Warcraft makes you calm and drink less

Swedish newspaper DN had an article today about how students who play computer games are not the overweighted, couch-potatoes we used to think. Instead they are less stressed and drink less alcohol than teenagers the same age. Apparently they have found that video/pc games are easy to relax with which leads to less stress with other things in life.

I can sign for that. :-D We have never spent as little money on food, drinks and other entertainment as when we have had spots of intense gaming happening at home. You can easily spend 500 SEK (and that's cheap) on a night out but when you're rather at home and in front of the computer you have that money saved. Not to mention all the silly things you don't do when you're in front of the computer (that you might do when you're out clubbing). And it is mind numbing, in a nice way. To vegetate in front of the computer, in a different world for a short while actually takes your mind off work and other worries quite efficiently.

I'd be prepared to say that babies have the same effect as Warcraft, but I find I eat more and stress a little more now that we have one of those little miracles in our lives. :-)

Article in DN (in Swedish).

Ding 63!

Imagine that, the boy has had two days of blissful restfulness so his daddy and I have spent a considerable amount of time playing Warcraft. It's good for us, in many strange ways. :-)

I have now also purchased a new pony for my undead warrior. So she's moving around with 100% speed (100% faster than walking, that is), makes for faster exploration and the odd chance to run safely past mobs in Outlands. :-)

Warcraft saves lives?

It's all over the place, blogs newspapers and of course gaming sites: "World of Warcraft saves 12 year old boy from attacking moose". :-D

Apparently the boy was out walking in the northern Norwegian forest with his ten year old sister when a moose charged. The girl ran away but the boy attempted to scare the moose away (bad idea!). When it didn't work and it was too late to run away the boy is quoted to have applied a skill he learned as a level 30 hunter in Warcraft - "feign death". It worked and the moose went on its merry way. :-D

Who'd ever guess it would come in handy in such a direct way? :-D

Links:
DN - "World of warcraft" räddade 12-åring (in Swedish)
Nettavisen - Ble angrepet av elg (in Norwegian)
WoW Insider - "Now if only he'd been able to control his DPS in the first place, he'd never have aggroed at all."
Gamepro.com - World of Warcraft helps boy survive moose attack

Second of advent

A day for sleeping in, decorating the house and playing Warcraft. Yay! :-))

...and yes, the Easter-decorative chicken remains on its shelf, couldn't put it away after discovering it in its new outfit... X-D

59.8

Ding! :-)

Not Warcraft this time but my weight. :-) I have officially shed the baby kilograms and am now down to what I weighed before signing up for this whole baby making business. Yay! :-)

"The market"

...and the price of pants.
I read some time ago about why the share value of Lindex went down a few years ago - they had purchased too many of the wrong kind of pants. The share value went down, ten executives had to go. Heh.

I know my company is controlled by a board of directors bringing various relevant areas of competence to work for our best. But there's also "the market" factor. The market, that's um, us? Us, as in the share buying money earning people?
How much does the marked decide that what we are doing is the right thing. Who says we haven't stocked up with all the wrong types of pants? Are we planning to release what the market needs in a year or two? What about in ten years?

I always find it's difficult to understand some of these things. And I certainly admire those who dare to venture out there, stick their necks out and dare to go forth with their ideas of what the market wants.

More: Lindex in one minute.
About Lindex and the pants:
DN - Byxorna drog ned Lindex (in Swedish)
Aftonbladet - Byxberg knäckte Lindex (also in Swedish)

Then again...

This site www.middagsfrid.se offers something more. They charge 725 kr (795 kr 1/1 2008) per week for a grocery bag filled with what you need for a weeks worth of dinners for four people, including detailed recipes. They aim to plan the menu so that you won't spend more than 30 minutes cooking, apart from any time in the oven (when you don't have to actively do any cooking).

We have a 4000 kr/month food budget at the moment (not just used for food though), buying bags from Middagsfrid is less than that. And we'd have our menus planned out. And we'd be eating healthy and ecological meals.

Hm.

We're not going to go online shopping

We're not going to shop online, for groceries that is.

Just checked www.netextra.se and compared their prices with what we paid at ICA Maxi (Häggvik) the last time we went shopping.
NetExtra = 1 025.50 kr
ICA Maxi = 736.10 kr

Add to that 99 kr for home delivery from NetExtra.

I can't make it worth while even if I add the cost for my time, petroleum use and vehicular wear. Darn. I had a faint dream I'd save myself the nuisance of going to the supermarket. But not with those prices.

Primer

We watched the film "Primer" tonight (imdb link).

Pretty nice actually. And it's impossible to tell anything about the story line without giving away too much! :-) It's sci-fi in current time, me like. A little like a fantastic book I read some years ago called "Trigger" by Arthur C Clarke and Michael Kube-McDowell (link to Sci-fi bokhandelns description, in Swedish), but when it comes to the actual technical details - not quite like it... :-D It's impossible to describe.

It's a little "ambitious", as in a bit difficult to follow at times. And it's sure low budget. It's another dialog-based film, there's not a whole lot of action. But it keeps you interested throughout, so I recommend it warmly.

Pyroclastic

I feel like a pyroclastic flow sometimes. I can't help it.

Wiki: "A pyroclastic flow (also known as a pyroclastic density current) is a common and devastating result of some volcanic eruptions. The flows are fast-moving currents of hot gas, and rock (collectively known as tefra), which can travel away from the volcano at up to 700 km/h. The gas can reach temperatures of up to 1000 degrees Celsius. The flows normally hug the ground and travel downhill, or spread laterally under gravity. Their speed depends upon the density of the current, the rate volcanic output, and the gradient of the slope."

I get mad to the point where I no longer can control my actions, or primarily - words. *sigh* Mostly I keep it inside though. So if I seem a bitt stiff at times, consider that I might be dealing with that internal volcano...

On the other hand, there are few other things that can soothe that volcano as efficiently as something completely silly and funny slipping out of my better half's mouth, like the other night: "please would you mind changing the nappy on Tobias so I can fasten the last stitches on the embroidery".
That was not something I'd ever in my wildest imagination expect to face as a reason (excuse?) to not do the nappy-changing thang... :-D

Then again, never in my wildest imagination would I have imagined being here, in a house of my own, with a wonderful baby and a loving fantastic man by my side, had someone told me so in 2004... :-)

Gambia

A colleague just went on a two week vacation to Gambia.
Had to check it out on the web and it looks pretty nice, I'll make sure to get a first hand review from her when she's back. She's travelling with her husband and one year old son, so there'll be a "baby-friendliness" aspect on her review. :-)

Gambia is a funny little country, at first glance it looks like they've taken the river and made it a country. Reading a little more about it shows that that's probably exactly what they did. The colonial countries Great Britain and France divided the lands between them. Gambia is surrounded on three sides by Senegal and on one side the Atlantic ocean and is officially called the "Republic of The Gambia" indicating that it's a "republic of the river". :-)
Population: 1 600 000 (2006)
Surface: 11 295 km²
Capital: Banjul
Wiki-facts about Gambia.
Travelpix - photos from Gambia

Gosh, I'd REALLY like to go someplace sunny and warm soon.