The Oracle Speaks: Warren Buffett In His Own Words, Kindle eBook for Free

The Oracle Speaks: Warren Buffett In His Own Words, a book of quotes by the esteemed billionaire investor, Warren Buffett, is free for a limited time for the Amazon Kindle. I've just been reading a few quotes from a few pages and they're already eye opening to me. Even if some say these are just quotes that were taken by Googling them, for people who don't have a deep familiarity with Warren Buffett, the knowledge that these collection of quotes impart, is truly invaluable. I can't stop reading this. I'll probably finish reading by the end of the day, which is rare for me. I haven't finished a book in more than a decade.

Stop Obsessing Over Your Weight

A personal trainer debunks before and after physical improvement pics. She goes on to say that when she had great abs, she felt rotten inside and was unhappy. After that she decided to eat whatever she wanted in moderation and exercise in moderation which made her happier. Looks aren't everything. Women should stop obsessing over their weight. Exercise and eat what you want but all in moderation. Be happy with how you are but be healthy as well.

http://melvfitness.blogspot.com.au/2013/08/transformation-or-few-simple-tweeks.html

Bought Puffin Browser for IOS

I just bought Puffin Browser for iOS. It's currently on sale for $1.99 until the end of August. Puffin is one of the two top mobile browsers that can "play" flash content on iOS. The other one is Photon. Puffin is cheaper than Photon because it's a universal app. You have to buy the iPhone and iPad versions of Photon separately.

I bought Puffin primarily to watch Hulu videos on the go and for free without paying for a VPN. I wanted Hulu instead of Netflix because Netflix no longer has a large selection of anime because it lost most of the rights. Funimation awarded the rights to Hulu. In addition, you can watch Hulu for free. Netflix requires a paid monthly subscription.

I couldn't watch Hulu on my iPad because it's not available in my region, free viewing through the browser is not allowed on mobile devices, and most importantly, flash is not available on iOS. Puffin takes care of all of this. Puffin can "play" flash content by streaming it from its servers. Since its servers are in the U.S., it bypasses region restrictions. Lastly, since content is transmitted from its servers, there are no mobile device restrictions.

Sky Gamblers: Storm Raiders Free on iTunes

Sky Gamblers: Storm Raiders, a World War II flight-sim arcade shooter for iOS is free for a limited time on the iTunes App Store. It's a highly rated and popular game. The developer of this game has other games in the Sky Gamblers flight-sim series that are also highly rated and popular. I bought one of their previous iOS games on sale, Sky Gamblers: Air Supremacy, which was published by Namco-Bandai.

Humble Origin Bundle

Humble Origin Bundle is now live. You get 6 commercial games from Electronic Arts for a minimum of $1. If you pay more than the average, right now less than $5, you also get Battlefield 3 and The Sims 3. This is a huge bargain! You could not get The Sims 3 or Battlefield 3 for less than $7. None of these games have sold for less than $5 each. It seems the Steam and Origin keys also activate here in Southeast Asia as reported on the hardwarezone.com.sg forums. All of the proceeds will be donated to mostly American charities.

So far this month, I've used up most of my budget on bundles, and we're only halfway through the month. I've purchase 3 Humble Bundles, 2 Groupees bundles, 1 Indie Gala bundle, and the rest from GamersGate. This will be my 4th Humble Bundle for this month alone. I've paid less than $1 on the average for each game this month and that's for more than 30 games.

Priest Movie has a Great Cast

I just watched Priest, the vampire action movie. It surprisingly has a great cast. It stars Paul Bettany as the main vampire hunter who rebels against the church with Maggie Q as his second. Karl Urban is the main villain and Christopher Plummer is the head of the church. Lily Collins is the relative of the vampire hunter who he tries to rescue after being abducted by vampires. Stephen Moyer and Madchen Amick have brief roles.

It was a short film, around 80 minutes but it seems it had a budget of $60 million. World wide box office receipts exceeded the budget but not by much. It has very low ratings on Metacritic and Rotten Tomatoes. It was worth watching for the scares, the concept, and the action scenes, as well as for the chance to see all these fine actors together. Not a great film but I enjoyed it.

Great Effort but RP Lacks Height

We gave it all we had but Iran just started using its height to impose its will on us. Like Chinese-Taipei the night before, our shots weren't as accurate against Iran as it was in the game with the previous historically significant opponent that drained both teams emotionally and physically.

Our team did well in this tournament but I wonder what would've happened if Marcus Douthit had been healthy. Iran and China were the primary reasons why we got him. Other teams we could handle without a naturalized player.

I'm proud of the team and I believe they lived up to expectations and then some. However, I was disappointed that they couldn't prevent the smallest Iranian, point guard Khamrany, from getting offensive rebounds and making clutch baskets. He was definitely a match for our point guards. Jason Castro was named to the mythical 5 but I believe all our point guards were equally great.

Another disappointment for me was the unsportsmanlike foul of Gary David that basically broke our backs. He just bumped the guy without going for the ball. The act was both dumb and poor sportsmanship. I also didn't like how the crowd booed the Iranians who were named to the mythical 5 when they were awarded their medals. Sore losers. Not a good image for us.

Emily Ratajkowski So Hot in Blurred Lines

I finally saw the Blurred Lines music video of Robin Thicke, the controversial version. The song is catchy but it's the girls who get most of the attention, particularly Emily Ratajkowski, who can be seen online in a pictorial in Treats magazine.

Robin Thicke's wife, Paula Patton, who was so hot in Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, encouraged him to release the more controversial version of his music video. On the other hand, Robin encouraged Paula on her topless love scene with Denzel Washington in the movie 2 Guns.

Heart is the Story in 2013 FIBA Asia Tournament

We defended our home court, now we go for the gold. I started watching the RP - Korea match but couldn't bear to watch the rest when Gilas was down 21 - 28. I went to check Facebook and I was surprised to find out we won. I caught the whole game on replay on BTV.

It seems you can throw away all the stats, matchups, coaching, strategies, and NBA experience. Heart is what matters. Chinese-Taipei had probably the biggest heart in the tournament, coming from behind to win against RP and China, and holding its own against Iran. We probably have the second biggest heart in the tournament, holding on against a cohesive and efficient Korea, without Marcus Douthit and with Marc Pingris playing through pain.

Our guards led the way, constantly probing the defense, penetrating, and succeeding. We were aggressive. We had the Koreans worried about our penetration, leaving our big men open for put backs or assists. And we were clutch. The whole team hustled on defense. I'm very proud of Gilas.

3D Printers are Worth It

You can quickly recover the cost of a 3D printer by printing common household items. Staples sells 3D printers for $1299. I'm seriously thinking about getting one. I wonder if any are sold here locally. Maybe I'll try to have one shipped here through a balikbayan box.

http://www.fastcoexist.com/1682798/print-these-20-things-you-dont-really-need-and-your-3-d-printer-pays-for-itself

http://www.staples.com/office/supplies/StaplesProductDisplay?storeId=10001&partNumber=SS2044291&catalogIdentifier=2&langId=-1&ddkey=http:StaplesZipCodeAdd

I Really Want That Tomb Raider Collector's Edition

Amazon has the Tomb Raider Collector's Edition for XBOX 360 going for $79.99. What differentiates this collector's edition from other collector's editions is that it contains a Play Arts Kai Lara Croft action figure that has a $53 price tag on Amazon. So the game itself only costs less than $30 which is still cheaper than a brand new standard edition. This is a very nice package for Tomb Raider fans who are both toy and video game fans, which I am.

I've been a Lara Croft fan since Tomb Raider first came out for MS-DOS on the PC in 1996. I've always loved playing video games, and although my last toy purchase was 5 years ago, I haven't given up on it as a hobby. The problem for me is that $80 is a lot of money. It's basically 2 months of my gaming budget. $80 just for one game and one action figure. I have to pass on this even if I want this so badly. This is a perfect display of my discipline in sticking to my budget.

Filling Pork Chop Meal at Mesa Steak Sizzlers, Trinoma

We were hungry while at Trinoma so we decided to eat at the food court. I went for Mesa Steak Sizzlers while my wife went for Pepper Lunch. I ordered my usual, two orders of Sizzling Porkchop with Java Rice for 70 pesos each. I figured I'd be more satisfied than if I ate a Quarter Pounder or a KFC Double Decker. It's better to order two plates rather than order the Double Porkchop at 115 pesos and pay for an extra order of java rice, because, although two plates cost a tiny bit more, with two plates you get more gravy and extra soup compared with just one. I was full and I felt I spent well.

Lack or USB Extension Cables at CDR-King

I bought two cheapo USB extension cables for 30 pesos each to extend the charging cables of my tablets. After a month they would intermittently stop charging but since they had only a week's warranty, I couldn't replace them. I had to buy a new one.

It seems CDR-King is out of stock of extension cables because their Trinoma branch, one of their largest branches, is out of stock of these cables. I had to buy a retractable USB cable even if it wasn't what i was looking for. The last time I bought USB extension cables, at their Ayala MRT branch, they only had these 30 peso cheapo cables to offer. Is there something wrong with their chain of supply?

How Fast to Get Drunk

Some people brag about how long it takes them before they get drunk. I think this is a waste of money. If you can get drunk on one bottle of beer, I think that's efficient. I am now envious of people who get drunk on just one bottle of beer. I thought I could get drunk if I consumed 2 cans of beer in 30 minutes but I had to consume 2 more cans of beer in an additional one and a half hours before I got tipsy enough to satisfy myself. Maybe I should add red wine or gin so I can get drunk faster and cheaper. Red wine seems to be a healthier alternative.

20,000 Down the Drain

It boggles the mind how quick it was to lose 20,000. On top of a couple of thousand in the recent past and another couple thousand in the near future, I really feel like crying. It either makes you want to stop spending ever again or it makes you want to spend even more, because in comparison, your efforts to save money is just a drop in the bucket, so your efforts seem to be a complete and utter waste of your time, hard work, and sacrifice. Why even try? This just makes me want to cry. Maybe God has a plan for this. I hope so. I hope and pray,

GamersGate Allows Duplicate Purchases

I'm frustrated with GamersGate. It doesn't notify you if you already own a game and it doesn't stop you from making a duplicate purchase. Steam and GOG show you in a game's page on each store if you already own the game. This prevents you from making a duplicate purchase.

I bought a game pack of four adventure games on sale at GamerGate which included Black Mirror 2. I was hurriedly deciding which game to buy, thinking either the sale was ending soon or there was a pricing error that could end at any moment, so I got confused and mistakenly bought Black Mirror 2 again at GamersGate without thinking twice.  It only cost me $0.59 but I'm frustrated that I still wasted money.

Bought First Mobile Reiner Knizia Game

Reiner Knizia's Tigris & Euphrates is on sale on Google Play for $0.99. There are only a few ports of Reiner Knizia's board and card games on Android whereas iOS has a lot more. That's one of the reasons why I had to buy this game. The other reason is that it runs even on my low-end Android devices.

Of course, you can't go wrong with a game designed by the renowned Dr. Knizia. He created the popular and critically acclaimed board games, Settlers of Catan and Carcassone, and these, as well as most of his other games, have perennially won gaming awards and accolades.

Board and card games are an excellent way to achieve family time, a way to ditch your gadgets and have some face-to-face interaction with your whole family or your friends. In this regard, Dr. Reiner Knizia is a credit to the human race for introducing numerous means to encourage closer relationships between family or friends.

Drew Barrymore was a Rom-Com Queen

I was watching Fever Pitch with Drew Barrymore when I realized that previous queens of romance-comedy films had a starring role in at least one romance-comedy that I really loved. Meg Ryan had When Harry Met Sally while Julia Roberts had My Best Friend's Wedding. They also had other films of that genre that I liked, such as Pretty Woman and I.Q. while they starred in a few more romance-comedies that were very popular. They also starred with the same leading man in at least two movies, Tom Hanks for Meg Ryan and Richard Gere for Julia Roberts.

Drew Barrymore tops them both with three romance-comedies that I loved, The Wedding Singer, Fever Pitch, and 50 First Dates. She's had a few other not-so-bad rom-com films and she starred with Adam Sandler twice. That's when I realized she was the rom-com queen right after Julia Roberts' and Meg Ryan's reign. I just don't think this was widely known or accepted at that time.

Bought My First XBOX Indie Games Ever

July 31 was the last day that anyone could earn rewards points on XBOX Live. I had four accounts that could still earn 100 MSP (Microsoft Points) each for buying XBOX Live content for the first time. I decided that I would buy my first Indie games, one game priced at 80 MSP (worth $1) for each account so I could get 100 MSP back.

I bought Final Rift, Murder Miners, and Brimstone. My Australian account couldn't buy any Indie game because it seems that the Australian marketplace doesn't have Indie games. I had to buy 80 MSP/$1 DLC of some game. Bastion had the only $1 DLC that added actual game content that extended play time so I bought it for my Australian account.

A few minutes before the day would be over, I noticed that one of my accounts that I thought didn't have enough MSP, had enough, so I tried to buy Red Invasion: TD Blitzkrieg before the day was over. Unfortunately, I may have been too late but I'll know in a week if I see an extra 100 MSP in each account.