May 5, 2009 by traveler.

Ouch. Consumerist reports that a Best Buy customer in Texas opened a brand-new MacBook Pro box and instead of a laptop, he found…a paving stone.

Is this becoming a trend? First it was the Chinese newspaper & rocks in a Nintendo DS box, and now this. While Wal-Mart made good on the missing Nintendo DS, apparently Best Buy told the proud new owner of a paving stone that “Apple seals the boxes, not us. Take it up with Apple.” Hmm. I’m gonna go with…the customer gave his credit card to Best Buy for this purchase, not Apple.

Which makes this potentially simple- customer notifies credit card company that he is having this problem with BB and is working to resolve it. If BB still won’t rectify the situation, he gets credit card company to reverse the charge and file a grievance against BB.

Of course there is another important question- could this be a shady customer’s shakedown attempt? Guess Best Buy and the credit card company will work that all out. Maybe it’ll turn out that this guy ends up throwing that paving stone back in his yard where he found it. Who knows.

Posted in Junk, Weird, Gripes, Business, Tech, Nintendo, Toys, Apple, Gear | No Comments »

March 11, 2009 by traveler.

Like ‘The Dude’ in The Big Lebowski, I hate the Eagles. I know, I know, “Hotel California” is something you’re supposed to love, like Citizen Kane. But I just can’t bring myself to enjoy that song. Too earnest, too slow. However, I recently caught something in The Big Lebowski that I hadn’t noticed before. A Spanish-style version of the song, which actually got the toes tapping. The Gipsy Kings version refreshes like a cool mojito under the hot sun. Finally I can enjoy “Hotel California”- it just took a different artist to get my attention.

Below is an iTunes iMix featuring both versions of the song. See which you prefer.

Such a lovely place, indeed!

Posted in Apple, Movies, Music | No Comments »

December 31, 2008 by traveler.

Happy New Year!!! A celebration like this deserves some good tunes. Lemme fire up my Microsoft Zune…hmm…that’s odd. It seems to have frozen. Wonder if anyone else is having that problem. Aahh! It’s Z2K! Oh crap, what if the reason it is frozen is because it is linking to all the ‘red ring of death’ XB360s and they are preparing to sprout laser cannons and take over a la War of the Worlds!

Thankfully there is a solution. Shoot- I sure hope there isn’t an i2K on the way. ::Shudder::

Posted in Junk, Business, Tech, Apple, Design | No Comments »

May 16, 2008 by traveler.

The latest iTunes ad features the Ting Tings‘ song “Shut Up And Let Me Go”

People seem to feel strongly about this song- either love it or hate it. Myself, I love the song and I can’t wait to check out their full album. The vinyl drops May 20 and the cd comes out on June 3. Those of you in the know might have caught them at SXSW this year. If (like me) you weren’t so lucky, they have some US tour dates coming up. BTW, great music, but the site makes my eyes bleed. Maybe their Myspace page will be better…Aaauuugh!!! That’s even worse! Good luck on the album and props to Apple for clue-ing us in on another promising new artist.

Posted in Apple, Video, Music, TV | No Comments »