by Alex

Unplggd reviews the Samsung Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch

When Bigger Isn’t Better: Samsung Galaxy S II Preview | Apartment Therapy Unplggd

First, WTF is up with that name, Samsung?

I find it interesting that Apple’s devices appear to be considered untouchable by so many reviewers. This review might as well read, “Well, it’s ugly, not as good as its 18-month old competitor, and clearly designed and built by chimpanzees, but it’s pretty much better than the rest of the also-rans.”

(Are there really no kick-ass Android phones on the market? What’s the problem, here?)

My two favorite quotes:

It’s still no Retina Display, but Samsung’s Super AMOLED is a category leading display otherwise.

…

If we were just considering specs on paper and were in the market for an Android based phone, this would be a frontrunner. However, after our short demo with the Samsung Galaxy S II, we weren’t wowed by the ergonomics, and to a lesser extent the material build, finding it best suited for those with larger hands and a blind eye to UI clutter.

by Alex

Lots of IKEA hacks and ideas

Apartment Therapy’s Unplggd just did a nice roundup of a bunch of IKEA hacks and ideas. And yes, it links to the great IKEA hacking blog, of course.

IKEA Lovin’: The Best Of IKEA Tech Hacking & DIY | Apartment Therapy Unplggd

Welcome to the ultimate guide to IKEA hacking and DIY at Unplggd, with over 100 articles devoted to all things IKEA. Anything and everything about IKEA that’s been highlighted in these pages is carefully cataloged and categorized (sorta) for your pleasure and convenience. Well maybe not *everything – man can only endure search for so long (in this case a couple of hours). We’ve got IKEA hacking, Ikea DIY, and even some normal IKEA pieces that we just found extraordinary.

by Alex

Tim Bray discusses the news industry

ongoing by Tim Bray · Good News-Biz News

Tim Bray’s latest blog post, discussing TPM, is well worth a read. It also contains a little side note on the current Republican party, who are largely (and, I believe, correctly) considered by the rest of the world as crazy fucking nutjobs:

Possibly the Republicans are right that homosexuality weakens marriage and tax cuts don’t cause deficits and imprisoning a world-leading proportion of your population increases public safety and deregulating the finance industry is good economics and invading large Middle-Eastern nations (then staying) improves America’s security, as does spending more on the military than the rest of the world put together. And maybe the rest of the world is wrong on these things. I doubt it, though.

But I digress.

by Alex

Useful auto-electrical sources

In an earlier post, I mentioned Rhode Island Wiring Service, purveyors of reproduction wire, including what looks to be every wire style used in Land Cruisers (40s and 60s, anyway).

Other good sources of auto/boat electrical parts I always forget about:

Genuinedealz does free shipping, and their prices are great. They will make custom cables, too, for a $1-per-connector labor charge. I remembered about them tonight, right after I spent more than I should have for some Blue Sea stuff on eBay.

Summit Racing does have good pricing and selection on Weatherpack connectors, among many other things.

Del City Wire has reasonable prices, and they (very) occasionally do free shipping on small orders. Memorial Day weekend is apparently one of those free-shipping occasions.

Susquehanna Motorsports makes very good headlight harnesses, and is a good source for all things Hella (including E-code headlight housings). And all things rally-related, of course, from WRC-spec mud-flap material to Hans Devices.

To be edited as I remember or discover more…

by Alex

Fix your FJ60’s horn

Using the information in a thread on IH8Mud (1985 FJ60 Wagon Horn Problem), I just got the horn working in Dawn’s 60. I used some teeny little rubber grommets, sliced in half, as spacers. Glad that did the trick, since the screws on the cover are stripped.

I’m sure this trick works on FJ40s (at least the late models with the smaller steering wheel, since I’ve got one of those wheels on hand) and FJ62s, too.

(To get the wheel off without a puller, I pulled out the emblem, removed the 19mm nut, and wiggled and pulled until it came off. Didn’t take long, and I didn’t lose any teeth. It’s probably no more crooked now than it was before, either…)