Neteller Disbursing

Just got the official word that Neteller is finally releasing the money that has been stuck there since they drew the scrutiny of the US authorities. Here’s the email:

Dear Brian,

The NETELLER Plc Group has announced that the distribution of funds to its US members will begin on July 30, 2007.

You are receiving this e-mail because our records reflect that you are a US member who may request funds from NETELLER. As of July 30, you will be able to make a request for funds on NETELLER’s website by signing in to your account. In the meantime, you should visit our online FAQs for more information about the distribution plan.

Please note that US members will not be able to request funds from the NETELLER website after January 26, 2008.
NETELLER Plc Group

If you didn’t do it already, go get your money.

Neteller Disbursing

Just got the official word that Neteller is finally releasing the money that has been stuck there since they drew the scrutiny of the US authorities. Here’s the email:

Dear Brian,

The NETELLER Plc Group has announced that the distribution of funds to its US members will begin on July 30, 2007.

You are receiving this e-mail because our records reflect that you are a US member who may request funds from NETELLER. As of July 30, you will be able to make a request for funds on NETELLER’s website by signing in to your account. In the meantime, you should visit our online FAQs for more information about the distribution plan.

Please note that US members will not be able to request funds from the NETELLER website after January 26, 2008.
NETELLER Plc Group

If you didn’t do it already, go get your money.

RIP Ingmar Bergman

Ingmar Bergman died Monday at the age of 89. He was a wonderful filmmaker who made movies that were art, not crap.

RIP Ingmar Bergman

Ingmar Bergman died Monday at the age of 89. He was a wonderful filmmaker who made movies that were art, not crap.

Night Shift

My Rating:

Night Shift (Signet)

by Stephen King

The audiobook version of Stephen King’s collection of short stories doesn’t have all the same stories, but enough of them for me to do the review. King has some good stories in here that kept me captivated, like Jerusalem’s Lot (prequel to the later novel Salem’s Lot), Strawberry Spring, Quitters, Inc and The Ledge. But there are some real clunkers too, especially the Lawnmower Man (NOTHING like the Pierce Brosnan/Jeff Fahey movie) and Graveyard Shift. Luckily though, with good or bad, short stories are over quickly and you can move on to the next one, unlike the recently reviewed Saturday (yeah, I really didn’t like that one very much).

Saturday

My Rating:

Saturday

by Ian Mcewan

I listened to this book on CD on the way back from Michigan. I have to say, if I had been reading it myself, I doubt that I would have finished it. Ian McEwan definitely has a way with words, his writing is exquisite. But for the vast majority of the book, which covers one Saturday in the life of a neurosurgeon, I felt like he was being wordy for the sake of being wordy. Everything was a fifteen minute exercise in dragging out a simple thought or situation. The book’s “climax” occurred on CD 7 (of 9) and the remaining two hours were just an extremely long and boring denouement. I know there are some people who like that kind of writing, but that’s the difference between me and the literati.

I Miss The Comfort In Being Sad

Making its way around the intertubes is a funny “Thriller” video. For you kids, that was a big hit for Michael Jackson before he went all crazy. If I’m ever incarcerated, I want to go to the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center in the Philippines.

And here they are doing “Radio Gaga” by Queen. Not as awesome, but funny when they do the clap-clap part of the chorus.

On an only vaguely related (by music) note, I got Nirvana’s “In Utero” from LaLa a while back, after reading “Life is a Mixtape.” I’m not going to go by a shotgun like Kurt, but even if you couldn’t understand everything he sang, he wrote some pretty good songs. And as “Life is a Mixtape” suggested, I really do relate, at times, to the songs on this album. Worth revisiting if you’re all groweds up now and last listened to it in college.

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War

My Rating:

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War

by Max Brooks

I was originally amused by the fact that someone at the Fairfax County Library decided that this book should be filed under the Dewey Decimal 817. I figured that they mistakenly believed it was non-fiction. As it turns out, 817 is Humor & Satire. The book should still be just a regular fiction classification, but at least they didn’t think it was a non-fictional war book.
Max Brooks does a fabulous job of positing the events leading up to and following the war against the zombies. The book takes the form of a series of interviews with participants, intended as a reminder to the world of what happened, where they went wrong, and how to keep it from happening again. He really goes in depth, covering every corner of the world, every possible battlefield (including the tunnels under Paris, underwater, and urban settings), every angle. It was a fun escape from my “vacation” to Michigan, very creative and original. Highly recommended for the geeks out there.
I’m still reading the Murakami short story collection, which I left at home while on vacation, but I also have two audiobook reviews upcoming, as soon as I finish them up.

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War

My Rating:

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War

by Max Brooks

I was originally amused by the fact that someone at the Fairfax County Library decided that this book should be filed under the Dewey Decimal 817. I figured that they mistakenly believed it was non-fiction. As it turns out, 817 is Humor & Satire. The book should still be just a regular fiction classification, but at least they didn’t think it was a non-fictional war book.
Max Brooks does a fabulous job of positing the events leading up to and following the war against the zombies. The book takes the form of a series of interviews with participants, intended as a reminder to the world of what happened, where they went wrong, and how to keep it from happening again. He really goes in depth, covering every corner of the world, every possible battlefield (including the tunnels under Paris, underwater, and urban settings), every angle. It was a fun escape from my “vacation” to Michigan, very creative and original. Highly recommended for the geeks out there.
I’m still reading the Murakami short story collection, which I left at home while on vacation, but I also have two audiobook reviews upcoming, as soon as I finish them up.

Phone Update

SunRocket finally acknowledged that they are going out of business on their home page. At least they stopped taking new orders! They also finally sent an email to customers about the situation, offering two companies who are taking on SunRocket refugees: Packet8 and TeleBlend. Packet8 has been around for a while, and they are offering the $199/year plan. I’ve never heard of Teleblend before, and it looks like they are brand new, and possibly are some of the same people that were behind SunRocket (they magically appeared right after SunRocket went under), so no thanks. While we were gone, we got our equipment from Verizon VoiceWing, but I haven’t had the chance to hook it up yet. Our SunRocket stuff still seems to be working, which is good, but who knows how long it’ll last. So for now, at least, we’ll be moving it over to VoiceWing. I will let everyone know when and if they need to use a new number.
I also got a Verizon flyer for the FIOS triple play: $99/month for TV, phone and internet. When we got home yesterday, one of the DirecTivos was on the fritz, but easily revived. Unfortunately, it has been doing that more frequently, and I worry that it may go kaput soon. It would be an excuse to switch services, so I am going to look into how much it would realistically cost to move everything to Verizon. The Verizon flyer is so poor that it doesn’t even tell you when the $99/month rate expires, just that it requires a two-year internet commitment. It also doesn’t say how many boxes it includes, since you have to have a cable box to use it. Technically, it could be cheaper than our current services, but maybe not, once you figure in taxes, extra boxes, etc. I did notice that Tivo has a new lower priced HD unit, and selling off the DirecTivos on eBay could help fund that. Hmmm…
So there you have it. Keep trying the old phone number for now, until we tell you otherwise. And if you don’t get through, let me know!