Random

Post 360 Activity To Twitter

~ randyaa ~ 1 Comment

I use Twitter when I feel it’s appropriate my friends know what I’m doing.  When I’m playing a video game on my XBox 360 chances are it’s a multiplayer game and I might enjoy some company.

A few months ago Internet Duct Tape posted an article with several methods on how to obtain your XBox 360 activity.  I subscribed to their Yahoo Pipe for my gamertag.  I never really came up with any good way to use this but I finally have.  My XBox 360 activity (game activity only) now automatically updates my Twitter account.

XBox 360 Twitter Updates

To do this All I’m using is the Yahoo Pipe mentioned previously and TwitterFeed.  TwitterFeed allows you to update your Twitter status using any RSS feed and the pipe feed works just fine.

twitterfeed

Lunch For The Week

~ randyaa ~ 2 Comments

LunchesWe made our lunches for the week again today.  Yes, we label each day, which gives us an extra push not to forget them.

Rachel and I have been making our lunches on Sunday for about a month and a half now.  We make them for the whole week at once.  This was Ramit’s first tip in the save $1,000 in a month challenge.  We had been trying to bring our lunches for a while but it just wasn’t working out.  We always either forgot, didn’t have enough time for it or just didn’t feel like it.  Doing it all at once for the week has worked out great.  It actually saves us time because making 5 lunches at once only takes a few seconds more than making only one.

My favorite part of lunch this week?  The Nuts and Bolts.

My 2009

~ randyaa ~ 2 Comments

2008 for me was all about reduction, trimming the fat.  It was my best year yet.  I got rid of a lot of excess crap and simplified my life and fattened my wallet as a result. My biggest mistake, however, was I did not hold myself accountable for any goals because… I had none.

2009 will be different.  I’m starting this year by listing my goals and aspirations so that come December 31st I can measure my success (or lack thereof).

My Goal:

  • Volunteer at least 4 times
  • Quadruple the size of our Emergency Fund
  • Take a 3 – 4week vacation on the west coast
  • Buy a DSLR
  • Win at least one photo contest
  • Sell at least one photo
  • Reduce my wardrobe by 25%
  • See at least 25 sunsets and 25 sunrises
  • Complete and release Mivity
  • Work out at least 3 times per week for 30minutes at a time
  • Finish the 1st floor of the house

Some of these are an extension of what I began last year.  Others are brand new.  I’m sure others will present themselves during the year.

Stitching Panoramas

~ randyaa ~ Leave a comment

I’ve been using Windows Live Photo Gallery for a while.  My biggest reason for using it is the Flickr Integration.  However; there are a ton of neat features I’ve discovered along the way.  One of these features is the ability to stitch photos together automatically.  I’ve used a lot of stitching programs and this is by far the easiest and the best.

The only steps needed are to 1) select the photos you wish to stitch and 2) right click and select “Create Panoramic photo…”

pano-tutorial

Windows Live Gallery then goes through a few steps of analyzing the photos, aligning them and finally stitching them together.

rochester-skyline-pano

Since I’ve discovered the feature I’ve created quite a few stitches. You can find most if not all of them using my panorama tag.

REMEMBER: To create a really good stitch you need to make sure the exposure settings are the same for every photo in the stitch.

Books

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I’ve been watching a bunch of Jeremiah episodes lately.  I can’t believe I missed this series in 2002-2004.  It’s quite good, and reminds me a bit of Jericho (surprise surprise, Jeremiah was canceled).  Anyway… I just watched the episode titled “Out of the Ashes” in which a bunch of thugs are attempting to rid the world of books.  Kurdy (one of the main characters) gives a quick little speech which I thought holds a lot of meaning even in the world we live in.

How are we to know where we’re going if we don’t know where we’ve been?
these books are a bridge to our past
they allow us to touch other lives
generation upon generation, artists, philosophers, poets
If we let them die, we’re burning those bridges
If we let these words die, we are killing our history as well as our future

BBQ with Cake

~ randyaa ~ Leave a comment

For my birthday Rachel organized a surprise party by tricking me into a dinner at Dinosaur BBQ.  It was a load of fun and completely unexpected.  It was my first surprise party and I’d call it a success.

To top off the great BBQ dinner at Dinosaur Rachel got everybody together for the Cake concert.  Cake is one of my favorite bands and she had been making excuses for why we weren’t able to go.  When I opened my birthday card at dinner and found 2 tickets for the concert I was ecstatic.  The concert was better than I could imagine.  Cake turns out to be one of those bands that sounds just as good if not better live than on their pre-recorded music.

An awesome birthday thanks to the worlds best wife.

And yes, I know this post is 2 months late.  Sue me.

You can't fix stupid (Headlines)

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Some hilarious headlines my friend Emily sent me.


Alton attorney accidentally sues himself

County to spend $250,000 to advertise lack of funds

Volunteers search for old civil war planes

Army Vehicle disappears

Caskets found as workers demolish mausoleum

I wouldn’t do it again, she’s been a pain this week

Ten Commandments – Supreme court says some ok, others not

Utah Poison control center reminds everyone not to take poison

Please, if you’ve seen this man

Federal agents raid gun shop, find weapons

Statistics show that teen pregnancy drops off significantly after age 25

One armed man applauds the kindness of strangers

Ninja Cat

~ randyaa ~ 1 Comment

I try to stay away from posting other’s videos anymore but I just couldn’t in this case.  Rachel and I laughed so hard at this video we cried.  Even if you’ve seen the original, with sound it’s much better.

The Microsoft Commercials

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Microsoft has been getting a lot of crap for their new Ad campaign with Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates.  At first it seemed like they were really going nowhere and they were commercials about nothing like the show about nothing.  What’s funny is, their campaign is working.  It’s drawing attention and everyone is talking about it even though everyone seemed to hate it.

There is no such thing as bad publicity.

The Windows Vista Blog posted a message a few days ago to let everyone know that the new ads without Jerry are not a vote of no confidence, they’ve been a part of the plan all along.

After Microsoft’s announcement I felt I needed to see for myself.  They’re on the ball with this one, they’re showing how they connect millions billions of different people world wide.  I think the campaign will only get better, and it should since they’ve spent millions on redefining their image.

See for yourself:

http://www.youtube.com/p/577F6F15E7467A7C