The Natural State Hawg - ramblings from an Arkie

Things that annoy the hell out of me (part 1)

2013-05-08T00:07:00.001-05:00

There was a time, not all that long ago, when this here blog was updated on a daily basis. There were, indeed, times when I updated this blog several times a day. Why? Because writing whatever the hell I wanted and when I wanted amused me. I never had a huge following, but there were enough people keeping up with what was going on over here to make everything worthwhile.

So, what happened? I tapped into my print journalist roots and decided to put up a serious site over at FirstArkansasNews.net. That site is still going strong and the traffic count over there is healthy. What’s more, the format allows me to write some honest-to-goodness news about stuff I like and that’s dandy fun. However, I do miss the freedom of an informal blog such as this one.

Specifically, I miss the ability to gripe about things just because I feel like it. It’s time to indulge my petulant complaining once again, so I’m starting a new series here at The Natural State Hawg – “Things that Annoy the Hell out of Me.” This series will be in several parts and I’m not sure how many there will be yet because, well, it turns out that a lot of stuff annoys the hell out of me.

So, here we go with Part 1.

1. Politics. Let me make two things perfectly clear. First of all, I’ve got a bachelor’s degree in political science and started to suspect when I was in college that politics was mostly absolute crap. Second, I’m a Republican simply because I hate them slightly less than Democrats. Neither party, frankly, is worth a damn.

What annoys me most about politics is that we Americans have a tendency to identify ourselves by which political party we like. In fact, we tend to take politics personally – anyone who agrees with us is smart and worthwhile, whereas anyone who doesn’t is stupid and, perhaps, evil. The tendency to base the value of an individual solely on which worthless politicians they supported in the last election is a tragedy.

Here’s why – neither party gives a damn about the majority of us. Want proof? Influence-peddling and vote-buying was bad enough before the U.S. Supreme Court decided the case of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, thus reinforcing what a lot of us have long suspected – it’s groovy for moneyed interests to have the unfettered ability to purchase votes at will.

If you want to know the disgusting details of Citizens United, just click the link above and get ready to be furious. Here’s why that case is such a slap in the face to us insignificant voters – groups and corporations are allowed to raise, essentially, as much money as they want and fling it at candidates. The National Association of Realtors (NAR), for example, passed a $40 dues increase in 2011 in response to Citizens United and that move means that the trade organization has $40 million more to spend on candidates (add that to the $11.47 million spent by the NAR federally in the 2010 election cycle and you’re talking about some serious money).

And, let’s not just pick on the NAR here. Trade organizations, corporations and other groups were flinging money at politicians before Citizens United and now they can throw even more cash at the government. So, who do you think our elected officials are listening to – the lobbyist backed by millions of dollars or you and your pitiful little vote? Under that system, who benefits – the voters and society or the selfish interests of an organized few?

Getting too wrapped up in politics is pointless and the notion that we should dislike people for sticking with their piece of trash politicians instead of our ineffective politicians borders on insanity. We’ve gone from a representative republic to a government that’s up for grabs like an eBay auction, and being overly loyal to either major party in such a system is a waste of time. In a perfect world, lobbying would be a felony punishable by something truly terrible (an Orwellian “Room 101” scenario comes to mind).

2. The overly sensitive. Have a look at this story from Martinsville, Va. You may have heard about that one – a city councilwoman made a 16-year-old girl cry because the alleged adult was offended by a stick figure on a quilt that was the result of a project taken on by students at Piedmont Governor’s School in that city. Hit the link for details – the whole account is disturbing.

Sadly, groups and individuals getting offended and ruining a good time for the rest of us has become par for the course. Over the years, I’ve seen fist-fights break out on the grounds of the Arkansas State Capitol over flag burning (a practice I find abhorrent, by the way), churches blocking MTV in the 1980s in some cities in this state (I can block programming I don’t like on my own, thank you), atheists throwing hissy fits about Nativity Scenes at on the Capitol grounds and a law professor who circulated a list of words we students weren’t allowed to use in the school during the early 1990s.

I’d wager we’d all get along a lot better if we didn’t go out of our way to find reasons to be offended. If you live in a free and open society, the chances are good you’re going to be bothered by something, Grow up and learn to deal with it.

3. Arkansas’ damned state lottery. Not long ago, I was standing in line in a convenience store and was there for some time as a lady bought about $400 worth of lottery scratchers. She made her purchase then the woman behind her had to waste a couple of hundred bucks on those things.

“What on earth is going on?” I asked when I got to the register.

“It’s Tuesday,” the clerk said.

“Yes, it is Tuesday. So what?”

“That’s when the new lottery tickets come out. They’re released every Tuesday because that’s when people get their support checks.”

“So, people are taking the cash the government is giving them to live on until they find jobs and blowing it on lottery tickets?”

“Yep.”

That’s just great. So, we’ve got people taking money meant to pay bills, buy food and those little conveniences and buying lottery tickets instead. The worse part of that scenario is that the state of Arkansas is in on it. Good grief.

I voted against the statewide lottery when it was put on a ballot and now I think it’s even a worse idea. Yes, Arkansas kids can get scholarships through the cash the lottery raises for the state, but colleges here have responded by raising tuitions in line with those scholarships. It’s looking more and more like we’ve gained nothing from the lottery and that should surprise no one.

(Some of) The Best Album Titles Ever (maybe)

2013-04-27T00:15:00.001-05:00

Throughout the years, I’ve run across some albums that were just so brilliantly titled that I had to buy them. There were times when the music turned out to be disappointing, of course, but a snazzy title will grab my attention every single time.

So, what are the best titles of all time? Well, that’s a highly subjective thing and my criteria on judging titles is pretty basic. First of all, it’s got to be a hoot. Rock and roll bands have generally taken themselves too seriously and have generally tried to come across with heavy, philosophical album titles (or, at least, ones that they thought were cool). It’s refreshing to run across a band that slaps a title on an album that causes all who see it to come to one conclusion – these guys have a sense of humor. I’m a sucker for a sense of humor.

Here’s what I mean. My brother and I once formed a fictional band called Hate Magnet. We figured we’d jump right into the fray by releasing a couple of overblown concept albums to kick off our careers. The first one was to be called “I, Pimp,” whereas the second was to be called “The Pimp and I” so as to offer a different perspective. Funny, huh? Well, we thought so.

Second, in order for an album to make my “top titles” list, I must have actually heard of it. That means we’re going to be looking at albums that came out primarily in the 1980s and 1990s.

Ready? Here’s the list.

1. Elvis Hitler, Disgraceland (1988). Elvis Hitler never exactly hit the big time, but the thrashy-punky Detroit rockers have to be given credit for a gem of an album title. As if pairing Elvis and Adolph Hitler weren’t enough, the band had to just bring the point home by mangling the name of Elvis Preley’s house.

2. The Residents, The Third Reich ‘N Roll (1976). The title is a hoot and the cover is even better (Dick Clark dressed in a German military uniform while holding a carrot?) There are only two songs on this album – both meander on for about 20 minutes as the Residents simply mangle classic hit after classic hit in the time-honored medley format. It’s an odd listen, but what else would one expect from The Residents?

3. The Angry Samoans, The 90s Suck & So Do You (1999). “Metal” Mike Saunders, a proud Little Rock, Ark., boy, had his finger on the pulse of an entire decade with this particular title. The 90s did suck, indeed, and we’d be wise to never forget it. By the way, this old Arkansas boy can’t help but love the illustration of Saunders on the cover – a Razorback shirt, a guitar boldly proclaiming that the SEC Rules and the “Hog Man” scrawl are all awesome in my book. The music isn’t bad, either, although the once hardcore Angry Samoans sound more like a pop-punk band that’s been influenced by Screeching Weasel than one of the most prolific members of the West Coast hardcore punk movement in the 1980s.

4. The Meatmen, We’re the Meatmen… And You Suck!! (1983). Here’s a title that pegs the music on the album perfectly. You’ve got a loud, sloppy guitar, thudding drums, a bass that breaks through the murk every now and again and Tesco Vee offending everyone in earshot. This album is mostly live and it’s obvious that Vee both loves to taunt the audience and doesn’t take things too seriously. It’s all pretty much what you’d expect from a band that was responsible for the suck trilogy – Crippled Children Such, French People Suck and Camel Jockeys Suck. The music isn’t that great, but the packaging is pure gold.

5. Screeching Weasel, How to Make Enemies and Irritate People (1994). Here’s the perfect album title from Ben Weasel and his gang of snot-nosed, Ramones-loving punks. The fun doesn’t stop with the album title – with songs like “I Hate Your Guts on Sunday” and “Nobody Likes You,” you pretty well know that to expect with this one.

6. The New Duncan Imperials, In-A-Gadda-Da-Vegas (1997). What a title! What an album! The lads – Pigtail Dick, Skipper Zwakinov and Mr. Goodtime Dammit – were at the top of their game here. By the way, if you haven’t heard the all-over-the-map stylings of the New Duncan Imperials, you are missing out on a band that was one of the must unique acts going the 1990s. Guitarist Pigtail Dick professed a great love of Foghat and that explains everything.

7. The Dead Milkmen, Beelzebubba (1988). The Dead Milkmen ran out of ideas after a time, but the band was at the top of its game here. Listening to these punks mock one thing after another was great fun. Sadly, the party was over after this one – it was all downhill from here.

Custom made products from an American company? Yep.

2013-04-26T23:15:00.001-05:00

With the economy still languishing, it’s probably a great idea to support our American-owned businesses, isn’t it?

After all, American companies provide jobs throughout the nation. If there are no American businesses, there are no jobs. If there are no jobs, there’s no economy to speak up and that’s no good at all, is it?

Now, a lot of people hold off sprucing up their homes until the spring and with good reason – winter is no time to be outside and increasing the curb appeal of your house. What’s an effective way to quickly boost the appearance of your home? How about adding personalized doormats, personalized address plaques or residential mailboxes?

You can find all those and more – including Whitehall Mailboxes – at Mailbox and Beyond. That’s an American, family owned company and you can see what items it has to offer by clicking one of the aforementioned links.

Got Linux?

2013-04-25T00:34:00.001-05:00

That's right, Linux fans – a new version of Ubuntu is due out today (April 25).

If you already have Ubuntu, your system should tell you when the update is available. If not, launch the update manager in Ubuntu and it will search for the new operating system for you.

If you simply want to switch to Ubuntu, head over to Ubuntu.com, hit the download tab and follow the directions. Bear in mind that you can have Ubuntu running alongside your current operating system or you can put it on a USB drive or DVD so you can test drive it instead of installing it on your system.

Bear in mind that 13.04 isn’t a radical update – the primary focus appears to be on making the OS run faster. Also, the ever evolving Unity GUI will receive some enhancements, too.

Have fun!

Turn Internet leads into paying customers

2013-04-24T22:58:00.001-05:00

It’s always baffling to me when I see a pitch on the Internet, fill in a response form and then wait hours – or days – for someone to get back to me.

That never made sense to me. I thought the whole purpose of pitching sales and service on the Internet was to generate leads. When people research products and services they’d like to buy, they want a quick response when a site interests them enough to compel them to ask for more information. The thing about the Internet is that we have come to expect a response to a request for information as quickly as possible. If we don’t get a response in a hurry, we tend to move on to another site.

Let’s say I want to buy a new Ford Mustang. I take a look at the sites of two local dealerships that both have cars in inventory that interest me. I fill out response forms to Dealership A and Dealership B. Within five minutes, Dealership B has responded with the information I wanted. At that point, do you think I care whether I hear from Dealership A? Absolutely not. In that scenario, then, Dealership A lost a customer to a competitor simply because it failed to get back to me quickly.

Intuitively, that makes a lot of sense. In fact, there’s a Kellogg study proving that the odds of connecting with a lead increases 100 times if contact is made within five minutes rather than within 30 minutes. Here’s something else – leads contacted within five minutes are 21times more likely to become customers than leads contacted within 30 minutes.

In other words, you can spend a lot of time an effort putting together Internet sites that make visitors notice and take an interest in your business, but it’s all meaningless if you can’t turn leads into customers.

It’s probably a good idea, then, to concentrate as much on turning leads into customers as it is to make a site appealing enough to get people to take the next step by clicking a call to action button. If you need some help in that area, you’re in luck – there’s a company called Speak2Leads that specializes into helping you turn those leads into paying customers.

That’s why your company started an Internet site to begin with, isn’t it? The whole point of putting your company on the Web is to find people interested enough to pay you money. If your company isn’t responding quickly enough to inquiries from potential customers, then what’s the point of its Internet site?

Ever thought about hiring a virtual assistant?

2013-04-24T22:33:00.001-05:00

Think about this for a second – when you started your own business, did you ever fantasize about fun-filled days of keeping your books, scheduling appointments, doing customer service and all those other minor tasks that are essential but none too enjoyable?

Probably not. If you’re a lawyer, you probably fantasized more about suing people and righting wrongs than you did about paying your offices’ bills. If you’re a real estate agent, wouldn’t you rather be out showing houses and negotiating prices than entering listings into an MLS. If you’re a doctor … well, you get the idea.

What can free you from those mundane tasks so you can concentrate on the big stuff? Virtual assistant services. That’s right – an assistant to take care of those necessary tasks you don’t like doing so you can enjoy the tasks that led you to your career in the first place.

A virtual assistant, in a nutshell, is someone on contract that will free you up to do the things that make your business profitable. Furthermore, they cost less than full-time employees and you can scale your workforce as you need it – hire more assistants when you need them and fewer when you don’t. There’s no hiring, firing dealing with benefits or all of the other things that come with “regular” employees.

The notion of a virtual assistant isn’t exactly a new idea. Instead, your talking about a labor force that’s been used effectively for years. Think about doctors, for a minute. Do you think they sit around filing insurance claims so they can get paid? Nope – they either hire staff for that or, in many cases, ship that task over to an independent contractor who takes care of that task.

Of course, there’s always a problem with virtual assistants – how do you know you’re getting quality people that will clearly benefit your office? Hit the aforementioned link and you’ll have access to virtual assistants – many of whom hold college degrees – that work for an American company. In other words, you’ll have access to educated people who simply want to work at home and – get this – you’ll be charged some of the lowest rates in the industry to hire those employees.

Of course, you’ll have to make your own coffee but that’s a small price to pay for an efficient, beneficial workforce that will help you do your job better. Hiring a virtual assistant makes a lot of sense, doesn’t it?

Remember the ‘A Hard Days Night’ poster?

2013-04-24T01:47:00.001-05:00

Click here for more Wordless Wednesday entries.

Gentle dentistry? Sign me up!

2013-04-24T01:35:00.001-05:00

My, but I wish my parents would have had access to the Internet when they were searching for a dentist for me when I was a kid. Unfortunately, a typewriter was about the closest thing to a computer that anyone owned back in the mid-1970s so people relied on word-of-mouth referrals and phone book ads when selecting a dentist.

Ah, but that’s all changed with the Internet, hasn’t it? We can research all day long and find some professionals who will give us the care we deserve in exchanging for forking over our hard-earned money for their services. Still, even that can be a bit dicey at times.

Let’s say you’re in Las Vegas area and you’re looking for a “gentle” dentist. You can bang terms such as “dentist Las Vegas” or “root canal Las Vegas” into a search engine. What will you get? More often than not, you’ll get a bunch of listings that may or may not get you to the dentist you want.

Well, folks, I’m about to save you the trouble of all that searching – click one of the aforementioned links and you’ll be taken directly to Haymore Endontics. That offices promises gentle procedures and has both user testimonials and an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau to back up those claims. Furthermore, you can make an appointment in seconds online and can even find out a thing or two about the practice.

What we’re getting to here is the concept of customer service – something that is critical in this day and age where money is tight and people want the level of service they expect when they hand over a lot of money to a professional. The testimonials at that site confirm that the office does take care of its patients and, frankly, navigating through the site is a joy when one considers how rotten a lot of professional sites are – the one over there is clean, simple loads quickly and provides plenty of information.

Why am I going on so much about an Internet site? Frankly, one has to think that an office that will donate that much time and trouble to a somewhat minor thing as an Internet site will probably bend over backwards to help out patients and provide them the level of service they deserve.

Check out the site to see what I mean. That site comes across as professional all the way and it seems more than a bit above-board. That particular dentist may be just the guy you need to help you through an emergency, and display a lot of kindness and professionalism, to boot.

An underwater iPod? Yep!

2013-04-23T20:08:00.001-05:00

OK, raise your hand if you remember when the Sony Walkman made its debut back in the 1980s. Well, you don’t have to raise your hand – that’s more than a bit ridiculous.
Anyway, when the Sony Walkman appeared, it was revolutionary. For the first time, individuals could take their music with them and listen to it through headphones that often produced better fidelity than the huge, loud speakers that were standard equipment on top-end stereos. The Walkman was cheap, portable and reproduced music with amazing clarity. The most striking thing, of course, is that people weren’t stuck in their homes or cars when wanting to listen to their music – an Walkman owner couldn’t simply pop in a cassette and take their favorite music just about anywhere.
Flash forward to 2001 when Apple released the first iPod. It was another revolutionary device in that it offered flawless, digital reproduction of music and allowed people to store entire libraries of music on one device thanks to plenty of storage and compressed audio formats such as MP3 or Apple’s proprietary AAC. That device, too, was revolutionary – it was small, easy to use and could be easily managed with a computer. The good old iPod still sells very well for a good reason – it’s still a great device.
However, the iPod didn’t exactly expand the “range” of where people could listen to their music – you could take it anywhere a Walkman could go but faced the same limitation of the Sony device in that you could listen to it on the bus or in your office, but you couldn’t take it swimming.
Well, that “underwater” barrier has been broken – you can pick up a waterproof iPod for as little as $165. We’re not talking about some off-brand junk, either – we’re talking about an honest-to-goodness iPod Shuffle that has been waterproofed and comes complete with waterproof headphones.
What do you get for your money? How about an iPod Shuffle that’s waterproof up to 200 feet and carries with it a one-year warranty. That’s right – if the device fails underwater, you can get your money back. How’s that for peace of mind? Oh, and don’t think you’re going to get stuck with one of the plain Jane iPod Shuffles, either – you’ve got a full array of colors from which to choose.
Revolutionary? You’d better believe it – imagine listening to your favorite music as you swim. Who knows? Being entertained by the music pouring out of that waterproof iPod may be just the thing to inspire you to work out longer and achieve your fitness goals earlier.

Want that Nook HD to live up to its full potential?

2013-04-21T01:30:00.001-05:00

I got a Nook HD+ back in December (partially because I’m a cheapskate and partially because I hate everything Apple makes) and love the thing. It’s a light, fast tablet with a big, sharp screen.

The only drawback to the tablet is that the Barnes & Noble apps store is severely limited. The tablet was built so that you’re locked into that store, but here’s something that Nook HD owners need to know – you can defeat Barnes & Noble’s attempts to control that hardware you bought pretty easily. Yes, the process is called “rooting” and allows you to run the full, Google Android market on your tablet. The Nook HD is built on Android, so why not take some time and force it to behave like a full-blown Android tablet?

Want to learn how? Just click here for an article I wrote about it.

By the way, as for my hatred of Apple, don’t judge until you’ve used a piece of trash iPhone 4S for about a year. That pile of garbage will make you detest Apple and that’s a promise.

Barking Mad or downright entertaining?

2013-04-21T01:18:00.001-05:00

There’s something great about a company that run by people that have retained a sense of humor.

Barking Mad – a New Zealand company – is one of those. The company sells greeting cards, resin image panels, image blocks and prints. The site is a hoot and you can see for yourself by heading over there and having a look at, say, Art Prints. While you’re at it, why not check out some thank you cards, too? Go ahead – pop on over and look around for a bit. Fun stuff, huh?

By the way, if you’d like to have a look at a well-designed site that covers more serious topics, click here for some information about Business Planning.

That’s one cool thing about the Internet – you can be informed, entertained or both and well designed sites that prove themselves useful by providing what the visitor is in the mood for are to be appreciated.

A real estate site built right

2013-04-21T01:00:00.001-05:00

Let’s just admit it – there are some truly rotten real estate sites out there.

Think about this – when you visit a real estate site, what do you really want? I’d wager you’re more interested in looking at homes that interest you rather than digging through the history of the office that owns the site, big pictures of agents that load slowly and etc., etc., etc.

Most real estate sites, it seems, are more interested in promoting offices and agents rather than giving visitors a simple, effective way to actually search for homes to purchase. Furthermore, those sites that do offer searches tend to utilize overly-complex, overly-detailed search input forms that may or may not help you find the listings for which you are searching. The forms themselves tend to be confusing, the results are often convoluted and not helpful and it is far to easy to run a search and find hundreds of homes that don’t match your criteria whether than just a few that you want.

Here’s some good news for people looking to buy homes in Calgary, Canada – there’s a very good site that is geared for people looking for information about homes for sale (click this link and see for yourself). What makes the site unique? Once you hit the home page, you are presented with a very easy to use search form that will have you searching for homes in a hurry. We’re talking about area MLS listings – a ton of information that’s easy to sift through and is presented in an understandable format to visitors.

To make things even easier, the site allows you to search for homes buy simply drawing areas on a map.

Yes, you can find out all about the office and it’s locations, but those pages are secondary to the main goal of the site – to get people to simply show up and start searching. That’s what visitors typically want, anyway, so why not make it easy for them.

If you’re wanting to search houses for sale in Calgary, give the site a chance. You’ll find it more informative than frustrating due to its easy of use and clean, attractive design.

Screw you, Apple

2013-04-10T23:11:00.001-05:00

You know, I haven’t updated this blog in some time. Why not? I haven’t been irritated enough to rant about anything lately.

Now, I’m not talking about the decidedly heavy social issues of the day, our rotten federal government or the general mess that our nation has been drudging through since the dawn of the 21st century. No, it’s more fun to rant about trivial things that annoy the living hell out of me.

The iPhone 4S is the gift that keeps on giving in that regard. I hate this phone more than I thought it was possible to hate an inanimate object, but the iPhone 4S is so obnoxious that it feels more like a prank than a device that’s supposed to be convenient. It has proven to be a consistently awful phone and one has to question a lot of moves it made after Steve Jobs died. Remember what Apple was like without Jobs in the mid-1980s to mid-1990s? The company went from one of the world’s leading technology companies to one that churned out junk. Folks, they’re heading back down that path again. Jobs was Apple and the company isn’t worth two damns without him.

Let me explain. Back in August 2010, I got an iPhone 4. That thing was a brick. It was reliable as all get out in spite of the fact that I’m hard on cell phones and tend to tear them up fairly quickly.

In February 2012, I moved on to the iPhone 4S and that was a mistake. By September, the 4S was having problems connecting to either WiFi or cellular networks. No, the phone had to be completely reset several times a day in order to restore connectivity (and that’s annoying). I took it to the local Apple Store in Little Rock and those folks did a clean reinstall of the OS. That didn’t fix the problem and the Apple Store decided to replace the 4S with a new one in December.

Problem solved, right? Nope. Within a couple of months, my new 4S developed a new problem – the sound likes to cut out from time to time. Yes, it’s silent for a few minutes then starts working again for one unknown reason or another.

If my original 4S was garbage and its replacement is garbage, it’s not too hard to conclude that Apple has some serious quality control issues with its phones. Is the new, Jobs-free Apple utilizing cheaper Chinese slave labor to build these things? It’s hard to tell, really.

The point here is this. Apple has gone, once again, from an international technology innovator to one that is cranking out substandard garbage. Without Jobs, the company is one that is simply resting on its laurels.

I’m curious about whether the iPhone 5 is as much of a disaster as the 4S, but it’s hard to get a straight answer on that. People tend to be zealots about Apple products and zealots are rarely objective.

I’m due a new phone in a couple of months, so it seems my time in the Apple camp is rapidly coming to an end. My tablet is Android, so it makes sense to grab an Android-powered phone, too.

Ever wanted to visit London?

2013-04-10T22:27:00.001-05:00

Let me ask you a couple of questions. Have you ever visited London? If you were to visit London, would you want relevant information about the sites and attractions in the city?

Here’s the thing about visiting anywhere with which you are not familiar – it can be frustrating to figure out where to go, what to see and what do do, right?

That’s where Robert and Polly Arnold come in. They are Londoners and have lived there all of their lives. They specialize in not only finding London Apartments for visitors, but also use their knowledge of central London to help visitors figure out what to see and what to do while there.

That’s right – they can find you a London Apartment that is located near where you want to be and have the knowledge to help make your stay there something special. Give them a shot, folks.

Major League Baseball 2k12 isn’t half bad

2012-06-20T03:10:00.001-05:00

I almost didn’t buy Major League Baseball 2K12 for the Xbox 360 because the title got so many so-so and/or poor reviews.

One review started off referring to MLB 12: The Show for the Playstation 3 and then bashing the 2K Sports title without mercy after that. Another did talk up the improvements made to the series, but ended up touting The Show.

Here’s the thing – if you have an Xbox 360 and you want a baseball game, you don’t have much choice in the matter. You can grab a copy of MLB 2K12, pick up an old copy of The Bigs (complete with larger-than-life plays and all) or throw a fit. Cruise through an Xbox-related message board or two and you’ll find plenty of people complaining that Xbox 360 owners deserve more choice when it comes to baseball.

They may have a point, but here’s the thing – if you want a better baseball game, rush right on out to the nearest Target or Best Buy, pick up a Playstation 3 and grab a copy of The Show. If you don’t want to do that, at least give MLB 2K12 a shot because, truly, it’s not a bad game at all.

Besides, what’s so horrible about having just one game from which to choose on a system, anyway? Back when I was a kid with an Atari 2600, we had one baseball game for years – an abomination called Home Run (1978) that was so awful that Mattel Intellivision commercials used to ridicule it. It couldn’t even properly be called baseball because Home Run was to baseball what Pong was to tennis – a simulation so primitive that it aped a sport only on its most basic levels.

In other words, we’ve only got one real choice in baseball games when it comes to the Xbox 360 but it is at least a solid game. MLB 2K12 features some pretty innovative stuff such as a pitching mechanic that utilizes the right analog stick and requires the player to get some timing down so as to not throw a bunch of rotten pitches. The batting is solid, too, and also requires the skillful use of the analog stick (well, you hit the “X” button to bunt). That also requires great timing that is truly hard to get down effectively.

The fielding is solid, too, in that a hit from an opposing team will put the player in charge of the fielder with the best play on the ball. The player can dive for catches, scale walls to rob hitters of home runs and pull off a lot of other nifty tricks. And, yes, there is a timing element in fielding, too – if you don’t flick that ball to a base when the “throw meter” is in the right spot, you’ve just committed an error or blown a double play.

There are some other elements about the game worth mentioning. The presentation is outstanding and the developers did a good job of mapping the major league stadiums around the country. You view the game in a familiar “television broadcast” format and commentary keeps the game active. Online play is smooth and players can opt to develop their own players and develop them from the minors through the majors in the game.

In short, MLB 2K12 is nothing less than a solid baseball game that allows players to concentrate on winning games, diving into the management aspect of running a franchise, etc. You can, in other words, become as immersed in the game as you want to be – while checking on rosters can be a nice diversion, I prefer to let the computer AI handle it while I concentrate on winning games. Still, those who love the management aspect of a baseball sim won’t be disappointed.

Is the game perfect? No. No it is not. For one thing, the players are rendered fairly well but they are stiff and tend to lurch around, zombie-like throughout the games. They are almost always scowling, too – it’s hard to imagine that people who get paid very well to play a game would look that miserable, but 2K Sports seems to think so. Also, you’ll notice the occasional framerate dive that can be a real drag at times and there are some graphical glitches that pop up from time to time. Yes, it is creepy to see bats floating through midair as they’re whirling around on-deck circles or making themselves to the plate. While 2K Sports may eventually deliver a patch to clear up that particular problem, I hope they don’t – the phantom bats are a hoot.” Another graphical shortfall is that the crowds are made up of about 20 distinct people that are repeated – clothes an all – throughout the stands.

The computer AI is also a problem because it does idiotic things at times. Here’s a scenario. Let’s say I’m up to bat. I’ve got two outs and a man on first. My player hits a grounder to the shortstop and the second baseman is covering his bag. The shortstop, by the way, is maybe a yard away from second base. The logical thing for the shortstop to do in that situation is to either flip the ball over to second or simply step on the base and force the runner out, thus ending the inning. In that situation, I’ve seen the computer choose a third and stupid action – make a terrible throw to first so the batter is safe and the runner is on second wondering how he got there safely. The computer AI seems to have trouble with the concept of throwing a ball home when runners are on base and a hit lands in the shallow outfield. More than once, I’ve sent a runner from third all the way to home while a fielder is holding the ball and acting like the play has ended. Strange.

The biggest flaw with this game, however, is that there is no tutorial mode. That oversight is glaring when one considers there’s a steep learning curve to MLB 2K12 and getting the timing necessary to play the game is essential. Bear in mind that every button, both analog sticks and the control pad are mapped to do something and the pitiful instruction manual (actually, it’s more of a pamphlet that sums up the control) isn’t much help. Yes, 2K12 does offer players the option of downloading the “full” manual (a cheap move when one considers this game retails for $60), but that online PDF isn’t much more detailed than the awful black-and-white pamphlet that comes with the game.

The solution to that problem becomes obvious after a time – set the difficulty level to “rookie,” set up your favorite team in a franchise then play through spring training to learn how master timing and the controls.

Once I invested some time in spring training, I found the controls to be intuitive, the pitching mechanism to be a blast and the overall game to be very enjoyable. The Show might be a better game, but that’s not an option for me as I’ve got enough video game systems plugged up to my HDTV set as it is and don’t need a PS3 adding to the clutter (buying another gaming system might cause my wife to throw a fit (yes, I do still have my old Atari and at least one console from every generation since)). MLB 2K12 is more than good enough for Xbox fans wanting a solid baseball game.

There are a lot of PS3 games that have made me question my decision to purchase an Xbox 360. The Show isn’t one of them – MLB 2k12 is a very good game and I don’t feel like I’m missing out on anything by not having another title available for my system.

If you want to read a review of MLB 2K12 that concentrates on that title rather than how inferior it is compared to The Show, click here.

Need help finding a place to stay in Scotland?

2012-06-17T02:00:00.001-05:00

A couple of years ago a friend of mine visited Scotland with his fiance and some high school buddies.

He had a great time during those two weeks and, frankly, some of us are a bit surprised he ever came home. Yes, the vacation was that excellent.

There were, however, some obstacles to taking his Scotland vacation. It had nothing to do with airfare, making travel arrangements, taking time off work or anything like that. Indeed, his biggest problem was finding a place to stay while on his Scottish holiday.

Here’s the thing – he, like most Arkansans, had no experience with dealing with such things overseas. What kind of places are available for those visiting Scotland? What prices are reasonable? What kind of accommodations can one expect?

Those questions used to be hard to answer until just recently. Yes, the Internet makes it very possible to do some quality research before embarking on such a trip, but even then there’s a problem – what Internet sources are worthwhile and which ones are misleading garbage? A rotten site can, after all, waste your time or even lead you to a scammer ready to swipe your cash in return for nothing.

So, let’s make this easy – click any of the links in this post to find a site that will give you some good advice on quality Scottish accommodations.

Skies of Arcadia, Shenmue coming to Xbox Live Arcade?

2012-06-14T13:00:00.001-05:00

It happens regularly – just when I’ve decided that wasting my money on an Xbox 360 was a bad idea, something comes along to give me hope for the console.

Now, don’t get me wrong – the problem with the Xbox 360 has nothing to do with the console. Rather, the video game market isn’t exactly tailored to 43-year-old married guys who grew up on the Atari 2600 and hate Halo with a passion that borders on irrational. While it stinks to realize that it seems I’ve outgrown video games, that’s exactly what’s happened (well, when it comes to the latest batch of consoles, at least).

At any rate, one bit of news that has given me hope is an announcement that Sega might be working on high definition versions of both Skies of Arcadia and Shenmue to release for download through Xbox Live Arcade. That’s great news for those of us who still think fondly of our old Sega Dreamcast systems and count Skies of Arcadia as one of the greatest Japanese RPGs in the genre.

I’ll not get too excited until I see the games actually show up, however. Those of us who have been waiting for a sequel to Skies of Arcadia have been teased in the past. Sure the video game was ported to the Nintendo Gamecube in 2002 as Skies of Arcadia Legends, but that game wasn’t terribly different from the original.

If Skies of Arcadia does show up on Xbox Live Arcade, one can only guess whether it will be a substantial update to a 12-year-old game or merely the same thing with high definition graphics. The truth of the matter, however, is this – if it shows up for the Xbox Live Arcade, I’ll probably buy it regardless of whether it’s substantially different from the original or not.

Foreclosure bottleneck opened?

2012-06-12T11:09:00.001-05:00

Over the past few months, we’ve seen foreclosures down drastically in Arkansas.

RealtyTrac.com, a company that keeps up with foreclosures, reported those had dropped by around 79 percent in the Natural State compared to the same first three months of 2011. Was the decrease due to a booming economy?

No, not exactly. Foreclosure rates started falling last year in the wake of In Re Johnson, a chapter 13 bankruptcy case in the Eastern District of Arkansas, Jonesboro Division. In that case, the court held that a lender not authorized to do business in the state of Arkansas could not take back homes through the state’s non-judicial foreclosure statute.

Out-of-state banks claimed they were authorized to do business in Arkansas because they had been chartered nationally by the federal Officer of the Comptroller of the Currency and, therefore, had no need to register with the Arkansas Secretary of State or anywhere else. An appeal was filed and the Eastern District took up the matter again in May.

On May 11, the Eastern District reversed the earlier decision and held that, indeed, those banks that are nationally chartered are also authorized to do business in the Natural State.

So, where does that leave us and why should anyone care?

First of all, it’s important to keep in mind there are two types of foreclosure actions in Arkansas – judicial and non-judicial. Lenders prefer the non-judicial route as they are less expensive than going through the courts system and the foreclosing on a home through that method typically doesn’t take as long.

When the non-judicial option was tossed out the window for a lot of lenders, the foreclosure rate slowed considerably. That does not mean that financial woes vanished for people who couldn’t pay their mortgages.

It does, however, mean that title companies were reluctant to write insurance on transactions involving foreclosed homes when there was a question as to whether those houses were taken in line with Arkansas state law.

In other words, a lot of people purchased homes that were taken prior to the decision and were left in limbo. They couldn’t close on their purchases because they couldn’t get title insurance on the homes.

So, the murky foreclosure picture may get cleared up before long. It certainly appears that it will if the reversal stands.

Having said all of that, it’s important to point out that no one wins in a foreclosure. The borrower is left without a home and banks almost always lose money when they have to take a home through foreclosure and then sell it.

That being the case, buyers should know that there are options for them when they fall behind on their mortgages or are in danger of doing so. Your mortgage banker is well aware of those options, so feel free to call to find out what they are. Banks prefer to work with borrowers rather than file a foreclosure, after all, so finding out what your options are if you’re mortgage is at risk of falling into default is a good idea.

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Home Sweet Home is distributed weekly by the Mortgage Bankers Association of Arkansas. Visit the Association on the Internet at mbaar.org.

Spice rack heaven

2012-06-12T10:47:00.001-05:00

Just head on down to your local retailer and see what spice racks are available.

The chances are good you’ll find a typical, wall mounted spice rack and maybe one of those “lazy Susan” things. The fact of that matter is that retailers behave according to the laws of supply and demand – since there’s likely not a huge demand for spice racks in a given area, the supply of those items will be limited.

Ah, but that’s one of the reasons the Internet is great. While that wall spice rack at your local retailer might suit your needs, you might want to expand beyond the limited selection your retailer probably has. If you want plenty of kitchen spice racks to choose from and find some great prices to boot, just click one of the links in this article and get ready to shop like crazy.

The laws of supply and demand still apply to Internet retailers, but here’s the difference – those retailers market to a huge customer base, while that’s not the case for regional stores. More demand equals more supply, after all, and that’s very good for customers.

Music Monday: The Replacements

2012-06-11T01:09:00.001-05:00

Here's one of those things I'm really glad I got to see in my youth. When I was 16-years-old, the Replacements appeared on Saturday Night Live, played "Bastards of Young" and "Kiss Me on the Bus" while stinking drunk and then got banned from the program.

You've got to love the irony -- one would think the folks in charge of a comedy program would have a sense of humor. Alas, that was not the case. At any rate, I did get to see this performance back in 1986 and I'm glad I did -- it was like a big, middle finger from a band that deserved a lot more success than it got. When you watch the clip, make sure to watch Paul Westerberg right before Bob Stinson's guitar solo -- apparently, dropping an "f bomb" on live TV guaranteed an SNL ban. Here's a bit of history, so enjoy!

For the curious, the below is the album version of "Bastards of Young." The video is noteworthy as it reflects the band’s “don’t give a damn” attitude quite well.

Come join Music Monday and share your songs with us. Rules are simple. Leave ONLY the ACTUAL LINK POST here and grab the code below and place it at your blog entry. You can grab this code at LadyJava's Lounge Please note these links are STRICTLY for Music Monday participants only. All others will be deleted without prejudice. PS: Because of spamming purposes, the linky will be closed on Thursday of each week at midnight, Malaysian Time. Thank you!

The cure for the low power blues

2012-06-11T00:55:00.001-05:00

A few months ago I went ahead and got an iPhone 4S.

Folks, don’t be fooled by Apple’s hype about how long a battery lasts in one of these things. Mine sucks down power at an alarming rate. That’s not problem, really, as I’m typically at my home, office or in my car often enough to keep the battery in the iPhone charged.

Ah, but there is a problem when I need to be away from a charger for an extended period of time. Simply put, the battery in my phone will not last a full day under normal use. The solution to that problem? A portable USB battery charger. That device is priced very reasonably and is simple to use – just pull it out, slap the Apple charging on it, connect the phone and you’re rolling.

Of course, Apple isn’t the only company guilty of making a battery-sucking device (just ask a friend of mine about how fast his HTC Thunderbolt smartphone can drain a battery). Smartphones suck power, tablets and a whole host of things do. If you can charge it through a USB port, the chances are good that USB battery chargers will work out very well for you.

Click one of the links in this article to find out about a low-priced device that can charge two USB ports at once, holds a lot of power when charged and is very convenient.

The Hawg gets interviewed

2012-06-05T23:15:00.001-05:00

Yes, it has been hard to update this blog lately. That’s been going on for the past few years, actually.

Why? Well, I’ve been busy. While I do have a regular gig, I spend a lot of time writing for a lot of online and offline publications. I even have the good fortune of laying out a quarterly journal for a trade group here in Arkansas in Adobe InDesign.

I was thinking about these things earlier when trying to bring myself to update this little ole blog. About the time I was thinking about a topic, the phone rang – a local radio station wanted to interview me about the reversal of a Bankruptcy Court decision that had slowed down foreclosures in Arkansas. I talked about that issue a bit in this article for an online publication just yesterday (I got called for another interview).

The point? I’d like to update this site more, but I’ve been busy as heck with other things. That’s a true shame. I’ll try to do better. Promise.

The cure for skin care blues for all ages?

2012-06-05T23:04:00.001-05:00

Ah, the joy of being a teenager!

Teens have more energy than their poor parents (I know this from experience), can eat pretty much anything they want and are – compared to us poor adults – pretty darned spry. There’s a tradeoff for all that dandy youth, however – acne.

My 15-year-old is going through all of that fun right now. The poor little rascal fights with the stuff about daily and appears to be in a losing battle. However, there’s one company out there that claims to offer some help and that’s good news (click the above “acne” link for details about that and I’ll mention it again in a minute).

Ah, but skin problems don’t stop with acne, do they? No, once those days are over, it’s time to start worrying about aging. Yes, few things are harder on skin than aging, but a product called (appropriately enough) Resurgence may help people restore that youthful glow.

Why mention both acne treatment and the Resurgence product in the same post? Because both products at issue here are made by a company called Murad. You can get Murad coupon codes at the aforementioned link and see if those products work as well as the company claims. There’s a lot to be said for a company that puts its money where its mouth is – give those products a try on the cheap and see if they work for you.

Enrolled agent? Need continuing education?

2012-05-24T14:13:00.001-05:00

Every enrolled agent in the country needs at least 16 hours annually and 72 hours of continuing education to stay current with the IRS.

An enrolled agent, of course, is an IRS-authorized individual that represents taxpayers in audits collections and appeals. Where does one go for enrolled agent continuing education? Try clicking the aforementioned link and you’ll find all the information you need to get those hours and keep your certification.

Any questions? Check out the enrolled agent continuing education requirements and you’ll likely find your answers there.

Good luck!

Horoscope for the week of May 7

2012-05-07T23:08:00.001-05:00

Dr. Zodiac tells me he’s gotten a new dog.

A terrier. A small puppy that’s taken up a lot of his time. In hopes of turning his mind back to important things – namely communing with the stars and producing this horoscope (for which he is paid nothing) – I’ve been giving him some dog training tips.

What’s the best way to potty train a pup? Very simple – take the little critter to bed with you and, when it squirms, you know it’s time to take it outside. Of course, there are a couple of drawbacks to this method. For one thing, you’ll wind up staggering through the house with a pup every couple of hours for at least a month until the beastie gets trained. For another, you’ll have a dog that wants to sleep under the blanket with you for the rest of its days.

So, you’ll lose a little sleep and will have a dog that is bonded to you so closely that it might stun you. Still, it’s an effective way to potty train a dog quickly and it even works on stubborn terriers.

Ah, but enough dog advice and rambling. What do the stars have in store for you this week? Come on and find out, pilgrim.

Aries

Mar 21-Apr 19

You’ve heard that old wisdom that suggests there ain’t no cure for the summertime blues, right? You will discover that there is a certain shade of blue that’s associated with spring and there’s not much of a cure from that, either. It’s called allergy season, ace, and it’ll give you fits this time of year. Buy some Benadryl and learn to deal with it. Your lucky number this week is 50 mg.

Taurus

Apr 20-May 20

You will consider getting a hobby this week. Good for you! Here’s some advice – things like gardening, bicycling and playing tennis are great hobbies. Knife throwing, red baiting and joining a cult are not good hobbies. Good luck. Your lucky number this week is 29.

Gemini

May 21-Jun 21

Remember all those New Year’s resolutions you made? You’ve broken them all, haven’t you? Here’s some advice – make some obtainable resolutions next year. Anyone on the planet can resolve to watch less television or lose weight, but how many people can actually meat those goals? Sticking with things like giving up, say, fish sticks and canned spinach are far more realistic. Your lucky number this week is square 1.

Cancer

Jun 22-Jul 22

Do you know how one can tell that the economy is bad? The number of stray animals increases substantially. Several of those strays will find their way to your home. Be kind to them, Cancer. Someone has to do the right thing, so it might as well be you. Your lucky number this week is 57.

Leo

Jul 23-Aug

It’s tornado season, so don’t let the relative calm of this spring fool you. Those tornadoes are out there. They’re waiting and hiding. Make those preparations to avoid them, like now. Your lucky number this week is 5.

Virgo

Aug 23-Sep 22

The stars are really angry with you this week, Virgo. Now, don’t take it personally – it’s just your turn in the barrel. Now, they won’t do anything truly horrible to you this week, but you will be very annoyed. I’m talking about paper cuts, spilling lunch in your lap and that type of thing. Grin and bear it. We all have to at some point. Your lucky number this week is 820,912.

Libra

Sep 23-Oct 23

”Scat singing” at random annoys the heck out of people, but you’ll do it anyway. Why? I’m not sure and you won’t be able to help yourself. Your sanity will return after your run around spouting nonsense such as “scooby doo whop du bah” for a week, but you will feel embarrassed at the end. And, yes, you should feel embarrassed. Oh, yes you should. Your lucky number this week is 111.

Scorpio

Oct 24-Nov 21

Do not – I repeat do not – come up with any baby names this week. Perhaps you’ve got a baby on the way. Perhaps a friend or relative is expecting. You will be put in a situation this week to come up with some baby names this week. Resist. Every one you come up with will be awful. Your lucky number this week is 664.

Sagittarius

Nov 22-Dec 21

Go see a movie on Friday night. Or go bowling. Just do anything to avoid being home at 7 p.m. this Friday. Trust me on this. You’ll be very, very sorry if you instead decide to say at home. Heed my warning, pilgrim, and plan accordingly. Your lucky number this week is 314.

Capricorn

Dec 22-Jan 19

The stars have been very vague about your forecast this week. Actually, it seems they’ve completely forgotten about you. Consider yourself lucky. Think of it as a week off from the cruel fortunes mandated by the stars and enjoy yourself. We should all be so lucky. Your lucky number this week is ???

Aquarius

Jan 20-Feb 18

That person that irritates you at work this week will be more annoying than usual. Just remember – hitting is not allowed, but minor vandalism (letting air out of that person’s tires and that sort of thing) might be OK. Proceed with caution and be mindful of those criminal mischief laws. Your lucky number this week is 99.

Pisces

Feb 19-Mar 20

It’s time you took responsibility for your behavior. Stop blaming Tourette’s syndrome on your constant profanity. You just have a potty mouth. Shame, shame! Your lucky number this week is 86.