repairs
Random Stuff
Eliminate Scratches On Your iPhone’s Bezel With A Sponge
2:00PM Rosa Golijan | I abused my iPhone and it’s got the marks to tell the stories. The most annoying though are the scratches on the pretty silver bezel, but as Lifehacker shows us, they can easily be eliminated using a kitchen sponge. More »
Computers
Hey Dell: A “Hard Drive For Laptops” Program Doesn’t Work
7:40AM Sean Fallon | So, this guy sends his laptop to Dell for repair and Dell sends him back a hard drive…just a hard drive in a box. So what’s the problem here? More »
Computers
Apple Privately Admits White MacBook’s Notorious Crack Problem
8:21AM Matt Buchanan | And lo, the winged horse of the Apocalypse bounded through the sky: Apple is acknowledging the white MacBook’s legendary hairline cracks along the bottom enclosure, and will actually fix it, regardless of your warranty. More »
Screens
How To Repair Your Plasma TV With a Baseball Bat (NSFW)
7:52PM John Herrman | That rumour that Australian toilets flush the other way isn’t true, so lets start a new one: In Australia, you can fix things by beating them. See you in my children, new trivia meme! (AU:Um, looks like our US cousins are a little confused about us here in Australia. Firstly, the water does flush the other way, and secondly, everyone knows that you fix things by giving them a strong whack… it’s the Australian way!) More »
Science
LHC Might Not Be Back Online Until 2010 or Later
3:45AM Mark Wilson | When the LHC first went down, it was believed that repairs could get the system up and running by April 2009. Then we saw repairs pushing the timeline back to summer 2009. But now, CERN has arrived at a fork in the road regarding LHC repairs. More »
Phones
The Mighty iPhone, Defeated by Pocket Lint
4:10AM Mark Wilson | Time will tell whether or not it’s a repeat problem, but one tech editor found his out-of-warranty iPhone home button slowly failing to respond to the point where, rather than pay for repairs, he just bought a new phone. Depressed that he couldn’t open the phone himself and still keep it in functional shape, he decided the circumstances (and his nerves) called for an autopsy, along with a monumental retelling of the event. More »
Gadgets
Sanwa CD-RE1AT Puts Shine Back on Scuffed-Up CDs, Automagically
5:17PM Gizmodo US Edition | CDs and DVDs tend not to last long in my house… but since I just fling them in a pile in the cupboard, that’s entirely my fault. The Sanwa CD-RE1AT might be just the ticket, though: it works on 8cm or 12cm CDs, DVDs and BDs. With a push of a button it removes dust, fingerprints and “oily spots” from discs, and with the “repair” button it solves skipping problems and coats the discs with a protective layer, without grinding. Available now for US$79. If only it found missing CD case inserts too, it’d be perfect. [Akihabaranews] More »
Gadgets
Shuttle to Repair ISS Toilet, Save the Day
7:30PM Gizmodo US Edition | It must be a relief for the ISS crew to hear that their malfunctioning toilet will get some urgently-needed repairs next week, now that Discovery will be whizzing a new pump aloft. The dodgy loo has been unable to deal with liquid waste, and repair attempts failed. So NASA has cleared Discovery to fly on Saturday with a 13kg replacement pump, even though it means leaving other stuff behind. “Having a working toilet is a priority for us,” said Scott HigginbothamHigginbottom, in charge of shuttle payloads. The Russian-made pump was even give special treatment: it was flown in a diplomatic pouch from Russia. Clearly when spacemen need to go, they need to go… [New Scientist] More »
Science
Phoenix to NASA: “Houston, We Have a Prob*static*”
7:00PM Gizmodo US Edition | Just two days after touchdown, NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander—photographed here by Mars Odyssey— is having problems with their UHF radio, which was used more than a hundred times before but now is refusing to work. Without it, you can’t give orders to the spacecraft, but don’t fret: fortunately they can use the orbiter to relay signals, as well as activating the secondary radio unit available on board. NASA said the problem was caused by a “transient event.” What does that mean? They don’t know for sure, and that means we can pick our own.
Robots
