It's just a little smashy, it's still good, it's still good!

This weekend, coming home from my parents for Christmas, I was involved in a little smash-up.  Roads were a little wet, traffic was tight and rather slow moving, and I was travelling down a slight decline just north-east of the Palisades Mall in New York on 287.  Abruptly (as most accidents seem to happen) everyone decided it’d be fun to stop as fast as possible.  I slammed on my brakes and slid my Nissan Altima into a Mazda 626.  Apparently I wasn’t the only one surprised, however, as there were 3 other identical accidents around me.

Mmmmm... Crash-tastic!

Shaken, but still in one piece, the other driver and I pulled to the side, as did the other unfortunate people.  We got out, made sure everyone was ok, and assessed the damage.  Her car may have added a scratch to it’s already impressive collection, but mine was a little worse for wear.  As it was my fault, she said it’s up to me if we want to get the insurance companies involved, but right as that question arose, a very friendly police officer rode up and asked for our paperwork.  He was probably sent to the scene because one of the other accident groups were screaming all irate-like and most likely reported all the accidents in the vicinity to 911.

This was the nicest, most helpful police officer I’ve ever seen in one of these situations.  He made sure we were ok, asked for our paperwork, and in about 5 min, presented us with a printout detailing each others information and sent us on our way.  I expected an impatient, slightly-condescending cop to hand me a ticket for some reason, but not this time.  This made the experience a little less aggravating.

So, hats off to the Tarrytown Police K9 unit!

Anyway, being in situations like this really makes you think…  After driving for almost 10 years or so without an accident (just a slight fender bender about a year after I got my license) it really makes you second-guess those “well, I’ll just send them a text message while I’m going 80mph” or “sure, I can eat this taco while driving..”  I was concentrating on driving because of the traffic and the road conditions and I got into an accident that may actually end with my car being totaled (it’s not really worth fixing a ‘99 Altima if there’s anything other than cosmetic damage).

Also, so far, I’m happy with Geico.  They’ve been very helpful and I’m only responsible for my deductable (as expected).  But I’ll be sure to post if anything of note happens.

C:\Users\<yourusername>\AppData\Roaming\Red Alert 3\Maps

The AppData folder may be hidden, so you’ll have to go unhide it first.

Click the images to see the FAIL in all its full-size glory.

Yes. That is what you think it is. Apparently when you rent a place that has a claw-foot bathtub, you can’t have separate hot and cold knobs. So the landlord sent in a “handyman” to “bring it up to code” (quotes entirely necessary). So, obviously, installing a new faucet with copper pipes outside the wall and the fixtures installed through the shower curtain is up to code…

The only word for this is: FAIL

Only nerdy guys use torrents.. These are the top 3 books downloaded.

(from a well known, and slightly evil, torrent site… who shall remain nameless)

After reading the continuing saga of my friend over at geochurn.com having business accounts opened under his name, I’ve been looking into measures of my own. Since I’m a regular XM Comedy listener, I constantly hear the commercial for LifeLock, so I fired up the ol’ web browser and did some 21st century research.

What they do is nothing super-human. They place fraud flags on your credit accounts and remove your name from junk mail lists and pre-approved credit offers. They do offer services to replace stolen/lost wallets and advisory services for legal help and a $1m insurance policy if, for some reason, your identity is still stolen. But is it worth $10/month? If they cut down on junk mail, I would say yes, again for both the earth-loving reason and the time-saving reason.

But the story takes a slight right at that point. I found this article from the Phoenix New Times. Quick summary: one of the creators of the company formed the idea while in jail under a warrant for a non-paid marker he said was taken out under his stolen identity. But, reading on, you find that now they’re investigating if he actually did take out that marker AND if he stole his father’s identity to open an American Express card…

So, not to get into the argument of right and wrong, the question is, can a viable company providing a useful service come out of a seemingly underhanded person? This guy, Maynard, isn’t the CEO, Todd Davis is. The company seems to hold security in high regard, as per the description of their offices in the article. But what’s to keep this guy, if he is the slimey thief he swears he isn’t, from grabbing a hard drive full of logins, SS#s and credit information and running for the hills?

Then I find out that because of that Phoenix New Times article, Maynard has resgined from the company, but is starting a marketing company and will do contract work for LifeLock. So maybe there was some truth behind thief-tales, but resigning doesn’t help make LifeLock look any better.

If you’re not confused enough, read the comments below that Phoenix New Times article, then remember that anyone can post a comment. Some of those might be from competing companies… Some from people at LifeLock… Some real-life horror stories….

Thanks internet. With all your answers, now I’m more informed, and a lot more confused.

Then there’s the more self-help approach. There is new legislation (well, relatively new) allowing the consumer to put a freeze on their credit account. No inquiries can be made without temporarily lifting this freeze, but the catch is a $10 per-action fee ($10 to place the freeze, $10 to temporarily lift it). That seems to me to be a little better than LifeLock. No middle man who can get his database stolen, no crazy vegas crook backing the idea… Although, no cut down on junk mail either…

So, I haven’t come to a conclusion yet, but I’m now a little more informed. I’ll post more findings as they arise.

Super Mario Bros. Extra Lives on World 3
[From Cheats Addict]

At the end of the third world you will see two turtles coming down. Let the first turtle go then jump lightly on the second turtle so that it is standing still on the steps (this will take practice.)Jump on the turtle again, if you do this right it will keep bouncing into the other turtle and give you points.
After a while it will give you free men. Get as many as you wish, but be careful not to get more than 100 men because if you do when you die the game is over.

That’s impossible! After playing the game for a while, you’re careful not to do something like that because you might die. Can anyone do this? Or find a youtube video of it?

I wish I could do it though… That’s definitely going to be my goal over the next few weeks, especially since I’m stuck in Guitar Hero 3 on Metallica – One on hard and Disturbed -Stricken on Expert (the end of the solo kicks my ass right off stage every time).

Holy crap holy crap…

Step 1: Complete this form
Step 2: Send in your Guitar Hero 3 disc.
Step 3: Allow 3 to 4 weeks for your replacement to arrive.

ARE YOU SERIOUS?

Regardless of the fact that it’s just a game, I paid for it, and I shouldn’t have to wait 4 weeks. They’re doing this all wrong. I’m really glad that they’re owning up to their mistake and giving me a free replacement. But this should be done like any other RMA for a non-working product: I register, put in my credit card, they send me a replacement with an RMA envelope, and I send back the damaged hardware. Then, if I don’t send back my copy, they pay for the new copy with my credit card. I get my replacement promptly, they get their property back, and everyone’s happy.

Seriously, Activision, I’m definitely not happy with you right now.  First, GH3 has an audio problem, then Tony Hawk: Proving Grounds for Wii sucks, now this shitty replacement policy.

Thankfully, however, my fiancee grabbed it on the way out of my car, because her car had actually been broken into last August for the same reason.

What’s interesting is this: nothing else was stolen. One would think, if you’re going to smash a passenger-side window, you’re going to make it worth your while. When my fiance’s car was broken into in August, they stole the mount stuck to the windshield which cost about $50 to replace. But nothing was missing. They smashed each passenger-side window, opened the glove box and the console, then left. They simply moved aside the $100 radar detector, the removable faceplate of the Pioneer aftermarket stereo, and the EZ-Pass in my car and the external XM radio, Prada sunglasses (fake, but branded as such) and radar detector in her car. Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful they were picky, but still, what is the point?

The XM radio and EZ Pass are easy to explain: they require subscription. Once the accounts are suspended, the units are relatively worthless. I don’t understand why someone wouldn’t take something pocket-sized as a radar detector other than ignorance.

So, I just ask myself how this can be prevented. Obviously repairing the morals of society is out of the question. Respect of other’s property and sense of security has gone the way of black-and-white television. I guess the only way would be to make navigation register with a company such as cell phones and XM radio so they can be deactivated rendering them worthless.

I guess I just don’t understand the schoolyard “mine!” mentality. But now I’m out about $200 and a half day’s time trying to make my car secure again.

As the saying goes… at least no one was hurt.

Interesting statistics on the topic: Game Player Data

The average age of one who plays video games: 33 years old. Now, this is one source, but seriously, 33 years old.  So I guess the answer would be, no, I’m not too old for video games.

I was born in 1982. The Nintendo Entertainment System was released to the US in late 1985. I’m not sure, but I think my family got a Nintendo for Christmas in 1988. That means for more than 80% of my life I’ve been wanting, begging for, playing, cursing, living and breathing video games. I would consider the NES to be the first true, in-home, engrossing video game system. Before that, things like Intellivision and the Atari 2600 were basically arcade games with no continuity (meaning start game, get to level 3, die, start over). The NES was the one of the relatively affordable systems that, such as The Legend of Zelda, held your spot so you could progress through to different areas (note: I was a Nintendo guy, sorry Genesis fans). The list of games obviously goes on endlessly from there… Zelda, Mario, Metroid, Dragon Warrior, Final Fantasy, Ultima, Secret of Mana (one of my favorites)…

For me, after NES was the SNES, then N64, then Gamecube, now the Wii. Goldeneye for N64 came out in my junior/senior year of high school which lead to much unfinished homework. Not only was my life consumed by console games, but there’ve been a myriad of computer games (I’m a big Blizzard fan: Warcraft I, II, III, World of Warcraft, Starcraft, Diablo, Diablo II.. can’t wait for Starcraft II). So how am I supposed to grow out of this “phase”? I can’t even think of a metaphor for this. Toy trains, Lincoln Logs, Legos… Nothing has the breadth of ages involved as video games currently do. They’ve progressed from simple blocks to 3d worlds and their topics from pre-school training to Animal Crossing to Bioshock to, well, Grand Theft Auto.

I guess for people who missed the video game generation, it may seem childish. Children have been the focus because it was shoved in front of them, much as VHS tapes were, as a sort of digital babysitter. I, never much a movie fan myself, would much rather play video games because video games have become on par with plot lines for Hollywood blockbusters, except I can at least experience, if not influence the outcome.

In my days of World of Warcraft, there were people ranging from those working on their 6th grade math to those who had to stop playing to pick their grandkids up from school. I feel sorry for those tragic stories of people who lacked the self control to stop playing and lost their jobs. But for the average couple who would put their kids to bed and play for a few hours, it’s not like they had no social life… Most of the same people would rot in front of the TV at that time, being fed ads about Lipozene and McDonalds (ironic pair usually found near each other) they can socialize with people down the street or around the globe.

So, screw you and your limited age range for video games. As seen in previous articles, I’m almost through Mario Galaxy, I still play Guitar Hero, I plan on buying Metroid Prime 3, and I will own Starcraft 2 when they finally feel like finishing that up. I just hope they make an arthritis-friendly controller when I’m 80 and trying to beat Mario Universe.

• I plan on not writing on it.
• If i’m lying about writing on it, and it happens, I definitely plan on not posting anything useful or making sense whatsoever.
• I will most likely be influenced by alcohol and would require any information divulged be disregarded…. Trust me.
• I plan on replacing the istockphoto.com comp photo in the header. This means that this, too, will most likely never get done. I hope they don’t get mad at me.

So… That’s it. Check back often to see the lack of attention i give the site. I mean that…