Friday, November 30, 2007
Update, Yeah, I've Been Neglecting the Site
It's been almost two months since I touched this blog, but Account 004 is still alive and kicking. This is not a real surprise as I haven't posted any new answers until today. The account has however received a couple of "Best Answers." As stated before I'm leaving the posts about the account as drafts until the account gets suspended. When I get a chance however, I plan to create a new account, posting the kind of vapid, useless answers I know are "safe" from a suspension viewpoint and post them here. The goal will be to see if being more transparent about the identity of my test account will make it more likely to be suspended.
Best Answer: again!
The Question: Has Anyone Actually Received Any Money By Forwarding Chain Letters To Friends?
My Answer, now chosen as the "Best Answer"
I think they're all scams. I don't know anyone who ever got any money but I know a lot of people who forwarded the e-mails.
My Answer, now chosen as the "Best Answer"
I think they're all scams. I don't know anyone who ever got any money but I know a lot of people who forwarded the e-mails.
Ravens as Pets
The Question:
Ravens are about as intelligent as Parrots, but more prone to aggressive behavior. The odds are good they'll escape in short order. Being scavengers, they'll also favor a diet with meat products. I recommend you look up the article "The Care of Ravens" online and read about what it's like keeping them as pets.
I even included a source:
http://www.restarea1mile.com/ravens.html
My guess is that this will get the account banned, as I included a link to an external site AND recommended the person asking the question do *GASP* more reading on the topic.
For the record, what appears to be a useful answer was already given, in which it was pointed out that it's illegal to keep Ravens as pets in the USA. I intend to vote for THAT answer as "Best Answer" if I get the chance.
- Is it possible to own a pet raven?
My fiance and I have talked about this- We live in NYC, but are planning to eventually move upstate. We're planning on turning one of our house's rooms into the bird's domain, complete with screened in windows, potted trees, etc. Is this legal? Is it possible to adopt one from a rescue shelter that needs care?
Ravens are about as intelligent as Parrots, but more prone to aggressive behavior. The odds are good they'll escape in short order. Being scavengers, they'll also favor a diet with meat products. I recommend you look up the article "The Care of Ravens" online and read about what it's like keeping them as pets.
I even included a source:
http://www.restarea1mile.com/ravens.html
My guess is that this will get the account banned, as I included a link to an external site AND recommended the person asking the question do *GASP* more reading on the topic.
For the record, what appears to be a useful answer was already given, in which it was pointed out that it's illegal to keep Ravens as pets in the USA. I intend to vote for THAT answer as "Best Answer" if I get the chance.
Monday, November 5, 2007
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Sunday, October 14, 2007
An attempt to be useful on Yahoo Answers
The vague, mindless answers didn't get me booted yet, so I thought I'd be useful again.
UPDATE: On December 1, I was notified that my answer had been chosen as the "Best Answer" with two whole votes.
Just to be safe, I posted a couple of the useless, mindless drone answers Yahoo loves so much.
It's almost lame enough to be a line in a country song.
Is painting over wallpaper a good thing if you prime first?
Your Answer:
Wallpaper paste isn't designed to hold more weight than the wallpaper itself. The primer plus a coat or two of paint will cause it to start peeling. The moisture from the paint may even weaken the existing paste causing it to come off even faster.
There are some insulating wallpapers intended for use as a base layer for paint, but those are sold to either provide texture, such a pho-Adobe, or to provide heating insulation.
If you paint over the wallpaper, you'll end up taking down the wallpaper anyway. My advice is to get a steamer, a wallpaper scraper and take it down and do the thing right. You'll regret it otherwise.
Source(s)
Painted over wallpaper. Learned the hard way what a bad idea it was.
UPDATE: On December 1, I was notified that my answer had been chosen as the "Best Answer" with two whole votes.
Just to be safe, I posted a couple of the useless, mindless drone answers Yahoo loves so much.
Q: What is the best way to heal a broken heart?
A: Time is the only balm for a broken heart.
It's almost lame enough to be a line in a country song.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Bad Advice on DVD Region Encoding
A lot of people don't know this, but DVDs sold in different parts of the planet are "Region Encoded" so they'll only play back on players sold for that region. For example, a DVD bought in America will NOT play in a DVD Player sold in Europe.
A DVD that can be played in ANY DVD player is known as a "Region 0", "Multi Region" or "Region Free" DVD. Players that can play a DVD from any country are also known as "Region Free" or "Region 0."
It doesn't matter if the DVD you bought in America plays on your Panasonic 345 in the USA, it won't play on your cousin's European Panasonic 345 because it has a different region encoding. Video games are frequently region encoded as well, which is why Wii and Playstation owners in the USA have to hack their game consoles to play games that are only available in Japan. You need a "region 1" game to play it in a US game console.
Some DVD players can be hacked, either with hardware or software, to make them Region 0 players. For example, I have a boot DVD for my Playstaion 2 that will let me select which region it will be until I reboot it. This way I can, for example play Region 2 DVDs.
This brings me to a Yahoo Question asked by James R:
A DVD that can be played in ANY DVD player is known as a "Region 0", "Multi Region" or "Region Free" DVD. Players that can play a DVD from any country are also known as "Region Free" or "Region 0."
It doesn't matter if the DVD you bought in America plays on your Panasonic 345 in the USA, it won't play on your cousin's European Panasonic 345 because it has a different region encoding. Video games are frequently region encoded as well, which is why Wii and Playstation owners in the USA have to hack their game consoles to play games that are only available in Japan. You need a "region 1" game to play it in a US game console.
Some DVD players can be hacked, either with hardware or software, to make them Region 0 players. For example, I have a boot DVD for my Playstaion 2 that will let me select which region it will be until I reboot it. This way I can, for example play Region 2 DVDs.
This brings me to a Yahoo Question asked by James R:
Is windows Media Player Multi Regional?I was wondering if Windows Media player can play DVD's from different regions. As im wanting to buy some Region 1 DVD's but the 2 DVD players we have in the house are not multi regional.
This is a fair question. Most people never encounter problems with region encoding as most people jut buy DVDs at their local Wal-Mart or Target. Such stores pretty much always carry only DVDS and games encoded for the region they're in.
Mchiang's "Best Answer" chosen by the asker, however, is a pile of uniformed nonsense, perhaps deliberate misinformation.
Mchiang's "Best Answer" chosen by the asker, however, is a pile of uniformed nonsense, perhaps deliberate misinformation.
yes. i can play dvd from europe, us, and asia. it depends on the codec installed in your computer.
if you cant play your dvd in your media player, all you need to do is to find the appropriate codec for that region
This answer is, of course total nonsense. Windows Media player respects the region of the hardware DVD player that's installed. If the DVD drive in your PC is Region 1, then Windows will only play Region 1 DVDs.
James R has a few options. First, he can do some research on how to make his existing DVD players "Multi Region" or "Region Free." Many DVD players have an easter egg built into them where a key combination entered on the remote control will unlock them, permenantely or temporarily. Some DVD players, such as those in computers, will let you change their region up to four times before permenantly locking to whatever region was selected last. He could buy a second DVD Drive, set it to the desired region and just remember to insert the DVD into the correct drive to play it.
James R could also see if there's a firmware update for his computer's DVD Drive or even his stand alone players that will make them region free. This is a bit riskier as the hacked firmwares could "brick" the player.
Finally, he could just buy a Region Free DVD player. He'll need to buy one online and probably order form Japan or Germany, but models that can play any region DVD, MPEG , AVI and other formats can be had very inexpensively.
Mchiang's nonsense about installing a Codec equates region encoding with different file formats, a misinformed and costly mistake. There's no magical Codec that will let a Region 2 player play a Region 1 DVD. A Codec is merely a set of information about a particular file format. iT'S not a firmware upgrade or hack program to modify a DVD player's region encoding. Mchiang either doesn't know what he's talking about, or he doesn't know what words to use to describe the issue.
James R has a few options. First, he can do some research on how to make his existing DVD players "Multi Region" or "Region Free." Many DVD players have an easter egg built into them where a key combination entered on the remote control will unlock them, permenantely or temporarily. Some DVD players, such as those in computers, will let you change their region up to four times before permenantly locking to whatever region was selected last. He could buy a second DVD Drive, set it to the desired region and just remember to insert the DVD into the correct drive to play it.
James R could also see if there's a firmware update for his computer's DVD Drive or even his stand alone players that will make them region free. This is a bit riskier as the hacked firmwares could "brick" the player.
Finally, he could just buy a Region Free DVD player. He'll need to buy one online and probably order form Japan or Germany, but models that can play any region DVD, MPEG , AVI and other formats can be had very inexpensively.
Mchiang's nonsense about installing a Codec equates region encoding with different file formats, a misinformed and costly mistake. There's no magical Codec that will let a Region 2 player play a Region 1 DVD. A Codec is merely a set of information about a particular file format. iT'S not a firmware upgrade or hack program to modify a DVD player's region encoding. Mchiang either doesn't know what he's talking about, or he doesn't know what words to use to describe the issue.
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