Michael Kleef was experiencing the other Zune battery problem I mentioned in my last post:

Update 2: Since posting this I have seen reports of another Zune 30 battery problem where the device will not charge at all. It only shows the exclamation point of death which effectively prevents you from resetting the device [if it won't even turn on then how can you reset it?]. That is different from what I experienced, which was reduced battery life. Sorry, I don't know what to tell you.

...and seems to have a solution: Zune 30 battery woes - some solutions!

~tod

Do you own an original Zune [now called a Zune 30]? Did you upgrade to the new firmware¹ released a few weeks ago? Did you start having problems with the battery life? Does this image look familiar?

If so, then you're seeing the same problem I and many, many others have according to this thread in the Zune forums.

Here's the situation I found myself in.... I updated my Zune 30's firmware on release day² and was enjoying the new look and feel. After a few days of regular use I noticed the battery dying much faster than it had previously. Not sure what was going on I just kept charging and syncing it with my laptop. Then the night before Thanksgiving I charged it all night long, knowing that I had 8 hours of driving to do in the next 48 hours [spent the holiday with my girlfriend and her family in Eastern Washington, a smashing good time other than my dead Zune].

Two hours into my drive the battery icon looked reasonable at mostly full.  Three hours into my drive it was suddenly at half charge.  Four hours it was barely registering.  Fifth hour...the exclamation point of death and I was pulling out CDs that I threw in "just in case." I was pissed.

Looking for a fix, I read the Zune forums and some mailing lists which lead me to this solution:

1. Drain your Zune 30 completely of battery life until you get the exclamation point of death.
2. Fully charge your Zune 30, overnight even.
3. Reset it. You do this by simultaneously pressing UP on the directional pad and the BACK button.
4. To save the battery when not using your Zune 30, force it to turn off by simultaneously pressing DOWN on the directional pad and the BACK button.

After doing this, I got 13 hours of continuous music playback [with wireless on].  Fully charging the battery and resetting the Zune seems to have fixed the problem.

I could go into a longer rant about this, but I'm just too tired from dealing with it over the weekend. Suffice it to say that I like my Zune enough to deal with this bullshit. I also have faith that the Zune team is aware of the problem and working on a fix as we speak. [fingers crossed]

Update: Just to be clear, the solution presented here is not an official one provided by Microsoft or Zune. This is strictly from my own experience and experimentation as a Zune user.

Update 2: Since posting this I have seen reports of another Zune 30 battery problem where the device will not charge at all. It only shows the excalamation point of death which effectively prevents you from resetting the device [if it won't even turn on then how can you reset it?]. That is different from what I experienced, which was reduced battery life. Sorry, I don't know what to tell you.

Update 3: Added step 4 above.

~tod

¹ To see your firmware version go to settings -> about -> zune.

² Version 2.2 of the firmware was released on 11.13.2007.

This is a re-post of one of many articles I wrote while publishing a site titled thDad.com [my thoughts & experiences about being a father]. I have since retired the site and removed the content, but this post in particular was the end result for many searches. As such I want to preserve it here, my primary online presence, for future reference. Enjoy and I hope it is useful....

Rating: suhweet!

Durability - 5 stars
Appearance - 5 stars
Price Point ($7) - 4 stars
Ease of use - 5 stars
Portability - 5 stars
Warnings - none so far

Pros:

• It really does catch damn near everything...even liquids!
• Durable waterproof construction.
• Extremely easy to clean.
• Very portable since it unsnaps and rolls up.

Cons:

• Although the snaps are color coded, I have had to explain how they match together to most people who used it with my daughter. Maybe that's just my family though.
• They are hard to find in local stores so you might have to buy them online.

Summary:

You only need one type of bib and this is it. Seriously. Don't even waste your money on the other bibs. You know the ones I'm talking about...the little flat cloth/plastic ones. They catch a little bit and then everything else just falls around or off of them.

But not the Dura Bib. I really mean it! This thing literally catches just about everything that will miss your child's mouth, and trust me there will be A LOT that misses their mouth.

Like most good products it's a pretty simple concept. The bib has color-coded snaps on each bottom corner that form a pouch/pocket when snapped together. That pouch is great at catching most everything and keeping the rest of the high-chair, floor or child pretty darn clean. I only bought one and have used it since my little girl's very first 'real food' at 4 months old. It is only now (almost 2 years later) showing a little bit of wear in one of the corners that folds to make the pocket.

The real thing that sold me on the Dura Bib was when she started playing the game of dribbling her milk/water out of her mouth after taking a drink. She thought it was funny, but what a huge mess it could have been. Luckily the Dura Bib's pocket caught all of the milk/water and there was rarely a wet, soppy mess to clean up in her high chair. I was sold from that point on!

~tod

I just read Thinking Tester's post where he quotes Dr. Cem Kaner from the Yahoo "software-testing" group as he discusses his view of software testing as a career. 

An excerpt:

We are professional investigators. Rather than building things, we find ways to answer difficult questions about the quality of the products or services we test. Our job--if we choose to do it well--requires us to constantly learn new things, about the product, its market, its implementation, its risks, its usability, etc. To learn these, we are constantly developing new skills and new cognitive structures in a diversity of fields. It also requires us to communicate well to a diverse group of people. We ALSO get to build things (test tools), but very often, we build to our own designs, which can be more satisfying than building an application that does something we'll never personally do (or want to do).

The whole post is well worth reading.

Me? Well, I just started my JOB as a tester 8 months ago and for almost 2 years before that I worked on small projects where I did a lot of design and development along with bits and pieces of project management, testing, usability, sustained engineering and several other things. Personally, I like the way Dr. Kaner describes "software development as a bundle of coordinated tasks, including programming, design, testing, usability evaluation, modeling, documentation, development of associated training, project management, etc." I definitely consider my CAREER to be in software development [using Dr. Kaner's description] while my current JOB is testing.

~tod

Well, I don't always agree with my state's (WA) governor, Christine Gregoire, but I respect the fact that she's participating in Public Service Announcements (PSA) by the ESRB.

Parents need to be held accountable for the games their children are playing, not the video game companies. I play FPS games [aka: shooters] all the time on my Xbox 360, but not in front of or with my [almost] 4 year old daughter. For her, it's usually Guitar Hero II...done quite poorly [on my part].

Hat tip: Video Game Voters Network

~tod

Microsoft [yes, the company that indirectly pays my mortgage] has just launched the Tester Center on msdn.

The Microsoft Tester Center showcases the test discipline as an integral part of the application lifecycle, describes test roles and responsibilities, and promotes the test investments required to deliver high-quality software.

Initially, this looks like a good start at an [msdn-centric] information repository for the Test discipline. The content is minimal right now, but that should increase with time.

• Book Bytes [shorter takes on testing books] and Reviews
• Microsoft blogs list - focused on testing [obviously]. And their latest posts.
• Technical articles
• Whiteboard Videos

There is a lot of potential here to not only become a great reference tool, but to give insight to the testing discipline inside Microsoft. Time will tell.... [bad metaphor ahead!] The developers are still the lead singers of the band, but at least us drummers are getting a little more publicity now.

~tod