iBanjo

I recently received an iPod Nano as a (very expensive!) gift. I have to say, the user interface beats the pants off my old samsung mp3 player. It’s just wonderful. All my iPod-toting friends gave me a unanimous warning about getting some sort of protective case for it, to ward off the horrible scratches that quickly accumulate on the device’s screen and mirror finish. Fair enough, so I went with one recommendation and got the invisible shield. Instead of a big bulky case (which defeats the point of the Nano’s sexy thinness), this is an invisible space-age plastic laminate that covers the device. You can’t even tell it’s on, except for the fact that the device takes on a slightly tacky, rubbery texture. This ain’t so simple plastic wrap though. This is the same freakish, indestructible material they designed for the edges of helicopter blades! What’s really entertaining is the video showing somebody snapping a pen in half while trying to poke a hole in the material, or watching some guy just repeatedly stab at his shielded iPod with car keys. It’s almost too painful to watch.

Well, I’m glad I got the shield anyway, since yesterday I dicovered my 9-month old son happily chewing on the device with his newly minted 6 teeth. Not a scratch! (On the device, that is… I have no idea about my son’s teeth.)

Thanks, Invisible Shield!

I splurged and bought a remote-control that adds a radio feature to the iPod (so I can keep listening to NPR), and then yesterday I bought a recording of Bradbury’s Martian Chronicles on the iTunes Music Store. It was great to listen to a book on the plane to Portland today.

Portland? Yes, Portland, for the O’Reilly Open Source Convention, where I’m giving two talks. After getting to my hotel, I went into a sandwich shop and saw a nice veggie sandwich on the menu for $5.70. I went to the register and ordered the sandwich.

Me: “I’d like the veggie sandwich.”
Clerk: “Is that all?”
Me: “Yep.”
[awkard silence]
Me: “So… how much?”
[Clerk stares at me with giant expression of “duh”]
Clerk: “$5.70, like the menu says.”
Me: “Oh.”

That’s right, I had forgotten that Oregon has No Sales Tax. This is strange, because it seems that a line of my pre-programmed buying-stuff script is missing. I was busy waiting for the guy to tell me what the total was, and he was just waiting for me to fork over the already-obvious amount of money. Weird.