I don't know how you got ahold of my bank account information and that displeases me to no end. Considering the letter I got a month ago, I'm guessing it was part of a larger database break-in when you stole a number of bits of account information. Or maybe you just bought the information from another jerk with too much time on his hands and limited ethics. Whatever.
Thanks for stealing my information and signing up for some sort of pornographic website. Very nice of you to make me put on my adult shoes and run to the bank to stop all this nonsense. This was a fun way to spend my early evening. Lovely.
Eat a rock and die you jerk.
Love,
-Steve
15 October 2009
14 October 2009
Home Theatre Update
Since someone did care before, let me express where I am now in the process.
I fixed the issue I was having with audio in XBMC. I'd tinkered with a setting that evidently didn't work as I expected. Turning it back off fixed the issue. For a week or two I worked with that setup again. I didn't really care for it.
There were two parts to the problem as I saw it: my TV and the programme. My TV is old enough to not interface as well as it needs to with the computer signal. The video quality was good but, the more I watched different things on it, the less I was pleased by it. Items shot originally on video tended to have a hazy quality to them, as if they had been badly reprocessed to try to look like film. I couldn't tinker around with the settings on the TV to improve this enough. Also the programme didn't like ejecting disks from it while it was running. In order to change disks, I had to shut down XBMC, eject the disk, restart the programme, and insert the new disk. This may have been more of an issue with the Mac Mini than the programme or just how the two interfaced but it irritated me. Due to these issues, I never got the Mac Remote.
I started looking in other directions, as I had decided that this was going to be a temporary solution to watching TV. In the future I may return to it or just hope that my current TV will last until the next wave of awesome TVs come out and hop on that wave. For now, as concerned as I was with price before, you might think that I would look towards something simple but inexpensive with enough options to please me for the time being. I would have thought that as well. The responsible part of my brain is still mad at the rest of me because I didn't make that decision.
I bought a PS3. A used PS3 of the type that is backwards compatible with PS2 and PS1 games. It was more expensive than I wanted to pay but not nearly as expensive as it was originally. It just arrived yesterday and is working well so far.
The primary disadvantages are: more expensive than I would have liked and not (as far as I know) region code free and PAL compatible.
The advantages? I can finally use the component input on my TV for something. It plays media files as I wanted. I have the option for Blu-Ray (handy as I got a Blu-Ray disk in a multi-pack last week, but this is likely also a disadvantage as it may increase my interest in getting Blu-Ray disks). The option to get PS3 games (the controllers for Rock Band and Guitar Hero aren't compatible with each other on the Wii but are on the PS3 meaning I can have one set of controllers and play both games if I want. Please note that this should also be a disadvantage as it will increase my interest in getting these games).
A perfect solution? No, of course not. Was it something I was likely to get anyway? Yeah, pretty much. Was it a good idea to get it now? Probably not. Is it cool? Heck yeah!
I have more playing with it to do before I settle on how stupid an idea this was for me, at least at the moment.
I fixed the issue I was having with audio in XBMC. I'd tinkered with a setting that evidently didn't work as I expected. Turning it back off fixed the issue. For a week or two I worked with that setup again. I didn't really care for it.
There were two parts to the problem as I saw it: my TV and the programme. My TV is old enough to not interface as well as it needs to with the computer signal. The video quality was good but, the more I watched different things on it, the less I was pleased by it. Items shot originally on video tended to have a hazy quality to them, as if they had been badly reprocessed to try to look like film. I couldn't tinker around with the settings on the TV to improve this enough. Also the programme didn't like ejecting disks from it while it was running. In order to change disks, I had to shut down XBMC, eject the disk, restart the programme, and insert the new disk. This may have been more of an issue with the Mac Mini than the programme or just how the two interfaced but it irritated me. Due to these issues, I never got the Mac Remote.
I started looking in other directions, as I had decided that this was going to be a temporary solution to watching TV. In the future I may return to it or just hope that my current TV will last until the next wave of awesome TVs come out and hop on that wave. For now, as concerned as I was with price before, you might think that I would look towards something simple but inexpensive with enough options to please me for the time being. I would have thought that as well. The responsible part of my brain is still mad at the rest of me because I didn't make that decision.
I bought a PS3. A used PS3 of the type that is backwards compatible with PS2 and PS1 games. It was more expensive than I wanted to pay but not nearly as expensive as it was originally. It just arrived yesterday and is working well so far.
The primary disadvantages are: more expensive than I would have liked and not (as far as I know) region code free and PAL compatible.
The advantages? I can finally use the component input on my TV for something. It plays media files as I wanted. I have the option for Blu-Ray (handy as I got a Blu-Ray disk in a multi-pack last week, but this is likely also a disadvantage as it may increase my interest in getting Blu-Ray disks). The option to get PS3 games (the controllers for Rock Band and Guitar Hero aren't compatible with each other on the Wii but are on the PS3 meaning I can have one set of controllers and play both games if I want. Please note that this should also be a disadvantage as it will increase my interest in getting these games).
A perfect solution? No, of course not. Was it something I was likely to get anyway? Yeah, pretty much. Was it a good idea to get it now? Probably not. Is it cool? Heck yeah!
I have more playing with it to do before I settle on how stupid an idea this was for me, at least at the moment.
11 October 2009
El Muerte Rojo is coming for you next!
Everyone had to start somewhere and, for Edward Zagodinski, this was it. He'd come to the ring tonight a relative unknown but would be leaving it a known commodity. Win, lose, or draw, he'd make the name of 'Flying Eddie Z' known to everyone in attendance. There was no way he could fail with this plan.
The crowd reacted negatively as his opponent's music began to play. Eddie's family thought he was nuts, even Karen. That hurt a little. He'd expect his wife to understand this was for the best. Life doesn't always hand you opportunities, he had explained to her, sometimes you have to make your own breaks.
The curtain parted as the man in the red fright mask emerged. The negative reaction from the crowd increased. The boys in the back though Eddie was crazy as well. Had he actually watched any of this man's matches? They were violent. There was a good chance he'd get seriously hurt. Eddie was confident in his abilities. Would there be pain? Sacrifice? Blood? No doubt. Long term injury? Not a chance. He knew he could do this; he knew he would survive to thrive.
While Eddie stretched and tried to stay loose, he kept an eye on his oncoming opponent. As the man grew closer and more visible, a truth became clear to Eddie. His opponent was staring at him, no, rather staring through him. There was no expression on the man's visible face; just a cold stare. Coupled with the sterile beat of the industrial music that was his opponent's theme, Eddie shivered. Even before it began, the match was over. Just like that, El Muerte Rojo was in his head.
Even so, Eddie still tried to follow through on his plan. As El Muerte Rojo entered the ring, Eddie attacked. Punches, sledgehammer attacks to the back, kicks, all the sorts of things that may have been effective had their power not been blunted by Eddie's fear. All these attacks were easily shaken off. Eddie now received the full effect of the cold stare in the eyes of El Muerte Rojo. The stare remained focused on Eddie apart from a brief glance towards the referee, triggering the man to ring the bell, starting the match.
Eddie was promptly overwhelmed by the rush of El Muerte Rojo's attack. Forearm shots to the face. Punches. Kicks. Chops to the chest. Stomps. Elbows driven into joints. There was nothing particularly fancy in El Muerte Rojo's attack: no flashy moves, no jumping from the top rope, no playing to the crowd. There was only a precise, calculated attack that quickly dismantled Flying Eddie Z. Eddie was winded, sore, and unable to defend himself. Falling face first to the mat, he gasped for breath in the middle of the ring.
Then there was pain. It overwhelmed him, shocked him to a degree that he could only scream. El Muerte Rojo had Eddie in some sort of leg-lock that put pressure on his legs and lower back. Once a measure of clarity returned to Eddie's mind, he quickly tapped out, signaling with his hand his desire to submit the match to his opponent. The pressure did not cease. Not only that but the pressure increased. Eddie continued to slap at the ring, begging to be released from the hold, begging for the pain to end. An eternity later, he was finally released.
Face down on the mat while not in a painful leg-lock was not the worst place in the world to be. Eddie gasped for breath and checked in on the status of his pain. His lower back was tight, so he may not know the full impact of that pain yet. His legs were sore in general but it was his right knee that concerned him the most. A sharp, stabbing pain continued to afflict that knee even now. Trying to move the knee proved to be a mistake, causing the pain to increase.
The referee leaned down next to Eddie. “You okay?” Eddie reported the pain in his knee. “Just a knee?” the referee checked. “You got lucky.” Quickly, expecting to be needed, the paramedics rushed out, checked Eddie, and helped him from the ring. As Eddie hobbled to the back, he wondered if he'd be able to wrestle again. If he couldn't, would that really be such a bad thing?
(this is post #600)
The crowd reacted negatively as his opponent's music began to play. Eddie's family thought he was nuts, even Karen. That hurt a little. He'd expect his wife to understand this was for the best. Life doesn't always hand you opportunities, he had explained to her, sometimes you have to make your own breaks.
The curtain parted as the man in the red fright mask emerged. The negative reaction from the crowd increased. The boys in the back though Eddie was crazy as well. Had he actually watched any of this man's matches? They were violent. There was a good chance he'd get seriously hurt. Eddie was confident in his abilities. Would there be pain? Sacrifice? Blood? No doubt. Long term injury? Not a chance. He knew he could do this; he knew he would survive to thrive.
While Eddie stretched and tried to stay loose, he kept an eye on his oncoming opponent. As the man grew closer and more visible, a truth became clear to Eddie. His opponent was staring at him, no, rather staring through him. There was no expression on the man's visible face; just a cold stare. Coupled with the sterile beat of the industrial music that was his opponent's theme, Eddie shivered. Even before it began, the match was over. Just like that, El Muerte Rojo was in his head.
Even so, Eddie still tried to follow through on his plan. As El Muerte Rojo entered the ring, Eddie attacked. Punches, sledgehammer attacks to the back, kicks, all the sorts of things that may have been effective had their power not been blunted by Eddie's fear. All these attacks were easily shaken off. Eddie now received the full effect of the cold stare in the eyes of El Muerte Rojo. The stare remained focused on Eddie apart from a brief glance towards the referee, triggering the man to ring the bell, starting the match.
Eddie was promptly overwhelmed by the rush of El Muerte Rojo's attack. Forearm shots to the face. Punches. Kicks. Chops to the chest. Stomps. Elbows driven into joints. There was nothing particularly fancy in El Muerte Rojo's attack: no flashy moves, no jumping from the top rope, no playing to the crowd. There was only a precise, calculated attack that quickly dismantled Flying Eddie Z. Eddie was winded, sore, and unable to defend himself. Falling face first to the mat, he gasped for breath in the middle of the ring.
Then there was pain. It overwhelmed him, shocked him to a degree that he could only scream. El Muerte Rojo had Eddie in some sort of leg-lock that put pressure on his legs and lower back. Once a measure of clarity returned to Eddie's mind, he quickly tapped out, signaling with his hand his desire to submit the match to his opponent. The pressure did not cease. Not only that but the pressure increased. Eddie continued to slap at the ring, begging to be released from the hold, begging for the pain to end. An eternity later, he was finally released.
Face down on the mat while not in a painful leg-lock was not the worst place in the world to be. Eddie gasped for breath and checked in on the status of his pain. His lower back was tight, so he may not know the full impact of that pain yet. His legs were sore in general but it was his right knee that concerned him the most. A sharp, stabbing pain continued to afflict that knee even now. Trying to move the knee proved to be a mistake, causing the pain to increase.
The referee leaned down next to Eddie. “You okay?” Eddie reported the pain in his knee. “Just a knee?” the referee checked. “You got lucky.” Quickly, expecting to be needed, the paramedics rushed out, checked Eddie, and helped him from the ring. As Eddie hobbled to the back, he wondered if he'd be able to wrestle again. If he couldn't, would that really be such a bad thing?
(this is post #600)
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