Friday, November 30, 2007
Enchanted
My wife and I took the kids to the matinee to see "Enchanted." I have to say that I was entertained and enjoyed the movie. I'm not sure that the movie was geared toward children because there was some adult humor, however it was not as bad as other supposed children movies with their unexpected innuendos. "Enchanted" was funny and entertaining, for both me and the kids, but I don't think my 2 year old was quite as interested as my 5 year old; she was more interested in a little girl a few seats down from her, but overall she did well at the movies. This movie is more of a play-on all Disney movies than a new fairytale, but they did in such a way that it wasn't ridiculous or over-the-top like other parodies. They kept it pretty fresh and humorous, even if it was pretty obvious what would happen at the end, but there were still a few surprises here and there. Overall, I give the movie an A-, and it's fun for parents to watch with their kids too (at least they give you an excuse to watch it).
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
How 'bout them 49ers?
Okay, so I know the 49ers suck, but they are still my team. I grew up loving them and I can't just forget about them while they're down. They broke an 8 game losing streak and helped out the Seahawks in the process. I did live in the Seattle area for the past 7 years, so I can be happy that their win over the Cardinals helped out the Seahawks and giving them hope. I'm not too attached to the Seahawks though, as I know there are plenty of other teams that will waste them in the playoffs, but the NFC is pretty weak right now with the exception of the Packers and the Cowboys, so the Seahawks have a pretty good chance of getting past the wild card game. Green Bay and Dallas are doing awesome, and next week we've got these two 10-1 teams battling it out. Oh, how exciting. I hope it's a battle to the end, a nail-biter, within 7 points where one team has a final 2 minute drive to bring the game into overtime... Stuff the 49ers would pull off in their hey-day. You know.
Monday, November 26, 2007
I finally hit the $3 mark in Moola
Okay, I've been playing for a little over a week, and I'm taking it kinda slow.
First you need an invite... which you can get HERE Check it out.
If you don't know what Moola is, it's a FREE website that upon sign-up gives you 1 penny. You have the chance to double that penny up, and the idea is if you double up that penny 30 times, you will have won $10 Million dollars... moohahhahaha.
Once you've signed up... you can earn money in Moola just by inviting your friends to come play. I have not received any spam or complaints from any of my friends for receiving any spam from Moola. Another way to earn money is through boosters, which is where you buy stuff from their affiliate online stores and receive a little bit of a kickback that you can use toward games.
The most fun way to earn money is through challenging others in one of three games: Hi/Lo, Ro-Sham-Bo Fu, and Gold Rush.
My strategy so far has been to play at the lower levels and build myself up slowly. Search and Spin as much as possible and try not to wager all of your earnings in one game. Sure, if you win you will have doubled your money, but if you lose you have to start all over again from level 1. It is so hard to rebuild from nothing. But, if you have a little bit to start with its easier to bounce up from losses. Right now, I am betting about the 10% of my total level, but I am trying not to drop below $3. So, if I had 3.05, I would bet .04 and then if I got up to 3.09 I would bet .08. This is just my tactic for now, I set small goals and try not to fall below that level. I guess that I could continue to play at the 10% level and bet .16 to .32, but if I took a couple hits, I'd be right back down to $2 and less.
Look below for some strategy to these games that has given me a greater than 50% winning percentage in Gold Rush.
First you need an invite... which you can get HERE Check it out.
If you don't know what Moola is, it's a FREE website that upon sign-up gives you 1 penny. You have the chance to double that penny up, and the idea is if you double up that penny 30 times, you will have won $10 Million dollars... moohahhahaha.
Once you've signed up... you can earn money in Moola just by inviting your friends to come play. I have not received any spam or complaints from any of my friends for receiving any spam from Moola. Another way to earn money is through boosters, which is where you buy stuff from their affiliate online stores and receive a little bit of a kickback that you can use toward games.
The most fun way to earn money is through challenging others in one of three games: Hi/Lo, Ro-Sham-Bo Fu, and Gold Rush.
My strategy so far has been to play at the lower levels and build myself up slowly. Search and Spin as much as possible and try not to wager all of your earnings in one game. Sure, if you win you will have doubled your money, but if you lose you have to start all over again from level 1. It is so hard to rebuild from nothing. But, if you have a little bit to start with its easier to bounce up from losses. Right now, I am betting about the 10% of my total level, but I am trying not to drop below $3. So, if I had 3.05, I would bet .04 and then if I got up to 3.09 I would bet .08. This is just my tactic for now, I set small goals and try not to fall below that level. I guess that I could continue to play at the 10% level and bet .16 to .32, but if I took a couple hits, I'd be right back down to $2 and less.
Look below for some strategy to these games that has given me a greater than 50% winning percentage in Gold Rush.
Monday, November 19, 2007
My Favorite Moola Game
I love Gold Rush. You, your opponent, and the "mine" all have 6 stones starting at 1 lb increasing to 6. 1 stone will pop out of the mine and you must determine what the best stone is to use against your opponent with the overall goal to reach 32 lbs before your opponent. If your weight is greater than your opponent than you win the gold in the middle; for instance if a 4 lb gold stone comes out of the mine and you throw a 3 and your opponent throws his 4 lb gold, then he would have a score of 11 to your 0.
Here's an example of some of the luck of this game. I was recently playing an opponet and the first stone to come out of the mine was the 1 lb stone. A lot of times an opponent will play a 1 in this situation, so I play my 2. The second stone comes out and it's a 2, I could play my 1, but I go with the 3 here and so does my opponent. Now, this is a tie, so when the 5 stone comes out there are a total of 13 lbs worth of stones in the center. Sometimes you'll play against a player who will toss out a lower weight here, but my lowest weight is 1 and his is a 2. He would win 13 lbs at the cost of his 2 lb stone. So, I opt to throw my next lowest of a 4 and my opponent throws his 6 stone. Now he/she is leading me 23-4. Looks pretty bad, but my opponent doesn't have a 6 stone and his best stone that he has is a 5. The 4 stone pops out of the mine, so I'm in a bad position here because if my opponent throws his 5 and I throw my 1 it will give him enough points to win. Luckily for me I still have a 5 and a 6. So, I throw my 5, he/she throws his 2 and I win. Now the 3 stone comes out. I know that if the opponent throws his 5 against my 1 that he will win, but throwing his 5 against my 6 is sure defeat. So, he throws his 4 against 1 he wins, but this puts him at 31. I got real lucky that he didn't throw his 5. It's a gamble and I got lucky. He got unlucky. I could tell that the player I was against was skillful and had a gameplan. It fell through, but that's the thing about these type of games there's a lot of luck involved and I barely won 32-31. Either way, we both were skillful, just one of us got lucky.
Here's an example of some of the luck of this game. I was recently playing an opponet and the first stone to come out of the mine was the 1 lb stone. A lot of times an opponent will play a 1 in this situation, so I play my 2. The second stone comes out and it's a 2, I could play my 1, but I go with the 3 here and so does my opponent. Now, this is a tie, so when the 5 stone comes out there are a total of 13 lbs worth of stones in the center. Sometimes you'll play against a player who will toss out a lower weight here, but my lowest weight is 1 and his is a 2. He would win 13 lbs at the cost of his 2 lb stone. So, I opt to throw my next lowest of a 4 and my opponent throws his 6 stone. Now he/she is leading me 23-4. Looks pretty bad, but my opponent doesn't have a 6 stone and his best stone that he has is a 5. The 4 stone pops out of the mine, so I'm in a bad position here because if my opponent throws his 5 and I throw my 1 it will give him enough points to win. Luckily for me I still have a 5 and a 6. So, I throw my 5, he/she throws his 2 and I win. Now the 3 stone comes out. I know that if the opponent throws his 5 against my 1 that he will win, but throwing his 5 against my 6 is sure defeat. So, he throws his 4 against 1 he wins, but this puts him at 31. I got real lucky that he didn't throw his 5. It's a gamble and I got lucky. He got unlucky. I could tell that the player I was against was skillful and had a gameplan. It fell through, but that's the thing about these type of games there's a lot of luck involved and I barely won 32-31. Either way, we both were skillful, just one of us got lucky.
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Moola games. Complete luck or skill?
HI/LO - Pretty much a game of luck. The only skill involved is knowing when to lock in your cards and getting lucky that it doesn't hurt you in the long run.
Ro-Sham-bo-fu - This game is mostly luck, but they add a twist that makes it a little more skill. The first set is worth 3 points, but if you don't use Rock you get a bonus of 2 points. Even if the other player wins you will at least get the 2 point bonus for not choosing Rock in this scenario. This leaves only Paper or Scissors, and since both players are given the same bonus option, the best option in this scenario is to choose scissors because it beats paper. Here's the reason: you choose scissors, even if your opponent chooses Rock he only gets 3 points and loses out on his bonus, but you get the bonus. Now, the score is 3 to 2. If your opponent also chooses scissors, you tie and each get 2 points. On the off-chance your oppent picks paper, you win and get 3 points plus 2 bonus - the score is 5 to 2. On the first move this is really your best option.
Second Round. If their was a tie in the previous round, this round will be worth 6 points. Here's where more luck comes in. You have to guess what your player will do next. Let's assume the next bonus is if you don't pick Paper. Do you think that your opponent will stay safe and pick Rock (using the methodology described above)? If so, then pick paper lose out on the 2 point bonus, but pick up the 6 points. Or, do you think that your opponent will also be sneaky and pick Paper for the win, then you could go with Scissors, which would not only give you the 6 points for the win, but 2 points for the bonus and your opponent would get none; however, this move is risky because you may be against a player who only goes with the bonus, and you will be out the win here and be down 6 ponts. You really have to poke around and figure out what type of player you are against... with all things said, it's still a lot of luck. But, there's a lot of players who only pick one of the two bonus items, which is a definite win for any player who reads this.
Gold Rush - There's definitely a little bit of skill involved in this little game. For instance, the first stone comes out and it's a six, and naturally (if you know nothing about the game) you want to throw a 6 stone at it. Your opponent throws a 1 stone and you get 13 points. You think you did good, but now, the 5 stone comes out and both you and your opponent throw a 5 stone, which results in a tie and 15 points in the middle. You have no chance in winning this because your opponent has a 6 and you already wasted it so you end up losing the game. There is still a lot of luck involved, trying to get a read on an opponent you've never played. Are they going to throw a 1, 2, or 3 stone first. I haven't quite developed a winning game plan yet, but I've won my fare share. I usually come out throwing a 2 or 3 stone. I expect on a 6 stone that my opponent will throw out his 6 stone, so I throw my 1 stone. As long as I play my stones right I have a pretty good chance to win once my opponent gets rid of his 6 stone. You really have to pay attention to whats out there though and figure out what your opponent needs to win. Once you or your opponent reach 32 the game is over... so keep that in mind.
Here's a rundown of a recent game to show how luck and skill are both involved:
Ro-Sham-bo-fu - This game is mostly luck, but they add a twist that makes it a little more skill. The first set is worth 3 points, but if you don't use Rock you get a bonus of 2 points. Even if the other player wins you will at least get the 2 point bonus for not choosing Rock in this scenario. This leaves only Paper or Scissors, and since both players are given the same bonus option, the best option in this scenario is to choose scissors because it beats paper. Here's the reason: you choose scissors, even if your opponent chooses Rock he only gets 3 points and loses out on his bonus, but you get the bonus. Now, the score is 3 to 2. If your opponent also chooses scissors, you tie and each get 2 points. On the off-chance your oppent picks paper, you win and get 3 points plus 2 bonus - the score is 5 to 2. On the first move this is really your best option.
Second Round. If their was a tie in the previous round, this round will be worth 6 points. Here's where more luck comes in. You have to guess what your player will do next. Let's assume the next bonus is if you don't pick Paper. Do you think that your opponent will stay safe and pick Rock (using the methodology described above)? If so, then pick paper lose out on the 2 point bonus, but pick up the 6 points. Or, do you think that your opponent will also be sneaky and pick Paper for the win, then you could go with Scissors, which would not only give you the 6 points for the win, but 2 points for the bonus and your opponent would get none; however, this move is risky because you may be against a player who only goes with the bonus, and you will be out the win here and be down 6 ponts. You really have to poke around and figure out what type of player you are against... with all things said, it's still a lot of luck. But, there's a lot of players who only pick one of the two bonus items, which is a definite win for any player who reads this.
Gold Rush - There's definitely a little bit of skill involved in this little game. For instance, the first stone comes out and it's a six, and naturally (if you know nothing about the game) you want to throw a 6 stone at it. Your opponent throws a 1 stone and you get 13 points. You think you did good, but now, the 5 stone comes out and both you and your opponent throw a 5 stone, which results in a tie and 15 points in the middle. You have no chance in winning this because your opponent has a 6 and you already wasted it so you end up losing the game. There is still a lot of luck involved, trying to get a read on an opponent you've never played. Are they going to throw a 1, 2, or 3 stone first. I haven't quite developed a winning game plan yet, but I've won my fare share. I usually come out throwing a 2 or 3 stone. I expect on a 6 stone that my opponent will throw out his 6 stone, so I throw my 1 stone. As long as I play my stones right I have a pretty good chance to win once my opponent gets rid of his 6 stone. You really have to pay attention to whats out there though and figure out what your opponent needs to win. Once you or your opponent reach 32 the game is over... so keep that in mind.
Here's a rundown of a recent game to show how luck and skill are both involved:
- First, the 4 comes out of the mine. It's probable that an opponent will throw just a 1 here, but a lot of times they will throw a 2, so I throw 3 and my opponent throws a 1. Score 8-0.
- Second, a three comes out. I know the player just played his 1, and will most likely play his 2 here, so I just give it to him by playing my 1. He plays a 2, and wins. Score 8-6.
- Third, a 1 comes out. This is kind of unlucky for me because my opponent has used his 2 lowest gold pieces already, so I will lose this one, but I throw my 2 anyways. My opponent throws his 3 and wins. Score 8-12. Now, we're even with stones (we both have a 4,5, and 6) and my opponent has the lead.
- Fourth, a 5 comes out. I'm thinking that my opponent will most likely throw a 5 or 6. If we both throw 6's, we end up in a tie, and since he has the lead it is a sure win for him, so I don't want to throw my 6; my only chance is throwing a 4, so I throw out my 4. My opponent throws his 6 and he wins. Score 8-27.
- Fifth, the 2 comes out. You would think that I'm in the dumps here... down 27-8. But I have a 5 and 6. My opponent only has a 4 and 5. There is no possible way that he can win. See, that last move sealed his fate. He gambled thinking that I would throw a 6, but I knew that I couldn't win by throwing a 6, but he did... now he's done. I don't care about the size of the stone that comes out at this point. I have a 5, 6 and my opponent has a 4, 5. I will win. I have to throw my 5 first because the best he can do is tie, no matter what. He hopes that I'll mess up and throw my 6 here, so he throws his 4 (his only chance). I win. Score 19-27.
- Sixth, the 6 comes out. I have a 6 left my opponent has a 5. I win.
If my opponent would have played his 4 on the 4th stone... maybe I throw a 6 as he thought I might do. He would still have won. If you are in the lead and you and your opponent both have stones 4,5, and 6 left. It's probably better just to throw your 4. We would have tied, then throw the 6 and he would automatically win for going over 32 points. He had the lead, so even if we ended up with a stalemate he would have won.
Here's the different ways it could've have ended if my opponent played his 4 first:
- I throw a 4,6, then 5 and he throws the same, we tie, but he still wins because he had more points.
- I throw a 5. I win this round. Score 22-27. But now I have only a 4 and 6 left. My opponent has a 5 and 6. Stones 2 and 6 are left. When stone 2 drops, if my opponent drops his 6 and I throw a 4, he will win. If he drops his 6 and I drop my 6, we tie, but all those points go into the center and he will still win.
- I throw a 6. I win this round. Score 23-27. And now, I'm in the predicament he was. (He wins)
There is a lot of logic involved in this game, as you can see there is a little bit of luck too.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
If it's free, It's for me!
The Medium is the Message: If It's Free, It's For Me (?)
That's been my motto ever since one of my good friends from way back used it first; yah, so, I'm a motto borrower. Here's a free site, and you can actually earn money playing it. It's by invite only, but it's free in-as-much as you get to play games and possibly win money. If it's for free it's for me, and if it's fun, it's for me too.
interested in an invite to play Moola and win money for FREE... check out this link:
http://joels-onlinestore.blogspot.com/
That's been my motto ever since one of my good friends from way back used it first; yah, so, I'm a motto borrower. Here's a free site, and you can actually earn money playing it. It's by invite only, but it's free in-as-much as you get to play games and possibly win money. If it's for free it's for me, and if it's fun, it's for me too.
interested in an invite to play Moola and win money for FREE... check out this link:
http://joels-onlinestore.blogspot.com/
Monday, November 12, 2007
Anyone watching Football?
Yes, I'm talking about the NFL. I only caught the last few minutes of the Colts - Chargers game, but I was sure the Chargers were going to chalk up another loss, and the Colts were going to add another win to their record. I was at work, checking the scores keeping track of San Diego's 5 INT's and 23-0 score. And if you didn't watch the game, you're probably thinking, the Colts blew that big of a lead, no the Chargers did. I'm not a huge Colts fan, and I wanted them to have their success last year, but I wanted the Chargers to win this game. When I got home, I turned on the TV and the Chargers were only ahead by 2 points and I could only watch as the Colts make their final drive down to the 6 yard line, the weird thing was, I was rooting for them on this drive. What they were doing lining up on 4th and 1 with a few minutes left in the game down by 2 points, I guess you could try to draw a penalty and lose some more time off the clock, but I guess Tony Dungy didn't have much faith in the Indy Defense cause a sure field goal would have won the game (which may have not made it anyway). They tried to draw an encroachment penalty and they were called on a false start penalty because they had too many men moving that were trying to insinuate a snap. With the penalty they had no choice than to go for the field goal, which missed slightly to the right. They were brilliant in their defense, but only had 22 seconds left to attempt another drive, and that's when Peyton Manning threw his 6th INT of the night. It was almost pitiful to see the Chargers barely hold onto a 23 point lead like that, but even more pitiful to watch Vinatieri not be able to notch up a field goal from 29 yards out.
Then, you've got teams like the Vikings, who have all of one good offensive player, rookie Adrian Peterson, who notched up and NFL record of 296 yards in their victory of the Chargers last week. He goes down in the 3rd quarter, but they were already being shutout by the Green Bay Packers, but this pretty much ensured they would stay down; they'll probably be down for another game next week as Peterson is expected to be out for one more week, but it's not like they have a shot at the playoffs or anything, but it would be nice to see Adrian Peterson break some more records. Bret Favre was just ridiculous out there; he's averaging over 300 YPG this season and on track to pass Dan Marino in total career passing yards. Before Favre signed on for another season, I was sure it was time for him to retire, with two horrible seasons behind him. He came back and proved me wrong. Now the Packers are 8-1, and Favre is leading the league in passing yards... I guess I'll root for the geezer, I actually have his rookie card where he's wearing a Falcons jersey.
What's up with the 49ers? I know they suck, they've lost 6 straight games. They've got an astonishing defensive rookie LB Patrick Willis, who was leading the league in Tackles, and a decent CB Nate Clements, and an okay defensive unit. Their offense is just horrendous; last year Frank Gore averaged 100 YPG, notching up almost 1700 yards on the ground, and this year averaging 62.1 and hasn't reached 100 yards in a game yet. He's supposed to play against Seattle tomorrow in what I'm sure will be another loss for them. San Fran's offensive line just sucks, and this doesn't help out their passing game either; they are dead last with a little over 130 YPG through the air. That is horrible. Shaun Alexander isn't doing much better, even if he gets healthy he's only had two 100 yard games this season. Seattle has only won 1 out of their last 4 games... but I'm almost certain, they'll win this one, unless the 49ers pull something out of their butts. I love the 49ers and like the Seahawks, but I don't see the 49ers winning this game.
Then, you've got teams like the Vikings, who have all of one good offensive player, rookie Adrian Peterson, who notched up and NFL record of 296 yards in their victory of the Chargers last week. He goes down in the 3rd quarter, but they were already being shutout by the Green Bay Packers, but this pretty much ensured they would stay down; they'll probably be down for another game next week as Peterson is expected to be out for one more week, but it's not like they have a shot at the playoffs or anything, but it would be nice to see Adrian Peterson break some more records. Bret Favre was just ridiculous out there; he's averaging over 300 YPG this season and on track to pass Dan Marino in total career passing yards. Before Favre signed on for another season, I was sure it was time for him to retire, with two horrible seasons behind him. He came back and proved me wrong. Now the Packers are 8-1, and Favre is leading the league in passing yards... I guess I'll root for the geezer, I actually have his rookie card where he's wearing a Falcons jersey.
What's up with the 49ers? I know they suck, they've lost 6 straight games. They've got an astonishing defensive rookie LB Patrick Willis, who was leading the league in Tackles, and a decent CB Nate Clements, and an okay defensive unit. Their offense is just horrendous; last year Frank Gore averaged 100 YPG, notching up almost 1700 yards on the ground, and this year averaging 62.1 and hasn't reached 100 yards in a game yet. He's supposed to play against Seattle tomorrow in what I'm sure will be another loss for them. San Fran's offensive line just sucks, and this doesn't help out their passing game either; they are dead last with a little over 130 YPG through the air. That is horrible. Shaun Alexander isn't doing much better, even if he gets healthy he's only had two 100 yard games this season. Seattle has only won 1 out of their last 4 games... but I'm almost certain, they'll win this one, unless the 49ers pull something out of their butts. I love the 49ers and like the Seahawks, but I don't see the 49ers winning this game.
Kanye's West's mom dies at 57
http://www.eonline.com/news/article/index.jsp?uuid=7054613e-ed4d-4e9b-9630-eeb1bab84c08&entry=index&sid=rss_topstories&utm_source=eonline&utm_medium=rssfeeds&utm_campaign=rss_topstories
Can you believe that? I know there are risks in everything we do: from driving in your car, flying in an airplane, to just going to the doctors office, but it must create a lot of questions and wonders when it happens during a routine surgery that probably wasn't necessary. Risks are a part of everyday life, I have a buddy who got a staph infection that forced him out of the military from a dentist who didn't sterilize their tooth pique. One of my friend's daughters also got an infection from a nurse who didn't wash their hands prior to being handled. There are so many risks today that there is no possible way that we can figure them all out. But, I am sure that when something horrible like this happens we must be questioning what would drive someone to get plastic surgey. Then again, what drives people to do anything. There are always some sort of risk compared to the benefit, and we must outweight the risk to the gain and the probabilities of that risk occurring. I'm sure that the occurrences of death from plastic surgery are about as good odds as winning the lottery, but I'm thinking that this headline will make some celebrities think twice before going under the knife for the sake of their personal beauty.
Can you believe that? I know there are risks in everything we do: from driving in your car, flying in an airplane, to just going to the doctors office, but it must create a lot of questions and wonders when it happens during a routine surgery that probably wasn't necessary. Risks are a part of everyday life, I have a buddy who got a staph infection that forced him out of the military from a dentist who didn't sterilize their tooth pique. One of my friend's daughters also got an infection from a nurse who didn't wash their hands prior to being handled. There are so many risks today that there is no possible way that we can figure them all out. But, I am sure that when something horrible like this happens we must be questioning what would drive someone to get plastic surgey. Then again, what drives people to do anything. There are always some sort of risk compared to the benefit, and we must outweight the risk to the gain and the probabilities of that risk occurring. I'm sure that the occurrences of death from plastic surgery are about as good odds as winning the lottery, but I'm thinking that this headline will make some celebrities think twice before going under the knife for the sake of their personal beauty.
Monday, November 5, 2007
Transformers
I grew up watching Transformers, Thundercats, and He-Man, but unlike most of the world, I don't remember anything about those shows other than small bits of information. A few of my friends said, "Oh, they totally ruined Transformers..." blah, blah, blah. I don't remember any of that stuff, I guess it is because I lived in a time and a place where my parents forced me to play outside and get away from the television set. I could only watch 30 minutes of televsion a day, so I was lucky to see any one show on a given day. Needless to say, I pushed the movie off until the DVD came out, it would have been nice to watch in Hi-Def, but of course Paramount is not supporting Blu-ray, so that could not happen for me as I refuse to buy HD-DVD until they win or PS3's fall off the face of the earth. After all was finished, I thought the Transformers movie was great. It had a lot of action, was fun to watch, and kept me entertained. I guess if you're looking for originality in movies then Transformers was not for you, but if you just like to be entertained and enjoy a little comedy, action, and romance all put together into one fun movie, then you might like it.
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