State of the Union Drinking Game

State of the Union Address Drinking Game

This one is simple.

Every time Bush lies, you drink.

OK...that one was too simple, and in the interest of avoiding alcohol poisoning in many of my friends, let's make it a little more complicated.

Everyone must drink when Bush mentions:

Coalition
Allies
Future of Iraq


Everyone must put a thumb to their forehead when you hear one of the following phrases...last one to do it takes a drink:

Tax Rebate
Bi-Partisan


Whenever he says 'Economy', everyone yells 'Stupid'. (From 'it's the economy, stupid!')

If someone yells Stupid when he says 'EconomIC', they take a drink.


Whenever he says 'Democrats', slap the table. First one to slap the table picks someone else to buy them a drink.

Have fun, and don't drink and drive!

Oh...one more. If he mentions 'Weapons of Mass Destruction', you have to pour your drink on the floor. :(

Play this State of the Union Address Drinking Game responsibly!

Tata Motors Nano - One-Lakh Rupee Car

Tata Motors Nana One-Lakh Rupee Car

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Tata Motors' Nano deserved every bit of the praise and adulation it received last week, for the sake of those who dreamt it up first and then diligently went about pursuing that dream.

Investors in the Indian automobile major however, will likely be aware that ensuring its commercial success will be as challenging, if not more, as managing the venerable Jaguar and Land Rover brands that it is set to acquire from Ford Motor Co..

Conceptualized several years ago by group Chairman Ratan Tata, the "one-lakh rupee ($2,500)" car was initially meant to be built from scooter aggregates, but the project was put on the backburner after a reality check proved that such a vehicle couldn't possibly meet safety and emission standards.

Kick-started a second time, and backed by stronger management resolve and supported by an unconventional engineering approach, the Nano has managed to cover the distance between dream and reality, and its launch is now just a few months away.

On paper, the Nano has all the ingredients for success. With an expected on-road price tag of a little over $3,000, it'll the cheapest car anywhere in the world. The research division of ratings agency Crisil Friday put the Nano's low cost in perspective, when it said the car's price point "translates into a 65% increase in the number of (Indian) families that can afford a car."

An estimated mileage of 17 to 18 kilometers to a liter of gasoline should keep running costs also equally low -- that's a big plus with crude oil at $100 a barrel. And if pictures highlighting the Nano's cute looks and relatively spacious interiors are anything to go by, prospective owners shouldn't feel they've compromised too much for a low-cost alternative.

Needless to say, the Nano's success could potentially change the competitive landscape in India, and possibly across the developing world. But before that happens, Tata Motors will need to sort out a few things.

For one, it needs to make sure that any possible teething problems aren't nearly as serious as they were when it launched the Indica hatchback to enter the passenger car segment a decade ago. Any auto industry expert can tell you that a vehicle goes through a life-cycle of improvement and initially produced batches are never as good as the subsequent ones.

Although the Nano will be the cheapest car around, it will still be an expensive purchase for most Indians -- possibly next only to a home purchase or in some cases, a daughter's wedding -- and major technical snags won't be forgiven.

Secondly, and more importantly, Tata needs to get the message across successfully, that the Nano isn't a cheap car meant only for those who can't afford any better.

For the marketing team, creating the hype around the vehicle was the easier part. The tougher task is to make the vehicle as appealing to all cross-sections of the country's vast middle-class, and to ensure that the Nano, which was conceptualized as the "people's car," isn't perceived as the "poor people's car."

source: Marketwatch

The Tata Motors Nano One-Lakh Rupee Car will undoubtedly be a big hit.

Honda ATV Recall

The following product safety recall was voluntarily conducted by the firm in cooperation with the CPSC. Consumers should stop using the product immediately unless otherwise instructed.

Name of Product: Model Year 2007 Honda TRX 500 ATVs

Units: About 40,000

Manufacturer: American Honda Motor Co., Inc. of Torrance, Calif.

Hazard: Water can enter the throttle position sensor and freeze, causing permanent damage if the rider forces the throttle lever. This could cause the throttle to stick open, posing a risk of injury or death to riders.

Incidents/Injuries: Honda has received two reported incidents of the throttle sticking, no injuries have been reported.

Description: This recall involves Model Year 2007 Honda TRX 500 ATVs, also known as the Honda Foreman and Foreman Rubicon. The adult-size ATVs are designed for use by riders age 16 and older. The 2007 model year ATVs are available in red, black, blue, olive, and camouflage. The Honda name and wing logo are printed on the fuel tank and the model name is printed on the side panel just below the seat.

Sold by: Honda ATV dealers nationwide from June 2006 through December 2007 for between $6,500 and $7,600.

Manufactured in: USA

Remedy: Consumers should immediately stop using these recalled ATVs and contact any Honda ATV dealer to schedule a free repair. Registered owners of the recalled ATVs have been sent direct notice.

source: US Consumer Product Safety Commission

Please check your Honda ATV to see if it is part of the Honda ATV Recall.

Lowe's Recall LG Torch Lamps for Fire Hazard

Lowe's Recall Torch Lamps for Fire Hazard

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed.

Name of Product: Portfolio Incandescent Torchiere Lamps

Units: About 90,000

Importer: L G Sourcing, Inc., of North Wilkesboro, N.C.

Manufacturer: Field Smart Lighting Co. Ltd., of China

Hazard: A short circuit in the lamps' wiring can pose a fire hazard to consumers.

Incidents/Injuries: L G Sourcing has received two reports of lamp fires. No injuries have been reported.

Description: The recalled lamp has a black steel frame and a bowl-shaped light fixture. The item number 179878 is printed on the packaging and the bottom of the base of the lamp. Only lamps sold between March 2005 and October 2007 with UL listing number E246506 are included in the recall. Lamps marked 'ETL listed' are not included in the recall.

Sold at: Lowe's retail stores nationwide from March 2005 through October 2007 for about $17.

Manufactured in: China

Remedy: Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled lamps and return them to any Lowe's retail outlet to receive a refund.

source: U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission

Check to see if your LG Torch Lamp is part of this Lowe's Recall.

Icy Veins Mage Macro - World of Warcraft

With the arrival of patch 2.3.2, mages now have access to a new talent skill called Icy Veins (IV).

It's in the 11-point position in the Frost Tree. Many raiding mages are respeccing from the 'standard' 10/47/3 (+1) to 2/46/11 (+2) specs to gain this new ability.

The ability decreases casting time of all spells by 20% and increases the chance your chilling effects will freeze the target by 10%. It lasts 20 seconds and has a 3 minute cooldown.

Fire mages are interested not because of the freezing effect, obviously, but because of the spell haste, which is regarded as one of the most powerful dps-increasing stats.

Significantly, this spell does NOT trigger the global cooldown (GCD). Neither does Combustion. So, a macro like...

# showtooltip Fireball
/script UIErrorsFrame:Hide()
/use 14
/use 15
/cast Combustion
/cast Icy Veins
/script UIErrorsFrame:Clear(); UIErrorsFrame:Show()
/cast Fireball

...will work when you spam it. (One way to do this really well is to bind this macro to your mouse scroll-wheel..when you roll the wheel it's like clicking really really fast). The above macro also triggers any on-use trinkets.

So basically you can activate your trinket, Combustion, and Icy Veins all at the same time, and if you're spamming this macro, whenever the cooldowns are up, you'll automatically pop them again.

A few things to keep in mind:

1. Combustion's cooldown doesn't start until after you use up the crit buff, not when you pop it. So even though both IV and Comb have a 3 min cooldown, they get out of sync right away.

2. The benefit of popping IV with Combustion is limited. Basically you'll just chew through your Combustion a bit faster, thereby triggering the cooldown to start a bit earlier...but not by enough to make it significant.

3. By being 'lazy' and using this macro you run the risk of doing too much damage early on in a fight. If you're raiding, chances are that if you're setting up for a pull you might have all your cooldowns available. If you pop them all together right away, you might push your threat too high. (They buffed mages in 2.3.2, not the tanks' ability to hold aggro.)

4. By being 'lazy' and using this macro you run the risk of popping the trinkets/IV/Comb at a time where you won't fully use them. For example, during fights where you need to stop casting to move (Lurker), or stop casting for aggro reasons (Leo), you don't want to pop them right before you have to stop...otherwise the goodness that is IV will be wasted because you won't be casting.


The solution is to create two different fireball macros. One 'lazy' one above, and another that doesn't pop the IV or Comb (or even trinkets). Just a straight-up Fireball (FB) spam. Use the plain FB spell at the beginning of fights, right before times in the fight when you have to stop, or if you are trying to sync up your cooldowns for a sudden burst of dmg.

Hopefully this combination of an Icy Veins macro and normal spells will help you increase your Mage damage!

World of Warcraft Patch 2.3.2 Patch Notes

Patch 2.3.2 is Live as of January 8, 2008.



General

• /timetest is a command that can be run to provide information on game performance. /timetest 0 turns the command off. When the command is issued, the next time a player uses a flight master to travel, certain statistics will be measured and displayed at the end of that flight. All weather effects and spawns are shutdown during the test.
• Effects triggered from being critically hit: Many abilities and talents were changed in 2.3.0 to allow them to trigger from critical strikes that occurred while the player benefitting from them was sitting.
• Quest givers with blue question marks no longer show up on the minimap.
• NPC's who you have completed a quest for will display a question mark on mouseover rather than an exclamation point.
• The bank controls for the guildmaster level of a guild is now grayed out. A guildmaster always has full access to a guild bank and this cannot be changed.
• A "Withdraw-Repair Only" button has been added to the guild bank controls. If this is set for a guild rank, then that rank cannot actually withdraw funds from the guild bank, but they can still use that daily amount of money for repairs.
• You will now automatically stand up when attacked, even if the attack doesn’t land.
• Boat and zeppelin vendors and NPCs are back on duty.
• Reduced network latency by disabling the Nagle algorithm.

Druids

• Lifebloom: When this ability is refreshed it will take on the strength of the incoming Lifebloom effect, rather than maintain the existing strength.
• Ravage: The damage multiplier on this ability has been increased from 350% to 385%.

Hunters

• Arcane Shot: Ranks 1-5 will once again deal bonus damage based on attack power.
• Aspect of the Viper effect increased.
• Freezing Trap is no longer limited to one target at a time.
• Pet leveling speed has been increased.

Mages

• Cold Snap (Frost) cooldown reduced. It is now in the Ice Block position in the talent tree. This ability will no longer reset the cooldown on Fire Ward.
• Conjure Mana Gem mana restore variance substantially reduced,(Rank 5 – Emerald) now restores 2340 to 2460 mana and has three charges.
• Ice Block (Frost) is now available on the trainer to all mages at level 30.
• Icy Veins (NEW Frost Talent) decreases casting time of all spells by 20% and increases the chance your chilling effects will freeze the target by 10%. Lasts 20 sec. 3 min cooldown. It is now in the Cold Snap position in the talent tree.

Paladins

• Crusader Strike (Retribution) now causes 110% of weapon damage and no longer gains any bonus from spell damage.
• Righteous Fury: This spell will no longer cost twice the listed mana to cast.
• Sanctified Judgements (Retribution) now returns 80% of the Seal's mana cost, increased from 50%.

Rogues

• Ambush: The damage multiplier on this ability has been increased from 250% to 275%.
• Cheat Death: When multiple attacks land simultaenously, all those resolved after the attack which triggered Cheat Death will now have their damage reduced by 90% as intended. However, the combat log will still report them doing full damage.
• Hemorrhage: Rank 4 of this ability no longer has its charges consumed by non-physical attacks and spells.
• Hemorrhage weapon damage reduced from 125% to 110%, but the damage debuff has been increased.
• Hemorrhage: This ability now correctly does additional damage when its debuff has already been applied.
• Preparation now resets the cooldown of Shadowstep and no longer resets the cooldown of Adrenaline Rush.
• Shadowstep now adds a 3 second, 70% movement speed increase.
• Sinister Calling now also increases the percentage damage bonus of Hemorrhage and Backstab by 2/4/6/8/10%.

Shaman

• Lightning Shield mana cost reduced.
• Water Shield now restores mana periodically regardless of how many charges remain. Duration increased to 10 minutes.

Warlock

• The health cost taken from the Warlock after using Health Funnel will now remain consistent between uses.

Warrior

• Defiance: The expertise granted by this talent now works properly in all stances.
• Warriors no longer lose rage when using a macro to enter a stance they’re already in.

Professions

• Cooking
  
  • Goldthorn Tea was erroneously unlearned by most players who had learned the recipe. The recipe has been re-enabled and can be learned again from Henry Stern in Razorfen Downs at no cost.
    
• Enchanting:
  
  • Enchant Shield - Resilience now requires a Runed Fel Iron Rod instead of a Runed Adamantite Rod.
    
• Leatherworking:
  
  • Increased the range of leatherworking drums to 40 yards. Drums of Panic remains unchanged at 8 yards.
    

Items

• Amani Charm of the Witch Doctor: Tooltip typo corrected.
• Hearthstone: The cast time on this item is no longer affected by spell haste.
• Hex Shrunken Head: This item now has a 20 second shared cooldown with other similar trinkets.
• Icy Chill Enchant: The triggered effect from this enchantment will now cause a melee slow and movement snare as intended.
• Idol of the Unseen Moon: This item now has a 30 second cooldown on being triggered.
• Idol of Terror: The triggered agility buff from this item no longer overwrites other agility buffs.
• The Netherscale Ammo Pouch is no longer a Unique item.
• The Knothide Quiver is no longer unique.
• The Vengeful Gladiator’s Grimoire is now available on vendors.

Dungeons and Raids

• Heroic Coilfang Resevoir- Steamvaults
  
  • Mekgineer Steamrigger's Main Chambers Access Panel is no longer interactable until Mekgineer Steamrigger has been killed.
    
• Tempest Keep- The Eye
  
  • The number of Blood Elves guarding Prince Kael'Thas' room has been reduced.
    
• Zul'Aman
  
  • The Amani'shi Warrior's Charge ability now has a minimum range.
    
  • The melee haste provided by Halazzi's Frenzy has been reduced to 100%.
    
  • Dragonhawks in Zul'Aman can now be skinned. This doesn't include dragonhawks that do not have loot.
    

Quests

• Blade's Edge Mountains: Players accepting the bombing run quests in Blade's Edge Plateaus will no longer cause other players in the region to stand up.

User Interface

• There is now an option to turn off the screen edge damage flash when you have a fullscreen UI up.
• You can sell stacks by dropping them on the merchant window again.
• Ready check (/readycheck) will now display a visual display of each party/raid member's status next to their name. This will display in the Party UI, the Raid UI and the Raid pullout UI. A player will get a check mark if they are ready, a question mark if they have not replied and a red X if they are not ready or are afk.
• You can now see raid members on the minimap as dark blue dots in addition to party members which still display as light blue dots.
• You can now shift click names while the petition window is open to paste them into the petition.
• Fixed various problems with /castsequence getting stuck.
• /cast will toggle spells again unless the name is prefixed with an exclamation mark, e.g. /castsequence Steady Shot, !Auto Shot

Bug Fixes

• Characters may now possess up to five Paper Flying Machines in a single stack.
• Fixed “Spell/Ability is not ready yet” message when clicking quickly at the beginning of a cast.
• Fixed a server disconnect when moving the mouse over recipes in the guild bank.
• Gnomish Universal Remote will now work properly with the Fel Cannon.
• Disconnecting a USB HeadSet will no longer cause problems with the Voice Chat dropdown menus.
• Clockwork Rocket Bots will no longer attack each other in Shattrath City.
• Channel changes will now appear properly in the chat log after zoning in or out of instances.
• Unplugging headphones/speakers then plugging them back in while in WoW no longer disables all sound in WoW
• If the original owner of a custom channel gives leadership away their options menu will no longer show that they have moderation privileges.
• The first custom created guild ranking will now properly show up in the Guild Control pane drop down menu.
• Control-clicking on inventory items that teach recipes will now properly display you wearing the item made by the recipe in the dressing room UI.
• Fixed an issue that was not allowing all charges of a Field Repair Bot to be used.
• Creatures with random player targeting crowd control abilities such as fear, charm, or sleep will now properly choose a random eligible target rather than just choosing the nearest eligible target.
• The various Hallow’s End broom mounts now have their proper real-time (rather than game-time) duration of 14 days.
• Tricky Treats now have their proper real-time (rather than game-time) duration of 24 hours.

Epic Gold Guide for an Epic Flying Mount

Epic Gold Guide

If your World of Warcraft character is trying to buy your epic mount (especially your flying mount), you may be looking for something to help you make gold.

Big G's Epic Gold Guide is a guide that's been out for about two years. It has been revised to stay up to date with the changes in WoW, and even offers a sign-up to receive updates for life.

He even offers a video demonstrating one of the addons he uses to earn about 100g in 20 minutes. It's pretty cool.

Anyway, check it out: Big G's Epic Gold Guide.

Xbox 360 3 Red Lights Error

Are you getting the Xbox 360 3 Red Lights Error?

If you are getting the 3 Red Lights of Death, you may have heard about a solution involving a towel.

DON'T DO IT! It can ruin your machine.

There is documentation on how to fix the 3 lights error.

Make sure that you do not do something that could damage your Xbox permanently, and do your research first. With the above documentation you can fix it yourself, and not have to pay for expensive repairs.

Man with Blue Skin - Silver Caused Argyria

The Man with Blue Skin, Paul Kararson, has earned the nickname "Papa Smurf" because of his blue skin and white beard.

It turns out that his skin turned blue from a condition known as Argyria, which came about from his self-treatment of drinking a Silver colloidal.

So why is Karason’s skin blue? Karason had dermatitis on his face and began breaking out from the stress of his father’s death. As treatment, Karason drank the colloidal silver for about 14 years.

“Colloidal silver is a suspension of silver in a liquid base.” (msnbc.com) Karason made his own by running an electrical current through distilled water with silver in it. This process is known as electrolysis.

Silver is known to have antibacterial properties and has been used for thousands of years to fight infections. The use of silver for infections stopped with the development of penicillin, which proved to be far more effective. However it was still found in some over-the-counter medicines until the FDA banned it in 1999 because it causes argyria.

Argyria is when silver is ingested within the body. The silver stays within the skin and organs and begins to turn the skin blue. Since the silver is a heavy metal and can attach itself in organs, doctors warn that Argyria can lead to kidney and liver damage as well as brain seizures.

(Source: transworldnews)

So, Paul drank the Silver which caused his Argyria and is now permanently the Man with Blue Skin.

Gary Zerola Bachelor Rape Charges

Gary Zerola, former Bachelor star, is going on trial to face rape charges.

The studly looker is accused of raping three different women, two of whom were 19 and one who was 18 at the time of the alleged rapes.

The accusations include using drugs to sedate, and the accusers tell tales of him wining and dining them, such as taking them shopping at Neiman Marcus before bringing them back to a hotel room and forcing sex with them when they refused.

Trials begin Tuesday, January 8th, in Boston.

Gary Zerola, though popular and well-known from trying out for the Bachelor, is likely to become more well-known for his rape charges.

Pleo the Dinosaur at Consumer Electronics Show

Pleo the Dinosaur was featured at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada!

The cute little robotic dino, which was featured in an earlier post, made it to the big time, getting lots of exposure at the CES in Vegas!

With all the cool 'techy' stuff that was there, you can believe this cuddly little guy was a refreshing hit!

The reporters raved about Pleo the Dinosaur! They did comment on how hard it was to get them, but as mentioned in the previous post, you can get them by going here: Pleo the Dinosaur

Pleo Dinosaur - Available, and Cheap(er)

The Pleo Dinosaur is a robotic baby dino by Ugobe.

And they are HARD TO FIND! These adorable little pets are amazing. To own something so cute and lifelike that doesn't require feeding or house-training is very cool...and therefore VERY in-demand.

Good luck trying to find one in a store near you.

There are some available on the internet, if you know where to look. But even those are generally very pricey. Usually over $400!

There is one discount site: http://pleo-dinosaur.getdigitalinfo.com

That site collects Pleo Dinosaurs that are for sale at a discount price and lists them in one spot. So you actually have a chance of finding a Pleo Dinosaur, and cheaper than most sites.

So look for your Pleo Dinosaur at http://pleo-dinosaur.getdigitalinfo.com

Thottbot and Allakhazam

Thottbot and Allakhazam are two of the most useful sites for gamers!

Allakhazam is a warehouse of data for all sorts of games, including World of Warcraft. Thottbot is specifically targeted to WoW.

The way they work is that they provide tools for players to use while playing a game that captures certain information from within the game. Information about locations, enemies, quests, drop rates, etc., are stored and then the players upload the information to the sites. With many players providing this data, it's aggregated and presented for other users.

The benefits are many. Need quick information on who drops what item for a quest? Need to know the location of a specific character?

In fact, in Allakhazam it even provides the in-game market value for various items.

Both Thottbot and Allakhazam have become standards in reference materials for gamers. (I've even seen players refer to the "Oracle of Thott", as if it's an actual character in a game.)

And other sites know it. Many game-related sites use links to Thottbot and Allkhazam to display cool graphic information about items in-game. Both Thottbot and Allakhazam provide code that allows other sites to link to them and call cool pop-up information about an item.

So, if you're a gamer and haven't checked them out yet, time to catch up, and add Thottbot and Allakhazam to your bookmarks!

Flat Belly Diet - Same Old Diet, New Packaging

The "Flat Belly Diet" is the newest diet to hit the media.

It makes claims about targeting the belly fat that so many people struggle to lose. However, if you peel back the cover of this 'new' diet, you find the same old truths that have been taught by groups like WeightWatchers for years.

This 'special diet' consists of three things: attitude adjustment, reducing caloric intake, increase caloric output. In other words, eat less, burn more calories, and you'll lose weight...the attitude helps you do those things.

Why folks, it's a MIRACLE!

Wait...no it's not.

Your body is like a bank account. You put money (food) in, and you spend money (burning calories by processing the food and exercise). If you put more in than you spend, your account balance will increase (or in the case of your body, your weight will). If you spend more than you put in, your balance will decrease (ie: you lose weight).

If you choose to use the Flat Belly Diet as the means to reduce your caloric intake and increase your caloric burn, that's great! Just go into it with your eyes open. If you believe that the 'latest science' means that this diet is a miracle and is easier than diets you've tried in the past, you will be in for disappointment.

In fact, the 'latest science' consistently shows that losing weight and KEEPING it off happens more readily in an environment where there is accountability...an area where the Flat Belly Diet is lacking. In other words: "Yes, the group diet programs really work." There's a reason they are so successful. Most of us already understand the economics of weight loss (less food, more burn). We just have a hard time sticking to it. That's where the groups help.

So give the Flat Belly Diet a try this year. Color me cynical, but in six months, if you're still on it, GREAT! If not, go find a local group program that affirms what you already know, but also includes the support that is lacking in the Flat Belly Diet.