Dhivael/Anne’s Hyperactive Blog

I’ve been looking to backup my computer for some time. I’ve got files that I don’t want to lose and my computer has been pretending to die on me for the past couple months (just look at my old blog posts). This is, to say the least not good.

But I think I found the perfect solution: IDrive-E Online Backup. Not only are the first 2GB free, unlimited storage is only $4.95 per month or $50 per year.

I think I may order the unlimited as soon as I have the money. I don’t want to lose this stuff should my computer die.

I think I’ve grown to hate game shows.

Why?

It’s kind of depressing to see all those people on TV, winning money. With all the millions of people in the US and only a handful of game shows, I’ve almost got a better chance of winning the lottery than I do of ever getting on a game show. This includes reality shows like ‘Survivor’, ‘Amazing Race’, ‘Apprentice’ and even ‘American Idol’.

I used to like watching these sort of shows, but then I sat and wondered ‘Why?’… I don’t know these people. I’m not going to get any of the money.

Oh, sure, some of the shows are amusing (mainly Amazing Race and Apprentice) but that amusement tends to fade when I realize the people I’m watching are dumber than rocks. Aside from the money required to get to where the show is being taped (I don’t think most of the studios pay for transportation and possibly not even hotel fees), what do the people on these shows have that I don’t?

If you’re in the market for a new home, you could do a lot worse than to read this article on ‘43 Must-Know Tips (and Resources) for Every First-time Home Buyer‘. It’s full of useful information that people should know about when they’re trying to buy a house.

Things like budgeting, what to eat when you’re house shopping and creating a rating system to rate houses you look at are all covered. There are way too many things for me to write about (or else I’d end up writing an article about ‘43 Opinions on 43 Must-Know tips and resources for every first-time home buyer’), so just head on over to check it out. I’m sure you’ll be glad you did, it could save you time and money in the long run.

I’ve been working on a couple new blogs lately. Get Rich Slowly is a financial blog, offering useful advice. Most fly-by-night financial advisers claim that you can ‘get rich quickly’… so I’m telling people to ‘get rich slowly’.

I’ve also got Blogic, another technology related blog. I think I may have another blog or two that I haven’t yet linked to from this blog; I’ll have to look through past posts to see.

DVDPlay is about the coolest invention (innovation) ever. There is a kiosk, filled with up to a hundred different titles, and you can go do DVD movie rental from it using just a credit card. No membership cards, no fumbling for cash like in a regular store and no waiting several days for your movie to arrive by mail. None of that. You get your movie instantly. And it’s cheaper than a traditional movie rental place, provided you return the movie promptly.

It’s terribly easy to use and (I think) extremely fun. But, then again, I am a bit of a nerd or a geek. Don’t take my word for it, go check out your nearest DVDPlay kiosk and give it a try.

I’m a bit addicted to StumbleUpon. Okay, more than a bit addicted. I love StumbleUpon.

Especially when I come upon treasures like Sweedish idioms translated literally. I’m never going to learn Sweedish, but reading the literal translations is funny and it illustrates the problems someone faces when translating from one language to another.

Now I’m going to have to look for idioms in other languages, translated literally…

Did you know that most household locks can be opened quickly and easily by almost anyone, without a proper key? Don’t believe me?

Well, believe it or not, your front door lock can probably be opened by something called a ‘bump key’, as explained in this news report about bump keys. Bump keys take just a few minutes to learn how to use and can be used on a variety of locks, including deadbolts and padlocks. You may think that your house is secure, but chances are you’ve got a lock that can be opened in this manner.

I know I hadn’t known about this before I saw the video. Lockpicking for me conjures up images of a cat burglar dressed all in black. He’s got his tool set laid out beside him, including his diamond tipped file and who knows what else, as he works away feverishly hoping not to get caught. Either that, or those totally unrealistic scenes in movies and TV where the girl picks a lock in half a second using a bobby pin. Well… this method is almost as fast as faux the bobby pin method.

So what do you do to protect yourself? Go and buy a bump key proof lock. These are a lot more expensive, but they’re also better at keeping unwanted people out. The only thing I wonder about is what happens to biometric locks in case of fire or power outage? I should go look that up…