The other day my Samsung monitors at work suddenly started showing everything with a strange yellow tint – especially in Windows Live Photo Gallery. This turned out to be the solution:

Windows Vista Photo Gallery Yellow Tint Background Problem » My Digital Life
The symptom is likely to occur after update of incompatible monitor driver, especially on Samsung LCD flat panel monitor driver update via Windows Update. The cause for the error is the usage of incorrect color profile for the monitor in Color Management setting.

To solve the problem and restore normal colors in Windows Photo Gallery, you can try one of the resolutions below. All actions will be done at Color Management tab, which is accessible by right click on Desktop, and select Personalize on the contextual menu. Click on Display Settings link in the Personalization menu. In the Display Settings window, click on Advanced Settings… button. Then click on Color Management tab, and finally click on Color Management… button. You will need to select (tick) Use my settings for this device to be able to remove, change or set new color profiles.

The first workaround is by removing any existing ICC or WCS color profiles that are been associated with all display devices or monitors. Else, you can also try to change the default color profile for your system’s monitor to sRGB IEC61966-2.1, simply by clicking on Add, and then select sRGB IEC61966-2.1 from the list of profiles installed on system. After adding, click Set as Default Profile button. Exit from all dialogs and reboot your computer, and the color problem on Windows Photo Gallery is fixed.

Well this was certainly an interesting piece of spam:

Um. Ok.

To get ready for the upcoming changes to California laws regarding driving while using a cell phone (something I rarely do BTW), I bought a new Jawbone (Jawbone 2?).

The package is really slick:

I love the name NoiseAssassin.

Unfortunately, I haven’t had a chance to try it out. Perhaps tomorrow. Initial fit though isn’t all that great – maybe I’m just not using the right accessories, but it doesn’t feel super comy yet.

I’m not a big fan of MSG as I generally get headaches of varying degrees when I consume it. I also just… well… don’t like the taste. I can generally taste it as well. Needless to say, I wasn’t thrilled when I saw this:

Yes, MSG, the Secret Behind the Savor – New York Times

Since the 1970s, MSG has sidled back onto American supermarket shelves, under assumed names: hydrolyzed proteins, yeast extracts, protein concentrates and other additives that are not labeled as MSG but, according to nutritionists and the United States Department of Agriculture, are essentially the same thing: synthetically produced glutamates.

The whey protein concentrate and liquid aminos that many Americans buy at health food stores are also, essentially, pure glutamate, Dr. Chaudhari said.

According to U.S.D.A. guidelines, “labeling is required when MSG is added as a direct ingredient.” But other glutamates — the hydrolyzed proteins, the autolyzed yeasts and the protein concentrates, which the U.S.D.A. acknowledges are related to MSG — must be identified under their own names.

Alternatively, they may also be included under certain terms, like vegetable broth or chicken broth. Thus, these ingredients are now routinely found in products like canned tuna (vegetable broth is listed as an ingredient; it contains hydrolyzed soy protein), canned soup, low-fat yogurts and ice creams, chips and virtually everything ranch-flavored or cheese-flavored.

Thus, the richest source of umami remains your local convenience store. Grab a tube of Pringles or a bologna sandwich, and glutamic acid is most likely lurking there somewhere.

Nacho-cheese-flavor Doritos, which contain five separate forms of glutamate, may be even richer in umami than the finest kombu dashi (kelp stock) in Japan.

This is not a trend that I am in favor of.

Itp 2008: Full-Body Virtual Foosball Game Called Ukikit Get It?
The Wii-volution is in full effect at NYUs Interactive Telecommunications Program—a perfect example is this physical virtual foosball game called Ukikit. You Velcro a pink strap to your foot, and an iSight camera tracks its movement while a sonar sensor tracks your proximity. The data translates into swivel kicks and side-to-side slides in almost realtime. I loved playing it with inventor Thomas Chan almost as much as I enjoyed the “Moving Parts” virtual pinball game, but as you can see in the video, both the system and I both need a little more practice before were perfect.

Congrats to Thomas for getting picked up by Gizmodo about Ukikit. Looks pretty damn cool.

Recently I brought my wife’s 2002 Honda Accord V6 in for service. It has 102,339. Frankly, I dread going to car repair places more than anything else. Why? Because I feel like I know so little about automotive maintenance, the true cost, and the true time it takes to do certain repairs.

It also bothers me that you generally can’t find prices about car repairs and service until you actually go there – this in an age where you can buy a car and a house online! How frustrating. And I bet a lot of people don’t blog about this because they’re embarrassed that they got ripped off – or that they don’t know that they got ripped of.

So here goes! An experiment! Here’s a recent bill from a repair place near me. Identifying details omitted:

Was this reasonable? Remember, I’m in no position to do any of these things myself.

Someone at work recommended Monoprice for cables and accessories. So far, I’ve been pretty impressed.

Every once in a while, I read something that makes me think “Wow, that’s sheer genius!”

Here’s one:

The War on Returns – WSJ.com
Sony Corp. has taken a different approach with some of its products that makes it harder for consumers to bring them back. The company in 2006 added an option allowing consumers to engrave their name or other message on a Vaio computer. It expanded the program to its digital cameras last year. Sony says the program was started to let customers personalize products, but a side benefit for Sony is that engraved products can be returned only because of defects or other reasons that are the company’s fault.

Return rates on engraved Sony Vaios are negligible, compared with about 5% for non-engraved PCs, the company says, saving more than $1 million so far. “I have a feeling that people are understanding the condition that you can’t return it,” Mr. Abary says. “But also once they have engraved it, they feel like it’s a part of them.”

Wow, that’s sheer genius!