Flip your text / ʇxǝʇ ɹnoʎ dılɟ

Found on dig, a link to a web page that will flip any text typed into it, like sıɥʇ.

LINK

Simpsons in Seattle

Out of a small number of store, a local 7-Eleven store in my area (Seattle), has been converted into a Kwik-e-Mart.

Pictures: Flickr Search for Seattle area
Story: 7-Elevens transform in 'Simpsons' promotion

Check out (and click on for a larger picture)

Checked out the local 7-11 to see any Simpson changes.
One was the change from Slurpee to Squishee brand.
Tried the special flavor of Blue 'Woo Hoo!' Vanilla. Which was good.

Went to see the Transformer movie the other day and they had
this 3D stand up of the Simpson characters.
This is a picture of me taken by a friend.

Some Comic-Con info I found out.

22 days till the convention.

1. There will be a FedEx or UPS (not sure at this time) in the convention center. Big items or some posters you don't want tote back home. Just send them back home.
2. Pack with one carry on, unpack at the hotel and have a empty bag for the convention.

My new DVR.

Some differences I have noticed with my new DVR built in to my cable box from my old TiVo.

• Search function is about the same.
• The TiVo will store 30 min of live TV and will erase the time from the end, keeping a full 30 min. With the DVR on normal cable, it will keep 15 min. After 15 min it will erase the 15 min and start over again.
• With the TiVo, you can set a search for a name and if it found it a show description, it would record the show automatically.
• The guide on the TiVo would have about 2 - 3 weeks available. The DVR has about 1 week (so far, looks it may still be downloading).
• With the DVR, no phone jack is required. The guide come from the cable.
• With the DVR, when you delete a show, it is gone. With a software update a while back, the TiVo would place the deleted show in a trash folder and when needed delete the show.
• With the DVR it does show the percent of space you have left. (Something I like.)
  

I like my TiVo system, but it bit the dust and stop working (see prev post) and I did not want to spend any more money than I needed for a replacement. The unit I got from my cable company is about $12.00 per month (and no equipment to purchase) and the TiVo had a monthly cost for the guide of about $15.00 per month (and the equipment has to be purchased).

TiVo makes a good system and is included Direct TV systems (I think), which I do not have. I did not want to fork out any more money than a I had. At this point I am saving money.

My TiVo is dead.

This last Tuursday I came home, did a few thing on the computer. I sat down and turned on the tv, it had a black screen. I tried the TiVo remote, nothing happened. So I reset the unit (I unpluged it). It came back with "Welcome. Powering up...".

I gave it some time it did not change. I reset it again and went to bed. I got up and went to work. I checked on it again when I got home. The same screen. It was dead. There was no warning sign for this problem. With what I had save on the TiVo unit were only a few odds and end I was saving for later, which I will try to catch up on later.
Any fix would cost money. So I check up on some info on the Comcast web site on their DVRs. It was not much more than the cost of the TiVo monthly cost and there is no cost for the equipment. It also saved some space, down from 2 unit to 1 combo unit. One thing I will miss is the TiVo remote. It had a great layout.

The name of your boat?

On the way to lunch with the parents this last Sunday I saw a boat being towed on the freeway. The name caught my eye more than any thing else. The was in a nice large font. The name was "Bite Me".
I can hear the conversation. "So you got a new boat. Did you get a chance to name it yet? You did. Whats the name. What? So don't tell me then."

Two dungeon games.

While going thru my copy of Newtype USA, I came across 2 games.
Etrian Odyssey and Dungeon Maker: Hunting Ground.

Etrian Odyssey (DS) - "Etrian Odyssey is a turn-based role-playing game like any other, but it sports one heck of a mean streak to elevate it above the crowd." With this game you are respondible for the map of the dungeons with the DS touch screen.

Dungeon Maker: Hunting Ground (PSP) - "Design a dungeon so that creatures will inhabit it and you can kill them and steal their treasure. "

Hawaiian Potluck

The first day of Summer and we had a Hawaiian style potluck.
That alot of food. Thats was some good eats.

The Two-Hour Star Wars Holiday Special in only Five Minutes!

The Link: The Two-Hour Star Wars Holiday Special in only Five Minutes!

Our HERO game tangents.

Here are some of the off topics that came up durring on HERO RPG game on 6/15/07:

1. HERO Dice
2. Disney owed properties.
3. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. After the credits ran there was a scene that said "10 Years Later" with a last clip.
4. Dragonflight 2007

Size

The Ghost Rider move came out today on DVD and as a promo Best Buy is give away with the DVD the full mini version of the Ghost Rider Visual Guide from DK. I purchased the full size a while back and is pictured for the size. The promo is the full book in a 6 in by 7.5 in size (just about the size of a DVD) with only a few small changes I can see. The promo has no slip cover, the "Ghost Rider" name is not in gold and Best Buy put their logo in the bottom right corner.

The Classic Cash Register

This was in the back of my mom's business, but due some clean up and some rearranging. I was told to take possession of this item. I got help and loaded it into my car and took it back to my apartment.

From what I have been told, the cash register was used by by great grandparents in the store they had. From the label on it, it is from the National Cash Register Co. It is electric and stills runs and with a few buttons pushed and the crank twisted the cash drawer will open.

It is a side project to clean this up, to look a little better. Some of the paint is a little flaky.

(note: there are some marble pieces that set in place right over the cash drawer that I have, but not pictured).

Top 10 Wettest U.S. Cities

My brother sent me a link about the Top 10 Wettest U.S. Cities.

"Do you think Seattle is the rainiest city in the United States? Well, think again."

Living in the Seattle I had to read on.

"Mobile, Alabama, actually topped a new list of soggiest cities, with more than 5 feet of rainfall annually, according to a study conducted by San Francisco-based WeatherBill, Inc."

Check out the full text of the article with the following link:

Study Reveals Top 10 Wettest U.S. Cities

Stonehenge: An Anthology Board Game™

I ran across this game via a podcast from Pulp Gamer (Inside Track 018: Joshua Frost of Paizo Publishing). The game is called Stonehenge.

This info is from the Pulp Gamer site:

Stonehenge is in one box with one set of pieces but with five unique set of rules designed by five game designers. These include an Arthurian showdown by Richard Borg, a monumental fire sale by James Ernest, a druidic election by Bruno Faidutti, a magical convocation by Richard Garfield, and an alien chariot race by Mike Selinker.

Here is the web site of the game with additional info.

One game board and five ways to play, with expansions on the way and all for $50.00.

Our HERO game tangents.

Here are some of the off topics that came up during on HERO RPG game on 5/18/07:

1. Hot Wing and Pizza at Jet City Pizza
2. Justice League Unlimited (Season Two: "Destroyer")
3. Austin Powers quote (from Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery)

Dr. Evil: You know, I have one simple request. And that is to have sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their heads! Now evidently my cycloptic colleague informs me that that cannot be done. Ah, would you remind me what I pay you people for, honestly? Throw me a bone here! What do we have?
Number Two: Sea Bass.
Dr. Evil: [pause] Right.
Number Two: They're mutated sea bass.
Dr. Evil: Are they ill tempered?
Number Two: Absolutely.
Dr. Evil: Oh well, that's a start.

4. Movies (Next, The Invisible, Shrek the Third)
5. Veronica Mars
6. Some of our work stores.

I got the car back from my parents, no ride to the game needed.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to my mother (pictured above) at Mother's Day lunch.

What is in that?

While getting some groceries, I noticed two girls around 11 or 12 years old commenting what the ingredients were in a Pop Tart and not in a good way.

The couch and the car.

Dad delivered a leather couch that matches my favorite lounge chair that someone did not want. We did some switching around of the current couch and transferred it back to my parents place for their use. It does not recline like the prev one, but I like it a lot better.
In the truck transferring my old couch, dad stated there was a problem with my Volvo (they are still borrowing my car waiting for a part for their car in the shop). Last weekend I drove my car while my parents came over the bridge to have lunch and a move, I noticed that the pick up when I accelerated was a little off. Tuesday the car loss acceleration, luckily it was near their house and a repair station. Also luckily the cost was not too much, from what dad said, I did offer to pay for it. But declined, saying it was borrowing my car was less that getting a rental car.

Our HERO game tangents.

Here are some of the off topics that came up durring on HERO RPG game on 5/04/07:

1. D.E.B.S. movie and Cleopatra 2525 TV Show
2. Monty Python's Spamalot
3. Dungeons & Dragons cartoon

Dad still had the car due to car in the shop waiting for a part. I got a ride from Norm to our game and a ride home from Bob.

At the ComicCon . . .

Fron this line here, I found out the 'Heroes' Season 1 will be released August 28th.

Also found out:

And for those of you going to Comic Con in July, we've heard there will be some great Heroes things going on.

Something else to add to my to do list at the San Diego ComicCon.