Gamer Mom & Other Wacky Quirks

10 Dumbest “Educational” Programs on TV

2010-04-20T13:27:00.003-04:00

I LOVE this list! It says everything I would say about these shows. I've banned most of these shows in my home. Here's a taste:

Teletubbies

When the subject of stupid children’s shows comes up, Teletubbies usually springs up somewhere in the back of your mind. There’s a reason for that; it’s because it really is one of the absolute worst offenders on this list. Aside from the obvious creepiness — they’re extremely creepy — this show is a complete waste of broadcast time. It was apparently meant for a “pre-school” audience, but wound up having a fan base mostly made up of college-aged potheads — and even they said it was creepy. The four main characters run around, in a morbidly-obese ignorant bliss, basically doing nothing all day long, while occasionally stopping to worship their sun-god which is apparently an infant. It makes absolutely no sense, and kids who watch it aren’t developing anything in their heads except for a mold-like mush.

See the rest of the list here.

FarmVille user runs up £900 debt (That's like $1400 in the U.S.)

2010-04-09T16:31:00.001-04:00

From the Guardian:

A mother has warned of the risk of children spending hundreds of pounds on "free" online games available through Facebook after her 12-year-old son ran up bills of more than £900 without her knowledge.

The woman, who prefers to remain anonymous, discovered last month that her son had spent more than £900 on FarmVille. He had emptied his own savings account of £288 and had used her credit card to the tune of £625 to pay the bills.

FarmVille, one of the most popular games on Facebook, allows members to manage a virtual farm by planting, growing and harvesting crops, trees and livestock. New users are given virtual coins to set up their farm, and the revenue from matured crops can be used to maintain it. But those who are desperate to progress more quickly can buy extra virtual coins using real cash.

The mother said: "The first use of my card was on 14 March. I discovered it on the 29th and the card was stopped at that point. Any transactions after that date were already in the system, so what I thought was a £427 spend turned into £625 over the next few days.

"The total spend is about £905, but the credits are still rolling in. Facebook and [game creator] Zynga will not refund anything as [the son] lives in my house. Facebook has disabled his account and Zynga has unhelpfully suggested I use password protection on computers in the future."

She contacted her credit card company, HSBC, but was told she would only qualify for a refund if she reported her son to the police and obtained a crime number. "He would be cautioned and I have been told that this caution would stay with him. Obviously the idea of a stupid farm simulation jeopardising his future earnings is not something that I want to consider," she said.

She added that her son was "very shocked" when confronted with the amount he had spent, but it was clear he knew what he was doing. "When I asked him why he did it he said that they had brought out 'good stuff that I wanted'."

She does not blame Facebook, Zynga or HSBC, saying that her son was the one using the card and is entirely at fault. But she added: "I do think they need to shoulder some responsibility in this business and put systems in place to stop this happening again. The fact that he was using a card in a different name should bring up some sort of security and the online secure payment filter seems to be bypassed for Facebook payments."

A spokeswoman for HSBC said that had the credit card been used on a gambling site it would have started alarm bells ringing for "unusual usage". But because the card had been used to buy Facebook credits HSBC did not consider the transactions to be suspicious, even though £625 was spent in just two weeks.

Michael Arrington, founder of the Techcrunch blog, criticised Zynga last year for "monetising" the game, and warned that people who didn't have access to a credit card to buy extra virtual money could use "pay by mobile" companies instead.

The indebted 12-year-old has not used his mobile to pay for virtual money, his mother said, but only because his older brother lost all his credit buying a ringtone a couple of years ago.

"We sound terribly technologically unaware don't we? I wouldn't mind but I am always explaining that all of these online offers, ringtones and games are a scam designed to take money off stupid people. Kids know best though."

An Interesting Look at the Nintendo Co.

2010-04-07T15:29:00.001-04:00

Via: Online MBA

Gamer Kids

2010-04-06T10:55:00.007-04:00

Well, I've passed the gaming gene on to the kids. At ages (almost) 6 and 4, they're really "into" the gaming world. They play age appropriate games, of course, but they play them with all the vigor of a 34 year old man playing "Call of Duty"...I'm looking at you Dear Hubby.

It's so amusing to me to watch them evolve as gamers, too. I never realized how easily it would come to them. Maybe it's because the Wii is so intuitive and the DS has several titles aimed at their age group. All I know is that my (almost) 6 year old son can plop down with a brand new game, and just start playing as though it was his 100th trip into that universe. It's also extremely amused at The Boy's frustration with me when I tried to "help". Now, mind you, I've played TONS of video games, I know my way around a WiiMote, but The Boy was not impressed with my skills. He would sigh and gasp and occasionally give me the MOOOOOOOM! And I smiled.

Top 11 Gamers As Found In Real Life

2009-08-27T13:10:00.001-04:00

There are gamers of every sort and style. With each of them comes the stigma attached by society. Well I’ve got some stigmas to attach of my own. Let’s whip out the ole soap box and cover Top 10 gamers in real life. Since lists are better as a countdown, we will rank these in order of how well they stand out as gamers and how deep they are into their madness.

2009-06-20T11:50:00.001-04:00

A Helpful Tutorial on The Most Difficult Video Game Ever -- powered by Cracked.com

The Astounding World of the Future

2009-06-04T09:22:00.000-04:00

2009-05-16T12:56:00.000-04:00

Best Anniversary Gift Ever -- powered by Cracked.com

9 Year Old Guitar Prodigy

2009-05-12T16:53:00.000-04:00

Transformers Go Hollywood

2009-04-09T23:38:00.000-04:00

Blast from the Past

2009-04-06T23:11:00.000-04:00

Adele - Chasing Pavements

2009-03-27T22:50:00.001-04:00

I've got another new favorite.

Oldie but a Goodie

2009-03-05T16:20:00.002-05:00

Star Wars Kid from onion on Vimeo.

All the Single Ladies

2009-03-02T19:07:00.001-05:00

Justin Timberlake sui tacchi per Beyonce
Uploaded by Video_Gossip

Olly Moss

2009-01-07T15:52:00.003-05:00

I've got to find a way to buy merchandise with this guy's designs. His stuff is rad.

Stay at Home Dad - Jon Lajoie

2008-12-24T00:58:00.001-05:00

Stay At Home Dad (Jon Lajoie) - watch more funny videos

R2D2 Chorus Line

2008-12-22T23:20:00.001-05:00

Detroit Bailout Hearings

2008-12-11T23:47:00.002-05:00

Jizz In My Pants

2008-12-11T23:39:00.002-05:00

My favorite 7-11

2008-12-10T09:42:00.002-05:00

I didn't know it was possible, but I have a favorite 7-11. I go there almost every morning on my way in. The people who work there are just great! Here's a little video I found on YouTube that includes one of those awesome employees...

Child Exerts His Will On Helpless Phillies Fans

2008-11-12T16:08:00.000-05:00

Vote for Lando Calrissian

2008-11-04T08:56:00.001-05:00

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

Lobsters and a Kid

2008-10-16T17:14:00.000-04:00

Love Her!

2008-10-15T15:53:00.001-04:00

Take On Me: Literal Video Version

2008-10-07T13:00:00.001-04:00

Chris Chelios on his Favorite Hockey Coach

2008-10-02T16:55:00.000-04:00

It's funny...

2008-10-02T10:24:00.002-04:00

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

Billy Bad A$$ Goes To Jail

2008-09-23T17:01:00.001-04:00

Dumb Criminal breaks in, but can't get back out

2008-09-23T16:57:00.000-04:00

We pause for a technical moment

2008-09-22T16:35:00.007-04:00

My son has a Disney DVD player (specifically, the DVD2000C) that was a gift. It's totally cute, but doesn't work well at all. I finally got sick of it and I brought it in to work to take a look and see what the problem was. I couldn't find anything specific and so I'm left with a sort of junky dvd player. I took a few pictures while I had it open and found it sort of interesting. No wonder it doesn't work well, it's kind of flimsy. So, if you've ever wanted to see what these look like opened up, here you go. [Oh, and yes, I know my desk is a disaster...it's just how I roll]

Taking the feet off (not sure why I did that)...

Taking a little panel off the drawer (not my hands)...

The backside of the faceplate...

An overview...

And looking inside...

Finally, a little trick I learned. A second problem with the unit is that I can't find a remote control that works for it. I've purchased 2 Disney dvd player remotes and neither works. I'm guessing either the remotes aren't compatible or the infrared reader on the unit itself doesn't work. Either way, I'm over it. At first I thought the remotes were broken, but I learned a trick on how to check. Because neither remote has any lights, the only way to see if it works is to aim it at a camera, press a button and look at it through the camera. Wow, a light! You can't see it with the naked eye. At least I know that the remotes aren't the problem now.

Gamers not fat loners...Not a real surprise to me

2008-09-18T16:08:00.007-04:00

According to New Scientist, a study was done that asked Everquest II players some questions pertaining to their physical and mental fitness. It would appear that gamers are slightly more fit (physically) than the average American. The downside of that study shows that there are slightly higher incidents of depression and substance abuse. Pretty interesting stuff!

Internet Porn & You

2008-09-18T16:08:00.003-04:00

Lolz

Jedi Last Supper

2008-09-18T16:08:00.002-04:00

Found here...I have nothing more to say.

Ninja cat comes closer while not moving!

2008-09-15T11:07:00.001-04:00

Cool Gadgets

2008-09-09T14:26:00.004-04:00

So I have one of the coolest toys for my kids. It's the Fun n' Foam Factory by Buzz Bee Toys. I bought it last year on a clearance and I LOVE it. The thing is hilarious. Every time I fire that thing up, I wish that I had one when I was little. Here's a "review" video of it...

Now, I've found a new gizmo that I NEED. It's a bubble fogger! It fills bubble with fog. I'm not sure why I need it, but I do. The video below is kind of grainy, but you get the picture.

Autoblog takes the KITT Shelby GT500 KR out for some kicks

2008-09-03T16:53:00.001-04:00

Michael Phelps: What You Didn't See

2008-08-26T22:46:00.000-04:00

Crazy Sprinkler Lady

2008-08-15T23:51:00.001-04:00

How did I miss this? This didn't happen 20 years ago? Really? I quite clearly remember this happening...20 years ago.

Reality Show

2008-08-14T09:28:00.002-04:00

So, my cousin has been chosen as a contestant on an upcoming reality tv show. It's got me thinking, what makes a good reality show contestant? If you've got any tips, leave them in the comments, I'd love to hear them.

$110 AN HOUR FOR NINTENDO WORKOUTS?

2008-08-07T11:12:00.002-04:00

From the New York Post...

Gym's Wii-zy Money
"A Manhattan gym is charging customers $110 an hour for a personal training session - with a Nintendo Wii."

On a personal note, I finally got a Wii Fit and I love it. It's become a little bit of a competition between hubby and I. Our main goal is to beat any records the other holds. Lame, but super fun.

Ten Reasons Why The Clone Wars TV Series Is Going To Rule

2008-08-05T15:13:00.001-04:00

2. Female ninjas
No offense to Leia and Padme, but on the scale of princess to ninja they were pretty far to the princess end of things. In Clone Wars, we're going to get some seriously kickass female ninjas mixing it up with the Jedi Knights. Anakin's padawan Ahsoka is fearless and strong, and Obi Wan Kenobi will meet his nemesis, the powerful assassin Asajj Ventress.

See the rest at io9.com.

Not Giving a Fu@*!

2008-07-22T14:54:00.001-04:00

NSFW!...Not that I give a FU@*!

Simon's Cat 'TV Dinner'

2008-07-17T00:09:00.001-04:00

Graffiti

2008-07-16T13:34:00.002-04:00

Found at My 2 Second Shelf Life

It's inevitable: soon we will all be gamers

2008-07-07T14:09:00.003-04:00

It's inevitable: soon we will all be gamers

Star Wars Dance

2008-07-07T10:13:00.002-04:00

50 Skills

2008-07-02T14:22:00.004-04:00

50 Skills That Every Gamer Should Master

1. Give a game a review score without ever actually playing the game
A cursory glance from 20 paces of a grainy postage stamp-sized super lo-res scanned-in screenshot pinned to the ass-feathers of a headless chicken in a sandstorm should be all you need to confidently attribute an authoritative and infallible review score to any game. It's how professional reviewers have been doing it for years.

2. Be able to spot whether a game is running in 720p
Just by looking at it.

I remember these!

2008-07-02T14:05:00.002-04:00

Gallery: Tainted Tie-Ins — Worst Movie Games Ever

Grandma's Blog

2008-06-27T16:20:00.004-04:00

My grandma sends me many emails every day, most of them are jokes. I thought I'd share today's sampling.

Living Will

Last night my sister and I were sitting in

the den and I said to her,

'I never want to live in a vegetative state,

dependent on some machine and fluids from a

bottle to keep me alive. That would be no

quality of life at all... if that ever happens,

just pull the plug.'

So she got up, unplugged the computer,

and threw out my wine.

She's such a bitch.

GROUNDS FOR DIVORCE

A Polish man moved to the USA and married an American girl..
Although his English was far from perfect, they got along very
well until one day he rushed into a lawyer's office and asked
him if he could arrange a divorce for him.

The lawyer said that getting a divorce would depend on the
circumstances, and asked him the following questions:

Have you any grounds? -
~~Yes, an acre and half and nice little home.

No, I mean what is the foundation of this case?-
~~ It made of concrete.

I don't think you understand Does either of you have a real grudge?
~~ No, we have carport, and not need one.

I mean What are your relations like? -
~~All my relations still in Poland.

Is there any infidelity in your marriage? -
~~We have hi-fidelity stereo and good DVD player.

Does your wife beat you up?
~~ No, I always up before her.

Is your wife a nagger?
~~ No, she white.

Why do you want this divorce?
~~- She going to kill me.

What makes you think that? -
~~ I got proof.

What kind of proof? -
~~ She going to poison me.

Why do you say she is going to poison you?-
~~She buy a bottle at drugstore
and put on shelf in bathroom.
I can read, and it say:
"Polish Remover"

WHY MEN LIKE GUNS....

FOR ALL OF YOU GUYS THAT LIKE GUNS AND BELIEVE IN THE 2nd AMENDMENT.
WHY MEN LIKE GUNS BETTER THAN WOMEN!!

Subject:
Top 10 Reasons Why Men Prefer Guns Over Women

#10 - You can trade an old 44 for a new 22...

#9 - You can keep one gun at home and have another for when you are on-the-road...

#8 - If you admire a friend's gun and tell him so, he will probably let you try it out a few times...

#7 - Your primary gun doesn't mind if you keep another gun for a backup...

#6 - Your gun will stay with you even if you run out of ammo....

#5 - A gun doesn't take up a lot of closet space...

#4 - A gun functions normally every day of the month...

#3 - A gun doesn't ask, 'Do these grips make me look fat?'...

#2 - A gun doesn't mind if you go to sleep after you use it...

AND....
the #1 reason a gun is favored over a woman...............

YOU CAN BUY A SILENCER FOR A GUN

Girlie Wisdom

* Women over 50 don't have babies because they would put them down and forget where they left them.

* One of life's mysteries is how a 2-pound box of chocolates can make a woman gain 5 pounds.

* My mind not only wanders, it sometimes leaves completely.

* The best way to forget your troubles is to wear tight shoes.

* The nice part about living in a small town is that when you don't know what you are doing, someone else does.

* The older you get, the tougher it is to lose weight because by then, your body and your fat are really good friends.

* Just when I was getting used to yesterday, along came today.

* Sometimes I think I understand everything, and then I regain consciousness.

* I gave up jogging for my health when my thighs kept rubbing together and setting fire to my knickers.

* Every 7 minutes of everyday, someone in an aerobics class pulls a hamstring.

* Amazing! You hang something in your closet for a while and it shrinks 2 sizes!

* A friend of mine confused her Valium with her birth control pills...she has 14 kids but doesn't really care.

* The trouble with some women is that they get all excited about nothing and then they marry him.

* I read this article that said the typical symptoms of stress are - eating too much; impulse buying and driving too fast. Are they kidding? That's my idea of a perfect day!

* Skinny people irritate me! Especially when they say things like...

"You know, sometimes I forget to eat!"
.....Now, I've forgotten my address,
my mother's maiden name and my keys.
But I have never forgotten to eat. You have
to be a special kind of stupid to forget to eat!

WOMEN'S ASS SIZE STUDY

There is a new study about women and how they feel about their asses, the results were pretty interesting:

30% of women think their ass is too fat............

10% of women think their ass is too skinny......

The remaining 60% say they don't care,
they love him, he's a good man,
and they wouldn't trade him for the world.

Dance Off with the Star Wars Stars 2008

2008-06-18T17:05:00.001-04:00

For Real?

2008-06-03T11:43:00.002-04:00

Transformers shirt gets jet ban

From The Sun via Topless Robot

Star Wars Galaxies Wins

2008-05-28T16:44:00.006-04:00

Well, I think I've made a decision. Rather than pay for 2 MMO's and only play one, I realized I need to decide on just one. For now, the winner seems to be Star Wars Galaxies. Vanguard was fun while it lasted, but I've basically maxed out my character and was finding the whole thing to be getting a little boring. I am by no means dogging the game. It's a lot of fun with a loyal, if not small, community. Even though I was bitterly disappointed by SWG in the past, it's made a bit of a resurgence. The devs have tried very hard to make the game more appealing and while the game I once loved is gone forever, what they've done to "fix" it has earned a second chance from me. It's with a heavy heart that I lay Vanguard to rest, but I'm afraid I must. I love ALL the friends I've made there and I'll miss each and every one of them. I'm lucky to have crossed their paths and hopefully, we'll all reunite again. Maybe I can convince one or two to join me in the Star Wars universe. This may be a tough task as some of the friends I met in VG were SWG refugees like myself. Who knows, maybe in a year or two I'll get bored with SWG and I'll try Vanguard again (if it's still around). Time will tell.
____________________________________________________________________

MMO Armageddon: What do you do when they nuke your home?
I know the feeling.
____________________________________________________________________

Video games activate reward regions of brain more in men than in women
What does this say about me?
____________________________________________________________________

Harrison Ford Vows Never To Return To "Star Wars"
whatev...

I'm Not The Only One

2008-05-23T16:12:00.011-04:00

I've never had any delusions that I'm the only mom in the world who plays video games. In fact, I'm actually surprised there aren't more of us out there promoting the fact that we are "Gamer Moms". Fact is, I grew up in the perfect time to be absorbed into video gaming and so did a lot of other moms. I had an Atari 2600 (actually, I still have it), then NES (also still have it) and so forth and so on. Gaming was a huge part of my life. I'd go to school, go to dance lessons, come home and play Mario. One of the funniest photos of me as a kid is one my mom took of me playing Nintendo while still wearing my dance outfit (no I won't post it...ugh...how embarrassing). So, today I thought I'd share with you links to other "Gamer Mom" websites. We're all a little different, but there's a kinship for sure.

Gamermom.com got the best url and she's been blogging for a few years now...at least that's what I can tell from her archives.

This Gamer Mom is the "mother of all news, views and casual game reviews". While not updated recently, there is still a ton of good stuff there.

There was a nice little article on WomenGamers.com called "Confessions of a Gamer mom". At the end there are a couple of links to more Gamer mom articles as well.

Now on to your regularly scheduled geeky links...

An ex-Jack Sparrow spills on his life at the Magic Kingdom
Read the above article. It's pretty cool. I may or may not have mentioned that way-back-when, I worked at Disney World. While I wasn't a character, I had an unusual job and I performed all day long. Granted, I got to be myself, but still, I was in my own mini-spotlight. The oddest thing about the article is when he talks about the Annual Passholders. It's odd because I had almost forgotten about them. It's so true though, these people would come to the parks day after day and they quickly became regulars. I didn't like or dislike them more than any other guests, but I always found it a bit odd that they came to the same attraction so ofter and regularly.

Did you know there's a Pac-Man movie in development? Apparently, it's true.

And finally, 25 Ways to Tell You're Grown Up.

100!!!

2008-05-21T16:07:00.005-04:00

How did I miss the fact that I have been floating at 99 posts for so long?!? This better be a good entry full of entertainment and special guest star appearances...

...

...

Um, well, you see the thing is, I hadn't really thought this through. I was just going to throw up a random post about the state of my video gaming life. Now, it just seems lame. Well, here are your celebrities, then you have to suffer and hear about me :)

Great! Soooo, onto gaming. I've been playing Vanguard: Saga of Heroes for over a year now. I've maxed out my main character and decided to start a new one. That's all well and good. But, it's getting a little boring. I think I've made a decision. I'm going to add Star Wars Galaxies back into the mix. I know, I know, it sucks, they ruined the game, blah blah blah. I can't help it. A good friend of mine has never given up on the game and still plays PLUS hubby would like to give it another shot. I think that now is the time to start all over with it and see what it's all about now. It's been so long since I've played that it'll be like playing a new game. I'll keep you posted on how it goes. I'm actually a little excited to give it another whirl.

Oh! And on a personal(ish) note. THE RED WINGS ARE IN THE STANLEY CUP FINALS!!! And, I'll be getting paid to go to the games...I love my job.

Baby Fight!

2008-05-15T13:51:00.001-04:00

The Devil Made Me Do It

2008-05-06T10:45:00.003-04:00

I made some super delicious blueberry pancakes this morning and suddenly the devil appeared...
Or is it a cat? Maybe I should sell it on ebay.

Now You Can "Master the Internet"

2008-05-06T10:42:00.001-04:00

The Day After May Day

2008-05-02T10:36:00.006-04:00

A cool photo project at various locations using souvenirs as the subjects.

_________________________________________________________________
Green Team!

_________________________________________________________________
OMG! I WANT THIS!!!

_________________________________________________________________
The Most Inappropriately Named Sports Teams

White Men Can't Dance

2008-04-29T13:13:00.005-04:00

White Men Can't Dance
From: My 2 Second Shelf Life

Trapped in an Elevator...With Diarrhea

Geeks vs Nerds

Top 10 Sexually Suggestive Lines in
the Original Star Wars Trilogy

Airfare

2008-04-23T15:28:00.002-04:00

A recent post on Cynical-C made me look into airfare for our next trip to Florida. The post basically pointed out that flying is cheaper than driving. The point I was going to make in my comment to it was that if you're a family of 4, driving is definitely cheaper. I searched for airfare cost for our upcoming trip to Florida to prove my point and...I was wrong...at least this time. When I worked the numbers, the airfare was actually cheaper because of rising gas prices. I was shocked! To fly 4 people is actually very close in price to paying for gas/hotels along the way.

That's one of the great things about reading blogs. They make you think, sometimes they even make you change your mind on ideas that you are sure of.

So...thanks to Chris at Cynical-C for making me think. It's bloggers like him that prove the value of blogging to me.

Walt Disney World Appreciation

2008-04-22T15:31:00.004-04:00

Way back when…long, long ago, I took a semester off from college and drove down to Florida to work for The Mouse. It was one of the greatest experiences of my life. I’d go back to work there in a heartbeat, but the stars won’t seem to align that way for me. Instead of working there, I visit at least once a year. I look forward to that trip all year long. My kids look forward to it all year long. My husband [won’t admit that he] looks forward to it all year long. It’s a million things at WDW that make me love it. The weather, the smiles on my kids’ faces, the break from work, the rides and especially the cast members.

The whole atmosphere is, well, magical. I even find myself slipping back into cast member role and doing things that hubby finds rather odd, like offering to take pictures for strangers so the whole family can be in the shot. Hubby has suggested more than once that I get a tattoo that says “CM4L” (aka Cast Member For Life). I guess if I ever got a tattoo, that’s probably what it would say.

NOTE: Not a real tattoo

I’ve visited a ton of Disney sites and I belong to a mailing list which offers tons of great tips and news from the World. Today I was looking at a site I had been to many times before and I noticed something that I had never seen there before…I have no idea how I missed it…it’s as big as day on the main page! It’s just really cool, they have “Cast Member Appreciation Cards” that you can print. I know that in the past, if I’ve come across a great cast member, I’ve gone straight to Guest Relations and let them know about that person. I think in the future, I’ll do that AND give the cast member a little note.

I think that part of what I like about that is it seems that no one appreciates anything anymore. “Thank you’s” are in short supply lately. I think things would be a lot nicer if people expressed their appreciation more often.

Slacker

2008-04-17T15:14:00.006-04:00

I am such a slacker lately with the blog! To explain a little, when I was blogging more often it was because I had nothing to do at work. Lately, that's all changed...which is great!

These photos were taken at some basketball games I worked at. The one above is a flaming pyrotechnic thing they do...I'm amazed I even got this shot because I used my phone to take the pic. The photo below is what my view looked like during the game that night.

So, funny story! I was looking at my annual raise from my day job which is usually 3%. I noticed that it wasn't quite right this year. I found out that instead of 3%, we got 2.25% raises. I shouldn't complain because some people in the world never get raises. I'm only amused by this fact because our new boss gave himself a 17% raise, now I know why they needed the .75% from us, sheesh!

How Do I Get a Raise?

Desired Salary Range

Reaching the end of a job interview, the Human Resources Person asked the young MBA fresh out of MIT, "And what starting salary were you looking for?"

The candidate said, "In the neighborhood of $125,000 a year, depending on the benefits package."

The HR Person said, "Well, what would you say to a package of 5-weeks vacation, 14 paid holidays, full medical and dental, company matching retirement fund to 50% of salary, and a company car leased every 2 years - say, a red Corvette?"

The Engineer sat up straight and said, "Wow!!! Are you kidding?"

And the HR Person said, "Certainly, ...but you started it."

How to Ask for a Pay Raise

Scuba Car?

2008-04-03T16:48:00.004-04:00

Watch this video...no really...watch it. While not really "practical", this has to be one of the coolest inventions I've seen in a while.

About the sQuba
"The new concept is described as the worlds first real car with the capabilities to not only drive on land but also dive underwater with the use of two propellers in the stern and two powerful jet drives in the bow which propel the vehicle."

Phone Sex for Geeks

2008-03-27T13:21:00.001-04:00

Am I geek because I understand the humor in this?

Paris Hilton Does Phone Sex

See more like this on kontraband.com

Today's Reading Assignments

2008-03-25T15:46:00.012-04:00

I was having a good old time on the web today and came across a few things to share, enjoy!

The Top 7... Stereotypical gamers we hate

6. RPG snobs

Usually plays: Any RPG and/or "something you wouldn't understand"
Favorite snacks: Dhalmel pie, Bland grilled shark fin (STA +1)

We relish any chance to talk shop about our favorite hobby with fellow gamers, except when we're confronted by one of these - a hyperventilating nerdlinger who looks at us like we're farting Philistines for wanting to pull off the occasional headshot or kickflip. With so much time spent indoors, they don't understand how low on the social ladder they rank, and how little the cultural impact of a spell-casting cat-person in a buckled leotard matters to anyone. We'd rather hang out with the ghost of Adolf Hitler then hear about the finer nuances of Lady Yuna's Tickle Summon.

Usurping the Throne of Snobbery from the once mighty record store employee, they've also donned themselves with some kind of omniscient Gate Keeper status, using their false sense of authority to talk unsubstantiated shit about anything you can't import from Japan.

"Do you have Grand Thef-"
"Pedestrian!"

Next time, kick him in his Forgotten Scepter before he can sneer at his own, barely ironic, aside. We promise - he won't fight back.

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What Life Will Be Like In The Future - November, 2008

IT’S 8 a.m., Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2008, and you are headed for a business appointment 300 mi. away. You slide into your sleek, two-passenger air-cushion car, press a sequence of buttons and the national traffic computer notes your destination, figures out the current traffic situation and signals your car to slide out of the garage. Hands free, you sit back and begin to read the morning paper—which is flashed on a flat TV screen over the car’s dashboard. Tapping a button changes the page. The car accelerates to 150 mph in the city’s suburbs, then hits 250 mph in less built-up areas, gliding over the smooth plastic road. You whizz past a string of cities, many of them covered by the new domes that keep them evenly climatized year round. Traffic is heavy, typically, but there’s no need to worry. The traffic computer, which feeds and receives signals to and from all cars in transit between cities, keeps vehicles at least 50 yds. apart. There hasn’t been an accident since the system was inaugurated. Suddenly your TV phone buzzes. A business associate wants a sketch of a new kind of impeller your firm is putting out for sports boats. You reach for your attache case and draw the diagram with a pencil-thin infrared flashlight on what looks like a TV screen lining the back of the case. The diagram is relayed to a similar screen in your associate’s office, 200 mi. away. He jabs a button and a fixed copy of the sketch rolls out of the device. He wishes you good luck at the coming meeting and signs off.

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The Top 10 Video Game Easter Eggs

The Egg: When you start the game type in “Zelda” as you character name to unlock the 2nd quest mode.
The System: NES
Don’t expect to breeze through this game these monsters are tougher and items are more difficult to get.

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Top 5 Botched PC Game Launches

4. Vanguard: Saga of Heroes

Books could be written about everything that went wrong with Vanguard, and that's before you do any real digging into the early development mess, where the money bled off to, what EverQuest co-creator and Sigil CEO Brad McQuaid was doing through all of it, and what happened in the parking lot afterward. Shoved out the door way too early for what were admitted to be financial reasons, the game was just plain half-baked, plagued by enough bugs, missing content, and instability to compete with the very best of the worst. From little things like a "display hoods/helmets" option that didn't do anything because none of the hoods or helmets in the game even had any graphics to frequently previewed back-of-the-box features like flying mounts that didn't make it into the game until long, long after release.

Vanguard staggered away from its absolute train wreck of a launch and slowly, steadily recovered. These days, it's pretty well healed up and finally living up to promises that were made and broken long before. But it's still hard to forget that, until lately, players were paying for the privilege of participating in a really, really long beta.

Star Wars Galaxies

2008-03-24T13:20:00.003-04:00

OMG, I used to love this game. I spent hundreds of hours playing. It was awesome! I could play however I wanted. I started as an Entertainer, making it to Master Dancer/Master Musician. Then there was the ability to change classes…whenever I wanted. So I moved to Master Doctor/Master Pistoleer. Holy crap, that rocked!

THEN, Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) decided that the game wasn’t fun…not sure how they decided that, but they did. So, they introduced the “Combat Upgrade” which was quickly followed by the “New Game Experience”, later called “New Game Enhancements” aka NGE. That’s when they broke the game. They removed professions, they introduced a numbered leveling system and they forced you to group…on just about everything. OK, OK, grouping is fun. BUT, if there is nearly NO WAY to go out and solo, it’s very frustrating. There were times when I just wanted to go complete some missions on my own and I didn’t always feel like wasting an hour standing around yelling to form a pick up group (which almost always resulted in having some idiotic douche ruin it). The changes were so bad that TONS of subscribers left…immediately. I stuck it out, I had hoped it would get better, it didn’t. After a few more months of trudging through the game, I finally let it go. It was tough. I had tried a few other games of the MMORPG variety, but didn’t find anything I liked much. I’m currently playing Vanguard: Saga of Heroes and it’s really cool. I have fun and I’m able to solo or group and pretty much play however I want. But, you know what? If SWG were ever changed back to the original version of the game, I’d go back in a second. I miss it.

Call of the Day summed it up very well:
"StarWars Galaxies was groundbreaking when it was released - it didn’t continue to flood the monotony that was the “run here. Kill/collect/deliver this. Run back. Repeat.” MMO market. It instead allowed you to do whatever the hell you wanted - some folks would never ever be caught in open combat. They’d simply stick to setting up resource refineries, selling on raw materials, building weapons, building houses, training creatures, joining bands - everything. And of course, if you wanted it your way, you could run around shooting everything in sight. And it was perfect. There was no set level system - everything experience related was down to how you played. You could be a master rifleman within a month, and stick with that if you were happy. And for those wanting a true grind - there was the Jedi quest. People have spent over a year on this grind, to finally be rewarded with an all-powerful character slot - the basic idea being that they can literally change the whole course of the game if they worked this hard.

And then SOE decided this system wasn’t working. Let’s make it “more iconic” they said. People like World of Warcraft. Let’s give them that. And so it started. Most of the non-grind classes were just removed from the game. The set levelling system (ala level one to seventy) took over. The results were so catastrophically bad that SOE have infact released a public apology for ruining an otherwise good game, and offered refunds to many players. Starwars Galaxies has now gone from one of the most populated games online to one that is slowly making its way towards retirement."

A Brief History of the Home Video Game Console

2008-03-24T10:38:00.003-04:00

Cynical-C had a link to this today. The 2600 was my first system...and I still have it! Here's the entry for this system:

Atari VCS 2600
Released in 1977
The Atari 2600, released in 1977, is the first successful video game console to use plug-in cartridges instead of having one or more games built in. It was originally known as the Atari VCS, for Video Computer System, and the name "Atari 2600" (taken from the unit's Atari part number, CX2600) was first used in 1982, after the release of the more advanced Atari 5200.

The initial price was $199 with a library of 9 titles. In a play to compete directly with the Channel F, Atari named the machine the Video Computer System (or VCS for short), as the Channel F was at that point known as the VES, for Video Entertainment System. When Fairchild learned of Atari's naming they quickly changed the name of their system to become the Channel F.

Atari expanded the 2600 family with two other compatible consoles. The Atari 2700, a wireless version of the console was never released due to design flaws. The Sleek Atari 2800 released to the Japanese market in 1983 suffered from competition from the newly-released Nintendo Famicom.

There are tons of systems described, check it out and see how many you had!

I got started on consoles, but most of my gaming is limited to my PC now. I still love my Wii, though! I remember when I was young, I was SO jealous of my friends who had Intellivision, Colecovision, or any type of computer.

In order, I had/have:
Atari 2600 (still own it)
NES (still own it)
Sega Genesis (still own it)
Super NES (traded in to get N64)
Nintendo 64 (still own it)
Playstation2 (still own it)
Wii (of course, still own it)

How about you?

Hardcore Gamer Granny

2008-03-18T13:41:00.002-04:00

OMFG, you’ve gotta see this. There’s a whole blog about her. How did I miss this?

Spring is in the Air!

2008-03-14T12:55:00.002-04:00

Last week I complained about a snow storm, today I am rejoicing in a beautifully sunny and (relatively) warm day! I’m sure it’ll cool down a little before spring actually arrives, but it’s days like this that really get me excited for warmer days. It’s really pushed me to seriously consider what type of landscaping I’ll do to my house. Since it’s new, we have NOTHING. I’m all over planting and nursery websites. I’m having the best time choosing the plants and trees that will adorn my front and backyard.

Not only all of that, but I’m also just plain happy today. Everyone around here is happy today. I think it’s all those months of clouds and cold that make us a bunch of crabs all winter. Now that the sun is shining and I don’t have to bundle up to walk to the car, I feel a sense of relief.

I’ve found some useful spring maintenance tips from State Farm. I’m not a client and this isn’t an ad, they just have some good things to think about on there.

It’s getting to be spring cleaning time and I found a real estate agent who offers a ton of tips and tricks for getting it done effectively.

Do you have allergies? Luckily, that gene skipped me. If you do, here are some tips for fighting spring allergies.

Cheesy Spring Jokes…

Q. What season is it when you are on a trampoline?
A. Spring-time!

Q. When do monkeys fall from the sky?
A. During Ape-ril showers!

Q. Can February March?
A. No, but April May!

Q. What flowers grow on faces?
A. Tulips (Two-lips)!

Q. Why is the letter A like a flower?
A. A bee (B) comes after it!

Online Sales and Scammers

2008-03-10T11:48:00.002-04:00

I’ve sold enough things online to know a scammer when I see one. Things that generally stick out are:

1) Generic Greetings with no mention or questions about the item being sold

2) Poor grasp on the English language.

3) Uses generic email address ie: @yahoo.com, @hotmail.com

4) Is not in the U.S.

5) Wants a lot of personal info, but gives NONE

6) BONUS: Liberal use of “God Bless” or other religious phrasing

I’m selling a couple things on Craigslist right now and today I’ve lured a scammer into my domain. I generally like to mess with them for a while and waste their time so they have less time to mess with the more naïve sellers. What I do isn’t original, nor my idea. I just love hearing the stories about this stuff so I thought I’d have my own fun.

Here are places you can read more stories like mine:

419 Eater

Scambuster 419

Scam-O-Rama

This isn’t my first foray into this activity, I’ve wasted time on it before, but I usually get bored with it and let it die. Luckily for me, today’s contestant is responding fairly quickly which is keeping me interested.

The following is the “conversation” between the scammer and myself. Unfortunately, they didn’t last as long as I’d hoped. Ah well, it was fun while it lasted.

Scammer in blue.

Me in black.

My sidenotes in red.

From: Pauline Tason (paulinetason@hotmail.com)

Date: Thu, Mar 6, 2008 at 10:25 AM

Subject: Nikon N-80 35MM Complete Camera Package - $325

Hi,
Kindly get back to me with your firm price.
God bless.

Ding ding ding. This one had all the great markers…let’s have some fun.

From: Me

Date: Thu, Mar 6, 2008 at 10:30 AM

Hi,
Where are you located and when would you like to pick up the camera?
God Bless.

PS Make an offer

I like to inject a little of their own stuff. I don’t mention the item, nor the price and I had to spread God’s love as well.

From: Pauline Tason (paulinetason@hotmail.com)

Date: Thu, Mar 6, 2008 at 12:23 PM

I think the amount you want to sell it is OK by me, I will want you to provide me with your paypal account for the payment to be send immediately or if did not have paypal account provide me your Full name and Address so that i will send the money through Money Order.
so you don't need to bother yourself regarding the shipping charge.
Waiting to hear from you.
Mrs.Pauline Tanson

Wow, full price! Amazing. First they want my bottom line, now the asking price is A-ok! Fab!

From: Me

Date: Thu, Mar 6, 2008 at 12:48 PM

I have a paypal account associated with this email address. I will also need to know where you are located so I can tell you how to pick up this item or tell you how much shipping will cost.

Praise the Lord

I so wanted them to tell me they were in Nigeria! I knew that’s where they were, I just needed them to say it…for my own sake at least. I’ve also decided that they will get a new religious blessing at the end of each email.

From: Pauline Tason (paulinetason@hotmail.com)

Date: Thu, Mar 6, 2008 at 1:02 PM

Hi,
Kindly understand that am not in the country now,but i will pay you with the shipping fee and when you get it you ship it for my daughter.
God bless

So, I’m getting closer! “not in the country now”…HA! Not ever!

From: Me

Date: Thu, Mar 6, 2008 at 1:27 PM

OK, well I will still need to know where I'm shipping the item so I can send it to your daughter.

Jesus is the Lord

No response…so I ramp it down a notch.

From: Me

Date: Thu, Mar 6, 2008 at 3:07 PM

All I need is a zip code so I can check USPS for the shipping costs. You can get me any other pertinent information later.

Hallalujah

Tah Dah!

From: Pauline Tason (paulinetason@hotmail.com)

Thu, Mar 6, 2008 at 6:42 PM

My daughter's address,

9/15 Adelabu street uwani
Uwani-Enugu
Enugu-State
Nigeria
23442.

God bless

I looked up the address, apparently her daughter lives at a video store...Results of an address search.

From: Me

Date: Thu, Mar 6, 2008 at 9:34 PM

Oh mercy, that's a long ways away! What in heaven's name is your daughter doing in Africa? Is she a missionary? I pray for her as I hear there are many souls that need saving in Nigeria! You know they say a lot of scam artists are there? I hope your daughter is praying to our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ to watch over her.

I've looked it up and shipping to Nigeria is $308.49 (That's a LOT of money to send such a little box!)

Jesus is my co-pilot

I assume I’m done with this one, no response. Maybe I over did it a little. But it was fun!

Snow Day

2008-03-05T11:46:00.003-05:00

The above is the view out my window at work. I’m getting sick of this crap. It’s March 5^th for crying out loud! This is how our winter has been this year: Inches of Snow -> Days of Bitter Cold -> 1 Day Warm Enough to Melt Snow -> Inches of Snow…Repeat until fully frustrated.

I’m not a fan of winter, but I have to live in the wintry place because I have kids who have grandparents who live in the wintry place. I suffer for the children!

Another thing about winter that bothers me…shoveling. Here’s the deal, I don’t even shovel our snow, that’s hubby’s job. BUT, when he’s done shoveling, he’ll come in and complain about how heavy it is and he’s tired and sore. EVERY TIME I tell him to buy a snowblower. His response: “You don’t by a snowblower in winter”. Um, ok, I’ll wait until we have an outside temp of 88 degrees then? This logic makes zero sense to me, especially since we live in an area where snowblowers are usually sold out/unavailable after 1 month of snowy crap…leaving 2 months (at least) to deal with the snow SANS SNOWBLOWER.

Wikipedia On Winter

Winter is one of the four seasons of temperate zones. North American calendars go by astronomy and state that winter begins on the winter solstice and ends on the vernal equinox. Calculated meteorologically, it begins and ends earlier (typically at the start of the month with the equinox or solstice) and is the season with the shortest days and the lowest temperatures. Either way, it generally has cold weather and, especially in the higher latitudes or altitudes, snow and ice. The coldest average temperatures of the season are typically experienced in January in the Northern Hemisphere and in July in the Southern Hemisphere.

Funny Winter Sports Accidents

Time Magazine Article from 1949…Wait, weather was weird BEFORE global warming?

This winter the western half of the U.S. got its worst weather in history, and the eastern half some of its mildest. The U.S. Weather Bureau, looking on the dark (or cold) side, regards the 1948-49 winter as the hardest ever—worse in most respects than the winter of 1937. The records are not all in (spring does not come officially until March 21), but already the bureau has a fine collection of weather aberrations and never-befores.

Ah, I love winter humor…

Old Home

We purchased an old home in Northern New York State from two elderly sisters. Winter was fast approaching and I was concerned about the house's lack of insulation. "If they could live here all those years, so can we!" my husband confidently declared.

One November night the temperature plunged to below zero, and we woke up to find interior walls covered with frost. My husband called the sisters to ask how they had kept the house warm. After a rather brief conversation, he hung up.

"For the past 30 years," he muttered, "they've gone to Florida for the winter.”

Ah, the interweb

2008-03-03T16:00:00.005-05:00

The internet is a dazzling place, full of wonder and sparkle. It's a funny place, though. There are rules and guidelines and tutorials. I'm still amazed that after having the internets around so long, my parents are still SO CLUELESS. My parents manage to completely break their computers once every year or so and because of this, I have to "reconnect" them to the interweb. The funny thing is, they don't have a network, and they don't have dial-up...they have DSL. They refuse to believe me when I tell them that with DSL they are always online, too! My mom insists that she will need the latest version of AOL so she can get on the internet and check her email. NOTHING I say can change her mind on that. She is right and I am stupid...which is why I have to hook them back up to the internets.

How to Behave on an Internet Forum

Unwritten Internet Rules
(I'm sure I've broken some of these)

Unwritten Rule 1: When in doubt, create a link that reads "click here."

In the Internet's early days, when people were trying to create momentum on a Web page, it was necessary to instruct people what to do and where to do it. So, the "click here" hyperlink was born. It's overstayed its welcome.

People know what to do when they see a hyperlink. Telling them to "click here" is equivalent to placing road signs every couple of yards that read "Stay on the road."

Example following the rule:

The X-Arcade 2 Player is guaranteed for life. To read our lifetime warranty, click here.

Now, let's break the rule:

See how your X-Arcade 2 Player is guaranteed for life.

Unwritten Rule 2: Use lots of "more info" links.

People want more info, right? But info about what? It seems adding a few extra words to the "more info" hyperlink is cost-prohibitive. No one seems willing to tell me what info I'll get when I click the link. Do those extra few letters cost money?

Example of following that rule:

Microsoft Word is the industry-standard word processor. It has a seemingly endless number of features, each designed to help you be more productive while creating and revising documents. More Info

Let's break the rule:

Microsoft Word is the industry-standard word processor. See Microsoft Word's seemingly endless number of features, each designed to help you be more productive while creating and revising documents.

Which is more persuasive?

Unwritten Rule 3: Use as many vague hyperlinks as possible, such as "read more," "continue reading," and "next."

Same as rule 2. What will I be reading more about? Why can't you tell me what will happen when I click?

Instead of "Read more," why not "Read more about how this Magic Widget can help you work smarter and faster"?

Instead of "Continue reading," why not "Continue reading this article"?

Tell people specifically what happens next: "Next: enter your billing information."

For more Rules, READ HERE :)

Oldie But a Goodie

The 10 Commandments of Gaming

GamerHelp 666:10, 1st Commandment
Thou Shalt Not Be Offended by Harsh Language
It's going to happen. Somewhere, somehow, in the future, someone you're playing a game with online is going to say "holy flying greased Jesuses, we're being attacked by flying ass-rapists from the abortionist dimension!" Or something like that. Anyone who's ever been on Xbox Live knows that 90% of the words in the English language either begin or end with the F-word.

Therefore, it is entirely pointless to get offended by anything anyone says during gameplay. For Christ's sake, we're all playing games in which we blow each other into little bloody bits, does it really make sense to be offended by cursing amidst the carnage?

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GamerHelp 666:11, 2nd Commandment
Thou Shalt Keep Holy the Sabbath
Sunday, SUN-day SUNDAY! To hell with church. Sunday is for gaming. It is only day of the week when you can really assure yourself that you've got nothing else going on from morning to night. Or at least, that's the way it should be. Saturday nights are for drinking, Friday nights are for chasing tail, but Sunday is for staying in and shooting zombies.

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GamerHelp 666:12, 3rd Commandment
Thou Shalt Not Take Bad Endings Lightly
No longer must we suffer from craptacular endings like the ones we once endured on the NES. The credits certainly fit in well at the end of the game, but if all you get when a game is over is a long list of the people who made it and a sappy love song, then it's time to write an email to the developers. For too long have we humans put up with shitty endings in our video games. For developers, this is usually done because they're rushing to complete other aspects of the game before ship date. But for players, it's the ultimate insult to all of our efforts. It's not as though adding in a few clips or jokes at the end is impossible or all that time consuming.

Take Capcom's God Hand. Rather than just playing the credits at the end, this game gives us credits AND clips of the game's characters dancing away to the theme music. Adding in this type of clip didn't take a whole lot of effort: just clip the character models to the body joints of a motion-captured dancer, and voila! These endings don't have to be over the top or exceptionally long. But they should show a little bit of creativity, god dammit! Think Pixar's out takes. think Star Control II's final interviews with each of the space races. Think ToeJam and Earl wandering around Funkitron! Think of something other than "You Win. Game Over!"

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GamerHelp 666:13, 4th Commandment
Thou Shalt Gloat
Halo players know that the ultimate in defeat is being tea-bagged. When you've killed someone in an online game, it's not just time to turn around and hunt for the next victim. It's time to turn on the mic and laugh triumphantly, like a retarded janitor with a bagel in his nose. Don't be afraid to hit the taunt button, or to run over to that dead Heavy Weapons Guy, and do your little Pyro happiness dance. While it's certainly not recommended that you start getting your racist on, or to joke about their mom, it is entirely appropriate to say that they've been "0wnzor3d."

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GamerHelp 666:14, 5th Commandment
Thou Shalt Not Covet Thy Neighbor's Rig
Not all of us can afford a $3000 computer. Neither, too, can we all buy a 360, a PS3 and a Wii. Rather than drooling over your friends' good fortune at having all of these things, the true gamer simply goes to GameStop or the local Goodwill to find some last generation goodness for 5 bucks a hit. Why, there are thousands of games out there that you've never played, and most of them aren't current generation technology. Better still, go online to a site like Abandonia or the TheUnderdogs.com to download abandoned games for your PC for free. Or, even better still, go get an emulator and try out those NES games you never got a chance to play as a kid. Thou shalt not waste rent money on an Xbox 360 when thou can just as easily buy 30 games for the original Xbox for the same price.

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GamerHelp 666:15, 6th Commandment
Thou Shalt Not Name Thyself After Thy Own Birthday
Gamer tags aren't so easy to come up with anymore. With thousands of gamers out there registering their nicknames with Xbox Live, or in your favorite MMO, it's a fair chance that your first choice of nickname is already taken. But while all the good ones may seem to have been taken, that is no excuse to name yourself "Steve71685" or "Robert1013". These types of names only make you look like an inbred newbie from West Virginia. There are plenty of good names left out there, and only the ones in Leet Speak, or mimicing a license plate need to have numbers in them. Try using names like "BiscuitOfRage" or "MonkeyButtLuv" or "HalfALoafUvKungFu" or "StonedGnome" or "BackPimplesRossario" or "St00pidDoucher" or "StudBeefPile" or "LunchBox" or any of the thousands of other possibilities! Get creative! Do something original. And for god's sake, keep your f**cking birthday out of your name!

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GamerHelp 666:16, 7th Commandment
Thou Shalt Not Use FAQs Unless Thou Art Stuck
For GamerHelp, it's all about the FAQs, of course. But you should never go running through those FAQs unless you are specifically stuck somewhere. There is no form of life on this Earth that is lower than that dood who buys a new game and the walkthrough guide at the same time at GameStop. First of all, FAQs are free online, idiot. Second of all, You're probably one of those assholes who sits in front of the TV with the game running and the walkthrough open to page one. It's not a f'ing game if you just read what to do next every time you complete a task, dumbass. Close the book, and figure it out yer damn self.

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GamerHelp 666:17, 8th Commandment
Thou Shalt Watch Your Buddy's Back
When playing games online, don't let your buddies get back stabbed. It's not cool and it's not friendly. What's the point of playing online with other people if you can't even trust your own teammates to keep you from being being pistol whipped from behind? Keep those eyes open, and watch those corners. You know it's going to happen at some point, and even if you can't stop the guy from attacking, you can at least call out to your pal and say "look out behind you!" Remember, this online gaming thing isn't really worth a damn if the people you play with run off into the enemy base every time they respawn, like some digitized Rambo with a chip on his shoulder.

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GamerHelp 666:18, 9th Commandment
Thou Shalt Not Take Gaming Too Seriously
We've all been there: you're on a server playing with a bunch of people you've never seen before. The enemy team captures your flag, and someone on your team blows up in a screaming rage over the lack of teamwork. This man (and they are always men) is way too involved. Games are supposed to be fun, not work. If you're really that worried about how the red team does in the next round, spend your time talking strategy, not yelling into the mic about how "Joe3216" is a complete idiot who shouldn't be playing the game at all. This isn't pickup football on the playground, and we don't get to pick teams. You're always going to be saddled with some douche-bag who has one arm and no ears, so just resign yourself to sitting down and trying to work with what you've got. Besides, the feeling of accomplishment is much greater when you win a round knowing that your team is made up entirely of 12 years olds with no thumbs and cleft palettes.

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GamerHelp 666:19, 10th Commandment
Thou Shalt Save Early, and Save Often
There aren't too many games, these days, that remove points or bonuses from the player based on the number of times they save. This used to be something of a common practice, back when game developers saw the player as a toy with which to play and squeeze. But today, developers know better. They know we all hate running through the same corridor 33 times and dying on the same jump over and over again. That's why they offer more save spots, save-anywhere features, and on-the-fly difficulty adjustments. With all these wonderful helpers, however, there are still gamers who like to live on the edge. When the scene ends and the level is over, they say "NO" to "Do you want to save?" They don't use the save rooms, and they never turn the machine off. These are the maniacs who try to beat Final Fantasy XII in one sitting. And these are the people we do not want to emulate. Save early, save often. You never know when the power may go out and you'll be stuck trying to kill the same goddamn monsters over and over again.

How did I forget this gem?

Super Cool Birth Announcements

2008-02-26T15:27:00.006-05:00

I have a million things to blog about and for some reason, no time to blog them. Weird. Rather than throw a million random things out there all at once, slap my hands and call it a post, I figured it’d be better if I just choose ONE topic for today and write about it. So…today…you…get…BABIES!!! Alright, not all babies, just birth announcements. No, I’m not having more kids, but EVERYONE around me seems to be. I’m awash with pregnant people and they all need advice. No, I don’t dole it out randomly, they ask…a lot. Maybe it’s because my kids are younger and I still remember a lot of the details that parents of teens may have forgotten, who knows. Because of all the prego hormones near me, I’ve got babies on the brain and products that I really have no use for are suddenly interesting to me again. That’s how I found the coolest birth announcements EVER!

Rattle-N-Roll makes concert poster style announcements. How cool is that!?! Two of the pregos I know are musicians and these would be perfect for them. But, they’d be perfect for any concert/music enthusiast.

Proud Parent Publications makes newspaper style announcements. Baby can be the cover of the sports page as the “New Acquisition”.

Little Big Man can put your little one on a ticket!

Surfing Baby can make little Suzie a cover girl or turn Stanley into a golf pro on customized magazine covers.

Cool Dog Productions makes video announcements that can be viewed on the web.

Bad Parenting

2008-02-14T09:52:00.004-05:00

Sorry it's been a while. Not only are there a million crises in the lives of those around me, now my kids and I are all sick. Whooboy, this is fun stuff. My house is filled with booger filled tissues and red noses. On top of the cold, I had the flu the other day so I felt like I had been run over by a truck...everything hurt.

I love Cynical C's blog. He always finds the most interesting internet stuff. This time, he found a post on a forum and this "Mom" infuriated me. It's an older post (like 2 years old) but it has enjoyed some recently renewed attention. Here's her dilemma:

"Here's a wrinkle I don't think we'd planned on. I just dinged 60 on the server that my husband has been playing on since he started playing. Long story short, my first character was on a different server so that I could play with a female friend of mine. I'd made an alt type character on my husband's server but didn't play her much. When I finally got fed up with the server my main was on (the only decent person there was my friend as far as I could find) I moved over to Stonemaul permanently. I ditched my half-assed attempt at an undead mage, rolled up my druid and was good to go. Well, now months later I'm finally level 60 and my husband and I are both in the same guild. I'll be starting my raids with them this week actually. The problem? We have two small children who need to eat dinner and raids start at 5pm. Ack! How are we going to make dinner?! There are no problems with the kids running around playing and such while we raid. They're already used to that, they play in the computer room and we can get them things that they need (you know, cups of juice, snacks, what have you) when we have breaks. Before it was easy because if I was running an instance and in the middle of combat my husband might be in a a space between pulls where he could safely go afk for 30 seconds you know. But now we'll be on the same schedule essentially. We both play support classes too (he's a holy priest, I'm a resto druid) so the guild ideally would want us to both be in a forty man raid. It's not like we can easily switch off any raid nights other than say, ZG and AQ20 runs. It's more of a logistics problem than a real stressor. It's just that it hadn't really occured to me when I joined his guild that eventually we'd both be raiding on the same nights and thus on the same schedule game-wise. For tonight, since dinner is already thawed out, I'm just planning on eating with the kids at 4pm (about two hours earlier than our normal dinnertime) and letting them snack when they get hungry later one. We'll make a plate for my husband (who doesn't usually get home from work until just about invite time) to heat up and that will take care of tonight. But what about the rest of the week? The rest of the time I'm raiding. I suspect that it will be me who shows up to fewer raids, because I'm the mama after all and that's who the kids often want. Ack, who'd of thunk that the social problems of parenthood in America would follow me into Azeroth :o"

Holy Cannoli! I don't care how old this thing is, I'm sure she's not the only "parent" who puts gaming ahead of their kids. I love this line: "who'd of thunk that the social problems of parenthood in America would follow me into Azeroth" Is she kidding!?! The SMALL kids are USED to being ignored while their parents jerk around playing a game!?! The SMALL kids are considered by this mom to be an interference in her "social life". WTF did she think being a parent meant. Maybe I'm more pissed about this than usual because I'm sick, but Jiminey Christmas! I am a gamer mom, I love video games, BUT I love my kids more. You know when I play? WHEN THE KIDS ARE IN BED! I'm in a pretty active guild in Vanguard and my guild pretty much knows not to expect me on until after 9pm WHEN THE KIDS ARE IN BED! If I miss a raid, oh well...if I miss a great group, oh well...it's a GAME! I'm so sick of people acting like kids are an inconvenience. I see too many people treat their kids like a pet...feed them, ignore them, occasionally pat them on the head.

You want to know why there are Britneys, Lindsays and all the other brats? Look at their parents! I'm fed up with this garbage.

Sorry f0r the insane, cold medicine fueled rant. This sort of thing just pisses me off.

Fruit Salad

2008-02-04T14:26:00.000-05:00

No, I'm not posting about food today. This is just basically a mishmash of everything...like a fruit salad...it's a stretch.

The basic story is that things have been fine for me, but I'm watching so many people around me struggle. Struggle with jobs, struggle with money, struggle with family, struggle with health, struggle with addiction. It's just tough because most of the time there's nothing I can do to help.
I'll touch on a couple of those things today, maybe I'll do more tomorrow.

Jobs

How Not to do a Job Interview (Thanks Radmila)

Apparently, you can become a Video Game Tester. I looked around the site a bit and it sounds a little like being a mystery shopper. More of a pain than it is worth, since you have to front some cash.

Want to become a Mystery Shopper? Don't waste your time. I've done it. Most companies reimburse you only for the purchase. Some will reimburse you and pay you a small amount on top so: I go to McDonald's, buy a meal, record an insane amount of information (without them noticing), then write a report and scan/email receipts so I can be reimbursed for the $5.00 meal AND make a whopping $7.50 on top. Phew. If that didn't talk you out of it and you MUST learn for yourself, here are a few companies. (NOTE: NEVER PAY TO BECOME A MYSTERY SHOPPER! THE INFO I AM GIVING YOU NOW IS THE INFO YOU PAY FOR)
Shop N Chek
Apex
Spies in Disguise
Ann Michaels & Associates
J.C. & Associates
BMA Mystery Shopping

Money

I have no idea what they're saying, other than "Money", but it's something

I have no money advice or money in general. I get by and that's about it. My only financial advice is "Get a Job", if that doesn't get you enough money, "Get a Second Job".

It's Business Time

2008-02-01T11:35:00.000-05:00

Picture Meme

2008-01-29T16:52:00.000-05:00

I borrowed this from My 2 Second Shelf Life. I'm just plum out of blogging creativity lately. I think it's all the Photoshop work, just draining me.

1) Age you will be on your next birthday:

2) Place you would like to visit:

3) One of your favorite places (In case you missed it, one is in CA, one is in FL):

4) Your favorite object (50" Plasma TV):

5) Your favorite food (Only Grandma's!):

6) Your favorite animal (That's my boy, Scout):

7) Your favorite color:

8) Name of a past pet (a siamese cat):

9) Where you live:

10) First teacher’s last name:

11) A bad habit of yours:

12) Your middle name:

13) Your favorite flower:

14) Your favorite holiday (Very close to my birthday, start of Christmas season!):

Random

2008-01-28T13:51:00.000-05:00

Just a few things I found zipping across the web.

Jerry O’Connell's parody of the now-famous Tom Cruise/Scientology video.

I love these (yeah, yeah, they aren't new), maybe it's because I have a sense of humor about raising kids...The Landlord

In case you didn't know, Websites were a real pile of shit in 1996

And just because that was interesting, someone copied it... Old Websites Sure are Funny

Have a website you hate and want to destroy?

Photoshop

2008-01-24T11:05:00.000-05:00

I've decided to bite the bullet and try to learn Photoshop. Yeah, yeah, I'm lame. I should have done it years ago, but I've worked with a very talented Photoshop artist all that time and I just haven't needed to know it myself. Not much has really changed, except that I have been keeping my eye open for a new job and EVERYONE wants you to know PS. I figured now is the time because I can learn it while working and no one will think anything of it...because it's work related. I SHOULD know this software.

In the absence of anything else worth writing about, I thought I'd share a couple of the websites I've found that have some pretty good tutorials.

MaxTutorial has some pretty easy to understand tutorials.

This one has more tutorials with web design in mind.

Very, very basic...for the person who has never opened Photoshop.

On a side note, sorry today isn't very fun. I just can't think of anything good to post about today. Photoshop has taken up a lot of my mind for now.

Can Photoshop Be Funny?

One of my favorite Worth100 categories, yet: Nerdimals

New Schtuff

2008-01-17T11:31:00.000-05:00

Zipping around the web and found a few things for your enjoyment...enjoy.

Everyday Normal Guy 2

7 Internet Fads Made Into Video Games
Complete with Links with info on the fads in case you don't live on the web like some of us.
Star Wars Kid's Lightsaber Battle Arena
In this action-packed Wii title, you'll do battle with the dictator of dweeb, the pinnacle of putrid, the figurehead of failure... no, not Carrot Top, we're talking about the Star Wars Kid! In his first appearance since Tony Hawk's Underground 2, SWK's LBA finds the Kid angry and defiant, challenging all his French-Canadian classmates to battle after his mammoth online embarrassment. As Pierre, the student who posted the video initially, you are SWK's greatest nemesis. Join with your mates and battle the Kid in the first First Person Lightsaber game for the Wii!

Who knew there was a market for the Rarest and Most Valuable N64 Games?

ESPN Adds Competitive Video Gaming to Its Lineup
Holy Crap! I would love to see this! Better than watching Professional Bowling any day.

Apparently, this is what I'd look like as a Simpsons character.
Simpsonize yourself!

Gaming is Fun

2008-01-14T12:39:00.000-05:00

Loaki Hootill Character Sheet

I love playing video games...in case you hadn't noticed. I play Vanguard: Saga of Heroes daily. I've been out of the console mode for a while now. The last one I played with any true fervor was my N64...until I got my Wii. I friggin' love that thing. It's a cool system that anyone can play. My 3 year old is currently 4-0 against his dad in boxing. Yes, I'm a breeder of gamers. With all that in mind, today is all about gaming.

Ten Golden Rules of Online Gaming
I love #5, although all the rules are dead on. I've experienced all of them.

5: If you are losing, it is because of lag:

Following on from the cheapness laws, you will soon get to learn that nothing is ever your fault when it comes to gaming. Lag is a process whereby everyone in the game becomes better than you thanks to the Internet helping them become cheap. The Internet does this a lot, but never affects the enemies you kill yourself, because you have skills.

Nearly every death you ever suffer in a game will be due to lag of some kind. The Internet hates you that much, even though you are so good.

Chocolate Milk

If my kid ever acts like this one, smack me. (I know this isn't new, but it's a classic)

Everything I Need to know, I learned from Video Games

1. There is no problem that cannot be overcome by violence.

2. You can overcome most adversaries simply by having enough quarters.

3. If it moves, KILL IT!

4. Operating any vehicle or weapon is simple and requires no training.

5. "Bosses" always hire henchmen weaker than they are to do their dirty work.

6. If you find food lying on the ground, eat it.

7. You can smash things and get away with it.
a. Smashing things doesn't hurt.
b. Many nice things are hidden inside other things.

8. When someone dies, they disappear.

9. Money is frequently found lying on the streets.

10. All shopkeepers carry high-tech weaponry.

11. You never run out of bullets, only grenades.

12. Ninjas are common, and fight in public frequently.

13. Whenever huge evil fat men are about to die, they begin flashing red or yellow.

14. When you are born, you're invulnerable for a brief period of time.

15. Although the enemy always has more aircraft than you, they fly in predictable patterns which makes it easier for you to shoot them all down.

16. All women wear revealing clothing and have great bodies.

17. The enemy always leaves weapons and ammo laying around for no other reason than so their bitter enemies can pick them up and defeat them with it.

18. You sustain injury if you shoot innocents.

19. Gang members frequently all look the same, and often have the same names.

20. When driving, do not worry if your vehicle crashes and explodes. A new one will appear in its place.

21. Anyone that can't jump over six feet high probably can't jump at all.

22. Even the lowest lifeforms such as worms, slugs, and slimes carry money.

23. A good way to hurt someone is to do the following: 1. Hold up your hands, 2. (optional) Stomp the ground, 3. A large object (like a rock) falls from the top of the screen, 4. Catch the large object, and 5. Throw it.

Fett's Vette
This is a video made using Star Wars Galaxies by Balgosa Windspire.
I used to love this game and I played it daily until they jacked it up.

What Pre-1985 Video Game Character Am I?

I am Mario.

I like to jump around, and would lead a fairly serene and aimless existence if it weren't for my friends always getting into trouble. I love to help out, even when it puts me at risk. I seem to make friends with people who just can't stay out of trouble. What Video Game Character Are You?

Posting and you
Actually about posting on forums, but most gamers do the forum thing, too...

Microsoft Screws Over a Loyal Customer

2008-01-11T10:22:00.000-05:00

Basically, a guy lives in the UK. He loves XBox 360 and has bought tons of content. Guy moves to the US and asks Microsoft to transfer his account info to a US account. Microsoft tells guy that they can't/won't/don't want to do it. Guy gets frustrated and asks for help from peeps on a gaming forum. Peeps suggest making waves and all kinds of other fun things. Guy also explains plight to boss/friend at a website he infrequently writes for. Boss/friend asks Microsoft Connection for help and Microsoft Connection responds by asking to have guy fired. Huh? Boss/friend rocks and stands behind guy.

Here's the article that the guy wrote after he found out about the attempted firing.

Actually, it's been moved, here's where the article is now.

Here's the forum where the guy asked for advice.

Here's the promise of an article to be written by the guy's boss. (As soon as I see the actual article posted, I'll add it)

--------UPDATE--------
Here's the article written by the boss.

In case you care, here's my opinion. For any corporation to treat a customer the way they treated this one is just asinine. There are horror stories everywhere about how Such-and-Such Company TM treated someone like crap. You'd think that with bad customer service so prevalent, it would be impossible to actually please MOST customers. That's where you'd be wrong. It's easy to please customers. Companies do it all the time. Disney is the best example. If you have a problem at all, you need only (politely) explain your situation and 9 times out of 10 they'll resolve it...and probably in a better way than you had hoped. A great solution here, which wouldn't cost Microsoft a dime is to give this guy some credit for his lost content. The credit is digital and he has lost/needs to purchase digital content. Boom! Problem fixed. But, it seems, they'd rather bounce him around from one inept call center employee to another. Which actually costs Microsoft money in labor. I have no particular gripe with Microsoft, I have a particular gripe with poor customer service. I'd be saying the same thing no matter which company acted in this manner.

Cats

2008-01-10T14:18:00.001-05:00

Some people are cat people, some people aren't. I happen to like cats. I also happen to like all kinds of animals. Cats are just weird critters. My siggy on the horse forum I belong to is:
A Dog looks up to a man,
A cat looks down on a man,
But a patient horse looks a man in the eye and sees him as an equal.

Truer words have never been spoken...at least for the dog and cat part. I'm not sure my horse sees me as an equal, but that's a post for another day.

I have had a few cats in my lifetime. The one pictured climbing the screen is Meeko. She's just a goofball. That's also her hanging out with the cockatiels I used to have. She'd climb right in the cage to sit with them. She never tried to do anything to them, she just liked being near them.

This cat wakeup call is pretty typical for the cat I have now.

Basic Rules For Cats Who Run A House

*DOORS: Do not allow closed doors in any room. To get a door opened, stand on hind legs and hammer it with forepaws.
Once door is opened, it is not necessary to use it. After you have ordered an "outside" door opened, stand halfway in and out and think about several things. This is particularly important during very cold weather, rain, snow, or mosquito season. Swinging doors are to be avoided at all costs.

*GUESTS: Quickly determine which guest hates cats the most. Sit on that lap.
For sitting on laps or rubbing against trouser legs, select fabric which contrasts well with your fur. For example: white-furred cats go to black wool clothing. NOTE: Velvet takes precedence over all other cloth.
For the guest who exclaims, "I love kitties!" be ready with aloof disdain, apply claws to stockings or arms, or use a quick nip on the ankle.
Always accompany guests to the bathroom. It is not necessary to do anything -- just sit there and stare.

*HAMPERING: If one of your humans is engaged in some close activity and the other is idle, stay with the busy one. This is called "helping" otherwise known is "hampering."
Some rules:
a) When supervising cooking, sit just behind the left heel of the cook. You cannot be seen and thereby stand a better chance of being stepped on and then picked up and comforted.
b) For book readers, get in close under the chin, between eyes and book, unless you can lie across the book itself.
c) For knitting projects or paperwork, lie on the work in the most appropriate manner to obscure the maximum amount. Pretend to dose but every so often reach out and slap the pencil or knitting needles. Sit on the paperwork they are working on. Roll around on the papers, scattering them to the best of your ability. After being removed for the second time, push pens pencils, and erasers off the table, one at a time. Embroidery and needlepoint make great hammocks.
d) When a human is holding the newspaper in front of him/her be sure to jump at the back of the paper. They love surprises.
e) Dart out quickly and as close as possible in front of the human, especially: on stairs; when they have something in their arms; in the dark; and when they first get up in the morning. This will help their coordination skills.
f) When a human is attempting to "make the bed," hop on it and curl up in the center , or pounce on the sheet the human is trying to rearrange. If the human tries to ignore you by covering you with the sheets, move around and try to mess things up. Protest loudly when you're evicted.
g) Laundry presents many opportunities to hamper. Laundry fresh from the dryer is a perfect bed, since it is warm and soft. As soon as it is put down for sorting, arrange yourself for a nap. If the human removes you, keep returning until the laundry isn't warm anymore. Now it's playtime. Pounce on anything the human tries to move around for folding, especially socks and nylons. For added fun, grab a sock and hide under the bed with it.

*PLAY: This is an important part of your life. Get enough sleep in the daytime so you are fresh for your nocturnal games.
Below are listed below are several cat games. It is important though to maintain one's Dignity at all times. If you should have an accident during play, such as falling off a chair, immediately wash a part of your body as if to say "I MEANT to do that!" It fools those humans every time.

*GAMES:
a) Catch Mouse: The humans would have you believe that those lumps under the covers are their feet and hands. They are actually Bed Mice, rumored to be the most delicious of all the mice in the world, though no cat has ever been able to catch one. Maybe YOU can be the first.
b) King of the Hill: This game must be played with at least one other cat. Sleeping humans are the hill which must be defended at all costs from the other cat(s). Anything goes. This game allows for the development of unusual tactics as one must consider the unstable playing field.
WARNING: Playing games (a) and (b) to excess will result in expulsion from the bed. Should the humans grow restless, immediately begin purring and cuddle up to them. This should buy you some time until they fall asleep again. If one happens to be on a human when this occurs, this cat wins the round of King of the Hill.
c) Tag: This game requires two or more cats and may include a dog. One cat is It. The other(s) chase him around the house until they catch up. Then follows the Scrimmage, after which the cat who caught the other becomes It and is chased around. Great fun but has the greatest potential for loss of dignity from maneuvers such as the Non-Carpeted Floor Skid and the Throw Rug Wipeout. Whenever such a situation occurs, all felines must immediately wash themselves. Dogs are generally too stupid to do this and may continue to play. In this case, the dog automatically becomes It and should be subjected to the Pileup.
d) Tube Mouse: This is a game played in the bathroom. Next to the Big White Drinking Bowl is a roll of soft white paper which is artfully attached to the wall so that it can spin. Inside this roll is the Tube Mouse. When you grab the paper, the Tube Mouse will spin frantically as it tries to escape from you. When the Mouse is exposed, it dies of fright and stops spinning.

*TOYS: Any small item. If a human tries to confiscate it, this means it is a Valuable Toy. Run with it under the bed. Look outraged when the human takes it away. Watch where it is put so you can steal it later. Two reliable sources of toys are dresser tops and wastebaskets.
Below are listed several types of cat toys.
a) Bright shiny things like keys, brooches or coins should be hidden so the other cat(s) and humans can't play with them. They are generally good for playing hockey with on uncarpeted floors.
b) Dangling and/or string-like things such as shoelaces, cords, gold chains and dental floss also make excellent toys. They are favorites of humans who like to drag them across the floor for us to pounce on. When a string is dragged under a newspaper or throw rug, it magically becomes the Paper/Rug Mouse and should be killed at, all costs. Note that playing with shoelaces when the human is trying to tie them is a great source of Hampering.
c) Within paper bags dwell the Bag Mice. They are small and the same color as the bag, so they are hard to see, but you can easily hear the crinkling noises they make as they scurry around the bag. Anything, including shredding the bag, can be done to kill them. Note: any cat you find in a bag hunting for Bag Mice is fair game for a Sneak Attack, which will usually result in a great Tag match.

*FOOD: Eating, however, is only half the fun. The other half is getting the food. Cats have two ways to obtain food: convincing a human you are starving to death and must be fed "NOW" and hunting for it oneself. The following are guidelines for getting fed.
a) When the humans are eating, make sure you leave the tip of your tail in their dishes when they are not looking.
b) The best times to inform humans of your dish's emptiness are when they are unable to ignore you, such as when they are sleeping or on the toilet.
c) Should you catch something of your own outside, it is only polite to attempt to get to know it. Be insistent - your food will usually not be so polite and try to leave.

*SCRATCHING POSTS: It is advised that cats use anything which is most useful to you. They are very protective of what they think is their property and will object strongly if they catch you sharpening your claws on it. Sharpening your claws on a human is a definite no-no!

*WATER: Dripping taps are the best sources of fresh water. Toilets are the next best. It is imperative that any sound of running water be investigated immediately for a possible drink. A plaintive meow and licking the faucet usually will get most humans to turn on the tap.

*VACUUM CLEANER: This appalling Beast is known by many names, "Cat Eater" being the most prevalent. Humans will turn into raging monsters while under its influence, sucking up all the carefully shed cat hair and terrorizing the feline residents with evil glee. All you can do is run and hide.

*SLEEPING HUMANS: It is known that sleeping humans are boring. The "direct approach" is nearly always successful in rejuvenating a dormant human.
Do one of the following:
Trample, purr, meow or head-butt. If the human is being stubborn, you may have to resort to more drastic tactics, such as ripping down posters, rattling blinds, or singing at the top of your voice. Eventually the human will get up and do what you want, usually in a disgruntle manner.

*MORNINGS: In order to provide for you, the humans must leave the domain every morning (usually before you take your first cat nap). To help them on their way, howl loudly, massage their scalps with your claws, or gently bounce on top of them in bed. See GAMES. The best time to do this is about 24 minutes before their alarm clock goes off. We must protect them from that blaring noise for it could ruin their hearing.

*MEDICINE: The vet is where your human takes you when you are sick. The place smells funny; there are cats, dogs and awful things like needles and pills. Don't let humans cat-handle you.
The following are some tips for dealing with vets and medicine.
a) When you see the carrier come out, run and hide. Once the human grabs you, struggle gamely. Splay your legs out so it is difficult to cram you into the carrier. If the human is trying to put you in with another pet, allow the other pet to bolt out the door. In the car, meow plaintively all the way to the vet's. Reach through the bars of the carrier and claw the human as s/he drives. At the vet's, once again splay your legs and brace yourself against the carrier's walls so they can't dump you out easily.
b) At home, resist attempts to feed you pills or liquid medicine. As soon as you hear the pill bottle rattle, hide. Resist attempts to open your mouth. Squirming is good. Shake your head vigorously to remove any medicine placed in your mouth. Refuse any food that smells like it may have had medicine sprinkled in it.

*ILLNESS: If you have to throw up, get to a chair quickly. If you cannot manage in time, get to an Oriental rug. If there is no Oriental rug, shag is good. When throwing up on the carpet, make sure you back up so it is longer then a human's bare foot.

*CONCLUSION: Humans need to know basic rules. They can be taught if you start early and are consistent. You will then have a smooth running household.

Why it sucks to look for a Wii!

2008-01-07T16:05:00.000-05:00

So, I’ve been wanting to get the Wii. Who hasn’t? I’ve been very patient, however.

I waited during the initial rush,

I waited during the first Christmas season,

I waited throughout the year while demand was still high and stock still low,

I waited a SECOND Christmas season, now I’d like a Wii!

GameStop had a great thing where you could by a raincheck and have a Wii by mid-January. I was literally outside of the store getting ready to buy one when hubby told me not to. He was sure that after the Christmas rush was over, demand would die down, we’d find one easy. Nothing I had read made me confident that it would happen. I knew he was wrong, but I wasn’t willing to start an argument over a toy.

Nintendo, it seemed, couldn’t keep up with demand. Demand that was fueled by overindulgent parents and greedy ebayers, aka Wii Scalpers.

I blame those two groups primarily because they feed off each other. There are parents out there who feel their kids must have everything and they must have it now! Cost, generally, isn’t an issue. That’s where the ebayers step in. There are throngs of people with (apparently) nothing but time on their hands. Why get a job when you can camp out at Best Buy, Toys R Us, Walmart and various other outlets? From there you take your newly acquired toy that cost $250 and sell it for $500, $600, $700! It’s a vicious cycle. Actually, it’s an awesome cycle if you’ve got a lot of spare time and Wii’s on your hands.

I’ve been researching and hunting and having no luck.

-I’ve signed up on itrackr.com. No luck there yet.

-My uncle works at a Walmart and he gave me a heads up on a delivery, no luck…sold out before hubby got there (within minutes of delivery).

-Called every Kmart, Walmart, GameStop, Target, etc. No dice.

-Checked Craigslist, they're available, but just like ebay...there's a huge markup.

Basically, I’m not getting a Wii anytime soon unless I’m amazingly lucky and happen to walk by an electronics counter just as the magical Wii Delivery Truck ™ pulls in.

I refuse to camp out for a toy and I refuse to pay $150 over retail (minimum). I guess I’ll just keep sitting it out. Maybe, just maybe, I’ll find one…or I’ll win the lottery.

--------------UPDATE-------------------
Well, I finally got a Wii. I didn't do anything crafty, I just finally caved and found one on ebay. I still held firm and didn't buy one from a scalper. I found a guy who had one for cost ($275 which is close with tax). He also happened to be local to me. I made an offer and picked it up the same day. It worked out great!

One of the tips I've learned actually did help me in part of my quest. Accessories are almost as hard to find for the Wii as the actual system. Target seems to never have the remotes and nunchucks in stock. One tool their website has is you can search a product's availability in your area. I knew we wanted the Nerf sports set so I checked Target.com. One of the options is to "Find it at a Target Store". It showed that one of my local Target's had it so I zipped over. Of course, there were NONE out. No one was around to ask so I looked at the place where it would have been and wrote down the product number. I then walked over to one of those price checker thingies and keyed in the number. Surprise! It showed there were some in the stockroom. I found a girl and asked her for one. She initially tried to say they were out. HA! I told her what the scanner said and sure enough, when she radioed to the back, they had some. Score!

I had heard that Toys R Us keeps a decent stock of the accessories and I stopped there to check. Sure enough, they had plenty nunchuk's and WiiPlay sets (basically a remote +9 games for $10 more than the remote alone).

This won't help you get a Wii, but hopefully you have better luck than I did.

Google Earth

2008-01-04T14:50:00.000-05:00

There are a million conspiracy theorists and all of them have Google Earth. It's true, I've done the research. Hubby has joined the ranks of those who see weird things on Google Earth. I find it fascinating for about 3 minutes, then I've moved on. What do you think about this stuff?

For nothing more that something to do when you're bored, download Google Earth.

Here's a Forum all about Google Earth, strange sightings and all!

Out of Place - Google Earth

Strange Things in Google Maps (and Google Earth)

This is one of the images that Hubby is stuck on:
Weird Object in Greenland
(PS I think it's an imaging anomaly, but what do I know)

PC World did a little article on the oddities of Google Earth, they also have explanations of the images in the captions.

Google Earth Cool Places has all kinds of images of weird things you can see on Google Earth.

Also, can't leave out the nudes! Top 10 Naked People on Google Earth.

New Boss

2008-01-03T14:27:00.000-05:00

I had a wild 2007 and 2008 is starting in the same fashion. I won't hash out all the details, but basically my job has been crazy. To top off the roller coaster year of '07, my boss was fired in November.

A new boss was announced, I was ecstatic.

Shortly after, it was announced that she was to serve only as interim (she didn't want the job permanently as she was already retired). That bummed me out.

Then she left earlier than planned and a person from within was named the new boss, he was ecstatic...not so much for me.

Then he had to announce that he was just interim.

Over the holidays, another new boss was announced...hooray!

His first day was yesterday...so was his last day.

So now we're back with guy from our department acting as boss, he somehow thinks he'll keep the job.

I'm waiting to hear who the new boss will be this time.

The New Boss

A large company, feeling it was time for a shakeup, hired a new CEO.

This new boss was determined to rid the company of all slackers.On a tour of the facilities, the CEO noticed a guy leaning on a wall. The room was full of workers and he wanted to let them know that he meant business!The new CEO walked up to the guy leaning against the wall and asked,

“How much money do you make a week?”A little surprised, the young fellow looked at him and replied,
“I make $300 a week. Why?”

The CEO then handed the guy $1,200 in cash and screamed,
“Here’s four weeks’ pay, now GET OUT and don’t come back.”

Feeling pretty good about himself, the CEO looked around the room and asked, “Does anyone want to tell me what that goof-off did here?” From across the room came a voice, “Pizza delivery guy from Domino’s.”

-Top Ten Reasons Why My New Boss Irritates the Piss out of Me

Perspectives...

When I take a long time I'm slow
When my boss takes a long time he's thorough

When I don't do it I'm lazy
When my boss doesn't do it he's busy

When I make a mistake, I'm an idiot.
When my boss makes a mistake, he's only human.

When I do something without being told, I'm overstepping my authority
When my boss does the same, that's initiative

When I take a stand, I'm being bull-headed
When my boss does it, he's being firm.

When I overlooked a rule of etiquette, I'm being rude
When my boss skips a few rules, he's being original

When I'm out of the office, I'm wandering around
When my boss is out of the office, he's on business

When I'm on a day off sick, I'm always sick
When your boss is a day off sick, he must be very ill

When I apply for leave, I must be going for an interview
When my boss applies for leave, it's because he's overworked

When I please my boss I'm crawling
When my boss pleases his boss, he's co-operating

When I do good, my boss never remembers
When I do wrong, my boss never forgets........

2006 Bad Boss Contest Results

ATTENTION BAD BOSSES! Read This

How to Smell a Bad Boss in Just one Interview

Robot Chicken Christmas

2007-12-21T10:31:00.000-05:00

Robot Chicken always has some pretty funny Christmas videos. Here's a sampling.

I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus

Lighting up the Christmas Lights

Born in a Manger

Hermey's Dentistry

NORAD vs. Santa

Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra & Christmas

2007-12-21T09:59:00.000-05:00

I love Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra and their voices. Here are some vids of them singing some Christmas songs.

Marshmallow World with Dean & Frank - A True Classic!

Let it Snow - Frank Sinatra
He can make any song his own song.

Frank Sinatra - I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm

OMG, I want this!

2007-12-14T13:07:00.000-05:00

I'll take one for Christmas please!

Disappearing Car Door

Christmas in Vanguard - Saga of Heroes

2007-12-14T11:16:00.001-05:00

The holidays are here and Vanguard is not ignoring that fact. They have put an all out Christmas flair to the game. There are trees, snowmen, reindeer, presents, presents and presents. I had to take a pic of me by the tree on my reindeer. I'm normally not a Raki (FYI that is one of the many races to choose from ingame), but one of the many gifts are cookies that allow you to temporarily change your race. This time I went from Half-Elf to Raki...

Cool Stuff: 30 Years of LucasFilm Christmas Cards

2007-12-14T11:12:00.000-05:00

In the spirit of the holidays, I just had to share this...

Cool Stuff: 30 Years of LucasFilm Christmas Cards

Use a Wiimote to Make a Whiteboard

2007-12-13T11:28:00.000-05:00

This just looks supercool...I wish I had a use for it!

What if Video Game Boxes Told the Truth?

2007-12-13T11:22:00.000-05:00

"The truth is rarely out there. (Videogame box art edits)"
From Calloftheday.net

The Todd Endris Story

2007-12-13T10:05:00.000-05:00

Holy moly! This dude was attacked by a great white shark in CA. I am in awe that someone could survive the injuries he had. http://isarf.org/todd-endris.htm

Everyday Normal Guy

2007-12-06T21:53:00.001-05:00

Tay Zonday and Dr. Pepper

2007-12-06T10:48:00.001-05:00

Think you've seen this? You're wrong!

2007-12-05T11:07:00.001-05:00

Girl Throws Up At Zero Gravity YUK

2007-12-05T11:01:00.001-05:00

Absolutely Hilarious Ending to a Skatepark Fight

2007-12-05T10:56:00.001-05:00

Russian skater

2007-11-01T17:18:00.001-04:00

Gamer Mom & Other Wacky Quirks

10 Dumbest “Educational” Programs on TV

FarmVille user runs up £900 debt (That's like $1400 in the U.S.)

An Interesting Look at the Nintendo Co.

Gamer Kids

Top 11 Gamers As Found In Real Life

The Astounding World of the Future

9 Year Old Guitar Prodigy

Transformers Go Hollywood

Blast from the Past

Adele - Chasing Pavements

Oldie but a Goodie

All the Single Ladies

Olly Moss

Stay at Home Dad - Jon Lajoie

R2D2 Chorus Line

Detroit Bailout Hearings

Jizz In My Pants

My favorite 7-11

Child Exerts His Will On Helpless Phillies Fans

Vote for Lando Calrissian

Lobsters and a Kid

Love Her!

Take On Me: Literal Video Version

Chris Chelios on his Favorite Hockey Coach

Billy Bad A$$ Goes To Jail

Dumb Criminal breaks in, but can't get back out

We pause for a technical moment

Gamers not fat loners...Not a real surprise to me

Internet Porn & You

Jedi Last Supper

Ninja cat comes closer while not moving!

Cool Gadgets

Autoblog takes the KITT Shelby GT500 KR out for some kicks

Michael Phelps: What You Didn't See

Crazy Sprinkler Lady

Reality Show

$110 AN HOUR FOR NINTENDO WORKOUTS?

Ten Reasons Why The Clone Wars TV Series Is Going To Rule

Not Giving a Fu@*!

Simon's Cat 'TV Dinner'

Graffiti

It's inevitable: soon we will all be gamers

Star Wars Dance

50 Skills

I remember these!

Gallery: Tainted Tie-Ins — Worst Movie Games Ever

Grandma's Blog

GROUNDS FOR DIVORCE

Dance Off with the Star Wars Stars 2008

For Real?

Star Wars Galaxies Wins

I'm Not The Only One

100!!!

Baby Fight!

The Devil Made Me Do It

Now You Can "Master the Internet"

The Day After May Day

White Men Can't Dance

Geeks vs Nerds

Top 10 Sexually Suggestive Lines inthe Original Star Wars Trilogy

Airfare

Walt Disney World Appreciation

Slacker

Desired Salary Range

Scuba Car?

Phone Sex for Geeks

Today's Reading Assignments

Star Wars Galaxies

A Brief History of the Home Video Game Console

Hardcore Gamer Granny

Spring is in the Air!

Online Sales and Scammers

Snow Day

Old Home

Ah, the interweb

Super Cool Birth Announcements

Bad Parenting

Fruit Salad

It's Business Time

Top 10 Sexually Suggestive Lines in
the Original Star Wars Trilogy