This is the first time I made a speed-art video. This was the cover for the Graduation Guide 2013 published by the student-run newspaper at the Wichita State University. The audio is terrible. I had to pick it off YouTube’s default tracks. Anyway, get started watching it already 
Devices used: Microsoft Surface Pro and Apple iMac.
“You know what you should do? You should let me take you to certain events so you can write about them from an external perspective,” Ian Huntley said to me. You may know him better as Mr. Advice Man or Nostradumbass. And although he bailed on us last Saturday, I ended up visiting the first of (hopefully) several events that I hope to add to my American experience.
I understand that Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is not unique to the U.S. or Kansas for that matter. However, given that it was the first time I attended an MMA fight, I did not know what to expect from the event.
I wondered what the crowd would be like. Would the higher adrenaline levels make people want to get into fights? I assumed my do-not-mess-with-me posture. You may wonder what this looks like. Unlike the regular confrontational male, my do-not-mess-with-me posture involves looking extremely timid so that people are too embarrassed to pick a fight with me to begin with. It is highly effective if you ask me.
Walking behind my friends with my back slouched, I got to our seats unnoticed. I recognized the fenced ring from the televised fights I had seen. It was not long before the fights began. During the amateur fights, it was hard to tell who the audience was more excited about, the ringside girls or the fighters. Instantly, I judged myself for being there.
Tailored to entertain, one of the amateur fighters showed up in a Captain America costume. I was unsure if he was there to fight or to endorse the shorts he wore given that he struck seventeen poses in a matter of minutes. I hoped he would lose. Unfortunately he did not. After striking enough poses to fill up an entire issue of GQ, he left the ring.
After around half a dozen amateur fights and 400 cuss words from someone sitting a few seats from us, the pro fights began. The fights got bloody at times and I was left thinking how circular our evolution was. 2000 years later, we still line up for these gladiators as they take blow after blow for a moment of a glory. Bleeding and limping, they take a bow, while we walk out fixating on our plans for the next day.
Remember the first two rules of Fight Club and do not tell my mother that I wrote about mixed martial arts. She lives halfway around the globe. But trust me on this, she will ground me. I am kidding. She is cool.
But seriously, don’t.
“Just because you’re super-smart, you can’t expect everyone to keep up with your pace,” Tessa said. She may have been agitated.
“I’m not smart. In a class of 42 students, I consistently ranked 21st. I am the epitome of average,” I retorted defending myself.
What were we arguing about? The U.S. public school system.
“Oh, man! Did you hear about the guy who scored 97% on Dr. Brady’s test,” someone from my calculus class once told me. “He’s from Cameroon. In my experience, I have noticed that people from Cameroon are usually really good at math.”
I assume that is offensive on some level.
Anyway, I am more than familiar with the reputation that people of certain nationalities have when it comes to academics. However, I disagree that growing up in a certain geographical area or being born with a particular set of genes decides your mental aptitude.
I respectfully agree that certain medical conditions can make academic learning challenging for people who are afflicted with them. However, if a person is mentally fit, I see no reason why they are incapable of exceeding the standards set by the U.S. public school system.
I believe that the system is working as hard as it can to dumb down the American youth. As a tutor, I come across several kids whose mental aptitude is far beyond what the school curriculum expects of them. Don’t get me wrong. I am not referring to the students who get straight A’s. Even students whose report cards may say they are only scoring C’s have often attempted using problem solving techniques that one would associate with a much higher level.
I am literally angered each time this happens. I see students who are perfectly capable of understanding higher level courses stuck dealing with basic courses. For example, why should a student in the U.S. be introduced to how exponents work only in high school when other countries introduce them in the 3rd or 4th grades?
Time is precious and the school system wastes the time of its students forcing them to learn far slower than they are capable of.
All rights rest with BBC news.
Google will allow users to decide what happens to their data after they die or become inactive online, the first major company to deal with the sensitive issue.
The feature applies to email, social network Google Plus and other accounts.
Users can choose to delete data after a set period of time, or pass it on to specific people.
Internet users around the world have expressed concern about what happens to their data after their demise.
“We hope that this new feature will enable you to plan your digital afterlife – in a way that protects your privacy and security – and make life easier for your loved ones after you’re gone,” Google said in a blogpost.
California-based Google also owns YouTube, photo-sharing service Picasa and Blogger.
Google said users can opt to have their data deleted after three, six, nine or 12 months of inactivity. Alternatively, certain contacts can be sent data from some or all of their services.
However, the company said it would text a provided number or email a secondary email address to warn users before any action is taken.
People are increasingly placing content on social networks and data storage facilities hosted in cyberspace, or the “cloud”.
Other companies have also attempted to tackle the questions that raises after a person’s death. Facebook, as an example, allows users to “memorialise” an account.
If you’re looking for an album with my compositions on it, I can tell you that I have none. But what I do have is a very specific set of skills acquired over a very long career on the YouTube and 9gag comments section, a set of skills that makes me a nightmare for artists like Nicki Minaj. If she ends her career and stops making music, this will be the end of it. I will not YouTube her music, and I will not ridicule her tweets. But if she doesn’t, I will YouTube her music. I will find her music videos, and I WILL comment and dislike the shit out of them!
