This or That?

Being that I work with computer graphics, I got a kick out of this flash game. Basically they show you an enlarged portion of a still image and you have to determine whether it's a real footbal game photo or a CG'd video game. I was dubbed a Dumb Genius.

Click image to play.

Escapa!

Jon gave me this addicting link today.
And no, that doesn't mean I kept clicking it over and over.

I got 19.4 seconds, see how you do!

http://members.iinet.net.au/~pontipak/redsquare.html

Logo Police

This is part of a conversation I had with my father (and now boss) a few days ago.

Bill Sammons: you dont have the logo yet?

Josh Sammons: negative

Bill Sammons: i found it

Bill Sammons: on my mac laptop here at adstrat
just emailed it
you arent going to like it

Josh Sammons: why?
so you had it? ha!

Bill Sammons: i did

--------------------
This is the "logo" I recieved via email:

--------------------

Josh Sammons: thats not a logo, THATS a header
*shakes head*

Bill Sammons: and father says, i told you so

Josh Sammons: there is a difference between not liking a logo and despising a banner that somehow passes through levels of approval AS a logo

Bill Sammons: EXCUSE ME :-)

Josh Sammons: its just sad is all..

Bill Sammons: just edit the stinkin spot
I will lodge your complaint with the logo police

Now you tell me, was that a logo?

Legally Decrypt iTunes Purchased Songs

Every song purchased from the iTunes Store comes encrpted with what Apple is calling FairPlay which resricts the amount of computers you can hear the downloaded songs on, requiring your apple ID and Password for each.

The hymn (hear your music anywhere) project allows it's users to unprotect or unlock music files that are downloaded via iTunes music store.
The following was taken directly from http://hymn-project.org.

The purpose of the Hymn Project is to allow you to exercise your fair-use rights under copyright law. The various software provided on this web site allows you to free your iTunes Music Store purchases (protected AAC / .m4p) from their DRM restrictions with no loss of sound quality. These songs can then be played outside of the iTunes environment, even on operating systems not supported by iTunes and on hardware not supported by Apple.

Why use Hymn Project software?

• To decrypt your iTunes protected AAC files so that they can be played on operating systems for which no official version of iTunes exists, such as Linux.
• To use non-Apple AAC-capable hardware to play your music.
• To eliminate the five computer limit imposed by iTunes.
• To make archival backups of your music.
• As the first step in converting your music from protected AAC to MP3, Ogg, or your other favorite audio file format, for use with your non-iPod portable audio player.
• To demonstrate your belief in the principles of fair-use under copyright law.

For more information visit the official hymn project website.

Natures Little Rebels

Did you know that hamsters are NOT found in the wild? They are bred specifically as house pets!
Meet the newest additions to the Sammons household. Squeak and Master Chief!
My sister-in-law's hamsters had a plethora of babies so we opted into relieving her of some. The black is mine (Master Chee) and the tan one is Lindsey's (Squeak). It's a lot of fun just watching them run around, trippin over each other and falling down stuff. The photos we taken via my phone. *sigh* I miss you digital camera.

"Scammery" Help

Now I'm in the same forward-hating bandwagon as the rest of you, but this one has some good information in it. So instead of pressing FWD and attaching my address book, I'm just going to post it.
Having just been scammed myself (you'll see that post soon) I'll be taking every precaution I can when it comes to..uh...scammery...if that's even a word.

A corporate attorney sent the following out to the employees in his company.

1. The next time you order checks have only your initials (instead of first name) and last name put on them. If someone takes your checkbook, they will not know if you sign your checks with just your initials or your first name, but your bank will know how you sign your checks.

2. Do not sign the back of your credit cards. Instead, put "PHOTO ID REQUIRED."

3. When you are writing checks to pay on your credit card accounts, DO NOT put the complete account number on the "Memo/For" line. Instead, just put the last four numbers. The credit card company knows the rest of the number, and anyone who might be handling your check as it passes through all the check processing channels won't have access to it.

4. Put your work phone # on your checks instead of your home phone. If you have a PO Box use that instead of your home address. If you do not have a PO Box, use your work address. Never have your SS # printed on your checks. You can add it if it is necessary. But if you have it printed, anyone can get it.

5. Place the contents of your wallet on a photocopy machine. Do both sides of each license, credit card, etc. You will know what you had in your wallet and all of the account numbers and phone numbers to call and cancel. Keep the photocopy in a safe place. I also carry a photocopy of my passport when I travel either here or abroad. We've all heard horror stories about fraud that's committed on us in stealing a name, address, Social Security number, credit cards.

Unfortunately, I, an attorney, have firsthand knowledge because my wallet was stolen last month. Within a week, the thieves ordered an expensive monthly cell phone package, applied for a VISA credit card, had a credit line approved to buy a Gateway computer, received a PIN number from DMV to change my driving record information online, and more. But here's some critical information to limit the damage in case this happens to you or someone you know:

1. We have been told we should cancel our credit cards immediately. But the key is having the toll free numbers and your card numbers handy so you know whom to call. Keep those where you can find them.

2. File a police report immediately in the jurisdiction where your credit cards, etc., were stolen. This proves to credit providers you were diligent, and this is a first step toward an investigation (if there ever is one).

But here's what is perhaps most important of all:

3. Call the 3 national credit reporting organizations immediately to place a fraud alert on your name and Social Security number. I had never heard of doing that until advised by a bank that called to tell me an application for credit was made over the Internet in my name. The alert means any company that checks your credit knows your information was stolen, and they have to contact you by phone to authorize new credit.

By the time I was advised to do this, almost two weeks after the theft, all the damage had been done. There are records of all the credit checks initiated by the thieves' purchases, none of which I knew about before placing the alert. Since then, no additional damage has been done, and the thieves threw my wallet away. This weekend (someone turned it in). It seems to have stopped them dead in their tracks.

Now, here are the numbers you always need to contact about your wallet, etc., has been stolen:
1.) Equifax: 1-800-525-6285
2.) Experian (formerly TRW): 1-888-397-3742
3.) Trans Union: 1-800-680-7289
4.) Social Security Administration (fraud line): 1-800-269-0271

We pass along jokes on the Internet; we pass along just about everything. But if you are willing to pass this information along, it could really help someone that you care about.

Hi, Nice To Meet You!

Yesterday was an awesome day...busnissly speaking. Dad invited me to attend the Rotary Club meeting which is comprised of business men and women who are active in the community. So I got to meet a lot of movers and shakers as well as eat a pretty decent breakfast! After that it was crunch time for the Pittsburgh Auto Show spot I posted about previously, which in my opinion took way longer than it had to.

That night was dubbed "Casino Night" by a group we (Watermark) are starting to work with, The Archer Group. They had poker chips with their logo on them which got you free drinks at the bar, half a dozen poker / blackjack tables set up so you can use the fake $1,000 they gave you at the door, and food that was amazing. I spent the night at the blackjack table and actually got up to about triple what I started with! Not bad for a first-timer. Until I lost it all. Have you ever had lamb chops? The hour drive was worth it if all they had was those. Mmmm. Besides all the food & fun, I also met a lot of additional business contacts here.


In honor of Lee Mikles, president of Archer, I had a Mojito for the first time ever. Let me back up a little. When I was looking for a job in DE, I had interviewed at Archer and met Lee (Awesome guy). Things ended up working a little different than what we had originally wanted but now that I'm at Watermark, Lee and I are still talking and attempting to work together to better both our companies. I think that it's actually going to end up better than we had thought! So anyway, one of their biggest projects is one called Mojito. Named after Lee's favorite drink.

And thus the story is complete, and another blog ends.

Water Marks

Since the jump to Watermark, I've been non-stop cranking out projects left and right. Free-time for posting has been hard to find, like the remote.

Anywho, here's a link to one of the spots I just completed today (before revisions). So stick around to see a completely different spot after the client sees it!

I've also been meaning to upload the pilot episode of "Behind Lacrosse". This is the project that kept me working 21 hr days. It's rendering as I type, so check back for that long haul of a clip!

A Few Suggestions

This list has been under construction for some time now. Don't get me wrong, I do love what apple has done with their OS, but there are just certain things that they seem to have overlooked.

It all started with the inability to refresh my desktop. "You think they would have added that feature by now", I thought to myself. So I wrote it down. Then some more annoyances came to my attention and hence, this list. If you have one thats not here please add it as a comment, as Apple reads my blog regularly and considers posted suggestions.

• Refresh button / menu item in appropriate places.
• Ability to change an icon's text style, color, size, etc.
• Ability to resize folders / app. windows from any side, not just the bottom right corner.
• Ability to stretch wallpaper across two monitors. (without aid from another app.)
• OS themes
• iTunes skins
• Ability to add a URL Address bar to folders
• Intel Processors

As you can see, Apple does take consumer suggestions into consideration, as they will yours if you post! Ha!

40 lbs Of Chicken

Yesterday while the wife and I were eating dinner we heard a knock on the window next to us. The blinds were open so whoever it was could see us but we couldn't really see them. Assuming only a friend would interrupt dinner and get our attention by knocking on the window, I went to the door. To my surprise it was a middle-aged black man who immediately started rambling about how he knew me cuz I cut the grass around here or something. I told him that wasn't me that he was thinking of so then he started telling me what he made me get up from eating with my wife for. His car ran out of gas down the street. Supposedly his wife and daughter were still in the car at this point and he was pointing down our street (towards a gas station) at nothing as there was no car with no family in sight. He went on to say a whole bunch of what I am now sure was lies. "I'm a good guy", "My wife's a good Christian, me I have a few beers but I'm alright", as well as some stories of how he was in the military or something. Then he told me he was just getting back on his feet and starting a new job a few minutes from here. He also said numerous times that he's not addicted to drugs of any kind he just wanted some help to get back home. He even offered me 40 lbs of chicken from the plant he worked at that he'd have to come back later and give me in exchange for the help.

...Right. So let me get this straight. You're in the military but you don't have any money. You're getting back on your feet from never having used drugs before. And your invisible car and imaginary family broke down and now I'm supposed to give you money because you threw yourself at my doorstep with this mess. So I asked him...So you're asking for cash. He never directly said yes or asked for money, he just kept saying he'd be back with all that chicken. I told him I don't carry cash and that there was a gas station in the direction he pointed. He did comment on my dogs though. He was afraid of dogs, especially big dogs. That did comfort me a little, so I decided to play that string a little. "Oh yeah, the big one is German and the other one is English. We train them and work with them every day, they can jump that fence if I give them the command to..."

After he realized he wasn't getting any cash out of me, he shut down pretty fast and mumbled, "You're still cool man, you're cool." and left. I watched him walk all 8 steps until a car pulled up to the stop sign at the corner and then he started giving the same act to them...also to no avail.

I hate beggars. If an honest person really broke down, they wouldn't have to battle their conscience and tell me that they don't do drugs and all that bull. Today I saw the same guy in different clothes walking down our street again. I don't know if he's homeless or what. Doesn't much matter to Jax. Doesn't much matter to me.

Ha!

You Are a Boston Creme Donut

You have a tough exterior. No one wants to mess with you. But on the inside, you're a total pushover and completely soft. You're a traditionalist, and you don't change easily. You're likely to eat the same doughnut every morning, and pout if it's sold out.

What Donut Are You?

Long Time, No See!

Like every other blogger out there, I've been meaning to post for sometime now. The main obstacles being little things such as my quote/unquote life, maintaing a home business as well as making time for my Sweets. Now I know this is no excuse, but I can't seem to stop trying to get somewhere in life. It's like a disease. :o)

The move went as good as a move can go I guess. The house definately has it's quirks but with the deal we were cut, it evens itself out. Christmas was awesome. Family rocks, thats all I have to say. Between the move, the coming little one, and the debt management company that just scammed us I was afraid Christmas would kinda suck. I'll post more about that another time.

Watermark is booming right now. I stepped into a bunch of projects and just as I was getting a hold of those, a bunch more came up. It's awesome though. My free-time is limited now-a-days and the only thing that makes that ok is the fact that Watermark is growing as a result. I love working from home, I'm not having any problems waking up or actually working like I had contemplated previous to this jump. It's great to be here in case Lindsey needs help with anything and then just jump right back to into work.

I was playing with the DVX100 earlier and shooting random stuff around the house trying to learn the camera. I'll try to pull some stills from the footage later for ya'll to see the new place!