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February 28, 2006
Trivial Tuesday #8
1. Random House is being sued by two writers claiming their book, "The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail," formed the basis of Dan Brown's 2003 hit novel "The Da Vinci Code," possibly disturbing the cinematic May release of the "The Da Vinci Code" in theaters. By whom was "The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail" published?
2. George Michael was arrested (again, although for a different reason) over the weekend for suspicion of drug possession after being spotted sleeping in his car. Before going solo, with which band was he the frontman? (Bonus: Who else was in the band?)
3. There is a lot of controversy over a United Arab Emirates-based company's possible takeover of some U.S. port operations. Which ports are part of the deal?
4. Microsoft seems to be learning from Apple's cryptic pre-announcement advertising with Origami. How many times can you fold a piece of paper in half?
5. The Olympics ended this past weekend. I watched more curling than anything else. What's the maximum amount of points a team can score in one end?
6. 4 S on a V (or a V)
Posted by mhader at 8:49 PM | Comments (1)
February 27, 2006
Ruh-Roh
I nearly forgot to write an entry! Which means this will be a quick one because I only have a few minutes to publish before Tuesday. The weekend was good. I went out to eat and catch the Have-Nots with a friend. Other than that, I've been wasting my time with another new [to me] PS2 game (which hasn't been giving me problems with this disc). The game is Bloodrayne 2..which is a vampiresque game that sounds about as gory as it is. It is definitely rated M for a reason. It took some time to get used to the controls, ughh, how I cannot stand getting used to new game controls. That's probably part of the reason I like the SSX series so much. The controls for all four games are mostly the same with a few additions as the series continues. I'm not in to memorizing trick moves mortal kombat style...
Posted by mhader at 11:48 PM
February 24, 2006
Picture Friday
Posted by mhader at 3:00 PM | Comments (1)
February 23, 2006
29 D in F in a L Y
I've been attempting to answer the 'questions' on this random [not really an] 'Intelligence Test' site. I remember seeing it quite a while ago and I did not give it much attention then (so it is probably old news). I stumbled across it again today and it was able to keep me entertained for 30 minutes or so, so I though I'd share. I got about 18 or 19 by myself. My mother helped with a couple more. Here's the one's I haven't figured out yet (check out the link above to figure out how it works):
5 T on a F
90 D in a R A
3 B M (S H T R)
15 P in a R T
11 P in a F (S) T
8 T on an O
13 L in a B D
23 P of C in the H B
64 S on a C B
9 P in S A
6 B to an O in C
15 M on a D M C
I've got some thoughts on some of them, but not enough to solve them. If you can figure any of them out (or need help with one), please post here.
Posted by mhader at 9:06 PM | Comments (13)
February 22, 2006
Backside 720 To Late Indy Air
I went to the local closing TRU yesterday and picked up "SSX: On Tour" for the PS2 at a nice discount. It took five or so minutes for my PS2 to decide that the object in the disk tray was actually a game. If anyone wants to give me a better working PS2 I'd be glad to take it. The game is quite different from the previous three. Honestly I think EA should have probably quit after Tricky because it was simply awesome and has been going downhill (ha ha) since.
I haven't played it much, but here are my observations thus far..
The game seems much more fast paced than the others. Except for the autosave feature it's rather quick between courses. It looks as if you are boarding (or skiing) faster due to some camera tricks and blurring of the edges.
Things I like: Ski patrol challenges where you have to escape the ski patrol, innocent bystanders (that you can knockdown and vice versa) on the courses (which includes people in inner tubes), Skis!, the soundtrack (although it seems very repetitive), all new courses.
Things I don't like: Limited/random options of courses to choose from in the 'Tour' mode, the fact that you can't choose to play veterans in the 'Tour' mode, challenges are either really easy, or really hard and you can't just skip them.
Everyone did a good job at the Trivial Tuesday questions this week. Give yourself a hand :)
1. French Actress, Eva Green
2. William Bruce Rose, Jr.
3. April 12, 1861. None died during the bombardment. Two died after the surrender while the Union Troops were performing a 100 gun salute (which ended up only being 50)
4. 1993 for Windows. (1991 for DOS)
5. Beijing, China in 2008 -- Canada's Vancouver will host the 2010 games
Posted by mhader at 10:10 PM
February 21, 2006
Trivial Tuesday #7
week 7:
1. The long search for the latest Bond Girl is now over. Who was chosen?
2. Three new, studio quality Guns N'Roses tracks were recently leaked to the internet. What is frontman Axl Rose's birth name?
3. This is only recent for those who went to Fort Sumter this weekend. What day did General Beauregard order his men to fire on the Union held Fort Sumter and how many men were killed during this attack?
4. Beginning March 9, AOL will charge the same fee for both their broadband and dial-up services. When did America Online begin it's service for windows users?
5. The Olympics in Turin, Italy have only a few days left. Where are the Summer Games in two years, and the Winter in four?
Posted by mhader at 9:31 PM | Comments (8)
February 20, 2006
February B.E.W.B. Wrap-up
The weekend started early when Ben arrived on Thursday afternoon. Friday [and early early Saturday morning] Kira, Aly, Jonathan, and Susan all arrived for the festivities. Friday turned out to be a later night than usual and Saturday morning came quickly. Saturday consisted of the Kicken Chicken for a long lunch, a walk through the aquarium, Ichiban for dinner, and Trivial Pursuit (with chocolate cake and 'bombs). Sunday I made my weekly trip to the aquarium not long after going to bed. Then Jonathan, Susan, and I headed out to Fort Sumter, walked the bridge, and ate at the Noisy Oyster on East Bay. I actually took my camera Sunday, so expect a possibly historic Picture Friday.
Posted by mhader at 6:20 PM | Comments (3)
February 17, 2006
Picture Friday
I need to dust off my camera. I'm going back to 2001 for this hard to believe they are sitting that close together picture.
Posted by mhader at 10:23 PM
February 16, 2006
Ho Hum Thursday
The day is nearly over and I haven't written yet! Ben's in town so we've been catching up. Thanks to all of you that have emailed, IM'd and commented today!
Posted by mhader at 11:51 PM
February 15, 2006
Let Me Hear It For the C64!
The answers to yesterdays trivia follows, including my long winded answer to #4 about my first computer.
1. It was the recently re-elected president Tarja Halonen of Finland. Bonus Answer: The Office (NBC Thursdays @ 9:30)
2. Eight Grammy Award's were won by Michael Jackson in 1983 and Santana in 2000.
3. VP Aaron Burr fataly shot Alexander Hamilton on July 11, 1804 in Weehawken, New Jersey.
4. If I recall correctly, the first computer in the house was the Commodore 64. It's still in the attic above the garage..5 1/4 floppy drive and all. I'm curious if it still works. I used it for some basic BASIC (I think this is where my frustration with programming started) and games. My favorites being 'Q*Bert' and 'Mail Order Monsters'. We had another great game called 'Tooth Invaders' where you had to clean the plaque off of teeth before they all fell out. From there I think we had a 386. The first computer that I had full reign over was a 486DX2. I don't remember much about the computer except that I bought a $300 or $400 (I tried to repress the memory of the price so I can't remember which $100 mark it was) 2GB Maxtor hard drive that took me forever and a day to install. That was where my computer upgrading/building began.
5. Chad Hedrick in the Men's 5000m Speed Skating Event
Posted by mhader at 8:41 PM | Comments (3)
February 14, 2006
Trivial Tuesday #6
Week 6:
1. Conan O'Brien has been endorsing the re-election of the President of which country due to a resemblance the two share? Bonus Question: Which Television show did Conan recently (in the last 7 days) make a cameo appearance?
2. The 48th annual Grammy Awards were held last week. What is the most Grammy's any artist has won in one night, and who did it?
3. On Saturday Dick Cheney shot a 78 year old hunting partner while Quail hunting. When, where, and who were the last two involved in a Vice Presidential shooting?
4. I've seen several articles asking what your first computer was. So, what was your first?
5. The 2006 Winter Olympics are underway in Torino. Who won the first Gold Medal for the US?
Posted by mhader at 3:24 PM | Comments (3)
February 13, 2006
Flip Me
Last night I stumbled across a show called "Flip My House" on A&E. I don't know anything about the show, but last night's episode was a "College Special" where they flipped some condo's in a little town called Clemson. The condos are on Charleston Ave, off of Old Central Rd. They had lots of clips on campus, including the Texas A&M season opener in Death Valley. It was nice to see Clemson on TV, but I can't say I'm proud of everything that aired..
In other news, I got my futon Friday. I drained the waterbed and set it up Saturday morning. It is very nice and quite comfortable--I think the cat agrees. For the first time in a long time there is actually some space in my room. Now I just need to move my desk so I can put the door back on my closet..
Posted by mhader at 8:38 PM | Comments (2)
February 10, 2006
Picture Friday
Posted by mhader at 6:23 PM | Comments (2)
February 9, 2006
Only Seven Days
You better get shopping!
The rest of this entry is about coding, so the non [MT] tech people may not want to read this. I changed my RSS feeds just a bit from Ben's comment addon. I emailed the others who use MT, but to make this public record I'm posting it here.
I am using an IF statement to only show the number of comments in the RSS feed. MT code does not appear to natively support IF statements so I had to get a plugin from here:
http://www.staggernation.com/mtplugins/Compare/
Go there, download the plugin code 'compare.pl' and put it in your plugin directory for MT. Next just use the following in the three feed templates:
<MTIfGreater a="[MTEntryCommentCount]" b="0" numeric="1"> (<$MTEntryCommentCount$>)</MTIfGreater>
Save and rebuild...
Sorry for the slack entry..It's late and I'm tired.
Posted by mhader at 11:20 PM | Comments (4)
February 8, 2006
WoW it's Wednesday
Has anyone reading this played, or considered playing, World of Warcraft? I keep hearing about how awesome it is but I'm afraid to try it out because I know how easily addicted I am to such games. I miss my FFXI and from the sounds of it this is much better. I'm curious if it's similar to FFXI in that once you get to higher levels it becomes impossible to play by yourself. I got irritated with FFXI because I got to the point where I would play for several hours and get nowhere in the game due to not being able to form a party. The good thing was that your character could change jobs whenever you wanted so you could play a lower level character at will. Something I am fairly certain you cannot do in WoW.
Trivial Answers #5:
1. Lydon B. Johnson signed the The Public Broadcasting Act of 1967
2. Released in 1968, his first album was self titled, James Taylor.
3. The capital, Stockholm. (Bonus answer: Swedish krona)
4. It was Russian Orlan-M 14 (1280014) which arrived at the ISS on September 16, 2001 and served a total of 20 hours and 44 minutes.
5. Minnesota Vikings (1975 - IX), Dallas Cowboys (1976 - X), Dallas Cowboys (1979 - XIII), Los Angeles Rams (1980 - XIV) (Bonus answer: 3 teams have 5 wins. San Francisco 49ers, Dallas Cowboys, Pittsburgh Steelers)
Posted by mhader at 9:59 PM | Comments (3)
February 7, 2006
Trivial Tuesday #5
week 5:
1. On Monday President Bush proposed cutting the funds to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (which helps fund PBS & NPR) by more than $150 million over the next couple years. Which president signed the Public Broadcasting Act creating the Corporation?
2. Last night, James Taylor was awarded the 2006 MusiCares Person of the Year. What was his debut album?
3. Sweden plans to be oil independent by 2020. What is the largest city in Sweden? (Bonus question: What is the currency used by this EU member?)
4. A spacesuit was released from the International Space Station Friday in order to dispose of it. What is the name of the space suit?
5. In case you hadn't heard, The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl this weekend. What four other teams have fallen to the Steelers in the history of the Super Bowl? (Bonus Question: Which team has the most Super Bowl titles?)
Posted by mhader at 3:10 PM | Comments (4)
February 6, 2006
Demo 102
I spent most of the day Saturday in the bathroom. It was not a good day. For the bathroom. In fact so bad that it no longer has a toilet, sink, tub, or a large chunk of floor. My mother and I helped some friends demo this roughly 40 year old bathroom. It was quite fun getting to whack ceramic tile with a hammer and cut up cabinets with a sawzall. The less fun part was falling through the floor--although it gives me something to write about :).
Parts of the floor were a bit water damaged. It's a good thing the tub was there to catch me (not that it's too far a fall-just ask my mom-as there is dirt only a few feet below). The second time I realized the floor was going out on me so I was able to get on a floor joist before the floor caved in. It would have been better if there was no floor and only joists. At least then you would have had a better idea of where you could stand. Once we got the tub out we were able to put down some plywood to cover the holes.
Getting the tub out was probably the worst part of the demo--it weighed a ton! We tried cutting it in half, knowing full well we couldn't--it took 30 seconds to go a half inch. We managed, using brute force while watching where we stepped, to get it up on a dolly and out to the road. It was a very good thing that house is a single story and only a few feet above ground.
Time for bed so I can rest up and make up some trivia questions. Hopefully I'll have a decent connection in the morning.
Posted by mhader at 10:35 PM
February 3, 2006
Picture Friday
I found this a long time ago..not sure of the source.
Posted by mhader at 6:56 PM
February 2, 2006
Happy Groundhog Day!
The best holiday ever! Mostly just because it marks the beginning (ok 2nd day of) the best month of the year! Why is it such a good month? Maybe it's because it's American Heart Month, Age-Related Macular Degeneration Month, Marfan Syndrome Awareness Month, National Fiber Focus Month, National Snack Food Month, National Wild Bird Feeding Month, Responsible Pet Owner Month, Campaign For Healthier Babies Month, Co-op Awareness Month, Family History Month, National Dessert Month, National Kitchen and Bath Month, Spinal Health Month, Sleep Safety Month, Worldwide Innovation Month, Return Shopping Carts to the Supermarket Month, Black History Month, National Dental Hygiene Month, National Orthodontic Health Month, and it hosts an occasional extra day, National Engineers Week, National School Counseling Week, National Future Homemakers of America Hero Week, National Boy Scouts of America Anniversary Week, National Condom Week,
Weatherperson's Day, Read To Your Child Day, Race Relations Day, National Have a Heart Day, Student Volunteer Day, Floral Design Day, World Marriage Day, Clean Out Your Computer Day, Get a Different Name Day, National Hangover Awareness Day, Spay Day USA, Valentine's Day, Washington's Birthday, Lincoln's Birthday, Martin Luther King, Jr's Birthday, Mardi Gras, and let's not forget the wellsellanything.com holidays of Tuesday, Create New Foods Day, "A" Day, Make Up An Alter-ego And Act It Out All Day Day, Introduce Yourself To As Many People As You Can Day, Dave's Good Idea Day, Embody Your Favorite Psychological Disorder Day, Construct A Giant Playset For Your Toys Day, Kick Ryan Day, Toy Day, Cartoon Day, Brain Day, Have Fun With Electricity Day, Wiffleball Grenade Day, Start A Romantic Encounter With A Complete Stranger Day, Try New Foods Day, Over-acting Day, Dress Like A Superhero Day, Beans And Franks Day, Meat Day, Chocolate Day, Adrenal Gland Day, Muffin Day, Leave Me Alone Day, Walk On Your Hands Day, That Day, +3 Day, Invent Something Day, Leap Day, and of course, most importantly, Michael's Birthday.
I really need another tuner card. Does somebody want to buy me one? Tonight Amanda Congdon from Rocketboom is on CSI which is up against the Earl and Office hour. Last night had three shows on at 9 then I normally watch. Luckily Lost was a repeat so I watched Veronica Mars instead. Bones is now dead to me. It was worth watching when it didn't compete with anything, but to put it up against two WAY better shows marks it's death.
Posted by mhader at 7:41 PM | Comments (1)
February 1, 2006
Quick and Easy?
I was going to rant this evening about something that bothered me yesterday, but I've had too much time to chill out. Instead I'm just going to randomly time some meaningless words followed by the answers to yesterday's trivia question.
On Sunday I received my reciprocity pass from the Aquarium. You get the pass by volunteering 150+ hours in a year. With the pass I can get myself and a guest into all kinds of local attractions. I should make it my goal to use it at least once this year because I sadly didn't use it at all last year. So if anyone happens to be in the area and wants to do something, let me know.
Without further adieu, the answers to Trivial Tuesday:
1. The company became Pixar in 1986 and it's first short film, 'Luxo Jr', premiered at Siggraph.
2. Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Gottlieb Mozart (Johann Chrysostom Wolfgang Theophilus Mozart at baptism)
3. January 8, 1790 in New York City by George Washington.
4. I wish I knew the answer.
5. Tulane Stadium
Time for me to watch some Veronica Mars..
Posted by mhader at 9:16 PM