GreenReaper's Bibble

Murdered for being a Goth - what next?
I really hope this sort of thing doesn't happen to any furs . . .

Current Mood: worried

For the curious . . .
I successfully withdrew the money from RevolutionExchange's offer to my bank account. Thanks to the ~~four~~ five other people who signed up! :-)

Current Mood: satisfied

Because I like free money, and so might you

Revolution is trying to compete with PayPal. Normally, I wouldn't care, but they're willing to give away free money to get into the market. That gets my attention. :-)

In short: If you click this button and sign up, you get $25 - and even better, I get $10!

Funds can be withdrawn to a bank account after filling in your details and waiting to get small payments which can be used to verify the account (as with PayPal). I'm sure they'd like you to use it as well, but it's not a requirement. A US address and SSN is, though - sorry UKians!

Also consider their RevolutionCard, which has a $50 off $51 promotion at buy.com until the end of the month. If you're immediately approved you get your card number straight away. I used it to buy myself a new power supply (if you're in the market, here's a review).

How much use is a credit card if only a few places accept it? Well, it'll still count towards your debt-credit ratio - and that is likely to be improved if you don't put much on it. If nothing else, you'll have saved $50. There might be a hard pull on your credit for applying, though, so you may wish to pass if planning a large credit-related activity in the next six months.

Current Mood: amused

InspIRCd
I've recently been hacking on the code for InspIRCd. It's pretty nifty, and works on Linux, BSD and Windows and OS X. If you're in the market for an extensible chat server, you could do worse than give it a look.

Current Mood: busy

Con time
I will be away at Furry Connection North until Monday. Begin your fear.

Current Mood: chipper

Flickr Downloadr
I found this Java-based Flickr Downloadr today, after guessing at the name. It doesn't look like much but it does this simple job well. Recommended. If you want more features, try this one, but I prefer the simple approach.

Current Mood: impressed

Sometimes it seems it'd be better just to drive
Everyone knows you can sometimes get a better deal with a connection than a direct flight, especially when one carrier has a monopoly over a particular flight.

But you'd think that booking that same flight plus another flight would cost more, right?

( Think again... )

In all cases, these were the cheapest flights available.

Northwest Airlines' gouging disgusts me, and I'm only mildly less annoyed at whatever authority let this happen. I don't normally say "there should be a law", but if it costs about half as much to fly twice as far (United/American via Chicago), and three times less to have two more flights on your ticket, there's something desperately wrong with our air transportation system.

Current Mood: pissed off

There's still time to fund a 2007 IRA
If you earned money last year in the USA, don't forget . . . there's still time to invest in an IRA for the 2007 tax year. You can choose to either reduce your taxable income, or withdraw your investment tax-free at retirement. You may even be entitled to a significant tax credit.

If you're just starting out with retirement savings, consider putting $1000 into the Vanguard STAR Fund. If you can afford $3000 to $4000, try their fund selector, or go with their 500 Index fund (its 0.15% expense rate is very low).

If you don't have the money to invest right now, but do have any credit cards or high-interest debt paid off, try setting aside some money to invest for 2008. Just $20 a week would get you to $1000 in a single year - and once your account is open, you can start adding $100 a month. It all adds up . . .

Note: Reducing taxable income or obtaining the Retirement Savings Credit will require refiling your 2007 taxes if already filed. Funds invested should be dedicated to retirement; withdrawing contributions from Traditional (non-Roth) IRAs may result in penalties. Investments in mutual funds are not guaranteed; while on average the market gains about 10% a year, it may fall in any given year.

Current Mood: awake

Convention photos from MFF, AC, FC, FWA now on Flickr
People have been poking me to get my convention photos up. It took some time to figure out where; WikiFur is great, but I don't want to abuse it by turning it into my personal photo gallery - even if they are CC-BY-SA licensed. Besides, a lot of them aren't that educational. :-)

It ended up most cost-effective and convenient to get a Flickr Pro account. The photos are sorted by convention, and include over a thousand never-before-seen shots. Check back in a month or so for shots from Furry Connection North.

If you find a photo of yourself that you don't want to be there (or would prefer to be under a more restrictive license), let me know.

(For the camera geeks: I use Raw Therapee for image processing. MFF 2007 and later are taken on a Pentax K10D, typically using the Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8 EX Macro.)

Current Mood: accomplished

Room space available at Furry Connection North
I have a room at Furry Connection North. I currently have one slot available through all four nights (Thursday night through to Monday morning), and one slot open for anyone who needs a room on Monday morning.

If you are interested in either of these, let me know. You will pay 1/4 of the room rate for the nights you stay. The maximum number of people on any night is four.

Current Mood: awake

And now, a word from our sponsors . . .
Got two or more (up to seven) Windows machines next to one another with network connections? Got a copy of Windows Vista Ultimate Edition? Want to be able to use the machines together with ease, and without a manual KVM? Consider this offer for Multiplicity Pro, which will save you 40% off the retail price.

You can also get a trial version to see what it's like. I consider it indispensable at work, and there's not a lot of things (even our products) that I'd say that about.

Current Mood: mischievous

What I did on my holidays, pt. 1

Thanks to

wildbilltx for producing this combination of photos and video (my own photos will be online when I sort them out). See if you can spot the norn. Hint: I'm wearing dark green.

Current Mood: touched
Current Music: The Feeling - Strange

Hey, cool!

Something I did made the front page of Download.com. Be sure to get the Vista Logon Pack for best results. :-)

I guess maybe they were fans of Sins - if you're going to FWA, I've scored a signed copy of the Collector's Edition which you can bid on in the charity auction.

Edit: Oh, and something else got an update. Busy ~~day~~ ~~week~~ month!

Current Mood: happy

Lowering your tax rebate for fun and profit (or, why to attend a furry convention)
An article on emergency savings got me confused when it talked about the "typical refund check" being about $2,000. ( I just got mine, and - as usual - it's much lower )

That brings us to what to do with the $600 check many US residents are getting. If you have outstanding credit card debt, or haven't built up an emergency fund in a savings or money market account, that'd probably be the best place to put it. If not, and if you don't feel like hunting for bargains in the stock market, I strongly suggest attending a furry convention and buying a few nice pieces of art, craft or literature. No, really! You'll be supporting the local economy (rather than increasing the trade deficit) and helping starving artists or the convention's charity at the same time. You might even make a few friends - and, to me, that's worth far more than $100 in the bank.

Find a convention near you, or check the schedule at WikiFur. Perhaps I'll see you there!

Current Mood: bouncy

When "fair" is better than "outstanding"
With regards to this post by

goldenwolfen:

Please, if any art show directors are listening, do not go down the road of focussing on big names to attract those with equally big wallets. It is cool to see some great art, but it is also cool that everyone gets an equal shot at it, and I think the systems that are currently in place delivers that. The idea that the majority of the art show would be reserved for certain artists who have "made it", and that others would be herded to the back of the line is not only distasteful but totally misses the point of having an art show.

I do not doubt that there are art shows that are like that, but they should not be part of furry conventions. The shows we have are not for the wealthiest buyers, or for the biggest sellers, but to demonstrate the full range of skills within the fandom, and to give newcomers a chance to prove themselves. "Professional" artists get the same deal as everyone else. If they want more space, they can buy it in the dealer's room.

As a secondary matter, I would far rather have a fair show with some fun pieces that fall into my price range than a gallery of immaculately-rendered showpieces that do not. It would be a sad day if Anthrocon 2010 rolled around and each piece in the art show had a three-figure reserve price.

FWA, anyone?
I'm attending Furry Weekend Atlanta next month. Anyone going and need a roommate to spread the costs? Let me know.

Edit: Room found! If you're going, see you there . . .

Hopefully if you're watching this journal you have a rough idea of who I am, but to sum up: 25, male, WikiFur founder, non-drinker¹, non-smoker, geeky. I'd be glad to stay with up to three others, and don't mind taking a few nights on the floor if necessary. I am flying in on Thursday afternoon and leaving early Monday morning (though not early enough that I won't need a room).

¹I don't mind staying with others who drink in moderation, I just don't like drinking alcohol myself.

Current Mood: hopeful
Current Music: Radiohead - Jigsaw Falling Into Place

Markets down == time to buy?
As some of you may be aware, the market has taken a dump recently (from a high of 1500 in December, and 1550 in October), mostly because of the huge losses posted by financial companies related to their exposure to sub-prime lending.

Does this mean it's time to sell out? Not really. It's more likely to be a time to buy.

What would you do when you're in the market for something? You wait for the goods you want to be marked down - a sale - and that's what this is, a sale on real companies. If you're looking to make a lump some contribution to an IRA or similar account, now could be a good time to make some or all of it.

Of course, just as good deals can be followed by better ones, there's a fair chance that the market could just keep on going down. That's the risk you take with investing, as with sales - and it sure bites when you make a purchase and see 2% of that disappear overnight.

Still, stocks are backed by real companies, and their actual value doesn't tend to drop overnight - just the market's perception of it. The best time to buy is when the perception is low, and the best time to sell is when it is high. If a stock is currently undervalued, you still win in the long run by buying, even if the perception drops a little lower for a short time afterwards.

Current Mood: hungry

Portal protagonist lookalike banned from Olympics
Now you're thinking with . . . blades?

Current Mood: curious

Furries != minors, but . . .
( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

Current Mood: tired

Joy?
Does anyone else think it odd that the brand name of a certain dish-cleaning detergent is an expression of delight? I do not delight in washing dishes, no matter what I squirt on them.

(Perhaps they are trying to influence their divided reviewers . . .)

Current Mood: confused
Current Music: TISM - Everyone Else Has Had More Sex Than Me