Wire Your Car Stereo for an iPod: Wired Magazine Gets it Wrong

Posted on October 29th, 2007 in Review by Bret

Dying to hook your iPod into your car stereo but don’t want to use one of those FM transmitters? Well, according to the August 2007 issue of Wired magazine all you need is a small adapter cable that converts two RCA jacks (two raised plugs - one red and one white) down to a single 3.5-mm stereo jack. Connect one end to your car stereo and one end to your iPod and you’re in business. If it were only that easy. In nearly all cases the instructions from Wired simply won’t work, here’s why.

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Flying for the Holidays? It’s going to get ugly.

Posted on October 25th, 2007 in Rant by Barry

For those of you brave souls that have already purchased your tickets for the Holidays, you will want to pack patience in your carry-on bag along with a few meals. In response to screams to fix the flight delay problem in the Northeast Corridor, the Department of Transportation is recommending that JFK airport reduce the number of planes it handles in an hour(takeoffs and landings) from 100 to 80. Not flying in our out of JFK? You may still be affected since a majority of flight delays have been linked back to what takes place at JFK.

Love Google? Personalize it with iGoogle

Posted on October 22nd, 2007 in Rave by Bret

Most people use Google as their primary Internet search engine. While other search options exist, few measure up to the unbelievable power of Google. Despite Google’s amazing search power, it’s a bit boring — Google’s user interface needs a face lift.

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Protect Your Money - Trash your PIN

Posted on October 19th, 2007 in Review by Barry

I’m sitting at the US Airways gate in the Tampa, FL airport waiting to return home after a 2-day conference on credit card security. Since my flight is already delayed, which has become commonplace for US Airways, it seemed like a good time to work on my post.

Celebrating Blog Action Day: Global Warming a Distracting Argument

Posted on October 15th, 2007 in Rant by Bret

Today is the official Blog Action Day. A day when bloggers around the world come together to raise awareness of a single topic: the environment.

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What Happens to the Medals?

Posted on October 11th, 2007 in Rant by Bret

Now that Marion Jones has finally told the truth and admitted to doping, what happens to her Olympic medals? She has been instructed to return them to the Olympic Committee before they get stripped. And based on her tearful apology I’m sure Jones will comply with these instructions. But once the medals are returned, then what?

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Should Sports Even Bother Trying to Control Doping?

Posted on October 8th, 2007 in Rant by Bret

On October 5, 2007 the Washington Post reported that “Track star Marion Jones pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court Friday to two counts of lying to federal investigators and admitted taking steroids before the Sydney Olympics in 2000.” Obviously, her Olympic medals will be stripped and then she’ll have to sit around and wait for her sentencing scheduled for January 11, 2008.

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Harvard Textbooks Too Expensive for Students?

Posted on October 1st, 2007 in Rant by Bret

Does anyone else find it hard to believe that some Harvard students make course decisions based on the cost of textbooks? Jon Staff doesn’t. In of fact Jon Staff thinks “It’s sad that students have to choose which classes they take based on the overall cost of the textbooks” (Source Boston Globe Newspaper 9-26-2007). I guess it’s one thing to shell out $31,456 in tuition ($45,620 if you stay in campus housing), but a couple hundred dollars for textbooks crosses the line, breaks the bank, and just isn’t fair to an ivy league preppy. But fear not, Jon has a solution to this injustice: Crimsonreading.org