Reviews by bitterpete

bitterpete says "What you give is what you get" about University of Phoenix - Online Campus

bitterpete — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 01:20:52 GMT

As my wie begins to look into graduate schools, it reminded me of my own experience earning my MBA a couple of years ago through the University of Phoenix Online. I was further reminded of my past studes as I was ask questions about the program during a job interview last week.

Here's the thing with UOP Online, it doesn't have the same stature of Harvard or Yale, but you do get a good solid education if you are willing to put the work in. I don't know what employers think of when they see the school on the ol' resume, but I am pretty satisfied with the education I received, although I do think t was a bit on the expensive side.

Here's the way it works, the classes are all newsgroup based. You are provided with written lectures and assignments. There weren't any tests per se, but there was a paper due every week of each six week course. You also work in "Learning Teams" with 3 or 4 collaborative papers due from that each course as well. I am generally someone who prefers...

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bitterpete says "Get your free money here!!!" about Mr. Rebates

bitterpete — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 16:49:51 GMT

I stmbled upon Mr. Rebates after seeing a news report while sitting in a hotel room. I never realized that such things existed. Now I realize that there are more, but, since I initially signed up here, I see no need to change.

Basically, how this works is that when you are in the mood to do a little online shopping, go to Mr. Rebates, find the store you are looking for and click the link. I did all of this year's Christmas shopping online and all but 2 stores I needed were on here and offered some kind of rebate. Yes, that's right, free money. After you sign up for a free account (which comes with a $2.50 bonus) you are good to go. Rebates I saw ranged from 1% to 30%. Some of them even had bonus rebates. So, you place your order just like you normally would, and, after verification, they credit the % back rebate to your account. After you have amassed $25, you can request payment via check or PayPal. I am still waiting for final verification on my orders before I can...

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bitterpete says "More than just a shopping site, Woot is a state of mind" about Woot.com

bitterpete — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 15:54:06 GMT

Oh, what a glorious day it was when I discovered the Woot. Now, I start each day by checking all of there sites to see what the day's possibilities might be.

Here is the thing, for the most part, woot offers one deal avery day. When it is gone, its gone, and you need to wait until 12:00 AM CST the next day for a new one. But, that is part of the fun. There is the anticipation of not knowing what is coming up next. It might be something great that you need or are looking for. It might be something stupid and useless. It might be a great deal or you might be able to find it cheaper some where else. No matter what though, you will find yourself checking every day.

The great thing too is that the product descriptions are usually humorous and entertaining. So, even if you never buy anything from them, its still worth a couple minutes each day just to read what they have to say.

The community is great as well. There is a certain camaraderie amongst the users. You will not...

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bitterpete says "LoveCraftian? Twilight Zonish? Or maybe just Stephen King?" about The Mist

bitterpete — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 22:49:09 GMT

Although I love Stephen King as an author, most of his movie adaptations are pretty awful. There have been a few good ones (The Shining, Carrie, etc.), but most go the way of awfulness like Dream Catcher or Secret Window, However, Frank Darabont did a good job on Shawshank, so this showed some promise.

This film contained shades of 2 of my favorites from the Horror/Sci-Fi Realm; H.P. Lovecraft and the Twilight Zone. Yes, the movie contained mythical monsters from another dimension, and also examined the human condition with a diverse cross section of people stuck in a small space under dire circumstances with a bitterly ironic ending thrown in for good measure. Although I liked the idea of all this, I am not so sure that these two things were meant to go together. I think that the film may have worked better with more Twilight Zone and less Lovecraft. The acting and dialog were excellent, but the effects were average. I think that a better way to go would have been...

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