The Big Think

Just how did Dumbledore know what ear wax tasted like, anyway?

Top 10 reasons to watch the new season of Battlestar Galactica on Letterman…. announced by the cast of BSG. Is it just me, or did they really phone this one in? Can you say “contractual obligation”? As in all top 10 lists, some were funny and some were dumb. I particularly liked Roslin’s.

Upgrading my cellphone to a nice spiffy new Razr. The problem with the old one was that it wouldn’t “pick up” when I opened the clamshell. The new one was only $50 after rebate and I got a bluetooth earpiece, which will definitely be nice when I’m driving.

Anyway, I’m filling out the rebate form today and noticed this in the fine print:

“Offer is valid only with the purchase of a qualifying handset upgrade at wireless retail stores that are authorized to sell T-Moblie products and services (locations not owned and operated by T-Moblie)”

followed immediately by this paragraph (emphasis mine):

“Offer is NOT valid for purchases made at T-Mobile owned and operated retail locations”

Huh? I called T-Mobile and told him I bought it from a T-Mobile-only storefront and he told me I was okay, but am I the only one thrown by this fine print? It seems to be saying that if I bought it from a T-Mobile store directly the rebate wouldn’t apply, even though the store was advertising it with the rebate. It’s probably just a case of the rebate form being overlawyered, but it’s annoying anyway. I’m the kind of person that fills out all my rebate forms and tracks their progress, i.e. the kind of person the industry hates because I actually get my money back. This silliness seems to be giving them a way out, not that they’ll take it.

UPDATE: Wow, it turns out I’m not crazy after all. Other people have been having a problem with the same exact thing. It seems T-mobile is denying perfectly legitimate rebate forms because of this very same fine print. Who’da thunk it? T-mobile has always gotten good marks for customer service, so this surprises me. I’ll definitely keep an eye on this. This guy (same link) says he filed a complaint with the BBB and heard back from T-mobile only to be rejected again in a letter a few weeks later. He called the office of the president and got it taken care of, but please… do you really need to go to those lengths to get a legitimate rebate back? Shame on T-moblie if this is a common practice.

For the record, I’ve spoken to two different people at T-mobile (Michael at my local store), and they assure me I’ll get the rebate. This is why I try not to mess with rebates much. Too much trouble.

Check out this flight simulator.

In addition to looking awesomely cool, it can help you get your pilot’s license. The FAA has reportedly said that you can use it for up to 2.5 hours of actual stick time toward your license. Unfortunately, the $100/hour or so that you save is more than offset by the $17,250 pricetag of the simulator. When I was getting my license I bought a copy of MS Flight Sim and ran it on my roommate Patrick’s PC. I used the very basic keyboard and joystick controls to run pattern and landing procedures, and even simulated a couple of flights. I couldn’t log the time, but just practicing the procedures at home allowed me to easily save the $40 in flight time that the program cost me. A very good investment.

I think that I could easily build something like this, using just this picture. I’d have to use a preexisting computer (which I have), and buy some monitors and other gear, but I think it’d be easily possible to make this for under a couple grand.

Hmm.

Monitors: 3 Dell 22″ LCD’s $750
Computer: exising
Software: $50
Chair: $200?
Tubing and infrastructure: $200?
Instrumentation: Ooo.. this looks like it’d be the expensive part. Probably cost a couple grand to outfit a full suite of instrumentation. Luckily, most of it seems to be built on a standard interface protocol so it could plug into MS Flight Sim or X-Plane.

So for a “mere” $3500-$4000 outlay you could have a killer homemade flight sim- and ’save’ $12,000!

Okay, it’s not cheap, but what a fun project to undertake for someone. I’d bet you could easily sell it for more that the cost of parts (though not the time invested).

Hey, I can dream, can’t I?

*UPDATE* For a righteous Moon plug-in for your flight sim, check out Terrabuilder’s site. Their software allows you to change the Earth terrain maps to a lunar map, then fly around in their landers. Awesome screenshots.

“Keep Rolling from the Top“. The Boom Operator Blues.

Get scale weapons for you Lego figures!

I wonder how many of theseD Patrick has tucked away in his closet?