INeedAttention.com

If you haven’t seen this before, you should. “My New Haircut” on YouTube.

Getting to know U(buntu)

Shortly after the second version ever of Ubuntu was released, I heard some buzz about it. While I was impressed with the graphics and general feel of it, it failed the “Dad test“: could my Dad use this if I just gave him the CD? At that point, probably not, and in a bluntly honest way, probably not still today. But in three years, Ubuntu has matured dramatically.

I’ve been experimenting with Ubuntu on a PC equipped with an AMD Athlon 64-bit 4000+ processor with plenty of RAM. The motherboard has on-board graphics and AC97 sound. So if you’re familiar with Ubuntu, you’re probably already noticing two problems: lack of graphics drivers, and the 64-bit processor support. I want to feel like I’m at least using my hardware to its fullest. The thing is, 64-bit operating systems require 64-bit software.

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Background on Flash Cookies

Since its introduction in 1996, Adobe Flash has become a popular method for adding animation and interactivity to web pages; several software products, systems, and devices are able to create or display Flash. Flash is commonly used to create animation, advertisements, various web-page components, to integrate video into web pages, and more recently, to develop rich internet applications.

Flash Players from version 6 can store and retrieve persistent data without offering any visible signs to the user—in a manner similar to that of cookies. YouTube is one of the more popular Internet applications powered by Flash. Pandora internet radio is powered by flash; so is the recent McDonald’s Monopoly promotion‘s online game. All three sites use Flash cookies to different degrees. This is not much of a problem for YouTube, but this may indicate major problems with the McDonald’s Monopoly promotion.
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McDonalds Monopoly 2007

Yes, we have updates for McDonald’s Monopoly 2008

Are you ready? Though McDonald’s has made no official announcements about a McDonald’s Monopoly 2007 promotion for the U.S., it seems they are preparing to do so. The official website for the Monopoly 2006 Game at McDonald’s was still active as of a few weeks ago, though now the page has been reset to a blank page — a possible indication they are preparing the official 2007 McDonald’s Monopoly page.

New readers may wonder why McDonald’s and Best Buy are prominently mentioned on this blog. The answer: an elaborate, legal way to obtain game pieces and the associated “Best Buy bucks” at virtually no cost — guaranteeing a “McDonald’s Monopoly-Best Buy Arbitrage“. This isn’t the first time this blog has covered the McDonald’s Monopoly Best Chance Game. But not only do I horde the coupons, I try to go overboard with the things I get. In 2004, I bought a stereo system and some other gear on Black Friday, in 2006, I bought a computer, flat screen monitor, (musical) keyboard, and a ton of other junk. This year, who knows, maybe I’ll buy a bunch of cameras or iPods.

Official site leaked

Special thanks to users of the FatWallet forums for pointing us in the right direction — earlier this week they found this site, on the earlier mentioned as-of-yet unfinished promotions.com site: http://monopoly.promotions.com/monopoly07/over.do?page=rules.html

But we’ve got it all now! Noticing the page reported the error: “Undefined action: over”, I tried using the action “rules” in the URL (compare the two URLs). So, without further ado, the official rules for McDonalds Monopoly 2007: http://monopoly.promotions.com/monopoly07/rules.do?page=rules.html

Unfortunately, it’s not looking that exciting this year. Toys R’ Us Bucks instead of Best Buy Bucks, and with much crappier odds no less. There will, however, be some tie-in with American Express gift cards. This will require careful analysis of the rules. Feel free to comment below with ideas on maximizing profit from this promotion!

I’ll post an analysis of the rules here shortly!

Flash Cookie Security in Online Game

The online version of the game may be vulnerable to giving out unlimited free game plays if a user clears their flash cookies. Click here to read more about how to clear Flash cookies to possibly play McDonald’s Monopoly free.

Prizes, Rare Game Pieces, and Odds

If you get any of the following rare game pieces, you’ve basically won the prize for that property group.

1. Collect & Win Prizes.
1. Low-Level Prizes
1. (15,000 available) Mediterranean Avenue (Stamp #801) – a check in the amount of $50. Odds of winning approximately 1 in 33,616.
2. (1,500) Short Line (#826) – $100 – 1 in 2,094,076.
3. (250) Vermont Avenue (#804) – $500 – 1 in 33,752,584.
2. Mid-Level Prizes
1. (250) Virginia Avenue (#808) – $1,000 – 1 in 33,752,584.
2. (50) Tennessee Avenue (#810) – $5,000 – 1 in 168,762,143.
3. High-Level Prizes
1. (30) Kentucky Avenue (#812) – $10,000 – 1 in 56,069,351.
2. (5) Ventnor Avenue (#816) – $25,000 – 1 in 186,829,657.
3. (5) Pennsylvania Avenue (#820) – $50,000 – 1 in 186,829,657.
4. (3) Boardwalk (#822) – a one million dollar ($1,000,000) annuity payable as $50,000 per year over 20 years with no interest. Odds of winning approximately 1 in 184,698,474.

Your overall odds of collecting a rare game piece: about 1 in 33,000. Odds of collecting a rare game piece worth more than $50: about 1 in 1.7 million. Are you feeling lucky?

The recent subprime mortgage meltdown and subsequent meltdown of a Bear Stearns hedge fund that invested heavily in subprime mortgage securities has caused quite a bit of heartache in global capital markets, leaving all three major broad market indexes in the U.S. down for the month of July. Usually, the markets close up on a monthly basis, as the markets tend to grow in general. But speaking of meltdowns, check out Jim Cramer absolutely freaking out two minutes into this video while discussing Bear Stearns CFO Sam Molinaro’s statement that this was the “worst credit market in 22 years”. Onto the screaming:

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