iPod classic May Have Battery Drain-o Bug

Paul

Today there was some buzz about a battery bug in the iPod classic. Since perceived bugs aren’t always universal, or even widespread, we like to wait a bit before sounding the alarm. Well, this afternoon, when I plugged in an iPod classic that I swore was close to fully charged and saw the “Please connect to a power source” error message you can see above, I decided to dig deeper.

Sure enough, many, many classic owners are experiencing troubles. On this Apple Support thread alone, 33 posts discuss the issue, with speculation about whether the cause is use of Cover Flow or even leaving the clock display on (for as long as it lasts) when music isn’t playing. Most people say the problem hit when they upgraded to 1.02, the supposed classic “fix.”

In my own circumstance, the cause couldn’t be Cover Flow, because I rarely use it. (Sorry Steve!) It could definitely be related to the 1.02 update, as I had no problems until I updated. If you haven’t updated to 1.02, you may want to hold off. If you have, some people recommend restarting it to get it out of its continuous battery-draining spin. Some people simply recommend taking it back to the Apple Store for a replacement.

And they say the I-Pod firmware update was needed. I’d hold off on updating your Classic till they fix the problem.

Our Google Phone Wishlist

Paul

Although rumors of a possible Google Phone have been making the rounds really hard lately, any such phone will have to be amazing to grab enough end-user and media attention. Expectations are high, but since we’re dreaming, here’s our wishlist:
Tight integration with Google Apps:
• Picasa: A 2MP camera with decent color and low light performance should take a shot, and upload it directly to your Picasa web storage as a mirror. Likewise for YouTube uploads.
• Google Talk: Both IM and VoIP makes this a fancy web communicator. The carriers may not like this, but we’ve got a feeling Google will sell this sans carrier. Oh, and other IM client support.
• Google Video and YouTube: To at least match the iPhone, they have to have their video sites ready for mobile usage. Uploading
• Google Earth: Google Earth for 3D maps, with GPS and app integration.
• Google Docs support with full read like the ones for iPhones, Windows Mobiles and BlackBerries, but real with full editing right on the phone, and support for multiuser editing.
• Google reader for RSS.

I didn’t quote all the article because it’s a big article. I like what they said. I like the picture myself.

When Robots attack?? Or Is it??

Paul

According to ITWeb, the South African National Defense Force is now investigating the possibility that a software glitch may have been the cause of deadly anti-aircraft cannon “malfunction” that left nine soldiers dead and 14 seriously wounding during an exercise last Friday. The robot cannon in question is an Oerlikon GDF-005 which, as ITWeb points out, was apparently “not designed for fully automatic control,” yet that is just how it was operating in this case, although Oerlikon itself reportedly played no role in the upgrades. While Defense Force spokesman Kwena Mangope apparently isn’t going any further than to describe the incident as a “mechanical problem,” both the police and a Board of Inquiry are now looking to get to the bottom of the matter, although there’s no word as to when they expect to report their findings.

[Via Danger Room, thanks David D]

Hmm, is this when Robots Attacks? Or was it a Hacker?

RIAA Fights to Avoid Attorney Fees in Dismissed Piracy Lawsuit

Paul

The Recording Industry Association of America taketh away, but must it also give?

The music-industry lobbying-and-litigation arm is protesting a federal magistrate’s recommendation that it cough up hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees for an Oregon woman. Tanya Andersen, 42, says she racked up the expenses defending against an RIAA infringement lawsuit that was ultimately dismissed for lack of evidence.

The RIAA dropped the case this summer against Andersen, months after concluding her hard drive didn’t contain any purloined music tracks. The RIAA sued her two years ago, alleging a Kazaa shared directory that linked to her internet-protocol address was unlawfully distributing thousands of songs — a case Andersen’s lawyers decried as “frivolous.”

I guess all that money the RIAA won they don’t want to loose. It seems to me they are just in it for the MONEY and nothing else.

The SATA HDD Stage Rack, at last

Paul

Now we’re talking! Meet the PC and Mac compatible USB 2.0 SATA HDD Stage Rack. The value of this 2.5- and 3.5-inch compatible dock is obvious if like us, you’ve got gigs of unused storage laying around after years of SATA disk updates. Just pop in that old disk for instant expansion without having to first wrap the drive in a clumsy enclosure.

There is a video on it at Engadget go check it out!!