I bought Assassin’s Creed for PS3 back a few months ago. I finally finished the game but now there are all sorts of challenges that I need to complete. I got stuck trying to find 20 flags in Masyaf but thankfully some helpful souls mapped the locations of flags and Templars in the game.
Assassin’s Creed Maps (an entire website!)

Assassin’s Creed Flags maps (Forum post)

Don’t bother getting the flags or killing templars on PS3

I thought there would be some reward for finding all the flags and killing all the Templars in Assassin’s Creed. On PS3 if you finish all the accomplishments you do not win anything. Nothing unlocks. Zippo. On XBox you get points for your gamer score.

I thought something would happen because the ending of the game was shitty. Turns out this game is just one part of a trilogy. The game’s ending was about as fulfilling as watching the first episode of a to-be-continued TV show where that you will never see the conclusion to. The ending wasn’t even a cliffhanger. The researchers just walk out the door of pfft. You can look at a bunch of glowing shit on the floors and walls.

LAME!

For months I have been trying to figure out how to calculate a good estimate for the monthly payments necessary to own a house. The basic costs would be mortgage, taxes and insurance. It is often difficult to get a good answer on how much the total cost will be.

With some help from my mortgage broker cousin, I whipped up an Excel file that has the formula calculated. I wish I knew how to use Excel more efficiently but here it is. For my own reference.

Assumptions:

• Monthly taxes + insurance is approximately 1.5% of purchase price of a home

• 30 year fixed rate mortgage

Method:

• use the PMT() function in Excel
• current interest rate is about 6% or 7% on a 30 year fixed mortgage
• the fill-ins I use for the formula are as follows:
  • 6%/12 to indicate 6% interest payed monthly (12 months)
  • 360 total monthly payments (30 years * 12 months/yr)
  • Principal amount = Home cost * (1 – %down payment)
  • take that value and subtract (home cost * 1.5%) for taxes + insurance.

• optionally subtract $X for HOA dues if you buy a condo.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is only $49.99 for XBOX 360 or PS3. That’s $10 cheaper than standard retail prices. Shipping is free and there’s no tax!