ask-mark.com

Hersch went with me to the Woodfield Apple Store tonight. I needed to see if the iPod could get replaced under warrantee, since I haven’t been able to turn it on since we found it in Palatine over the weekend. After having to reschedule my appointment at the Genius Bar, Hersch and I showed up at Woodfield about an hour earlier than the rescheduled appointment. So, we went and got dinner at A&W.

After dinner, we went up to the Apple Store and hung out until Hersch’s name was called. The "genius" took a quick look at the iPod after I explained that it didn’t work, and that I tried everything I could to get it to turn on. He tried to plug it in and start it, but he wasn’t any more successful than I was. He then tells me that because the iPod "looks like it was crushed," the warrantee was void. I had two options (neither of which was a free replacement): I could try a non-Apple iPod repair shop, or I could take advantage of the iPod recycling program and trade in the broken iPod for 10% off of another iPod.

So, iPods are 2 for 2 for having been a bit of a disappointment for Chris and I. Granted, the first one appeared to have been a battery issue that Apple would have replaced had I held on to it, and the second one was damaged during a near death experience. The only good part out of all of this is that because I was lazy and didn’t register my Apple Care plan with this iPod, I was free to use it on another iPod if I bought one.

We’ll see whether or not that happens when the tax refund comes. I’ve been eyeing another Sony LCD monitor, the SDM-HS75P/B to be exact. It’s about $120 cheaper than when I bought my first LCD screen last year. Having a second screen to connect to my RADEON 9600’s analog port would be a great addition to my desk Like I said, we’ll see what gets purchased (or paid off) when our tax refund gets deposited.

Before I upgraded to WordPress 2.0, I used to use a plugin called Dashboard Options to add some extra RSS feeds to my WordPress dashboard. Unfortunately, the author of the Dashboard Options plugin has been unable to make his plugin work without modifying core WP files (namely the wp-admin/index.php file).

To see if I might be able to customize the plugin myself, I started reading up on writing WP plugins. In the Codex, I found out about the plugin API and how it works. Hooks have been defined so that developers can quickly add custom function calls without modifying core WP files. There is a comprehensive list of WordPress 2.x hooks for action. There is an action called activity_box_end that is called at the end of the activity box on the dashboard. I gave this action a try, but it occurs too early in the script. The cjb_dashboard_showcustomcontent function from the plugin renders the RSS feeds, but the action occurs inside of the activity box, causing some undesired results. What I would like is to have the custom feeds rendered after the WP news feeds, perhaps even replacing them.

It looks like I’ll have to do some more homework before I can get my dashboard to give me my news the way I would like it. Of course, I could probably just write another script to download and display the feeds, but I like the idea of my WP dashboard having all of that information for me.

NBC premiered Four Kings a few weeks ago, and I like it. Besides the fact that I’ve liked just about everything Seth Green has touched, the show also has Josh Cooke, from another NBC show I loved called Committed. I’m watching the fourth episode now, and it is hilarious.

The pilot episode started off with Ben (Josh Cooke), Barry (Seth Green), Jason (Todd Grinnell) and Bobby (Shane McRae) in a laundromat, living their normal lives. Ben gets a phone call, and he finds out about the death of his grandmother. Ben’s grandmother leaves him her apartment, and Ben asks his best friends to move in with him. The pilot went on to explain some of their background story, and I have mixed feelings about that. Because the pilot was more of a background episode, it didn’t catch me as quickly as How I Met Your Mother did. I am happy to let you know that the subsequent episodes have redeemed the show’s value, and I would put it up there with HIMYM.

It is evident in the few shows that have aired since the pilot that there is great chemistry between the four stars. The interaction between them does seem like they’ve known each other for twenty years. I hope the show doesn’t get canned like Cooke’s other NBC show.

While doing some research on student privacy laws, I discovered that upon my 26th birthday (which is one week from today), I am "over the age of liability for the draft." To celebrate, I hope to get a massage some time next weekend at Asha.

Hitachi has released a series of hard drive images to show the history of hard drives. It’s interesting to see some of the car- and refrigerator-sized hard drives of times past that stored far less than the blue flash drive that currently resides in my pocket.

read more | digg story

What is that Fall Out Boys song all about? You know, Sugar, We’re Going Down? You don’t know either, do you? Well, have a good laugh at this home made music video for the song. CAUTION: Adult content

Where do I start? For those of you who have not heard through the grapevine, last night we (Scott, Chris and I) almost got hit by a Metra train in Palatine. We were on our way to see YesMen, our favorite local rock band, play a show at Durtie Nellies. The snow was not a deterrent, not after my first 12-hour workday since the start of the school year. So, we ventured on into the snow at an appropriately slow pace. It was just like any of the many snowy drives I have made out to Palatine in the last three years. Nothing was out of the ordinary.

(continue reading…)