Weekly Top Posts (2/24/2008 to 3/1/2008)

Here’s this week’s top post:

  1. How to download HD Trailers from Apple.com
  2. 4 Free Xbox Live Arcade Games
  3. Last Week: #4 Windows Update Error: 80070490
  4. Last Week: #3 Free AutoCheck Report (Similar to Carfax)
  5. LeekSpin
  6. Haloid
  7. Last Week: #8 Missing Codecs in Firefox to Play Video in Gallery2
  8. Last Week: #10 Hacking the Linksys WRT54GL
  9. 2-pin 3-pin Power LEDs?
  10. New iTunes Album Views

Previously…

I’ve switched from page views count to unique page views count for the ranking. Nothing else too interesting this week.

Lipton Green Tea with Citrus

lipton green tea with citrus So Costco had a coupon for this month for Lipton Green Tea with Citrus and I’ve decided to give it a try. The idea of mixing citrus (orange and lime) with green tea was an concept that didn’t originally sit well with me. I’ve had fruity teas before. They were okay, nothing spectacular, and I’d prefer just regular tea or with honey/milk+sugar. Anyway, since it was on sale at Costco, I decided to give it a shot. I got to try one today and boy was it tasty.

It had a very familiar taste, which I couldn’t quite get ahold of. I went through ice cream flavors and even started thinking about Capri Sun flavors, but nothing quite hit the spot. Honestly, the citrus taste really overpowers the green tea taste, but you can still taste a hint of the green tea. Finally after hours of contemplation and many sips of the drink, savoring the taste each time, it finally it me. It reminded me of those popsicle juice sticks my mom would purchase at the Chinese supermarket when I was small. I can’t exactly describe it further besides saying they’re sticks filled with fruit juices (probably non-natural) and you freeze them and then you suck on them. I tried searching for any image, but couldn’t find any. Here’s my quick attempt at drawing one:

chinese juice popsicle

Update:
Thanks for Ungsunghero for pointing out those things are called ice pops:

ice pops

Shopping (Un)Luck

I must have the worse shopping luck ever today. So I get up early today (yes, 12pm is early for a Saturday) to go get my haircut. The place I like is all the way in RTC (Redmond Town Center) and they’re only open till 2pm on Saturday and closed on Sunday.

———

I was hoping to drop by Evergreen Autoglass afterwards to get my rock chip in my windshield patched. However when I get there, it’s now an empty shop with the sign: “We have moved, please call this #.” I called the # and it turns out they’ve moved to Monroe and won’t be open till Monday. Unfortunately I’m not willing to drive all the way to Monroe to get my windshield repaired, but apparently they offer mobile repair service for $25 more ($15 for the rock chip repair and $25 for the mobile service, totaling $40). I could’ve probably found another place, but being lazy and the fact they did good jobs the previous 2x, I decided to take them up on this offer and scheduled for them to drop by my work place on Monday. Yes, my car’s windshield appears to attract rocks like a magnet. I’ve gotten 3 rock chips since I moved to Washington.

———

Next I did my weekly Costco run (more Mexican Coke!). I was also there to pick up some windshield wipers, since apparently mine were starting to tear. Looking at the chart, it showed:

01 Civic D.S. 20″
01 Civic P.S. 18″

I had previously measured my windshield wiper blade and it was about 21″. I looked down and found out that D.S. = driver side and P.S. = passenger side. I didn’t think they were 2 different sizes and didn’t measure the passenger size. Worse of all, these windshield wipers came in packs of 2s. So there were 2x 18″, 2x 20″, and 2x 22″. Did that mean I needed to get 2 18″s and 2 20″s? Why the heck aren’t they selling in singles when many of the cars on that chart don’t have the same length blades on each side. Since this was Costco, I decided I would just get a spare for later on. When I get home, I find out that the measurements they gave me were incorrect. The passenger side is actually 20″. So I decided I would install the 20″s and return the 18″s. But wait… apparently these blades which listed my car’s make and model don’t actually fit the stupid hook. I tried jamming it in and even tried to ply apart the hook to make it wider. I finally gave up after 30 minutes or so.

I started researching online and it turns out that people don’t actually recommend replacing the entire blade, just the rubber insert, and those cost like only $6 a piece at Honda dealerships. I gave my Honda dealership a call, but unfortunately their service department that sold it was closed and won’t be open till Monday. Grrrr.

I then remember I still had my previous windshield wiper inserts that I had removed and they were fine when I removed them. I went digging through my car parts box and found them. I replaced the inserts and now my windshield wipers are working fine again. Looks like I don’t need new windshield wiper inserts after all. I’ll be returning the windshield wiper blades to Costco, probably next week.

———

I finally started searching for a new bed/bedroom set. For those who know me, I’m not that big on furniture as all my bedrooms are pretty bare and I still sleep on my twin bed I had in college (or I may have exchanged it with my brother’s twin bed). Anyway, my mom’s been telling me to get a dresser since I still store my undergarment in my suitcase. She said I also need more beds for when they come visit me, they’ll have a place to sleep too. So I’ve been meaning to check out beds and given that I went to the Kirkland Costco today, I dropped by Costco Home. I was surprised by how expensive these bedroom sets were. There was really only 1 set I liked at Costco Home and it was $1099 excluding the mattress. The mattress I liked (Sealy Posturepedic Sterlingshire Firm) would cost another $699. Who knew mattresses were this expensive! Delivery included assembly and that would cost an additional $129 for 1st item + $19 for each additional item. The idea of spending my entire tax refund on a bedroom set did not sit well with me.

I then dropped by Dania Furniture (another couple blocks away from Costco Home) and I was much more fond of their designs and the bedroom sets were relatively the same price as Costco. The ones I liked ranged from $800 to $1100, but they weren’t really a mattress store and only carried Simmons. The mattresses were also scattered all around the store so it was hard to compare. The few that I tried didn’t really feel that great and their mattresses were more expensive than Costco. However, I didn’t want to order just a mattress from Costco and be charged $129 for delivery. Delivery at Dania was only $75 for everything, but assembly would be an additional $20-30/item.

I’ve checked IKEA awhile back and they had some decent designs. I should probably drop by there again. Also, if anyone of you have good suggestions on which stores to check out, please do let me know.

Argggghh… That’s why I hate furniture shopping. I’d rather spend my money on toys and electronics.

Update:
So after contemplating it over the night, I’m thinking of just going the Costco route since it’s the path of least resistance. I’ve uploaded the pictures I’ve taken with my cell phone:

Costco Home – Modus Furniture 5pc Queen Bedroom Set Nouveau II:
costco home - modus furniture 5pc queen bedroom set nouveau IIcostco home - modus furniture 5pc queen bedroom set nouveau IIcostco home - modus furniture 5pc queen bedroom set nouveau IIcostco home - modus furniture 5pc queen bedroom set nouveau II
I’ll probably end up getting this set.

Dania Furniture:
dania furniture bedroom setdania furniture bedroom set

dania furniture bedroom setdania furniture bedroom set
I really like this set ($1049 for Queen / $1099 for King). The image of the bed shown is a Full size, but they offer it in a Queen size too. I’ve given up on the King sizes since King mattress sets apparently cost $250-300 more)

dania furniture bedroom setdania furniture bedroom set

Long Week

It’s been quite a long week at work. I went in on both Saturday and Sunday of the previous weekend for about 6hrs/day (though I probably goofed off about half the time I was there). Then on Monday to Wednesday, I got into work around 12-1pm, but didn’t leave until after 2am, the latest being 5:30am. Thank god I got most of the work done by Thursday afternoon, because I wasn’t sure I could take another 14-17hr work day. Thursday and Friday turned out to be great and I got to play Rock Band with a bunch of friends on Friday night.

If you missed my 10 Signs You’ve Worked Too Late, you should check it out.

Free Catan (XBLA) with 12 Month Xbox Live Gold Subscription

Not exactly a freebie, but if you’re planning to get a 12 month Xbox Live Gold subscription, you might as well sign up now and get Catan on Xbox Live Arcade, which is based on The Settlers of Catan board game.

catan Because you’re such a valued Xbox LIVE® gamer, we’d like to offer you the chance to give the gift of Catan on us! Through strategy, trading, and a little bit of luck, your friends can vie for control with their opponents over the resources and territory of a newly discovered island.

Now through March 25, 2008, get your friends to sign up for a new 12–month Xbox LIVE Gold Membership, and they will receive a free copy of Catan.*

GIVE THE GIFT OF CATAN

Here’s how your friends can get their free copy of Catan:
1. Sign up for a new 12-month Xbox LIVE Gold Membership.
2. Register at: xbox.com/sm8

*Gift to Friend Offer: Offer good only to new 12-month Xbox LIVE Gold members who have subscribed for membership and registered at xbox.com/sm8 between February 25, 2008 and March 25, 2008. Limit: one gift per recipient. This offer is nontransferable. This offer expires on March 25, 2008, while supplies last, and is not redeemable for cash. Taxes, if any, are the sole responsibility of the recipient. Any gift returned as nondeliverable will not be re-sent. Please allow 6-8 weeks for the shipment of your gift. Offer is not combinable with other Microsoft offers or rebates. Open only to legal residents, aged 14+, of the 50 United States (includes the District of Columbia).

I tried loading the page and it showed: Page unavailable. Not sure if it’s because I didn’t sign up for a 12 month membership during the time frame or if it’s just not up yet.

Update:
The page is finally up and you can find more details at www.xbox.com/giftofcatan.

10 Signs You’ve Worked Too Late

Not in any particular order.

  1. The sun is rising.
  2. People are starting to come into the office.
  3. You have a giant pile of candy wrappers and empty soda cans around your desk.
  4. You’ve realized it’s been 17 hours since you entered the office on the previous day.
  5. On your way home, there’s actually more traffic going the opposite direction.
  6. You no longer feel tired.
  7. You reminisce the good old college days where you pull all nighters trying to complete a project due the next day.
  8. You keep refreshing your RSS feed aggregator hoping for new content, but there’s none.
  9. But when there is, you’re super happy.
  10. You start contemplating about sleeping over at work to save yourself the 40 minute round trip.

天龍八部 (Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils)

tian long ba bu So I finally finished watching 天龍八部 (Tian Long Ba Bu), also known as Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils. This is story written by 金庸 (Jin Yong) and adapted into TV series multiple times. The one I watched was the newest one adapted by China in 2003. It consisted of 40 episodes due to the fact the story is just that long. At first I wanted to watch it at 1.5x speed given that I was busy with work and wanted to complete the series quickly, however my Mandarin skill wasn’t good enough to comprehend it when they were speaking that quickly.

I honestly think this adaptation was poorly done. The acting was okay, but the directing was horrible. The storyline just didn’t flow that well and it felt like it was stitched together chapter by chapter. The ending was also really abrupt and left me with a feeling of incompleteness. If this story is like the other masterpieces that 金庸 (Jin Yong) has written, the only reason I can come up with for this being poorly done is the directing. The sceneries were really pretty and the fighting choreography was pretty good, but the acting and directing was just not that great.

Anyway, the story left several plot holes which I’m not sure if it ever got explained in the original novel.

BEGIN SPOILERS

慕容復 (Murong Fu) had 2 followers: 包不同 (Bao Butong) and 風波惡 (Feng Boe), and they are respectively 3rd brother and 4th brother. Assuming 慕容復 (Murong Fu) is the 1st brother, who was the 2nd? (Brothers in this context need not be blood-related)

無崖子 (Wu Ya Zi), head of 逍遥派 (Xiaoyao Clan), apparently was married to 李秋水 (Li Qiushui), his younger disciple sister. However, it was later revealed that he was in love with the sister of 李秋水 (Li Qiushui). 李秋水 (Li Qiushui) and her sister look very similar. 無崖子 (Wu Ya Zi) kept a drawing of a lady by his sides at all time till his death. However since the drawing had a mole on the lady’s face, it was revealed that 無崖子 (Wu Ya Zi) was indeed in love with the sister of 李秋水 (Li Qiushui). Before 無崖子 (Wu Ya Zi) died, he had told 虛竹 (Xu Zhu), the next head of 逍遥派 (Xiaoyao Clan) to look for this lady and ask her to teach him martial arts. However, this lady never appeared in the story and that just felt weird…

There’s this monk in Shaolin Temple only known as the Sweeper Monk. The only thing we know about him is that he’s been hiding hiding in the Shaolin Temple for over 40 years (even longer than 蕭遠山/Xiao Yuanshan and 慕容博/Murong Bo) and has awesome martial arts skills. However, the back story of the sweeper monk was not revealed and my only guess is that it’s revealed in one of Jin Yong’s other stories.

Near the end of the story, 游坦之 (You Tanzhi) also known as the Iron Clown (鐵丑/Tie Chou) donates his eyes to 阿紫 (A Zi) to give her back sight. However, being childish and immature, 阿紫 (A Zi) doesn’t realize the sacrifice the Iron Clown has done and she runs away from him. 蕭峰 (Xiao Feng) tells her that she is now forever indebted to this young man and has the responsibility to take care of him. The story ends with 蕭峰 (Xiao Feng) committing suicide to prove his loyalty to the Liao Empire (Qidan people). 阿紫 (A Zi) decides to commit suicide with him, but before she does, she pulls her eyes back out and throws it to the Iron Clown and says she does not want to be indebted to him anymore and jumps off the cliff. The Iron Clown, unable to take this, commits suicide by bashing his head on the side of the cliff. The story ends with everyone crying… WHAT!?!?! WHAT THE HECK!?!?! HOW CAN YOU END THE STORY LIKE THIS!?!?!? I would’ve been mildly fine with the story ending with 蕭峰 (Xiao Feng)’s suicide, but how can you end the story like this?

UPDATE:
Another thing I didn’t get was at the beginning where a bunch of high level martial artists had to hide their identity. I understand they were tricked by 慕容博 (Murong Bo), where he hopes by creating a conflict between the Song and Liao empire, it would make taking a chunk of the Song empire and rebuilding his Yan Empire easier. I also understand those high level martial artists were tricked into believing that a high level martial artist 蕭遠山 (Xiao Yuanshan) from Liao empire was going to sneak into Shaolin Temple and steal all their martial art manuscripts. However, what I don’t understand is, why did they have to hide their identity? Why did they have to dress up in all black and cover their faces (like ninjas). What they were doing wasn’t something sneaky… And worst of all, you’d think as a high level monk, you wouldn’t attack a defenseless mother carrying a baby, while the others have occupied the father from protecting them.

END SPOILERS