Ok maybe it's not the worst DVR ever made Oh yes it's the worst. And it's not just me, customers hate it, hate it, hate it, hate it, hate it. I'm writing this post to let Time Warner LA know that this cannot stand for long before customers such as myself switch back to satellite providers. I'm talking very soon, like as soon as I can get a day off from work to have an installer come by my house.

What sets this HD-DVR piece of garbage apart from the competition is...if you tell it to record a series it will record every friggin instant of the show, even if you tell it only to record one copy of each new episode. I end up with 10 recordings of the Daily Show every day.

But worst of all it crashes whenever it feels like it.

And it's not the individual machine. I've been through 3 of them. 2 at my previous apartment. Oh, and I love it when the machine lags, than jumps 5 minutes all of a sudden...hit jump forward more than once and you're asking for it. I've spoiled the ending of Top Chef twice this way.

Not cool.

I try to avoid rants here, but some of the cavalier responses to the recent taser stories have made me feel like I need to go above and beyond a simple comment. Accusations were made that the agonized screams of people being tasered were just the person being "dramatic". One commentor actually said, "Torture?" LOL! LOL? Are you kidding me? Try getting tasered LOL!

Of the three recent incidents, there is not a single clear video. The 15-year-old with autism was not caught on tape, the swarm of security at the John Kerry incident made the tasering difficult to see. The UCLA incident was off-camera, and only his screams are heard. So lets take a closer look at tasering before we decide either way, shall we?

"Necessary force" is used because of a danger to the officer, the person's self or others. On the many YouTube videos I watched, it seems like a severe case of mouthiness is what buys you the jolt. The woman in the above video is so calm, the cop does not even need to "eject" the tasers at her. He gently places them on her body. She asks suspiciously, "What are you putting on my body?" When he doesn't explain, she begins to panic. He suddenly grabs her, which frightens her, giving him reason to use the taser. The way he preps her so calmly, the way he chants, "Danger, danger, deploy!" really makes it look like they had a new toy they wanted to play with. Plus, he breaks the cardinal rule of bringing someone down, which is making sure the area is clear. This woman slams headfirst into a chair while handcuffed. He says sarcastically, " I can hear you BREATHING, Christine." Yeah, what a big faker she is!

Some actual facts and more videos after the jump!

Steve Jobs is a very smart and powerful businessman. So did he purposely bite his tongue last week when he announced a $200 iPhone price cut -- just two months after launching the product? Was it a plot to steer additional hype toward the iPhone so the new iPods wouldn't steal all the thunder? Did he plan all along to offer store credit to those who shelled out $600 for an iPhone? Was Master Steve just looking for an excuse to write a sappy love letter to Apple fanboys and girls the world over? Does anybody even care?

As promised in the letter, Apple is now offering $100 in store credit to those who bought the iPhone at a premium.

Apple knows you love your iPhone so much that you're just dying to run back for another iGadget. You cannot, however, spend the credit on iTunes content, as indicated in the small print:

Customers may not redeem their store credits: (1) at any iTunes Store in the United States or elsewhere....

Get your credit here and find your nearest physical store here or shop online.

Read on for more details.

Graphic by the inimitable Bobby Solomon for LAist.

Last night Spoon played alongside Kool Keith at the Henry Fonda Theatre. Need I say more?
Oh and it was for a great cause! Both artists rocked out to raise money for the non-profit organization Creative Commons. This was the third time they've held a CC Benefit. Prior CC Benefits featured David Byrne, Gilberto Gil, Girl Talk, Diplo, and Peeping Tom. I had no idea who was opening this special event until I arrived at the venue and words can't even describe the face I made when I found out that Dr. Octagon, a.k.a. Kool Keith, was opening. It's definitely a weird pairing, but they're both legends in their own right.

In conjunction with the Wired Magazine sponsorship, Kyoto born robot Keepon made an appearance in the lobby as well as in between sets. If you haven't already seen this yellow snowball looking creature, then I suggest you check out youtube sensation Keepon dancing to Spoon's "Don't You Evah". The video was shot in Tokyo while Spoon was on tour and it features costar Hideki Kozima, the man who designed this cute little furry guy.

Keepon was originally created for clinical research with autistic children and it's easy to see why. I'd spend hours upon hours watching his hypnotic bop. He's like the new furby or tickle me elmo, except way more socially acceptable. He serves the greater good in a similar manner as Creative Commons. Also, he gets major points in my book for dancing more than most did for Dr. Octagon.

In order to appease the overwhelming influx of dissatisfied early adopter iPhone customers, Steve Jobs has issued an open letter addressing the $200 qualm. Although the logistics seem to be in the works, Jobs has decided to offer $100 of store credit to those who bought the iPhone through either AT&T or Apple without a rebate or any other consideration whatsoever:

Therefore, we have decided to offer every iPhone customer who purchased an iPhone from either Apple or AT&T, and who is not receiving a rebate or any other consideration, a $100 store credit towards the purchase of any product at an Apple Retail Store or the Apple Online Store. Details are still being worked out and will be posted on Apple's website next week. Stay tuned.

We want to do the right thing for our valued iPhone customers. We apologize for disappointing some of you, and we are doing our best to live up to your high expectations of Apple.

Now we're getting somewhere. I actually feel sort of loved. Jobs claims he wants to do the right thing. How about that extra $100 dude? Or at least an opportunity to buy the 16GB model that you'll inevitably release before Christmas at a discounted price?

Nitrozac's paintings of Steve Jobs via Geek Culture

Read Jobs' open letter after the jump.

As if I don't feel badly enough for shelling out nearly $600 for my iPhone. Today Apple unveils a bevy of product updates.

The iPhone's touch screen, internet browsing glory was jacked for the brand new "iPod touch", a Wi-Fi ready iPod with a 8GB or 16GB capacity. This is essentially the iPhone without the phone capabilities and much more thinner. Great. So, what you're telling me is that I'm not going to be one of the few to tout multi-touch screen abilities? The icing on the cake is the Wi-Fi iTunes Store, enabling you to purchase and download new tunes directly through your phone. The 8GB model costs $299 and the 16GB model costs $399.

The original iPod design now comes in 80GB and 160GB sizes with the moniker "iPod Classic". Sleeker than ever before, the new models are .41 inches or .53 inches thick and they have 30 hours of music playback, 5 hours of video or 40 hours of music playback, 7 hours of video.