I've migrated all my Posterous posts to my new blogging platform and site at http://dancbates.com.  You'll find the latest there.  This site is now deprecated but will remain up for a while.

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In reading my daily tech news I came across "10 Reasons Why iPhone 5 Doesn't Stand a Chance Against Motorola Droid Bionic" (via daringfireball.net).  It got me thinking, how many of these types of articles have been written over the past years comparing the latest Android superphone versus the current (or in this case future, unreleased) iPhone.  Not only that, but the points listed within said articles are often the same set of features that Android handsets have offered since inception.  But the best part of this type of article is the Apple vs. Android fight that goes on in the comments.

The article covers the basics, the Bionic has a bigger screen, HDMI output, SD card slot.  I've written a few times how I feel about bigger screens, as well as the fact that the bigger screen STILL does not carry a Retina Display PPI (pixels per inch).  Having used the iPhone 4 for over a year now it's hard for me to accept anything less.  I sorta get the HDMI output and why someone would want that, but honestly I've never heard someone say "Gee, good thing I have this HDMI output so that I can pull out my micro-HDMI to HDMI cable and plug in my phone to a TV and show you what's on it."  If you desperately need HDMI output for an iDevice, Apple does sell an adapter for iPhone 4 and iPad.  I also can see the benefit of an SD card slot as some Android handsets only come with a small amount of onboard memory (some as low as 2GB, but recent ones have reached 16GB).  Android handsets do not offer different onboard memory sizes so they have to supplement onboard storage with SD cards.  Not a disparagement, simply fact.

The article mentions the gimmicky WebTop capability in the Bionic that allows you, through a dock (not included), to use a sort of meta OS environment that's basically Chrome OS with Firefox instead of Chrome.  Again, my HDMI comments above apply here.  There's a nerdy section comparing the processors in both the phones which is basically devoid of any information outside of "it's better because it's newer".  Then a general section on "speed" which again lacks any real benchmark and lumps data speed and OS performance together.

One feature that the Bionic does have a leg up on is 4G LTE support.  Almost all information regarding the upcoming iPhone points to a lack of LTE.  T-Mobile, AT&T, and Sprint all have variants they are branding as 4G (either WiMax or HSPA+), however LTE will be the prevalent 4G technology once implemented by all carriers.  Verizon's network has been rapidly rolling out over the past months and AT&T has recently started their final testing in a few markets.  LTE has cable broadband equivalent speeds for wireless data and it's going to be nice when it's everywhere.

What a great segue into battery life!  The main complaint of the LTE devices out there right now is battery life.  The devices tend to run hotter and use more battery than their 3G-only brethren.  While the Bionic touts a "1735 mAh battery", industry reviews still peg the device requiring a daily charge for light to moderate use.  In contrast, using the iPhone 4 I can typically go at least 2 days, sometimes more.  The iPhone's legendary battery life is likely one of the reasons the new handset will not carry LTE radios.

An Android vs. Apple comparison wouldn't be complete if they didn't mention Flash support and Android's "openness".  Since Flash "enriches web experience" we must have it right?  The only time the lack of Flash has ever hindered me on the iPhone is when I can't get a restaurant menu.  Most sites detect what device you are using and switch to a mobile version (that doesn't use Flash to begin with).  I love hearing that Flash is a feature, when chances are any website you go to on your phone will be the mobile version.  As for open Android, malware certainly seems to be on the rise.

The battle rages on.  At the rate Android devices are released, hardware specs are almost always going to be above the iPhone simply because of its release cycle.  We need to stop looking at it quantitatively and begin to compare qualitatively.  How does the user experience compare between the devices?  Are Android users generally happy about their device or generally frustrated?  What about Apple's users?  Are the features that make Android "so much better" than iOS useful for the average user or is it just marketing?

Yes I own an iPhone and it's my primary device.  No I've never used an Android handset as a primary device.  I've demoed some Android hardware in stores and never gave it another look.  Call me biased!  All I know is that a fair amount of people I know have moved from Android to Apple, and not so many the other way.  It's not indoctrination, it's because the iPhone "just works."

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I like making plans.  It gives me time to look at most options and determine what's the best fit for us as opposed to blindly selecting something that looks nice but has no practicality.  Unfortunately the world doesn't seem to want to work with us.

Karen and I got married last October by a local magistrate on a Sunday morning.  No frills, no fanfare, just us, our marriage certificate and sixty American dollars.  Since then we've moved to Florida permanently and wanted to put together something so that we can share this occasion with our families and friends (chances are if you are reading this, you already are very aware of this).  We've been working on the details for a while, we've got our plans for catering, cakes, photographers, clothes, everything except the venue.  The venue has been the biggest limiting factor of putting this together and those whom provide this service aren't making it much easier.

We have a simple need.  We want a quick easy casual ceremony on the beach followed by a low key casual reception.  No $20,000 chandeliers, no designer tablecloths, no 30 person choir, just a room and a place on the beach.  With the Gulf coast as beautiful and popular as it is, almost every possible venue offers only the giant "wedding package" that contains all the nonsense that everyone typically wants for a full out wedding.  Not to mention trying to get any information about pricing basically outputs a "call for further info" message where I'll undoubtedly be connected with some planner that will talk my ear off about how wonderful their facility is and what all they can provide that I don't need and certainly can't afford.

The other option we were looking at was a full blown rental property, perhaps for a weekend or so.  Again, most properties need you to rent it out at least a week (some do have 3 day weekend options) and anything that is actually beachfront is ridiculously priced, even for October.

It probably doesn't help that this is our first time ever booking any type of social gathering as well as being in an area we've only lived in for a few months.  I just didn't expect it to be this challenging.

Perhaps I need to go rent 'The Wedding Planner' at my local Redbox for some insight.  Silly me, that'll only teach me to be a terrible actor.

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Long nerd post. Beware.

I've been playing World of Warcraft pretty much since early 2005, a few months after it's initial release.  Things were different then.  Level 60 was the cap, the cool raid to go to was UBRS, Azeroth was small and difficult to traverse as an epic mount cost 1,000 gold and training was 900g which was extremely hard to obtain.  I waited in line for the midnight release of The Burning Crusade expansion.  Over all my accounts and characters, I've probably posted near 200 full days played.

Unfortunately, the game has changed.  The tide has been turning for a while but just within the last couple of weeks I've started to realize that the core draw of the game is gone for me.  Perhaps it was the introduction of patch 4.1, which disappointingly added only 2 new 5 man heroics based off of former raid instances.  Don't get me wrong, ZG and ZA were great as raids, and the new 5 mans were interesting for the first couple of run throughs.  Once my main character was geared up with most of the 353 epics (which only took a few runs), once again I was stuck with nothing to do.  I already had a level 85 bear that I could run through for more gear as well as an 83 shaman and 81 warrior that I could level to 85, but why?  To get ready for Firelands in 4.2?  Content that I wouldn't actually see until 4.3 or greater?  If Blizzard continues this trend of releasing a couple 5 mans in one patch then a raid in the next, that's a lot of downtime for non-raiders.  Sure there's the Molten Front dailies which will be interesting for the first week or two, then again it becomes grindy.  It's time for a break.

I took a break from WoW before for almost a year and followed it through fan sites but eventually came back.  This time I've decided to try to replace it.

I first tried Rift during the public beta a couple weeks before it’s retail launch earlier this year.  I didn't pay much attention to it simply because I was already in WoW and knew I didn't want to juggle 2 MMOs.  The style was interesting, the graphics were definitely better than WoW, and it had a unique class/skill configuration.  I maybe played for an hour or two and that was all.  It wasn't until I saw last week that they were now offering a free 7 day trial of the finished product that I wanted to see how far it'd come since February.

I picked my class and souls and dove right in to playing.  It had a similar feeling to vanilla WoW and similar elements to allow an easy transition.  The stars must've been aligned as Steam was actually running a 33% discount on both the regular and collector's editions of Rift so I took the plunge and purchased the full version of the game.

The first thing I noticed was that leveling took a LOT longer than what I was used to.  I've played around 16 hours thus far and I'm barely level 20.  You can be level 60+ in WoW in that time, even without heirlooms.  The quest path is very fluid, which WoW didn't achieve until Cataclysm.

I was also able to run an entry level dungeon in Rift over the weekend.  I'm reserving my overall opinion regarding dungeons until I run a few more, but based off the first, the dungeon was the perfect length.  It wasn't a 20 min face roll but it wasn't an hour long excruciating pain fest.  I also used the Looking for Group tool which took around 20 minutes to find a group (which is fast for DPS by WoW standards).  

The crafting/gathering aspect of Rift is a bit clunky but not unusable.  The other major issue I have with the game is transportation.  I've been spoiled by flight points in WoW every 50 yards so all the running around gets a bit frustrating.  There's typically a teleport or two in each zone but you typically have to search for them and they aren't easily discovered.  The collector's edition included a mount that increases speed by 60% so it's not as bad as it could be.

Another interesting aspect of the game are the rifts themselves.  Minor or major tears occur in the elemental planes where players can open rift events.  These elemental events consist of waves of monsters or a single boss monster and you earn rewards as each level is completed.  Rifts usually close within 3 or 4 levels and the public group system of Rift allows you to easily group with nearby members working to close the rift.  Occasionally a large boss event will overtake the entire zone where players have to quell invaders, collect items and/or close rifts.  The random aspect of this is a neat idea but can be cumbersome when invaders destroy the camp you are questing at or a rift 3 or 4 levels above you surrounds a quest target.

I'm not going to say that Rift is the new WoW.  It won't ever have the player base that WoW has, nor the advertising or development.  It does bring a relatively polished experience and good play value.  I imagine the soul system will see some simplification as the game develops, right now there's a ton of abilities which make rotations difficult.  And yes, a lot of the features introduced at launch or patched into Rift thus far have been taken from WoW, but the implementation of these features are important for the game.  Additionally, these features have been in previous MMOs from what I understand so it's nothing ground breaking.  Rift is lacking some of the nicer features WoW provides, like add-on API and an Armory profile site, but chances are that the developers are working on these.  However little things like AOE looting and built in full UI customization is a solid offering from Trion Worlds.

Will I keep following WoW updates?  Yes.  Will I give Rift a fair chance to keep it's content fresh and game interesting?  Yes.  Will I ever go back to WoW?  Hopefully not, but sadly cannot rule it out.

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I don't get the newest hardware BEFORE it's released to review.  I know the product has been out for nearly 6 months and has been reviewed by every major tech outlet, but it's new to us!

Karen and I picked up the base model, 11.6 inch with 64GB memory at our local Apple store yesterday.  Our goal was to replace a 6 year old Dell lugger which had little to no real portability, which Karen desperately needs to work on her job.  We've been eyeing the Macbook Air since it's release last October, but now that we've moved in and settled we wanted to pick one up.

When you go to an Apple store, you're overwhelmed with hardware.  There's iPads, iPhones, Macbooks, iMacs, the whole product line.  There's always enough staff to discuss your purchase.  We arrived around 8:00pm so there was barely a crowd.  The nice Apple staffer explained the basics about the computer, an offering of AppleCare and iWork, and other general items.  We knew what we wanted when we stepped in the door but we let her give her spiel.  Soon enough we were walking out the door with the new hardware.

So now the unboxing.  Apple's packaging design is absolutely amazing.  It's a simple box and when you open it the first thing you see is the new computer.  The documentation and power cords are underneath as to not take away from the beauty that is the hardware.  Everything fits right and everything has it's own compartment.  It's a simple, efficient design that falls right in line with Apple's expected experience.

I've found there's a distinct difference between handling a device inside an Apple store and inside your own home.  I've picked up the demo unit of the Air in the store many a time, but it felt like a different device at home.  It's absolutely shocking how Apple got a computer to fit in the chassis.  It's light, minimalist, and beautiful.  Karen even made mention that when the lid is closed, it's similar in size to an iPad.  It's that thin and that compact, though you still get a full keyboard and touchpad.

The flash hard drive helps make up for the lower end specs on the CPU and RAM.  It's mostly going to be used as a photo editing/word processing computer so based on our initial tests it should have no issues.  The screen is crisp, clear and bright.

I've never used Mac OS X, but setting up the system was a snap.  It takes you through initial config like setting up a user account, connecting the wireless, and setting time zone.  The other cool feature is disc sharing.  The Air doesn't have a CD drive.  You can set up other computers on your network to share their CD/DVD with the Air with a small program that runs in Windows or natively in Macs.  We installed iWork and then ran a system update to get iLife, iWork, and OS X up to the latest code.  The Mac App store is basically like the one in iOS and a lot of the elements of OS X we're familiar with because of iOS.  It will take some time to understand the nuances of OS X.  I like the multitouch trackpad though it's somewhat awkward having to use 2 fingers to alternate select.  I'm certain it'll get easier over time.

Overall it's a solid little machine and no doubt will last us a while.  I'd like to think this is the first step to a no-Windows household and based on the usage we've had thus far, I can see it as a possibility.  For me, I'll likely be using iOS devices in lieu of OS X devices as my iPhone is pretty much permanently attached to me and I imagine the iPad will take over most of my daily computing consumption from the PC.

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The sun is almost always out. The weather basically is sunny and warm unless it happens to be raining, but even then it's sunny again real soon.

There are a lot of numbered streets, and a lot of them have names too. I haven't quite figured out if people call the streets by their name or number.

Any service we've gotten has pretty much been mediocre. This includes utilities, dining, store checkout, etc. 2 exceptions though, our apartment's management office and our local Publix have been very welcoming, helpful and nice.

I think the no state income tax thing will be good, just waiting on the first FL paycheck to see.

The Florida sun still causes sunburn, even if you are a resident of Florida.

It's best to make an appointment if you have to go to the DMV.

I think that's all for now. I'm sure I'll have more ramblings soon.

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As our time in NC winds to a close, I wanted to thank the Tar Heel State for being our lovely host for the past two years.  The time we've spent here will never be forgotten and was influential in putting us on the path we are headed.  I'd like to share some final thoughts about our time here below.

First off, I'd like to personally thank the everyone involved at the NC State Fair.  Not only did we attend the fair itself for the last two years, but we also enjoyed various other activities that took place at the fairgrounds such as the Greek Festival, 4th of July, Got to Be NC Festival, coin shows, boat shows, and of course the flea market.  Conveniently located near our apartment, there were (mostly free) events almost every weekend and if we found ourselves in need of something to do we'd first look at the fairgrounds schedule.

As much as traffic is mostly bad on I-40 and I-440, it was nice to finally live in an area where the interstate was accessible.  Back in Kentucky, 3/4 of the city basically had to drive 20 min or more to even get to the on ramp of the closest interstate.  Even out of Cary where we live there were 3 interstate exits within 15 min of each other.  I know this is kind of a silly thing to write about, but it was one of the first things I noticed when I started living here.

No reflection post of mine is complete without mention of food.  The Raleigh/Cary area provided a multitude of restaurants, some I had only seen in far away bigger cities.  My first trip to Ruth's Chris Steak House was in Cary.  We got to enjoy the mostly Canadian based Jack Astor's.  Other restaurants like California Pizza Kitchen and the Cheesecake Factory were so far away back in Kentucky it wasn't worth the drive, but both were basically right down the street here.  I was able to regroup with long lost sandwich shop Jersey Mike's which was based in downtown Lexington when I was in college but closed relatively quick.

Finally and most importantly, we got married in North Carolina.  Sure it wasn't a big wedding with all the fanfare and such but we were married on our dream date of 10/10/10.  Our wedding for $80 at the Wake County Public Safety Center was perfect for us.  It's really about the couple, not the circumstances.  I love my wife Karen and everything about her and couldn't ask for anything more.  It's also going to put a lot less stress on the wedding celebration we're putting on this fall for family and friends to commemorate our first year of marriage.

Our time in NC served as a platform for the future.  As we start our Florida journey in just 2 weeks' time, I couldn't have asked to be in a better position.  I'm slowly learning that life is nothing but a bunch of beginnings, and this could be our biggest one yet.

We'll miss you North Carolina, you really do hold a piece of our heart.

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As I was drifting into the dream world last night, I started thinking about dreams.  Not the crazy stuff you see when you're sleeping, but those goals, items, places that you dream about completing, having, or going to.  I remember growing up with very few dreams.  I didn't really know what I wanted to do or where I wanted to go, but I knew that I had potential in me to go far.  It took meeting my wife to really understand what it was like to chase dreams.

It's interesting how the universe works.  Without going into debate material, it almost seems like when you get on the right track, everything going forward is smooth sailing.  Of course smooth is a relative term, it's not all unicorns and rainbows, there's challenges along the way that you have to deal with.  But the challenges are meant to prepare you for the future, and as you approach and defeat more challenges, the better off you'll end up.

There's a distinct difference between wild dreams and realistic dreams.  People can dream about being a big movie star, singer, pro baseball player, but the chances of actually being able to chase and be successful are slim.  I'm not saying that you shouldn't have these kinds of dreams, however it's going to be riddled with many more challenges than a more realistic dream.  I feel that realistic dreams are actually a series of smaller goals to achieve.

I've always worked backwards for goals, starting with the ending and working to fill in the gaps in order to reach the beginning.  It's always provided a precise pathway to achieving the end result.  Once it's outlined it's easier to come up with alternatives should anything go awry.

When I first met Karen, a change began to happen in me.  I saw a clearer future than I had ever seen before.  I got the confidence in my ability to act upon dreams.  I rose from my financial apocalypse and was able to focus on where we actually wanted to be.  It started moving into an apartment in Lexington then planning the interstate move to North Carolina.  I never thought I'd actually leave Lexington, it was never a possibility.  But I was able to realize there's more to the world.  My dream all along was to have a life of my own, one that I built, not one that was provided.  And as the time passes I've realized how I want my life to be constructed.  I'll keep chasing dreams, each one marking a new floor on the tower that I'm building.  Be it a new locale, a new business, or new carpet, I'll be able to say that this was my dream, one that I dreamed.

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Seriously?  I know I've touched on it before barely, but with behemoths such as the Droid X and the EVO 4G pretty popular in the mobile world I'm worried that the trend of the big screen phone will continue.  I know that I've seen people in the world with their EVO out and it looks like you could serve dinner off of it.  How is that easily portable?  You almost need a holster at your side to fit it right.

Along the same lines, Apple has stood by it's 3.5" form factor since the iPhone's inception.  It makes you wonder if the folks in Cupertino are exploring other options for their next iterations of the iPhone.  Given their recent comments regarding small tablets, it leads me to believe they wouldn't go for the full 4.3" monster but maybe a small bump to 3.8" or so.  They have to keep the Retina Display resolution that everyone loves, so I'm not sure what the screen size change would do to it.

The line between what makes a phone and phone and what makes a tablet a tablet is becoming more and more blurred.  I want my phone to be handy and not bulky and awkward.  I also do not want to be left behind with older equipment simply because I refuse to go big.  A 5" phone in your pocket seems prone to breakage.  All it takes is a trip into a desk or door and 1/4 (or more) of your screen is gone.  Sure there's been advances such as Gorilla Glass and whatever Apple is using, but with enough force any glass will break.

Of course someone could simply make the Pip-Boy form factor popular and everyone will just operate off of their arm.

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We were able to go twice to the fair this year (again) and just as we experienced last year it was a great event.  Last Thursday was day 1 of the fair and we went to the Deep Fried Triangle Tweetup.  We got to see the great folks from the NC State Fair press office, got to sample some of the food from the fair and local vendors, and watch a live show comparing frozen corn dogs to real state fair corn dogs from Gregory Ng a.k.a. Freezerburns.  We went to the fair again tonight and explored some other events.  We got to meet the crew from Bob and the Showgram (a local radio show), see the agricultural exhibits with livestock, and of course try some more of that great fair food.  So that's a good summary, now for the real reason everyone goes to the fair, the food!

I started off last week with a great spicy 1/2 pound hot dog from Joe's Big Dogs, they are based in Durham.  They did have a 1 pound beast but I was intimidated and couldn't eat it.  Then at the Triangle Tweetup we were treated to deep-fried Chip's Ahoy cookies, some delicious local roast pork, and fresh ice cream made at NC State.

Tonight we really hit the fair food hard, starting out with the Freezerburns recommended deep-fried cheeseburger.  I never thought I'd eat a cheeseburger on a stick in my lifetime, but it happened.  It was an amazing combination of light batter and the heartiness of a cheeseburger.  Fresh and hot with a little bit of mustard, really glad I got to try this.  Karen had some deep-fried macaroni and cheese that looked good as well.

Next we went over to the 1853 Grille for the "dessert" portion of the evening.  I ordered the deep-fried honey bun.  Now I'm a big fan of a standard honey bun, so battering it and deep frying only seemed like the next logical progression.  The thing ended up weighing about 3/4 of a pound, it was huge.  The glaze on the honey bun melted inside the batter so I got a rich bite of pastry and syrup every time.  I only want to eat honey buns in this manner for the remainder of my life.

Overall it's everything the State Fair is meant to be, fun for all with deep-fried creations.  Really enjoyable!

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I had an interesting thought on the way to work today.  Part of it was spurred by the announcement that MTV and BET would be "producing" a Town Hall meeting for youth with President Obama, part of it is just my general disdain of current politicians.

People always ask the "issue" questions such as "What is your stance on abortion?" or "Will you raise taxes?".  The unfortunate reality of the answers to those questions is that they are pre-determined and spun for whatever they think will get them elected.  The questions in Town Halls are typically pre-screened anyway since almost all politicians can't even think on their feet.

I propose that instead of asking the "issues" questions which will receive a non-genuine answer, we ask realistic common sense questions.  If we were able to come up with a good 10-20 common sense questions to ask our current/future elected officials, I'm almost certain the results would be shocking.  Not only would it require the candidate to use their brain, but I think it would show exactly how distanced politicians are from the American people.

The first question that I would ask would be:

"If you were in serious debt, would you stop spending uncontrollably?"

Could you imagine the answers you'd get to that?  They'd turn it around into some mess of political jargon and whatnot.  Keep in mind the question is not worded as "If the COUNTRY is in serious debt," it's poised as a direct question to the hopeful.  The person that would have the guts to answer that question directly would likely get my vote.  OF COURSE YOU SHOULDN'T KEEP SPENDING IF YOU ARE IN DEBT!

The distance between politicians and the people they represent is growing rapidly, it almost seems like all that is done is pouring money into a smear campaign against their opponent and hope they get enough votes.  Why can't they be honest with us?  Why can't they admit their faults?  No one is perfect, we don't expect them to be, but we do expect them to represent us properly.  We're tired of the rhetoric, we're tired of the debt, we want the government to govern, not control.  Until we change the way we "feel out" our elected officials nothing is going to change.

I'll admit there's a lot of generalization in this post.  I also believe that most of the generalization is true.

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Again I have so much going through my brain it's really overwhelming.  There's places I want to be, things I want to buy, things I want to learn, but there's no way of doing any of this quickly.  There's a bad part to making plans, getting to the end result sometimes pigeon-holes you into a certain routine.  I've almost reached my limit of routine.

I decided today that I definitely want to pursue a business administration degree.  I'm hoping wherever I end up there's an IT specialization because regardless of what I do or where I go, I have a feeling IT is going to be with me. 

I feel like I should be much further than I am right now.  I've had various setbacks that took the breath out of me but I'm still moving forward.  I'll make it to the top eventually.

I wish everything didn't require money.  People often say money can't bring you happiness, but I'm pretty sure it can put you in a place where you can find it.  I know I have (along with mostly everyone in the world I imagine) a list a mile long of things I'd do if I only had the money to do so.  People should be able to live their dreams.

I need advancement.  I've gone longer than I've ever gone in a job without some sort of promotion.  I need a pathway to learning and development.  I want to succeed.

Well, I guess this post just turned into a bunch of I want I want I need I need.  I don't mean to come off as whiny or spoiled, I think it's okay for people to list out their wants and needs in life and do what they can to reach them.  It's all about making the right moves.

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Last night I had about an hour to level my new druid and figured the best way to maximize XP was using the dungeon finder.  Being that I was level 20, of course the finder chose Deadmines.  I queued as a tank for the quick queues and I'm not too terrible at it.  So we're going along and right around the goblin foundry the rogue has to leave.  The dungeon finder gets us another player who's a 17 warrior.  Now he's got all his talent points in the fury tree, but he's got a sword and shield on.  He starts taunting the mobs off me and trying to tank through the foundry until we get to the cove.  Now is when it gets really fun.

As we are about to board the ship before Smite, I ask him if he wants to tank.  He says "I'm not really good at it but I can."  I said "Let me tank then and stop taunting and pulling" and told him to take taunt off his bar.  He says "OK" but continues to do so.  We kill Smite (with him taunting the adds off me) and we move up the ramp to the ship.  He face pulls the first couple groups on the ship and we kill them.  Healer needs mana so we rest.  As we head to the next mob, the warrior charges in and starts attacking.  At that point, I just sat my bear down and watched.  Fortunately, the other players were competent too, so they just sat down right there with me about 50 yards from the warrior, no healing, no dpsing.  We all just sat and watched as his health bar go down.  He ended up killing the mob and didn't die, but the point was rather obvious.  He didn't taunt again after that.

If only I had FRAPS'd it or thought to have screenshotted it.  I was honestly laughing too hard.  It's very unusual almost 6 years into this game and that low level of a dungeon to find people that would actually go along with a "sit-in".  I'm sure the others in the party had done this instance countless times as I had, but it's these kind of events that make it not so ho-hum.  You get zombiefied doing heroic after heroic after heroic, not a lot really can happen to make it new and exciting.  It was definitely refreshing to see that there is a human element left in the otherwise monotonous World.

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Entering my 28th year of life I can't help but reflect upon what's happened thus far and what's coming up.  I use birthdays as a milestone now, far from the parties and fanfare of (much) younger days. 

I've seen rock bottom. I've seen top of the tower.

I've been hurt. I've been loved.

I've seen places I never thought I would.  I've met people that others want to.

I've moved away from home.  I've moved back home.

I've lost family. I've gained family.

I fell in love. I fell out of love. I fell in love again with the right person.

I've pushed myself further than I ever imagined.

I've made plans. I've had plans ruined.

I've gotten an education. I've dropped out too.

I own my destiny now.

So many events happen throughout your life, if you don't take the time to remember, learn, and grow from them then you aren't really living.  I'm in a place now where I've taken everything that has happened in my life and used it to make me better.  It's ironic that my 10 year high school reunion is coming up, I'm sure 95% of those people wouldn't be able to peg the current me as the "then" me.  Even in that 10 years, I've found myself, who I really am and who I'm going to be.  I'm not the timid, out of place nerd anymore.  I'm a real person.  A person with dreams, a person with hope, a person that is striving every day to become better.

28 isn't that old (though I feel old).  My future is the brightest it's been, I can't wait to live it.  Thank you everyone in advance.

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About 9 years and 1 hour ago, 1 World Trade Center (North Tower) fell.  2 World Trade Center (South Tower) had fallen about 30 minutes earlier.  We were attacked.  Attacked by an enemy that hated America, an enemy that remains at large.  Our brave men and women of the military went into action against the regimes of Afghanistan and Iraq, those whom were harboring our attackers.  While progress has been made, there's still work to be done.

The rebuilding continues at the World Trade Center site, the new 1 World Trade Center will rise as a tower of hope and remembrance.  The 8 acre memorial on the footprints of the original towers are almost completed and will be visited by millions from across the world to give their respects.  We must never forget those that lost their lives on that day, the worst terrorist attack on American soil.

I write this in memory of those almost 3,000 men and women who were murdered in cold blood in New York, Pennsylvania, and Washington, DC.  Their families are in my thoughts and prayers today.   God Bless America.

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A few weeks ago I had the sudden urge to play pinball.  I always had fun playing pinball but never was in an arcade or bowling alley long enough to play for any amount of time.  One table in particular stands out in my mind, Funhouse by Williams.  It features a creepy ventriloquist dummy head that verbally berates you as you play and some crazy story about a circus and time to sleep.  Regardless, when I first saw the table in real life, I played it only briefly.  The condition of the table wasn't great and Rudy (the dummy) was barely functional.  I wanted to play it in it's original working form.

Now being familiar with most methods of video game emulation, I figured there had to be a pinball emulator.  I tried playing around with PinMAME and really didn't have much luck or understood it.  I even went as far to look on eBay to price out real tables (though I would never buy one as I have no room and they run about $2500).

I happened upon some Youtube video of Funhouse, being played on the Xbox 360.  SAY WHAT?!  Apparently last September the game "Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection" was released that features some tables that I remember from back in the day.  PinBot, Space Shuttle, Whirlwind, and of course Funhouse.  I now must have this game.

I can't wait to enjoy some good pinball!

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Before I go any further, yes I know there is an actual book "Home Buying for Dummies" available.  It's in 4th edition right now which was published in May '09.  I'm not positive that the market now is the same as then, but I'm almost afraid to trust any source that wasn't written last week.  I will likely read it at some point.

Let's face it, I'm not getting any younger.  Later this month I turn 28 and the itch to build equity in home ownership is getting almost too difficult to ignore.  I've been researching a high level overview regarding home buying, and frankly it's extremely disappointing.  With everyone saying "Now is the time to buy, home prices are so low!", I'm trying to determine HOW people actually do it.

My first challenge of course is that silly Chapter 7 nonsense that closed in January '08.  With the credit market the way it is and from what I've read, it's pretty much going to be impossible to finance a home without about a 700 credit score.  I don't think I've ever had a credit score of 700.  Based on what I've seen from Credit Karma (which uses TransUnion to estimate) and other reports, my score ranges from 590 to 660.  This is also due to the fact that both Experian and Equifax have refused to remove a couple loans from my report that were discharged in my bankruptcy, even after multiple dispute attempts.  TransUnion removed them as soon as the discharge was granted.  My credit score has been steadily increasing and should be approaching 700 shortly, but with the black mark of a bankruptcy, I'm not sure it'll make a difference.

The second item of concern is the standard %20 down payment.  Everywhere I've read I've seen that anything less than %20 down is pretty much a death wish.  Now, without going into specifics, I'd say my amount of disposable income per month is moderate, enough breathing room to handle unexpected things, but not enough to live extravagantly.  Some arbitrary study on some random website showed that the median home price in "the south" is around $163,000.  So even purchasing a lower end home, say $100,000 to $120,000, that's putting the down payment at $20,000 to $24,000.  How?!  No account in my name ever has had even remotely close to that amount of money.  So because of that I don't deserve to purchase a house?

Again, without being specific, I personally have known people that have worked in restaurants and entry level tech support and have been able to purchase pretty decent houses.  Knowing the salary that is paid and the timing of their purchase, I can guarantee that they were not able to put down %20.  So what's the missing link?  Did they have some reservoir of cash they just didn't tell anyone about?  Is there some magical program out there that gives affordable mortgages with little to no down payment?  How are people with little to no or bad credit getting mortgages?  It makes me think that there's still hope after all the soul-crushing things I've read, but what's the point in making the investment if you are going to pay an insane amount of interest or an insane monthly payment.  People have always said, "Why would you rent when you can own for close to the same amount?".  I guess that only applies if you have an 800 credit score and %30 down in cash.

Does anyone know the real story about first time home buying?  Is the big scary internet doing it's job of fear mongering or are my concerns and analysis right on point?

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