It was a lot of fun, but they didn't leave much candy for me!
It was a lot of fun, but they didn't leave much candy for me!
Sound advice from FiveCentNickel.
Instead of buying warranty after warranty, why not create an "extended warranty fund." In other words, whenever a retailer offers you an extended warranty, simply transfer that amount of money into a dedicated savings account.
If/when problems arise, you can simply pay for the repairs (or replacement) out of your warranty fund. And once the fund builds up to a sufficiently healthy size, you can back off on your contributions.
There are two main benefits to self-insuring in this way. First, you'll get to earn interest on the money as it accrues. Second, you'll be the one that gets to keep the cash when your stuff doesn't break.
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Apparently someone at HP does too. After setting the world record for excessive packaging back in july for shipping a huge box, which then contained sixteen smaller boxes, each holding two pages of foam wrapped paper.
HP wasn't happy though. They had to go bigger. Better. They had to ensure that those sissies at Dell or IBM or, heaven forbid, Apple didn't oneup them. They've fine tuned their carbon footprint enlargement program , by shipping a ten foot AC power cord from Shanghai-- in a giant, empty box strapped to a 10kg pallet.
Way to go, boys. Keep up the good work.
Since then, they've made it official by adding the new readers to their website (for preorder.) I've spent a lot of time since then debating whether to get the Touch or Pocket version.
Sony's PRS-300After much consideration and internal debate, I've decided on the Reader Pocket (PRS-300) It's petite size, and attractive price tag lured me over. I figure, if it's smaller, it'll be easier to carry around, and the gadget that you have with you is the one you use.
I agonized about the color selection for a while, but honestly, when your choices are between an ugly pink (pink was out anyway) and the dark navy blue -- which did tempt me. Classic silver won out in the end.
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Office wars have been fought with paperclips, elastic bands and nerf guns since the first cubicle was erected over four thousand years ago. Here's the equivilant of the atomic bomb, 'cause once you bring one of these out, nobody else is going to attack you.
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According to a press release found at Sony.ca there's going to be two new versions of the sony reader coming out at the end of the month.
The Reader Pocket (PRS-300) appears to be a stripped down PRS-505 with a 5 inch screen. The memory stick and SD card slots have been removed and it looks like it won't play MP3's anymore. They've also stripped out a few of the buttons.
It'll be available in silver, navy blue and rose (which looks more like faded red to me)
It'll retail for $199 in the US, and $279 in Canada.
The Reader Touch (PRS-600) Appears to be Sony's attempt to fix everything that's wrong with the PRS-700. It's sporting a 6" touchscreen, but, as far as anyone can tell from leaked service manuals and anecdotal evidence, the LED side lighting has been removed. This will get rid of the light pipe layer that was present in the PRS-700 which caused blurry screens and poor battery life. The 600 appears to have more in common with the PRS-505, except with the addition of a touch screen. It's also features an onboard dictionary and the ability to highlight, annotate and take notes either with your finger, the stylus or the on-screen keyboard.
The Reader Touch will be offered in red, black and silver and will retail for $399 in Canada and $299 in the US.
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Fine, whatever, suck it up, shell out the $200 deductable, buy a new iPod and get on with life, right?
Apparently not.
Just came from my appointment with the insurance assessor, and, turns out, when someone takes a crowbar to a thirteen year old car it's what they politely call a "total loss" which in not so plesant terms means "Here's a cheque for $2500 bucks, we ain't fixin' it, so you'd better start car shopping."
Now, that's not exactly what I was hoping for, considering that I've got wedding and honeymoon to pay for in less than a year. So I suppose I'd better start considering my options:
What would you do? and any suggestions what I should be looking at for vehicles?
]]>Needless to say, it's a total geekfest, but I had a fantastic time. Oh, and fun fact. Apparently at the Centennial Concert Hall, row 4 is actually the FRONT ROW so right up until I went to take my seat, I didn't realize that my tickets were literally front and center (ok, well, front and slightly right of center) I was so close that I actually set my program down on the stage when we all stood up to clap and scream our heads off at the end.
Enjoy a couple stills and clips I shot. If you hear any embarassing screaming or cheering, it wasn't me honest. -- Would I lie to you?
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Finally made it out to Pisew falls to grab a couple shots before the ice melted. It's a shame all that snow kind of limited my available angles though.
Just good to be shooting again, hopefully I'm busting out of this winter slump.
Top photo is an HDR combined in Photomatix, second shot is Au Natural.
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