ita, if buying headphones for an iPhone, it's more than headphones, as they have the mic with button for answering calls (and skipping songs). That would account for the extra expense. The ones I got with the phone lasted me about 18 months. I asked at the apple store about replacements, and the guy was like "eh, close enough to warranty, I'll give em to ya". If she just wants headphones, and will answer phone with out, then no worries. Just fyi.

That would be exciting, Gris, for someone like me who travels a lot, but I have yet to see any planes with WiFi on them!! Oh, the myth of them in the wild...I

Really? I was totally able to use my BB on the flight to Seattle. (AirTran, FTR.)

Which reminds me - I need to replace the headphones for my BB. They need to be the ones with a mic. Any recs? Last time they crapped out the girl at the TMO store took pity and gave me a new pair, but I don't think I'll get that lucky again.

I use them mostly for work conference calls, so clarity on the mic is a priority.

My aunt, uncle and I want to buy my mom a computer for Christmas. We basically, I think, want the cheapest computer ever. She would use it for going on line, and perhaps paying games, but her games are things like solitaire and mah jongg, so not memory intensive games. She also has vision problems, so we do want a desktop with a monitor (I would get a netbook otherwise). ANy advice or deals you have seen out there? Anything to really stay away from?

Huh. I wonder if there is a Buffista with a decent older computer they were thinking about replacing but could not quite justify. Because a good used computer at a fair price sounds like it would fit what you are thinking. But "good" and "fair price" are tough things to figure out, which is where buying from a Buffista might come in.

This is not any help to Sophia, because they don't make cheap computers, but the tech support from Falcon Northwest is the best customer support we've ever gotten from any company, ever. Our machine is out of warranty, but they still answer tech support calls, and they have helped us figure out so much arcane computer stuff, it's unbelievable.

On one of our calls recently, when they were walking us through video card problems, the rep intuited the existence of a spare cable in the box they sent us when we bought the computer, almost four years ago.

We ended up getting a desktop version of the eee pc that comes with a 22" monitor. It was so inexpensive, that we sort of figure that if it doesn't work, we'll just get another. I am very happy with my eee pc netbook for surfing the net (I am doing so now AIFG)

My mom apparently wants some sort of "cool new" slim CD player thing for the kitchen. Any suggestions?

Ooh. Pretty computer!

Philco PC takes codgers back to the good old days

For those of us old enough to remember the iconic Philco Predicta TV from the late '50s, this Philco PC design concept is guaranteed to raise a smile.

SchultzeWORKS design studio added a dash of orange, along with an old-timey keyboard giving it a Steampunk flavor, accompanied by a mouse that looks more like a footswitch than a pointing device. The result? Shiny goodness from the 50s, deserving its own name beyond Steampunk. Retropunk? Greaserpunk? Sputnikpunk? MadMenpunk?

eta: Another pretty computer: Ripple Look offers stylish Mac mini alternative

If you have IE 7 or IE6, could you take a look at this test page and tell me how things line up?

[link]

Evidently the middle column, where the actual comic panel is -- the point of all the page -- is sometimes drifting below. I think I've got it licked, but I'd realy like some confirmation.