How to buy a computer

As of 2012
*These are my working notes which I'll update as I get time. I'm publishing it as-is to help anyone that can make sense of it.*

What to look for when buying a computer...

As a techie, I find myself talking with people too scared to buy a computer even though they need one because they feel it will be outdated too soon or they generally don't know what to look for.

Start off with your expectations.

If you want a computer that gets you by, expect something in the $350 range if it's used. It may have choppy video playback, freeze more often than you like, have a small trackpad, etc. But hey, it gets you by. Much less than $350 and it's probably junk. You'll get a slow integrated video card. Expect a Geekbench score of 1,500-2,500, http://browser.primatelabs.com/processor-benchmarks something to use as a performance comparison against the other classes of computers. Graphics card performance will be around 150-350 on http://www.videocardbenchmark.net.

Right now you can expect to pay about $450 for a 1-2 year old solid mid-grade computer with an i5 processor, a dedicated video card, and maybe a decent track pad, and USB 2.0. This applies to both laptops and desktops. These will have Geekbench scores of about 3,500-4,500. Graphics card performance will be around 300-750.

For $600-$800, you can get a used computer that will do pretty much anything you throw at it. This includes a second or third generation quad core i7 processor, USB 3.0, a larger trackpad, and if you look hard, a good dedicated video card so you can put together home movies without much of a lag time. These will have Geekbench scores of about 6,000-10,000. Graphics card performance will be around 750-1,600.`kpads may be too sensitive)
HP Envy line

The quick answer is one with...
1. Intel i5 dual-core processor (or anything with a 4000+ score on http://browser.primatelabs.com/processor-benchmarks.) General rule of thumb is i3 is for basic users, i5 (and first (of three) generation)  is for mid grade users, i7 (second and third gen) for advanced users. These are about 75% the performance of the i5s.

2. A video card with a score of 300 or higher on http://www.videocardbenchmark.net. This generally means any dedicated video card with 512MB RAM or more (you can save some money and settle for an Intel HD 4000 found in 2012 models. Stay away from Intel Accelerated graphics cards. In my experience the ones from 2010 and older are slow and may have problems with video. (The HD 3000 and 4000 videocards are decent, but there are many better ones). 2010 512MB DDR3 video cards will get you scores around 500-700. 1GB DDR5 videocards are a significantly more powerful (and will run you at least $75 extra used. May be worth it if you want to do video editing and futureproof your computer.)

3. The right quantity of RAM.
You'll want 4-8+ GB if running Vista, 7, or Windows 8 or Mac OSX 10.5 or higher. Some people with video editing may use 16 GB.

4. The right speed of RAM.
At least 4gb of 1333 MHz or faster RAM. Also comes in 333, 666, 1066 (all slow) and 1600 speeds which is even better.

5. Proper hard drive space.
160GB is fine for business use without needing to store many files. For home use, I'd recommend 500GB+ if you think you'll store a decent amount of video, music, etc.

6. Hard drive speed
SSD is the fastest, most durable, reliable, and by far the most expensive. $350+ for 480GB
Hybrid drives are cheap, have faster load times than most 7200 and 5200 drives.
About $125 for 500GB
7200 RPM 500GB drive, about $90
5400 RPM 500GB drive (the slow standard) about $75.
I hate the slow application load times of 5400 RPM drives. I used to always recommend 7200 RPM drives until SSD drives became affordable. If you have the extra money and hate wasting your time waiting for things to load, go with a Solid State Drive.

Most laptop hard drives spin around at 5,400 revolutions per second. There are other very slightly more expensive ones that spin at 7,200 and these can perform about 40% faster, but they may reduce your battery life by about 5 minutes. Not a huge deal in my mind. The faster it spins, the faster it opens applications and large documents. The best hard drive is an SSD (Solid State Drive) in that it can take harder drops without loosing data. It is built on flash memory instead of spinning mechanical platters. SSDs can offer better battery life, unless someone is using a low power hard drive. SSDs are pretty expensive though, but they can be a great thing for people that think seconds count. I use an SSD. Maybe it's overkill, but I'm happy with it. I was frustrated at how long it took Windows XP and Mac OS 10.5-10.8 to load on a 5,400 rpm drive (about 1:45). With an SSD it dropped to between 8 and 45 seconds. To save on cost, there are hybrid drives (though Macs have been known to not like them much), and also dual drives, there the operating system and applications are loaded on a small SSD (maybe 160GB) and then their files are stored on a second hard drive in the computer.  Some PCs have started offering a built in version of this where 8GB of SSD storage is built into the computer and stores the most commonly loaded files and a 5,400 rpm hard drive holds all the data. This helps with boot speed. Windows 7 and 8 were designed to have very fast boot speeds regardless of the type of hard drive. So test a few configurations out.

7. Features to consider
-Screen size 11-12" is for single tasks and nothing intensive like video editing. Kind of can be used like a tablet. Fine for single window things, but too small for me personally.
13"-15.6" kind of the standard for typing papers and college kids. These are generally considered portable. Good for college students because they fit in backpacks. The 13-15" MacBook Pros are good options, but they can initially be a bit more expensive than their Windows counterparts, but you don't need to worry as much about viruses. The Dell Studio and XPS series are a plce to start
15.6"-17"+ Good for desktop replacements or a home computer you may want to move around. If you get a thin 17" like the discontinued MacBook Pro, it isn't much bigger or heavier than the 15 but has a super awesome high resolution screen. If you can get your hands on a 2011 17" MacBook Pro, you will probably be a happy person. The HP Envy 17 can be pretty good if you confirm the processor and video card performance of the model. the 13" and 17" MacBook Pros are good.

-backlit keyboard- The keys have a light behind them so you can type in the dark. I really like it. 

-Screen resolution. The 17" MacBook Pro has a hi res screen of 1920 x 1200 and I love it. The standard 15 Macbook is 1440 x 900. The hi res 15" MacBook Pro is 1680 x 1050 and I like that. The standard 13" MacBook Pro 1280x800. I definitely prefer the hi res screen option to the standard one. You can fit more on your page and see more in a side by side view since toolbars and stuff show up smaller. Some Samsung 15" have 1600 x 900. Many Windows 15" laptops have 1366 x 768 resolution. This is fine if you only use one window at a time, but I personally do side by side windows and like hi res screens, though they cost a little more.

-SD card reader- lets you slide your SD card into your computer without any cables to get pictures off of it.

-Aluminum vs plastic case- Aluminum comes off as more professional and is a bit more expensive. The aluminum may help distribute heat from the graphics card (GPU) and processor (CPU) and may mean less fan noise. It does dent and scratch (metal on metal) easier than plastic though and is more expensive to replace.

-HDMI-good for connecting the computer (with audio) to an HDTV (Though I have had problems with there not being an overscanning option to make the picture fit the size of the screen, so you may not be able to see the toolbar.

-Upgraded Audio-May be nice since many laptops are not very loud when watching movies. USB

-3.0-a much faster connection than USB 2.0, the current standard, but you have to have a USB 3.0 peripheral. May be nice but probably unnecessary unless you are regularly transferring large files to an external hard drive.

-Blu-Ray-How many Blu-Ray DVDs do you have? Really? 

-Bluetooth-not many things use bluetooth anymore. Maybe a wireless headset. My phones don't transfer files over bluetooth like they used to with my RAZR flip phone years ago.

-Thunderbolt-Fastest connection, but peripherals with this connection are very expensive.


*Here is a quick tutorial and explanations on how to get computer specs. Find the exact model of computer you are considering. For this example 'Toshiba Satellite A665-3DV6' is the one we want. You can try your luck googling it, but a better idea is to go to the manufacturer's website, in this case Toshiba, and type the model number in the search. It shoudl give you this page,  (which also may show up in google search results. http://us.toshiba.com/computers/laptops/satellite/a660/a665-3dv6/

Go to the specifications tab. Then you will be able to find the highlights.
1. Processor = Intel® Core™ i5-460M processor
Copy '460m' and go to http://browser.primatelabs.com/processor-benchmarks and click ctrl+f to bring up the find on the page. paste the '460m' in the find, and you will see that the processor gets a Geekbench score of 4248. That is over 4000, so I could recommend that as a computer that will last at least 3+ years and be decent.

2. Graphic/video card = NVIDIA® GeForce® GTS 350M
 Copy 'gts 350m' and go to www.videocardbenchmark.net/. You will have to pick which graph you think the graphics card will be on. Most 2010+ GeForce and Radeon graphics cards will be on the high end graph, the first one on the left. If it is an Intel 3000 or 4000, it may show up on the 'Common'. If it is tied to an i3, i5, or i7 processor. Since this is a GeForce, it is probably on the high end, so we go to that link (http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html), do the ctrl+f and serach for the 'gts 350m'. It shows up with a score of 567. This is grater than 300, so it's ok for a basic user who may want to play the occasional game like Call of Duty on medium quality. Do keep in mind that the high end 2011 1GB DDR5 graphics card can get a score of about 1,300-1,600 for comparison's sake.

3. RAM quantity = 4GB
(4GB started being the standard configuration in 2011. It can show up in 256MB (1/4 GB) through 32GB. High end users use 8GB. Crazy video professionals may choose 16GB. The downside to 16GB of RAM is that the computer needs to use 16GB of the hard drive to put the computer to sleep, so you loose this much in available disk space.)

4. RAM Speed---?
 (It doesn't tell you the speed of the RAM, which I think is lazy on their part. 1066 MHz is generally 2008-10, 1333 MHz is generally high end 2011, and 1600 MHz is high end 2012. The higher numbers are better. Stay away from 333 MHz and 666 MHz unless you are getting the computer for free. 1333MHz is mid grade in 2012.)

5. Hard drive capacity- 640GB
160GB-1TB(1,000GB). The size you need depends on what you plan on storing. Hard drives are cheap if you want to install your own, but it can be a hassle on Windows. Mac is pretty easy to upgrade your hard drive and transfer everything with TimeMachine, SuperDuper, or CarbonCopyCloner

6. Hard drive speed- 5,400 rpm


My evaluation of this computer is that it has a solid mid grade processor, a mid grade video card, the right amount of RAM, the RAM speed is most likely 1066 or 1333 which is mid grade, the hard drive size is pretty large. The hard drive speed is slow, but acceptable if you aren't a complete power user. This computer is mid grade all the way and a solid choice. It will probably run you about $450 as of late 2012.

Here are some basic things I look for:

1. Processor performance
Processors control how fast calculations are done. The faster the better, but there is a point where you can pay a whole lot for a negligible amount of performance increase.If you see a computer you are interested in, look up the processor model and do a find for it on this page. http://browser.primatelabs.com/processor-benchmarks

When looking for a decent computer, a basic user will want a processor with a score of at least 3000, such as most Intel i3 processors. I tend to recommend something at least in the 4000+ range because I don't want the reputation for recommending a computer people may find slow in a year. Intel i5 Processors generally fit this. I personally use a 2011 MacBook Pro with a quad core 2.3 GHz i7 processor with a geekbench score of 8540. I use it because I run Windows and Mac at the same time and need the extra resources so they both run smoothly. A regular user should be fine with an i5.

Additional remarks: I have worked ok running both Mac 10.8 and Windows XP on a 2.8GHz Core 2 Duo T9600 (Geekbench score of 3087), but have found myself frustrated with lag times with processors slower than that.

2. Video card/ graphics card performance
Video cards control the fluidity of the things on your screen and also do any graphics calculations if you do video or hard core photo editing. You will likly run into issues if your card scores under 250 in one of the graphs here http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/.

Check out your score http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html
or
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/common_gpus.html

Advanced: Just so you know, the cheap common integrated graphics cards are the...

Growing up, these were the speeds of integrated graphics cards (graphics cards we all hated but were all we could afford)
Mobile Intel 915GM/GMS 910GML Express Chipset F (score 76)
Intel Media Accelerator 3150 (score 73)--I bought a desktop computer with this video card because I liked the processor, but the computer couldn't play YouTube videos. I sold that computer and bought one with a dedicated video card.
Mobile Intel GMA X3100 (score 87)--found in the 2007 white MacBook Pro and several windows computers.
integrated GeForce 9400m (score 147)--2008-9 13" MacBook Pro had these
I mustered through with a x3100 and 9400m in college and wasn't happy with their performance. There was a lot of lag time and screen shadowing, but computers with better graphics cards were to expensive.
Intel Media Accelerator HD (score 236)--This was an update to the Intel media accelerator line, but still was considered poor

Some older dedicated graphics cards included...
Apple's NVidea GeForce 9600m 512MB (score 347)--found in the high end 2008-9 15 and 17" MacBook Pro
GeForce GT 330M (score 330) MacBook Pro 2010

I did see that several 2011 processors have Intel graphics built into them and their speed depends on the processor. I think a lot of the low end laptops and even $900 desktops use these integrated graphics, and I'm not impressed. In my mind, desktops should outperform laptops since they can use more power and have the inconvenience of not being mobile.
Do not purchase a computer with a non HD Intel graphics card. The general Intel HD graphics like the ones listed below (not the 3000 or 4000) cards are baseline basic.
Intel HD Celeron B810 (score 174)--tested 2011-10-18 
Intel HD i5-2557M (score 224) --2011-06-21 *probably a common speed... for a desktop with Intel HD... and it's poor
Intel HD i7-2600S (score 297)-tested 2011-2-3 
Intel HD (score 306)---not sure what this is since it isn't tied to a processor


Intel has significantly improved integrated cards out, but they aren't in all low end computers.

2011 Intel HD 3000 (score 326)-Used in the 2011 13" MacBook Pro
2012 Intel HD 4000 (score 498).  This is used in the 2012 13" MacBook Pros and several Windows laptops.

Integrated graphics are generally criticized for poor performance, ghosting, and low frame rates when playing games. I wouldn't recommend anything slower than the Intel HD 3000. The 4000 seems fine for mid grade use.

Dedicated video cards will almost always have better performance than the Intel graphics made in that year. But watch out and run the score on the chart because some old 2009-2010 dedicated graphics cards are worse than the Intel HD 3000 and 4000. The Intel HD 3000 (circa 2011) is on par with and the Intel HD 4000 (circa 2012) is better than many of the dedicated video cards of 2010, when the the first gen i3, i5, and i7 processors came out. So you will see computers with i5 processors and poor video cards. Also, even in 2012, several laptops are not using the Intel 300 or 400 series. They're using general Intel HD graphics, which are below par. Newer dedicated graphics (2011-12) can be pretty great, and are generally worth some extra cash if you'll use your computer for video and larger programs. 256MB and 512MB are on the low-mid-range scale. 1-2GB videocards are in the mid-upper performance range. DDR5 is much better than DDR3. There are high end video cards like the 4GB DDR5 Quadro K5000M with a graphics benchmark score of 2,433, high for a laptop.

Just for perspective...

This is a computer with a slow i3 processor (Geekbench score under 4000), so I'd be hesitant to buy it. It may be ok for super basic stuff, but it may lag.
-2010 Toshiba Satellite core i3-m350 2.27GHz  (geekbench 3531) NVidia GeForce GTS 350M 2781MB total: 1GB GDDR3 discrete memory + up to 1757MB shared memory w/NVIDIA® TurboCache™ technology (score 567)

Some fine cheap computers

-December 2009 Dell Studio 14 Core i5-520M (geekbench 4257) ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4530 512MB (DDR3?) (score 259 or 330) (Rated as a low end graphics adapter http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-ATI-Mobility-Radeon-HD-4530.13972.0.html) Good school computer and you can play mid-level games on it. I bought this for my sister and she loves it. It can be bought with a backlit keyboard which my sister and I like. $389 on ebay.

Good mid grade options

-HP ENVY 15-1055SE Beats edition 1.6 GHz i7-720QM (Geekbench 4782) Mobility Radeon HD 4830 (Graphics 674) 1920x1080 screen :) $500 Great screen, good audio, backlit keyboard...

-late 2010 Dell Studio 16 i7 720QM 1.6GHz (Geekbench 4782) ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5730 - 1GB (video card score (score 694)--this slow i7 is slower than some newer i5s with faster clock speeds $510 ebay 12-12-12

Good mid-high options

-HP Envy 17 1012NR Mobility Radeon HD 5850 1GB DDR5 (graphics score 744) i5-3210M  (geekbench 5769)-$630 ebay and comes with improved speakers. Increasing to an i7 for a real power user would be cool if you can afford even more and want to run virtual machines. Good speakers.
-2011 Samsung 7 series with an AMD Radeon HD 6490M with 512 MB DDR5 RAM (score 645).
This is 29% faster than the Intel 4000 series. i7-2675QM 2.2 GHz (geekbench 7461) $580 ebay +$30 VGA adapter = $610. Seems like a pretty good choice. It has better than average screen resolution for a 15".


-A 2011 MacBook Pro has the 6770M 1GB DDR5 (score 1,359, may be lower since graphics cards may be clocked down in Apple products, maybe to save on battery life)-This score is probably a 2 GB version
-The 2012 15" MacBook Pro has a 1GB GeForce GT 650M (score 1,247?)-comes in 1gb and 2gb


Top end computers (more for reference)

One of the laptops with the best hardware I've seen so far is the Dell Precision line targeting professionals who need high graphic performance such as when using Auto CAD in designing complex things and such. I don't know what's stopping gamers from getting their hands on this, other than it looks more utilitarian and probably doesn't have amazing speakers. 17" laptops tend to handle more powerful graphics cards and sometimes a second hard drive.
http://www.dell.com/us/enterprise/p/precision-m6700/pd 
This computer has some pretty great specs and it can be bought used for $1,300-1,600.

Up to 16GB⁵ DDR3 SDRAM at 1866Mhz - 4 DIMMS

Up to 32GB⁵ DDR3 SDRAM at 1600Mhz - 4 DIMMS

Intel^® Core^TM i7 (3940XM, 3920XM)..

Intel^® Core^TM i7 (3520M, 3840QM, quad core 2.7 GHz 3820QM (Geekbench of 10,780), 

Intel^® Core^TM i5 (3360M, 3320M)

AMD FirePro M6000 Mobility Pro with 2GB GDDR5 dedicated memory (graphics 1,820)
NVIDIA Quadro K3000M with 2GB GDDR5 dedicated memory
NVIDIA Quadro K4000M with 4GB GDDR5 dedicated memory
NVIDIA Quadro K5000M with 4GB GDDR5 dedicated memory (graphics 2,433)

Here are some computers that use the high end NVidia graphics

http://www.nvidia.com/object/mobile-workstation-notebooks.html

Another place to check out graphics card performance is the last column in http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html

--- Processors Celeron - dual core 2.4 GHz rvv      3915 1.2 dual core 1491  single coreIntel Celeron-900-2200MHz1752 Pentium

Current thoughts about politics

Just to compare my thoughts now to my past and future.
I may be forgetting things. These are not my final thoughts, just what I'm thinking about right now at this moment after watching the 3rd presidential debate.


Military spending-We apparently spend more on military than the next ten countries combined. I think we could downsize and still be safe. Military movements should be a joint efforts from countries with an investment in the movement, and not just America.

Renewable energy-Renewable energy is great. How it becomes affordable is the question. Should the government spend money borrowed from other countries (and incurring interest on it) to subsidize companies which may or may not be shams? That is a democratic idea I believe. The alternative is to offer tax deductions for people who actually buy the renewable energy. I think both parties would do that.

Drilling for oil/mining coal - Ideally we drill and mine short term telling people that fuel prices will be low now, but price increases should be expected every year, so investments in renewable energy would make sense long run. (Or a tax on pollution should be implemented.) In the mean time private investments in renewable energy makes them more affordable and competitive with gas now. People will move to renewable energy if it becomes more affordable than dirty energy, but in the transition period, fuel should come down for a while, so go ahead and drill and burn, cleanly, but let people know we want to reduce our dependencies on these forms and invest in other forms of energy.

Abortion-I grew up in an environment where abortion was murder. Looking at a larger scope, unloved kids are more likely to become criminals. The morning after pill seems fine because it doesn't kill anything. The two pills for expelling the placenta a few weeks after is supposed to be a safe way for letting people not ready to have kids to not have them yet. The partial birth abortion seems kind of gross and apparently is dangerous with women going through this having potential issues with their next child. There will always be people who get pregnant and will want to have an abortion. If you make it illegal, and they are set on doing it to prevent embarrassment or keep going with their life as is, their options are limited to black market which is more dangerous. I think that we've come to a point where people should be educated by special interest groups (not only the government) into prevention and care.

Birth control-Is it the government's obligation to pay for this for people who make these choices? It should be made available, absolutely, but the cost to manufacture is tiny and the cost should come down so people should be able to pay out of pocket. $30 a month for birth control seems pretty fair. Male birth control may be interesting to pursue as well.

China-Yikes. I don't feel completely educated on this. China needs us to buy stuff from them to keep their economy going. They also do infringe on patents which hurts AMerican countries, especially pharmaceuticals, which causes pharmaceuticals to charge more in the US to recoup research (and probably unnessesary advertising) costs and make profits. How can the US control patent protection in other countries like China? It needs to happen. I am scared of an increase of cost of Chinese goods with there being more manufacturing jobs in the US when I don't want a manufacturing job (though management of one would be fine.)

Immigration-There is a lot of open land in some places in the US, like Nebraska and Texas. We don't want people to come over and freeload as we know happens now as people come to escape poverty.
Who should come over? The educated? The ones pursuing education but don't have it yet? Apparently California spends a massive amount on heath care for illegal immigrants. I don't like that. I think there is a raffle and also visas for education but I'm not sure. Generally speaking, I hate raffles. I need to learn more. Uneducated people have more kids than educated families. Generally speaking, they also have a higher percentage of lower performing people as well. There is always a star in the rough though, but at what cost? People should come over legally, not illegally, and someone should make reasonable means of doing that so that America has the resources in healthcare and education to meet the flow of immigrants.

Education - Well, short term, if everyone in the US has a college education, my college education won't separate me out from the rest of the people. In the larger scope, America needs more innovation coming from people with advanced degrees in science, medicine, and engineering. Something should be done to make eduction for economically valuable degrees a bigger draw. Theoretically the pay bump should be a factor, but costs for those degrees has also increased so doctors could still be paying off debt in their 40s (maybe not research because of research grants. Hmm.)

I think teaching is something I'd be interested in doing, if it paid similar per hour to what I'm making in IT. The thing is, there are a lot of people willing to do a good job at teaching for cheap pay for whatever reason. That leaves cities, many of which are in debt, more money to spend elsewhere. Certain student teacher ratios should probably be maintained and accreditation should be standardized. I've heard of private college scam schools. People should do more research before going into incredible debt. State schools are usually a good value. I don't know why people go to private schools without a good reputation.

Schools should have teachers that teach to the students, involve the parents, be adequately funded academically, and sports shouldn't be a massive amount of the budget. It should be primarily funded by donations, and parents when possible. Should there be a school sponsored football team if textbooks over a decade old are being used? Still have the football team, but find alternative ways of funding it. Funding may be more responsible that way. I'm not sure why vouchers are such a bad idea as long as the money follows the child. Everyone should be given access to good education. How can this be reasonable funded for families who choose to live far away from a school in very rural areas? That kind of hurts the kids, right? Government shouldn't be forced to spend 3x the cash on them because of poor family choices, right? Do they just do Internet learning? Probably not since Internet may not be offered in those areas. I don't know what's best.

National debt- I think that the debt should be under 5 trillion dollars in 5 years, down from the 10 Bush had and the current 16 trillion from Obama, otherwise interest payments will be stupid high. This hurts the value of the dollar.

Local jobs - Jobs created by the government is paid for by taxes, and government contracts have red tape which costs more than it's supposed to. In theory, private companies and citizens could do a lot of that stuff cheaper.

Healthcare - Socialized healthcare causes an increase in taxes. Look at Europe. Should it be tied to a job? I'm not sure because that hurts employers. Should there be caps? Let medical practices run crazy expensive procedures that may or may not work? What is the markup? I think there should be more doctors and nurse practitioners, clinics, and that people should shop for the best value instead of just doing copays and letting the insurance cover the rest.

TriBling

I had a great experience with the creator of TriBling today (10/11/12). http://www.tribling.com/index.php/

A former marathoner turned mom, turned Ironman woman spent 1 year training for the Madison full Ironman triathlon and designed some really cool necklace pendants with waves (I think they look like water droplets or swimmer heads and an arm as it comes out of the water), a bike gear, and a shoe print for each of the events.

At the 2012 Chicago Triathlon, I briefly saw post card stock talking about them, and was like, eh, a jewelry ad and didn't look at the detail. A post race e-mail had a link that said, "Congratulations! You've earned yourself some trithalon bling!" and it had a blue hyperlink. I saw the really cool design, thought it had some meaning, some creativity, and would be a fun conversation starter. I then posted a link to it on Facebook and said that that was one piece of jewelry that I would actually wear. I actually started measuring my neck to see what size necklace I'd need.

It was $120ish for the small pendant (which I thought was just the right size), and two spare chains since the site said they would need to be replaced every so often and it was cheaper to order them together than to find replacement ones as needed. I thought that was a little much for jewelry (having never bought it before for myself) so I looked on eBay, Amazon, and google marketplace for a used one, but didn't come up with anything. I guessed it was a startup. I thought about asking for one as a gift, but didn't want to wait in case the company went under like a lot of small businesses do. I looked at the card that came in our race day packets and confirmed that it was a really cool design and saw somewhere that they were offering discounts for showing up at the booth. I hadn't seen them at the Triathlon Expo, but my roommate had. Anyway, thinking it was a startup got me a little worried that I'd loose the opportunity to have it, so not long after, I just went online and bought it. I was order 000008 which confirmed that it was a pretty new company.

I didn't see it charged on my Mint.com and thought that was odd, but assumed it would show up soon. That was August 17thish. October 11th, 2012, about two months later, I got a call from someone at TriBling saying, "Sorry to bother you, but I'm with TriBling. Our credit card processing on our site went down so you were never charged, so if I could have you mail a check or get your credit card information down now that would be great. Oh, and afterwards I want to get your feedback on your bling."

I actually told her my idea about using the edges of the bling for the water and shoe in addition to the gear instead of having just the gear 3D and the other edges smooth. She liked my idea saying she could incorporate waves on the side or something. I said it wold be really cool if I could have one if she ended up doing it. She said it may be a while since she has inventory and that she had a lot of requests for strictly running first. I agreed and said that that would expand her market quite a bit because a lot of people are scared of the swim.

I asked if I could get the discount they offered at the event since I didn't see the booth at the Chicago tri but was there. She said sure, she'd take $5 off. Then I got a pretty cool crash course into what she's going through. She wore her rubber necklace all triathlon training season and by the end it was looking rough with the chlorine, sweat, and stuff, and that, like a bike chain, it needs to be replaced. (A parallel which was on her website.. which didn't have the pages you could order from up anymore 10/11/12, probably they will come up once the billing process works again.)

Anyway, she has people who want to invest, but is doing all of it herself because she isn't sure she wants to share yet. She found a jeweler in Chicago who includes the silver, the wax mold, and hand finishing and she wants to keep it in the US instead of going overseas even though it would be cheaper. She's only been able to do small batches, so that is also why the price is high.

The cost of marketing is kind of much. Expos charge upper hundreds to in the thousands for a booth. Printing cards and fliers also costs money, between $.25-$.75 depending on the quantity. Also, to get them to place the fliers in bags, that can be a few hundred dollars as well. Then there is managing a website that isn't charging credit cards properly so only being able to sell inventory at events, also teaching college classes and being a mom.

I had fun talking to her!

March 2013 update: TriBling dropped their prices by about half since I bought my necklace. I paid over $100 including an extra rubber band and a silver band.

Brainstorming about guys and girls

In 2011, I was talking to my neighbor and got into the age old discussion about guy/girl expectations. I figured I'd better publish it before I started changing things so that I could see what I thought about this topic in 2011 later on in life and see how I've grown.


As I was watching Mad Men, I thought that it would be interesting to compile some thoughts.

Here are some things I currently think are important as of 2011.
(Don't hold me to them later on in life. I am just interested in documenting them to see how they compare to what I think is important later on in life.)

He or she almost always brings light to your eyes and makes you look forward to seeing them again. She has to be happy and make you happy, referred to as the "lavender haze" in Mad Men.

Not violent. Doesn't raise his or her voice when talking unless there is an emergency. Loud and angry voices increase stress and i don't need that.

Is able to talk things out and is able to accept you, your perceived flaws, differences in opinion, and actions. They like you for the person you are.

Does not make rash decisions or actions. Not quick to burn bridges. Won't irrationaly break something. --comes from watching Mad Men. I cannot believe that one guy dropped a turkey and platter his wife had made out the apartment window 20 flights up. The same guy told his father in law to close the account he'd given him because the father in law threatened to put the account up for a 90 day review hoping he would turn his personal life with his daughter, the guy's wife, around. That is rash, dude.

Not manipulative in a bad way. Doesn't hold grudges. Won't kick you out of the house. - Mrs. Draper

Seductive. I like a girl that takes initiative. Some people are hard to read, so obvious indicators are quite appreciated.

I don't think all girls want a sexy, seductive guy. The very vocally pious girls I know typically say "All's fair after the wedding", but I just don't see a lot of them as being very intimate very often. The ones I've talked to have told me that they don't plan on being on birth control even after they get married, though they may have the guy use some. This is in line with the statistic I read that people who are taught abstinence-only are less likely to use any sort of birth control when they do get it on. Many of them also said that they would want to get intimate maybe once a week once married. I really hope to have a lot more passion than that in my marriage. Sheesh. I know not all of them are like that, but I'm  just going off what I've been told firsthand by a few people I've talked to.

I keep pondering this one.
Part of me has grown up thinking I need to end up with someone at least as accomplished as me, more so perhaps, so I at least have the perception that I'm dating up and not down. Imagine going through life thinking you could have done better but are stuck with an impulse or guilted decision. What would I bring to a girl that was more accomplished than me though? I read that guys who date up tend to have longer lasting relationships because they work harder to keep the girl as opposed to trying to control her because he thinks of himself as superior and making her unhappy. However, as I've become exposed to more people, there is a chance that I could be enchanted by someone totally different, perhaps without a formal education but who was still well spoken and seductive. I don't know.--(I'm reviewing this a year later and don't know why I said "without much formal education". Maybe I'd met someone who hadn't finished college that made my knees weak when I met her. I'm not sure.) I'd also keep in good shape (unlike people that would let themselves go), only take jobs that would let me take vacations with my family

Spearheads planning things for the other person with their input. It makes the other person feel worthwhile.

Doesn't talk to make people feel guilty too often and rub it in.-Mrs. Draper is just bitter and mean after thinking her husband cheated, regardless of what he does and says and what is good for the kids.

Doesn't let anger for one person flow over to others, especially kids or me (though I can take it, but it can wear me down after while).

Takes responsibility. It's attractive.
This doesn't mean take responsibility for things you had no control over. That's just excessive. You can offer ways to help though.

Doesn't really get exasperated or overwhelmed.
--One person I met got angry and frustrated when her phone's Google Maps wasn't working and we were going to meet at a place to go running. When I asked her to go to the nearest intersection to tell me the two cros streets so I could bike over and meet her there, she texted back that it was too much and too confusing and that she was just going to go home and that we should reschedule. I ended up biking 10 miles instead of 4 that day because of poor communication on her end, but I ended up running with her. She was very surprised to see me, I told her, "I guess most of your friends aren't this persistant." We had a good run. I do try to go the extra mile (or 6) for people I hope care about me, even potentially.

Is able to rationally deal with rough events.
When I'm between job contracts, I don't cry, I start making side cash by buying more road bikes for $100-380 and resell them for about $725 and buy MacBook Pros for $610-1,200 and sell them for $1,200 to $1,550, in addition to doing interviews, which covers my monthly expenses. I consider that fiscally responsible, at least in the short term. I would like a passive income coming in though too.

Doesn't use huge generalizations in a serious way.
It makes you look like you haven't been exposed to enough of the real world to know that people are individuals. Identifying smaller sub-groups can be more acceptable.
When a girl says, "All guys want is to..." instead of "Most guys I've come across so far have wanted to..." it throws up an orange flag. Too many times can get to be a red flag.

--
There are some non-obvious dos and don'ts when talking to someone.

Some people don't like hearing about what you did with your ex.
Some people think it is mood killer and you don't want the other person comparing his or herself to other people. The pro of doing it is hearing about things the person has done, or is willing to do. Phrasing is key. Instead of saying, "We went snowboarding." You can say, "I think snowboarding would be/is pretty great." even if you have already done it.
--
Feb 1, 2013

My cousin, a girl, asked if it would be ok for her to snuggle up to various guys on various nights, maybe make out with a few of them as long as she isn't in an exclusive relationship. Is it any different for a guy? Is that kind of what happens on dates? Is what you do with anyone else fine, as long as you don't pick up an STI? -Something an acquaintance said about his feelings when dating girls he didn't think he would marry.


What is someone supposed to do if they ave a strong desire for affection, but haven't met the person they think they will marry yet?

How do you know when you meet the right person?

When do you know you have faults you need to change?

Feb. 2
A while a

So I've been using Chase Quick Pay and wanted to know a bit more about it, especially after getting a credit card which gives you cash back every time you use it. I was originally looking to see if I could use my credit card to send money to my friend, instead of my bank account, so I get cash back, and him not be charged a fee when I use my credit card instead of my bank account, but got sidetracked by this article.

http://www.gobankingrates.com/banking/checking-accounts/does-chase-quickpay-really-live-up-to-promise/

As long as you have a Chase account, it isn't a bad way to recieve money (since at least one person has to be a Chase customer in each transaction which I read and you can't expect all your friends to have a Chase account), as long as you can wait up to a week to have it show up in your account. So if you are living paycheck to paycheck, you may want to consider a cash-is-king mentality. If not, it is a pretty easy way to transfer money and have a record of it. Not sure if it is worth getting a Chase account yet.

Paypal lets you transfer from bank account to bank account for free, fees apply if you pay with a credit card (Hence, my original question if Chase charged someone more if I paid with a cash back credit card), and then for sellers, $.30 + 2.9% of the transaction (which if you sell something at a 10% profit margin, really cuts into your profit.

https://cms.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/?cmd=_render-content&content_ID=marketing_us/fees

I may still be a bigger fan of PayPal for now since you don't need to open a Chase account and if you have over 100 feedback, all 100% positive on eBay like me, you probably already have a PayPal account. (Admittedly, i sell more stuff on Craigslist so I don't have to pay the fee and because I can get more money out of the people on Craigslist since Craigslist doesn't have the completed listings to show what things have actually sold for.

Some of the things I've done

June 2015: I performed my first oil change on my car. I did a lot of oil and fuel filter research and came to the conclusion that you should buy your own oil with the recommended viscosity (Mine is 5W-20) and to buy 5 quarts of Mobile 1 synthetic for $23.88 at Walmart. Pennzoil synthetic is also fine. Then also get a Motorcraft, Mobile 1, Bosch, or Wik filter, also found at Walmart for $4-$11. Then just call around to local shops and see how much they will charge just for labor if you have your own oil and filter. It should be between $15-27 for labor. This gives you a Full Synthetic oil change (vs the cheap conventional or blended oil) with a much better filter than the cheap filters they give you at Jiffy Lube and Firestone for a total cost of $45-60. (Or do it yourself, but you'll need ramps or jacks, a funnel, wrench for the oil plug, strap wrench to get the old filter off, an oil pan, and two jugs for the 5 quarts of old oil which you will have to give to a Jiffy Lube or Firestone along witht he old oil filter, for free, for proper recycling.

I also got in the top 25% at Leon's triathlon. (Top 40% for my gender and age group.)

May 2015: I now have memberships to the Museum of Science and Industry as well as Adler Planetarium

October 2014: Went to a credit card processing seminar at Motor City Casino in Detroit, then traveled to Providence, Rhode Island and toured the State Building the day before Obama visited the city. I got my picture with the painting of George Washington that is used on the quarter and the podium Obama would be speaking from in that room. I also had a personal tour by the caretaker of the First Baptist Church in the US and it lasted over two hours because there was so much history about the state, the people, and founder of Providence. Also went to New York and saw "On The Town" at the Lyric Theater on Broadway and saw "Dirty Dancing" at the Fox Theater in St. Louis the week after.

Fall 2014: Volunteered at and ran the Chicago 8 mile Super Spartan Race, then ran the 15 mile Beast then 7 mile Ohio Sprint Spartan Races back to back a weekend or two later. Also competed in the Sprint distance Chicago Triathlon (since the Olympic was sold out.)

Fall 2014: Traveled to Yellowstone National Park. Got to do a morning run and see four of the primary geysers vent while we passed them. We were among the very few people that were allowed to walk up to the roof of the Yellowstone Lodge and raise the flags on the top of the building.

August/March 2014: Traveled to Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and Greece. Sparta was small. Athens was huge. Italian and Greek public bathrooms didn't have TP or running faucet water. The tax rates in Italy are so high, business do all they can to avoid paying any tax.

Late January 2014: Watched Forks Over Knives and Food Inc. at the suggestion of two friends. It basically associates meat, corn, and sweeteners for obesity, cancer,  I immediately changed my diet, with the help of a vegan friend that had lost a lot of fat, to include massive amounts of vegetables and reduced my meat and dairy intake. Though, if someone makes the meatloaf from Better Homes and Gardens, I will totally eat the whole thing. A few weeks later, after dropping 7 lbs, I craved meat and pizza so badly, I gained it all back in few days.

January 2014: Went on a tour of the Lemp Mansion, allegedly one of the most haunted houses in the world. Several members of the beer barron's family died in the house, as did children when it was converted to a foster home.

December 2013: Visited my grandparents in New York, saw my first Broadway play "A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder", saw the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Natural History, and bartered with street vendors.

August/September 2013: Competed in the Olympic distance Chicago Triathlon and then I toured Ireland, Scotland, and England. It was pretty awesome.

March 2013, I recorded a 13 minute, very detailed comparison between the Dyson DC23 and the Dyson DC39, $300-$600 vacuum cleaners. I posted it, and it exploded. So I learned how to activate Google AdSense in October and made $200 in four months from ad revenue (minus taxes). I gotta make more videos.

February 2013, I became webmaster for a group of healthcare risk managers.

August 2012, a friend asked if I wanted to go to Pigeon Forge for a week long vacation. I got to plan it, and we did just about everything there was to do there, except hike the Smokey Mountains. We flew over the Smokey Mountains in a 1927 open cockpit biplane, flew in a Bell helicopter to see some more sights, and I went Zorbing three times. We also did flips and somersaults on zip lines, went outlet mall shopping, saw an air museum with a replica of the Air Wolf helicopter, which is a retro TV show similar to Knight Rider, but with a helicopter, that I coincidentally had just watched on Hulu the week before. We also went to Dollywood (basically a themed Six Flags). Good times.

June 2012 involved going to Washington D.C. and getting my picture with Clarence Thomas from the Supreme Court as well as the Sergeant Major of the U.S. Army Raymond F. Chandler III, toured the Capitol building and White House, visited Mt. Vernon (George Washington's estate), and went to several Smithsonian museums. The day I got back, I went sailing on Lake Michigan.

May 2012, I ran the Soldier Field 10 mile at an average pace of 8:01 minutes/mile. Then I walked/jogged another 9 miles with a friend an hour later. The next day I biked 42 miles during Bike the Drive and another 10 to hang out with a friend later on. The day after that, my roommates and I used a Living Social deal and played paintball for 5 hours outdoors. That has to be a personal record.

In April 2012, I was selling someone a MacBook Pro and instead of grabbing his wallet he grabbed a revolver and said to give him the computer and he tried to grab it. There is a story there that involves me slobbering on his arm. I ended up selling the MacBook Pro to someone else who brought cash an hour later. One of the most random stories you may hear.

In March 2011, just to say I did, I played amateur "ghost hunter" in the Morse Mill mansion thanks to Groupon.
 
Later, I compiled some numbers that tracked the average cost of ownership of over 10 different vehicles, including depreciation, annual fuel cost based on fuel economy, insurance, maintenance and repairs on that make and model, etc. (Who does that? Right?) Some brands cost a lot more to maintain than others. If you are curious how much it would cost to buy and maintain a 2007 Nissan Altima for 5 years, check it out by clicking the link. http://www.edmunds.com/nissan/altima/2007/tco.html?style=100822188

February of 2011, went on a winter survival camping outing in 8 degree weather using only a blue tarp and some twine I'd tied between two trees for my shelter. I had heard about ultra light backpacking (not using tents) and felt like trying it. I used to help out with my brother's Boy Scout troop as an adult leader before I moved out here.

10/10/10 was my first day on a actual road bike, I rode 100 miles for TrailNet's Century Bike Ride. It took me less than 10 hours (including a few 30 minute to hour long breaks). Easy to remember. Right? I'd used the same 24" kid's size mountain bike from the age of twelve through college and had been on one 20 mile ride before that. I had carried one of my friends who didn't have a bike on the back pegs I'd installed on mine so a group of us could hang out by a lake in college.

Fall 2010: Went to California and hiked Half Dome Mountain in Yosemite, backpacked and slept on the top of a mountain in a backpacking tent. Stayed in San Fransisco in one of the pastel buildings on an extreme sloping road. Visited Pier 39, toured the WWII submarine, and saw an Irish relative. Toured the Ripley's Believe It Or Not!

References you should know

When talking with people, they may say some strange things that make no sense. In actuality, if you both know what the reference is, it can be hilarious! So you need to brush up on the things that could be referenced.

I'd like to update this page with more popular references, but I just got introduced to the BadLipReading channel on YouTube and some of these are pretty great.

WARNING: The content below may get stuck in your head.

Ok, all of the BadLipReading songs are much funnier if you look in the comments section and watch the original video before they stripped the audio and added their own lyrics and music.

Russian Unicorn is just funny, a little inappropriate though for some people.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjaZNYSt7o0
"I've got a porcupine called Zazoom, he leaves his scent on people's graves."
"I had a cold one time, then I licked myself."
"The night is young now baby, we can shoot a Russian Unicorn. "
"We're gonna do it on the couch while my roomie's out... hiking."
"So take it off and bite your tongue."
"A Hot Pocket for twenty cents is a deal any day of the week."
"I pee peed in your glove. Soon you'll start to smell it."
"I don't want the keys to your van. What I need is a rare, vermilion, Ukrainian unicorn."
"I should not have ate those Cajun rice and beans."
"Them strawberries look juicy."
"I've got your Barbie zuchini. Happy Monsoon Day."
"I poisoned my dog so he can't keep chasing that baby giraffe."
"I'm gonna save a mental kitty."

Spoof on the Black Eyed Peas called "Everybody Poops"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQTW7Pd1vqc
Possible Quotes
"Everybody poops and if they don't they're an android and should be destroyed."
Or just shouting out, "Piano!"-shout randomly
"Hero!"-shout randomly
"Dumping my log"
"Poo poo"

Spoof of Party in the USA by Miley Cirus called "Black Umbrella"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ii5IUihNuno
"Windmill".... totally randomly
"Black Umbrella" (on tune drawing out the 'l's)
"We smoking the right stuff"
"Extra lemon in my Diet Snapple makes a girl happy, oh yeah. That's right."
"They got me jamming from head to toe"
"Gonna have a bonfire tonight"
"Why did they treat me like I didn't understand trigonometry and ti chi, inverse cosine there's never gonna be a better padiwan than me"
"Tiny Timmy Tokyo"
"And I'm pregnant" (smile)
"Get dumb and bang a wizard"
"Let's buy two big industrial sized windmills? I already got one.Who needs three? Well the first one, I broke it."
"Samurai"
"I'm trying to find my shrimp in the cabbage patch. Pink spaghetti"
"I'm flying and my crew is on the floor"


Though not a BadLipReading video, I was in confusion and shock watching this video. My ears were thrown off by the tone deafness.


Hot Problems
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__HeE6NWmDE
I really can't tell if these girls are tone deaf and trying or doing a decent parody of these types of songs.
I can't keep a straight face...
"Hot girls we have problems too, we're just like you, except we're hot...hot...hot"
"The whole world needs to open their eyes, and realize were not perfect and sometimes we lie.. just kidding. We're perfect."