Thursday, April 23, 2009

something i learned today

if you want to append variables to flash, and you have that annoying AC_RunActiveContent.js thing in there, you have to add it to that as well. like this:


...'allowScriptAccess', 'sameDomain',
'movie', '../audioplayer?totalslides=29',
'salign', ''...


in addition to the actual file name ("../audioplayer.swf?totalslides=29")

that was few hours of my life i will never get back

Friday, April 17, 2009

new game for wii fit!

very excited about this new game that works with the wii fit balance board.

i've been using the fit for almost a week now, and overall very happy with it. but there is so much room for improvement. a bit thing is how there isn't any 'plan' built in. there are all kinds of exercises, but you have to select them all one at a time (no way to like set up a list of them and press 'go'). so, working out for for maybe an hour might have you spending about half that time going through menus and finding excercises.



this looks like it might have a little more structure to it and be more effecient. might need to go place a pre-order :)

Sunday, April 12, 2009

wii fit, day 2

this morning, i weighed in again. my body weight was down 2.5 pounds and, after another balance test, my 'fit age' was down to 27! obviously, the difference in weight is thanks to the difference in time of day, but what about the age?

a simple search on them internet pages explained that this age is calculated solely on how you perform on that exercise or test alone. it was a different kind of balance test today then it was yesterday, and i fared much better with it, so, my age was lower.

also found today an unlocked 2-person race mode (that i was looking for yesterday). you can race another person with a wii remote, but it only logs info for the profile that is logged in. not great, but still cool.

side note: i have to move the sofa to do most of the fit stuff, trixie decided i moved it for her:

wii fit! finally picked one up :)

i'd been thinking about getting a fit since even before i received my wii. even after christmas they were still kinda hard to find (not that i tried very hard). yesterday i decided to go out and find one. the first store i went to was gamestop, and there was a sign in the window that advertised they were in stock! (and, they were having a 50% off sale on some other games of which i found ratatouille for psp for $9, i picked them both up :)

i like gamestop, i have a card with them and try to check there first before heading to bestbuy, usually. only drawback was they weren't able to offer any warranty. i need to find something, i'd hate to have another rockband incident :(

i did the initial body profile thing and wasn't to happy to see my 'fit age' was 42! no big surprise. it also showed my bmi as *cough*. anyway, since it doesn't account for muscle (only considers your height and weight) i think i will keep checking my bio-impedance scale i have in my bathroom.

after 'weighing in,' i went through all the available strength exercises. there were probably about 6 unlocked at the start. by the time i got to the lunges, i ended up stopping in the middle. at the end, i got 0 points for that one, and my 'trainer' said he knew i gave up in the middle. creepy :/

the last exercise i did was running. i thought this was cool, i didn't use the board at all. you put a wii remote in your pocket and run in place (like a pedometer, i guess). on the screen, you see a ghost of yourself and another mii in front. the idea is you keep a steady pace and stay behind her. it was awkward, to say the least. i kept getting warnings that i need to steady my pace. when i was done, i couldn't breath. it was all i could do to lay on the floor and catch my breath! my limited knowledge of physical education tells me this is not a good thing. i've read the rule of thumb is you should be able to carry a conversation during aerobic exercise. i am sure my uneven pace had something to do with it.

since this doesn't use the board at all, it would have been cool if this was included in either the sports pack that came with the wii, or the wii play game i bought (because it came with another controller). the wii fit game doesn't allow for any multi-player activities. it would be fun do have a race in real time. and it seems very possible, since you should only be limited by the number of wii remotes. there is probably a game out there that does this, but between the 3 we now have, seems like it should be in one of them :/

after i recovered from the jog of death, i tried a couple yoga poses. i did ok, but need to work on my balance a little (no big surprise there).

this later in the evening, before dinner. i was so worn out that no food sounded the least appealing. the last time i felt this way after exercise was the first time i did laps in the pool at the Y. crazy that i got as much of this buzz playing a video game.

i will not be turning in my gym membership any time soon, but the wii fit will be a fun tool to use on days i don't want to / can't get to the gym, as well as an over all daily reminder to be conscience of my overall health.

Wednesday, April 08, 2009

screwed over by "melody" of ruby tuesday in alexandria

[rant]


so, i don't head this far south often, but today matt was craving ruby tuesday's salad bar (which is a really good salad bar, as far as salad bars go) and this was kinda on the way to class at NKU where he is teaching tonght. when we sat down there, i saw the table tent thing listing their happy hour specials and had the idea that we should get liquored up before class.

each time we ordered a drink, we pointed to that tent and read off of it. when we got our bill,, i thought it was a bit odd that all our drinks were full price.

i brought this to the attention of our lovely server, melody, and she pointed out that we had to order them at the bar to get the special. i explained my surprise that she hadn't brought this to our attention sooner, seeing that we had ordered from the tent advertisement every time. she said the bartender told her about it when we got our second drink. again, i asked why she didn't tell us this information she had learned from the bartender she said, to my face (i am not exaggerating), "when i tell people the happy hour specials are only from the bar, they get up and leave"

so, apparently, melody decided that it would be better to hold the truth from us and hope we don't notice then to come clean and risk us leaving (which we wouldn't have done, we probably would have just moved to the bar). and, it seemed she didn't just learn of this from the bartender upon ordering our second drink as she said, since she obviously has this come up before.

it was shady, and i don't think i will be going back there anytime soon (not like we went there a lot anyway)

so, if you are ever blessed with melody at the ruby tuesday in alexandria, be warned. or, even better, stay away from chains in general. it's better to support small businesses anyway :)

[/rant]