Archive for April, 2009
Question Asked: Why Is There No Light In My Freezer?
According to the internet, the reason varies. From “the bulb would explode” to “it’s too expensive”, there’s about a hundred different reasons that I found.
After thinking about it, the one that makes the most sense is actually rather simple: frost.
Having a stationary object in your freezer all the time would lead to eventual frost build up, negating the effect of having a light in the freezer in the first place.
Some people argue, pretty strongly actually, that the bulb heating up (when it’s turned on) and cooling down (when you shut the door) would cause it to explode. While that may be true, my guess is that you’d have to have the freezer open for quite a while for the bulb to get hot enough to be affected by the cool down.
There’s no definitive answer, unfortunately. I don’t think you’d actually need a light in your freezer, my guess is that you were just curious. And now you know, sort of.
Question Asked: How Much Does A Website Cost?
Assuming you have no knowledge on how to build one for yourself, and have nothing built already, the costs can vary pretty greatly.
A number of factors need to be included to figure out how much it’ll cost you, such as
- The developer you hire
- What you want the website to do
- What quality website you want.
If you just want a few pages on the internet to represent your business, you could probably get someone to build that for you for a few hundred dollars.
If you want a large scale e-commerce business, like Amazon, or a large scale online auction system, like eBay, it’s likely going to cost you thousands, if not tens of thousands of dollars.
The thing to keep in mind also, is that with a website it’s not just “build it” and let it go. Websites take maintenance, updates, code modifications, and future enhancements. If you’re running a full time business via your website, and selling more than 10 products a day, you should have a portion of your staff devoted specifically to running that part of your business.
You shouldn’t put internet orders off because you’re too busy with customers in your brick and mortar store. Someone who buys from you on the internet most likely bought it because you had a better price than they could find in a store. Just because they’re paying less, doesn’t mean they expect less. General rule of thumb is, if someone buys from you online, treat it like they’re in your store, and pack their item for shipment immediately, and schedule a pickup through your package carrier.
With that said, the answer to your question is anywhere from $0 – $1,000,000, greatly depending on what you want to do.
Question Asked: Can I Use My iPhone On A Network Other Than AT&T?
Offically, no. Not yet, at least. Rumor has it that Apple is planning on adding Verizon to the available carriers for their iPhone.
Unofficially, yes. There’s a method people are utilizing called “jailbreaking”, which will allow you to use the iPhone on any carrier that you choose.
However, doing so will void your warranty with Apple, and will likely cause your phone to stop working when the new 3.0 software comes out in a month and a half.
If you’re interested in jailbreaking your phone, anyway, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of companies online that will do the service for you for a small fee.
Question Asked: How Do I Skip Commercials On My Tivo?
In the good ol’ days, back in the first Tivos, and Replay TV systems, there was a “skip commercial” button. But people who make commercials complained and Tivo got rid of it.
The good news is, it’s still in Tivos, just not “officially.” It’s a pretty simple hack to get it to work, too.
When watching Live TV, simply press Select, Play, Select, 3, 0, Select.
Your Tivo should chime two or three times. (Twice for Series 3, Three times for other models.)
That’s it. Now you can use the “Move to Hash” button to skip ahead 30 seconds when watching recorded tv. If you don’t know, the Move to Hash button is the one directly to the right of the “DVR Select” button, and diagonally below the Slow Motion button.
One note: any time you reboot your Tivo, this hack resets, and you’ll need to re-enter the code.
Question Asked: How Can I Upload A Lot of Photos to Flickr At Once?
Luckily, Flickr makes it pretty easy.
Via their website, you can only upload a few images at a time. However, they recognize that people need to upload a lot of images at once, and developed the Flickr Uploader. (Link here.)
It’s a pretty easy to use tool. You drag a folder of images into it, and it calculates the size to upload. You can tag photos, name photos, add descriptions, and even add them to a set right from the application.
Then you just click the “Upload” button, and off they go.
My only complaint about it, is that it’s relatively slow, compared to the website upload. Other than that, it’s a pretty great app, and one any Flickr user should absolutely use.