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Kevin (k3va5u5)

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  • Stimulus Package

    Apr 9th 2010

    By: k3va5u5

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    Modern Warfare 2 Stimulus Package is out on Xbox 360. And with it releasing in the near future on PC and PS3, it is safe to say that there is a lot of talk and debate over shelling out the cash to get the DLC. Infinity Ward has done a superb job bringing the DLC to market and is pounding potential audiences with advertising. It’s no secret that there’s a definite profit for the producer. Given that over 20 million people have downloaded the Stimulus Package for Xbox alone, it only makes sense that some of those $15 hits be traded for future sales on the PC and PS3. But is it worth the money? In a nutshell… YES!

    The Stimulus Package provides 3 brand new maps and 2 old maps for Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer. All 5 of the maps are great but the new map, Bailout, has become an instant favorite among many.

    MW2-Bailout 

    Bailout features 3 buildings and a long central open area. The buildings are all multilevel and complex in structure yet easy to navigate. Probably the one drawback is the initial spawn points. Opposing teams are spawned directly across from one another and lagging (no pun intended) soldiers may become victim of a grenade launched from the opponent just as the game starts. Both teams are spawned in the open and are very easily killed if they stay there so being AFK at drop dead time becomes literally drop dead.

    Overall Bailout is the best map in my opinion because of the flexibility between different games. Hardcore deathmatches are fun and search and destroy missions sometimes seem impossible. Whatever your taste in gameplay is, you will find it on one of these maps. So go ahead and get the DLC if you’ve been holding out. It’s worth the measly $15. After all, it is a Stimulus Package!

    See you in the game.

    Reviews

  • Microsoft Office 2010 Home and Student Beta

    Mar 28th 2010

    By: k3va5u5

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    My plans were to download the beta version to finish a project for a class at school. I wanted to finish it on my laptop while traveling. The problem is that when Office 2010 looks like it is finished downloading, it’s really only downloaded just enough to get the program open on the screen. All features of the program, including the ability to actually open a text document, are downloaded as you need them. Unfortunately, this is a stumbling block as I travel today. My plans of catching up on my project so that I can get to bed at a normal time tonight are crushed with Microsoft’s inability to inform the consumer that the entire program will not be installed with the initial download. So, just as before when I had to use Open Office as my go to program for documents, I’ll adapt and overcome. Giving up sleep for grades and sanity for a degree. All I can say is this had better make me lots of money one day.

    Reviews

  • Open Office Writer vs Microsoft Office .docx files

    Mar 26th 2010

    By: k3va5u5

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    There have only been a handful of times that I could not use Open Office to suffice where Microsoft Office was needed. The main reason for substituting an open source software of any kind is normally cost. With Open Office I have become accustomed to the layout and tools that come with this great program. Today, however, I ran into a stumbling block. While trying to complete the final revisions to a school project I have found that when dealing with a team that is using Office 2007 utilizing the new docx format it would be really nice to have MS Office.

    One of my tasks was to create a Table of Contents for our 20+ page final for a project management class. While I was able to create the table and edit the sections headings so that they showed up automatically, I noticed that there were numbering issues. While correcting that I found the bigger problem. A few of our pages contains images of charts and graphs that are larger than the width of a portrait page so these pages must be landscape. Simple thing to do, normally, using Open Office to create custom page styles and then applying those styles to the landscape pages leaving the rest of the pages as default portrait. The issue is that because of the embedded styling used by the docx format of MS Office, Open Office would convert multiple pages to the new custom style. So three or four pages of normal text would become landscape. When changing those back to default, the custom pages would change back to portrait with them. This cycle continued for over 30 minutes until I decided that my time is worth more than the money Open Office is saving me.

    I am now the semi-happy owner of a beta version of Microsoft Office 2010.

    Reviews

  • What Does Daylight Savings Time Save?

    Mar 13th 2010

    By: k3va5u5

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    clock face

    In an effort to find out what daylight savings time really saves I stumbled on the California Energy Commission site. According to most sources one of the biggest reasons for DST is to save energy. But how much does it really save?

    In general, energy use and the demand for electricity for lighting our homes is directly connected to when we go to bed and when we get up. Bedtime for most of us is late evening through the year. When we go to bed, we turn off the lights and TV.

    In the average home, 25 percent of all the electricity we use is for lighting and small appliances, such as TVs, VCRs and stereos. A good percentage of energy consumed by lighting and appliances occurs in the evening when families are home. By moving the clock ahead one hour, we can cut the amount of electricity we consume each day.

    Studies done in the 1970s by the U.S. Department of Transportation show that we trim the entire country’s electricity usage by about one percent EACH DAY with Daylight Saving Time.

    Daylight Saving Time “makes” the sun “set” one hour later and therefore reduces the period between sunset and bedtime by one hour. This means that less electricity would be used for lighting and appliances late in the day. We may use a bit more electricity in the morning because it is darker when we rise, but that is usually offset by the energy savings in the evening.

    We also use less electricity because we are home fewer hours during the “longer” days of spring and summer. Most people plan outdoor activities in the extra daylight hours. When we are not at home, we don’t turn on the appliances and lights. A poll done by the U.S. Department of Transportation indicated that Americans liked Daylight Saving Time because “there is more light in the evenings / can do more in the evenings.”

    While the amounts of electricity saved per household are small…added up they can be very large.

    In the winter, the afternoon Daylight Saving Time advantage is offset by the morning’s need for more lighting. In spring and fall, the advantage is less than one hour. So, Daylight Saving Time saves energy for lighting in all seasons of the year except for the four darkest months of the year (November, December, January and February) when the afternoon advantage is offset by the need for lighting because of late sunrise.

    Read the full story [DST]

    picture from [California Energy Commision]

    Web

  • Ditch Cable for Online TV and Movies

    Mar 13th 2010

    By: k3va5u5

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    Lifehacker explains how to ditch the cable bill (or satellite for all you that are spacey) and still watch your favorite shows and movies online. The best part is, most of it is free and HD content is becoming more and more available.

    You can watch most of your favorite network shows by simply streaming them directly from the networks’ web sites. They’re often available a few hours after they air, and regularly have additional goodies like behind-the-scenes footage or teasers for upcoming episodes. In addition to official network sites, more and more useful tools are popping up every day to help you get your TV fix online.

    • Clicker – Bookmark this site to help you figure out where your favorite shows are airing around the internet. It combs through what’s available on Netflix, Hulu, and other streaming video sites, and is searchable by show or topic.
    • Hulu – This video streaming service offers the five most recent episodes of dozens of many of the most-watched shows on television. Episodes are available for 30 days after their air date, so this is a great way to catch up on any shows you’ve missed. It’s also full of full seasons of older TV shows.
    • CBS – Episodes from lots of current programming, as well as some oldies but goodies (MacGyver!).
    • NBC – Check out new episodes of current primetime, daytime, and late night programming, and some original online-only series like Office parody show Ctrl.
    • ABC – Episodes of current shows, including daytime programming and archives of specials like the American Music Awards.
    • FOX – Full-length episodes of many popular shows, including Family Guy and Glee.
    • Netflix – Best for catching episodes of your favorite shows from last season or from the last decade. While Netflix doesn’t typically offer recently aired episodes of popular shows, it’s perfect for streaming episodes from previous seasons, or for getting your “Murder She Wrote” groove on. There’s a monthly fee to subscribe to Netflix but once you’re signed up, you can stream an unlimited amount of shows.
    • iTunes – You can pick up new episodes of shows on iTunes hours after they air on television, but be prepared to pay for the privilege. They’ll usually set you back $1.99 per episode, or upwards of $30 per season. On the other hand, buying through iTunes means you can drop the shows on your iPod and watch them on the fly.
    • Amazon Video On Demand – Like iTunes, you’ll pay for most of the television shows you get from this site. The upside is, you can watch programs on your computer or convert them to a format that’s playable on a mobile device.
    • Gawker.TV – Okay, so our association aside (Gawker.TV is the all-video site of our blog network’s namesake, Gawker), Gawker.TV was the go-to online destination we fired up every day during the recent Late Night debacle for comprehensive coverage of all the drama—and we didn’t have to stay up all night to keep up with the latest. Gawker.TV isn’t the only site out there that posts clips and synopses from shows and news events, but it’s got a quick turnaround and can really fill a gap you miss when you don’t have access to the regular cable lineup.

    Read the full story [lifehacker]

    Web

  • Using Google Wave @ college

    Mar 13th 2010

    By: k3va5u5

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    Google wave is a great collaboration tool that I’ve had the pleasure of using for the past few months. Recently, it has been used by my team at UAT online to collaborate on projects. We have found that Powerpoint presentations can be uploaded to Google Docs then embed in a wave for the entire group to see using an iFrame. As interesting as that is, what is even neater is that we were able to paste in the project doc we were trying to edit and all of us were able to edit it and then paste it back into a .doc file to turn in.

    More often than not I find myself using email to communicate with others. But when there’s a need to have instant collaboration and live drag and drop ability Google Wave does it best. It’s immediate, so there’s no waiting for an inbox to refresh. It’s live so there’s no waiting for the other person to click “send” while instant messaging. There’s no “Bob is writing…” tag that tells you their response is on the way. Fast, fun, and simple.

    Find out more at about Google Wave preview [wave]

    Web

  • Live like no one else

    Mar 11th 2010

    By: k3va5u5

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    We just paid off our car!!! Now we’ve set our sights on the rest of the debt… We’re getting out of slavery! And you know what… This time we’re going to stay out! We’ve been using Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University. The class has really put a different spin on our lives. We appreciate the little things again and have learned to live with less in order to later live better. Or as Dave puts it: “Right now you have to live like no one else so that later you can live like no one else.”

    Blog

  • Call of Duty Subscription?

    Mar 11th 2010

    By: k3va5u5

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    Subscription fee for MW2? It may be happening soon!

    Reviews

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  • Britton’s Artwork: abstract owl

    Mar 10th 2010

    By: k3va5u5

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    Blog

  • Between God and Jesus

    Mar 9th 2010

    By: k3va5u5

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    Braelyn just said ” Between God and Jesus I like Jesus the best.”

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    • Stimulus Package
    • Microsoft Office 2010 Home and Student Beta
    • Open Office Writer vs Microsoft Office .docx files
    • What Does Daylight Savings Time Save?
    • Ditch Cable for Online TV and Movies
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