Filed under: Audio/Video, Computers, Advice, iPodIt's the perennial question whenever your iPod, laptop, cell phone, or other device suddenly stops working -- should I replace this or can it be fixed? Surprisingly, seemingly unfixable problems like a cracked LCD laptop screen can be fixed for not too much money either by you, or by sending it out to a repair person. Same goes for a cracked iPod screen. And, according to a recent article in the New York Times, you can even sometimes get a fishy hard drive on about 70 percent of broken iPods to work using a piece of paper as a shim. The piece highlights this quick fix, as well as a bunch of sites where you can get either get information on how to repair common gadgets, as well as services that will fix your gadgets for free. We've covered some of this stuff before. Fixya.com, for example, offers up tutorials and gadget-fix solutions -- all uploaded by users who've tried these fixes out themselves -- for a multitude of devices. The Fixya solutions tend to be more extensive and easier to access than the average official consumer electronics tech-support site.According to tech pundit Rob Enderle, 15 percent of iPods fail in their first year, which is why places like RapidRepair do such a great business. The site will do 24-hour turnaround repairs on everything from broken screens and hard drives to batteries. They'll also do mods to your iPod, such as this cool iVue iPod with a transparent body that reveals all the innards.We spoke with RapidRepair.com founder Aaron Vronko and asked him for some quick tips on when your iPod is fixable and when it's time to throw it out. (btw, the throw-out tips are based on actual broken iPods that Vronko's company has received in the mail).Your iPod is fixable when...You get that sad iPod icon on your screen. This means your hard drive is kaput and needs to be replaced. According to Vronko, this repair is worth doing because it usually only costs 50 percent of the original cost of the device.Your screen looks like some ink has spilled on it. This means you've got a broken LCD screen. The cost on these sorts of repairs are usually just 25 to 35 percent of the original cost of the unit, according to Vronko, usually around $90 or less. You can even do it yourself, if you want to do it ASAP (Vronko says his company also just sells the screen and directions for DIY types).You get a battery and and exclamation point on your screen. "If you're getting this several times a week and more quickly than usual, your battery is probably dead," says Vronko. This fix is a cinch and usually costs around $20 from a professional service.Your iPod is probably beyond repair when...It's fallen in the water: Salt water is worse than fresh water, but the real danger comes when you turn it on and it's still wet. "This is probably when you'd do the most damage," says Vronko. "You're better off taking it apart as soon as possible and removing any corrosive liquid with concentrated rubbing alcohol." You can also try sticking your iPod in a bowl of uncooked rice, but this doesn't always work. RapidRepair will try and fix these sorts of issues -- if you send the soiled device to them in a sealed plastic bag -- but it's likely your iPod is a goner.If it's been chewed by a dog: Dog's teeth are strong, and unfortunately they usually puncture an iPod's hard drive, the screen, and the battery. It's been run over by a car: Vronko says someone actually sent him an iPod that had been run over by a car.Vronko's rule of thumb is, if the hard drive, the battery, and the screen are all broken, it's time to replace the entire thing. And, according to the New York Times piece, you should usually just toss broken DVD players or any PC with Windows 95 or older, because the cost of replacement is usually less than the cost of repair.For some cool pics of broken iPods, check out the gallery below.From NY Times and RapidRepairRelated Links:Get Ya Answers at Fixya.comHow to Unlock Your iPhone for FreeDIY iPhone Battery Replacement Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: Computers, Celebrities, MySpaceMySpace is a minefield. Time magazine even put the social-networking site on its list of 'Five Web Sites to Avoid.' Even we here at Switched have posted endless coverage of the sexual predators, spammers, and hackers that have made the MySpace risky at times for anybody not browsing with a sandboxed Firefox browser.Now, the hackers have managed to expand their attacks beyond the usual faux profiles or hijacks of your friends pages. They're starting to hit the MySpace pages of celeb musicians such as Alicia Keys.The hack is actually quite sophisticated and involves multiple avenues of infection. Just visiting Keys' page prompts spyware to attempt to install itself on your PC. If that fails, the page will then ask you to install a codec to allow you to view a video. The codec is fake and if you accept the installation, you will get instant spyware infection! If that fails, the entire background image of the page is a link. Miss any of the legitimate links on the page and you'll be taken to a Web site registered by a Chinese company Xiamen Hua Shang Sheng Shi Network Co. Ltd. That Web site also tries to install malicious code on your computer.It's a big mess!Security experts at Exploit Prevention Labs, a company that tracks pages containing malicious code, spotted the hack when Keys' s MySpace page was flagged by users of the company's LinkScanner system.Keys's page has been confirmed as being cleaned by MySpace and LinkScanner.com, but all that could change in a matter of days.From PC WorldRelated links:Five Web Sites You Should AvoidFive Things to Avoid When Dating OnlineIs MySpace's Tom Lying About His Age? Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: Cell PhonesAustralians, what with their funny accents and numerous marsupials, really enjoy chatting to one another. With their funny accents. About marsupials. On cell phones. So much so, in fact, that the NSW government says cell phone bills are to blame for the increasing numbers of young Australians seeking to declare themselves bankrupt. According to a survey conducted by the Office of Fair Trading, the young men and women are, often unknowingly, racking up huge bills."Suddenly they have got bills of $3,000 to $4,000 because they thought services they were getting in term of downloads and ringtones, and voting on Big Brother, were free," Fair Trading Minister Linda Burney said.A survey of 1,000 Australians found 75 percent were "not confident" that their mobile phone premium content provider would address their concerns about a high bill. The OFT has apparently received more than 2,000 phone-related complaints over the past 18 months.We agree that navigating the cell phone billing maze is awful and evil and all sorts of bad. But at the risk of stating the obvious, might we suggest a little less talking on the cell phone? From TextuallyRelated Links:Kosher Phone for Orthodox Jews5% of US electricity wasted by "vampire electronics" Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: Computers, Video Games, eBayAre you obsessed with video games? Do you cry every time you think about how your mom gave away your Atari 2600? Do you have 10 grand or so to spare?If you answered yes to any of those (especially the last one), we've got some good news for you. Foran undisclosed reason, a man is selling his collection of video games, game systems, and accessories via eBay. The lot of almost 1,800 items, estimated to be worth about $15,000 and weighing in at half a ton, took the seller known as "sengoku" 30 years to amass.We couldn't possibly list every item in the auction, but here is a list of the systems (there are multiples of some):Atari 2600, Atari 7800, Atari Jaguar, Atari Lynx, Coleco ColecoVision, Coleco Gemini, Coleco Telstar, Commodore 64/128, GCE Vectrex, Mattel Aquarius, Mattel Intellivision, Mattel Odyssey 2, Microsoft Xbox, Microsoft Xbox 360, Miscellaneous APF TV Fun, Miscellaneous Handheld Games, Miscellaneous PC Games, Miscellaneous SC Eight Thousand, Miscellaneous Sega Pods, Miscellaneous TV Games, NEC Turbo Duo, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Game Boy Advance, Nintendo GameCube, Nintendo NES, Nintendo Nintendo 64, Nintendo Super NES, Nintendo Virtual Boy, Nintendo Wii, Sega Dreamcast, Sega Game Gear, Sega Genesis, Sega Master System, Sega Saturn, SNK Neo Geo, SNK Neo Geo Pocket, Sony Playstation, Sony Playstation 2, Texas Instruments TI 99/4A, VM Labs Nuon. With a collection of this size you could open a museum.%Gallery-10015%From TMZRelated links:Online Game Character Sells for $10kMisspelling Costs eBay Seller $500,000eBay Rival Sells Itself on eBay Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: CamerasThe British military is testing a new helmet that allows fighter pilots to see through their planes. The system is actually very elegant in its simplicity. A series of camera are placed on the outside of the plane. The images from the cameras are fed back to the cockpit where they are projected inside the specially designed helmet, allowing the pilot to see 360 degrees around him/her. It will look to the pilot as if there is no plane at all... which, now that we think about it, sounds kinda creepy.The cameras will even have infrared sensors, allowing pilots to look down, through the cockpit floor, in the dead of night, and identify targets.From Daily MailRelated links:Gay Bomb Makes Love, Not WarThe Defense Department's New Robot DogsRussia Tests "Father of All Bombs" on September 11 Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: ComputersIf you want to encourage kids to save, you might take them to the bank to set up an account, teach them to keep track of what they spend their money on and praise their progress. If you're in Japan, though, you apparently have to dol out severely negative punishment if your kid doesn't save his or her Yen, at least if the advent of this new exploding piggy bank is any indication.The Savings Bomb is a digital piggy bank from TOMY. According to the company, it's shaped like a bomb, even labeled with a skull and crossbones, to strike fear in the hearts of kids. Those who are too poor to regularly add money to the thing will find that it starts to vibrate and shake. The LED wick on top will start to blink, and, if its carnal needs for money aren't quickly quenched, it'll blow all of your kid's hard-earned savings out the back. Picking up the change apparenlty, will force kids to"reflect on their laziness," according to TOMY.So, no, it doesn't actually explode, but it does seem to make a big mess. Even so, we're not sure just how a bank that ejects all of your kid's money when they don't save is going to encourage them to save more. Plus, who the heck saves coins these days? You'd think an alarm clock that costs 2,922 Yen (about $25) would at least come with a bill slot.From ReutersRelated Links: Chinese Man Hacks Lottery System, Gets Life in Prison Most People Downloading Radiohead's New Album for Free Mmm....Doughnut USB Drive  Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: Audio/VideoThe Beta vs. VHS battle was long enough ago that many purchasers of a high-definition video player don't remember the trials and tribulations of early adopters back in the 80's. Neither, apparently, do executives from Sony and Toshiba, who, despite numerous meetings, failed to come up with a shared format they could all agree upon. Now the formats from the two companies are locked in a life and death struggle, it seems proponents of the two are getting in on the action. Just this week, angry format opponents got so out of hand that they shut down a popular message board thanks to a series of threats of death and physical violence.AVS Forum is widely regarded as the go-to place for anything relating to home entertainment on the Internet, and is the home of many of the most dedicated and knowledgeable proponents for the two competing formats. But, really, death threats? C'mon guys. Apparently a series of "physical threats that have involved police and possible legal action" forced the forum moderators to temporarily disable the forums.Things have settled down over there at the moment, but as the crucial holiday season approaches, and with Toshiba making huge cuts to push HD-DVD into homes, it looks like it could be a rough couple of months. Better wear a helmet on Black Friday, yeah?From GearlogRelated Links: HD-DVD Players Drop to $100, For One Day Citing High Price, Kmart Stops Selling Blu-ray Players Headaches for Blu-ray Owners  Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Lasers, once reserved for such mundane tasks as shooting stormtroopers and taking out imperial Tie Fighters, are now being used for more practical (and safer) use in the medical field. New research has revealed a new technique that uses lasers to destroy viruses and bacteria -- including biggies like AIDS and Hepatitis -- without harming the cells of the infected person.Physicists from Arizona State University are the ones behind the study, which was published in the Institute of Physics' Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter (what, you don't subscribe?). Beyond being a treatment for disease, the technique may also be effective in reducing the spread of infections such as MRSA in hospitals, say the researchers.Lasers FTW. From GizmagRelated Links:Driverless car uses lasers to avoid obstacles Researchers kill viruses with lasers  Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: ComputersPet owners know that keeping their critters clean can be a real drag. While some dogs love water, even they seem to hate bath time, and trying to bathe a cat ... well ... let's just say that's a really bad idea. Getting someone else to do the washing for you makes the whole process a lot easier, but paying upwards of $50 for your average dog bath gets expensive. Enter the Pet Spa, an automated washing machine for pets that promises to do the same thing for just $15. That is, of course, assuming you don't mind completely traumatizing Fluffy or Scruffy while watching as they writhe in misery.The device looks something like an over-sized microwave, with a large opening through which you insert your pet. Once the door is shut (and presumably locked) you pay your money, punch in a few options (anti-flea spray? deodorant? under-body anti-rust coating?), and then stand back and watch as your pet throws a fit of epic proportions while jets of high-pressure suds whisk away all that nastiness, before driers blow them clean. The machines are available for purchase at $30,000, but at that price they're obviously intended for installation in major pet stores. Given the impression of fear these boxes are likely to strike into the hearts of special cuddly ones, we suggest trying one of these out in a store you don't ever plan on entering again.Now, are you actually going to try this? And, if not, tell us why, 'cause we think it looks kinda cool/convenient.From OhGizmo!Related Links: Dough-Nu Matic Makes a Dozen Donuts in Less Than Six Minutes The Coolest New Gadgets from Japan Gadget Silences Noisy Neighborhood Dogs  Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: ComputersIf you've ever read the comments that stack up below some of our posts, you may have stumbled across a few that make you wonder just what the person who created the post in question was smoking or drinking when they wrote it. According to Josh Quittner in Fortune, there might be a solution to end to those babbling, nonsensical, and sometimes even amusing comments that certainly give us a chuckle. Software engineers in Albuquerque are working on a so-called "stupid filter" that would pop up a message whenever a user tries to submit an inane comment. The filter would, upon detecting such a comment, redirect it back to the user and ask that he or she try to re-write it to a point where it makes sense. The hope is that, after a few tries, the people making irritating comments would just go away. The trick, of course, is actually separating the stupid from the sensical, and the inane from the ironic. The filter is intended to be distributed for free, meaning, if all goes well, the days of the exclamation point being the most commonly used character in the comment field may soon be over.From CNN MoneyRelated Links: 95-Year-Old Granny Blogger Reminisces For All to See Texas School District Sues Blogger Mom 10 Apple Predictions That Turned Out to Be Wrong  Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: Computers, Interviews, Celebrities, TVThese days, Ben Curtis, also once known as "the Dell dude," is more likely to say "Dude, you're gettin' a tequila" than "Dude, you're gettin' a Dell" (the catch phrase/slogan he made famous as the on-air Dell spokesman back in the early aughts). That's because the affable everyman that showed up in many a commercial for Dell Computer now works as a bartender at a Mexican-restaurant-cum-bar in New York City!Is this what happens after you get busted for trying to buy marijuana and then lose your job on a high-profile ad campaign? Apparently, yes, but it's not as bad as it sounds.First of all, the guy is busy. When not participating in anti-war protests (as evidenced by the picture above) or playing gay dudes off-Broadway to critical acclaim, Curtis does episodes of Law & Order and has a role in the upcoming movie,' Proud Iva.' Curtis also sings in the band Whale. According to the funny interview with Curtis on New York magazine's Grub Street blog, the former Dell dude has also found girlfriends (as well as friends in DEA agents) at the Tortilla Flats restaurant where he's been working his "day job."Turns out that the Dell dude is less of an everyman and more of an indie hipster, which, surprisingly, is about the last thing we'd associate with the computer company he once represented. So, what do you think? Isn't it time we gave this guy a break? If he were now to become a national spokesperson for a company or product other than Dell, what company or product would that be? Let us know!%Gallery-10000% From Grub Street/NewYorkMagRelated Stories:Top Five Raciest Ads on the Web Top 11 Geek T-Shirts Best Ever Celebrity Gadget AdsBlogging Stocks: Former Dell Dude Working Food Service Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: Computers, Advice, MySpace, Switched VideoFaceBook is fun -- there's no doubt about that. However, did you know that your social networking profile is open to Google and Yahoo searches? If you think your boss and prospective employers aren't Googling you, think again. Just consider what will happen when the girls of '30 Reasons You Know It's Time to Go Home' go out and try to get jobs now that their drunken FaceBook endeavors have been made national news.Switched's own Joshua Fruhlinger appeared on Fox Television in Washington, D.C. to discuss the in's and out's of keeping your professional and private lives intact all while having some fun with social networking apps like FaceBook, MySpace, and LinkedIn.From MyFoxRelated Links:Females Flock to Facebook to Post Pictures of Their Drunken Antics Can Privacy Exist on the Internet?Your Online Friends Aren't Really Your Friends, Study Says Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: Audio/Video, ComputersFurther hope that victims of paralysis or amputation could one day reclaim some form of motion came this week in the form of a robotically-enhanced, tobacco-chewing moth. The Society for Neuroscience's yearly gathering in San Diego saw a presentation on research in which a tobacco hornworm moth's brain was connected to electrodes and amplifiers at the base of a fairly common kit of robotic parts. When the insect's highly developed eyes, evolved for evading predators and mating, would shift left or right, the attached robotic parts would react accordingly. In order to get the "robo-moth" to shift it's eyes, the scientists placed it in tube with a 14-ich tall revolving wall covered in vertical stripes. The moths, which only live about a week, would then track the stripes resulting in motion with the longest tracking time lasting nearly a minute and a half. While limited at the moment, the device's use in harnessing electric impulses in such a small brain gives way to added possibilities from using insects as bomb-detectors to the aforementioned ambitions for practical human applications. From LA Times Related Links Touchless Keyboard for the Disabled Control an iPod with Your Teeth  Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: Audio/Video, Computers, Video Games, iPod, iPhone With 'Guitar Hero III' sales posting over $115 in one week and the hype for this month's 'Rock Band' reaching an Axl-esque pitch, it's safe to say that America's hunger for rock n' roll games is damn near insatiable. So it was a surprising treat earlier this week when Harmonix, developer of 'Guitar Hero', 'Guitar Hero II' and 'Rock Band,' announced that it was releasing a brand new music game for the iPod -- title 'Phase.' The game is similar to 'Guitar Hero' in the way it is played and only costs $5, but what is most exciting is that the game uses the music you already have on your iPod and converts those tunes into what you see on the screen. Ever since the original 'Guitar Hero' camer out, fans have longed to not only play the songs that came pre-packaged with the game but also to incorporate whatever songs they wanted into the game's rhythm-based rocking. The music-recognition software of 'Phase' is nowhere near the depth of a 'Guitar Hero' or 'Rock Band', but Harmonix's 'lil iPod game looks to be the first step towards playing your own selection of tunes on a giant HDTV or, in our case, a crappy Magnavox. Thrilling nonetheless. 'Phase' is available on the iTunes store now. From Boing Boing Gadgets. Related Links: 'Guitar Hero III' Rocks Out to $115 Million Launch 'Guitar Hero III' Ready to Rock Say Reviews After 'Sopranos,' Little Steven Tries Video Games  Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments