Life Rules: Manage your tank

Manage your tank.


This life rule I came up with the other day while getting gas. It started out as "Fill up your tanks", but as I extrapolated the hidden meaning in the wisdom I made up at Bucee's, I realized this was too specific.

Image courtesy of a clever guy with a dollar.

When applied to your gas tank, yes, it should be filled. When you refer to your stomach, fill it for sure. But what about tanks that should be empty? Looking at you bladder! Then there are the tanks that have to be between certain levels like oil and coolant. Clearly this rule can apply to more than anatomy and automobiles, but at the gas station this is all I could think about.

Want me to bust out some economics that validate my rule (at least at the pump)? The gas you buy now, no matter what it cost, is cheaper today than at any point in the future because of inflation. Therefor, when you are at the tank fill it up all the way. No pansy $15 now and the rest on pay day.

Another Letter to my Buddy

I don't know what it is Micheal, but I haven't been able to psych myself up for the final dungeon of Zelda. I'm going to try this weekend.

I don't remember what song I shared with you in my last letter, but this is what I'm listening to right now. And I mean right now too. I've actually loved this song for a long time, just wanted to share. As much as I don't like music these days, Google Music and OCremix has inspired me to listen.

I originally came here to write a real post. Another rule of life actually. Then I started just writing and this is what came out. Let me go try again.

Sincerely,
James

Some things to share with Michael... but I guess both of our blog followers can see too

Dude,

So I've spent a ridiculous amount of time working on geekwagon.net. It has been my goal to code it 99% by hand. The only part I didn't do was the adsense script and the java that updates the date for the last update. Did that part make since? I'm on my 4th beer. I just spent my WHOLE evening making sure it works well at resolutions as low as 600x480. So if you just installed Windows 2000 and don't have any video drivers you can view my website without any problems (except IE5.5 will display all the borders with those nasty square corners... for now--I might have found a way to fix that but like I said I'm on my 4th beer.).

Picture courtesy of Google image
search and some random sucker.

I'm writing to tell you I've had this song going through my head for days.

Also, I finally broke even on bitcoins. Just in time too the price is dropping today like rappers drop hot items. To celebrate I've spent a bunch of time adding this page to geekwagon and I also added a bitcoin picture to this post. I hope it will be useful (the page not the picture) to some one some where in some world.

I still need to finish Zelda. I'll get to it.

Sincerely,
The other Dude 

My first impression of Office 365 (Microsoft's version of Google Docs for business)

After seeing the following video I had little choice but to go check out office365. While viewing the site a chat box popped up. A Microsoft representative wanted to take the time to talk to me personally. That conversation is posted below the video.

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This chat can be recorded for quality & training purposes. Welcome to Microsoft. A representative will be with you shortly. Your estimated wait time is 0 minutes and 2 seconds. To help us serve you better, please provide your name and company name.
Hello, my name is Brady.


You: hello my name is James
Brady: Hi there!
You: I saw a video, don't know if you guys made it or not, but it was advertising office365. I went to check it out and I must say it is very missleading
You: we use google apps for $50/user/year less and there are no ads
Brady: Okay. I'll be happy to clear up any confusion if I can. What has prompted you to look into Office 365?
You: You: I saw a video, don't know if you guys made it or not, but it was advertising office365.
You: going over your features, the only thing I see that is interesting over Google Apps is the AD integration. But I'd have to pay more than double I am now.
You: is there any thing else you offer I'm not seeing yet?
Brady: I will be right with you.
You: I'll be right here
Brady: Okay. AD integration is included with any Office 365 Enterprise plan. Each plan includes Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, and Lync Online. Additional features are available in different plans.
Brady: Exchange Online will include 25GB of storage per user license, Forefront Online for anti-virus/spam protection, and ActiveSync for your mobile devices. SharePoint Online includes 10GB of storage, plus 500MB extra for each user license.
Brady: And Lync Online would provide you with instant messaging and web audio/video conferencing for up to 250 participants.
You: We are a company of 32 users (could go up to 35 in the near future). Currently we don't have a lot of office application needs, just a few users share spreadsheets.
You: which plan would you recommend?
Brady: Thank you for waiting. I'll be with you in just a moment.
Brady: The most basic plan that includes AD integration is E1. This plan is $10/user/month, it includes Exchange, SharePoint, and Lync. It would also include 24/7 phone and email support and can easily be expanded for any size business.
Brady: If you find that you need additional features in the future, you can also easily change an Enterprise plan to a different Enterprise plan.
You: That would be $3840 a year ($2240 more than I'm paying now) for almost the same service. I don't think I could justify something like that. Not to mention the cost of migration (speaking of which I could only find migration documents to move from internal Microsoft services not another cloud service).
You: Combine with the misleading video I don't think I can justify making a change. But thanks for your time.
Brady: Thanks for chatting and have a great day!

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First Impressions

Basically I've been lied to, not all their plans have AD integration. Only their Enterprise Plans do. I'm sure that's what he meant by his statement, but I was looking at all plans. Unfortunately, their small business plans only support 25 people. Funny how the government (and Microsoft in many cases) considers anything less than 500 employees small business. For all those businesses that fall in the 25-75 employee range, you get to pay out the nose like a giant enterprise.

I am intrigued by the over all idea. I mean, most businesses run Microsoft products already because they are familiar for users and simple for administrators (yes pricey but you don't have to retrain people--maybe one day I'll make a post about how I failed to convert a small company to OpenOffice.org because too many people don't get the concept of hierarchical structures and file types). I guess it would really come down to the business itself. None of the businesses I currently work with would benefit enough to justify the cost. My recommendation for simple could services stays with Google Apps.

Second Quest Goes Better than Expected

After I made my level 4 video I realized I never found the treasure in the dungeon. So I went back, and eventually found the book. Then after hours and hours of looking for level 5, I gave in and looked it up on the Internet because I just don't have the same kind of time I had as a kid.

To my surprise, I needed the raft. But I didn't have the raft. I had gotten treasure from all of the previous levels, where do I find a raft now? Well, that kind of first quest thinking should have been left in the cave with the old guy telling me it was dangerous to go alone. Back in level 4 I found a raft (In some rooms I overlooked). A raft and a book in the same dungeon... after the level with no boss... Ganon's not making this round easy on me.

Subsequently, while I was searching for level 5 I got to know where everything else was. I even spent some time in level 6 and found the ladder. After a lot of time, a lot of effort, and thousands of save states, I completed level 5 and 6. On the other hand level 7 and 8 were cake. If you call rooms, so full of blue darknuts and ball shooting statues that the game slows down, cake. Little known fact: Nintendo came up with bullet time way before the Matrix. They just called it "to many enemies on the screen....time".

I also realize, without the aid of save states, this would take a ridiculous amount of time. Not to mention the Nintendo Power-esque tip I nabbed off the Internet about where to find level 5. It's no wonder so few people never finish the second quest [citation needed]. I know I have found parts of it to be annoying and drawn out for the sake of difficulty and I am at a great advantage over old school NES play.

Now I have the triforce (again), and am poised at Ganon's front door. I haven't jumped into level 9 yet because I want to have the time to give what it deserves. I do plan to record this one. I'm sure it will be a horrible watch. I am genuinely curious about it because I have no idea what is in store for me. Will it even be a skull? I'll find out soon enough.

The Legend of Zelda 2nd quest - level 4

I had some back luck at recording level 2, so when I got to level 3 I didn't bother. By the time I found level 4 (no small feat mind you) I was ready to give it a try again. Not only was I successful, I went ahead and added annotations in a lame attempt to entertain.

The second quest is underway.

I discovered I can make videos with VirtualNES. Since I missed recording the end of the first quest I thought I'd make a video of dungeon 1 in the second quest so everyone can see how much I suck. I might make a video of dungeon 2 if I can find the darn thing. It's not where I left it. I won't bore you to death with my wandering through the overworld trying to find things. The painstaking things we do for a little nostalgia.

UPDATE: I did make a video of dungeon 2, but apparently it records using controller input instead of actually making a video and when I was re-recording with fraps there was one point that was slightly different than from when I played it. The result was Link dying in a spot he did not when I made the original. The second half of the video was the game over screen :(

ADDITIONAL UPDATE: I have also mastered the art of save/load states, so any future videos I will look amazingly lucky. Rest assured, dungeon 2 took many many many save/load states to accomplish.