Geek Bearing Gifts

Legends who have passed so far

2008-06-25T15:36:00.001-04:00

Legends who have passed so far
Originally uploaded by blgbadvv0lf.

Chuck did a good thing - He composed a Flickr photo showing all the legends that have passed...

The Mole is back, but I hate Adobe and ABC...

2008-06-10T20:19:00.001-04:00

Ahh.... The Mole.

My favorite show is back - and the deception is on.

BUT (and this is a HUGE BUT), for some insane reason, ABC choose Flash 9 and an in-house (I'm assuming) codec in order to play full episodes on the ABC website.

But why make it so damn difficult to get the video up and running?

It took me an hour and a half to get the thing up and running so I could catch last night episode of The Mole. It was such a Pain in the Ass. Now that I got it running, I'm happy.. but because ABC is so paranoid that honest people are going to steal the shows, the make it way more difficult to actually view the video...

Stupid ABC....

I'm impressed

2008-05-14T18:13:00.001-04:00

Uncle Sam actually gave me $600!

The last "Economic Stimulus Package" the government put out, I got about $200 bucks - the norm was about $500. So I was not expecting any more than $300 to show up in my account.

But on Monday I was pleasantly surprised when $600 was present in my checking account.

So I did what Uncle Sam wanted me to do - spend it.

I bought 12 new work shirts ($140), 3 new pairs of pants ($60), A Bluetooth iPod Transmitter ($80), Bluetooth Headphones ($50), an iPod Charger ($25), 3 movies a couple comic books and a nice dinner for my co-workers. And I still have money left over, which is good, because I'm going to see Narnia this weekend and Indy 4 next weekend.

And Speed Racer was great - incredible special effects, and a decent story. Acting was kind of wooden (but then again so was the anime it was based on), but John Goodman made up for it. 8.5/10 from me.

Tony Stark FTW...

2008-05-03T00:38:00.001-04:00

Iron Man rocked!

It's probably one of the top 5 action movies I've seen in years, and an awesome comic-book adaptation to boot.

SFX were... unbelievable. Incredible CGI, believable physics (not comic-book cartoony physics), and really funny.

I went into the movie with absolutely NO background info on Iron Man, Tony Stark, or the origin story (with the exception of the fact that the Iron Man suit was really really cool). And I absolutely enjoyed every minute of it.

Worth the $8 I paid for the tix, and I'm DEFINITELY picking the DVD up when it comes out.

Buzzed!

2008-04-19T18:02:00.001-04:00

Well, it's done.

After letting my hair for at least 18 months (as far as I can tell I haven't had it cut since at least September of 2006), I finally had Heather do the honors of cutting it for donation to Locks of Love.

So now I hope to grow it out again - so I'll be posting photos of the growth this time. I'll use my webcam so it'll be easier to get the shots to look the same.

Trip Post-Mortem...

2008-03-27T22:25:00.001-04:00

Well.

I took a 2 week vacation to Florida earlier this month, and I had an absolute blast. It only rained 2 days out of 14, and was at least 75 degrees every day. Ahh, warmth....

I FINALLY after 3 visits made it to....

And what a day that was - finally rode some decent rollercoasters (the Hulk coaster was worth the wait). And just had a fantastic time.

Also I went to a concert - which I wasn't planning at all - and had a blast. Get Back is a Beatles tribute band, and they sounded great.. HUGE thanks to Shane and Amanda for getting the tickets for us.

And just hanging around Daytona was pleasant and relaxing. Got some great photos of the beach and an INCREDIBLE orange sunset.

Bought a bunch of books and comics, and a fun card game called Fluxx.

But for the most part, I relaxed, listened to books, played videogames, and watched movies.

And I ate. A lot. Great food in Daytona - they have a huge variety of restaurants that we just don't have up here in Maine. Tijuana Flats (awesome chimichangas), Deck Down Under (awesome seafood), Checkers (best fast food burgers on the planet), Ruby Tuesday, Cici's Pizza, and Sonic. All great places to eat in Daytona.

All in all - a great trip!

80gb of iPod goodness, Florida bound, and a battery backup...

2008-02-13T22:07:00.002-05:00

Well my old Zen MP3 player broke a few weeks back. So I took some of my income tax refund, and purchased a 80gb iPod. I was hesitant at first (I didn't want to get locked into iTunes). but after downloading iTunes and organizing my ENTIRE library - I decided to go ahead and buy an iPod.

I can honestly say I love it. And I wish I had bought one a year ago. Sadly, a year ago, the 80gb iPod was much more expensive.

I'm Florida bound in March. I can't wait.

And my battery backup actually works. The weather here has been absolutely atrocious lately. And my UPS has pulled it's wait. My power fluctuated a few times and my back up either shut down my computer or gave me a chance to see what happened.

Awesome...

WoW AddOns - The Truth behind the insanity

2008-01-23T23:05:00.001-05:00

I love playing World of Warcraft.

It's a fun game with loads to do. And it has a thriving 3rd party scene that create AddOns for the game that either make the game easier to manage or give you information about the game.

For the most part, AddOns are easy to use. Download the AddOn, install it into the Interface\AddOns directory, start WoW and off you go.

I have 2 AddOns that work extremely well - TitanBar (which is a useful tool that tells you all about how much gold you are making, how much XP you need to get, etc.) and Auctioneer (which helps price items going on the Auction House). They work flawlessly and are easy to use.

Now Cartographer on the other hand is a different story.

What Cartographer does is allow you to add notes to the map and reflect Points of Interest. Great for someone who is just starting out and has no Idea where anything is. Just Shift-Right click on the map where you want the note to be, type a description, and POOF! Instant Map note.

But the downside of Cartographer is that if you decide to download extra Modules for it, you may need an AceLibrary in order for them to run. BUT, nowhere in any documentation of any of these extra Modules does it say that you need AceLibrary!

So you go through the frustration of trying to figure out why Cartographer_Mailboxes (a Module that shows where Mailboxes are on the Zone Maps and the Mini-Map) doesn't work at all when it was recently updated.

So after 2 hours of searching websites, checking forums, and even going as far as logging onto a IRC channel to find ANY help, I finally figure out on my own what exactly needed to be done to get Cartographer working again.

A night wasted (I could have hit Level 59 by now), and a few lessons learned. Oh well, Live and learn, Right?

ARRRGH!

2008-01-14T21:11:00.001-05:00

Yet again, my glasses have broken!

Cleaning my glasses this morning at work, and POP! The frame breaks. In the same place that my LAST pair broke about 2 years ago.

So I called my optometrist to get my prescription in case I need to get new lenses. The receptionist tells me that my prescription has expired, and I'd need to get my eyes re-examined in order to release the information!

Wait... WHAT?!?!?

It's MY prescription, and my eyesight is good with my current specs. I have NO NEED to get my eyes re-examined. Yet in order to get my lenses replaced, I'd have to go in and spend $$$ to get my eyes checked again.

But I found 2 loopholes.

Loophole #1 - I called ProVision center in the Auburn Mall (where I got my last pair), and THEY have my current prescription on file. So if I needed to get new lenses, they have my script.

Loophole #2 - Mike (my friend since grade school), was able to track down a duplicate of my current frames. So therefore, all he has to do is pop my old lenses into the new frames. VIOLA! New glasses without all the expense.

It just irks me that I can't get my own eye prescription from the doctor.

Not Menacing Enough

2008-01-05T10:49:00.001-05:00

Yahoo was smart to put the first episode of "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" up for everyone to watch yesterday.

I liked it. Lots of action, and the threat of T-1000's showing up was done very well. I won't spoil the opening plot for anyone, but I will say this.

The guy that plays the Terminator isn't menacing enough. I mean he looks the part (makeup helps in this case), but compared to Arnie's 3 performances and the Liquid Terminator's in T2, it wasn't quite up to snuff. Hopefully something that we will see change over the season.

What do I listen to? Podcasts...

2007-12-30T13:34:00.001-05:00

Podcasts aren't new - in fact they've been around for about 3-4 years. I listen to my fair share - and here's the list of what I listen to on a weekly basis.

1) TWiT - This week in Tech - Hosted by Leo Laporte and a motley crew of pundits (like John C. Dvorak dvorak.org/blog). A weekly dive into the plethora of tech news.

2) MacBreak Weekly - Again hosted by Leo Laporte, this podcast is all about (GASP) Mac's and everything Apple. Now why, do you ask, do I listen to a Mac podcast when I'm a PC user? Because computing has gotten to the point that it really doesn't matter if you are a Mac or PC user. I like to keep up on what's happening in the Mac world, and this podcast is a fun way of doing it.

3) The Instance - It's the World of Warcraft podcast, so I don't have to. They've been going strong for quite a while - and they talk about pretty much EVERYTHING WoW related. From patch news, character builds, Addons, tips and tricks, and even a segment from a 10 year old talking about how to enjoy WoW as a kid. And excellent podcast for those who enjoy playing World of WarCraft\.

4) 1UP Yours - From the halls of Ziif Davis (the guys behind EGM) comes the show about console gaming that's NSFW (not safe for work). They swear quite a bit (definitely rated MA/AO by the ESRB), but it's always an informative and engrossing conversation about the state of the console side of gaming.

5) Retronauts - The gaming podcast for old people. For those who remember the days of the Atari 2600, NES, SNES, SMS days. For those who remember that gameplay is WAY more important than graphics. An awesome (albeit erratic) podcast about retro gaming.

And that's only half of what I listen to....

World of Warcraft Part Deux

2007-12-09T01:32:00.001-05:00

Well It's been a month or so since I made my initial WoW post. Here's an update.

My Night Elf Moha... err... Hunter is now Level 42, and I'm currently try to raise gold to get my mount, so I can actually keep up with my guildmates. I have just purchased the Riding ability (which was 76 gold - and where the majority of the money went), and I have about 3 gold left. AND, I only need 9 gold to purchase my mount - SO CLOSE!

Basically, what I've been doing is farming the Deadmines. The Deadmines is an instance in the game that if taken at the level it was meant to be taken at (levels 18-24) you would need a 5-man group in order to make it. I, however, am at level 42, and I soloed it easily. And there are a lot of Green drops and a bunch of Epic drops (that soulbound, sadly, so I can't sell them at the Auction House), but I figure, I'll auction what I can, and probably someone will want the equipment.

I'm almost there. Once I get the money for my mount, I can start doing quests again. And keep up with the rest of my guild.

My Eyes Hurt..

2007-12-05T18:42:00.001-05:00

Seriously.

My eyes have been getting steadily worse since I was 8 years old. I've worn glasses pretty much every waking moment of my life. And I have no problem with that. My glasses are part of who I am, part of my personality.

But recently, my eyes have started to hurt. Not just fatigue (an I get eye fatigue often), but shooting pains in what feels like the backs of my eyeballs. Imagine waking up in the middle of the night and stepping on a tack or stubbing your toe. It feels NOTHING like that.

It's almost as if someone is taking the backs of my eyeballs and clamping down on them with vise grips. Yeah it's bad.

It doesn't help that when my eyes feel this way, I'm extremely light-sensitive. It was painful working today today at the bank, looking at my monitor and staring at paper all day.

As soon as income tax rolls around, I'm gonna have to get a new prescription anyway, so hopefully I'll be able to get a reference for an ophthalmologist that's local. And pray that my insurance covers any exams.

Sweet! It worked!

2007-12-03T20:53:00.001-05:00

And now I can go about blogging without have to log into Blogger every time I want to post something.

Like a picture, for example....

I took this photo a couple of weeks ago. And using LiveWriter - it links directly to my Flickr page as well.

The more I use this program, the more I want people to look at my blog - odd ain't it? But since all I have to do is fire up LiveWriter, I think I'll be posting MUCH more than I used to.

Ok - First time with Live Writer

2007-12-03T17:43:00.001-05:00

Hello all!

This is my first post using the new Windows Live Writer. I heard about this on The Tech Guy podcast with Leo Laporte. He was saying that he uses it to post to his own blog, and loves using it.

So I figured... why not?

And so far, I'm liking it. It's a pretty straightforward word editor, but It can post pictures, movie clips (embedded) and sounds as well, so I might be able to use this full time as my online base of operations. No more Yahoo 360! But I'm keeping flickr.

So. I'm gonna hit the "Publish" button and hope for the best!

Sing the folowing to the tune of "We Just Got a Letter" From Blues Clues..

2007-11-03T15:12:00.000-04:00

I just got my credit card...
I just got my credit card...
I just got my credit card...
And I'm happy too!

Woot! $1000 credit limit!

Ouch.

2007-10-29T12:48:00.000-04:00

Ok.

I'm not one to post about sports at all, but this is worth it.

First, if you live under a rock, the Red Sox won the mis-named World Series last night, sweeping the Rockies 4-0.

But the Patriots played an INCREDIBLE game last night, beating the Redskins 52-7. Next week's game vs. the Colts will be interesting indeed - both teams going in undefeated, and both at the top of their game.

I love Best Buy

2007-10-26T21:53:00.000-04:00

500 GB + $90 = woot!

Sweet!

2007-10-18T08:34:00.000-04:00

Quite a while ago, I posted something about Dr. Divx.

Now that version of Dr. Divx no longer exists, but smarter people than me have created a NEW open-source version of the program.

This program is awesome. It allows you to convert most video files to DivX. But if you have DVD Decryption software, you can copy VOB files and convert the source material DIRECTLY into DivX format.

That means, I can take my favorite movies from my collection, and convert them to DivX files, and then copy them to my Zen Mp3 player and watch them whenever I want to. This'll be great for watching tv shows and movies at work :)

Sigh... It was BOUND to happen...

2007-10-01T11:47:00.000-04:00

I blame Hope.

Hope being my supervisior.

And blame meaning she sent me a 10-day trial to World of Warcraft.

And now I'm play a level 21 Night Elf Hunter on the Bleeding Hollow server. And actually, I'm loving it. Blizzard has always had a knack of making good games that anyone can pick up and play, and caters to the casual and the hardcore gamer. I'm really impressed with the amount of detail that is in the game, and it's a blast to play. And it's 20 bucks for the original, and Walmart is selling Burning Crusade for 20 bucks as well. And since you can get game cards to redeem instead of using a credit card, it's really easy to get cards to use (and game cards make GREAT Christmas/Birthday Presents).

And I always thought it was weird that people had formed WA (WarCraft Anonymous) groups. But after playing the game for 3 weeks (give or take a day), I can fully see why some people take the game to a bizzare level of obsession. Blizzard made the game so easy to pick up and play, but so deep that you could probably play it forever and not be bored with it. I can understand how some people have lost their jobs, their spouses, their kids, their friends, etc. to the game. It's addicting. They combined the cool weapons and armor like you'd find in Diablo II, mixed in the world they created and then make it a MMORPG. And made it so simple to play that once you start playing, it's not easy to stop.

During the week, I actually have to force myself to stop play around 10pm, because I have to work the next morning. And actually, it works out great. That way, I know that I have X amount of hours (usually 2-3) of game time, and that I'm not letting the game take over my life. So far, it's been working out great.

Now if I could just level up to 22, i'll be all set :)

Borg Truck

2007-09-29T17:52:00.001-04:00

Borg Truck
Originally uploaded by WilWheaton.

This is too damn funny....

In Russia, cell phones provide you!

2007-09-06T14:30:00.000-04:00

Or something like that. (With apologies to Yakov Smirnoff)

At 1:41 this morning, I received a call on my cell phone.

The number was +7495781xxxx (just in case some tries to call this number).

Now, after a few minutes searching Wikipedia, I found out that +7 is the international dialing prefix for Russia and Kazakhstan. and the 495 is the prefix for Moscow.

Yeah... MOSCOW. The Kremlin, KGB, etc. That Moscow.

I don't know ANYONE in Moscow, and only a handful of trusted friends know my cell number.

Just a bizzare thing to see on my cell at 2 in the morning...

Why do I even bother?

2007-08-12T16:06:00.001-04:00

Can anyone out their tell me why women are so fucking duplicitous?

I'm tired of women telling me that I'm "A Nice Guy", and that They can "Tell me anything", yet the minute I show any interest in getting to know them any better (i.e. dating or what-have-you), I get the fucking "I just want to be friends" shit.

Actually - I think I need to be more of an asshole to women.

I've noticed that women tend to date people that treat them leek shit, and yet "They love them".
WHY? WHY? WHY? I can't wrap my analytical logical brain around that fact that women like to be treated that way, and - even worse - that they fall "in love" with guys who treat them like that.

How stupid can you females be? You say you want to be treated kindly and with respect, and you want someone that's caring and nurturing and is willing to listen. Then why in the name of Hell do you date the EXACT OPPOSITE OF WHAT YOU ARE FUCKING LOOKING FOR?!?!?!

And to the ASSHOLE guys out there - thanks for ruining it for us nice guys. They say "Nice guys finish last"...

Well I'm certainly proof of that.

Posting at Work....Shhhhh.....

2007-05-24T08:31:00.000-04:00

Yeah, I'm posting at work... I didn't think I could do this, but I looks like WebSense doesn't block this site. :)

I finally broke down and purchased a new DVD burner yesterday. It's prety cool, It burns all forms of Media INCLUDING the new Double Layer 8GB DVDs. which will come in handy once I get some.

And LOST finaled last night. And I'm kinda ambivolous about it. I like the fact that it was a Flash Forward, but I'm curious as to whether Ben was telling the truth or not...

Oh well...

Teeth....

2007-04-26T14:29:00.000-04:00

Well I finally wound up going to Dr. Kippax and had a couple of teeth extracted.

Usually I can get by with taking some ibuprofen and apply some OraGel. But today, it was UNBEARABLE... So I called Dr. Kippax and they were able to get me in at 1:00 pm.

Dr. Kippax got me in and out with 45 minutes. The actual procedure only took 5 minutes (which astounded me), and I'm pain free - for now.

And with my insurance, it only cost me $81 for the procedure, and $15 for the meds (Vicodin.. Yay!)

I'm just kicking myself in the ass for taking so long to get my teeth taken care off....