Free PC games

This site, "Game Giveaway of the Day" gives away one game each day that is free as long as you download it within the 24 hours it's offered. They're usually casual games that don't appeal as much to me, but they are free and I have been caught by more than one to waste my time on.

Also, from my own Steam account, I have a few games that need a good owner. I owned the game before, and when it came bundled with Half Life: Orange Box later, I ended up with a version I could give away. If you want a copy of Half Life 2 or Half Life 2: Episode One, let me know. Please be sure your computer can handle it first, and have Steam already installed (there are other free games and demos you can get with it on that page - you HAVE to try Portal . . . more Portal here). I can help with either of those pre-requisites.

Support you might not have known about

Most people don't know about these, but they've both come in handy for me recently:

1) Rock Band warranty - if you have Rock Band and experience the problem we just had (strum bar quit working) or any similar problem, you might be like me and start looking for a replacement controller. Thankfully a Gamestop employee clued us in on the piece of paper that came in the Rock Band box with this link. I submitted that I had a problem and they sent me a brand new guitar with a box to return my old one in (much like Microsoft did for my Xbox 360 with the red ring of death . . . ask me if you need help with that one). Outstanding support with no questions asked from the folks that make Rock Band - it's completely changed my attitude since the first guitar broke.

2) Wii remote jackets - there are many versions on sale to protect your controller as it slips from your hand and smacks the walls of your home, but Nintendo has created an official version that ships with all new Wiis. "Not fair!" you cry. "My Wii didn't come with one!" Relax, fair citizen - Nintendo has come to your aid. Simply go to their website and give them the serial number of your Wii - I got 4 of them, and they're GREAT! It is SO easy to change the batteries with these jackets, compared to the third-party ones I had bought, and they are designed perfectly. Great job, Nintendo.

Free Guild Wars trials

I've got 3 free 14 day trials to Guild Wars . . . who wants them?

Free Senseo coffee maker

Get a free Senseo coffee maker! I'm serious! I've got one in my office, my Mom just got one of her own, and my Brother just recieved his. If you fill out this survey, and you seem to be the kind of person that could give Senseo good publicity, you'll get an $80 coffee maker and a bag of pods for free!! You can actually buy Target brand pods that say "compatible with Senseo" and save some money later.

This program has NO requirements; they just want you to pass along the word about how great their coffee maker is! It really is cool, by the way . . . especially free!!!

I got one for myself months ago - the program is legit and an incredible deal. You won't be sorry!

Is anyone out there?

Ok, seriously . . . I'm wondering how many people actually read my blog. If you can, please post a comment or e-mail me and tell me you're following along. I'd like to know if anyone is actually reading what I'm writing each night. Thanks! e-mail me at noah.secondary@gmail.com if you don't want to create a post (post is preferred).

Free prize for first to post. I don't know what it will be. Don't be greedy.

Mind map on the interweb

Mind mapping - not widely known about, but popular in the organization crowd and blogosphere. If you're into it, here's a nifty page that does it well. Text 2 Mindmap. If you're interested, you should google it and read up; then come back and see why this page is awesome.

Videos for the night

Ok, here's some hilarity for tonight. I wonder, what's a good gift for Father's Day . . . if your Dad is a NINJA!!

Or, on a more serious "big brother's gonna get you" note, check out this new song. I heard it on the radio the other day, and I thought it was cute until it started the call for everyone to rise up and cleanse the land . . . you're interpretation may vary. "Handlebars" by the Flobots

Not useful stuff - but awesome stuff.

Late night videos

Late night tonight - Here are some videos that I liked as I got ready to call it a day:

1) DRUM SOLO!! At 3:04 in the video, he actually starts head-banging . . . it's not a rock group.
2) Simple follow-along video to be just like Linkin Park. Kinda cool, actually . . .
3) A VERY annoying character keeps very annoying in this video, but here is an explanation of how Guitar Hero on the DS is going to work . . . I am very interested, but that screaming dude gets on my nerves after about the 17th time.

I hope you're having a great Friday-eve.

DIY Planner Kits / WOOT

Here's something many people can use. There are some nifty downloadable forms from diyplanner.com that you can use to print your own planner. I have dabbled with the note card version, and some of the forms worked really well, bound together with a clip, as a portable planner known as a "Hipster PDA." It doesn't give me the technology fix I need, but it does feed the office-supply-fetish pretty well. Considering how much I used to spend on planning systems, paper and electronic, this frees up a lot more video game money.

While you're building your new planner, check out this page: woot.com. There is a new item every day at 1000 pm (PST). It's not always great, but I have gotten some cheap and neat things from there. You have to keep an eye out for the random "woot off" where they put up an item until it sells out and then post another, continuously, for around 24 hours or longer. The holy grail of the woot-off is the BOC. It stands for Bag of Crap, otherwise called the Bandolier of Carrots or some other BOC fitting phrase. It sells for $1, is sold out under a minute, and can be whatever woot.com wants to send you. You could get something great! . . . or otherwise . . . I've not gotten one yet, and only met one person who has. He got a wooden snake and covers for an MP3 player (player not included), but he forever has bragging rights . . . you'll understand when you start going to the site!

Add it to your newly printed schedule - Happy wooting!

Personal (free) transcription service

Here's something I use nearly every day. The page is called Jott (link here) and it can do some awesome things. I personally have it set up as a speed dial on my cell phone where I can call and leave a message - it takes the message and translates it into text that it e-mails back to me. I no longer have to listen to my recorded notes or find scraps of paper I wrote stuff on when I had a stroke of genius. You can actually use it to Jott directly to a blog or several other sites - I haven't started using it to its full capacity, yet. I have quite an accent, and as long as I speak slow and clear, it does a pretty good job. The e-mail it sends comes with a link to listen to my own voice, so if it didn't get it right I can always play it back and see what I 'meant' to say.

I got the idea to use this from the Lifehacker web page. If you search that page for Jott, you can see a lot of other users ideas for how to use it. One of its intended purposes is to set up contacts other than your self that you can send text messages and e-mails to from your phone. I'm contect to have it e-mail and text me until I fully overcome my accent limitations - I'll send the message on after I've proof read it - too much opportunity for embarassment.

Happy Memorial Day

I have special ties to this day, to say the least. I think this link is a special story for the holiday. A 107 old man is the last remaining veteran from WWI. Wow . . . I'd like to talk to him.

Have a safe holiday.

Trade your video games

I have to share this site. This is where I've posted all my bargain bin games and traded them to get points that I then traded for today's top games. I've gotten thest games COMPLETELY FREE (after trading my other games) from this site: Final Fantasy Ring of Fates, Smarty Pants, God of War Chains of Olympus, Innocent Life, Final Fantasy XII Revanant Wings, Turning Point Fall of Liberty, Crazy Taxi for PSP, Enemy Territory Quake Wars, Tony Hawk's Underground 2, Elder Scrolls IV Shievering Isles, The Lord of the Rings Tactics, Heroes of Might and Magic V, and the Sims Complete Collection. I'm currently in line for Final Fantasy XII for PC, Wild Arms XF, GTA IV, and Outlaw Golf for PC. You can trade your games, too. Click here to accept my recommendation. Once you complete your first FREE trade (get a FREE game! Honestly!! It's how I started!!), I'll get more points added to my account! It's easy! E-mail me if you have questions. My wife and I have both been putting our games on here for a long time now, and we love being able to get rid of games we no longer want to someone who will enjoy them, while being able to get a brand new game for ourselves!

Blogging from my phone . . . oh, boy

I just learned to blog by phone - watch out world! Every stupid or funny thing I see from now on is fair game.

Puzzle of the Day

Here's something to burn your brain. I tried playing the Nintendo DS game "Professor Layton and the Curious Village" last night and came across this puzzle that took me WAY longer than I expected to solve. I've had a lot of fun today telling it to people and watching their head explode. Try it . . . I'll post the answer later. Feel free to e-mail me your guess. (*there's a demo of the game on the web-page that lets you play through a different puzzle in your browser)

"Imagine a digital clock (one that displays like '3:33'). How many times will the clock display three or more of the same number in a row over the course of one day? In case you were wondering, the clock in this puzzle displays time on a 12-hour scale, not military time."


While you're pondering the puzzle, try out this webpage that I created an account on yesterday. You may have heard of it: last.fm

You choose an artist and it plays songs from other people who like that artist. The presumption is that if you both share an interest, you'll probably like their other interests as well. There's a download that reads the songs you play in Window's Media Player and suggests songs, too. I'm still playing with it, but I like the idea.

There's another webpage that looks at lots of different characteristics of a song (voice, tempo, speed, etc) and characterizes songs together - a "music genome project." It's called Pandora and is pretty cool.

Good luck with the puzzle! It's not as easy as you think!

Why blog now?

I am starting the blog, one of many in my interweb history (none actually used), because I see too much too often that I need to share, and I'm tired of spamming friends on facebook or myspace.

For example:

If you have ever watched YouTube, you will know all the references in the new Weezer video for "Pork and Beans" . . . if you don't get it, I've got more awesome links for you.

More to come, whether you want them or not.

Noah