Full Throttle

Would You Say I Have A Plethora?

For I do indeed have a plethora, a plethora of topics to touch upon! I will start off with the humdrum and from there slowly build a torrent of awesome so at the very end your mind will explode, spraying forth a mass of what was once your brain. So pop on Tribute by the D and listen to my tale.

Classes

I finally got all my classes figured out for the Fall. A major problem that sucks is the current error with Enrollment Services (go advisor for not telling me my paperwork for admission into the major program was never done) will prevent me from taking any upper-level classes this semester. Frustration! My academic career keeps getting extended....

However, I get to pack my schedule with the last bit of lower-level classes that are left! My current schedule is pretty good, with a lot of room to work 20 hours a week which is needed. Hopefully I'll be with the University still or moved onto the Transportation Security Administration positions they got open.

Monday: 5:30pm-6:45pm Introduction to Statistics for Business and Economics

Tuesday: 8:30am-9:45am Trigonometry

      2:30pm-3:45pm Computer Concepts in Business

                4:00pm-5:40pm Elementary Spanish II

Wednesday: 5:30pm-6:45pm Introduction to Statistics for Business and Economics

Thursday: 8:30am-9:45am Trigonometry

       2:30pm-3:45pm Computer Concepts in Business

                 4:00pm-5:40pm Elementary Spanish II

                 7:00pm-8:40pm Fingerstyle Guitar I

I'm pretty pumped about learning guitar. I've wanted to do that for a long time and it'll be nice to finally learn it. I've also decided to re-pursue a Spanish minor to add to my attractiveness in the Law Enforcement fields. Once these classes are done, all I have left is the Intermediate Micro and Macro sequence, Calculus, six upper-level Economics classes, and three upper-level Spanish classes. Also packed into that is my Honors classes (assuming I decide to enter the Honors College). I probably won't graduate until '10 or even '11. Not too bad, really.

I'm also thinking about taking next semester off and only doing Calculus (which will be a lot like this), Spanish and one Economics course while I do an EMT I and Wilderness First Responder certification courses. Plus, next year I can start doing Reserve Police Officer stuff, which will be very nice.

College Republicans

Jaren Hoffman, the Chair of the Alaska College Republicans, asked me to be his Vice-Chair of the entire state. I'm pretty excited about working with the Statewide organization and we've got a lot of stuff planned. UAA's Chapter, of which I am the Chair, is plugging along, with Erik Swanson agreeing to be our Chapter Vice-Chair. I've formed a rough agenda for the Fall Semester and have a few club officers picked out. We are going to be pretty active! It's turning out to be a solid group of guys and gals that have signed up so far. I think it'll be great.

We just now got a MySpace profile up at www.myspace.com/uaacollegerepublicans. Feel free to add us or shoot us an email at [email protected]. I am really enjoying the opportunities the College Republicans present and I think I can work to present Republicans in a different light then they are right now (yes, we actually DO believe in smaller government!). Hopefully my Economics professor Larry Ross will agree to be our faculty advisor.

I need to get business cards and a vinyl banner made up for our chapter still. So much work to do, so little time!

I'm also going to try and run for USUAA Senator, to help the guys out in student government. With Roberson as the USUAA President I think it'd be a blast to start working with everyone in there. I'm going to pass around the petition packet over the summer and hopefully get the 120 signatures I need to get on the Senate. 

Microsoft's Surface

Ok, by now everyone should have seen this. Popular Mechanics has been talking about Surface, the new multi-touch technology from Microsoft.

Gattis took out a digital camera and placed it on the Surface. Instantly, digital pictures spilled out onto the tabletop. As Gattis touched and dragged each picture, it followed his fingers around the screen. Using two fingers, he pulled the corners of a photo and stretched it to a new size. Then, Gattis put a cellphone on the surface and dragged several photos to it — just like that, the pictures uploaded to the phone.

This is pretty neat. I've been waiting for something like this for awhile. This is really the advancement in technology, seamless integration. It's the future of computing. However, it is unrefined and as is, not really all that incredible as it seems. While everyone is going nuts over this, there are a few things to point out:

• As a table, your ability to use it is limited. It's basically quick interaction device and will not replace any form of computing we currently have. Drop a camera on there, play with your pics or check out a video and that's it.
• Only super fancy clubs or restaurants will have these and really, how will it impact your outing experience in it's current form?
• Don't expect to see this everywhere in your house like everyone's been saying for at least another thirty years.

Look at television. That started out in the 50s and it wasn't really until the late 90s that pretty much everything had television built into it. While Surface might be the shape of things to come, that shape is still in the early process of molding.

That being said, it sure is damn sexy.

I've got more I wanted to cover but it's late and I need to press on. I'll try and get some more writing done tomorrow about all kinds of stuff. For right now, I want to point you to a really good site ran by a friend of mine. http://www.socialstrategist.com/ is a great site focusing on innovation in communication. I highly recommend subscribing and checking it out, it's a fascinating read. In fact, it is so highly regarded that corporations are now hiring him merely to write words packed with the power of incredibleness for their corporate needs.

That's pretty cool.

Victory!

Pinging your Tung

I love my mathematics professor. A Chinese immigrant (who's been in the US for dozens of years) named Ping-Tung Chan, he's like the superhero of this tiny crummy commuter college. PT, as he's called by everyone, is all about the students and whatever it takes to help us. Thus, the faculty and administration hates his guts and all students love him. It's pretty awesome, however, as he doesn't believe in homework only "learning". No pressure!

I'm here until 5:15, at which I promptly leap from here like a gazelle from danger and flee towards my paycheck. In which I plan to pick up an item (DVD or game, not sure) and head home to face homework, not being sick and then some more homework with a few tidbits of hardcore gaming. This is my life, unadulterated and unfiltered. Raw, for you. Gaze into it and weep in the dawning realization that you are a mere tiny speck compared to this fully armed and operational battle station. Ignore the innuendo that has been crafted with that statement and move on.

I found something of suitable quality to absorb my time, it is a truly hilarious. A man, nay a genius, on some forum created a Sims 2 family based on various forum members. He then lets the game simulate the entire thing while recording the consequences with a well-written diary. The result is pure, unbridled hilarity and you should all go read it right now (foul langauge warning omg-u-kiel-baby-angles-if-u-reed-it).

NFL Season starts today and it's about time. Real men, doing manly things like hitting each other. Honestly I don't know how I get by without my dose of football, it's the miracle of our time. Steelers play the Dolphins today at Detroit, 4:30 Alaska Time. I'm hoping to catch most of it via the radio while making the commute home. I really want to see the Seahawks return to the Bowl but with the jinx... I dunno...

Anyways, that's all for now.

- Maddog

my balls, balls, balls

Wall of labor

Today we worked on the retaining wall but made very, very slow process. The quad-lock took more time then we figured and we were bogged down by tools that didn't function right. All in all, it was slow going. We installed only the base metal strips where the quad-lock foam bricks snap into on the very bottom. Tomorrow we face the large task of assembling the rest of the wall. Hopefully it should move a lot quick.

Caitlina and Mike stopped by today and we all played a 3-on-3 basketball game, with Casy, Matt and Mike on one team vs. Dad, Caitie and I. We won, I scored the final shot. We played a ton of basketball, probably a half-dozen games. Several hours worth at least, due to major lags in labor that forced us to wait around while a tool was being fixed. Matt comes again in the morning and we face a lot more work.

I'm pretty tired and sore from constant basketball and work, so I'm crashing early. Weee.

Two things. One, the Chad man has joined the blogging craze and has established his own vessel of communication. You can find it here. It may not make sense but read it none the less! It's a cool blog and I'm looking forward to more stuff from him soon.

The other is a cool little online doo-hickey that I found called Cyber Nations. It's a lot like Nation States but rendered in a superior manner. It's an online nation building simulation, where one establishes what kind of nation they want to run and build infrastructure, military, set taxes and manage imports/exports. It's a great little game, riddle with complicated player politics and massive wars. Currently the entire game is engulfed in a huge war that was started by a tiny scuffle, triggering the immense layers of stragetic alliances that the many players have created. It's great fun. You can find me here, the Royal Arcadia States, a proud member of the W.A.N.G Alliance!

I'm off for blessed sweet sleep,
- Maddog
and make me hip like badass

PostBubble: Blogging Web 2.0

PostBubble is a wonderful blog that is undertaking a formidable task: blogging the new features of Web 2.0. It's new, just over a few months old, and so far is holding great promise. Written by some Internet marketing specialists over at ACS, PostBubble reviews what is floating on Web 2.0 and what is sinking. It's an excellent way to keep track of rising stars, keeping tabs on who is the new Digg or Youtube.

Filled with fascinating posts about marketing social networking, hot trends that crop up on 2.0 sites and new ideas in ecommerce, PostBubble is a great blend of marketing news, gossip and information on the Web 2.0. The blog offers interesting reviews on new websites that embrace web 2.0, branding them as either floating to the top or sinking to the bottom. I highly recommend it as a wonderful addition to your RSS reader. This is one blog that is floating to the very top.

Your gossip king,
- Maddog
we all float on well

Photoshop Rebellions

I love the Drawn! Illustration Blog. It's a great place for all kinds of nifty artwork and interesting links. One of the great places they linked to is this really cool Stick Figure Death Animation. Now, SFDAs are old hats, having been done to death about a million times. But this person has created a really original animation, quite a bit of creativity.

Enjoy the view!

Doom and gloom,
- Maddog
my field of flowers

Flicker On

I've updated my Flickr account with more wonderful photos, as I'm slowly releasing all my recent photographic activity onto the account. You can check out via the Flickr Badge on the right side of the blog.

Check out this awesome video. God bless the internet for bringing us such wonderful and pertinent forms of entertainment such as this:

I fly away,
- Maddog
give every whore a hug

Man, that dinosaur is dumb

So today, I went and got my haircut after attempting to do it myself. Yea, not the smartest thing ever. It looked like a lawnmower died on top of my head, so I said "screw it" and shelled out big bucks for a girl to spend ten minutes whacking my hair down to nothing. I also trimmed my beard down a bit but I'm still not wanting to lop it off fully.

Also, check out this awesome site is right here. I think dumb dinosaurs is my favorite thing ever. They've also got Tiny Plaid Ninjas, which is kinda awesome, I guess. I've never been into the whole huge Ninja or Pirate meme that is always circulating the internet, so whatever.

E3 is starting soon and the Sony Press Conference has just happened. And they announced their new PS3: $600 for more of the same. Man. Such a bad, horrible move and the backlash is amazing. What the hell where they thinking, seriously? Annoying controllers that offer a gimmick more then anything. Nintendo better make me love the Wii because PS3 sure isn't getting any Maddog luvin'.

I finished my last college final today! YES! My summer classes, Math and 3d Animating, start on the 15th though, so ugghhh. I get basically one week off and I will do hella nothing but write. I've been doing a ton of writing recently and I need to start writing more in the blog then anything else. Maybe I'll adopt Jay's method of self-discipline... Anyways, I think I got all As in my classes, hopefully. Means my GPA should be around 3.7ish, I believe.

I'm also thinking about swapping my Spanish class for a Biology and Bio Lab class. That'd keep me in the same area instead of driving all the way to Anchorage, which would be awesome. I may do that, so who knows.

I haven't posted this before because I've been kinda reluctant about it but I'd think it'd be better if I get it over and done with so I don't have to keep facing the questions. It's tucked away behind the fold because it's slightly angst-ish.

I'm off for the night;

- Maddog
cowboy dan is a major player in the cowboy scene

Box it up

Just had to share another cool site. I needed a place that allowed file upload and storage to store my papers that I write in the computer lab, until I find my thumbdrive I have no way to keep files from getting lost without having to email myself multiple copies. I quickly knew there was only one to fix this problem: Ask Chad.

In about less time it takes Clinton to deny something, Chad pointed me towards this awesome site: www.box.net. It's pretty awesome, allowing a cool 1GB of storage free. Just what I needed. In case any of you have similar needs, I present the link thusly.

- Maddog

why do they always send the poor?

The Aisle

This is a great little game I found from the Penny Arcade forums. It's called The Aisle and it's the best example of interactive fiction there is. You can type in only one command and see the result. However, there are many, many storylines here. It's like a metaverse, where various storylines weave and intertwine. Type in enough commands and you begin to unravel a variety of stories, piece by piece. It's incredibly awesome. I love it.

Still have a huge amount of math homework. I don't know if I can get it all in time. I feel overwhelmed. Homework is piling up. Maybe I took too many classes. I need to scale back more, I try to do too much. Good spot in the week was I went out late Friday with Sarah. We saw Pink Panther. Horrid movie. Ruins the wonderful movies. Steve Martin is NOT Peter Sellers, not by a longshot. Disappointing. We went and talked until midnight afterwords. She listened to my whole spiel about Social Entropy. I love that girl!

Nothing else,
- Maddog
if i was your best friend, i'd be with you all the time

Why not Z-Men?

Everyone should know that I'm dumb. Dumb as a box of rocks.

Totally unrelated, here's a link to X3 Trailer. The movie looks wonderfully delightful, Angel pratically makes me yell with joy. I'm going to go lie down while you watch. Expect a potential big post tomorrow.

- Maddog

we started out friends, yea yea