Author: Krunk

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$25 Costco Cash Card For Signing Up For American Express

So I recently got a packet from American Express trying to get me to sign up friends and family for the American Express TrueEarnings credit card (Costco credit card). At first I didn’t care much for it, but after reading through the details, it seems like a good deal for both me and whoever I’m referring.

I received 4 of these postcards to distribute to friends:
amex trueearnings credit card $25 costco cash card referral

If you sign up, you get a $25 Costco Cash Card after your first purchase and I get a $25 Costco Cash Card for referring you. When I signed up for my Amex card, I didn’t get any type of sign up bonus, so I personally think this is a good deal for those Costco members who haven’t gotten the Costco Amex. You can read my Credit Card Arsenal entry to see why this card is that great and a must have for any Costco member. Some say that it’s not worth getting a Costco membership just to get this credit card, but I’ve always seen it as a bonus that I get for having a Costco membership. I mean, even without this credit card, I’d still have my Costco membership.

Here are the details:

Carry the TrueEarnings Card from Costco and American Express and we’ll give you a $25 Costco Cash Card you can use to pick up something for yourself.

  • You’ll earn 3% cash back for eating out, 2% for traveling, and 1% back everywhere else, including Costco.
  • There’s no annual fee for the Card with your paid Costco memberhsip.
  • There’s no limit to the cash back you can earn.
  • You’ll have the flexibility to pay over time.

Visit americanexpress.com/costcofriend to learn more and sign up today!

UNIQUE ID: 3071220387
EXPIRES ON: October 14, 2007

——————

  • A $25 Costco Cash Card will be awarded within 14 weeks after your first purchase appears on your monthly billing statement. Costco Cash Cards are for first time Cardmembers only. See application for details at americanexpress.com/costcofriend. Applicant understands and agrees that American Express Cardmember who referred him/her may be compensated with a Costco Cash Card if his/her application is approved, and may be able to tell if his/her application is declined or approved.
  • Eligible Purchases earn a rebate of 1, 2, or 3 percent as follows: 3% at restaurants; 2% for travel purchases from airline, lodging, car rental, cruise line, travel agency, and tour operators; and 1% on all other Eligible Purchases. “Eligible Purchases” do NOT include returned purchases, Fees, Finance Charges, Cash Advances, Balance Transfers, purchase of American Express Travelers Cheques, American Express Gift Cheques, and other cash equivalents. Rebates are awarded each February in the form of an in-store coupon redeemable for merchandise or cash at any U.S. Costco Warehouse. To receive the rebate your account must be open and you must present the coupon at Costco prior to the coupon expiration date. Rebates less than $1 will be forfeited. Forfeiture rules for late payment also apply.

J357:0001

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Hamster – Love and Friendship

hamster - love and friendship

Informer: SueOn
Source: Nirvana Musing

I just have to say how awesome this picture is. The hamsters are awfully cute and the situation is very sweet. I’m not sure if it’s photoshopped or not, but it would seem quite difficult to pose hamsters. Maybe the flower was added in later.

The original source notes it as “Friendship and love defined in one photo.” However, I’d like to see it as a different way. At first it may seem like the friend hamster is lowering the hamster holding the flowers, but it could be completely opposite where the friend hamster is pulling the hamster away, or how I like to call it as rescuing a friend from the evil female monster. What true friend would allow a buddy to fall into the claws of the devilish opposite gender.

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Laser Printers and Air Pollution

While chatting with Ungsunghero, he brought up the news about how laser printers are a health risk due the fact they pollute the air. There was a recent report published in Environmental Science & Technology: Particle Emission Characteristics of Office Printers. This story was covered by both Ars Technica and BBC NEWS.

A group was comparing indoor air quality (offices) vs outdoor air quality of urban areas by comparing the amount of tiny particles in the air that can lodge into your lung and cause damage. They noticed there were fewer particles during non-business hours in the office, however once business resumed, the number of particles rapidly increased up to 5x the amount of outdoor particles. Through a process of elimination, they were able to pinpoint the origin of the particles to the laser printer.

Of course not all laser printers are equal and after a thorough test of 60 laser printers, they’ve broken them down into 4 categories: non-emitter, low level emitter, middle level emitter, high level emitter

They’ve deterimined that the particles that the laser printer shoots out are actually tiny particles of toner or toner related material. The study also found out new toner cartridges tend to emit more particles and the amount of printed on the page also made a difference. Printing an image which covered more area of the paper released more particles into the air.

Anyway, why did I bring this story up? I took the following image when I got my tower fan, but I thought I’d recycle it here.
laser printer next to air filter

My laser printer is situated right next to my air filter, out of pure coincidence. It was probably due to the fact it was the only place where there was a spot big enough for it. I wonder if the HEPA filter is good enough to capture the particles…

My laser printer is generally off since I don’t print that much and even on idle, laser printer pulls in quite a bit of electricity.

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Pull Up Bar

So I’ve been meaning for a long time to pick up a pull up bar. I’ve enjoyed doing pull ups, but there really wasn’t anything around that would be able to hold my weight while I did the pull ups.

I decided to pick up something at Amazon.com: GoFit Chin-Up Bar. For $15 (+ free shipping since I have Prime), it sounded like a decent deal. Reviews of the item are pretty good too.

I got the Pull Up bar today and installed it over the corridor that connects my kitchen to my dining room:
pull up barpull up bar

At first I had not planned to used the brackets, which you screw onto the wall to keep the bar from slipping. However, after reading this review:

Like all of the other people here, I bought this bar and it has performed magnificently. $15 is ridiculously cheap for the high build quality of this item, but **BEWARE**.

******* DO NOT USE THIS ITEM WITHOUT THE BRACKETS ******, no matter how strong you think it is.

I am approximately 165lbs teenager and was using the bar sporadically throughout the day just for fun. Again, I hung this WITHOUT the brackets, which I learned to regret.
One time when I was pulling myself up, the bar fell broke off and fell, leading me to land party on my back and neck.

I immediately got back up like nothing happened, but the next day my back and neck are experiencing shrieking pain.

The use of brackets is not only recommended, but required. It takes only a few minutes!!

I decided it was in my best interest to install the brackets before using. It sounded painful to have the bar slip while doing pull ups.

After installing, I was excited to try it out. However, I was shocked to find myself even struggling to do 1. I was able to do 5 easily just a few years ago. Guess I’ll be practicing more on it. Chin ups on the other hand, I was able to do 3 easily. Must be the push ups I’ve been doing and it’s been strengthening my biceps.

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VoiceStick – Maximum of 3 Rings

For the longest time, I always wondered why my parents never left me a message on my answering machine. See, I have this VoiceStick VoIP account. Unlimited incoming calls for free. Plus the fact it gives me a 626 area code, means my parents can call me via their regular phone without paying any long distance.

I mean, my parents have always left my voicemail when they called my cell and I’m unavailable to answer it.

So the other day, I decided to try calling the number, just to test out the answering machine to make sure it’s working properly. After 3 rings, I get disconnected and hear the following message: “Nobody’s available to take your call at the moment. Goodbye.” VoiceStick does have its own voicemail system, where it even emails you when you get a voicemail, but I didn’t really care too much about messages left on this number (since it’s only my parents who have it. *whistles*), so I disabled that. I had set my answering machine to pick up on the 4th ring, but since it never got past the 3rd, that’s why the answering machine never picked up.

Anyway, I logged into VoiceStick’s account management system to see if there’s a way to increase the number of rings or the duration of hold before redirecting to voicemail/disconnecting the caller, but was unable to find any setting like that. I decided to email them to see what I can do about it:

Hi,

I was wondering if you could tell me if there’s a way to increase the number of rings for my VoiceStick number before going to voicemail/ending the call.

It currently rings 3 times and then plays the automated message telling that no one is available to answer the phone.

I was wondering if I could increase that to 4 or 5 and if it’s possible, how to do it?

Thank you.

Here was their reply, short and to the point:

No there is no way to change that at this time.

Harper Evans
Voicestick CustomerCare

I wonder if paid accounts are actually able to tweak this setting, because 3 rings is just not long enough. I mean sometimes back at home, it takes 5 rings before anyone picks up the phone.

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Microsoft Health Screening Results

So there’s this yearly health screening thing that Microsoft holds where they take some blood and some skin samples and some tears. I was just kidding about the tears and skin samples. Anyway, they measure your blood pressure, your cholesterol and all the other mumbo jumbo. My numbers have always been pretty nice, just that my body fat % and BMI (body mass index) is a bit high.

Last years result were:
Blood Pressure: 114 / 79 (desirable: 120 and below / 80 and below)
Total Cholesterol: 162 (desirable: less than 200)
HDL Cholesterol: 54 (desirable: 40+)
LDL Cholesterol: 97 (desirable: Less than 100)
Triglycerides: 54 (desirable: Less than 150)
Glucose: 94 (desirable 60 – 110)
Body Fat %: 24.4% (desirable: 8% – 19%)
BMI: 26.6 (desirable: 18.5 – 24.9)

I was recommended to do cardiovascular exercise 5-6 days/week for 30 minutes to lower my Body Fat % and BMI. That was one of the reason I got the exercise bike.

This years results are pretty much the same. I did lose about 10lbs along the way, but that didn’t really help lower my Body Fat % or BMI much.

This years result are:
Blood Pressure: 120 / 80 (desirable: 120 and below / 80 and below)
Total Cholesterol: 134 (desirable: less than 200)
HDL Cholesterol: 50 (desirable: 40+)
LDL Cholesterol: 72 (desirable: Less than 100)
Triglycerides: 60 (desirable: Less than 150)
Glucose: 86 (desirable 60 – 110)
Body Fat %: 24.3% (desirable: 8% – 19%)
BMI: 25.5 (desirable: 18.5 – 24.9)

At first I was shocked when I saw how close to the borderline my blood pressure was, but then I look at last year results and there were only up a tiny bit. I also attribute any errors to the fact that the lady taking my blood pressure made me laugh while the numbers were dropping.

My total cholesterol took a big drop, lowering both good and bad cholesterol. Not too sure if that’s a good thing, but I’m still within the desirables. So that’s good, right?

I have no idea about the triglycerides or glucose as those numbers moved around a bit, but not much.

Both my BMI and Body Fat % dropped, but by so tiny of an amount. Haha. I’m debating if it’s worth it to continue exercising. ;p Interestingly enough, last year I told them I was 5′ 6″ and this year I told them I was 5′ 5″. I noticed if I punch in 5′ 6″ and 153lbs into the BMI calculator, that puts me at 24.7, just within the desirable. I think I’m really 5′ 5″ (tried measuring myself yesterday with a tape measure), but I’ve given both numbers out as my official height (license shows 5′ 6″). If you want to find out your BMI, you can use the BMI Calculator at the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. BMI’s in my opinion are never that accurate as they use your height to estimate your volume. Xyon says the most accurate way to measure BMI is to have to strip naked and step into a pool of water and see who much the water level rises.

All in all, I’m happy with my results and the numbers say I’m pretty healthy. Rob (our project’s Lead PM) walked out as I was going in and asked how much damage I was expecting. You see, I bring in snacks and food every week, ranging from candy to cookies, from dried mangos to beef jerky. People drop by my office to get food every now and then and I don’t exactly bring in the healthiest food. Rob drops by every now and then for a slim jim or cookie. He said the damage my snacks caused wasn’t too bad. Derek on the other hand… he’s afraid to come to my office now.

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New Music

My favorite list of my music has just been updated. This list is basically the songs that repeat over and over whenever I’m at my computer.

Foo Fighters – Tired of You (Music Video – Live)
I first heard this song on I Think I Love My Wife. The movie was okay, not that great/funny in my opinion. I mean, I can’t really see Chris Rock doing a serious flick, which this attempts to somewhat become. However, it had a pretty awesome soundtrack. One of the songs they played was Foo Fighters – Tired of You and the chorus “I won’t go getting tired of you” just got stuck in my head, probably because grammatically it sounds incorrect (and may even be). However, it’s a neat song and I really like the melody.

Timbaland featuring Keri Hilson & D.O.E. – The Way I Are (Music Video)
I first heard this on the radio and really thought I hated the song. The way he sang “The Way I Are” grammatically incorrectly really bothered me at first. I mean, after the first time I heard the song, I believe all 5 or 6 people who called in and said dump it. One of the radio stations I listen to (WiLD 98.7) has this program call Bump it or Dump it. Anyway, as more and more radio stations started playing the song, I really liked the beat and the grammatically incorrect lyrics didn’t bother me as much anymore.

Linkin Park – What I’ve Done (Music Video)
I’ve always been a fan of Linkin Park, though I will agree that many of their songs sound too alike. This new song I first heard on the Transformers trailer and then again on The 11th Hour trailer. I have to admit, the song sounds good. Once again, it’s the tune/melody I like. I don’t think I know any other parts of the lyrics besides “What I’ve Done”, and that I only know because I had to find the song.

Sean Kingston – Beautiful Girls (Music Video)
Again, another song I heard on the radio. I have to apologize to Sean Kingston as when I first heard him on the radio, I imagined him to be a very skinny African American. He has a very distinct voice and I don’t know why I thought he was a skinny guy, but I was really shocked to find out how heroic portly (borrowed from Hjo3) he was. The song has a very distinct melody to it and at first I thought he was singing: “You’re way to beautiful girl”, which sounded odd to me. But as I said, the melody was what was neat about the song.

Kanye West – Stronger (Music Video)
Another song I heard on the radio. This song actually got me really pumped as every time Kanye West said “Stronger”, I’d yell “Stronger” (in my car) too! The background sound was really neat and I didn’t realize it was Daft Punk until RayAlome showed me the music video and told me the background music was Daft Punk. The song being played in the background is actually Daft Punk – Harder Better Faster Stronger.

I had totally forgotten about Daft Punk until now. I really liked Daft Punk’s music back in the day (high school and college). My favorites include One More Time and Around The World. They had a series of music videos done completely in anime style which I really enjoyed. What was interesting when I was reading the Daft Punk wikipedia entry was that there’s really no pictures of their faces. I quote:

Their outward personae have also changed over time. During their Homework years, the duo would usually wear masks to hide their appearance. When not wearing disguises, they occasionally preferred to be replaced by animation (as they appeared in The Work of Director Michel Gondry DVD) or have their faces digitally obscured for press kits. Very few photos of the duo’s faces exist, including a blurry one found in the Homework liner notes.

…

During a video interview shot in Japan, Daft Punk stated that they adorned their robot masks to easily merge the characteristics of humans and machines. However, Bangalter later admitted that the costumes were initially the result of shyness. “But then it became exciting from the audiences’ point of view. It’s the idea of being an average guy with some kind of superpower.” When asked on whether the duo expressed themselves differently within the robotic suits, Bangalter stated “No, we don’t need to. It’s not about having inhibitions. It’s more like an advanced version of glam, where it’s definitely not you.” With the release of Human After All, the musical duo’s outfits became slightly less complicated, consisting of simplified versions of the Discovery head gear and dark leather jumpsuits. The latter were designed by Hedi Slimane.

During the filming and promotion of Daft Punk’s Electroma, the duo went to great lengths to avoid showing their faces. As reported on October 2006, the band went as far as to wear black cloth over their heads during a televised interview. In November 2006, Daft Punk stated on Australia’s Triple J radio station that they prefer avoiding interviews rather than disguising themselves during them. It is believed that the mystery of their identity and the elaborate nature of their disguises has added to their international popularity.

Shop Boyz – Party Like a Rock Star (Music Video)
Yet another one from the radio. Nothing interesting to say about this one besides it sounds pretty good. I don’t generally like rap, but this song has a pretty good melody.

Plain White T’s – Hey There Delilah (Music Video)
The final one in my list, which I also first heard on the radio. Turns out this song is 2 years old, first released in 2005. When I first heard this music, I thought the song was really sweet and as more and more radio stations started playing it over and over, I started digging it. The hosts (mostly female) kept on saying how sweet the song was.

Lesson of the blog entry: Make your song have grammatically incorrect sentences and I may just add it to my favorites list.

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Taxable Food Items

So when going through my Costco receipt yesterday, I noticed that I was charged tax for my Poppy Seed Salad and my Made In Mexico Coca Cola. Let me tell you what I’ve always thought about food taxes. I had always assumed that items that are served to you (i.e. in a restaurant) or made ready to consume (i.e. to go sandwiches) are taxable. All other food items generally are not taxable with the exception of special cases like alcohol and etc. I thought maybe that’s how they indicate the CRV for aluminum cans (glass bottles in this case), however it was indeed taxed according to my math.

Anyway, I was shocked to find out my Coca Cola was taxed. I was wondering if it had to do because it was foreign product or maybe it was a mistake. I searched online and found this page: Ready-to-Eat Food:

Flour, sugar, bread, milk, eggs, fruits, vegetables, and similar groceries are not taxable. Candy, soft drinks, and gum are taxable, however.

Food is also taxable when served in restaurants and similar places of business. Listed below are some guidelines to help you determine when food is taxable and when it’s not.
These items are taxable:

  • prepared food sold with eating utensils;
  • food kept hot (ready to eat), such as barbecued chicken (whether whole or pieces), chili, and soups;
  • ready-to-eat sandwiches (but not frozen sandwiches);
  • all ice cream sundries, unless sold prepackaged in boxes;
  • all soft drinks (including powdered drink mixes), diluted juices (50 percent or less vegetable or fruit juice), beer, and wine;
  • tea, coffee, and juices sold in restaurants, lunch counters, cafeterias, vending machines, and hotels, or sold ready for immediate consumption from pushcarts, cars and trucks, or any other vehicle;
  • individual-sized portions (including super-sized servings) or packages of food such as chips and peanuts when they are sold from a lunch counter or snack bar; and
  • ice.

Retailers who mix two or more food ingredients on the premises to sell by weight or volume (for example, salad) as a single item must collect sales tax unless the product is typically reheated prior to eating (e.g., macaroni and cheese).

This rule does not apply to bakery items and food that is only cut, repackaged, or pasteurized.

A business that provides eating facilities, such as tables and chairs or booths, must collect tax on food sold ready to eat.

Bakery products are not taxable unless sold with plates or eating utensils. Bakery products include refrigerated pies, cakes, tarts, and cookies but do not include entrees that are “baked.”

A juice drink (e.g., orange juice, grapefruit juice, tomato juice) that contains more than 50 percent fruit or vegetable juice by volume is not taxable unless sold ready for immediate consumption. “Ready for immediate consumption” means, for example, served in a cup or with a straw. A store that has eating facilities such as tables and chairs must collect tax on sales of individual-sized bottles or cartons even if they contain more than 50 percent fruit or vegetable juice.

Convenience stores and grocery stores that don’t have eating facilities should not collect tax on chips, cookies, crackers, peanuts, and similar snack foods even when sold in individual-sized containers. Items purchased with the Lone Star Card are exempt from sales tax.

Water is not taxable unless it is flavored.

I’m shocked. It appears soda has always been taxed. Even when it’s not sold ready to be consumed. In my case, I don’t consider room temperature soda to be ready to be consumed.

On the same site as above, they have a complete list of which items are taxable and which items aren’t taxable: Grocery and Convenience Stores: Taxable and Nontaxable Sales

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Hecho en México

made in mexico coca cola from costcomade in mexico coca cola from costcomade in mexico coca cola from costco

So a couple weeks back, Ungsunghero mention he was drinking Coca Cola Coke that was made in Mexico and how great it tasted. For those that are unfamiliar with the differences between American coke and coke throughout the rest of the world, you’re definitely missing out. Coke in America is the only coke that is made with HFCS (high fructose corn syrup). Everywhere else, they are made with sugar cane sugar. The reason being that America grows so much corn that it has no idea what to do with it. Therefore, they invented HFCS as a replacement for sugar. They are able to compete against real sugar because the government subsidizes them so much. Anyway, I’ve enjoyed the real Coca Cola Coke when I’ve traveled back to Hong Kong and China and it was definitely better tasting.

There was a couple posts on Digg a few weeks ago talking about Passover Coke and Mexican Coca Cola spotted at Costco and everyone raves about them. The reason why there’s a Passover Coke is because they’re not allowed to eat anything made from corn during Passover, so the only sodas they can drink must be made with sugar or something alternative to corn. I’ve been meaning to check out Costco the last few times I went, but always forgot about it.

While I was entering Costco today… Actually while I was in line for a churro (I purchase a churro before I do my Costco shopping so I can eat while I shop), I noticed the guy next to me had 3 boxes of Coca Cola in glass bottles. Look at it more carefully, on the side, it said: Hecho en México (Made in Mexico). I was like sweet! Costco is still selling Mexican Coca Cola.

So after I picked up my items I was looking for, I went searching for the soda section. I’ve never really purchased soda at Costco as they aren’t usually cheaper than when it’s on sale in supermarkets, plus the fact I’ve never seen soda at the Issaquah Costco felt funny. I mean, I know exactly where the soda is at the Montebello Costco, because they’re all together next to the other beverages. So I searched in the beverage section and then the alcohol section, and neither area had soda. I know they sell soda, so I flagged down someone and asked him where the soda section is.

It turns out that the soda section is actually split along the end of 3 or 4 aisles in the back, right across from the bread section. I had noticed the bread section earlier, but didn’t realize or even think it was possible that soda would be across from it. I was also expecting them to be stuck together and not split across several aisles. The employee asked me what soda I was looking for. I think he found it weird I didn’t know where the soda section is, so he got curious. I told him I was looking for the Coca Cola made in Mexico. He goes, well, you better hurry, we’re almost out. Indeed, there were only like 7 or 8 boxes left (at least on display). Who knows how many they have in the back. It was stacked on top of the regular canned coke.

Anyway, the cost was $17.99 for 24 bottles, coming to 75¢ each. I picked up a case.

When I got home, I really wanted to taste it, but it wasn’t chilled yet, so I tried the old trick where you put it into a bowl of water and ice and add some salt to it and put it into the freezer. I left it in the freezer for 10 minutes and it was mildly chilled, but not really enough for me to enjoy a coke. I guess the trick works to some extent. The coke was still awesome though.

As Ungsunghero pointed out, these glass bottles are 355ml, which is equivalent to 12 fl. oz., the same volume as a can of soda, but not the same volume as a regular bottle of soda.

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Windows Media Center Sound Effects Disappeared

So after a recent crash of Windows Media Center, I noticed all the sound effects disappeared, the startup sound, the clicks when you navigate, and the beep when you tell it to start playing. At first I thought maybe the cable was lose, but sound still worked. Playing a video had audio and Winamp was able to stream music off the internet.

I tried restarting my Windows Vista box hoping that would fix it, but upon launching Windows Media Center, I noticed the startup sound still didn’t play. Launching videos from inside Windows Media Center did in fact have audio. I went into settings to see if I might’ve accidentally unchecked the sound effects box. But nope, it was still checked. I tried unchecking it, saving the settings, and then re-checking it, but that didn’t work either.

So I started searching online for solutions, but there really wasn’t much to work with.

Solution:
Interestingly enough, I was playing with the volume control and mixer and noticed this unlabeled volume control. I wasn’t mute or anything, but was set to pretty much the bottom. Since I’m using digital audio output, the only 2 volume controls I have are main and digital out. I had no idea where this 3rd control is and it didn’t appear to have an icon or name associated. Anyway, I dragged it to the 80% mark like the others and suddenly my Windows Media Center sound effects started working again. I noticed when Windows Media Center is open, my volume control gets an extra column with the green Media Center icon.

I never knew I was so addicted to those beeps. I guess Tivo people have the same problem with the fast forward and rewind beeps, where switching to your local cable provider’s DVR just doesn’t cut it.

Glad it’s fixed now and hopefully if someone out there is hitting this problem where the sound effects are gone, they’ll be able to find this page and quickly fix the problem.