excell

The only thing I take from this thread is that Rob needs a new phone. Dude, step out of 1992.

Mmmm quad-core DDR3...

Xeon's have little to no multimedia functionality and are quite poor with graphics support. Also the newest generation of Xeon and Core2 Duo are built on similar architecture, this generation varies little - but she's not looking at the current generation.

Agreed. It's mostly very cool.

Hey I have an idea, you should tell her to get a copy of Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise because it's the most expensive Microsoft makes therefore much better than Win7. /geek

LOL, that's what I thought you'd say. Well if he wants CPU's that are optimized for cache and terrible for instructions usually associated with desktop apps and use way too much energy versus a desktop CPU then he's building the right system.

Actually, I think you're right. It appears that for home improvement stuff like this (or plumbing, or alarm systems, etc.) that a mandatory 3-day right does exist under the law. I was mistaken.

What's he doing that needs a Xeon instruction set? If he's putting in Xeon's just because they sound cool and come in servers, he's a dummy. A Core2 Duo will vastly outperform a similar-speed-and-model Xeon on desktop apps, hands down. 64bit Win7 will run most 32bit apps without an issue. I have run a few that need a little work to run under 64bit, but nothing (so far) that 5 minutes of Google couldn't resolve.

Kroger, Giant Eagle, most anywhere in the mexican section.

ORLY sellkthx?

Ramsey I agree. My wife think I'm nuts when I do that but PB, honey, and hot sauce is FUCKING WIN.

Sriracha (best all around, hands down) Tobasco Garlic (trust me) Tobasco Chipotle (mix it with mayo and trust me) Valentina black (for on Mexican) Valentina red (for cooking in mexican) Trappey's Bull (for dishes that need a vinegary spicy like collard greens) Dave's Insanity (nom nom nom hot) BW3 spicy garlic (need to say no more)

http://spinout182.com/fgm.png

Sort of. Only if they come to you unsolicited. If you call them or ask them to come out, you're not protected. Examples: Vacuum cleaner salesman comes to door unannounced, sells you a unit. You are protected under the law. You call vacuum cleaner company, they send salesman, sells you a unit. You are not protected. The same is true if you go to any store, car dealership, whatever. If you initiate the transaction you are not protected. Your only recourse is the company/organization return policy if they have one.

I believe this is Eric's case in point. We're all busy debating points which nearly none of us are qualified to argue such as the merits of the sun's radiation versus time versus climate while real, actual human companies are dumping absolutely terrifying amounts of vile and terrible chemicals into our earth because it's cheaper than cleaning and recycling it.

Personal bodyguard Hal?

We've discussed the pros/cons of a security system, escalating our time frame for a dog, gun training, etc. She is absolutely against using a gun, she knows herself and no amount of comfort or training would allow her to fire on someone - it's just not her personality. I'm comfortable with that. I would rather she not wield a gun if she's not willing to use it to the fullest extent. A gun will turn any situation critical, and my biggest fear for anyone is a relatively benign burglary could be massively escalated if the gun is taken from a frightened homeowner and turned against them. A petty thug will turn into a murderer quickly in that environment. We're discussing other active options for her like a mil-spec pepper spray. We decided to go ahead with the security system because even though it doesn't instantly have someone there, it's still a very active deterrent. If you're there to do bad things and it goes off, you're not going to stick around to see how far away the cops really are. However if we're home and it's set off *I* get instant notification. It won't protect against the more dire circumstances obviously, but that's not the idea behind it. A security system mitigates 90% of average risk, that's better than our current 0%. Add a dog later, and an armed and capable husband (me) and you're mitigating 98%. Risk mitigation boils down to a decision of acceptable risk versus perceptible risk versus dollars. You could spend a million dollars covering 99.99999% or a couple thousand covering 98%, quite a disparity. In this situation I think the most powerful thing I've done and we could do is to talk to our neighbors. I went to everyone around me this weekend and discussed the situation, relayed concerns and suggestions from the officers (and even a few from here ), and exchanged phone numbers. Last night, we all had front and rear lights on - the street and our yards were bright. That's a pretty intimidating sight I think. I don't think they'll do it forever obviously, complacency will take hold, but for now if the bad guys come back at night to have a look they'll see a change, lots of light, and maybe move on.

Reception was on the pool deck of The Columbus (Renaissance) downtown. Photographer AionArts I highly recommend both!

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRTTTTTTTTTTTTTTHHHHHHHHHHHHHDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for various kind words and suggestions. Honestly, I think I'm a little more freaked out than my wife was. Now that we've done a lot of talking about it she's pretty much on the same freaked out level I am. Maybe it's just because I do so much risk assessment in IT, but I'm out to mitigate as much future risk as I can now. Through the conversations with both our local officer (that responded to our call), and a conversation with our precinct community liaison today they have echoed much of what has been said here. Talk to your neighbors. Make sure you're all keeping an eye on what's going on, get good descriptions/info on suspicious people and call the police even if you feel foolish - they will take you seriously! Don't put expensive stuff in view, don't put boxes for expensive items (TV's etc) out on trash day. If you have an alarm system, use it. Also just as John said, it's happening everywhere. Our precinct runs all the way through Upper Arlington and Hilliard and he said it's just as hot there as it is here, he actually had just gotten off the phone with UAPD about the same type of activity. Also said it's usually Tuesday-Thursday 10A-2P when the break-in's occur, but the canvasing (shopping) can happen at all times. As far as the security system goes, we actually have a friend of the family - the owner of local Executive Security Consultants. My grandmother has had them for 15+ years, they've been in business for 22, and the owner Doug took time out of his day today to come by and quote a system for me - two hours after I called him. $300 for a completely wired perimeter system and motion detector, I'm adding a couple extra sensors (glass break, etc.), and the first year of monitoring is free - $25/mo after. That is an acceptable expense for a little piece of mind.

That's the conclusion we're coming to as well, given the description of these people from the cop. They were basically scared/nervous kids so we think they were just scouting. Nevertheless, I'm not awfully concerned if they break in when we're not here - frankly, they'll be pretty upset they wasted the time because we don't live extravagantly or have expensive things. I guess if they want my 6 bottle wine fridge or a 15 year old 36" tube TV they'll be happy. I'm most concerned when my wife is home by herself. Not that I'm exactly excited about someone coming in when I'm here either but I'll use my gun to it's fullest extent if I need to.

We actually want to sell our house first to be closer to work. Closer to work would allow more freedom for the dog, as it is we'd have to leave it in a lot which isn't fair.

I have a gun, I'm not afraid to use it... if I'm home. My wife won't touch a gun. We're also going to get a dog, but not right at the moment. It's in the plans for next year.

Here's the backstory: My wife is home today. An African-American gentlemen dressed in street clothes knocked on our door several times, then got into a newer silver sedan like a Buick driven by a white woman with glasses also in street clothes. She said they drove up, stopped in front of our house, he got out and knocked, then got back in and they left the area. Needless to say, there shouldn't be anyone knocking on our door in the middle of the day. She called me concerned/weirded out, I asked her to call the police immediately if only to file a report. 15 minutes later, the cops knock our door - they show her a picture of the car and ask her to confirm if it's the same car - they have them pulled over two streets away! The cops said there were actually four people, two African-American gentlemen in the back hidden by tinted windows. All young, 19-20, and all checked clean but said they were clearly up to no good. They have all of their names, addresses, and SSN's and gave them a very clear warning about how vigilant our neighborhood is and that if anything happens they know where to find them. Cop thanked my wife for calling, said that in the future if anyone knocks like that to immediately call 911 because if there is no answer they may just go right around back and toss a brick through a window. Moral of the story: ALWAYS CALL THE POLICE WITH SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY! The cop said we should have a security system, that's all I need to hear. Can anyone recommend a good monitored system company? I know I could build one myself, I'm not interested - I want to pay someone for piece of mind. Looking at ADT and Brinks/Broadview of course. Thank you.