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Archive for the 'Technology' Category

Blu-Ray Price Drop

Blu-Ray players dropped recently, like the Sony BDP-S300 down to $299, but comments like this at Amazon will have me holding off a little while longer: I recently purchased a bdp s300 to go with my new 46 inch sony flat panel tv. Well I found out the hard way that each issue of a […]

PHP RSS Parser

For a few years now, The Sand Trap has used MagpieRSS1 to handle a few of the RSS feeds on the site. In recent months, it's been acting very flaky. A few weeks ago, I searched for some PHP XML processors. Most seemed to involve PEAR and libraries and whatnot. Phooey, I said. Today I […]

Tried Twitter, Hate Errors

I gave Twitter an honest shot (I'm "iacas"). Can't say I'll be using it. The only way I'd probably ever use Twitter is via Twitterrific, but I can't stand the Twitter "overloaded" errors. I would have happily paid the $14.951, but the errors just bug me too much. Purely Twitter's fault - I get that […]

No iPhone Hacking for Me

You know, since "switching" to AT&T from CellularOne, I haven't felt the need to hack my iPhone (like this tutorial for installing apps on 1.1.2). Not even a little bit. It's just so much hassle for very little real gain. I'm perfectly content to wait to see what might be possible come February '08, and […]

Today the Time-Warner technician came to the house to look into the slow, dodgy Internet connection I've had for the past few months. The first thing we did was provision a new modem. I owned my old one and I own the new one. The old one was a Motorola Surfboard 4100. Though it still […]

Microsoft Points

I just read the Wikipedia entry on Microsoft Points. I remember hearing quite awhile ago that they'd chosen the point values so that you were always likely to have some left over that you'd want to use - I believe that referred to their music service. The Wikipedia entry makes a compelling argument that it […]

If you have an Xbox Live account (my "gamertag" appears in the right-hand column, currently), please be aware that Microsoft is set to thoroughly abuse your privacy and the privacy of your friends: After the software update to Xbox in early December, you will be able to meet new friends by browsing the Friends lists […]

My brother-in-law came over last night and we played Mario Strikers (for Wii) for most of the evening, then jumped into a little Wii Sports. I had previously imported Brandon's Mii character onto my Wii, so he played as his Mii in bowling, tennis, and so on. Unfortunately, though Brandon is a "pro" bowler at […]

Roundabout with AT&T

In the mail today I got a pair of envelopes from AT&T. I thought they were the rebate forms for the two RAZRs we have on our three-member Family Talk plan. I had previously noticed online that two of our accounts had the Roadside Assistance ($2.99) on it. I called and had that removed a […]

Kindle Up in Smoke?

Does anyone think Amazon's Kindle is a good idea? Anyone at all? Update: Yup.

My iPhone has been restored and is now set up with AT&T. I've verified that the EDGA data works (it's not too bad), and that everything is properly set up. Tomorrow I'll call CellularOne to make sure they know we've "switched"1. I don't plan to do anything to hack this phone. Now that it's winter, […]

CellularOne/AT&T Update

The manager of a local CellularOne office today told me a few interesting things: The merger officially "closed" (went through, finished, completed) yesterday. As soon as early December, CellularOne here will be running two systems - AT&T's and theirs, I assume - and should be able to set up iPhone accounts. I can "switch" now, […]

I had a gift card for Circuit City, so ever since a few days ago I've been playing around with a Garmin Nüvi 200W GPS. Three of the first four locations I tried to find in Erie weren't listed in the mapping software - including the Circuit City where I bought the darn thing. Being […]

DirecTV Now On Demand

A few weeks ago (I think), I noticed a new menu item in my DVR: "On Demand." My HR-20 HD DVR (from DirecTV) has always worked pretty well, so I haven't visited DBSTalk.com since shortly after getting the HR-20 (and comparing it to my TiVo). I'm not sure how long VOD has been available, but […]

Got a New A/V Receiver

Over six years ago, when I purchased1 my first home audio setup from a Best Buy in Boca Raton, my needs were fairly simple: an optical port or two for a PS2 and a DVD player were all I needed, and something that could do surround sound. Six years, a few moves, and countless "adjustments" […]