File Under: "I can't make this sh*t up."
30 March 2011
18 July 2010
AAPL OOPS
Problem
For the record, an upgrade of an Apple iPod Touch to version 4.0 of the OS does cause incompatibility with car stereos, that is, for all intents and purposes, your iPod stops working. (Or it keeps working. It kind of depends...)
Earlier this year, I replaced the stock CD/AM/FM radio in my car with a nice, new JVC unit that plays MP3 and plain CDs, has an AUX IN port, plays MP3s on USB drives(!), and connects to iPod via either head-unit or iPod-mode control. And, of course, it has AM and FM.
Within the last few weeks, any time I try to play the iPod, it fails (e.g., song stops, goes silent, won't change track). Coincidence: Within the last few weeks,I upgraded the iPod to iOS 4.0.
There is a plethora of similar observations on the Internet, from folks with all kinds of car audio units.
Solution
In 2 e-mail responses, JVC told me to reset both the car unit and the iPod. That only resulted in massive inconvenience as I lost all kinds of tweaks on the car unit. (Yes, I also tried a brand-new cable. I've been troubleshooting electronics since car radios had vacuum tubes, thank you.)
I tried playing the iPod through the AUX IN port as an interim fix, but the sound quality was lousy, and I wasn't going to waste time troubleshooting what was only an interim fix.
Apple does not "let" you downgrade to any previous versions of the iOS. On the Internet, I found workarounds. No step-by-step recipe worked exactly as advertised, but I finally got back down to 3.1.2 and it works again. I spent 10 hours in the car recently with nary a hiccup.
Some Observations
On a variety of Internet sites, I came across many instances of what I call the "Sloan-Kettering" effect: If you are not experiencing any of the difficulty that those around you are, no one wants to hear it. If your car radio works fine with iOS 4, and you're really proud of that, then the next step is to grab a bullhorn, go into the nearest cancer clinic, and shout "I don't know what's wrong with you people! I don't have cancer! Cowboy up, people! Get a life!"
Next Observation
This is about beta testing. If you make thingies that a lot of people are going to play through their car stereos, each time you make a change that could possibly break that function, how about testing them (more than you did)?
Last Observation
If you make thingies that a lot of people play through their car stereos, and you make a change that breaks that function, and your attitude is that you won't "support" the only logical thing that people can do -- the downgrade -- (buying a new thingie or a new car stereo won't help; virtually nothing else will), then please stop telling yourself what a great consumer-oriented miracle you are, where "Everything Just Works", because, well, not everything does.
For the record, an upgrade of an Apple iPod Touch to version 4.0 of the OS does cause incompatibility with car stereos, that is, for all intents and purposes, your iPod stops working. (Or it keeps working. It kind of depends...)
Earlier this year, I replaced the stock CD/AM/FM radio in my car with a nice, new JVC unit that plays MP3 and plain CDs, has an AUX IN port, plays MP3s on USB drives(!), and connects to iPod via either head-unit or iPod-mode control. And, of course, it has AM and FM.
Within the last few weeks, any time I try to play the iPod, it fails (e.g., song stops, goes silent, won't change track). Coincidence: Within the last few weeks,I upgraded the iPod to iOS 4.0.
There is a plethora of similar observations on the Internet, from folks with all kinds of car audio units.
Solution
In 2 e-mail responses, JVC told me to reset both the car unit and the iPod. That only resulted in massive inconvenience as I lost all kinds of tweaks on the car unit. (Yes, I also tried a brand-new cable. I've been troubleshooting electronics since car radios had vacuum tubes, thank you.)
I tried playing the iPod through the AUX IN port as an interim fix, but the sound quality was lousy, and I wasn't going to waste time troubleshooting what was only an interim fix.
Apple does not "let" you downgrade to any previous versions of the iOS. On the Internet, I found workarounds. No step-by-step recipe worked exactly as advertised, but I finally got back down to 3.1.2 and it works again. I spent 10 hours in the car recently with nary a hiccup.
Some Observations
On a variety of Internet sites, I came across many instances of what I call the "Sloan-Kettering" effect: If you are not experiencing any of the difficulty that those around you are, no one wants to hear it. If your car radio works fine with iOS 4, and you're really proud of that, then the next step is to grab a bullhorn, go into the nearest cancer clinic, and shout "I don't know what's wrong with you people! I don't have cancer! Cowboy up, people! Get a life!"
Next Observation
This is about beta testing. If you make thingies that a lot of people are going to play through their car stereos, each time you make a change that could possibly break that function, how about testing them (more than you did)?
Last Observation
If you make thingies that a lot of people play through their car stereos, and you make a change that breaks that function, and your attitude is that you won't "support" the only logical thing that people can do -- the downgrade -- (buying a new thingie or a new car stereo won't help; virtually nothing else will), then please stop telling yourself what a great consumer-oriented miracle you are, where "Everything Just Works", because, well, not everything does.
09 June 2010
Katy Perry's Reaction To Lady Gaga's 'Alejandro' Surprises Perez Hilton
I frequently check Google News and I came across the above headline-link for an MTV.com article.
I have racked my brain and I can honestly say I could not come up with anything else I could care less about... 'bout you?
I have racked my brain and I can honestly say I could not come up with anything else I could care less about... 'bout you?
08 April 2010
NPR now means "Nuclear Posture Review"
It's been a long winter, not so much the weather but as goes the obamaNation... at each succeeding gaffe, blunder, and downright mistake, the best I could do was mock-catastrophizingly exude,
"He's going to get us all killed!"
With the bumblingly amateurish restatement of the US nuclear deterrence policy this week, all of the humor behind that gallows humor evaporates, leaving behind only the shadow of the gallows.
"He's going to get us all killed!"
With the bumblingly amateurish restatement of the US nuclear deterrence policy this week, all of the humor behind that gallows humor evaporates, leaving behind only the shadow of the gallows.
20 November 2009
The Inevitable Consequences
Well, in the last 30 minutes, the IRS has garnished my wages, HUD has foreclosed my home, TSA has put me on the no-fly list, the Social Security Administration has taken away my birthday, the CDC has quarantined me, and the US Marshall Service has served me with papers.
I take everything back!
I take everything back!
The Verdict
Let me put this to you indelibly, indefatigably, inarguably, and emphatically:
Historians will classify US Presidents into four descending levels:
Great, OK, Terrible... and Barack Hussein Obama.
Never in so short a time has an administration established itself as so incompetent, arrogant, and opaque, or piled up such a record of tragic cabinet-level appointees, or placed so many Americans at financial or geopolitical peril.
Some jest that they already miss 'W'... I'd say bring back Tricky Dick. Or Harding.
If you voted for him, you owe 300+ million Americans -- including yourself -- an apology. That is, unless you are one of the fortunate few who run Wall Street institutions, bailed-out failed companies, or other corrupt institutions. If not, what were you thinking?
Historians will classify US Presidents into four descending levels:
Great, OK, Terrible... and Barack Hussein Obama.
Never in so short a time has an administration established itself as so incompetent, arrogant, and opaque, or piled up such a record of tragic cabinet-level appointees, or placed so many Americans at financial or geopolitical peril.
Some jest that they already miss 'W'... I'd say bring back Tricky Dick. Or Harding.
If you voted for him, you owe 300+ million Americans -- including yourself -- an apology. That is, unless you are one of the fortunate few who run Wall Street institutions, bailed-out failed companies, or other corrupt institutions. If not, what were you thinking?
Sent to US Senators Evan Bayh (D-IN) and Richard Lugar (R-IN) Today
This weekend will likely mark the most critical decision made in America since 1941.
So-called healthcare reform; selling 300 million Americans and 10 future generations down the river to supposedly help 10 or 20 million – no one knows – or fix a system that needs a few obvious fixes, not complete destruction. TARP, cap and trade, AIG, Anita Dunn, Van Jones, ACORN, SEIU, porkulus, Afghanistandstill… where does it end?
At this rate, will there still even be an America 100 years from now?
More to the point, will you be counted among the 100 US Senators who destroyed it, or the 100 who saved it?
So-called healthcare reform; selling 300 million Americans and 10 future generations down the river to supposedly help 10 or 20 million – no one knows – or fix a system that needs a few obvious fixes, not complete destruction. TARP, cap and trade, AIG, Anita Dunn, Van Jones, ACORN, SEIU, porkulus, Afghanistandstill… where does it end?
At this rate, will there still even be an America 100 years from now?
More to the point, will you be counted among the 100 US Senators who destroyed it, or the 100 who saved it?
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