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Click the cup to hear what Agent Dale Cooper would have to say.

Now that my second generation, 20 gigabyte iPod is almost two years old, it’s original eight-to-ten-hour battery life has dropped to somewhere around five-to-six-hours. The fact that it was no longer able to make it through the day without a recharge had become troubling.

Fortunately, the fine folks at NewerTech have a solution. They produce a replacement lithium-polymer battery with 70% more capacity (2100 mAh vs. 1230 mAh) than the battery that originally shipped with the iPod. The NewerTech battery ships with detailed instructions and two tools (made of non-scratching nylon) to remove the back of the iPod’s case.

In this photo, you can see (from left to right) the stock iPod, the replacement battery and the two tools.

Opening the iPod’s case is pretty straightforward. You simply insert one of the tools between the iPod’s acrylic front and metal back. Then, you slide the tool around the case until it disengages all of the clips that hold the two halves together.

In this photo you can see (clockwise, from upper left) the original battery, the metal back of the iPod case, the foam shock absorber that rests between the iPod’s hard drive and its battery, and the interior of the iPod with the hard drive exposed.

Here is a shot of the working iPod, once it has been reassembled. I have read that the new battery has increased the playing time of other iPods to anywhere from 21 to 23 hours. If I can achieve those kinds of results, then I will definitely feel that I have recieved my $40′s worth. Once I give the battery a full charge, I will test it and post the results.

Elliott Smith’s final album, “From a Basement on the Hill,” was released today, two days before the first anniversary of his suicide murder death.

You can click on the album art above to buy the disc from amazon.com. If you are interested in learning more about one of the greatest singer/songwriters of our time, then click the following links:

- the official Elliott Smith site
- a fan site
- Elliott’s All Music Guide entry

I stopped by one of the many Starbucks last Sunday afternoon. The tattooed biker barista behind the bar had a dozen or so pins affixed to the front of his black cap. Each pin had a depiction of a small coffee mug with the words “M.U.G. Award” at the bottom.

In an effort to kill some time before that so-refreshing-on-a-90-degree-day Frappuccino(tm) was ready, I asked the barista what a M.U.G. Award was. He reflected on his answer for a moment (perhaps to convince himself that I was not, in fact, a corporate spy or, even worse, a “secret shopper”), then replied “It’s what They give you instead of a raise.” Oh, sweet cynicism in the workplace, thy words are music to my ears!

When I returned home, a quick google search informed me that “M.U.G.” stands for “Moves of Uncommon Greatness,” and describes some type of above-and-beyond customer service required to receive the award. My barista’s obvious dissatisfaction with his job seemed a glorious contrast to the assortment of customer service awards displayed above the brim of his cap.

So far, google had taught me that a M.U.G. Award is just another Taiwanese-made, employer doled-out tchotchke to pat an employee on the back rather than giving him what he really wants — a little ka-ching. Then, I noticed that the google search had returned numerous resumes, one of which described the M.U.G. as a “prestigious award for recognition in excellent customer service.” This led me to wonder, are there prospective employers out there salivating at the possibility of hiring a multi-M.U.G.’ed barista?

On Sunday, Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer, underwent surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from his pancreas.

In an email to Apple and Pixar employees written from his hospital bed, Jobs stated “I have some personal news that I need to share with you, and I wanted you to hear it directly from me. This weekend I underwent a successful surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from my pancreas. I had a very rare form of pancreatic cancer called an islet cell neuro-endocrine tumor, which represents about 1 percent of the total cases of pancreatic cancer diagnosed each year, and can be cured by surgical removal if diagnosed in time. I mention this because when one hears ‘pancreatic cancer’ (or Googles it), one immediately encounters this far more common and deadly form, which, thank God, is not what I had.”

He added that he “will not require any chemotherapy or radiation treatments.”

Jobs will take August to recuperate and expects to return to Apple in September. In the interim, I am certain that his 17″ PowerBook will be working overtime. Until then, I am sure that he would appreciate your keeping him in your thoughts, sending him your positive mojo, prayers or voodoo dances.

[As an aside, this entry was composed on a 12" iBook G4, running Mac OS X.3 (Panther), while listening to iTunes - a series of technologies that would not exist but for the the vision of Steve Jobs.]

Hurry back, Steve. Apple won’t be the same without you.

[Note: If you want to skip the text of this article, but are still interested in seeing the pics of the new computer's construction, then you can visit the picture-only version in the photo gallery here.]

Last week, I decided that the time was ripe to upgrade my computer’s hard drives for several reasons. Firstly, high capacity hard drive prices have dropped to very reasonable levels (a recent ad forwarded to me by my uncle Gary had prices as low as $0.50 per gigabyte of storage). Secondly, as a frequent user of an iPod and a digital camera, the current data drive was quickly approaching its capacity. Thirdly, I wanted a method of backing-up critical data that was more efficient than my current method of simply plugging in a USB 2.0 drive each week.

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