According to my analytics software, there are five posts which people liked the most. Here they are in digest form for your reading pleasure.

1) eTrade Bank/Broker - A Pretty Good Broker, and a Darn Nice Bank

2) Free $25 through Revolution Money Exchange

3) Pandora.com… Internet Radio With a Twist

4) indeed.com - Sorta neet.

5) Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron Released!

Thank you guys so much for your readership! I hope to continue to provide you with cool and useful and free web services in the future!

—Zach

For the past year, I’ve been using eTrade’s Complete Savings for my emergency fund and other long term liquid savings. I signed up back when they 5.25% APY for all of their savings accounts. It was pretty nice while it lasted, but thanks to the market it has tanked all the way down to 3.01% APY. A paltry .01% APY better than IngDirect’s Orange Savings Account. However there’s a couple things I absolutely love about eTrade, and those are it’s interface and it’s customer service.

Read the rest of this entry »

—Zach

I am proud to announce that I have recently taken the jump into dog ownership. Recently being two weeks ago. (Has it really been that long?? I’m a failure as a blogger.)

Anyway, I recently acquired a dog which goes by the name of miles. He is a one year old German shepherd/black lab mix, and he is absolutely adorable.

He just spent his first night out of the kennel in my bedroom last night, which was a rousing success.

—Zach

I Am A: Neutral Good Human Wizard (3rd Level)

Ability Scores:
Strength-10
Dexterity-12
Constitution-11
Intelligence-16
Wisdom-12
Charisma-15

Alignment:
Neutral Good A neutral good character does the best that a good person can do. He is devoted to helping others. He works with kings and magistrates but does not feel beholden to them. Neutral good is the best alignment you can be because it means doing what is good without bias for or against order. However, neutral good can be a dangerous alignment because because it advances mediocrity by limiting the actions of the truly capable.

Race:
Humans are the most adaptable of the common races. Short generations and a penchant for migration and conquest have made them physically diverse as well. Humans are often unorthodox in their dress, sporting unusual hairstyles, fanciful clothes, tattoos, and the like.

Class:
Wizards are arcane spellcasters who depend on intensive study to create their magic. To wizards, magic is not a talent but a difficult, rewarding art. When they are prepared for battle, wizards can use their spells to devastating effect. When caught by surprise, they are vulnerable. The wizard’s strength is her spells, everything else is secondary. She learns new spells as she experiments and grows in experience, and she can also learn them from other wizards. In addition, over time a wizard learns to manipulate her spells so they go farther, work better, or are improved in some other way. A wizard can call a familiar- a small, magical, animal companion that serves her. With a high Intelligence, wizards are capable of casting very high levels of spells.

Find out What Kind of Dungeons and Dragons Character Would You Be?, courtesy of Easydamus (e-mail)

—Zach

Quite possibly a testament to Jim Davis’s genius, the fact of the matter is that Garfield is quite possibly 1000 times funnier without Garfield in it. For your viewing pleasure, I present Garfield Minus Garfield.

—Zach

Ok, lame sk8rboi reference aside, my brother has just started a blog. He, of course, completely failed to inform me of anything of the sort, and I just happened to find it in the shared items of my google reader.

My brother is a nurse. Apparently he has more time on his hands, and can write more blog posts than I. If you are at all interested in following the life of a male nurse, considering going into nursing, or just want to read an interesting blog about nursey things, I’d suggest you read this one.

—Zach

I was reading a blog post from a guy calling himself the “Debtbeater.” He’s $250K in debt, and he’s working to pay that debt off. He then posted an article about a lady who is $100K in credit card debt, yet continues to dig herself deeper into debt.

I, thankfully, am not like that lady. It terrifies me to think of how easy it is to fall into this kind of trap though…

One of the questions I’d like to ask this lady and also the debtbeater is “How much of it was cultural for you? How were you raised fiscally? Was this something your parents fell into or was it something you trapped yourself in on your own?” Those kind of questions intrigue me.

I was personally raised in a semi debted home. We never owed in the hundred thousands (Excluding mortgages) but  my parents consistently carried credit card balances. I picked up on some of the pressures that debt would bring my parents, and I think that helped shape me into the incredibly anti-debt person that I am now…

It makes me wonder how much of this debtor nation is inherited…

Please, keep in mind this is in no way a condemnation for the people who are in debt yet attempting to pay off. Those kind of people need all the support they can get. It’s a long hard road and they need all the support and help they can get. Good luck to them!

—Zach

Yes, I did it! I got my $25 Amazon Gift Certificate as a reward for spending my hard earned dubloons at amazon.com, and so I used the $25 to order myself Jack, and Douglas Adams Long Dark Teatime of the Soul.

I’ll  make sure I do a full review after the jump!

—Zach

I am currently doing a study with a group of friends from Church, but they meet on Thursday nights and I have an Easter Cantata practice on Thursday nights. So I figured I’ll post the notes online so they don’t go to waste :).

Desiring Gods Own Heart Notes - Day 1 Read the rest of this entry »

—Zach

There are a few different types of debt. There is investment debt, depreciating debt, delayed debt, and necessary debt. Each have different roles, purposes, and pros and cons.

I’ll start with depreciating debt. Read the rest of this entry »

—Zach