Another Buy.com Update, G4TV Hotness, How to Tick People Off, Cell Phone Cameras = Weight Loss?, and Really Thin TVs

- So Buy.com continues to impress me. They emailed me back today, saying that the $18 credit was a "courtesy" to me, and they would continue to process my RMA once the item was received. A little problem with that, though; they received my item on the 21st. A few hours later, I got another email from Buy.com, saying that they received my return, and will process the RMA within 5-7 business days.

I have since started a dispute with PayPal (how foolish of me, I know, to pay via PayPal instead of a credit card!), and will escalate it to a claim, assuming I don't see the rest of my money back in my account by next week.

- Damn, talk about doing Princess Leia's bikini costume justice!. Too bad I don't get the G4 Network, and no, I'm not paying $15 a month for access to that channel.

BTW, check out picture #5. LOL @ the Storm Trooper!

- (stolen from somewhere) Here's a nice, compact list of ways to tick people off. I have personally done #2 to friends a number of times, as well as #8 over the phone. I've also done #14, and #24, and I used to do #32 while working in a lab, except I said it was for "research."

- Japanese patients at risk for diabetes, obesity, and those with heart problems are using their cell phone cameras to photograph their meals, sending them to health experts for analysis and recommendations. Talk about a novel way to use existing technology! Quoted from the article:

Osaka is using a system developed by Asahi Kasei Corp., a Tokyo-based chemical and medical equipment manufacturer. The system is operating at about 150 health care providers and local governments around the country, company official Naoki Yoshimura said.

Nutritionists can work with photos from one day's meals to several weeks' worth, he said. Results come back in three days. Participants also can log onto a Web site to get further dietary information and upload photos from digital cameras.

I gotta ask one question, though: do these guys really need a physician to tell them that a slice of banana-cream pie is unhealthy? Is it really necessary to send a doctor a picture of that fourth slice of pepperoni pizza, so that he could tell you what you already know? And whatever happened to the taste test for healthiness of foods: if it tastes good, it's probably bad for you, and vice versa?

(Tangent: Yeah, I know, there are a number of healthy, good tasting foods.)

Actually, maybe the Japanese have something here. They should work on making all doctor visits done via telecommunication. I'm sure lots of people out there can't stand the annual visit with "Dr. Jellyfingers."

(That last sentence made me curl up in the fetal position, by the way).

- Sony is in development of a new television screen that is so thin that it's flexible. Sony has yet to decide what to do with the technology: ""In the future, it could get wrapped around a lamppost or a person's wrist, even worn as clothing," said Sony spokesman Chisato Kitsukawa. "Perhaps it can be put up like wallpaper.""

I wonder if people would pay for a TV screen on one's sleeve. If people pay for TV-quality video on cell phones and iPods, why wouldn't people pay for displays on clothing? Of course, I wouldn't want a coaxial cable running down my clothes, hooked up to the display on my shirt sleeve :P. Actually, the idea of using this stuff kinda like wallpaper would be a great idea; projector-sized displays without the need of a standalone projector, with television-like quality. If they could implement touch-screen technology with this super-thin display, now THAT would be incredible!

(I know...me, pimping that evil company, Sony? I must be crazy!)

That's all I've got for today. Happy blogging!