Newspaper Comics Are Not Very Good

Just a quick rant about the comic section in the newspaper.  I get access to a newspaper every now and then and while I do check out the news, my favorite part is the puzzle section as I mentioned in a previous blog.  With the puzzles, there are always the comics. I read these sometimes and while some of them are moderately funny, others are not funny at all.

Some comics almost seem pointless and I wonder, who is writing these and why is the newspaper paying them to include them in the paper.  Not all comics are suppose to be funny.  There are those ones that are like an ongoing comic book drama.  The only problem it, they are a long story and only show 3 panes per day!  Most people don't have the patience to read a comic book even when they have the whole book.  Are there actually people that follow these series 3 images at a time?

I don't think they should get rid of comics, just make them better.  Only include funny ones.  They don't have to be the same comics and authors every day.  Or just include more puzzles and fun activities in their place.

By the way, I just posted a Dilbert comic for an example of a comic.  Dilbert is one of my favorites and usually pretty funny.  

Boating - My Experience

This past weekend, my dad and I drove up to a lake and rented a boat.  This is really the first time we have done this.  I did some research to get familiar with how to operate a boat, but I have not taken any courses on it.  They taught us the basics and before you know it, we were off.

I found it remarkably difficult to steer the boat, especially when going at low speeds and maneuvering around piers.  Once out in the open, it was much easier to control, but I was still uneasy.  I could see people easily getting into accidents with other boats, not to mention people fishing who are just parked out in the middle of the lake.

We went around the lake for an hour and brought it back in.  Getting the boat back to the exact right place was the biggest challenge.  I thought I was going to damage it somehow, but it was ok and we made it.

Overall it was a decent experience, but for the cost, and nervousness associated with it, I would not want to do it again, at least any time soon.  I would be more inclined to go on a boat tour if someone else was driving it.

I thought about it and I don't really see the big appeal with boating.  It is so much work just to get out there and what do you get out of it?  You drive around a lake.  It's a little fun.  Maybe it's something to do once in a while, but some people buy a boat and do this often.  I guess I'm just not a water person.

Puzzles: Crossword, Sudoku, Cryptoquote, KenKen

I solved my first Cryptoquote puzzle today!  Previously I had stuck with crossword puzzles and later ventured into sudoku, but today I tried out a cryptoquote just for fun.  A couple of my coworkers are really good at these, but I always thought they were impossible. 

Anyway, I gave it a shot and before I knew it I was getting several letters.  Clues kept popping up and I used logic to find out the letters.  Within about 10 minutes I had finished the whole puzzle!  It really feels good when you complete a puzzle like these.  I felt the same way when I finished my first sudoku puzzle.  I always thought those were tough until I finished one. 

I also complete my first kenken puzzle today. It was an easy one, so I didn't get too excited, but still it was cool, because I haven't done a lot of those. 

I still enjoy crossword puzzles, but I don't believe I have ever complete an entire one.  I have gotten close.

Some puzzles are better than others.  The crosswords in the daily newspaper are good.  However I have realized that some puzzles are not good.  For example, I bought a book of crossword puzzles on a whim because it was only a couple dollars and I saw it at the store.  Now I know why it was only a couple of dollars.  The puzzles are awful.  First, the patterns are almost all the same.  Second, the clues and words are just plain bad.

If you have some free time and you have not tried these puzzles, I highly recommend them.  They are good for thinking and can give you a sense of accomplishment if you complete them.   

The Good to Evil Scale

I came up with an idea a while back for a scale that would rate people in terms of good or evil.  It's basically a number line from -10 to 10 with -10 being the worst most evil kind of person and +10 being the best kind of person.  Here's a quick picture I drew up for it:

The ratings are subjective and everyone would have their own rating but this is just a fun little thing to think about.

Think about the people you know in your life that have purely good intentions.  The people who don't have a bad bone in their body.  The people that are so nice to others.  The best people you know may be a 10.  It is very difficult to get to a 10, so only a few people you know will be there if any.

Most people probably fall somewhere between 0 and 10.  This the the positive area.  If someone falls in this range they are generally a good person.  If they are close to 10, they are very good.  If they are close to 0, then they are not that good.

The negative numbers are for those who are more bad then good.  There definitely are a lot of people that fall into this section.  These are the people who are evil, mean, immoral etc.

Once you have thought about people you know, ask yourself where you would fall on the scale. Me personally, I would be somewhere on the positive side, maybe a 7 or an 8.  I try to be good but there is room for improvement as I know others who are 10's and I have a ways to go before I would reach that level.

Anyway, this is just a concept I thought I would share with you guys.  If you have any comments, leave them below.  

Comcast Junk Mail

It seems every week I get mail from Comcast trying to get me to sign up again for their service.  I had comcast a while back and decide to cancel it and switch to AT&T because they have better rates and you don't have to bundle the internet service with tv. It is really getting annoying because it is so frequent and it looks the like same thing.  I say looks because I don't even open them anymore.  I just tear them up immediately.

I have looked into trying to get them to stop sending junk mail, but there does not seem to be an easy way.  A search on the internet has shown other customers who are also fed up with junk mail from Comcast.

The excuse there was that they think someone new might move in and they want the new resident to get their offer.  Ok fine, no problem, but do you have to send it every week?  People don't move that fast.  Comcast, I can tell you I am not moving for at least a year, and probably many years after that, so you can stop wasting your money on postage sending me this junk.

UPDATE 8-25-11
I decided to call the number on the last mail they sent me, after going through several menus and not have the option to choose anything related to getting off the mailing list, I decided to email them.  This again was not easy.  After browsing around the site for a few minutes I managed to find an email contact for general questions.  I requested to be taken off the mailing list.

Today I received a reply from Comcast.  It was a rather long email for such a simple question, but they did say they would take me off the list but that I might still get mail from them for the next 1 - 2 months.  We'll see.  If it keeps coming, you will hear about it here.

UPDATE 10-7-11  Still getting junk mail from Comcast.

UPDATE 4-7-15 I still seem to be getting mail from Comcast as well as AT&T every week trying to get me to sign up for new services.  It should not be so hard to unsubscribe from all of these things.  

American Ninja Warrior

I watched a new show on NBC last night called American Ninja Warrior.  From what I read, it was on another network but for some reason, they decided to show the 2 hour finale on NBC.  Basically the show is a series of tough obstacle courses designed with strength and agility in mind.  The show is from Japan and it is done in many other countries as well.  It looks like it might gain some popularity in the US.

I was really excited to see this show because as a kid, I was really good at climbing on playground, jumping around and doing ninja like moves so this is my kind of event.  I would like to try out the courses now, but I'm not in nearly as good of shape as before.

So the show starts with about 10 guys who are the top qualifiers from thousands.  They go through 4 courses. If they fall off or don't meet the time, they are eliminated.  They guys were pretty good and are in really good shape.  At the end, there were only a few guys left.  The best one got near the end of course 3 but fell.  None of them made it to course 4.  In history only 3 guys from Japan have finished all the courses so that tell you how difficult they are. 

A couple things I didn't like about the show is how there is so much emphasis on upper body strength and not so much on agility.  If they are going to call it American Ninja Warrior, they should be doing ninja skills, not just upper body strength skills. I would like to see more balance, precision, and speed based skills.  Also, how about some points for style.  In my opinion if you are specializing in ninja skills, you gotta have style.  Some of these guys had no style whatsoever and it was painful to watch.

Also, the contest was sponsored by K-Swiss.  Why?  K-Swiss has nothing to do with Ninja skills.  I know they are trying to bring back their image, but all I know of K-Swiss is ugly white shoes that  kids wore in high school 10 years ago.  They should get Nike, Adidas, or some martial arts type company if they need a sponsor.

Anyway, no matter the name or the sponsor, this is a cool sport that is bringing attention to a type of skill you don't really see in most major sports.  I hope they continue to promote it and show it on tv. 

HP TouchPad on Sale for $99

A few days ago HP decided to stop making their new tablet PC the HP Touchpad.  This is odd considering it is so new and touch screen PCs are very popular at the moment.  Apparently they thought they were not selling fast enough and that they could not compete with the Apple iPad.  This is a shame because if anyone can give Apple a run for their money, it is HP.

So as a result of this announcement, HP as well as most of the other retailers selling the Touchpad dropped the prices down to $99 for the 16 gig model and $149 for the 32 gig.  This is a huge price cut considering the tablet originally was selling for $400.

There was a furry of activity Saturday morning and pretty much all the places sold out of the Touchpads within hours.  I looked online and called a local store but wasn't able to get one.  HP has set up an email list for those that want to be notified when they get back in stock.

I wasn't really interested in buying a touch screen tablet, but you can't deny the great price that they are offering.  It's like getting a new touch screen computer for $100.  It's almost worth it even if you don't want one.

With all the news and people scrambling to get their hands on this discontinued product, HP should really capitalize on it.  It's obvious people want the Touchpad if it is at the right price.  Who is going to spend $500 on an iPad when you can get practically the same thing for a fifth of the price.

If I were HP, I might consider continuing to produce the Touchpad for a while and maybe take a hit on the sales price just to gain some market share and see what happens.  Maybe they can make the money back by selling apps for the Touchpad.