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Why in the heck can't my iPhone sync some things - contacts and calendars primary among them - wirelessly? Why must I remember to sync something to my iPhone when my normal use doesn't necessarily include docking every day?

My computer sits on a wireless network. My iPhone uses the same network. Why do I still need a cable to make the two talk to each other?

Heck, I've got two wireless protocols: Bluetooth and WiFi. The iPhone is capable of talking over both and so is my computer. What's the problem? 😛

According to iDefrag, my main disk has about 0.2%/0.5% fragmentation ((Which, by the way, is 4,000+ files.)). Big whoop. My Catalog has six fragments. Again, big whoop.

Mac OS X has had, for awhile now, "built-in defragmentation." Something like any file under 20 MB is automatically defragmented when it's touched by the system - to open, to save, etc. Great.

Still, my disks sometimes seem a bit slow. When I was a Mac Genius, we'd use (albeit on the down-low, as it wasn't exactly approved) DiskWarrior to clean up the catalog file and whatnot. It'd spiffy things up nicely.

Occasionally, defragmenting and optimizing the disk layout (i.e. to create a large contiguous block of free space, even if individual files weren't fragmented) improved disk performance, or at least felt like it did.

So that's a long-winded way of getting around to this question: is iDefrag or even DiskWarrior 4.0 worth a purchase? Does anyone (who uses a Mac) defragment or otherwise optimize their disks?

From Buzz Out Loud #564:

First-year students whose roommates brought a video game player to college studied 40 minutes less each day on average, which translated in first-semester grades which were 0.241 points lower on the 4.0 grade scale.

I still swear five of us my third year on campus could have probably gone pro at Mario Kart battle mode. We had mad skillz, yo!

DirecTV was supposed to launch 30 new HD channels today (which I was hoping would include Golf Channel HD), simulcast on the same channels as the regular SD broadcasts.

Our entertainment needs are pretty simple: I have my old TiVo as a backup in the bedroom (hooked to a tiny 19" TV that's so old it only has one input - coaxial cable) and a DirecTV HD DVR downstairs.

Our current programming package is no longer offered, but costs $51.99. We pay $9.99 for the HD package and $5.99 for the TiVo (a second DVR). It's a "no longer offered" plan that comes to $67.97 per month.

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Arrrrgh! Me mateys tell me DirecTV is supposed to launch 30+ new HD channels today, but avast, I've not yet seen the proof. Ahoy!

I'm on a mission: I'd like to discover how to make a good prime rib at home. I'll begin with a Google search, but if you've got any tips, share them in the comments.

It looks simple enough.

A woman from the PA Fish and Boat Commission called me Friday regarding my two applications for kayak registration. You know, the kayaks (here and here) that I bought in Florida while I was living in Florida.

She told me that because the boats were relatively new (March, 2004 being the newer of the two), I'd have to pay PA sales tax on them at their fair market value or produce a purchase order which shows that I've already paid sales tax (presumably she meant Florida sales tax).

What the heck makes PA think they're entitled to sales tax on kayaks I purchased in another state? It's already been paid. It's very easy to prove that I did indeed live in Florida when the kayaks were posted. My tax returns, for one…

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It's true. Now if only he would buy the Pirates…

Life's been pretty busy lately and I haven't had the chance to take many pictures lately. I plan to start up again soon as the leaves will soon be turning beautiful colors.

In related news, the images on the Desktops page (click the link at the top) can now be sized for your iPhone, if you wish.

I wonder how long it will be until someone's iPhone is hacked and their personal data stolen, say, at a Starbucks or something, because the user didn't change the root password but did install something like SSH.

If you've installed Installer.app and SSH, do yourself a favor: type passwd into an SSH session on your iPhone and change your root password.

Safari's 3.0 beta's "restore" functionality typically works really well. Unfortunately, history and the "restore" functionality seem far too closely tied to each other to work really well.

If I open five tabs in one window, clear my history, quit Safari, re-launch, and immediately choose "Reopen All Windows From Last Session, ((Since when is the word "From" capitalized in Mac OS X menus? In Safari, "to" and "of" aren't capitalized, yet "From" and "For" are.))" nothing happens.

In ~/Library/Safari you'll find both a "LastSession.plist" as well as a "History.plist". Unfortunately, clearing your history also clears your "LastSession.plist."

That's just wrong. I'm not certain it's a bug (but I intend to file it as such), per se, but it is wrong.

Speaketh Steve:

Details are still being worked out and will be posted on Apple's website next week. Stay tuned.

I'm still "tuned." It's mid-day Thursday.

Seen at the YMCA earlier today on one of the large flat-panel displays they've got running:

At least half the time I'm there elements of Windows (usually an error message and/or update prompts) occupy the screen. This is the first time Apple's Windows software update has appeared. I didn't even know Apple had a Windows Software Update app.

Cellular One offers an unlimited data + text message plan for $25. A second line can be added (and "share" the access) for $12.50 more.

Unfortunately, the call center fellow (another "Erik") noted that since the iPhone isn't a CellOne phone, they can't "provision" it. Apparently CellOne does't use the EDGE access point stuff (username, password, etc.) like T-Mobile, Cingular before AT&T, and some other GSM carriers. Instead, they wirelessly put some software on the phone or something. ((Another rep later said it's provisioned simply by the cell phone number on the SIM - if the software's on your phone, it should work, but obviously with the iPhone there'd be no guarantee at all.))

I'm hunting for a way around this… if anyone has any suggestions or ideas, please let me know.

Update: apparently the first customer service rep misinformed me. It's $45 for the unlimited data/text on the Blackberry plan (with no partner plans), not $25. The $25 service, in the words of the second rep, "won't work very well with the kind of Internet on the iPhone."

Whether she simply means "it's not intended for more than those dumb Motorola phones that have horrible little "Web-like" features on them" or "it flat out won't work" is still up for debate. For $45 (and a six-month contract with a $100 early cancellation fee) I think I'll just wait for AT&T's $20 plan when the buyout is complete.