Topics

31

Payment Pictures / My $28.54 PayPal cashout payment

« on: November 15, 2013, 06:56:17 am »Message ID: 818420

This image was posted automatically.

32

Suggestions / Payment Proof Instructions

« on: October 10, 2013, 08:45:11 am »Message ID: 804277

After having several payments without showing any proof, I decided to get back into the habit of posting payment proof (and getting that extra buck). However it took me several minutes to figure out how to do it... I went to the Contests/Promotions page and noticed the old topic was locked, but that there was a new sub-forum with the proofs. Since the old topic was locked, I decided to go into the sub-forum instead. However I noticed that I wasn't able to start a new topic (or make any post) in that sub-forum. Confused, I started clicking on random stuff (like "Mark as Read" button), but still wasn't able to post anything. Finally I went back to the old topic hoping that even though it was locked, that there may be instructions posted before the topic was locked. Indeed that is where I found the instructions and the link for posting my payment proof.

My suggestion to make this easier for others new to the new posting system would be to have a sticky note at the top of the sub-forum with the instructions. Since the old topic is locked, they may not think to look there, but would more likely look in the sub-forum for the instructions.

33

Off-Topic / Non-Horror Freaky Movies

« on: August 13, 2013, 09:01:42 am »Message ID: 779990

Our local radio station had an interesting topic for callers, and I thought I'd bring it to the forums...

They were talking about movies that were not classified as horror movies that still scared or freaked you out when you were growing up. The ones that the hosts came up with were Jurassic Park (dinosaurs chasing people) and Jumanji (was so out of the ordinary that it just freaked them out). As I was listening, I came up with a couple of my own: Raiders of the Lost Ark (I got scared when they opened the ark and their faces melted) and Star Trek: The Motion Picture (seeing a bald woman, Lieutenant Ilia, just freaked me out).

Were there movies that you remember seeing as a kid that either scared you or freaked you out, even though the movie wasn't from the horror genre?

34

Support / Do Crowd Flower Tasks "Failures" Reset?

« on: August 02, 2013, 10:34:00 am »Message ID: 774573

I tried completing a Crowd Flower task today (the first time I tried that particular task) but was rejected for getting too many "wrong" during the training task. However their "correct answer" for what I got "wrong" showed the exact thing that I entered in (there were 2 out of the 6 "wrong" that were slightly different; 1 I might say was in my error but the other one that was different I know my answer was better than the "correct" one). Since I felt that my answers were correct, I ad marked on those "wrong" answers that I felt that the "correct answer" was wrong or unfair.

Does anyone know if Crowd Flower does go back and read those comments about how a person feels that their answers were marked "wrong" incorrectly? And if so, do you know if they go back to the person's task rating and adjust it so that the person can once again work on the task?

BTW, if anyone is interested, the task was to report different sections of an article: the Title, Sub-title, author, content, and any pictures.

35

Off-Topic / Songs for Summer

« on: May 31, 2013, 09:09:34 am »Message ID: 744245

Every year a friend of mine has a summer bash, inviting a bunch of friends and family to her house where there is room to pitch a tent, eat the tons of food, and just party out. Once again, I'll be bringing my PA system and providing the music for the fest. So I'm looking for songs to fill a Summertime playlist.

A few off the top of my head are DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince's "Summertime", Kenny Chesney's "Summertime", and Sublime's "Doin' Time" (which most people mistakenly know as -- yeah,, you guessed it -- "Summertime").

But the song doesn't need to explicitly mention summertime or even summer... Jimmy Buffett has a bunch of songs like "Margaritaville" and "Cheeseburger in Paradise" which are always great ones to listen to in the summer. Or like the Zac Brown Band has a few, like "Toes", that just reminds you of summer.

What songs remind you of summer? Or songs you think would be great to listen to at a summer party?
 

36

Debate & Discuss / Ban Kinves, Large Blade Replacement Packs, and Start Background Checks

« on: April 11, 2013, 12:10:22 pm »Message ID: 719624

In light of the recent tragedy at Lone Star College near Houston Texas (see http://www.usnews.com/news/newsgram/articles/2013/04/09/mass-stabbing-reported-at-houston-area-community-college), I propose that the federal legislature pass a bill that would limit blades on weapons to only 1-foot in length, limit replacement blade packs to hold only 5 blades (for knives such as box cutters and X-Acto knives the latter of which was used in the attack mentioned above), and institute a national background check on all individuals purchasing knives from licensed dealers, internet sales, and knife shows.

Furthermore, since we know that bats and mauls have the capacity to seriously injure and possibly cause death, I also think that a similar bludgeoning weapons control be passed. I understand that there may be an uphill battle against the powerful MLB Lobby esp. since this might mean that players like Ugueth Urbina (member of the Philadelphia Phillies convicted of attempted murder) may not be allowed to be in possession of such weapons. Perhaps also institute some age restrictions as well or at least bans youths under 10 and require those 10 years and up to participate in bat safety courses.

37

Off-Topic / I Don't Think They Know the Meaning of the Word They're Using...

« on: March 28, 2013, 12:16:54 pm »Message ID: 711186

The other night I was listening to the radio and heard an ad that I've heard before but never really paid attention to it until now. The ad was for some herbal supplement call "Herat and Body Extract" (see http://www.heartandbodyextract.com), and I got to thinking what the name of their product actually means... According to Webster (the noun definition #2) an extract is "a product (as an essence or concentrate) prepared by extracting; especially : a solution (as in alcohol) of essential constituents of a complex material (as meat or an aromatic plant)" (see http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/extract). For example, vanilla extract is an alcoholic solution of vanilla flavor that was extracted from a vanilla bean. Likewise garlic extract is a concentrated form of garlic yielding the beneficial compounds found in garlic. Thus to extrapolate using this definition on the product that I heard the ad for, a "heart and body extract" would mean that someone has taken parts of the body, esp. the heart organ, and has extracted some of the nutrients out of it to create some supplement pill. I started picturing someone going to an embalmer to obtain the necessary extraction fluid to create this "heart and body extract". YUCK!     

Luckily they aren't selling some cannibalistic supplement, but rather are selling an herbal extract mixture that is supposed to have beneficial effects for a person's body, esp. in their heart function and circulation. So I guess they just don't realize what the name of their product actually means, or just assume that the general public is ignorant / stupid enough not to know what they mean. Either way, very poor marketing in my opinion... 

38

Support / PTC Didn't Function Correctly Today

« on: February 19, 2013, 11:09:31 pm »Message ID: 690849

Today as I was trying to go thru the PTC process, I was just beginning step #3... I'm not sure what happened, but after I closed the sponser's tab from step #2, I was on my account page. I went back into the PTC section and where it lists what you need to do next, it says that I have already been credited for today. I went back to the account page, but it still only shows the credit for yesterday as the last PTC credit. Not sure what's going on....

39

Debate & Discuss / Increase in Min Wage

« on: February 14, 2013, 08:09:58 am »Message ID: 688059

What do you think of the proposal to increase the minimum wage that the President announced in his State of the Union?

I personally think this is a very wrong move to make, esp. in the current economic climate that we are in. Looking at it from the PoV of a business, a company isn't going to just roll over and fork out the additional cost to pay their workers. Either a company will shift those costs to the consumer thereby increasing prices which in turn raises inflation which hurts people on lower wages and / or fixed incomes. Or a company will not be able to afford as many workers which will lead to unemployment. In either case, the people that this wage increase is supposed to help are actually the ones hurt in the process.

And for small businesses, this could be this kiss of death for them. If one of these companies cannot afford the increase and cannot lose customers by increasing prices, their only recourse would be to hire less staff. And if they don't have enough employees to cover all of their obligations, they may just have to close up completely.

I just think that this is one of those policies that looks good at first, but when you examine all of the ramifications, it is actually more harmful to the already fragile economy.

40

Off-Topic / Do As I Say, Not As I Do

« on: February 08, 2013, 02:00:42 pm »Message ID: 685331

I'm so bad at working FC sometimes...  :- Every once in a while some newbie will ask a question about how easy is it to cash out, or there will be a comment about the fact that offers expire in 180 days from when they were earned. And I keep replying how it's possible to cash out in about 90 days if you are dedicated and log in everyday. Yet when it comes to my own account, I'll get too busy to sign in each day so I miss out on the PTC for that day, or too busy to make some post in the forum so I miss out on the forum bonus. And so one day will come when I'm scrolling down my list of accepted offers and see those little red notices saying that the offer will expire in so many days. So I end up having to pull up my computer's calculator to see if I consistently did my PTC clicks, would I be able to make the cashout threshold in time... And of course this time when I did my calculations, I got a big "Oh crap!" because I was going to be over $2 short. But this is actually a testament to how easy it is to earn with FC... When I saw I was going to be a little short, I started looking at some of the other free offers I'd be able to get. I got a bunch of cents from some videos I watched. I also looked at doing some tasks. And everyday I'd check different daily surveys. Yesterday I got 65-cents from one survey, so that gave me a little breathing room. And then today I got a survey that totally covered my $2 gap all by itself by getting $2.10 for completing one of FC's surveys    So I'll be able to cashout within the next few days (I still have about 60-cents to go, but my first offer expires in 12 days, so I'll have time to get that 60-cents by just doing the PTC from now on). It truly is great how easy it is to make money with FC, even if I don't take my own advice and do a few simple tasks every day.

41

Off-Topic / Funny Web Site's Banner

« on: February 04, 2013, 03:56:43 pm »Message ID: 683058

I've seen this site advertised a few times today on various PTC sites, and I just had to laugh at their banner... "Simple Way To Be Broker" I guess there's truth in advertising for you  

42

Off-Topic / Shut the *bleep* Up!

« on: May 11, 2012, 01:44:28 pm »Message ID: 536029

When I was growing up and playing soccer, the ref's got very strict about swearing on the field, carding kids that used foul language. Because of this, our coach had us use other words instead of the explicit words to vent our frustration, anger, and pain during the games. It got so ingrained that even now I'll use my replacement words, esp. when in mixed company where it may not be so appropriate. Here's a few of the words that I used:

Sugar
Peaches Heist (actually that was a favorite one of one of my friends. Much better than using the Lord's name in vain!)
Fahrfeneugin

Do any of you (or your children) use replacement expletives?

43

Off-Topic / Call Me Maybe: Bad Song or am I Too Picky?

« on: May 08, 2012, 09:05:06 am »Message ID: 534198

Lately I've been hearing Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe" a lot on the radio. In addition to the music being too sweet of a pop song for my taste, I also have a few disagreements about word usage in the lyrics. Although I understand what is trying to be said, I think that she is using the incorrect word(s) for what she is attempting to say.

Take the title / refrain of the song "Call me maybe." If you include the implicit subject "you", the sentence could be correctly read as "You, call me maybe". Since maybe is an adverb (in this case), it is modifying the verb "call". The definition of "maybe" is "perhaps", "possibly", and "it is possible that". Taking these synonyms and replacing it for the word maybe, and you get sentences like "It is possible that you should call me" or "Perhaps you should call me" suggesting that the uncertainty lies with the singer. There is a chance that the singer wants "you" to call. However the intent of the lyrics is to suggest that "you" has the uncertainty in the situation... The singer gave a guy she just met her phone number and wants him to call her back. But he is the one that has the decision to make as to whether to call her back or not. It would be correct for him to say "Maybe I will call you", but for her to say "Call me maybe" sounds as though she has the decision to make and she will let him know at a future date whether he should call her or not. Thus she should be singing "So call me if you want", although I understand that by making that change in the lyrics changes the rhyming and rhythm of the lyrics, which is why she chose the (incorrect) word "maybe" to express that uncertainty of knowing if he will decide to call.

The next phrase I have a problem with comes with a mixing of conjunctives. The phrase is "And all the other boys / Trying to chase [change?] me / But here's my number / So call me maybe". The phrase has two conjunctive words: "and" and "but" (at least in the focus of my discussion). "And" means "in addition to" whereas "but" means "except for". The two words are essentially cancelling each other out; if you were to remove one of the words, the sentence's meaning changes drastically: "And all the other boys trying to chase me, here's my number so call me maybe" sounds like she's giving all of the boys her number while "All the other boys trying to chase me, but here's my number so call me maybe" sounds like there is an implicit "despite" or "except for" in the first conjoined phrase suggesting that he shouldn't be concerned with the other boys, because she's just giving him her number. Putting both words in the lyrics makes the meaning ambiguous (expect in context you assume that she is meaning the latter sentence). It would've been better (semantically at least) if she sang "Despite all the other boys trying to chase me, but here's my number so call me maybe".

Finally there is the phrase "Before you came into my life / I missed you so bad". The definition of "miss" is "a failure to hit a target" or "to notice the absence of". When you miss someone, you notice the absence of that person and have a longing for that person. "I miss my friend that's out in Iraq" and "I miss my dog that ran away from home." are a couple of examples. However, int the lyrics, the first part of that line says "before you came into my life" meaning before "you" were a target for which the singer could attach any feelings towards. So that line doesn't make any sense. You cannot long for or miss something that you cannot target. If this guy wasn't in her life, she couldn't have noted the absence of him (in particular) in her life. Now what she is trying to say is that before she knew this guy, she missed having a man (a love, relationship, etc.). So it would have been much better were the lyrics "Before you came into my life / I missed love so bad" since love is a feeling that she could have experienced before but is now missing that feeling (until he showed up in her life).

What do you think? Are these valid criticisms or am I just being too picky?

44

Off-Topic / 2011 - Year of the Whistle

« on: August 23, 2011, 10:45:33 am »Message ID: 405748

Has anyone else noticed that this year seems to have a lot of music with whistling in it? I had made a comment to a friend of mine earlier this spring about how whistling seems to be making a trend, and looking back now with the new songs that have come out since I made my proclamation (or at least started receiving airplay since) I think I can unofficially name it as the "Year of the Whistle". Below is a list of songs that I have identified so far. My criteria is that it is in the top 10 of one of the Billboard charts (eg Hot 100, Modern Rock, Country, etc.) during the year 2011, and has some type of whistle part in it.

• The Black Keys - Tighten Up (Although it came out in mid-2010, it was still in the Top 10 Rock charts by 2011)
• Bruno Mars - The Lazy Song
• OneRepublic - Good Life
• Foster the People - Pumped Up Kicks
• Maroon 5 ft. Christina Aguilera - Moves Like Jagger
• Britney Spears - I Wanna Go

Do you know of any that I have missed (notice I don't have any country because I don't listen to that enough to know)? Is this just a phenomenon for this year, or do you think this will continue into next year?

45

Off-Topic / Pudding Shots!

« on: July 08, 2011, 09:39:59 am »Message ID: 381779

This weekend my friend is having her annual summer bash. Every year she has made several hundred Jello shots along with BBQ'd meat to share with her guests. And her Jello shots have all been more than your average "Vodka and blue Jello"; she tried to create unique flavors, esp. mixed drinks / shots in Jello format (this year some flavors include Mint Julep with real crushed mint leaves, Jagger Bomb (this used plain gelatin instead of Jello since the Red Bull / Jag had their own flavor), and Perfect Margaritas (made with Grand Marnier as well as Jose Cuerveo). This year, her 2nd fridge in the garage is filled with over 1000 Jello Shots!

Not to be out-done, last year I attempted my hand at pudding shots. When we were talking about all of the Jello shots she was planning to make last year, we had the wonderful idea of making pudding shots; she had some Godiva liqueurs that she wanted to use, but wasn't sure about how to use them in Jello shots, since most were creamy. Gotta love the internet... I searched on-line and found several sites that had the recipe for pudding shots:

1 3.4oz Package Pudding
1 Cup Milk
3/4 Cup alcohol (usually if using a low alcohol liqueur, 1/2 Cup of the liqueur and 1/4 cup of something more potent like vodka or rum)
1 8oz tub of Cool Whip

Mix pudding, milk and alcohol together until smooth. Fold in the tub of Cool Whip. Pour (or use piping bag) into 2oz souffle cups (there are disposable, plastic one that can be purchased at restaurant supply shops or on-line). Refrigerate or freeze. Makes about 20 x 2oz shots.

Last year because I was just trying it out, I made only about 50-100 pudding shots, and the flavors were more mundane (most web-sites have the exact recipe for Mud Slides, so that was the main one). This year, I'm getting a whole lot more adventurous, making over 250 shots with the following flavors:

• Peanutbutter Cups (Made with Nut Liquor (a PB flavored vodka) and PB2 (a powdered PB to give it just a little more peanut flavor) in Chocolate pudding)
• Orange Creamsicle (Made with Whipped Orange and UV Orange in Vanilla pudding)
• Coconut Cream Pie (Made with UV Cake, a touch of UV Coconut, and Coconut Cream Pudding)
• Mounds Candybar (Made with UV Coconut in Chocolate Pudding)
• Deer Tracks (Supposed to be like chocolate covered espresso beans aka "Deer Tracks". Made with UV Espresso in Devil's Food pudding)
• Black-forest Chocolate Cake (Made with UV Cake, Bacardi Torched Cherry, Godiva liqueur in Devil's Food Pudding. Drunken cherries soaked in 151 are imbedded in the middle as well as a drunken cherry on top.)
• Strawberry Cheesecake (Make with Tequila Rose, Bacardi Dragonberry, and a little UV Cake in Cheesecake Pudding)
• Raspberry White Chocolate (Made with a clear Chocolate-Raspberry liqueur (off-hand I can't remember the manufacturer) and a little Stoli Razz in White Chocolate pudding. Drunken raspberries soaked in 151 are placed on top.)
• Pumpkin Pie (Made with Fulton's Pumpkin Pie Liqueur and UV Cake in Cheesecake pudding. A crumble of graham cracker, cinnamon, clove, allspice, and nutmeg is sprinkled on top.)
• Mud Slide (Made with Kaluha, Bailey's, and a little Bacardi, in chocolate pudding)

I think the hits at the party will be anything with the drunken fruit, the pumpkin pie (which I made last fall and were a major hit; people are asking whether they'll make an appearance at this upcoming party), and possibly the peanutbutter cups (I made a first try-out batch with just the Nut Liquor but it didn't have quite enough PB flavor, so when I saw the PB2 at the store, I knew that it'd be perfect to up the PB flavor. Now they taste like Reese's cups!).

Which ones sound the best to you guys? Any suggestions for next year?