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NVIDIA's faulty GPU class action settlement challenged, but time's running out
Remember when NVIDIA was caught selling defective mobile graphics chips, and agreed to provide bargain-basement replacement laptops to make a class-action lawsuit go away? At least one gentleman wasn't happy with how that went down, and is suing to see that affected customers get a fair shake. Ted Frank of the Center for Class Action Fairness says that NVIDIA has no business passing off cheap laptops, and we think he might have a case -- after all, the judge ordered that NVIDIA provide "a replacement computer of like or similar kind and equal or similar value," and it doesn't take a lawyer to see that the $400 Compaq Presario CQ56-115DX that the company's offering doesn't come close to compensating owners of faulty machines. We joked that you might be better off selling your old laptop for parts on eBay, and that might not be far from the truth. The thing is, whether Ted Frank and company win or lose in court, defective laptop owners have only two weeks remaining to sign up for whatever NVIDIA ends up handing out, as March 14th is the final deadline to have settlement claims postmarked. Read the arguments at our more coverage link, and decide for yourself.
A weekend with FireWire
My MacBook Pro and I had a bit of a rendezvous this past weekend. She's a 15 inch Core Duo with 2GB of RAM. Although she'll occasionally get as hot as a toaster oven (leaving red marks on my lap at times) and mooed like a cow when we first met, she's been a consistent workhorse for me. But her hard drive needed a transplant. Sick of her sluggish performance and hard drive clicking noises, I decided that it was time to fix her up. So, I replaced her 320GB hard drive with, surprise, a 320GB hard drive -- this time a Fujitsu model instead of the Toshiba it replaced. Not because I thought the Fujitsu was any better than the Toshiba it'd be replacing, but because it was the least expensive drive I could find. Although the hard drive installation went successful, it wasn't without its fair share of bumps along the road. Hopefully, the bumps I experienced could provide many some guidance on what to do as well as what not to do when upgrading your hard drive.
Warrior tanking shields in Wrath
Many people are wondering how long their Aldori Legacy Defender or Bulwark of Azzinoth will be lasting them in WotLK. While there will be no definitive answer until the official release of Wrath when items are more or less finalized, we can take a look at the various shield options now and at least get a feel for when they'll be replaced.We'll compare shields by selecting a few key statistics: armor, block value, defense, and stamina. There might be other statistical factors in each shield, however these four values are the major stats that define a shield's power. We also show the strength on the shields which are coming in Wrath, since that attribute will be playing a larger role for the Protection Warrior post patch 3.0.2.Read on after the break for a statistical break down of shield options for the Warrior tank, and why the iconic Bulwark of Azzinoth won't be replaced until at least level 77, if not level 80.
Apple admits to iPod nano smoking and sparks, will replace faulty devices
It's only taken a number of years and some seriously ruined pants -- but Apple has finally come clean on the flammable nature of the first-generation iPod nano, and is now offering to replace the faulty devices. After reports today that two more of the media players had lit up without warning in Japan, the company issued a statement admitting that the nanos do -- in fact -- have battery problems which cause them to smoke or spark and generally burn the hell out of things. In the company's words: "Apple has determined that in very rare cases batteries in first generation iPod nanos sold between September 2005 and December 2006 can overheat causing failure and deformation of the iPod nano. Apple has received very few reports of such incidents (less than 0.001 percent of first generation iPod nano units), which have been traced back to a single battery supplier. There have been no reports of serious injuries or property damage, and no reports of incidents for any other iPod nano model. Any first generation iPod nano customers who have experienced their battery overheating should contact AppleCare for a replacement. Any other customers who have concerns about their first generation iPod nano battery should also contact AppleCare." Well, thanks guys... at least we didn't die.
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines also being replaced by Warner
It's really a bit hard to believe that this is anything more than a stunt, but apparently, Warner really has established a hotline to replace botched discs found in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. After waiting for ages to finally see the release, it appears that the title plays back in 1080i (rather than 1080p, as advertised) when the In Movie Experience (IME) is not activated. Interestingly, it seems that 1080p output is achieved when IME is active, which leads us to believe that two encodes of the movie are indeed on the disc. If you've been so unlucky, you can phone up Warner's customer support center at 1-800-553-6937 to request a replacement, and be sure to ask what's going on in the QA department while you're at it.
Triangles back on the Leopard Dock
Ever since we first saw the new Dock with its reflective surfaces and little glowing lights under open apps, people have gotten nostalgic for the old Tiger Dock and its less flashy ways. First we showed you how to de-gloss the new Dock, and now Mike at Silver Mac has cooked up a way to get those black triangles back.Turns out it's not super hard to do-- inside the Dock app folder, there's just three .png files that serve as "Dock indicators," so all you have to do is change those (definitely back up what's there, however), and you should be in business. The Dock now scales those indicators based on size, so there's three files to replace-- at your own risk, natch-- and you're all set.Thanks, Mike!
Wii Warm Up: wrist straps
Welcome to the Wii Warm Up, a new feature here at Wii Fanboy that we've shamelessly stolen from our friends at WoW Insider. The Warm Up will be a daily feature here, a morning topic wherein we can gather and talk about, y'know, stuff. Specifically, Wii stuff. Yeah, Wii stuff at Wii Fanboy. We know that's a tough one to swallow. For our inaugural topic, we thought we'd ask you about those replacement wrist straps. Did you go in for them, or did you skip out? Tell us your opinion on the new straps, or let us know why you didn't change if that was your choice. Inquiring fanboys want to know.[Image from Aeropause, where they wasted no time upgrading.]
Chronos replaces StickyBrain with SOHO Notes 5.5
StickyBrain, one of the leading 'digital junk drawer' apps that recently entered a 4.1 beta testing phase, has been officially discontinued by Chronos in favor of SOHO Notes 5.5. Current registered users of StickyBrain 4.0 will receive an upgrade to SOHO Notes for free, while users who own licenses for any previous StickyBrain versions (1.x, 2.x and 3.x) can upgrade to SOHO Notes 5.5 for a mere $25, the price offered in the past for upgrading from StickyBrain 3.x to 4.x.Why is StickyBrain being dissolved in favor of SOHO Notes, you ask? Chronos has published an announcement and FAQ explaining the decision, but here's the short version: SOHO Notes is basically the big brother of StickyBrain; they're almost the same app, derived from the same codebase, except SOHO Notes included three key features that Chronos used to charge extra for: SOHO Notes can synchronize notes between multiple computers using a .Mac account (seamlessly, in the background). SOHO Notes can access multiple note databases simultaneously. SOHO Notes is multi-user capable which means users can share notes with others over a network using the product's client/server technology. Now, with SOHO Notes taking the helm, its price has dropped to $39.99 to keep it more in-line with StickyBrain's previous price, as well as the competition like Yojimbo and DEVONthink. Feature-wise, this new version of SOHO Notes 5.5 offers some powerful new goodies, such as the ability to import and catalog almost any kind of file, send notes to your blog, a DockNote that makes it easy to get info both in and out, audio recording notes, full-screen editing of notes, a Daily Journal/Diary category that can automatically date/time stamp notes and much more.Whether you love your hate StickyBrain SOHO Notes, this should be good news for the 'digital junk drawer' market, as this price drop and the new features should help keep everyone's innovative juices flowing.
Has the 12" PowerBook simply disappeared?
It appears as though Apple has completed their portable lineup's transition to Intel chips - and the 12" PowerBook was the clear odd-man-out (sure, the 14" iBook disappeared too, but everyone knew it had to). I noticed last night that apple.com/powerbook simply redirects to apple.com/macbook, with a page title of "Meet the family. Now complete."If this is true, and Apple (for now) doesn't have any other tricks up their sleeve in the portable department (the much-rumored tablet, perhaps?), I think we should all observe a moment of silence for our fallen comrade - the 12" PowerBook (my first.Mac.evar).
