MBP battery weirdness

After a week with my new MBP, I'm pretty happy. Its solid, well built and no major issues. The only weird thing is with the battery charging times and apparent discharge while sleeping.

First - charging. As you can see here, the battery indicator on the side of the machine shows a full charge, yet the charging indicator in the menu bar says it will take over an hour to fully charge.?! What gives? The percent charge is 92% - so it will take an hour and 18 minutes to charge the remaining 8 percent??This doesn't make sense at all.

When have a full charge - I can unplug the MBP, use it for 5 minutes, and then plug it back in and it will claim over an hour to charge the battery after only 5 minutes of usage?!

When I screen shot the image above, the MBP had been in sleep mode (cover shut) and plugged in while I ran to lunch and did some errands. When I shut the cover, the battery indicator claimed 1 hour and 45 minutes to charge. I was gone for an hour and a half, and that's when I got the above image which says I have 1:18 left after sitting charging for 1:30.

And if I take my fully charged MBP and stick it in my bag, jump on an airplane, say from LA to Green Bay and then pull it out to use it and plug it in, it will claim 2 hours or so to charge. Hmmm, I didn't use it at all since putting it in my bag. Sure, the battery will draw a teeny tiny amount to keep the static RAM juiced, but nothing like what the battery management is claiming.

Is there something wrong here? Yes. Is the battery working at 100%? Yes, I think it is. I think the battery management software is the culprit here.

Anyone else having these issues?

Why websites matter

I'm in L.A. tonight and I'm in the mood for sushi. So, I hit maps.google.com and see what's close by. Two look promising, and I'm going to pick one purely by its website.

After all - I'm not from here. I have to judge them somehow, right?

So, I picked the one from above.

The one below? Nope. Sure it had decent reviews, but the design of the website, combined with the really annoying music that plays on each page turned me off. Sure I bet someone thought the cute Japanese music was nice, but no. Just because you CAN do something, doesn't mean you SHOULD do that thing.



So, when you look at your website and think, "its good enough" perhaps you need to think again. I run into this all the time and I'm always amazed at how the owners don't think that the look and the feel of their website matters.

Trust me, it does.

I'll believe it when I see it

Today the DOJ signed off on the Northwest / Delta merger. The DOJ, in their infinite wisdom, said, "...The merger likely will result in efficiencies such as cost savings in airport operations, information technology, supply chain economics, and fleet optimization that will benefit consumers," they wrote. "Consumers are also likely to benefit from improved service made possible by combining under single ownership the complementary aspects of the airlines' networks."

Riiiiiggght.

Congrats to the board and the major shareholders of Northwest who finally got an exit strategy.

Sucks for the rest of us. (sigh)

I better get my ass in gear burning up my miles....

Zoom zoom!

I'm in L.A. today and I stopped to take a few minutes and go through some emails so I hauled out my new MacBook Pro, connected my Sprint EVDO card and went about my business. A friend emailed me a video link and when I pulled it up, I thought, "Dang, that loaded fast".

I'm used to maxing out my Sprint EVDO connection around 1500kbps - sometimes slower depending on where I am. I decided to fire up the speed test and take a look at the connection and WOW! I was amazed to see ~2500kbps. So I did it again, and again and after about 6 tries, I figured it has to be right.

Contrast this with the horrid AT&T 3G service with my iPhone. ;-)

It kinda makes we want to hack the EVDO card into the MacBook Pro somehow ... hmmm ....

Conspiracy theory

Firmware beta 2.2 2 has been seeded to developers for the iPhone, iPhone 3G and first gen iPod Touch. However, the latest iPod Touch ships with a yet unreleased firmware and the beta that's been seeded out isn't for the new iPod touch.

So, what gives?

Aside from the cellular radio and bluetooth, the touch and the iPhone are identical... right? (or should I ask, "aside from the speakers, display and the volume controls, the old and new touch are identical, right?")

Is this a signpost about something new coming?

Or just a nothing that should be ignored?

Does anyone know what display sizes the video chip in the iPhone and iPod touch can drive?

Can someone write a little benchmark app and benchmark the iPhone and iPod touch?

I'm just curious... and January isn't too far away... I'm just sayin'....

We The People...

I want my MTV

Dire Straits |MTV Music

Ok, I'm impressed. I've been dissing MTV for years for the LACK of music for being "Music Television" and today, MTV (mtvmusic.com) gained some cred back with their move of putting every music video from their archive online.

For Free.

This also includes MTV unplugged, etc. so there's some amazing stuff in there.

Free software day

Hey Macheads! Codeweavers is offering its CrossOver software FREE today ONLY! (thanks to low oil and gas prices) You have to pick which version you want and only one per customer.

So, get off your butt and get it while you can today!

(I think they're getting hammered .... website is SUPER SLOW)

One device or two?

Today the Dash is $199 on Amazon. That's a pretty sweet deal such that I'm kinda on the fence about getting one. For as much as I travel in other cities, a dedicated GPS would be handy to have.

But my iPhone essentially does everything the Dash does and carrying another device isn't something I really want to do, but I would if the device was worth it to me.

Of course, when I'm using the iPhone as a phone, its useless as a GPS since it doesn't get data while on a call. (I guess it might be a bad thing to be talking on the phone and examining GPS routes all while driving.... eh?)

Google Maps on the iPhone rocks... I live it on when traveling and having traffic is also a huge deal for me when driving around cities like San Francisco or Los Angeles and has saved my butt on more than one occasion.

I've passed on a GPS last year for Christmas from my family since I didn't think I'd use it since I had Google Maps on my phone. But does the GPS experience trounce Maps on a phone enough to justify owning one? Not to mention that the Dash needs a subscription to get updates, etc. but that's cool since it has a GPRS modem in it. If you don't get the subscription, its a plain jane GPS.

Any iPhone users out there also carry/use a dedicated GPS?

Square peg, round hole

I've always followed a simple rule when hiring staff ; even though you have a posting for a position with certain responsibilities, you shape the final position around the candidate to maximize their utility.

So many companies waste good talent by forcing them to fit into a position which serves the company need, but misses the mark by ignoring the individual's true capabilities.

Remember - any company is only as good as its people and in tough times, its the raw talent in the staff that makes the difference.

Didn't we defeat these guys?

Take a read.

And remember, all he wants to do is "spread the wealth around".

When is a tax cut not a tax cut?

Both candidates are proposing tax cuts. Fine. However, there's one little detail with the definition of a tax cut. A tax cut is a decrease on the amount of taxes paid to the tax man, correct? So why is it that Obama is proposing tax rebates for those folks on the bottom of the pile who don't pay taxes? How can you get a rebate or tax cut on something that you didn't pay in the first place??

Now, I'm pretty good with logic, and this isn't a tax cut. Its redistributing wealth.

But then again, Obama said plain and clear that this is exactly what he plans to do. "I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody."

Ok folks - pony up your checkbook and write those checks!

3D force feedback

Back in college while I was generally avoiding going to class, I spent (blew) my time messing around with Power Gloves, and other gadgets hacked into my IIgs and Mac IIci. While those times were a lot of fun, entertaining and educational, there was the problem of force feedback when interacting with objects in 3D space.

With that in mind, check this out. Sweet!

Sick of traffic?

Moller has put their original prototype on Ebay yet again.

If you like cruising at 2-4 feet on your way to work, then happy bidding. Of course, I'd bet you would look way cooler in it than the dude in the pic. ;-)