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Very Inspiring Blogger Award, Awwww Thanks!

Posted February 28, 2013 By LadyJai

Thank you Cheyenne, for the lovely award and for finding me inspirational. I hope I’ll never let you down!

I’ve been AWOL for a while, dealing with my life, trying to remain positive, and escaping into my own WIP world from time to time. I’ve been quite a bit on the low side of being positive. It’s a daily struggle, as I’ve said many times before, to find even the smallest of positives in each day. And lately, for me, it’s been rough. Losing daily contact with my internet friends has put a damper on my positiveness as well. But I’m managing…mostly. 🙂

So, in an attempt to get me out of this rut, I’m writing words for all the world to see, writing a few “interesting” things about me. I don’t know how much is interesting. But maybe you will find them interesting?

1) Growing up, I moved every 4 years. I’ve lived, and traveled nowhere near the amount of places I want. To this day, I *STILL* get the itch to move every four years. But as I get older, and the lack of military assistance for the moving process, I dread it. The “new” and “start fresh” attitude, the dream of something bigger, still lingers; but historically, it always ends the same. The grass is always greener…I’m shy, I’ll never change. LOL

2) Most people know me as geeky, a computer wiz, a gamerchick, a sci-fi fangirl. I’ve only recently embraced that aspect, welcomed it into my life, and now flaunt it and wear it like a badge of honor. Oh so long ago, I was such an introvert, a sheltered child, a person who would take on the characteristics the company I kept . I hid who I really was because I thought people wouldn’t like me. The fear I had of disappointing others, the fear of no one liking me, that’s still there. But, you know what. I am me. It took me 40 some odd years to realize that. And the older I get the less I care what you think of me…though I’d love to have you as a dear friend.  I’ve resolved myself to being me. And to being alone. At least I still have the internet! 😀

3) I remember when we first got married, TheHubs wanted a computer so bad, and games. He would stay up all night playing them. Ignoring me. My husband never cheated on me, but I always considered that first computer as “the other woman.” It wasn’t until he “upgraded” that I decided that I was bound and determined to learn what fascinated him about it. I taught myself how to code a web page (that’s waaaaaay before WYSIWYG, I used notepad). I even got me a job at an ISP in Tech Support. I went from knowing nothing, to managing Tech Support in less than a year. 🙂 I got into gaming with TheHubs and we’ve been doing it ever since. (Oh, and am now *STUCK* in the IT career)

4) A lot of guys are jealous of TheHubs. He has a wife who will game with him…not play Farmville on Facebook, not play Uno on xBox, or puzzle games….*REAL* gaming, like Halo, Borderlands, Assassins Creed–hardcore games. You know?! I may not be the best gamer, or even gamerchick, out there; but playing with the family is always best. I don’t understand how those women out there can complain about their husband’s/boyfriend’s interest. You love them, you should try it out, get involved. The saying “Don’t knock it until you tried it” fits quite well here. You might like it. If not, then give the guy a little room, but don’t harp on it. And yes, there are guys who use it as an escape, too. But really, is that a “relationship”? I think not…but I digress.

5) I never had a cat until I got married. We always had dogs. But now,  I really do want to grow up to be the crazy cat lady. I’ve decided that I never want to come home to an empty house. I hope TheHubs and I can come to an understanding. He says 3 cats are too many, and that when it’s their time it’s so unbearably hard. Three cats is good, but I want at least 2 more! 🙂 And I agree with him that letting them go is unbearable, but I try to focus on the life they shared with us, and how fulfilling that is. I couldn’t come home to nothing. No headbutts. No comfort. No purring. *THAT* would be unbearable.

6) When I read, or watch a movie, I’m so into it. But ask me a day, a month, a year later, to describe in detail….nope, ain’t gonna happen. I can re-read or re-watch a movie and catch all the details all over again. I don’t know why. But, I can gather the general ideas together, but lose the details. Sad, isn’t it?

7) The ideas, the images of all the projects I ever have, always look fantastic….in my head. But when in practice, I can never achieve what I see in my mind’s eye. My friendships. My gardening.  My quilting. Any of the drawings I ever tried. Even my writing. I have the perfect everything…inside my head. I just wish someone would invent a way to read it all and just do it. 🙂 I give my love and support to everyone. I do the best I can with everything I attempt. I’ve learned to keep plugging away, even when it doesn’t turn out like I envisioned. It’s the best I can do. And, we are our own worst critic, right?

So, that’s pretty much all I can think of right now. If you want to know more about me I have some more “interesting things.” And you can always just ask. 🙂

Come back on Saturday for a slow cooker recipe (the only one I know), and links to others in the Slow Cooker Blog Hop! Who couldn’t use a time-cheat?

And don’t forget, #WriteMotivation kicks off in March! YAY!

LadyJai

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Am I A Victim? – Reverse Social Engineering (Not Necessarily the IT Security Definition, But Close)

Posted October 25, 2012 By LadyJai

About a year or two ago, someone used my Gmail address to sign up for Facebook.

My GMail address had been my go-to spam email. (since I got my Google phone, it’s become my primary email and my domain email has fallen by the wayside. I still use it, but only for official/important emails).

I never wanted Facebook, or any other social media anything back then. When I got the confirmation email, I ignored it. I first thought it was nothing more than spam. Then I kept getting emails for friends requests and messages on Facebook. I decided to see if I could log in and delete the account. I know I didn’t have the password, but the “forgot password” option sent me the link (or password, I can’t remember anymore) to my Gmail and I was able to gain access to the account.

I logged in and started deleting all the info off the page. It offered to “import your friends from Gmail” and I was curious. So I clicked it. And O.M.G! I found friends I hadn’t had contact with in 20 years. I found friends from my high school. And they remembered me! WOW!

So, that’s how I got my Facebook account. And that was the last I heard about someone using my email address.

Or so I thought.

It started back up again about 9 months ago. I now have a Pandora account. I have a bunch of service accounts, online gaming accounts, and accounts for children’s education as well as gaming accounts. All of which I’ve changed the password to.

I started off deleting the accounts, but the person would re-sign up with MY email address over again. So, to stop that, I just kept the account, changed the password on it, and left it alone. Eventually, they will delete it. Hopefully, she’s re-registered with her PROPER email address.

I wonder, how many times does it take for someone to realize they are using the WRONG email address and to be more careful? Really. How long?

When I first got hired into IT Security field, I dealt with this thing called PKI, Public Key Infrastructure. It’s a neat little tool that places authentication and encryption on your email based off something called PGP (Pretty Good Privacy). No need to go into the details of it as most of you would be bored to tears. 🙂

At that time, it was only a pilot program. Now, it’s required for all military and government emails. So, when I got into this PKI program, I learned of an awesome website called ThinkGeek. They operated out of a small closet back then. But I got my “I READ YOUR EMAIL” T-shirt from them back in 2000 (they don’t sell it anymore, but other places do).

That T-shirt is so appropriate now.

So, now I have all these accounts, with my email address tied to them. Spam is at an all time high. Even Gmail’s spam filter can’t capture them all. It’s annoying and frustrating to say the least. I have to take time out of my life to go “fix” all these accounts so I don’t continue to deal with even more unwanted email that I DIDN’T SIGN UP FOR!

Last month became even more troublesome. There were continued emails from Microsoft Account Team. At first, I thought it was a phishing scam. I searched everywhere for something about it. Nothing.

 

It happened once or twice in two weeks. No big deal. But then, I kept getting them back to back, over and over again. I started to freak out about this time, because I just read a couple of articles on Kotaku about people hacking xBox Live accounts and selling them on the internet.

I’ve had 2-step security on my Gmail account ever since I noticed someone attempting to log into my Gmail account from another country….I’ve never lived in. This 2-step verification is relatively new for Microsoft but I’ve had it implemented for some time now.

I logged into http://account.live.com and the links were legitimate. I’ve been changing my Live password each time I got these emails. But they still kept coming.

I tested the 2-step verification process myself. When I went to the “Billing” menu, that’s when I would get the 2-step email verification. So, either someone has access to my account, regardless how many times I change my password, or someone set up their Live account with the wrong email address. My guess is the latter.

So friggin’ frustrating!!! This could very easily be considered cyber harassment.  Not in the sense of bullying. But the fact that I continually get emails like this, have to change the passwords, contact the service to have them stop sending me emails, change my password, all takes time away from what I need or want, to do.

So, now that I THINK I have this under control….for now…I get an email the other day, setting up yet another account for a service I don’t want. But this time, the account verification email sent me her full name, username, and password.

I went to change the password on this account, like I always do, and when I logged in, I found out her work email, mailing address, and phone number. I’m like WHOA! In the wrong hands, this could be absolutely dangerous. Identity theft, stalking, even death. You just don’t know what people will do with personal information like this.

Because I work in the IT Security field, I am naturally paranoid. I’m not worried so much for me, as I am for the person who’s too stupid to remember their own email address! If left un-addressed, what will I get next? What other information is she carelessly throwing around to other strangers out there? I shudder to think of the possibilities. 

I’m not mean. I’m not manipulative. I’m not a bad person. But I could ooooh soooo be one with this information.

I dubbed this “Reverse Social Engineering” because it is personal information freely given to someone else, but I didn’t ask for it. However, this is not the proper definition of Reverse Social Engineering. Symantec defines it as “when the hacker creates a persona that appears to be in a position of authority so that employees will ask him for information, rather than the other way around.”

This is hardly the case here. But it is appropriate. Like I said, it’s information, given freely, to an unsuspecting stranger–Me. But lucky for her, I’m not malicious.

Now I’m going back and forth with myself. Do I contact her? Or do I leave it alone? If I contact her, will she take it the wrong way? Will I be in the wrong? Would I be considered the stalker? The harasser? The cyberbully?

The use of a wrong email address is not a legal issue. Having someone else’s personal information is not illegal. It’s how you use it. I’ve been trying to locate any information of someone else having this type of problem, information regarding how to stop this, how to safely contact the individual to inform/educate her. I’m torn. I want to help her, but fear the reprisal if she takes it the wrong way.

What do I do? What would you do?

LadyJai

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Breaking the Speed of Sound – 1947 & 2012!

Posted October 15, 2012 By LadyJai

Yesterday, I spent a good majority of the day watching the live stream of the Red Bull Stratos project.  I was so excited about this. I’ve been fascinated with jet airplanes since, I don’t know, I was born!! I mean, come on, my dad is retired US Air Force. I grew up with tactical fighter jets all the time! In fact, I didn’t have posters of teenage heartthrobs on my wall. No, I had pictures of the sweetest, most sexiest of all aircraft, EVER! The SR-71 Blackbird!

I call “jet noise” home. I sure do miss it. I now live near, and work on, a Navy base. Luckily, airplanes are a part of this one. But, the lack of jet engine noise is very disheartening. When they do come around, I get goosebumps! Really! I do!

Because of my exposure to jets, the Air Force, and everything revolving around it, I fell in love. One of my dreams had been to go into the Air Force, as a jet pilot and officer. However, fate saw other things for my life. I tried for 2 years to go into the AF. They had 4 Officer selection boards during that time, and out of them, they only accepted 2 people from Virginia–both Aeronautical Engineers. I blame the downsizing that happened after the first Gulf war for this misfortune. And by the time I tried again, I was too old for commission, and I didn’t want to go enlisted. So, I settle for working FOR the military. I’ve been doing it for the last 15+ years now.

Along with my love for all things “jet”, came the love for the Space program. Seeing as the SR-71 is the highest flying aircraft, capable of going up into near-space, (read stratosphere), and even to this day, its top speed is still CLASSIFIED, I find anything related to the Air Force, jet airplanes, space/NASA fascinating!

My Love of RedBullMy love of Redbull helps as well. I probably would have found this project after the fact, rather than following it for the last couple of months, had it not been for Redbull.

Austria’s Felix Baumgartner earned his place in the history books on Sunday after overcoming concerns with the power for his visor heater that impaired his vision and nearly jeopardized the mission. Baumgartner reached an estimated speed of 1,342.8 km (Mach 1.24) jumping from the stratosphere, which when certified will make him the first man to break the speed of sound in free fall and set several other records while delivering valuable data for future space exploration. — Redbull

This was monumental, on so many levels.

Photo courtesy of A.P.

24 miles, 4 minutes, 834MPH, 1 jump!

Not only did he break the sound barrier, he also broke several other records:
  • the highest altitude skydive ( 128,100 feet or 39,045 metres) previously held by Joe Kittinger
  • longest freefall without a parachute (119,846 feet or 36,529 metres)
  • fastest fall achieved during a skydive (reaching 833.9 mph or 1,342 kph), previously held by Joe Kittinger.

Balazs Gardi/Red Bull Stratos, via A.P

 

Yes, I’m a true geek, but damn proud of it.

If you didn’t see the jump, you can watch the highlights below! So awesome! My heart started pounding as soon as the door swept open!!

LadyJai

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Borderlands 2 QR Code Easter Eggs

Posted September 25, 2012 By LadyJai

Borderlands 2

Currently a Work in Progress!

We managed to snag the Ultimate Loot Chest Collector’s edition, a FULL WEEK after it’s release. Gamestop had one no one picked up. The manager tried every day to contact the person, and finally, after a week with no contact, she released it to us! YAY!

Ultimate Vault Hunter Collector's Edition of Borderlands 2

Ultimate Loot Chest Collector’s Edition of Borderlands 2

***

In the first Borderlands, they had little easter eggs throughout the maps of Pandora. Before QR Codes were popular, 2K & Gearbox threw them in the first Borderlands. And sure enough, we’ve found our first one in Borderlands 2.

We are now on a hunt to document all the QR codes we can find.

Is it too late to do this?
Or even do this for Borderlands 1?
Most of the time for B1, we had a hard time getting the code to catch with the reader.
So, be prepared, even in B2, our first one took us about an hour, even with our HD TV, several different gun zooms, and 4 QR Code catching devices.

To find out what they say, all you have to do is download/install a QR Code reader on your smartphone or tablet. If you are doing this directly off your TV, you will need to make sure you have a pretty good display and zoom in on the code. I’ve grabbed the QR Code for you from my history once it’s been scanned on my phone. You can also go to Online QR Code Decoder and decode it there.

Good luck.

1) Moxxi’s Pizza Box — located inside Moxxxi’s Place in Sanctuary

Moxxxie's Pizza QR Code

Moxxi’s Pizza Box
Click image for full size QR Code
TEXT: Wiseman say, forgiveness is divine but never pay full price for late pizza. –Captain Picard

2) Postcards from the Edge…of Sanctuary — Located just outside the city walls, where you place the power cell to gain entry into the city.
Postcards From The Edge...of Sanctuary QR Code

Postcards From The Edge…of Sanctuary
Click image for full size QR Code
TEXT:Nick Wilson
Ho Oh

3) Zedd’s Pharmacy— Located in Sanctuary, in Zedd’s Pharmacy, inside the open refrigerator door directly across from the entry door to the pharmacy.
Zedd's Pharmacy QR Code

Zedd’s Pharmacy QR Code
TEXT: Thank you so much for playing our game, now I’m rich with love AND money! !!Nick Wilson!! Ditto!!!

I’m still waiting on the contact information, or the winning sweepstakes one! I know you’re in there. *looks glaringly at Gearbox Software*

Have you found any?

LadyJai

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That Which Consumes My Life & #WriteMotivation Update #4

Posted September 24, 2012 By LadyJai

Borderlands 2

So, Borderlands 2 came out on September 18, 2012. The Hubs went to the midnight release. Unlike some, we are the responsible parents. I stayed home with our son (who had school the next day) while The Hubs went to Gamestop. What he saw was both full of awesome, yet kind of sad at the same time–a whole family dressed up in cosplay for Borderlands. We had Dr. Zed, Moxie, and a Midget Psycho. The poor baby was up WAY passed his bedtime, and was probably cold, since The Hubs said the AC was cranked and even he was cold. Still, the best Borderlands cosplay I ever saw, but felt sad for the baby.

When I’m not at work, I’ve been playing this. It’s been nearly a week, and I now have 3 characters between level 8 and 12 and I STILL can’t figure out who I like best! Unlike Borderlands.

In Borderlands, Mordecai was my absolute favorite. His bird was the fashizzle. And damn, I can snipe! 🙂 I started out with Lilith, the Siren, but she got boring really quick. Her awesome powers didn’t kick in until she was higher level and you could get the skill points for the skill tree you wanted. But before I could do that, I switched over to Mordecai and I was hooked. I played with my husband who loved Roland, and we made a wonderful team, as usual.

Before Borderlands 2 came out, Game Informer released some preliminary information on the story and characters and I decided I was going with the new Assassin class, Zero, who was Mordecai’s equivalent. When E3 hit, and PAX, and all the video multiplayer game play Gearbox and 2K games released, I was torn between Maya (Lilith’s equivalent) and Zero. By the time the game came out, I still couldn’t choose.

I’m not an up-close-and-personal player. I like to snipe. I like distance kills. And there are some enemies you NEED to kill as far away as you possibly can. I never liked Brick (The Berzerker) in the first one, and Salvador (The Gunzerker) in the second one is his equivalent. I highly doubt I will play as him as I never made a Brick character in the first.

I started with Zero. He’s awesome. But the, I tried out Maya. She’s awesome! Oh, and while playing with my son, I started Axton, the Commando, and he’s awesome! So, I cannot choose. I have 3 characters now, and I am playing all three at the same time…well, as at the same time as I possibly can.

Also, in the first Borderlands, they had little easter eggs throughout the maps of Pandora. Before QR Codes were popular, 2K & Gearbox threw them in the first Borderlands. And sure enough, we’ve found our first one in Borderlands 2.

Moxxxie's Pizza QR Code

Located at Moxxxie’s in Sanctuary
The Pizza Box QR Code
Click image for full size QR Code

We are now on a hunt to document all the QR codes we can find. Is it too late to do this? Or even do this for Borderlands 1? Most of the time for B1, we had a hard time getting the code to catch with the reader. So, be prepared, even in B2, this took us about an hour, even with out HD TV, several different gun zooms, and 4 QR Code catching devices. Good luck.

So, as for my #writemotivation update.

1) PROGRESS: I’ve got words! I’ve got progress. And on Friday of last week, I met a goal I never, EVER, thought I would reach.

Sept 21, 2012
After a little over 9 months, I made it to 50,000 words!
Never thought this would be possible
Definitely would never be able to do this in 30 days! 😀

I know, I know, it’s numbers…but hey! It’s a goal I never thought I would ever reach!

2) Complete blog posts for #writemotivation and hopefully have a few extras in there as I’m all dried up lately. I’ve managed this along with a few more.
3) Complete Crit in a timely manner. I’ve managed to complete this last week! YAY! Due to some life issues, the beginning of the week had been very un-creative. So, rather than waste it, I put full effort into escaping reading.
4) Read another book for pleasure. May be able to start, but not complete.
5) And always, ALWAYS, provide unending support, cheering, and cookie flinging, to anyone who needs it. I’m back, I think 🙂

LadyJai

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Geek Tuesday: Curiosity, The Mars Rover

Posted August 7, 2012 By LadyJai

George Takei's perspective: From: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=504332439596214&set=a.223098324386295.105971.205344452828349&type=1&theater

I wanted to stay up for the landing of the new Mars Rover, Curiosity. Really, I did.

But I couldn’t.

1:30am is just a tad too little sleep for me when I have to get up at 5am. And no amount of Redbull will send those grumpies away!

So, I slept through the 7 minutes of terror (1).

But, just as I thought it would, Curiosity landed safely on the surface of Mars.

*does the happy dance* a little late joining the happy dance with the NASA folks.

“Over the next two years, Curiosity will drive over to a mountain rising from the crater floor, poke into rocks and scoop up rust-tinted soil to see if the region ever had the right environment for microscopic organisms to thrive. It’s the latest chapter in the long-running quest to find out whether primitive life arose early in the planet’s history.” (2)

The hardest part of this whole project is not traversing the 155 million miles, not the 8 months of travel. No, it’s the landing. Having to go from around 13,000 mph to absolutely nothing in less than 10 minutes, could you even imagine?

It took brains! Lots and lots of BRAINS! (Do Zombies work for NASA? That’d be awesome!) Brains, and science, oh and Math!! they all helped compose the landing for Curiosity: several breaking tricks, a heat shield, and a supersonic parachute….and I’m sure a whole lot of praying! (Wonder if anyone turned blue, or passed out from holding their breath for 7 minutes!!)

I’m so proud of, and happy for, NASA!

I’m not going to go into too much science here, just wanted to touch base on it and congratulate them. No need to make your head hurt! 😀

LadyJai

Footnotes:
(1) http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/news/msl20120803.html
(2) http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/08/06/nasa-rover-curiosity-lands-on-mars-after-plummet/#ixzz22meSjV5n”

 

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Geek Tuesday: Once In A Decade Girly Moment – Semi-Geeky

Posted June 26, 2012 By LadyJai

Well, after the Friday I had, Saturday turned out pretty ok. Although, I did turn into a bit of a girly girl. Half of it worked, the other half…not so much.

Friday, I went to bed in a very foul mood. Saturday, I did not get to sleep in, like I normally do (if you can call sleeping until 7am sleeping in). The Hubs woke me up at 6am with a Redbull in hand. <3 All in all, my foul mood from the day before had disappeared. YAY!

Not sure if any of you are familiar with my geeky nail polish I just HAD to get?! Well, it’s BLUE and it has bits of iron filings in it. The bottle came with its own magnet, an arcing design. The first go around I didn’t do it right and I thought it would wasn’t worth the money. The second “practice” session, I got this and was pretty pleased:

Arc Magnet Nails

Magnetic Nail Polish with the Arcing design

Not bad, right? I had better luck this time.

Since The Hubs LOVES magnets, and has several of his own, he wanted to play with them and my nails. He just had to try his own magnets out. Unfortunately, the lines of flux were not in any shape/design, and all we got was the iron filings being drawn to the surface. All it looked like was a blob of two-tone nails.

We found a really cool set of design magnets from Sally’s Beauty Supply. They had the Arc, Straight Lines, and a Star pattern. I wanted to try the star pattern. Wished they had it so you could buy the magnetic paddles individually, but noooooo.

So I tried the star design yesterday. The Hubs thought it geeky enough to help. Did I say he loves magnets?? He was the one who held the magnet over my nails to create the design. And OMG did the come out AWESOME!

Magnetic Nails with Star Magnet

Magnetic Nails with the star magnet
By far my FAVORITE nail polish to date! 😀

I’ve also been considering a change with my hair. Been going back and forth trying to decide if I want to cut it or streak it blue. (I really, really want to streak it blue, but that requires bleaching parts of my hair, then dying it blue, and then HOPE my bosses don’t fire me) Cutting my hair, well, I’ve had some very bad experiences that left me scarred for life. I opted for a perm instead.

I’ve been searching long and hard for an easy, perfect curl. When I was little, my hair was curly, curly. My mom would put my hair up in piggy tails and wrap each around her finger and pull it through. The coils would stay.

Now, not so much. Either the longer my hair gets, the curl gets pulled out. Pregnancy has removed the curl. Or just plain old age. Or a combination of all three. I don’t know. But, I WANT MY CURLS BACK! And I’ve been searching for a perm that would give me those curls back. Still looking….

A while back, though, I did find some awesome curlers! They are called CurlFormers. These curlers resemble the coils I wrap my computer wires in. GENIUS! Now why didn’t I think of that?

Just after pulling the Curlformers from my hair

Just after pulling the Curlformers from my hair

finger combed curls from curlformers

Finger combed curls from Curlformers

Extra Long & Wide Curlformers starter pack

You need these with a wand. I picked these up at Sally’s Beauty Supply for $14 + $5 for the wand. I use 24 curlers. So, it was a bit expensive. But no more than say a good set of hot rollers. 🙂

Me in my Curlformers

I was skeptical at first, but after the first try with these, I was hooked. They really aren’t that hard to put in, though you may want to work with a friend to get the back of your head. 🙂 With my hair being so long, the drying time is really long. I usually end up sleeping in these. If you pull them out before your hair is completely dry, the curl will undoubtedly pull out. At least mine did. So, rather than try and blow dry it for hours, I just sleep in them.

These curlers provide the perfect ringlet. (See above pictures.)

CurlFormers’ website FAQ says you can perm your hair with these. I’ve been scouring the internet trying to find any information on anyone who has ever done this. Unfortunately, to no avail. So, this weekend, I took the curlers to my salon and asked if they could do the perm if we put them in. They had never seen these curlers before and were curious so they agreed to do it for $40. Not a bad price for an experiment I guess.

After the Perm with CurlFormers

After the Perm with CurlFormers

So I walked in looking like the picture above. Got a lot of strange looks. But everyone was anxious to see how they would work.

I must have had high expectations. I seriously thought they would come out looking like the spirals I get when I pull them out in the morning. Unfortunately, I did not get my beautiful spiral ringlets. 🙁 But I did get a wave. So it wasn’t a total loss.

Dry, it reminds me when I was little and I put small braids in my hair and slept in it overnight. A crinkled wave is more like it. And kind of frizzy. I will have to put some additional leave in conditioner in my hair for a while. And I haven’t put a brush to it since I had this done. I know better…brush = fizz!

If only I could find those perfect ringlet curls I desire so much. I’m wondering if it’s called a “piggyback spiral perm”. And how long do I give my hair before I do it all over again? 🙂

 

LadyJai
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Caturday: Portal Cat

Posted June 16, 2012 By LadyJai

Feeding my gamer geek cat loving girl on one picture. 🙂

Yes, I love Portal as well! 😀

LadyJai
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Geek Tuesday: My Thoughts on E3 2012

Posted June 12, 2012 By LadyJai
E3 2012

Image Courtesy of Forbes Blog contributor, John Gaudiosi

Every year, the first week of June, marks the world’s largest gamer geek nerdgasm. It is the annual video game conference and show at the Los Angeles Convention center. It is the venue for all the computer and console gaming companies (from Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, to Ubisoft and EA) to attempt to wow the gaming crowd with their newest secret projects.

This year. Well, let’s just say, I was left a tad bit disappointed. First of all, I missed every single press release live webcast. But what I did manage to see left me listless. There were no real hard-core WOW moments that got my blood pumping and skin crawling.

I had been waiting to see more about Halo 4. I’ve been playing Halo since the first day. We got the xBox when it first came out and Halo was our very first game. And when xBox Live came out in Beta, we managed to secure a spot on their test panel and Halo was the game they used to test their Live option. We own every release of Halo since. So, Halo has a special place in our hearts.

Last year gave us the teaser trailer for Halo 4. We’ve been wondering how 343 Studios will handle the Halo story. Will they do it justice? Will they butcher it? I mean, it was Bungie’s baby, right? But damn, after watching the E3 2012 Live Action Trailer…

We’ve had bits and pieces of live action before (Birth of a Spartan), so this isn’t new. But it still hints at a full length movie. They scrapped the first one and used the set for District 9, saying it was too expensive to produce. I’m sure they would more than make up for it in sales when the fan boys and girls would go see it over and over again! It would probably be THE. BEST. live action game to movie movie ever made! But, that’s my opinion. 🙂

PS: Everyone loves Master Chief. Well, I like him and all. But I fawn over Cortana! I’m such a fangirl! They BETTER NOT kill her! I will be devastated!

So, yeah, I think this one is going to play well, and live up to the story. Here’s a link to the Official Gameplay video Microsoft released at E3 this year.

The only other game I am totally excited for, Ubisoft’s Assassins Creed 3. I started with this story a little late. I bought my Assassins Creed used, about a year and a half after its initial release. But once I played it, I was totally hooked. The gameplay was different from FPS. And I loved the challenges of stealing/killing without being seen or caught.

But, the thing that hooked me the most was the story! OMG! Amazing! Historical accuracy, mixed with fictional scenarios. It was like I was playing a book! I have an affinity for history. And, since I am a writer, I do love me a good story! I fell in love with Altair. Then, I helped birth Ezio Auditore da Firenze. He grew up, and I helped shape his character. I killed along side him. I became him.  I spent an entire lifetime with the man, helping to further his cause. And then, I watched him die.

But that’s only half the story. Desmond is in the here and now. He is the one controlling the memories. He is the one who will inevitably be the one to solve the puzzle. And you are him as well. Although we’ve finished both Altair and Ezio’s stories, there are still so many questions left unanswered. And now, Ubisoft will be transporting us into a part of the American Revolution we have never seen, through the eyes of Connor (and Desmond).

Ubisoft has been working on a new game engine for the last 3 years and will be releasing it with Assassins Creed 3. I so cannot wait! I still get chills watching this! (maybe I am weird, but I don’t care. I love the history, AND the story!)

Ubisoft also released a new assassin, a girl. Assassins Creed III: Liberation will only be released with the Playstation Vita. This makes me incredibly sad because I refuse to buy a system for only one game.

The only other announcement I found remotely fascinating was Microsoft’s Smartglass technology.

Microsoft has always been known to be behind in releasing new technology. In my opinion, they’ve been WAY TOO FAR behind. For example, their Zune and their Windows Phone came out so far after the iPod/iPhone that Apple  held the majority of popularity. When they finally came out with their versions, well, they couldn’t garner any support and quickly shelved it (at least the Zune. I am sure the Windows Phone won’t be far behind). I’m sad. I own 2. I like the Zune. I used to like my Windows Phone, before they made it so…just so blah. I went to Android when the latest Windows Phone OS became available.)

But maybe it’s because I am anti-Apple? I don’t know. My husband says that’s the reason. Who knows. I mean, we have an iPad. But I rarely use it. I’ve ported Android’s Ice Cream Sandwich OS on my HP Touchpad. 🙂 I think I have always had an aversion to mainstream hype. (I never did like the teenage heart throbs when I was younger either. Never understood all the hype!)

I am pleasantly surprised that Microsoft will now open up the xBox for iPads, iPhones, and Android devices through the free smartphone app (Smartglass). At least, they didn’t wait until 2 years from now. 🙂

So, are you a gamer? Did you watch the E3 coverage? What was your favorite?

LadyJai
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Geek Tuesday: Transit of Venus

Posted June 5, 2012 By LadyJai

This colorized image of Venus was recorded by the Jupiter-bound Galileo spacecraft shortly after its gravity assist flyby of Venus in February of 1990. Galileo's glimpse of the veiled planet shows structure in swirling sulfuric acid clouds. (Galileo Project, JPL, NASA)

Tuesday is the Transit of Venus. Starting at 5:45PM Eastern time, people can view Venus traveling across the face of the sun. Depending on where you are in the world, you may have the last opportunity to witness this event in your lifetime, given perfect viewing conditions. (If you don’t have perfect viewing conditions, there are loads of webcasts.) The next one will not occur until 2117.  When this spectacle occurs, they occur in pairs, 8 years apart. However, the next one will not occur until 2117. I’m pretty sure everyone who can see this one will not be around for the next. So grab your sun-staring goggles and let’s watch!

WARNING: For skywatchers who are planning to view the transit of Venus in person, it is important to exercise caution. It is very dangerous to stare directly at the sun. Special eclipse glasses and filters for telescopes are needed to avoid permanently damaging your eyes.

For NASA’s complete list of Venus transit webcasts, visit: http://sunearthday.nasa.gov/2012/transit/webcast.php

What is a Transit?
“Transit” is just the word astronomers use to describe one cosmic body passing in front of another from a third object’s perspective. For example, a lunar eclipse. “The transit of Venus, therefore, simply describes the event wherein Venus passes in front of the Sun as viewed from Earth. But Venus and Earth do not orbit the Sun in the same amount of time (the Earth takes 365 days, Venus 225); nor do they orbit the Sun in the same plane. As a result, it’s rare for the three bodies to align in such a way that Venus’ path across the Sun is visible from Earth.” (reference: io9 article) Hence the reason the next Venus Transit will not occur until 2117.

How to watch safely. (LOOKING DIRECTLY AT THE SUN WILL CAUSE PERMANENT DAMAGE, EVEN WITH SUNGLASSES! DON’T DO IT!)

Check with your local planetarium or astronomy clubs. I’ve seen plenty that are setting up viewing events in many cities.

Or you can use an old method I was taught a long time ago to watch a solar eclipse called the Pinhole projection technique:

Poke a small hole in an index card with a pencil point, face it toward the Sun, and hold a second card three or four feet behind it in its shadow. The hole will project a small image of the Sun’s disk onto the lower card… Experiment with different size holes. A large hole makes the image bright but fuzzy; a small hole makes it dim but sharp.

There are also a number of streaming web casts you can attend and listen to commentary while it happens. These are great for those of you suffering from too many clouds. Or even those of you who want to hear more in-depth geek facts and conversations about this awesome event! like me! 😀  Check out NASA and SLOOH.

Transit of Venus

LadyJai
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