Juan Love Lorda Mercy

Expired Digital Copy Code

2012-01-14T09:02:00.003-05:00

I got my birthday gift a little early this year, and it is something which can actually use the digital copy that came with movies I bought. I was a little late to the digital copy game. I had no need to bother with the digital copy until now so I didn't.

I pop in the digital copy of one of my movies. I realize that I have to type in the code on the insert. The code does not take and I retry 4 more times. Much to my chagrin in the tiniest print on the digital copy is an expiration date.

There apparently nothing legal you can do to use your digital copy after the expiration date of the code. If the movie as came with a regular DVD, you're best, easiest bet is to rip the DVD.

Just a sad way to do business.

Get PlayOn Drop Hulu Plus

2010-11-20T11:20:00.002-05:00

If you have an idle desktop computer hooked up to you computer network, then you have all you need to run PlayOn. I have had Hulu Plus for a while now, hoping for it to be really convinient, and hoping to drop cable for good. Well what they don’t tell you is that not all content on Hulu is available on other devices (TVs, PS3, etc). Major disappointment. With PlayOn you get it all. So unless you entirely missed a season of something, don't get Hulus Plus. Get PlayOn.

The ACC

2010-09-11T16:40:00.001-04:00

Georgia Tech game against Kansas was a foregone conclusion before it started. After not being able to beat North Dakota State, Kansas wouldn't be able to stop the crazy spread option offense. Turns out, the GT defense can't tackle, and the offense had several miscues. I appreciate the attempt to pass. Made the game seem more interesting. But when GT couldn't break free after first contact on runs, GT was in trouble. Good game, Kansas.

Virginia Tech lost at home to James Madison University, a Division II (aka FCS) school. Yikes. Maybe Boise State isn't as good as they've been hyped to be? VT, wow. That's all I got.

Miami is currently tackling Ohio State. Ohio State just tied the game on a two pass drive. I've never wanted Miami to win more than I do now, but they need to step it up and match Ohio State inch by inch. Otherwise, you'll be hearing O-H-I-O.

Florida State is now trailing Oklahoma 21-7.

Even Miami and FSU lose, each one of these teams could still play in a BCS bowl. They just need to win the ACC.

Brett Farve's Face

2010-09-10T08:43:00.001-04:00

Watching the game last night (well closely watching only the second half), I couldn't help but notice Brett's disappointed grimace he was wearing the entire second half. No, this isn't some insight I picked up on an episode of "Lie to Me." The Saints were bringing pressure, that sure, would make anyone jumpy. But Brett's play and demeanor was that of a person that really didn't want to be there. Someone that was hoping to hit the jackpot (demonstrated by his penchant to chuck it way down the field instead of trying to hit a check down route), but that knew he had no chance of really winning. Brett was sitting at the roulette table of football, hoping they call his number every time he threw a pass.

He did make some great passes; one notably that I can remember to Greg Camarillo on a corner route. And sure, Brett misses Sidney Rice. But Brett's got to be the leader of the football team, not the prom queen.

Oh, I Didn't Know You Were Important

2010-04-17T21:34:00.004-04:00

I find it sad that we can't hold everyone to the same standards, and I think that is highlighted in this NYT article about the Nobel Prize winning cartoonist having to resubmit his app to Apple. Many other developers have gotten their apps rejected, some with good reason, some without the slightest explanation. But, because they're not famous, they won't get special consideration.

And I'm not calling out Mark Fiore. Maybe he's a PR mastermind and found a way to get his app fast-tracked, but why not stick by your initial position Apple and treat everyone fairly?

and I just lied to a samurai

2010-03-02T20:19:00.001-05:00

I actually enjoy these Pop Up Video episodes of last week's Lost. They bring some sort reasoning behind the ridiculousness that is the Lost universe.

Although, it's like the writers just kept on adding more bizarre constructs and then realized whoops, we're not really wrapping any up here, have to give the audience something.

Hugo had the funniest line I had heard in a while.

NC Comedy Arts Festival

2010-02-14T10:21:00.001-05:00

Next Tuesday, February 16th at 8 PM, the 708 is performing at the DSI Comedy Theater for the NC Comedy Arts Festival.

Next week is improv week all week. Check out a show.

http://www.nccomedyarts.com/improv/schedule/

Some New TV Shows

2009-09-20T10:52:00.003-04:00

I watched the pilot episode of the new NBC series Community, and thought it was really funny. The show did a good job quickly establishing the group of characters, their quirks, and the premise for the show. All while being funny. Jeffrey thought since it was grouped with Parks and Recreation and The Office, the show would be the Office 3. But it's not.

Speaking of which, the following two aren't brand new, but new enough.

Parks and Recreation is not that good. You can try and be patient with a show and hope it comes around, but this one has yet to capture my complete interest. The show takes the Office filming gimmick (mockumentatry) and the character gimmick (awkward, oblivious lead) and runs it into the ground. This show actually makes The Office look bad.

Sit Down, Shut Up is terrible. Some funny ideas, loosely strung together in a episode with characters that you can't relate to. That's the show. With the voice actors attached to this show, you would have expected something better. Even the animation style is annoying.

I Have Repeatedly Had This Dream

2009-08-25T21:51:00.003-04:00

I thought it was only me.

Street Fighter 4

2009-08-08T14:42:00.001-04:00

So I gave in and purchased Street Fighter 4. Peer pressure from Andy Lavender made me cave in.

Load times are ridiculously high, but there seems to be an option to install the data on the HD, and that's what I'm currently doing.

I played Street Fighter 2 when I was growing up like a madman. And I have a thorough mastery of that game. Street Fighter 4 is harder because you can have all these special combos that for now, I don't want to learn. Going to stick with my old school skillz, which seem to let me hang in the match.

More to come in the future, maybe. The intro to this game may be the longest intro in the history of games. And it doesn't really tell anything either.

Fail Blog

2009-08-08T11:42:00.001-04:00

So a new favorite site I have is Fail Blog.

see more Fail Blog

You Don't Know Me Like That

2009-07-11T02:51:00.001-04:00

Beep, beep.

DSI Tech'ing Tonight

2009-07-10T18:52:00.002-04:00

Covering for Bryan tonight, and hoping to meet up with people on Franklin St. tonight.

Water, Water Everywhere and ... Sharks!

2009-07-07T22:31:00.006-04:00

For the 4th, Jen and I visited my parents. And of course, my mom wanted to take Jen to all the touristy places at once. Luckily, I convinced them to slow down and only do one thing. We went to the Georgia Aquarium. We also paid for the extra movie. I use the term movie loosely, as it was more like flushing five dollars per person down the toilet. After the aquarium, we went to Bahamas Breeze, which is my favorite new restaurant. It may just have been that I was starving, but the BBQ ribs were amazing. The BBQ sauce has guava.

On the actual 4th, we went to the Vlachos household where I realized a life long dream of getting paid to play cornhole.

Andy's and Libby's Wedding

2009-06-30T23:05:00.001-04:00

Jen and I went to Richards-Long wedding in Columbia, SC. The wedding was short and sweet, and the reception was fun. Lots of dancing. The beer that Andy brewed was tasty.

Vegas Part 2

2009-06-20T14:41:00.003-04:00

Yesterday we went to the Rio and checked out the WSOP action. We did not gamble there as the minimum bets were kinda high.

Instead we went to Casino Royal and played some roulette. Then it was off to Harrahs for blackjack. Here is were we found out thst some blackjack rules changed. No surrender. 6 to 5 payout. Similar situation at Slots R Fun.

Vegas Part One

2009-06-19T13:17:00.002-04:00

I do not know if there will be another post while I am here, but who knows.

The room at the Venetian is nice, but there are some dubious stains on the couch. Blackjack last night went well and now I am waiting for these fools to shower.

Paul Blart: Mall Cop

2009-06-04T17:30:00.002-04:00

I feel a little dead inside after seeing this movie. I'm a huge fan of Kevin James, but this was like getting waterboarded by Kevin James. This movie is terrible. Stay away. Far, far away.

Spoiler Alert:
The plot doesn't make sense, it isn't that funny, and there's nothing creative in it. The villains go hold up a mall, but most of the henchmen decide not to use guns. The police don't effectively set-up a perimeter around the mall. I'm going to stop there because I'm going to bust a fuse if I think about all the other things that didn't make sense.

Most of this crap wouldn't matter if the movie was hilarious, but it isn't. It's a couple of fat jokes and you come out mostly just feeling bad about Paul Blart being fat. The character is super pathetic.

If you're going to make a movie like this, don't make it sentimental. Do something like Paul Blart: Fat Cop. That sounds funny right there.

ATI Mobility Radeon X300 on My Dell Inspiron

2009-05-31T15:03:00.004-04:00

I have an "old" Dell Inspiron 9300. I guess now that I think about it, I did buy it like 5 or so years ago. Wow. Anyways, best laptop in the world when I was regularly using. It is a monster though. It was a 17" screen and I think each inch accounts for a pound of weight.

I had cracked the beautiful screen on it, and stopped using it. The screen cracking was all my doing.

Recently, I've become obsessed with Netflix, and I've wanted to use their online streaming capabilities to play content on my TV. I was thinking about either purchasing a Roku box, or building my own system. Then I remembered I had this guy around and it seemed like a perfect fit.

I bought a DVI to HDMI cable from monoprice.com (cheapest and highest quality cables you can find). Hooked up the HDMI cable to my receiver, configured the receiver, turned on the computer, and what I saw was a disaster.

The desktop did not fit on the screen, and there was no way to get it to fit properly. I tried all sort of resolutions, and nothing worked. This issue is apparently called overscanning, and most HDTVs have this issue when connected via HDMI to a computer (as far as I can tell).

Now, most of the new video cards have drivers and accompanying software that allows manual configuration to fit on the TV screen. The video card is a ATI Mobility Radeon X300. Enter problem #2.

My laptop is clearly out of warranty, and the last set of drivers that Dell posted was in 2005. No luck there. Went to the ATI site (ATI was purchased by AMD a while back), and it looks like I can download new drivers. Download the software, run it, and it tells me that the drivers aren't supported for my system, and that I have to contact my notebook manufacturer for new drivers.

To fix the overscanning problem with an old ATI video driver, the following site has step-by-step instructions: http://www.driverheaven.net/modtool.php

Grilled Chicken Burrito

2009-05-30T13:06:00.005-04:00

I had both the Grilled Chicken Burrito and Grilled Chicken Taco at Taco Bell yesterday. The taco was very disappointing, but for 89 cents plus tax, I wasn't complaining too much. The taco is something I would not get again. The grilled chicken it self was bland, and the rest of the "fixings" were as well; only saving grace was the fire sauce I put on there.

The burrito, on the other hand, was a tour de force. It was awesome. I had this after I had the taco, so my expectation were not high, but they hit it out of the ball park with this one. The chicken again, is bland, but the burrito contained a sauce that was exquisite.

Also, I'm a fan of the Volcano Taco. This is flavorful, but I think it could do without as much as that cheese sauce in the middle and could do with a little more shredded cheese.

White Screen of Death?

2009-05-25T19:21:00.003-04:00

So, I just had my first crash on the MacBook Pro I'm using. Unlike the Windows blue screen of death, it simply told me to restart my computer. I intend to write a whole post on the transition from PC to Mac, and this is just going to be a quick blurb.

The crash happened after I had been using Hulu for some time on my Firefox Browser. The computer was acting sluggish, and I attributed it to my internet connection. I tried to go full screen, and then the computer crashed. Otherwise, the system has been stable and reliable.

I'm such a nerd.

Following in Charles Barkley's Footsteps

2009-05-25T17:24:00.006-04:00

Jen and I went to Knight's Play in Apex for Memorial Day and tackled 9 holes of golf. Needless to say I looked like a young Charles Barkley out there today.

Tiga, tiga, tiger woods, y'all.

Well It's Not Casey at Bat, But ..

2009-05-24T22:32:00.005-04:00

We went to Frankie's Fun Park today, and we hit up the batting cages. Jen told me she had never hit a softball, but she was a natural.

The video was taken on my Samsung Omnia. Still need to figure out the best combination of settings to take video.

Redbox vs. Netflix

2009-05-24T20:07:00.001-04:00

I had been a loyal user of Redbox. $1.07 for a movie rental for one day (after tax); all you need to do is return it to the drop off location before 9 PM the following day. That is until the machine by my house broke one night, I had two movies out, and I was on my way to a soccer game, and didn't have time to find another location. So I got charged for an extra day, which was one dollar per movie. Not too much, but at that point it made me want something more cost effective.

Here's some issues with Redbox:

You may not get the movie you want. If it's new, prepared to have an old back-up.
There's a limited selection, but I think you can order online and possibly have a movie delivered to the location you go to.
You can get stuck waiting for long periods of time. Since normally there's only one machine per location, you can get stuck behind people that will want to read every movie synopsis. Or they can't make a tough decision like choosing between What Happens in Vegas or Babylon A.D.
If the machine at your location breaks, you can be S.O.L. You can allegedly call some 800 number to return the movie.

Some of the issues with Redbox can also be attributed to a Blockbuster.

So I switched to Netflix recently. 3 DVDs out at any one time plus unlimited online viewing. I just opened the account last week. About $17 bucks a month. Delivered to your house, and returned via your mailbox. One of the biggest value adds of Netflix is their TV show collection. I can now catch up and watch TV shows like Lost that I didn't get into in the beginning and are too far along now to probably understand what's going on. I honestly mainly got it to watch the 3rd season of Stargate: SG-1. The first two season were on Hulu.com, and I wanted to continue watching.

Here's some issues with Netflix:

No instant gratification for the latest releases. You have a better shot with Redbox to get a new movie. Or least that's what it seems like. I have Paul Blart: Mall Cop (don't judge me) on my queue, and it's been on "Short Wait" for a while.
TV DVDs in the queue. I had queued up the entire 3rd season of Stargate: SG-1 on the queue and put it on top. I wanted two TV DVDs and one movie DVD, so I placed the movie at the third spot. Next day, I get an email saying 3 movies were shipped. I haven't been able to figure out why the TV DVDs didn't ship. Luckily season 3 is on Hulu, now.
The only issue with the Instant Queue is (as far as I can figure out) not DVD quality streaming, and it is also dependent on your internet connection. So you can't buffer most of the movie with higher quality. Your quality is determined by your internet connection.

The Netflix suggestions are fairly good. I'm in love with the Instant Queue and being able to watch movies on demand. Specifically 30 Rock. I'm enjoying Netflix so far.

Denver vs. LA

2009-05-24T19:42:00.000-04:00

Denver dominated most of game 3, but failed to win because they broke away from the basic game plan and instead:

Ineffectively used the shot clock. They put up quick shots. Premature shot-ulation.
Settled for jump shots instead of circulating the ball around and finding the cutter in the lane. And with all the bricks, they were able to recreate FDR's chimney.
Started jacking up 3's. They wanted get the crowd to explode, but couldn't buy a bucket.