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| 5/23 |
| 2006/2/3-7 [Recreation/Food, Recreation/Food/Alcohol] UID:41696 Activity:low |
2/3 Apple sued based on iPod volume:
http://tinyurl.com/892c8
It's lawsuits like this that make our legal system look sue-happy. I
find that portable music players in general aren't loud enough and
occasionally have to use software to increase the volume on my mp3
files. Yet these type of suits force manufacturers to lower the
volume. I like listening to my music loud, being totally engulfed in
it. I know I'm putting my ears at risk, but that's my choice, just
like it was for this plantiff. It's common sense. If I ride my bike
down a steep hill in SF I could lose control in crash, should the bike
manufacturer put a warning that gravity could impact my ability to
control a bike on steep hills? NONSENSE!
\_ Uhm, did you ever figure that maybe you need to turn it up so high
because you have *already* damaged your hearing?
\_ Yep, and that's ok, it should be my choice. You only live
once, and if that means enjoying music at a nice loud
volume, but having to ask people to speak up or repeat things,
that's ok. Just because Oreos make me fat doesn't mean they
should be sued because I choose to eat a row a day, imparing my
health.
that's ok. Just because Oreos make me fat doesn't mean
Nabisco should be sued because I choose to eat a row a day,
imparing my health.
\_ All true but not really what I was getting at. But I guess
if you're willing to spend half your life unable to hear in
exchange for loud music today... shrug. I suspect your 50+
year old self will curse your 20-30 year old self when the
time comes. Let us know how that goes.
\_ "If I'd known I was going to live this long, I'd have
taken better care of myself."
\_ It would be interesting to see how much power it puts out of the
headphone jack compared to an early 80's Walkman. I suspect it is
about the same.
\_ Read the article; it claims most players put out 100db, the
iPod puts out 115db (except in Europe, where Apple was
required to limit it to 100db). -tom
\_ The 80's guy has a point, walkmans used to be louder, before
the lawsuit against Sony in the 80's. That's why all their
players now have AVLS, which lowers the volume down to a whisper.
There's actually hacks for some Sony walkmans to unlock the true
volume potential (http://tinyurl.com/b2ecw
\_ My Sony CD Walkman from 10yrs ago has a switch to turn off AVLS.
It has three settings: Off, AVLS 1 (less reduction), AVLS 2 (more
reduction).
\_ The earbud headphones are much more likely to damage your ears,
especially the iPod ones because 1) The speaker is much closer to
your ear canal and 2) It doesn't block out outside sound as well
which means people crank it up higher to filter out the world.
\_ This really is ridiculous. They have clear notices that cranking
it up can hurt you. We don't speed limit cars to 5mph because any
faster "could hurt or kill you".
\_ Actually, we do put speed limiters on cars.
\_ objection, argumentative.
\_ This reminds me of the McDonald lawsuit which a lady ordered a cup
of hot coffee, put it between her legs, drove off, spilled, burnt
herself, and sued because the hot coffee was hot. I think McD
should avoid future lawsuits by changin its menu offering:
Customer: One hot coffee please.
Cashier: Hot or cold?
Customer: Hot coffer please.
Cashier: The hot kind of hot coffee or the cold kind of hot coffee?
Customer: ......
\_ Stella Liebeck: http://www.lectlaw.com/files/cur78.htm
During discovery, McDonalds produced documents showing more than
700 claims by people burned by its coffee between 1982 and 1992.
McDonalds ... held its coffee at between 180 and 190 degrees ...
Other establishments sell coffee at substantially lower
temperatures. Liebeck, who also underwent debridement treatments,
sought to settle her claim for $20,000, but McDonalds refused.
McDonalds asserted that customers buy coffee on their way to
work or home, intending to consume it there. However, the
companys own research showed that customers intend to consume
the coffee immediately while driving.
For those preferring a biased source:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/8/1/141345/4615
\_ Just because the other establishments mislabel their warm
coffee as hot coffee, it doesn't mean McD should be required
to follow this practice.
\_ Now you're just trolling. If you don't know wth the case
was about, do us all a favor.
\_ If Liebeck thought the coffee was too hot, why was she
drinking it while driving? She wanted to burn her throat and
stomach?
\_ Well, I'd assume that she didn't know it was 'too hot'
until she'd already sustained severe burns. Your comment
suggests that either you didn't read the lectlaw link,
or that you missed some rather important details while
skimming it. Perhaps you should, at least, reread the
article.
\_ Erm who gives a shit? PP is right, why was she
drinking it while driving? A normal person will take
a sip, realize it's too hot, and wait. -John
\_ 1) she wasn't driving. 2) the vehicle wasn't in
motion. 3) the coffee was 185F. Do your homework
or STFU. Or don't. Whatever's funnier. *shrug*
\_ Actually, reading you get annoyed is pretty
funny. -John
\_ Yeahyeah, bite me. Punk. :P
\_ I have to agree. McD coffee has always been
nukingly hot, and takes forever to cool down in
its insulated container. annoying.
\_ Apple Discontinues Sales To Stupid People:
http://tinyurl.com/dg9q7 |
| 5/23 |
|
| tinyurl.com/892c8 -> news.ft.com/cms/s/7bf03be0-94de-11da-9f39-0000779e2340.html Apple Computer's popular iPod music player was facing a new legal threat after an aggrieved customer filed a class action complaint claiming the comany did not adequately warn customers about the potential for damaging hearing loss from playing its popular music player at full volume. A complaint filed with a California court this week alleged that Apple's music players were "inherently defective in design" and "not adorned with adequate warnings regarding the likelihood of hearing loss". IPods sold in Europe contain software that limits their noise output to 100 decibels, but the complaint alleged that iPods sold in the US can produce sound levels of up to 115 decibels - louder than a helicopter or a jackhammer. "Millions of consumers have had their hearing put at risk by Apple's conduct," the complaint said. Apple could not be reached yesterday morning for comment. The lawsuit comes at a sensitive time for the computer maker, which has come under pressure to introduce new blockbuster products to sustain its meteoric sales growth. IPods, which account for a bulk of Apple's revenues, propelled the company to record profits last year. A lawsuit filed last October by an angy iPod nano owner sought damages because the diminutive music player's screen was alleged to have scratched too easily. Last June, the company settled a class action suit brought by customers who said older iPods' batteries did not perform as advertised. In addition to unspecified damages, this week's complaint sought to force Apple to upgrade its iPod software to limit the amount of sound the music players can produce. The iPod user manual already warns customers about the potential for permanent hearing loss if the player's earphones or headphones are used a high volume. But the complaint alleged that Apple did not advise users about what constituted a high volume or a safe level of noise. |
| tinyurl.com/b2ecw -> www.anythingbutipod.com/archives/2005/12/sony-a1000-a3000-volume-limit-unlock.php jpg One of the problems with the Sony players is that the volume may not be loud enough for some people or it is not enough power to drive some of the larger audiophile headphones. The instructions for this volume unlock has showed up on eBay for two bucks or so. However, I feel that selling information that is not yours and that is available for free on the internet is a bit unethical. So here you have it free information on unlocking the volume to your NW-A1000 and NW-A3000. Exit play mode by pressing and holding BACK for more than a few seconds, release, and then turn the player off. thanx Posted by: helen at January 3, 2006 01:39 PM dude it dosent work on mine what should i do? Posted by: deepath at January 3, 2006 07:22 PM The 'Source' link isn't right. showtopic=509 Posted by: Chilli at January 3, 2006 08:25 PM Cheers buddy. unreal that peeps are sellin this on ebay, good of someone to share though, just unlocked 2 at work too. " so thanks for sortin it out :D Posted by: Christov at January 9, 2006 09:18 AM BRILLIANT! Can turn down the bass and treble off max now lol Posted by: Richard at January 10, 2006 12:53 PM it works on mine thanks Posted by: jowy at January 12, 2006 12:05 AM cheers lad. Posted by: luke at January 15, 2006 09:02 PM Thanks for the info works great! Posted by: James at January 16, 2006 06:17 AM thanks alot. PS: would you like to let us know where you got such wonderful information? cheers Posted by: john doherty at January 18, 2006 08:37 AM How do I get to get music on to this machine the software is a disgrace anyone know of a crack I can use otherwise HW-A1000 IS FO E-BAY Posted by: Flyman at January 18, 2006 05:39 PM i must be the most stupid person in the world cos i CAN NOT do this HELPPPPPPP ! Posted by: lisa at January 20, 2006 04:57 PM connect try having the sync off or not converting the tracks that way its quick a but you get up to the normal amount of songs on it eg 6gb = 1500 mp3s at 128bit where as the atrac3plus can double it which is ace but it takes about 10sec on each track and can slow your computer down.... but on a 6gb you can get like more tehn 3000 tracks its mint tip to ya all dont do anyhing less then 64kb on the atrack and 128 for mp3s anything less an its crap to hear for the head phones i also tested my one and the battery lasted 18 to 19 hours so that s good i also charged it like for 15mins once from the battery "low need charge " thing and it lasted almost 10hours now thats good sony rule on battery life you can try using sonic stage instead but you lose the link ft. guys i think i'm f*ck=d here i did that and it didnt up the vol higher then its it already is. but iwent to the power thing and it said ready and then it was stuck on write for like 5mins i was sh1ting it cuz i couldnt turn it off or anything then it just cam back like so im saved im staying out of that menu..... thanks for telling us anywayt though Posted by: KB at January 23, 2006 08:29 PM Thnx, that worked great! Now to find a way to change the stupid welcome/goodbye message... Posted by: kipaaa at January 25, 2006 10:15 AM thank alot man been lookin for this Posted by: darksoulja at January 25, 2006 07:12 PM this is entirely a slickest shit.. i think ive made loads of clicks in sum of da 1st menu.. and yea, it would be very much appreciated if anyone can tell me whats the other CODES about.. Manders at January 28, 2006 07:27 AM 1 other thing, the only thing that is lacking is a clock i wud really like a clock on this system, iv noticed the clock menu in others, duz this mean there is the option of having a clock, you would think there would be as it works out dates, from play history. cheers Posted by: Manders at January 28, 2006 07:32 AM Works on mine. Also when you got into the test menu, you can change any other variables ; reason at February 1, 2006 08:47 AM You cant change the greetings etc thrugh that menu. all those weird things are just to check that the unit is working properly. if it stops responding its because its checking its ram or hdd etc. if it does stop responding, dont panic, just give it a while or else press the reset button at the bottom with a paper clip. Only thing is, you'll lose all your songs and will have to transfer them again. Posted by: dioltas at February 2, 2006 11:19 AM Post a comment Name: Email Address: URL: Remember Me? |
| www.lectlaw.com/files/cur78.htm There is a lot of hype about the McDonalds' scalding coffee case. No one is in favor of frivolous cases of outlandish results; however, it is important to understand some points that were not reported in most of the stories about the case. McDonalds coffee was not only hot, it was scalding -- capable of almost instantaneous destruction of skin, flesh and muscle. Stella Liebeck of Albuquerque, New Mexico, was in the passenger seat of her grandson's car when she was severely burned by McDonalds' coffee in February 1992. Liebeck, 79 at the time, ordered coffee that was served in a styrofoam cup at the drivethrough window of a local McDonalds. After receiving the order, the grandson pulled his car forward and stopped momentarily so that Liebeck could add cream and sugar to her coffee. As she removed the lid, the entire contents of the cup spilled into her lap. The sweatpants Liebeck was wearing absorbed the coffee and held it next to her skin. A vascular surgeon determined that Liebeck suffered full thickness burns (or third-degree burns) over 6 percent of her body, including her inner thighs, perineum, buttocks, and genital and groin areas. She was hospitalized for eight days, during which time she underwent skin grafting. Liebeck, who also underwent debridement treatments, sought to settle her claim for $20,000, but McDonalds refused. During discovery, McDonalds produced documents showing more than 700 claims by people burned by its coffee between 1982 and 1992. Some claims involved third-degree burns substantially similar to Liebecks. This history documented McDonalds' knowledge about the extent and nature of this hazard. McDonalds also said during discovery that, based on a consultants advice, it held its coffee at between 180 and 190 degrees fahrenheit to maintain optimum taste. He admitted that he had not evaluated the safety ramifications at this temperature. Other establishments sell coffee at substantially lower temperatures, and coffee served at home is generally 135 to 140 degrees. Further, McDonalds' quality assurance manager testified that the company actively enforces a requirement that coffee be held in the pot at 185 degrees, plus or minus five degrees. He also testified that a burn hazard exists with any food substance served at 140 degrees or above, and that McDonalds coffee, at the temperature at which it was poured into styrofoam cups, was not fit for consumption because it would burn the mouth and throat. The quality assurance manager admitted that burns would occur, but testified that McDonalds had no intention of reducing the "holding temperature" of its coffee. Plaintiffs' expert, a scholar in thermodynamics applied to human skin burns, testified that liquids, at 180 degrees, will cause a full thickness burn to human skin in two to seven seconds. Other testimony showed that as the temperature decreases toward 155 degrees, the extent of the burn relative to that temperature decreases exponentially. Thus, if Liebeck's spill had involved coffee at 155 degrees, the liquid would have cooled and given her time to avoid a serious burn. McDonalds asserted that customers buy coffee on their way to work or home, intending to consume it there. However, the companys own research showed that customers intend to consume the coffee immediately while driving. McDonalds also argued that consumers know coffee is hot and that its customers want it that way. The company admitted its customers were unaware that they could suffer thirddegree burns from the coffee and that a statement on the side of the cup was not a "warning" but a "reminder" since the location of the writing would not warn customers of the hazard. The jury awarded Liebeck $200,000 in compensatory damages. This amount was reduced to $160,000 because the jury found Liebeck 20 percent at fault in the spill. Post-verdict investigation found that the temperature of coffee at the local Albuquerque McDonalds had dropped to 158 degrees fahrenheit. The trial court subsequently reduced the punitive award to $480,000 -- or three times compensatory damages -- even though the judge called McDonalds' conduct reckless, callous and willful. The parties eventually entered into a secret settlement which has never been revealed to the public, despite the fact that this was a public case, litigated in public and subjected to extensive media reporting. Such secret settlements, after public trials, should not be condoned. Unless specifically stated, no one appearing or mentioned in the 'Lectric Law Library, including all Sponsors, advertisers, or content authors and providers; a) necessarily endorses, warrants or approved of anything in the Library, or; b) intends anything in the Library to provide specific legal advice, or solicit or establish any kind of professional attorney/client relationship. |
| www.dailykos.com/story/2004/8/1/141345/4615 DHinMI Sun Aug 01, 2004 at 12:13:45 PM PDT With former trial lawyer John Edwards now officially the Democratic nominee for Vice President, expect the wingers to officially link the Democratic ticket to those "outrageous" frivolous lawsuits. We've all heard about so-called frivolous lawsuits, of which the most "infamous" is the case of the woman who sued McDonald's because its coffee was too hot. John Stossel, the McDonald's coffee lawsuit supposedly exemplifies everything that's wrong with American civil justice. A woman stupidly spills a little coffee, the story goes, and instead of daubing the coffee off her clothes and getting on with life, she gets a couple million dollars by suing McDonald's. If it hadn't been so widely reported back in the early 1990's, it would be easy to assume the McDonald's coffee case was an urban myth. The fact that McDonald's lost a lawsuit filed by a woman who spilled coffee on herself is in fact true. But just about everything else you've probably heard is wrong or grossly incomplete, and you can bet that whatever comes out of the right wing noise machine will perpetuate the falsehoods about the case. First of all, it's important to attach a name to the case. Stella Liebeck was an 81 year old retired retail clerk who spilled coffee while at the drive-through window of an McDonald's in Albuquerque, NM. If you still think that's not much of a reason to bring a suit against McDonalds, you're not alone; Wall Street Journal, the members of the jury felt the same way: At the beginning of the trial, jury foreman Jerry Goens says he "wasn't convinced as to why I needed to be there to settle a coffee spill." At that point, Mr Goens and the other jurors knew only the basic facts: that two years earlier, Stella Liebeck had bought a 49-cent cup of coffee at the drive-in window of an Albuquerque McDonald's, and while removing the lid to add cream and sugar had spilled it, causing third-degree burns of the groin, inner thighs and buttocks. Her suit, filed in state court in Albuquerque, claimed the coffee was "defective" because it was so hot. What the jury didn't realize initially was the severity of her burns. Told during the trial of Mrs Liebeck's seven days in the hospital and her skin grafts, and shown gruesome photographs, jurors began taking the matter more seriously. Over the previous decade McDonald's had received over 700 complaints about its coffee scalding people, including babies. They had settled all lawsuits out of court, with some payments as high as $500,000. But McDonald's continued to serve its coffee 20 degrees hotter than any other major restaurant chain. Stella Liebeck hadn't originally planned on going to a jury trial. She had asked for compensatory damages to pay for her skin grafts, but McDonald's offered only $800. By the end of the trial, however, the jury was convinced that she was entitled $200,000 compensatory damages for her medical costs, which they reduced by $40,000 because she was partially to blame for having spilled the coffee. Remember, this decision was made in light of the fact that McDonald's had long known that its coffee, served 20 degrees hotter than the industry standard, had resulted in hundreds of presumably avoidable second and third degree burns. But even after all of that, the judge still reduced the punitive award to $480,000--a sizeable sum, but one awarded to an 81 year old plaintiff only because McDonald's was partially to blame for her suffering third degree burns throughout her groin because McDonalds persisted, despite knowing it had caused hundreds of scaldings, in serving coffee that it knew was extremely dangerous. So, if you hear people drone on about how John Edwards is on the side of those shark trial lawyers who file frivolous lawsuits like that one against McDonald's because its coffee was too hot, tell them the name Stella Liebeck. Tell them that 81 year old Stella Liebeck suffered third degree burns and incurred hundreds of thousands of dollars of medical costs for the grafts she needed to repair the skin on her groin, inner thighs and butt. Tell them that Stella Liebeck just wanted McDonald's to pay for the damage they had caused, but McDonald's only offered her $800 for $200,000 worth of medical bills. Tell them that prior to Stella Liebeck's scalding McDonald's had already heard about over 700 cases of people being seriously burned by their coffee, but they continued to serve it 20 degrees hotter than any other major restaurant chain. And ask them, if they were Stella Liebeck, or Stella Liebeck was their wife or mother or neighbor, who do they think would be more sympathetic to their modest demand that a major corporation live up to its responsibilities, John Edwards or Dick Cheney? |
| tinyurl.com/dg9q7 -> www.crazyapplerumors.com/archives/000643.html#000643 hurt some guy in Louisiana's ears, Apple has decided to discontinue sales to stupid people. "We did a cost/benefit analysis," said Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook, "And it clearly is not cost effective to continue to have stupid people as our customers." Nitwits, morons, dunderheads, idiots and boneheads will find themselves turned away from their local Apple Store starting March 1st. Cook said "We needed to get some procedures in place so that our sales associates could tell the difference between a chowderhead, for example, and a customer that meets our new minimum intelligence quotient for purchasing an Apple product." The latest lawsuit spurred the company to take action after it realized that if it could face a lawsuit over something clearly listed as a warning in the product documentation from an individual who has not been damaged, it had simply lost control of the situation. "We considered various other scenarios, from engraving the warning on the front of the iPod, printing it on the front of the box, using giant laser cannons to etch it on the face of the moon, showing up at customers houses periodically and screaming it into their faces, and simply discontinuing sales in Louisiana where I know folk are a little 'diffurnt'. "But ultimately we decided the determining factor was the relative intelligence of the purchaser, not the backward brand of hick banjo music they listen to." Some of the questions included in Apple's training for sales associates include: * Is the purchaser repeatedly jabbing pointy objects such as knitting needles into his or her eyes? ", a flounder or other fish, lederhosen (pending the opening of the Apple Store Stuettgart). Cook said that the change is not expected to effect Apple's revenue figures substantially as most stupid people also tend to be tasteless as well, and are therefore more likely to already be Windows users. UPDATE: This article originally indicated that the initiator of the "This iPod Goes To 11" lawsuit was from Tennessee. It's just that we like Louisiana so much more than Tennessee that we read "Tennessee" when it did, in fact, say "Louisiana." Also, Stuttgart is apparently spelled without an umlaut. However, we think umlauts are wicked boss, so we left it in. It may not be spelled that way, but that doesn't mean that it wouldn't be cooler if it were spelled that way. THIS ADMISSION OF ERROR DOES NOT IMPLY ANY ERROR ON THE PART OF CRAZY APPLE RUMORS SITE OR ITS PARENT COMPANY, GIANT SQUID PRODUCTIONS. Posted by CARS Staff at February 2, 2006 09:51 PM Comments First post! Posted by: OverclockedLemon on February 2, 2006 09:55 PM Second post. Nxxx on February 2, 2006 10:25 PM The text on this page is too small and could be ruining my eyesight, although I'm not sure yet. Posted by: Caveman on February 2, 2006 10:28 PM Yeah, I liked that article. Posted by: on February 2, 2006 10:54 PM Dagnabbit, now all two of us that post comments to CARS can't upgrade. Red Lantern, Dead Battery on February 2, 2006 11:05 PM Pardon? Posted by: Dunces and Imbeciles Support Group on February 2, 2006 11:11 PM AAAAAAAAAnnnnnnnnnnd the coveted 11th, natch... Streetrabbit on February 3, 2006 03:13 AM Yeah, but the porkpie hat may merely indicate that the wearer is in a ska band rather than being dumber than a sack of REALLY STUPID hammers. but the linked BBC article says the idiot is from Louisiana, not Tene... well maybe the BBC couldn't spell Tennessee so they changed it to Louisiana. Yeah, that must be it, as we all know Moltz can't possibly be a mixed-up chowderhead! melvin on February 3, 2006 06:33 AM Louisiana or Tennessee or Boston: Same difference. Posted by: Hobbs on February 3, 2006 06:50 AM Ska band members needn't worry as long as you don't wear laderhosen or a fish, etc. Posted by: Kiss me, I'm ska on February 3, 2006 07:09 AM I may be two bricks shy of two bricks, but even I know that it should be "affect" in place of "effect." Posted by: Simon "Chucklehead" Simpleton on February 3, 2006 07:44 AM Oooo, your in rare form here. Bill B on February 3, 2006 08:09 AM Apple is just setting up a situation akin to minors hanging outside convenience stores and getting people of age to buy alcoholic beverages for them. We'll have stupid people getting eggheads to buy their Macs for them. As Jeff Goldblum said in "Jurassic Park," nature finds a way. Klaus on February 3, 2006 08:25 AM Hey, Al Gore is from Tennessee, and he's on Apple's board. Posted by: on February 3, 2006 08:35 AM YOU PUNY MORTALS START ADVERTISING ON EARTH'S MOON AND I'LL DESTROY IT! Posted by: CTHULHU on February 3, 2006 08:50 AM My pants enjoyed everybody's comments today. Stuettgart is in fact spelled 'Stuttgart', no umlaut, and it's not even close to Bavaria where the locals wear Lederhosen (occasionally). Posted by: on February 3, 2006 10:25 AM Dunces and Imbeciles Support Group, you have a home with us. That article was really funny, but the ending hurt my billionaire feelings. Jon on February 3, 2006 11:24 AM Did anyone else notice that 1) the guy is from Louisiana, 2) his aturney is from Washington (State), and 3) they filed the lawsuit in California... Does this mean you can't find a lawer in California that dumb? Too bad that guy wasn't from Misouri, those hicks can't even say their own state's name right, "Misoura"? gordo on February 3, 2006 02:06 PM I can hardly wait until Help Desk when we can comment on the Steelers making Mocha Latte out of Seattle. Posted by: Burgher on February 3, 2006 03:15 PM Hey, I live in Stuttgart. Posted by: semmel on February 3, 2006 03:16 PM It's Stuettgart, not Stuttgart, stupid! Think 'Redneck' crossed with 'Slimeball' and 'Gangbanger'. limeybloke on February 3, 2006 04:53 PM I'm concerned that the silence on this page may be greatly ruining my hearing, being I am wearing headphones, and I know this page's silence is capable of going up to 115 decibels. site, yeah site, and reduce the silence sound to 100 decibels. OH I CANT DO IT, YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST I JUST WUV CARS SO MUCH! Nevermind, I'll go deaf for you ^_^ And I wasted all that ketchup......... Cleetus, the slack-jawed yokel on February 3, 2006 08:52 PM Surely if you can find the power key on a mini or iMac then your IQ is double figures - is that enough? Apple iPod Legal All content copyright 2001-2006 Giant Squid Productions, LLC. Content may not be reproduced in any format without express written consent of Giant Squid Productions. Crazy Apple Rumors Site is a satire and all names are invented, other than those of public figures. Any other use of actual names is accidental and coincidental. Crazy Apple Rumors Site is intended for mature audiences. |