December 2009 Archives

I'm a little early for this for the USA (it's officially 2010 in Australia though so it makes it okay) but I want to wish you all a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous 2010!

I hope my 2010 doesn't suck as bad as 2009 but let me tell you, I'm going to have a rough start to 2010.

Plans for me tonight? I don't really have any. My aunt's having a party but very unsure that I will be there until midnight. Originally I was supposed to go to Houston but I can't be bothered driving almost 2 hours to get there.

I'm planning to visit my sister today so I might get some podcast recording done while I drive.

Also, I quietly added a countdown to the front page of idiologic.com for a rough indication when I am heading back to Australia (for who knows how long).

First, I'd like to tell my friends in Australia Happy New Year's Eve or... Day! I hope you had or will have a great one!

So why have I been so quiet lately? I'd like to admit that I have always liked the game The Sims and since The Sims 3 came out, I have used every chance I can to play it. And really, I am never very excited about expansion packs for games mostly because it just adds a tiny bit of functionality for the cost of a new game. (And of course, why buy an 'old' game rather than a 'new' one, right?)

My sister got me the expansion for The Sims 3 for Christmas because, well, mummies chasing after you in the commercials looked super fun. That expansion is called The Sims 3: World Adventures Expansion Pack. (leaving the title in there to make sure that you know that it's for The Sims 3.)

Now, before I start, I have to say that I don't have it installed on this computer so I can't really show you any personal screen shots. Trust me, I'd love to show them to you or some videos but sadly the computer I play it on is just barely able to play it decently. (The game and expansion is on a hybrid DVD so it will run on both PCs and Macs.)

Let's just say that it's super fun. I've travelled to China and Egypt so far and it's been a lot of fun. You can also travel to France but... I just haven't gone there yet. I have been in a fight with a mummy (and I won) and I gotta say that the Egyptians are pretty sexy. (Yes, they're sexy for Sims.)

It's just generally a lot of fun and that's how I've been burning my free time since I am taking a break from podcasting. Plus, I haven't been feeling very well as of late with my horrible kidneys. I'll be back probably next week. And hopefully the Magic Mouse my mom got me will be in!

Products mentioned in this post (buying from Amazon helps idiologic/idioPod):

I noticed today that I haven't really replied to many comments since October and I apologize for that, so I want to say 'thank you' to the people who have been commenting since then. I thought I might just make it a bit easier on you to read same of my replies here on this entry:

To Rudy regarding the post I did about people commenting:

Thanks for being patient regarding the sponsored posts. I feel guilty doing them sometime, but they do help me out quite a bit. :) But at least they're not too obtrusive which is what I was more worried about.

And about my Christmas episode, yeah it was supposed to be out on Christmas Eve or earlier, but oh well. My Christmas went well. I got a lot of clothes, a Bluetooth headset and a Magic Mouse on the way. I also got a lot of candy which I don't really need. I hope you have a great New Year's Eve and Day! :) I didn't get the big glass ruby. Maybe someday.

To Mark, regarding your comment on idioPod 100:

I used to be a lot more negative than that. On some days I am entitled to be lazy and when I say that I'm being lazy, I pretty much mean it. I could do a lot more, but being more positive is the way to go because one thing that I've noticed is that negativity spreads. I admit that I do have self-esteem issues and unfortunately that has been a problem since before Gilbert. Sad thing when someone has that much control over someone... but it does happen.

To the Anonymous Commenter on the same podcast episode:

Thank you for listening and I'm glad that you really liked it. Let me know if you have more questions that I can answer. :)

Alright, so I think that's it for now. I hope you all had an awesome Christmas! :)

Happy Holidays from Ben to you!

Yes, I understand how late this is but I hope you enjoy it nevertheless.

Recorded over a few days. A few words about my Christmas shopping habits, my Christmas plans, the plans for idioPod for next year, what happened with 'Dora the Explorer' at lunch, my shipping address woes and a lot of everything else.

Again, sorry for it being late. Visit idiologic.com sometime, okay?

Stay updated with upcoming podcasts by checking out the idioPod Event Calendar!

Download: Right-click or listen on your iPhone/iPod Touch
Subscribe: Subscribe here
Length: 27 minutes 58 seconds
File Size: 12.8 MB

Updated: Didn't change the length and file size of the template. It's fixed.

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Hyundai. All opinions are 100% mine.

What makes the Santa Fe R such a pleasure to own and drive is a range of Genuine Hyundai Accessories such as a roof mounted DVD entertainment system, Front Park Assist and a Bluetooth Phone kit for simple, hands-free operation.  

There are three grades available in the Santa Fe R range starting at $37,990 MLP (includes GST but excludes dealer delivery and statutory charges) for the SLX manual.  

As you may remember, I said that I was changing servers this week and it happened. If some of you came at the right time, you would see lots of warning messages and stuff. And if you JUST came here, they should be fixed.

However, I might not have corrected all the code I needed to. Please let me know if you run into any error messages, please? :)

Thanks!

"I choose to live in a complicated world..."

I say "thanks" to my listeners, a little bit about the town I grew up in, working on website improvements, the lost kitten, my allergies and allergy tests, my nephew who needs to do better in school and that's about it. Enjoy.

Follow me at Twitter. (You'll find this stuff on the first page of idiologic.com soon... as soon as I get off my ass and do it!)

Stay updated with upcoming podcasts by checking out the idioPod Event Calendar!

Download: Right-click or listen on your iPhone/iPod Touch
Subscribe: Subscribe here
Length: 17 minutes 13 seconds
File Size: 7.9 MB

If you're like me, you haven't even STARTED your Christmas shopping (not like anybody is going to get anything good). That leaves a lot of stress for me in the week before Christmas. :) And that's why I am happy that there are such things as gift cards.

If you haven't done your shopping, why not just get people Amazon Gift Cards? They can buy whatever they want, usually have to pay no shipping and sometimes no tax. So what can be better than that?

Personally I love getting gift cards. That means that there are no bad gifts. :) Right? Right.

If I only get to see one movie for 2010, it will definitely be Alice in Wonderland. Do any of you know just how BAD I am wanting to see it?!

Here's the new trailer:

Ah yes, and some useless trivia for you: 'Alice in Wonderland' is my favorite Disney cartoon.

Of goals and hope...

In this episode, I talk about my personal enrichment options and a focus on one part: the spiritual part, the emotional and mental part or the physical part. Or heck, all three! I talk about my odd relationship status with Gilbert a lot and a little bit about the relationship with my dad. I had to divide this podcast episode in 2 and probably haven't listed everything I talked about.

Follow me at Twitter.

Stay updated with upcoming podcasts by checking out the idioPod Event Calendar!

Download: Right-click or listen on your iPhone/iPod Touch
Subscribe: Subscribe here
Length: 28 minutes 21 seconds
File Size: 13 MB

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Earlier today, I received an email from my hosting provider telling me that they're going to be moving my websites to new hardware within 7 days. A few things with the existing code need to be changed and, trust me, if I don't fix them all you WILL know.

What it means for you is that you might see some funny things on my website (and namely, my weblog) saying that a file doesn't exist, errors and stuff.

In the next 5 days, I will try to find all the problem areas. I am going to try to keep this at a minimum.

This affects all domains (idiologic.com and idiopod.com), my weblog and possibly podcast files.

UPDATE:   I've updated the front page saying that a server move is in progress though, really, that's not the full truth. I have no idea when it's going to happen. I do know that it will happen within 7 days and if I haven't fixed everything by the time they do it, then things will screw up.

The post explaining what was going on with my next podcast update was eaten by the Internet. But all I was going to do is come back and change a little information.

I said that I would record today and post the completed episode today which, yes, isn't going to happen. Why isn't it going to happen? Because it happens to have happened that I totally forgot about it! So no good excuses or anything except I totally forgot.

Having said that, I am focusing to post a new episode on Tuesday instead. (Monday IF and ONLY IF I get the rest of it recorded tomorrow or Monday.)

I can give you a sneak peak at a few things I'll be talking about:

• My plans for the next year and asking what I should focus on
• The status of my relationship

That's all I have right now and at this moment, it's around 17 minutes assuming I don't go back and take out the long awkward pauses of me drinking between talking.

And of course I know that I haven't really stuck with a firm posting schedule lately. I do feel bad about leaving you guys and girls hanging over the last several months. And for those who have stuck around since the early days, I sincerely appreciate it from the bottom of my heart!

Yeah enough sappiness. If you're looking to do something fun for somebody you know, try the Portable North Pole site where you can send a video to a good or bad girl/boy this season. No, this isn't a sponsored post. It's just fun stuff. :) I made one for Gilbert.

Oh and how do you tell somebody that you're dog isn't bad, even though he tears everything up?

I posted "idioPod 99: 30 Years in December" last Friday and boy was it a long one, wasn't it?  One thing is bothering me though:  how was the quality?

I haven't heard much of anything about it so I'm unsure how the quality is.  As you know, I usually record my podcasts using an Apple iSight (external) but it's been giving me a few problems lately.  Surprisingly, I really liked the sound quality from it.  I switched to using Soundtrack but that won't work anymore so I'm back to using Garageband.  I've tried using the internal iSight on my MacBook but it just doesn't work as well... so...

That's why I recorded it using my iPhone instead.  (And believe me, I'm getting sick and tired of paying almost $100/month for that damned thing especially when I was getting a much better deal with Sprint.  Who knows, maybe the LG Chocolate Touch [which is a sponsored post, guys but still relevant] is a better way to go?)

So if you've listened and the quality was good enough for you, just shoot me a message by any means necessary, you know, just whatever is easiest for you (Twitter, Facebook, a comment here, through my contact form... etc.)

And as always, thanks for listening.  Your feedback is always appreciated and helpful to my recording new stuff.

Ah yes, and the next episode might be delayed.  Not sure yet.

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of LG Chocolate Touch. All opinions are 100% mine.

Imagine having a mobile phone that let's you do tons of things and has a sweet name too (literally).  The LG Chocolate Touch lets you make calls, send texts quickly and easily, take pictures to share with your friends across many social networking sites, record videos to capture memories that just better said in full motion, and also has a great music player that delivers crisp, crystal-clear sound with Dolby Mobile technology.

Fortunately, LG has just released the LG Chocolate Touch!  

Just think of all the devices you wouldn't have to carry around anymore by having this all-in-one phone:  a camera, a video camera, an MP3 player and phone.  You get all of that in one with the LG Chocolate Touch.  And also, no more shuffling through your things to find the right device for the right job.  You'll get sweet visual effects and features such as Rhythmical Beat that vibrates the handset with each beat.  There's also a one-touch Social Network Message key that will make mobile blogging (Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc) extremely simple and fast.  The Chocolate Touch also has outstanding mobile media to create and send top-notch texts, picture mail, video and voice messaging (including Visual Voicemail).  Sharing memories or storing them later for yourself has never been easier by using the 3.2 megapixel camera/recorder.  The camera will take quality pictures and videos and includes an image editor to make them even better!

Think how sweet life can be with a new phone that does everything (and more) that you want it to as well as keep you connected to your friends, family and the outside world!

Ah, the joys of getting older...

This podcast episode was recorded over 3 days (2 of which are in the car) with my iPhone (so the quality is a bit lacking at times). This one is about 3 times longer than my recent podcast 'attempts'. I divided it up into 3 different parts for you:

Part 1: Driving to my sister's house (up to 8:13)

The farting noise you are hearing is from my windshield wipers. I don't have bad gas. Celebrating my 30th birthday. Hating hot birthdays and Christmases in Australia. Thinking about my dad.

Part 2: Driving to eat with Kate (up to 23:08)

I talk about what I did for my birthday and my Twitter blunder. How my sister made my birthday cake (which she used sweetened condensed milk, not evaporated milk like I might have said). My credit card issues and credit 'problems'.

Part 3: In Bed

A snow day. I answer a few questions asked by Rudy and Mark. I have some Google Wave and Google Voice invites in case you are looking for them.

Follow me at Twitter.

Stay updated with upcoming podcasts by checking out the idioPod Event Calendar!

Download: Right-click or listen on your iPhone/iPod Touch
Subscribe: Subscribe here
Length: 31 minutes 2 seconds
File Size: 14.2 MB

A friend of mine sent me this photo. Is this girl's butt showing? Look closely.

Look closer:

Yeah, it's the girl's shoulder. Not the other girl's ass.

I usually don't make blog posts about this, but "iP 99: 30 Years in December" will be posted on Friday and you'll be happy (or sad) to hear that it's about 3 times longer than my recent podcast episodes have been. I've been recording while driving to give myself something to do and getting things back on track with my podcasting.

Also thanks for the questions, I'm getting a lot in and I'll be answering them in the 3rd part of my next podcast.

And thank you to everybody who wished me well on my birthday! It was awesome, but more about that on Friday.

(Sorry, I am just excited that I'm getting a decent podcast episode out.)