One of my roommates brought four six-week-old malamut mutt puppies home from McGrath this weekend. And we can't take care of them all. He's shipping two out today, but there are still two that need homes (and shots and to get fixed). And they are painfully adorable. So... want a puppy?

Have any of you bought or sold a house on your own, without a realtor?

Travis and I are going to sell one of our houses this summer, then later in the year we'll work on finding a new house and selling our other house. Travis hates the idea of giving so much money to a realtor when we could do all the work on our own and not have to pay ~6% to someone. I get stressed out thinking about the whole prospect, whether or not a realtor is involved. When I bought my house I used a realtor and found it helpful because I had no idea what I was doing or what steps I needed to take.

Thoughts? suggestions?

Instead of just googling this or figuring it out myself, I'm just going to ask here:

How do I take a DVD (of material to which I have full rights, of course) and excerpt it from a DVD, so that I could post it to youtube? I feel like such an old person that I don't know how to do this.

An interesting poll I found on Slashdot: How many microprocessors are in your home, total?

For simplicity's sake, I'd say don't count cores of a CPU, as theoretically they're part of the same circuit. Instead, if an electrical device has a microprocessor, count it as one, if you have two of the same device, count it as two.

For just my "computing" devices, I have my Macbook (1), Mac Mini (1), Thinkpad (1), my sister's laptop (1), my Xeon server (1), the old idkfa server (1), the old gaming rig (1), the PS3 (1), the Xbox (1), wireless routers (2), WiMax modem (1), Arduino controllers (2), and audio/video receivers (2).

One of the comments had this list, probably a good start:

• Cell phone(s): 2
• Wireless phone: 0
• Answering machine: 0
• Microwave oven: 1
• DVD player: 0
• CD player: 0
• MP3 player: 2
• Digital clock radio: 1
• Electronically controlled stove: 0
• Dishwasher: 1
• Digital Thermometer: 1
• Bread machine: 0
• Wrist watch: 1
• GPS: 0
• TV(s) / LCD(s) / CRT(s): 2
• Cable box or satellite dish: 0
• Calculator(s): 1
• Digital camera(s): 2
• Camcorders: 1
• Programmable thermostat: 0
• Water heater / boiler: 1

So, at least 32 for me. Then I thought about some other peripherals...

• Game controllers: 6
• Mice: 3
• Keyboards: 3

Up to 44.

So the wife and I are attempting the next step in becoming real adults. Not just the fake ones we've been pretending to be the last few years. We're looking into buying a house. So the question I pose to those of you people who have taken this leap in the last few years is there any advice you have to share? Any first steps we should take or hints as to what kind of cash we actually need lying around to make this shit work?

In general we're pretty lost on what to do next or really if we should, and the internet is kind of a confusing place when it comes to decent info.

Let me start by saying I thought Black Swan was a really good movie. However, it is not a movie you will want to see twice just because the degradation of the main character is rather uncomfortable. But in terms of 2010 movies, this definitely ranks up at the top for me. There have been a couple of times this year that I have seen dramas with friends where I thought it was a pretty good movie, but other responses include, "I just wasn't into it." Respectable opinion, and one that leads to Transformers always lapping the profits of these movies by an order of magnitude. Plus I acknowledge I'm more into movies than most.

But it does beg the question, what movies in the DRAMA category do you enjoy the most? Why?

I've got an eye appointment on Wednesday. I'm getting my eyes checked because I haven't in a few years, and because I sort of need new glasses. These ones are tired. And battered. And old. And not very stylish.

Being that I've had these ones since around the 8th grade, this is a weighty decision, as I might have the next pair for at least as long. Any recommendations? Stuff I should look for? Particular brands, or, brands to avoid? Special finishes? Special features? (night vision, telescoping lenses, etc.)

Any input would be appreciated.

Hey, does anybody have a good way for dealing with mid-semester dulling of motivation, coupled with homesickness and a bit of just being depressed? It's annoying, and I'd appreciate it stopping. Thanks for any responses.

Anyone else going to the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear?

Any camera aficionados in this here website forum place? I'm looking at buying a new point and shoot camera and have started reading up on the Panasonic Lumix DMC-zs7. Amazon (www.amazon.com) is currently selling it on sale for $250. It includes cool whiz-bang things like a gps for in-camera geotagging, a 3 inch lcd screen, and AVCHD movie mode.

Costco is currently selling a slightly stripped down version called the Lumix DMC-zx6 that doesn't have the same movie mode. Instead it has some sort of movie mode that is limited to 8 minutes. It also doesn't have the gps. It's listed at $250 right now as well. I'm going to Yosemite next week so I need get to get a digital camera right now otherwise I'd go ahead and order the one from Amazon. That being the case, I'll probably buy the one at Costco and return it when I get back.

So has anyone else lately done any camera shopping/comparing?

Anyone ever visit any old teachers at Service within the past few years? Just curious. If so, who were they and what are they like now? I'm tempted to do so over christmas break if school is in session for any part of it...

If somebody made a reality TV show about your life, what would the intro sequence be like? (think: montage? voice over? stylized graphics? theme song?)

A coworker asked the question: "What do I show my eight-year-old son on the computer that'll get him interested in it?"

After talking for about 20 minutes about old computer games, I didn't really have a great answer. My coworker was looking for something to instill the fascination with computers that he has in order to show his son that computers are amazing tools, and that they're worth spending time on.

The difficult part of the question is the age bracket. According to him, his son at eight has almost zero attention span for certain things, however, his son can play Pokemon for hours on end. Whatever did manage to hook him in would have to be age-appropriate, simple enough to not require a steep learning curve, and in-depth enough to hold one's interest.

What drove my interest initially was, of course, computer games. Being pretty proficient with computers to start, I would usually have most of the time in elementary school computer lab to play games like Dinopark Tycoon or Oregon Trail. However, games at school paled in comparison to ones I was able to play at home: the Lucasarts Adventure games, the Space Quests, King's Quests. Things that I could play for hours, but probably wouldn't hold my interest as a kid today, given the popularity and technological advances of modern games.

However, when I was eight, I would still stop playing computer games after a while and go back to playing with Legos. Which leads me to think that the key here is creativity, not just entertainment.

What I mean:

• I remember spending a lot of time playing with 3D Movie Maker, playing with scripts and sounds and 3D characters that I could control on the screen. I wish I still had the files around to see what I came up with, but they are, alas, lost to time.
• I remember creating a simple GIF animation that slowly unblurred the letters "Josh's Game Page," and then blurred them again. I remember this taking hours upon hours.
• I remember recording and playing with friend's voices with the Windows sound wave recorder.

Before the Internet, what were you guys doing with computers that kept you interested and/or creating with a computer?

(I also ask this because my memory of this period of time is hazy, in that I started learning HTML a little after sixth grade, and then it was 2007 and I had a degree in computer science)

During the week between Christmas and New Years is anyone going to have a bit of free time to do some kind of epic snow adventure of the walking kind?

I'm looking to climb/snowshoe one of the front peaks around the Anchorage bowl and the desire for adventure will indicate what gear I should bring up with me... you know: axe, ropes, harness, crampons, roll up sled and the like.

Any takers let me know.

any recommendations on automatic disk defraggers for windows 7?

Posting this on facebook as well...anyone in the health care industry know anything about COB (coordination of benefits)? Specifically, how difficult is it to do, and is there any reason why my school pharmacist would not be able to generate a split bill and apply a COB?

The Assistant to the Chair of my department, so my supervisor's supervisor, informed me today that my facebook status updates (which she can see because she FB friended me when I started grad school here) were not cool. I had been posting funny quotes overheard on campus, see the example below. Here's my question, do I block her from seeing the status updates, unfriend her completely, or just delete the statuses and not post such things again while my job is here (so until May 2011) or some other option I haven't thought of?

The post that made her speak to me: Most memorable quote of the day, "I tried to find the HR department but all I could find was the HR department, like the normal HR, not the HR major. They're who I want to get my masters with."

Starcraft II Part 1/3 ending...satisfied?

Is there a good Thai food place in Anchorage these days? I am having a craving for some basil chicken.