I do apologize about the many blog entries I’m putting in today. Well, today, for all of you NFL fans, it is the NFL draft. It’s currently going on in NYC at the Radio City Hall. The #1 pick was already announced and signed by last night: Mario Williams going to the Houston Texans. I’m not too familiar with Williams so I will refrain from commenting on his ability. The #1 draft choice should already speak for itself, at least, that’s what I think.
All in all I was very surprised that Matt Leinhart went with the #10 pick to the Arizona Cardinals. People mentioned on a forum that it was a great thing for him to be chosen so late. After hearing their reasons, I tend to agree. Look at it this way, he is with a better team, doesn’t really have to rebuild and quite frankly, as it stands, their team is designed to be a damn good team. They have Kurt Warner as QB to start, Anquan Boldin, Larry Fitzgerald and they recently acquired Edgerrin James from the Indy Colts!
I pretty much stopped watching after this pick although I did go back and watch a little more and saw this Samoan guy being picked up by the Baltimore Ravens. What made me kinda upset was seeing this lady of Samoan descent flashing some type of gang signs in the background while they were interviewing this player. That to me is just rude and stupid and plain ignorant. Why would you do that, this player has come a long way from having to do those kinds of stupid acts of violence and you come and show the world gang signs? Come on, grow up people!
So my family and I went to go watch The Wild last night. All in all I can safely say that it was a 2/5 movie. More than a 1 because it did make my family crack up a lot. Nigel, the koala bear, had the best part of the entire movie and I think he stole the limelight. The movie is mainly a spoof of several movies combined into one. That is what I got out of watching it. It takes parts from Madagascar, Lion King and I can’t recall the last movie and puts it together to kinda spoof all movies just like the “Scary Movie” line of shows.
The CG was amazing. There were times that I thought that it was real. You could not tell in certain scenes, like when they were out in the ocean and trying to go after the boat that the son was in. That part right there blew me away. Also the look of the lions, they really did look realistic compared to earlier CG films.
The voice of the main lion, Samson, was played by none other than Jack Bauer. I’m not sure if Kiefer Sutherland has done many voice overs but he seemed to show his newbieness to voice overs as he really didn’t sound that great. There were times where I thought, seriously, is that really Kiefer? I guess I’m comparing the voice overs to another recent movie which I would rate 5/5 which was Ice Age 2: The Meltdown. Reason for that is there was a very good plot, and the voice overs matched every single character in that movie. No mismatches in regards to the voice over category at all.
I may be nittpicking here but I guess hopefully somebody will maybe agree or not agree with me and feel free to chime in via the comment section.
So I took my last keyboard to work and I bought the 4000 again. I thought after some “breaking in” that the keyboard would become as soft to use as the Wireless Optical Desktop Pro 2.0 would be. However, that is not the case. I’m returning this keyboard today back to Best Buy and heading over to my Office Depot where I will be purchasing the Wireless Optical Desktop Pro keyboard once again. The WDOP keyboard’s keys are VERY soft. From reading reviews over at Amazon.com, I noticed that the reviews for the WDOP keyboard and mouse set had some bad reviews in regards to the softness of the keys. How can you NOT like the softness? Those people mentioned it makes it hard to type with no tactile feedback. Are you freaking kidding me? It’s a million times easier to type when the keys are soft. I don’t like having to actually press down extra hard on the keys.
It’s hard to explain, you probably either like your keys soft, or you like them to have “tactile feedback” whatever that hell that means. I enjoy mines soft and I do not like any other way. I guess I’ll just have to wait for future revisions of the new wired ergo keyboard or until they come out with an entirely new design. That probably won’t happen for another several years looking back at how long it took MS to come out with something new to replace the old ergo keyboard.
The WDOP set is being phased out of production, I think. I’m going to snatch up whatever sets I can find locally as well as online. The sets are just unbelievably smooth and easy to use. The mouse is OK but it could have been a little better. Like the people at Amazon reported, the middle click wheel doesn’t always work. I do believe it’s due to the side scrolling that is implemented into the mouse.
On another note, the Laser Mouse 6000 is decent. I always thought that the front/back buttons where both on the left side of the mouse. Guess what? I was wrong. The left side is programmed to go back. The one on the other side (right side of the mouse) is programmed to magnify the screen. I switched it to be the forward button in Internet Explorer. I guess if you have very small hands, the mouse can be a PITA since reaching for the back button does take a little getting used to. Other than that, my only other complaint is again, the way the mouse feels when you click the mouse button. It’s too firm. I enjoy the softness and the subtle touch in order to get the mouse and keyboard to work. All in all, I do recommend the 6000 if your hands are big enough and the 4000 if you enjoy “tactile feedback” from your keyboard.
Well sorry for not updating the news but I bought a Dell 2405 24″ wide screen LCD today. I paid $699.99 + $40 in taxes. I got free shipping all the way to Hawaii too. I should be getting it sometime next week. I took my 2001FP to work because I got tired of staring at a freaking 15″ CRT that is busted like hell. I am much more productive, I think, when utilizing my 2001FP at work. Now I have to RMA my Crucial memory and get that back. I just spent my entire tax return on that monitor. Man, time to work some overtime.
Outlook 2003 tasks. I’m interested in finding out if when using Outlook 2003 for its tasks feature and while also utilizing an Exchange server, if it is possible to change the font for the task notes to a standard font. Right now when I create a task, the note font is what I have my fonts set at, which is Verdana, size 9. However, when I go back and open it up and try to edit it again, it will default to Arial, size 12. I’m wondering if this defaulting is happening on the server side or if it’s a client side option that I can set so that the font will always be Verdana, size 9 no matter what happens.
I’ve searched high and low and cannot find any info in regards to this. I’d so greatly appreciate it if one of you experts could chime in to let me know whether or not this is something that can be done client side. Right now I do not have access to our Exchange server but I could talk to our administrator if the need arises. Thank you.
So I’m back from visiting Las Vegas and California.
I had fun with my family. No, I did not win anything in Vegas. I only gambled at one casino where I played the slot machines. I’d like to have played more but I feel that it was enough since I came back with the majority of the money I had saved up for this trip — this is a good thing.
On another note, I took my Microsoft Wireless Optical Desktop Pro keyboard and mouse set to work today. I felt that the keyboard I have at work just isn’t cutting it anymore. In doing that, I was left with no keyboard or mouse for home. So, I decided I’d give the Microsoft 4000 Ergonomic keyboard one more try as well as the Microsoft Laser 6000 mouse.
So here I am at home using both products which I said I would not use nor condone anyone else using. I’m a hypocrite, so shoot me. So far, the keyboard’s keys are SLIGHTLY less hard to press than the last one I had. The Microsoft laser mouse is just as shitty as everyone has reported be it via Amazon.com or personal reviews from websites and blogs. The buttons are slightly out of place but I’m trying to see if I will get used to it. If I don’t like it, I will return it since I am not satisfied with it. I am, however, going to be keeping the keyboard probably no matter what. I am hoping that the abuse I give to the keys will eventually soften the touch of them instead of harden them lol.
Gas prices are going up. What are we going to do? Here in Hawaii, gas has reached almost $3.00 for regular gasoline. This is getting pretty expensive and I don’t see the price of gasoline going down anytime soon with a war with Iran on the brink. I feel that it is almost inevitable that we will go to war with Iran. It scares me since we already have a situation in Iraq in which we barely have control over. The government still hasn’t formed an official government. Just from my view point, it scares the crap out of me.
On a semi-happier note, I was told over and over again while visiting my mom why they moved to Las Vegas from Hawaii. The reason they gave me was that it was not feasible for them to live in Hawaii any longer since the cost of living is so high. They said that they’d never be able to afford a house. I understand their reasoning but at the same time I don’t see why they could not have tried any harder to find a better job while they were here. My plan is to finish school and get a degree. I am hoping that the housing bubble will pop soon enough and prices will come crashing down. I mean there are houses in Las Vegas that cost maybe roughly $200,000.00 that would be almost $800,000.00 - $1,000,000.00 here in Hawaii. That is just insane but enough of a reason for thousands of island residents to move up there so they can afford a house — exactly the same reason my mom and step dad moved up to Vegas.
Oh well, only time will tell.
Until next time, aloha!
My wife’s car was stolen tonight from a local shopping mall. We went in to eat dinner, buy a few things for our trip and we came out to find our car missing. Lucky enough though, the car was stolen, driven a few rows down the parking lot and abandoned by some idiots who then tried to steal another car. My wife just kept saying it’s ok and we’re lucky to have our health. I was so upset though but now that I reflect back on it, she’s very right. A car is just a materialistic item. It can be replaced. Our lives cannot. Thank God. I hope those who are responsible are caught though.
My BP is still fairly high but ever since last week Friday I’ve started to implement a life style change. I’m trying to eat much less and much more healthy. I used to eat copious amounts of white rice, and when I say copious, I mean copious. I mean literally, five-six scoops of rice per breakfast/lunch/dinner. I’ve now cut it down to roughly one ice cream scooper worth of rice per day. Two days ago I started eating salads from McDonalds. Their Ceaser salad is really good. I do put the crutons and use the dressing that comes with it, it’s mighty tasty if you ask me. If I’m going to lower my blood pressure, that means I’m going to have to shed a lot of weight. I think I can do it and so far my will power has been surprising me with what I’m able to do. I guess I just have to keep telling myself that I can do it and I need to do it. Otherwise I run and already do run the risk of heart disease.
Here in Honolulu, Hawaii, we’ve been having some torrential rainfall for about forty straight days. It has finally cleared up but last week a sewer line burst and had to be re-directed into the Ala Wai Canal in Waikiki. The beaches were closed off to visitors due to the pollution. Apparently, someone was drinking and fell into the canal some time last week. Upon trying to get out of the canal/water, this person had cut himself on his feet and hands. A few days later he complained of leg pains and breathing troubles. He was taken to a hospital where he was diagnosed with Strep, a flesh eating disease. He has already had to have his leg amputated and they say his other leg and arm may have to be amputated too. He is in critical condition as it stands and the doctors do not know for sure if he is going to make it.
The police have opened up a case. Supposedly upon going to the hospital the night he fell in, he made a police report. It is reported that he got into a scuffle and may have been pushed in intentionally. If this is the case, I hope they catch those who did it. This guy was a mortgage banker and from the looks of things, had a really good life. Now he’s on his last days, possibly, with one leg amputated and another one scheduled to be removed. Very depressing situation for anyone to be going through at this time; my prayers go out to his family and friends as I know they are mourning during a time like this.
So I utilize my quick launch bar to the fullness. It has many shortcuts that I use each and everyday. I grew tired of sending a shortcut to the desktop and then dragging it to the quick launch. I set out to find out if it was possible to just add an option to the Send To menu. After a few hours of searching online I eventually found a way to do it. Here it is.
1. Click on start, run, type in “sendto” without the quotations.
2. A folder will open up with a few folders in them, it should look like this. 
3. Then you will have to go to My Computer, C:\ and go to C:\Documents and Settings\User Name\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer. You should now see a Quick Launch folder there similar to this. 
4. You will want to right click on the Quick Launch folder, and then high light send to and then send to desktop as a shortcut.
5. Go to your desktop, right click on the shortcut, cut, and then paste it into the sendto folder. You can now re-name the shortcut to something like “Quick Launch.”
6. Test this out by going to start, programs, right clicking on a program, send to, and see if “Quick Launch” is available as an option.
Just make sure you have your hidden folders/files set to be viewed otherwise you won’t be able to get to the Application Data folder.
