New Depp Movie in Theaters Now

When I was young I fell in love with Johnny Depp. At the time he was playing an undercover cop in “21 Jumpstreet”. It was the role that basically launched his career. Yes, he was in films before that, but that was what put him on the map. I loved that show.

Later, Depp appeared in “Sleepy Hollow”, in which he played Icabod Crane. Icabod was a young investigator trying to get to the bottom of the legend of the Headless Horseman. He insisted that the horseman had to be flesh and blood. Unfortunately, Icabod finally sees the ghost in action and is jarred into believing in the supernatural. I really liked this film as well as “Charlie and The Chocolate Factory”.

“Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” was, of course, more light hearted. Depp played Willy Wonka, who took the Golden Ticket winners on a whirl wind adventure inside of his chocolate factory. The movie was full of interesting twist and turns with Wonka trying to convince Charlie to come live with him. There was a really good moral to that story, but the addition of video games turned me off slightly. I liked the older version and would have preferred a remake that was closer to the original.

I’m not sure which I liked better because “Sleepy Hollow” was dark and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” was a remake of one of my favorite childhood movies. Depending on my mood, either could be considered my favorite Depp movie.

Now, Depp is starring in “Sweeney Todd” who is a barber looking for revenge in old London. He lives above Mrs. Lovett’s Meat Pie Shop where he plots revenge against everyone that has ever wronged him. He becomes a serial killer, his weapon of choice a straight razor, with Mrs. Lovett as his sometimes accomplice. This movie is incredibly interesting and Todd is a perfect fit for Depp.

For more information on the “Sweeney Todd- The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” visit the official Sweeney Todd movie site or visit Sweeney Todd on MySpace. It’s in theaters now.

Getting Back to The Basics

Finally the semester of school is over and I passed with flying colors. Now I’m gearing up for next semester. I’ll be taking the next level Math (Introduction to College Algebra, which will be followed by College Algebra, which will be followed by Trigonometry), Visual Basic Programming, and a web-based course (meaning all course work and classes are done online). There’s a lot going on in my life, so this could very well be one of my most difficult semesters to date. Keeping my fingers crossed here.

Also, because of my financial situation and some personal difficulties, I may very well be looking into making a few dollars the ugly way. I’ve been looking at alternatives, but they really aren’t for me. SEO was interesting to me, until I got deep into learning about it. Then I just felt dirty and I wanted no part of it. I decided to take the high road. But the high road isn’t paying my damned bills. I need some money in the bank and I’m sick. That leaves me with few options. I made some good money in November and I need to do that again. So, I’ll be working toward that goal.

I did do some experimenting with what I hope are white hat SEO techniques and got positive results. Two of my posts are in the top of their keywords. That has gotten me quite a few hits. Not enough to sustain anything, but it’s a start. I’ll probably not do a lot more of that here at Chipped Polish, but that knowledge comes in really handy in places like Associated Content. So, I can go back to writing article for them. There’s a couple of other places that appreciate that kind of writing, so I’ll be hitting them up too. We’ll see.

Here’s hoping that 2008 brings better luck for me. I can really use some of that right now.

Top Ten Hi-Tech Toys

Time released their Top 10 Gadgets list. If you’ve got the slightest bit of geekiness flowing through your blood you’ll want to put these on your Holiday Wishlist.

#10- Belkin N1 Vision Wi-Fi Router

The Belkin N1 Vision beauty stands tall and lets you peek at online activity through network reporting. That means if your rugrat is downloading things he or she shouldn’t be you’ll be able to find out right away. It’s also super-speedy. “N” in the name means it’s kicking “G” butt and that soon what we think of super fast now will go the way of the 56k connection.

#9- Iomega eGo Portable Hard Drive

Need a lot of extra storage? The Iomega eGo holds 160GB of information. That’s 640,000 digital images. It can be connected with either USB or Firewall and has a shock absorbant cover. Now you don’t have to worry about all those pictures of Junior and his new puppy slowing down your machine- or losing those pictures if Junior decides to send the hard drive flying.

#8- FlyTech Dragonfly

If you like radio-controlled bugs, you’ll love the FlyTech Dragonfly. With it’s crash-resistant design, this toy can take a lot of punishment. Getting bored looking at blogs all day? Pick up the controller and let the bug fly because it’s designed for indoor, as well as outdoor, play. I don’t advise letting it crash haphazardly into the ceiling fans, but if it happens accidentally your Dragonfly should survive the impact.

#7- Toshiba Portégé R500-S5004

The Toshiba Portégé R500-S5004 is an ultra-light notebook that runs on an Intel Core 2 Duo processor. It has a built-in DVD burner, graphics card, and wireless capability. This is especially handy for travelers and students, because the thin design means less weight and less weight means less backaches from carrying that and everything else.

#6- Samsung P2

The P2 is a handy little player that has a 3-in. LCD screen so you can watch videos as well as listen to mp3 and WMA files. It also comes with a subscription to either Rhapsody or Yahoo! Music. If you’d rather, you can carry around your digital photos on this bad boy and when it comes time to show off your newest pics of Sally you’re ready. Soon you’ll be able to use P2 for calls too. Oh yes, finally an alternative to the iPhone.

#5- Sony Handycam HDR-CX7

The HDR-CX7 takes high-definition footage that goes straight to the memory card. No need for film or DVDS. It’s small and compact, so it won’t cause arm strain while you capture every shot your little basketball player makes. Want to record a young diva singing her heart out? This camera stabilizes your shaky hands while you get every verse on record. Then when you’re ready, connect it to your t.v. and have a show.

#4- Palm Centro

The Palm Centro supports Web surfing, text-messaging, email, instant messaging, picture taking, and even phone calls. It’s a Smart Phone without the price!

#3- Netgear SPH200W Wi-Fi Skype Phone

The SPH200 is for those who have signed up for the Skype VoIP service. This phone has Skype software already built in. Like a cell phone, you can take it anywhere. Unlike a cell phone, you need to find a Wi-Fi hotspot to use it. The phone comes with the ability to sign up for the Skype service right from the touch pad and the first 10 minutes are free. After that you have to pay via credit card.

#2- Nikon Coolpix S51c

The Coolpix S51c lets you upload your photos from the camera straight to your Flickr account, so you never run out of camera space when on vacation. All you need is somewhere to connect to the Internet and you can upload your photos safely and move on to taking even more. If you don’t have a Flickr account (why?) then you can use the Nikon photo bank to store them.

#1- Apple iPhone

Who didn’t see this one coming? The iPhone is your own little computer to go. Listen to your music, check your email, read the Times, takes some pictures, send the pictures and make some calls. You have the world in the palm of your hand. You can connect via Wi-Fi if you’re close to one, but otherwise you have to use AT&T’s connection. That’s the only limitation. Here’s hoping we’ll get to choose our own provider of iPhone service soon.

With the holidays around the corner, you might want to check out prices for these fun toys. You could make a geek very happy this year.

What’s That Code in My WordPress Header?

Are you blogging on a self-hosted WordPress blog? Have you taken a glance at the code that makes up your theme and thought you were looking at another language? Well, the fact is you are looking at another language and if you don’t know what’s being said it could have disastrous results for your blog. Messing with one line can do a lot of damage but that’s not the only reason you should recognize what’s in your theme files, especially your header.php.

There are a lot of “free wordpress theme” sites cropping up. But not all of them are safe to download and use. Some of the owners of these sites include malicious code in the header.php (or, actually, any theme file, but for these purposes we’ll concentrate on just the header.php). The code that’s place can open a “back door” to your server which can allow hackers easy access to yoru site. From there they take over and give you the boot. That means a lot of headaches and maybe even a lost blog.

There are some tutorials on the WordPress Codex that will help you get started, but those too can be in a language not meant for the average blogger. Have no fear! David, from Devlounge, put together a nice tutorial for folks like us.

In that article you’ll see what most of that mysterious code means and why you need it for your theme. You’ll also get a feel of what should be in that file so you’ll know what to look for. You might even start to understand some of that foreign language that lives behind your blogging world.

Regular readers of Devlounge feel that the tutorial is to basic. I feel like it’s just right for beginners and can help more naive theme downloaders prevent attack from malicious coders.

Finals Week

It’s finals week and that means much studying. Not much time for fun and games.

I tried to get my pain meds refilled but the pharmacy thought I was a drug seeker. Ha! Anyway, I had to call the doctor’s office to get permission to get my meds and they said “Well, you should have told us you were going to run out. We need to change your prescription again.” Um, the doctor changed my prescription the first time, not me, and I didn’t know I was limited on when I could run out. No one told me. Hello, I’m the patient, if I’m going to have to beg for my pain meds then please tell me in advance. Thank you. P.S. I am not psychic.

I’ve also noticed that some of my SEO experiments are working. I’m getting some really good organic results. I don’t know what that means in the long run, but it’s looking pretty good for now. I have a definite idea of where I should focus and how I should focus and blah blah blah. It’s all very boring to write about. I’ll just do it and keep you up-to-date with the results.

Some of my recent ventures haven’t paid off like I’d hoped. Christmas is right around the corner and I’m kind of hanging in limbo right now. I’ll be able to kick it in to high gear after Thursday, though. That’ll be good. Still, I’m annoyed with all this dancing I seem to be doing.

Also, I’ve developed some new symptoms that I’m slightly worried about. Ok, I’m really worried about them, but I’m loathe to make yet another doctor’s appointment. I just can’t stand doctors anymore and will probably wait to go see another one. I’m wondering if these new symptoms are a reaction to the vitamin I’ve been taking. I haven’t been able to find anything online about it, so who knows. I go next month to see my rheumatologist again. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

One last thing. This is for people that want to leave a snipey comment somewhere, but haven’t got the courage. Come on! If someone is attacking your friend and you’ve got the most greatest idea for a comeback EVAR, then write it. Sheesh! They’re attacking you too, you know. Don’t just say in the forums where the commenter won’t see it. While you’re at it, quit thinking everything is roses and sunshine. Welcome to real life.

Update on My New Meds

I’ve been keeping track of my mood and cognitive functions for the last week. I’ve been taking the mega doses of Vitamin for two weeks  now and figured after the first week I should start feeling some results. If, indeed, this is my problem. I still don’t trust doctors.

The good news is that a lot of my memory issues have gone away. At least they seem to have gone. I don’t find myself lost in thought a million miles away from whomever is speaking to me. I haven’t had problems finding the right word. And I’m pretty sure I aced my last math test (I’ll find that out tonight). All if this is happening just in time for final exams. Yay!

It hasn’t stopped the pain though. That would suck a lot worse if I wasn’t becoming used to being in pain all the time. I forget what it feels like to not be in pain. I was talking to my husband the other night and told him that I wish I could be normal again. He says "You are normal". Um, no, I’m not.  Normal is not knowing what chronic illness is like and assuming that the sick person is faking. That’s what "normal" is according to me. This definition would then include my husband.

I’ve gotten over the crap that happened last week in math. I have no use for people like that anymore. My psych professor was talking about Panic Disorder (which I have) and agoraphobia (which I don’t have). He mentioned that many agoraphobics don’t like to go outside of their homes because they’re afraid they will have a panic attack and humiliate themselves. To a certain degree I can understand that. For a while now I’ve been worried that when I speak I’ll forget how to speak. This has happened a couple of times, usually ending up with me stuttering and sounding like a complete ass. The thing with those women in math certainly didn’t help in that aspect and now I know that people notice that I walk differently. I shouldn’t be bothered by any of this, but I am. I think about it. And I thought about it a lot last night after class. Could I potentially become agoraphobic? I doubt it. But I’m certainly a lot less social than I used to be. I’d much rather not go somewhere that will include meeting new people. I try to fight that and do it anyway, but I always make an ass out of myself. So…

Back to the Vitamin D. I want to say that it’s definitely working, but then I don’t want to get my hopes up and end up falling back to where I was. So, I’ll leave it at it’s easing my symptoms and really making my life better. I feel improved, even if I don’t "look" improved. So, that’s something. Here’s me keeping my fingers crossed.