This week, Surfin’ examines a radio that is so small, you need an electron microscope to see it.
Did you know that Surfin’ is a weekly column published on ARRLWeb that features Web sites related to Amateur Radio, specifically, and radio, in general? If you have any suggestions for Surfin’, please contact WA1LOU using the e-mail link to the right.
Over a year ago, I wrote about the defective LCD on my 17-inch Powerbook G4 1.67 GHz Mac.
Last count, there were over 100 vertical lines on the LCD. They did not pose a problem using text-based applications, but they did make graphic-based applications very hard on my eyes, so much so that I stopped using my Mac for those applications.
Meanwhile, I had been following the situation closely. I had become resigned to the fact that Apple seemed to be ignoring everyone with the defective LCD and that I was stuck with a bad apple.
My daughter felt my pain and decided to call Apple in late February to fight for my cause. After 90 minutes on the phone, Apple agreed to fix my Mac for the cost of labor, $325, which was a bargain since the replacement part alone cost about $1000. Next day, Apple sent me a box to ship my Mac to their Texas repair center and I sent it on its way.
Day after day, I checked the status of my computer online and day after day, the status was that the part was on order.
Tuesday, Apple called to tell me that the part was expected on Friday and if it arrived on schedule, I would have my Mac back on Monday.
I was pleased with the news.
The man from Apple then said that if Monday was not soon enough, they would ship me a brand new Mac that was equivalent to my defective one. The equivalent is the brand new 17-inch 2.5 GHz MacBook Pro with 2 GB of RAM and a 250 GB hard drive. I jumped at the proposal; it is not often that someone offers me a $2800 computer for $325.
The new Mac arrived yesterday. Last night, I decompressed the backup files from my old Mac and began installing software.
I am still in shock over my good fortune!
In this week’s Surfin’, read all about new loop antennas we can use to chase DX. Then come back here to post your comments, if any.
By the way, Surfin’ is a weekly column published on ARRLWeb features Web sites related to Amateur Radio, specifically, and radio, in general. If you have any suggestions for Surfin’, please contact WA1LOU using the e-mail link to the right.
In this week’s Surfin’, read all about those loop antennas we use to chase broadcast band DX. Then come back here to post your comments, if any.
By the way, Surfin’ is a weekly column published on ARRLWeb features Web sites related to Amateur Radio, specifically, and radio, in general. If you have any suggestions for Surfin’, please contact WA1LOU using the e-mail link to the right.
In this week’s Surfin’, read about Leap Day hams and revisit the good, the bad, and the ugly side of innovations from the past. Then come back here to post your comments, if any.
By the way, Surfin’ is a weekly column published on ARRLWeb features Web sites related to Amateur Radio, specifically, and radio, in general. If you have any suggestions for Surfin’, please contact WA1LOU using the e-mail link to the right.
In this week’s Surfin’, we suggest other ways to find DX via the Web and how to obtain an excellent piece of test gear for the ham shack. Then come back here to post your comments, if any.
By the way, Surfin’ is a weekly column published on ARRLWeb features Web sites related to Amateur Radio, specifically, and radio, in general. If you have any suggestions for Surfin’, please contact WA1LOU using the e-mail link to the right.
In this week’s Surfin’, discover how you can obtain an excellent piece of test gear for the ham shack. Then come back here to post your comments, if any.
By the way, Surfin’ is a weekly column published on ARRLWeb features Web sites related to Amateur Radio, specifically, and radio, in general. If you have any suggestions for Surfin’, please contact WA1LOU using the e-mail link to the right.
I received an e-mail late last week that my XO computer would not be shipped until after the holidays and that I can expect delivery before January 15.
I was disappointed because I planned to give the XO to my wife, Laurie, as a Christmas gift. Laurie has never used a computer, but lately has expressed an interest, so I thought that the XO would be perfect for a novice like my wife (plus I could play with it when she wasn’t playing with it).
Christmas Eve morning, Laurie was out doing some last minute Christmas shopping and I just came in from the cold after washing the crud from the recent snowstorms off my car. The Pie dogs started barking, which was a sure sign that someone had driven up our driveway. I went to see who arrived and it is Fedex delivering the XO! I was surprised and very happy.
I wrapped the XO’s shipping box without opening its contents and gave it to my wife with other sundry gifts yesterday morning. She was very happy to receive her own computer, but we did not have much time to play with it because we had a full schedule ahead of us.
I did power up the XO to make sure it worked (and it does). The user interface is cool and the XO sees our home Wi-Fi network, so that is a good start.
In the next few days, I will get the XO on our Wi-Fi, check it all out more throroughly, and report my findings here.
Recently, Geoff, WA1U bought a disposable video camera and hacked it so that he can reuse it. He has been posting videos that he has captured with his hacked disposable on his blog.
I am intrigued and would like to perform a similar hack myself.
Yesterday, Geoff posted a link to a web site dealing with camera hacking and here it is for those of you interested in hacking your own video camera.
Despite the problem with my Powerbook that Apple refuses to fix thus far, I still like Apple products and likely will buy Apple products in the future. However, as attractive as the iPhone seems to be, I will not buy one because I live on top of a mountain with spotty cell phone coverage.
The cell phone towers are located below my home and I assume they are optimized to provide coverage for the surrounding valleys where the majority of people live. I am lucky to get any cell phone coverage at all. (If I stand on one foot near the dining room window between 6 and 7:15 PM and the wind is not blowing above 5 MPH… ) So, I am not very confident that the iPhone will work any better at home.
Also, my WiFi and Powerbook provide more than adequate “mobile Internet” access at home.
Also, I hate phones. They are one of those “you can’t live with them, you can’t live without them” things. I dislike them so, that I don’t even own a cell phone. My wife and daughter have one, but they are not for me.
However, that being said, I think the iPhone might shake things up and I direct you to the following blog post titled “Why the iPhone matters.” If you are tired reading about the iPhone (I can’t blame you), just read the end of the post: the last six paragraphs starting with the sub-heading “What do you mean? How could the iPhone change the larger phone business?“