Bonus Blog - Self Portrait

Here's a non-advertised blog for those that subscribe or care enough to regularly check up on me.
Enjoy a expressive self portrait...


"Console from a Canine"

Another model decided to cancel on me at the last minute.

As I rest contemplating my next move and wondering how I will make ends meet, he sneaks in.

He knows he's not allowed in the studio, his head low, he slowly crawls in my lap and looks at me.

His speaks to me through his eye's, saying, "Everything will be ok..."


Not expecting comments this time around so consider yourself off the hook as thanks for at least being a reader.
See ya next blog...

Mini Rant # 5 Let me in already!!

I understand the degrees that websites have to go through the fend off automated spam. I just hate that I have to suffer for it.

Simple log in's have turned into detailed questionnaires. Efforts to fend off identity theft have caused the far majority of honest internet surfers to be bombarded with a variety of authentication procedures if they make even one mistake imputing a password. And lets not forget the hassle of a forgotten password, or the auto lock out feature for too many failed attempts.

Of all these features I will agree that most are a acceptable inconvenience, but one annoys me to no end...


I don't know the official name so I'll call it the "Visual Verification".
It's those jumbled up numbers and letters that you have to type in along with a password, blog comment, or post.

The entire look of it always makes me think, "Is this what dyslexic people see all the time?." They trail from that question to the the episode of Batman the Animated Series where Batman discovers he's in a dream engineered by the Mad Hatter because one side of the brain controls dreams and the other controls reading, (btw, is that actually true?)

Anyway, the other day I was trying to sign on to YouTube and I wasn't 100% certain what my password was. The next thing you know I was presented with this annoying prompt.

Sometimes they make it easy for you by actually making it a real word. That way, even if you can't make out a letter or two, you can still take a guess to the overall word and make out good. But nooooooo! They had to use a bunch of garbled letters and numbers. (and you can NEVER tell if it's a zero or the letter "O"!)

To then make matters worse, when I made a mistake (oh yeah, that was gonna happen), I wasn't told if the mistake was in the username, password, or verification prompt!

I then notice this little speaker button next to the verification and I think to myself "I'll just listen to the letters and type them in."

Now it may be hard to describe sound in a written media, but it would be no exaggeration to describe what I heard as, a cluster of static and garbled voices. Like 15 people all holding different conversations at once with a old TV in the background on no channel. I even thought I heard one whisper something antis-emetic...(family guy reference)

This level of annoyance is just crazy. I know computers are smart but why do I need to be made to look stupid just to post a blog comment, or share a link?

If computers ever became sentient beings they already have all the tools necessary to get entertainment at my expense...


Share your thoughts below and See ya next blog!!

That's right I write poems - the unexpected sequel

With so many ideas for blogs in my head this was all I felt like uploading. Enjoy it for what it's worth.

"Is it worth it"

My emotion is my creativity...

Hiding emotion, in turn, hides my creativity.
The more feelings I repress, the less artistic I become.

While the simple solution would be to express myself more,
What happens when how I feel, hurts those I love.

What's more important?

It would be simple if I was fed nothing but love and support...
Surely my artistic side could positively thrive...

But such is not the world I live in.

So I am bound to my foolish attempts at recycling pain into pleasure.
With tools in hand I shall continue to process this suppressed anguish into something that may benefit someone else... Who knows... Maybe even bring happiness...

Such a process doesn't appear to be beneficial in the least and yet with constant suppression comes sporadic joy.

It's all I can ask for...

Comments welcome, thank you for your continued support...

Pro Shot

Special Treat for you!!

Over a year ago I made my first YOUTUBE video called "Ace's Day Out"
With plenty of ideas and very few resources lots of old videos went unedited, till now...

I present you with Pro Shot Play

Hershey Park's "Pro Shot" game
$5 for 3 shots
2 in wins
but what happens when...

See Ya Next Blog!!

Mini Rant #4 Pizza Woes

Well, let's get the year 2011 started right with a mini rant!

"If I can remove a pepperoni, that has no cheese on top of it, and I find no cheese beneath it, then I did NOT get extra cheese like I wanted!" - DV

Ordered me some Papa John's tonight. I shall present you with...

Exhibit A


Here's the first pizza I got tonight. There's a difference between thin and regular crust pizza, but you sure couldn't tell from this mess. In case you wanted to know, this was supposed to be the "Papa's Favorite" pizza. That involves pepperoni, sausage, cheese, and special seasoning. IN ADDITION to those ingredients, I added extra pepperoni, extra cheese, and extra sauce. This is nowhere CLOSE to what I usually get.

They've done such a good job for such a long time with me that this came as such a surprise. Let me fill you in on how much I ordered from them.

For the last three years I've taken advantage of their monday Raven's special. Here's how it works. For every touchdown the Ravens got on a Sunday you get one free toping for a 10 dollar pizza. If they won you got double toppings. the last three years have been pretty good for the Ravens, and in turn, pretty good for me...

But now I gotta deal with some lazy cook that wants to be stingy with ingredients. And what makes it worse is how they handle complaints. Ten minutes on hold and I'm instructed to not eat the pizza and to give it back when my second pizza is delivered...

1 hour later: My second pizza arrives and the driver tells me to throw away the first pizza. For all that I could have just ate some instead of starving waiting for the second pizza! But now i present you with...

Exhibit B



I was completely caught off guard with the weight of this pizza. It was HEAVY!! Looking at it, you can tell that this was made by someone who was pissed off that they had to make a second pizza because of how poor a job they did the first time. After a good scolding from a supervisor they dumped the entire tray of cheese on dough and ran a pizza cutter over it like a blind person would... but then that would be insulting to a blind person... Accuracy aside I don't blame them for making sure this one met my expectations but I know for a fact that they have all kinds of measuring tools to tell them how much to put on the pizza. Do it right the first time and there will be no problems from me.

And I know there are people that probably try to get free pizzas by complaining but lets look at the records. I haven't had to complain in over a year and I've been a customer over 5 years so why not take my word that there is a legitimate problem and not try to play games by assuming I wanted a second pizza for free. That's why they acted like they wanted the first pizza...

*sigh* Papa John, what happened? You usually got better game than this. Maybe your trying to get Flacco to switch to you from Pizza Hut by sending the message that you can be just as accurate as him...

Well after 2 slices im done with this monster so I'm about to get my workout in putting the rest in the fridge. See ya next blog...

My top 10 photos.

2010 has officially set the bar when it comes to creativity in my photoshoots. After much thought I decided to compose a top 10 of my favorite photos/techniques from the year. Here's the guidelines to my selections.

- only one photo style per list
- one shoot per list
- my selection doesn't necessarily represent the best pic of a shoot more like my favorite in that particular style

10. "Naturally"


This pic slipped into the ten spot as it's basically the standard poses that I've come accustomed to using.


9. "V"


My first black and white shot of 2010. Back when I was throwing around concepts for my website splash page, I knew I would be using a shot like this in the final version. I actually wanted to do a reshoot for a even better picture but plans fell through. (as they normally do)


8. "Monique - EuqinoM"


I hadn't done a mirror shot in over a year and this was one of the last shots I took in that session.


7. Dee


These were shots I started playing with late summer and this was one of the best ones with the technique I was going for.


6. "The Best Part of Waking Up..."


This shot was so much fun to do. Simple as that. They had an idea and I did my best to bring it to life. Mission accomplished!


5. Father Daughter Dance


She didn't wear shoes so her dad took of his to dance...


4. "Just Relax"


This shoot turned out great. This pic is one of my favs because of the natural environment. It's something different from my black and gray backgrounds and adds a bit more in my opinion.


3 "It's Okay"


I tried to get a bunch of male shoots lined up for my new website but I could never catch up with them. As it drew closer to the end of the year I finally had some good male models. When a model can challenge me to using new techniques, they're okay in my book...


2. "Self Portrait"


Okay if your here from Facebook you might have seen a bunch of these done of different people. I love all of the ones I made but I think this one really stands out because it really fit well with my subject's interest in photography. It was originally a shot that I had in mind for someone else but... Well...


1. Flight of the Conchords


This pic goes down as the best recreation to date. It would take my best friend to give me the energy necessary in a shoot to go all out and try new things. The bar is now set...


And that does it! Did you have a favorite from this year? I'd love to hear...

See ya next blog!

Mini rant #3 - Our remotes control us...

I've been known to fix a electronic device or two but today this problem had me stumped. In the process it got me thinking about a few things...




It's come to my attention that we have put so much trust in our remote controls, that if something happens to them we're completely lost.

The other day I couldn't find my TV remote and I needed to change the device input. Since I wasn't in the mood to send out search parties I just flipped open the tv cover and fumbled through the menu till I found the option I needed.

Simple enough right? Well here's where the rant begins. Manufacturers have become so dependent on remote controls that they don't even bother to put control options on the device itself. Sure, some high end products still have them but for the most part they are nonexistent. While that doesn't seem like a big problem on the surface, think about what happens when the remote control breaks. You're stuck! You can buy a universal remote, but you can never have all the functionality of the original remote, that is, unless you go completely all out and buy a 150 dollar remote like the ones made by Harmony....

Whats the harm of adding a "menu" button to a blu-ray player? I'm not asking for a entire remote control worth of buttons. Just something that will give me some level of standard control if something unfortunate was to happen to the remote. I had a friend with a DVD/VCR combo player that couldn't even perform a chapter skip without the remote, which in their case was lost for good. Another friend couldn't install a wireless adaptor to their Blu-ray player because they couldn't work the menu without the remote, which was broken due to battery corrosion.

You may never have these issues, but it's definitely something to think about the next time you decide to buy a floor model TV or a player that doesn't come with the manufacturers remote...

But back to the problem at hand...

It's such a pain trying to setup someones blu-ray player when the remote won't work. I'm sitting here racking my brain for options and I'm all out of ideas. The power button works, but nothing else. Guess all that's left is to unplug and plug it back up and... What!?... You gotta be kidding me!... Now the remote works... I still think these devices need more controls... Smh!

Anyway, See you next blog

X-men Arcade!

So I downloaded the classic X-Men arcade game on 360 and as I watched that progress bar fill I began reminiscing on my childhood.

Back then if you ran into a 6 player cabinet it was always full. You could always tell the experienced from the novice by how they played. Mutant powers wasted energy and those that spammed it were soon putting in more quarters or giving up their spot to someone that called "next." I can't say I was extremely good back then but there was always that self determination that if I got better then I could finally beat the game and still have some money left for The Simpsons Arcade game.

Fast forward to my late teens and early internet days, the days where emulators where the only way to relive old childhood arcade memories. Playing a 4 player Xmen game from the comfort of my home was the perfect chance to prove to myself just how good I could get. When playing with others though, in a setting that didn't require money, I soon realized that the feel of the game was completely different.

Having to pay quarters made a difference. Games in that era were designed to eat quarters so in order to beat a game you either had to work at getting better, or be rich.

Take that element away and all you have is a button masher where the only two buttons used are "mutant power" and "Start". That can get boring kinda fast.

Okay now let's move on to the present. I was pretty excited to finally play this game in a 6 player setting again. It would be my first time since the original arcade cabinet. I joined a game and pretty soon we had all six players. (unlocked a achievement) As soon as we started, my greatest fears were realized, no one cared about their energy. Just wave after wave of mutant power, then die, then repeat. It was even worse on the levels that had pits because they would just jump in the pit on purpose just so that they could come back with full energy!

Maybe it's just me, but I feel this takes away from the enjoyment and original feel of the game. Having a "expert" setting seemed pointless. The one redeeming quality was the leader boards but in my opinion more could have been done. Here are my top 3 ideas (in no particular order.)

1. An optional setting to set a cap for continues used.

2. Better achievements!
There definitely has to be a balance in making achievements too hard or too easy but for a 6 player beat'm up I think its completely pointless to waste achievements on clearing certain checkpoints and not jumping for a entire level...

3. An option to disable mutant powers.
(they could have even called it "Genosha mode")

As a direct port I already know that there were issues preventing them from changing the original game but one can still hope that in the future such things might be implemented in those classic beat'em ups we know and love...

What do you think could have gave this game a more challenging replay value? Any ideas for better achievements? Comments are welcome!

Random Sightings #1

My camera is always nearby, because I always notice the weirdest stuff. Decided to group a few video game related pics together in this mini blog... Enjoy!



This was a 2009 circular for ALDI. Looks like they jumped on the Wii bandwagon that year. What I don't get is the "comes with 4 games " statement (the four pictured were the free ones). All Wii's come with Wii Sports so they really did a good job making parents think they got the deal of the century. (there actually was a apology released by ALDI later on apologizing for the deception.)



Here's a AT&T advertisement that came in Guitar Hero World Tour (I think... Can't remember... Does it matter?... Anyway...). Give yourself that extra level of difficulty by adding the "crazy fast" setting with the power of the Internet.



Next time you sit in a chair to play Rock Band STOP, and ask yourself, "is the chair I'm sitting in compatible with my Rock Band controllers." Your drum set won't work without a official Rock Band stool... You didn't know?

Well that's it for now. Granted it's a little shorter than other blogs I made but this one gets a dual release on dvdeluxe.blogspot.com as well as screwattack.com since it's actually something my fellow G1's would appreciate.

See you next blog...

Mini Rant #2 Give me hot water!!

Restaurants need to give me hot water in their bathrooms. After all I know they have it. They better. Stop being greedy!

No one wants to come out of 29 degree weather, to eat, just to wash their hands in ice cold water. That's not "cool"... See what I did there...

Why tease me with that hot water button? Well at least your not as bad as those automatic faucets that attempt to decide for me what temperature I want my water to be...

Or what about those "time release" buttons that last all of two seconds before you have to press them again?

If fact, while on the subject, what's up with the "partially automated" bathrooms? You know, the ones that will have everything "touch free" except for one or two devices? Kinda defeats the purpose of a germ free environment if you still end up touching something, doesn't it? I guess it's a multiple step investment that I always seem to see in mid-process...

Oh and word to the wise. There have been cases of mouthwash being camouflaged as hand soap, and hand soap being camouflaged as mouthwash. Take my word of experience that neither works well as a substitute...

See ya next blog...

My Cameras...

Decided to throw up some bonus material this week in addition to the weekly blog. Unlike the poem though this'll be advertised through the normal channels. (If your thinking, "what poem?" then shame on you. But I'll forgive you since your reading this. lol)

I've taken pics for over a decade and tomorrows blog will look at a few of the repeat clients that I have had the opportunity to reshoot. Sometimes I made mistakes, other times I just couldn't exceed the limits of my equipment. What equipment you ask? Well today you'll learn about the cameras that helped make my photography what it is today.



1998 - Sony Digital Mavica - less than 1 Megapixel
My first venture into the world of digital photography. At the time I was so excited with the idea of taking pictures and printing them out myself that I was blind to the poor quality pictures this thing took. But the memory that really stands out with this camera is the fact that someone broke into my car and stole it. You would think the Coast Guard Yard would have better security...




2000 - Kodak DC 220 - 1 Megapixel
Since my first camera was stolen this was a swift replacement. While my first camera took a lithium battery this took AA's (big mistake!!) Still it wasn't a bad camera and I did my first wedding with it for some very nice pictures. The main problem I had was the comments I had to put up with from people who didn't take me seriously, or even give me a chance. (come to think of it, I'm still dealing with that today...) This was also the only camera that was replaced before it broke down, which allowed me to sell it.




2001 - Minolta Dimage 5 - 3 Megapixel
This was when people started taking me seriously. This camera looked more like the traditional SLR that professionals use. It's biggest problem was that batteries had a life span of around 30 minutes!! (Yeah, I didn't learn my lesson from my last camera...) When I got this camera I believe my word's were, "OMG!!! 3 MEGAPIXELS!!! That's the best there is! hmmm... Well anyway, I loved the camera but I really wanted to start doing more creative pictures that didn't rely so heavily on computer software. This meant I was going to need a camera that could accept different lenses as well as flashes and filters. After a while shot's didn't look as good as before and I soon knew that a replacement was in order before I took on another wedding...




2005 - Nikon D70 6 Megapixel
To date, I did more research before buying this camera than any other digital before or after. For the high price tag I needed to know that I could do everything I wanted to with this and It didn't disappoint. Sadly that particular model had it's flaws but with firmware updates and a few trips to Best Buy for warranty repairs it served me well. But when that warranty expired and more problems came along it was time to find something new...




2009 - Canon 50D 15 Megapixel
What no Nikon!? Yeah this wasn't my first choice as a successor to my D70, but it just so happened that Circuit City was going out of business and this was all that was left at 50% off so... SOLD!! It was a pain having to get all new flashes and lenses but it was worth it.

And that about does it...
An interesting side note is this; These cameras were each good in their individual eras, but even then, they weren't considered to be "best of the best." Never think that just because you have a cheaper or older model camera that you your work cant compare to all the big shot photographers out there. Don't get wrapped up in brand names and megapixels. "Stay creative and brush off the haters." thats what I say. Well, I don't say that but it fits... kinda... Maybe I should start saying that... Nah...

See ya next blog!

Fruit snacks

My trip to the market last week brought back even more memories than I realized. My thoughts turned from last weeks cereal, Spaghetti O's and Pop Tarts to fruit snacks.

You know, those vitamin C infused, made with "real fruit" snacks pre wrapped in small bags that always leave you wanting more. There used to be tons of commercials for those things and it was common practice for any popular movie, cartoon, or comic to have they're own snack of some sort.

Well today I decided to rank my top 5 fruit snacks so enjoy...

Number 5 - Fruit Roll-Ups

These get the 5 spot because aside from the taste I never bought into the way they were marketed. Most commercials made them out to be stickers but I never tried taking the extra time to punch out whatever designs were on the roll. I remember kids on commercials using them as tattoos but i knew I wasn't gonna be doing that...

Number 4 - Fruit By The Foot

This was a more effective fruit roll up. Absolutely no difference to me in taste but you felt like you got more because it was "3 feet of fun". In commercials kids would flick them open and let the roll drop to the floor which, in retrospect, has me realizing that those were some pretty short kids...

Number 3 - Thunder Jets




*photo courtesy of Jason Liebig
Yeah you probably never heard of these because I haven't seen them on shelves in over 15 years. They'd have the number one spot but they just don't exist anymore. They were so good! I don't remember if there were any commercials. All I know is I loved planes and jets as a kid and these were edible toys.

Number 2 - Gushers

I remember commercials introducing these bite size snacks just bursting with juice. Opening a pouch, you were usually greeted by 9 or 10 little fruit pieces all stuck together. Still it was original and sweet, but sadly you didn't have the variety of flavors that were in other snacks. You had to get all of one flavor per box.

And finally...
Number 1 - Shark Bites

These existed as long as Thunder Jets and are still around today. Both tasted exactly the same so it was a no brainer to make this my number one. Each piece had a distinct taste and the special "great white shark" piece was a welcome edition to the pouch. (despite the fact that you never really got a lot of them)

Those are mine, but what about you? Comment on your favorite below or take the poll to your right. Don't be lazy it's at the very least, one click...





Well that about does it, but before I close I gotta give props to all the other fruit snack that still dominate the shelves of supermarkets today. Spiderman and scooby doo snacks are still around. Disney will continue to fill their wallets with revenue from Princess snacks, as well as any new face on the Disney channel, (I think I saw some Hannah Montana snacks on clearance the other day...) and for some reason John Deere...



That's right... John Deere... Because for some reason Kellogg wants every young kid to nurture the little farmer in them... Seriously what was the executive board on when they green lighted that idea?

I'm submitting my idea for DV fruit snacks, "That's Right, I Got a Fruit Snack". They better call me back!
See ya next blog...

Supermarket ramblings...

So I was in the market today remembering the good old days.


The days before Toaster Strudel when Pop Tarts and Eggos ruled the toaster.
Yep, the days when you couldn't buy the flavors with frosting because the frosting would mess up the toaster and... Huh?... It doesnt? That was just my family?... You mean all this time i've been... Aww man!


Or what about the days when your parents bought the multipack cereal boxes and there was always that "least favorite" brand you didn't wanna get stuck with in the end?

Don't get me wrong, Cheerios are good, (with a Tablespoon of sugar.)


And who could forget Spaghetti... Wait a minute!... What do they mean by "Now Healthy"!? That really makes it sound a lot worse than it probably was. Maybe they should have said "Now Healthier" but what do I know.
I mean, I grew up eating that stuff and I still do. Look at me now!

Now excuse me, going to play some Wii Fit...

See ya next blog!

That's right, I write poems...

Fun fact- DVDeluxe has been a name attached to me since before the Internet. But originally my writings were written under the name DVNovels. Sadly no completed works exist.

Anyway, I still write, but for reasons I won't go into, most my works will probably never be read.

I decided that, for a change, I'd post something just for my devoted readers to see.
So here goes...

"Walking in darkness"

I have become appreciative of the darkness.

In darkness I see no light, yet I know light is still there.
It's warm glow directs me with a clarity beyond sight.

This glowing warmth is where I should be, but I have far to go.
I have no fear of getting lost.

I may fall but I will not die.
Bruises will eventually heal.

The sounds in darkness are scary.
They sound familiar, even pleasant, yet they don't come from the warmth.

Someone holds my hand and leads me toward the warm glow of light.
It feels nice to know I'm not really alone.

Someone else grabs my leg and offers me their sight.
But what they see is not what I feel. I shall trust the warmth.

I don't know how long it will take me to get to this warm light, but I will.
Then, I will open my eyes...

Happy One Year Anniversary! Part 2

So how'd you like the new site? I think things have come a long way since this time last year. Not only am I happier with the look of the site, I'm also happier with the content that I've been putting on it.

It's only natural to gain experience and to grow as you continue doing something that you love, and photography is no exception. Sometimes I often wonder what previous shoots would look like if I could redo them with the techniques I learned later on. And that's where my dear friends have come into play.

A little over a year ago I desperately searched for people willing to have shoots so that could test techniques that I was learning and tweaking. I remember having tons of conversations and offers, begging for models. Especially annoying were the ones that completely wasted my time agreeing to shoots, then canceling two days after the shoot was supposed to happen. I really love that one person that I actually took off work to accommodate and they text me a hour before the shoot with some whack excuse that didn't even matchup with their Facebook status' (wasn't trying to be a investigator but when people post their life story in Facebook you can't help but put one and one together...)

Anyway, with the handful of volunteers I had, i did my best to offer a high quality, attractive, product. With the exception of one model, everyone was happy with my work. Behind the scenes, though, I was struggling with failing cameras, defective lenses, corrupt memory cards, and sluggish computers that couldn't keep up to the demands I was putting on them.

In the end I was left needing to ask for reshoots to improve in areas I felt fell short. It was my friends that ended up helping make me a better photographer. When I needed a model, they were there. I could only pay them in food, photos, and profile pics but they still helped. My new website is a testament to their donated time and support. You all know who you are. Thank you!

While I'm thanking people, thank you for reading this blog. To date there has been no ads here because it was never my intention to try and make money off of this. Just to try and provide some level of entertainment via my love of writing. Thank you for the "likes", comments, retweets and referrals. I'll try to keep stuff coming your way...

See you next blog!!!




P.S. Facebook friends wanting the answer to Monday's question on the video game referenced in my website design will appreciate this pic... (Kudos for MVC2 Steve!)

Happy One Year Anniversary! Part 1

Sure, it's probably something only important to me. But the 27th of November marks the one year anniversary of a site dedicated to my photography.

Now for those few supporters that have been with me from the very beginning you'll note that I actually have 2 websites. There's the one hosted by webs.com, and then one hosted by Apple's MobileMe service. Each has their pros and cons but in the end I decided to go with the MobileMe host. The webs.com site will remain for a while but it's purpose may change.

The one major problem I had with it was the fact that the URL was too long. In addition, when spoken, people often couldn't tell if I was saying "web" or "webs". The moral being that DennisVicePhotography.webs.com was a pretty bad choice for a site name. The MobileMe site had a shorter name, using the traditional DVDeluxe label but it was also confusing because if you added the popular prefix "www" you would not be directed to my site. It had to be web.me.com/dvdeluxe.
Which brings me to a quick side question. Is that a slash or a backslash? I always come across confusion when people try writing it down...

Well anyway, I'm happy to announce that it's no longer a issue because I now have my own domain name! (Pause for applause, those crickets are louder than usual today)

For now on, no matter who the host may be, The Professional Services of Dennis Vice will be found at... www.VicePhotos.com

The second issue I had with both sites is that the templates just didn't match my vision for my site. The MobileMe version was better but it still wasn't "there."

I have since, redesigned my site from the ground up, using no templates! Some tweaking will occur in the coming days, but I'm interested to know how my readers like the new look. Please comment...

That's it for now. Part two goes up tomorrow on the official day...

Sellers Beware of SMITH SANTIAGO

Ok so I got a lot to cover so I'm gonna get straight to it...

Recently I attempted to sell my computer on Craigslist. The next day I was happy to receive a reply to my post saying;

"I will like to know whether this item is still avaialble forsale . And also i have a Moving Company that will handle the pick up of the Item from you place."

Umm ok... well let me just reply to this and get some more details. The reply was this;

"Hello,
Thanks for your prompt responds, However, i will need your name and address for payment,As am only able to make payment by Cashier check, at this time b/c i am away on assignment. It will be nice if you can send me more pictures.It will take some days for the payment to get to you.As per pick-up,And the rest funds on the check will be send over to the movers inorder for them to come over for the pick up.So i will send the payment which will include the pick up charges, in which you will make payable to the mover via money gramm/Western union immediately after you have receive the payment and you will be compensated with $50 extra for your running around to the money gram/Western union outlet to avoid the delay..Please take the posting off Craigslist today and consider it sold to me, Include your phone number.
Expecting to hear from you soon.
Regards......."

Ok something sounds fishy here. Spelling and grammar aside they're red flags in these messages. Why is that your only way of payment? Ever heard of PAYPAL? Why do you need "movers" for a computer? This isn't the Bat Computer we're talking about. Just a normal PC. USPS, UPS, DHL. Any of these ring a bell? Sounds like a typical case of check fraud to me. But maybe I'm being overly cautious. Well lemme ask for some more details...

Its $2,225 so you are to deduct your asking price from it and make out the rest funds to the movers once the check gets clear with your Bank.Expect the Tracking number soon.

Um, No thank you! I must be in the wrong business if it costs over 2000 dollars no move a computer! Yep typical FRAUD.
But what's the harm in attempting to cash a check like that. Either you get the money or you don't right? WRONG!

Here's the deal, the payee’s bank credits the seller’s account before the funds have actually arrived from the paying bank. Therefore, it looks like the funds have cleared and everything is ok. If the check turns out to be a fraud then YOU are held accountable by law!

Sellers, don't fall prey to this kind of shady dealing. keep these warning signs in mind:

A buyer wants to purchase a product and will use a cashier’s check.
For whatever reason, the buyer has a check made out for an amount in excess of the purchase price.
Then, the buyer wants the seller to accept the full amount and send the extra money (either back to the buyer or to a third party).

What it will come to in the end is common sense so keep your guard up as you try to make a few extra dollars this holiday season and avoid the scammers... See you next blog!

This message was brought to you by the scammer SMITH SANTIAGO "smiththenice01@gmail.com" (give it a google if you don't believe they were dumb enough to continue to use the same FREE email address for scams.)

Nuke it!

(Gotta love this PC mod...)





Ok here's a question for you.
What is the wattage of your microwave? I need to know if I'm the only one who never bothered to remember that.

Within the sea of random thoughts that is my brain I always find myself asking that question as I pop something in the microwave that has a label similar to this;
"microwave ovens below 1100 watts may require additional cook time to reach proper temperature."

In fact while I'm on the subject of microwaves, are there ANY microwaves that have a setting marked "HIGH"? Just choosing a time and pressing start is considered high so this seems to be a default setting right? Maybe if it was considered "Full power" it would make more sense to me.
After all, instructions tell you to microwave it on high like that wouldn't be your first choice, so then what's so "high" about it.

I like how some instructions like to make things complicated by throwing in percentages like 50 percent power. My microwave doesn't do percentages so I'm assuming that since the power button let's me select between 1 and 9 then 5 is 50 percent. But even that gets tricky. I mean if they expect you to have a 1100 watt microwave but you only have less, then fifty percent to you is even less to them, and then you've passed out from starvation because your stuck doing math instead of just nuking the plate until it's hot. After all, hot equals done, right. Guess I'm just overthinking things again.

But since I'm on a roll, riddle me this? We have smoke detectors, and carbon monoxide detectors, but why don't we have radiation detectors? Old or even dirty microwaves can leak radiation and I doubt it's the kind that will give you superpowers. Guess that just means we need to keep our microwaves clean and heads away from the door. That shouldn't be too hard right? Right? ... (cleans microwave) ... Right?

See ya next time!

Facebook's new motto shall be, "If it ain't broke, break it!"

Over the past months it would appear that developers are attempting to keep their sites or even computer interfaces "exciting and fresh" by making changes to the user interface for one reason or another.

Recent examples include NewTwitter, The Xbox 360 Dashboard, and Facebook to name a few.

Why? Who knows!? The majority of the time the excuse is for security reasons but why make such drastic chances to the UI (user interface.)

Could it be simplicity? Let's think about the huge strides that came when the world was introduced to Microsoft Windows. Windows offered simplicity that gave the PC user a environment similar to the Macintosh. Some thought it was easy to use, some thought it was complicated. In the following years Windows was fine tuned with newer versions, but the overall structuring remained the same. If you were familiar with a earlier version you could still navigate without the need to learn a entire new system. When new features were offered you still had the ability to do things the old way, for the most part.

The point being, before they started smoking crack and made Vista, you had the freedom to "opt out" of new features, for the features that you were more comfortable with.


Now look at Facebook. I've been on Facebook since early 2009 and everytime I get used to some feature, they either take it away, or change it beyond recognition. If you don't like it, tough! Remember all the "Bring back the old Facebook" pages? I sure do. We were told that the changes made things "simple". Do you agree?

One way they decided to make things simple was by removing the "clear chat" button in FB chat. Why!? I guess having your chat auto delete after 24 hours was just what we all were all begging for.

Recently the new feature called "Friendships" has raised a ton of questions on privacy. I wanna know what my readers think of this new feature.

While these may be nice features to some why not give us the option to "opt out" of using said features if we need more time to adjust. Granted change is sometimes necessary, but at what cost?

Should "simplicity" always win against "functionality"? Comment below...

See you next blog!

Mini Rant #1 "I'm not here at the moment. Please leave a message..."

Its come to my attention that people think I leave the curtains open to my house. My response to these accusations is, "and if I did, why are you looking through my windows?"

Remember how back in the day, my day, the primary way of long distance communication was the telephone. Well what happened when you called someone and they didn't pick up the phone? Three things might go through your mind. One, they're not home, two, they're busy, or three, they're ignoring you. Now how do you find out which one it is? Simple, you DON'T! We'll that's far from true, but was it really worth the energy to find out the reason?

I mean, are you really gonna drive all the way to the house and look to see if the lights are on? Better yet, are you gonna peek in the windows and try to see if someones inside? In fact, don't answer that. I'd rather not know.

My point? That's pretty much what you do when you try to track someone down using Facebook or any other social network.

Posting a status doesn't automatically mean you're home. It just means you felt like sharing something. And the last time I checked you can be anywhere to do that. In fact, while I was checking up on that I discovered that you can share your thoughts in places where you can't talk on the phone. Hmmmm

While I'm on the subject of sending status' from a phone, you know what else you can do from a phone? Chat. Why do I bring this up? Because the general assumption is that if you show up on facebook chat, you are attentively waiting for someone to send you a message that you, of course, will respond to in seconds. Well keep on waiting. Just because someone is online doesn't mean they're always available to chat. Just try to imagine someone leaving their phone off the hook, you think they're on the other line but they're not even home. I'll give everyone some time to let that soak in...

Oh and here's a good one. A cafe world or Mafia wars post doesn't mean that your sitting at home doing absolutely nothing of importance. Seriously, I for one am not sitting in front of the computer watching the timer on my chicken pot pie count down to zero while twiddling my thumbs. In fact if you know how, and have the resources, you can even do that stuff from anywhere. Isn't technology great!

I could go on for pages talking about other forms of what has been affectionately labeled "Facebook stalking" but I'll leave the rest to the comments that will be posted below (that means you!)

As for me, there's approximately a 10% chance that my posts will tell you exactly where I am so take the smart road try not to assume your being ignored. Just leave a message and your call will be responded to in the order received...