THE iPod is small, light and wonderfully portable â making it easy to forget about when itâs tucked away in a pocket. Having fished our fair share of keys, coins and notes from washing machines, we arenât surprised to hear that a number of iPods have been laundered, too. Whatâs more, judging from a discussion on the Mac news site Macintouch.com, it seems to be a growing problem (see
Macintouch readers report 19 washings already this year, plus one toilet dunking. Could that be telling us that iPods are no longer especially treasured possessions, just more âstuffâ that might be forgotten in a pocket every so often?
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As a general rule, electronics and water donât mix, but a surprising number of the sodden iPods survived. The best advice, we hear, is to allow the freshly laundered iPods to dry out for a few days before plugging them in. Hereâs a tip, too: if you always leave the earphones connected, water wonât be able to seep into the gadgetâs innards through the earphone socket.
âEvery single weekend, Paul Thompson sees people holding placards in his local town advertising a âMassive rug saleâ. He wants to know just how big is this rug that is taking so long to sellâ
To avoid toilet dunks, the product information site gives the insightful warning: âDonât use your iPod in the bathroom.â If you fail to heed this advice, the site offers tips on how best to fish the device out of the toilet, or other liquid-filled vessels â one person managed to drop his into a glass of grapefruit juice ().
One last piece of advice: if you must dunk your iPod in the toilet (an iPoo?), donât flush. Last year, , maintenance workers at Santa Clara University in California struggled for weeks with a blockage of the drains in the arts and sciences building. Eventually they spotted the problem: a pink iPod had been accidentally flushed by a student, who later admitted her mistake and yet somehow got off without having to pay the plumbers.
A story on the forums.worldofwarcraft website shows it could have been worse, after he flushed his iPod down the toilet in an airliner. He subsequently spent a very long time trying to convince security that he was not a terrorist.
RICHARD MARSHALL may have discovered the reason why so few schoolchildren opt to study science. He was reading a discussion by Roger Lock in a recent issue of The Biologist (vol 54, p 59) on the educational importance of children dissecting animals and plants. Lock suggests that this could involve ethical problems for children of certain religions. âSome schools,â he says, âaddress this issue by asking students to provide their own hearts or kidneys.â
ON THE underside of the boxes of copier paper that arrive at Dyane Silvesterâs office are the words: âThis is the bottom of the box. If you are reading this the box is upside down, or you need a hobby.â
Further, on the wrapper of each ream of paper there is a note boasting of the high quality of the paper that concludes: ââŚbut be aware, itâs no substitute for boring or irrelevant content. Please ensure you check this before you press print.â
Silvester wonders if the paper-manufacturing company employs someone to make up text like this for its packaging â or has management not yet noticed whatâs going on?
WHEN his Norton Internet Security 2006 package approached its expiry date, Brian Oswald downloaded the replacement product, Norton 360, made by Symantec. Wishing to raise a minor query, he clicked on a URL that was included in an acknowledgement email he had just received from Symantec.
It led him, via âSupport Optionsâ, to âContact Customer Servicesâ, where he was greeted with this warning message: âThe security certificate presented by this website has expired or is not yet valid. Security certificate problems may indicate an attempt to fool you or intercept any data you send to the server. We recommend that you close this web page and do not continue to this website.â
Oswald didnât know whether to be impressed or alarmed that Symantec was warning people away from its own site.
FINALLY, alongside the understandable manufacturerâs caution not to disassemble his new laptop battery was an admonition that Brian Grady was more surprised by: âNever hammer a nail into the battery packâ.
âThere goes my ingenious idea for securing it to my old laptop,â he laments. âThough, come to think of it, my laptop probably wouldnât appreciate having nails hammered into it either.â