In these tough economic times I think it's worth supporting some companies who are trying to help the little guy out. I can't say I can think of all that many but talking from personal experience I will give a shout out to some marketing/data collection sites that I use and have greatly benefited from.
Mypoints.com for one made it possibly for our PS3 purchase. You sign up and everyday you get 1-5 emails from them. Click the link in the email and you get 5 points. Easy-peasy. Eventually you can get enough points and get gift cards and they really do show up! I thought at first it would be super annoying getting those emails but it's really not so bad and at least I have NEW emails waiting for me each day. I could probably earn some points for recommending a friend to join but that's not what this is about. Check it out and maybe in 6 months you could have a $25 gift card.
e-miles.com is another site that I answer short questionnaires on. It doesn't take long, I don't get many emails at all really and you can earn air miles.
e-rewards.com is the third site that I use. Again you answer short surveys only on this site, if you qualify, you can answer the WHOLE survey which goes on for 10 minutes or so depending on your reading/brain speed.
There are a lot of these sites out there, I think, and not all of them are legit so I only can recommend these ones. You can buy me something nice with your gift card to say thanks.
27 January, 2009
18 January, 2009
One store to rule them all
After watching turning on my TV news station it seems that we are rapidly heading towards total domination. I'm talking retail here. Seems like lots of big name stores are shutting up shop. Goody's, Linen and things, and now Circuit City is going for good. I'm sure they will not be the only causalities of the financial crisis either as this year things aren't expected to get any better. After watching "Wall-E" recently it's almost like life imitating art. In the movie there is one corporation that owns everything, I think it's called Buy n Save, including the gas stations, spaceships and all the robots. As more and more stores bow out of the market place it is becoming easier to imagine a world where Wal-Mart makes cars, health insurance, banks and fast food chains. A very sad and painful world indeed.
Perhaps I have been watching a little too much Armageddon week on the History Channel.
Perhaps I have been watching a little too much Armageddon week on the History Channel.
16 January, 2009
Happy 2009!
Those already on the "Allclick Crap List" 2009:
United Airlines - For awful customer service and the worst automated phone system.
HSBC - For ensuring customers are safely locked out of their own accounts.
On the "Allclick Hot list" 2009:
Bob Evans - for it's Caramel Mocha with free refills. Yum
Hyundai - for an assurance that if you lose your income after buying a car you can return it.
United Airlines - For awful customer service and the worst automated phone system.
HSBC - For ensuring customers are safely locked out of their own accounts.
On the "Allclick Hot list" 2009:
Bob Evans - for it's Caramel Mocha with free refills. Yum
Hyundai - for an assurance that if you lose your income after buying a car you can return it.
16 December, 2008
Annoying aspects of Video Games
1. Teh Freeze -You are just about to finally cross the lava maze/obtain the crypt key/sniper the terrorist leader when suddenly the game just freezes. Nothing you can do but hit that big ole reset button and hurl your controller at the wall.
2. Stuck in a wall - Similar to the freeze and perhaps just as annoying is the classic "get stuck behind an object/in a wall" trick that happens when you just go off exploring in a game. I am guaranteed to find myself stuck behind some sort of object during any game only to waste several hours trying to jump and wiggle my way out of it.
2. Slooooow loading times - I'm talking between levels here, people, levels. I remember getting my Ps2 and thinking "Great! This machine will obviously have cut down on loading times". Wrong. They made the games more complicated and so the levels were just as slow to load. Took a while to save too.
3. Lack of load and play - With the advent of more sophisticated consoles we lose the highly underrated ability to just stick a disk in and start playing. Now one must subscribe to the network, download this update, install that file. You have to set aside at least 15 minutes prior to playing.
4. Super slow start up - As RZ reminded me, it is also painful to wait while a game loads. Not because of technology but simply because every developer and their cousin wants their logo to be seen before the game loads up.
5. Video Cut-sequences - Well, actually I enjoy a good cut-sequence. It adds some depth to a game and usually makes good use of the fancy graphics. What I don't like is not being able to skip said video cut-sequences especially when I have seen them 20 times from continued dying.
6. Crap completion sequences - You finally complete the game. All that hard work, blood sweat and tears was for something after all. Yes, a crappy end sequence. Cue scrolling credits (which you also can't skip) and cheesy music. There is no way of stopping it and you have to sit it out just to see if there are any bonuses!
7. Lack of saving - I like to save. I save often. I dislike games were I am limited in my saving ability or it's out of my control. What will quickly turn me off a game is having to perform the same thing again and again because I keep screwing it up and couldn't save it. It just sucks the fun right out!
2. Stuck in a wall - Similar to the freeze and perhaps just as annoying is the classic "get stuck behind an object/in a wall" trick that happens when you just go off exploring in a game. I am guaranteed to find myself stuck behind some sort of object during any game only to waste several hours trying to jump and wiggle my way out of it.
2. Slooooow loading times - I'm talking between levels here, people, levels. I remember getting my Ps2 and thinking "Great! This machine will obviously have cut down on loading times". Wrong. They made the games more complicated and so the levels were just as slow to load. Took a while to save too.
3. Lack of load and play - With the advent of more sophisticated consoles we lose the highly underrated ability to just stick a disk in and start playing. Now one must subscribe to the network, download this update, install that file. You have to set aside at least 15 minutes prior to playing.
4. Super slow start up - As RZ reminded me, it is also painful to wait while a game loads. Not because of technology but simply because every developer and their cousin wants their logo to be seen before the game loads up.
5. Video Cut-sequences - Well, actually I enjoy a good cut-sequence. It adds some depth to a game and usually makes good use of the fancy graphics. What I don't like is not being able to skip said video cut-sequences especially when I have seen them 20 times from continued dying.
6. Crap completion sequences - You finally complete the game. All that hard work, blood sweat and tears was for something after all. Yes, a crappy end sequence. Cue scrolling credits (which you also can't skip) and cheesy music. There is no way of stopping it and you have to sit it out just to see if there are any bonuses!
7. Lack of saving - I like to save. I save often. I dislike games were I am limited in my saving ability or it's out of my control. What will quickly turn me off a game is having to perform the same thing again and again because I keep screwing it up and couldn't save it. It just sucks the fun right out!
14 December, 2008
03 December, 2008
Reflections on bloggers
It's been a while since I commented on bloggers but thought I'd share a few thoughts. Seems to me that you can basically divide bloggers into two main categories:
1. Socially Awkward
2. Socially Outgoing
These two very different types of bloggers use blogging for different reasons. The Socially Awkward (SA) blogger uses his or her blog to talk about things that they want to talk about. They use a blog to do this as this way there is no need to mess with the whole "rules" of interacting socially. For example, if I want to discuss, in real life, say, why I think everyone should have to wear Mickey Mouse ears or the mating habits of Tibetan swallows then it's difficult for the SA to steer the conversation in that direction or the process and effort involved getting there isn't worth it. With a blog one can simply blurt out the topic with no need for a preamble or "social dance". However, on occasions I have been known to walk up to friends and say things like "So, if I was bitten and turning into a zombie, how would you take me down?"
The Socially Outgoing (SO) blogger has a different purpose. They use the blog to further their social network, or simply just shout about every problem, accomplishment, wish, desire, need and thought from the day. It can be almost like an online diary, or something crafted to show the humor in everyday life. Topics are discussed in a day-by-day fashion in that what actually happened today fuels the discussion of an important issue or memory from the past. The SA blogger is more likely ruminating on a topic for a week or month before posting what they eventually thought was worthy. The SO blogger tends not to plan so much but is able to self-motivate and just allow daily happenings to aid their creative process.
It's difficult to say but my first thought is that even in these two categories one can't state that either is particularly anti-social or doesn't enjoy the "social dance" that I loosely define as real life conversation. However, I suggest that blogging is another tool to connect to others (or a tool to just get things off their mind or chest) and whatever the individuals preferred method is in real life situations is carried over into their blogging type.
02 December, 2008
25 November, 2008
Palin says: Come to Alaska...kinda
I opened up my email this morning and lo-and-behold discovered an invite for ME to go to Alaska from Sarah Palin herself!
Wait a minute...This isn't asking me to go to Alaska. It's simply asking me to go to the official Alaska State Travel (unlike those pesky unofficial Alaska State Travel websites, grr). Is this the beginning of her 2012 campaign?
24 November, 2008
A meeting of two bloggers
Over the weekend I had the chance to meet up with Redzeppelin for "Chinee", discussions about video games, prop 8, and graphic novels. The picture of the event has been edited to keep identities anonymous.
23 November, 2008
Suggestions for the Auto Bailout
Some suggestions for what should be included in the Big Three Auto companies bailout package:
Every new car must have:
1. At least 4 cup holders up front.
2. Permanent "new car" smell.
3. A horn that plays "Smoke on water"
4. Microwave ovens.
5. A digital display in the rear window to tell other drivers exactly what you think of them
6. That red moving light on the front like KIT from Knight Rider.
7. A flux capacitor
8. The ability to fly
9. ...and go underwater
10. Machine guns
Every new car must have:
1. At least 4 cup holders up front.
2. Permanent "new car" smell.
3. A horn that plays "Smoke on water"
4. Microwave ovens.
5. A digital display in the rear window to tell other drivers exactly what you think of them
6. That red moving light on the front like KIT from Knight Rider.
7. A flux capacitor
8. The ability to fly
9. ...and go underwater
10. Machine guns
21 November, 2008
Old Friends update
Well as of this week I have had a lot of replies to my sending out of emails to my old friends. I have been very pleasantly surprised. Mostly they tell of good news which is great but it's funny what some folks end up doing for a living considering what I knew about them a few years ago.
It's been a worthwhile experience for me so I'm glad I went ahead and did it. Even if everyone doesn't reply I'll be happy. I had a few people say "Why aren't you on facebook??" surprised that I would dare not to join the social networking giant. Well, why would I? You use it to keep in contact with friends. You have my email so just hit reply. Job done.
It's been a worthwhile experience for me so I'm glad I went ahead and did it. Even if everyone doesn't reply I'll be happy. I had a few people say "Why aren't you on facebook??" surprised that I would dare not to join the social networking giant. Well, why would I? You use it to keep in contact with friends. You have my email so just hit reply. Job done.
Guns
I recently read a story in the news that reminded me of an early post of The Film Geek's (Poor Priorities) talking about gun culture. He illustrated an incident of an 8-year old boy accidentally shooting and killing himself. On a kinda flip side of that is this story about an 8-year old boy who is now a murder suspect in the shooting and killing of his father and another man. It worries me that children are encouraged to know about guns, have contact with guns, and use guns and these two stories reflect my anxiety about such an issue.
As a kid I loved playing with guns. I had authentic looking cap guns that simply made the "bang" noise and that was O.K. with me. I got to feel like a cowboy and no-one ended up dead. I fired water pistols and that was great too. I soaked my friends and in return I would get soaked. With no trip to the hospital (or morgue) needed. I would play laser tag, picking off my "enemies" with beams of light. Running around crazily pointing the heavy laser gun and enjoying hearing that "bleep bleep" knowing I'd scored a hit. If I would go back in time and give that 8 year old Allclick a REAL honest-to-goodness gun I have no doubt there would be trouble by midnight because I doubt I'd be able to fully appreciate that I was holding a lethal weapon (just like that time I met Mel Gibson).
At this current point in time there is apparently a rush on gun sales (Dallas News, Sign On San Diego) due to the election of President Obama. Apparently there is some debate about whether or not he will make it more difficult to buy guns or even restricted the selling of "assault weapons". I am not sure I really see the logic behind the mass buying, though. Either you currently own a gun and so buying more guns isn't really a priority (especially when the economy is so bad and you really should be buying things like food and paying off those credit card debts) or you currently do not own a gun and you have managed to get this far in your life without one. The Slate published a pretty interesting look at this issue suggesting that it is really the press who are spooking us about the increase in gun sales.
I'm frankly, much more spooked at the thought of everyone owning a bunch of guns around me, than my access to such a weapon. I can barely trust other people to make decent judgements when they are driving, or shopping let alone their decisions about welding lethal weapons.
Rant over.
Summary: Guns bad. Except fake guns.
As a kid I loved playing with guns. I had authentic looking cap guns that simply made the "bang" noise and that was O.K. with me. I got to feel like a cowboy and no-one ended up dead. I fired water pistols and that was great too. I soaked my friends and in return I would get soaked. With no trip to the hospital (or morgue) needed. I would play laser tag, picking off my "enemies" with beams of light. Running around crazily pointing the heavy laser gun and enjoying hearing that "bleep bleep" knowing I'd scored a hit. If I would go back in time and give that 8 year old Allclick a REAL honest-to-goodness gun I have no doubt there would be trouble by midnight because I doubt I'd be able to fully appreciate that I was holding a lethal weapon (just like that time I met Mel Gibson).
At this current point in time there is apparently a rush on gun sales (Dallas News, Sign On San Diego) due to the election of President Obama. Apparently there is some debate about whether or not he will make it more difficult to buy guns or even restricted the selling of "assault weapons". I am not sure I really see the logic behind the mass buying, though. Either you currently own a gun and so buying more guns isn't really a priority (especially when the economy is so bad and you really should be buying things like food and paying off those credit card debts) or you currently do not own a gun and you have managed to get this far in your life without one. The Slate published a pretty interesting look at this issue suggesting that it is really the press who are spooking us about the increase in gun sales.
I'm frankly, much more spooked at the thought of everyone owning a bunch of guns around me, than my access to such a weapon. I can barely trust other people to make decent judgements when they are driving, or shopping let alone their decisions about welding lethal weapons.
Rant over.
Summary: Guns bad. Except fake guns.
16 November, 2008
WTF moments in Comics
Rather than open up my email and send this out, i'll just post this lil linky up here.
http://www.ugo.com/comics/wtf-moments-in-comics/
Surprises and strange but true moments from the world of comics.
http://www.ugo.com/comics/wtf-moments-in-comics/
Surprises and strange but true moments from the world of comics.
14 November, 2008
Word to the wise
When it comes to browsers it's becoming a difficult choice but my main staple is Internet Explorer. Yes, I know it's more vulnerable to attacks and malicious code etc.. but that's what seems to get the job done most of the time. I'm having a very strange tech prob at home. When I load up any blogs on Blogger.com the images and video won't load. Every other site is fine except blogger. So, in an attempt to fix this I thought "I know, I'll download the latest IE". Big mistake. I am now running IE 8 version 2 beta...or something like that. It's a little more fancy (i.e. annoying), my images still don't show in blogger and it won't even work with some web pages now. Perhaps it is more advanced than the website that are actually created. I think perhaps the best thing about it is that it will restore your last browsing session. I wonder where Microsoft got that idea from?
If anyone has ideas about why my blogger images aren't showing let me know.
13 November, 2008
Reaching out: Minor update
Well after sending out my three emails I had two BIG replies back! Both friends stated in two different ways that *I* shouldn't have been out of contact for so long! I didn't mind though. At least it showed they wanted me to get in touch. Spurred on by this response I sent out a flood of probably 10 short emails to old friends today and replied to the two original responses.
I have recently been reflecting after hearing some bad news that I received after contacting one of my best friends via email, and some possible bad news from another friend. I have heard people before say "Why does allow bad things to happen?" and what I'm reminded is that I am more grateful for good things in my life today having listened to my friends bad news. If bad things never happened, then by definition good things couldn't happen because there would not be anything to contrast them with. I suppose it would end up a very bland life indeed.
I wonder what tomorrow will bring to my inbox.
I have recently been reflecting after hearing some bad news that I received after contacting one of my best friends via email, and some possible bad news from another friend. I have heard people before say "Why does
I wonder what tomorrow will bring to my inbox.
12 November, 2008
Reaching out
It's nearly Christmas. That's right. I said it. I know this as Wal-mart is currently playing Christmas music. I can usually rely on Wal-mart to tell me what time of year it is and have disposed of my calendar. Christmas is no longer a one day event but a huge 60 day on going affair of celebration and "spend"-ery. As it will soon be Christmas, it's time to start thinking about buying gifts and sending cards to people you know. This process is usually straight forward. I just buy things for people in my direct circle of contact or my closest family members. I decided to reach a little further out of my zone this year and get in contact with old friends and send them a card too but it was a difficult decision to make. I began writing my first email to a friend and asking for their home address. It may have seemed a little strange as we hadn't been in contact since January 2008 but I thought "what have I got to lose?". As I was writing I was overcome with a feeling. I suppose it was anger or just confusion. I mean, why was *I* the one making all the effort. Why haven't I been contacted for my address? I had to push through this and sent the email.
I figure that perhaps they are saying the same thing and if everyone continues to say and think that then nothing will ever happen. So, I made the first step. This morning I had zero responses in my email. I think I managed to finish three emails so far so I'm "oh" for three right now. But I'll keep my chin up, my upper lip stiff and continue down my list.
I figure that perhaps they are saying the same thing and if everyone continues to say and think that then nothing will ever happen. So, I made the first step. This morning I had zero responses in my email. I think I managed to finish three emails so far so I'm "oh" for three right now. But I'll keep my chin up, my upper lip stiff and continue down my list.
07 November, 2008
Annoying Phrases
Thankfully SOMEONE at Oxford is doing important research and this is what they have come up with. 10 annoying phrases:
1 - At the end of the day
2 - Fairly unique
3 - I personally
4 - At this moment in time
5 - With all due respect
6 - Absolutely
7 - It's a nightmare
8 - Shouldn't of
9 - 24/7
10 - It's not rocket science
If you have spent at least 5 minutes in any office situation you are bound to hear one of these beauties. I would add to this list "Think outside the box" and "Playing Phone-tag"...
"Oh, looks like we've been playing phone tag!" Yer, that's just not cute or funny mister. The truth is I called you a bunch of times and you didn't answer so I didn't bother answering your call because when I call YOU it's because I'M ready to talk. I'm eating/working/scratching/sleeping now so I can't answer your call so leave me a message and if you say "phone-tag" I'm going to cover you in mouthwash and set you alight. Ass.
And if I COULD think outside the box I wouldn't need someone to tell me that. Especially someone who will just say that phrase but give no directions about how to do so. How inconsiderate. Why don't YOU think "outside the box" and come up with a new phrase. Ass.
1 - At the end of the day
2 - Fairly unique
3 - I personally
4 - At this moment in time
5 - With all due respect
6 - Absolutely
7 - It's a nightmare
8 - Shouldn't of
9 - 24/7
10 - It's not rocket science
If you have spent at least 5 minutes in any office situation you are bound to hear one of these beauties. I would add to this list "Think outside the box" and "Playing Phone-tag"...
"Oh, looks like we've been playing phone tag!" Yer, that's just not cute or funny mister. The truth is I called you a bunch of times and you didn't answer so I didn't bother answering your call because when I call YOU it's because I'M ready to talk. I'm eating/working/scratching/sleeping now so I can't answer your call so leave me a message and if you say "phone-tag" I'm going to cover you in mouthwash and set you alight. Ass.
And if I COULD think outside the box I wouldn't need someone to tell me that. Especially someone who will just say that phrase but give no directions about how to do so. How inconsiderate. Why don't YOU think "outside the box" and come up with a new phrase. Ass.
And breathe out...
I have been away a couple of days and have been off the blogger grid. I checked in today to see what was happening upon my bloglist and it seems that since Tuesday night every blogger has lots to say. It's like a second wind has descended on West Virginia bloggers. I am pleased that everyone feels they need to share their thoughts over this week and irked that I now have so much to read and so many sarcastic comments to formulate.
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