Boarding

Winter has finally arrived, at least as far as I’m concerned. I went snowboarding for the first time this season on Saturday. I’m not going to lie and say it was a great time. I went to Hyland Park in Bloomington, MN. It has a vertical limit of about 75ft and only about 5 runs open so far. Not exactly Breckenridge, but it did get me excited for the season. One potential problem I see for the season is my old ankle injury. Back in High School I pretty much destroyed my left ankle and have limited mobility in it to this day. Hunting a few weeks ago I sprained it bad again (so bad I actually got a bit light headed). I figured it would be fine since I really didn’t feel much pain just walking around. But I could definitely tell while boarding. It felt like my ankle was being ripped apart. Hopefully that heals up better before I do any serious boarding.

It did feel good to be on a snowboard again…

Dinosaur Comics

Click the image for a link to a larger version of the comic or you can check ou the website homepage.


EDIT: This comic just recently grabbed my attention. And this one is about me!

Track & Field

Like many other people, I too remember the good ‘ol days of high school sports. I didn’t play football or swim or anything like that. I was a runner. Running was my forte, so the obvious sports for me were Track and Cross Country. My school wasn’t much competition for some of the bigger schools (our school ~300 students, other schools in the area ~1500 students) but being that running can be more of an individual sport, I did alright.

I was a ‘Jack of All Trades’. I’ve done most of the events: 3200 Meter, 1600 Meter, 800 Meter, 400 Meter, 200 Meter, 4x800 Meter, 4x400 Meter, Discus, Long Jump, and Pole Vault. I did have a few specialties though. I would always run the 1600 meter (mile) run. My personal best was 4:41, which was ok. I know I could have done better, but I was by far the best in my school and didn’t really have anyone to train with to push each other to the next level. My other specialty was the 4x400 meter run. Those of you that were in track are probably shaking your heads now because every track runner knows that the 1600 meter is the 2nd to last race. And the 4x400 is the last. This would mean that I would finish the 1600 meter race and then have to check-in as they called for the 4x400 teams to check-in. Luckily, I was the last leg of the 4x4 so I had a little time to rest.

My favorite moment in track wasn’t crossing the finish line in 1st place; it certainly wasn’t finishing in last place. It was that moment just before the race would begin. That moment where time would stand still as you waited for the gun to fire. I can feel that deep tingling feeling in my chest right now just thinking about it. I’d get a rush of adrenaline as I stood at the ready for the race to start. Then a wave of thunder would sound and I would sprint away from the line. The race was on.

Note to Self

BLaZE and I have known each other since freshman year of college. It comes as no surprise that we have a few stories. This one comes to us from sophomore year when BLaZE and I had a geology class together. This particular story begins the first day of class and continues on throughout the semester, and finally culminates at the end-of-semester fieldtrip for the class.

As any college student knows, the first day of class is probably the most important day for that class all semester. The first day is more important than any exam day, more important than any project due date, more important than any other. This is because the first day is when you choose your seat. BLaZE and I walked into class early on the first day, hunting for that perfect seat. We found a couple of seats which were roughly in the middle of the class, but off to the side. Close enough to pay attention when needed, but definitely not in immediate danger of being called on by the professor. We set down our backpacks as if we were explorers claiming new land for our country. Clearly everyone in the class knew that these were our seats. And there was much rejoicing… yay!

The next day we arrive at class and someone had usurped our throne. It was chaos. A feeling of panic set in as we scrambled to find seats. Once situated, we immediately set to focusing our hatred towards this invader.

This guy was the cookie cutter ‘social outcast’ who had his own unique identity… just like everyone else. He had black framed ‘nerd’ glasses with no real prescription (I’m assuming), Abercrombie jeans, and a fake vintage t-shirt. Throw in an armband and messy hair which he probably spent 2 ½ hours to get just right and you have this guy. Oh, I should also mention that he is one of these people that he carries an iPod wherever he goes. Not to listen to music, but because it’s the cool thing to do. I will refer to him as ‘Toolbag’ from now on.
Funny side story, but at one point in the semester I actually fashioned a grappling hook out of string and staples for the purpose of retrieving his iPod which would lay in a jumbled mess on the ground below his chair. Not to steal per-say, but so we could view his music collection and laugh. What’s that? He has Alanis Morissette followed by Public Enemy #1…. Yep, he’s a thug alright. Anyways, I actually hooked his iPod one day, but with my better judgment kicking in, slid it back.

Back to the story! The semester drew on with this seat stealing villain continually acting like a toolbag, and our hatred continuing to grow. I won’t get into too much detail, namely because this happened a number of years ago already and my memory is growing hazy. The big day came when we would have our final field trip to explore local geological areas of interest. BLaZE and I tried to avoid Toolbag as much as possible, but contact was inevitable. During our lunch, we settled down near a river. To pass the time a few of us in the class had started throwing rocks at a bigger rock jetting out from the water maybe 25 yards away. We had thrown a few rocks, and then walked away as Toolbag and his two lackey friends walked up. As we walked by Toolbag opened his toolbag mouth and said “Note to self, don’t act like primate on fieldtrip.” I was almost in disbelief when he said this, apparently BLaZE was too because he had this shocked look on his face. I am actually proud of myself because I was able to process what he had said and come back with “Note to self, don’t act like douche bag on fieldtrip” before we had walked by each other completely. Toolbag heard and gave a half-turn as if to start saying something, then caught himself and scurried away with his lackeys following. A few days later class ended and we never heard from Toolbag again. A happy ending (fairy tale, not massage parlor).

BLaZE, your thoughts?

Venn Diagram

This grabbed my attention and I thought I would share. Graph Jam has a lot of funny graphs, etc. Browse to your heart's content.

The Great Outdoors

For as long as I care to remember, I’ve been a hunter. Hunting is (generally) cold, windy, sleep depriving, hard work. Most people wouldn’t dream of sitting nearly motionless in a tree for hours on end. I consider it fun.

Now before I continue I would like to clarify something. The following scenario is not hunting. It is not even close to hunting. And people who claim this is hunting should really be embarrassed. Having a guide, whom you pay fist-fulls of money, to hold your hand the whole time as you casually walk through a game farm, picking from your ‘prey’ as if they were produce at the supermarket. “Should I shoot that one? No… I think I’ll shop around for one of the other 30 awaiting trophies.”

There are so many things composing hunting that appeal to me. I’ll highlight a few that really grab my attention.

First and foremost, I view hunting as a challenge. It’s not certain that you will be successful. It takes dexterity, patience, stamina, will, endurance, and above all, LUCK! You haven’t lived unless you’ve woken up in the dark, put on frozen pants, and walked miles through the snow to weather the elements in the hopes of seeing that prized buck.

Second, every time I go hunting it’s a new adventure. No two times are the same. I have enough stories to write a book… or flood the pages of this blog until all but my fellow hunters are driven away. A show of hands: how many people know from experience that you can float a deer across a river? Anyone?

Finally, there are so many amazing things I’ve seen while hunting. I’ve seen so much wildlife and nature. I’ve seen the most amazing northern lights swirling right above my head, meteor showers that have lasted for hours. I’ve seen tons of wildlife; I’ve been 20 yards away from a wolf, and 5 yards away from a family of lynx. The boost of adrenaline you get from an experience like this is intense.

So that is a quick overview of why I hunt. If you want to hear some of my stories; all that is required is a campfire and beer. I’ll be waiting.


Oh, for all you people out there that think hunting is bad and evil and gross… I’d take a look at yourself. I bet that chicken club sandwich tastes good. Just be careful to not get anything on your leather shoes… hypocrite!

Achievement Whore vs. Completionist

The other day my friend Diaz called me something that hit a nerve. He called me an ‘Achievement Whore’. For the unaware, this term has been coined by some to represent gamers who have fully embraced the achievement system of the Xbox 360. Although it does describe some gamers, I don’t believe it describes me at all.

Achievement (noun): a result gained by effort.
Whore (noun): a venal or unscrupulous person.
Achievement Whore: One who gains a result by effort of venal or unscrupulous methods.

I believe a term that better describes my gaming habits is the word ‘Completionist’.

Completion (noun): the act or process of completing.
ist (noun suffix): One that performs a specified action.
Completionist: One that performs the act or process of completing.

Besides the obvious negative connotation that the phrase ‘Achievement Whore’ carries, I don’t believe it accurately reflects the way I view gaming. An Achievement Whore is someone that would do anything to gain achievements. They live off strategy guides word-for-word, they use cheat codes, and they even play through the game ‘King Kong’. They do everything physically possible to get that extra 5 points.

I will admit, I do play to the same end, but with a different means. Even before achievements, I always wanted to finish games. I wanted to finish the storyline, any side quests, and unlock any unlockables available. I’ve always strived to get the most out of my gaming. When achievements arrived with the 360, it was only natural that I would want to get all the achievements as well. However I am not willing to sacrifice my gaming experience by playing awful games I don’t enjoy just for the quick 1000 points it may gain me.

Am I an Achievement Whore who is trying to save face, or am I truly a Completionist as described? I believe I am the latter, but I suppose you can make your own decisions.

Oblate Spheroid Geometry

I know what you’re thinking, the title sounds scary so I will just skip over this post. Well, you would be missing out, because I have a pretty interesting side project at work. The problem is fairly straight forward: find the distance (km) between two different points of latitude and longitude. I need to write a function (JavaScript, ColdFusion, etc) to calculate exactly how far Los Angeles is from London. However, the solution could be problematic.

In the perfect world, we could assume the world is a perfect sphere. If we assume this, an equation like this would solve:

Given Location1 = (Latitude1, Longitude1) and Location2 = (Latitude2, Longitude2) in degrees:

Convert the latitudes and longitudes from degrees to radians.
Lat1 = (Pi * Latitude1)/180
Long1 = (Pi * Longitude1)/180
Lat2 = (Pi * Latitude2)/180
Long2 = (Pi * Longitude2)/180
Radius of the Earth= 6378.1 km

Distance = Radius * ARCOS(SIN(Lat1)SIN(Lat2) + COS(Lat1)COS(Lat2)COS(Long1 – Long2))

But what if that isn’t good enough? The world is not a perfect sphere; it is more accurately represented as an Oblate Spheroid. That’s right; our world is actually about 42 km wider than it is tall. This throws a wrench into the calculations. That wrench does have a name, and it is called calculus. I’ve been doing some research and could elaborate further, but don’t want to throw too much math into one post.

*I would also like to add that both of these scenarios assume elevation is unimportant. Trying to calculate distance accurately across the contour of the earth exponentially increases the difficulty of these calculations.

If you have any ideas or questions, leave a comment.

Woot! Chute Pt2

Two weeks had passed since my order from Woot! went through. Since then the anticipation has grown. Shipping has taken a long time, and with that I safely assume that the package must be big. It must be a big screen TV. It wouldn’t take this long otherwise. I diligently watch the FedEx tracker. Excitement grows even more as the status on the tracker now displays “out for delivery.” My Harrier Jet is on its way! The receptionist calls my phone to tell me a package is waiting for me at the front desk. She normally delivers the packages; it must be too big for her to move! I can’t wait to get my brand new 4-Wheeler courtesy of Woot! I nervously walk to the front desk and turn the corner to see!!! … … a small 1’ x 1.5’ x 8” package. There must be some mistake- this isn’t the nuclear submarine of my dreams. This is an ordinary looking package.

I walk back to my desk with the package and disappointedly open it. What did I buy for my $1 + $5 shipping. Oh look- a JVC digital video camera case. That’s useful! Now I have a place to store the JVC digital video camera I don’t own. There is something else too, a Go Duster. My interest dwindles until I skim the warning guide.

“Warning: Adult supervision required if used by children under 16.”

What sort of duster requires adult supervision for people under the age of 16? 16 year old kids can shoot firearms, drive 1-Ton Crew-Cab trucks down the road at 70 miles an hour, but they can’t operate this duster without adult supervision. My imagination immediately jumps to the extreme. This duster must be dangerous! Maybe someone could dramatically lose a limb while gently dusting their home or office workspace. I find some batteries for this death dealing contraption. Cross your fingers! I press the power button and the duster comes to ‘life.’ Wow… I’m pretty sure a 16 year old can manage this beast. In all reality I couldn’t see an infant actually getting hurt by this thing.

In the end, my Woot! experience didn’t net me a TV, a battleship, or anything of real value to me. It certainly didn’t deliver me a death-dealing power duster. You may be asking yourself, “What is the moral of this story?” well let me enlighten you. Don’t trust your hopes, dreams, or imagination. They are sure to let you down. At least when it comes to Woot!

Anyone need a JVC video camera case?

Woot! Chute Pt1

Let me tell you a story filled with magic and wonder! Our hearts will be our guide on this mystical journey. This day starts off as any other day. I wake up after hitting snooze on my alarm clock 3-4 times, I quick get ready, throw on some clothes, and I’m out the door to work. And what do I find when I get to work? It’s a Woot-Off!!! For all you followers of Woot! out there, you know what I’m talking about. Throughout the day I monitor the site, carefully monitoring the site. A TV grabs my attention, but alas- it is a refurb. Then it happens… a bag of random crap! Oh… quick… where is the “I Want One!” button? There! Click-it! Oh, it’s processing… processing… yes! Next screen, fill out my shipping information- done, billing information- done. SUBMIT!!! Processing… -Page cannot be displayed- NO! The servers are being hammered by everyone! Resubmit- nothing, resubmit- nothing, resubmit…

-Order Accepted-

My hopes and dreams soar as images of big-screen TVs, new computers, and yes- even a battleship (not the board game… an actual battleship) dance through my mind.

Stay tuned for the conclusion of this thrilling tale.

*Background: for those viewer out there (Who are we kidding, I don’t really need to add the (s) to ‘viewer’) Woot! is a website that usually has one thing for sale a day. The exception is when a Woot-Off happens. When that happens a new item goes up for sale when stock on the previous item runs out. Finally, a bag of random crap is just as it sounds - random. You are at the mercy of Woot! You buy it for $1 (+$5 shipping) and it can potentially be anything. It could be a 60” Widescreen 1080p LCD TV, or it could be a paperclip.

Gears of War 2: Proposal of Purchase

Summary

You should purchase the upcoming XBOX 360 game, ‘Gears of War 2’. The following proposal will detail why purchasing Gears of War 2 is the correct and only logical choice. After reading this proposal, if there is any doubt in the reader’s mind as to purchase the game or not, the only possible explanation is that the reader is, in fact, clinically insane. In the event the reader is deemed ‘clinically insane,’ the authorities will be contacted and appropriate action will be taken.

Proposal

For the insignificant price of $59.99, you can be a proud owner of one of this year’s blockbuster games. Gears of War 2 will not disappoint. With a full campaign, co-op campaign, and multiplayer functionality, this game has the potential to be great. Also, if you don’t get this game, you’re a nub, so grow a pair. Listed below are just a few of the many reasons to purchase Gears2.

Co-op campaign – The co-op campaign is one of the main draws of the game. Instead of a co-op campaign like halo where you really don’t rely on your teammates for re-spawning, strategy, etc… Gears2 requires teammates to depend on each other much more. Teammates can draw fire, flank the enemy, and lay down covering fire on your quest to reclaim your crumbling world. And only a fellow gears may revive a fallen comrade and bring him back to the fight.

Finishing Moves – Beyond what was in the original Gears game, there are now additional finishing moves in the game. Each finishing move you pull will not only give you a boost of adrenaline, but demoralize your enemy into submission. So the next time you bring the enemy to his knees, stroll over to his collapsed body and go American History X on his ass.

Achievements – Let’s face it, who doesn’t want to boost your gamer score to a respectable level. Gears2 just happens to have 1000 of those handy little points up for grabs. So stretch out your arm and reach for that golden ring!

Headshots – There is usually nothing significant about the Headshot beyond the fact that it takes skill on the part of the player. However, Gears2 delivers yet more satisfaction from pulling off this challenging endeavor. After performing a headshot with the Longshot sniper rifle, you can try to figure out where your target’s head went off to in such a hurry, but it may be difficult to discern from the explosion of blood coinciding with the collapse of the now lifeless body.

Meat Shields – Yes you read correctly, a new feature in Gears2 will allow you to pick up bodies and use them as human shields as you run into battle, devastating all that lay between you and your objective.

Chainsaw Gun – enough said.


Additional Comments

• Don’t be a nub – It’s a fact that being a n00b is directly correlated with the following:
  o Haberdashery
  o Being a momma’s boy
  o Erectile Dysfunction
  o Low resale value on your house
  o Endless ridicule
  o Moderate to severe headaches
  o Disownment from friends
  o Night terrors
  o Lack of respect from small children
  o Senility


• Fact – Bears eat beets. Bears… Beets… Battlestar Galactica.
  

Intentions

After sitting down to write this first post, I am finding it hard to separate what I would like to actually write about from a flood of other semi-coherent thoughts that are currently flying about my head. Whatever the outcome, I will intend to write about… my intentions.

I intend to keep this blog up to date and interesting. However ill conceived that notion is. I’ve seen so many of my friends’ blogs start out strong with new posts every day or so. They write about interesting, well thought out topics. The sky is the limit. But a month passes, maybe two, and the blog has since transformed into a shell of its previous brilliance. Suddenly the blog is used for nothing more than a glorified Facebook status message, then nothing, nothing at all. I’ll try to not let that happen.

Notice that I said previously that I would try to keep this blog interesting. Interest is in the eye of the beholder… I’ll be using my eyes. My intention is for this to be a place for me to address anything. Be it about an interesting problem I am trying to solve at work, an update on how my endeavors for hunting went, or the latest breaking news relating my personal interests. And I’m sure I’ll have a post or two about what grinds my gears (hello, lawsuit from Seth MacFarlane).

I also intend to compose my posts with a degree of competence. I will be the first to admit- I am not the most literary person in the world. I’m sure my grammar and vocabulary leave a bit to be desired. But what can you really expect from a developer? I’m more concerned with the syntax of the code I write as opposed to if I have a run-on sentence. Let’s face it, the best I can hope for is that Word catches my spelling errors and I have the presence of mind to proof-read these things occasionally.

Finally, I intend to keep things PG, you know- for the kids… (I wonder how long that will last)




What did you expect, a novel?