Effect 47

The Pope and the Emperor

2008-04-17T10:57:00.002-05:00

Although I am Lutheran I do have a decent amount of respect for the Pope...but I still have to give a little chuckle out of this image comparison:

Come on now...laugh!

Tired and School

2008-04-16T18:05:00.001-05:00

Yeah, I know today is Website Wednesday and last Sunday was Software Sunday but this work is really busy with school. I totally plan on returning next week. :D

LOTR + Yahoo Mail = Funny!

2008-04-11T08:58:00.002-05:00

Yahoo Mail has this new featured video out showcasing some of the new features they added to Yahoo Mail. They mix Lord of the Rings into it and I found it very funny. Click here to check it out and be quick about it I am not sure how often they put new featured videos up.

Thoughts

2008-04-09T16:26:00.002-05:00

No Website Wednesday today folks, way too much school doing on. Just something I have always wonder about though...excessive drinking, whats up with that? Now I have my own share of vices and drinking is not one of them and I have never understood why anyone would want to drink excessively. It makes you look like an ass, you have less (or no) control over your actions, you wake up the next morning with a huge headache, and on top of that you may well not remember what even happened last night. Now, don't get me wrong, I love to go out to the bar and have a few drinks but I never have and I never will drink excessively and I just don't get the people who do.

Software Sunday - ClipX

2008-04-06T19:07:00.005-05:00

-The Purpose-

This nifty little program sits in your system try and remembers the last (4-1024, your choice) items you copied allowing you to paste something you copied earlier in the day even after copying a number of other items.

-The Look-

ClipX sits quietly in your system tray.

The ClipX menu displaying copied items.

-The Features-

ClipX is so elegantly simple that I could just paste the purpose into the features section and leave it at that. It keeps a history of your copied items so you can do back and paste something even after copying other items. As simple as ClipX is there are a number of plugins that you can install for it to give it a few more abilities:

The Stickies Plugin - Keeps a list of permanent entries at the bottom of your history.
Auto Update Plugin - Checks for updates to ClipX.
Limits Plugin - Lets you ignore some clipboards based on size in memory.
Save as Image Plugin - Allows you to save a copied image as a PNG or JPG file.
DiskLog Plugin - Records your clipboard life history (not including images) to your hard drive.
And more...

-My Thoughts-

This, I liked. Very often I find that I copied something 5 minutes ago and I need it again but I copied something afterwards making it so I can't get to what I want. I like that it sits in my system tray until I need it, very small and unobtrusive. I added the stickies plugin as well as the auto update plugin. Both of them work as advertised and I have not noticed any bugs in the program overall (I have been testing it since Friday evening. So, useful little program and I would definitely recommend it if you frequently need to copy lots of stuff and have access to things you copy throughout the day.

-The Website-

ClipX Website

Website Wednesday - The Password Meter

2008-04-02T14:49:00.007-05:00

Introducing a new category today: Website Wednesday. This means that every Wednesday (well, hopefully) I will be doing a post on a website that I found interesting/useful/unique. This may be just a general website (IMAO), a website that offers a service (Zoho), or just something fun (Addicting Games)...Enjoy!

------------------------------------------------------------

-The Website-

-The Content-

Most people know that having strong passwords is important. You have the password for your computer, the password for your bank website, your email, Facebook, your Blackberry, and so many other things. So, how to tell if a password is secure? Go and follow the link at the bottom of this post, it will take you to the Password Meter website. At the top enter your password in the text box, in the first screenshot below I used the word 'screenshot' and in the second screenshot I used the word '5cr33n5h0t!'. Notice how the site 'grades' you based on the complexity of your password.

Word used: screenshot

Word Used: 5cr33n5h0t!

I found this website very helpful for creating new passwords and I even modified a couple of my own passwords that I had found were too weak. Bottom line, if you are looking for a quick and easy option to create some strong passwords give this site a try.

-The Website-
The Password Meter

Software Sunday - TUGZip

2008-03-26T18:54:00.004-05:00

Introducing a new category today: Software Sunday. This means that every Sunday (well, hopefully) I will be doing a post on a piece of software that I found interesting/useful/unique. I will provide the name of the program, a screenshot (or multiple screenshots if needed), a simple description of what the program does, an overview of the features, my thoughts on the program, and the link to the website for the program. So, let's get started.

------------------------------------------------------------

-The Software-

TUGZip

-The Purpose-

TUGZip is a powerful award-winning freeware archiving utility for Windows that provides support for a wide range of compressed, encoded and disc-image files.

-The Look-

Explorer View

Combined View

-The Features-

Supports ZIP, 7-ZIP, A, ACE, ARC, ARJ, BH, BZ2, CAB, CPIO, DEB, GCA, GZ, IMP, JAR, LHA (LZH), LIB, RAR, RPM, SQX, TAR, TGZ, TBZ, TAZ, YZ1 and ZOO archives.
Supports BIN, C2D, IMG, ISO and NRG disc-images.
Support for external plugins.
Windows® shell integration, e.g. drag & drop, shell context menu and drop handlers.
Create 7-ZIP, BH, BZ2, CAB, JAR, LHA (LZH), SQX, TAR, TGZ, YZ1 and ZIP archives.
Script support which allows you to make automated backups.
Basic features like: add, extract, delete, rename, run, view, checkout, install, test, comment, SFX, virus-scanning, disk-spanning and much more.
Repair corrupted ZIP and SQX archives.
Can extract multiple archives at once using Multi Extract.
Encrypt archives using 6 different algorithms. Blowfish (128-bit), DES (56-bit), Triple DES (168-bit) and Rijndael (128-bit, 192-bit and 256-bit).
Create self-extracting encrypted archives.
Automatic updates using the "Web Update" function.

-My Thoughts-

I have used lots and lots of archive utilities since I started using computers. I have used everything from IZARC to Winzip and most of them have worked very well. Generally I find that they all work just fine as long as they can handle the files you are trying to compress or extract and the nice thing about TUGZip is that it supports every archive format I have heard of and/or have ever used. I find that my favorite feature of TUGZip, other than the long list of supported formats, is the explorer view(reference the screenshots above). You can view your folder structire in the left or top right windows and then when you select an archive the contents appear in the lower right window, no more multiple windows open and no more confusion for me! One thing to note, and this may just be a quirk for my computer, is that when I select the 'configuration' option under the 'Tools' menu TUGZip closes on me. As that is the case I was glad I set up my configuration correctly when I was installing. But barring that small problem (well, small depending on how much you want to change the configuration on TUGZip) I found the program easy to install, easy to use, and intuitive to navigate.

UPDATE: Just noticed a big deal killer with this, seems like whenever I try to delete anything TUGZip pops up some errors, does not delete the files, and then restarts my explorer. This is big bad...lovely start for my first Software Sunday, eh? Although, ya know, if you are feeling adventurous go ahead and install it and see if you get the same problems, I would love to hear if it's just me or not.

-The Website-

TUGZip Website

Happy Easter!

2008-03-24T10:55:00.002-05:00

Well I was away from my computer all day yesterday but I would like to take a few minutes hear to wish everyone a happy Easter...one day late.

St. Patricks Day!

2008-03-17T08:41:00.002-05:00

Happy St. Pattys Day folks! Have fun and drink safe!

Springtime is Coming!

2008-03-14T06:24:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I didn't wear a coat all day and I was totally comfortable. It was in the mid 40s yesterday and it supposed to be so again today. As much as I love Winter I am so glad Spring is just around the corner. Anyone else with me?

Flash Game - Drunken Masters

2008-03-12T18:39:00.003-05:00

Found this game when I was bored as hell in my Linux class. You mix drinks for customers, juggle bottles, catch ice, all sorts of fun stuff. Give it a shot but I found it quite addicting!

Drunken Masters

Effect 47 Forum

2008-03-12T15:26:00.003-05:00

Some of you may have noticed the Effect 47 Forum link near the top of this blog. Feel free to click it and look around, it doesn't bite and the members we currently have on the forum are friendly and we would love to have more people to talk with. Currently it's just myself and some friends from school and we talk about random stuff as well as politics. Heavy posting is not required and although there is no moderation of the forum other than me reading the posts common sense rules do apply so feel free to drop in and say hi.

IBM Lenovo Notebook Computer Review

2008-03-12T10:47:00.015-05:00

First off before we get rolling let's give credit where credit is due. This post is an idea I got after reading how the very talented SarahK over at Mountaineer Musings wanted a new laptop due to her Sony Vaio has decided to take a permanent vacation. I mentioned in the comments on how I would recommend either a Lenovo Thinkpad (we use these at work) or an Lenovo ideapad (the consumer version of the Thinkpad, have heard good things) and SarahK mentioned that she would probably forget my recommendation. Totally understandable as they are waiting for a house to sell in hot icky Florida after they moved to lovely Idaho but I also figured it would be a great way for me to blog as I don't have near enough time to do that anymore.

One last thing before I go on to the specs and such, the Thinkpad model has 4 different model types, R, T, X, and X Tablet. My personal experiences have been with the T series which is what I am going to look at in this post. I have generally with very few exceptions found them to be excellent machines with few faults and some of those faults have been caused by the software we run on them (no, they are not as tough as Summer Glau in the new Terminator series but hey, ya gotta start somewhere). I am also going to skip over the two different screen sizes (14.1" and 15") and assume that one would want the slightly larger screen. Do take note though that the Thinkpad is not for you if you do not want a widescreen display because there is no options other than widescreen. Also, I know the ideapad notebooks will be covered in the next post but I noticed those were widescreen only as well, you have been warned. Oh, and before I forget the 'T' series laptops are on sale bringing the base price down from $1135 to $850, no idea for how long though. My prices will reflect what I see as I write this post.

So, where are we now? Lenovo Thinkpad T61 15" widescreen (You can follow along from this point by clicking this link.)

Next we have integrated graphics or discrete graphics sounds complicated but its really not, lets break it down into two easy sentences.

Integrated Graphics: A graphics card that is part of the motherboard and serves a user well who mainly uses the internet/email, plays browser based games, uses an office suite, blogging, and other non graphic intensive activities.

Discrete Graphics: A graphics card that is it's own separate piece of hardware dedicated to graphics processing and serves users well who want to graphic intensive activities such as gaming, graphic design, and other similar activities.

Now I myself would go with discrete graphics as I am a heavy gamer and sometimes I like to game on the go but for someone who does lots of blogging, emailing, iterneting, etc integrated graphics works just fine. As this is really a post for SarahK to use for reference when she starts her computer shopping (of course if it helps anyone else thats wonderful too) I am going to assume your gaming is mostly on the Wii so lets go with integrated graphics. As a side note the bad T61 with integrated costs $850 and the discrete graphics base costs $925, a $75 difference that may or may not matter to someone. Also, many of the customization options for the discrete graphics are the same as the integrated graphics machine so the rest of this post applies reasonably well to either option.

So where are we now? Lenovo Thinkpad T61 15" widescreen with integrated graphics. (Click the Customize & Buy button for the integrated graphics notebook to continue following along.)

Now we move into the customization phase, this section of the purchase is where you really get to be picky about what goes into your laptop but be careful, if you are on a budget some things can really jack up the price well beyond the base of $850. You can of course just go with the base system and then you will only pay the base $850 price (plus S&H) which would get you a decent machine but let's pretend we want to trick it out a bit.

Let's just go right down the list top to bottom as if we were going to but this with blogging and other 'lite' activities in mind.

First up is the System Processor and we get 8 different processor options with speeds from 2.0 GHz to 2.6 GHz as well as varied different cache options. The following is from the Lenovo website as a small primer to what all that means.

Clock Speed (e.g. 1.83GHz or 2.4GHz): this is the speed of the processor's internal clock, which dictates how fast the processor can process data. Clock speed is usually measured in GHz (gigahertz, or billions of pulses per second).
Front Side Bus (e.g. 667MHz or 800MHz): this is the connecting path between the processor and other key components such as the memory controller hub. FSB speed is measured in GHz or MHz.
Cache (e.g. 2MBL2 or 4MBL2): a temporary storage area for frequently accessed or recently accessed data. Having certain data stored in a cache speeds up the operation of the computer. Cache size is measured in megabytes (MB) or kilobytes (KB).

The default selection for the processor is a 2.0 GHz 800 MHz 2MBL2 chip and at the time of writing you can upgrade it to 2.1 GHz for no extra charge. I personally like the 2.4 GHz 800 MHz 3MBL2 chip for $37 more that gives you a bit more oomph and is also 'Lenovo Reccomended. I am going to go with their reccomendation but if you are watching price go with the 2.1 GHz free upgrade.

So where are we now? Lenovo Thinkpad T61 15" widescreen with integrated graphics and 2.4 GHz 800 MHz 3MBL2 processor.

The next choice is the Operating System, a rather contentious choice for some and just another radio button for others. You are given options for a number of different Vista versions as well as XP Professional. I could do a whole different blog post on XP v. Vista but for ease of use, comfort, and program compatibility I very strongly suggest going with the XP Professional option even though it is $22 more expensive.

So where are we now? Lenovo Thinkpad T61 15" widescreen with integrated graphics and 2.4 GHz 800 MHz 3MBL2 processor. Running Windows XP Professional.

Next up is choosing a Display Panel (or a screen type) and you are offered two options. Either WXGA TFT which offers resolutions 1280x720, 1280x800, 1440x900, and 1280x768 or WXGA+ TFT which offers a resolution of 1440x900. Unless you really want that one high resolution option (which does cost $56 more than the default option) I would suggest sticking with the default Display Panel choice.

So where are we now? Lenovo Thinkpad T61 15" widescreen with integrated graphics and 2.4 GHz 800 MHz 3MBL2 processor. Running Windows XP Professional with a WXGA TFT screen.

The System Graphics, while being the next option, does not have any choice, only the default Intel card (which is the Integrated card we chose earlier in the post).

So where are we now? Lenovo Thinkpad T61 15" widescreen with integrated graphics and 2.4 GHz 800 MHz 3MBL2 processor. Running Windows XP Professional with a WXGA TFT screen and Intel GMA X3100 GM965 graphics.

Next up is the RAM (Lenovo refers to it as Total Memory). You are given 6 different options ranging from 1GB to 4GB of RAM. Before we pick one, qhich...what's RAM? And once again from the Lenovo website:

The amount of RAM and the speed of memory determines:
How many programs can be running at one time.
How much data can be readily available to each program.
How quickly your applications performs.
How easy and quickly you can switch or "toggle" between programs.

So as you might expect RAM is important but although they offer up to 4GB of RAM most programs today really only need 2GB at max so I would recommend getting the 2GB upgrade for $30 more than the default 1GB option.

So where are we now? Lenovo Thinkpad T61 15" widescreen with integrated graphics and 2.4 GHz 800 MHz 3MBL2 processor. Running Windows XP Professional with a WXGA TFT screen and Intel GMA X3100 GM965 graphics. 2GB of RAM.

Up next is the Pointing Device (aka how you move the pointer on the screen) and the choice here is less if you want a trackpad or a pointing dot (the little buttonish thing in the middle of some laptop keyboards) but if you want a fingerprint scanner on your laptop. You can get the fingerprint scanner for an additional $22 and it allows you to scan any (or all) of your 10 fingers so you can just swipe your finger across the scanner instead of typing in your password to log into your computer. As I see it the fingerprint scanner is fun but overall not really needed, I'm gonna skip it.

So where are we now? Lenovo Thinkpad T61 15" widescreen with integrated graphics and 2.4 GHz 800 MHz 3MBL2 processor. Running Windows XP Professional with a WXGA TFT screen and Intel GMA X3100 GM965 graphics. 2GB of RAM with both a Trackpoint and Touchpad.

Hard Drives...how much crap are you gonna hoard (or need to hoard)? Lenovo gives you 8 options from 80GB of size to 200 GB. The default option is 80GB and Lenovo recommends a 100 GB drive for $33 more. I personally would go with the cheapest $160 GB option but for this post I am going with the Lenovo recommendation as this is not my computer.

So where are we now? Lenovo Thinkpad T61 15" widescreen with integrated graphics and 2.4 GHz 800 MHz 3MBL2 processor. Running Windows XP Professional with a WXGA TFT screen and Intel GMA X3100 GM965 graphics. 2GB of RAM with both a Trackpoint and Touchpad. A 100GB hard drive.

Next up is the Optical Drive (CD/DVD Drive). Lenovo offers us up two options, a CD-RW/DVD-ROM drive and a DVD burner drive option. The DVD burner costs $52 more and if you plan on burning DVDs (you can also burn regular cds with a DVD burner) then get it, but if not don't waste your money on something you don't need. Let's go with the default CD-RW/DVD-ROM drive.

So where are we now? Lenovo Thinkpad T61 15" widescreen with integrated graphics and 2.4 GHz 800 MHz 3MBL2 processor. Running Windows XP Professional with a WXGA TFT screen and Intel GMA X3100 GM965 graphics. 2GB of RAM with both a Trackpoint and Touchpad. A 100GB hard drive and a CD-RW/DVD-ROM drive.

Moving down the screen we come to Wireless Cards. This may or may not be important for a user and there are 3 options: a generic wireless card (the default option) and two different Intel cards. If you plan on connecting to wireless networks then go with the Lenovo recommended option otherwise leave the default. The recommended option adds $33 to the price.

So where are we now? Lenovo Thinkpad T61 15" widescreen with integrated graphics and 2.4 GHz 800 MHz 3MBL2 processor. Running Windows XP Professional with a WXGA TFT screen and Intel GMA X3100 GM965 graphics. 2GB of RAM with both a Trackpoint and Touchpad. A 100GB hard drive, a CD-RW/DVD-ROM drive, and a Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN wireless network card.

Bluetooth is an increasingly popular option on computers that allows you to interface your computer with other devices such as some cellphones, PDAs, or Blackberries. The option to add bluetooth to the laptop is $21 and I would recommend it.

So where are we now? Lenovo Thinkpad T61 15" widescreen with integrated graphics and 2.4 GHz 800 MHz 3MBL2 processor. Running Windows XP Professional with a WXGA TFT screen and Intel GMA X3100 GM965 graphics. 2GB of RAM with both a Trackpoint and Touchpad. A 100GB hard drive, a CD-RW/DVD-ROM drive, and a Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN wireless network card. The laptop has bluetooth integration.

Lenovo offers up two different battery options a 6-Cell battery and a 9-Cell battery. The 9-Cell allows your laptop to run on battery power for longer than the 6-Cell and if you are away from a power source frequently get the larger battery (for $60 additional price). Let's assume we are out and about quite a bit and go with the 9-Cell battery.

So where are we now? Lenovo Thinkpad T61 15" widescreen with integrated graphics and 2.4 GHz 800 MHz 3MBL2 processor. Running Windows XP Professional with a WXGA TFT screen and Intel GMA X3100 GM965 graphics. 2GB of RAM with both a Trackpoint and Touchpad. A 100GB hard drive, a CD-RW/DVD-ROM drive, and a Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN wireless network card. The laptop has bluetooth integration and a 9-Cell battery.

Microsoft Office...if you already have it (and didn't lose your install discs) then you don't need it. If you don't have it go with the recommended option (for another whopping $229) but we will assume we already have a copy of Office (or similar software).

So where are we now? No change from last time. (At this point you should be at the bottom of the page, click the continue button to continue.)

The next page is the Accessories and Services page. This page is totally 100% completely optional, if you want to add a monitor, a mouse, a printer, a laptop case, a webcam, etc this is the page to do it on. For this post I am going to add the messenger bag carrying case (for $21) and a Thinkpad Optical Wheel Mouse (for $11). Feel free to add things as you wish but everything on this page is rather self-explanatory.

When you get done with that page click the continue button at the bottom. The Summary Review page will allow you to review your choices and then click the Add to Cart button at the bottom of that page. This will add your laptop and any accessories you chose to your cart where you can checkout (which i would think is pretty common knowledge).

A final review of what we ended up choosing for a laptop:


	System Processor		Intel® Core™ 2 Duo processor T8300 (2.4GHz 800MHz 3MBL2)

	Operating System		Genuine Windows XP Professional

	Operating System Language		Genuine Windows XP Professional - US English

	Display Panel		15.4 WXGA TFT

	System graphics		Intel GMA X3100 GM965

	Total memory		2 GB PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz SODIMM Memory (2 DIMM)

	Keyboards		Keyboard US English

	Pointing Device		UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad)

	Hard Drive		100GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm

	Optical device		CD-RW/DVD-ROM Combo 24X/24X/24X/8X Max, Ultrabay Slim

	System expansion slots		PC Card Slot & Express Card Slot

	Card Reader		4 in 1 Media Card Reader

	Wireless cards		Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN (supporting Centrino Pro)

	Bluetooth		Integrated Bluetooth PAN

	Battery		9 cell Li-Ion Battery

ThinkPlus USB Optical Wheel Mouse

Lenovo Carrying Case - Messenger

With a final price of: $ 1,122.75

Well, wow, that was a long post. Hopefully that helped someone somehow and even if it didn't it was loads of fun to write!

Another Dell Day

2008-03-11T09:50:00.002-05:00

Last Thursday I ordered 10 flatscreen monitors from Dell for some new desktop computers we are deploying. We paid for overnight shipping and the monitors were in the mailroom when I got into work at about 8am the only thing is that upon opening the first box we found that they shipped us the wrong monitors! After a rather exasperating call to Dell (where they tried to not take the blame) they promised to take back the 'wrong' monitors and send us the ones we wanted in the first place. Sounds good right?

Not quite, today I get into work and find not 10, but 20 monitors waiting for me! Not only did they not take the 'wrong' monitors but they gave us 10 additional monitors...again of the wrong type. This little discovery was followed up by yet another call to Dell and an another promise to take back the 'wrong' monitors and ship us the correct ones.

So, hopefully this time everything will work out alright...Go Dell!

New MSN Messenger Account

2008-03-05T20:37:00.002-06:00

For those of you that are interested I got a new MSN Messenger account to replace my old one. Go ahead and delete my old account in your list and accept the new request you should have received.

Linksys Chat Support Funny

2008-02-29T19:09:00.004-06:00

Found this out and about on the web. It is a bit hard to read but it was (at least for me) manageable with some effort. (Click picture to view.)

The Book Thing

2008-02-22T08:50:00.003-06:00

Borrowed this from Kim Du Toit and although I really don't read as much as I used to it is always something I keep meaning to do more of. Please note that some of the questions have been modified slightly from the original.

Which [type of] book do you irrationally cringe away from reading?

Yeesh, those 'romance' novels you find by the bed of almost every girl on earth. Other than that I will read almost anything.

If you could bring three [fictional] characters to life for a social event (afternoon tea, a night of clubbing, perhaps a world cruise), who would they be and what would the event be?

Let's see, Shane Schofield(Ice Station, Area 7, Scarecrow), Jack West Junior(7 Deadly Wonders, The Six Scared Stones), and Jack Bauer(there are 24 books so it works) and it would be more of a world tour (Iran, N. Korea, Russia, China, etc) and see what sorta 'problems' we could fix.

You are told you can’t die until you read the most boring novel on the planet. While this immortality is great for awhile, eventually you realise it’s past time to die. Which book would you expect to get you a nice grave?

Friday Night Lights, seriously, the first time I read that book for CPE back in high school it almost killed me, a second time around would surely do it.

Come on, we’ve all been there. Which book have you pretended, or at least hinted, that you’ve read?

The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon. I have it, and I have read a small part of it but considering that it is 6 volumes long...yeah, I've not really read it.

As an addition to the last question, has there been a book that you really thought you had read, only to realize when you read a review about it/go to ‘reread’ it that you haven’t? Which book?

The Hobbit, I first read it in 6th grade and then I went back to read it (as well as the LOTR trilogy) in 8th grade and realized that I had no damn clue what was going on when I had read it the first time.

You’ve been appointed Book Advisor to a VIP (who’s not a big reader). What’s the first book you’d recommend and why? If you feel like you’d have to know the person, go ahead of personalize the VIP.

I actually have two, a fantasy book/series and a sci-fi book.

Fantasy: The Eye of the World (followed by the whole Wheel of Time series), firstly because everyone recommends Lord of the Rings, lets try something new, and second because it is honestly a great book (as well as series) and thirdly it will keep him/her occupied for a good 6 months at least.

Sci-Fi: Ender's Game because it is an excellent thinking book as well as a fun story.

A good fairy comes and grants you one wish: you will have perfect reading comprehension in the foreign language of your choice. Which language do you go with?

Pfft, no clue, German or Russian I guess.

A mischievous fairy comes and says that you must choose one book that you will reread once a year for the rest of your life (you can read other books as well). Which book would you pick?

Ender's Game, I usually re-read it every year anyway and it is rather short so it would leave me time for other books as well.

That good fairy is back for one final visit. Now, she’s granting you your dream library! Describe it. Is everything leatherbound? Is it full of first edition hardcovers? Pristine trade paperbacks? Perhaps a few favourite authors have inscribed their works? Go ahead-let your imagination run free.

You guys remember that library in Disney's Beauty and the Beast? Yeah, it's like that.

I voted!!!

2008-02-19T18:21:00.001-06:00

Happy Valentine's Day! (Belated)

2008-02-15T13:50:00.003-06:00

Well folks, yesterday was Valentines Day and you either love it or hate it. Me, it depends if I have someone to spend it with, if I do i love it, if not I hate it. This year I loved it, the girlfriend and I went out to an italian resturant (Serento's) and then went to see a movie (Definately, Maybe). I got her a card in addition to paying for both dinner and the movie and she got me the following:

A card
A coupon book (with coupons I can redeem like "see any movie Mark wants" "10 minute back rub" and stuff like that)
A giant Hershey's kiss
Twizlers (we get each other these once in a while, it's what we got on our first date for the candy at the movie)
a Best Buy gift card
a 3-pack of my favorite gum

So, we had a really good time. Happy Valentine's Day!

Cooking and the Internet

2008-01-30T16:37:00.001-06:00

Ok, so I have recently developed a new hobby, cooking. Not just the 'slap something on the grill and watch it cook' kinda thing but cooking cooking, with ingredients and recipes and directions, that kinda thing. The Saturday before last Nicole and I cooked supper (or dinner if you prefer, whichever you call the last meal of the day) for my family. We knew we wanted to cook the cheesy potatoes her mother makes and we knew we wanted to make cheesecake (the kind out of the box) but we did not know what to make for a main dish. She didn't know, I didn't know and obviously this meant I had to figure it out...go figure. :P

So, it was my job to figure out what to cook and that meant either looking through an actual cookbook or using my geeky knowledge to make things easier. So I hopped online, looked around, and found the Kraft website. From here I could put in the ingredients I wanted to use and it would search for recipes with those ingredients. We decided we wanted something with chicken and broccoli and found this:

Cheesy Chicken Simmer

Prep Time:
10 min

Total Time:
30 min

Makes:
4 servings
2 tsp. oil
4 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves (1 lb.)
2 cups frozen broccoli florets
1 can (10-3/4 oz.) 98% fat-free reduced-sodium condensed cream of chicken soup
1/4 lb. (4 oz.) VELVEETA Made With 2% Milk Reduced Fat Pasteurized Prepared Cheese Product, cut up 2 cups instant brown rice, prepared as directed on package

Directions:
HEAT oil in large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook 7 min., turning after 3-1/2 min.
ADD broccoli; stir. Stir in soup and VELVEETA until well blended. Reduce heat to medium; simmer 7 min. or until chicken is cooked through (170ºF).
SERVE over the rice.

And we made it and it was good. This has caused me to be on the lookout for good cooking websites as I am online and I have found one that I absolutely love. It is called SuperCook and it works the same way as the Kraft site but it looks for recipes from multiple websites..no more looking through multiple sites...yay!

So, new hobby, pretty cool, eh? Hopefully I will have more cooking adventures/mishaps/news soon and if you have any recipes or stuff ya wanna share feel free.

Ron Paul Supporters are NUTS!

2008-01-23T23:56:00.000-06:00

So, saw this over at Ace of Spades today...wow, Ron Paul supporters are working with about a quarter box of crayons...freakin' nuts.

Newspapers of Britian

2007-11-29T09:03:00.000-06:00

So I was reading this bit on the Pajamas Media Website about the newspapers in Britian and how they have a much greater variety and choice than we do over here. Before you watch the youtube video read the following so you know where the papers stand politically:

For just about any reader, London’s views-papers and boobs-papers make for a lot more enjoyable reading than Americas dull fare. Their titles include the Morning Star (Far Left), the Guardian (Left), the Daily Mirror (Center-Left Tabloid), the Sun (Center T & A Tabloid), the Daily Mail (Center-Right Tabloid), the Times of London (Center-Right), the Financial Times (Center-Right Business), and the Telegraph (Right).

i'm Making a Difference

2007-11-27T20:11:00.000-06:00

I am generally not a big one on charities and that sort of thing but this caught my eye: simple, easy, and effective.

Microsoft has (since March apparently, I just found out about it) had this thing called i'm Making a Difference going where you pick a cause (more 'bout that in a bit) and then implement a small tag into your MSN Live Messenger name and each time you start an IM conversation a bit of money is generated for your indicated cause. Since May 2007 they have, at the time of this posting, raised $201,186.67 and an almost pitiful amount of effort on your part is required to help raise even more money.

To more eloquently make the point direct from the website:

i’m is a new initiative from Windows Live™ Messenger. Every time you start a conversation using i’m, Microsoft shares a portion of the program's advertising revenue with some of the world's most effective organizations dedicated to social causes. We've set no cap on the amount we'll donate to each organization. The sky's the limit. There's no charge, so join now and put our money where your mouth is.

i’m is about making a difference. Not in a huge expensive way, not in a time-consuming way. But in a simple, effective way.

You won't have to change your conversation to change the conversation. With every instant message you help address the issues you feel most passionate about, including poverty, child protection, disease, environmental degradation and animal protection. It's simple. All you have to do is join and start an instant messaging conversation. We'll handle the donation.

So which causes you may ask, and how do I do this? Well first, the causes:

Now clicking on each of the images above will take you to an information page about each of the causes so that you can read up on them before you chose one. Before we get too far into this to have this work you need to be running MSN Live Messenger 8.1 or higher, to check this open MSN Live Messenger and under the help menu click 'About Messenger' and look to see if the Build is 8.1 or higher.

Once you have picked a cause you will need to edit your display name and enter one of the following codes depending on the cause you chose.

*red+u - American Red Cross
*bgca - Boys & Girls Clubs of America
*hsus - Humane Society of the United States
*naf - National AIDS Fund
*mssoc - National MS Society
*9mil - ninemillion.org
*sierra - Sierra Club
*help - StopGlobalWarming.org
*komen - Susan G. Komen for the Cure
*unicef - U.S. Fund for UNICEF

So copy one of those codes (I chose the National MS Society) and paste it just after your display name (mine looked like this --> Mark *mssoc) and thats it. Save your display name and a little icon will appear next to your display name.

Please give it a try, leave me a note in the comments if you are having trouble and also leave me a note in the comments sharing what cause you chose.

Simple, Easy, Effective.

Great commercial Idea!

2007-11-06T10:47:00.000-06:00

Now, I read the Daily Kos, well...daily and on their Cheers and Jeers for Tuesday they had the following idea for a commercial:

[Ominous music and images of Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi juxtaposed over images of al Qaeda training camps, fetuses, men in tuxes kissing, and brown people scaling border fences with machetes. Toss in an aerial shot of San Francisco for good measure.]

Deep, threatening announcer: "The Democrat party wants to cut and run from Iraq. You can see it in their beady Democrat eyes. At the first opportunity they'll pull the rug out from under our brave men and women in uniform and raise your taxes so they can give trillions of dollars to abortion clinics, gay wedding planners and illegal immigrants who want your job! That's what Democrats do---turn and run just when we're starting to make progress in spreading peace and justice around the world. Democrats have mocked the courage of General David Petraeus. And now, America, they're mocking you. The Republican National Committee approved this message...because there's a word for traitors in sheep's clothing: Democrats.

Democrats: Wrong for existing. Wrong for America."

Now come on people, just like that awesome SNL 1776! spoof I would totally LOVE to see a commercial like that, now only would it be good entertainment (both the commercial and the SNL spoof) it is a great primer on why the Democrats suck (the commercial, not the SNL spoof...well, maybe that too).

Portal: Flash Version

2007-10-16T17:07:00.001-05:00

So, I found this on addictinggames.com and although not as fun as the actual Portal is I just had to share...Flash Portal!

Portal: Flash Version

Faster than a speeding bullet...

2007-10-15T21:09:00.001-05:00

...well not really but I now have HIGH SPEED INTERNET!!!!!! It's not DSL or Cable, it's satellite, but for living out here in the middle of nowhere it's a damn sight better than dial-up. I am so very happy and I just wanted to share. :)

Effect 47 Website

2007-10-09T11:03:00.000-05:00

So, I have set up a new website. Not sure what I am going to put there, a link to this blog as well as links to my other writing projects for sure. It is very much a work in progress but take a look, eventually it will probably not to be interesting if you are not a techie sorta person but for now there ain't much there.

Jobs Update

2007-10-02T21:25:00.000-05:00

So, it has been quite a while since I have posted here and tonight I feel like talking about my jobs. I have two jobs, one I hate and one I love. Every other weekend I work at Gander Mountain in the Customer Service department and I work there because they pay me. My other job is for a dairy co-op, we make Morning Glory brand milk, and ya know how at Taco Bell that have that sour cream? Yeah, we make that for every Taco Bell in the U.S.A.

Anyway, focusing on my dairy co-op job I work as an intern in their Support Operations department (fancy name for help desk). I work three days a week (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) and I have been doing so for almost a year now. A couple of weeks ago I had a meeting with my boss to discuss the "direction of my internship" and as I have been wondering where it will go for a bit now I was excited and anxious at the same time. So, we had my meeting and I found out that I am for sure able to work there through this next May and then a 95% chance to work there until I am done with school (next December).

On top of this concerning a job after I am done with school I was told: "It would be rather silly of us and of you, to put in all this effort getting settled in the company and then to not hire you on. We see no reason, barring some strange event happening, why we could not find a place for you here when you are done with school."

So, this is good news and it means that eventually I can get rid of working at Gander, but just thought I would share.

~Mark

medicthoughts.com

2007-09-11T22:17:00.000-05:00

Well, just for kicks I went over to my old blog address (medicthoughts.com) and found that there is some sort of health blog there. Not of much interest to me per say but it is just kinda neat to see that someone snapped up my old domain name.

Find Your Spot

2007-08-03T15:16:00.001-05:00

Found this neat website out there (Findyourspot.com) where you answer a bunch of questions on where you want to live, your lifestyle, etc and it recommends 25 places around the U.S. that suit you. I was flipping through my results and saw that one of my recommendations was Coeur d'Alene, Idaho(PDF). Now other than being totally unable to pronounce the name I should note that Chad lives there and from his pictures he posts on his blog it looks like an absolutely lovely place to live...and the review on the Findyopurspot site makes it sound real nice too.

Not that I am thinking about coming out there and bothering the heck outa Chad...but I did think it was kinda a neat coincidence. If you guys have time stop by the site and let me know what sorta results you get, I think it would be interesting.

Interesting Forum Sig

2007-07-24T16:06:00.001-05:00

In a forum I frequent someone had the following as their forum sig, kinda made me snicker a bit.

A dead Muslim a day keeps Satan away!

First Post

2007-06-21T21:22:00.000-05:00

Ok..just figured I should post something here so people don't think I am dead. Let's see, going to bed early tonight because I need to leave at 6am tomorrow for Green Bay, I am going on a little road trip for work. We have some new software and I am going to be teaching about 10 people how to use it. I am actually kinda proud that I am going because I am going all by myself and I am really only an intern, it seems like they have a high level of confidence in me sending me up there alone.

Also in this first post I would like to point out down in the right hand column there I have links to my other blogs, please check them out, if you are not into Guild Wars I am willing to bet you will probably like the other one.

Wow, this actually feels good, I have not blogged in so long, it's almost like a breath of fresh air. :)