Understanding the cursed item - No more AdSense

CC BY 2.0 - Victor Bezrukov - Flickr

Something that goes far back in role playing gamers minds, why were there really -1 cursed swords out there?  Did they not read the package when they picked it up at the local WeaponMart?  Reality is, they seem beneficial and functional, and promise of slaying beasts just like their non cursed counterparts, yet they get in the way at the most inopportune moments.  Not obviously, but subtly.  Back in the day -1 meant 5%.  

Well, I've sat and debated long and hard about where +5 Gear is going.  Most of the ads I've seen displayed are not of good quality or really even relevant to what this site is about, so I'm pulling em, they seem to be eating up 5% uselessly on the site.  I will possibly go with a little bit of an ad or two, but with places I shop with, would happily recommend in personal conversation, and can feel confident showing others.  I want this site to be about what you, the reader can get out of what I'm posting, not just about paying for the operational costs with nickels and dimes.

At least the ads haven't been for sex change hormones like my first attempt at a personal blog.  That said, stay tuned, this blog will be in for some changes soon.  

Gear ownership - Inventory

CC BY 3.0: Shadwwulf at en.wikipedia

There's the old adage:  Don't let what you own own you.  This idea has pushed some amazing advances into minimalist lifestyle, especially with how versatile modern technology is.  For the rest of us who have a family, perhaps have hobbies that involve a lot of physical stuff, or just plain like having stuff, we should recognize that it's very easy to live for your stuff instead of your stuff facilitating your life.

Music of the Day - 7 Seconds - Sleep

Today I present some music from long ago, by a band that does not come up much in conversation in the modern day when someone says "hardcore punk" or "straightedge".  Considered to be one of the "longest standing bands" in the hardcore music scene, 7 Seconds is well known for a message of direct and uncomplicated positivity.  

There's a whole lot of people out there having rough times this week, and I thought it would be good to post a song from an album that's gotten me through a lot of hard times as well.  I won't go on and on about it, the track can speak for itself.

Donations up: Can I Have A Beer Man?

Lets be honest here, I'm doing ok, my family is fed, we have a roof over our heads, and the utilities are paid.

The real problem here is that I'm a married man.  I know people of both sexes are probably nodding their heads knowing exactly what that means.  For those that haven't had the joys of the experience, basically I've got to prostrate myself at the feet of my wife on an hourly basis for new toys to review.  Sure, I've got a collection of stuff I've found useful in everyday life, but there's far more out there we could work with here.

I spent some long hours soul searching within myself for guidance, for I really do not like asking others for money.  And I found none.  My next instinct of course is to fall back on my past gaming experiences, and remembered something fun from the days of yore:  that begging in many societies and situations was a respected profession of sorts!  So read I did, and even a simple venture into Wikipedia brought me some interesting wisdoms.  It seems some religions believed that the quest for material wealth actually caused people to deviate from their spiritual path.  And even better, Buddhists seem to believe that having people who are in need gives people opportunities to do good things for others.  

Sadly my work here is not of a holy or divinely driven nature, however I will be spending a large portion of my time trying to bring fun, useful, and interesting information to you.  And this at times will require funding.  I will not plead or beg (damn those NPR pledge drives!) but should you feel you have been provided a benefit, and feel generous, there is now a paypal Donation button on the blog.  Think of it as buying me a beer for the trouble.

Given my newfound quasi spiritual enlightenment, I would definitely say that I will never threaten any small cute furry animals for donations.  I promise you I will NOT off this cute bunny you see to the right if you do not donate to our worthy cause.  Really, I won't.  Why don't you believe me?

---

Beer man image from Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

April Fools - Google Analytics

April fools is coming!  Got big plans?  Going to rick roll half of your company at a large weekly teleconference by taking over the whole room and pull admin access from everyone?  (Sadly I left that company before receiving my award for it, hell, i dont think they even know it was me...)  Going to hire a stripper for a local religious charity event?

Well, there's a simple one you can play on some internet people that can be amusing with the right people, especially if you can recruit a LOT of people to help.

+5 Knife of Exiting - CRKT Extrik-8-R

Alright...  this one is a personal must have especially with a family, my personally preferred CRKT McGowan Extrik-8-R Seat Belt Cutter. Note the hand-tied reflective orange paracord fob that comes attached, this was not my doing.   It is very easy to keep a grip on with the scalloped edges and very roomy finger holes.  This functional and well thought out tool is the design of one James McGowan, a professional firefighter and knifemaker residing in Toronto, Canada.  

Shameless Plug - Cheap Roku 2 XS

I really hate to post a direct link to advertise something for a product without a personal twist to it.  I'm keeping this to when I find some really great deal...

Seems today (26 March 2012) only Amazon's pushing the Roku 2 XS 1080p Streaming Player for only ~$80.

Music of the Day - Rick Astley?!?!?

That's right kids, today's music of the day feature is Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give You Up.  I'm not kidding...  April Fools day isn't for another 6 days.  But that's EXACTLY why I've listed this one.  Sadly this year's April Fools lands on a Sunday, so you won't easily be able to disrupt half your company by pulling admin rights from all the meeting presenters and throwing in a loop of this video that they cannot get rid of this year.  So instead we are left with family, friends, and religious organizations.  In my crazy little world nothing is sacred.  

Cashing in on the $8 Million MP3 player.

Alright folks.  So I just learned something neet.  That music piracy might be even more lucrative than robbing Ft Knox.  Now, first off, this is just between you and me.  We cannot share this with others, because if someone found out we'd have a SWAT team at our doors.
First, we need to really see exactly how lucrative this new scheme really is, and for that we call in experts.  Check out this amazing TED talk (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 TED Conferences LLC / Rob Reid)

Now the reality...  If our government says it is so... it's got to be true right?  So now we need to figure out where in the black market we can find people offering $150,000 for a single copy of an mp3.  I know I get a penny or two when someone downloads through my blog from Amazon.  I'll have the first year domain registration paid in 10 years or so at that rate, so I'm betting it's not there.  Is this the source of our national deficit?  Is this how China is going to undermine our market?  Hack itunes and steal our nation's worth?  Are we going from precious metal backed currency to a federal reserve to an itunes store backing our currency?  We need to decode this shit now and tap into untold millions!  

Tomorrow's blog entry:  The bridge market, when to buy and when to sell, on the NEXT episode of Plus Five Gear!

Key of Opening and Biting - Swiss Tech Utili-Key

Let me start this out by saying i LOVE multi-tools.   Put the title on something and you have my interest.  Simply put, I detest having to carry more stuff than I have to, so anything that lightens the load is perfect.  Inventory management has plagued gamers for decades as a sort of necessary evil, and this is even MORE true in real life if you prefer to follow a lifestyle that includes some EDC gear.  In this case, this very reduction is why I will gladly take the risks involved with this annoyingly wonderful tool:  the Swiss Tech Utili-Key 6-in-1 KeyChain MultiTool.

Tshirt of Fear +1

An old friend of mine has once again taken to minimalist humor to bring woe and trouble to our lives.  He's got a new cafe-press item out that is very worth it for creeping out your significant other, getting double-takes from people, and most importantly keeping people out of your drinks and lunch thermos.

There's a reason this guy used to help us run our old WoW guild...   I can't remember for the life of me what that reason is, but the stuff is funny, go get it.

http://www.cafepress.com/wittybucks  

Used without his permission, I'm sure he'll sue me once this stuff makes enough money that he can afford a lawyer.  

Music of the Day - Suicidal Tendencies - Institutionalized

I've quickly forgotten how time passes, but was very recently reminded of this when another facebook "share this with all your friends" made it's rounds, 50% of the people out there were sharing it with no real idea of the original song!

Hump Day - The Box

photo credit timmyGUNZ (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) 

As everyone SHOULD know... Wednesday is HUMP DAY!  What does this mean?  Hump everything in sight?  (wear protection please.  I even have knee pads for this event.)

Since hump day is that dreaded mid week burnout day, I figured a little sit down philosophy would be in order, so for hump days to come, you can ignore my posts totally knowing I'm going to post something from the inane depths of what's left of my mind.

To start off, there's a particular phrase that really has struck a nerve with me, and I feel creates twice the suffering especially by the time it's been heard a few times daily leading up to the midweek blues.  That phrase is "Think Ouside The Box".  This to me is one of the most harmfully overused phrases I've heard in my life.

Free Money on Amazon - No Joke...

So today, Amazon.com is trying to drive traffic to their AmazonLocal offerings online to compete with Groupon and Google Offers.  So they are giving a $10 gift card for $5.  No strings except that you need to have a normal account with Amazon.com.  They do not even require you to subscribe to their local system.
Offer is today only, go get it!

Site:  AmazonLocal

Upgrade Your CRT Monitor

So I've been trying to keep to reviewing stuff and the like as opposed to directly saying "GO BUY THIS!"  Well, I'm going to deviate for a post and target the rare person who still has a CRT monitor out there.  Flat panel monitors for your computer are more affordable than ever, so there's no time like the present (especially with that tax check in hand...  you DID file your taxes early and not at the last minute right?) to upgrade or at least make a lateral move.  Good example, my morning email ad from Tiger Direct included this animal: Acer 19" Widescreen VGA LCD Monitor No idea how long the sale price will apply, but $79.99 to clear extra desk space, take the extra weight off, and to allow you to take that old CRT monitor and turn it into a fishtank.  Only down side, this monitor does not seem to sport DVI or HDMI interface, so you are looking at the old school VGA plug.  

New Solar Technology

This is one that needs no metaphor.  Solar power as it stands right now SUCKS.  It's costs without government subsidies simply don't compare to the cost of the normal fossil fuel generated electricity over the long run.  Until now.  A US company has blown the roof off of china's stranglehold on the cheapest solar panels with a sweet new technology.  Check out the article:   http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/122231-solar-panels-made-with-ion-cannon-are-cheap-enough-to-challenge-fossil-fuels (thanks to Jack Spirko for mentioning this in his podcast today as well as some intelligent commentary that is worth listening to, go check it out)

My questions:  how long until this new process is usable in mass production? How long till we actually see these at the prices promised?  And will the price actually be as low as they promise, vs lower due to possible subsidies by our government, or even higher due to market influences and middlemen.  Either way, great stuff to keep an eye on in the years to come, not just for home power, but for useful power on the go.  That's better than +5 in my book.  +6 Vorpal Sword vs Power Companies... taking the head clean off our electricity bills.
In the mean time...  I'll stick to my Brunton 6 Watt Foldable Solar Array and Scosche SolBAT II Backup Battery for simple on the go power.

Music of the Day - Ween - Push th' Little Daisies

So today's song of the day to start your week is something upbeat and cheerful.  And absolutely insane.  I dare you to play this ten times in a row for fun...  What better song to welcome spring, assuming we don't skip it and head straight into summer, than Ween - Push th' Little Daisies:

Gerber Artifact - What's a RPG without an Artifact?

Oh the memories of various artifacts listed in many fantasy based role playing books.  Most of the best ones had all sorts of neet functions.  Remember the Rod of Seven Parts?  Anyone?  Am I showing my age here?  Classic Dungeons and Dragons items.  Well, we all know there's no real magic items... but in this case, we have an artifact by name that does a whole lot of useful things in one very small package, the Gerber Artifact Pocket Tool.  Bonus to this, it's probably a hell of a lot cheaper than the magical versions.

Armored Core V - Damn you console gamers...

Long ago on the original PlayStation our roommate and I would spend hours abusing the hell out of Armored Core, this going back 14 ish years ago. Well, now it's on it's fifth iteration, and I'm curious to see what they've come up with. It's not Battletech... but it's mechs, and prior games always had a good pace and feel. Release date is looking like the 20th of this month for PS3 and XBox 360. This is one of the only times I actually get 'Console Envy' as a computer gamer. Buy.com has it cheaper than normal buy a couple bucks (3 bucks is 3 bucks... just sayin): 

Buy.com

Real Life vs Games

I have no idea why we sequester ourselves in our homes to play games and watch so much television. The graphics are so much better in real life, you never have to worry about total devaluation of your hard work and leveling with a new release upping the level max. The PVP areas are a lot easier to avoid unless you've made some really bad choices, and even then, those that PVP don't generally last long since there's no spawn point. You don't have to worry about people trading each other on ebay as much... and there's lots of systems in place to keep rude people from pulling a ninja on boss drops... granted, I've yet to see drops IRL. Real life has far better smells than stinky gamers, and I don't care what your level of cooking is, your game steaks are nowhere near as yummy as the ones i'm going to cook on the grill. Sure, both involve some really boring grinds, but the options in real life are infinite. Ever explore the REAL world? It's huge... you'll never run out of landscape. No voice will tell you that you are leaving the mission area because there's no more area left to explore. Just be careful out there friends, there's no spawn points. And healers really like to overcharge.

Cane Fighting

Oh the dangers of this one...   I am afraid to buy it lest I will want to test it out...   does a cane put out 2d4 damage?  Any size modifiers?  Given Cold Steel's offerings out there, this might get very interesting...

Thanks Cole!

Music of the Day - Megadeth - A Tout Le Monde

So after both a recommendation that we post up some Megadeth since they are coming in May to Pittsburgh, and an old friend making mention of this song, things fell into place on what to post today.

This song reminds me of a few others that scare most people to think about and hear about...  sometimes when we feel at our lowest, it's something to explore the darkest thoughts we have instead of denying them.  Just make sure exploration doesn't mean fulfillment.  That said, great and powerful song... 

Edit:  Much thanks to Mike Williams as well as my personal executive breakfast chef for the recommendation!

Pocket of Holding - Blackhawk! Pocket Pack

For our first series of posts, I'm going to cover a subject I live by.  It's called Every Day Carry, or EDC.  I have a very simple philosophy in life.  I like to have what I need when I need it.  I absolutely detest when a package won't open, or when I've got a non screw top bottle to open, or when I have to cut the red or blue wire to save everyone in a huge skyscraper from another catastrophe, or how about a screwdriver that works on glasses?  I could go on for hours.  The problem here is, by the time you are done, you will have put Batman's utility belt to shame...  While he's got the money, the style, and the bad ass butler, let's face it YOU don't.

That leaves your pockets...  and the minute you put more than one thing in there, they get mixed up, scratch each other, and poke the stuffing out of your leg.  Enter the concept of the Pocket of Holding!  Various manufacturers make some fine products along these lines, however the particular item that fills this role for me is the BLACKHAWK! Pocket Pack.

Setting up for tomorrow

If you aren't already into it, there's this OUTSTANDING site called Instructables, where people post information on how to make just about anything.  Today's fun is creating a lightbox, lets just hope in my constant state of sleep deprivation I don't get the steps for a lightbox mixed up with those for a smoke machine...

Stay tuned, tomorrow I should have something interesting!

Music of the Day for March 12

Hurray for a timely fix by Amazon!

Today's pick for Music of the Day is RJD2's Magnificent City Instrumentals.

Delays for March 12th

Alright, so it's time to make some excuses.

Amazon's affiliate program has screwed up and deleted part of my account, so I cant get to the nifty widgets that allow me to put samples of music on my site. Bummer...

On a good note, I've got AvantLink up soon for REI gear, so I'm going to be more inclined to review REI stuff, for good or bad. Keep in mind it's these links and referrals that will be paying for more stuff to review.

Short version: Music of the day will be skipped a day while I bark at people to fix our stuff, but later this week other things will start popping up. Thanks for the patience!

Music - Mar 11

Welcome to my first Music of the Day posting!  I'll try to change this quite often to bring some variety into your spicy life, and I'll let you know when I change it.



Today I've listed the album "Fellow Prisoners" by Amish Rake Fight.  Amish Rake Fight is a solo project by Mike Fisher (http://www.amishrakefight.com/bio/index.jsp), once the keyboardist/programmer for Machines of Loving Grace.  This album is full of amazingly powerful instrumental electronica listening pleasure.

Sample some on the widget on the nav bar, support starving musicians AND bloggers.

New Site!

Greetings!

So begins my new blog, plusfivegear.com.  My intent is to talk about "stuff" be it gear, places, businesses, experiences, and other like subjects, so my readers might be a little more educated in some of the stuff out there.  If you have requests, feel free to email them to me!

In my role as a consumer, I've found too many videos and sites that simply regurgitate things and give the obvious boring same old information that anyone could get off of a web site.  Instead I'd like to give as much detail as I find as well as my opinions on it from my perspective.  I may not be right, you may not agree with me, but at least I'll give you this man's take on things in this man's world so YOU can make better decisions about what you choose to own, consume, contribute to, or sell your soul to.