Month: February 2011

Categories
Sports

Ugly Mudder 7.25 Mile Trail Run

I took part in the Ugly Mudder 7.25 mile trail run yesterday. It was all the way in the very hilly Reading, PA. I drove to NGM’s house and he drove the rest of the way.

It was a very sloppy course. A very slick track, with too many steep hills and loose rocks all over the place. I did slip and fall flat on my butt at one point, but bounced right back up and kept running.

Despite being over 7 miles, the running wasn’t too bad for me. Much of it had to be walked due to bottlenecks on the trails and very slick conditions, so I really didn’t feel like a guy who had ran 7.25 miles at the end.

We ran with friends of NGM’s and they were very fast. They probably finished a half and hour ahead of me. The terrain in Reading is pretty tough, a lot rougher than what I’m used to down here.

Afterwards we stopped at the Haute Chocolate Cafe again, and got some amazing post race chocolate. Then stopped at the Philadelphia Premium Outlets on the drive back. Their Toys R Us was kinda weak.

Today I don’t feel too sore overall. But I did do something pretty bad to my left elbow. It’s really swollen and isn’t a big fan of movement at the moment. Seems like a decent sprain, though I have no idea how I may’ve sprained it during the race.

Categories
Development

Google Visualization Pie Chart

Haven’t played around with the Google Visualization API in a little bit, so I was quite pleasantly surprised to learn of some very nice new features and improved documentation since my last encounter. Mind you, it was very impressive to me 18 or so months ago, but now has gotten better in so many ways.

First off,  the getting started examples are great and can get anyone with basic web skills making static or interactive charts in no time. The Code Playground is also very useful to play around with, making changes and seeing the result on the fly is very convenient.

The new pie chart is great. It’s improved appearance and tool tips are very welcomed. It has a much more polished look to them.

Here’s an example I threw together in just a few minutes.

Categories
Video Games

Mass Effect 2

Mass Effect 2Finished playing through Mass Effect 2, and have to admit I’m pretty sad to be done it. It was one of the most enjoyable games I’ve played in a very long time. Improving on the first one which was great itself in most everyway.

You know a game is really good when you play through every side quest before going through the final chapter, I really didn’t want it to end. The characters and choices that you must make are amazing. I was honestly really sad when Tali died during my final mission. She was a very loyal Quarian and her sacrifice was not in vein.

I made my character and Engineer, figured that would be a bit different than using some of the more typical classes. The leveling up system and loyalty quests were a really cool idea. I also enjoyed mining various planets to unlock power-ups etc. I thought that was a very cool approach.

Production values by BioWare were amazing. I couldn’t imagine how much effort went into making this. Even the voice acting was spot on, with Martin Sheen voicing the creepy Illusive Man.

I’m really considering playing through this again, it really was that good. Best sci-fi experience around (movies, tv, etc.).