The airplane is almost directly over George Washington's residence at Mount Vernon in Virginia.

Below is a screen capture of the view on Google Maps. The plane is there in Google Earth also. If you look just south of the main residence (the large red-roofed building adjacent to the oval drive) between the house and the river you'll be able to see a passenger jet in a steep bank. The second image below is zoomed in on the jet.

Google Maps image of George Washington's residence at Mt. Vernon, VA. with an airplane visible in a steep bank directly south of the main house (large red structure) between the house and the river.

Zoomed in on the plane shown in Google Maps and Google Earth images of George Washington's residence at Mt. Vernon, VA. The airplane is visible in a steep bank directly south of the main house (large red structure) between the house and the river.

Cool.

Specific iPod Touch and iPhone Terms

Home Button

That's the button on the face of the iPod Touch (and iPhone). If has several functions but the main one is that when you press the home button once it takes you back to the Touch's springboard home page.

Home Screen

The home screen is iPod Touch's and iPhone's equivlent of the "desktop" in Windows and OS-X. It is the home page of the Touch, from which you select and open Touch applications. (Apple's term of choice is "home screen" but it is also called: "springboard" or "home page" or, less often, "that place with the little icons".)

iPod General Terms

AAC (Advanced Audio Coding)

Apple's data envelope format for digital audio compressed using the MPEG4 compression and encoding standard.

AIFF (Audio Interchange File Format)

Apple's format for uncompressed audio files. Similar in purpose to the WAV format used on Windows based systems.

ALE (Apple Lossless Encoding)

This is Apple's very own method for compressing and storing CD-quality audio in about half the space of the original file. Similar in purpose to the WMF format used on Windows systems. (There is no hope for world peace.)

Bitrate

In audio compression terminology this is the average amount of data bits required to store one second of music in kilobits per second, or Kbps. Generally speaking, the sound quality changes with the bitrate. When the bitrate is reduced then the sound quality will probably also be decreased.

Classic [iPod Classic]

A slightly larger version of a "regular" iPod but with a color screen to play movies and display photos, as well as play music and games. Compared to Touch it has mammoth storage capacity at 80GB or, optionally, 160GB.

Click Wheel

Not a Touch Screen. This is the gizmo that is on recent vintage "standard" iPods that lets the 'Pod's user navigate through songs and/or videos and which also incorporates the Menu, Fast-Forward, Rewind, and Play/Pause buttons within the wheel itself, so that the user can perform those functions all from one control.

Cover Flow

Cover Flow is Apple's graphical user interface for navigating your music collection on your iPod Touch or iPhone by virtually "flipping" through pictures of album covers.

Dock or Docking Station

A cradle and/or stand gizmo for your iPod stands it up in some useful and/or attractive way and also connects it to some other device or system. The most basic type replaces the cable connection to your desktop computer with a convenient place to just "stand" your iPod. When you put the 'Pod in the stand the connection to the computer is automatically made too. Other types of docks include an audio system connector, a complete bookshelf stereo system, a clock radio and a media center dock for video capable iPods.

Dock connector

This is the name that Apple gives to the cable that it provides to go between your iPod and a USB port on your computer. When your iPod is connected to the computer with the dock connector its battery will be charged and you'll be able to "sync" the data on your iPod with the music & data on your computer.

FireWire®

iPod Touch no speaky firewire. Firewire old and dead and irrelevant to iPod Touch. Old iPods may have Firewire. Dead, dead, dead.

Flash memory

A solid state memory device with capacities are equal to small to medium capactiy hard drives but with no moving parts. Having no moving parts has three advantages for portable devices like iPods: the weigh less, they consume less power and they are far more rugged.

Hard drive

In the case of iPods, a hard drive is a teeny tiny replica of the one inside your computer. Hard drives are not used in iPod Touch or in iPhones.

Home button

That's the button on the face of the iPod Touch (and iPhone). If has several functions but the main one is that when you press the home button once it takes you back to the Touch's springboard home page.

Home Screen

The home screen is iPod Touch's and iPhone's equivlent of the "desktop" in Windows and OS-X. It is the home page of the Touch, from which you select and open Touch applications. (Apple's term of choice is "home screen" but it is also called: "springboard" or "home page" or, less often, "that place with the little icons".)

iPod nano

As the name suggests, the Nano is much smaller than the iPod classic. The Nano is all solid-state and comes in 4GB and 8GB versions and is available in several swell colors.

iPod shuffle

The tiniest iPod. The Shuffle is actually kind of goofy. It has no display -- none -- and no way to pick which songs you are going to hear. The idea is that you stuff up to a few hundred songs in it and then it randomly plays them back to you. Hence, "Shuffle". While it clearly exudes Appleness in looks, it is the best example ever of "Apple stuff is over priced" and I've ever have been able to figure out why anyone buys this one. (Much less why Apple makes it.) Goofy.

iPod Touch

"God said to Steve Jobs, 'Unlock my iPhone.' Steve said, 'God, you must be putting me on.' God said, 'No.' Steve said, 'Ok, I'll tell you what...'". And with apologies to Bob Dylan, that is the story of how the iPod Touch came to be. More or less an iPhone without the phone. (And without the camera. Boo! That sucks.) But if you're reading this then you probably know all about it. Good news for Steve, God looked upon the Touch and said, "it is good" and rolled a big spleef.

iTunes®

This is the name of two different things that Apple provides: 1. the music store and online service from Apple is called "iTunes", 2. the media library manager/player software that runs on your Mac or Windows PC. The software part also manages media and data syncing with your iPod and, all together, makes it quite easy to efficiently manage and customize your media library on both your computer and on your 'Pod.

iTunes Tagging

A process by which you will be entinced to spend more money at iTunes. The way it works is this:
As (a)you're listening to a station broadcasting a tag-enabled HD Radio signal (not all HD stations will carry tags) (b) on an HD receiver capable of decoding the tag data (not all HD receivers will decode them) then (c) when you hear a song that you like you will run or reach over -- depending on where you are in the house or on your driving situation at the moment -- and press the button marked "Tag". The receiver will then save the song info about name, artist, label, etc -- but not the song itself -- into its own memory. Later, when it is convenient for you, you will connect your iPod to the receiver and the song information will automatically transfer into your iPod. Then the next time that you sync your iPod to your computer, your tagged selections appear as a list in iTunes and giving you the option of buying them through the iTunes Store to be loaded to your iPod.

MP3 (MPEG1, Audio Layer 3)

The most popular method for storing and transferring music. It employs a "lossy" compression system which removes some frequencies judged to be essentially inaudible but MP3 still manages to deliver near-CD sound quality in a file that's much, much smaller than a corresponding uncompressed "raw" music file. You, the user, have some control over how much data is "lossed" (yes, "lost") out by the process by selecting compression rates and bit scan rates and such arcane things.

MPEG-4

Another method for compressing musical data, this is also one of the most commonly used methods for storing and transferring video. MPEG-4 compresses audio and video content into manageable file sizes, especially for portable devices such as iPods. MPEG-4 video files usually have an ".mp4" or .m4v" filemane extension.

Springboard

See Home Screen

Tagging

See "iTunes Tagging (above).

Touch screen

What sets our baby apart from them other 'Pods.

Touch Wheel

"Touch wheel" is earliest form of the flat donut shaped user navigation interface used on non-touch-screen iPods. It was eventually replaced by the "click wheel" version which looks similar but also incorporates the Menu, Fast-Forward, Rewind, and Play/Pause buttons that the "touch wheel" lacked. In any case, it is most definitely NOT a touch screen.

WiFi

WiFi is the jargon name for the wireless ethernet connection between your iPod Touch and the internet.

Wireless FM transmitter

A wireless FM transmitter lets you send music from your iPod through your car's FM radio. It offers acceptable sound quality and is portable so that you can take it from car to car or anyplace where there's an available FM radio.

Because, as beautiful as they are, there are just a couple of things that (I think) could make it even better. The iPod Touch is a wonderfully sophisticated and beautifully crafted device. I hope that the acclaimed -- for good reason -- and obviously quite brilliant Apple designers don't mind me making these few suggestions.

Because the physical machine and its software function are so closely intertwined these are really all about software function. Some are closer to the operating system level and some are clearly within particular applications but most have to do with either the operation of the device or standard approaches to situations so that users can depend on the Touch to do what they need in the manner in which they expect it.

Cut-and-Paste

To copy bits from one place and paste them into another. Right now that "another" place would only be a form field or a search field in one of the Google apps, but my goodness would it be useful to be able to copy from one field to another or to copy from a webpage to a form field. Please!

Sound Alerts

"Sound Effects" settings on the iPod Touch are limited to "On" or "Off" (with options to hear them in the earphones or from the Touch or both.) This one setting effects all sounds that the Touch makes except for playing music including keyboard clicks (irritating as heck when you're trying to be quiet in bed.) and calendar alarms. Major bummer that to quiet the darn keyboard clicks you have to also loose the calendar alarms.

It would so handy to have separate volume settings and options for a set of different functional sounds. A set of options for calendar alarms and another, separate set for keyclicks and another for system alerts and application sounds. And maybe a choice of sounds for alerts too -- different people hear different things. And they hear them different ways.

Application Jump

Let the user move from application to application (virtually) without having to first leave an application to go out to the home screen and then select the next application from the homescreen.

This functions as when selecting "Maps" in "Contacts" data entry or selecting contact information from a target on the "Maps" screen. The difference here is that the user decides which apps to jump to. (Like the Touch works for the user. Cool.)

Two-finger tap for context menu

This should be on all applications please. A standard feature of the interface that would, among other things, facilitate cut-&-paste and the jump to other applications. (And it would be awesome.)

Forms Data

Option to remember forms data in Safari. A security issue, to be sure; and perhaps irrevocably tied to a password for the iPod.

Password Vault

Urgently need a secure database for carrying little bits of personal information. Passwords are most likely, but allow flexibility please.

Save Webpage

Option to save a webpage complete as a recallable file on the Touch. This is for when the data is needed but the internet is not available. E.g., a map w/ directions, a movie schedule, an address listing, an advertisement.

Dictionary "Learn Mode"

It's wearying and time-wasting to have to fight with the typing dictionary over a word. Need a mode that says "do as I say and learn" and perhaps another that is simply "do as I say".

Library edits

The "On the Go" playlist is swell. The Touch's GUI makes it so easy -- actually fun -- to do things in it, like manipulating this playlist. It would be swell to extend the fun to the media libraries. So when I see a typo on the screen o the Touch, I can go ahead and fix it there and then have it synch back to the computer library whenever it gets connected. Ditto for the photo and video libraries.

Sideways view for Everything!

I haven't come across an application or feature on the Touch, yet, that I haven't wanted to see or access in the landscape mode. Some may say that, "well 'this' app doesn't need it and so doesn't do it". To that I say, "I want it because I find it useful, easier to read and, sometimes, just easier to hold the the iPod Touch that way." The iPod Touch should allow twisting every screen any time and all of the apps should support it. Period.

"Exclude" from Slideshow

Slideshow allows selecting one folder or all, but it would be swell to be able to go with a sort of "show all except" on the fly and without needing to change what is stored on the Touch. Perhaps a list of folders with checkboxes, then uncheck what is not wanted in the slideshow.

Contacts search

Please provide a way to search the contacts database and in the search permit/support searching in alternate fields (e.g., first name, last name, company name, category).

"Find-on-page" in Safari

The web browser needs a way to find specific items on the web page, please. This would be helpful in the extreme when viewing large and/or elaborately formatted pages.

Apple; Please visit your user support forums.

Dear Apple, Please check the user support forums (including those for Windows users) on the Apple.com website. Your presence there is definitely something that is "missing" from the iPod Touch and its relationship with the iTunes software. There is a lot of stuff there on the fourms that needs a solution &/or workaround and that may be useful for you to know about as you move forward. Thanks.

It seems that the iPod Touch version of the "Safari" web browser can get itself into a mode where it randomly crashes. Once it starts this unexplained crashing it begins to do it more frequently until you're forced to search for a solution on the web. (Which may be why you're reading this page right now. Hi! :-)

"Crash", in this case, means that Safari unexpectedly exits to the Touch springboard. It looks like an unseen finger pressed the home button.

It seems to be pretty well documented from the users' point of view but seems to have been missed at Apple over at least two revions of Touch code. (see, for example, these user forum reports including on the Apple support site: 3/8/08, 2/25/08, 1/7/08, 11/1/07, 3/15/07).

You'll want to note, by the way, that this bug only seems to appear on the iPod Touch (thru version 1.1.4) and does not appear on the iPhone. (I don't know if it is limited to the 8G and 16G ipodes.

Needless to say, it can be frustrating but there does seem to be a cure. Unexpected, to be sure, because it is the sort of thing that you have to do with Windows but a cure nevertheless. Here it is:

1. Reboot your iPod..

That's it.

If you're not familiar with rebooting your iPod Touch, this is how you do it:
1. Press and hold the "hold" button on the top edige of the iPod until the red "power off" slider appears.
2. Slide the red warning slider to the right.
3. Count to 10 or 15 just to let things settle in the circuitry then press the hold button to turn on your iPod again. You should see the silver apple logo as your ipod reboots.

That's it. Your Safari will stop crashing -- at least for a few days or maybe even weeks. When it starts doing the random crashing again, just reboot it again.

Did we need another one?

Apparently so. At least the wise guys at Adobe think so.

Maybe this one will be different. It is frustrating to get crap signal designed for a laptop screen and to try to put it on a large screen HD TV. This one looks like it will actually do real, usable HDTV. There aren't many of those. So "yay" for that.

Then there's the library that Adobe has lined up. It's already pretty huge and growing. It looks like Adobe has put themselves into the internet TV business -- like the TV networks of old. They've built the player -- like the diamond in the "Field of Dreams" -- and the HD content owners are coming to them. Adobe is taking a piece of the advertising revenue. Smart for them and good for us. More HD TV that you can actually use! Yay!

There are many, many things wrong with this picture.

I mean, really; how is it that airline passengers need a bill of rights anyway? If the business situation for airlines has deteriorated so much that the airlines feel no need to observe even the most basic principles of human decency and compassion, then it is quite clearly time to return to the standards of industry regulation.

If the airlines executives' parents didn't teach them how to behave then The People, thru all of our governments -- state and federal and even local -- need to tell them how exactly what is expected of them. But let me tell you boys: this reflects very poorly on your mothers. You'd better start thinking about what she would say about your behavior -- and about how you'll feel when its your Mom who's trapped in that airplane for six or eight hours.

First; to the federal judge, "Wake Up, fellow, and smell the reality." Airlines are governed and regulated right down to the municipal level. All states have laws governing airline behavior and any municipality with an airport has rules about where the airlines can fly and when they can fly and many other laws about airline behavior. These are all legal and appropriate and allowed to stand. And so, judge, your ruling has no legs to stand on.

But what about the so-called "bill of rights" itself. The one struck down in New York says that the airlines would be required to provide basic services like food, water and working bathrooms if the airplane and passengers are stuck on the tarmac for more than three hours.

Three hours! That's both crazy and already far, far beyond human decency.

That isn't a bill of rights for passengers; it is a warrant to abuse for the airlines. Instead of fighting it, the airlines should be (and probably are) laughing up their sleeves that the a law gives them legal permission to behave like inhuman jerks for three hours!

A passengers' bill of rights would say things like:

• Passengers should be notified before boarding if there is a known delay on the tarmac (and given the option to reschedule their flight)
• If there is a delay of any length before take off which will effect arrival time more than the gerater of 10 minutes or 10 percent of the schduled flight time then the airline must affirmatively notify all passengers with connecting flights and the airlines with which they are connecting. Connecting passengers must be given the option as soon as possible after the delay is known to alter their travel plans, including while in flight, at the expense of the delayed airline.
• If the plane leaves the gate with a known delay of more than 45 minutes then the toilets should be open for use until 10 minutes before actual take off.
• If, at any time after departing the gate it becomes known that the delay will be more than 45 minutes then the toilets should be openned immediately.
• If, at any time after departing the gate (ADTG) it becomes known that the delay before take off will be more than one hour then water should immediately be made available to passengers.
• Air conditioning and ventilation should never be turned off or "down" except when it is a matter of immediate safety.
• If, ADTG, it becomes known that the delay before take off is three or more hours in the future, then all passengers should have the option to leave the plane and reschedule their travel.
  • Passengers electing to leave should be provided immediately transferable credit to use to procure an alternate means of travel, including land-based options.

It's just reasonable. 

Some friends mentioned this week that they thought that they were going to have to get brand new TVs before next February. No. A new TV is not required.

Here's what's happening. On February 17, 2009, all full power television stations in the United States are required to stop broadcasting in the old style system called "analog" and continue broadcasting in digital only. This is known as the DTV transition.

The DTV transition is a good thing.

Yes; it is correct that analog TVs will not work directly with digital broadcasts, BUT you still don't have to buy a new TV. All you'll need is a converter box for your TV and those are going to be very cheap or even free.

If you currently receive over-the-air programming on an analog television using a broadcast antenna, either through “rabbit ears” on your set or an antenna on your roof, you will only need a digital-to-analog converter box to continue watching broadcast television on that set after February 17, 2009. The basic boxes cost approximately $40 to $70 and are in stores now. You can also get them with extra features, like DVR (digital video recorders) or TiVO and that's a great way to go.

To help pay for the converter boxes, every family or household in the US is eligible to receive up to two coupons worth $40 each to be used for the purchase of converter boxes. The coupon program is run by something called the "National Telecommunications and Information Administration" (NTIA). You can find them and a form to fill out on the web at www.dtv2009.gov or call 1-888-DTV-2009.

Note that if you do get a new DTV-ready TV (a TV with a built-in digital tuner) and you watch over-the-air programming on it, you will not need a converter box.

By the way; the antenna you use to receive analog broadcasts now should work fine for receiving digital broadcasts, both on a DTV and on an analog TV connected to a digital-to-analog converter box.

The really good news for most viewers:
If you subscribe to a paid television service such as cable or FIOS or satellite TV, you will not need a digital-to-analog converter box, and the TVs connected to your paid service will continue to receive local broadcast programming.

You may want to check with your local TV provider though to see if they have any surprises in store regarding any additional equipment in the future.

If you want more more information about DTV and the coupons, you can also call the FCC at 1-888-225-5322 (TTY: 1-888-835-5322) or visit their DTV Web site at www.dtv.gov.

So, repeating; No; you do not have to get a new TV set.

I was mainly talking about computers the last time, but almost any manufactured product that you can imagine is available at a deep discount as a refurbished or "remanufactured" fully warrantied product.

Do NOT be put off by the term "refurbished". Many of these products are, in fact, brand new and never used. The rest are so slightly used that you might never notice.

Refurbished -- sometimes called "refurbs" -- has become a catchall term these days. It now seems to mean any product that's been returned to the manufacturer after it's been sold once to a retailer.

Note; not necessarily "returned by a consumer" but just sold once to a retailer and never even moved out of their warehouse.

Oh sure; refurbished can actually mean "refurbished" -- i.e., returned to the factory and fixed & cleaned up. But, these days, at least as often as not it means simply that the device was sold once and then returned to the manufacturer. That might simply mean that it was overstocked at a big-box store like Wal-Mart or mis-ordered by an end-user. In either case it was simply returned unopened.

Even if they were "returned for repair", the refurbished deals are still as good as new when they go back on sale. Maybe even better if you go by the "pre-disastered" strategy of consumerism. That means that somebody else worked out the kinks and shook out the bugs for you.

Lately I've been finding some fantastic deals on refurbs at a few different stores but have them gathered up all in one spot. I call it the "This'll Work Monster Savings Refurb Superstore".

The best refurb deals are not at the manufacturers sites -- though many do have sections where they sell refurbs. The best deals seems to be at places like TigerDirect.com where they seem to be making bulk deals with the manufacturers. That's my guess at what's happening anyway. You can find these deals hidden away for fantastic computers at prices that are sometimes half or better of what you'd expect to pay at a big-box discount. Full warranty, full software package, complete documentation and accessory hardware. The whole deal!

So; here's the thing. If you're shopping around for a computer -- desktop or laptop or handheld -- or a stereo or an MP3 player (including all iPod models) or even a flat screen TV (HDTV or ... whatever), be sure to take a look at refurbs! That's where the good deals are.

It would be even better if the map could be counted on to point at the right spot.

Now as I read that sentence I realize how Star-Trek it sounds. It's amazing how quickly we humans can start to take for granted the amazing services we get from the internet and GPS devices and so on. Shoot; I remember calling -- with the telephone! -- to the Triple-A to request a "Triptik" -- a book of maps from point A to point B across country. Now you just go online to Google or Maps.live.com or any of a handful of other places and get a map in seconds.

Anyway; the online maps are pretty cool but they aren't always exactly spot on when it comes to pointing at a precise address. So now Google has added the ability to actually edit the online maps and satellite images to adjust the pointers to the correct spot. As long as your edit is within 200 meters of where they estimated it to be then they'll take your edit and update the online map with it. Wow.

It couldn't be simpler to do, too. Start by searching Google maps for an address as you usually would. 

1. Look for and click the new "Edit" link in the lower left corner of the label ballon for the map pointer.
   • If the label balloon is closed or isn't showing, then click on the pointer itself to make the label balloon appear. 
2. Now click the "Move Marker" link that appears in the balloon.
3. "Grab" the pointer with your mouse and move it to the correct location.
   • Notice the "X" that move with it and use that to locate the pointer correctly.
4. Click "Save" to save the new location.
   • Watch for the confirmation message that your location change has been saved. (Sometimes the Google map server is busy and it will take a second try to save the change.)

That's it! The next time that anyone searches for that exact address they will, thanks to you and Google, get the correct information and directions.  Swell.

Folks (Computer Guy clients & folks from Coffeerooms) keep asking, "We're getting a new TV but get confused by the numbers. Should we get a TV with 720p or 1080i or 1080p or what?"

Simple answer: 1080p. Period.

There will be arguments toward the other values, but the arguments are mostly irrelevant and often incorrect. The only possible exception might be price but even that can be overcome by going to another store to find a 1080p set at about the same price. (Or wait a week. LOL)

Here's the deal on those resolution numbers: the higher the number the better. Same with the little letter "i" or "p". The higher ("p") the better.

The relevant numbers are 480, 720 and 1080. These are the vertical resolution values for TV images. Other numbers on TV sets mean that they don't do "native" TV resolution and must be "fiddled" in some way to work. Why bother? (I say, "don't!") Just skip those.

The 480 is old school TV in digital form. Skip these if possible. The TVs that only do 720p are technically HD according to the spec, and the images will look very nice. But not as good as 1080p. And some helpful sales person or cable guy that's only true right now and starting to fade already. In 1960 the same sales guy would have said, "most shows are in black-and-white". More and more HD is 1080. They're also forgetting to tell you that a good 1080p set will process the 720p signal into a 1080p and, in the process, make it look even better. (Check them out side by side in the store. Check 720 and 1080 TVs by the same manufacturer in the same product line and you'll be able to see a sweet difference.)

Interlaced is the way that old TV sets always worked, but digital TVs should be able to produce "progressive" (that's the 'p') images; otherwise you run the risk of having some weird so-called digital artifacts. Things like visibly jaggy lines or flickering images. Ick.

These days, when you're shopping for a new digital HD TV you can find old style TVs, 480i or 480p TV's (a digital version of 'old style" pictures), 720i (rare and unwanted), 720p (common and acceptable if smaller and the price is really, really good), 1080i and 1080p. You can also find some with different resolution numbers and that will say "compatible" or something like that. Stay way away from the "compatibles". They suck. But of the others:

old style -- non-digital TVs

Avoid unless all these are true: it's tiny, you have cable or satellite or don't mind buying a converter box for digital, it's really dirt cheap. This kind of TV won't work without a converter after January 2009.

480i or 480p

These are digital designations for the old-school "Standard Definition" TV. You should only see this on digital TVs -- ones that will work without a converter box after January 2009, but check to be sure that's what they really are. The 'p' is better than the 'i' but, again, only get these if the price is really, really good. Like dirt-cheap. Otherwise, for a few bucks more get an HD set.

720i

The 'i' means interlaced 720 resolution HD. The lowest end possible of HD. These aren't too common anymore but you still might run into them. Again, avoid unless dirt-cheap and not for your main TV.s In fact, just avoid. Look a few minutes longer for a 'p' in the right price range.

720p

Now you're looking at the low end of HD. Nice pictures and these sets are pretty common. Most HD TV available these days is broadcast at 720p resolution so these TVs can handle that perfectly. There are, however, a few shows using the higher resolution (that is, even sharper & prettier) 1080i or p and more and more are expected to be in that standard. Eventually 1080 will be most common. A '720' set will have to adjust the quality down to fit. Boo.

1080i

Highest resolution HD with an interlaced image. This is OK. But progressive is better. Enough better that you should keep looking for a 1080p that fits your budget.

1080p

This is it; this is the highest resolution HD image presented in a "progressive" format. These will be the sharpest, prettiest pictures on your TV.

Given the way that prices are tumbling down on digital TVs these days; you should shoot for the best resolution. Figure out your budget and shop until you find a genuine (not "compatible") 1080p TV that fits. If you find more than one that fits your budget, swell! Check the reviews and see what actual users think of them and then go to the stores and see which one you like the best. Be sure to look at a variety of programs: especially old movies (or something like them), new movies, sports. If everything looks "OK" to you, then it probably is.

Start with "1080p" and go from there to find what you like. You'll do OK.

Of course the idea of "the users" forcing the entire "mobile phone industry" to do anything is pretty ludicrous. The only reason that Android has any chance of being accepted by the industry is because Google is behind it.

It's like Apple or Microsoft said, "we're going to use all of our skills to do everything that the user market wants and then we're going to give it away. Your choice, Mr. Phone Company, to use it or not but the users will be going where they can get Android."

Yeah; like that would ever happen. LOL. But that is what it's like. Actually, it's better that Google is doing it because there is no doubt that they will follow through on both the "do it" and on the "give it away".

OK; this is a great model from the users point of view and it would be swell to project it onto other technical problems that need standards fixing. And I have just the problem. (I sure hope Mr. Brin is listening.)

A Google-backed open-source platform DVR system. Linux based, like Android so it can be fit into any equipped box that any user wants to designate as "DVR". It could be PCs, it could be game boxes, it could even be TiVos, but mainly it could be the now nearly ubiquitous Motorola 6400 series HD DVRs employed by the hundreds of thousands by cable companies, satellite companies and even FIOS.

The Motorola boxes themselves are pretty cool. Not super great, but pretty cool. But the software that is run on those boxes is, generally, horrendous. Worse; there is no standardization. No user comfort. No reliability that it is going to do what the user wants or needs it to do.

So, Mr. Brin, et al: please take on the DVR problem. A new user-designed DVR platform. Google gets to provide video listings. Tempting; yes? The users get a working DVR. The cable companies get put in their place and even Motorola will get something that works out of it.

We'll call it the "GVR" to hint at a hardware device that Google can deny; but Google and the development team can call it "Android-V" or "Vandroid". Or they can call it "Bob" -- I don't care what they call it, I just want it. Really, really, really bad.

They should be proud of their reputation and depend on it to close the sale. Instead they behave like the sleaziest used-car salesman that the dark side of one's imagination could conjure up. Bad return policy; sleazy sales tactics. Maybe I should start questioning my loyalty.

Here's the problem today:

TigerDirect Inaccurate Price Comparison

TigerDirect loves their rebate "deals" -- advertised pricing and price comparisons where they state the price with a rebate subtracted. So $250 less a $50 mail-in rebate become advertised as $200.

But it's not $200. You can only get one rebate, so if you need two or more of the thing, you're SOL. Plus there's shipping and handling and extended warranty and return insurance and, well, a list of things to make it not really $200.

Don't know why some state AG hasn't called Systemax on this chicanery, but it'd be swell if one of them would. Maybe it would encourage Systemax, aka TigerDirect, et al, to stop the price fibbery. Just stick with the (real) good price and terrific shipping. (If any AG's are reading this; while you're at it, please take a look at the Systemax return "policy". Clearly created by some creature that only Christopher Walken could play.)

Today's example: TigerDirect comparing their "price" of $199 for a monitor to another store's $249.

TigerDirect sent a promo email out yesterday (2/15/08) headlined with an Acer 22" monitor for "$199*" and misleadingly comparing it to (quote) "Staples... $249".

Systemax does not mention that:
-- A. their own actual price is really the same: $249
-- B. their $199 quote is only after a Mail-In rebate and that the rebate is only available once per customer. That means that if you actually need 2 or more monitors then you are still going to pay $249 each for those, and that
-- C. at Staples any order over $50 ships FREE so that, comparing two apples to two apples, the TigerDirect price is actually HIGHER. $502 to $500 (at $27 for standard shipping).

Two bucks isn't much, but it is a fact. Of course the cost of buying this item from TigerDirect gets progressively more expensive the more items you need to buy. The more monitors you need to buy, the greater the advantage, in this case, goes to Staples.

Come on TigerDirect/Systemax: play straight. Why do you think you need to try to trick us all the time? It's like some kind of weird pricing pathology -- "Must lie to stay on top. Must trick customers to feel good about self."

Why does Systemax insist on these come-on shams, why do they think it is necessary, and why do they continue to get away with it? Shame on you Systemax.

The Motorola DVR hardware is pretty swell. Two HD tuners with circuitry to support 1080p and decent 120 GB hard drive in a 1U rack-size package with ports for YpbPr, DVI, 1394 (DTV), USB, Ethernet, SPDIF and a Smartcard. There's actually quite a bit of cool stuff packed into this box, all of it programmable and software upgradeable. It has the potential to be the envy of any Tivo owner.

Unfortunately, "potential" is about as far as it gets. Motorola makes the box but they don't make the operating software. That's left up to the cable company to acquire or supply separately.

We had the pleasure of using the "Passport - Echo" software by Aptiv Digital, Inc. for a little over a year. I had only one minor issue with it, really: it didn't provide access to the "forward jump" feature in the box (aka, commercial skip). I thought that I had more, but I was mistaken. It was feature rich and reliable. (I would love to have it back.)

When Comcast took over our branch of Suscom a couple years ago they changed the software in the DVR to their own in house creation: a bizarre lumping of inadequately concieved and mostly untested "features". (Quotes are employed here to emphasize the irony in this use of the word.)

This article, then, aims to be a listing of these "features" (irony again) and how they go astray of any sort of positive path; whether it be good usability, sensible system design, professional programming or adequate quality assurance. The list may not be comprehensive but I will try to make it as complete as possible. In the near future I'll add articles here to expand on the particular qualities of the key features that go into making them so very, very bad.

Here it is then;

Comcast DVR Bugs: The Bottomless List

1. Only records programs that are listed in the program guide. Period.
   • You can't tell it to record from "now" for the next 'n' minutes. It will only spontaneously record the "current program" as it perceives it from the program guide listing.
2. Can't set season recording of one particular showing of a series.
   
   • Every single broadcast of every single episode will be recorded.
   • No way to specify just one episode showing (as is possible in the Passport Echo or Tivo systems)
   
   
   • Can you say "It's Comcastic"?
   
   
3. Start-time / end-time adjustment
   
   • This "feature" restricts the user as to how they can expand the alloted time for a prgram recording.
   • The user can only move start time backward (from :00 to :59 and so on) and the end time can only be adjusted forward (i.e., from :59 to :00 and so on).
   • There is no way to "slide" the time to allow for, say, a Sunday night program that starts arbitrarily because of a ball game earlier in the day.
   • There is no way to slightly adjust a start or end time to avoid a recording conflict.
     
     • When the Comcast DVR confronts a 9:00 show ending at 10:01, then it will automatically cancel the entire 10:00 program scheduled to record on another network.
     • On the Passport Echo version or on Tivo, the user would simply adjust the end time on the early program "in" by one minute. Not possible on the Comcastic software. (By the way; boycott those :01 networks when possible. They're being pesty and should lose viewers for it.)
   
   
   
   

Onward! The FIOS trucks are hanging fiber within a mile of our house. I'm hoping to lose interest in Comcast very soon.

For myself, I think that two-finger scrolling is one of the most intriguing and brilliantly simple innovations in computers in many years. I should put that in bold: two-finger scrolling is one of the most intriguing and brilliantly simple innovations in computers -- surpassing the mouse itself.

Thank you to the unsung engineer at Synaptics or at Apple or wherever who invented this great concept. It is fantastic. (Who is that hidden geek?)

It's amazing how much of an effect something as simple as this has on the simplicity of using a computer.

For those of you who haven't seen it or had a chance to try it, find yourself a newish Macintosh laptop computer (older machines may not have the feature) and give it a try.

The simple idea is that if you put two finger tips on the touchpad then the contents of the active window will scroll in the direction that you move your fingers. So simple, but once you try it you realize that it's just amazing.

Tap two-fingers and you get the context menu -- like right-clicking in Windows; just simpler.

The two-finger'ed gestures on the touch pad make manipulating your computer so much simpler and faster.

You wouldn't think that reaching for a mouse is such a big deal, but as soon as you get rid of it you realize that it's a HUGE waste of time and effort. Just flipping your fingers on the touch pad is so much easier and makes so much sense!

There's been some talk that Apple may be patenting this wonderously simple idea and I wouldn't blame them for it, but I do hope that it becomes available for Windows computers too. I've also read somewhere that it is actually an innovation created by Synaptics, the people who make Touchpads. That would make sense, but there seems to be no mention of two-finger scrolling at their website (www.synaptics.com).

I'm already looking forward to tossing out my mouse to switch to a two-finger touchpad -- including for my desktop PC. If I could just find a two-finger scrolling driver, my mouse would be gone! (It's that good.)

I just hope that I don't have to toss out my whole Windows computer to do it!

I placed the order immediately with TigerDirect. It was Friday afternoon so I ordered it with 2-day delivery. The part arrived on time, as usual with TigerDirect, but for the first time ever, it didn’t function.

Let me say now, before going forward, that I regularly shop at TigerDirect. In it’s various names, I've shopped with TigerDirect for many, many years. I've always been pleased with their broad selection, competitive prices and speedy order turnaround. And, until this order, I’ve never had a single item that needed to be returned, for any reason.

Now I have to return the item and try to get a replacement for my client. This is where the surprising bad news begins.

I shop online all the time, so I’m no stranger to return policies and/or procedures for online vendors. Heaven knows that looking at return policies is crucial on eBay – to get some sense of who it is, or what it is, that you’re dealing with. A nasty return policy is a Big Red Flag. I’ve never read through the policies at TigerDirect though. At least not beyond the blurbs in their ads and item listings. Who reads those things really?

So I check the shipping documents for return procedure and am sort of surprised by what I find there. I don’t expect them to pay for the return shipping but I do, at least, expect them to show some helpful and expeditious understanding of the situation. None. Just the opposite.

I thought that it must be and old and incorrect document on the shipping papers, so I checked online. No luck; the online version is just as unpleasant.

In a nutshell; the TigerDirect attitude toward returns for faulty items is, first that you, the customer, are probably either incorrect about it not working or you, the customer, are a probably a thief and/or a scam artist trying to pull something over on righteous TigerDirect.com.

Instead of commiseration and cooperation from the vendor, you get threats, in writing, telling you that your item will be checked by them to see if it works before it is accepted back. And if, as they expect – as you are told many times – they determine that it really does work when they test it then (a) you are going to be charged a restocking fee and (b) you will not be credited nor will the item be replaced and (c) the item will not be returned to you.

Yeow! Are the police going to come to my house too?

There is not one whit of helpfulness or speediness or understanding in the TigerDirect return policy nor in their return procedure.

Today; just short of 4 weeks after I placed the urgent order, I received a notice through Google’s “Google Checkout” payment system (not even from TigerDirect itself) that Tiger was refunding the cash. No notice of why, no option to replace the needed part, no expression of understanding that it was urgent by, say, either doing this in one week instead of four or by offering to credit a portion of the wasted 2-day shipping fee.

(The needed part, of course, was replaced by driving to Staples – which I probably should have done in the first place.)

This is not nice, TigerDirect. It is unpleasant, unhelpful, unkind and disrespectful. It’s also discouraging. It discourages me from the blind faith shopping I used to do with you.

I have read Tiger’s policy now and, let me say, if I saw this sort of threatening, demeaning attitude toward customers on an item at eBay then there’s no way I would shop from that item's vendor.

Happily; I've only needed to return one thing in all these years shopping at Tiger, so, at least until I run into the "policy" again I'll probably continue to shop there. If Amazon matched Tiger's prices, I'd be gone before my next order.

PS: I just got a notice from TigerDirect about the "credit".
Later in the day, after I’d finished writing the above, TigerDirect have managed to make their awful treatment of customers even worse than it seemed before.

The earlier notice that I received was from "Google Checkout" and it told me that “TigerDirect.com has issued a refund for USDx.xx to [my credit] card account.” They noted that “the refund may not appear in your credit card account for several days.”

Later in the day I received notice from TigerDirect that I should “be advised” that the “merchandise authorized for return … has been received and will be credited to your account. Allow 7 - 10 business days to view the credit on your account.”

So while Google Checkout is going to return my cash (at least) ASAP, it appears that, if Google wasn’t involved that TigerDirect would totally hang on to my money for two MORE business weeks and then would only issue me a credit to use at TigerDirect.

Smart of them, as that is just about the only way to get me to come back now. Thank goodness that Google Checkout was there to run interference. (You’ve just made a customer for life, Google Checkout)