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I bought a new battery for my 13" Black Macbook yesterday from BattDepot. The Apple replacement part goes for $159, I've seen third party replacements in stores for $129, but BattDepot lists theirs for $47.99 plus shipping and handling. After taxes, it comes to just under $60, almost $100 less than Apple's suggested retail price.

It seems that BattDepot is a reseller for Dr. Battery, so when I selected the "Pick up from warehouse" option ($5) I was given the address of the Richmond warehouse of Dr. Battery. The battery fits nicely, and is a good though not perfect match for color and texture. It is reported by System Profiler as a 5125 mAh battery at 12566 mV, once fully charged.

This has got to be one of the simplest little hardware hacks I've done, but perhaps also one of the most effective.

The problem:

I've owned four generations of Mac notebooks, and several other Apple products besides, all featuring variants of the same basic power adaptor design: the squarish, rounded white brick with flip-out wings for wrapping the low-voltage line for storage. Many of these power adaptors have not stood up well to everyday use - though to be fair, I do mean I use them pretty solidly every day. One of the early adaptors for my iBook developed a short on the 120/240v side. The magsafe adaptor on my latest laptop, a Macbook Pro, had the low-voltage line pull out of the rubber strain relief sleeve attached to the brick, exposing the internal wiring.

Today, the first day of Spring, marks my second commute of the week on my relatively new bike, an Ezee Forte electric model. If you've been following along you'll know that the first few rides left me less-than-impressed with the electrical system.

I finished Neal Stephenson's Anathem over the weekend - all 900+ pages including appendices.

Wow... I was enthralled.

If you've been paying attention, you'll know that we've been down to a single car for the last month or so. Last weekend, after a good deal of discussion, we bought a new vehicle: an electric bike. The goal is for this to replace one car for my 4 times per week 20km each-way commute, thus saving 80-120Kg CO2e per month over taking my 2004 Golf TDI (the numbers are from this article). So, we made the trip to Victoria to Scooter Underground.

The situation with our car which I blogged about a couple of days ago appears to be getting sorted out.

Pamela talked yesterday with Gary Doolin, an instructor in the auto service training department at VIU who has been taking care of matters for the university, and Fred Macdonald, Dean of Trades and Applied Technology. They were very helpful, courteous and open with information. Pamela was offered the department's Toyota Prius hybrid as a loaner

It's one of those things you hear about but think will never happen to you.  This morning we dropped off Pamela's car (a '97 Cavalier) at the VIU automotive repair shop, which is run by the Automotive Service Technician programme at Vancouver Island University.   Like most schools of this kind, they encourage the public to provide vehicles requiring service, which is provided at cost.  We asked to have the oil and filter changed, and to have the brakes looked at.  A couple of hours we got a call... apparently some students were test driving the car, hit a patch of ice, and lost control of the vehicle, which ended up in a ditch.

While we were driving past Ladysmith on our way to Victoria last weekend Pamela spotted a new little restaurant, right on the main highway, next to Ladysmith City Hall.   Yesterday we thought we'd try it out, and we were blown away. 

Going greener can be a whole lotta fun, as well as saving money and helping the environment. So I've discovered after buying a second hand 2004 Volkswagen Golf TDI.

We'd been talking about replacing our '97 Chevy Cavalier with a smaller, more fuel efficient, safer, more reliable car for about a year.  Recently rising gas prices, as well as some mechanical difficulties with the Cavalier (the latest was a leaking water pump) had been adding some urgency to the situation. 

We were walking through the rubble that is Cambie and Broadway a few days ago and discovered the Peaceful Restaurant. In the location formerly occupied by the Jade Garden, on a block fairly littered with restaurants, this little gem doesn't really stand out until you get inside and order.