Childhood Games

There are games we play when we're children that we remember for our entire lives.  We buy them for our families when we get older if we don't have the original any longer.  Just seeing the childhood game can bring back memories and feelings that were going on at the time.  Sometimes even feelings or scents.

The other day we were walking downtown and came across a store with some novelty items.  All of us went into different areas of the store but a yellow box caught my eye and there it was...The game I was taught in 5th grade.  I remembered handing out the sheets and trying to decide who would call out the cards, if it was okay to say the card in English, etc...  I took a photo of the box and a salesperson instantly said, "No photographing the merchandise.  I apologized and continued browsing with a little grin on my face.

What games bring back instant memories for you?  Are they good memories or bad?

Married with a Facebook Account

Do you have a Facebook account?  The interesting thing about having an account is what to do when you get married if both of you already have an account.  Should you get a joint account and keep your individual one?

If neither of you have an account when you get married and then decide that you'd like to have a presence what do you do?  Some will create a joint account with a cheesy photo of them both in the profile picture to show, "Hey, this is our account."  Or maybe a neutral photo of the kids or dog.

It could get awkward when the mutual account has only friends from one spouse or the other.  And...did they get one account because one spouse wants to keep track of the other with everything being in the open.  On the extreme, the husband will usually open an account and not let the wife have one.  There is usually a huge problem in that case.

Creating individual accounts seems to be the more popular idea.  There is usually a higher level of trust and why shouldn't there be?  The issue that may come up is, "Hey dear...who is he?  How do you know her? Do they know you got married?"  Should the ladies put their maiden name to let others find them easily and don't know their new married name?

Some decide they aren't playing the game and all the issues that come up and don't even get one.  How about you?  What's your thought?

How to win the Lottery

Sam's $25,000 Scratcher

I've recently discovered a guaranteed way to win at the scratchers!  Yes...GUARANTEED.  You read that right.  Here is an un-altered winning scratcher.  I haven't used Adobe Photoshop on the photo of the ticket or manipulated it in anyway shape or form other than to re-size it to fit on this post.


We know that you can spend a whole lot of money on scratchers and not get three of anything to match up.  But after following my very easy instructions you too will know the secret.  How is it that I can share this tip?  Well, I believe that everyone deserves to see a winning ticket.  Btw, you don't even have to give me a single cent although tips are always welcome.  Leave me a comment and I'll share this very simple way that you can get three matching $25,000 items to appear after you scratch off that silver looking stuff.


I'll show you how to hold the ticket, how to scratch it, what coin to use and even how quickly you must remove the metal stuff.  Make sure you have your friends around when you do it so you can all share in the experience.  


I don't know how long this post will be allowed to appear here before someone tells me that it's not fair or to take it down.  So...hurry up and leave a comment!

Secure Passwords

One of the toughest things is picking passwords.  Not just any password but something better than LetMeIn, Password1, 10141989, 12345678, qwerty, abc123,  <any cuss word>.


The password should be at least 8 characters.  Let's add an upper case character, a lowercase, special character, number, to the mix for good measure.  Another thing is to make sure you have different passwords for all your accounts.  This way, someone doesn't have free reign if you love your password.  Get a password manager!

Sam's EMail Password

Sometimes I just remember the temporary passwords websites send me instead of creating my own.  Which leads to ... where's the "I forgot my password" link?!


Do you use secure passwords?

Hidden Tiger

I haven't posted one of these in a while so here is one of those optical illusions.  Are you able to find the hidden tiger in this image?

Do you look in the trees?  How about the bushes?  Or maybe in the dirt?

Yes...It's there right in plain sight.  If you give up, then you can follow the link to find out.

Answer

Words with Friends

I play words with friends (WFW) for the fun of it and don't care if I win or lose.  It's just interesting to me to see what kind of weird words come out of the game and the strategy.  BTW I  normally don't like playing games that reply on random chance or how the tiles are shuffled.

In this game I lucked out and got 111 points on the word SMAZE.  The other person almost resigned right then and there.  But decided to play on just for the heck of it.

What is the highest total points that you've received for tile placement in words with friends?

Ginormous Reese's Peanut Butter Cup

I really like Reese's peanut butter cups.  Most of the time that you go into a store you'll probably see a candy bar that is smaller that you remember for the same price.  But check out this Reese's peanut butter cup that I found today!  No photoshop or anything.


What is your favorite candy bar and when do you remember that it first became that.  What memories do you have associated with this candy bar?

Pyschopath Test?

The Shining 1980

This is a puzzle that was supposedly designed to see if you're a psychopath.  It has gone through a few changes each time I read it but the core is the same...Here it is:


A young woman is at her mother's funeral. She meets a man she had never seen before, but who's there as a part of family. She instantly falls in love with him but doesn't get any contact information for him. A few days after, she kills her sister. Why?


I solved this test very quickly..Are you scared yet?

Happy New Year - 2012

Here it is another year.  I asked a friend if they had any resolutions and they said, "Why set yourself up for failure? What's yours?"  I told them that I had one, "not to make one."  Did i succeed?


After thinking about it for a second, I came to the conclusion that a resolution is your acknowledgement that you have some sort of imperfection that you're trying to work on.  Keeping it is a matter of discipline that most of us don't have.


Are you going to make one or any?

In-N-Out Animal Fries

I don't see animal fries on the menu at In-N-Out Burger but my friends know what they are!  


Have you ever had "animal style?"  The cashiers get all confused when I order animal style fries and then say no onions on the burger.  


Hungry yet?

It's Too Hot For My iPhone!

iPhone Too Hot

I went to use my iPhone and pressed the home button, and this appears on my screen!  What the heck?  


The temperature outside was about 110 but I didn't know that my phone would complain.  Luckily it recovered and I was able to use it within about a minute.


Hmmm...I wonder if there is a too cold warning message also.


Has this ever happened to you?  

I am NOT a trash can

We stopped into a Starbucks the other day and I saw this interesting can.  The can was placed next to the table where you would toss the straw wrappers, or other trash.  Obivously, customers thought it was a trash can and employees had to put signs up that said, "This is NOT a trash can."  


Should they leave the can or take it away?

$4,000 Piglet Bank

You've heard of piggy banks and probably even had a plastic one before.  The unique thing about this piglet bank, is that  it's a real dead piglet!

If you're willing to wait up to a year for a piglet to die, then this is up your alley.  Only $4,000!

What do you think?

Chess With Friends

Scholar's Mate

Heather kept telling me about her sister playing, Words with Friends, and how much she liked it.  I looked up Chess with Friends and bingo!  


At this point it's really Chess with Strangers.  I play about 10 games at a time.  Not because I think I'm good but because that way there is always a move going on and I don't have to wait for days (after a week or so, they automatically resign if they don't move) for a piece to get moved.


After a month now, I play a few regular people and we seem to have gone the same route...WWF and then to CWF.   I'm pretty evenly matched with them - "Take a lesson or give a lesson!"


One thing that I don't like is that you can't pre-select a player level.  This often leads to playing absolute beginners.  Ezekiel asked me what the shortest checkmate was: Fool's Mate but that Scholar's Mate comes in a close second.  The opportunity came around and I showed him exactly what it looked like.  


I'm an average chess player, so if  you'd like to play a game, my nickname is: DaShoe.

Lethologica

Have you ever scrambled for a word and just couldn't get the right one?  You go around asking everyone and they look at you funny.  Well, look up that word and tell me if it describes a condition you might be experiencing.

Nope.  I'm not giving you a link!

Which # did you press?

Street Art

 This street art painting are pretty cool .  I've never seen one in person but I wonder if people that see them are tricked into thinking they are real. :)

Photo Enforcement Tickets

I thought this was pretty funny! We've all seen the red-light photo enforcement cameras in intersections to catch motorists but this guy is or has beaten the system until now.  He has a boatload (Sam defines boatload in this case as 37) of pictures just like this sent to his house and he always returns them stating that it isn't him.

The law states you can fight it, but the photo on his driver's license doesn't match the photo captured by the intersection camera.  He refused to pay so a investigative unit followed him.

You can read about the "Monkey Driver That Won't Pay Fine" if you'd like.  Have you ever been busted by the camera?

2009 Little League World Series

Have you been watching the Little League World Series?  We have!  Our local Chula Vista team  Parkview Little League won today versus the only team that had beaten them in the tournament - San Antonio, Texas.  The earlier loss (3-6) was forgotten as Parkview ended the US Championship Game early by the mercy rule, 12-2.

I saw some of my friends on the tube when the cameras panned the audience.  Jess was at a football game so I was sending updates to her via text as they happened. She would then tell the rest of the parents at the game.

Now, Parkview will face Chinese Taipei in the the Little League World Series Championship game at Noon Pacific time tomorrow.  We're having a little carne asada and munchies at our game get together to cheer the team on.  :)

On a side note, has anyone noticed that of the 16 teams in the LLWS that eight are from the United States?  And that the United States (1 of the 8 teams) gets an automatic berth into the Championship Game to face the International Champion?  Doesn't it seem like this is a United States versus the World tournament?

The spoiled under-30 crowd

I got this e-mail today...How many remember this?


If you're 30 or older you'll think this is hilarious!!! Maybe!

When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were. When they were growing up; what with walking Twenty-five miles to school every morning....Uphill...barefoot...BOTH ways...Yadda, yadda, yadda

And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way in hell I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on my kids about how hard I had it and how easy they've got it!

But now that... I'm over the ripe old age of thirty, I can't help but look around and notice the youth of today.

You've got it so easy! I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a damn Utopia!

And I hate to say it, but you kids today, you don't know how good you've got it!

I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have The Internet. If we wanted to know something, we had to go to the damn library and look it up ourselves, in the card catalogue!!

There was no email!! We had to actually write somebody a letter - with a pen!

Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox and it would take, like, a week to get there! Stamps were 10 cents!

Child Protective Services didn't care if our parents beat us.. As a matter of fact, the parents of all my friends also had permission to kick our ass and we got "Licks" from the teachers and principals. Nowhere was safe , I even remember Grandma beating me!

There were no MP3' s or Napsters! If you wanted to steal music, you had to hitchhike to the damn record store and shoplift it yourself! Or, you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio and the DJ would usually talk over the beginning and @#*% it all up! There were no CD players! We had tape decks in our car. We'd play our favorite tape and "eject" it when finished and the tape would come undone. Cause - that's how we rolled, dig?

We didn't have fancy crap like Call Waiting! If you were on the phone and somebody else called they got a busy signal, that's it!

And we didn't have fancy Caller ID either! When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was! It could be your school, your mom, your boss, your bookie, your drug dealer, a collections agent, you just didn't know!!! You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister!

We didn't have any fancy Sony Playstation video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had the Atari 2600! With games like 'Space Invaders' and 'Asteroids'. Your guy was a little square! You actually had to use your imagination!! And there were no
multiple levels or screens, it was just one screen...forever! And you could never win. The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died! Just like LIFE!

You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on! You were screwed when it came to channel surfing! You had to get off your ass and walk over to the TV to change the channel! NO REMOTES!!!

There was no Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons on Saturday Morning. Do you hear what I'm saying!?! We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons, you spoiled little rat-bastards! And we didn't have microwaves, if we wanted to heat something up we had to use the stove! Imagine that!

That's exactly what I'm talking about! You kids today have got it too easy. You're spoiled. You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1980 or before!

Regards,
The Over 30 Crowd

What's that smell?

Jess and I are walking down the street in China Town in San Francisco and I spot the following license plate.  I got my phone out and Jess knew exactly what I was going to do.  The other night I saw one that said, "LiL Terd" but it was too dark to get a clear shot.

What is the weirdest plate you've seen? Would you get a vanity plate? If so, what would your plate read?

Always buy the PRO version!

Somehow I think a small change was meant to be removed before the release version went out!  Another error that appeared in a project that I took over was, "Show me the money!!!"  Do you think developers should put these kinds of errors in their messages?

Hidden Images

What do you see in the image below?

How many do you see?

Vista SP2 Available

Microsoft has a new update for Vista. How many things will it break in the process of fixing issues?

Spinning Girl

Look at the spinning girl.  Which way is she spinning, clockwise or counterclockwise?  Based on how you look at the image, you can make it go the opposite direction!  Don't get discouraged if you can't see it right away.

Where is My Mind?

If you've lost your mind and are having trouble finding it, then there is still hope. Google can help you find it!  After you find your mind, try entering, "How to " and see what you get.  Or even, "How not to."

What kind of weird searches have you done?

First U.S. Face Transplant

Connie Culp, shot by her husband in the face was the first face transplant in the United States.  The husband received seven years for the shotgun blast that nearly killed her back in 2004, but she had years of recovering ahead of her.  As you can tell by the before and after photos that surgeons did a great job with what they had.

I admire the strength it took for her to come forward with her story and know that it would be difficult for many to face all the gawking and pointing.

Do you think that seven years was enough?  And secondly, would you go through a face transplant if you were in the same situation?

Headache Remedy

Jess and I were waiting around after basketball practice and decided to kill some time with an iPhone app.  As you can tell, her 10 year old won this round.  I don't think that tylenol will help in this case!

What kind of cool games do you have on your phone?

Texting Bus Driver Crashes

It is against the law to text while driving in California but people still do it anyway.  This bus driver from San Antonio was caught on video texting and getting into a traffic accident on the freeway.

Do you text while driving?

The Swine Flu

Are you concerned about all the coverage on the swine flu? I've seen reports of people buying up masks and hand sanitizers.  I think that people are going to flood the emergency rooms soon at the slightest sign of the flu just to be safe.

Will the standard measures: washing your hands, covering your mouth if you cough, and practicing standard hygiene, work in this situation?

Quick, Quick...what company makes Tamiflu?  Not that anyone would try to profit off this.