. But the lesson isn't that companies should immediately stop all offshoring of these services. Rather, it's important for companies to think of customer support strategically and weigh the various costs and benefits, rather than just going on the lowest-price option.

from: http://techdirt.com/articles/20070816/110100.shtml

My thoughts; Back when I used to rely on Blockbuster for my video and then later DVD entertainment, it was a common pain to be called by their automated service claiming I had media to return.  Often the calls would come during my rental period and other times I would receive them after returning said videos.  Additionally, how many of us got bit hard by returning a few movies one day late and being charged 3 or 4 dollars per video.  Since moving to NetFlix shortly after they came online, I rarely have to go to the video store to pick up a movie.  NetFlix has been awesome to me as a customer.  I think it has only happened twice, but when a returned movie gets lost and they just forget about it and move on, you thank the good Lord that you are dealing with NetFlix and not Blockbuster.  I love that they are using Oregonians for customer care, I happen to think they are the nicest people as well especially since i am one.

I would pay more for Netflix to use them over Blockbuster any day.  I am looking forward to their streaming service working for the Mac, that will make me very happy. 

Death to Blockbuster, Long live NetFlix.

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The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs

From the now infamous fake Steve LINK

Spinal Tap Update

http://www.liveearth.msn.com./spinaltap

AXE Body Spray Saves Civilalization

glumbert.com - Ravenstoke, Alaska does not have enough women

Amsterdam Percussion Group with Terry Bozzio

Wow

Terry Bozzio drum solo from Baby Snakes Movie with Zappa.

Ahh the good ol' days

And I thought I had a lot of phones.


Video: MEDC Podcast #3: Lord of Devices

Song of the Year - fan video

Blur - The Universal

Pulp - Babies

Some deleted scenes from the original IT Crowd.

The dude from the Soup is going to be on the US version and I can't wait to see it. I hope it is as funny as the brit version.

Book Reading 2.0

I have started reading books via email. I heard about this through Kevin Rose on Diggnation. If you're like me, you have a challenge making time to sit down and read books, however you read a billion emails a day. That's the beauty of what DailyLit does. You sign up for the book of your choosing and every day you receive a 5 minute chunk of said book to read right in your inbox. This is especially handy for those of us carrying Blackberry or some other type of converged phone/email device.

Check it out. www.dailylit.com

Nokia Communicator, Please come to America!

This new Communicator from Nokia is sweet!!! I hope is gonna be released here. I want one.

The future is here albeit a bit ugly.

New Phone Has Rollaway 5-Inch Screen

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Thank God We Have the EFF.

Techdirt: Singapore WiFi Thieving Teen Sentenced To Eighteen-Month Probation

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Cool New "Watch Now" feature on Netflix makes it harder for me to jump to Blockbuster.

Hacking NetFlix : Breaking: Netflix Launches "Watch Now" Downloads

I've been with Netflix for several years and it's one of the only service type companies that I have worked with and had no major issues.  I think they are great.  However, since Blockbuster allows you to walk your sent movies into a local store and swap them for others while waiting for your next qued movies to arrive, you get twice as many movies for the same amount of money.  I live two blocks away from a blockbuster and even though we have a good cable tv package with on demand and the netflix, there are still times when I want to get another movie and I end up walking to Blockbuster.  I have been considering switching services.  This new Watch Now feature could change that.  Only time will tell, since I don't have access to the feature yet.

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Pregnancy Test

Paul and Anne are about to find out if they are expecting.

Swing Blade

"You're Money Baby", "Mmmm Hmmm."

Happy New Year!

Brokeback to the Future

RockinGeek how bout DJGeek?

Boing Boing has an article about MC Router and an upcoming Nerdcore show in Vegas January 8 and 9.

Boing Boing: Nerdcore shows in Vegas, January 8-9

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