Several events making the rounds in the media circuit- Senator Sanford, the Iranian protests, and Oklahoma Rep. Sally Kern.
I'm amazed that Sanford is saying the things he's saying. He's treating this as some kind of weird Livejournal. I thought he'd been to couples counsiling and he's still saying the most damaging things to his marraige. Isn't it a no-brainer to praise your wife over the Other Woman if you're trying to get back into her good graces? To appologize and mean it? I suppose he might be appologizing in a sense of "I'm sorry this betrayal happs ened to you," but he hasn't made that clear. As a woman who's been lied to by people she's cared about, I have no sympathy for him. If he really has found his soul mate he should still respect the bounds of his marriage, as he's criticized others to do. It's a difficult thing to do...unless you just don't care about the person you've married. From Mrs. Sanford's remarks, I take it she's been hurt and had enough.
In Iran, a revolution facilitated by Twitter. How cool is that? Not nearly as cool as the rumors of Anonymous helping protestors (Note: no relation to Richard Brennan). While I'm sad that the Iranians didn't get the regime change they were wanting, I am amazed that it has been as well documented as we've seen.
Lastly, I would like to mention Oklahoma State Rep. Sally Kern. As a liberal in Oklahoma, and a humanist, I am appalled by her ignorance and assupmtion to place that ignorance into yet another harmful policy. Yes, laws are traditionally based upon the social mores that make up a society. Mores are not morals nor are they religions. Which is why some unpopular things which are useful to society are legal but not supported by mores (executions and integration at its inception for example). I think my friend Rodney Derrick had the best response in Facebook, "This is a bold and ignorant statement that indicates a growing intolerance for people's differences in the state of Oklahoma. I haven't come across any proof that homosexuals wrecked the economy, and I doubt that I ever will. It's a mean-spirited statement that commands people of all faiths to smack it down before this ignorance metastasizes across the state." Her statements, to me anyway, are too close to other statements that minorities have destroyed the economy...before World War II in Germany.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Dragon Masters World, iPhone App
I finally got an iPhone last week. It wasn't the phone I'd wanted, but it was consideribly cheaper, being the discontinued 3 G, and I can tease my fiance that I got the toy he wanted. Then I got some apps.
Since starting my new job at the bank in May, I haven't had the same time to look at the news and keep up with this blog. But now...there's a highly commercialized saying for that. I'm still not going to be able to glance at my phone very often the hours I'm in the office, but I can keep an RSS feed going and listen to the news at least. I can't read anything, but I can certainly listen to it.
Since moving jobs, I've found that Audble.com is now my best friend with the morning read of Wall Street Journal and books read by James Marsters and other people with calm voices. Which has lead to me listening to "Pride, Prejudice, and Zombies," by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith, a delightful listen, even if you do mind listening to someone saying "the killing arts" in an even Brittish accent every other sentance. Seriously, that is my only complaint about the retelling of the classic Austen story with zombies, and it's something that I don't think I'd mind if reading to myself.
One of the other neat things on my iPhone is the game Dragon Master World, from Aftershock. It's essentially the Facebook game Mafia, Lords and Ladies, and Warewolves only with dragons and a Paypal option to get neat but otherwise useless items or stat recharges. One thing on strategy- you'll make more money attacking other players than doing quests, so keep a high attack and a high defense. My usual complaint for games like this: I finally got enough gems set aside to buy one of the expensive dragons, got the cash out of the bank and while I was navigating to the page to buy the darn thing, I was attacked 5 times by the same guy and lost more than half my savings. There isn't an option to turn off PVP in the game, since that's it main point.
Another thing that mystifies me at the moment: Players collect other players into Tribes and Clans, but they are only as powerful as the player using them. For example:
Player A has a clan made up of {A, B, C, D, E, and F} and hasn't outfitted them, choosing to follow the RPG subset of the game, which still makes you collect a tribe, and has focused his/her skills on those relevent to RPG (Mana).
Player G has a clan made up of {B, F, G} but has focused on PVP, outfitting her/his clan with the latest and most expensive things, and focused her/his skills on Attack and Defense. As long as they are comparable in level, Player G would win most battles against Player A even though A has a bigger clan and regaurdless of how the individual players in that clan have outfitted themselves or what type of clans those players may have amassed (I assume this is because subset A has gone to Player A's 'house' and must use whatever Player A has available rather than what the subset might have at home).
But this is only true in comparative ratios. If Player A had more than double the clan members, Player G had better play a defensive game.
Hopefully I'll get back on the ball with updates. I have some stories I'd like to share, comics I'd still like to review (I'm looking at you "Oz/Wonderland Chronicals" and "Love and Capes." In case I don't find the time, both wonderful reads), video games I've watched my fiance play, and of course some thoughts on the silliness of the news media.
Last but not least, a tip from a banker.
If you are depositing a large check and will need funds available immediately, say for a car purchase or down payment on a house, there are three things you can do to make things easier:
1) Make the deposit in a guaranteed funds negotiable item. That means a cashiers check. Very few banks will place a hold on a cashier's check and usually only if they can't verify it. Banks that I know will not verify anything: Wachovia, JPMorgan Chase, Liberty Mutual. In general, Bank of America is pretty decent on offering ways to verify checks but they will not verify personal checks drawn on their credit lines.
2) Make the deposit on a Monday or Tuesday. All banks will be open to verify with those banks that do verify and if there is a hold placed, it will usually expire by the following Monday.
3) Ask the teller taking your deposit if s/he will A) Fax a copy of the check to their risk department and B) call the issuing bank to verify funds. The teller might not have time to do option B, but it is possible that someone in the risk depatment might have time to call the same day.
Other options: ask to speak with the teller supervisor and explain what you're doing. It isn't always up to the individuals in the bank location you're visiting whether or not a hold will be placed, but they have the option of alerting the risk department a head of time and requesting that no hold be placed. And the last option I would suggest: Try to deposit a cashier's check from the same bank you'll be depositing with. Yes, it is a kind of bizzare, but a bank looks at their own casheir's checks as less suspicous than someone depositing a random $10-100 k in cash.
Definately do NOT: write yourself a big check. Nothing is nearly as suspicous as CG Lastname hand writing a $100k check to him/herself, especailly if done in thick marker and your normal balance in the receiving bank is less than a third of the check you're depositing. The only way to avoid a hold on that is to know the bank manager very well and have him/her vouch for you, and for $100k, they may not.
Since starting my new job at the bank in May, I haven't had the same time to look at the news and keep up with this blog. But now...there's a highly commercialized saying for that. I'm still not going to be able to glance at my phone very often the hours I'm in the office, but I can keep an RSS feed going and listen to the news at least. I can't read anything, but I can certainly listen to it.
Since moving jobs, I've found that Audble.com is now my best friend with the morning read of Wall Street Journal and books read by James Marsters and other people with calm voices. Which has lead to me listening to "Pride, Prejudice, and Zombies," by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith, a delightful listen, even if you do mind listening to someone saying "the killing arts" in an even Brittish accent every other sentance. Seriously, that is my only complaint about the retelling of the classic Austen story with zombies, and it's something that I don't think I'd mind if reading to myself.
One of the other neat things on my iPhone is the game Dragon Master World, from Aftershock. It's essentially the Facebook game Mafia, Lords and Ladies, and Warewolves only with dragons and a Paypal option to get neat but otherwise useless items or stat recharges. One thing on strategy- you'll make more money attacking other players than doing quests, so keep a high attack and a high defense. My usual complaint for games like this: I finally got enough gems set aside to buy one of the expensive dragons, got the cash out of the bank and while I was navigating to the page to buy the darn thing, I was attacked 5 times by the same guy and lost more than half my savings. There isn't an option to turn off PVP in the game, since that's it main point.
Another thing that mystifies me at the moment: Players collect other players into Tribes and Clans, but they are only as powerful as the player using them. For example:
Player A has a clan made up of {A, B, C, D, E, and F} and hasn't outfitted them, choosing to follow the RPG subset of the game, which still makes you collect a tribe, and has focused his/her skills on those relevent to RPG (Mana).
Player G has a clan made up of {B, F, G} but has focused on PVP, outfitting her/his clan with the latest and most expensive things, and focused her/his skills on Attack and Defense. As long as they are comparable in level, Player G would win most battles against Player A even though A has a bigger clan and regaurdless of how the individual players in that clan have outfitted themselves or what type of clans those players may have amassed (I assume this is because subset A has gone to Player A's 'house' and must use whatever Player A has available rather than what the subset might have at home).
But this is only true in comparative ratios. If Player A had more than double the clan members, Player G had better play a defensive game.
Hopefully I'll get back on the ball with updates. I have some stories I'd like to share, comics I'd still like to review (I'm looking at you "Oz/Wonderland Chronicals" and "Love and Capes." In case I don't find the time, both wonderful reads), video games I've watched my fiance play, and of course some thoughts on the silliness of the news media.
Last but not least, a tip from a banker.
If you are depositing a large check and will need funds available immediately, say for a car purchase or down payment on a house, there are three things you can do to make things easier:
1) Make the deposit in a guaranteed funds negotiable item. That means a cashiers check. Very few banks will place a hold on a cashier's check and usually only if they can't verify it. Banks that I know will not verify anything: Wachovia, JPMorgan Chase, Liberty Mutual. In general, Bank of America is pretty decent on offering ways to verify checks but they will not verify personal checks drawn on their credit lines.
2) Make the deposit on a Monday or Tuesday. All banks will be open to verify with those banks that do verify and if there is a hold placed, it will usually expire by the following Monday.
3) Ask the teller taking your deposit if s/he will A) Fax a copy of the check to their risk department and B) call the issuing bank to verify funds. The teller might not have time to do option B, but it is possible that someone in the risk depatment might have time to call the same day.
Other options: ask to speak with the teller supervisor and explain what you're doing. It isn't always up to the individuals in the bank location you're visiting whether or not a hold will be placed, but they have the option of alerting the risk department a head of time and requesting that no hold be placed. And the last option I would suggest: Try to deposit a cashier's check from the same bank you'll be depositing with. Yes, it is a kind of bizzare, but a bank looks at their own casheir's checks as less suspicous than someone depositing a random $10-100 k in cash.
Definately do NOT: write yourself a big check. Nothing is nearly as suspicous as CG Lastname hand writing a $100k check to him/herself, especailly if done in thick marker and your normal balance in the receiving bank is less than a third of the check you're depositing. The only way to avoid a hold on that is to know the bank manager very well and have him/her vouch for you, and for $100k, they may not.
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