Author: Serkadis

Regular readers will know my affinity for Apple products. In general, they’re high quality, and I’m willing to pay a bit more for that. But a lemon is a lemon, regardless of who it’s made by, and must be labeled as such. These new 27-inch iMacs? Lemons.

In case you haven’t heard yet, the screens on these massive things are failing left and right. Granted, not all of them seem to be affected, but 110 pages worth of support questions/rants on Apple’s Support page for the issue tells me the problem is pretty widespread. That’s 1,640 replies, so far. And that thread has been viewed an incredible 264,630 times. The next closest recent page with that many views has 26,852 — and guess what? It’s also about a problem with the 27-inch iMac screen.

Two days ago, Apple issued a fix for the issue. The only problem? The fix doesn’t appear to work.

It did look like the fix was working for a little while, but today I’m back with the same constant flickering and random screen shutoffs that have plagued many of us. It basically makes the machine unusable. The support board is already filling up with users who applied the fix and still have the same problem. And, in fact, the only other TechCrunch writer with the new 27-inch iMac also has had the same issue and the fix hasn’t worked for him either.

Earlier this month, it was reported that Apple was delaying further shipments of the 27-inch iMacs until it could get to the bottom of the screen issue. Many believed the fix two days ago was the solution, but it’s not. And so Apple appears to have a very big problem on its hands, literally. If I have to send this bad boy back, it will be the second time I’ve done so. The first time, it shipped to me with a crack in the screen. A problem which is also not an isolated one.

Perhaps you read about how the FDA delayed the replacement one because it thought it was a piece of fruit. I was mad, but I shouldn’t have been. The truth is, these new iMacs are a piece of fruit. They’re lemons.

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State budget deficit should not affect safety guidelines

Editor, The Times:

Our police are being killed because of Washington state’s failure to keep violent criminals behind bars [“Attack on deputies stuns weary region,” page one, Dec. 23].

Violent criminals need to be locked up and the key thrown away. The state of Florida has a 10-20-life law for gun crimes.

Let’s get that law here, also. Washington’s budget deficit should not be what guides our safety.

— Reno Raines, Auburn

Sheriff’s attitude out of line?

I found the attitude as projected by Pierce County Sheriff Paul Pastor’s statement prominently displayed on the front page of The Seattle Times to be astonishing — “This should underline and make clear that people who wear badges risk themselves for perfect strangers.”

What does the sheriff think the role of the police forces is?

Sheriff Pastor gets paid for putting his tail on the line. And, yes, having dedicated more than 32 years of uniform service to our country, I well understand sacrifice for the good of the cause.

Take a good look in the mirror Pastor and ask yourself: “Do I deserve to be wearing this uniform in service of the good people of Pierce County?”

— Charles Bickel, Poulsbo

Winners and losers

As the health-care bill is near completion, we see there are winners and losers [“GOP drops delays on health-care vote: Those states who get the bill for the health-care legislation and those states that have received special considerations because of their status in the Senate.

Again our state suffers from a lack of representation in Washington, D.C. We received none of the special considerations that were given out there.

This has happened over and over again.

We misjudged Boeing with our politicians telling us that they will stay in our state without any more negotiations, even after Boeing gave fair warning by moving their headquarters and Internet business to Chicago years ago.

We see Microsoft threatening to leave unless the business environment changes for the better; Verizon sent their data support to another state.

We are so locked into the political correctness and party affiliation that we will continue to lose business, and the economy we once had will be replaced for a South Carolina-style economy, which these same congressional legislators continue to mock.

— Larry Lundquist, Bellevue

Lower the estate tax? Poor policy

“Put health care aside and fix the economy” [Opinion, editorial, Dec. 20] stated, “[Congress] needs to lower the estate tax.”

That line is an amazing non sequitur to all other lines prior to this sentence. What is implied is that changing a tax policy, the effects of which would have minimal impact over the next two or three years, would be an important move to fix our very current ills.

I can’t imagine how this country operated so very well for years on an estate-tax level under a million dollars.

Small business thrived at times and at times it did not. The country went through cycles of prosperity and recession. During the Clinton administration, the amount that was excluded was raised by a factor of about five times.

Perhaps the exclusion level should be continuously adjusted for inflation, but to cite lowering the estate tax as a panacea for our sluggish economy is pure nonsense.

Wealth concentration is and was a contributor to our current problems. Simplistic change in tax policy is poor policy.

— Jerry A. Brownfield, Bellingham

A step backward in the wrong direction

As a doctor who provides a wide range of reproductive health care to patients, I watch Congress debate health-care reform with a cold shudder.

Their political arguments about what should be covered have overtaken the discussion about who should be covered.

The task we’ve given Congress is to find a way to serve the nearly 47 million Americans who are currently without health insurance. Their job is not to make personal medical decisions for women, for men, or for families.

I’m encouraged that the Senate last week voted down the Nelson/Hatch amendment that would have restricted women’s access to abortion coverage in the private health-insurance market, even if they paid for the premiums with their own money.

It’s a step backward that American women can’t afford to take.

Let’s hope such draconian measures continue to be avoided in health-care reform.

It’s been a long run, but the finish line for historic health-care reform is in sight. All citizens deserve access to our medical-care system. Leave the personal medical choices to Americans.

— Anna Kaminski, MD, Seattle

The four of you who have been eagerly awaiting an update to MSN Messenger will have to wait a few more months, according to a post on the Office for Mac Team Blog, Mac Mojo. The update, which will bring A/V support, has hit some speed bumps along the way, causing a longer than expected delay in beta deployment. Apparently the trouble is in connecting to “the most current A/V code running on the Windows Live servers”.

The news might be somewhat of a disappointment to those of you who remember a post on the very same blog from last year detailing the team’s plan to get A/V support running sometime in 2009. The Microsoft employees went as far as to say that they hoped to have a demo with A/V working at this year’s Macworld Expo. 

The team is stating that the new version will be available in March and will be a “top quality experience.” Frankly, we didn’t know anyone still used MSN Messenger, or that it hadn’t been updated with A/V capabilities yet. Are any of you waiting on this update? Let us know in comments.

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A class action suit filed against Apple over iMac G5 displays that eventually went south after the warranty expired has been dismissed by a federal judge. However, the judge left open options to amend certain claims in the suit if sufficient detail surrounding Apple’s alleged concealment of foreknowledge of the problem can be explained.

Aram Hovsepian originally sued Apple at the beginning of this year, accusing Apple of concealing knowledge that displays on some iMac G5 models would fail, displaying random vertical lines across the display. “Apple remained silent knowing its iMac display screens would malfunction while consumers purchased iMacs, made warranty claims arising from the vertical lines on display screens, and made out of warranty repairs related to the vertical line problem,” Hovsepian claimed in his complaint.

In the motion, District Judge Jeremy Fogel noted that the plaintiff did not meet the necessary “heightened” requirements for statutory fraud claims in his pleadings to sufficiently establish a cause of action. Furthermore, Judge Fogel also noted that Hovsepian did not define the proposed class narrowly enough—as described in his second amended complaint, the class would include anyone who bought an iMac G5, and not necessarily those affected by the alleged problem. However, the judge noted that Hovsepian could amend his complaint to address a claim of common law fraud if he could offer “further elaboration as to whether such a duty [to publicly disclose the problem] existed and as to the means by which Apple actively concealed a known defect from its customers.”

The iMac G5 display issues describe in the lawsuit aren’t the only complaints about iMac displays Apple has had to deal with recently. The lawsuit’s dismissal comes just after Apple released a firmware update for 27″ iMacs to address problems with flickering LCDs. A number of other display issues have been detailed on Apple’s support forums, and those screen issues may have been at least part of the cause for weeks-long shipping delays of the gargantuan iMac.

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Democrats will happily accept responsibility

GOP’s Michael Steele says he will hold Democrats responsible for their health-care votes in the upcoming elections [“Next health-care vote today,” News, Dec. 22].

Democrats should be happy to be held responsible for their votes on this monumental legislation.

Republicans also fought tooth and nail to stop both Social Security and Medicare when they became law.

I thank God that the Democrats are again accountable for their votes, and that we will look back at this legislation as doing the right thing for the public, while the Republicans again were on the wrong side of this important issue.

— Jim Brown, Wenatchee

Dino Rossi

Dino Rossi didn’t want to tell us what the acronym GOP stands for.

But now we know: Grand Obstructionist Party.

— Gerry Esterbrook, Seattle

Only downtown Seattle will benefit

The Times editorial “Needed: tunnel vision on viaduct,” [Opinion, Dec. 22] recommended tunnel vision for the replacement of the Alaskan Way Viaduct.

I have just the opposite conclusion.

Given a view of all events in the past eight years, a tunnel is the peak example of tunnel vision. First, last, and always, a tunnel benefits only organized and/or powerful interests of downtown Seattle.

None of the studies and associated factors initiated by the combined agreement of the governor, mayor and King County executive in December 2008, gave any specific option leader.

This decision can best be described as instant gratification for downtown.

Lost in the decision was the permanent impact on anyone outside downtown Seattle, including approximately the western third of the entire city. Particularly galling is the need to charge a toll for tunnel operation and maintenance.

To those impacted, a toll appears to be a tribute for passing downtown. Revising state legislation to pay for any project overruns would be a gift to only downtown Seattle.

— John Storz, Seattle

Similar to Bridgewater sewage-treatment plant debacle

Every time I see coverage of the viaduct replacement tunnel, I think of all the problems that are occurring with the Brightwater sewage-treatment project [“Deep inside King County’s big dig,” page one, Dec. 11].

The construction and machines are similar in nature to the proposal along the waterfront. Does this not concern our elected officials?

I’m sure that plenty of feasibility studies were run prior to drilling, yet the drills in the Brightwater tunnel are broken and the whole thing is way behind schedule.

No one is sure who is going to pay for the repair and cost overruns associated with downtime, or when that tunnel will actually be functional.

And as for that [earthquake] video, which set us back more than $80,000 and was deemed too scary to be released, I think 90 percent of area residents are smart enough to have predicted that same scenario without the huge expense.

If they were not, simple video footage of the double-decker bridge that collapsed after the earthquake in the Bay Area would have been far cheaper and much more chilling. While not exactly the same, I think any reasonable person could extrapolate that being near the viaduct and sea wall during an earthquake would be life threatening and very damaging.

I, like Mayor Greg Nickels once quipped, increase my speed when I’m on the viaduct. It is an accident waiting to happen. But is the road we plan to go down with this project ever going to be open?

— Shauna Bellamy, Seattle

Indiana-based startup ChaCha was founded in 2006 as a cross between Ask.com and the Mechanical Turk: Users would ask a question, and they’d be connected to another human being who would provide an answer in a real-time chat session. In short, it didn’t work out.

In early 2008, ChaCha ditched that business and reinvented itself as a question-and-answer service for mobile phone users. Text ChaCha a question, and they’ll text you an answer. The company ran a promotional campaign to provide election-year research that fall. (You can use ChaCha from a desktop, too, but their business focus is on text messages.)

The company claims substantial funding for its efforts. In January of this year, they announced $30 million from unnamed investors. Today, ChaCha says they’ve added another $7 million from anonymous lenders, bringing the company’s total funding to $69 million.

That’s a hefty pile of loans for a startup. What I’m hoping the company will get back to me on is: How will they make money? The company sells ads served with its answers. Does that bring in enough revenue to make what seems like a labor-intensive business profitable? Is there some tech trickery that automates the answers?

And since when do late-stage investors in a startup — ChaCha has already gone through rounds A, B, C and D — not want everyone to kn0w about the smart investment they’re making? For seed funding it’s typical to be coy, but not so much closer to a hopeful IPO or acquisition.

I couldn’t find a designated press contact, so I texted my questions to ChaCha’s SMS address, 242242. I’ll update here if they write back. Sorry, I couldn’t resist.

(Update: ChaCha sent this reply to my BlackBerry: “Thanks for you Q, we are experiencing temporary network problems. Please try again later!”)

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When Nokia first sued Apple for patent infringement over the iPhone, we noted that it appeared like yet another case of a company getting beat in the market suddenly whipping out some patents to sue over. This seemed to anger the usual bunch of patent system defenders — along with a group of Nokia defenders — but it appears that others are noticing as well. The NY Times has an article discussing Nokia’s sudden aggressiveness in the patent realm, noting that the company has been facing some business troubles, and it’s notable that its patent aggression seems to have shown up at just the same time as its own performance trouble. Funny that.

Of course, this is a major issue. As with so many high tech areas today, there are giant patent thickets. It’s effectively impossible to launch a product that doesn’t violate dozens, if not hundreds, of patents. And (despite claims to the contrary) it’s got absolutely nothing to do with companies “stealing” from each other. It’s got plenty to do with companies making the next logical step in the innovative process, and coming up with products that meet what the market wants. But with patent offices around the world being willing to hand out patents on minor changes, it’s impossible to actually build a useful product that doesn’t violate patents. This has nothing to do with innovation. At this point, patents are just a weapon that can be flung against anyone who does innovate if you can’t compete.

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Indiana-based startup ChaCha was founded in 2006 as a cross between Ask.com and the Mechanical Turk: Users would ask a question, and they’d be connected to another human being who would provide an answer in a real-time chat session. In short, it didn’t work out.

In early 2008, ChaCha ditched that business and reinvented itself as a question-and-answer service for mobile phone users. Text ChaCha a question, and they’ll text you an answer. The company ran a promotional campaign to provide election-year research that fall. (You can use ChaCha from a desktop, too, but their business focus is on text messages.)

The company claims substantial funding for its efforts. In January of this year, they announced $30 million from unnamed investors. Today, ChaCha says they’ve added another $7 million from anonymous lenders, bringing the company’s total funding to $69 million.

That’s a hefty pile of loans for a startup. What I’m hoping the company will get back to me on is: How will they make money? The company sells ads served with its answers. Does that bring in enough revenue to make what seems like a labor-intensive business profitable? Is there some tech trickery that automates the answers?

And since when do late-stage investors in a startup — ChaCha has already gone through rounds A, B, C and D — not want everyone to kn0w about the smart investment they’re making? For seed funding it’s typical to be coy, but not so much closer to a hopeful IPO or acquisition.

I couldn’t find a designated press contact, so I texted my questions to ChaCha’s SMS address, 242242. I’ll update here if they write back. Sorry, I couldn’t resist.

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The TP2 has been known to do many things(except scratch my &%$ from space) but the guys over at WME found another thing you can use it for. Apparently while driving home, one of the editors took his TP2 and his new Ebay bought car kit and used it to record him self driving through a blizzard—which is nothing compared to what I am going through over here in MN with 8ichs of snow at times. Watch the video and maybe the quality will persuade you to head over to eBay and get your own kit.

Virginia native weighs in on our not-so-bad tax system

Editor, The Times:

I’ve been amused by the recent opinions and letters calling Washington state’s tax system regressive and hurting business [“Why do so many oppose a state income tax?,” Opinion, Northwest Voices, Dec. 16]. The fact is we would not have the caliber of workers and businesses under any other system.

I recently moved to Washington from Virginia due to two major factors: Washington’s thriving tech industry and no state income tax.

No income tax allows companies in Washington to effectively pay employees more than elsewhere. Virginia’s 5.75 percent income tax was a hefty haircut on my total compensation, especially with an additional average 5 percent sales tax.

Washington’s tax policy helped lure me away from another company in a different state. Plus, a higher sales tax and no income tax puts the right incentives in place for a thriving economy. It encourages people to save and invest their money versus to spend and consume, creating the infrastructure and capital we need to continue to develop Washington’s economy.

And as for business, just look around.

Washington’s economy is among the top performers in the country during this recession. While unemployment is up and some businesses are hurting, they’re actually doing well relative to other parts of the country. The Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council recently rated Washington among the top five most friendly states for entrepreneurs. And everyone knows that job growth begins with small businesses.

States with the highest income taxes are actually the ones suffering the most. California is bankrupt, and New York is almost there. We should not be taking tax policy advice from them, no matter how progressive they seem.

Let’s keep the income tax out of Washington so we can continue to attract talented people to work for our thriving small businesses.

— Samuel J. Fetchero, Bellevue

Creates safety hazard for everyone on board

It’s nice that Chance McKinney won his music prize [“Mukilteo teacher gets ‘real’ with song,” NWMonday, Dec. 21].

It is not so nice that he deliberately interfered with flight operation and navigation — and possibly compromised the safety of everyone on board — by secretly using his cellphone to record the song.

What a great example of consideration for others.

— Nancy Anderson, Seattle

Seattle just another Detroit?

“Washington has one of the nation’s better business climates” [“Here’s what to watch around here next year,” Business, Jon Talton column, Dec. 20]? Compared to whom, the old Soviet Union? Come on, dispense of the bull. You can go to many other states that have more favorable climates to conduct business activity than Washington.

Lower standard of living in South Carolina [“The right companies will come along,” Opinion, Northwest Voices, Dec. 16]? You’ve got to be kidding.

I live in South King County. We just had another fatal shooting here involving a police officer and a domestic-violence suspect. These types of confrontations are becoming commonplace, as we also had a Des Moines police officer shot and killed along Highway 99 during the past decade.

If you live in this area then you would realize most of South and Southwest King County is overpopulated and crime infested.

As a friend of mine said, most of Seattle and the metro area is slowly becoming like another Detroit. Yes, I agree bringing in McDonnell Douglas was a serious mistake and the Machinists union lives in a liberal fantasy world of days gone by. However, just calling crime and unemployment a problem that most big cities share is avoiding the issue. It’s poor management and a lack of legal willpower.

Sweeping our problems under the carpet and pretending the whole state is like Bellevue and the Eastside is sadly a common perception, in both Seattle and Olympia.

— Craig West, Des Moines

Which middle class do union workers support?

There have been several articles recently about our state’s labor and labor unions [“Boeing and the Machinists: a missed opportunity,” Opinion, Dan Jacoby guest commentary, Dec. 18].

More than 60 percent of the workers in the state are nonunion, and money is tight. This would be a great time to have our tax dollars spent on nonunion workers to build our roads, schools and state buildings.

The union bosses or stanch union members say they want to keep wages up to support the middle class. Now if you ask them who redid the roof of their house, or who did their concrete driveway, they will say that they got a nonunion contractor to do the job. The nonunion contractor did a great job at a good price.

The only middle-class people the union workers want to support are themselves, at the expense of the taxpayers.

— Larry Worden, Auburn

Personal genomics startup 23andMe has recently raised another $14.2 million to close out its $27.8 million Series B round, according to regulatory filings with the SEC. The filing indicates that the new funding is an amendment to the company’s previously reported raise of $11 million in May, which was followed by an additional $2.6 million in June. We’ve reached out to 23andMe to confirm the funding amount, and to also determine if there are any new investors. Update: 23andMe have confirmed that they’ve raised funding, but have not yet confirmed the amount.

The last few months have been rocky for the company. In September, co-founder Linda Avey left 23andMe to start a foundation dedicated to studying Alzheimer’s disease. In late October, the company laid off a substantial chunk of its workforce, but declined to comment on how many people were affected.

23andMe is one of the first personal genomics companies, allowing customers to have portions of their DNA analyzed for around $400 (there are a few different products available). After completing a test, customers can log into the site to get reports on their genetic makeup, including a listing of some diseases they may be at risk for.

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Port of Seattle tactics are costly and inefficient

The Port of Seattle has seen fit to perpetuate an inefficient taxi system, increase air pollution and add to the financial crisis in our state by retaining an exclusive arrangement for pickup service with a single taxi company [“Contract loss costly for Sea-Tac taxi group,” NWFriday, Dec. 18].

One-way exclusivity assures each taxi touching Sea-Tac Airport operates at 50 percent efficiency and burns twice the necessary fuel because nearly all trips are one-way. A driver is licensed to either pick up at Sea-Tac or pick up elsewhere to drop off at Sea-Tac but not both; except for the lucky 49.

By changing taxi companies, 215 drivers become unemployed, of which 166 are prohibited from picking up fares in Seattle. The additional $860,000 in annual revenue pledged to the Port by the winning firm wouldn’t even cover unemployment benefits for the unlucky 166.

And will Sea-Tac rail service reduce taxi volume such that the winning firm not only can’t replace its fleet with hybrids as promised but may not be able to fulfill its financial obligation as occurred in Detroit this year? A sensible approach to airport taxi service is to open it up to any licensed taxi, thereby eliminating one-way trips, and adjust fares to make Sea-Tac attractive to taxi drivers.

— James R. Flaherty, Seattle

Mentally-ill offenders can and do recover

The recent public outcry about the escape of Phillip Paul and subsequent policy changes by the state Department of Social and Health Services [“Rules stiffen to stop escapes,” NWFriday, Dec. 18] misses what we know about recovery from mental illness.

Some people commit terrible crimes when they are psychotic, respond to treatment, and are no longer risks to the community. Others who commit violent crimes while they are untreated, respond to treatment and are safe in the community if they have ongoing outpatient support.

Some never recognize that they have a mental illness, don’t take medication or accept treatment, and remain a long-term threat to community safety, like Paul.

The policy changes miss the point that most mentally-ill offenders don’t need long-term hospitalization or incarceration. The media only report about the minority who are untreated or for whom treatment fails, prompting us to develop public policies that ignore the scientific evidence about the effectiveness of mental-health treatment for most mentally-ill offenders.

It’s time to move beyond worrying about field trips and into debate about responsible public policies that protect the community, while providing support for programs that help most mentally-ill offenders to recover.

— Perry Wien, Seattle, UW School of Social Work affiliate assistant professor

Why are field trips even allowed?

The Seattle Times article indicated that new stringent Department of Social and Health Services rules will be adopted to ensure public safety when patients deemed criminally insane are allowed field trips.

Is it prudent to provide field trips to crowded, family-oriented venues such as county fairs in the first place?

— Charlotte Montgomery, Yakima

Residents at Frances Haddon Morgan Center

Our disabled son is a resident at Frances Haddon Morgan Center, where he was placed after a number of mental-health crises for which he was unable to receive adequate support [“Gregoire lifts budget ax: Don’t make me do this,” page one, Dec. 10].

During his last hospital admission, we were told that should he have a future breakdown, we should call the police since the hospital could do little for him and he needs a level of care not available either at home or in a group home for the disabled.

Thankfully, after further crises, our son was admitted to a staffed residential center, where he has thrived.

He is surrounded by professionals trained to deal with health, behavioral, communication and personal-care issues. As an extremely vulnerable young man unable to defend himself, we especially appreciate the safe environment there. Without such a support structure in place, how are people like him going to be safe and secure?

Should the Department of Social and Health Services really be dismantling a successful and necessary facility when the state lacks the funds to see that these residents can make a safe transition to a residential situation that would continue to meet their needs?

— Cheryl Felak, Seattle