Nintendo Games

I've been going back and playing some of the games that I grew up playing. First on my list was Super Mario Brothers 3, which we (brother, girlfriend and I) beat in two days without using any of those dern warp whistles.

We played a little bit of ghosts and goblins. The music from this game still gives me chills when I play it. It was way to creepy for an 8 year old to be playing (I think I was 8). It's still a pretty creepy game with devils, snakes and zombies... I wonder how I turned out well with all the zombie killing and goomba killing I did back in the day.

We also played one of our favorite games from childhood, RC Pro AM. To date this was the best racing game we had ever seen. We must've played this game until our little fingers were purple. In this game you just drive little remote controlled cars around a track avoiding obstacles and picking up weapons to use on the other cars. For the record, the other cars are way too speedy. Maybe my 8-bit nintendo playing skills have just regressed...

Anyways... we even found a game called Bible Adventures. We couldn't resist checking the game out. You get three options: play as noah, collecting animals for the ark, play sarah protecting moses from the pharoah and of course...spiders, and lastly David collecting sheep to put back in the corral. Those pesky baby moses eating spiders... I must've missed a Sunday where they covered that.

I took some screenshots of the games, so here they are.

Friday Night

So, it's Friday night and Girlfriend and I just relaxed here tonight. Brother, Jim, and Dan, on the other hand went to Monroe to see a movie.

We stayed home and played old SNES games, and a few NES games. We ended up beating Donkey Kong Country, and got a good start on Donkey Kong Country 2. Girlfriend loves those games, so I set 'em up for her.

Movie ticket prices are disgusting to me, maybe even more so than the RIAA. Just two or three years ago the price was $5.25. Maybe if the movie companies weren't hemorrhaging money because of movies like garfield and kangaroo jack, we wouldn't have to spend that kind of money. I'll just wait for the good ones on DVD, and use coupons for that too I guess.

Anyway, I'm supposed to grill again tomorrow, so I hope the burgers turn out well. Maybe I'll look for some secret way of cooking burgers online so I can wow anyone who eats the burgers... or maybe I'll just cook em the usual way. Who knows.

Ruston Peach Festival Treasure Hunt

In town there's a "treasure hunt" going on. The people who put on the Ruston Peach Festival post clues each day, and eventually someone is supposed to find the $500 dollar prize.

We've been looking for two days, and still no luck. Here are the clues we have so far.

Clue 1 The Hunt is on so get on out, look high and low and round about. It's somewhere in town, just look and see. Some lucky hunter will get the fee.

Clue 2 Public property is the place to go, it could be high, it could be low. No need to dig, no need to fuss. This treasure's not buried in the town of Russ.

Clue 3 This is the day that the Lord has made, and the hunt is still on; the winner will be paid. After worship, take a drive around town. If you look real hard, the treasure will be found.

Clue 4 Today is special, we all know why. It's the first day of Summer, my oh my. And the Hunt's heating up, so here's the next clue. The treasure hunt's fun for either one or two.

Clue 5 The clues keep coming and so does the heat, but the treasure's still sitting near an old seat. Read your history and you'll discover, this treasure is hidden like no other.

Aside from the peach hunt, the other day I cooked some chicken and burgers on the grill out back. Everything turned out well, but I didn't get enough charcoal onto the grill before I lit em up.

Did I use too much lighter fluid?

TX wi-fi rest stops.

This is great news. Leo Laporte posted an entry on his blog today saying that Texas' Department of Transportation is accepting bids for a vendor to setup wi-fi internet access at rest stops.

It's a great idea, though I don't know how many people will actually use them. I know that I would if I had a laptop, since we usually make it to Dallas or Longview at least a dozen or more times a year.

Ebay Experience

Last week I bought a used NES system on Ebay for Girlfriend's birthday. Ever since one of her friends got a Nintendo, she has wanted one very badly. So, I thought that I'd snag one off Ebay and surprise her with it for her birthday.

Well, it arrived Wednesday, and of course I was excited to plug it in and try it out. Luckily, Girlfriend was on a vacation to Gulf Shores, so I could test out all the games I wanted, and get everything set up.

I put the first game in and turned the system on... and all I got was a blinking grey screen. I did the trick that I learned as a kid playing nintendo, blow in the cartridge, push the game back in the NES up and down a few times, and try it again. I tried the pushing up and down repeatedly, and even the last resort trick of pulling the cartridge out just a hair to see if it would make a better connection. I even used the cleaning kit that came with the system and cleaned both the game and the system thoroughly. Nothing I tried worked. CRAP. I just paid a lot of money for a Nintendo that doesn't even stinkin' work.

I contacted the seller, and she said that it worked when she shipped it, and that I had used shipping insurance, so it shouldn't be a problem. I wrote her back saying that though I paid for shipping insurance, the insured stamp was not on the box. She said she'd talk to the people at the post office to find out what happened. It turns out that the item was not shipped with insurance, she said because someone there messed up.

She was very helpful throughout the whole ordeal, but I ended up only getting a $16.00 refund. This didn't work out too badly though. I got to keep all the items, including system, games and controllers and got a little money back. I think I can fix the problem with a new part off of Ebay. It's just another 11 bucks. That'll cut the discount down to 5 dollars.

In the meantime, I'll have to get a replacement for it. I'm waiting on my money from Amazon.com to come in. I sold a book. It should pay for another system to be here by the time Girlfriend's birthday rolls around the 1st of July. If the new system works, and I can get the old one to work too, I'll just sell one back I think. Make a little profit, or maybe just keep one to myself. I loved the NES. There hasn't been a better system in the last 20 years (excluding of course PC's).

KevinRose.com

I came across this site a couple of years ago I guess (maybe more recently), after watching an episode of the screen savers. This was when Kevin Rose was only the "Dark Tipper" on TechTV's, The Screen Savers. Now, he is the co-host, and is doing a pretty good job. His "Dark Tips", which he still gives as co-host, usually consist of some type of hacking tip, or anonymity product. In this case, by hacking, I mean something more like modding an xbox, or war driving, or even just regular old password cracking... things like that.

At his site, he's giving away 5 or 6 Gmail accounts tonight, if Gmail will stop acting a fool that is, to the first person who clicks on the link on his site. I think it's great of him to do this. People are chomping at the bit to get these accounts, and he's doing a service... sorta... by giving these away. After all, he could sell them on Ebay for 20 bucks apiece or so.

Anyway, I'm a big fan of his "dark tips", and I enjoy watching the broken videos he's involved in making. Regardless of whether I actually learn new info, it's always good for a laugh.

Ofoto.com

Ofoto.com is a site that allows you to print your digital pictures in a more traditional way. You can send them your images, and they will give you prints in whatever format you like. You can also set up online photo albums so you don't have to send images as attachments anymore.

I'm gonna try this out. I've got a bunch of pics on my HD that I've taken, but never tried to print on photo paper at the house.

They have a coupon right now, for 20% off a purchase, until 6/30/2004. Enter the coupon code SPRINGAD20 at checkout to receive the discount.

It's only good for one purchase, so I guess I'll print out quite a few pics and mail them to people, or keep them for myself. We'll see.

BugMeNot.com

Before I get off to work, I wanted to write a little about BugMeNot.com.

I just tried to read one of the links in Leo Laporte's weblog, and it sent me to the latimes.com. They, like many other newspapers do, require registration before you can read their content. I hate having to register, and give my private info just to read some story on their site.

So, this site, BugMeNot.com, provides communal passwords for all the major registration required sites. So, when you go there, you type in the address of the site you're trying to access, and hit enter. You'll be given a list of passwords. It works like a charm so far. I like it.

Mozilla Firefox .9 is out

I love my Mozilla browser. Especially since I've found the flashblock extension. It allows you to block those pesky macromedia flash ads, only playing them after you click on them. It's handy since a lot of ads now, especially the ones that come out and take up the whole page, are made using flash.

Leo Laporte reported this morning that the new version, .9, was out. So, I downloaded it immediately, and I like the new look. I'm anxious to find out what's different, besides in the interface, and maybe even try out some new themes.

I guess I better get ready and get to work. I need to make up some time at the lab that I missed yesterday.

Digital Digs

When, oh when will my luck change? I play Powerball here and there... I entered myself into the last digital digs contest at TechTV. I can't remember the last time I won anything.

Well, I hope this time that my luck will change. G4TechTV is having another digital digs contest. $100,000 worth of gadgets and goodies are up for grabs. I don't think I have enough room for all that stuff here in the house, but I guarantee if I win it, I'll make some room. I'll throw the old TV out, ditch the entertainment center, move out the dining room table... whatever I have to do to make things fit.

I'll take my plasma screen TV, and fully loaded entertainment center now. Oh, and don't forget to give me that 15G's in spending money either...

To Grandma's House We Go

Today we took a trip down to Longview, TX to see our Grandparents. My dad and I grilled about 25 pork chops, and my mom made some salad,and mashed potatoes. We ate, traded old stories about my brother and I as kids, and talked a little about politics, and what's been going on in the family and around Longview. We all had a good time. Like I said before, in talking about Hot Springs, it's nice to just get away for a day or so.

I had to chance to finally mess around with a Tivo. My grandparents got one along with a direcTV subscription, and my Grandma loves it. I'm also enamored with it. Though I've played with DVR's before, I'd never used a set top box; only PC based DVR's. The Tivo puts those to shame.

First and foremost, it's actually a set top box. I tried hooking up a PC with a Tv Tuner installed, running MythTV, to our TV, but the situation wasn't all that great. There was no remote, no wireless keyboard, or mouse. Sure, I could've bought one, but that would've been more money, and that's something I don't have a whole lot of.

Secondly, the interface is much better, though less responsive, and the quality is great.

Lastly, the Tivo actually learning your preferences and recording shows that you might like is a great addition.

More scintillating Gmail goodness and Laportiness

So, lo and behold, the day after I go and bid on a Gmail account, I find that I have three invites. I'm wondering whether to sell one on ebay, or just give them all away to friends and fam. The prices went down considerably the day after I bought them also... so I'll probably just give them all away to people I know that would like to use them.

My brother got one of them, and another friend I was going to give one to went the same route and got one off ebay, for half what I paid. So, my parents will probably get one, and another friend.

It turns out that patience actually is a virtue. Maybe I should call the first person that ever told me that and say I'm sorry for immediately slapping them.

In other news, I read today that Leo Laporte is getting another show on TechTV (Canada). I'm glad to hear this, as he was a great guy, and was helpful in explaining computer problems. Girlfriend and brother, however, can barely stand to watch him. They think he's obnoxious, and overly energetic. I say, he's a tv personality hosting an hour long show... how's he supposed to act? Anyways, glad to hear he's getting back into a tv show role. He was good for the network, and for computer newbies. Too bad he'll only be seen in Canada.

Gmail

Today I finally got a Gmail account, and I love it.

Google provides email service through something they call Gmail. You get 1 gigabyte of storage, and several other features such as autocomplete of addresses in the address book, conversation view of email messages, and of course the ability to check it from anywhere. However, the service won't be made public for another few months from what I understand. Well, a lot of names are being taken up, such as monkeypants@Gmail.com and wondermonkey@Gmail.com. Obviously, all the names I'd be interested in were being taken at an alarming rate. If I were to get an invitation, I could get a name before the mass public had a chance.

In addition, I think of it as a sacrifice. Members of Gmail occasionally get the opportunity to invite other people to join. I figure that I can use some of those to give to friends who want access early on, like myself. Should I be given an award or what?

Anyway, the interface is awesome, and I love it so far.

Google, you may send me my 50 invites now. I'm waiting...

No Class for Me!

I found out this past Friday that I don't have to take 6 hours of extra classes towards my minor. This means that I can take one less class per quarter until graduation in the fall. So, this quarter I dropped Econ 215. This is wonderful news. Not only am I able to relax, but I'm able to focus more attention on work, whenever that will begin for the summer.

I love my free time.

NES

I can't believe it, but a friend of Girlfriend's just bought an original NES with all the trimmings from Ebay. We went over there last night and played Super Mario Bros. for a few hours. We beat it once and then played around with all the secret areas, and warps.

I know this isn't a new revelation for most, but the game was beatable in a couple hours. When I played this game as a kid, it took me forever to beat these games. Now, I can breeze through it like it's nothing.

What really gets me is that people on ebay sell these systems for 50-70 bucks. We bought this thing new in 1985 or so for like 150 I think. If we'd have bought this game right when the N64 came out, we could've gotten one for 10 bucks. I think I GAVE mine away. I know I gave 50+ games away to my youth minister's son right before he up and left our church.

What have I learned? Keep all your old crap. My hands started to shake when I saw titles on Ebay like Contra, Blades of Steel, Duck Hunt, Zelda (in the gold cartridge!), and Bases Loaded.

Tim Allen

He was Mr. Goodwrench in a few commercials before he became Tim Taylor on Home Improvement. I did not know this.

More rain?

It's almost fantasy football research time. I can't wait to draft a team and beat the living daylights out of those who try to oppose me. I really have no idea who I'll be drafting, or much about the trades that were made in the offseason, but it's gonna be good getting back into things...

Where...oh where should I play fantasy football this year?

For the third night in a row, it's storming outside. Last night it was loud enough to wake me up a couple times... and I'm a heavy sleeper. I guess I should get off the computer and try to get some sleep. It's late and today is my last day of freedom before summer school begins for twelve weeks.