Good Lifehacker article on how to stream Netflix movies to your 360. This almost makes me wish I had a Windows machine somewhere in the house. You’ll need:
1. A Netflix account
2. A machine running Vista with Media Center (Home version will suffice)
3. An Xbox 360
4. Freeware vmcNetflix plugin
Get the full article here.
Got a response from customer service. Looks like this is a known issue.
This is actually a known issue with photo orders sent to the local store with our “Quick Pay” option. The below disclaimer is displayed above the place you enter your credit card information.
Your credit card will be charged after the order is picked up. Important: If your friend purchases any additional items during the order pickup transaction, your credit card will be charged for their total purchase amount.
Show me how this works
So it looks like this was my bad. Don’t know how in the hell this is acceptable. I won’t be doing this again that’s for sure!
When I flew back home to visit my family and friends in New York, I took a bunch of photos while I was there. My sister is a bit of a photo nut and we don’t really have many family photos, so I promised to send her some when I got home.
I decided to just have them printed at Walgreens and have her pick them up at a local store near her. I sent the photos and paid for them online with my credit card. My sister goes to pick up the photos but didn’t realize I had already paid for them. When she got them from the photo lab she said to the cashier “I’d like to grab a few other things and just cash out at the same time.” She does some minor shopping, goes to the register and lets the cashier ring it all out. So while she’s digging through her purse to get her money out, the cashier hands her the goods and a receipt. “Thanks and have a good day” the cashier responds. My sister, dumbfounded, asks “But I haven’t paid for anything.”
“Oh we charged it to the card that paid for the photos” the cashier says in a helpful tone.
My sister tries to get the transaction reversed, but unfortunately there is some song and dance about how it’s a one time transaction and due to the fact it was initiated online she couldn’t reverse it. But I guess my question is how do you let someone charge additional items to a credit card? Wasn’t my transaction for the photos closed? I paid for them already. How does this become a revolving door for credit charges?
I intend to write a very serious letter to Walgreens regarding this. I have a friend that works in their customer service department. But how does something like this happen? Part of it I see as a cashier error, because she should have 1) asked for the card at the very least or 2) asked to see some identification. Considering my SISTER’S name is Gloria, I would imagine it would be fairly straight forward to identify that she’s not me. My sister and I don’t even have the same last name! But isn’t this also a technical error? How does the cash register allow her to ring out more goods on an already closed transaction?
It’ll be interesting to see exactly how Walgreens explains this one. I’m deeply troubled.
Well after some planning Shawn and I went to see Hancock yesterday. Due to poor timing and a lot of mixups we were the only people in the group that actually showed up. So with a grin and a smile we went in the theatre, together, sharing a large popcorn and 2 sodas. Shawn wanted one soda and two straws but I’ve got to draw the limit somewhere.
I’m going to keep this as spoiler free as possible so I might be a little soft on the details. Hancock was pretty much exactly what I expected out of a 4th of July movie. Explosions, some good laughs and fair yet believable performances from all those involved. The movie was entertaining and a great popcorn flick, although with rising ticket and gas prices you could probably wait for the DVD.
Read the rest of this entry »
Interesting story about an art project/live action role playing game.
So yesterday, like many days I was in search of a song. Like any other day, the thought of going to a record store never crossed my mind. Instead I got out my Macbook Pro, hopped online and purchased a digital copy of the album. With my new cable modem the download was fast and was available for playback in seconds. Each of us has done this sort of thing countless times. The major difference for me was I didn’t use iTunes.
So I’ve been waiting for a few days after Wizard World before I posted anything regarding my opinion of it. It’s my first comic book convention, but like other dork conventions I understand that you have to give it a few days before the nerdgasm wears off. Now that my brain is free I can be honest about my experience.
IT WAS AWESOME! Seriously, it’s the best time I’ve had at any convention in quite some time. Something about the convention atmosphere just makes it so enjoyable. To be surrounded by people that are passionate about something that you love and enjoy. The costumes were great, the people were great, the deals (or at least for me) were equally great. I spent ENTIRELY too much money on graphic novels, but I mean for $5 dollars a book, how can you honestly go wrong? My spoils include some statues, some graphic novels, some original artwork as well as a few very nice paintings. (Unfortunately I have to frame them)
All of the guests were very down to earth and easily accessible. They were all open to conversation at the signings or at the end of a panel to further the discussions of our shared love. To think that these guys get to do this for a living. Lucky bastards I tell you. The one thing that I missed at the convention however was more panels on the actual creative process. Panels telling me about upcoming books you announced a year ago probably isn’t the best way to get me excited. But if there were more panels on the creative process, work flow, things like that for aspiring content creators to be able to sink their teeth into.
It was also nice to meet hard working artist trying to make it in their chosen field. I saw some really talented people and their works, I even purchased a few. (Awesome Hellboy piece that I framed) They were all very relaxed, no pressure kind of people allowing you to browse, ask questions or even sign your newly purchased piece.
In a nutshell, I enjoyed Wizard World a lot. I’m looking forward to next year’s con and hopefully so really good panels. Sad to say I can’t afford San Diego’s Comic Con, so I’ll have to pass on that. One day perhaps. In the meantime I’ve got some pictures and a video for you guys to check out.
Wizard World Chicago ‘08 from Jeffery Smith on Vimeo.
It’s a sad sad day. Star Trek: The Experience will be closing it’s doors on September 1st 2008. During my trip to Las Vegas I didn’t even get a chance to go to the exhibit thanks to some really poor timing and long lines. I hope to make it out there soon as I’ve never been on the actual ride. (Although Quark’s Bar was hot)
See the Official Press Release Here
Not sure how this one fell through the cracks. For someone as utterly shitty at design work as I am, crowdspring.com makes life easy.
How does it work? Simple. Come up with a project you’d like to have done, whether it be a website design, a logo design, page layout etc. During the project creation you specify how much you’re willing to pay for said project. Then watch designers submit ACTUAL works to the site for your review. We’re not talking about proposals or bids, I mean actual designs that you can look at and say “That’s it!”
I’m always looking for someone to do design work and I’m always willing to pay. This site might be my new favorite friend.
Check it out www.crowdspring.com
