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Thursday - March 30, 2006

O Canada

I'm on my way, wish me luck.

Posted by jcraven at 7:48 AM | Comments (1) | Misc

Tuesday - March 28, 2006

WoW patch 1.10 released

If you're having trouble getting it from blizzard, I found a fast mirror here.

Looks like the patch killed the servers. All realms are currently down. Oh well, hope they get it fixed tonight.

Posted by jcraven at 5:45 PM | Comments (1) | Video Games

Monday - March 27, 2006

DS Goodness

Last week, Nintendo released a trailer for the upcoming The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass for the Nintendo DS. I'll definitely be picking this one up when it is released. Check out the video here.

On a related note, New Super Mario Bros. is scheduled to be released on May 15th. It's the first new 2D Mario game since the SNES. It's another must-have.

Posted by jcraven at 1:55 PM | Video Games

Black. White. Crap.

Over the weekend, I watched an episode of FX's new show Black. White. I actually had high hopes for this show, but it's amazingly bad. I don't even have the words to describe how bad it sucks. The biggest problem is the Wurgel (white) family. I can't stomach watching them for another minute. The Sparks family is somewhat better though, but the episode I watched only showed them briefly. If you want to watch something that opens your eyes to racism, you would be better off renting Crash.

Posted by jcraven at 10:40 AM | Television

Friday - March 24, 2006

Bracket breaker

Some big upsets last night. Duke and Gonzaga both lost. I'm sure thousands (maybe millions) of people woke up very dissapointed that their tournament brackets are trash now. I'm still hanging in there by a thread. Nova has to win it all though, that's my only shot.

Posted by jcraven at 10:30 AM | Sports

Tuesday - March 21, 2006

Homer Goes Longer!

Yahoo has news that Fox has ordered two more seasons of The Simpsons. Woo-hoo!

Posted by jcraven at 9:55 AM | Television

Monday - March 20, 2006

Why didn't I think of that?

Yesterday, while at the local grocery store, I had an impulse buy. I picked up a box of "Go-Tarts!". As you can see, they have a nice graphic stating that they are NEW!, so I had to give them a try. If you're a fan of the original Pop-Tarts uncooked, these are actually quite good. I tried the Cinnamon variety. I think the name is pretty bad though. I would provide a link to their website, but can't find one. Maybe they're too new.....

UPDATE: I tried the fudge version and they're very rich. They're good, but a little too much for me. I prefer the Cinnamon.

Posted by jcraven at 1:35 PM | Food

Tapas and Martinis

Saturday night, we went to Oliver Twist: Tapas Restaurant & Martini Lounge. I was a little hesitant, but overall I enjoyed the experience. The food was actually very good, although the portions were smaller than I would have preferred for the price. Lara and I ordered the warm flatbread, fried cheese raviolis, and the seared shrimps with garlic. (yes that's their pluralization, not mine).

On the martini side, I wasn't as impressed. Prices ranged from $8-$10. I had the Frappatini, with Starbucks Liquor, and Lara had several different fruity drinks. I think her favorite was the Seduction, aka Grasshopper. With names like Passion, Seduction, Dozen Roses, and Sorority Girl, they're obviously catering towards women, and I think all the women had a great time. Men should only go here if they're taking a date, although they do have a 'regular' bar on one end of the restaurant complete with plasma TVs. I periodically kept up with the NCAA games while I was there.

The atmosphere and decor is interesting. Couches and large pillows line the edge of the restaurant, and various fabrics hang on the walls and ceiling. It has a very Middle Eastern/Moroccan feel. Around 9:30 we were even entertained by a belly dancer. Overall, I'd give it a 3.5 out of 5.

Posted by jcraven at 11:53 AM | Food

Thursday - March 16, 2006

XP on Mac

Engadget is reporting that some smart guy has successfully dual-booted WinXP and Mac OSX on the new Intel based Mac hardware. Details here. This is pretty cool. Who knows, maybe this will force me to upgrade my Mac mini......

Posted by jcraven at 2:25 PM | Tech

Sunday - March 12, 2006

Congrats Duke

2005-2006 ACC Champions

Posted by jcraven at 4:01 PM | Sports

Friday - March 10, 2006

ACC tourney gets off to a great start

Three of the four ACC games yesterday were very close, with only one real blowout.

Clemson 63 - Miami 66
Wake 78 - FSU 66
Virginia Tech 56 - Virginia 60
Georgia Tech 64 - Maryland 82

Today's schedule:
Miami @ Duke 12:00 - ESPN2
Wake @ NCSU 2:30 - ESPN2
Virginia @ UNC 7:00 - ESPN2
Maryland @ Boston College 9:30 - ESPN2

Go Pack!

Posted by jcraven at 9:47 AM | Sports

Tuesday - March 7, 2006

Pretty cool

Posted by jcraven at 10:49 AM | Comments (2) | Sports

The fun comes to an end

So after many free items from Gratis/Freepay, it looks like the ride is over. I received this email:

This email concerns an important change to the Terms & Conditions for [SiteAddress].
  • With a start date of March 1, 2006 – users of FreePay websites have 90 days to complete all offer requirements.
  • Upon completion of all offer requirements, existing users will need to print a "Redemption Form" that must be filled out in its entirety and mailed with a postmarked date no later than 30 days of completing their offer requirements.
You will find an indication of how many days you have left to complete the requirements on the Status page. When you have completed the requirements you will be able to download the redemption form from the Status page.

To coincide with this change, look out for an update soon that will make it even easier to refer friends!

Best wishes

- The FreePay Team

On the surface, this seems like a bad move. I don't know many people that could complete the entire offer within 90 days. I think a better solution would be similar to what airlines use for FF miles. If no 'qualifying activity' in X number of days, then your account is closed. For example, if an account has not received any new referrals in 90 days, then axe it. Another option would be to allow transfers of credits between each of their sites, but I doubt that will ever happen. Oh well, hopefully a new reputable company will step in and fill the void.

Posted by jcraven at 10:15 AM | Comments (2) | Deals | Tech

Thursday - March 2, 2006

Amazing Race 9

Last night, we watched the season premiere of The Amazing Race 9 on CBS. So far, it seems much better than the last installment, where they never left the US. I have a feeling that BJ and Tyler will be the ones to capture all the media attention.

Posted by jcraven at 3:05 PM | Television