The Facebook Timesink

I've realized that sites such as Facebook, as nice as they are, are nothing more than timesinks. I creates a Facebook account several years ago, then never used it. Recently one of my sisters coaxed me back to Facebook with a "all the family is there!" spiel.

I have realized that it is not worth the time I lose when I visit the site. Anyone that I actually communicate with knows how to reach me outside of Facebook, and they do so on a regular basis, so there is no need for me to succumb to the loss of time I don't have just because "everyone is doing it".

Sites like Facebook are a new drug that we get addicted to as a lazy way to keep in touch, not realizing that we are just sitting there in a stoner daze staring at the screen not even realizing how long we have been looking to see what we *HAVE TO* read up on.

And Facebook is particularly nasty in that it seemed to require visiting 3 pages (at least) just to see who all had said stuff that was of interest. You had to visit your newsfeed to see what's going on, then your "status updates" to make sure that you read all your buddies postings, then scurry over to your profile page to see if there are any "wall" postings you need to read. And if you get tapped in someone's notes or pictures or have any friend suggestions you have more pages you *must* visit. It was just a nasty waste of 30 minutes or more of my time every time I visited the site - and when I have advertisements to write, and am not scatterbrained, I earn a minimum of $20 an hour writing - so I was losing $10 and up with every visit I made to Facebook during the day.

I'm sorry, if there is anyone out there that wants to "Facebook" with me, they probably already know a half dozen other ways to connect with me. The Facebook timesink is outta here.

This will keep you from working for a good long time

I went out looking for Ghost Recon desktops that I could put on the laptop for my nephew and ended up at a MySpace layouts site where I found.... Smashing. Smashing has become an addiction for me, a horrible horrible I can't stop playing it addiction. I am currently to level 10 in this addictive game and so I decided that after half the night and half today playing this game I should share it and spread the addiction.

I know, this is not MySpace, but it works here too and I don't see anything on their site about not being able to post places other than MySpace, so here- enjoy, just don't blame me when you look up all bleary eyed and see you missed that deadline on your writing assignment.


This Game and More Available @ ProfileMix.com

Oh - and watch out in level 9 for the little ball bearing deal you're breaking things with to turn invisible =-o OMG that's a hard frelling level!!

Edit: Okay, I have tracked down where Smashing came from and want to give a big THANK YOU to Totebo.com and everyone that helped make Smashing.

Nintendo 64 games and other classic game systems

Ah, procrastination. It is the greatest love-hate relationship every writer will ever have. You hate procrastinating because it takes you away from your time to write, but you love it because it lets you escape that task master of a muse and get to have some real fun. My escape has long been to the video game consoles. I remember when the first ones came out, playing Pong with my sister. Ah, that was a game of infinite distractive qualities.

Games evolved and soon Pong gave way to PacMan, then to Donkey Kong, Mario Bros. evolved from Donkey Kong and soon we were playing Link until the wee hours of the morning.

Today I turn to games such as Siphon Filter and Metal Gear to find relaxation and around me the games continue to evolve. Things like Ghost Recon (which I was just putting a desktop and screen saver for onto my laptop so my nephew can borrow the thing and not be forced to see my desktop and screen saver images)-- things like that are replacing my favorite distractions.

Enter JJGames.com, the online source for all of your old favorites. I was asked what I thought of their site and I have to say, I think it is very very good. They have nintendo 64 games and consoles including games like Zelda Ocarina of Time, and Mortal Kombat Mythologies which features my favorite Mortal Kombat dude Sub-Zero (I could kick my nephew's tail with that guy no matter who my nephew picked to go against me with! Sub-Zero rocks - and has a very nice blue ninja suite to boot ::snicker::) [makes mental note to get that game.]

Anyway, JJGames.com has a great selection of the older game consoles and the games you always wanted to get, all in an easy to browse format that makes putting together your dream system easy as can be. And for those like me, who waited for the rush to end and are now ready for a Playstation 2, they have the PS2 consoles and games too.

This post was sponsored by JJGames.com
My new favorite procrastination toy destination

Playing in the casino when suffering writer's block

I have been playing hookey from writing by hanging out at the Money-Casino. While I have not made the dive into playing for real money yet, I love the fact that they let me play the games without putting money on the line first and without downloading anything. There is a prompt as the page is first loaded, asking if I want to have it download their free casino while I am browsing their site, but I just click on "cancel" and it goes away and I'm not asked again.

From the main page of the website you can get to the no download casino by looking under the row of images showing the game types, just above the yellow line. Look for the phrase:

"To Launch the No Download Casino - Click Here"

Click on *click here* and you will be taken into a new window where the casino will load up.

At the bottom of the screen just click "Practice Mode (no login required)", there will be a brief welcome message, click the check mark and start playing the games.

Easy navigation lets you find the games you want with a little learning of where everything is. There are buttons in the lower right that allow you to toggle to real play if you decide you want to risk some money (or win some).

I like the slots and poker or blackjack, but the Money Casino has all sorts of games including craps and roulette. Check them out and see what you think, just be warned - you can spend a lot of time just enjoying playing the various games.

Also be sure to check out their magazine for all kinds of articles from what to wear at the casino to Texas Hold'em tournament tips and much more.


This post was kindly brought to you by Money-Casino