crosshaire

Flash flood warning. It was gorgeous earlier, but that was just the "calm before the storm."
Now it's pouring buckets.
Skipping stair workout tonight.
I really should just accept that if I miss my morning workout, it's not getting done. :P
Therefore, I can't miss it in the morning.
Gotta sleep earlier tonight and wake earlier. Maybe there'll be a break in the rain tomorrow before work.
@_@

Wrote this for a friend, perhaps you all reading this can also benefit if you're so inclined.
Setting up Bing cashback account and reading through all the rules is a pain, but once it's set up, here's how I've been able to stack cashback on eBay purchases through Bing cashback and Ebates.
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( Read more... )

The biggest caveat to using Bing's 8% cashback for eBay purchases is that your're currently limited to just 20 eBay transactions per eBay account. So it's probably best to save those for bigger purchases.

I have read that if you use Bing for purchases from other sites, the keyword you search with affects the amount of cashback you get. For instance, "shampoo" and "soap" may turn up different rebate amounts from the same storefront. THIS IS JUST A RUMOR I HAVE NOT CONFIRMED. Would be interesting to see if it's for real though. These sites are always changing their rebate amounts. o_O

Posting here so I can remember what my strategy was for this particular level.
( Nothing but a screenshot under the cut )

From Patrick.net: Interesting take on current housing prices, including the idea that higher interest rates are more ideal.

Still doing Wii Fit, though I've "graduated" to the Plus version. It has the ability to set up a personal routine which is awesome--now for the next version, WF++, I'd like to see the ability to set up multiple routines, turn off the trainer voice, keep the training cues and use my own music! Would be nice if the routines could incorporate the activities too, not just the strength and yoga exercises.

Today's a strength maintenance day, if I can get off my butt. At least the laundry's done.

Wheee...finished the first run-though of PvZ's adventure mode!
On 2nd play-through: Crazy Dave--item salesman & hint-giver--makes you use three plants he's selected. You pick the remaining five or six.
There are a ton of awesome mini-games too...too many...zzz...

Tried reinstalling from Microsoft Windows Update. Same problem with high tones clipping & overwhelming the system. Disabled "enhancements" in Sound panel. That seemed to help! Now getting good sound AND the tone controls software work. (Quick launch tone control keys still don't seem to work though.)

Also, it appears the mute button is back to normal, showing red when muted. o_O

Only the Digital Persona Windows logon tone seems to be overwhelmingly LOUD... but I guess that's okay. @_@

Mute button stopped changing color. It's supposed to be red=mute and white=sound. Still works, though. Is this because of the BIOS update? blargh.

Just uploading my brain right now. :P

... not a BIOS update, switched back to the old one and that didn't fix the problem.
...also not Microsoft Visual Basic C++ 2005 Redistributable, or Avira.

Speaking of Avira, it keeps finding two HP files to be viruses. They're actually false positives as far as I can tell, and even adding them to the Exceptions list doesn't seem to avoid them on the next scan. Have switched to AVG for the time being. Wish I could run Avast! without issue, though. Boot-time scan FTW. :P

If anyone has any freeware antivirus suggestions, lemme know...

Also, I haven't installed a firewall to block outbound connections on Win 7 yet. Just using the built-in Windows Firewall & Defender. What are you all using these days?

Up all day/nite trying to figure out why ImageReady 2.0 and Photoshop 5.5 wouldn't work properly on my laptop under Windows 7 Home Premium, although they work perfectly on my old laptop under Windows 7 (Ultimate) RC1 without adjustment.
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Looking forward to a couple of six-day workweeks, whee! :P

( laptop blather )

...but not the stuff that I really should be doing...



DX = Dealextreme.com
Because I can't resist cheapish Chinese made goods. :P

But I would only hesitantly recommend sku. 27156, the black mouse in the middle. It has a "rubberized" coating that feels nice and the shape is convenient for left or right handers. Tracking sensitivity is also comparable to the Kensington and Logitech mice. It works fine on light-colored kitchen tables, for instance. Resolution leaves a lot to be desired, however.

The two tiny ones to the left are a waste of cash--they don't track at all on light-colored surfaces; the retractable cord is iffy; the scroll wheel doesn't protrude enough for easy use; and they're are far too small except for little children. Resolution is just as bad as the black mouse, probably around 800dpi, which not that great for heavy mouse use. The only thing I really like about them is the glowing blue LED light refracting out of the translucent scroll wheel.

They are kinda fun because they're so small, though. Fun for short periods of time, that is.

Lesson learned: best to purchase a mouse at the local shop. The Kensington and Logitech mice have battle scars but still work fantastic.

A true scientist always experiments on herself first!
Not that I'm a scientist in any sense of the word, but when you're lacking guinea pigs... *oink*

Ate a couple chunks of ginger and had Bii put me on an Xbox 360 and (somefreakinhuge) LCD TV to play Left 4 Dead. Got into the second room and nope, couldn't do it.

She took the controller, started running around gleefully and blam instant nausea on my part.

"Are you sure it's not like, the placebo effect?" she asked. xD

Ginger was most certainly not the magic panacea I'd hoped for, but it did help a little. >_>;

*~*~*~*

In other news, the laptop is HERE! Everything seems good so far...except that the 90w charger comes with a power connector that's different from the one used for HP's (previous?) standard 90w "Smart" power charger. It's also different from ALL the tips included in my generic universal 120w power charger. DAMN HP & ANY MANUFACTURER WITH PROPRIETARY POWER CONNECTORS! 90w power oughta come with a 90w standard connector! Ugh.

I'm going to be really pissed off if the stock charger starts burning up like the one for my Compaq did because HP thought it would be a good idea to give new buyers an underpowered power brick. This one seems to be getting pretty hot under load. Maybe I ought to call right away and see if they'll send me a 120w brick instead--looks like the next model up uses a 120w with the same power connector. >:P

Italian food, i.e. some combination of carb-y pasta, cheese/oil, tomato sauce tends to make me motion sick even when walking around. (I have this vision of toppling over on the mall escalator. "Heart attack?" "No sir, just Italian food." "That's the same thing hereabouts.") o_O

The worst offender so far is rosemary bread with dipping oil followed by lasagna at Macaroni Grill.

Maybe in the future, I ought to carry around a knob of ginger as a meal chaser.

Wondering: what do Greek mariners eat? :P

Welp, it looks like the HP laptop I ordered has just been obsoleted. But the new Envy series laptops start at almost $700 more than what I paid for mine, and the 15" doesn't have backlit keyboards as an option.

The 15" default comes with a 1GB ATI Radeon 4830 though. Nice. Wonder how these machines benchmark. o_O

Still waiting for my machine...it went from Shanghai, China to Anchorage, Alaska to Memphis, Tennessee. Go fig.

Man, it's been some six years or so since Jane Jensen's latest adventure game project was announced. It would be nice if I could just preorder already. Kick 'em some money in the hopes they'll get done faster. :P

The last entry in her game blog is from May 2009. Here's hoping it means they're wrapping up, since projected release date is now early 2010.

Ginger sauce. Need more. None of that bland boiled chicken, thanks. Just give me the ginger, green onions, salt & oil. Adding chili peppers makes it even better.

OMG I love Logan Decker even more after listening to PC Gamer podcast #191. xD

According to him, raw ginger helps a lot with motion sickness when eaten ahead of time.

"Man up, and start chewing!" xD

Any of you guys use Bluetooth for anything? I know this short-range wifi protocol's been around for a while, but I never paid much attention because it seemed too expensive...now it looks pretty cheap to implement. o_O

I love this listing for a mini USB bluetooth dongle on eBay, BTW.
"Receiving/Sending range : 0-100m(reality about 10-20m)"
OMG a semi-honest Chinese seller?! >_>;

*~*~*~*

Still plugging along through Persona 4. This game is seriously taking too long...have definitely logged at least 120 hours, much of it dungeon-crawling & level-grinding. @_@

A coworker was talking about playing Eve Online's 14-day free trial on his spiffy new Vista PC, and how he thinks the MMO is like a "life simulator." For instance, to learn and level skills, you have to get books and read them.

It kinda makes sense--these games sort of train us to approach problems in certain ways, and give us a framework to work from within. For instance, I like JRPGs, which require a whole lot of plodding and repetition to get through. Extrapolate from there. @_@

It's too bad life is way more complicated than most games. Or maybe it's a mishmash of a whole bunch of games that overlap and shift constantly. o_O;

*~*~*~*

Holey smokes, the Dow just went over the psychological barrier of 10,000. That is a little...worrying?

*~*~*~*

>Fungible: the word comes from Latin fungibilis from fungi, meaning "to perform". (Who knew?)

Was listening to Radiolab: Beyond Time podcast and thinking how David McDermott is totally outré in his determination to ignore time...then a certain bug reminded me of the SCA and related events.

Guess it's not so unusual after all. McDermott sure does go above & beyond, though--it's like his whole life is devoted to performance art. o_O;

Just beat all the free web-available levels of "Plants vs. Zombies" on Popcap. Planning to buy the retail game. It's too awesome to miss, if you like "tower defense" type games. AND SO CUTE! ^_^

Plus the online version runs on my dad's new-used EEE PC 1000HE netbook with Adobe Flash update. ROCK ON!

(The Second Rotation guys finally sent me a charger for the netbook...of course, it's the wrong one, a (9.5V, 2.5A) 24W white charger for the original 701 or 900 EEE PC models. The 1000HE requires a (12V, 3A) 36W charger. Figures. Good thing I ordered a replacement right away...ugh.)

FOUND MY DREMEL W00T! (Manicuring nails with Dremel FTW)