geekdaddy

The Geek Daddy is a bit of a computer nerd. I can handle most software problems that happen with today’s machines. This includes reinstalling operating systems as need be. So when my brand new HP Pavilion a6123W crashed last week I thought I could fix it. I was wrong.

The problem was that the audio jack, the physical connection between the jack and the speakers, was broken. No music for writing!!! No sound effects for gaming! No moans from my porn si……….Whoops! There was nothing to be done. The HP had to be repaired.

The HP support people were very helpful. The computer was under warranty. They would pay repair, and shipping. It would take 2- 4 weeks. My computer had to go to Texas for surgery. I took it to Fed Ex where they gave a tracking number, and marked it as fragile. I wondered if I would see it again.

So, I had to have a computer to write on. I am, after all, a blogger. I got into the closet and hauled out my old laptop. It is a Dell Latitude D600. It is a top of the line machine….in 2004. It’s got a 1.4 GHz processor, a Mobility Radeon video card, and 2 GHz of RAM. The only one I am excited about is the RAM.

It’s not that the laptop is bad. It functions just fine, for what it is. It’s like going from driving a Ferrari to a Toyota Camry. The Camry is fine; it’s just not my computing Ferrari. Sigh! It’s going to be a long 4 weeks.

Geek Daddy is feeling the effects of the economy just like most of the rest of you are. You have the Geek Daddy’s sympathy if you have fallen on hard times. I wanted to share 5 ways I have cut expenses in these troubled times.

5. Go on A Diet:
My wife and I are on a diet together to get healthier. An added side effect of this is we don’t go out to eat anymore. I was surprised at how much those lattes, bagels, and McDonald’s outings were costing. So cut out fast food. If you apply what you pay for fast food to your grocery bill, you can make your money stretch a long way. Savings: $40 a month.

4. Get Rid Of Your Cell Phone:
I am not advocating living like a caveman, and forsaking technology. I am asking you if you really need your cell phone. I’m talking about the one with the expensive plan, hideous overage fees, and time restrictions. I was paying 45 dollars a month through Virgin Mobile. I switched to a pay as you go phone from Tracfone. The phone was 10 dollars. I get to add minutes when I need them, not when the company says I can have them. Savings: $30 a month.

3. How much Cable do you need?
I have Cox Digital Cable. I like it. I got it with the variety tier, expanded DVR, and two movie channels. I then looked at what I watch, instead of what package I have. I got rid of the two movie channels, got the basic DVR, but kept the variety tier. I don’t miss the movie channels at all. Savings: $30 a month.

2. Shop at Goodwill.
I know thrift store shopping will always be anathema to some people. However, if you have a growing geek child they are invaluable. I buy all sorts of things there on a monthly basis. Clothing my girl comes at the top of the list. We got her four outfits that would have cost about 80 dollars at Kohl’s, or 40 dollars at Wal-Mart, for 20 dollars. These were not crap clothes either. The geek daughter thought she looked pretty sharp. Ka-Ching! Savings: 40 to 60 dollars a month.

ANNNNNNNNND…….The number one way your Geek Daddy is saving money is……change the electric rate plan. That’s right. I went from a 150 dollar a month electric bill to about 90 dollars a month just by changing my plan. Now power is a lot cheaper from 9 in the evening to 9 in the morning. We also save more on the weekends. This has saved us more money in the long run than any other cost cutting measure. The change in routine is far outweighed by the money we aren’t spending on power. Savings: 60-80 dollars a month.

There are few things the Geek Daddy goes completely Fanboy over. Batman is one of them. So to say I was slightly disappointed in All Star Batman is like saying Lehman Brothers hit a small bump over the last few weeks. I wondered if I was reading the same book everyone had been raving about.

First off, there is a disconnect between Miller’s gritty writing, and Jim Lee’s sweeping artwork. I felt that Miller was going for a gritty, urban tone, while miller was looking at things with more of an eye to an epic style. The juxtaposition of Miller’s text brings Lee’s art down a notch. Think of a Picasso with graffiti on it. There needed to be more of collaboration between what I was reading, and what I was seeing in this project.

Secondly, the origin story of Robin was way too much of a parody of the same tired origin story we have all heard before. The fact that Robin starts out terrorized, kidnapped, and abused is a direct 360 from the story we all know. Batman seems to be delighting in pulling this youngster into his slimy, grotesque, parody of a world. Robin has no redeeming values in this situation. It is almost a case of Stockholm syndrome, rather than a cherished partnership. This is antithetical to the genuine respect these two heroes have for each other.

Thirdly, Batman is a bastard. It’s not enough that he is haunted, tortured, and violent. The authors’ also make him mean, and without redeeming value. He is not just fighting for the little guy, he is treading on him. That is not the Batman I know and love. I think Christian Bale Said it best in Batman Begins, “I’m not going to kill you, but I don’t have to save you!” That is the credo we see time and time again in the lineage of The Dark Knight. The fact that this project gets rid of that dynamic is laudable, but not practical. Jim Lee’s great art notwithstanding, this volume is deeply flawed. 6/10.

This is the letter I e-mailed, before the second House vote, to my congressional delegation.

Dear Congressman,

I am an Arizona Democrat, and I am opposed to the current bailout bill. That said, it is probably going to have to pass. It shouldn’t be necessary at all.
I am a responsible citizen. I take care of my family, try not to live beyond my means, and pay my bills on time. I wish the government, and Wall Street could do the same.

This bill stinks because it is a gamble. 700 billion dollars does nothing to guarantee a way out of this financial mess. I am all for lubricating the credit markets. However, this leaves me feeling like there is not much left in reserve. What if it doesn’t work?

It seems to be a hasty plan, with no new ideas, being used to clean up Wall Street’s mess at our expense. I am worried that in the rush to pass something to mollify the American consumer, Congress is taking a risk that could well undo our economy further.

How much more is the government going to have to take over? What bank will be next? Mine? Yours? How long will the government’s intervention last? Can we truly be capitalists if the government won’t let businesses fail? I have nothing against socialism, if it is done well.

This piecemeal solution in the form of a bailout, smacks of being no solution at all. It feels like a punishment. A punishment for something we the American people didn’t do. Vote your conscience on Friday. I wish you the best of luck with a very hard decision.
Yours truly,
Andrew K. Benjamin
Arizona Democrat

I hit a moment of dissonance on Monday when the stock market tanked. I didn’t really care. It seems like my life has been a little upside down since July. I got hurt, and I was denied by my corporation’s insurance carrier (I wasn’t hurt enough). Then I was rammed in a car accident that wasn’t my fault. The car was broken into two weeks after we got it back from the accident.

I had to quit my job because they reassigned my position while I was out healing from my ankle injury. My brand new HP Pavilion a6123w mega-computer blew an audio jack, and crashed. It’s now winging its way to Texas to be fixed. I guess you could say the freaking economy is the least of my worries right now!!!!! Except that on a subconscious level, it does worry me.

It worries me because I can’t work outside the home right now. Never mind that I have a blown ankle, I just can’t afford to work. My daughter’s before and after care would run 100 dollars a week. That’s 400 dollars a month. At my daycare job I was literally clearing 75 dollars a check that way. So by staying home and being a domestic warrior, I save 400 dollars standing still.

Then there is gas. I would spend about 150 dollars a month on gas, 25 dollars on lunches/snacks, not to mention the cost of car maintenance. I literally would start working again at a loss! That is what I have to thank the economy for.
Child care, in years past, was fairly bullet proof. Not today. My corporate daycare chain says they are down between twenty and forty percent at each center in the city. Lots parents have to choose between a career and staying at home. The economy seems to be making that choice for more of us than before. I know things will get better. I just hope we can all hold our breath that long.

So, my ankle has some soft tissue damage with no bone break….yea?! I am still out of action for four to eight weeks, and can’t teach standing up ten hours a day. I picked the wrong day to stop sniffing glue!!!!! Anyway, to make up for my lack of mobility, my wife let me have 50 dollars on EBay towards my gaming fetish. This is what I bought.

Sega Genesis for the PSP:

This collection truly sucks eggs. From the awful tinny sound, to the uninspired dashboard this outing does no justice to the Sega Genesis legacy. There are one or two gems on this disc. The Golden Axe Trilogy is always entertaining, as are Altered Beast and Comix Zone. These are shining examples of what you can do with 16 bit technology. However, Flicky…..that isn’t your best Sega. I also wonder why so many Ecco the Dolphin Titles made it into this collection? Maybe there were licensing issues. I give this collection from Sega 6 out of 10. They did okay…but others are doing it better.
Midway Arcade Treasures Extended Play:
This collection is much better than the Sega one. As well as featuring enhanced multiplayer wireless, the collection has some really good games. If you were a quarter pumper in the late Eighties, you know all of these titles. Rampage, Gauntlet, Mortal Kombat, Paperboy, and 720 are just a few of the instant classics on this disc. (Skate or Die!!!!!!) While I miss some of the content from the PS2 disk, most notably Smash TV, this collection really does inspire nostalgia for Saturday afternoons at the arcade. I give it an 7 out of 10.

Puzzle Challenge Crosswords and More:

Sometimes I like to remind my brain why it’s there. This collection of puzzle games is just the thing to clean the cobwebs out of the old belfry. While there are other puzzle formats on the disc, I like the crosswords the best. There are different levels to the puzzles, so you can be a beginner and not flame out. My grandfather was a crossword nut back in the day. He actually had the dictionaries he wrote himself with little notes about how to beat hard puzzles. It’s brain food without being boring. A good collection if you want a break from beating the snot out of things. It earns a 7 out of 10.

Capcom Classics Collection (Reloaded):

This is hands down the best retro collection ever put on the PSP. The sound is fabulous, the graphics are crisp, and the games make you proud to have been a gamer in the trenches during the Eighties. My favorites on the disc are Knights of the Round and King of the Dragons. Both titles are quest based, side scrolling games, with tons of action. I also like Street Fighter 2, although I have to admit I get my butt kicked a lot at that one.

The finest feature of this collection is the dashboard. You earn coins for each game you play. You then take these coins to the slot machine, and play to earn cheats, game art, and game music. This is pure genius. I tip my hat to you Capcom. Bravo!!!! You have made an exciting, engaging, interesting collection better by adding these little touches. I give this collection 10 out of 10. AKB :}

I am one of the hundreds of thousands of gamers who own a Playstation Portable. I should love it; after all it cost me enough when I bought it. I don’t. I don’t love it the way I love the Wii, or my PS2, or even my Gametap subscription. Sometimes I wonder why.

First off, the games face some real challenges. The whole UMD disc thing is a big, fat pain in the butt. I have had 6 of those plastic rings break, rendering the games useless. I usually have game insurance on what I buy, especially at Game Crazy, but it is still no fun to go exchange on a gimpy leg. The selection of games is okay, if not awe-inspiring. My favorites are retro classics, (SNK, Sega, NEO-GEO) D&D types, (Untold Legends, etc.) and Puzzle categories. The games are usually formatted fine, although some of the PSOne Classics you can download from the Sony online store are formatted a little funny.

That brings us to Sony’s problem number two, which is homebrew applications. So many home developers are making cool programs for the PSP these days. A great example is PSP Genesis. This is a Homebrew Sega Genesis emulator. I understand…..piracy is not what you want to promote with your product. However, the cat and mouse game between Dark Alex (M33) and Sony is wearing thin. What if Sony went the WiiWare route with the homebrew community? Why not make a “channel” where homebrew applications that do not infringe on copyrights can be put out legally? Then homebrew guys and gals would get recognition for authorship, maybe a little cash, and we as PSP users would get to download more content without UMD problems. Everybody wins. At the very least get the Playstation Store to offer more content, at better prices.

Thirdly, the web browser is arthritic. I am not downloading gigabytes of porn on it. Well, not most nights! I am trying to do simple things like check the weather, or my e-mail. It is slow, clunky, and quite obviously an afterthought. One other thing that bugs me about the browser is the memory. I have a 8 gig stick, but my web browser can’t use that as a cache. Two words Sony should look up in the dictionary is virtual memory. Even Windows 98 had this feature. Or, you could go the ReadyBoost route like Vista did.

Video on the PSP is okay. I don’t have a huge problem with converting regular format video to MP4. In fact there are web services out there where you can find this conversion already done. (It rhymes with Myso-Hunt) I love watching Robot Chicken, Mythbusters, and Doctor Who. Scrubs is cool too. If Sony had a video download service like iTunes does, that would go a long way to keeping this kind of stuff legal.
So, overall the Sony Playstation Portable is solid, dependable, but not very exciting. I do like it for some uses, but feel that other uses are lacking. I think a bunch of the problems could be ironed out within the software with updates, if Sony so chose. I will be waiting. (Insert crickets chirping here…and the howl of a lonely coyote) AKB :}

Now my “flashes” as I call them are different. While I can still sense paranormal things going on, they are more specific. My wife and I were sitting at The Cheesecake factory eating lunch, when an elderly couple sat down across from us.

The man was eighty-ish, and stooped. The woman had a beehive hairdo, and reeked of Eu De Old Lady. I turned to my wife and remarked on the perfume of the woman sitting near us. My wife looked puzzled. “What Lady are you talking about dear?” she said. I looked over and there was no one but the old man there. The lady I had seen was a ghost. There was an imprint from his mind of how he and his wife had done things for all those years. It really shook me up. I am not usually that specific. It was like looking in someone’s window. You know it’s not proper, but it can be hard to look away.

The latest chapter to my paranormal journey is houses, or specific places near houses. I can tell if there are ghosts, or haunting residue there. I look at the house and if it is haunted, I get a flash, a shiver up my neck, and a general image of what’s going on there. It can be anything from a basic sense that there is something off about a place, all the way up to a picture of who is still there. Sometimes it is a flash of what the place looked like sometime in the past when it was important to somebody. More of a residual feeling that a current one.

I wish I had more of a handle on how this all works. I don’t. It just is. I tried to ignore, it for a couple of years, but that would be silly. Do you ignore your other senses? The more I own this part of me, the calmer I become about it. It’s no big whoop, but it is an interesting spice in my life.

Little things kept happening in the early 90’s when I was in my twenties. I would drive by a building I had never seen before, but know it from a dream, or I would see a property as it was in the early Twentieth century. Nothing spectacular as such, but these incidents still tipped the scales towards the paranormal.

In 1996 I moved into an old 1940’s World War Two vintage cinder block house that my family owned. The owner, an older lady had died there about two years before. A friend of mine had lived in it with his wife and child, and had alluded to uncomfortable feelings while living there. I laughed it off this time, that is, until I dealt with the old, dead, former tenant who didn’t want to leave.

At first I was just glad to have a place to stay. My live in girlfriend and I had broken up the fall before, and I moved out. Then creepy feelings of being watched started to flourish. I couldn’t stand being in the back bedroom. It was always colder than the rest of the house, by about ten degrees. Then one day I was mowing the backyard, and looked up at the back bedroom window. There was someone standing in it, looking at the yard. It was an older woman, with white hair, wearing an outdated nightgown. She was not misty, or floating. She almost seemed like a residual memory. I went in the house, and of course there was nothing there. I moved out when my parents divorced, relieved to be away from a place I was not wanted. (To Be Continued)

I was three years old. It was about 2 in the morning, when I woke up noticing a bright light in my closet. As I watched and old Hispanic Man walked out of my closet, and through my wall. He was fuzzy, glowing, and unaware of me. This is how my lifetime story of dealing with the paranormal begins.

Of course, I screamed for my parents, who assured me that it was just a bad dream. However, even at three, I knew the difference between awake and asleep. I also knew that the Hispanic man did not belong in my room, even if I couldn’t have told you what he was at the time. I was comforted, but not convinced.

I had other paranormal experiences throughout my early childhood. These incidents were usually relegated to Déjà vu types of clairvoyance. I would dream about the exact worksheet we would be doing at 2pm the next day in class. Not exactly X-Files type proof of the paranormal, but it happened often enough I kept notice.

When I was seven, my family moved into an old 1950’s ranch house in central Tucson. There was brick rectangular shed out back of the yard, with a corrugated tin roof. It was not all that uncommon in our neighborhood. It was also haunted. I don’t mean ghost jumping out and going, “Boo”, types of haunting. There was just something off kilter about it. It was like the air around it got thick and clammy even on a sunny day. I always felt that if I turned around fast enough I could catch someone looking out the window of the shed at me. I never did, but I hated going into that place for anything. It always felt like I was intruding.

Other odd things happened in this house including: footsteps on the roof, my sister seeing strange lights in her closet, the feeling of not being alone in the dark, and unexplained thumps. Now I know that some of this can be explained by rational means, but not all of it.

In 1992 my beloved dog of ten years died of cancer. I was heartbroken. As I was cleaning out her possessions in the utility room she slept in, I heard the unmistakable sound of her claws on the tile floor coming towards me. She made a snuffing sound, and when I turned around no one was there. My Mom came in at that point and said I looked as white as a sheet. When I explained what had happened, she laughed it off. It was my imagination. I knew it wasn’t though. Just like I knew the Hispanic man in my room when I was three was something different. I could sense wavelengths in the world my family couldn’t. (To Be Continued)