Windmills @ Sea

mostly about dragon age

2009-12-07T08:27:40Z

OMG I HAVEN'T UPDATED IN NEARLY A MONTH!!! bleh

Late night football games, both high school and UH, have taken a toll. Lots of other stuff happening at work too.

Got first Ebates payment via Paypal last month. It was only $12, but I'm happy to see it working smoothly.

Also got Dragon Age Origins (PC) in the mail recently, and been completely distracted with that.

Screenshots!

My entry-level rogue character Tierce Cousland, left, and her mabari war-mutt Sausage.

NPC Daveth, with my rogue character Tierce Cousland, discussing a flower found in the Kocari Wilds. The flower may have beneficial effects against darkspawn taint.

I can already feel myself becoming obsessed... :P

**
Below from
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/tierce

tierce (tîrs)
n.
1. also Tierce (tîrs) or terce or Terce (tûrs) Ecclesiastical
a. The third of the seven canonical hours. No longer in liturgical use.
b. The time of day appointed for this service, usually the third hour after sunrise.
2. A measure of liquid capacity, equal to a third of a pipe, or 42 gallons (159 liters).
3. Games A sequence of three cards of the same suit.
4. Sports The third position from which a parry or thrust can be made in fencing.
5. Music An interval of a third.
[Middle English, from Old French, from feminine of tiers, third, from Latin tertius; see trei- in Indo-European roots.]

Tuesday & the start of the RAIN

2009-11-11T07:38:24Z

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.
@_@

Stacking rebates/cashback

2009-11-10T22:56:03Z

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.
.
.
.

+ login to all three accounts (Bing cashback, eBay, Ebates) on one browser

Now, in a single browser window:

+ go to Bing, search for an item, click on "Bing cashback" link under eBay ad or search result (it will move around)
+ eBay loads. At the top of the page, you should see an icon that says "Bing cashback 8%"
+ type "Ebates.com" in address field
+ Ebates loads. Search for eBay store. Click the link, or category, or banner ad (keep clicking through until it shows it's transferring you to eBay)
+ Now on eBay again, you should still see the "Bing cashback 8%" icon
+ find the item you want and check out using Paypal. On the checkout confirmation page, you should see another tiny icon that says something like "this purchase earns 8% in Bing cashback"
+ once you check out with Paypal, you should see an update on your Bing cashback account within minutes. If you joined Bing's Paypal "instant rebate" program then Bing's very good about immediately crediting your Paypal for eBay transactions instead of making you wait 60-90 days.

The best thing about Bing is that they explicitly allow stacking, except for certain stores that disallow it, such as HP. When I bought my HP laptop, I tried stacking anyway but it didn't work, which is fine. Gotta try! :)

***

I'm using cchun0001 at yahoo dot com if you want/remember to list me as your referrer on Ebates. They ask that you make a purchase of $20 through eBates within 90 days before I get any bonus.

You should definitely get a "$5 to your account" or "choose a $10 gift card" bonus in any case. Make sure you see that displayed on the page if you sign up.

Add'l plug! Bing cashback may also have a referrer bonus, I have no clue. @_@
I'm using the crosshaire at yahoo dot com (email address) as my Windows Live ID for that one.

It's totally up to you if you list me.
Don't go out of your way unless you were going to sign up anyway and you remember. :)

***

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

Plants vs. Zombies Survival DAY (Hard)

2009-11-10T11:28:26Z

Posting here so I can remember what my strategy was for this particular level.

Random Monday

2009-11-09T22:46:41Z

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.

Plants vs. Zombies

2009-11-05T09:50:06Z

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...

Thermaltake laptop cooler rebate

2009-11-04T02:34:48Z

Thermaltake CLN0009 Massive23 ST 23cm Notebook Cooler had a $10 rebate if you bought it by Oct. 26th.

I swear, the company handling the rebate must've slathered on all those requirements in a not-so-subtle attempt to keep all the rebate money for themselves.

First off, you have to go online and fill out their online form.
Second, you only have 20 days to file the paperwork by mail. That's 20 days from the date of PURCHASE on Amazon, or when you place your order. So if Amazon takes five days to pack and mail and UPS takes another five days to deliver, then you've only 10 days to file.
Third, even though there is a removable sticker with bar code on the box, they want the UPC code printed on the cardboard box, which means, tearing up the nice-box-with-carrying-handle. The UPS code is in a tough place to cut.
Fourth, they HIGHLY recommend using the label on the rebate form because "mail without the proper label may be lost" or some shit like that.
Fifth, if you read the fine print, it says you don't actually get a check. You get a Visa gift card that expires in a year or so. They CLAIM you can take this card to a bank that is a Visa member and trade it for cash. Not sure if that works.
Sixth--they'll "rush" your rebate in exchange for $1 debited from the rebate. I guess that means full turnaround is two weeks instead of 8-10 weeks. I chose "slow" service because the rebate is only $10. I only paid about $7 out-of-pocket anyhow, having used a "rewards" gift certificate from the Amazon credit card. :P

Oh well...

Currently reading: How We Decide by Jonah Lehrer

IDT High-Def Audio Driver

2009-10-31T21:44:40Z

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. @_@

More laptopishness

2009-10-30T03:54:58Z

Reinstalled Avast! again. Seems like it's acting normally so far.
HP's touch buttons are a big waste of space though. Looks like the lighted mute button has gone to white led only and I can't figure out how to get it to change to red when sound is muted. Still works though. Seems like it's a known issue.
It's taken a few days, but the laptop's finally getting to the point where I can image the drive and be happy in case I need to restore it from the image. ^_^;

Funny...

2009-10-29T03:30:17Z

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?

really should go to sleep

2009-10-28T10:35:49Z

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.

Well, Photoshop did run, but the cursor was broken into three fragments like so (the arrow tool is selected & cursor is hovering over the spoon):

The weirdest thing is that they both ran fine in safe mode--well, Photoshop ran fine after adjusting virtual memory to match physical memory available. ImageReady ran without quibble.

After much restarting, hair-pulling, teeth-gnashing, it appears I didn't have a driver/software issue at all. All I had to do was run Imageready in WinXP SP3 compatibility mode, and Photoshop in Vista SP1 compatibility mode.

(Photoshop 5.5 on old laptop + Win7 worked fine, on HDX16t it's crashed exactly once because that's all I've allowed. :P)

The issue I had with the Photoshop cursor breaking into three clones of itself was because I'd set my display fonts to 150% "largest" size. Type on a 1080p 16" monitor is ridiculously small.

Once I figured I could compromise by setting display fonts to 125%, the cursor fragmentation resolved itself.

Didn't even think compatibility modes were available to me in Home Premium, but it's SO LOVELY to see they are! (Still, it's weird that both softwares run fine in safe mode...)

Eventually I'll break down and buy a newer version, but DAMN $650 FOR AN OFFICIAL RETAIL COPY?! That is really discouraging.

(PS 5.5 is still a million times better than GIMP or PS Elements for my purposes...unfortunately.)

Bye bye Monday

2009-10-27T10:59:24Z

Looking forward to a couple of six-day workweeks, whee! :P

*~*~*~*
(Photo straight out of camera, no adjustments. I'm tired.)

Spent a few days installing Windows 7 on laptop. Most everything is working more or less as it should, except:
- TV tuner software (doesn't give digital channels scan option)
- audio software (Latest IDT software won't work properly, so I lose a few features including treble & bass adjustments. Probably wouldn't have used them much, though. Now using a generic high def sound driver dated 8/5/2008 that provides a nice balance. If the audio clips on highs or is WAY TOO LOUD on this machine, it's not the build quality--it's the immensely horrid software.)
- HP Mediasmart (launches HP styled music, video, webcam, dvd playback apps) quick launch button doesn't work
- stock remote controls don't work either, but I wasn't going to use those. Tiny buttons.
- there appear to be four devices that lack drivers in Device Manager o_O Not sure what that's all about

Other notes:
- Avira Antivirus seems to play well with HDX16t laptop while Avast! does not
- Only "free" app that provides Blu-ray playback is the HP-provided Mediasmart DVD software (provided by Cyberlink, requires an update patch)
- Not sure why I got the July 2009 BIOS instead of the latest Sept 2009 version, but that seems to indicate someone isn't paying attention... >_>;
- the HP drivers and software that actually work properly in Windows 7 aren't all located under the Windows 7 section of their online drivers database. Have had to try the drivers for Vista 64 & 32-bit also to find the right matches**

**I am not waiting for the free Win 7 upgrade kit from HP. It's because even the factory Vista installation was messed up from the get-go. A couple of things kept crashing right out of the box, like the TV tuner software. I thought the wireless was acting funny also--wireless strength going in and out, and/or locking me out of the Internets at times.

Updating the TV tuner software helped, but the wi-fi was so bad I eventually started fiddling with the device drivers more than I should've. Deleted something or another and it wouldn't reinstall like I thought.

Restoring the factory image brought back ALL the problems. This is a premium machine? Sheesh. @_@

Anyhow, Photoshop 5.5 is now acting somewhat flaky since I've installed/uninstalled all this other crap today. Not sure if the issues are related. Maybe I should pony up for Photoshop CS ...or give GIMP a try. (Could use a copy of Photo Mechanic as well, come to think of it. Works way better than Photoshop for previewing & captioning photos.)

Overall, I am still quite happy with this machine considering the price paid. Now to see how well it holds up "to the beating I shall give it, lol" :D

*~*~*~*

This is probably too late for the people who are likely to be interested, but the Firefox 3.5 extension "Scrapbook" is MOST excellent for saving webpages to a local folder. Geocities is officially closed today, and I have a lot of stuff missing and forever gone from my old site, but Scrapbook was able to save my measly 2.05MB of remaining data with a minimum of fuss. (^_^)d Gotta remember to kick the developer a donation...along with all the other folks who develop all this lovely freeware I've been using. :P

Working on a few things

2009-10-23T10:09:10Z

...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.

Ginger FAIL

2009-10-20T10:23:46Z

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

Random note on motion sickness

2009-10-19T23:27:11Z

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

HP Envy core i7 mobile laptops

2009-10-19T01:56:14Z

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.

Gray Matter (PC, Wii?)

2009-10-19T00:42:28Z

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

2009-10-18T06:53:55Z

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

Bluetooth? Life simulation

2009-10-14T22:23:06Z

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?)

Radiolab: Beyond Time

2009-10-13T20:18:50Z

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;

crosshaire @ 2009-10-12T01:28:00

2009-10-12T11:42:59Z

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)

Randomness

2009-10-08T21:24:25Z

Was shopping for a laptop bag at Ross. They've got a few giant pluffy diaper bags billed as "leather work totes."

...maybe I should stick with a padded backpack.

**

Am glad to see the stock market slowly chugging back up again. I'd say my 401k is about break-even except for inflation. Yeah, that's not exactly super progress or anything. Maybe I should start looking at the bond funds available. :P

**

Twilight must be a huge hit in Japan. I'll be shocked if it isn't. O_o

Armor Etch worked

2009-10-07T03:31:05Z

WARNING: I WEAR HIGH-INDEX POLYCARBONATE TRANSITIONS LENSES. TRY AT YOUR OWN RISK!

Removing anti-glare coating or whatever that film was on my glasses!

Test spot worked.
You can see some tiny dots in the clean area; those are probably scratches that went through the coating:

Did this twice. Forgot to remove lenses from frame, though:

Yay!

~~Now if I could only find my low-speed Dremel...I'd give buffing out the remaining micro-scratches a try.~~ I couldn't make those tiny scratches show up in my photos--kind of hard to take photos when you can't really see, anyway. Screw that Lenscrafters girl who was like, you can't do that! There are a number of anecdotes online that say it DOES work--well enough, anyway.

If I was prepared to shell out $300+ for a new set of lenses anyway, there wasn't any reason not to give this a shot. :P

Edit: gave the dry lenses a coat & wipe with NuPolish car wax. It seems to have minimized the remaining micro-scratches even further. Damn, it's like having new lenses! xD (And $300+ stays in my pocket to go towards new computer purchase, yay!)

Note that you can also try nail polish remover...I should've read more thoroughly before going out to buy Armor Etch, but oh well.

Western Digital Scorpio Blue 7200rpm 320gb PATA laptop HDD

2009-10-06T22:11:11Z

I should write a short review on Amazon, but some quick thoughts here first:

- computer boots up faster in (subjective feeling) about 1/2 the time
- drive is slightly noisier than old drive. It's very evident late at night when there is no environmental noise. There is mild quiet clicking and search access sounds. Doesn't seem excessive or unnatural though.
- runs way cooler than old 40gb or 80gb drives. I'm a little concerned about losing my office handwarmer--the office is cold sometimes!--but at least the touchpad is still warm.

Other than that, if the drive is durable and lasts another five years (is that reasonable expectation?) then I'll be happy. ^_^ My sis doesn't mind adopting this laptop once my new one comes in and all's settled.

stacking test, HP sales team, other computery stuff

2009-10-05T21:43:12Z

Don't see a cashback in Ebates account yet for 120w power adapter purchase.
Will wait a few more days to see if it worked or not. o_O

*~*~*

Called HP sales direct number to ask about replacing the 6-cell battery with a 12-cell one, but since the laptop is already in production, they can't make any changes. Darnit. They're too damned fast. OTOH the rep said she could give me a $50 credit back to my credit card. It should appear 2-3 business days after projected date of delivery, which would be Oct. 20th thereabouts. O_O!

Confirmed it on a second call as well.

That was unexpected.

Given that, and the current clearance sale that's going on right now on HP.com, and maybe an extra coupon and cashback, I could probably get that 12-cell for $60 shipped. (Currently retail is $150, sale price is $113, free ship but they charge tax) ^_^

HP must be making oodles of cash off these additional accessories like batteries to be able to do this, though. >_>;

*~*~*~

Very happy to also report that Acronis True Image 2009 bootable disc utility works a charm! Online reports recommend making the bootable CD (or USB flash drive) and using that to clone discs for upgrades.

Am now running a new Western Digital Scorpio Blue 7200RPM 320GB drive on the crappy laptop. (Was originally going to cancel this order but Amazon held it for days claiming "shipping soon" ...oh well) WHEEEEEEE~ booting takes noticeably less time now, but SMT: Imagine framerate hasn't improved--probably because I'm maxing out the video chip as is. @_@;