Best Buy’s Exchange Policy: How to evaporate customer goodwill

I’ve heard a few complaints over the years about Best Buy’s onerous restocking fee for product returns, but at least there’s a bit of logic to the company trying to recoup the overhead of putting inventory back in stock. This evening, however, we experienced a new, illogical, and highly annoying aspect to their policy. I… Continue reading Best Buy’s Exchange Policy: How to evaporate customer goodwill

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Categorized as Business

More Suspicious Gaddafi Sightings

Despite the mental and psychological similarities, and disregarding the proven fact that they’re never seen together, I’ve come to the conclusion that Charlie Sheen and Muammar Gaddafi are not the same person after all. But…Bob Dylan? Well, you tell me.

Random Thursday

A few random observations while silently cursing Apple for yet again making my cool stuff seem old and busted. Speaking of the iPad, here’s another interesting project seeking funding via Kickstarter: LetterMpress is a virtual antique letterpress application. The software is demoed in the following video. This certainly appears to be a beautifully crafted app,… Continue reading Random Thursday

Apple Store Down

You know Apple is up to something big when you see this screen where the Apple Store usually appears: I’m sure this is related to the company’s announcement regarding (we think) the iPad 2 in a couple of hours.

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Categorized as Apple/Macs

Seagate Announces 1st 3TB Hard Drive

You don’t really need to be a certified geek to appreciation the implications of a three terabyte hard drive priced under $300. That’s about a 50% increase over the previous maximum capacity, and enough storage to hold over 400,000 songs. Or you could store a hundred Blu-Ray movies (at 30 gigabytes each). Unfortunately, many computers… Continue reading Seagate Announces 1st 3TB Hard Drive

Wireless Laser Printer

I retired our almost-eight-year-old HP LaserJet last week, replacing it with a Brother HL-2270DW wireless monochrome laser printer. The HP still worked well, but Debbie was having problems connecting to it via our network, and it was getting low on toner. When I discovered that a new, factory-fresh HP toner cartridge would cost the same… Continue reading Wireless Laser Printer

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Categorized as Technology

Pi Plate

OK, the creator calls it a “pi bowl,” but that’s semantics, and not very punny, to boot. Anyway, this ceramic concoction is etched with the first 1,498 decimal places of pi, and can be ordered in a variety of colors via Etsy. [Via Neatorama]

Tracking Comanche Springs in Fort Stockton

Last Monday, February 21, we made a day trip to Fort Stockton to visit family, and were pleased to see that Comanche Springs was again flowing. This is a fairly dependable annual occurrence each winter, when the agricultural irrigation west of town ceases and the water level in the aquifer rises sufficiently for the water… Continue reading Tracking Comanche Springs in Fort Stockton

Random Thursday

Some triviata while wondering about the real difference between a prank call and outright lying to get an interview. I wrote last week about “investing” in a venture via KickStarter that will produce a stylus cap to use with devices with capacitive touch screens. I’m pleased to report that the project has been fully funded… Continue reading Random Thursday

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Categorized as Random Thursday

Seeking Silence

I solved a tricky little problem today and want to document it in case anyone else encounters it. But first, some background. Our ballroom dance club is trying something different at our March dance. Up to now, we’ve always had live music, and that tradition will continue. But, for a variety of reasons, we’re going… Continue reading Seeking Silence