I expected that they would take our water bottles (the exact same thing you can buy 10 feet later for 20% more).

I didn’t, but should have, realized that they would take Ethan’s juice box. That’s right, the US Government is keeping you safe.... from juice.

Here’s the latest round of lies, damned lies, and CNet “Reporting” (with apologies to actual reporters for lumping them in with this sort of crap).

Even worse, I actually used the thing and found it very uncomfortable. My biceps are not by any stretch of the imagination “huge” but the “One Size Fits All” Nike+ Sport Armband is decidedly too small to wear comfortably. It has a Velcro connector and I was constantly thinking it was going to come off. With about 1" more of fabric they could have made it much more human-being compatible.

My search led me to the Sports Sleeve for iPod nano by Belkin. Its description reads:

Now you can power and play your iPod nano on the go.

Which made it sound like the dock port was accessible even when the Nano was in the case. However, since this was my third armband, I wanted to be sure. I emailed their support, who said that yes indeed, it was.

So I ordered one.

Or at least I tried.

This summer has been awful for exercise. It’s been horribly hot and I haven’t had any racquetball partners.

But the fall is fast approaching, so I finally broke down and bought the necessary add-ons: a Nike + iPod Sport Kit, and a Nike+ Sport Armband (Black/Red), and a Sportsuit Sensor+ for iPod nano so I could use the Sport Kit with any sneakers, not just the $100 pair that Nike wants to sell me.

I already regret buying the armband. It is incredibly poorly designed.

Why? Well look here at one of the main 3 pages for the iPod Nike: “Run”

What do you notice? How about the fact that the iPod Nano screen, when hooked to the Nike+iPod sensor, provides all sorts of visual (as in “see them with your own two eyes”) bits of information.

You might think that the armband designed by Nike, which is, you may notice, one of the two brand names mentioned in the name “Nike+iPod” would be savvy enough, perhaps, let you see that visual information?

You would be wrong with a capital W because the Nike armband completely covers the screen.

Well done there, design team. Why didn’t you just make this Nike+iPod kit for the iPod Shuffle if you’re NOT GOING TO LET ME SEE THE SCREEN. Argh.

That’s not all the G-in-Genius going on here.

On page 16 of the Nike + iPod User Guide (4.2MB PDF) (which is also printed with the kit) you will read: “Answers to frequently asked questions about Nike + iPod: Go to www.apple.com/ipod/nike/faq.html.”

Notice that I didn’t make that a hotlink? Yeah, you know why? Because the page doesn’t exist. Nice. You don’t get a 404 page, you get redirected to http://www.apple.com/ipod/nike/.

Where you would notice, again, the information from the Nike+iPod sensor shown on the iPod screen.

(And yeah, if you look closely you’ll also notice someone using the armband and you can’t see the screen, but I had just assumed it was dimmed.)

• Nike + iPod Frequently Asked Questions (Technical)
• iTunes Music Store: Nike Sport Music Frequently Asked Questions
• Apple - Support - Nike + iPod Sport Kit - Service - Service FAQ

So there ya go. Now I need to find a new armband that will work with the Nike + iPod senor and show me the diggity dang screen.

The Sheraton Buckhead Atlanta wanted $179 a night for a room with two beds.

Now I can personally attest that the two rooms are very similar, both of the TVs are about the same, and the beds seem equally comfy. The hotels seem equally clean.

So why is it that the Days Inn can provide free high speed wireless internet (150kbps downloads) but the Sheraton wants $10 for 24 hours?

This is not the first case in which a “cheaper” hotel will offer free wireless, while a “higher end” hotel will charge for it.

What kind of sense does that make?

But for me, I've got The Late Show with David Letterman down to about 15 minutes, even though it is scheduled for 62.

“Hopping online” at our house is done through the Airport Extreme’s built-in 56K modem. That was the main reason that I bought this model. We have no other options out here in the boonies except for dialup, but I didn’t want to lose the convenience of WiFi.

Lore offers some thoughts on possible additional boxed Star Wars DVD sets, including:

The Just-Better-Effects Edition
This edition redoes all the special effects -- every single one throughout the entire series, using the best technology available, applied by the guys who did the Lord of the Rings movies. Nothing else is touched. No dialogue is changed, no scenes are added, no new characters are included. Can you imagine how much Star Wars fanatics will love this one? They'll be standing in line outside every place in town that sells DVDs, dressed in Jedi robes and elaborate rancor costumes. What a bunch of hard-core geeks. I'd better preorder my copy now.

I’d order one, but online. It was bad enough that I had to stand in the ticket line with those people when the movies came out.

I still wouldn’t be surprised if George Lucas released an official DVD of The Phantom Edit as I suggested earlier.

Lore also hit the nail on the head with this comment:

The best part is that the original-release DVDs include the special-edition DVDs as well. So people who bought the special edition when they really wanted the original version will have to buy the special edition again, and people who didn't buy the special edition because they only care about the original version will have to pay more to get the special edition anyway! Yes! Use your aggressive feelings! Let the hate flow through you!

I need to start linking to some of my posts over there, because it’s very hard to search. This is my most recent article, and the one that I’m most pleased with so far:

Mac Users: Sync to Windows in Virtual PC using Bluetooth.

But I’m really not. In fact I don’t remember the last time I felt this betrayed.

My PC, on the other hand, seems to think I’d like to spend several minutes checking the connection with the speakers, checking the Control Panel settings, the settings in Windows Media Player, the headset, etc.

In what world is it logical that when I’ve press Volume Up roughly 6,278 times should the computer think “Yeah, he wants the volume maxed out, but muted.”

The fact that it may be supercalifragilistically stupid of me not to press the Mute/Unmute button is utterly and completely beside the point. The computer is supposed to make my life easier. It should not require me to think about how it works, it ought to anticipate what I would want and how I would work.

Windows XP doesn’t do that. Mac OS X does.

Is it a little thing? Of course. But add it together with all the other little things and it makes a big difference.