Batteries: I've gone the watch repairman route before, and don't enjoy shelling out $10 for a battery that sells for much less that I could install myself. I've also gone the drugstore route, but always feel like I'm still paying too much. Ordered batteries for both on eBay for a grand total of ~$4 shipped. (They arrived, but wrong brand. Seller offered to refund $1, but only after I leave [+] feedback. I don't play games like that, so I complained to eBay. Matter remains unresolved. Seller will get negative feedback.)

Pins: I've gone the watch repairman route here, too, and was even less satisfied when he had difficulty finding the right pin. I ordered a pack of 340 of 18 sizes with installation tools, for $13.99. I've got enough pins to last a long, long time. The seller shipped them from Hong Kong, and the Customs Declaration states that it was a gift. Why'd he charge me then?

My Canon Powershot A75 died in January. But I didn't throw it away. I left it on my desk. So when I read about a CCD problem in many Canon cameras (in an FW thread) whose description sounded familiar, I contacted Canon. Within 24 hours I was wrapping up the camera in some bubble-wrap and packing peanuts that I had saved from shipments I received, and selected a cardboard box from among my collection of used boxes. Despite being out of warranty, all repair costs and even shipping are covered.

I had hoped they'd decide to "upgrade" me to a newer model (even if refurbished), but it looks like they actually repaired mine. I'll know for sure in less than a week when it is scheduled to be returned to me.

Another utility that does this is Amazon Price Watch.

First, open the document and do a "Save As..." specifying Rich Text Format (RTF). It'll end up being called something.rtf.

Press [Alt]+[Shift]+[F11] to open Microsoft's Script-Editor.

Search for "Password" and you will find something like this:
<w:UnprotectPassword>8431AFZ3</w:UnprotectPassword>

To remove the protection, just delete that line, then save.

Finally, do another "Save As..." specifying "Word Document (*.doc)."

[edit] Propane Tank Remainder Measurement
The only accurate way to measure the propane left in a propane tank is to weigh it. Engraved on the side of the tank should be the letters TW then a number. This number is the empty tank weight. For example, the typical 5 gallon propane tank might say TW 17.2. The weight of the empty tank in the example is 17.2 lbs. Next, weigh the tank on a bathroom scale to find the total current weight. Let's say that the current weight of the tank is 24.2 lbs. To find the weight of propane simply subtract the tank weight from the total weight.

24.2 lbs - 17.2 lbs = 7 lbs

Each gallon of liquid propane weighs 4.23 lbs. Divide 7 by 4.23 to get the number of gallons currently in the tank.

7 ÷ 4.23 ≈ 1.66 gallons of propane

We can go a step further and find out how long 1.66 gallons of propane will take to burn. Each gallon of propane contains 91,690 BTUs. In the example above we were left with approximately 1.66 gallons of propane in the tank. Simply multiply the number of gallons by the number of BTUs contained in each.

1.66 × 91,690 = 152,205.4 BTUs

Next, find the BTU output of the appliance in question. These can usually be found on the manufactures website. Let's use 12,000 BTUs for our example. Divide the number of BTUs left in the tank by the number of BTUs that your appliance consumes per hour to get the total running time left for propane in the tank.

152,205 ÷ 12,000 ≈ 12.68 hours of burn time.

*An exception: The Tank claims to measure the amount of liquid propane remaining, which should produce a reading that is an accurate measure of what's left.

1) The process took about two hours, but I wasn't working very fast and stopped to chat with neighbors along the way.

2) Despite the screws coming in a blister-pack (which gave me hope that they'd all be there), I was short a few, but they were structurally important.

3) The "Sideburner Drip Pan" has an enamel (or other) coating that was chipped and peeling.

4) The gas wouldn't light at first, but this was due to a mis-aligned electrode tip. It was easy to bend it into place.

5) The order of the hardware (screws, lockwahsers, flatwashers) in the narrative matches the pictures, but not the text describing the pictures (e.g. the "flat washer" text has an arrow pointing at a lock washer picture). I'm not sure what is "right" from an engineering standpoint, nor whether it will make a difference. Wherever the lockwasher is, it will still be providing the same amount of force. However, the CSR said to follow the picture (screw-lockwasher-flatwasher).

6) Coloring (black vs gray) didn't match all parts. (Example: the "front brace" is black, but the picture makes it looks gray/stainless.)

I called to request replacements for #2-3 above. They required proof of purchase (I faxed my LNT order email) and they wanted (but did without) my serial number. They wanted to charge shipping (their warranty claims they charge shipping, but the CSR told me they waive it during the first month following purchase. I argued this was my first time assembling it, bought it during winter, etc., and after my CSR spoke to her supervisor they waived the shipping fee.

Also, the manual is online. There are reviews posted at Amazon and Walmart.

Current prices online:
Walmart: $298
Amazon: $OOS (was $200 + $50 shipping)
USA Hardware: $485.99+shipping
Original LNT: $400
LNT via FW: $Less

First time using it was last night. I made a small meal of hot dogs, hamburgers, skirt steak, ribs, chicken, and zucchini. It was good! My smoker box worked well.

...if you own a Dell. Here's why:

Dell Customers can now request a set of backup discs containing the factory-installed operating system as well as the device drivers and utilities specific to your system.

Here's how

Some useful Omer links:
Penticon's free Palm reminder program
OU's free e-mail reminder service
OmerBuddy's $7 SMS text message reminder service

Mirrors:
Ohr HaTorah Congregation (Phoenix, AZ)

This post was "moved" from 4/9/04, 4/8/05, 4/3/06, ?/??/07, 3/11/08.

Order Subtotal: $67.99
Shipping and Handling Total: $7.99
Tax Total: $5.32
Total Charges: $81.30
Status: Confirmed (not shipped ... yet?)

The new camera I chose is the Canon SX100 IS. The selection was based on my desire for image quality, AA batteries, a "mega zoom" and the availability of a deal. (Retail price is $300, it's regularly available for $240. Staples had it for $200, I used a $30 coupon and 3 ink coupons, bringing the final price down to $160.98 + tax or 172.25.)

One of the drawbacks: it uses SD (secure digital) memory instead of CF (compact flash). This isn't terrible per se, just frustrating because I already have 1-1.5 GB worth of CF. Of course, with the larger images from the higher megapixel camera, that amount of memory wouldn't have been enough anyways. Plus, each of my cards is only 256 MB.

When I bought the camera, I bought a 2GB SD card. It was a fairly high speed card, on sale at Staples for $30, so it wasn't a total rip-off, but better deals have been known to exist. In fact, an excellent deal on very high quality memory was brought to my attention this week. The deal originated with Adorama, but was also available from other retailers like B&H Photo.

What's the deal? An extremely fast 4 GB SDHC card (with card reader) for $50, before $30+ rebate. (The rebate amount goes up the more you buy.) In the end my brother and I ordered together (2 for me, 1 for him). Special pricing brought the cost down to $46.95 each before $110 in rebates, for a final cost of $10.28 per card.

Compared to the $82.54 I spent on my first 1.25 GB of CF (an INCREDIBLE deal back in 2003), this is very cheap. (25% of the cost for 640% of the memory!)

I successfully returned the $30 SD card to Staples, in a different store with a different tax rate, so I "made" $0.42! (Net memory cost: $10/07/card.)

Other drawbacks of the camera: negs:
low-light questionable quality
slow recharge of flash (4-5 sec?)
pop-up flash - good & bad
no zoom during video recording

My next job is to determine which (if any) of my old card readers can read SDHC. The built in SD slot in my Dell Inspiron 6000 could NOT read the SDHC card, but after installing the Microsoft hotfix, it can now. Unfortunately, the hotfix didn't help my my multi-card reader.

The next device that needed updating was my Treo 700p. I was aware of an update for it for a long time, but under the "if it ain't broke..." theory, I hadn't installed it. Unfortunately, this meant it lacked the capacity to read SDHC cards. I found the update website, only to discover that they had pulled the desktop install. The only supported method was via SD card - which I have already returned. Fortunately I had downloaded the desktop update already, and with my breath held, I installed the update via the desktop route. Initially it failed to even detect the phone. I hypothesized it was due to my use of a USB hub. (I had this happen before with a HotSync on a different hub. The current hub allows me to HotSync.) After I connected the USB cable directly to the computer, it recognized the phone and started. At one point the install seemed to have died, and I was asking myself why I didn't just round up an SD card for the easier install when it finished successfully! SDHC is now recognized, and a bug/error I used to get when deleting large quantities of email (via the "Delete Old..." feature in VersaMail has gone away.

I haven't actually assembled the new gas grill I recently purchased, but when I do, I've got my smoker box and wood chips all set, so I'll be smoking in no time!

1) Add "Amazon" or "Amazon.com" to your search term. Not 100% effective, but works.

2) Add to the URL - Perform a regular search, then append the following text (without quotes) to the URL in the address bar: "&emi=ATVPDKIKX0DER"

3) Use a third party search engine - Outsiders have made custom search sites that do this, most notably the dedicated ISearchBetter

4) Techie Solution - If you use Firefox with the Greasemonkey extension installed (or know how to install user scripts in Opera), you can use the Amazon Prime Search Improved Beta script which removes items that do not have the tag on the search results page when you are signed in as a Prime member.

*Reasons include: free Super Saver shipping, Amazon Prime Eligible Items, etc.

Also useful:

FillerItem - enter the exact amount you need and it finds items for you. (Specify 0.01 for most selection.)
FreebieVille - list of items you can use to pad your Amazon.com order.