Equipment Review: Eton FR160B

By Flea - Be A Survivor

Well, Christmas came and went and I got a few goodies that I will cover with you. The first is an emergency radio. I received an:

Etón FR160B Microlink Self-Powered AM/FM/NOAA Weather Radio with Flashlight, Solar Power and Cell Phone Charger (Black)
In fact, I got two of them. One for the car and one for the house. I have had many cheapo radios in the past that were crank and solar powered. They never worked right, especially the weather portion and cell phone charging ability. This one actually doesn't suck. To my surprise it worked quite well and seemed to be pretty high quality.

Reception with the antenna up is great, the weather band works great once the right channel is selected (my area is channel 7). The solar charging capability worked great as did the hand crank charging. From my experience a few cranks will give you about 10 minutes of radio...the longer you crank the longer it will last.

It also includes a built in LED flashlight and cell phone charging capability (using crank). When charging a phone please read the instructions because if you do it wrong you could theoretically damage your cell phone battery. The flashlight is acceptable in a pinch and is quite bright.

The controls are straightforward: volume, tune, and band selector. There is a button at the top to toggle the flashlight on and off near the solar panel. The crank is on the opposite side of the radio and controls. Lastly, there are inputs for an ear piece and cell phone on the back of the device.

All in all, the Etón FR160Bis a great little radio for emergency situations, in the house and car, and would be a great addition to a bug out bag.

...that is all.

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New Years Resolutions

By Flea - Be A Survivor

It is the time of the year when everyone says they will do “X”, turn over a new leaf, or make a change in their lives. I have no idea when this tradition started or why it caught on; one thing I can say is that a majority of people fails miserably when it comes to sticking to these “resolutions”.

In keeping with this tradition I have committed to myself to make some serious changes in my life. I am going to work hard and do the very best I can to make sure these are not empty promises. I am going to share some of these resolutions I have made with you, please don’t laugh because some of them may seem a bit odd to some of you.

1.) Quit Smoking – I actually got a head start on this one as I actually stopped cold turkey in October in anticipation of falling off the wagon a few times. I have cheated exactly three times since then, each time smoking one cigarette. That is pretty good I think and I am super committed this time so I anticipate complete success with this one.

2.) Stop biting nails – this one some people will find disgusting but when I am stressed I sometimes take it out on my fingers. Since January 1st I have taken nary a nibble, so far, so good.

3.) Teeth – I have always been anal with my teeth. I go to the dentist twice a year like I should and brush and use an antiseptic mouthwash at least twice a day. I have always struggled with flossing. My resolution this year is to brush and use the mouthwash at least three times daily and floss at least once a day (at night). I also plan to finally get the three wisdom teeth I have taken out (I have been avoiding this for a few years, they don’t hurt but they are superupting).

4.) Lose weight and exercise – HA, you had to know this one was going to be on the list. I plan to cut down on the calories and actually USE the gym membership I have been paying for religiously. I plan to take the slow approach, no fad diets, just cut down and make some healthy changes like more veggies and water and less carbs and sugar. My goal is to lose 5-7 pounds a month, which seems like a small amount but adds up over the course of a year. For the record I could stand to lose about 40 lbs.

5.) Take a chill pill – I have been told I can be quite intense. My goal this year is to better let things roll off my back. I am not going to let work, school (Masters degree), or family get me agitated. It is just not worth the stress and health problems it causes. Work will still be there…school will work out…and the problems of every member of my family aren’t always mine to give a shit about or get involved with.

...that is all.

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Quick Update On Life

By Flea - Be A Survivor

Just some quick updates on life here...I have finally graduated from college with my Bachelors degree in Information Technology. I am actually starting a Masters program next week. I have had a grand total of two months to enjoy a school free life. Back to the grindstone.

My wife and I were rear ended (AGAIN) by some 18 year kid texting on his phone. I really hate driving at this point. People really need to put the fucking devices down and pay attention to driving. I believe if you are screwing with your phone and you kill someone with your car you should rot in jail for a LONG time. It is no different than drunk driving...your driving ability is IMPAIRED. So pay attention for Christ's sake. AT LEAST consider hands free or a headset for talking and don't TEXT AT ALL!

Insert small plug for Progressive Insurance - they have been great throughout all our encounters with idiots that can't drive.

I may just do a post on dealing with accidents seeings how I have so much damn experience with them.

Other than that the family is doing well right down to the pooches, I have done some preparations for hurricane season but other than that I have been enjoying my time off from school and relaxing.

I got a good deal on a case of flashlight and have them strategically placed around the house and in the car. Can never have enough flashlights.

...that is all.

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RangerSquirrel

By Flea - Be A Survivor

Our old friend RangerSquirrel is back blogging, check him out (not specifically about any topic in particular).

JamesIsRunning

...that is all.

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Couple Forecloses on Bank - This Is Just Awesome.

By Flea - Be A Survivor

Link to article: http://www.digtriad.com/news/watercooler/article/178031/176/Florida-Homeowner-Forecloses-On-Bank-Of-America

Text of article:
Collier County, Florida -- Have you heard the one about a homeowner foreclosing on a bank?

Well, it has happened in Florida and involves a North Carolina based bank.

Instead of Bank of America foreclosing on some Florida homeowner, the homeowners had sheriff's deputies foreclose on the bank.

It started five months ago when Bank of America filed foreclosure papers on the home of a couple, who didn't owe a dime on their home.

The couple said they paid cash for the house.

The case went to court and the homeowners were able to prove they didn't owe Bank of America anything on the house. In fact, it was proven that the couple never even had a mortgage bill to pay.

A Collier County Judge agreed and after the hearing, Bank of America was ordered, by the court to pay the legal fees of the homeowners', Maurenn Nyergers and her husband.

The Judge said the bank wrongfully tried to foreclose on the Nyergers' house.

So, how did it end with bank being foreclosed on? After more than 5 months of the judge's ruling, the bank still hadn't paid the legal fees, and the homeowner's attorney did exactly what the bank tried to do to the homeowners. He seized the bank's assets.

"They've ignored our calls, ignored our letters, legally this is the next step to get my clients compensated, " attorney Todd Allen told CBS.

Sheriff's deputies, movers, and the Nyergers' attorney went to the bank and foreclosed on it. The attorney gave instructions to to remove desks, computers, copiers, filing cabinets and any cash in the teller's drawers.

After about an hour of being locked out of the bank, the bank manager handed the attorney a check for the legal fees.

"As a foreclosure defense attorney this is sweet justice" says Allen.

Allen says this is something that he sees often in court, banks making errors because they didn't investigate the foreclosure and it becomes a lengthy and expensive battle for the homeowner.

CBS News

...that is all.

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How to Survive Switching to a Mac

By Flea - Be A Survivor

I have always been a Windows person, I know Linux, UNIX and many other operating systems but I always came back to Windows. Recently I decided I had had enough of Microsoft and decided I would make the transition to a Mac. OS X is based on the BSD flavor of UNIX so I was already comfortable knowing I would be able to learn anything I needed quickly.

One thing about Apple, they are really proud of their computers, they are expensive as hell, but works of art. I decided to go with a 15” MacBook Pro, I sprang for the anti-glare screen (I hate those shiny glass screens that seem to be the standard on laptops now a days), and 8 gigs of RAM. I placed the order online and waited, I was supposed to be out of town but plans were scuttled so I called Apple about possibly upgrading the shipping (standard shipping was free), they upgraded me on the spot to expedited shipping at no charge!

The laptop arrived a few days ago and I was immediately pleased with my choices. The body of the MacBook Pro is milled out of a single piece of aluminum, just gorgeous. The setup was ridiculously simple and in ten minutes I was surfing the net.

In order to ease the transition I researched ahead of time the programs I use, mainly MS Office, Eclipse (a Java IDE for development), and Quicken. All of these programs had equivalent Mac versions. MS Office for Mac was available to me free because of my Technet subscription, Eclipse is free, and Quicken was $49 bucks.

I connected an external drive, copied all my files over to my Mac, reformatted that spare drive and set it up with Time Machines (Apple’s backup software). I did all this in like an hour, which I found incredible.

I also installed many of the other programs I use like Firefox, Skype, and I purchased Transmit (a quality FTP program to be used with my web site stuff). I now have everything I need and haven’t touched the PC since I finished my last task, which was importing several years of Quicken data into the Mac version of the program (no issues).

Despite what the Apple fanboys say about not needing AntiVirus (Malware) on a Mac I downloaded and have been running Sophos (the free version) on my computer with no issues. Mac’s are becoming very popular and will be targeted more frequently in the future. The Mac Defender scareware making the rounds is more of a nuisance but why take chances. One thing is for certain the design of OS X is inherently more secure that that of Windows.

I used to think I would never make the switch because of gaming, PC’s still own the gaming arena…but I have an Xbox360 and I haven’t played a game on the PC in a few years. The game thing put me over the edge and sealed my decision to switch over to a Mac. My wife saw the MacBook Air in Best Buy and now may soon become an apple convert herself. I will let you know how that goes!

Stay tuned as I will be putting together a list of resources to help you transition should you choose to do so...

...that is all.

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