almagest

QUOTE(iamshack @ Jan 23, 2008 -> 01:15 PM) Anyways, sorry to hijack the thread with the oil change stuff. Back to buying a new car, a few more tips I have not seen posted yet: 1) Never buy the first year of a brand new model or a significant design/body change of an existing model. 2) Consider where you park the car on a regular basis. Is there any specific reason why #1 is true? I mean, it makes sense, since there's no reliability data on the new cars or redesigns, but I'd think you could get a good idea of what to expect from reviews, and from past data from other models from that manufacturer. As for #2 -- street parking primarily, in the southwest suburbs. Occasionally city street parking -- specifically, Bridgeport and Portage Park.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Jan 23, 2008 -> 08:53 AM) Of course these recommendations are meaningless because we do not know what the primary purpose of the vehicle is. We're all assuming just basic transportation for one or two adults. No car pools, car seats, no trips with lots of luggage. We also do not know your knowledge level with cars and how well you maintain them. What I am currently driving is a disaster for anyone who does not maintain vehicles perfectly. It is also the biggest bargain among the 2004s. I'm planning on giving it to my son this summer. I picked something for him that was bigger, so he had plenty of trunk space getting back and forth from school. I wanted some steel around him to win any fender to fenders with Civics. Five passenger comfort for college road trip, even if it is just and hour away to Austin. I also wanted him to be a slave to maintenance, so he developed some good habits. All of which would be about the opposite of the direction you are leading. Basic transportation for one or two adults is essentially all I'll be doing, mostly in the city. I barely put 1,000 miles a month on my cars, and I tend to hold on to them for as long as they'll run reliably. I'm probably average when it comes to car maintenance -- I buy gas when I'm around 1/4 of a tank, I have my oil changed every 3000 miles, I wash it every few weeks at a cheap car wash near my house, and I'll bring it in to a mechanic I know when something seems off. A car that requires anything beyond that is probably not for me, though. I'll check out some used cars with low mileage on them too. That makes a lot of sense. Thanks!

QUOTE(SoxFan101 @ Jan 23, 2008 -> 01:24 AM) Well the Civic was the one car I didnt have a problem with on your list. Just, to me personally the Accord seems like a better car for the more practical man. What makes you claim the other cars are garbage? Most everything I've read so far has been positive, but I'd certainly like to see any negative press or opinions about anything I'm considering. I do like the Accord, but it's beyond what I want to spend. I'm also considering a Versa or Sentra, as well.

QUOTE(SoxFan101 @ Jan 23, 2008 -> 12:22 AM) Ok most of those cars you listed are absolute garbage. Definitely stay away from the Lancer and Mazda. If you want a Scion, I personally like the tC if anything. Other cars you should look into are Mitsubishi Galant, Toyota Corolla/Camry, and Honda Accord. All of those should be in your price range and better cars than the 5 you listed. The Civic won Motor Trend's 2006 Car of the Year award, and the Accord is generally $4000-$6000 more than the Civic. The Mazda 3 and the Focus were two of the top three small cars, as rated by Consumer Reports (Civic was the other). The Lancer was recently redesigned as well, and seems like a much better value now. Corollas never impressed me much, and they're slipping as far as ratings go. My family already has a Camry, and I don't like the way it handles. I'll check into the Galant, though I think that's also slightly more than I'd like to spend. Thanks!

QUOTE(CanOfCorn @ Jan 22, 2008 -> 10:23 PM) Actually, they are. Like the proposed "Express Section" that goes around the normal tracks for passengers headed up to O'Hare? I doubt that happens, especially with the budget issues the CTA has right now. Even the other repairs they've been making haven't introduced much of an improvement, and they've been working for a while now. QUOTE(RockRaines @ Jan 22, 2008 -> 10:59 PM) I agree more than anything. I traveled around 140k miles last year all around the country, and regardless of where I was I still feel that Chicago is the best city ive ever been to. its really an experience that I feel everyone should experience. Wholeheartedly agreed, and I've traveled a fair amount around the US, Canada, and Mexico. The only place I've been to that's even come close is San Diego, and that's mostly due to the weather. I'm headed to San Fran this year to catch the Sox in May, and I've heard good things about that city, so perhaps there'll be a new #1 contender.

I got into an accident the other day (some lady hit me going 45 in a 25 zone), and my trusty '01 Cavalier will unfortunately have to be totaled. As such, I'm in the market for a new car. I'd rather buy new -- not that I'm necessarily opposed to buying used, but me, my friends, and my family have historically gotten much better deals on new cars, plus some of the '08 revisions and new models are pretty intriguing. My choices so far (based on reviews from Consumer Reports, mostly, and a few from friends) are: - Scion xD - Honda Civic Coupe - Mazda 3 - Mitsubishi Lancer - Ford Focus As you can probably tell by those choices, I would really like to stay around or below 17 grand. I don't drive enough to justify spending any more. Any feedback on those choices? Any dealerships you've had good experiences with? Any of you sell cars, or have family/friends that do, that could work out a good deal with me?

Hm... interesting. I've never had that issue before. Try the following: - Grab some video codecs. The K-Lite Full codec pack is a solid choice for widespread playback capability, and the VLC Media Player to resolve some of the bloat and playback issues Windows Media Player has at times. Also, what OS are you running? What are your computer specs? Have you tried any steps to solve this, such as closing programs running in the background, or defragging your harddrive?

QUOTE(CanOfCorn @ Jan 22, 2008 -> 09:43 PM) There's always Jefferson Park/Portage Park. It's right on the Kennedy and the blue line to take you downtown. You are still in the city and can make it downtown real quick. And it's not quite as expensive. Just a thought. That's one of the areas I'm looking in as well. My friend lives in Portage Park now and likes it a lot. The only problem is it takes over an hour to get downtown on the Blue Line sometimes. They really need to fix that thing.

QUOTE(iamshack @ Jan 21, 2008 -> 10:39 PM) Agreed, Rock- Chicago is doing fairly well right now compared to others because it is still the pre-eminent place to live if you're anywhere near the City, but eventually that market is going to bottom out a bit. The developers are starting to take the brunt of it now because of that over-saturation of the market by condos but I think the crap will really start to hit the fan in a few years when a lot of those who bought during the "boom" start looking to sell in order to hit the suburbs to raise their families and they realize there are 700 places on the market at their price-point with nearly the exact-same amenities package and so forth. I'm going to be in the market in 8 months to a year but I am somewhat concerned at the thought of buying a condo in the City when they have become so cookie-cutter. I realize there will always be a demand for housing in Chicago but I really think they have passed the threshold a while back. I think this has started already. A guy I work with is having a heck of a time selling the condo he bought two years ago. He's even lowered the price to below what he bought it for, and still no offers. This is in Logan Square, which is considered one of the up-and-coming areas in the city. It's things like this that are making me consider suburbs that are an hour or less away from downtown by Metra more and more.

Good advice here. I'm also in the market for a place -- I work downtown, so I'd like something in the city, or a nearby suburb, so I can utilize public transportation. You might want to check out Craigslist, as you can sometimes find nice by-owner deals on there.

QUOTE(bigruss22 @ Jan 21, 2008 -> 07:59 PM) Wow that worked, thanks almagest! One question about it though, do I just save it as I normally would onto my USB drive under an Excel format or what? My teacher will need to be able to open the document If you opened it in Open Office, just be sure to save it as an Excel file. It may complain at you, but it'll still work. Then if you have time, test it at school. If you were able to open it in Excel XP, just save it as an Excel XP file. Your teacher will be able to open it, as the MS Office suites have good backwards compatibility.

I really hope this is official. If Dotel can put up an ERA of around 4, with a K/9 of 9+ -- which his career seems to indicate he will, though his GB/FB ratio is worrisome -- he'll really help shore up our bullpen.

QUOTE(Nunnigan @ Jan 21, 2008 -> 12:43 PM) First let me start off and say I'm not much of a tech buff, so bear with me. I got a PS3 earlier this month along with CoD4. After beating the game, I've been itching to play it online. The problem is I dont have an internet connection in my room. The only room in the house that has internet connection is the one right below my room. Now with the questions, can a wireless router reach my PS3 from the room below? Also how much would a wireless router cost? Thanks for any help Depends on if your PS3 has built in wireless support or not. This link provides instructions on how to set it up. As for the router... Newegg is probably the best place to pick up computer hardware online. If you're only going to be using the wireless for gaming on your PS3, go with a wireless g router that has some sort of range boost, and prioritizes gaming traffic. Also ensure that your router supports WPA/WPA2 encryption, and be sure to enable it. It's extremely dangerous to run an unencrypted wireless network. If you're going to use wireless on all your PCs, plan on doing lots of internal file transfers/streaming (streaming music or movies, or running any kind of media PC) if your walls/floors are super thick or you live in an older building with lots of iron, consider a wireless N router for the increased range and transfer speeds. You probably won't even approach 54 mbps while gaming, but your local network could make use of the increased bandwidth.

Office XP is Office 2002, and Office for Mac's two most recent versions are 2008 and 2004. Either of those may have a problem opening your spreadsheet. You might also want to try opening your spreadsheet in Open Office (http://www.openoffice.org/), as I've had luck opening files Excel and Word don't like with it. The only time it won't work is if you have lots of macros, or odd formatting elements.

What version of Excel are you using at home, and what version are you using at school? Older versions sometimes have problems opening newer files. You might have to go back to school, load the spreadsheet, and check the "Save As" menu for the version of Excel that matches your home version.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Jan 19, 2008 -> 02:18 PM) Because of the notion that he could be had for a 1 year deal. No one has ever stated wanting him for 2 years. When has Colon or his agent said he was only seeking a 1 year deal?

QUOTE(sircaffey @ Jan 19, 2008 -> 03:06 PM) It wasn't the length of the contracts or the guaranteed money that made the O's signings bad, it was because they didn't have much of an offense? So, had the Indians been the ones handing Baez, Bradford, and Walker near $40 million guaranteed, it would have been a smart thing? You can't build a team, or even a bullpen, through free agency. It's too expensive, and you can't rely on the market to provide what you need every year. The Orioles didn't realize that, apparently. You can add a piece here and there through free agency, however, which is what the Indians would be doing. So, yes. If the Indians signed one or all of those guys to shore up their bullpen (which has been weak in the past few years), it would be trying to make a solid team great. That would be a good move.

QUOTE(RME JICO @ Jan 17, 2008 -> 02:10 PM) Thats why I was wondering why the Sox didn't take a flyer on him. Only one year, for $4 Million. That is pretty low risk. Maybe he wanted to pitch in his home state. Also, Jennings is a lefty, right? We already have Buehrle and probably Danks. Any more lefties in the rotation and we'd become the 2004 Kansas City Royals.

QUOTE(Rex Kicka** @ Jan 19, 2008 -> 12:42 PM) I just rediscovered the Hey Hey My My Yo Yo album by Junior Senior. It was recorded in 2005 and wasn't released in the US til last fall. But the re-release came with a new 8 song EP. It's a bit of a disappointment. It's like they were hanging out in the studio with Depeche Mode. And that makes me sad. I'm a much bigger fan of "D-D-Don't Don't Stop the Beat".

QUOTE(BearSox @ Jan 19, 2008 -> 09:07 AM) Because he won a bogus Cy Young a couple years ago? We're almost certainly not getting that pitcher though. We'd probably get something in between his 2005 and 2007, if he stays healthy.

Teams know we have two MLB-ready third basemen, so they're not going to give us much. Maybe one B prospect is about the best we could do, since they know if Crede has a decent year and walks, the draft pick they would get would make up for the prospect they traded. I think the smartest thing to do would be to trade Crede near the end of spring training, if he's healthy and is playing reasonably well. By that time, some third basemen will be hurt, or some team will realize the guy they thought could fill the position can't, and Crede will be more valuable since he'd likely be the only decent 3B available at that point. Ideally, if he's playing well, you wait until the trade deadline to move him, since even a half-year of Crede would be worth more at that point to a contender. Unfortunately, we can't do this since we'd be wasting Fields on the bench or in AAA. Of course, if he's hurt or produces like he did from '03-'05, we'll get absolutely nothing for him.

QUOTE(Kid Gleason @ Jan 18, 2008 -> 06:50 AM) Safe to say you're serious about your video games??? Damn straight. Worked at a video game store for two years. Been playing since I was three. QUOTE(Steve9347 @ Jan 18, 2008 -> 09:38 AM) I can't believe you don't own a PS3 and a Wii. Oh, yeah? I'll show you, random anonymous internet guy! /buys PS3; tries to buy Wii but can't find one, settles for two Gamecubes duct-taped together

I have little to no faith in our bullpen at this point, and I think signing Dotel would be a good move. Though his time was limited last year, he was effective when he was pitching, and he looks to be a good bet to be healthy this year. We need all the help we can get. Also, why is salary such a concern in cases like this? I don't get it. Sure, the Sox might be overpaying at 5.5/year, but so what? It's not like that contract is going to cripple them financially, and with the going rate of starting pitching being so high, you know reliever contracts are going to scale up as well. I just can't understand the mentality of "well, he may have helped us, and put up an ERA of 4 instead of 6 or 7 like our bullpen last year, but at least we didn't overpay!"

QUOTE(chisox2334 @ Jan 18, 2008 -> 10:20 PM) from cowley As for the other rumor surrounding the Sox the last few days, concerning the potential signing of often-injured pitcher Bartolo Colon, the Sox did take a look at him recently, but sources indicated that Colon wanted more than a one-year deal. The Royals now appear to be the front-runner to land the 2005 Cy Young Award winner. So the Mets took a pass on him due to health reasons (the METS of all teams), he likely won't be ready until a month or two into the season (or more), he's not a lock to be successful by any means, and he wants more than a one year deal? Why do people want him again?

I was pretty pleased to hear Rogue Wave in that new Zune commercial. He deserves some exposure. What I've been listening to: Statehood (ex Dismemberment Plan members) - Lies and Rhetoric Radiohead - In Rainbows Thom Yorke - Eraser Cold War Kids - Robbers & Cowards Bound Stems - Appreciation Night (I can't recommend this band enough, especially for fans of Modest Mouse, and anyone interested in good local music)