Dear visitor,

First of all, thank you for your visits, for your feedback, for sharing my content, for spreading the word and for the comments you left on this blog.
You’ve kept Carolsvault.com alive yet another year and for that I am very grateful to you.

I hope this year has been great for you. If not, i hope next year will the best year of many to come.

And so, i wish you and the ones you love a happy ending of 2009 and a beautiful 2010.

Happy holidays!

Ever since president Obama was awarded the Nobel prize for Peace, i have read a lot of mixed opinions about whether he deserves the prize or not.

The countries affected by the war are not happy of course and strongly think that he shouldn’t be entitled to it. The feeling doesn’t come only because he sent more troops in instead of pulling them out, but Obama also carries the legacy that former president Bush left behind. A bloody one.

Others think that it’s too soon, especially for a sitting president. He didn’t do anything big to deserve it. True enough. Not big enough for us to spot from space.
You cant’ expect a world to be fixed in one year.
We broke this world and we all contributed to it one way or another, active or passive. We all want somebody else to fix this and he better do it quickly because we have no patience or tolerance if we don’t see results soon.

The media, makes a circus of it, as always. The ratings are their number one priority and as long as the drama they show brings numbers in, why not do it? They jump to left, then quickly bounce to the right. Now he’s awesome, now he’s not.
This nasty game brought troubles before and it will again and as long as the viewer doesn’t see beyond the screen he’s looking at, we are doomed.
Media, news channels such as CNN or NBC, are supposed to be impartial. They are not!
The only one i can watch and expect neutral opinions (and still have some doubts now and then) is BBC news.

Others, such as the Scandinavian countries think that this man deserves it.
We have all kinds of smart and intelligent people. Some of them fix things on the spot, some take long ways around, some think on long-term and some are trapping others.

I couldn’t help but think that the committee handed the prize to Mr. Obama to trap him.

His run for presidency was incredible. His words were powerful and inspiring. He showed potential and will. He also showed courage to pick up the misery Bush left behind, worldwide, and try to fix it along with a collapsing economy.

The world was amazed and welcomed the change.

He knew what he’s getting into and yet, he wasn’t afraid. He knew he’d be crucified for any wrong move he might make and yet he took things on.
He knew that even his taste in books will be questioned (not that the country has bigger issues to worry about) and yet, he went along.

A brave man!

So what do you do with a man like that?

You trap him.
That’s what you do. You look at all the things he’s capable of doing, if he can bring change, if he is a capable leader and if he knows how to make his followers want to follow….and you reward him in advance.
You make sure that you hold on him tight and make him an honorable man before that fire and passion he’s got inside burns away.
You make sure you give him a cross to carry.

If that’s what it’s about, if the committee gave him the prize as a cross, then as manipulative as it looks, i can’t blame them. Nice move!
There were so many presidents that turned into dictators, presidents that failed the countries they were supposed to serve, that failed the nations that depended on them, destroyed their own people and the people around them…that at this point, the way i see the world at the moment, we need to use traps to make a president live up to his promises and deserve the chair he’s sitting on.

Carry your cross wisely Mr. Obama, for it is yours now, a gift from all the people who truly wish nothing but peace.

This article it’s  a bit messy  because I couldn’t manage to put my thoughts in order, so I just started writing, but I am sure you’ll get the point I am trying to make.

Have you ever thought about the things and people you really like and what that means?

Have you ever thought of the impact that this has on the other people that we don’t like?

When we like people, we are likely to do lots of things for them and most often we don’t want anything back. We just do things for them because…well, we like them. We care a lot more about them, approve them and tolerate them.
We will be just fine with their mistakes and we’ll even turn a blind eye when they are unfair to someone else.
I am not talking about love. Love is different and even though is supposed to be unconditional, it isn’t.  Love comes with many conditions and rules.
But when you like someone for example, it seems that it is unconditional.

You can’t tell somebody:” Look, I will like you, but with one condition…”, but you can say: “I don’t like you because of…”

Remember when one of your friends asked you: “Why do you like it/her/him?”
Your answer was probably: “I don’t know. I just like it. No particular reason.”

J. said one day to his loved one:” I love you, but I don’t like you right now.”
He was clearly upset. She didn’t understand at first what he meant but, she did later when she saw that when he liked her, he did a lot more for her.
What does this mean? That liking her meant a lot more than loving her?

Does this also mean that if a husband starts skipping hours from home is because he doesn’t like his wife anymore even though he loves her? Perhaps. Best bet is asking the husband and hope for an honest answer.

You can like someone without loving them but you can’t love someone without liking them. To like someone is more powerful than loving. That’s the conclusion I came to.

I’ll pick up on this: “We will be fine with their mistakes and we’ll even turn a blind eye when they are unfair to someone else.”

Have you ever played the “favorites” game?
If you did, then you were probably pleased with yourself by the reactions you’ve got from the favorite one. Oh yes, and they liked you right back. Awesome!
The good news is that we all did it at least once BUT the bad news is that playing favorites because you like someone is ugly and wrong. Dangerous too.
Politicians do it because they like more how Mister X lobbyist presented his case to him and the cash was good.
Your boss does it and you know it when he invites you over for a dinner or at his vacation house.  And he does that when he doesn’t like you either. He’ll constantly pick on you, bully you and not because you didn’t do a good job, but probably because he doesn’t like the way you look or because you’re not hanging around with the elite.

Some moms do it too.

If your mom loves you but likes more your younger sibling, you feel rejected. Am I wrong?

Favoritism is plain thickness.
This is the society we all contribute to, and unless the aliens will attack us and make us disregard whatever we don’t like about each other and come together to  defend the Earth, well…until then, we’ll play the same game.

So what’s all this about? You might ask yourself what made me rant about this and I have the answer ready. Just thoughts….
One day, I realized I was in need of evaluating my friends, my things and my feelings. I realized at the same time that I am missing out a lot because I just let some things happen and others are just slipping through my fingers.
This got me into some deep thinking and soul searching. Made me think about the people I know and to my surprise, I was playing favorites with some of them. The painful part is that I discovered they do not deserve the “whole thing” from what I am willing to give.
Then I thought about some other people that I seem to have ignored. Good and lovely people, I have to add. And so I got deeper into this….Why did I do it? What did they do to me?
Oh, the questions! Why? Why? Why?

But do let me go on with the rest of this entry…

Say one day you decide to like those whom you don’t like or ignored… for a change. How do you begin? Where do you begin?

Is it the differences between us such as classes and social status, attitudes, looks, capabilities, education, morals, the resonance of voices, ignorance, taste that one should start with?
Sure, start re-evaluating. Remove that layer and see what’s in there.

We need about 7 seconds to make up our mind if we like or dislike someone. That’s all it takes.
It’s impulsive, but that’s the way we lead ourselves throughout the day, every day.
The instant judgment defines our next feeling and move, and here is where we should start working on.

It’s like we have a “to-like” list already imprinted in our brain and when meeting someone, all we need is a quick “scan and compare”. If the person won’t match the list, then we put the label ”Rejected” on them and that’s that.
We label people every day and damn, we’re good at it but wrong too because we miss out the best when we do that.

The following expression: “The first impression is the most important” is by all means something we should seriously think twice about.
Now, I have to wonder, is the first impression really fair? Does it do justice to someone, knowing that we’ll judge that person within the first 7 seconds? Is 7 seconds enough time to do it? Nope! Not to me.

This is true, you don’t get a second chance to make a first good impression and if this first impression is the most relevant, why not taking our time for it?
We can make the change right here and instead of taking 7 seconds to decide, we should take at least a minute.
To me, it’s this: Make the first impression count, but have the second impression count twice more.
Then, you can proceed to the next step: embrace the differences and appreciate people for what they are. Get to know people and like them even if you think they are not worthy enough at first. They will be later.

See and feel the difference when you do that. Is not like you are taking on an “approval crusade” in the name of “fairness”; it’s just a decent and nice thing to do. Like more than that list you’ve got.

I’ll close this down with my favorite saying:
You are what your deep driving desire is. As your desire is, so is your will. As your will is, so is your deed. As your deed is, so is your destiny.  [Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (IV.4.5)]

Martin, over at gHacks.net, has got a sweet little collection of Paragon software from disk maintenance to defragmentation and disk rescue given away by Paragon as special editions.
Follow this link to get to the registration and download links.

Image by Skate3214

My best wishes and happy 2009!

Carol

The Christmas is almost here and you didn’t buy any present yet for your loved ones.
If it is because you didn’t have time, then go now and pick one.

But if it is because you have a “present idea blackout” then here are a few gifts you could buy and even though the links provided are to Belgian shops, feel free to inspire yourself:

The Mp3 player Sandisk Sansa Fuze 16 gb = 8GB + 8GB free memory card – 99,90€

Sansa Fuze can be purchased at Het Computer Winkeltje and this is a promotion which won’t last much longer.

If your friend /girlfriend already owns an mp3 player, then maybe a digital camera would be an ideal present.

You can choose from a wide range of cameras at the Forcom Shop, or you can head over to Fnac or HCW and pick another one.

A 60 GB Xbox 360 Pro – also sold at HCW and it is a part of the promotion Cashback Actie – 239,90€

If your friend /girlfriend already owns a 360, then you might want to have a quick peek into their games and see if they own any of the following games, but make sure that they are playing the genre you are about to choose. Some gamers are very picky.

Tip: Most gamers prefer games with a multiplayer option.

If they do not own a 360, but they are PC gamers, then try any of the above and have a look at Spore as well.

Now to hardware….

Western Digital MyBook2 Essential Edition 2.0 1TB – 142,75€ – can be bought at Forcom shop. Geeks would love it!

While we are at Hardware, take a look at this category at HCW . You will find a lot of things being sold at a very good price.

If none of the above pleases you, then you might want to try the book store or the gadget store – you can find some more inspiration here: Find Gift.

OK, I know that there are over 10 million faulty 360’s out there, but why 5 of them have to be mine?

Here are 2 links to my past experiences with my other 360’s:
xBox 360 number 4 will be gone soon
To play this game put it into a xBox 360 console

Yesterday evening i started up my 360 – which a few hours before that worked just fine – only to get the 4 rings of death.
If all quadrants are flashing red, then there is a problem with one of the cables, either the power brick one or the AV cable.
And so last night i went through the whole troubleshooting steps: powered down my 360, unplugged the cables, cleaned the metal head on the AV cable….tried again….and some more.
Today, my boyfriend got me a friend’s cables and tried them too but i got the same error.

Hold on now! This ain’t right! I looked again to it, but the up right quadrant didn’t flash. It appeared to be red though. Crap!

At some point my boyfriend said that i should call this one quit and call the support.

Oh dear! Again? To put me do the same steps i’ve done last night?
Right…Dialed the 0800 number, got the bla bla bla robot, press 3, press 3, press 1 and an apology. Huh?!

That’s new!
Since when has Microsoft introduced the apologetic robot and why?

To the person who’s been in charge with the whole 360 building and bringing it on the market process:

It may not be your fault that “someone” skipped the prevention process, and it’s really OK…no need to apologize. I forgive you and i forgive your robot too.
Lots of people do lots of mistakes. Huge ones. You’ve just made about 10 million of them. How cool and huge is that?!
I just want a damn working 360! So skip the whole apology thing and speed up the repair/swap process, will you!

And do you know what else pisses me off to bits about this whole thing? The fact that i have sent in for repairs 3 of them (1of 4was a swap thanks to the Gamemania dudes)  and none of them have been registered in your system as “sent in for repairs”. They have been swapped.
Tricky! Very tricky!

When a 360 gets swapped (on purpose by Microsoft), and then another 2, there goes your chance to get your “So Sorry for the trouble 360″ from Microsoft along with some apologies and a 1 month Gold membership. Hm!

Back to the call…

A very friendly support guy, outside Belgium, took my call and asked me to go through the process i’ve just done last night.

“Done that”, i said. “It’s my 5th one.”

He then suggested to plug the console into another TV and see if the problem goes.
It didn’t! In the light of my bedroom i could actually see on 3 lights and the last one was dead which basically means: General Hardware Failure.

We’ve been on the phone for quite some time – apparently his system froze twice – and all this time he kept apologizing to the point where i really felt bad for him.
I just threw in some humor and made him laugh. One might say that this is typical me, but…these guys are taking lots of abuse from us – no wonder they keep apologizing so often – and they don’t deserve that; i just wanted to make his call a bit more bearable.

He then decided that my 360 qualifies for repairs and so it will be picked up withing a couple of days and i won’t be seeing it for a few good weeks.

Meanwhile i won’t use my PS3. No offense dear Sony, but your online service sucks.

So, till i have my 360 back, or someone else’s, i will just go on and learn how to Photoshop.

Anyway…

If you experience the rings of death, here’s what they mean and a hint to what you should do next:

4 quadrants flashing red : The AV cable is not detected or there is a problem with the power brick. Check the led on the brick and make sure it is green.
If the led is orange, then check: KB906102 .

3 quadrants flashing red: General Hardware Failure.
Check KB907534 or just call the Support.

2 quadrants are flashing red: Overheating.
Just let it cool for a few good hours and do not block the ventilation.
Do not put it in the freezer!
You might laugh or raise your eyebrow but there are people who have done so. Not very wise!

1 quadrant is flashing red: Hardware Failure.
This can be anything from the hard drive, DVD drive player and so on…

Check the error that your 360 shows on your screen and then call the Microsoft Support. Tell them the exact error number you are seeing.

If the error is known, then probably an update just killed your 360.

Here’s what you can do about this unknown one before calling in:
Clear the cache.
Power up and go to the Dashboard ->System -> Storage Devices.
Highlight your hard drive. Now press the following on your controller: Y, X, X, LB, RB, X, X.
The system will then ask you if you want to perform the maintenance.
By pressing the green button you agree to do the maintenance but be aware of the fact that all your patches, updates and game extensions will be deleted.
The best part is that you can download them again at any time.

Note:
It’s important to be prepared with all this before calling the support. It will save time and energy and the the person helping you will be able to quickly diagnose if you can fix your 360 by yourself or if you have to send it in.

Good luck now!

We7 – the service that offers music with ads is actually pretty impressive.

Yesterday evening I just couldn’t get enough of listening to some of the nicest tunes in there, and downloaded them with no fear.

You can also share them at will with your friends. All you need is to create a user account, which is free, and you’re set.

It isn’t bothering at all having a couple of seconds advertising in the song, considering that the voices they’re using are soft….and having them removed after 4 weeks.

The artists, the Americans at least, are getting tired of all the DRM fight between agencies such as RIAA and the customers, and so services such as We7 are born.

I can only say thank you for having some bright marketers/advertisers pacifying things this way – the We7 way:

Using the latest ‘pat.pending’ MediaGraft Web 2.0 technologies, We7 will:

• Deliver free, legal and safe music, video and other digital entertainment to everyone who wants to download it
• Provide a direct route for bands and fans to form even closer relationships
• Be ‘artist friendly’ at all times, make sure rights owners get paid and artists are respected for their work and maintain control over their Intellectual Property
• Deliver targeted, localized and intimate advertising opportunities for brands and companies of all sizes, whilst letting our users choose which messages are relevant to them
• Help abolish piracy by making it no longer worthwhile to visit illegal and unsafe music and video websites

Although I am late blogging about this service, I would still recommend you to go and have a look and support the artists this way instead of pirating their music.

To close this post, i would like to make one last recommendation for the Ambient/Chill/Lounge music lovers – Tunnel Chill Zone 1 and Tunnel Chill Zone 2.

Sign up, download, lay back and relax!

To be honest, I am not a moody person, but I did get through some hard situations and I have done nothing but kill them and it works. Is a fight with yourself and it can take time to see some good results in your behavior and your feelings.

Changes are good; good changes are very good and welcome.

Some of us are born happy, patient, indulgent, very understanding to situations and people, but some others are not.

Moods and negative emotions can ruin your entire day, even little ones and you don’t even realize when you’ve just allowed yourself to become one cranky person.

Once you’ve taken that path, is really easy to lose control.

Everything you feel will reflect into your behavior and affect people around you. Next thing you know, people start “crossing eyes” to you and even avoid you.

The Dumb Little man points out three things that i really enjoy doing day and night: smile, laugh and make people happy.

2. Smile. Smile at everyone you meet today. It’s OK to fake it at first if you need to, but pretty soon it will be real and it will make you feel good. As you feel yourself becoming happy, remember not to fight it!

3. Laugh. Tell some jokes. Seek out jokes, funny people, and funny videos. Be silly. Crack yourself up. Just start laughing. That alone can make you laugh. And when you laugh you release your body’s own natural opiates: endorphins which make you feel good. Here is a link to more info on Laughing Yoga where all you do is laugh!

6. Make Someone Else Happy. Who could you cheer up today? Who could you thank or compliment? Who could you send a quick handwritten note to? You can really have fun with this, so go ahead and do it!

I can laugh of my own pains, my own embarrassing situations…you name it, i will poke fun on it and even have instant headaches from so much laughing.

How many of us are throwing away with intention a genuine smile or a joke to brighten someone’s day?

I do!

His number 5 – “Count your blessings” – is really something that we should all do.

And no, is not cheesy to be grateful about the good things in your life, or even the bad ones that if they didn’t happen you wouldn’t be where you are today…supposing you’re on a good path at the moment.

Can you count your blessings without having to think about them too long?

Anyway…The article is pretty simple and to the point ( kudos for the little man) and you should go and have a read – 10 Surefire ways to kill your crabby mood.

Image by kakashisgirl101.