Brian A. Thomas .com
Random Musings of Brian A. Thomas. Love for Ari and Sidd.
Want a Free Extended Trial to World of Warcraft?
Aug 8th
Dear friends and family, If you want to give World of Warcraft a try, let me know, I’ll send you a code that will upgrade the normal 10 day free trial to a 14 day free trial (how you get the client, via download or the $1.99 CD doesn’t matter). Then because you have that code we can quest together, gain experience points faster, and I can show you around the game world. (The CD has a 14 day free trial as well, but you will not gain the experience points three times as fast, and if you do the free 10 day code first you won’t be able to do the 14 day trial with double the experience points.) The client is free (if you download it) and you get 14 days to try it for free, you have nothing to loose but a little time (I would suggest that once you get the client, to let it patch overnight as that seems to be what it takes). More >
Look Here, a New Dark Tower Book!
Aug 4th
I love Stephen King’s the Dark Tower series
I read the first few books in the first series, and it was really good.
You probably should read the regular books in the series first, then get into the graphic novels, even though they take place before the novels. Also that first novel can be a bit hard to get through, but after that they are a fun, fast easy read.
The graphic novels start with: More >
Dear Blizzard, Why I Should Have a Cataclysm Beta Key
Jul 26th
My Dearest Blizzard, I hope this letter finds you well. This is a busy time for you. Tonight at midnight you release Starcraft II to the world (my son is a huge fan of Starcraft I)… and then starting this week hopefully, some of the fan sites will be giving out Beta keys for the World of Warcraft expansion, Cataclysm of which I of course want to be a part of. My favorite WoW podcast, The Instance, is giving one a day away for 25 days, WoWJuJu is giving some away, Ace3 is giving WoW addon authors a chance to get a key (I am alpha testing an addon that uses Ace3, but not an active developer myself). So I know you have lots going on. But I gotta ask for a favor if I may. I would like to have a key or two myself please.
More >
The Instance to Give Away Cataclysm Beta Keys
Jul 24th
Already the best World of Warcraft related podcast, The Instance has recently announced they will be giving away keys to play the Cataclysm Beta! Oh Scott and Randy how much we love you already, but to bribe us with a Beta key? Oh you shouldn’t have… well, you should… to me. 
Justifying the Expense of WoW
Jul 24th
Short of being rich, we all have to budget our money. Money has to be set aside for housing, utilities, automobile expenses (unless you are in a city and take a bus, in which case you still need to budget for the bus), clothing, personal care and of course food. Those of us with kids have to budget for diapers and all other child related expenses. Some people have profession related expenses. There is also a small budget for entertainment. That entertainment budget comes at the end as all the others are a bit more necessary. It can include books, going to the movies, DVDs/Blu-rays, TV, video games, renting movies/shows/games, board games, and a whole host of other stuff. For most of us, that entertainment budget is tight, for some of us it is very tight.
Blizzard‘s World of Warcraft isn’t free to play. You have to buy the game. As I write this, the World of Warcraft Battle Chest
After you buy the game, install it, download all the patches (this is something that for us took overnight), setup an account and then you get to play the game for 30 days… after that you have a monthly fee. More >
Ari and Sidd Got Haircuts
Jul 20th
Seems Ari’s haircut for the wedding wasn’t enough. Today Ari and Sidd both got drastic haircuts. If I can ever find my webcam, I’ll take some pics of them and post them up.
Sidd looks more like the bruiser I see him becoming (if he ever starts walking anyhow). And Ari… well Ari still looks like Ari, just with short hair.
Sidd got basically a buzz cut, Ari’s hair is just really short.
The Problem With the Cataclysm Talent Calculators Thus Far
Jul 18th
I have looked at two or three talent calculators for Cataclysm thus far, and while they have the talents correct, you can spend them willy nilly, and one of the big changes coming to Cataclysm is that your first 31 points have to be spent in your first tree, so you have to choose wisely.
The calculators out so far let you spend a point or two in one tree, then spend more in another. To be accurate it should gray out the other trees until you have spent the 31 points. So all you people making talent calculators, get them up to spec.
Actually before I posted this, I see WoWHead has put their calculator up and it works exactly as it should. Well done.
I think this looks like a nice Balance Druid build…
I So Need to Roll a Goblin in Cataclysm
Jul 18th
When Blizzard releases the Cataclysm expansion for World of Warcarft (or I get in the Beta…puppy dog eyes at Blizzard) I need to roll a Goblin. Yes, a Worgen Druid as well, but the Goblin zone looks to be a ton of fun. TotalHalibut, who did the vids I posted before has followed up his Goblin one with the second Goblin area. It looks to be a blast. I think I’ll roll a Fire Mage for that alt. More >
I Need a New Video Card and Router
Jul 18th
Near the start of the year my old computer died. It had been acting flaky, and finally the HD kicked it. While I could have replaced the HD, the PC itself was being flaky so I got a super cheap new computer. This one has an integrated video chip, which can be disabled to use a regular video card. The integrated chip is equal, or not just a hair better than the old video card so I decided against moving the card over. More >
Trying to Block Some Posts from the Front Page
Jul 13th
Calling all WordPress Gurus.
I am trying to block posts from a category from showing up on the front page. I tracked the category number down and put this code at the end of my functions.php file, but they are still showing up.
PHP:
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// remove from home page
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function exclude_category($query) {
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if ( $query->is_home ) {
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$query->set(‘cat’, ‘-11');
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}
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return $query;
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}
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add_filter(‘pre_get_posts’, ‘exclude_category’);
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// remove from home page
Am I supposed to put a call to this in my Index.php? Or am I missing something? Did they change how this works with WP 3?
Next Round of Cataclysm Beta Invites Going Out Soon
Jul 13th
WwW.com is reporting that next round of Cataclysm beta invites are going out soon with the usual warning not to click any links in any email you get, to log into your Battle.net account and check for your self. Most of the emails that are phishing, install keyloggers, trojans, and the like look like official invites.
Here is Blizzard's official take:
We hope to distribute additional invites to the World of Warcraft: Cataclysm beta sometime this week, possibly as soon as late Tuesday or Wednesday. This is only an estimate, though, so the schedule may change and, as a result, invites could be distributed earlier or later than anticipated. Either way, we'll work to keep you as updated as possible.
For those who might be behind on the news... Blizzard is getting ready to release their next expansion for World of Warcraft: Cataclysm. Right now they are doing what is known as Beta testing, where they invite a select group of people to test their software. In this case the goal is to test the new client with a vast number of different computer systems so that they can work out any issues with it before they release the game, and to test the new races, class/race combos, talent systems, dungeons, quests, etc. While in beta, lots of things can be flaky or just not work. For example, last I heard the Worgen female wasn't available for people to roll yet as they are still working out issues there.
Blizzard, if you are there. Please... pretty please... with sugar on top. Of course the email to this account isn't what the email is for the account, so I guess that makes it a bit harder to say, oh sure, lets toss one to that blogger...
More >
Our Crumb Cake Recipe
Jul 12th
I have fond memories of baking with my grandma Thomas (I would link to her in the Thomas Family Tree, but she wouldn't show up yet due to privacy settings). We made cinnamon jumbles, cookies and this crumb cake. The recipe cards always say "Olive Crumb Cake", but it is supposed to read "Olive's Crumb Cake." As I understand it, Olive was one of my grandmother's friends, and this was her recipe.
The cake is nice, moist and spongy. The cake sort of crumbles, but it is the crumbs on the top that give it its name. It is a wonderful breakfast cake as well as snack cake.
Ari and I made this the other day, and I thought I would share it.
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 Cups Brown Sugar
- 1/2 Cup Shortening (I recommend butter flavored stuff... I've used butter itself as well, but the recipe says Shortening so I'll repeat what it says).
- 2 Cups Flower
- 1 Egg
- 1 Cup Sour Milk (to make Sour Milk, pour 1 cup milk into a bowl, add 1 Tablespoon Vinegar and let stand for 5 minutes)
- 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
Directions:
More >
Journey to the End of the Universe and Back
Jul 10th
With this video we travel from Earth all the way out past the edge of the universe and time then back in. Everything is in the correct position, moving properly as it has been mapped. Large swathes of the universe haven't been fully mapped yet, so at one point the universe looks like two cones pointing to the Earth, but this is due to a limit of what we have accurately mapped not only its position relative to the Earth but its movement through space time. It is a wonder to behold.
More >
Quick Time Events in World of Warcraft?
Jul 10th
Not sure how I feel about this, Quick Time events come to World of Warcraft in the Cataclysm beta. Hey Blizzard... if I had a a Cataclysm invite I could tell easier.
Reverse Geocaching?
Jul 9th
Geocaching is a really cool hobby where somebody hides a container, sometimes so small it only fits a tiny bit of paper for a log all the way up to ammo cans (sometimes larger). They then post the coordinates of the container on a geocaching website where other people then try to find it.
One would think a hobby using GPS like that would be easy, but it can be a real challenge.
Anyhow, there is a new take on it called Reverse Geocaching. In this case you are given the cache up front, but it has a special device on it to keep it from opening until it is in the correct location.
14 Kids in 30 years starting at 25
Jul 9th
Looking over the family history, I see the people with the most kids was Irish born Henry Shaw and his wife Saeah Hamlin. From the time she was 25 until she was 55 the couple had 14 children. I guess 30 years for 14 kids isn't too bad, but they started and ended late. I don't have much on their kids...
Family History Page Backup
Jul 8th
It has been down for a couple years, but now the Brian A. Thomas Family History page is back up.
Information on the Drake family, Jolley Family, Sollers Family and of course the Thomas Family among others. 919 people from 1620 on.
I guess not PHPGedView
Jul 8th
Since I used it before I thought I would return to it, but when I go to access the page it takes me to one of the WordPress pages... this may be a WordPress issue, I'll know for sure when I try the other one.
Quick Update on Ari, Sidd and Me
Jul 7th
It has been over a year since I last updated on Ari and/or Sidd. So let us get caught up.
Ari went to Kindergarten last year. He seemed to enjoy it. Made some school friends and some bus friends, and a few kids who pick on him... for whom he wishes were never born. He grown more and more head strong, which gets him into all sorts of trouble. He is still super bright, though he seems to have a bit of the ADHD and most likely Aspergers. He loves video games, making his own levels for games, and Lego Bionicles.
Sidd is now over a year old. Still refuses to walk or talk... he makes sounds and we have learned what some of them are, but he doesn't really say "ma", "da" or "ba". He will say "Ummm" which can mean he wants food or his bottle. For a long time he wouldn't sleep more than an hour or two at a time, which made getting any sleep really hard. He now sleeps through most of the night. He screams and cries loudly. He does little of that in moderation. Lol.
More >
Site is back and updating again
Jul 5th
I am back to updating this site again as one could perhaps tell.
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