laserbomb

If you're going to be out in that area with that kind of time, NYC sticks out by not being on your list, my suggestion would be maybe let it on your radar if you have any interest at all. A 1- or 2-day stop there wouldn't really do you justice but don't let that stop you.

I don't know if it's still like this, but a few months ago on my phone JSOnline started always showing a crappy mobile version of their site instead of just the regular site like you'd see on a computer. I couldn't get to half the parts of the site I look at. There are a couple free apps in the market that are just different options for internet browsers beside the browser that comes on the phone. Some different browsers have a specific option to choose whether you want to see the mobile versions or the regular full versions of sites. That way JS can't force you to that stripped-down site that doesn't have everything on it. Skyfire is one that has that option, Dolphin Browser Mini has it and I ended up using just using that browser all the time in place of the one that came with it. I know it's not ideal compared to just getting the JS site to work in the browser you're used to. But it's been pretty nice, I didn't want to get one of these phones until the internet by and large looked the same way it'd look on a computer screen. To me a very few mobile versions of sites were really well done to fit being on a phone better, but most of them sucked and I didn't want to get used to 2 different versions. For the battery, I didn't try any batteries from other companies, but ended up just getting the HTC bigger extended one through Verizon. The battery that came with it was just not really cutting it. The extended one is decent. Big improvement. The phone getting thicker from the bigger battery isn't that weird. If you ever put the original one back in, it'll feel really tiny again, which is kind of cool until your battery gets low within a few hours again. The size trade off and cost of another battery was definitely worth it for me. I'm not on the phone constantly but it sounds like you're not either. Basically it was a noticeable difference, and now I can use the phone through the day, charge it at the end, and not have to be conscious all day of using the battery or getting low on battery through the day.

Paul, I just got a 42" plasma a couple months ago and like it a lot. Looking at them compared to LCDs, I just like how the picture looks, with dark and bright colors. It's a Samsung, and in the menu it lets you set it to scroll a gray bar across your screen. If you run that once in a while during the first couple weeks you use the TV, you'll be able to see the pattern fixing any station logos down in the corner or anything else starting to try to burn in. After a couple weeks, nothing even began to burn in any more, so they must have made a lot of improvements in the last few years. Glare isn't a problem here, I don't have it sitting across from windows or anything but I believe they build something in now to help with that too. There's another way to maybe save a couple hundred bucks or more. At the size you're looking for, most people can see the difference between a 720p or 1080p picture. But there's not much around in 1080p beside Blu Ray and I think a little on Dish network, and it looks like there are technical reasons why it'll probably be years before more networks use it. So depending whether you plan to get a Blu Ray player in the medium future, a 720p (1080i) TV would be enough to see just about anything on TV into the foreseeable future. You sound like you're ready to go and stare at a wall of all of them for like 20 minutes and see what looks the best to you.

Maybe he'd have fun with Big Brain Academy. There are a couple handfuls of quick games split up into 5 categories, and after you run through a section they give you a brain score based on how fast and well you did. We had a lot of fun with it for a while until there wasn't quite enough variety to keep us coming back playing the same handfuls of games and watching our scores for months. The reason I bring it up in spite of that is I'm not sure how that might all translate for 5-year-olds, and I wonder if it might be in a good way.

Too live: No great baseball game yet. The BIGs was messed up, the game forced you to learn the wrong timing (swing early to get a hit, if you swing at the right time you won't hit it) and that turned me off all by itself. Power Pros sounds great at what it does, but I don't like RPGs or a lot of extra stuff outside playing the game. It does sound like the best so far, by far. But I'm just not interested for a few reasons and it sounds like you're not either. So that's pretty much it for now.

Godfather and Resident Evil 4 are my favorites so far. But these holiday games are coming just in time, it's starting to get a little stale waiting for new exciting stuff to come out. We love our Wii, but I'm tired of waiting for it to get to that potential too, so I'm getting a 360 and XBL to go along with it. Check out the list of Virtual Console games that are available so far, and definitely hook it up to the internet if you can (it can pick up a wireless signal, otherwise you have to pay for a usb/ethernet wired adapter).

My wife had the soundtrack for the movie Cherish and I think it was on there. PS Gypcasino, could you check your inbox for an unrelated reason?

Sometimes it's interesting to see what people might have available, like tickets or some other less common things. It seems like the number of people who're into trading cards, bobbles, and autographs might have grown into something a little different that maybe could justify having a collector's board to themselves. I don't know anything about the logistics, or if it'd be appealing to anyone else or they see where I'm coming from or not.

I still don't check in more than once or twice a month or necessarily post without getting jumped all over, but I think I have some perspective for that, and for the record since the last time I made my opinions known I think most everyone in charge is less cliquey, maybe more helpful, or making their "power" known a little less. I'm sure it's been difficult to handle what's probably been a chunk of growth in size and membership. In my opinion, compared to other sites that might be a little less strict, some people scroll around here ore with repressed rocks and unload pointlessly, or work too hard to show they're "up on things" or worthy of respect, take things too seriously or take some of the fun out of things, whatever that means here. That's probably part of being the best resource around, and mods probably have to work harder in general to maintain the standards rather than just closing things down when necessary, but that's your choice. That said I understand what you're going for and think you're hitting the mark. Clearly there are enough people that appreciate the PG rating, and whether or not I could handle R doesn't matter. There always seem to be a few frustrated wannabe sportswriters or people who righteously seek the respect of a message board but this is an outstanding resource for new or old fans alike. I think it's worth not a lot but a little something that I've managed to avoid getting warned or banned through any disagreements I might've stood by or taken a break after, and if anyone seeks my opinion they know where to find me. In the meantime, I think the pitch chart and at-bat song pages could be a little more closely updated but cheers to the dozen or so who keep this rolling. I'm not up on fan sites all around sports but it's hard for me to conceive there are many sites around MLB, NFL, NBA or anything else that are much more comprehensive. I think those who recognize my name will know I'm not here to suck up for any reason or curry favor, still it's hard to overstate what a great resource this site is. Maybe someday all the fans at MP will be into the game and knowledgeable about it. So here's to the last 50 regular-season games; Yost making good decisions since we're ultimately standing or falling with him; Weeks, the pitching staff and everyone else; Skaalen not feeling too much like Wynegar for too long; one-color bobbleheads next year if they still need them for attendance since people can't be civil or maybe rational; and thanks to everyone who cares for all the hard work. From an outside view it doesn't seem likely that the JS will dig too deeply into anything good or bad here, and it seems like a good chance there's not so much worth worrying too too much about. I mean, people can say, "take your customer service, bf.net story or whatever to the JS," but without getting carried away let's appreciate this for what it is. This isn't about to become a national or regional story. I don't always agree with some of the principles and guidelines here but I can stay away for a while if I disagree and you're the ones hanging around, and I think those principles are made well known clearly enough. Magic number = 48 or 44 if the Cardinals are the greater long-term threat, personally I'm having a lot of fun with this even sticking mostly to brewers.com and watching every game, and checking in a couple other places from time to time. The losses are hard to take but nothing so far has outdone the sweep in FLA and 10-game losing streak yet.

Go on. I don't check in here very often and I called it like I saw it, probably with sarcasm but not with any bother, and don't have any aim beyond that. You're going to tell someone else on a message board they used too many words? Go shine your collections.

laserbomb, that is a little harsh, i have all the blue ones and pinstripe ones, it isn't that hard, and even if I don't get them at the gate, I get them from other people at the park. It really isn't that hard. You're right, 12.5% or 0.00....0018% isn't that hard, compared to some even farther long shots. But if there're tricks at the gate, it's not random. Or if you just have the initiative to go around to people who don't care or don't know what a blue one is, that's great that you've figured it out and it works out for you. The last part of that post is pretty bush league. Oh, you think I leaned over the plate into that one? Just wait til Ned gets here, he'll scream at you until he's ejected!

You sound pretty certain. Sweet, I thought I heard MP workers were going through the boxes before giving them to fans randomly. I'm not even a collector but it's pretty cheap if that's how it is. Not accusing you personally of anything. Let's see, 5000 blue ones out of let's say 40,000 every time, that's 1 in 8 or or a 12.5% chance at the gate. To pull in the long odds every time, am I figuring it wrong or is that a 0.00000000018% chance? You sound pretty sure of getting the whole team together. People who care more about bobbleheads or pay a lot for their sets might call someone like that a lucky fan, or a born winner. PS I offer a striped Gorman (don't know if you're missing some of the striped ones), two probably striped Harvey Kuenns, a Chorizo and a Turnbow from last year with real hair that I could paint any color for an interested party. Could probably persuade my wife to throw in 2 retro logo margarita glasses and 4 mini helmets from cheese fries; she heard people like those blue ones and that they may be willing to $$ or maybe even $$$ for a comprehensive set like that.

It blows my mind that they've sold out every game since the new stadium opened and probably had a streak going back at the old Busch. The metro area's got about a million more but that doesn't account for the knowledgeable part. I couldn't really speculate about the reasons for that, but if no one tries to start the wave during the middle of a rally that'd be kind of impressive.

You should sit front row between home and first if any of those seats are still available for this year, and have Corey come over starting the bottom of the first and ask your companion, "what is the meaning of life?" But I'm not sure why you want to go to all the trouble to ask a question that has no answer. Seriously though, it'd be pretty cool if the ring was all covered in pine tar. Good call avoiding the scoreboard, I think. There's no accounting for if she has to go to the bathroom or something and you're sitting there like, "Could you wait a little bit, I need to see if Suppan makes it through 5 and I want to have you here with me because it looks like he could do it with under 105 pitches!" If they can't let the players be a part of it, maybe try a fighter jet fly-over after the national anthem, and they could drop the ring box down to you with a little parachute attached. Or if you went to the Fan Zone before the game and said, "hey, try on this foam finger, no, on your left hand" and she does but there's something small and round stuck inside, oh snap! Best of luck with all of it, sounds like you've got it covered. Edit: Sheeeeeeet, hope I don't get fired for responding.

Anyone get at Strikers yet? I'm curious about the online but can't see picking this one up without being pretty sure it'll be fun for a long time. Might have to rent it.

Really? That blows. I guess on the bright side it's a nice reminder that there are way too many games left to start to panic.

I'll take your word for that and maybe start to pay closer attention. It's definitely not the biggest deal whether he saves "would" for 2 outs or an out and a man on. I feel bad for Bill sitting up there with Brian's would poking out all the time, but he's a professional and I'm sure he's seen worse and can handle it.

Are we also about 50 runs scored from being up 8 games or more? This part I agree with.

I sincerely hope no one's getting in the team MVP's face unless he set a personal Jager bomb record last night or this morning. Heat seems to mess with his slider and if they're not chasing it out of the zone on a day like today, it makes his job 3 times as hard. There's still no one else I'd rather have out there. Do you want something doughf? With style? I'm sure he's sorry he's only converted 32 of 36 saves and is only on pace for 50 instead of teasing the all-time record. It sucks that with this team's road problems, he fits right into that. Maybe someone else has another possible contributing factor beside hot humidity. But I guess it happens until we build robot Brewers.

Agreed, it's not like unanswered runs are exactly the same thing as in basketball or football. And this is a really picky thing that I'm embarrassed to mention, but how about when there's one out or none, nobody on base, say Pujols is on deck, and "Pujols would be up next." No, I'm pretty certain he will be up next unless the world ends while So Taguchi is at the plate.

At least be honest, like you haven't already dug up that number. Did it work; do you need 9 out of 10 approval on a message board to give it a shot? Looks like it's about 14 to 2, with 8 caveats about stalking. Is 14 out of 16 approval close enough? The warnings are called for when you ask strangers how to make decisions they can't make for you. Come on. Can you be honest with her? What do we know about that part of your life? Hopefully you're not going to do anything stupid or dangerous if it doesn't go the way you're hoping, so if it comes across weird to her or doesn't go over well from your perspective, it'll be tough and maybe awkward if she's not tactful, but you'll know and go back to whatever else you're doing with your time now. There's so much great, stupid, hurtful or fulfilling personal stuff going on with people that you won't be out all that much even in the worst case. If you're closer to this board than to her, I agree most with Bando and JimH5 (also Brett in that no one can tell you anything that's helpful anough, and bsglory of course), but what does anyone else know? Whose opinion on here do you respect and follow enough to decide what to do about this? Everyone happily married did it a little different, and for all you know maybe someone right here already won that heart. Give your head and rocks a few minutes more and make a decision one way or the other already. Good luck with everything either way, jaybird2001wi. She knows your real name at least. If I flip a coin, will you give me head or tail? works really well. See what kind of advice you find on the internet?

I burnt worse than on my week-long honeymoon in Mexico this June, we were more careful then. But I loved it, my new brother got us great seats for our wedding and it was my fault for forgetting the sunscreen while I packed the cooler. I know they have a better record with the roof closed, and it was a little bit of a relief when a couple clouds passed through for a few minutes at a time, but I can't support this.

Let's see, I'd agree that all the text is probably the biggest drawback if you have to pick one, even though some of it's kind of amusing. If you ever played Trauma Center, it didn't aggravate me nearly as much as all the text in that did. If you make it through the big chunk in the beginning without feeling impatient, (that's the worst offender I've found so far, while they were setting the story up) you'll get to get into the fun pretty quickly after that. In between worlds ("chapters") there are also scenes of text to click through. I guess one way to put it is, that kind of thing is about the exact opposite of what I like in a game, but for me it still doesn't drag anything down. It almost feels like a Zelda game in some of those respects, and I never got into those. There's a lot of exploring to do, and sometimes people to go and talk to. My impression is it's a lot more linear than some of those, but within each section there's a lot of looking around and enough puzzle-type-things to keep things interesting. Edit: also wanted to add that between chapters you return to a kind of home area where it's necessary to ramble around some more before diving back in. Helps tie everything together, and from there you can jump back into any level you've already beaten. In some ways you kind of gradually ramp up into the gameplay and I think they do that well, too, by letting you get into it and then adding things as you go. I don't want to overstate things because I'm still all into it, but it feels like it'll still be fun to go back to a lot of these levels and play them again. I wouldn't want anyone to hold me to anything about replay though, because tastes and playing speeds can be so different. The graphics are fun, I'm not the best judge of how "good" they are but the style's different and interesting. And I think I put about 6 hours in already since yesterday, stayed up all night with a chunk of Godfather in the middle. That put me around the beginning of chapter 3 (of 7). I'm sure a lot of people could breeze through faster but I've been enjoying running around trying different things. Um, I'm pretty much just scattering everything out here, probably way too much, sorry about that. I'd give it somewhere in the low to mid 9's out of 10, pretty much the ceiling I'd put on a game so early in the wii lifespan.

Super Paper Mario is just outstanding.

I recently felt the need to take a break for some of these reasons. I do appreciate knowing the community of people is here, and especially the large handful who apply so much time, energy and research to baseball and the Brewers. I think sports are a lot more fun when there's some knowledge and passion involved, and there?s definitely a lot of both here. I generally don't think I have much unique to offer in the Major League forums that's not already well-covered by the time I get to it. If something interests me I?ll look into it pretty thoroughly, but a year after graduating I?m still burnt out on school so I generally take it easy and keep it fun. I?ve learned a lot about baseball in the last year, enjoy watching more for it, and am ready to pick up more along the way at my pace. At times there seem to be diminishing returns, or if I check in too long or too often it can sometimes take a lot of the fun out of the whole thing. Sometimes because there?s only so much going on to talk about before it all gets old. Sometimes because of some sniping, or especially I-am-but-a-thinking-man-and-this-is-mere-common-sense,-it's-so-pleasant-up-here- on-my-hill-knowing-everything-and-I-don't-mind-if-I-imply-you're-a-fool-for-not-joining- me-up-here. So many people get into sports mostly to argue. Maybe it?s couched in polite words, but if it feels condescending that?s going to override everything else. It doesn?t really matter who, because if it?s not easy to skim the names column before reading posts, it?s always easy to close the window and take a little break. There's a big difference between elite and elitist. I get sick of the words elitist, pretentious, they get pounded into the ground even though it's only because so many people act that way. But sometimes it seems like the consensus biggest goals are conflicting once in a while: -Getting big or popular seems to be desirable to many. But sometimes the direct effects of growing aren?t welcomed. There are surely a lot of great baseball minds and Brewer minds who haven?t found the site yet. For every one of them who finally does, I?d guess there will be a lot more who don?t fit the ?ideal.? So we have rules in place to deal with that, and I think it?s a great step to take as long as they?re consistently applied. -We want to be the best resource available to fans, superfans, and incredibly knowledgeable superfans. But the stated goal is to create more incredibly knowledgeable superfans, and if that?s not you for any reason you should probably know your place, and really it?d be best if you mostly keep quiet too and just observe unless you?re politely, deferentially asking for a sip of knowledge. -Mention us on ESPNews, it?ll get licked up here. But the whole place was founded after what if I?m not mistaken was the last straw or six on ESPN boards. I guess the benefits of working hard to expand aren?t very clear to me, based on the mission statement. The site improves and it speaks for itself, doesn?t it make a lot more work to take it much beyond that? I mean the team already knows about the site, and beyond that there?s a strong loyal group to keep things going. It?s hard to see insider posting increasing as the site grows. I know it?d be stunning and be great to feel a tangible impact as fans if a Schilling-type thing happened here and affected a signing. But whatever we?re fighting for, I hope we?re having fun with it. As much as so many take the sport and their arguments very seriously (I also think it?s great that there?s a forum for these discussions, and they?re one of the most valuable parts of the site to me), I think most here would say they stop by for entertainment. For some it?s seeing Lasorda getting knocked on his ass in Sheets? first all-star game, and for some it?s seeing how many people will recognize the funny quote from TV, movie or music. Many of us have sarcasm in the wheel of our senses of humor, but even with blue font the internet is still a tough way to convey that a lot of times. Even when people think they're harking back to Mark Twain trying to tease people ?politely.? What if there was an ezBox or something to send complaints to? Someone gets 10 reasonable arguments made against them and they get a chance to speak their side and then some kind of grand warning. Maybe it?s less fun for them now, maybe they hang around less. Maybe it was debatable whether the grand warning was justifiable. I?m not sure exactly how to bring the most satisfaction to the greatest number of people (or otherwise priority satisfaction to some desired subset of members). It?s ridiculous to make it more like a fraternity or something, but in a lot of ways it?s just so hard to decide where to draw the line. Here?s an example, I can?t really do it clearly without pulling out a couple names . Russ seems to rub some people the wrong way, but I generally see where he?s coming from and it hardly ever bothers me. On the other hand, voices like Al?s or Toby?s do on occasion. I can?t necessarily explain it, even, and sometimes it's the same kind of tactics, so I can?t describe 100% of where it comes from. I understand these are all people who have been around the site a long time and generally contributed a lot of time and energy. But what do you do and how do you do it? Likely it?s all already fine or best the way it is. I know that?s a lot of work. Maybe some kind of inbox for compliments, too, and maybe after 50 they could have the opportunity to be another moderator if the current mods agree or something. I don?t know how you all do the work you do for the site, but I know there?s a large enough loyal following here to want to help take care of it in whatever way they can. It can feel nice to feel like an authority, or especially "the authority" and sometimes it's easy to push it in these conversations. The same way, who doesn?t want to be known as entertaining as well as enlightening, thought-provoking, you know? Who would rather not show up in the Poster of the Year thread? : ) It?s pretty natural to a point I guess, but I also think it?s sometimes misguided, or otherwise taken to the level of trying to refine some schtick, maybe wanting to get a start as a sports columnist or some bullroar alternative media or something. As long as everyone's feeling good, it doesn't matter much. I don?t have anything close to a problem with anyone here, the irritating situations mostly revolve around people taking themselves very seriously without fail or being condescending (as irritating as a couple other traits can be), and they don?t hear about it from me because it?s as easy as clicking the X. I didn?t feel like I had to get anything off my chest or bust a nut or anything, and probably didn?t even make a cohesive point. I maybe have passed up Reed or a previous record of mine for the longest post on file. But I only weighed in because I thought I had a few relevant, reasonable things to say; the way this thread?s going there arguably seems to have been a little issue going for a little while; and I type kind of clearly or spell pretty well at least. Um, in closing, if you made it all the way through, you?re a sucker, and if you didn?t read it you?re an even bigger sucker. I?ll just go ahead and retract that right away and get back to where I started: you?ve got a great thing going here, and anything else will work out like things do. (edit: split long line to kill sideways scroll --1992casey)