Thanksgiving shopping Havoc! Black Friday Mayham!

well happy turkey day everyone!

lots of action at my house today, after i get home from graveshift...0600..(!) i will then have to immediately hit the sack and try to sleep through a house awaking with the commotion of 3 kids, an also-sleep-deprived wife, and her mother hustling to cook and finish the cleaning for the days later-festivities. I will probably get about 4 hours of sleep i am guessing. it was all i could do to get the holiday and black friday off, so that we may brave the shopping madness and hopefully score some sweet deals.

*btw ladies, i did help clean much of the last part of this week, lest u think i b cro-magnum man and make my wifey do everything....heh ;P

i am looking forward to relaxing a bit, drinking some nice wine, having some ham and turkey, and sweet 'tater pie! ....mmmmmmm....pie....

this will be a first, shopping this year on black friday, so we are going to arm ourselves accordingly. We have a double stroller for baby and toddler, equiped with an ample supply of snacks, diapers, toys, to (hopefully) curtail the inevitable tantrum throughout the business. we have a list of the family members and a rough idea of a budget to work with. i have my best gel-inlaid sneakers and probably will strap on a powerful set of elbow and knee pads. Hey! its a JUNGLE out there!

i will take no prisoners.

i fear for the worst, and expect that it will be bumper to bumper roads, and near-misses in the parking lots that day. good thing we have decent insurance!

"i said that was MY spot!"

a funny thing came up when i was thinking of what i wanted to get for my wife for x-mas. Exactly how would i spy something, get it in our cart, pay for it, and get it into our car without her noticing? i can't. So i think we will have to have two separate carts, i may have to force her to run away until i get something hidden amongst all the kiddy toys etc. or maybe i just jot the items down in a little notepad and when WE have gotten everything for everyone else, i have her check out and go through the cashier and to the car, then i run around like a mad chicken and speed shop my wifes gifts??

will that work do you think?? does anyone have a better idea?

i will leave it at that for now, did i mention yet that i luv the holidays?

-and just so i didn't completely waste your time reading excerpts from my personal life, here's a few links to get you on your way. i'm sure they will be happy i led you there.

http://www.circuitcity.com/

http://www.bestbuy.com/

http://www.amazon.com/ (my personal fav)

http://www.target.com/ (my fav local store)

http://www.frys.com/

http://www.fredmeyer.com/ (for you Oregonian/Washingtonians)

http://www.walmart.com/ (if u really have to..ugh)

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/

http://www.blackfriday.info/

http://www.toysrus.com/

http://www.babiesrus.com/

http://www.sears.com/ (for that angle-grinding,circular sawing,super-sanding, Makita-drilling, Tim Allen-worshiping dude on your list)

-and last but not least!

http://www.tylenol.com/ (the most important one for this holiday season methinks)

HAVE FUN!

Fallout 3 - Stop whining and just buy it!

It seems the new trend for every new gamer these days:
rush out to buy the latest big name/big money PC game hot off the press, spend 50 to 70 dollars doing this, then before the plastic has even a chance to cool, your off to amazon to write your disdainful little self-congratulating review of how bad the GAME sucks because of the latest copyright protection embedded in the software.

People- the reviews are for the game itself, the design and effort put forth by the programmers at the development studio. This is usually a completely separate building and department from the bean-counting lawyers that run the PUBLISHING company, IE. EA. If you want to bemoan and outrage against the latest version of copyright software [Securom etc] then fire up your browser and point it to EA Support and send them a not-so-friendly email. They are the ones ultimately responsible for these decisions, and should be the ones you aim your whining to.

And if you really feel like mentioning this in your game review, at least know what you are talking about. I love it when reviewers go off on a tirade, only to have gotten all their facts wrong, including what it does to your machine, the limitations of installing, and what version and type of embedded software it even is. Do your research before influencing and ruining a good title's Amazon ratings!! You are actually hurting the developer in the end, by writing such flagrant reviews. You mean well, and i know how frustrating it is dealing with EA in regards to installation issues and patching etc, but don't go barking up the wrong tree, and punish the people that worked hard MAKING this game for you.

....thank you.

**And for the rest of you that actually value your own opinions, go and get this game, it may not be how 40% of the whiners wanted it, but it has it's merits as a work of art, and an interactive diversion from the reality of these troubled times.**

Star Trek (2009) full trailer released!

sweeet...

Though I'm a star wars fan first, i like any decent new sci-fi movie that takes place in outer space, with ships and drama and cool CGI explosions etc... so i will mention it here for the fans...

go check it out at http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/startrek/ !

-Make it so #1....!

Mark Cuban of mamma.com fame, NOT GUILTY!?

Mark Cuban of mamma.com charged with insider trading
NICE!

**move over Martha Stewart, you have been one-up'd.
-but WAIT there's more! Hang on those of you crying "Guilty, Guilty!", there is some pretty legit arguments for his lawyers to win this trial on his defense-
Get a load of this argument by an unknown poster on marketwatch.com-it's quite an interesting bit of reasoning.
http://community.marketwatch.com/AmericanPatriot

"...Since Mark owned less than 10% of the company shares (6%) he was not and is not considered an "insider" and is therefore not required to disclose any information on his trading of shares to the SEC. Moreover, he owned no duty of fiduciary responsibility to the company as he was not an employee of the company nor had any access to company information other than that which was voluntarily disclosed to him by the company. S.E.C. regulation FD ("Full Disclosure") requires that if a company intentionally discloses material non-public information to one person, it must simultaneously disclose that information to the public at large. If the company failed to disclose the PIPE offering to the public on or about the same time that they disclosed this information (which allegedly constitutes the basis for insider trading) to Mark, then the company is in breach of its duties, not Mark. Commenter Jeff made this key point at http://www.businessassociationsblog.com/lawandbusiness/comments/ the_insider_trading_charges_against_mark_cuban/ where there is full analysis of this issue by Professor Bainbridge along with some other insightful comments: "Regulation FD prohibits the company from making selective disclosure to shareholders unless those shareholders expressly agree to hold the information in confidence. Merely saying that the information is confidential doesn’t cut it..."


For the main Article:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iR3W1nPq3cGJH6jN2Wm5SWcXr5yAD94GVEL01

myspace layouts - I list them here! (with links)

I finally logged back into my myspace account, had to reply to a few emails, a very few..'cause no one loves me, and thought i'd get rid of the old transformers layout i had. omigod, that was so 2007 !

As it seems this is something people like to do quite frequently, i thought i'd be nice and do some legwork for you, and put them in a nice little list (with links!)-for your clicking pleasure... enjoy!

- http://www.pimp-my-profile.com/

- http://www.freecodesource.com/

- http://www.myspacemaster.net/

- www.pyzam.com/myspacelayouts

- http://www.revolutionmyspace.com/

- http://www.ultimatemyspace.com/

- http://www.myspacegeeks.com/

And if you need some helpful tips and advice, check this site out:

- http://www.myspacelayoutsupport.com/

there, that should get you in the right direction....and just a personal recommendation, stay away from the BRITE WHITE layouts and templates....stumbling into those at 1am with all the lights out, will burn like lasers into your retina's!!

OBAMA - 60 minutes interview video here -->

Well for you military- here is the official link to the '60 minutes' interview yesterday [11-16/2008], on the CBS website that has our man-in-chief talking a little about some gameplans. I, among many military, am particularly curious as to what the next steps will be for the Iraq 'war'.

Check out the video here, if you missed it (like i did):

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4608198n?source=mostpop_video

USAA Precious Metals on the way up!

Get ready for the rocket blast! If you are a investor, I hope you've bought something before tomorrow!

Ride the waves baby.

SPORE -my first sweet space machine!

sorry- i have to brag, it took me 3 hours to perfect this beast!

-This editor really is limited only to your imagination, i'm astounded by the variety and genius of engineering i've seen browsing through the now 45 MILLION creations uploaded [SO FAR] to EA's spore website.

Check em' out!

http://www.spore.com/sporepedia#qry=view-featured

Michael Crichton.... life imitates art...

I cannot even believe my favorite author has passed away ! This has been a week of good and bad news it seems...

only 66 years old, and to cancer, an ironic outcome for a Harvard graduated medical professional whom wrote,produced, and created 'E.R.', as well as numerous other medical and techno-orientated fictional novels, movies and T.V. series.

I have read 8 of his books, eagerly devoured each and every one as soon as they came out, since my late teens. It was then, that a girl in my french class had a book with a gigantic Dinosaur skeleton on it, and i asked her about it, and she told me, "It's like, so awesome, and scary..u have to read it..."

so i borrowed it from her, and i think after the second page i was hooked. i kept saying to myself..."holy cow, what is going on here....what was that thing..." and i kept turning pages ever since.

some haven't been as memorable as others, but they were all interesting in their own way. I especially loved 'Timeline', and 'Prey'... the former a wonderfully detailed what-if description of 14th Century feudal France life, and the latter, a mesmerizing suspenseful thrill-ride of what predatorily programmed nano-robotic particles are theoretically capable of. Very vivid, and very alarming.

There is one however, being his 3rd to last book it seems, "State of Fear" which i absolutely identify with. This is the one book i cannot help tell to anyone i hear within earshot of speaking of the woes of "global warming" or Climate catastrophe theorizing. It is a must read for BOTH parties in this debate. I cannot tell you how much of an eye opener this book was for me, and the tell-tale evidence of his warnings are obvious everywhere you turn. Especially the media, it seems every other month there is a new story- "Tonight, on the 10 O'clock News....What can you do to help stop the Global Warming trend?, stay tuned to find out!" I am reduced to muttering my disdain for a global profiteering trade, and shake my head at the sheer ignorance of the generally approved perception of our current state of....well, FEAR!

I admire those that stick their neck out for their beliefs, and for rocking the boat against the commonly held status quo. The world needs more rebellious AND brite individuals, artists and engineers, someone to steadfastly push back the common uninspired, undeserving, and over-payed nay-sayer's and protagonists.

From one lonely reader, i will miss Michael Crichton's push from that direction...

OBAMA WINS! i can't believe it!

what else can i say...
it was like watchin the ending of that movie with will smith, The Pursuit of Happyness..it was a very honost, happy feeling of 'Wow- i am so proud of this country for not being an @ss and shutting him out...' it really does change everything...

If they ever decide to elect a world leader, i could easily see his mug on that banner...waving for a new era of intergalatic peace, with all the other crazy aliens we meet in the future.......er...
.....maybe i'm getting a little carried away here.
:P