I knew it would happen one day - why bother going out and driving off road when you too can get the look with “Spray-on Mud”. If all you are doing is picking up the kids from school you need something to distinguish yourself from the other soccer parents out there, the <a href=”https://dave.shakenmartini.net/serendipity/exit.php?url_id=237&amp;entry_id=147″ title=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1506019,00.html” onmouseover=”window.status=’http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1506019,00.html’;return true;” onmouseout=”window.status=”;return true;”>Guardian</a> reports. This was apparently dreamed up by a couple of Brits at the local pub and is aimed at people who want to look like they have gone off-road but don’t want to chip their paintwork. Each bottle of mud costs GBP 7.95 and has been collected locally but processed so there is none of those pebbles or other nasties to scratch your Toorak tank.<br />
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Coincidentally, the <a href=”https://dave.shakenmartini.net/serendipity/exit.php?url_id=238&amp;entry_id=147″ title=”http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2005/06/28/1119724619365.html” onmouseover=”window.status=’http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2005/06/28/1119724619365.html’;return true;” onmouseout=”window.status=”;return true;”>SMH</a> reports that four wheel-drives are the most deadliest out of all cars on the road.<br />
<blockquote><br />
Four wheel drives were described as providing the same safety for occupants as family sedans but they have greater impact on the occupants of other cars, and particularly pedestrians, cyclists, and motor cyclists.<br />
</blockquote><br />
Not sure if I needed a study to tell me that 4WD’s are deadly, I get cold shivers whenever I see one trying to negotiate and park in the narrow streets around Sydney. They just are not made for the city roads. I understand that for some people who only have one car and also have country properties that they might need it, but for the majority it is not necessary.<br />
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In a similar vein, but for an entirely different target market comes the <a href=”https://dave.shakenmartini.net/serendipity/exit.php?url_id=239&amp;entry_id=147″ title=”http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000380048435/” onmouseover=”window.status=’http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000380048435/’;return true;” onmouseout=”window.status=”;return true;”>VroomBox</a>. It’s a digital sound processor that essentially hooks to your Hyundai’s engine. When you press the gas it will blast out the noise of the vehicle that you desire - such as a Ferrari Enzo. I had an idea years ago for something similar that would give even crappy cars the “turbo whistle” so it’s good to see that someone else has seen a deep need for this in the market.

<img width=”74″ height=”110″ border=”0″ hspace=”5″ align=”left” src=”/blog/uploads/Movies/bb_international.serendipityThumb.jpg” alt=”" />This is the year of discovering what makes your favourite characters tick. First we had Darth Vader and now we have Batman. <br /><a href=”https://dave.shakenmartini.net/serendipity/index.php?/archives/146-Batman-Begins.html#extended”>Continue reading “Batman Begins”</a>

News.com.au has this <a href=”https://dave.shakenmartini.net/serendipity/exit.php?url_id=234&amp;entry_id=145″ title=”http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,15681852-28698,00.html” onmouseover=”window.status=’http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,15681852-28698,00.html’;return true;” onmouseout=”window.status=”;return true;”>article</a> on the owners of the Chaise Lounge in Melbourne applying for the right to enforce a strict 50/50 male to female ratio.<br />
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I don’t see anything wrong with this - most pubs/clubs in Sydney do this already but don’t tell you the real reason why you and your five mates can’t get in. Usually they try to pick on shoes - (steel caps, sandals etc) or collared shirts. But most of the time the real reason is that they just don’t want that many guys in there.<br />
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For example, I went out and had dinner with a couple of friends of mine and we headed into the city to meet my wife who was out at a work function. I was allowed in but my friend wasn’t - just because he was wearing shoes that were not fully enclosed (they were sandals - like leather slides). We were told that there was a risk of broken glass on the floor - however, when we pointed out that most of the girls in the queue were wearing far strappier shoes we were told that one rule applied to men and the other to women.<br />
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I think that it would be good if this pub gets the ruling that they want - at least the club owners will be honest as to why they are not allowing in groups of men.

My Ipod battery replacement kit arrived today! For around AUD $40 you get two case cracking tools, the new high-capacity replacement battery and a set of instructions. One tool seems designed for smaller ipods so I just used the big one.<br />
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The first step was to crack the case open with the tool. I found that this took the longest out of all the steps. The cases fit flush with the side of the ipod and are clipped on extremely tightly. I slipped in the tool around the middle and working the tool up and down one side until it finally cracked open. I could then work it around the bottom and back up the other side.<br />
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Once this was done, replacing the battery was a snap. You ease off the back cover and put it to one side. Disconnect the hard drive and take it out - it has a small connector that you can pull off using a fingernail. From here the battery is easy to disconnect. Put in the replacement one (making sure that the red wire is facing inwards!) and put everything back in. Replacing the hard drive was a little tricky as getting the connector flush was a little difficult, but you know when you have got it in as it will just snap in place. Push back the covering and it is good to go.<br />
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I haven’t been able to time how long it lasts yet but I have seen that for the first time it will give me an accurate charge count after keeping it on the mains until it said “Charged”. Prior to this it would charge and then still only show me 25% battery remaining - very annoying. So time will tell how long this one will last.

I wrote recently that the only problem that I had with Tiger was that it caused my laptop to flicker. I have since had it checked out by a laptop repair technician and he has diagnosed the root cause to a faulty inverter board. It happened at the same time as I had had installed Tiger which led me to believe that the OS was to blame. Happily it has all been resolved and I get my mac back finally - it has been a little fretful in that I have had to drag my work laptop (Microsoft based) back home to work on.<br />
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On unrelated news, I saw that Jobs has announced that they are dropping the IBM PowerPC chips in favour of Intel. I guess this means that they have definitely abandoned the G5 laptops. Apparently to port PowerPC apps to Intel is a relatively painless process and that we should start seeing the Intel based macs by this time next year. So when it comes time to upgrade the powerbook I should be on one of the new Intel based ones.

Reuters has an <a href=”https://dave.shakenmartini.net/serendipity/exit.php?url=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5yZXV0ZXJzLmNvbS9uZXdzQXJ0aWNsZS5qaHRtbD90eXBlPWJ1c2luZXNzTmV3cyZzdG9yeUlEPTg2OTI0MzY=&amp;entry_id=142″ title=”http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=businessNews&amp;storyID=8692436″ onmouseover=”window.status=’http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=businessNews&amp;storyID=8692436′;return true;” onmouseout=”window.status=”;return true;”>article</a> reporting that Shares of Apple Computer have fallen about 5 per cent, fuelled by an internet report of swelling inventory of its iPod digital music players by <a href=”https://dave.shakenmartini.net/serendipity/exit.php?url_id=231&amp;entry_id=142″ title=”http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=1106″ onmouseover=”window.status=’http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=1106′;return true;” onmouseout=”window.status=”;return true;”>AppleInsider</a>. The report cited unnamed sources as usual.<br />
<blockquote><br />
Apple is believed to be sitting on its most significant inventory of iPod Shuffles since the player hit the market in February<br />
</blockquote><br />
.. and ..<br />
<blockquote><br />
According to reliable sources of information, tens of thousands of iPod Shuffles remain idle in the channels this week alongside a good number of iPod photos.<br />
</blockquote><br />
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From the <a href=”https://dave.shakenmartini.net/serendipity/exit.php?url_id=232&amp;entry_id=142″ title=”http://www.smh.com.au/news/Breaking/iPod-inventory-report-hits-Apple-shares/2005/06/06/1117910217548.html” onmouseover=”window.status=’http://www.smh.com.au/news/Breaking/iPod-inventory-report-hits-Apple-shares/2005/06/06/1117910217548.html’;return true;” onmouseout=”window.status=”;return true;”>SMH</a>:<br />
<blockquote><br />
“I think (the Web report) is right; there is inventory there, and we are only looking for a flat quarter” for iPod unit shipments compared with the period ending in March, said Gene Munster, an analyst with Piper Jaffray.<br />
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Apple sold 5.3 million iPods, accounting for 31 per cent of revenue, in the second quarter.<br />
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“But (Apple’s) quarter is going to be fine. There will be an upside to revenue and more upside to earnings,” Mr Munster said, adding that growing iPod supplies were not surprising since the company did not introduce any new products during the quarter, and inventory caught up to slowing demand.<br />
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It will be interesting to see what Apple announces at WWDC - hopefully G5 powerbooks!

<img width=”300″ height=”210″ border=”0″ hspace=”5″ align=”left” src=”/blog/uploads/Jokes/fine.jpg” alt=”" />They must send the bill off to your surviving family members.

<img src=”http://www.crazy-frog.us/crazy-frog.jpg” hspace=”5″ align=”left” alt=”" />I think that media saturation of the “Crazy Frog” ringtone just makes it even more annoying. It seems I can’t watch television now for more than 10 minutes without seeing that stupid frog, flopping about, pretending to be on a motorcycle. The UK has now gone down in my estimation with the “Crazy Frog” remix making #1 on the charts there. I don’t know how much they have made in real terms on this ringtone, but it would be quite significant given the amount of money they have spent marketing it.<br />
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I used to think that Australians would not bother with this craze (wishful thinking - I am sure that Jamster would not advertise if no one was buying) until I finally heard that dreaded sound in the wild. I would have thought that the target market for this atrocity would be pre-pubescents but the girl that owned the phone would have been in her mid twenties. She shut the sound off pretty quickly, embarrassed no doubt, that people could associate the ringtone to her. I couldn’t believe it!

From <a href=”https://dave.shakenmartini.net/serendipity/exit.php?url_id=229&amp;entry_id=139″ title=”http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=1105″ onmouseover=”window.status=’http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=1105′;return true;” onmouseout=”window.status=”;return true;”>AppleInsider</a>:<br />
<blockquote><br />
A court has conditionally approved a settlement in a class action suit brought against Apple Computer by several consumers who claim their iPod batteries did not live up to the company’s representation.<br />
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Approved by the Superior Court of California for San Mateo County, the settlement covers all consumers (class members) who purchased a first-, second-, or third-generation iPod model on or before May 31, 2004 and experienced “battery failure.” Apple has agreed to the settlement without admitting fault or misrepresentation.<br />
</blockquote><br />
Having just bought a battey replacement for my ipod this may have come a little late for me, but I always thought that it was unreasonable that Apple charges $199 for a replacement battery service.<br />
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My ipod experience has always been good but the battery life has been problematic for me over the three months or so. Charging the ipod for an entire day on mains would only get me 10% capacity and continuous playback in the car would only last a trip to Canberra at best (a three hour journey). I have been told that the replacement battery that I have ordered is a much higher capacity so hopefully I will see a better life expectancy out of the unit.