I Has Blog

2012-01-06T09:08:00.001-08:00

This year I will try to be more picky when adding videos to my parkour playlist. Here's 2011: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL39C49362EFDA2147

2012-01-05T20:11:00.001-08:00

This is what we train for:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVX9dAj8e8w

2012-01-02T07:26:00.001-08:00

You know that place that has all the trampolines?
I went there and did some jumps.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOtmxkGRQXM

2011-12-31T21:13:00.001-08:00

Spent the first 30 seconds of 2012 in a handstand.

2011-07-09T20:22:00.001-07:00

Latest Bike the US for MS video is the best one so far! Watch it here: http://youtu.be/ye3z3fsLWZY

2011-05-26T17:09:00.001-07:00

I put together a little parkour video recorded on my phone:
http://youtu.be/g1-MTXH_Dck

2011-05-22T18:11:00.001-07:00

Went to the window to see the crazy lightning. Ended up watching Game of Throwns through a neighbor's window.

2011-05-22T17:29:00.001-07:00

I made a new video. Check out the Virginia Tech Parkour action!
http://youtu.be/hNIBWOWZHRM

2011-05-22T02:33:00.001-07:00

What a man: http://youtu.be/Z6KNjZmRLrY

2011-05-14T07:07:00.001-07:00

GRADUATED

2011-05-14T06:36:00.001-07:00

GRADUATED

2011-05-13T16:56:00.001-07:00

ITS A VELOCIRAPTOR!
http://youtu.be/SxeN3eF_1Cw

2011-05-13T16:10:00.001-07:00

Is this really real?
www.ro.me

2011-05-11T09:44:00.001-07:00

DONE

2011-04-20T15:46:00.001-07:00

Powernap!

2011-04-18T20:43:00.001-07:00

Gonna tape this to my handlebars during the Bike the US for MS tour.

2011-04-13T10:01:00.001-07:00

Eat at Moe's TODAY, anytime from 5 to 8 pm, to help Bike The US For MS!
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=177617555622669

2011-04-11T07:12:00.001-07:00

Moe's Fundraiser Round 2! April 13th! Bring your friends! http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=177617555622669

2011-03-08T13:33:00.001-08:00

Just rode 30 miles targeting hills the whole way. I highly recommend the MapMyRun app for anyone who rides with an android or iphone.

2011-03-03T07:44:00.001-08:00

Headed to Austin, TX for a couple days. What's it like in Austin?

2011-02-23T13:25:00.001-08:00

Bike The US For MS Fundraiser at Moe's, TONIGHT, 5-8pm.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6213850/Flyer.pdf

2011-02-20T01:23:00.001-08:00

In case you didnt hear, Bike The US For MS Fundraiser at Moe's, Wednesday 2/23, 5-8pm. http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=178652495513152

2011-02-18T17:18:00.001-08:00

First road ride I've done in a while. Gettin pumped!

2011-02-03T08:54:00.001-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aDt7loyEfU

2011-01-21T10:07:00.001-08:00

My independent study has been approved! Also, I apparently have a math minor. Crazy!

2011-01-20T11:27:00.001-08:00

Jetcarstunts is currently my favorite FREE game on Android.

2011-01-18T03:43:00.001-08:00

Awakening for the first day of my final semester.

2011-01-03T21:52:00.001-08:00

New version of the VTPK website is up and running!
Tell me what you hate about it.
http://www.parkour.org.vt.edu/

2010-12-31T21:02:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year!
Any creative resolutions?

2010-12-31T17:17:00.001-08:00

Everybody check out my friend CJ's new photograghy website! See if you can find the picture of me.
craigyungerphotography.weebly.com

2010-12-24T11:36:00.001-08:00

I just did some websters and front tucks from the slackline.

2010-12-18T22:19:00.001-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8xBr_qT8iA

2010-11-26T17:34:00.001-08:00

http://www.wimp.com/pattycake/

2010-11-24T02:27:00.001-08:00

The audio has been changed:
FROM THIS -> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HlcXEtzDbM
TO THIS -> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jquXcwooV6A

2010-09-30T03:58:00.001-07:00

I just spent 16 of the past 19 hours, working at a computer in the systems lab.

2010-08-30T12:55:00.001-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fElW_T72bmY

2010-08-13T12:01:00.001-07:00

I just gotta finish this paper by midnight and pass my exam tomorrow. Then, I get my week of summer break.

2010-07-11T13:47:00.001-07:00

Click link: http://listen.grooveshark.com/#/artist/Phil+Collins/451
Click "Play All"

2010-07-11T13:44:00.001-07:00

10 minutes after sitting down at a computer in torg, I was running Ubuntu in VirtualBox. Usually, it takes longer just to download the iso.

2010-07-07T20:20:00.001-07:00

Today the apartment was over 90 degrees. Tonight the AC is on and I am sleeping right in front of it.

Chicago Colossal Jam 2010

2010-06-29T00:57:00.001-07:00

I Am Sub Zero

2010-06-28T00:25:00.000-07:00

On friday, my friends and I went to the pool for some relaxed yet very intense fun time. There were intense tennisball games. An inflatable walrus or lapras thing was fun, but got destroyed and became a lapras costume. Also people were throwing people, standing ontop of people, and even flipping off of people. It was epic.

What you need to know for the subzero part of this story is that I brought freezepops to the pool and they melted. One of the great things qualities of freezpops is that they can be melted and refrozen without making a mess or being ruined like a standard popsicle would be. So I put them back into the freezer, to be refrozen.

When I opened the freezer a day and a half later, I found something mysterious. Most of my freezepops were completely frozen, but there were two red ones that somehow resisted the power of science. These two red freezepops remain completely liquid without a any sign a freezing process.

What I did next made feel like a supervillan. I took out the two rebellious freezepops, I set them down on the counter, and I slapped them... In a matter of seconds the freezepops froze right before my eyes. Starting from where I slapped it, a chain reaction sent a wave of instant ice through the freezepops.

To better understand why I decided to slap the freezepops, you should watch this video that I had seen a couple days prior to this event.

I did not think I would actually get to see this process happen in front of me (especially not so soon or by accident) and then it happened.

AT&T iPhone 4 Preorder is a HUGE Disaster

2010-06-16T14:11:00.000-07:00

The iPhone 4 is pretty cool. BUT OHMAIGAWD ATT is making a huge freakin mess of the preorder process.

If you havent heard about this yet, click any or all of these articles:
http://gizmodo.com/5563909/apple-iphone-4-pre+ordering-is-a-total-disaster
http://gizmodo.com/5564262/apple-iphone-4-order-security-breach-exposes-private-information
http://gizmodo.com/5564913/proof-iphone-4-pre+orders-using-other-peoples-credit-cards-shipping-info
http://gizmodo.com/5565084/att-suspends-iphone-4-pre+ordering-after-system-collapse

What Happened?
First, the in-store preorder process was taking obscenely long amounts of time (20 minutes per costumer).
Then, Apple's online store couldnt process upgrades.
Then, people were being charged multiple times.
Then, people signing in to their ATT accounts ended up in other people's accounts.
Then, people noticed that the charges were going to someone else's credit card and/or shipping address.
THEN, ATT took down its online system.
THEN, ATT stores continued to take credit card and phone numbers, but not actually process orders (Using pen and paper in some instances...).
THEN, some ATT stores just closed their doors.
THEN, a bunch of preorders were converted to backorders.

What Did Apple Say?
Apple made a statement saying that over 600,000 preorders were taken in a single day and that this is far more than they had expected "resulting in many order and approval system malfunctions".

Why Did This Go So Bad?
I really cannot answer that question. OK, so they received more preorders than they are used to. They should be able to handle it. As far as I know 600,000 is not a big number at all in terms of processing data elements. But lets pretend it is, for now.

So their system was unable to process the immensely large number of preorders they received. I see how that could cause slow downs, malfunctions, and failures. But THERE IS NO EXCUSE for the system to start logging people into other people's accounts, or to charge the wrong credit cards, or to set the wrong shipping addresses.

Those bold items are unacceptable, and represent a huge breach of security for ALL ATT customers.

What needs to be done?
At&t should trash everything that was processed and start over after they get their act together. They really screwed up on this and it may take some time before people can begin to trust ATT again.

2010-06-16T11:39:00.001-07:00

Kevin Butler's Epic Gaming Monologue:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGZbJlpsohc

2010-06-14T01:01:00.001-07:00

watch this!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RV-2MsmTPNk

2010-06-10T23:58:00.001-07:00

Got quite a workout in the gymnastics room today and watched the final episode of the Ultimate Parkour Challenge.

2010-06-04T21:00:00.001-07:00

HAPPY PARKOUR DAY! Celebrate National Parkour Day by DOING PARKOUR!

2010-06-04T11:42:00.001-07:00

Exam Over. Hello Weekend.

2010-05-22T22:10:00.001-07:00

My dream: http://www.wimp.com/rushhour/

2010-05-21T10:57:00.001-07:00

Go to google.com today and press Insert Coin to play pacman!

2010-05-11T13:23:00.001-07:00

Finished with exams! Time to start doing things again.

2010-05-06T18:31:00.001-07:00

Ultimate Parkour Challenge airs tonight at 10:30 on MTV. WATCH IT!

2010-04-25T20:22:00.001-07:00

This is the first time I got every course that I signed up for, including WORLD REGIONS.

Thoughts on iPhone OS 4 (Actually Good)

2010-04-10T13:21:00.000-07:00

Apple has recently shown off their new OS for iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. Its iPhone OS 4 and its coming this summer. It took way to long for Apple to make these features available, but better late than never. In fact, I think Apple's motto is "better late than on time" since they seem to make a ton of money with that strategy. In any case, you can read about the new features here or watch the hour long keynote here.

The biggest addition is multitasking which all iPhone owners (except for those that have been multitasking on their jailbroken iPhones for months) have been anxiously waiting for. Apple's implementation of multitasking allows background apps to do a limited array of things including using the speakers, GPS, push notifications, local notifications, and completing "tasks". A task is something like uploading photos to Flickr, since it takes a while, but you could be doing other things while it finishes.

Limiting background apps to these operations is a great way to keep them useful while preventing them from sucking too hard on your battery or slowing down your experience. Switching between apps is as simple as double clicking the home button which could be annoying for some people who currently use double-click-home for other actions.

The next big addition announced is folders which creates a single icon for a group of apps. Simple, but I'm afraid Apple's implementation is very limited for 3 reasons. First, each folder can hold up to 12 apps, so if you have more than 12 games then a Games folder will not do the trick. Second, I don't think a folder can contain other folders, so forget about sweet hierarchal app organization. Third, I bet each an app can only be in one folder at a time, so you'll have to keep track of where you put any app that fits into 2 distinct categories.

The process of making a new folder involves dragging one app icon on top of another app icon and magically a new folder is formed with both apps inside it. It also automagically gives the folder an appropriate name based on the apps inside. I don't really see the point of naming folders since the name is only displayed while the folder is open. Adding folders does improve the iPhone OS, but this implementation extremely limited.

Another addition is an updated mail app which adds a unified inbox, and threaded messages. Basically, iPhone' email just got a few features that it should have had all along.

Next is iBooks. Not much to say about this. Reading books on an iPhone is about as inconvenient as lugging an iPad around to read.

We will also be seeing custom backgrounds. Apple really has no excuse for not including this option in earlier versions of the OS...

A big addition for games is the new Game Center which seems very much like XBOX LIVE. It sets up multi-player matches, connects friends through games, and adds achievements to really suck players in. This could be the start of Apple getting into the minds of gamers.

This last addition almost made me throw up at first, but after sitting through the demo, I believe this may be the lesser of two evils. They call it iAds. Its an awful name and a concept that people dont want to even think about. Apple is making it extremely simple for developers to include adds right inside their apps.

Ads might suck, but they do help to keep awesome apps free. By letting Apple do all the work, developers can spend more time making free apps. The iAds that Apple demoed were banners at the bottom of the screen. When clicked, the ad takes over the screen and can contain all the same content and features of any app. iAds are a new form of app and will like be every where once the new OS is out. If you really hate them, pay for an ad-free version of the app.

So there. Its the new software that will change the way people use the iPhone, iPod Touch, and the iPad. Before I end this, I have to switch to all caps and big font to mention one more detail:
MULTITASKING WILL ONLY WORK ON IPHONE 3GS, 3RD GENERATION IPOD TOUCH, AND IPAD... EARLIER DEVICES WILL NEVER MULTITASK. EVER.

2010-03-26T20:28:00.001-07:00

8 hours until VTPK leaves for the North Carolina Parkour Jam 13. I expect nothing but pure awesome all day.

2010-03-26T17:38:00.001-07:00

24 hours until EARTH HOUR ( www.earthhour.org ). I will be in a car for the entire hour, so I hope that counts.

2010-03-25T22:20:00.001-07:00

Had to share this parkour vid: http://ping.fm/dX0vt

2010-03-21T21:13:00.001-07:00

Observe the parkour activities of VTPK.
http://ping.fm/OIxon

2010-03-20T14:55:00.001-07:00

Took a shower with my brand new American Parkour drawstring bag. It will forever carry the scent of bananas.

2010-03-20T13:09:00.001-07:00

The Dragon's Tooth hike was a major success. I conquered a climb that I had been thinking about for 2 years.

OMG Another Test

2010-03-18T21:13:00.000-07:00

Yep, Im still testing junk.

2010-02-04T11:45:00.001-08:00

So today, there was a squirrel inside my apartment! I didnt get to see it, but my roomie got video of it destroying my room. U can C dat L8R

UPDATE: The squirrel seems to be staying in the apartment. Comes out every few hours to cause destruction. I still have not seen it with my eyes...

2010-01-25T12:22:00.001-08:00

Its quite nice outside today so I did a bit of parkour while waiting for class to start.

2010-01-21T11:32:00.001-08:00

Slid sideways on my bike and almost ate it on my way to class. My next class is canceled due to this crazy winter weather. YAY!

2010-01-20T08:03:00.001-08:00

Some books can only be found at the bookstore on campus...

2010-01-19T22:11:00.001-08:00

Just had an amazing meal at IHOP with over 20 crazy kids. Twas a great welcome back to Virginia Tech dinner.

2010-01-19T09:55:00.001-08:00

Getting ready for my first class of the new semester. Dont know what to expect at all.

2010-01-19T09:54:00.001-08:00

First Newbie Night of the semester was a great success. This semester is going to be hardcore parkour!!!

2010-01-09T14:00:00.001-08:00

Ping.fm seems like a good idea...

Hawaii

2009-07-29T20:18:00.000-07:00

I rode my bike again today! I rode 20 miles with a average speed around 16 mph. I was particularly happy that I survived the long, slow climb up the steepest hill that I know of around here. Its a monster.

This post is about my trip to Hawaii back in the end of June. It was a fun trip that included family activities such as body surfing, snorkeling, pool acrobatics, and walking on volcanoes. I especially enjoyed snorkeling because we found quite a few very large turtles.

A couple great things happened for me on this family trip. Firstly, My girlfriend, Tiffany, just happened to also be visiting Hawaii with her family at the same time. So we got to spend a day together in tropical paradise! Also, the Hawaii Parkour crew just happened to schedule their monthly jam on a day that I was there and I was able to jam with Ozzi and some of the HIPK guys. Those two events basically made my trip to Hawaii epic times a thousand.

Here is a facebook photo album of the pictures that I brought home:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2018806&id=1225020436&l=9141bee80c

Bikes and Phones and Apple is the Suck

2009-07-28T18:59:00.000-07:00

Things are getting fixed. I got my phone replaced, so now it will play music. This is the third LG Dare that I have had. It has been frustrating, but its a great phone and I'm really glad its working now.

I fixed my mountain bike. The derailuer hanger broke in half a while ago and when I went to the bike shop, they said that they couldn't order the replacement part because its a foreign bike... So I ordered the part myself and I put my bike back together. I'm really psyched to ride it again. Its been too long.

Yesterday I went to my first baseball game ever. It was a very casual game, not too crazy. I'm not a fan of the sport at all, but for just $9 its a decent hangout activity. Here's the view we had from the $9 seats:

Today I went for a ride on my road bike. I kinda stopped riding when my phone stopped playing music, but now that it is musical again I feel inspired to ride. The route I took didnt stray too far away from home because the weather was threatening to pour water on me. I did a couple loops, climbed a few small hills, totaling about 22 miles.

On a nerdier note, screw Apple.[RANT: They are sitting on a pile of money which is why they are able to produce cool junk like the iphone, but the limitations that they are putting on the app store are ridiculous and its reaching the point where people should start to get angry. Recently they have blocked Google's official Google Latitude AND Google Voice apps. They said Latitude would confuse users (because they think you're all REALLY stupid) and they said that Voice duplicates features already on the iphone. This is all a load of crap and this kind of app rejection will keep the iphone from maintaining its "There's an app for that" appeal. To end this rant I would like to say that I had a bad feeling about Apple ever since the ipod. They seem to open the world to new ideas at the same time that they create huge unnecessary limitations.]

National Parkour Day

2009-06-05T21:47:00.001-07:00

That's right. Today, June 6th 2009, is the first ever National Parkour Day. So go out and jump on something! (Safely)

Happy Parkour Day, America!!!

Here's a cool video of NoSole demonstrating his mad skillz:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83-v11EauXI

IHasBlog
cwacht.blogspot.com

Google I/O 2009

2009-05-28T23:14:00.000-07:00

Google I/O 2009, a massive developer conference hosted by the Google Gods, just took place in the Moscone Center in San Francisco. At this conference, Google unveils some of their newest and biggest projects and developments. Here is nearly 3 hours worth of the youtube goodness that came out of Google I/O 2009:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5aJAaGZIvk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_UyVmITiYQ&feature=player_embedded

Here is a summary of what is going on in these videos along with the times that things are happening:

Introduction
Google Chrome Experiments showing off the capabilities of the Google Chrome browser.

(5:00)
Dr. Eric Schmidt is the first on the stage he and welcomes everybody to the event. He then stresses that "It's Time to take advantage of the amazing opportunity that is before us." Schmidt talks about changing the web computing models so that it "just works."

(11:55)
Vic Gundotra takes the stage and says "Never Underestimate the web." He goes on to explain how Google Maps was once thought to be impossible but is now commonly used.

He shows several graphs:
Graph of new browsers(faster and more functional)
Graph of # of developers
Graph of browser performance
Graph of users
All graphs go UP over time

Then he explains that Gmail introduced AJAX to the developer community and suddenly they developed many AJAX apps. So, people need to know what is possible.

(18:29)
5 things:

1. Canvas - "defines drawing and animation APIs with pixel level control"
This allows developers to make rich, interactive apps WITH NO PLUGINS. They do some demos of interactive graphic applications and show that there are no plugins. The canvas tag has been implemented across all modern browsers(Chrome, FireFox, Safari, Opera).

(23:24)
O3D - Matt Papakipos introduces Googles open source view of 3D graphics in the browser. It is not yet built into browsers. An API is in progress.

(29:50)
2. Video Tag - makes inserting a video as easy as inserting an image. There are no plugins required. Vic shows some examples of how easy it is to put videos onto a website and how they can be viewed without plugins.

(32:33)
3. Geolocation - Its like having GPS when you only have wifi or cellphone tower signal. Jay Sulivan, vice president from Mozilla, talks about how common APIs across all browsers are VERY IMPORTANT. He demonstrates how geolocation has been implemented in FireFox 3.5. Vic demonstrates how it is implemented on on the iPhone, IN THE BROWSER.

(44:45)
4. Database and App Cache - "store user data and app resources locally." This allows developers to make web apps that can continue to work when there is no connection to the Internet.

(48:11)
Micheal A and Greg talk about Palm and how they will be deploying HTML5 on devices like the Palm Pre.

(52:39)
5. Web Workers - Background processing in the browser. This allows process intensive applications to run smoothly without interrupting other tabs. It allows developers to create powerful and responsive apps.

To summarize those 5 things... The future of web browsers will allow developers to make incredible applications and they will simply work.

(55:50)
Vic introduces Google App Engine and Google Web Toolkit, tools which make developing apps much simpler. Kevin Gibbs discusses Google App Engine saying that it allows developers to use and make apps that run on google servers so developers don't have to deal with the hardware involved in keeping an app running.

(1:00:50)
Andrew Bowers demonstrates how developers can use GWT and AppEngine to write an application in java and compile it into javascript and run it in a browser. Also those applications will work consistently on all popular browsers.

(1:08:52)
runAsync- "developer guided code splitting." It is a simple way to split javascript files. It allows web apps to start up more quickly by decreasing the size of the initial download. Then, the rest of the code downloads in the background while the app is running.

(1:12:52) DeWitt Clinton introduces Google Web Elements, embeddable apps that allow site owners to add applications by simply copying and pasting html code, just like to YouTube videos.

(1:17:25)
Vic starts the discussion of Android and introduces Romain Guy who uses an Android phone to demonstrate a few features of Android. He mainly focuses on the search interface. He also discusses the powerful text to speech feature on Android Doughnut.

(1:24:49)
Vic mentions a few more things:
Android Developer Challenge 2
Everyone in the audience gets a free android phone(Oprah Moment)
Don't miss tomorrows discussion!!!!

That sums up the first video. I'm not going to go into much detail about the second video. Not because I don't want to or because its not as important. Just because I wouldn't know how. You really have to see this for yourself.

It's called Google Wave. It is designed to cover all the boundaries of internet messages. It can carry out the tasks of Instant Messenger, Twitter, Email, and do quite a few other things. Also, the whole thing is open source.

It was developed by Lars and Jens Rasmussen, the creators of Google Maps, so it must be good. In the video they do live demonstrations of a ton of features. If you want to know more, check it out here:
http://wave.google.com/help/wave/about.html

IHasBlog
cwacht.blogspot.com

(B)East Coast

2009-05-22T18:39:00.000-07:00

Today is day one of the Big East Coast National Parkour Jam. Its a super awesome fun jam, but I cannot be there today. SADFACE. Instead, I will be celebrating my big sisters graduation from JMU. HAPPY GRADUATIONS MEGS!!! and CONGRATS!

Later in the day, the Beast Coasters will be showcasing some of the coolest parkour videos created by the APK community in what is being called the first ever (B)East Coast Film Festival. It will start at 8:45pm EST on Saturday May 23rd and you can watch it right here!

It will be a very cool show, so tune in around 8:30 to make sure you get a good seat.

http://www.justin.tv/skipperpk

IHasBlog
cwacht.blogspot.com

A Few New Awesome Videos

2009-05-22T13:09:00.000-07:00

If you're viewing this as a note on facebook, then you can't see the embedded videos. You should totally visit my blog so you can see EVERYTHING.
LINK:
cwacht.blogspot.com

Jereme Sanders of Texas Parkour brings us this beauty:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRVxx5EYUaI

These videos feature Damien Walters and Livewire (Shieff).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWB48NUTPSA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z40Hy8F7Md8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MeiwLLZjDo

I think Im going to start putting in a link at the bottom too.
cwacht.blogspot.com

Waiting...

2009-05-19T20:13:00.000-07:00

I've been home for a few days and I'm sooooooo bored, but that's my fault entirely. I need to get outside and start doing things. I have a whole list of things to do and Im not getting it done. First, I gotta get my camera fixed so that I may take epic pictures of the (B)EAST COAST Parkour jam in DC this weekend. (B)EAST COST is the Big East Coast jam and it is the first national jam on the list of national jams happening this summer.

So far the only thing that I've done since I got home is watch the new Star Trek film which, BTW, is a very awesome movie and I recomend it to everyone even if you've never heard of Star Trek. Also, I would like to mention the presence of R2-D2, a poplular Star Wars character in Star Trek. The next time I see this movie, I'm going to be looking for him.

The rest of my time has been spent on the computer as I am awaiting my final grade in one of my classes. It really bothers me that I have not yet received my grade since professors were required to post final grades 4 days ago.

Being on the computer for so long, I have found a few things that I thought were worth noting, like Wolfram Alpha. Its as simple as a Google queiry, but the results are calculated peices of information. Its difficult for me to describe so you should try it for yourself. Enter in your birthday.

Here is a video of Damien Walters. He is ridiculous...

Home For Summer, Catching Up With The Internet

2009-05-14T04:23:00.000-07:00

So, I just got home from college and summer has begun. My first thought when arriving in my neighborhood was "the trees are bigger than they were when I left." It looks strangely different from how I remember.

Once I got to my room, I got on my computer and started catching up on AN ABSOLUTE TON OF INTERNET STUFF that I have been ignoring in order to focus on school things. Here is what's up:

First, I was watching some Hank and John, Brotherhood 2.0 stuff and I decided to visit the Nerd Fighters website. I then searched the site for "parkour" and landed on the profile of my friend and future flatmate Chris Kessler. I took it as a sign that I should create a profile of my own. So today, I announce my official birth as a Nerd Fighter.

Second, Google Calendar. They added an integrated ToDo List!!! [Link] I'm really excited about this because it will help me reach my summer goal of becoming a more organized/productive human.

Third, The Facebook is also updating itself. Now, it strongly encourages the use of Friend Lists, which I highly recommend utilizing. Also, it has added family members to the info tab, so you can feature your crazy relatives.

-DFTBA

Devil's Marble Yard

2009-04-27T14:03:00.000-07:00

Crazy Eddie planned a little trip to The Devil's Marble Yard. The heat was INTENSE that day and the hike was abit longer than I expected. BUT, those rocks were awesome for climbing/jumping on and the view was incredible. Here is how it went:

We Didnt Start The Fire

2009-04-23T21:43:00.000-07:00

Any fan of The Office(American) will apreciate this video:

Here is another very cool version of that song. This one is a fairly accurate depiction of the comment that people leave on popular websites:

Also, today was EARTH DAY. That's why I picked the color GREEN for these videos. That was my only contribution to the Earth today.

Tuesdays @ IHOP

2009-04-22T07:11:00.000-07:00

Tuesday is a special day. It is a day when Virginia Tech students can go to IHOP, eat yummy breakfast food late at night, and pay half price. Tuesday is College Night at IHOP and I always look forward to going. Last night, I was worried when my chauffeur (and good friend), Billy, said that he may not be able to go. Luckily, I was able to convince him to go by using a little peer pressure.

So we gathered up a posse, we went to IHOP, we ate the yummy food, we had a good time, and, near the end of our meal, we began talking with a VERY COOL employee. The conversation began with video games and such. From Super Smash Bros on the GameCube to Mass Effect on the XBOX360, we discussed how our interest in games changes over time. Eventually, our new friend announced that she had written a rap. She then proceeded to serenade us with her (AWESOME) lyrics.

After that, we finished our food, exchanged XBOX Live Gamertags, paid half price for our food, and left. THE END

Stay tuned for next week!

ALSO, you should watch this video:

Guess Who from Kirsten Lepore on Vimeo.

VT Statewide Parkour Jam

2009-04-19T18:04:00.001-07:00

We just had a Virginia Statewide Jam on the Virginia Tech campus. The weather was awesome. I had a ton of fun. Now, I'm tired and sore.

I wasnt able to take any pictures because of my screwed up camera. If someone else puts any online, I will post a link here.

UPDATE:

Photos have been posted here:

http://ajama.org/img/it/Parkour-VT-April/

Free Music Archive

2009-04-10T10:18:00.000-07:00

Honestly, I can easily listen to or download any song that would ever want to. I often use Grooveshark and this google assister in order to do just that. Hooray for the internet. But I've noticed that Youtube has begun to remove the audio from videos that use copyrighted music. For example, the Virginia Tech Pakour Last Jam video has been stripped of its audio.

I have imagined what it would be like to have a list of music that can be downloaded and used legally and for free. Today I found one such list at http://freemusicarchive.org/. Its in BETA right now and they promise to add more songs and features.

In other news, Geico has made a few hirarious videos featuring The Gecko.

Point B

2009-04-06T22:16:00.001-07:00

Point B is a Parkour documentary, and it is my favourite as of now. It discuses many of the big questions and issues involved in Parkour. The all-encompassing nature of this documentary makes it a great source of information for anyone interested in or curious about the art of movement.

Playtime is 66:53 so make sure you have an hour free to watch this one.

LINK:

http://pointbmovie.com/Watch.html

Practical Parkour Contest

2009-04-06T12:05:00.000-07:00

Please check out my contest entry for American Parkour's Practical Parkour video contest. The idea was to show how parkour can be used in a normal every day situation. In this video we are late for class.

To win the contest we need to get more views than the competition. So please watch and share the video with others.

EARTH HOUR and the tallest Leprichon.

2009-03-26T21:12:00.000-07:00

EARTH HOUR IS COMING UP SOON! Get ready to turn off your lights and other electronics for one hour starting at 8:30pm March 28, 2009. The goal is to get as many people involved, so invite everyone you can!

Whats the point? We all need to realize how much energy we are using. By participating in Earth Hour we can get a little practice in using less energy.

Link:

http://www.earthhour.org/

In other news, NATHAN IS A LEPRICHON!!!!

Powershift and Snowball Fight

2009-03-09T04:02:00.000-07:00

I went to Powershift down in DC. It was pretty epic. To put it simply, Powershift is a huge youth conference about saving the planet from our energy sucking tendencies. You should definitely check out the website to see what it is all about:
http://www.powershift09.org/

I took a few pictures. You should be able to see them here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2016620&id=1225020436&l=63773

When I got back to Virginia Tech, the campus was covered in snow and a the traditional snowball fight between the corps and the civilians had begun. Pictures of that event can be found here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2016688&id=1225020436&l=7be6d

The Good, The Bad, and Billy

2009-02-18T21:06:00.000-08:00

Valentines day was fun. I spent the weekend with my girlfriend, Tiffany. I gave her some little Valentines gifts, but no pictures of it. Shoulda taken pictures... I think the chocolate that I gave her melted because it is so hot in her room.

After Valentines weekend I caught some sort of sickness that has been going around. First it was just a cough. Then the cough got worse. Now I have a headache, and I can only sleep for about 3 hours at a time. The worst bit was trying to pay attention during my lecture classes and, now that we have entered the first wave of exams for this semester, I feel the need to really focus. I cant focus...

Also, Billy got a new computer. I cant wait to see it!

Starting From Scratch

2009-02-09T10:51:00.000-08:00

I have failed again. I have had many things to blog about, I never got around to it. School simply takes up a lot of my time.

Since there are so many things that I missed, I am not even going to try to cover those topics. Instead I will simply start from scratch.

I went Skiing!!

2009-01-12T00:42:00.000-08:00

I went skiing in Colorado with my dad and my sister. It was a blast. We only did one day of skiing, BUT we stayed on the slopes from about 9 to 5. After that, we were pooped and barely had enough energy to get dinner.

Go

2008-12-23T23:47:00.000-08:00

My buddy Karuna and I spent the last 2 days moving all of my Uncle's stuff into his new house. It was basically nine-to-five both days and a lot of heavy lifting. Funny thing is, the new house is a mirror image of the old house, everything's the same but flipped. So its like we didnt really do anything, but we did. Anyways, now I'm pooped.

I just spent the last couple hours watching some movies on the internet and I'd like to share my experience. First, I watched The Breakfast Club. I had heard about this movie and decided I should see it and find out what its all about. Now its one of my favourite movies. I just wish that it ended differently, or that it didnt end not at all. Seriously, great movie.

Next I went over to Hulu.com where I noticed a new feature on the site which recommends videos for me based on what I watched. On the list of recommended vids, I noticed a movie titled Go. This movie is insanity. Its like a crazy montage of people being in screwed up situations way over their heads and I really laughed out loud (Although you'll only find it funny if you're a terrible person).

That brings me to my next topic. Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Its a TV show. Its hilarious. I recommend season 3. I can't even begin to explain the kind of humor on that show. It has made me realize that I'm a terrible human being. YAY!

All about awesomeness

2008-11-10T20:11:00.000-08:00

So i decided to write in this again and talk about how amazingly awesome things are right now

I pretty much don't sleep or do homework, like right now i'm actually out jumping on things instead of doing my chem lab report sheet. Also, I spend most of my time with Tiffany, which I GUESS is alright...just kiddinggg. She's awesome too, I like to keep her awake at night when she really should be sleeping, but it's not my choice I swear. So the girls down the hall in her suite are pretty great too, like that Stephanie girl, yeah shes cool totally. Mary is really tall and has red hair, thats cool too. Charisse is pretty awesome herself and Courtney needs to get out more. I don't see much of Amiee though, but I'm sure shes pretty cool too.

Well I'm going to go keep jumping on things because I have this amazing ability to write on my blog AS i jump. Crazy huh?

0bama O8

2008-11-05T05:21:00.001-08:00

he got elected

Mirrors Edge Demo

2008-11-05T04:02:00.001-08:00

The Mirrors Edge Demo is out. Go onto XboxLive and download the demo. I've played it way more than anyone should play a demo and I want to go play even more right now. Maybe its just my obsession with parkour, but this game is going to be my favorite game.

Stuffffff

2008-10-23T17:41:00.001-07:00

AAAAAHHH I need to blog more!!!
Blogging's hard. Seriously.

I dont want to talk about myself, So, I will talk about other people.

Jyles is pretty good, even though he didnt get any sleep

B-Rich dosnt like my pumpkin:

Mary got %100 on her math quiz.

Knox posted a Parkour video:

The Third Dimension!!

2008-09-23T23:30:00.000-07:00

I brought some 3D glasses to VTech. I decided to put them to good use. Now go out and get some 3D glasses so you can appreciate what I have done.

Pictures:

Filler

2008-09-21T23:24:00.000-07:00

I basically just posted this because I feel like I need to post something and I dont have time to actually sit and write anything meaningful. I have begun a few other posts that I have saved. I will post those when I feel like they are completed.

Just sit tight!

Hokie Passport Rant

2008-09-10T01:34:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted anything for a while and the last time I posted something, it was the first thing I had posted in about 2 weeks. One thing I have noticed from Bloggers, Vloggers, loggers in general is that we tend to go for a while, stop, apologize, and then continue going again with the promise that we wont stop anymore. With that said, I will continue going again, but I refuse to apologize. Sorry if you were hoping I would...

Did you catch the irony there? If not, don't worry about it. Seriously though, I have a lot of stuff to talk about, so I should be able to post fairly regularly again for a while.

The main topic of this post will be a story time rant about my Hokie Passport("Hokie Passport" is just a name that we, at Virginia Tech, use for our Student IDs)

It all started last Saturday. For some people, this is "GAME DAY!" For me, it is "Find something else to do day." I don't care for football or all the culture associated with viewing the sport. I was lucky enough to know a group of people who planned a hiking trip for that day.

For the group to get together before hitting the trails, we had to meet off campus as the football game had consumed every bit of campus transportation resources. I rode my bike to the meeting place and then found that my left pocket was empty. But it wasn't empty before. It held my wallet and Hokie Passport. This pocket turned out to be faulty in a way that caused it to fail at holding things during the process of cycling. Its true.

Over the next couple of days, I had my wallet returned to me, and then my Hokie Passport. I even found someone else's passport and returned it to him. I'm really lucky that nice people found and returned my junk. That could have sucked a lot, but didn't. For that, I am grateful.

Now the problems begin.

My Hokie Passport doesn't work. It doesn't work because I deactivated it as soon I had lost it in order to prevent it from being used my whoever could have found it. I went to the student services office to reactivate it on Monday at 4:00 PM, but I didnt have the card with me. I explained that I wouldn't have the card until 6:00 and, since the office closes at 5:00, I need to activate it early because I'd like to eat dinner.

The guy at the counter almost did it! He almost made it all better. I could have received a working card at 6:00 PM Monday. BUT the nice lady behind him explained that they cannot activate a card unless I have it with me. Thats bullshit. He COULD have done it. He WOULD have done it. He SHOULD have done it, but that bitch stopped him. I know that they have a system with rules. The system just sucks major penis, specifically for my situation.

So I got my card at 6:00 and went back on Tuesday. It was a simple process. I was told that I could use the card to buy things immediately and that I would have access to my dorm after about an hour. I was very happy to eat food again, even though I could have eaten 24 hours sooner if that lady had just shut the useless hole in her face.

BUT WAIT! THERES MORE!

Something must have gone wrong during the activation process, because I didn't regain access to my dorm within the hour, or within the next 5 hours... Its slightly inconvenient to not be able to open the door to my own dorm. Ironically, it would less inconvenient for the people that aren't allowed in the building, because they can still get in. The building security we have doesn't really do much good when you think about it.

As of right now, my card is only half way activated. I have to wait for someone to open the door to my dorm in order to get in. If nobody is around to open the door, I have to climb the building and get in through a window(not joking).

I will go back to the Student Services Office and re-re-activate it (notice the use of "re-re", as in retarded). The inconvenience continues on to Wednesday. I will update this once it is all over.

UPDATE:
Right after writing this rant, my card suddenly started working. BUT, it only worked on one of the doors to my building. For some reason, the VT building security system is so complicated that a card that works on one door might not work on another door that goes to the same place! This makes me worried.

So, it took several hours for the card to work one one door. It started working on the other door after a few more DAYS. Why the hell would it take DAYS? Whatever. It did.

Thats the end of that. Finally.

Return To Virginia Tech

2008-08-30T10:03:00.000-07:00

Here's a Long overdue Blogpost. I moved into my new suite style dorm over a week ago...

My suite is freakin AMAZING. The first thing that I noticed when I walked in was the ceiling, which happens to be about 12 feet away from the floor. This makes it possible for me to loft my bed high enough that I can stand straight up under it yet still low enough that I can stand straight up on top of it. Another bed option that we tested out was the lofted bunk. Observe:

We also put up about twenty posters:

Cycling, Swimming, and SHOES

2008-08-14T00:42:00.000-07:00

Last night, I didnt go to sleep. My sleep schedule has been all screwed up lately. So I found myself watching the sun rise and getting more and more tired as the normal wakeup time approached. I decided against sleeping and went for a bike ride.

Its been a while since the last time I went riding or did any type of endurance CV workout, so I expected this to be rather difficult. But it went well. I didnt have much difficulty and never felt the need to stop riding. I did feel very dehydrated, so I'll prepare myself a bit better next time.

Here's my route, around 17 miles:
http://www.mapmyride.com/route/us/md/ellicott%20city/684580168138

ALSO, I went swimming. Here's my underwater face:

When I got home from the pool, I found that MY NEW SHOES HAVE ARRIVED. They're awesome.

Olympic Coverage

2008-08-13T01:52:00.000-07:00

The Olympics is/are happening. Are you watching? Did you get to see the events that you want to see?

If you're watching the Olympics on the tellie, you will only be able to see a small fraction of the action. The ideal setup would be an HDTV with TIVO and broadband service. Even then, you'll only get the events that are popular enough to get covered.

What can you do? Go here: www.nbcolympics.com

NBC has built up a nifty little online video player specifically for Olympic Coverage. Its great to be able to watch whatever event you want to watch whenever you want to watch it. Thats what the NBC is providing.

But its not perfect. The video quality isnt great. Some videos are literally hours long, so it can be hard to find a specific point in the video clip. Also, it uses Microsoft Silverlight, so you'll have to download that if you havent already.

Click to learn more about it:
http://gizmodo.com/5035659/olympics-watching-ultimate-pchdtv-strategy-guide

On a side note, I think they could have posted their coverage on YouTube and gotten the same video quality with a much bigger audience. Im just sayin...