Day: August 25, 2006

Friday Random 10: South of the Border (Down Mexico Way)

With the rules of the Random 10, the odds of any mariachi music coming into this list are probably pretty slim. But it should be there anyway: I have a three day business trip to Mexico City next week and will be experiencing that fair country for the first time. Should be a heck of a trip; I’m really looking forward to being there now that some of the post-election fallout has settled.

  1. MF Doom, “Who Do You Think I Am? (Feat. King Ceasar, Rodan, Megalon, Kamakiras, and Kong)” (Operation: Doomsday)
  2. Chris Bell, “Fight At The Table” (I Am The Cosmos)
  3. The Velvet Underground, “I Heard Her Call My Name” (White Light/White Heat)
  4. Bettye Lavette, “On the Surface” (I’ve Got My Own Hell to Raise)
  5. Death Cab for Cutie, “We Looked Like Giants” (Transatlanticism)
  6. David Byrne, “Walk on the Water” (Look Into The Eyeball)
  7. Mazzy Star, “Mary of Silence” (So Tonight That I May See)
  8. Sting, “Shape of My Heart” (Ten Summoner’s Tales)
  9. The Cure, “Jumping Someone Else’s Train” (Three Imaginary Boys)
  10. Bobby Bare, “Shine On Harvest Moon” (The Moon Was Blue)

Battery update (again)

So in the middle of a broad battery recall for older Powerbook and iBook batteries (my machines weren’t affected by this one), I thought I’d follow up about my own battery situation. As you’ll recall, Apple is also recalling some MacBook Pro batteries, not for explosive reasons but because they apparently “don’t meet the company’s performance standards” (more on what that means in a second). And you’ll also recall that when I sent in my notice, I got a pair of iPod earbuds instead of batteries.

Yesterday afternoon I spent something like an hour and 15 minutes on the phone to Apple support waiting for an answer. Finally they put me in touch directly with a guy in Dispatch, who said, “I have no idea how that happened,” and sent the new battery out. This time I have a tracking number, so I have a high level of confidence that I’ll actually get the battery.

But back to the real battery recall: it’s funny how different news outlets are handling the news. While most are saying that it’s bad news for Sony, good old Business Week managed to spin the recall as a “more bad news for Apple” story… By contrast, the analysis in Forbes, which points out the technological and manufacturing issues underlying the problem, is much deeper and more insightful.

Finally, an article on iPodNN appears to tie the mysterious “high standards for battery performance” that were at issue in the MacBook Pro recall to the infamous MacBook Pro whine, which is only audible when the device is on battery power. We’ll see when my new battery comes in, but maybe this will make the laptop as quiet as the old G4 was…