HSBC Direct bumps interest rates to 5.05% APY

Guess this may have been an reaction to U.S. Fed set for 17th rate rise: Most analysts expect the Fed to raise the overnight federal funds rate a quarter-percentage point to 5.25 percent, its highest level since March 2001, although a few have speculated about the potential for a half-percentage point move. Just 10 days ago, HSBC bumps their rate to 4.8%. Today, I received an email stating they’ve bumped it again to 5.05%.

But unfortunately, all my money there have been already been withdrawn as down payment for my condo and I don’t see it growing back fast any time soon.

Akismet Spam Detector

Another one slipped through today.
4,696 Caught / 25 Missed / 0 False Positives (99.5% accuracy)

I’ll also take the time here to apologize for not posting any new entries recently. My dad’s been over and I’ve been busy doing paper work for my condo purchase. And now I’ll be on a 5 day vacation at Mt. Shasta (near Redding) to meet up with some old buddies back from Berkeley.

Hopefully I’ll have time to post when I come back.

The Pink Panther

Despite the bad to average ratings, I thought the movie was pretty silly funny and pretty enjoyable.

Official Site
IMDb: 4.7/10 (6,405 votes)
Yahoo! Movies: The Critics: C / Yahoo! Users: B-
Rotten Tomatoes: Rating: 21% / Average Rating: 4.1/10
Apple Trailer
Amazon.com DVD
Amazon.com Soundtrack

pink panther posterpink panther posterpink panther posterpink panther poster

Spoilers: (Show)

My Complete Identity

So I just faxed in my signed mortgage application along with the my complete identity:

  • last 2 statements from each of my bank account (12 pgs)
  • last 2 statements from my brokerage account (22 pgs)
  • last 2 paystubs (2 pgs)
  • college transcript (2 pgs)
  • last 2 years’ W-2 forms (1 pg)
  • scan of driver’s license (1 pg)

Wow…

Maybe one day we can do all this through Information Cards. ;p

Sushi Race Cars

I thought these sushi race cars were so cute! (from FuzzyWuzzy) They’re even drifting!

sushi race carssushi race carssushi race cars

sushi race cars
Uh oh… Where did one go? He must’ve turned off his headlights (Initial D reference)

Also from 4chan, I saw a link to this video: Top Gear – The Carver. The Carver looks so fun! It’s sorta a car/motorcycle mesh. Apparently there’s these green and red lights that indicate how far you’ve tilted and your goal is to get as many red lights as possible.

16 Blocks

Finally watched this movie. Turned out to be pretty good, though I wasn’t expecting much from it, after seeing Bruce Willis’ latest movies. You also get to meet that alien guy from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. This is a movie where you one side who’s trying to stay 1 step ahead of the other and the other side where they’re trying to think where that 1 step would be. There was a one move that left me confused though…

Official Site
IMDb: 6.6/10 (5,560 votes)
The Critics: C+ / Yahoo! Users: B
Rotten Tomatoes: Rating: 53% / Average Rating: 5.8/10
Apple Trailer
Amazon.com DVD

16 blocks poster16 blocks poster16 blocks poster

Spoilers (Show)

1lb of Pasta

Who knew 1lb of pasta was that much pasta? The only pasta I got before was the pasta that came in 20 bags of spaghetti at Costco, and I usually split that into 3 or 4 meals (not too sure how much those weighed). So today, I went to Safeway and they were having 10 box of pasta for $10. Each box was a pound each, so I got 2 boxes of fettuccine, 2 boxes of linguine, and 2 boxes of angel hair and left Safeway only paying $6 total. Haha. I had some lean ground beef I had to get rid of (probably 2 weeks old?).

Anyway, I opened a box of fettuccine and started cooking it. The box of fettuccine seemed pretty small and harmless so I poured the whole thing in. It wasn’t until I poured the pasta into my stir fry pan with meat and pasta sauce that I realized how much pasta there was. So I watched 16 Blocks as I was eating my pasta, and somehow managed to finished the whole thing (I don’t like keeping food overnight nor wasting food). However this has created a problem where 4 hours after I finished the pasta, my stomach still hurts. Ugh…

Who knew 1lb of pasta could be that much? I think I ate like 3 shares of what I’d normally eat. Did I mention my stomach’s still hurting?

Insomnia

So last night I couldn’t fall asleep? Tried to go to bed at 2am, but twisted and turned for over an hour. I finally got out of bed and started to exercise to tire myself out. Did some sit-ups, some push-ups, and some DDR. I was now tired as my eyes were getting heavy into the 7th song of DDR. However, now I was too hot, so wearing a t-shirt and short, I took a stroll outside to cool down which worked wonders. I think I fell asleep the moment I hit the sack when I returned.

So what is causing this insomnia? Could it be the stress? I’m pretty sure it’s not work related as I’ve never had problems falling asleep before. The only conclusion I could come up with is the condo I just purchased, and I guess I’m pretty stressed out after looking at so many houses, already got declined 3x, and finally got my 4th offer accepted. The listing price was at $436,000, but I got it at $421,000. It has 3 bedroom and 2.5 baths and is a pretty nice condo in a pretty neat location. However, I think the thoughts keep on going through my head thinking, what if this isn’t the right house? What would happen if I put in a few extra thousand dollars and gotten the other house? What if I could’ve gotten a better house if I waited? Many many “what if”s are going through my head. Now there’s the finding a mortgage with a cheap interest rate. What if I can’t get a loan? What if I don’t have enough money for the down (although my dad’s assured me today that’s taken care of).

It’s been a pretty scary roller coaster and I think it’s the reason I had insomnia last night. I finally went to bed at 4am and woke up after 12pm.

Random Crap

Criss Angel pulls a lady apart!? (from RayAlome) – the video is both shocking and funny at the same time as the woman splits apart. Was he using midgets?

Cancelling AOL (from /.) – I first heard it from YTMND.com (from RayAlome) over a week ago, but this was finally posted on /. and someone posted the link to Vincent’s blog. You can listen to the recording here. I don’t know if this is real, but for some reason, being able to locate the account with just the name and last 4 digits of his credit card seemed a bit weird. You’d expect him to at least tell the CSR what his primary account’s screenname is. But even so, assuming it’s real, AOL is renown for such tatics. It took me ~15minutes the last time I tried to cancel my account. A bunch of us were having contests on trying to set the record for the quickest cancellation. There was a deal that rewarded us $100 back in college for trying AOL.

Teacher-proof ringtone hits the US (from RayAlome) – British kids were quick to sample the sound and turn it into a ringtone to be used in class – they can hear it, but teachers can’t. Apparently the sound is just car traffic, though I’m not sure what to think about this article. Was this a joke? Is it that adults automatically tune out these sounds?

2006 USA Rock Paper Scissors Tournament Championship Round (mirror) (from RayAlome) – The first ever USA Rock Paper Scissors tournament where the winner walks away with $50,000 was held in Las Vegas in 2006. The contestants in this final round is “Fast-Twitch” Twitchel vs “Drill” McGill. What’s hilarious is the announcer before the match when hey does the hand motion while saying, “… as one player with do this for $50,000 and a place in history.” When I saw that hand motion, I immediately thought of something else that looked like that… The commentary during the match was hilarious too: American Hero, RPS Immortality, formidable opponent.. hahaha!

Non-scents from Nokia (from /.) – Students from London’s CSM College of Art and Design have been working on new designs for futuristic looking cell phones. Check out the pictures at BBC.

Drug stashes found at Home DepotsPolice are investigating Massachusetts outlets of Home Depot Inc. after discovering caches of cocaine and marijuana stuffed into merchandise at three local branches of the retail chain. Low on cocaine? Visit your local Home Depot and purchase a bathroom cabinet.

Liquid Armor (from /.) – Flexible full-body protection that could save our troops’ lives and limbs is at the top of the list for many researchers and technology companies. One such product could soon make its way to Iraq. As this ScienCentral News video explains, the secret ingredient is a liquid that could turn lightweight material into full-body armor.Do check out the video.

Hybrid DVD/HD DVD discs arriveNow, Warner Home Video is hoping to change this equation somewhat by releasing “hybrid” titles—discs that are regular DVD movies on one side and HD DVD on the other. Interesting…

DNA test to clear up Confucius confusionNow his countrymen can establish a genetic link in a test that will cost more than 1,000 yuan ($125), according to the Shanghai Morning Post. “We would like to help these unconfirmed claimants to test their DNA and to establish a Confucius-DNA database,” it quoted Deng Yajun, a DNA expert from Beijing Institute of Genomics at the Chinese Academy of Science, as saying. How the scientists had obtained a sample of Confucius’s DNA was not explained. Smells like a scam…

The Corruptibles! (from /.) – EFF distributes an animation showing you how evil thes media companies can become.

OpenSky (from /.) – a Nausicaa project where the try to make the flying device that was used in Ghibli’s animation. Do check out the videos they made.

if the earth were a sandwich (from /.) – it’s a new craze! It seems the first people to complete the sandwich were these guys: 0009 Earth Sandwich.

D1大整古-滑雪場按摩椅 (from Ohfuee) – *not work safe* the title translates to “D1 Big Prank – Snow Sliding Massage Chair”. The only reason it’s not work safe is because when the victims flip over, their towel comes off. The hilarious one comes later when the massage chair actually laucnhes.

UBC Engineers Create Vehicle that Travels from Vancouver to Halifax on a Gallon of Gas (from /.) – The UBC design, which required the driver to lie down while navigating it, achieved 3,145 miles per US gallon (0.074 litres/100 km) — equivalent of Vancouver to Halifax on a gallon (3.79 litres) of gas — costing less than $5 at the pump.

Fully Internal Watercooled Xbox 360 (from /.) – It’s not the first time we see a watercooled Xbox 360: x-scene forum moderator Xboxexpert made one and we’ve also seen one from hardocp.com. But unlike to the 2 previous one, this one is fully internal … it’s all inside the Xbox 360 case.

HAJIKERO! iincho – Apparently they made another video with the same CG as Funky Cat Maybe.

Exam cheats score high marks for ingenuityA student in Wuhan, capital of China’s central province of Hubei, used earphones so small that they slipped into his aural canal and perforated his eardrum, the China Daily newspaper said. Another student’s earphones required an operation for their removal, the paper said, while an electronic device connected to headphones and strapped to a third student’s body exploded, leaving a bleeding hole in his abdomen. Sigh… they need to make more universities…

Animal rights protest shuts restaurantBanner-wielding animal rights protesters swarmed into a restaurant serving cat meat in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen and forced it to shut, Xinhua news agency said Sunday. The 40 or so, mainly female demonstrators — holding banners reading “cats and dogs are friends of human beings” — entered the Fangji Cat Meatball restaurant and demanded the owner free any live cats on the premises, Xinhua said. Any animal can become a friend of human beings. I’ve never heard of cats being eating in China, but dogs are common delicacies.

Pregnant pause as Moms wait for baby bonusAustralian hospitals are bracing for a baby boom in July as expectant mothers try to delay imminent births to take advantage of a new welfare payment, researchers said Monday. From July 1, a baby bonus paid to the parents for every newborn child will increase by A$1,000 ($740) to A$4,000. Government at this point should just move the bonus starting date earlier…

Soccer-mad monks too tired to take almsThe Nation quoted a woman in the northern city of Chiang Mai who said her birthday celebrations were ruined because monks at a city temple were not awake to receive her morning offering, a mandatory religious ritual in the predominately Buddhist country. The woman, who declined to be identified, said she was told by a senior monk that most of his young colleagues were still asleep because they had stayed up to watch the games which can go on well past midnight.

Tailing a monkey man in search of healing powersThousands of people are flocking to an impoverished Indian village in eastern West Bengal state to worship a man they believe possesses divine powers because he climbs up trees in seconds, gobbles up bananas and has a “tail.” … Tucked away in a hamlet in Banarhat, over 400 miles north of Kolkata, the state capital, devotees wait for hours to see or touch Oraon’s 13-inch tail, believing that it has healing powers. Doctors said the “tail” — made up of some flesh but mostly of dark hair — was simply a rare physical attribute. Is this the reincarnation of 孫悟空?