Test post from the iPhone.

NCAA Bracket 2009, originally uploaded by mrpbody33.

My winning NCAA tournament bracket for 2009 on tournament.fantasysports.yahoo.com.

You may now bask in my glory.

So I took some videos with the new Creative Vado HD camera of the snow on Sunday.  Enjoy.

Honestly think about.  Is there any real reason to keep cable TV anymore?  With things like Hulu, YouTube, TV.com, iTunes, and the like I just don’t see a reason to keep Comcast or any other cable line coming into the house.  I do realize that cable modem is faster that DSL and that perhaps you could get a discount on cable TV as a package but that would be the only benefit.  What is the point if all I watch is recorded network TV programs (Heroes, How I Met Your Mother, Scrubs, etc.)?

PC Magazine had a great article on building your own personal Living-Room Media Center PC (or Home Theater PC) that includes the introduction of a cable line and recording of live TV on a fat hard drive.  I mean perhaps you could build a machine that could be more intuitive than TiVo or Comcast’s (suck) DVR if you had some mad programming skills (or perhaps someone has already thought of that).  But what I am suggesting is completly cutting loose from the cable company and allowing your machine to stream content from any number of sites/programs.  And hell why stop there?  Why not play online games, music, Blu-Ray movies, update Twitter all from the comforts of your own living room.  You can’t tell me there isn’t some MMORPG gamer out there right now thinking about how he can get WoW on his 42″ LCD.

Let’s say I spend anywhere from $80 – $100 a month for cable.  If you built a machine like the one in the PC Mag article for about $1200 you could break even in just over a year.  Then guess what!  You are your own tech support.  No more waiting on the cable company tech to get to your house between the hours of 7am and 5pm.  Of course that has its own cons but if can’t troubleshoot your own machine maybe you shouldn’t be building one in the first place.  Google “Build Media Center PC” and you can see how many people have done it before.

Just some food for thought and trying to open up a conversation with my tech savvy friends.  (Disclaimer:  If you are my wife and you are reading this please understand I am not going to go out a spend $1200 to build a computer and get rid of our cable TV…this is just discussion)

Well yesterday brought a little excitement to the office building where I work.  A dog just happened to wander in off the street and was roaming around the atrium of the building.  Since my office is located on the lobby floor I just so happen to catch a glimsp of the dog circling the security terminal.  Some of the tenants in the building stopped the dog and got the info off the tag and had the security officer call the owner.  By this time I had joined the excitement in the atrium and was trying to figure out what was going on (as dogs aren’t allowed in the building).  After we figured we weren’t going to get a response for a while I brought the doggie named Blue Biggins into the office so he would have an area he could relax.  The Airedale was shaking a little as I am sure the journey had been a long and slightly frightening one.  We gave Blue some water and after he started to relax and tail waging had commenced once again I got a closer look at his tag for his info.  Blue was from a home off Peachtree Circle the road that runs behind the building.  He wasn’t really far from home but we didn’t just want to drop him off at his house as he might figure his way out again.  So we had a guest for the afternoon.

Mr. Blue Biggins was very well behaved and actually took a couple naps, had some Pita chips, and even went for a little potty break (I took him) while we waited for a call back.  Eventually after 4pm his owner called and came and picked up Blue.  Blue of course just lit up when he saw his owner.   Blue’s owner explained that this was only the second time he has ever escaped and that he takes a walk with Blue around the building every morning.  Blue was 11 years old.  This morning we had a little package slipped under our door to our office containing a nice letter from the Biggins family and large photo of Blue.  I am sure Blue slept well that evening he went home and dreamt of his adventure that day.

Below is an actual conversation I had between a Live Help agent on eBay.  It had been a long time since I had logged in to sell anything and they apparently have new security features installed in which you have to verify every computer you use.  I couldn’t remember the answer to the security question I had on my account and so I had to get help to log back in and start selling.   No biggie…it only took seven “ok’s, one “alright” and 17 minutes of my time to verify myself.  What was more shocking was what little information they used to verify my identity.  Really anyone could have gotten in my account if they knew anything about me (and had my super hard password).  In the end I decided to have a little fun and force “Edna C.” to actually type something instead of click some pre-made responses on the computer interface.  Please to enjoy, “Barry’s convo with Live Help agent Edna C.”

System
Initial Question/Comment: ATO Known Good
8:52:23 PM System
Edna C. has joined this session!
8:52:23 PM System
Thank you for contacting eBay Account Security Live Help! Your feedback is important to us. Please take time at the end of this chat to fill out a brief survey letting us know how we did today.
8:52:23 PM System
Connected with Edna C.
8:52:39 PM Edna C.
Hello, thank you for contacting Identity Confirmation Live Help. My name is Edna. I’ll be happy to help you associate your computer with your eBay account today. Please give me a moment to review your account.
8:52:47 PM mrpbody33
ok
8:53:59 PM Edna C.
Barry, while you wait I have noticed the information you provided does not match the one I have on file. Have you moved recently, do you remember a different address and phone number?
8:54:41 PM mrpbody33
I did move. My old phone number was 404-351-XXXX and my old address was 239 blah blah blah
8:55:04 PM Edna C.
Thank you for that information.
8:55:14 PM Edna C.
One moment please, while I check on this.
8:55:58 PM Edna C.
After this chat Barry, please review and update the contact information on your account. You can do this by clicking My eBay at the top of most eBay pages, and then clicking Addresses on the left side of the next page.
8:56:26 PM mrpbody33
ok
8:57:09 PM Edna C.
Please know that eBay is now noting which computers members use to access their accounts in order to protect them from unauthorized access. When an unrecognized computer is used for selling, we are prompting members to complete the Identity Confirmation process is now noting which computers members use to access their accounts in order to protect them from unauthorized access. When an unrecognized computer is used for selling, we are prompting members to complete the Identity Confirmation process.
8:57:38 PM mrpbody33
ok
8:57:49 PM Edna C.
We encourage you to keep your contact information valid and up to date. By including a mobile phone as your secondary phone number, you can ensure that if you are ever listing away from home, you can complete verification in just a few minutes.
8:58:11 PM mrpbody33
ok
9:01:24 PM Edna C.
Barry, I will need to ask you a few questions to positively verify your identity. The information used for your questions is derived from publicly available data sources, such as county or city reI will need to ask you a few questions to positively verify your identity. The information used for your questions is derived from publicly available data sources, such as county or city records.
9:01:53 PM mrpbody33
alright
9:02:19 PM Edna C.
This process does not in any way access or impact your credit files. All of the information used complies with all relevant local and federal privacThis process does not in any way access or impact your credit files. All of the information used complies with all relevant local and federal privacy laws.
9:02:36 PM mrpbody33
ok
9:02:44 PM Edna C.
What is your current age in years?
22 – 24
25 – 27
28 – 30
31 – 33
None of the above
9:02:54 PM mrpbody33
28-30
9:03:04 PM Edna C.
Got that.
9:03:19 PM Edna C.
Which of the following names belongs to someone currently or previously living in your household?
HASKELL ELLA E
MARTIN REBEKAH
ENFINGER BARBARA B
FOSTER AUDREA H
None of the above
9:03:45 PM mrpbody33
MARTIN REBEKAH
9:03:59 PM Edna C.
Ok.
9:04:19 PM Edna C.
One moment please while I check on this.
9:05:39 PM Edna C.
Barry, I have added your computer to the list of trusted computers for your account, and you will no longer receive this block when attempting to list items from this computer.
9:05:56 PM mrpbody33
Woohoo!
9:06:39 PM Edna C.
Before I let you go, is there anything else I can assist you with?
9:07:23 PM mrpbody33
Do I win anything for getting the answers correct?
9:08:19 PM Edna C.
Barry, no but you may now list your items on eBay.
9:09:29 PM mrpbody33
Oh ok. Well then have a wonderful evening and please remember the 9 o’clock show is completely different from the 11 o’clock show. Please tip your waitress and try the veal. Goodnight!
9:09:55 PM Edna C.
Thank you for using eBay, I hope you have a good night.

Alright…why was I not notified of this?  Collegiate Disc Golf Championships…and in my back yard (well North Augusta…but is still kinda close).  I mean it was on the PDGA tour schedule for past two years and some how I missed out on it until the PDGA just posted this article.  Why couldn’t this have been around when I was still in school?  Well it probably wouldn’t have mattered since I didn’t get into disc golf well after I finished my degree at Tech.  I was still way into Ultimate Frisbee back then, but still I would have wanted to go to watch the action this year if Tech had fielded some players.  Alas they haven’t the past two years and I am not sure if they will since they place fourth in a state qualifier this year. C’mon guys…just because your campus in midtown Atlanta that is no excuse!

Oh and by the way the UGA team has won the past two year.  Check out some pictures from last year’s event.

I do NOT want to know., originally uploaded by ET K.

Just showing everyone my ‘O’ face. Enjoy.

Second day of “Live Feel” coverage.