When I was on AT&T, I had an "unlimited" data plan that was $20 a month. But one month I used a lot of data, and they tried to charge me about $300 for it. Then they said it was because I was using a Treo, which required a different plan, and it could cost even more to be allowed to use Bluetooth tethering. They ended up saying I needed to pay about $60 a month to get what I wanted. I said no thank you and switched. My Treo is unlocked. For a while, I had slow, unlimited internet (phone only) for $7 a month, then upgraded to the faster one with hotspot access.

They did the same thing to me. The customer service guy called me a thief for using the $20 unlimited data plan on my Treo because he said smartphones had to buy the $40 unlimited plan. I said I was buying the plan for my SIM card and could pop it into any phone I felt like, and if he made me switch to a $40 a month plan I was canceling my service. He said I had 8 months left on my plan and would be charged a $150 termination fee. I told him I could recoup most of the fee by hocking my perfectly good Treo 650 on ebay. He tried to call my bluff, so I did just that.

Upgraded to a new Treo 755p with Sprint (which Sprint and a third-party reseller combined to give me free after rebate) and my unlimited data plan is $15 a month. Also on a better monthly plan, so in total I save about $50 a month. AT&T can kiss my ass.

smartphones had to buy the $40 unlimited plan

Aha. That would explain my rate then. Wankers.

I have a Nikon D50 which I like quite a bit. But it doesn't shoot native black and white. From googling on the topic, it seems that digital B&W lags its analog equivalent, and that fiddling with custom curves in post is the way to go.

Except--ick.

I love black and white photography, and if I'm to actually take a portrait a day I'm going to need as many options as possible.

Are we really talking this? Why has my future forsaken me?

What are folks here doing for black and white?

What are folks here doing for black and white?

Clicking "grayscale" in Photoshop.

Black & White in Aperture and Lightroom: [link]

Clicking "grayscale" in Photoshop.

I hate those default contrast settings. They're way too flat.

Thanks for the link, Tom. I don't have either the software or the hardware that guy does, but even his "easy" solution seems complicated. Which is some strange consolation.

Photoshop CS3 has a Black & White adjustment that my instructor praises highly. He's old-school who has shot film B&W in the past. He has nothing good to say about shooting B&W digitally!

I "only" have cS2 and Paintshop something. And I guess I could have the Gimp.

What do you find when you view the properties of the CD drive and select the AutoPlay tab? The "Actions" settings may be different for each item in the drop-down list. What action is highlighted for "Music CD"?

I had "take no action" selected. In any case, I went back into that screen to make sure, and the next time I inserted a CD, I held down the shift key. After that, the problem seems to have fixed itself. t waves hands

For CS2, he'd probably suggest creating a Hue/Saturation adjustment level, and then taking the saturation (ie the color intensity) down to 0.