AZDana

Archive for the ‘General’ Category

I ordered the capacitors and bought a soldering iron. I just haven’t had any time to sit down and dismantle the dead Polaroid. Well, I probably could make the time if I had to, I’ve just been interested in doing other things. I have to admit, primetime tv has never been a high priority in my life. About the only shows I watch are “Survivor”, “Amazing Race” and “The Apprentice”, and I can watch them online if I want. I have a large tv in my living room, so I can always watch that. But now that I think of it, I can’t remember the last time that tv was even turned on.

So instead of fixing the tv and watching it, I’m trying to overcome my Photshop-phobia. I have a feeling that I am the only person in North America that doesn’t know how it works, so I’m doing my best to conquer it.  I’m actually using PhotoShop Elements 6, which is supposed to be the easy version of PhotoShop. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but it sure is a lot more fun than soldering PC boards.

Before there was Dennis Miller, before there was Steven Crowder, Bob Hope provided an excellent and insightful analysis into politics:

I love old movies. I think many of them are better than what’s currently offered by Hollywood. I’ll take a film with Harold Lloyd or Buster Keaton over any of last year’s Oscar winners. I found a video that may become an instant classic among silent films. I don’t know if it’s real, but I laughed my head off at this video. Even if it’s staged, I wonder if any beer drinkers will recognize themselves:

My Polaroid LCD TV worked great when I first got it on  October 5, 2008. The clarity was so good that I could see every hair in John Stossel’s moustache.  I don’t watch a lot of tv shows, but I was glad the Polariod television had a good picture when I did watch it.

That all changed this morning. I grabbed the remote, hit the “ON” button and got NOTHING!!

No picture, no sound, just a black vacant screen staring back at me.

So I got online and starting searching. Apparently, this problem is very very common for Polarod. I went to ConsumerAffairs.com and there are nearly FIFTY pages of complaints and most of them sound exactly like what I encountered.

In one of the most recent posts, Glen of Nutley, NJ writes:
Purchased a 32″ Polaroid TV from Circuit City in NJ in late 2006 for 850. 1 year and 1 week after purchase i had no sound or picture and had to unplug to turn off like many others. Even though I only missed warranty by 1 week Polaroid did nothing for me. Went to local repair shop and paid almost 300 to fix i believe it was power supply and 2 capacitors.

Looks like Glen and I have something in common, although mine lasted one year and 17 days.  Thankfully, I did find a guy that posted a fix for those that are handy with a soldering gun.  I don’t know who stivO is, but I am so glad he posted detailed instructions on fixya.com . I haven’t held a soldering iron in over 20 years, but tomorrow I’m going to give it a try.  In the meantime, if you are considering buying a Poloroid LCD televison, please PLEASE reconsider and do your research first.

(Btw, I know how to spell Polaroid and have intentionally included its common misspellings in my post in case someone makes a typo while using a search engine. Welcome, Googlers!)

I feel so bad about not posting regularly here. If blogs could sue their owners for abandonment, mine would make a fortune. I do plan on keeping it going as soon as my life gets just a little less hectic.  In the meantime, I apologize to all visitors for the cobwebby feel to the place.

P.S.- If you are one of the many people that are here because you googled “homemade spy gadgets”, could you please let me know what you’re looking for? I get tons of hits for that phrase, and I’d be happy to post a few hints and tips for snooping, if only I knew for sure what people want. Are you looking for ways to catch a neighbor that’s stealing daisies out of your flower garden? Are you looking for something to make for your kids? I am totally perplexed by the vast number of people that come here looking for spy gear. Can you let me know what you’re looking to find?

Remember that old 70s commercial with a bunch of people having a Kum Ba Yah moment while singing:

I’d like to build the world a home
And furnish it with love
Grow apple trees and honey bees
And snow-white turtle doves
Chorus:
I’d like to teach the world to sing
In perfect harmony
I’d like to hold it in my arms
And keep it company

Let’s hope this video isn’t an updated version of that ad:

I almost died laughing when I heard how long it took to download a newspaper, and how much the service cost: