Boss Level Achieved!

It took some time, dedication and lots of help from a lot of friends and family. But I was able to finally finish off New York Mafia Wars on Facebook.

And here's the proof of that accomplishment.

(click to enlarge photo)

Now my list of job mastery items are:

Now its time to tackle CUBA or should I just go straight for MOSCOW?

Decisions, Decisions!

Mafia Wars: Moscow

Hotmail Beta Tester Badges

For those who were Beta Testers for the New Hotmail, here's your badges. Or even if you weren't here are the badges so you can pretend that you were!

Adding your new beta badge into your Windows Live Hotmail signature is easy! Just follow these simple steps:

1. In your Windows Live Hotmail Inbox, select Options on the top right under your name and then select More Options at the bottom of the menu.
2. On the Options page under the Customize Your Mail section, click on Personal E-mail Signature.
3. Now right-click on the signature badge you'd like to use from the choices below, and select "copy".
4. Return to the e-mail signature page, click in the signature field and either click on the Edit menu in your brower and select Paste, or do CTRL+V.
5. Then click "Save", and your new signature badge will appear at the bottom of your e-mails!

Ving Rhames is everywhere!

(click photo to see Ving Rhames in High Definition!)

Looking up Ving Rhames on IMDB, I was surprised to see just how much work this guy has been getting in just the last two years. He may be one of those quiet, under the radar kind of guys. But I think he has a look that the people really want to see.

And he's certainly been putting in the work. From 2008-2010, he has been quite busy. Going even further back, you will be hard pressed to find a break in the action.

So here is just a snippet of what he's put out in 2008/2009 and a list of things to look forward to for the remainder of 2009 and into 2010.

1. The Van Zandt Shakedown (2010) (pre-production) (rumored) .... Vincent
2. Silver Cord (2009) (pre-production) .... Detective Donovan
3. Unshakable (2009) (pre-production) .... Metzger
4. The Spanish Harlem Project (2009) (pre-production) .... Nino
5. Piranha 3-D (2010) (filming)
6. The Wrath of Cain (2010) (post-production) .... Cain
7. Master Harold... and the Boys (2010) (post-production) .... Sam
8. Surrogates (2009) (post-production) .... The Prophet
9. Rogue's Gallery (2009) (post-production) .... Judgement
10. King of the Avenue (2009) (post-production) .... Norman De'Sha
    
    
11. The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard (2009) .... Jibby Newsome
12. Give 'em Hell, Malone (2009) .... Boulder
13. The Tournament (2009) .... Joshua Harlow
14. Echelon Conspiracy (2009) .... Agent Dave Grant
    ... aka The Conspiracy (Singapore: English title)
15. Evil Angel (2009) .... Carruthers
16. The Bridge to Nowhere (2009)
17. Phantom Punch (2009) .... Sonny Liston
18. Saving God (2008) .... Armstrong Cane
19. Day of the Dead (2008) .... Captain Rhodes
    ... aka Day of the Dead: The Need to Feed (USA: DVD title)
20. A Broken Life (2008) .... Vet

Favre and the Vikings

In case you haven't heard: Brett Favre is officially a Minnesota Viking!

(click to enlarge picture)

A picture is worth a thousand words. No more needs to be said... at this time.

Oh, here a little commenting on my facebook account
Robert Moore
In case you haven't heard: Brett Favre is officially a Minnesota Viking!
about an hour ago

Joanna Robisch-Mosby
Nobody cares!!! Go Cowboys!!! lol
2 hours ago

Robert Moore
Ppl don't care... yet! In a few weeks "Vikings" ppl will be naming unborn kids "Vikings". Just wait.
about an hour ago

Joanna Robisch-Mosby
LMAO, LMAO, LMAO. That is the funniest thing I have ever heard.
about an hour ago

Evelyn Hicks
You are so out of control! Glad your babies have names already. That was too funny!
about an hour ago

Robert Moore
My oldest did have a pair of viking's booties. But i never put them on her feet to preserve them.
about an hour ago

Evelyn Hicks
I am so laughing at you...you could've totally pulled it off too with the purple and gold. No one would have even questioned it. LOL at the picture on the web site.
http://www.vikings.com/
about an hour ago

Robert Moore
I took a screen shot of it and posted it on my blog.
about a minute ago

Evelyn Hicks
You are too funny...happy to be a good muse for you. LOL.....rolling on the floor lol!
5 seconds ago

Gospel Music in Korean

Taking their inspiration from the Heritage Mass Choir, this awesome group presents an original style of Korean Gospel music.

Enjoy! I know I did.

Fat Burning Furnace Secrets Revealed

I usually don't click on advertisement links I see. But this one really caught my eye. It was for the Fat Burning Furnace. The website gives you quite a bit of information of what does not work. But to find out what does work, you have to buy into the system.

I wasn't going to shell out money for something I really don't need. So I simply hit up a few internet searches and found some reviews. The first review sounded promising. It started out: "Fat Burning Furnace is a one of a kind fat loss routine written by Rob Poulos, a former overweight himself."

The review goes on to the conlussion: "Verdict: I recommend Fat Burning Furnace program to anyone who has a good motive to lose fat and build lean muscle to get that ripped look in the least amount of time."

Well in between you may wonder, what is this system that works? In summary the review states:
That is just part of what makes this workout so great. The specialty of this workout routine is that unlike other training programs that ask you to perform 3-4 sets of each exercise, Rob only asks to perform one set. That's it!

But there is more to that one set than one could manage in 3-4 sets. It is the rep speed. In the Fat Burning Furnace, you have to perform each exercise at a specified tempo. For example; 3 seconds to lower the weight and 4 seconds to lift the weight. I believe you've got the picture of what I am trying to explain here.

I decided to do a little more research and find a similar routine that relied on doing slower reps, not a huge emphasis on a lot of reps. You can find the article over at the Men's Health website.

Facebook Apps...Pass The Buck

I was thinking about making a new application for Facebook. It seems as if everybody has their own send a heart, card, fig newton, lollipop, etc. that I might as well make one too.

But mine is Pass The Buck. The idea is simple, people pass the buck to their friends and see who ends up with the most. Like the pillow fight.

The more I think about it the cooler it seems. People can unlock various symbols of currency the more they pass the buck to friends.

Send me a message and let me know what you think about the idea. I've already begun the creation process (logo, icon, name, and a few other things) and have even installed it on my ownself! Check out this picture as proof!

Slow and Steady (Mafia Wars: Myspace)

Yes, it has taken time, but I completed yet another job tier in Cuba. This time in Cuba (on Mafia Wars Myspace). And here is the proof.

Oh and the coolest part is I got a Che Beret! 46 Attack, 34 Defense

I just have one more tier to conquer and then it's back to NY to conquer those as well.

Mafia Wars Help... User discretion is advised!

I cannot condone the use of an autoplayer for Zynga games. However, if you do choose to leverage the power of Greasemonkey and whatever script you find, that is truly up to you. But be familiar with the Terms of Service of whatever game you are going to play by this method before you try it.

Below is a screenshot of a particular script that I find quite interesting. I was concerned at first about it's proclaimed ability to "auto mission mastery + (will get required loot/inventory)"

Below is a screen clip of it in action, and it works like a charm.



If you don't understand what is going on in the screen clip, I will explain. To Master certain jobs, you need consumables. These consumables are acquired from jobs in other tiers. The script (when set up to run) will see what item you are in need of, perform that job, get that consumable and then return to the original job to complete it!

Wow! Works as good as advertised!

Train Your Eyes to See Color, Again

The thought behind the website I found is simple. Profoundly deep and oddly enough very relevant to our every day lives.

There are many reasons why we don't always get what we want. One of these reasons is because we focus on the opposite of what we want. Sometimes, we just can't help it. But, if we are conscious of our thoughts, we can intercept these thoughts and shift our frame of mind towards our desired goals.

Have you ever been particularly annoyed by a person or situation? The more we complain about it, the more we notice it. The more we notice it, the worse it becomes. The next time we interact with that person or situation, we almost expect to be annoyed and thus subconsciously look for those small triggers that'll make us annoyed.

If this has caught your attention, follow the link on Training Your Eyes to See Color, Again:

http://thinksimplenow.com/clarity/train-your-eyes-to-see-color-again/

Comodo Firewall & AntiVirus to the rescue

Awhile ago I made a post about the Comodo Backup program that I use on my home computer. The program is working out really well. It does backups according to the schedule I set several months ago, and is still going strong.

More recently I had several issues with my computer and viruses. I routinely have relied on Grisoft's AVG. It worked as well as any other program out there. But it did very little to keep me from getting this recurring virus that had infiltrated my computer. It got rid of the symptoms, while not coming close to eradicating the true source of the problem.

Then, Comodo came to my rescue with a "Free Firewall and AntiVirus software" program that works "together to keep your PC safe from malicious software and Hackers"

Please check them out at www.personalfirewall.comodo.com

I have nothing but good things to say about this program. It is so worth it. And it is free!

Of course being a firewall program, it takes time to train it allow your regular programs access the internet. But after a few hours the bulk of your items will be on the safe list. Work with it for a week, and you will have very few pop ups.

Wii Bowling

If only I could bowl in real life as well as I can bowl on the Wii. That would be fantastic! Yes, a total of 6 strikes in this game.

Or better yet, check out this amazing new, high record! You counted it right, a string of 8 strikes in a row. And no open frames. Not only did I get the turkey, but I also got the infamous SIX PACK!!

Now you all know what I've been practicing on in my spare time when I am not at work. The secret is out of the bag.

Remembering... HBO

Just as one thought leads to another, I began a journey the other day that some how led me back to remembering when my family first began watching Home Box Office. I began to think back to how we use to scramble to get in place with our dinner to sit in front of the television to watch a movie. Sitting in the living room alone was a very special treat since my sister and I were usually confined to sitting at the dull, boring kitchen table. We could not talk while we ate dinner. We could not get up from the table until all of our food was gone. So it was certainly a very special treat to be allowed in the living room. It was a priviledge to watch tv while we ate. And to top it all off, it was a slice of heaven on earth to get to watch a movie on HBO while eating in the living room in front of the tv.

But the thing I remember the most of all of this was the opening for HBO's movies. Their logo and the way they presented the feature presentation got my so excited and pumped before the movie. It really didn't matter if the movie sucked big time. The opening was thrill maker..

In a side blurb about HBO, when I did a little bit of wikipedia surfing, I came across this interesting bit o' info:
In 1983 The Terry Fox Story premiered: HBO's first original movie and the first made-for-pay-TV movie. That year was also the premiere of the first kids' show to be broadcast on the channel—Fraggle Rock.

Not that it really means much to anyone, but in my family, we were (and still are) big Fraggle Rock fans. So wihtout further ado, this is a video for my sister, dedicated to my mom and hopefully will be enjoyed by my good friends and blog visitors.

Oldest Email Account?

What is your oldest email account still in use?

This is a question I asked myself recently. I downloaded the Yahoo! Messenger to keep in touch with a co-worker who lives in the same dorm as me, but up on the 4th floor. I am certainly not one who will climb 66 steps (yes, I have counted them) just to see if they are ready to go eat chow. So, hence the need for an IM. I normally use the wonderful IM program from Google. But they use the Yahoo one. I figured it wouldn't be a problem since I still have my Yahoo account. In fact, just the other day I cleaned out about 600+ messages, and sent out an email using the program. So, I know it still works.

But that brought up a really good question for me. I also have a Hotmail account that I use periodically. I began to wonder, which was older, my Hotmail or Yahoo account. I know Google isn't even in the running, since they are the "new" kid on the block compared to the other two.

So, here's my results.

Hotmail: Registered December 1998

Yahoo: Member since January 1999

Google: February 2005

If I still had AOL, I am sure I would be among the oldest accounts on that one. Why? Because I still remember when it was upgraded to AOL 1.1!

And to let you know just how old I am to the internet, I still remember using Prodigy and Compuserve back in the day. I still remember using WoW! And no, I am not talking about World of Warcraft. The WOW I am talking about was a subsidiary of Compuserve. It was the first internet service to be offered with a monthly "unlimited" rate ($17.95). It was born in 1996, died Jan 31, 1997.

To go back even further, I remember our family's very first computer. It was a NEC that came bundled with Geoworks. Do you want to guess the year? If you guessed 1992, then you are absolutely correct. It was the platform of choice for America Online until the mid 1990s when America Online decided to go with Microsoft Windows. Yes, Geoworks predates Windows 3.1. Leaving Geoworks for Windows 3.1 was a big step for our family.

A Dedication...

This entry is dedicated to the people in my life who really mean so very much to me. Of course there are many friends and family who have contributed to my well being and becoming the man I am today. But for my first dedication of this type, I would like to highlight my immediate family.

If this video (my very first endeavor of this type) proves enjoyable, then I may try my hand at others... further down the road.

If you choose to leave a comment, please be gentle. This video is a labor of my love. It comes from my heart. Exposing myself to whatever the world has to say isn't something I do routinely, especially when it comes to matters of the heart.

So, it is through blood-shot, tear-hazy eyes I welcome you to enjoy my dedication to the people who've given my life true color.

Pink Dolphin?!

The news articles simply state

It was absolutely stunningly pink.

I had never seen anything like it. It's the same color throughout the whole body and it looks like it just came out of a paint booth.

The dolphin appears to be healthy and normal other than its coloration, which is quite beautiful and stunningly pink.

The mammal is entirely pink from tip to tail and has reddish eyes indicating its albinism. The skin appears smooth, glossy pink and without flaws.

Where in the world were you born?

Recently my sister, author of her own blog was my Las Vegas tour guide. During this visit we went to a wonderful, interactive wax museum. It was Madame Tussauds-Las Vegas. One of the many celebrities they had was Angelina Jolie. Her figure was exact down to the tattoos on her body. This was really cool.

One thing that caught my eye was the tattoo of coordinates on her left arm. I had to do a little bit of research to find out what these coordinates were of. Come to find out that Angelina Jolie has the latitude and longitude of where each of her four babies was born. This is amazing. See them for yourself.

This brought up an interesting question in my mind. If I were to plot the coordinates of where I was born, what would they be? Where in the world were you born? Please feel free to leave comments with your birth coordinates.

As for me, my coordinates are N35° 8' 19.81", W79° 0' 3.60"

Free TV?

There is a new culture of people. They are those who have a good, strong internet connection, but do not have a satellite or cable subscription. Very odd, peculiar people indeed. You can talk to them about the latest television shows and they will be able to keep up with you. Unless you have TiVO or a DVR, they may actually be more up-to date on the latest episodes of the most current shows.

"How is this possible?" you may ask. Simple, streaming tv shows. I am not talking about anything illegal. I am talking about down home freebies. Which websites are providing free streaming? Lots. You can begin with the major networks:

ABC NBC CBS

MTV CNN FOX

Or you can head over to some other website collections if there's nothing at these (as if that's possible) that tickle your fancy. Some of these other websites aren't just limited to the ever popular YouTube. But check out these others as well.

Joost Hulu Veoh Channel Chooser

Google Video World TVPC WWI TV

You are probably wondering why I am posting this. Well, I happen to love streaming TV. And I know my sister, authtor of her own blog really loves to watch her shows.

IMVU Free Spin...

For those of us who've tried daily to win the IMVU Free Spin, take hope. It can be won!

This picture prooves it! My darling wifey (in RL that is) was a winner. I know I have a chance.

And a few hours after she won, guess what?! I won tooooo!!! Yippy! It really is a good day.

So, keep plugging away daily @ http://www.imvu.com/catalog/web_spinfree.php
Maybe you can win some predits (promotional credits) too.

Oh, if you are looking for other credit opps, don't forget to check out the IMVU New Products Page

Newest Beauty Treatment

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Well, looking at this
picture actually brings to mind even more questions than it answers.
Check out the video below to shed some light on the newest beauty
treatment to hit America.

Yes, if you guessed that this is a picture and video (below) of a fish
pedicure, then you are absolutely correct.

"A fish pedicure?" you may ask. Of course! And why not?! It is a
wonderful alternative to using razors to hack away and cut off dead
skin. Razors, afterall, can be very unhealthy, nasty and downright
unsanitary.

Here come "doctor fish" to the rescue. First used in Turkey and widely
popular in Asian countries, they are making a great start in the US.

Check out this video and see if you may be interested in this special
spa service for yourself.

Baby Lotion? Yep!

You never know when and where new talent will spring up. I saw this awesome video about baby lotion. It comes with a nice beat (home made compliments of a metal pole) and a cool little dance. I think this will really catch on! I am gonna go practice this moves at my own place. Then when I go clubbin' (if I ever decide to), then I can pull this outta my back pocket and just wow the people!!

Jesus Saves, But you can do Backups!

We've all probably heard this joke:

Jesus and Satan were having an ongoing argument about who managed to get the most out of his computer. This had been going on for days and God, was tired of hearing all of the bickering.

God said, "Cool it. I am going to set up a test that will run two hours and I will judge who does the better job."

So down they sat at the keyboards and typed away. They moused away. They did spreadsheets, they wrote reports, they sent faxes, they sent out e-mail, they sent out e-mail with attachments, they downloaded, they did some genealogy reports, they made cards, they did every known job. But just a few minutes before the two hours were up, a lightening flashed across the sky. The thunder rolled and the rains came down hard. And of course the electricity went off.

Satan was upset. He fumed and fussed and he ranted and raved, all to no avail.

The electricitystayed off. But after a bit, the rains stopped and the electricity came back on. Satan screamed, "I lost it all when the power went off. What am I going to do? What happened to Jesus' work?"

Jesus just sat and smiled.

Again Satan asked about the work that Jesus had done. As Jesus turned his computer back on the screen glowed and when he pushed "print it", it was all there. "How did he do it." Satan asked? God smiled and said, "Jesus Saves."

-----------------------

Yes, although it is only a joke, it proves how important it is to have periodic backups of our data/files from our computers. Well I recently downloaded a free piece of software from http://backup.comodo.com/. The Software is called Comodo BackUp.

I haven't had a chance to try it out yet, but here are a few of the selling points touted by the website, other than being FREE!

• Easily backup files or folders anywhere on your computer, network, DVD-RW, CD-RW or FTP server
• Protect yourself against ever losing those critical files that took hours to create
• Quickly recover your data in the event of data loss
• Schedule backups to run automatically at a time that suits you
• Synchronized backup feature - save a file and it gets copied instantly
• Send E-mail notifications to team members about the status of a backup job
• Configure in minutes with our intuitive interface

  

Give it a try for yourself and see if it is worth looking into.

Tire Repair

This was a very cool video on tire repair. I don't think this would really work for me because it involves fire! Me and fire don't get along too well.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Peanut Butter Recall Information

The list of Peanut Butter recalls is pretty scary! This info is more so here to document this event and give a reference for me to look back at. I hope this is also helpful for you as well.

Company
Ready Pac Foods	Eating Right Celery Sticks with Peanut Butter
Ready Pac Foods	Eating Right Apples with Peanut Butter
Ready Pac Foods	Eating Right with Celery with Peanut Butter
Cliff and Luna Bars	Chocolate chip Peanut Crunch Protein/snack bars
Cliff and Luna Bars	Peanut Butter Toffee Buzz
Cliff and Luna Bars	Z Bar Peanut Butter
Cliff and Luda Bars	Cliff Builders Peanut Butter
	Luna Peanut Butter Cookie
	All Cliff Mojo Bars
Abbott Nutrition	Zone Perfect Peanut Butter and Toffee bars
Abbott Nutrition	Nutribars
Little Debbie	Peanut butter Toasty and Cheesy crackers
Kellogg	Austin Mega Crackers and PB & J sandwiches
	Keebler Cookies
Famous Amos	Cookies
Perry	Perry’s Ice Cream

Cold vs Flu?

The flu is no joke! Did you know that:

- 5 to 20% of the population gets the flu

- More than 200,000 people are hospitalized from flu complications

- Approximately 36,000 people die from the flu

But what is the difference between the flu and a cold? I found this cute little chart that serves to explain just that!

But how can you work towards not getting either one? You can prevent or stave off the onset of a cold by washing your hands often and avoiding close contact with anyone with a cold. But please consult your real doctor in real life for real issues related to your health.

Click image to Enlarge for clearer detail

Limo One (The Beast)

What do you think of President Obama's new ride? Check it out!

Various websites have given descriptions and pictures of the newest presidential transportation device. Check them out for yourself for more info:
http://jalopnik.com/5131380/obamas-new-cadillac-limo-officially-unveiled?skyline=true&s=x

http://blog.wired.com/cars/2009/01/obama-rolls-a-s.html

But what I found the most interesting was this blurb and clip from http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2009/01/obamas-presiden.html

Of course there's tons of speculation surrounding his new limo. But here are educated and informed guesses from security experts that I believe are exactly right or probably under-estimat

ed.

GM says the car occupies the "same footprint " as the current presidential ride, but it is a little taller and the windows a little bigger to improve visibility. Limo One is believed to weigh between seven and eight tons, and spy shots suggest it rides on a GM medium-duty truck chassis propelled by a diesel engine. The body is sheathed in military-grade armor as much as 8 inches thick on the doors (each of which weighs as much as the cabin door on a Boeing 747, Motor Authority says). The armor reportedly is a mix of dual-hardness steel, aluminum, titanium and ceramic. The windows are ballistic glass said to be 5 inches thick, and Dan Neil of the Los Angeles Times says there's probably a woven Kevlar mat covering the floorboard to protect the car from blasts. The cabin is believed to feature a sealed air recirculation system to protect its occupants from chemical attacks. Oh and the tires are also 5 inches thick as well.

Uncertain prospects for Blu-ray format

Now that Blu-ray has a major victory under it's belt, defeating HD movies, is its own future uncertain? Recently I read an article from the Denver Post about the uncertainty of the future of Blu-ray. One thing that the article cited (and I quote) is

One reason is that discs of all kinds may become obsolete as a new wave of digital media services starts to flow into the living room. On Monday, for example, the Korean television maker LG Electronics plans to announce a new line of high-definition televisions that connect directly to the Internet with no set-top box required. The televisions will be able to play movies and television shows from online video-on-demand services, including Netflix.

I believe that the future of any video format is in jeopardy on one side of the coin thanks to websites (legality issues aside) that stream movies. I have a brief list of such sites to offer up in a hodge-podge collection. Some sites may still work at the time you read this, others may not. Also I cannot vouch for the validity of streaming movies. I personally prefer Netflix for all my DVD and Blu-ray needs. But to each his own.

www.alluc.org

www.bangvideobang.com

www.cinemaspot.com/watchonline

www.dailymotion.com

www.episodenetwork.com

www.flickpeek.com

www.free-tv-video-online.info/internet/movies

www.hulu.com

www.internetmovies.com

www.momomesh.com

www.movies.nabolister.com

www.onlinecinema.org

www.quicksilverscreen.com

www.ssupload.com

www.tubezoom.com

www.tv-links.cc

www.tvnux.com

www.watch-movies.net

How fast is Windows 7?

"Okay, here we go. Focus. Speed. I am speed. One winner, forty-two losers. I eat losers for breakfast. Breakfast? Maybe I should have had breakfast? Brekkie could be good for me. No, no, no, focus. Speed. Faster than fast, quicker than quick. I am Lightning."

The immortal words of Lightning McQueen, the famous race car. But is the new Windows 7 also going to be able to tout the same clout? Preliminary word on the street, based on demos, is that you will not be disappointed with the results.

I will simply let a simple chart speak volumes for your determination. Enjoy!

Click picture to enlarge and view more clearly.