stuff123

Job Tier Mastered

You have mastered all of the level 3 “Street Thug” jobs earning the title of “Master Street Thug

A Pistol Bayonet has been added to your inventory, giving you +4% damage dealt in fights.

That is what I received for completing this procedure. You are also awarded 1 skill point for each category you master at each level. I find that with this change in the game that you now are really in a position that you need to seriously look at spending your skill points on energy so you can do more jobs and get these Job Tier bonuses.

Bonus Weapons

I wasn’t paying close attention to what was being offered for adding two more players. This time it was a pistol costing $2000 and with an Attack of 3 and Defense of 3. I t has no value for a player at higher levels so, until they decide to let you sell looted or bonus weapons, it is of little use. So pay attention to what is being offered. Not all bonus weapons are worth buying.

Property Maintenance

The more I play this area, the more it seems that the designers are looking to find a way to get you to spend more of the money you earn in the game because the original payout tables were too liberal. It also looks like a way to weaken players that don’t play regularly because over time your property deteriorates unless you pay sums to maintain it. So If you only jump in every few weeks, it doesn’t look like you will gain as much money as you might have done previously using this strategy.

Fighting

AR-15 Assault Rifle

32 Attack

10 Defense

Owned: 3

This weapon appears to the best offensive weapon in the game and I am pretty sure that all fo them were won in fights. Fighting seems to be the best way to get quality loot like this one and others like the Luxury Yacht, Hummer and Bodyguards.

Some of these will undoubtedly become available at higher levels, but you stand a better chance of getting there if you fight more often. I don’t play Rackateering anymore because it seems it works more like the old fights where most of the time your opponent is dead or too weak to fight.

501 Players

More and more, I am running into fight groupings that are almost exclusively 501 players. They can’t be having much fun. I still think they and the game would be better off if these teams were broken up and the player had to start over somehow at say level 50. The challenge is building to higher levels and what challenge does a player at that level have. I probably will never find out because there are a lot more new games coming into play that are looking more interesting than Mafia Wars. I’m sure Zynga will be or is already working on Mafia Wars 2, because this game is running out of life in its current configuration.

They have some good ideas in Street Racing and I still don’t know why they wouldn’t try to incorporate some of these into Mafia Wars. It is their game so they call the shots and as long as people play in the current numbers it won’t change too much. Like any game, it has a shelf life and it is just a question of how long that life is. You will decide that by how much you play and how much you contribute through buying Godfather points.

MO is wondering who came up with the phrase..indefinite lay-off….and why is it used soooo lightly?

This is another Facebook status that came across my news feed and it’s one that we are all growing very tired of for sure. MO is not alone in the feeling that the term is really a cop out for what is really happening. It has become acceptable to use politically correct phrases which means that it has become acceptable to outright lie. The reality is indefinite layoffs are now permanent today. The definition below is the most meaningful for what a layoff has become.

layoff
The temporary or permanent removal of a worker from his or her job, usually because of cutbacks in production or corporate reorganization.

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source

It used to be that a business owner took pride in his/her employees and reluctantly put people on a temporary layoff because business slumped or it was seasonal and the money wasn’t there to sustain that level of employment. When the business improved, the proud owner quickly recalled those individuals that were put on layoff.

Certainly times have changed. The bean counters that we put in charge, measure the score and determine that the team has too many players and he provides a number to cut. There is little consideration for their ability and what will happen to them. It is time that the bean counters are put aside to be replaced by people that will find new ways to deal with cost cutting. After all, cost cutting only results in more losses. It is just a temporary measure and will not improve the business. It only stops the bleeding temporarily.

So to all business owners out there, you need to find individuals in or outside of your business that will find ways to generate more business. The cost cutting approach has not worked. It is a self fulfilling prophecy and is doomed for failure.

We need to find ways to keep the MO’s of this world gainfully employed so that they contribute to the local economy and are employed locally. Shipping your production offshore is also a temporary measure and does no good for domestic economies. Again, we need to find ways to keep production in our individual countries.

So stop looking to the bean counter for the score and his idea of the game plan. We already know that we are behind in the game. Find the players that can create a game plan to march down the field to score and put the bean counter back on the bench with his clipboard. He isn’t even well suited as a water boy. Find a new direction or the market will show you where your business will end up—gone out of business.

Once again,  I took a simple graphic and loaded it into Picnik and started playing with it. The primary graphic was a photo of the devastating bush fire that took place in Kinglake, Australia this oppressively hot Aussie summer and the winter for us up north. I certainly hope the country there is recovering from this awful situation. I still don’t know if they have finally determined if it was deliberately set or not. I hope everything is improving.

But back to the exercise here for me in graphics 101. Using the photo, some simple steps like posterization and adjusting the saturation and hue were undertaken but most of it was fairly mild unlike the extreme versions at the bottom. The purpose of the two overlays of text is to help me understand how dramatic a simple change in colour choice and using a different type effect can have on the overall feel. Certianly the one with less contrast is much softer in feel.

Basically, I am looking towards building a library of backgrounds that can be used in blogs or hubs where a suitable photograph doesn’t work or can’t be found and some added colour is needed to draw attention to the story. The problem I am seeing on the Internet is that there is so much going on in every page, that your story is easily lost in the jungle. The best examples for me are any of the major sports network’s websites. They are just jammed with pictures, videos and mice print.

Since a lot of hosting sites for blogs and hubs restrict the use of personalized templates, you have to find ways to be more creative so this is my attempt and I’m learning. I hope to see that they will improve over time. Meanwhile, it’s just a lot of fun so it’s all good.

I like to play around with Picnik as my choice of graphic editing program and just see what comes out. This particular set was derived from a shot of end grain wood and manipulated to create the starting graphic. The rest of the images are just changes that can be made using various preset options that are provided with the program. Some are only available with the purchase of the premium option which I highly recommend.

Then some of the options are tweaked by moving sliders much like you would on a mixing console in a sound recording studio. Most of the time, the end result is just something that I find pleasing to my eye.

The end result is a number of background graphics that can be used as backdrops for titles for blogs or hubs . Adding graphics only enhances the look and feel of your post and it has the added benefit of being something that search engines crawl and log. So you have an even larger presence on the Internet.

Besides it is a lot of fun to just play in the sandbox.

You can use rice, or soaked beans or a soup bean mix that you must soak in water first or a combination. I tried the combination here because I still had some soup mix left from a previous trip to the bulk food store. These stores are an excellent place to buy a lot of dry ingredients that I store in used spaghetti sauce jars. These can be just washed in the dishwasher (lid as well) and reused. One shelf in the pantry cupboard contains most of these ingredients.

The Stuff

1 boneless/skinless chicken breast cut up into very small pieces
12 cups of water
4 tbsp chicken broth soup mix
1 large carrot cut up into small pieces
1 onion, chopped
1 cup of rice and 1 cup of dry beans, or 2 cups of rice
1 can of tomato paste, 2 if you want more tomato flavour
1 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. chili powder (adds a little heat)
ground pepper

What To Do

This is what I love about the crickpot aka slow cooker. After you have cut up all the ingredients that need to be treated that way, just put everything into the pot. Set the timer for 8 hours and cook on low. In 8 hours you have a great soup.

Freeze what is left in those 2 cup sized freezer bowls with lids and you will have a ready meal for the microwave when you feel the urge for soup. If you have any other vegetables in the refrigerator that are going to go off shortly, just add them to the soup.

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i would like to know how can i published my blog to more exciting topics, most of all in my blog content that shows guideline for travel people to various type of each country.

That is a question from a person speaking English, of course, but not using the words the way that most everyone accepts. Now the basic idea is there, but if this writer tries to gain an English speaking audience, he will find it a difficult task until his use of grammar and sentence structure improves. Bonus marks for trying but not too many people will come back to read a second article. It’s a lot like listening to someone singing off key. You can’t wait to leave the room or for them to stop.

So my suggestion would be to try writing a blog in your native tongue first, and then work on improving your English skills and come on back. The words up there are not unlike a Google Translate approach to converting from one language to the other. It is a great start and I look forward to it advancing and making it easier for the world to communicate with each other in a very understandable manner. Think how we sound when we try to use a foreign language in their country. I’m sure it would be the same.

The English language is very difficult for just about everybody. When you add an accent, you wonder if we are talking the same language. I was once in Barbados, where I met a very nice gal, who happened to have her personal papers stolen from her purse on a bus ride into Bridgetown. When the two policemen arrived, she asked me to join them in the lobby to help with her problem. I didn’t hesitate and we left the beach and made our way to the nice open air lobby (not many doors in Barbados, just gates that they lock up at night).

Turns out the two policeman were natives of Barbados and Trinidad and both spoke English with very strong accents so the look on Joanne’s face, when they started asking questions, only meant one thing. “What are they saying? I don’t understand”.

Try to follow this next story because I will try to describe the interview with the use of phonetics. I pride myself in understanding people that speak English with a strong accent because of my exposure to so many different ethnic groups in my youth.

The first policeman asks Joanne the following question. “Wadd dahh mann tall or wadd dahh mann chort?” And if the other policeman had asked the same question it might have sounded this way. ” Woody mon toll o’ woody mon short.”

Joanne just looked at me with that “I don’t know look” and I turned to her and said “Was the man tall or was the man short?” The two policeman looked at me as if to say “U bin on da beach and bin vizzaten dah can-dee mon” (The candy man is local slang for a drug dealer). Eventually, the interview was over and Joanne was able to go to the Canadian consulate and get temporary papers to be able to leave Barbados and return home to Ottawa.

The lesson here is that, even though we speak the same language, we are not communicating effectively until the other party fully understands the meaning of your question or dialogue. So if someone asks or tells you something that you don’t understand, don’t be embarrassed, just tell them that you don’t understand and could you please make that a little clearer so I can understand it better and give you a proper response.

Choose your words carefully and phrase them is such a way that the other individual acknowledges that they understand what you just said. And that is called good communication.

OK dats it. I just got back from de doctair. He be playin’ Pokemon wit me. Get me a room and coke, I be goin’ to da beach. I be soakin’ up dee sun, I be drinkin’ da room, I be warin’ me wool ‘at.

I just love the way they talk in Barbados . Some really wonderful people there. Go visit.

So there have been a few changes—some good, some not so good.

Property Maintenance

This is more of a nuisance than a game improvement. The best way to handle it is to spend enough cash to get you properties a listing of “Protected Property” with the shield. Then it takes a lot longer for the protection to deteriorate. For my money it doesn’t add to game play, it slows it down.

Mastering Jobs

It appears you get one skill point for each job you master which means you have a good reason to go back and do the jobs that have a lower payout in the lower categories. Good move, Zynga. It takes a while to run through them all so I haven’t completed them. I haven’t seen what changing your classification does other than it tips other players off as to what you have or have not been doing about completing this option.

Fight vs Racketeering

At least with fight, you get one opportunity to battle with your opposition while rackateering seems to be the old version of fight with minor adjustments. You still get the opponent dead or weak line much too often.

Level 99

Disappointment. I get there and find that a new weapon is available called Bonus Weapon. I guess they didn’t want to use the exploding cannoli idea. It costs $200,000. Has an attack of 20 and defense of 20 and has upkeep of -$2,500. So I bought 125 of them figuring they would be of some use. At this level you get way too much money. Turns out that all the loot I got in fights is better than this weapon and doesn’t help in fights. It might when you are being attacked if you don’t have enough defensive weapons with a defensive strength of better than 20.

Special Loot

Most of the speacial loot is worthwhile gaining in fights. The AR-15 Assault Rifle and the Humvee are the best ones I have found so far. The other items like the Concealed Camera are used in jobs that call for them and they appear to have a limited number of uses before they must be replaced.

Collections

Looks like there are 3 groups—Cigars, Art & Poker Chips? I don’t have enough yet to complete a group so I can’t comment on this yet. I need one more cigar and art might be a mixed bag of stuff as well as the poker chips could include more casino stuff.We’ll have to see.

I will also let you know what jobs show up in level 100.

No it’s not the name of an old time Motown group. (For interests sake, that is an early picture of The Four Tops that I borrowed from Jango.com and played with a little)

What I’m referring to is an attitude that seems to be out there and something that I think we need to revisit both at school but primarily at home. What triggered the story is a conversation I had with a friend while playing an online game. I refer to him as 109, even though he has let me know his real name, because we had a conversation about warplanes somewhere in the game and he mentioned that the Messerschmidt Me109 was his favourite WWII warplane. The following quote is his comments about the younger crowd out there which we were discussing at the time. It may help to know that 109 is of German descent and living in the USA and is proud of both heritages except for the Nazi war machine.

It just shows you the general mentality of todays society.
“Me, Me, Me!!!!”
Everybody walks through life with their elbows sticking out without regard of whom they might bump out of their way.
I hate it!
It is like that everywhere you turn.
“I am entitled to this and that and forget about the rest.”

Obviously, 109 is referring to the lack of mutual respect that seems to run rampant in today’s society and sadly very prevalent in a lot of  our youth.

And we discussed the need for ways to improve that scenario and that was to reintroduce some basic learning skills primarily at home and not expect the school system to take the place of a child’s primary teacher—the parents.

My advice to any parent would be to stop chasing another Bimmer and spend time with something of value—your children. Help mold them into a worthwhile member of society and keep them aware of how to deal with bad influences like the so-called cool guys hanging out at the local mall.

Take the time to teach them the 4 R’s - Reading ‘Riting ‘Rithmetic and Respect. And some parents take that very seriously and they should be commended for that because their children aren’t making the news for some criminal act or taking something from others that doesn’t belong to them.

To become  a master at anything, you must first learn the basic skills required in that discipline. In this case, the discipline is just called life.

Rochester policeman shot by 15-yr old and his mother claims he is not a monster . If he is not a monster then just what is a 15-yr old doing with a gun and hanging out with other bad kids. He obviously shows no respect for authority. In my day, we showed great respect for all policemen and recognized that they are doing a very difficult job in protecting us from danger.

Mom needs to do a reality check. I only hope the officer will fully recover. It is a tragedy that cannot go unpunished.

After reading the adjusted story, 109 came back with this comment.

When we grew up there was school, homework, chores and then play with friends. If there was any daylight left because once the street lights came on we were supposed to be at home and safe.
I was privileged since one of my chores was walking the dog after he had his supper and in spring fall and winter it was dark at that time.
So I could make the occasional stop at a friends house since I had about an hour time to walk the dog.
When I was 14- 15 years old I build model air plains and mounted blinkers on my bike. If we saw a cop we would greet them and be polite. This was standard. We would greet the people our parents knew even if we did not really know their names. We would make room for older people, hold doors open and asked them if we could help if we saw them struggle with bags at the store or with a stroller on a set of stairs etc.
Never would it cross our minds to speak ill to anyone since word of that would have reached our home before we got there ourselves.
But I guess now I sound like someone from the 50’s even though I am talking about the 70’s.
It is just all to sad that one has to be fearful stopping at a red light in the city not knowing if you get robbed or shot while waiting for the light to change.
Personally I am not one who is worried about such things since I have been in active war zones in my life and dogged many of bullets as well as fired them at individual targets with precision.
However, I am worried about those innocent people who get in the line of fire over turf and drug wars of uneducated (by their own choice) thugs with no respect for life who possess not one ounce of integrity, credibility, honor or self respect.
Sometimes I wish one could be still active on a roof top with a trusted friend fitted with a scope and take care of some of the problems that plague our cities and even now the smaller towns and rural areas.
I know it would be highly illegal to do so, but one can dream without acting on it.
I just feel that people who choose a life of crime have forsaken any and all human rights and or rights in general since they do not respect the rights of their fellow human beings and as such should be dealt with accordingly.
Sorry, I am rambling.

And I would have to disagree with the mention of rambling. I think that is called caring. 109 obviously is very passionate about the subject. He wasn’t at a loss for words, now was he.

I know he is not alone in his thinking regarding the use of force to match force, the punishment must fit the crime and other deterrents for major crimes. We have also become too forgiving for our own good and there are many out there taking advantage of that kindness.

They need to understand that this will no longer be the case. Go directly to jail or some other place that is always quite warm.

I am a big fan of World War II warplanes like 109, but I can’t decide if the P51 Mustang or the old beast of the P-47 would be my favourite. If you believe in a previous life, I would think that I could have been a pilot in that terrible war. The planes have always fascinated me starting with building models in my youth. Maybe that is part of learning respect at an early age.

Hobbies taught me things of importance that set a pretty good foundation for me later in life. I guess technology is part of the problem but only because of how we use it. The Internet can be a valuable teaching tool. Maybe you could sit down with you children and learn something together. Start with the song, Respect—Aretha or Otis. They are both classics.

Most of the time, when I write these “What Will Replace” stories, I don’t have a valid suggestion for the topic. Instead, the post is intended to make you and others think about possibilities for the replacement.

But in this case, I actually have a very feasible option that can be created using graphic editing software such as Photoshop and in my case Picnik. The concept is based on those algorithim things that mathematicians and computer geeks understand. I only know that they are a bunch of numbers and formulae that can be run through various iterations. The resulting jumble of numbers is pretty difficult to decode, I would think.

So I started with a graphic that I created and set it to 256 x 256 pixels. I learned that computers work well with numbers like 128 and 256 because they are divisible by 8 and return an even number. So this could be considered a variation on 128 bit encryption with the additional complication of colour and a password.

The next six graphics might make this a little easier to understand.

1. Original graphic
2. Addition of a password using a font. In this case, Georgia-Bold-Italic in various colours using the full range available in Windows. It could be randomly resized.
3. Rotating the password on an axis. In fact the password could probably be the owner’s real name or a username.
4. Resetting the font to difference in the text options in Picnik.
5. Run the new graphic through the Hypnotic option.
6. Set the Hypnotic option to Difference.

The final graphic could be used as a sort of electronic colour signature that would have to be matched on either a high resolution printed document or via a digital transmission. Scanners and id matching software would probably be required to identify the sender as the owner.

It seems to me that this has promise. Maybe the CIA can play with it and see if they can decode it. I’m hoping they might advance me funding for my research project. The annual fee for the Picnik Premium upgrade is $24.95 US.

Maybe you could send it on my birthday every year. I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you what it is. I’m thinking you might already have it on file.

Sing it Sheryl
“All I wanna’ do…..

At this stage, I don’t even know what it means!

But that is one of the keywords in an assignment I have from my editor under the primary keyword of asbestos testing. So I will begin researching it.

What these articles will attempt to do is share my personal experiences in pursuing writing as a profession and not just as a really rewarding hobby. By sharing successes and tips, then maybe others out there will gain some insight into what will work for them and that is key. Everyone has there own style and shouldn’t look to changing it because someone says you shouldn’t do this and you shouldn’t do that.

But you have to keep the target in sight. Most of the jobs will involve writing stuff that you may or may not be interested in and you are a means to an end. That’s why you will receive compensation for your writing. It certainly helps that it your writing is interesting, informative and even potentially thought-provoking or humorous or both.

So some good starting points might include the following ideas.

Start a blog

You can use your blog to test and try out all kinds of different ideas in writing. You can even find ways to get feedback about what is interesting to others. It isn’t a bad idea to use Facebook as a method to get friends to help you with feedback. It is surprising how helpful and honest they are about your understanding of the subject.

This site, today.com, pays enough that it will cover your monthly expenses for your Internet connection so it is not a bad place to host your blog. The following link will take you directly to the site and start you on your way to blogging.

Get paid to BLOG at Today.com

Learn how to create links

This is an essential way to help your blog to become a useful source of information for others utilizing the Internet. Here’s a simple example. It is very handy to have two browser pages open for this exercise.

The project here is to create a link that you can use to get driving or walking directions between your house and anywhere else that you would like to go. The link will be to Google Maps.

1. Go to your a blank browser page and type in Google Maps in the search box.
2. Select the link that says maps.google.com/
3. Now highlight the address link in the box at the top of the screen. It will be shaded blue when you have done this successfully.
4. Now hold down both the Ctrl key and the C key. This will copy the link to your temporary clipboard.
5. Go to a place in your browser like Google docs, notebook or your blog editor and type something like “My Maps”.
6. Highlight My Maps , select the chain link symbol and now hold down both the Ctrl key and the V key.This will paste the URL link and use the term My Maps as the link. You can make it anything you like.

So we should have a link called My Maps here. Now you can go back into this link at anytime and use it for a point A to B route planner. Feel free to experiment with it.

You will use links in emails to prospective employers and editors to apply for assignments or jobs. The traditional resume is not that useful on the Internet and well written blog posts can use graphics, white space and even video and music. Keep it simple for applications. They are interested in your writing ability and not necessarily in your presentation skills.

Learn how to use graphics in your blog editor

There isn’t enough room here to cover this subject but it is important to understand the concept of a picture is worth a thousand words. The correct picture can help set the tone for your story. It also helps to learn how to manipulate graphics to customize your blog posts. I can’t draw a stick man to save my life but I have taught myself how to play around with graphics to develop art that is pleasing to my eye. I use Picnik for my graphic editing.

That’s probably enough as a starting point for now. I have to go and research that malignant alphabet thing now. Since I only know it has something to do with asbestos and probably relates to something to do with asbestos insulation installers, I will start with Wikipedia which is where I usually begin research. Use the language link that you are moist comfortable with.

It didn’t have anything so I went to WebMd which I figured would be more appropriate and it was, albeit far too clinical

I’m hoping that I might find something humorous to say about Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma. I’m not holding my breath.

And for those that have been suffering from this type of lung cancer, there is nothing too funny about it. I am reminded of a gentleman that played in one of our many golf tournaments at the club where I work in the summers. The group in this tournament raises money for insulation installers and this gentleman was playing with the assistance of an oxygen supply and guess what. He was having a lot of fun with this group and so were they.

There’s a bright side to everything if you look hard enough. Some of the copy here will be used in my assignment.