Questions you want answered.

McIrishJihad wrote:

Of course, I'd love to see them implement some kind of two-factor authentication, but we'll see.

On that note, I'd love to see my bank offer two-factor authentication.

Gremlin wrote:
McIrishJihad wrote:

Of course, I'd love to see them implement some kind of two-factor authentication, but we'll see.

On that note, I'd love to see my bank offer two-factor authentication.

BoA has a "SafePass" thing, that will text a code to you when you try to do something big - like transfer more than $1k out of the bank. So I get to do that whenever I pay my rent by transferring directly to my landlord.

Jonman wrote:
m0nk3yboy wrote:

Should I post this question here, or should I just PM Yellek direct for guidance? ;)

Post the question in the "Post a Picture of Something you Created" thread?

Thanks Jonman!

Rezzy wrote:

In house hunting... how much hassle can we expect for a property that is just starting the 'short-sell' process? Our realtor guesstimated up to 90 days before the actual purchase process can begin, but initially mentioned that optimistically it could be as short as 30. We're still exploring other properties, but this one is the most promising so far and is set up almost perfectly for what we need right now. Our current landlord will not work with us, so if we're not out by April we're on the hook for another year of rent unless the complex manages to find a new occupant (which they have no obligation to do and there are other empty units at the moment).

Bought a short sale myself almost 1 year ago next month, and the whole process took 6 months and change.

Thanks for the advice. The FD did what I suspected he'd do and decided they didn't need me in London after all at the day rate I was asking. Which is just fine by me.

I've stopped using my smart phone in favor of an old flip phone, and I don't think I'll be going back, which leaves me looking at options for an MP3 player. I have an old fifth generation iPod that I liked using, but I really hate the bloated mess iTunes has become. What are my options for managing content on my old iPod, either in OS X or Windows 8, without using iTunes?

Check out Media Monkey.

What's a short sale?

Quintin_Stone wrote:

What's a short sale?

On a house?

Quintin_Stone wrote:

What's a short sale?

A Subway 11-inch footlong.

< rimshot >

Quintin_Stone wrote:

What's a short sale?

Underwater but not actually been foreclosed. Technically the homeowner is the one selling the house, not the bank. However, in a short sale the bank has to approve the sale price and contract, as they're the ones likely to lose money on the sale, and that's why they are dicier and take longer.

Thanks, Min. Despite what everyone on IRC says behind your back, you're not a complete ass.

Quintin_Stone wrote:

Thanks, Min. Despite what everyone on IRC says behind your back, you're not a complete ass.

There's still people on IRC?

Quintin_Stone wrote:

Thanks, Min. Despite what everyone on IRC says behind your back, you're not a complete ass.

Behind?

Quintin_Stone wrote:

Thanks, Min. Despite what everyone on IRC says behind your back, you're not a complete ass.

We say that behind his back?

Mental note: ask Goodjer about Dakuna

MyBrainHz wrote:

Mental note: ask Goodjer about Dakuna

Goodjer? Which one?

Minarchist wrote:
Quintin_Stone wrote:

What's a short sale?

Underwater but not actually been foreclosed. Technically the homeowner is the one selling the house, not the bank. However, in a short sale the bank has to approve the sale price and contract, as they're the ones likely to lose money on the sale, and that's why they are dicier and take longer.

Keep in mind, many short sales are initiated as the bank is preparing to foreclose, or has already foreclosed on the home. Depending on your state, home owners and banks have different rights. In most states, while the timeframe is different(weeks, months, even a full year in some places), even after foreclosure a home owner has a period of time to either pay off the mortgage loan, being it current, or sell the house to satisfy the debt.

As someone who worked on the bank side, is you are a home buyer steer clear of foreclosed properties unless they will sell you below value. It is a bit like buying a car at a police auction, you are buying something that was likely abused and neglected.

KingGorilla wrote:

As someone who worked on the bank side, is you are a home buyer steer clear of foreclosed properties unless they will sell you below value. It is a bit like buying a car at a police auction, you are buying something that was likely abused and neglected.

Jebus yes. A house down the street from us was foreclosed on after the couple divorced and the woman got the house and I guess couldn't afford the payments. Before moving out they trashed that place so bad including drive a vehicle through the garage doors, spray painting all over the walls/ceiling/carpet, and even knocked holes in the walls and stole the interior doors. I hope the family that lives there now got it way under its value because they had to have a lot of work done before it was move in ready.

Well, even a place where the people did not go apesh*t, the maintenance went away. If it was abandoned, you are talking a house that for months, years, had no one inside to run the faucets, it may have gone through a winter with no heat=burst pipes. Vermin likely moved in-rodents, snakes, insects.

Going in armed. You can get a good house that needs to be fixed up for low money. Find a reputable contractor who will either for free or a modest fee look at the house and give you a good estimate on repairs and maintenance fees.

But assume, there is mold. The roof leaks. The Plumbing and wiring will need to be evaluated and reworked. Any and every piece of drywall will need to be looked at and replaced/fixed.

For me, as someone looking at buying in the next year, I do not mind this. I am all for getting a cheap house in a good area, and then tailoring it to my wife's and mine own tastes. Many places we looked at last year sang "The dream of the 90's is alive in this kitchen."

KingGorilla wrote:

For me, as someone looking at buying in the next year, I do not mind this. I am all for getting a cheap house in a good area, and then tailoring it to my wife's and mine own tastes. Many places we looked at last year sang "The dream of the 90's is alive in this kitchen."

I bought my house from a 90-something year old woman who'd lived in it since she and her husband built in in 1949. The dream of the fricking 60s is still alive in my bathroom, I tell you.

KingGorilla wrote:

Many places we looked at last year sang "The dream of the 90's is alive in this kitchen."

Ah, the classic 4" ceramic tile countertops.

It's always made me sad how dumb and vindictive people can be when their houses are foreclosed on. "We were too irresponsible to buy a place we could afford, so let's rip all the wiring out of the walls! That'll show 'em!" What is wrong with people?

Well, without casting aspersions. There was a hell of a lot of bone white formica in many of the kitchens. It was pink in places where there were catastrophic marinara failures.

Dakuna wrote:
MyBrainHz wrote:

Mental note: ask Goodjer about Dakuna

Goodjer? Which one?

<+Goodjer> MyBrainHz: Ask not for you, you know about dakuna.

Indeed.

Anyone use gamefly? Can you get new games at a reasonable pace or are they all Very Low for way too long?

I swear Minarchist wrote a piece about Gamefly...or Goozex a few months ago.

GF is free to try, but in my experience it is not Netflix. Getting new stuff can take awhile.

Yeah it was about Goozex or whatever it's called, whole other beast.

GF isn't free for me since I had an account years ago. I guess I could create a new one instead though.

SixteenBlue wrote:

Yeah it was about Goozex or whatever it's called, whole other beast.

GF isn't free for me since I had an account years ago. I guess I could create a new one instead though.

I dropped GameFly because it, plus the pile was stressing me out. As a service, I love it, and never had much issue getting games, but I did have a pretty good variety, not just new stuff. The big issue is that they don't have many distribution centers, and they don't necessarily keep a lot of stock. When I lived near Philly, my main Distribution center was the one in Pittsburgh, and it usually took 2 days in transit, each direction to get new games (e.g. put game in mail on Monday, it gets to gamefly on Wednesday and my new game comes Friday). I looked at it again recently, and they have a dist center in Seattle, so it should be pretty quick for you, unless you only have high demand games in your queue.

Garden Ninja wrote:
SixteenBlue wrote:

Yeah it was about Goozex or whatever it's called, whole other beast.

GF isn't free for me since I had an account years ago. I guess I could create a new one instead though.

I dropped GameFly because it, plus the pile was stressing me out. As a service, I love it, and never had much issue getting games, but I did have a pretty good variety, not just new stuff. The big issue is that they don't have many distribution centers, and they don't necessarily keep a lot of stock. When I lived near Philly, my main Distribution center was the one in Pittsburgh, and it usually took 2 days in transit, each direction to get new games (e.g. put game in mail on Monday, it gets to gamefly on Wednesday and my new game comes Friday). I looked at it again recently, and they have a dist center in Seattle, so it should be pretty quick for you, unless you only have high demand games in your queue.

I had GameFly back in like 2007 and had tons of shipping issues (I suspect that someone at the Post Office was swiping them). Eventually they canceled my service over it and they won't even let me buy used games from them now.

Can you train yourself to be a morning person? Can you do it without resenting the fact that you have to go to bed earlier?