Guitar Chord Finder

If you have been experimenting with different finger positions on your guitar fret but don't know what that combination is called, you can easily look it up on http://www.guitarchordsmagic.com/guitar-chord-finder.html.

They have this cool Java applet that allows you to assign your guitar tabs and it instantaneously gives you the name of the guitar chord for that finger combination.

Below is a sample screenshot of the applet made by Robert Leh. I have been trying out the finger positions of 4th string, 2nd fret, 5th string, 3rd fret, and 6th string, 5th fret and found out that D5 is the name of that chord.

And with the use of this tool, writing down guitar chords for your favorite songs should be a cinch. Thanks to the creators and developers of this great application. And music lovers enjoy!

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Ikariam version 0.5: Renaming a Town

Some players have been asking how to rename the town under the latest version. The process is pretty much unchanged. First, click on your town hall. You should see an image similar to the screen shot below.

You can then click on the rename button, just above the smiley face. You will then get a screen shot similar to the one below.

Type your new town name and then click on the button Apply town name. Done and done! ^_^

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American Idol 11: Hollie Cavanagh, Grace & Power

America says good bye to perhaps the prettiest member of their top 10 this eleventh season, Hollie Cavanagh. And not just a pretty face, Miss Cavanagh has the makings of a great power singer which she has demonstrated in past performances such as Rolling in the Deep, Son of a Preacher Man, Faithfully, and The Climb. She finished 4th over all and her performances will be missed.

Image wise, out of all the female contestants, Hollie is very marketable. Her smile will easily brighten anyone's day. People born with good looks and singing skills are few and far between. And she even has the humility and showings of a classy young lady that will always be an advantage to any aspiring entertainer and I hope that she never losses that even if she becomes very famous. This was even evident in the way she accepted defeat, and gracefully sang The Climb while saying good bye to her fellow contestants and the judges. Some contestants might fight against judges opinions, but Miss Cavanagh simply accepted it. Other contestants would probably have done differently but Hollie has shown great professionalism at a young age.

Personally, I would have wanted her "dark horse" streak to have extended until the final two. But in the end, America has decided, and I am at least happy she has reached this stage when she would have been eliminated 3 or 4 shows ago if not for her brilliant come back performances. She can be an inspiration to many young girls aspiring to be a professional singer.

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Nuffnang Earnings Result

I have placed Nuffnang's ads on this blog for about a month now and below are the stats from Nuffnang's site.

And this is the earnings result, also from Nuffnang's site.

One month is probably not enough time to ascertain the potential earnings that Nuffnang ads can bring to a blog. But in terms of exposure, the blogger has given Nuffnang one month's worth of free adspace. If this were print media, like a newspaper or a magazine, Nuffnang would have paid them to place their ad on thier pages, and the newspaper would have earned something, whether or not people bought or patronized the product or service in the ad.

Google Adsense on the other hand shows us a different picture in a month's time.

I guess the image says it all. I would takes cents over zeroes anytime. What about you?

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Half Crazy Acoustic Guitar Chords

Here's my attempt at guitar chords for a great song by Johnny Gill, remade by both Freestyle and Nina. Enjoy!!!

Standard Tuning

Intro: A-F#m-D-E (2x)

Verse I:

 C#m-D-A                       F#m

Know I havent slept a wink at all

                   Bm7

Since you've been gone

  Bm7-C#m7-D

And my eyes are kinda tired

      E                A

From crying all night long

 C#m-D-A                       F#m              Bm7

Oh I've never been too good at cooking just for one

Bm7-C#m7-D                      E    

It's so lonely here without you baby

           A         

Come back home

Chorus:

     C#m-D       C#m-F#m

'coz I'm half crazy

  Bm7              E  

Feelin' sorry for myself

      C#m-F#m

Half crazy

  Bm                 E               F# ... E

Worried you'll find someone else to love

Verse II:

   C#m-D    A                      F#m

Know it hasn't been much fun at all

                  Bm7

Since you've been gone

Bm7-C#m7-D       

And my eyes begin to feel

      E               A

Each time I hear our song

 C#m-D     A                    F#m

I spent every minute asking myself

          Bm7

What went wrong

 Bm7-C#m7-D                     E

Can't we try to talk it over baby

            A

Come back home

Chorus:

      C#m-D     C#m-F#m

'coz I'm half crazy

     D            Esus-E

Feelin' sorry for myself

  C#m-F#m

Half crazy

  D                       E

Worried you'd find someone else

   F               G    F

But baby there just no one else

    Em-Am

Half crazy

      Dm7            G       F

For everything you say and do

    Em-Am

Half crazy

   Dm7             G               A

No one else could love you like I do

Adlib (A-F#m-Bm7   Bm7-C#m7-D-E-A-E)2x except for last chord

Chorus:

      C#m  D   C#m-F#m   

'coz I'm half crazy

D             Esus-E

Feelin' sorry for myself

  C#m-F#m

Half crazy

  D                    E

Worried you'll find someone else

     F           G      F   

But baby there is no one else

    Em-Am

Half crazy

      Dm7            G     F  

For everything you say and do 

    Em-Am

Half crazy

  Dm7                G      

No one else could love you and

 G#             Bb-G#

No one else can ever be

Gm-Cm

Half Crazy

 Fm          Bbsus-Bb                Gm-Cm

Feelin sorry for myself (Half  Crazy)

      Fm              Bbsus-Bb          Gm-Cm

I'm worried you'd find someone else (Half Crazy)

  Fm             Bbsus-Bb    Gm-Cm

Feelin sorry for myself (Half Crazy)

  Fm            Bbsus-Bb                C

worried you'f find someone else to love...

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D-Link DFE-520TX PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter

Replaced my NIC about two weeks ago. Tried out D-Link's DFE-520TX PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter. From time to time, I would get an error 651 whenever I tried to go online. I would also notice that the Internet icon at the bottom right corner of my screen would have a red X mark instead of the usual yellow triangle with an exclamation point whenever it is not connected.

I would simply go into device manager, uninstall the D-Link network adapter, scan for hardware changes and Windows 7 will automatically re-install the drivers. This seems to resolve the error 651 issue and I would be able to go online. The problem would be gone for a day or two, then I would have to go through the entire process and it is getting old.

So, just wondering if any of you techies are experiencing the same problem I am having and if you have found a permanent fix, a little assistance would be appreciated. Thanks.

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Ikariam v 0.5.0 Animations

Ikariam version 0.5.0 has officially been launched today. Below is the list of changes that have been made to the game.

• New layout
  • The game interface now uses the entire size of the browser window and automatically resizes if the window size is changed.
  • The world map, island map and town screens have been redesigned and now have a higher resolution. The `left menus` on the main screen have been replaced by new elements: the navigation elements on the world map are now located at the bottom of the screen and can be faded in and out by clicking on the control cross in the middle of it. On the island screen you can navigate to another island by entering the coordinates using a similarly redesigned menu. On the left-hand side of the screen on the town screen you can now reach the `Troops in the town`, `Premium-Trader`, `Dummy packages`, `Building construction list`, `Dismiss units` and `Espionage` (in other towns with your spies) screens.
  • The minimum resolution display of Ikariam (1024x768 pixels) remains the same as the old layout. However the islands and towns are now larger, meaning that sometimes they may not be completely visible. By dragging the mouse, each of the displays can be moved so that the non-visible sections can be seen. If this method is not possible, you can also use the directional control at the bottom of the screen.
  • The buildings and many elements of the main screen have been redrawn and adapted to suit the new layout.
  • Some screens have been optimised or slightly reorganised for the new layout. This includes the trading port, museum, trading post, diplomacy advisor and the help.
• Feature - troops and ships can now be dismissed in all of your own towns, independent of whether there is a barracks or shipyard there or not.
• New design for the research advisor
  • The design for the research advisor has been overhauled. You can now better see which research has already been completed and which are still waiting to be researched.
  • With the reconstruction, the Library will be rendered obsolete and will be removed. The tutorial will be adapted accordingly.
• Feature - ally towns, occupied towns, towns with occupied ports and towns, where you have a garrison right can now be `entered` much like your own towns or towns that you spied on. These towns can be recognised by a green arrow next to the town name.
• Help redesigned
  • The menu guide and the chapter order within the help have been reordered.
  • The chapters `First Steps` and `Building, Building Material and Population` have been combined, several others have been renamed.
  • Some content errors have been corrected.
• Animations
  • Alongside the whales and dolphins on the world map there are now a multitude of further animations.
  • If the performance of your computer or the internet connection is not sufficient for them, the animations can be turned off in the game options.
• New building spaces in the towns
• In every town there are now two new building slots, on which all land-based buildings can be constructed. They will be immediately available in every town and do not need to be researched or acquired in any other way beforehand.

Looking for the new animations is like treasure hunting at this point in time. Animations I've spotted so far are:

Town View Animations

• Flock of birds flying
• Town Hall flag flowing in the wind
• Lumberjacks and carpenters moving about while a building is under construction
• Waterfall near the Trading Port and Shipyard
• Trading Port crane loading crates on a ship when sending goods from one town to another
• Dolphins jumping out of the ocean

Island View Animations

• Lumberjacks sawing wood at the Forest on an Island View
• Farmers tending to the vineyard on a Wine Island View
• Miners hammering away at the quarries on a Marble Island View
• A miner going back and forth in and out of the crystal mine, placing crystals on a cart, on a Crystal Island View
• A miner going back and forth in and out of the sulfur pit, placing sulfur on a cart, on a Sulfur Island View
• Barbarian waving his axe on an Island View
• Flags on top of towns and vacant locations flowing in the wind on an Island View
• Guy bouncing a beach ball while two other people are sunbathing on floaters and two are under a beach umbrella

World View Animations

• Whales jumping out of the water on the World View

I hope there are more hidden animations and that the developers will create new ones from time to time.

It is also disappointing that Kyra has relinquished her role to her husband, the original town adviser. I think she was better suited for the job.

Some of the hot keys you can use under the new version include

• ESC to close those annoying pop-up windows
• Ctrl and + key to re-size the screen so that things are bigger
• Ctrl and - key to re-size the screen so that things are smaller (ideal for those used to having the whole town in view)

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