So there I was, typing happily on my Apple Wireless Keyboard and listening to iTunes through my Plantronics 260 headset when, suddenly, the Bluetooth icon in the system menu bar disappeared and was replaced by an error icon. Clicking that icon gave a message, “Bluetooth: not available“.

After a bit of Googling I found that this was an uncommon but reported problem, where apparently the System Management Controller forgets it has a Bluetooth module installed if the CPU temperature rises too high. Odd, and points to a couple of design issues, but fairly easily fixed.

1. Delete Bluetooth preferences (may not be necessary but recommended in a few places)
2. Reset the SMC
3. Install smcFanControl

After resetting the SMC (which involves powering off), Bluetooth came back on like it was never gone.

Hopefully this will help someone else with the same problem!

My phone (HTC Mogul) is not just a phone, it's my mobile information/connection hub. Which sounds all hackneyed and Web-2-point-oh but it's true. Without the phone I have no addresses, no phone numbers, no text messaging or Twittering, no Google, no maps, no weather… it's awful. I complain a lot about the miserable experience of Windows Mobile but the truth is it's the best available option for me right now. I'd love an iPhone–if Apple would release one that works on the Sprint network (CDMA/PCS) with a slide-out hard keyboard. I'd love a Nokia N97–same caveat. Neither are likely in the near future.

In conclusion, a day without my phone sucks.

It's the first thing that came to mind, honestly. Although I have a huge collection of movies I actually don't tend to watch them very often. I haven't seen "Blade Runner" in quite a number of years.

Also, being sick really sucks. The last time I felt this awful was three years ago, and it took two weeks to get over it.

Buried in AP article about DirecTV’s quarterly results is this nugget of information:

[CEO Chase] Carey said DirecTV will roll out a ‘whole-home’ digital video recording service starting in the second quarter that will enable customers to record programs on a DVR in one room and watch them in other areas of the house on TVs hooked up to linked non-DVR set-top boxes.

Well, it’s about time. TiVo (not DirecTiVo, just regular old TiVo) had this ages ago. Finally I’ll be able to record on the upstairs DVR and watch it downstairs or vice-versa. This should help with scheduling conflicts–I hope there is some sort of auto-conflict manager included with the new service.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmyHup4TpkU]
Eric Watson, Eric Rita, Eric Linus. For a while last year we had Eric Milo, too.