Logbook: Money

“Dunkin’ Donuts lookin’ out for java lovers” Are they trying to find some ….

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Or are they kidnapping them and forcing them to forms of torture that they wouldn’t even do in Guantanamo bay? Dunkin Donuts has been known for serving coffee that taste like burnt ass or as bluesteel would say my old cesspool.  Apparently they have a special going on which i find kind of funny since this article states that dunkin donuts is looking out for the java loving joe…

From the article,

When times are tough and money’s tight – don’t despair, Dunkin’ Donuts has your back.

For a moment i thought to myself Interesting but, I read further..

Today the coffee giant ushers in an era of cheap lattes to get you through the afternoon energy slump. Starting this afternoon, DD will offer 99-cent small lattes between the hours of 2 p.m. – 5 p.m., available in caramel, mocha or pumpkin. It’s apparently available for a “limited time only.

Look closely at that… somethings wrong… Oh yeah No normal person can get a coffee in those hours unless they work 2nd or 3rd shift,  I can see that fly at an office “hey boss I’m going to get myself a cheap coffee at dunkin, ok?” as the boss glares at you and says sit down asshat and drink the office coffee. Although I think the final comment was the kicker..

And check this out to read about other ways New Yorkers are cutting costs as the economy crumbles

Just what we need, people tweaked out on coffee as the stock market goes in the toilet or is that goes to the toilet after having cheap dunkin donuts latte?  My thought on this is Ditch the dunkin and either make your own coffee or find a local mom and pop coffee shop, often times there cheaper and will apprecaite your money alot more than dunkin donuts or starbucks would.

A year with with my Wii………..and let the puns begin!

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This month is comming up on me having the Wii console for 1 year.. How has the Wii stood up as time has progressed? After owning the wii this long, there have been a few thoughts  i’ve had as far as how the system has matured, Honestly the system is still good but still needs to grow up a bit.

I Do Still pay with the wii, but Not nearly as often as I used to due to the fact of a lack of games with depth to them,  Some games do come out with depth but, the issue is quantity. The fact that developers have shunned the Wii kind of makes for an interesting senario. Sure its taken the market by storm but, im seeing where the Wii’s weakness is, theres just not the title market out there.  Forevery good game for the system theres a SHITLOAD of vomitware for the system and it shows, Goto gamestop and look on there used shelves and you will see TONS of craptastic games.

As far as price has gone, The wii is not the lowest man on the ladder due to the x-box 360’s agressive pricecuts but in the long run the Wii is cheaper due to the online component being cheaper (Free). The Wii’s online component severely is lacking still due to lack of interaction in games, If you play Mario Kart Wii , Theres just no feeling to it due to the lack of interaction between players. Sure you can see the asshat that just knocked you off the track as you swear your brains out at the screen but, does the person on the other side of the connection know your mad …. NO. They did add keyboard support awhile back but, its so unused the most it maybe used for is to put in a creditcard number for more Wii Points, Nintendo could highly benifit from at least adding chatroom or some other way to talk to players while using the system.

The system has been pretty faithful to me with one exception of having the send in the wii to Nintendo for service. But The repairs were extremely quick and had the system back within the span of one week.

While the Wii’s gaming library has some good games that come out every few months, I’ve never really been stuck in a situation of a choice to make over one game to another. Nintendo’s first party titles are pretty much unmatched in terms of gaming on the system theres a few noted exceptions such as Raving Rabbids, No More Heroes, Final Fantasy Fables, and Starwars the force unleashed but, The lack of quality 3rd party titles I think is my biggest mark against the system.

Given that fall us upon us maybe we will see the Wii mature a bit or maybe we will see the Wii not Mature. I said wii huh-huh-huh…

Phone Fun .. Katana LX mini-review

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I was on a Pay as you go plan for AT&T and it worked out well if you made next to no calls. but then again there were times you were forced to make calls. That got expensive quick, the silly rounding rules for minutes killed off money faster than anything. After signing up to sprint on there low plan  29.99 for 200 minutes.

The Katana lx is decent looking phone but looks do not make up for its problems. the problem maybe more from my point of view, but moreso they tend to be things I look for in a phone and i have basic requirements for a phone.

1. to make calls
2. that the phone is somewhat configurable
3. can add/make own ringtones.
4. Durable

well the phone right out of the box passes only on #1 and #4. I had started with a bluetooth connector the phone connected right up but after that the phone really as far as accessing data and such was worthless, the best that could be done is a tether if you had a DataPlan.

Another issue i have with sprint is the fact that the phones dont use Sim cards which makes programing your phonebook a pain in the ass and you look like an ass doing it with 2 phones in hand. As Far as a Dead basic phone the Katana LX is just that.

After the bluetooth try i figured maybe the USB Cable would be more fruitful in getting the phone to be somewhat responsive , I was wrong, as Far as drivers from Sanyo – Good luck with that. It took me two days of looking and when i finally did get it working , the phone did Even less than when connected to bluetooth.

But for being a basic phone it does have its pluses , You can hear it ring from jupiter on its loudest setting.  The T9 texting was decent..  but overall it was not what I would personally want in a phone.

So after talking to the rep at the sprint store I ended up returning the Katana after a good weeks use and learning its up and downs.

The phone would be good for someone who just wants to have a phone with not many bells and whistles.

The banking crisis and how it seems to stand now.

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Well right now with banks shuting down because of bank runs , Subprime Mortgages, and Idoits running the whole thing we are currently in an economic clusterfuck. Indy Mac and Fanny mae just got Picked up by the FDIC. I’ve been passively watching other banks and noticed that wacovia bank has lost over 72% of its value in the last 9 months.  My bank which i have a savings account through Has lost over 63% of its value in the same time.

It bothers me that you turn on the news and the financial news says “Everythings great! the housing market is up .5% , when year to date its actually down ALOT! If you go to sites that are out of the US basically you get the message of Hold on to your ass cuz your going for ride

The US needs to stop trying to save the banks and try to save the people. As far as i see it they have been screwing off and making inflation go batshit.

Every time we bail out a bank we are just setting up for a higher fall, every time the Interest rate is cut we are getting higher up. We are going to be up shits creek if we keep on saving banks. Unfortunatly at this time we keep doing this we if a major closure happens that we cant control , we are just going to go into freefall from all the propping up of the econimy , Its better off to slowly Fix the issues at hand , irony has it when i was a kid there was a cartoon that perfectly made sense of inflation . Its like a balloon, for every time you cause inflation the balloon inflates. cause too much inflation and it burst. we need to figure out how to slowly deflate the econimy and defuse the banking crisis. which Rather than gov bail out . they should fix it for themselves.

Sure jobs will be lost, but in the end by not keep bailing them out the landing will not be like jumping off a skyscraper

but overall the banks are to blame on this one. they are the ones that went out and offered dirtcheap mortgages that were effectively poisoned from the start. the ARM… will literaly cost you an arm and leg.

The US gov wants to give money to the banks. Why not do the more sound thing.. give the money to the people to save there houses, or at least give them an option to get out free if they can not prove a sound economic stance.  Its really bad that people loose there houses and yet the banks profit by getting huge bail outs.

Times are tough… even myself i’ve cut down on coffee =p

StarSucks Closings

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Been too long since i’ve last updated but i caught this little bit in the new, From the boston globe that Starbucks isn’t doing so well.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – One coffee drinker’s bad news is another coffee drinker’s good news, it seems.

Financial woes at Starbucks Corp <SBUX.O>, which is planning to close 600 underperforming U.S. stores, is evoking glee and little sympathy from aficionados who say they resent the coffee shop giant and favor small independent cafes.

Its sad to see coffee places close but as far as starbucks goes.. I cant really give any sympathy myself for this.  There expansion was at breakneck speed and in the end it was there own fault.  I’ve been in Starbucks on Occasion , When theres no other coffee within miles. But you can see why Starbucks fucked up, google maps shows it perfectly.

Like why the hell are there 3 starbucks within 2000 feet of each other. Its like someone went on a bombing run of Providence with Starbucks all in a straight line.

seriously there cant be that many uppity people in providence that need there starbucks that bad. but there way of putting up stores is just bad.

I’d hate to say it but if you look at dunkin donuts its much more logical than starbucks…

Would you pay $15 dollars for a coffee? Not me..

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I have my limits on coffee but $15 dollars is way out of my limit , for that price the coffee better do something like cure diseases. while not as expensive as cat shit coffee its still too damn expensive.

From WFMY News 2 :

Some people in Washington are paying $15 a cup for a rare and expensive cup of coffee.

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Vancouver, WA — It’s said to be some of the best coffee in the world, but its $15 a cup price tag may be a bit hard to swallow for some drinkers.

The brew is called Panama Esmerelda is made from a very rare coffee bean. They only get 8 cups of coffee from a half pound bag. And the half pound bag costs $100. The coffee shop in Portland is the only shop in the nation to bid on the expensive coffee beans.

Drinkers say it has a different type of taste that it worth the money.

that last line gets me.. It has a different taste, sure why not have a little crack with your coffee that would have a different taste too..

Games: Guitar ____, Rock_____ (insert random word in blank space)

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First guitar hero… that wasn’t so bad. Than rock band… Now Rock revolution, And so it begins.. the Rock____(fill in blank with something Cool sounding) Wars.

Whats next Rock Philharmonic, *You need 45 Controllers to play, a small loan , your first born and a contract for 3 years. it maybe just me but i have no damn interest in a simulator simulator (your simulating someone simulating playing a song). I just cant stand games that you do not truly play – It would be like playing Unreal Tournament by playing the player that controls the character thats boring as hell. After all doesn’t violate some sort of paradox rule? Just imagine playing Mario brothers by the Guitar hero method .. red red green green and you screaming the whole time GO RIGHT DAMNIT.

Sure its *new* to gaming … NOT SO MUCH, Cue: NES power pad(wait thats more fun).. Dance Dance revolution, Or for that matter any sports game where you Can only play by simulating the seasons. Sure Maybe the first time around its fun but after that i’d see it getting boring as hell.

But what i find Is the silliest fucking thing to this is with the DLC + Need to buy 74 Plastic toy instruments its getting ridiculous. This is all falling into the horrible black hole of your typical EA game.. Rather than improve on the game structure and make it better, Redo the whole came and complicate the fuck out of the Interface and controls, Guitar Hero has your guitar, Rockband has Drums + 2 guitars, Rock Revolution has a Even more complicated 7 button drum set plus who the hell knows what.. Perhaps the Special Kazoo controller, guitar Hero IV not to be outdone will have also a six button drum Annoying taping banging sound kit.

If you have ever walked into a big box store you can normally hear the rock band drum set from across the store and normally you want to kill the person on the drums because they pound away at the things like a Drunken steroid Infused gorilla. Honestly I cant stand this type of game because its a horrid step backwards, Now if the companies making these games would let you plug in a REAL Instrument to the game and actually play the song, I’d likely not have to say a word about this crap. But, Since this crap is turning into a monster its going to be horrid.

This game type is mutating at such a fast rate its getting scary. Rockband I think will have the most room for mutation since its evil EA overlords will probably whip there slaves into making some awful brain feasting zombie game, where in order to run it you must buy the all the options.. Wait there already doing that, Rock band wants you to bend over and take it a little harder with the Light and smoke Stage kit for 99$

Whats next, The Rock Band bender washout years kit, Complete with 9 tons of blow and acid with optional hookers, (Groupies sold separately).

I know these companies want to make a buck, but hell come up with something innovative will ya?

like, why not add some actual gaming to these games, add a part where you have to manage your band, A TRUE career mode. manage the band , or hire a manager that could quite possibly rip you off, fend off fights in the venue? Add some Extreme personalization by having your own true “rock band” by each player that plays has there gamertag(xbox) to each part of the band creating a true (even tho simulated simulated) band – with the possibility of offline gaming where all people don’t have to be there at once. One guy does the guitar part, you get a notification that your “bandmember” has attempted a song and You have to do your part. that would lead to better online multiplayer gaming. with this setup You could have Bands that play against each other and Have a Fame rating or something to that effect. If your “rock band” breaks up you also get a penalty or a bonus depending on how that player was.

(note: Rock Band has a mode like this but it seems more linear, see wiki Entry)

It just gets to me on how a game with such a lack of depth is so popular. Drives me completely nuts when i hear people that say “OH YEAH I CAN PLAY THAT SONG” and you finish the sentence with “on your Console….”. but these games need more depth more options than *Red green yellow yellow etc etc*

with the idea I have… you could have battle of the bands …. rather than single ratings or how many “fans” you have..

Hopefully in the future, these games will not be the clusterfuck they are coming out to be right now by adding all the craptastic accessories and needing them all to “play” the game, and game that requires you to buy stuff thats twice the cost of the game is kind of ridiculous in my opinion. I am sure some people enjoy these games but… till they come up with a saner method, instead of flooding the market with 90 tons of crap your going to forget about after you get bored and Have a load of plastic instruments floating around, I think I’ll stay away from these genre….

Just a side note… Strangely interesting that the publisher is listed as MTV GAMES for most versions of Rock Band at Gamestop.com ..

Makes me wonder if they are trying to hide there name in order to stop people that go “EA SUCKS ASS” which they do in 99% of cases.

Honey Dew Donuts… STOP CHANGING Damnit.

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Usually when bluesteel and I go for coffee we goto honey dew donuts , which until recently was fairly consistent. but Recently they have pulled certain flavors of coffee that are more popular. Firs they went from flavored coffee to flavored shots, which to there defense was not as bad as dunkin donuts version but still it makes a big difference in coffee taste. Than they pulled one of there more popular flavors for the iced mudslide coffee crap. more over the shots of espresso have gone from 50cents to 1$ , That kind of pissed me off, its bait and switch . get people buying your product than jam the price up when you realize its fairly popular.

the problem here is with each change they are taking the dunkin donuts method of things. automate the fuck outta EVERYTHING , to the point you can NEVER get your coffee right. if you even try to get a coffee thats anything but regular there is a 99% chance that dunkin donuts will fuck it up because its hit a button for regular hit a button for extra , which to different people mean different things. plus having the whole process machined and automated takes away from your coffee.

Honey Dew donuts is slowly following the line that Dunkin Donuts took and thats a dangerous path. Bluesteel and I avoid Dunkin like the plague.

The latest change is the iced capachino, they went from making the mix to a machine , the machine version taste like coco puffs, its rather terrible.

Hopefully more people will notice and Actually complain about it because this is really starting to make some bad coffee there.