I couldn't sleep....and I am glad I couldn't (1:30am Ilulissat)

I don't have the words to express the raw beauty Greenland posses. I went to get a glass of orange juice early this morning and to be honest nearly cried at the seer awesome beauty I
beheld from my kitchen window. I had to put on some clothes and just go down and listen to the waters, smell the air, and thank God I was given the opportunity to witness it.

~J

Tweaked my ankle on hike

So today we were off because the airport was closed. We all decided to take this 6 Km trail to see the Yackosloven Glacier. I was all pumped till we hit this area I lovingly call ankle twister alley about 3 Km in. Yep...it happened and yes I cried lol. Just kidding but I did turn beat red. The funny part is I saw the spot and decided it would probably be a problem so I carefully, gentally, rolled my ankle. I dont think it is broken just a bad srang but it did go pop. Eric helped me hobble my way back to the hotel where cold water, elevating the leg and pain pills have fill my day off. If I am still in this much pain in the morning I am going to hit the local hospital. I can move it though so I think it will be ok. At least I got some pretty sweet picts with I will post a bit later.

Scholarshp entree Video

Tour of the Cabin and some Icebergs

Internet Finally!!!

So much to tell but to cut to the chase Greenland is amazing accept for the many, many, many, MANY FREGGIN MOSQUITOS!!! Yeah they dont exactly put that in the brochures lol. Anyway I am a couple days behind but I upgraded my Flickr Account to a pro account and I am uploading like a champ. I have a few vids I will post too. Doing my absolute best to geotag all of them. I will be in touch too. So enjoy the pics and I will get into my many stories a bit later. But to just sum it up...the Polar Grid is up and functional!!

No Internet Access in Ilulissat Yet....Will post soon

Logistics screw up here I will post as soon as I get some net access

All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go.......

Any bets on how much these bags are gonna cost on commercial airlines?? I am so not looking forward to that bill. Thank goodness we are flying with the military from NY to Kanger. I am so gonna drive back when I get back into the states or at minimum catch a train. At the same time I have a good while to plan for that. I will post my gear tomorrow cause right now I am beat. Those "honey-do's" were killer but at least I know Sony will be taken care of.

Last item purchased -- Canon S5 IS (Yeah I changed my mind lol)

I know people are sick of hearing me talk about it but I finally bought the camera for my trick. I decided on the Canon S5 IS after all. [Hear me out before you start freaking Dirk or start jumping up and down Lance lol.] "See what had happened was..." I was really trigger shy on buying the SX100 for some reason. Well the time was up so I needed to make a decision. I was comparing the two cameras when I saw something I hadn't thought of, the SX100 does not have a view finder. The reason this is so important to me is because in low battery circumstances you can always switch over to squeeze the last bit of charge out of your AA batteries. Secondly I thought about the fact that I want to make some video blog entries and the swing out screen just makes all the sense in the world at that point. The other thing is that Circuit City had it on sale for $299. So I figured don't cheap out and I got the camera. I also picked up a 4Gb SDHC card. I hope it was worth the extra cash. Now watch Dirk say "Meh.." to that one lol. So anyway that was my purchase. Tomorrow gonna post a couple picks of my gear and maybe even a vid but we will see.

Battlefield: Bad Company - I've got to get this lol

Geo Feed Test Between Flickr and Google Maps

View Larger Map

3G for Jeaime lol -- Jebus rizes again lol

After much debate, I am getting a 3G iPhone....finally lol. I have been wanting an iPhone since last January but I just couldn't justify changing companies, paying $500 for the phone and paying 60 bucks for the plan. I just couldn't. Well after the wife telling me to shut up about it and to just get the phone and the price drop, it is so on lol. Unfortunately I will be out of the country release day but the second I get back I am so getting my phone. The catch is now I have this 16Gb iTouch that is just a month old that cost the same as my soon to be 16Gb 3G iPhone. [WTF They are so gonna have to do something about that price difference. I mean I know the iPhone is subsidized now but that is gonna cut into those iTouch sales just a bit. ] Maybe Apple will give me some kind of credit or at minimum I might be able to convince my wife to let go of her nano witch is not very likely lol. I guess my iTouch is eBay bound lol.

~J

"Snow Leopard" is No Leopard

So apparently Mac is going to do something a bit different with it's new OS. They are going to optimize it. At first though this seems like a cheap trick but when you think about it it, that is pretty freggin awesome. They want to take a pretty awesome OS and make it run better and they are saying that right out of the gate. They are telling we fan boys to back off with the new features and just make it run like a Ford Festiva with a V8 in it. Snow Leopard unfortunately will not ship for another year but I am cautiously optimistic!

Here is Apple's Official Word-

Since 2001, Mac OS X has delivered more than a thousand innovative new features. With Snow Leopard, the next major version of the world’s most advanced operating system, Mac OS X changes more than its spots, it changes focus. Taking a break from adding new features, Snow Leopard — scheduled to ship in about a year — builds on Leopard’s enormous innovations by delivering a new generation of core software technologies that will streamline Mac OS X, enhance its performance, and set new standards for quality. Snow Leopard dramatically reduces the footprint of Mac OS X, making it even more efficient for users, and giving them back valuable hard drive space for their music and photos.

New Clone Wars - Trailer TRUE-HD

Dang it something else I have got to see lol

I have one of the best friends ever

Dreeny is knitting me this scarf for my trip to Antarctica!!! I am so excited.

Documenting and Sharing Greenland Pictures

Ok so crunch time is here for the trip. I needed to make some decisions on how I am going to document my trip. Originally I was just going to bring my Canon SD300 and call it a day, but after tons of other people going "What!!!!????" I decided to get a camera specifically for the trip. After talking with two of my buddies that just happen to work for Canon Lance and Dirk, (we were trainers together there lol) I decided on purchasing a new Canon SX100 IS. It has a 10x optical zoom and still slips into the pocket. A slight bonus in the case of the sheer amount of videos I make have to take is that it is also a decent video recorder.

The next thing I needed to figure out is how to show everyone back here in the states my images/videos semi-real-time. After some soul searching I decided on working with Flickr. The cool thing is that I can geotag my images and then post directly this blog. I am going to take a long a portable GPS to get the Lats and Longs and just take a picture of the readings while I am in the field and then add them manually when I upload. I got the process from a MAKE blog. I guess you will see how it works out though I think I may still throw some Twitter in there some how.

~J

Going to have to drop Differential Equations

I had planned to be the man and self study Differential Equations while I was in Greenland but after these first two weeks I have realized I am just lining myself up for a C or even a D. I think I need to focus on what I need to do when I'm there anyway. It just sucks though because now I am either going to have to triple up one semester or stay an extra semester. I hope Real Analysis isn't as bad.

NERD - Everybody Nose [OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO]

Ok I am officially an idiot because I love this song lol.

iPhone 3G Commercial (Official) - July 11th I can't wait!!!

I made the decison to go ahead and invest in a 3g iPhone. My wife has told me to stop comparing other phones to the iPhone and just go ahead and get one. With the new price drop of the 16G down to $299 and GPS, and 3G and the App Store it is just a done deal. Unfortunately I wont be in the States on July 11th so I can't stand in line at the Apple store but as soon as I touch down, it is so on lol. (Hmmm maybe I could get an officially unlocked on abroad.....hmmmm lol)

How to play flash videos (flv) in Keynote

I was about to do my "Linux Basics" presentation when I saw that none of my videos were playing. I just got sound and a black screen in Keynote. I knew they worked because I had done this presentation before. I remembered that I have switched to Leopard since then so of course I immediately played the blame game. Then I thought about it again and remembered that Keynote will only play what Quicktime can play. Of course Quicktime wouldn't play the flv and gave no help for a codec. I decided to try Perian which I hadn't installed because there was no 10.5 version. Well-- it worked. I tried it on a second virgin machine just to verify and sure enough it worked fine. Hope this helps some other lost soul lol.

~J

F-ing 360 Red Ringed me.....Again

I just wanted to get on GTA IV and do a bit of killing before Dirk's cookout and my 360 Red lighted me. though I have an extended warranty with Best Buy this will be the second time I have had to use it. The first time the problem happened a week after I bought it. Now right before I am supposed to take it to Greenland. I would have been so freaking pissed if this had happened in Greenland. My wife brought up a good point thought...."it is a Microsoft Product" lol. I hope this is the last time I have this problem thought cause my extended warranty runs out in November. (Hmm I wonder if I will get one of the new pros with HDMI out of this!!!)

I will be staying at the Hotel Hvide Falk

The Hotel Hvide Falk is located in Ilulissat Greenland. I am really starting to worry now that the date is only two weeks away. Although I think I have done all I can to prepare there is just still that sense of unpredictable chaos that awaits me. Sitting here in this 90 degree heat doesn't exactly allow you to picture yourself there either. Temperature there is in the 30's to 40's this time of year so that is another adjustment along with altitude change I am going to have to mentally prepare myself for. Dont get me wrong I am excited and looking forward to accomplishing the first goal of the Polar Grid Project, but I am just being a worry wort.

Anywho I was wondering if anyone could recommend a good way for me to document this trip. I really want to add GPS points to my pictures and keep a daily online journal if I can. I will have internet access but I want to do this the best way. I am all ears!!

~J

Barack Obama's Victory Speech on June 3, 2008

I am so pumped lol!!!

Barack Obama is the Democratic Nominee for President

Whoot!!! It's on now son lol.