Bluetooth Issues, Vanishing Calendars

MY new Palm Centro won’t pair up with the Bluetooth in my Toyota. The phone sees the car, but the car doesn’t return the favor.

Bluetooth is 10 years old, but phones and car hands-free kits can still have weird communication breakdowns. In this case, the Bluetooth gear in some Toyotas may fail to detect Palm smartphones.

A 2005 Prius had this problem with a new Centro. After going through the pairing process as outlined in the car’s manual, the Centro would say it was connected, but the car’s info screen would report that it was still connecting. (Oddly enough, a second Centro worked right away.)

Postings in some online forums suggested this extra step: when the vehicle appears in the Palm’s “Trusted Devices” screen, usually as “Hands Free,” press the menu button and select “Connect.” (This screen offers no clue that a menu could exist here—it’s a terrible interface.) In my case, the entry for the Prius turned bold on the Centro’s screen, and a moment later, the car’s screen showed “connected.”

After I installed the latest update from Apple, iCal showed up blank. Where did my schedules go?

The 10.5.2 bug-fix update to Mac OS X Leopard that Apple released last week seems to have a bug of its own: the iCal program included in OS X can seem to lose your calendars and to-do items.

To get them back, quit iCal, switch to the Finder, click the home icon in its left-hand pane and double-click your Library folder. Then double-click the Calendars folder to open that. Drag any files whose names include “Cache” into the trash.

When you open iCal again, it should flash a message that it’s updating your calendars; a moment later, your appointments and to-dos should reappear.

Music biz lacks plan to replace dying CD

AMONG veteran digital music fans, it’s hard to generate much sympathy for the recording industry.

Help File: Bluetooth Issues, Vanishing Calendars

MY new Palm Centro won’t pair up with the Bluetooth in my Toyota. The phone sees the car, but the car doesn’t return the favor.

Bluetooth is 10 years old, but phones and car hands-free kits can still have weird communication breakdowns. In this case, the Bluetooth gear in some Toyotas may fail to detect Palm smartphones.

Quarrying Dennis Quaid

IF you get in a car with Dennis Quaid, beware. “If you’re in the passenger seat, I can curl your toes!” the charming Texan star brags of his stunt-driving skills clearly in evidence in his latest thriller ‘Vantage Point.’

More novel-based films are staying truer to their source

THERE’S an old joke of sorts—attributed to, or maybe it was Hemingway—about how writers should respond when studios start sniffing around their work. “Drive to,” the punch line goes, “throw your book over the state line, and wait for them to throw the money back.”

Show & Tell: LOVE HANG OVER

THE confession of ever-controversial actress-singer Gretchen Barretto to her manager, TV host Boy Abunda, in ABS-CBN’s ‘The Buzz’ somehow stole the attention of millions of Filipinos from the ongoing Senate investigation into the NBN-ZTE scandal via revelations of witness Rodolfo Noel “Jun” Lozada Jr.

Chasing the Rainbow Mats OF Tawi-Tawi

IT was a most usual day in Bongao, when we set sail in a small wooden lantsa to the island of Tabawan.  Puffy cumulus clouds dotted the bluest of skies reflected on a lapis lazuli sea that faded into a translucent turquoise.

The birth of cool on Vito Cruz Street

AS the new Museum of Contemporary Art and Design, or mcad, of the De La Salle-College of St. Benilde opens its inaugural exhibition at 6 pm tomorrow, February 21, the usual museum and gallery hoppers will be in for many surprises.