World Of Mime

(from That Mitchell and Webb Situation)
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This kind of thing is why I didn't enjoy acting classes.

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On Friday the 13th, 2009 at 11:31:30pm UTC UNIX time will reach 1,234,567,890.

This will be Friday, February 13th at 1531 and 30 seconds PST.

You can watch the countdown (countup?) here.

Hang In There, Jack

I saw this commercial during the superbowl, but apparently it's not a "superbowl commercial"? It's not in ANY of the official collections of superbowl commercials (NFL, NBC, Hulu, YouTube, Yidio). This is what I get for not watching TV.

Anyway, it was the one where Jack gets hit by a bus.
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(May be gone by the time this posts)

Hadn't thought about it since the game, but it came up recently on a blog I read, so I checked out the site HangInThereJack.com. Two things:

1: FREE FOOD. One day only. February 10th. That's THIS TUESDAY. Print out the coupon on the site, get one order of medium seasoned curly fries. Free. Not, free with purchase or any of that crap.

2: While most of the HITJ videos are meh, the ones with Jack's doctor tickle me.

First:
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Second:
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Heroin Addict Christmas

(from That Mitchell And Webb Look)
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How I Spent My Morning II

I have to write a literature review (a review of published papers in my area of science, not a review of books).

Lots of searches, lots of tabs open.

Oh, EWU's Library pages reset to the search page? So if you don't save your results right away they're gone? Cool.

Ah, Citeseer isn't supported anymore? Guess I'll try the beta. Oh, the beta doesn't save search parameters if you use the back button (shitty javascript implementation), maybe if I click the advanced search link at the top? Oh, that link means instant browser death? Awesome!

Good thing I didn't have a ton of unsaved searches open, because that would suck!

World Record

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Phoenix Has Bad Luck...

...shopping online. In this review: KungFu4Less.

Executive summary:
I ordered some kendo equipment, including a shinai case. They apparently ran out of shinai cases, so they removed it from my order without asking if that was OK. I told them to cancel the whole order.

A few days later, they send me a coupon, and upon checking their website I see that the shinai cases are marked as back in stock. I place a second order, identical to the first.

They canceled the whole order without any notification at all. I didn't even know they canceled it until I checked the status.

KungFu4Less is pretty terrible, and although their prices look good, I don't think I will ever shop there again.

Details:
So I'm in Kendo club at EWU. I wanted to buy some kendo gear, and some froogling led me to KungFu4Less.com.

Prices seemed OK, so I placed an order for a gi, hakama, and shinai bag. They e-mailed me an order confirmation.

I also told my friend about it, and she placed a similar order.

Then they e-mailed me a second confirmation, with the shinai bag removed. It seems that they are out of stock, so they just took it out of the order.

What the hell? Companies can do that?

I've never had a company change my order without asking for confirmation on my part.

So I e-mailed and canceled the order (probably a good idea anyway, since I think I might have ordered the wrong gi size). But upon checking the website, the shinai case is still listed! But the owner tells me that no, they aren't actually in stock.

Here is the complete first communication (even the parts that expose me for the dick I am): Show/Hide
No no, that is not OK. You can't just DROP an item from my cart and
ship me the rest without asking. Because, I'm going to have to order
that again from somewhere else, and that's going to cost shipping
there, so I might as well order my gi and hakama there TOO. See?

Also, how is the shinai case not available for ME, but it IS available
for my friend [redacted] who placed her order AFTER MINE?

DO NOT SHIP MY ORDER without a shinai case. No shinai case, no order.
---
Phoenix

Okay we will cancel your order.

Jim Sul

Thank you. I'm sorry for the trouble. I was just very surprised.

Also, when I went back to the website, you still list the shinai case?
Is it available? Or no?
---
Phoenix

No problem at all Sir... Unfortunately that item is still out of stock. We are very sorry.

Jim Sul

A few days pass, and then I get a coupon from KungFu4Less. Maybe this is a sign? The shinai cases are back and they still want my business? I place another order (this time with the correct sizes). I got a confirmation e-mail shortly.

Then I waited.

And waited.

After more than a week had passed, I went back to the order confirmation e-mail and followed the link to check the status of the order.

It had been canceled.

No notification, no anything, just canceled.

I e-mailed them again, and was summarily chewed out by the owner.

Some highlights:

"You seem to not like the way we run our bussiness, so I ask you to stop placing orders with our company."

"Did you think we were going to ship your order??"

"TAKE A MOMENT AND THINK ABOUT THAT."

"Yes I canceled your order... We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone and that includes you. You are a very difficult person and I do not want you or anyone like you as a customer. I'm sure you have heard that alot, if that bothers you.. oh well."

"You are one insignificant person who is complaining because he didn't get what he wanted. Grow up."

Awesome.

Here is the full gory transaction: Show/Hide
You canceled my order without ANY notification at all?

This is the worst shopping experience I have ever had.
---
Phoenix

Dear Sir,

As per your request, we could not ship your order complete, so we cancelled like you requested.

Jim Sul

You canceled one order on my request.

Then you sent me a coupon. When I checked your site, it appeared that
the one item that was missing from my first order was back in stock.
I placed a second order.

You canceled the second order without any notification. You didn't
say "We don't have this item". You didn't even say that you canceled
the order.

There were two DIFFERENT orders.
---
Phoenix

Dear Sir,

You seem to not like the way we run our bussiness, so I ask you to stop placing orders with our company.

Jim Sul

I will stop placing orders with your company, and instead I will start
telling everyone I know about the terrible service I encountered.
---
Phoenix

You truley are a very difficult. You make a big fuss about about one item being backorderd and want to cancel your entire order. We were more than happy to accomadate you. What did you think we would do when you place the exact identical order a few days later. Did you think we were going to ship your order?? Did you think we would run the risk of shipping your order incomplete? Of course not, you already told me how you wanted us to treat your orders. Your exact words were "if you cant ship my order complete, then I want to cancel my order." Well guess what... WE CANCELLED YOUR ORDER.

Jim Sul

It wasn't an identical order. It seems you didn't look at it.

It also seems that you say items are available on your site when they
are NOT available.

You didn't say the item was backordered, you just removed it from the order.

My issue isn't that you canceled my second order, it is that you
canceled it WITHOUT NOTIFICATION. Just like you removed an item from
my first order WITHOUT NOTIFICATION. Do you see that part that is
causing the problem? When you change things without telling the
customer, that is BAD.

If you didn't want me to order again, why did you send me a coupon? I
thought "OH, the item is back in stock AND he sent me a coupon! He's
not a bad guy at all, I guess I will order from him again."

I guess that was too much to hope for.
---
Phoenix

Dear Sir

I am the owner and operation of Kungfu4less.com and I do my best to give mu customers what they want. Sometimes, in bussiness, your gonna have items that are not in stock. I sent you a notification that one of the items you order was not available. You called me and wanted to cancel your order. Wasn't that email a notification that an item was backorderd??? Obviously I didnt just cancel an item from the order and ship it like you claim. Had I have done that, I would not have been able to cancel the order. On this new order, I sent you another email letting you know that the entirre order was being cancelled. Again, doesn't that email act as a notifying your order was being cancellation?? You keep saying we adusted your order without notification, yet you were able to reply to both notification that were sent. TAKE A MOMENT AND THINK ABOUT THAT.


Jim Sul

For the first order, you did not send me a notification that one of
the items was not available, you sent me an order confirmation with
the item removed. I sent you an e-mail saying that I didn't approve
that change and canceled the order.

That was not an e-mail notification that the item was backordered.
You said nothing about it being backordered, only that it was no
longer available. These terms are not identical.

I didn't say that you shipped the order without the item. Of course
that did not happen.

You say that you sent me an e-mail notification that the second order
was being canceled? To what e-mail address did you send that
notification? Because, I did not receive it.

Reply to what notification? For the second order, I replied to the
order CONFIRMATION. There was no notification that you canceled the
order. I only found out that the order was canceled because, after
waiting a week with no shipping notification, I went to the website
and checked the status of my order.

Look at the history in these messages. There was NO NOTIFICATION of
the order being canceled. Please take a moment and think about that.

You seem very angry at what has happened, but everything that has
taken place was in your control. You claim that you sent out
notifications, but I did not receive them. That is the root of the
problem.
---
Phoenix

Dear Sir,

All notifications are sent out automatically when ever an adjustment is made to an order. This includes the confirmation email that is sent when you place an order, as well as any tracking email there after. I could not changed the status of your order without an email automatically being generated. If you did not recieve that email, I do appologize.

Jim Sul

I didn't get it because you didn't send it. If your system is broken,
that is unfortunate.

I'm sorry we couldn't be customer-merchant, and I appreciate your
(current) polite tone, but it was still a terrible shopping experience
and I'm still going to tell everyone I can about it, including the
messages you've sent me today.
---
Phoenix

You are amazing. Even when I try to be civil you are rude and obnoxious. Apparently you have nothing better to do. Yes I canceled your order... We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone and that includes you. You are a very difficult person and I do not want you or anyone like you as a customer. I'm sure you have heard that alot, if that bothers you.. oh well. I ask you now to move on. I can care less what you write about our company. You are one insignificant person who is complaining because he didn't get what he wanted. Grow up. I can assure you, our business will thrive without you.

Jim Sul

Don't shop at KungFu4Less.com!

(See how I still link to the site? Apparently I reward companies that screw me over by giving them more traffic.)

Do You Watch Heroes AND Lost?

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Banksy

So, Thomas has this picture in his house, and I just (well, two months ago) realized it was a Banksy.

This link will take you to the page of his rat pictures, the fourth one being the picture in question.

Now, maybe Thomas had told me it was a Banksy and I just forgot, but it was still a surprise to spot it on the Internet. ^_^

Update: Well, I asked Thomas about it, and no, he hadn't told me it was a Banksy, because he was told that it was some California (con-)artist. So some Cali guy is painting up Banksy reprints and selling them as his own. That rat bastard.

Sick and Tired...

...of being single? Hmm.

So I spent most of yesterday lying in bed, lying to myself about not being sick. You know when it really sucks to be sick? When you're single.

I hadn't even thought about the fact that I've been single since I came back from Japan until a friend brought it up a couple weeks ago (thanks, "friend"!). Is it so bad being single? Think of all the advantages!

No one crowds me in the tiny kitchen when I'm making my breakfast. No one breaks the silence with conversation so I always get to eat in peace and quiet.

I never come home from work and have to hear stories about someone's day.

I save a TON of money by not going out to movies or dinner.

Since I always cook for one, I get to prepare my meals just how I want! And then eat my meal by myself in front of the TV. I don't have to fight over the remote, since nobody else is here.

Sure, some social events are awkward when it's all couples and then me. All of my friends are couples...

And sure, I had no one to bring me soup, or damp towels for my forehead, or to listen to my whining about being sick. And there's no one to share stories with or cuddle with or unwind with.

I can picture my singles ad now...
(source)	Chubby middle-aged computer nerd seeks young hottie. Wealthy, bi-curious, nymphomania a plus. Sense of humor also probably a good idea.

But I'm single, and that's a fact.

It's not as if there are a ton of young hotties that really dig middle-aged chubby computer nerds. And it's not like I can go "Wait! That's not the whole of me! I'm really actually awesome!"

And I work and go to school in the computer department and rarely meet new people anyway.

So, I'm single.

But remember the advantages!

At the end of the day, when I go to bed, it's already half-made. One side always stays tucked in. And there's plenty of room, since I'm always in bed alone.

It's GREAT!

I love it!

It's great.

It's...

Barney's Video Resume

In the recent How I Met Your Mother, Barney shows off his video resume. The full music segment is available online. (Poor sound quality warning; go to the site for better quality)
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Neil Patrick Harris is so awesome.

ALSO available is a collection of Barney clips set to the same song. (Commercials warning)
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Tuesdays Broken Thermometer News

So, I'm feeling a little woogy today. Not too terrible; I haven't thrown up or anything.

So I decided to take my temperature. I bought a thermometer a few weeks ago when I was way sick, but didn't really use it.

The thermometer says my temp is over 100. That doesn't sound right at all. I'm woogy, not sick. If I were over 100, I wouldn't be out of bed.

So that was, you know, a wise purchase and all. :-(

Update:
OK, I took a picture of the thermometer in action. It says my temp is 102.3F, so, that's wrong. I'd be dead.



Also, why is it bendy? WHERE do they think I'm going to stick this thing that it would benefit from being soft and pliable?

Tuesday's Hidden Videos News

OK, so clearly all the videos are gone/hidden on my blog (at least, all the recent ones).

Instead, you'll see these links:Show/Hide
Wow, you'll just click anything, won't you.

I did this for a couple of reasons, but mostly because the page loads much faster without all the videos. They're still there, and you can still watch them, you just don't have to wait for every old thumbnail to load from a dozen different sites. Also, the page isn't as long this way, so you can scroll down quicker.

And those autoplaying flash files on my old pages can be hidden so they don't autoplay!

Anyway, like I said, lots of reasons. Just a way of making my little part of the world a bit better every day.

Groundhog Day!

Today is February 2^nd, otherwise known as Groundhog Day. This year, the groundhog saw his shadow, predicting another six weeks of winter.

Interestingly, it is the second day of the second month. New Years is the first day of the first month, Cinco de Mayo is the fifth day of the fifth month... you see where I'm going with this? ^_^ In Japan, there were official and unofficial holidays for most of these. So this year, on the xth day of the xth month, I'll be posting something special.

Superbowl Aftermath

What were the final scores? Who cares! How were the commercials?!

My favorites:

CareerBuilder.com: Tips
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You get to see a glasses-wearing, coffee-drinking koala punched in the face. Oh dear!

Cars.com: David Abernathy
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Am I watching a commercial or The Royal Tenenbaums?

Pepsi: Pepsuber
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Purely for the presence of Richard Dean Anderson. This is actually the 2^nd of three SNL clips. 1 2 3

And finally, my personal favorite:

Hulu: Alec in Huluwood
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Alec Baldwin!

Yahtzee Hates Joss Whedon?

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Watched Dr. Horrible again last night, and this morning I found this video. I'm just flabbergasted. I don't think Yahtzee has seen Dr. Horrible, and if he did watch it, he'd hate it now because he's invested in that opinion.

(Yahtzee is a donut because he was described as 'cynical and twisted', except it sounded like 'cinnamon twist'. Go to the video for more info)

Moustachio

Ah, makes me miss my mustache.
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Bo Henry, art director, Coraline.

I don't have to explain Coraline, right? Directed by Henry Selick, written by Neil Gaiman, right? You all read Neil's blog? Good.

Six days left...

The Java Mystery

Recently, my computer has been calling out to IP address 64.244.174.206. What is 64.244.174.206? I have NO IDEA.

Even better, it's a Java.exe process that is doing the calling. But, that can be ANY Java program. What could it be? I didn't want to give Java free reign to run over my firewall, but maybe this was an important process?

In comes Process Explorer, a SysInternals program now available through MicroSoft (which has devoured SysInternals). This will tell me what the parent program is.

So who is the culprit? None other than Digsby, my all-in-one chat app. But what the hell is Digsby doing calling Java programs to call seemingly random IPs?

It turns out, they are experimenting with distributed computing (like the Folding@Home project). Except they forgot the part where they ask your permission first.

The official solution is simple! Just open Digsby, go to Help -> Support Digsby, find the Help Digsby conduct research option and click disable. Intuitive!

Yeah, the average user is going to figure that out. There's nothing in the TOS or FAQ about it. They are just secretly using your computer cycles for their own gain, without asking you if you're cool with that.

Dirty pool, Digsby.

This Is How I'm Dumb

I had a brilliant idea: I'll get my laundry going and then take a shower. That way, the time I spend waiting for my laundry to finish and the time I spend in the shower will overlap. I'm a genius!

So I got my laundry going, and I'm about to get in the shower.

Guess where all my towels are?

Bye-Bye Moosebutter *UPDATED*

I've been meaning to post about this since mid-December, but then it was too late, but then again recent developments have brought it up again.

It's about the John Williams video...

Originally, I was going to write about how it WASN'T sung by Corey Vidal.

Corey is lip-synching to the 2002 studio recording of moosebutter. It was recorded at June Audio, Provo, UT. Corey filmed his video in his kitchen.

He was lip-synching? Well, that explains why he's not wearing headphones. Still, very convincing. I found out that it wasn't his voice when he updated the description of the video (so it wasn't like he was trying to be sneaky about it). This was around the time it was nominated for a People's Choice award.

Anyway, never got around to posting that, and the PCA have come and gone (Barack Roll won), and NOW (Jan 18th) the videos have been removed from YouTube by Warner Music Group. The entire ApprenticeA account (Corey) has been suspended.

Corey Vidal and our Star Wars videos were taken down by Warner Music Company, or Warner Brothers, or Warner INC ... all we know is, Warner has gotten picky about 'their' content on youtube, and even though there are a dozen other videos on youtube with our Star Wars song, and hundreds of videos that illegally rip footage from Harry Potter DVDs, and fake Batman trailers and etc etc etc Warner has been kind enough to target our stuff.

This means one thing: we've finally hit the big time! Maybe.

Wait, WHAT? How is it POSSIBLY a copyright violation? Parody is explicitly allowed as fair-use (one of the very few things that are actually spelled out).

My bullshitometer just exploded.

UPDATE: ApprenticeA is Back.

BIGGER UPDATE:
OK, so after this posted (which means most people won't come back and read this, but whatever), Cory posted a new video. The two important things from the video are:

1. There is a pretty high quality (better than YouTube) upload of the video over on Cory's Facebook page.
2. There is an important article on what's been happening, over at cnet. Go there and Digg it.

From the article (emphasis mine):

On YouTube, Vidal posted a humorous video tribute to John Williams, the man who scored the soundtracks for such blockbuster films as Indiana Jones, and Star Wars. In his clip he included some of Williams' music. By now, everybody knows that YouTube removes videos that violate copyright law. What's different about Vidal's work getting pulled is that when he posted it in October, he was permitted to use Warner's music.

Until last month, YouTube had an agreement with Warner Music--one of the four largest recording companies--that allowed video creators to include the label's content in their clips. Last month, talks to renew the deal broke down and that means YouTube and its users no longer have access to Warner's library. For this reason, the case is much different than YouTube's high-profile fight with Viacom or run-of-the-mill piracy that once flourished on the site.

I did not know that.

I Accidentally The Whole Template

I just wanted to update my picture
oh god how did this get here
I am not good with computer

Her Morning Elegance

Some stop-motion for Thomas.
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To NSFW Or Not

I saw an amusing video about how to become a porn star. Lots of, er, "tongue" in "cheek" humor.

But definitely not safe for work. Or minors. So, do I post it or not?

Hmm....

(link removed)

Yeah, was originally going to post it, decided against it at the last minute (less than 12 hours before it will post).

Sorry fellas.

Wednesday's Foreign Commercial

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I know kung fu.

Wait, don't I already have a post for today? Yeah, forward posting has a lot of drawbacks. A major one being: I was forward posting everything, and some things (like random videos) aren't really .... substantial. Almost content-free posts.

So they'll be posted roughly same-day, but after the daily post (so, 9am or later). So yes, this is still forward posted from even earlier today. ^_^

So.

(That being said, there are still several weeks of posts in the queue, so some days will just be a random video. Sorry.)

Bad Sci-Fi Warning

So, one of my classmates recently alerted me to a sale going on. Apparently, there is this robot toy. It's a scaled down version of a robot developed for the military by a defense department subcontractor. There's just one, and it is heavily discounted for some reason.

WHERE have I heard this premise before? Oh, right, EVERY HORROR-SCI-FI MOVIE EVER.

Update: Apparently, the robot is named SENTINEL. Duh duh DUH!

Opera of Khan *UPDATED*

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WHEN did this Robot Chicken episode air? How could I have possibly missed it?

Update: Original sauce. Hmm, seemed bigger on the site.

Action-Star Obama

(Well, more action-FIGURE Obama.)
Via

The originating site has taken the page down, but the dolls action figures can still be found here. On sale for 8,072円* right now, but the sword and gun accessories are not included. It's a damn shame. You know, now that I think about it, I would totally watch an Obama Action-Movie. It would be so random!

*Holy crap, the dollar has dropped that much against the yen?!

Tuesday's Groggy News

I was woken up by the sound of someone banging on my door. It was 10am.

I went to the door, and no one was there. I poked my head out and saw a UPS guy downstairs knocking on another door. A UPS guy? On Sunday? Odd.

"Hello?" I called, wondering if I had a package, and if so from whom? I hadn't ordered anything that I could remember.

He came up and told me the package was for my neighbor (ah, well) and asked me if I could take it until she got home from work. (Work? On Sunday? Odd)

I said sure, since hey, it's my day off and I'm going to be here all day anyway. Signed for it and he left.

Around this time I realized that it was TUESDAY*, and I have to leave for work myself.

Doh.

*Until last night, I had been up since Saturday. So...

Tuesday's Feeling Old News

There are people who were born in 1990 that are 18 now.

Japanese Beat Doll Revisited

OK, we all remember the Japanese Beat Doll video, yes? Click here to see it




Well, now there's TOFU
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Good News, Everone!

From Digg.

I almost never post Digg stuff here. If you want to see Digg stuff, go read Digg.

....But this was excellent. ^_^

Phoenix Watches a Lot of Commercials

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I like the idea, but am I the only one that thinks it's a bit long? And too many short clips of songs. I'd prefer fewer songs with more to them.

This is what happens when multinational corporations undertake expensive productions without checking with me first.

(Also, spoiler in thumbnail AGAIN. I really wish people would take the time to set their thumbnail properly [eg, earlier in the video])

How I Spent My Morning

I woke up too early this morning, and there was nothing on TV yet. So I started playing a computer game (S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - Shadow of Chernobyl).

And in the game, I fell down a hole.

Now, looking back, I think the fall was supposed to kill my character, but for some reason it didn't. But I was stuck at the bottom of the pit.

Now, this sucked, because I hadn't saved for like an hour. So I was going to have to replay that whole hour unless I figured out a way to get out of the hole. With MOST games, there is a noclip code that will allow you to walk through walls. I looked and looked online, no noclip code for this game.

Then I found a cheat that would put me 200 ft up in the air (which would get me out of the hole), but it didn't work for my version.

Bear in mind, this is the result of lots and LOTS of web searching and scouring. But no luck. I spent about TWO HOURS trying to get out of the hole. It would have been MUCH FASTER to go back and play from that last save.

Which I will still have to do because I'm STILL STUCK IN THE HOLE!

So that's how my morning went.

Cadbury Commercials

I saw this video just now:
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It's by the same people that did the Trucks** video and the Gorilla playing the drums* video; all three are commercials for Cadbury.

*Have you seen this remix?

**UPDATE: Also a "remix" (more of just a music swap) for Trucks***.

Both of these updated commercials have played officially on TV.

***UPDATE III: There's also apparently one with Final Countdown. Is there anyone who can hear that song now and not think of Arrested Development? There's even a stair-car!

I don't know why, but commercials with music just really do it for me. Like mini music videos. (Also, it helps that the Cadbury commercials are so completely random).

The people that made this have an interesting Myst-like site. What is the mystery word? How far can you jump? Why is Phoenix so very easily amused? The world may never know.

UPDATE II: Saw the following comment on the eyebrows commercial:

12. Troy - January 24, 2009 9:41 PM
Where the f*** did she get a baloon?! SOMETHINGS NOT RIGHT HERE.

Hard Drive Rules

Rule#1 - Always back up!
Rule#2 - Always back up! (This is a backup to Rule#1)

Goodbye, Google Services

Google is closing down some of its many services, including Google Video and Google Notebook.

Now, I use Notebook ALL THE TIME, so I panicked until I read that the service itself will continue to function (just development is shutting down).

Google Video is another disappointing closure, as it has been host to a number of longer-running documentaries and shows. Will YouTube be an adequate replacement? We'll see.

No word on another Google Service that I use DAILY, GrandCentral.

Amanda Has Not Seen Star Wars

Here's what she THINKS happens.
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Star Wars: Retold (by someone who hasn't seen it) from Joe Nicolosi on Vimeo.

Another Awesome Commercial

Now, you guys already know what kind of commercials I like... ^_^
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Tuesday's West Wing Post

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(OK, yes, no actual post. Also, spoiler in preview.)

I Miss Ze

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Bacon

One of my vegetarian friends sent me this video:
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Foreward Posting

So, perhaps everyone has spotted it by now, but I'm not necessarily posting the same day I write something. That is, I'm writing this on Wednesday. Is today Wednesday? No, it is not. (Well, YES, it is right now when I'm writing this, but it won't be by the time you read it)

When I have time to post, I used to post a bunch of stuff at once, and then nothing. The problem is that when there's TOO MUCH stuff, nobody reads it, and when there's nothing, there's nothing to read.

So, now I spread my posts out. My post on the 10th (about flight of the bumblebee) was written on the 3rd, I think. Originally I had planned for a bunch of other posts in between that were more important, but I didn't have time to write them up properly, so nothing got written. :-/

Anyway, it occurred to me today just how creepy it would be if something (science forbid) ever happened to me. For example, my birthday meme post has been written, but is scheduled for my birthday (in October). Now, if I *gulp* were to .... you know what? Let's just say I became a Luddite. So, no one would be expecting anything new on my blog, but every once in a long while... there would be a new post. Because I wrote it before .... becoming a Luddite.

So, there's that. Just... FYI and all.

Soy la _soy_.

I am soymilk. (Actually, yes, wouldn't it be estoy de leche de soja?) Anyway, this post is about soymilk.

Soymilk can replace regular milk in a lot of recipes.

Hamburger Helper is not one of them.

That is all.

You Shouldn't Use Dropbox

I signed up to the beta for Dropbox (a service that backs up and syncs all of your files in a certain folder over the Internet). Since I work on multiple computers, I thought it would be a handy tool.

And it WOULD BE, if the developers weren't so clueless.

For example, during installation in Windows, it will close ALL of your Explorer processes. Without warning.

I mean, I can understand that it has to close them to add itself. I get that. But the lack of warning is dumb (I lost a couple of deeply-nested folders this way).

But that's not the big one. The big one is when you set your Dropbox directory.

No matter what you specify, it will APPEND "My Dropbox" in Windows. Supposedly, this is to protect people from installing into their root directories (people are dumb), BUT it also won't allow you to install to ANY root directories, even on OTHER DRIVES/PARTITIONS. Which is to say, you can't even have F:/My Dropbox (also, appending a subdirectory with a *SPACE IN IT*?). So the best you could do would be F:/Dropbox/My Dropbox (which is a lot of header for the path of EVERY FILE in your Dropbox). It's dumb.

But even THAT'S not the REAL BIG ONE. The REAL big one is that it will append "Dropbox" in Linux! *NOT* "My Dropbox". So, if you dual-boot on your machine, you can't point both Dropbox directories to the same location! You're forced to sync EVERYTHING TWICE, in two different places, taking up twice the disk space. WAY DUMB.

The current official "solution" is to use an OLD version of Dropbox that isn't as retarded. Seriously, that's what they tell you to do. They've known about this problem since version 0.6.394 and now we're at 0.6.402 and it's STILL NOT FIXED (months have passed).

The Dropboxers just seem to have NO CLUE, which does not bode well for the tool. At this point in time, I have to recommend that people AVOID DROPBOX LIKE THE PLAGUE. It's definitely not ready for prime-time, and it is getting WORSE. I think I might have to close my account there, because it's getting to the point where I don't feel I can trust the people behind it (if they're THAT clueless).

It's enough to make me feel all RANTY RANT!

Your Fair Share

So, interesting bit of information (if it's true), there is about $140 trillion worth of combined assets on planet Earth. That's EVERYTHING.

Now, there are almost 6.8 Billion people on this planet (holy crap, remember when we hit 6 billion? Sure doesn't seem that long ago).

Anyway, $140 trillion divided by 6.8 billion people is roughly $20,000.00 per person.

So, if you have more* than $20k worth of assets (a car, a house, savings, belongings**, etc), then from a certain perspective, you technically have more than your "fair"*** share.

In case you were wondering. ^_^

*If you have less, of course, then you're not working hard enough.

**Hmm.... "belongings" or "possessions"? Different words, different connotations...

***Such an arbitrary value. To me, that's the opposite of fair.

Linux is Awesome

The above is true, and has been for a while, but I am always learning NEW WAYS in which Linux is Awesome.

For example, I'm currently installing Linux on my work computer. That is, THIS computer. I'm writing this in Linux WHILE LINUX IS INSTALLING.

Frankly, that's pretty fucking awesome.

Wednesday's Horrible News

Yes, yes, Joss Whedon said (again) recently that Dr. Horrible will be back. That's not the news.

The news is about the DVD.

It's only like $10*, and Commentary! The Musical! is worth the price of admission alone. I want MP3s of these songs (I've listened to the entire thing twice three times** already; they're just so random!). Lots of my kind of humor, and actual commentary stuff (like, did you know that Nathan Fillion was in Halo 3? Or how much the Horrible crew played Ninja Ropes Extreme? Nathan has the high score [119.7 yards])

There's also a separate ACTUAL commentary which is also interesting, plus making-of shorts and fan-made Evil League of Evil application videos.

It's been out on DVD for almost a month, so if you don't have your own copy by now, you're just an awful person. :-/ Why do you hate Joss? Is it because he always kills your favorite characters? Yeah, I hate that too, actually.***

*The price of a solo! (You'll get that joke later.)

**Dammit! Listened to it again accidentally while writing this post. :-/

***I am a leaf on the wind.

Tuesday's Missing Mug News

Hey Phoenix, why aren't you enjoying a nice hot cup of coffee?

I don't have my coffee mug.

Where's your coffee mug?

I don't know; it disappeared.

Did someone take it?

I don't know! Maybe? I looked everywhere.

Who would take a mug with your name on it from the community kitchen?

I DON'T KNOW!

I bet you're longing for some coffee though, am I right?

YES!

Thieves are awesome!

Tuesday's Changing-Weather News

Hey, Phoenix, enjoying the sunny weather?

GAAAAHHH!!

What's wrong? Does your hand hurt?

YAAAAAR!

Is it because your hand was broken and now it hurts whenever the weather changes even if it's a change for the better?

GAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHH!

This beautiful day must be like TORTURE for you!

JUST KILL ME NOW!

Sorry, first law of robotics! ^_^

Tuesday's Rockin' News

Hey Phoenix, I heard that your neighbors have Rock Band.

They sure do!

But, can you hear it through your apartment walls?

You bet I can!

Even at night when you're trying to sleep?

Mostly then, yes!

Sweet!

SUPER sweet!

Thundercats Live-Action Movie Trailer

Show/Hide

Yes, it's fan-made. But there are a brazillion fan-made trailers out there and they all suck, which is why this one is unique.

The Lyrics to Flight of the Bumblebee

Many many moons ago, I watched this video called Paramount Comedy Theater (Vol. 1: Well-Developed). It was an old VHS tape that my friend Sean had.

In addition to introducing me to the blue side of Danny Tanner, there was a guy who came out and sang Flight of the Bumblebee.

Bruce Mahler was that guy.

It was great. Actually, his whole act was great, but Bumblebee stood out.

Every once in a while, I hop on the ol' Internets and search for the complete lyrics, or an MP3 or video of his performance. Seriously, that song has stuck in my head lo these many years.

The Paramount Comedy Theater never came to DVD, and there's no place to buy the old VHS version. And it's not on the Internet ANYWHERE.

If anyone ever finds it, please let me know.

Sung

Classes have started again, joy.

Yesterday, I met someone new. He introduced himself as Sung (pronounced sahng), and spelled his name out. One of my classmates said "Oh, like the past tense of sing."

To which Sung, the non-native-English-speaker, replied "Past participle."

Boy howdy am I easily amused. ^_^

Claiborne Pell

It was with a heavy heart that I read about the passing of Claiborne Pell, who died last Thursday after a lengthy battle against Parkinson's disease, at age 90.

A Rhode Island Senator, Pell was the father of the Pell Grant, and for this I will always be grateful. It was the Pell Grant that allowed me to go to college, get a degree, and travel outside the U.S.

Thank you, Senator Pell, for broadening my (and many others') horizons.

All The Who-ha

Nobody probably cares but me, but for anyone watching the New-Who, the 11th doctor has finally been revealed as: Matt Smith

I don't know about you, but when I saw him my first reaction was "What is he, twelve?" A bit young looking for a 900+ year old man, but we'll have to wait (until 2010) and see.

[Although, I guess he has worked with Pipes before, so he was only ever two steps from DT anyway]

Post #567, the Glorious Return

Phoenix is back in Cheney! Hey, welcome back! How do you feel?

COLD!

Thanks, Phoenix!

Snowmageddon

Just got this e-mail from my boss:

Fellas,

Due to the absurd amount of snow (National Guard is in Cheney helping to get rid of it), campus will be closed on Monday 1/5. We're tentatively opening on Tuesday 1/6. Be sure to call the snow line at 359-SNOW or check out the emergency Web site @ http://www.ewu.edu/x4801.xml on Monday to see if we'll be opening Tuesday. Stay safe and see you next week sometime.

J

It's no secret that the Spokane area has gone snow-crazy. Saw this on the national news:

Spokane finished December with 61.5 inches of snow, far eclipsing the previous one-month record of 56.9 inches set in January 1950. Snowfall records in the area have been kept since 1893.

We've gotten more snow in one month than we usually get ALL WINTER.

And finally, if you haven't seen them already, Tycho* has had a couple of great snow-related posts as of late:

First:

Spokane has many faults, chief among them that it is the source of all human woe - a cleft in the wounded crust of the world that grants Satan and his twisted lieutenants easy access. But one thing you do learn there, other than the ability to create a tourniquet from your own intestines, is now to drive properly in the snow. We're snowed in here in Seattle, and not because you couldn't get around out there, but because driving in the snow with Seattle natives is like NASCAR in slow motion. It's not worth exposing yourself to those people, so you stay home. Even the sidewalks aren't safe.

Second:

What I said about the residents of Seattle vis a vis snow was true, but shortly after I said it we received the kind of snow that one might be genuinely skeered of, especially in a town that owns no snowplows. We drove to Spokane after our flight and all others were cancelled, and things are an order of magnitude worse here. The snow is so high that there's no other interpretation: some god (or fraternity of gods) is trying to erase this wicked land.

Happy Everwinter**, everyone.

*Tycho is great, and I am jealous of his way with words.

**Tycho again.

Happy New Year!

From The Doozies
Show/Hide


In an unrelated note, YouTube lets you choose the size of the embedded video now. Here is the interface:

If you're not colorblind, you won't see (haha!) the problem. Unfortunately, I AM colorblind, and all these look pretty much the same. I get it YouTube, you hate the colorblind. I get it. All the time. :'-(

Dreams (Geeky Comic)

Sadly, I really identify with this one. :-/

Merry Christmas!

A great Basic Instructions repeat, but the best part about it is the comments. A number of people complained that his wife looked too much like a lesbian (because of her short hair?), so in a subsequent comic, he replaced her with Portia de Rossi*, the gorgeous actress that has appeared in Ally McBeal and Arrested Development, and wife of Ellen DeGeneres.

*In looking for this link, I found nude pictures of Portia. Man I love the Internet!

The Fitness Direct Fiasco (Ch 4)

(Continued from Chapter Three)

Andy responded again:

Hi Phoenix,
My point was that we get our descriptions from the manufacturer's website, hence the mix of information on our website. This was a mixup on the listing, not an intentional effort to dupe you into buying something and shipping you another.

This is not the first time that Andy has blamed "the manufacturer".

Here's the problem with that: I did some searching, and FOUND the actual product that the fake description came from, the Multisports CC-755R. But... Multisports and Stamina are DIFFERENT MANUFACTURERS. The only common link they have in this mess is FITNESS DIRECT.

So, which manufacturer was it, Andy? Because there are TWO.

I have actually been out of the office with my family for the last 2 days and came back this morning to an inbox full of messages, one of which was Mark's message that you called.

That's all VERY RELEVANT. You've been out of the office with your family for the last 2 days? Oh, well then, forget the whole fraud thing you pulled on me.

I really had no idea about the error in information on the listing until after I sent you the email.

Even though you were specifically told to check the website first. Got it.

Once I discovered the error, I had my web guy get it corrected so we did'nt have more disappointed customer's like you.

It's GOOD that you took down the fake description, but you failed to inform me that you had discovered the error. (Notice how I resist mentioning the use of apostrophes? You have no idea how much willpower this is taking)

However, like I mentioned in the email, we have no problem bringing back the bike seeing the errors on the listing. I think you would agree that if we were purposely trying to mislead, we would'nt be so forthright in trying to correct the error. We have employees adding new products everyday, so unfortunately these things do happen.

Yes, claiming to have no idea why I was having a problem was very forthright. Blaming the "manufacturer" is very forthright. Blaming your employees is very forthright.

Oh, wait, what's the opposite of forthright again?

I definitely apologize for the error and the inconvenience, but I don't like to be accused of doing something illegal, when that was just not the case.

Deceit and Fraud are very clearly defined in California. Perhaps I should forward you the pages I found regarding this?

You can search the web and you will find nothing but positive comments about our company and that is something of which I take great pride.

Well, maybe this small blog post will get indexed some day, and then some future customer won't have to deal with this whole headache like I did. Speaking of which, iFitnessDirect and eFitnessDirect are the same company. Just so you know, Internet.

I'll issue the Fedex call-tag ASAP and confirm the pick-up with you. Typically, the box can just be left on your porch and they will bring the label and make the pick-up.

Regards,
Andy

I...what? The box? Apparently Andy has missed the part in my previous correspondence where I asked him to make arrangements to pick up the FULLY ASSEMBLED bike, as per my credit card company's instructions.

Anyway, this wasn't my actual response (I think I was more polite in the real e-mail, although I did request that Andy not be the one to contact me anymore), but this whole handling of the situation makes my blood boil.

Just OWN UP TO THE ERROR! Say "Hey, we fucked up! How can we make it right?" Don't feign ignorance. Don't blame the "manufacturer". Don't blame your employees. Don't blame spending time with your family. Don't ignore what I tell you. Andy has taken this small error and compounded it with deceit and incompetence. I'm beginning to believe that he is INCAPABLE of being honest.

To be continued...?

The Fitness Direct Fiasco (Ch 3)

(Continued from Chapter Two)

I then received an e-mail from Andy Grenz (the e-commerce manager), which stated (in full, direct copy-pasta):

Hi Phoenix,
Thanks again for your purchase. What are you finding to be different about the bike than the listing? YThis is a new product and I think the manufacturer has mixed up the details on a few of their models. They have this unit at $299, the 7200 at $399 and the 7300 at $499.

Just let me know if you would like to return the unit, let me know when you have it back in the box and I'll send Fedex out to get it.

Sorry for the mixup.
Regards,
Andy

What did I find to be different about the bike than the listing? Did he even CHECK the listing?

Andy helpfully included the e-mail to him from Mark Goodman (president, and I think the guy I spoke with on the phone):

From: Mark Goodman
Sent: Wednesday, December 10, 2008 12:34 PM
To: 'Andy Grenz'
Subject: Pls contact this guy ASAP
Importance: High

Stamina Fusion 7100 bike - problems....
He says it is different to what is described on website !!
Please double-check the website before you contact him.

How could he have checked the listing and not noticed what was wrong? I went back to the product page...

HE HAD CHANGED IT.

He removed the fake description and put in the real one (still with minor errors, I see). Then he pretended that nothing was wrong.

Can I borrow your phone? I need to call BULLSHIT.

I also needed to call my credit card company, which I did. I let them know everything that happened. Well, in order to do a chargeback, they normally need me to send the product back to the seller. HOWEVER, because the product is so large in this case (and not at all easily disassembled), and because the seller sold it to me under false pretenses, I only have to allow them to make arrangements to pick up the fully-assembled bike. I let Andy know all of this.

But now, it has gone from a simple mistake on a web page (which was still constructive fraud since they profited from their error), to a cover-up. Andy changed the web page and then pretended to be unable to find the error. Now, he *CLAIMS* that he wrote that e-mail to me BEFORE he saw the web page (despite being specifically told to look at the page FIRST), but if so, WHY DIDN'T HE TELL ME WHAT HE FOUND? If he found out later, and still failed to follow up with me, the effect is the same: suppression of the truth (aka, actual fraud).

That's right, Andy tried to fix his constructive fraud with ACTUAL FRAUD.

At this point, I feel obligated to report this to the appropriate authorities.

Continueto Chapter Four: The Excuses...

The Fitness Direct Fiasco (Ch 2)

(Continued from Chapter One)

It arrived a few days ago, and I excitedly set about assembling it. ^_^

You know that saying, about how, if something seems too good to be true, it probably is? Yeah.

The Stamina Magnetic Fusion 7100 is a piece of shit. A piece of poorly constructed shit that I could have gotten from Walmart for $100 less.

The ACTUAL features the bike came with didn't even remotely come close to the promised features on the web page.

Claim:	Fact:	True?
* Wireless and contact pulse rate	No Wireless	No
* Self-powered generator system	4 AA batteries	No
* Super smooth dual poly V-belt technology	Nope	No
* Extra large seat with high density contoured pads and lumbar support	Small seat, low density padding, not contoured, no lumbar support.	No
* Aluminum rail for precision and smoothness, 24 positions	9 positions.	No
* Side and front handlebars	TRUE!	Yes
* Self balancing pedals with wide, adjustable straps	Straps that snap on and don't come off.	No
* Front transport wheels	Single wheel.	No
* 350 lbs Maximum user weight	300 lbs, according to the manual.	No
* Workout Programs: Pre-Set Programs	TRUE!	Yes
* Accessibility: Walk Through Design	TRUE!	Yes
* Maximum User Weight: 350.00 lbs	Still 300 lbs, no matter how many times they say otherwise.	No
* Power Requirement: Self generated power	Take self to store, self purchase 4 AA batteries.	No
* Dimensions: 65" x 24" x 48"	Maybe?	Yes?
* Large LCD Window	Tiny LCD window	No
* Console Feedback: Time, Speed, Distance, Heart Rate, Calories, Watt, RPM	Yes for time, speed, distance, heart rate, calories. NO for watt, RPM.	No
* Programming: Manual, 12 Pre-Set Programs, Target Program Setting: Time, Distance, or Calories, Target HR Program, 16 levels of Resistance	SIX (6!) pre-set programs. No target programs for time, distance, or calories. NO TARGET HR PROGRAM. 8 levels of resistance.	No
* Frame: 10 Years	Frame: 5 Years	No
* Parts: 1 Year	Parts: 90 days!	No

It was still during Fitness Direct's posted business hours, so I called them right up, but there was no answer.

I called again the following day, and when I did finally get through, the man I spoke to wouldn't talk about the bike at all, but he did take down my contact information and promised that someone would get hold of me soon.

Continue to Chapter Three: The Response...

The Fitness Direct Fiasco (Ch 1)

The term is over, and now I have free time to post again. ^_^

I've been wanting a recumbent exercise bike since I moved into my new apartment (I don't live within walking distance of the gym anymore). They are quite pricey, however, especially if you want any special features.

The killer feature I wanted was a target-heart-rate setting. That's pretty much the only setting I use on the bikes at the gym anyway. But, the lower-price bikes don't seem to have it, even if they have heart-rate monitors.

So, I couldn't find one locally in my budget range. I had looked into buying one online, but the shipping costs were a deal breaker.

Then I found iFitnessDirect. Free shipping to anywhere in the US? I'm sold! (Also based in a different state so no taxes [at time of purchase], and they had a discount code that knocked another $15 off)

On their site, I found the Stamina Magnetic Fusion 7100. The features list was incredible!

FEATURES:

• Wireless and contact pulse rate
• Self-powered generator system
• Super smooth dual poly V-belt technology
• Extra large seat with high density contoured pads and lumbar support
• Aluminum rail for precision and smoothness, 24 positions
• Side and front handlebars
• Self balancing pedals with wide, adjustable straps
• Front transport wheels
• 350 lbs Maximum user weight
• Workout Programs: Pre-Set Programs
• Accessibility: Walk Through Design
• Maximum User Weight: 350.00 lbs
• Power Requirement: Self generated power
• Dimensions: 65" x 24" x 48"

Console:

• Large LCD Window
• Console Feedback: Time, Speed, Distance, Heart Rate, Calories, Watt, RPM
• Programming: Manual, 12 Pre-Set Programs, Target Program Setting: Time, Distance, or Calories, Target HR Program, 16 levels of Resistance

WARRANTY:

• Frame: 10 Years
• Parts: 1 Year

All for under $300! I placed my order.

Continue to Chapter Two: The Bike Arrives...

I Hate Computers

So I had downloaded a rather large iso file I need for the project that is due today in (looks at clock) less than 8 hours. 8 hours? F#(%.

The reason I needed to reboot (in the previous post) was because I was having some difficulties with Daemon Tools. It took several reboots and several tool downloads (and several hours, since that post was three hours ago), and eventually I just scrapped it in favor of the free MagicDisk from MagicISO. Reboot, reboot, reboot...

Finally, it was up and running, and it was at THIS point that I discovered that the corrupted Daemon Tools installation had WIPED OUT THE ISO. Just wrote over it. It's gone. 3.3GB that I get to download AGAIN.

3.3GB!

So angry right now...

Download will take another two hours. Which will leave me with just 6 hours to get it installed and make the things I need for the project. Awesome.

...and THAT is why you don't put things off until the last minute. (Also, don't use Daemon Tools)

Shooting My Canon

I've been wanting an HV30 camcorder for a while now, and even ordered it at one point. Unfortunately for me, I ordered it through a bait-and-switch company, so I didn't get it.

Well, recently a "Cyber Monday" deal brought the price down to $550. Cheap! Even the bait-and-switch price had been higher than that. Plus a Live Search cashback offer would give me back another 2%. And no taxes. And free shipping.

Additionally, I had recently discovered some things about my credit cards. For example, my MasterCards added extended warranties to my purchases automatically (Visa requires you to register your purchases with them, and only if your service agency covers it). So it would double the 1-year warranty on the HV30 at no cost to me. ALSO one of my MasterCards has a 6% interest. 6%! (Not that I often carry a balance, but still) [This is my new primary card.]

It was time to buy.

In addition to the HV30, I added a Canon DM-50 directional microphone and a Modo Steady 585 camera support, all at B&H Photo-Video, all with 2% cashback.

The only thing left to do was log in to my credit card site, make sure all of my information was up to date, and link it to my checking account (I don't like to make purchases unless I know for sure how it's going to be paid for). Ideally, there will also be an auto-pay option that I can set up so I never ever miss a payment.

Let's see, click login, put in my info, hit enter...

System Unavailable

The system is currently unavailable. Please contact customer service.

Huh. That's weird. Try again....

System Unavailable

The system is currently unavailable. Please contact customer service.

Hmm. :-( That's not good. I want to buy this camera (who knows how long this deal will last?) but I won't do it until I link my credit card account with my bank account. I can't.

So, I wait a few hours and try again and

System Unavailable

The system is currently unavailable. Please contact customer service.

Grr. A few hours later, the same thing. Late into the evening/early morning, the same thing.

Frustrated, I go to bed.

When I awoke, I immediately panicked. Was the sale over? Rushing to the computer I found, no, it was still the same price. Hey, maybe this is just the new price? It is December, after all. The new HV model should drop next month, with even BETTER features (but a higher price tag). And they're probably clearing out stock before the end of the fiscal year. I relaxed, logged in to my credit account and

System Unavailable

The system is currently unavailable. Please contact customer service.

DAMMIT! Why is this happening? I can't link my credit card to my checking accout via customer service.

So I forget about it and go back to work. It's final-projects week (I'm waiting for a download to finish so I can reboot, which is why I'm writing this instead of working on that right now). Many hours later, I needed to wait for a download to finish so I could reboot (hey!) and with nothing else to do, I tried (again) to log in to my credit card account and HEY! IT WORKED! Hooray!

Time to checkout!

Oh, it's after midnight and the sale is over. The HV30 went up $40.

And there is no auto-pay.

:-(

Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal REVISITED

Hey, remember when I said "If you have a webcomic, please, put Oh No Robot in your template"? Well, you should since it was only a few days ago!

Well, he DID. (Below the comic, the Dec. 2nd news)

It's like I'm some sort of god...

A Warning RE: Emergency Credit Cards

If you're like me, you have an emergency, last-resort, not-for-use credit card reserved in case you really, really need it. Right?

Maybe not.

I just found out that my emergency, last-resort, not-for-use credit card account was closed. For inactivity.

No notification. No warning. Apparently, they're sending me notification as we speak, but I found out when I logged in to my attached bank account.

So, my total credit line is now ~$10,000 shorter than it was before (though, this could explain why my credit score went back up to 800 recently).

Anyway, the point is, if you DO have an emergency, last-resort, not-for-use credit card, you better actually use it every now and again.

UPDATE(s):

I'm going through my credit cards and updating the addresses to my new apartment. I'm discovering even MORE closed accounts.

Credit line is now ~$12,000 shorter.
Credit line is now ~$20,000 shorter.
Credit line is now ~$23,000 shorter.
Credit line is now ~$??? shorter - I found two more closed accounts, but their customer service isn't open 24/7, so I have to wait until morning to find out what their credit limits were. I will also likely close another account (only $500 limit @ 21.19%! For comparison, my daily-use card is @ 6.09%).

On a related note, that previous trick for making free calls has been *VERY* useful. I can't call out from my home phone (not even 800 numbers), but I can receive calls... ^_^ There's no way I could have afforded paying for all these calls with my cell.