Monthly Archives: August 2011

1,000 free minutes for AT&T

1,000 FREE rollover minutesAT&T customers can get 1,000 FREE rollover minutes by texting YES to 11113020. It’s that simple!

As you can see I’ve already gotten my response. This is the same number they used for a similar promo earlier this year, I did it then and those minutes did show up in my account.

With my mobile-to-mobile and A-List plan, I’m actually still using those minutes…

I just saw this on another site:

Note: Readers report intermittent success redeeming this promotion. Some claim that you must have unlimited messaging to qualify. Also, it is unclear if people who previously redeemed this promotion can do so again.

But by this point hopefully you’ve just tried, it costs only a text message to try…

Deer running along Hines Drive

I was out biking this weekend (again) and was playing with a new camera (not mine) and as I was biking along I saw a dear up ahead.

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I got some stills and some video. But I was still standing there on the bike so I’m not the steadiest I could be. At the end I was at 14x which also contributes to the extra shakiness and I didn’t have glasses on so I couldn’t really see how focused it was.


Direct HD link on YouTube

This is not a soundtrack I added later, it just happened to be what was playing on my bike stereo when I saw the deer, I thought it worked out well…

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The last one turned around and went back (after already crossing the road), I’m not sure why he got spooked when the others didn’t. I went over to the side of the road and sat down for a bit, but never saw any appear on either side of the road again.

(This was on Hines Drive between Inkster Rd. and Middlebelt Rd.)

HP Touchpads for 99 dollars!!

Yes, I know it’s not an iPad but it’s a Kindle, a video Skype Phone, a clock(!) or a variety of other things. Once they crack it and put android on it, I’ll probably wish I’d bought the bigger one. These were actually nice tablets at $500, but they weren’t an iPad, but for $99 it’ll do.

As you can see, I’ve redacted most of the information below because it changes so quickly. I expect all vendors will be dropping price, keep your eyes on SlickDeals.net, if you scroll down you can see they are even keeping a list of who has them at full price (because they’ll be dropping).

Their servers are getting nailed so be patient. Just click to order and wait until it times out, then try again…

Barnes and Nobel has 16 GB for $101.95 as of 6am Eastern (but they still want $600 for the 32 GB). I’d order one, but I haven’t gotten a rejection letter from my CostCentral order (that I’m guessing was sold out).

Cost Central has the 16 GB for $99 and the 32 GB for $149. hptouchpad.jpg

As of 10 PM eastern Cost Central had 10,000 of the 32 GB and 7,000 of the 16 GB (this is listed on the product pages). It was $9 for shipping (that may vary) and probably no sales tax for 49 out of 50 states.

These were on Amazon Sunday for the same pricing and I spent too much time researching it before purchased it and they sold out (I guess HP had them for that price earlier). So I had a little regret about it, but then I saw these. Even if I get a rejected order message, I’m sure the other places that have them still at $500+ will be dropping prices, so keep your eyes on that SlickDeals link above, they’ll keep it updated with who has it in stock.

You can get Touchpad specs and overview at the HP Site.

Supposedly PCmall and MacMall have them, but their sites are even hit worse, 32GB or 16 GB.

In case you are wondering why the price is so low: HP is spinning off it’s hardware business and discontinuing the mobile / tablet (hardware) business. I think these devices just came out in July 2011.

UPDATE: I actually ordered these from two places, the one canceled after a week, the other still says it’s expecting a shipment (but I’m not sure from where at this point). So it looks like I’m not getting one…

UPDATE 2: Early November, the second company sadly canceled my order. Looks like it’s time for a Kindle Fire!

Only two more weeks!!!

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I can’t wait…

This is where I eat lunch – Day 12 of 31 photos in 31 days

So if it’s nice outside, this is where I’ll go to eat lunch. It’s this tiny little park with four benches that (as you can see) needs a little trimming and some cement work. It’s the next block over from where I work, so it’s a nice short walk to get there. But there’s always a bench available and it’s usually pretty quiet.

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The flag isn’t easy to catch, I’ve got a little too much sky in this image but the flag came out the best, so it’s the one I chose to use. This is for my 31 photos in 31 days project for yesterday.

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It’s a small park, I’d say one-fourth of a “standard” city block. How big is that? It depends on the neighborhood, where I grew up blocks were about one-sixth of a mile long, in other places in the Detroit area, I’d say big blocks are about one-fourth of a mile long.

And yes that’s got to be the one of the most boring blog post titles I’ve ever done…

Name a Doctor Who moment that made you cry …

There are many episodes that’s brought a tear or two while watching, I say “are” because re-watching the episode gives the same response. The biggest was probably Vincent and the Doctor, a very emotional episode with The Doctor and Amy dealing with Vincent Van Gogh and some of his issues and fears. Just thinking about it gives me chills… Spoilers follow!

The scene is at the end, with The Doctor is talking to a Museum curator with Vincent listening in:

vincent-museum.gifThe Doctor: I just wondered, between you and me, in 100 words where do you think Van Gogh rates in the history of art?
Dr Black (museum guy): Well… big question, but to me, van Gogh is the finest painter of them all; certainly the most popular great painter of all time: The most beloved; his command of colour; the most magnificent. He transformed the pain of his tormented life into ecstatic beauty. Pain is easy to portray, but to use your passion and pain to portray the ecstasy and joy and magnificence of our world… no one had ever done it before. Perhaps no one ever will again. To my mind that strange wild man who roamed the fields of Provence was not only the world’s greatest artist, but also one of the greatest men who ever lived.

doomsday-cry.pngA few other good tear-jerkers:

  • Turn Left – A few different parts, this is my favorite episode.
  • A Good Man Goes to War – When River Song makes the big reveal to Amy and Rory (every time, and I think I’ve watched this one 17 times now).
  • Doomsday – When Rose and The Doctor get separated forever.
  • Silence in the Library / Forest of the Dead – Not the first few times I watched it, but now that things from the future (River’s past) have been revealed it has a lot more significance.
  • The End of Time – David Tennant’s last episode, lots of goodbyes at the end.

But none of those (except the VIncent episode) can really be watched unless you’re a fan already. I’m sure there are more, but these are some of the episodes that I’ve watched a lot, so I’ll limit it to this list.

This is from the 10 day Doctor Who Challenge, which I can’t reference because I have no idea where I found it. I’ve found other 10 day DW and 30 Days, but while similar questions are there, none are identical.

Turn Left is my Doctor Who Favorite Episode

My favorite episode of Doctor Who is probably Turn Left. How one tiny little thing can change the world, whether you decided to turn right or turn left. And in telling the story, a time-travel type story (but not exactly), they manage to integrate the rest of the Doctor Who universe. As the others stand up to fill the void, they save the day, but leave our world with one less hero, until there are none left.

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Rose and Donna, working together, stopping the stars from going out.

At the end, she whispers two words into Donna’s ear, a message for the Doctor. It never crossed my mind what the two words might be, until The Doctor asked and then it hit me(!), I knew without a doubt what the two words were and then Donna said them and DW fandom went wild! It’s funny, I don’t know if Rose ever said those two words to this Doctor…?

Why I didn’t want to pick that one is because you just can’t go and watch it if you aren’t a big follower of Doctor Who because it references so many things it just isn’t relevant to a non-fan. Turn Left is a very non-Doctor episode, what’s funny is my second favorite episode is Midnight, which is a very non-Donna episode, takes place right before this episode, but could be watched on it’s own, Midnight is David Mamet meets sci-fi.

Other favorite episodes that stand on their own:

  • Rose – The first episode of the 2005 reboot.
  • 2005 Christmas Special – The transition between Doctor’s nine and ten; plus a real Torchwood reference and Harriet Jones.
  • Smith and Jones – The first episode with Martha. This was the first season I ever watched in order.
  • The Shakespeare Code – Martha, The Doctor and Will Shakespeare.
  • Blink – Spooky! A non-Doctor and non-Martha episode.
  • Vincent and the Doctor – Amy, The Doctor and Vincent Van Gogh (and an alien)

The Big Blue Bridge – Day 11 of 31 Photos in 31 Days

So I have a confession: I LOVE The Big Blue Bridge! It’s the bridge that crosses Telegraph and I-94, I’m not sure why I like it, it’s kind of a bright blue and other than that, I just like it. If you’re in the car with me when I’m crossing it, if I didn’t say anything I think you’d notice something was up.

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This is the side view (and it’s not perfect), I don’t think I’ve ever been thrilled with any of my crossing the bridge photos, it’s hard to see the depth (there’s no where to stand, so focus and such isn’t really an option). This is for my 31 photos in 31 days project today.

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Speaking of things on the road, this guy is driving down the street with writing on the back of his truck and it took me a few minutes to get a view (and then a few more to get a photo).

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This guy has some anger issues, I’m not really sure who he’s yelling at? The government? The Governor? The public? Of course, I had to go look up the definition because I’ve never heard the phrase before. Notice the parts written on both sides of the license plates too. And then the profanity, I can’t believe he hasn’t got a ticket for that yet.