I want to ride my bicicle

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It’s kind of a dreary day and I wanted to ride my bike to work today but the forecast calls for rain all afternoon. Hopefully I can bring it to work tomorrow but until then I want to share a video that has continued to inspire me since I first saw it a few years ago.

This is Danny MacAskill doing what’s called trials riding. More often its done in natural environments and on rocky areas but obviously it works in the city. What I didn’t expect after seeing such amazing talent is that even though he is sponsored Danny isn’t pro. Despite the incredible amount of talent and dedication he has he still works a day job as a bicycle mechanic at a shop.

Anyway I just wanted to share this little gem with everyone. Short of a good Kung Fu movie nothing gets me more amped to start moving than this video.

Aranhia

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Want to know why I have been using a screen name no one can pronounce for the last year? It’s because my Instructor, Rasta (pronounced hasta), gave me that name for the way I move. In Capoeira you are often given a nickname. The old capoeiristas were often outlaws and wouldn’t use their real name often but it also served to tie the groups more closely together as it does now.

On wednesday of last week I went to class again for the first time in a long while and my back muscles are just now returning to a useable state. I hope to continue my training and a part of that will be trying to build the group. If you want to check it out then currently (as of March 15, 2010) we are training on Mondays and Wednesdays at 7pm at Open Heart Spiritual which is at 2489 broad.

Connect to us on facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Nacao-Capoeira-Memphis/333460308950?ref=ts

And just to be clear I don’t teach. I am not qualified to teach. I can show you the basic movements and tell you about the art but Rasta is the instructor and has over 10 years of experience. Also Rasta is not named after the flower. His name is Portuguese for Lion. Mine means little spider.

What would I do with the Natal?

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Microsoft has created and plans to release a video game interface that is as far beyond mutants as they are beyond mankind. Microsoft Natal is a tool that allows real time motion capture of the users entire body. It can also work with multiple users and it has a set of microphones that are supposed to be able to identify the voice of people separately by location.

The video cannot be shown at the moment. Please try again later.

This doesn’t need a special type of room, a motion capture suit or a green-screen to work and while I could explain how it works in detail I don’t expect that many people to be interested so instead I’ll tell you what I see as the coolest game to make with it.

Continue reading →

What is Marketing?

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I worked for four years at an advertising agency but I don’t understand the way businesses interact with each other or with consumers. I’m a no BS kind of person but you can’t spell business without it. Where do you draw the line when it come to promotion? I know there is a need for people more aggressive than me to get the word out on things and win over customers but at some point you find entire companies centered around the sale of lies and lying ability.

I want to make quality products and a real quality product doesn’t need to be sold up, spun or tied to a gimmick. All it needs in fact is to be described. If I wanted to advertise my blog for example I would say simply:

I am a programmer with a highly analytical mind and I like to use this space to share topics of interest to me and hopefully bring my readers a source of contemplation. I welcome feedback of any nature.

That’s it, short post but some recent conversations made me want to say it.

News Roundup

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A lot of new stories of interest to me have popped up lately and I thought I should bang out a quick post to save, describe, and share them. Most are related to video games so if you aren’t a gamer be warned. Continue reading →

Idea for an Evolutionary Programming Project

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An idea grew in my head recently for a proof of concept project that would be an excellent example of evolutionary programming and that evolved concept would lead to an equally interesting robotics project. I think this idea would make for a great senior thesis for a comp. sci., or engineering major.

The basic concept is having a robot draw a picture. Continue reading →

Just lazy enough

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Well here we go again. I tried once before with blogspot http://aranhia.blogspot.com to start writing and posting updates. That field proved too narrow and after completing the work related to it (flash games) I didn’t have a reason to keep up to speed. This time I am writing on whatever I feel needs saying and I am just lazy enough to use a pre-fab wordpress blog for it. Continue reading →