Having beaten Skyrim and not thinking too highly of Benny Hin, I found this youtube video absolutely hilarious.
I thought to myself, that would be an awesome avatar. So I downloaded the movie using http://keepvid.com/
I then added text to the movie using Windows Movie Maker.
After the text was in place, I converted it to a gif using this free program: http://evanolds.com/movtogif.html
And now I have this:
Those still on dialup will hate me.
Lately I've been playing with SwapNote and it's been fun sending notes back and forth between my husband and members of this site. As fun as this system is, it can be abused by sending crude drawings or recordings containing profanity. On the flip side, this can be a great way to share the gospel and uplift believers as well as sharing a verse or two with complete strangers. I struggle with memorizing scripture but actually taking the time to jot it down helps rather than just reading it alone. If you'd like to be a member of our 3DS Bible study post your friend code and let us know!
Saw Courageous with my Youth Group Saturday. Great movie! Great message! More people need to see it. When we went, it was my Youth Group, and about 10 other people.
This is not a get rich quick scheme but many people have made good money mining bitcoins. What is a bitcoin you ask? Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer currency. Peer-to-peer means that no central authority issues new money or tracks transactions. These tasks are managed collectively by the network. New coins are generated by a network node each time it finds the solution to a difficult mathematical problem. There will be a maximum of 21,000,000 generated bitcoins and because of this limit, bitcoins are divisible to 8 decimal places. In other words you can send fractions of bitcoins to people. Like many currencies the value fluctuates. As of this blog entry its between $13 and $14 USD.
As of July 2011, there are just over 6.8 million bitcoins in existence. New coins are slowly "mined" into existence by running a program that searches tirelessly for a solution to a very difficult math problem. When a solution is found, the user may tell everyone of the existence of this new found solution, along with other information, packaged together in what is called a "block". Blocks contain 50 bitcoins at present. This amount is an incentive for people to perform the computation work required for block generation. Roughly every 4 years, the number of bitcoins that can be "mined" in a block reduces by 50%. In other words, while the bounty is still 50 bitcoins, hop on this gravy train!
You have two options when it comes to mining for bitcoins. If you have a good video card, you can try going solo and crunch numbers for weeks or months for a big payout. Or, if you prefer a steady payout, you can join a mining pool and equally share the bounty for your share of work put into it. If you have a slower video card, a mining pool will be the only way you can stand a chance at finding the blocks before someone else does.
The better the hardware, the better the hash rates you'll get. ATI is taking the crown here. Here's how my systems fare at my house.
My hubby and I have quad core 860's with 5870's getting 346 Mhash/s
Our kids dual core with a 5570 is 67Mhash/s
Our myth tv pvr front-end with a 4650 gets 21.6Mhash/s
Lastly my dual core laptop with a GeForce M230 gets 8 Mhash/s (I don't bother mining with this one)
The higher the hash rate, the more my video card contributes to solving the mathematical problem and thus giving me more of the reward. Overclocking can increase those numbers but it will also increase the heat generated and the electricity needed to power the system. The next hurdle is seeing if this is worth jacking up your electric bill. With those systems in place I can get a bitcoin every 4 days. With a bitcoin value at $14 I can make $105 a month doing this. How much of that will get sucked up by a higher electric bill is to be determined. For those who leave their systems on 24/7 anyway, why not have it make money for you in the process.
Once you earn a bitcoin you'll have to decide what to do with it. I converted mine to USD using Mt. Gox. There was a .0005 fee to send my bitcoin there and then Mt. Gox took .30%. Once I had it in USD I sent it to my dwolla account for .25 and then sent it to my bank account. All said and done I got $13.70 of my $14.
Here are some helpful links to get started.
Bitcoin client
Python GUI Miner put this in the extra flags section: -v -w128
Slush's mining pool
sources: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Introduction
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitcoin
Nintendo has threatened to brick 3DS devices that have been modified by hardware or software. To protest, Defective by Design will be sending bricks with a note to the chairman of Nintendo of America, Reggie Fils-Aime.
What do you think about this? Does Nintendo have a right to render devices we purchase as useless? Last time I checked, 3DS's are still selling for $250. Once we buy the device isn't it ours to do as we please? Is it wrong for me to put a sticker on my DS? Can I change the casing if it cracks or scratches? We have replaced the scratched screen on our DS Lite, we have cleaned the broken trigger buttons in an attempt to repair them. If the repairs fail it's our own fault, I don't blame Nintendo. I can understand this tinkering voids the warranty. If the system broke while it was under warranty I would have send it back to them to fix.
I understand that people modify the hardware beyond standard maintenance. Perhaps for these individuals their system should be blocked from the Nintendo network so they don't interfere with "vanilla" systems. I think bricking the device by rendering it useless is going too far. Here's an quote from the Terms of service (chapter 3). I think they mean business:
"You understand that the Nintendo 3DS System specifications and the Nintendo 3DS Service are constantly evolving and that we may update or change the Nintendo 3DS System or the Nintendo 3DS Service in whole or in part, without notice to you. Such updates may be required for you to play new Nintendo 3DS games, enjoy new features, or continue to access the Nintendo 3DS Service. After the Nintendo 3DS menu is updated, any existing or future unauthorized technical modification of the hardware or software of your Nintendo 3DS System, or the use of an unauthorized device in connection with your system, will render the system permanently unplayable."
What about software modifications? That's awfully vague. Chances are the DS Cart system I'm using is violating the terms of service. The kicker is that I am not using it to pirate games. I use it so I have all my games with me and don't have to worry about losing them. Have you seen how small these DS cartridges are? Again I don't agree with hacking the system to ruin the game play for other people. I think Xbox has taken the proper approach to block non standard systems from the network.
Has Nintendo gone too far?
We just posted our Crysis 2 review today. As fun as this game is I was taken aback by all the language in it. It's not just this game but a trend I'm seeing in many games we've been reviewing lately. What gives? Yeah I get it, in stressful situations people swear, it may add some realism but to me I think it's exaggerating a bit. I hang around non-Christians and they don't drop the F bomb every 3 minutes. I miss the options to disable swearing and blood, can we have those back please? Or should I say "Can we have those *#&$^'n options back please?"
It took a lot of preparation and patience to get this new site up and running. I hope you like the new look and if you have any suggestions, feedback or encouragement, I'm all ears!
God Bless!
Cheryl
In the presence of arms, the law grows silent.
Since I haven't posted yet, I'm going to inaugurate this with a bit of Science Fiction fanaticism. Namely, I'm going to take you through my favorite franchises and such. At the end, I'll include a top 5 list with my favorite Science Fiction shows is order.
The title of this blog, the translation for which is in italics, is the title of an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, my favorite Star Trek show. Why is it my favorite? For starters, it has deep, convincing characters and incredible plot arcs. It dives into Trek mythology deeper than any other show has, especially with the Cardassians and the Bajorans. It is also one of the few shows where the status quo changes after every episode. If there was significant damage to a runabout in the previous episode, odds are you won't see it, and will likely hear Chief O'Brien complaining about it.
Next up, we have the Stargate franchise. Their have been 3 shows in the franchise, Stargate: SG-1, Stargate: Atlantis, and Stargate: Universe. SG-1 revolves around the adventures of the titular team, SG-1. SG-1 has various lineup changes along the way, but the mainstays are Teal'c, Samantha Carter, Jack O'Neill and Daniel Jackson. Other noteworthy members include Jonas Quinn, who took the place of Dr. Jackson during season 6, And Cameron Mitchell, who commanded SG-1 during seasons 9 and 10. Sadly, Richard Dean Anderson, who played O'Neill left show show after season 8. SG-1 starts off as a fairly episodic show, mainly getting the audience used to the idea of the Stargate. Then it starts dragging plot elements in: The Ancients (The Race who built the Stargate) the evil Goa'uld, and the friendly, if reserved Asgard. The show becomes more arc-based as the show progresses, with seasons 9 and 10 involving a series of arcs involving a malevolent race known as the Ori.
Atlantis is a different deal altogether. It deals with the Atlantis Expedition, who journeyed to the distant Pegasus galaxy to explore the lost city of the Ancients, Atlantis. Right off the bat this show is different. A different gate, an almost-new set of characters, different wormholes, different everything. The Atlantis Expedition finds the Pegasus galaxy to be victim to a race of aliens called the Wraith. Starting with the first episode, the show takes a very serialized turn.
Then we have Doctor Who. The good Doctor has been saving time and space since the 60's, but the show went off the air in the early 90's. It was rebooted in 2005, with the ninth incarnation of the Doctor played by Christopher Eccleston. After one season, the Doctor regenerated into his tenth incarnation, portrayed by David Tennant. This incarnation was the best-received incarnation to date, and my personal favorite. After 3 seasons of saving the universe, the Doctor regenerated once more into his eleventh version, played by Matt Smith. Doctor Who is known for being a quirky show, and the new series is no exception.
Then we have a show that defies cliche. This show has the best acting of any Science Fiction show, some of the best effects of any science fiction show, the best characters, some of the best plots, and above all, highly serialized. Ladies and Gentlemen, this show is Battlestar Galactica. BSG ran for 4 seasons, has 2 movies and a miniseries pilot. The miniseries sets the stage, the show enacts the greatest television drama in Science Fiction history. The movies, while secondary to the plot, add more depth to the already-grand universe. The narrative can drag at times, and some episodes aren't near as fulfilling as others, but some flukes cannot drag down such a show.
The top five:
5. Doctor Who
4. Stargate: SG1
3. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
2. Stargate: Atlantis
1. Battlestar Galactica
Honorable mentions include Babylon 5, which I have sadly not seen enough of to judge properly, Star Trek: Voyager, and Star Trek: The Next Generation.
