The Blog of Patrick Krebs

Recording Electricity Usage for the First Time

2010-11-17T01:30:00.000-08:00

I finally decided to go ahead and create a page for our project.

Tonight I purchased a Kill-a-Watt electricity monitor and started recording data. I got this particular monitor because it is extremely hackable. In the future I plan to crack the device open and re-wire it. My goal is to get the device to send data wirelessly to a central server which will constantly be recording the data gathered.

For now however I am limited to a notebook, a pen and a plain old timer. Here are some of the records I took this evening:

None of the power cords, plugged into non-operational devices drew ANY power. This included my macbook powercord (which was not connected to a computer), and an xbox power cord, connected to an Xbox, set to off off.

Personally this is huge. The media led me to believe power cords connected to outlets drew power even when not connected. If they do the amount of power draw is so negligible it shouldn't be bothered with.

Here is some actual data:

Xbox (On - playing BlackOps)

30 Minutes drew 0.05 KwH

13" MacBook (2009) (Streaming video on Hulu)

1 Hour, 16 Minutes drew 0.04 KwH

26" LCD Samsung TV/Monitor 1080p (Watching TV)

1 Hour drew 0.04 KwH

Hair Dryer (After Shower - I found this incredible)

I ran the Hair Dryer for 1 Minute and it drew 0.02 KwH

So tonight the winner was the MacBook, and the Loser hands Down was the Hair Dryer. This isn't really that surprising since the hair dryer runs an electric motor and heat a coil by very inefficiently bottlenecking electrons into metal, causing the metal to heat up. Still it is absolutely shocking to discover running the hairdryer for 2 minutes is equivalent to watching TV on an average sized television for an hour.

That's all I've got, I'll post more tomorrow.

The World Cup, The Octopus and 2012

2010-07-11T23:40:00.001-07:00

While I don't pay much attention to the world of sports, I do pay attention when it appears clairvoyant cephalopods are gaining media traction. I am of course referring to Paul the psychic Octopus who, as of late, has correctly predicted everyone of the last eight games of the World Cup. According to the grand high wiki Paul is, "a common octopus living in a tank at a Sea Life Centre in Oberhausen, Germany, who is used as an animal oracle to predict the results of football matches, usually international matches in which Germany is playing."

Brief Aside: Make no mistake about it, Paul has his own wikipedia page. Somewhere in this, there is a social commentary on the current state of our world, the internet and the absurd level of obsessive informational recording we as human beings partake in. More importantly though is the deep emptiness you should feel, because, well you don't have a wikipedia page, and "Paul" does.

Getting back to the matter at hand it is absolutely incredible that this invertebrate was right 8 out of 8 times. Even more incredible is that he had absolutely no idea what he was guessing at. Again I'm using the pronoun 'he' because his name is "Paul". Though "Paul" is not without his errors, in 2008 he incorrectly predicted 2 out of 6 games, still amazing in my book.

So in an open letter to the general public and those of you silly enough to have made it this far through these ramblings I will say the following. Let us forgive the fact that this Octopus is indeed a German Octopus. Regardless of "Paul's" nationality there is one question he should be asked. Will the World really End in 2012? I think the German's owe us that much at least, don't you? If there was one way to assuage or confirm the fears evoked by 5000 year old tablet we don't really understand... I say let it be with the "Paul" the Psychic (German) Octopus.

Posted via email from Absurdity

Untitled

2010-07-08T17:33:00.001-07:00

I realize now that I have empty blogging accounts on over 12 social networking sites. So many blogs... but nothing to write about. I'm going to remedy that one day. Sometimes I feel like I have too much to talk about. Blogging seems like an empty activity to me. It's another way to broadcast yourself into a world that is continualy learning to not listen at exponentially greater rates. One day my dad got an account on facebook. I used to call him we'd talk for hours about random stuff nobody else out there likes to talk about. We talk about politics, what the worlds scientists are working on, electronics. Now I call him to tell him a story and he goes, "I know I saw your post..." "Oh" Then I guess I don't have anything more to say...

We spend time doing things. These things generate stories. When enough content is created we release it into the internet and the social networking waves wash over it consume it and it evaporates. I don't know whether that is a good or a bad thing, but it seems to me that it prevents us from actually having things to say when we meet people. For fun I will continue to observe and report... I don't know why, probably as a catharsis. Did I use that word correctly? Does anyone know any more?

Posted via email from Patrick Krebs

The Quantum Computer - Civilization is ending, but in a good way.

2010-05-25T14:49:00.000-07:00

As we pass into the age of Aquarius, a time of great change is at hand. We are met with bleak forecasts of our future. Are we are reaching critical mass? Is the environment is collapsing? Is the oil is running out? Does the population exceed the providence of the planet? I'm afraid the world is not coming to an end, and we are already beginning to see the proof.

Challenges to civilization will always continue to exist. The good news is we will always overcome the odds and prevail. Our unlimited ingenuity and imagination exists for no other purpose than to decide how we will shape the world and our place in it. I present to you the Quantum Computer.

Systematically and exponentially throughout history machines have come into existence to facilitate and ensure the future of our human race. As we have come to know the automobile, the airplane, the radio, the television, the computer, and the internet, we now give rise to the Quantum Computer.

The computer you are sitting at now has a processor, little electrons flow through little gates filtering out equations to present us with the pretty article you are reading now. Your computer may have one or two or maybe even eight processors. Each processor consumes itself with the task, before it outputs a result, and then takes a new task. Each time a task is performed millions of electrons are sorted out and sorted through, physically the way you would slide beads around an abacus. The processor driving your machine performs billions of these tasks sorting through these millions of electrons each time every second, and it's a lot of electrons... Now suppose for a second each and every one of those electrons, every single, little tiny one of them was a processor itself...

That would be a lot of processors. Quite a few more than the one you are using right now. Now suppose each one of those electrons was actually 32 processors. Remember again the computer you sit at now now has only one, or at most eight processors inside of it. That would be a hell of a revolution wouldn't it.

This new computer would be able to solve a problem your computer would take, not a year or two, but the entire time the universe has existed to be able to solve.

It took 60 years from time the Wright brothers first flew before we were walking on the moon. Now imagine everyone who has a computer now, having one of these new quantum computers... and you thought the internet was cool...

http://gizmodo.com/5547170/the-seven+atom+long-transistor-that-will-change-the-world

I'm quite sure civilization is safe.

Is Sarah Jessica Parker Lord Voldemort?

2010-05-17T12:01:00.000-07:00

This morning I was sent a picture of Sarah Jessica Parker. No, not by an enemy...

It reminded me so much of Lord Voldemort I had to do a quick MEME.

So here it is...

Proof positive...

Seriously though...

...she's disgusting.

Further Reading Sources: http://sarahjessicaparkerlookslikeahorse.com/

Rep. Hank Johnson is an idiot

2010-04-01T14:46:00.000-07:00

Congratulations Congress. You've outdone yourselves once again. I don't know how people this f$%king dumb keep getting elected, but they do... So enjoy our congress at work... you deserve to rob the United States of its productivity for the next 2 minutes while you watch.

LOST at PaleyFest 2010

2010-03-01T09:22:00.001-08:00

Last Saturday, February the 27th 2010, I had the fortune to go to the LOST Symposium at PaleyFest 2010. This is probably one of the best most enjoyable events I've ever been to. Here is a list of attendees:

Terry O'Quinn (John Locke), Michael Emerson (Ben Linus), Zuleikha Robinson (Ilana), Elizabeth Sarnoff, Damon Lindelof, Carlton Cuse, Jack Bender, Adam Horowitz, Edward Kitsis, Nestor Carbonell (Richard Alpert)

Overall Damon Lindelof, Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis are some of the funniest, smartest people I've gotten to listen too, and getting to hear them talk about their creation is a rare treat. Also Jack Bender, Elizabeth Sarnoff, Carlton Cuse are some of the most talented Television people out there today, their insights were very enjoyable to hear.

This was my first attempt at filiming a symposium and frankly I didn't even know if there would be enough light to capture the presentations... I filmed as much as I could before ran out of space on my compactflash card, so for the Dexter Symposium Next Thursday I'll go out and buy one or two more cards.

Everything was shot on the Canon 7D, with a 70mm-200mm IS EF Lens I rented from Samys.com for the weekend. The lens worked great, and I learned a lot. Hopefully next time the footage will be a little cleaner.

Also if you'd like to see a bigger version of the video you can visit my YouTube Page @ http://www.youtube.com/patrickkrebs or click on any of the "blue" title links above each video.

Anyway please enjoy and if you do feel free to email me at patrick.m.krebs@gmail.com. I'd love to hear your feedback.

Thanks again!
Patrick Krebs

Here are more pictures I took at the event:
http://www.patrickkrebs.com/lostgallery/

Lost Symposium Paleyfest 2010 (Part 1b)

Lost Symposium Paleyfest 2010 (Part 2)

Lost Symposium Paleyfest 2010 (Part 3)
Terry O'Quinn (John Locke) tells a story about being stalked on the island on his way home one day.

Lost Symposium Paleyfest 2010 (Part 4)
Question: [To Michael Emerson] You've been beat up so many times by so many people - who has hit you the hardest?

Lost Symposium Paleyfest 2010 (Part 5)
Damon Lindelof describes what a LOST Amusement ride at Disney would be like if there was one.

Lost Symposium Paleyfest 2010 (Part 6)
On what writing for Television vs. Film is like.

Lost Symposium Paleyfest 2010 (Part 7)
Question: Is there an actor you wanted to get on the show but couldn't?

Lost Symposium Paleyfest 2010 (Part 8)
Question: Will the Hurley Bird be explained in the last season?

Lost Symposium Paleyfest 2010 (Part 9)
Question: If there was a machine that allowed you to go back in time and shoot footage for current episodes with Walt the way he looked back then, not the way he looks right now as a awkard 17 year old teenager would you use it to put Walt back into the show?

Lost Symposium Paleyfest 2010 (Part 10)
Lightning Round - Fan Questions answered

The 81 Pilot TV Shows You will Be Watching Next Fall

2010-02-22T14:58:00.000-08:00

ABC

1. Awkward Situations for Men: “British TV star moves to America with his wife”
Executive produced by British humorist Danny Wallace, the man whose book inspired Jim Carrey’s Yes Man. We’re saying no.

2. Freshmen – “Three freshman Congressional reps share a row house in D.C.”
Set to star Sarah Chalke and two guys who are TBD. We find her likable enough, so we’ll give it a try.

3. Funny in Farsi – “Family show through the eyes of an Iranian teenager growing up in 1970s Newport Beach”
Based on Iranian-American author Firoozeh Dumas’ autobiography of the same name. Score one for some diversity in primetime.

4. How to Be a Better American – “Father embarks on journey to be a better person”
A multi-camera comedy about patriotism. We blame the Tea Party movement.

5. It Takes a Village – “Teenage boy is raised by an unconventional extended family”
What they’re not telling you: The dad turned out to be gay. We’re skeptical, but we’ll still watch.

6. Mr. Sunshine – “Matthew Perry plays a 40-year-old manager of an aging sports arena in San Diego”
We’re sorry Chandler, but we fear your involvement with any show that’s not Friends is a kiss of death.

7. Untitled Couples Project – “Revolves around two very different sisters”
Wasn’t this called Sisters? And weren’t there five of them?

8. Untitled Dana Gould Project – “Gould stars as high school guidance counselor”
There’s only one high school guidance counselor who we feel deserves his own series — Jeff Rossofrom Freaks and Geeks.

9. Untitled David Caspe Project – “Group of friends is disrupted when one couple breaks up at the altar”
This could either be hilarious or incredibly uncomfortable to watch. It really depends on how we feel about the couple.

10. Who Gets the Parents – “Three adult siblings deal with the fallout from their parents’ divorce”
A little too close to home for way too many people, we’d imagine.

11. Women are Crazy, Men are Stupid – “Based on couples’ self-help book of same name”
Gag us.

12. Wright vs. Wrong – “Revolves around a sexy conservative femme pundit”
Unless this is fictional CNBC “Hot Box” host Avery Jessup getting a 30 Rock spin-off, we’re not interested.

13. 187 Detroit – “Humorous docu look at Detroit’s top homicide squad”
Humor and homicide.

14. Body of Evidence – “Procedural centers on a crime-solving femme medical examiner”
Executive producer Matt Gross describes it as “a female postmortem ‘House’.” We’ll watch that.

15. Cutthroat – “Ambitious single mom in Beverly Hills runs drug cartel”
So it’s like Weeds on steroids.

16. Edgar Floats – “Police psychologist becomes a bounty hunter”
But is he better than Dog?

17. Generation Y – “Follows a group of people with flashbacks to their high school days”
We don’t even enjoy flashbacks to our own high school days.

18. Matadors – “Feuding families run Chicago D.A.’s office, prominent law firm”
Stars Friday Night Lights‘ Zach Gilford in the role of a Romeo lawyer. Yum.

19. No Ordinary Family – “Michael Chiklis heads family that discovers they have superpowers”
The Shield meets The Incredibles? We’d watch, but Chiklis scares us.

20. Off the Map – “Three doctors looking for a fresh start work in a foreign medical clinic”
From Grey’s Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes. This is where they should have sent George O’Malley.

21. True Blue – “San Francisco homicide detectives reunite to solve the murder of one of their own”
It sounds a bit like that cancelled FOX show, Reunion.

22. Untitled Richard Hatem Project – “Femme detective teams with disgraced ex-cop to tackle the conspiracy that framed him”
Stars Battlestar Galactica alum Katee Sackhoff, which will definitely turn on the sci-fi set.

23. The Whole Truth – “Legal show depicts defense and prosecution stories to keep auds guessing until final scene”
From producer Jerry Bruckheimer. It sounds pretty generic to us.

CBS

24. Hitched – “Ensemble centers on newlywed couple and their friends”
Josh Schwartz + Kristin Kreuk + Jack Carpenter = a show we will definitely watch.

25. Mike and Molly – “Couple who both struggle with overeating”
This just sounds depressing.

26. Open Books – “Femme book editor has a circle of friends with romantic entanglements”
A sitcom about book publishing. We’re already bored.

27. Shit My Dad Says – “Revolves around a young man and his opinionated father”
William Shatner is playing said dad, which means we’ll tune in at least once.

28. Team Spitz – “Rob Riggle plays a bombastic high school football coach”
We love him on The Daily Show. So much, that we think this might actually work.

29. True Love – “Revolves around relationships between two couples”
This sounds a lot like How I Met Your Mother.

30. Untitled Ant Hines Project – “British low-life moves to L.A. to reconnect with his daughter, a teen star”
We think this would be funnier if it was about a Southern low-life.

31. Untitled Bays/Thomas Project – “Revolves around an unmarried couple in Pittsburgh”
Again, this just sounds depressing.

32. Untitled Tad Quill Project – “Widowed father of a 12-year-old son reenters the dating world”
Sounds like Sleepless in Seattle, but without Meg Ryan’s character.

33. ATF – “ATF agent juggles work and fatherhood”
We had to Google. It stands for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

34. Chaos – “Follows team of rogue CIA”
If it’s anything like Burn Notice, we’ll try it. Brett Ratner is attached.

35. Criminal Minds spinoff – “Forest Whitaker plays FBI investigator”
Our dads will watch this.

36. The Defenders – “Follows a pair of charismatic Las Vegas defense attorneys”
… in bed.

37. Hawaii Five-O – “Update of the vintage gumshoe drama”
Alex O’Loughlin is the inadvertent black widow of CBS dramas. Not a smart casting choice, people.

38. I Witness- “Professor uses her psychological and physiological skills to solve crimes”
This needs a Patricia Arquette/Kyra Sedgwick level star to make it interesting.

39. The Odds – “Buddy cop show set in Las Vegas
More dudes in Las Vegas? We blame The Hangover.

40. The Quinn-Tuplets – “Follows the lives of five grown quintuplets whose lives have been documented since birth”
Based on the Israeli series The Ran Quartet, not to be confused with Andy Richter ’s Quintuplets, which ran on FOX back in 2004.

41. Untitled Burgess and Green Project – “Revolves around a family of New York City cops”
Is this a reality show? If so, we’re interested. Otherwise, snore.

42. Untitled Medical Project – “Medical team travels the country helping people in life-threatening situations”
This sounds like that Amy Grant show that ran on NBC. But medical.

43. Untitled Redlich/Belluci Project – “Femme NYPD detective has the ability to remember everything”
We’re already annoyed by her.

The CW

44. Betwixt – “Changelings in urban settings protect against evil”
We don’t plan on watching this, but based on the success of The Vampire Diaries, we bet a lot of tweens will.

45. Hellcats – “Set in the world of competitive cheerleading”
Smallville’s Tom Welling will executive produce. This could be either really awesome (Bring It On) or really lame (Stick It).

46. Nikita – “Reboot of 1990 feature”
When will The CW learn about reboots? We’re wary, even with McG involved.

47. Nomads – “Young backpackers recruited by CIA to work in foreign countries”
This makes us think of patchouli.

48. Untitled Amy Holden Jones – “Woman navigates her freshman year at Harvard Medical School”
We’re imagining Felicity: The Med School Years. That could work.

49. The Wyoming Project – “Family show set on a horse farm”
Do little girls still find horses cool? Weird.

FOX

50. Keep Hope Alive – “Guy in his 20s moves back home to raise his child”
Our initial reaction was, “awww.” How manipulative is that?

51. Most Likely to Succeed – “People voted most likely to succeed, 20 years later”
This would be better as a reality show.

52. Nevermind Nirvana – “Two Indian brothers, one traditional, one who defies his family’s wishes”
More diversity! And from FOX, no less.

53. Security – “Computer geniuses are tasked with hacking into security systems”
Sounds like they’re hoping to steal some of The Big Bang Theory’s geek audience.

54. The Station – “Set in a CIA field office in South America”
Ben Stiller will executive produce. We’re in.

55. Strange Brew – “Set in a family-owned brewery”
Only if it’s animated and the family-owned brewery is Duff.

56. Tax Man – “Workplace vehicle set in IRS district office”
Yuck.

57. Traffic Light – “Based on an Israeli series about three male friends”
Another Israeli rip off.

58. Untitled Dana Carvey/Spike Feresten Project – “Sketch comedy”
We want this to be good…

59. Untitled Will Arnett Project – “Beverly Hills man falls for a woman who can’t stand his obnoxious ways”
We know that this will be good.

60. Breakout Kings – “Marshals and ex-cons work together to catch fugitives”
From the writers of Prison Break, so it will be done right. We’ll bite.

61. Midland – “Con man juggles two very different lives”
(500) Days of Summer’s Marc Webb is directing the pilot, and it’s billed as a primetime soap. We’re obligated to watch.

62. Pleading Guilty – “Lawyer assigned to find the firm’s missing star litigator”
A good sign: Bones creator Hart Hanson is attached. A bad sign: We originally read “litigator” as “alligator” and found the premise much more exciting.

63. Ridealong – “Cops in the field in Chicago”
Another cop drama from The Shield’s Shawn Ryan. Are we sick of these yet?

64. Worthy – “Politician finds himself indebted to drug cartel”
The script from In Treatment writer Davey Holmes was inspired by real-life political scandals. Sounds juicy.

NBC

65. Beach Lane – “Matthew Broderick runs a struggling small town newspaper”
We would enjoy a Matthew Broderick comeback.

66. Friends with Benefits – “Five friends look for love but for ‘friends with benefits’”
Barf.

67. Love Bites – “Romantic comedy”
The thought of Alicia Silverstone and Amy Heckerling working together again on a romantic comedy about vampires is so ridiculous that it might just work.

68. Nathan vs. Nurture – “Over-achieving heart surgeon reunites with his biological parents”
We like Jay Harrington and Bill Pullman — but this likely means that Better Off Ted is dead.

69. Outsourced – “Customer service manager is sent to India to oversee call center”
This is based on George Wing and John Jeffcoat’s indie film of the same name, and has been kicking around the network for a few years.

70. Perfect Couples – “Three couples have different definitions of relationships”
There’s nothing more boring to us than other people talking about their relationships.

71. The Pink House – “Two male friends move to L.A. after college”
This comedy is from Conan O’Brien’s production company. So that’s uncomfortable.

72. The Strip – “Former child star owns a Hooters franchise in Las Vegas”
Another one that would be more interesting if it was a reality show. Starring Emmanuel Lewis.

73. This Little Piggy – “Two adult siblings move back home after hitting hard times”
This would be so much better if one of the stars was Miss Piggy. It was originally picked up by ABC, which isn’t a good sign.

74. Untitled Adam Carolla Project – “Contractor rebuilds his life after a divorce”
We’re turned off by the punning in the description and the fact that Adam Carolla is involved.

75. The Cape – “Former cop turns into superhero to prove his innocence”
Could this comic book-inspired pilot out hero Heroes? It wouldn’t be hard at this point.

76. Chase – “Femme-led group of marshals track down notorious criminals”
Another Jerry Bruckheimer-produced drama. P.S. What’s with the obsession with bounty hunters?

77. The Event – “Conspiracy thriller from multiple POVs”
We love picking apart government cover-ups, but the format could be the death knell.

78. Kindreds – “Set at an unconventional law firm”
No one does quirky law firm like David E. Kelley. But are we sick of his shtick yet?

79. The Rockford Files – “Remake of ’70s series about maverick P.I.”
You know how we feel about remakes, but this one is courtesy of House’s David Shore. We’ll reserve judgment.

80. Undercovers – “Husband and wife go back to CIA after years in retirement”
More from J.J. Abrams. Yes, please.

81. Untitled John Eisendrath Project – “Follows a former judge who starts his own law firm”
This sounds rather dry, but he executive produced Alias and Felicity.

This content was reposted from here.

Ian McShane is Aboard as Blackbeard in 'Pirates 4'

2010-02-22T14:50:00.000-08:00

As has been reported so far - Pirates 4 will be called "On Stranger Tides" Which is a pirate book written by Tim Powers. If you've played the computer game series The Secret Monkey Island you're familiar with this book. Most of you think some of the Pirates thematic plot elements where stolen from Monkey Island, but Ron Gilbert himself mentions ripping most of Monkey Island from, "On Stranger Tides". This is why the games and the previous pirate movies are very similar in many ways.

The main plot of the plot however focuses around Jack being captured by Blackbeard and being taken to a supernatural realm where yes the fountain of youth exists. This is likely the plot of the newest Pirates movie, and hooks up with the end of Pirates 3 quite nicely.

Ian Mcshane of Deadwood infamy has just signed on to play Blackbeard in the new movie, which in my opinion is an amazing stroke of casting genius.

Which is encouraging considering Keira Knightley, Orlando Bloom, Geoffrey Rush or Gore Verbinski will be involved with the picture.

Read More Here:

Austin Engineer Drives a plane into an IRS building - Leaves note.

2010-02-18T13:58:00.000-08:00

If you didn't know about this yet, you should.

The article here: CNN Link Speaks for itself.

So does the suicide note he left. Read it here

Basically the government jacked this guy until he couldn't stand it any more, wrote up a public explanation and flew into a building so people would read it.

Luckily so far there are no reported deaths and only one person from the office is missing.

3 Tesla Execs Dead In Palo Alto Plane Crash

2010-02-17T12:07:00.000-08:00

A twin-engine Cessna piloted by a "high-ranking official at Tesla" crashed into an East Palo Alto neighborhood today killing the pilot and two others on board. This is a horrible loss.

- The plane belonged to Doug Bourn, a senior electrical engineer for Tesla Motors.

- Elon Musk, CEO, was not onboard

- Three high Ranking Tesla Executives were aboard the plane.

Read the Article.

CNN Article

New York Times Article

(Humor) The Plot of Batman Begins, according to a Chinese Fireworks Factory

2010-02-16T11:13:00.000-08:00

This is one of the funniest things I've ever seen. Printed on the back of a fireworks package called, "LOG DB-104" is a translated plot synopsis from "Batman Begins." Jeez, I wish I was Chief of Ninja Group, then again that city of Gete sounds pretty rough.

And I Quote:

"BATMAN BEGINS - When being a child, Bruce Wayne had witnessed with his own eyes the fact his parents of Millionaire were killed cruelly, so affected his strong desire of revenging his parents. However, God had never given him a chance to fulfill his will. Following the advice of Rays-Al-Ghul, the Chief of Ninja Group, Bruce come to Gete, which was a corrupted city filled with various crime groups. Bruce found a basement under his villa, in which the equipments turned him into another person: Spiderman. With this mask, spiderman stroke all criminal activates and criminals everywhere, such as Tougon, the Chief of Mafia, Doctor JackStraw, the Abnormal Drug Trafficker, even a mysterious opponents quite familiar with him--------"

P.S. You're welcome.

The Barefoot-Bandit - This kid is amazing.

2010-02-12T15:29:00.000-08:00

Colton Harris-Moore otherwise known as, The Barefoot Bandit, popped up again this weekend in Washington State. If you don't know who this kid is you should. This kid has eluded authorities for 2 years now. He's stolen 4 airplanes, which he's self taught himself to fly and crashed 3 of them... and survived He squats in unoccupied houses and when they come looking for him, he runs out into the woods and hides in the trees subsisting on survival kits.

Say what you will... but I've gotta love this kid. He is the epitome of fighting the man and flouting authority. On his latest romp he landed on an island with a population of only 4500 people... and they still can't catch him. At least he's getting better at controlling the aircraft after all he's never landed before. I'm sorry but whoever the FBI has looking for this kid... You're Fired!

This just goes to show you how easy it is to fall off the grid. No cell phone, no credit cards, no tracking.

Facebook Fan Site
Latest Article - Published Feb 12th, 2010

Why Multitasking Makes you Stupid - An Open Letter to a New Generation

2010-02-11T16:54:00.000-08:00

Dear New Generation,
You think you are good at multitasking; which you think means you are brilliant. However you are actually easily distracted, your memory is very disorganized and you have poor analytic reasoning skills - so put down the laptop, turn off your TV, take off your head phones and get back to work...At least this is what Stanford studies are revealing about multi-taskers.

I remember what it was like to be 18. I raged against the social injustice of the 21-year-old drink age with the rest of the teenage beatniks. I know what it's like to be called scatterbrained, forgetting where I left my keys, but I have to side with Stanford on this one. If you are a teenager who thinks you are smarter than older people because you "multitask" and "interface" better than we do... you're wrong. Talking on facebook, checking your email, playing Modern Warfare 2 and eating at the same time is not multitasking. You're simply wasting your time and your brain 4 times faster than the older human-being...

I'm not judging you. I'm guilty of doing the exact same things. I'm just saying it's time to realize you're not a magnificent magical genius that can balance 4 tasks at once. When you can teach yourself to play the guitar, while reciting prose and painting all at once... then we'll let you write a proposal while you chat on gmail, or balance a budget while you repost Ashton's tweets. Until then keep the arrogant whining about entitlement to yourself and reflect on the Shakespearian quote, "We are consumed by that which we are nourished by." and watch this video to understand what it means and how it applies to you... oh ye of little analytical reasoning skills....and for those of you that don't remember the last second because you were writing a text message at the same time - I said, "and watch this video to understand what it means and how it applies to you... oh ye of little analytical reasoning skills."

Toy Story 3 Trailer - #2

2010-02-11T09:51:00.000-08:00

Check out the new Toy Story 3 Trailer!
Looks cute.

Cast:
John Morris, Laurie Metcalf, John Ratzenberger, Tom Hanks, Joan Cusack,Tim Allen, Michael Keaton, R. Lee Ermey

Toy Story 3 Trailer

Movie Title Sequences and how they are created

2010-02-11T09:44:00.000-08:00

Have you ever wondered who was responsible for creating Title Sequences in Movies? If you are a geeky filmophile like me the answer is, "Yes!" for every movie. Well there is a site for that. It's called "Art of the Title" I've provided the link below for easy access.

Some of the projects they've dissected are:

Sherlock Holmes (The New Robert Downey Jr. Movie)

After Hours (Martin Scorsese)

Bonfire of the Vanities

Snake Eyes (They can't all be winners)

Boogie Nights

OutBreak

Serenity

And countless others.

If you haven't been there already, seriously, check it out it's rad. If you have been there already bookmark it, you'll need it for reference later if you're in my field/industry.

Art of the Title <----- Here is the site!

(Credit where credit is due: I found this Web Site through Keith Yan - who is by the way a brilliant artist, photographer and friend of mine.)

Kate (Evangeline Lilly) from LOST in a Phone Sex Commercial

2010-02-10T12:26:00.000-08:00

Kate (Evangeline Lilly) from LOST in a Phone Sex Commercial
This was too good not to share. Thank you universe for providing.

iPad YouTube Video reaches 2,349 views

2010-02-08T10:36:00.000-08:00

In 11 days my YouTube video previewing the new iPhone/iPad SDK (Software Development Kit) has received over 2349 views. This is the best I've ever done on YouTube so far... so I'm proud of it.

Thanks if you are one of the views, and if you aren't please check it out....
I will be posting many more in the future.

Fringe Spelling Fail?

2010-02-05T16:33:00.000-08:00

Airing on February 4th, 2010 - Season 2 Episode 15 - In an episode called Jacksonville of Fringe we open up in an alternate reality. So I'll give J.J. Abrams the benefit of the doubt on this one. However if this is unintentional it's a hell of a mistake. Manhattan is spelled...

M-A-N-H-A-T-T-A-N.

Let's hope there is some future explanation for this one.

Why Hasbro Executives are retarded morons.

2010-02-05T12:40:00.001-08:00

I am writing this post in response to the recent news. In case you haven't heard, "Monopoly" is being "updated"... again.

The last time this happened, they dumbed the game down by giving players credit cards instead of cash. In my humble opinion, this is symptomatic of the dumbing of America. This entry is however not about that (which I'm still pissed about btw) but rather about the newest infectious mental retardation that has swept through the marketing department at Hasbro.

Click Here to Read the Article I Read

Lesson:
Monopoly is a classic board game. We love it. We grew up with it. It's successful. Lock it down and move on. There is no need to modify or redesign an already wildly successful product.

Example: "New Coke"

Back then Pepsi had spammed the airwaves with blind taste tests showing Pepsi winning over Coke. Coke in a knee jerk reaction yanked their formula and gave us New Coke. Two things happened - new customers were not attracted and old coke drinkers not only stopped drinking coke, but lined up at Coca Cola factories everywhere with pitchforks and torches threatening execucide.

So Hasbro executives, if your listening - board games are rectangular for a reason. I'm sure you don't read very much, blog entries like this don't count neither does Yahoo! news. I'm talking about books... yes they still sell them, you may be to young to remember them, but they are still out there. And I promise you somewhere in the basement of your building there is a box with marketing data from back in the 1920's. I am very sure it explains why board games are made rectangularly... but to most of us this is common sense. Apparently this was lost on you, marketing executives at Hasbro.

So congratulations for turning one of our most cherished childhood board games into a roulette wheel... you truly deserve the $150,000 debt you racked-up for your MBA. Next time you might not want to spend your book allowance on cocaine.

('’)