ReverseHolland

Starting a new blog

2011-10-05T23:02:00.000-07:00

For anyone who still reads this mostly dead blog I am starting a new blog focusing on photography and specifically lenses. Since that is what I find the most interesting. You can find it at: http://lensrecs.blogspot.com/

Please go check it out! A Friend and I are planning on putting some really helpful information on there.

Detroit to Austin Flight Photos

2011-04-23T21:52:00.000-07:00

For everyone who wanted to see my photos here is a link to my flickr stream so that you can see the best of the photos that I took on a flight from Detroit to Austin on 4.23.11. If you have any questions just leave them in the comment box and I will try and answer them soon.

Flickr Stream

Thanks,

Nate Holland

2011-03-27T13:29:00.001-07:00

Apparently the Backstreet Boys are still making music. Watch at your own risk.

Warren Miller

2011-03-22T11:17:00.000-07:00

Nate's earlier post reminded me of the acclaimed skiing director Warren Miller. What he's known for is directing extreme skiing movies. Figured I'd share two clips.

Vette Engine

2011-03-17T12:53:00.001-07:00

At the risk of making this blog look like a GM ad, here's a quick video about how the Corvette racing team works.

Camaro Ad

2011-03-06T13:16:00.001-08:00

I'm not sure whether or not it actually aired during the Superbowl, but it's a good commercial.

Ken Jennings

2011-02-27T16:25:00.000-08:00

Ken Jennings, traitor to mankind:

Yahoo Answers

2011-02-25T12:03:00.000-08:00

I've gone back to Yahoo Answers. I simply can't resist it's siren call. I'll be sharing the wealth over here every so often. Here's one for today. Pic after the jump

Daniel Johnston

2011-02-21T09:38:00.000-08:00

Since all my posts, should Nate ever decide to publish them, have to mirror Nathaniel's, I figured I'd write about one of my favorite street artists, Daniel Johnston.For the most part, he's actually a musician as opposed to an artist. I don't know his full life story, but supposedly when he began recording, he was working at a McDonald's or something. He couldn't afford a tape deck that could record multiple tapes, so he would simply re-record his album onto a cassette every time he wanted to give one away, which he did with any meal purchase.

He actually became somewhat popular. And in '93, he painted Jeremiah the Innocent, from one of his album covers, onto a wall in downtown Austin. A documentary or two has been made about him, and for a while a rock opera (I think) named Speeding Motorcycle, one of his albums, ran for a while in Austin.

Top TV Shows

2011-02-17T11:57:00.001-08:00

Here are a few of my favorite TV shows that I figured you would be interested in hearing about. Maybe you'll find something new to watch when you get bored

White Collar: This show is about an ex-con who used to do forgeries and steal art and such. So it may be pretty obvious why I like this show. Anyway, he got caught (this is where the show starts) and how he works for the FBI trying to catch other con artists and theirs and other "white collar" criminals. The show generally consists of the main character (Neil Caffrey) and his FBI agent (Peter Burke) trying to catch criminals. There is also another character dubbed "Mozzy" who is scared to death of the FBI or anything government but he agrees to help on occasion because he is friends with Neil. There is also a larger subplot where Neil tries to find his estranged girlfriend Kate, which os interesting and ties all the episodes together.

Human Target: This show focusses on a team of ex-criminals (go figure) who are now working for the good of the common people. These guys though weren't white collar criminals. The main character used to be a hit man and now he works to save people from hit-men. The first season focused on a team of three guys who all worked together and it was 100% a guy show. (something that White Collar is not) However, in the second season the producers introduced two new characters who are both female. One is the rich benefactress who funds the operations, and the other is the new thief trying to learn the ropes. Also, she is quite attractive. This change in the show has made it a much fuller show and removed the flat feeling of the first season.

Leverage: This show is currently not on the air but a new season will start eventually. This show is also about a group of criminals who work for good now. Sound like anything else I like to watch? However this differs slightly from Human Target because while in Human Target they work as body guards, in Leverage the characters do their work outside the law. The team generally spends their time trying to take down some bad guy outside the law rather than trying to protect a good guy. The team Leo has some interesting characters such as a hacker who is a complete nerd. There is also a thief who has been a criminal for so long that she has forgotten how to function in the real world. The more I think about it the two shows are eerily similar so if you like one you I'll probably like the other.

Top Gear: I've recently started watching this show on Netflix and I love it. The show focuses on mainly cars but also some motorcycles, boats, or RV. Basically anything with engines. The show is British so you would enjoy the show more if you like British humor. I think it's hilarious. Like Hot Fuzz. Maybe there is a blog post coming up... Anyway there are a ton of awesome cars and the hosts are put through. A number of challenges and competitions like racing 18 wheelers, which gets very funny very fast. So if you like cars you will probably like this show, unless of course you hate British people and British humor.

Bones: This is in a different vein from the shows listed previously. This show is more of a crime-solving show as apposed to a crime-doing show. This focuses on a very awkward female scientist called Bones because she looks at bones in order to determine how they died. She is surrounded by a team of scientists and FBI agents who all work to help her catch the criminals. The cast on this show is fairly deep and contains a number of sub-plot lines and complexities which really make the show.

Psych: I really like this show as it is probably the funniest drama I watch. (Top Gear may be funnier but it is just a different type of show) The main plot of this show is that a young man named Shawn was raised by his father who was a police officer to spot small clues in order to determine who committed the crime. This, like Bones, is a mixer mystery show but Psych does it in a much more light hearted manner. The part that makes it amusing is that Shawn fakes having psychic power that he uses to solve the crimes. Over all this isn't a very high brow show but is a bit more slapstick and cheap humor, never-the-less the show is very funny.

King of Limbs // Radiohead

2011-02-14T17:58:00.000-08:00

Radiohead is releasing a new album!!! This has me so pumped because I am a huge fan of theirs. Just about everything about the band rocks, except for the fact that they are always fighting. Anyway, new album coming out on Saturday. I'll put the links up for the digital download then so anyone who wants to can buy their album. They are doing something interesting where you can pay $9 for the compressed MP3s and $14 for the uncompressed WAV files. I'll certainly be buying the WAV files when it goes on sale. Oh and the album is called King of Limbs.

: Nate Holland :

Jailbreak Recs

2011-02-13T19:24:00.000-08:00

I really like my iPhone. I figure some of ya'll have iPhones. If you are a reader with an iPhone, I assume you enjoy it too. Most people do. To the point: My phone is jailbroken, which isn't illegal, but it does void the warranty. Totally worth it. Plus, if you do need to take it in, you can always restore it back to factory settings. I just wanted to share some of my favorite Cydia (the jailbroken app store) apps.

1. SBSettings This is a program that let's you access most settings really quickly. Swipe your finger across the top and you have instant access to WiFi, Bluetooth, vibrate, brightness, SSH, and any number of things. The program that installs alongside it, Activator, is also really useful, since it allows you to set certain button combos to perform actions. For example, pressing volume down then up on my lockscreen toggles Bluetooth.

2. Weathericon This app does two things. As the name implies, it changes the weather icon to display the current weather and temperature. Now I never open the weather app since the information is right there on the homescreen. It also puts the current weather in the status bar.

3. Winterboard This is an app that controls themes. You have to download the themes, but you can drastically change how your phone looks. All I changed is the lockscreen on my phone, which is now a flip-clock.

4. QuickReply for SMS With this app, you can reply to a text without leaving any app. Saves so much time. The product description mentions bugs, and I haven't ran into any, but some people say when they respond to multiple texts while in another app, only the first one shows up in the Messaging application.

4. MyWi This is an app if you're still on the original unlimited data plan, but want to tether your phone. Pretty simple.

5. My3G I'm not really sure why the three is chillin' with the y. Perhaps I should give the half-vowel another chance. Anyway, My3G is the app you want if you've ever tried to use FaceTime without wifi, or tried to download a big app while out. This can fool any app into thinking your phone is on a wifi network whether or not it is. Just don't try and FaceTime on Edge. That won't end nicely.

Those are some of my favorites, and also ones that I think most people would use. Other popular or interesting applications are AndroidLockscreen XT, AptBackup, Auto3G (which proves that the iPhone still has a lot of trouble switching between Edge and 3G during calls), Cydelete, FolderCloser, No Page Dots, Synchronicity, OpenSSH, Mobile Terminal, and some NES and Gameboy emulators. Suggestions in the comments?

<jd/>

Worlds Longest Ski Jump

2011-02-12T07:55:00.000-08:00

Here is the worlds longest ski jump. Can you imagine jumping almost 800 feet on two glorified sticks? I can't but I like to watch it.

: Nate Holland :

Sharp Dressed Man Drummer

2011-02-08T16:34:00.001-08:00

I just love this video, you can skip to the 30 second mark if you want to get to the good stuff.

: Nate Holland :

Some Crazy Driving

2011-02-07T08:20:00.000-08:00

So James sent me this first video and I dug around for a few more. Ken Block is a rally car driver and here are some of the cooler video's he has done.

This next one is basically more of the same awesomeness.

I really wish I could drive like that. Or just have either of those cars because they are so sick. Here is a quick walk around of the Fiesta:

That's all for now.

: Nate Holland :

Superbowl Half-Time Show

2011-02-06T17:21:00.000-08:00

To be honest, when I heard that the Black Eyed Peas were doing the Superbowl halftime show, I wasn't excited. Boy was I wrong.

First things first. Bedazzling is out. Sorry. I realize that once they got back together, they went techno, but the BEP are supposed to be on the cutting edge. Seriously, bedazzled mics? Anyway, they started and ended the show with I Gotta Feeling, a classic. In between they did quite a few covers, which included appearances by Slash and Usher. That was cool.

Usually bands let people onto the field to watch. Not this year. The Peas had the field filled with dancers, all of whom were in formation and wearing lightup suits that changed color. That and all the Peas were in bizarre outfits which ranged from having lights to LED screens. I've seen better though. They need to consult with whoever does Gaga's stuff. That's quality. Anyway, spectacular show, video when I find one.

Update: I found a video:

Athletic Watches

2011-02-05T19:25:00.000-08:00

Just the other day, I was complaining about how there hasn't been much innovation in running watches recently. Upon further reflection, I found this to be untrue.

(Garmin 205)

Perhaps the biggest innovation was putting GPS in watches. I'm not sure who the first to do that was, but I think it was Timex. However, those required people to attach bulky receivers to their feet. Not a great solution. There were also the Garmin Forerunners, but those were essentially handheld GPS units strapped to your wrist with velcro.

In 2006 Garmin introduced the Forerunner 205. It charged via USB, wasn't much bigger than a regular watch, and it worked. Fabulous. Google Maps overlays for your running data was a cinch. Now Timex has similar products as well, and Garmin has greatly expanded their offerings. Even Nike is getting into the business now, as they've partnered up with TomTom to release a GPS watch in the coming months. The one problem is, all these are fairly expensive. What about regular watches?

The feature list has expanded. A good running watch now tells the time, date, and has at least two alarms, a backlight, chronograph with a lap timer, countdown timer, and at least a hundred lap memory. If it's for running or swimming should have an interval timer as well. These are good. But not exciting. So what're the gimmicks? Nike's is simple. The watch faces are angled, making it more natural to look at the time while active. Simple idea, works great. I love my Nike. Not exciting though. Adidas and Puma and the store brands all make watches that compete, but they're mainly about looks. The only company that tries to innovate is really Timex. It's now discontinued, but a few years ago they released a watch with built in iPod controls. It was by far the most elegant way to control an iPod while running. It just didn't sell though, which is really a shame, because more and more people are running with their iPods. I don't think it ever made it to an athletic watch because of all the activity, but they also build watches with accelerometers, so that it senses when you flick your watch back and turns on the backlight. Does it sound cheesy, maybe, but I still find myself flicking my wrist back and expecting the backlight to come on. Come to think of it, Casio does that on their GShocks too, but I wouldn't recommend that for physical activity. The buttons are too hard to reach, and they're just really bulky. All this is leading up to the new Timexes, which have a touchscreen. Not like Tissot, but now you can just tap the face to start and stop the timers. It's much much much less awkward. It's wonderful. And the face is giant too, so even though it's not angled, it's still very easy to see.

So that's the state of running watches. I know I overlooked some things, so I'll try and pay the big one due right here: Polar. Polar makes puts heartrate monitors in their watches, which is something a lot of athletes consider. However, I think all the Polars are 100+ dollars. If you're a serious athlete that may be something you want to consider, but it's not something immensely useful to most people. I know that in the end, it usually comes down to style, which is why Adidas is even making watches in the first place. I'd like to think that this is a more informed crowd though, so those are some features to consider next time you need a new watch.

</jd>

Top Movies // Inside Man

2011-02-02T11:30:00.000-08:00

So I have a new movie to tell you about. I recently saw Inside Man which is yet another heist film. Are you starting to see a pattern? However this one is a little different than the other heist films I've looked at before and here's why:

Good and Better: The whole movie I didn't really know who I wanted to succeed. I wanted the FBI to catch the robbers but at the same time I wanted to bank robbers to pull off their perfect plan. There is an antagonist in this story but it is neither the Robbers or the FBI.

Unpredictable: On this film I actually couldn't predict how it would end until the last few minutes of the movie. This is pretty rare because normally I have a pretty good idea of what is going to happen and I can often predict the plot "twists" before they happen. However, on this one I was trying to figure out how they would pull the job off the whole time. I won't tell you how it ends because you should watch it to find out!

Quality Acting: This is some of the better acting you'll see in movies these days and I think that is a good thing. I recently watched The Fast and The Furious Tokyo Drift and that was fairly terrible when it comes to acting. (sweet cars though) Anyway, I'm glad this film had some good acting because it really helps to keep the film going.

Over all good movie. Highly recommended.

: Nate Holland :

Another Volt Follow Up

2011-02-01T16:20:00.000-08:00

Here is another interesting fact on the volt: Chevy sold 312 Volts total in January. That was the first full month that the Volt has been on the market for. To put that in comparison Chevy sold 28,172 Silverados. So that didn't do much for the environment. Good job Chevy.

: Nate Holland :

Huge Storm

2011-02-01T16:01:00.000-08:00

Here is why it is freezing cold and windy in my hometown of Austin. I'm just glad that I don't live in the middle of that storm right now. Unfortunately it is headed right for Texas... I thought this was a sweet picture when I saw it so I decided to upload it. This was taken off of one of NASA's satellites. I hope you enjoy it.

: Nate Holland :

X Games

2011-01-31T17:40:00.000-08:00

So there was recently something on TV called the X Games. And it was kinda awesome. Anyway you should watch it because there are some things that happened at the X games. There were some sweet snowboarding events and some almost as cool skiing events. (sorry skiiers, I'm a skiier but we just aren't as fun to watch as the snowboarders) There were some awesome crashes in the snowmobiling events which were ever so fun to watch. If you want to catch up on some of the snowy action check it out at http://espn.go.com/espn3/ !!!!!!

: Nate Holland :

1000th View and Some Stats

2011-01-29T15:30:00.000-08:00

So I just had my 1000th view and I wanted to take a moment to tell all my readers thanks for reading! Also here are some interesting stats on the breakdown of who reads my blog. First of all 62% of you use macs, which is really interesting because that is way off the average of the total population. Also 64% use safari meaning that some of you use Safari on a PC. Whoever that is you are silly, who uses Safari on a PC? Also someone has visited with Internet Explorer. I mean really? Are you stuck in the 90s? No one uses IE anymore. I've had ten views from the UK and 5 from Ireland and Mexico which is really sweet so here is a shout-out to whoever that is! A total of 89 different people have visited the blog and on average you spend 3:39 seconds on the blog which is actually pretty long. There are a number more that I'm interested but I don't know how much more you guys (or gals) will care. If you have any questions just ask them in the comments!

: Nate Holland :

Helvetica

2011-01-27T20:05:00.000-08:00

So I am currently watching a documentary on a font. That may sound really lame but I think it's actually really interesting. Most people I know rarely think about what font they are using except when their teacher tells them they need to use Times New Roman. However there are whole jobs dedicated just to type and how to use it and a lot of people use Helvetica. If you learn what it looks like you'll start to see it in a bunch of ads around town. It's actually surprising how common it is. In fact your computer is probably in Helvetica or a slightly modified version of Helvetica, assuming you are using a Mac or PC. Annnd that's a pretty safe assumption. Anyway, that's all I have to say. Stay tuned for more!

: Nate Holland :

Street Art // Banksy

2011-01-26T19:42:00.000-08:00

So I'm going to take a moment to talk about my favorite street artist. I am a fan of street art (graffiti) when it is done in the spirit of art, not gang territory. So here are a few pictures of some of my favorite artists work: Banksy.

Banksy mainly uses stencils and his work is often satirical or comical and sometimes has a political nature. I actually got to see some of his work when I went to New Orleans a few years ago because he did some work in NOLA after Katrina hit. Here is one of the ones that I got to see. This is actually on one of the levees that broke a few miles from the break.

This is another one that I got to see in NOLA but it looks like since then someone has gone through and spray-painted over it which I think is a total shame. Before it was spray-painted over it was a piece of art but now it is a covered up piece of art and the cover up doesn't even look good. At least have the decency to match the color to the wall...

: Nate Holland :

2 Minute Picture

2011-01-25T18:44:00.000-08:00

So I decided to take a photo recently and you may be wondering why I called it a 2 minute picture. Well first of all, guess what time this was taken? Dusk? Dawn? No. This was taken in the middle of the night. I left the camera on taking the photo for 2 minutes and the only light source was the screen from my iPhone. The sky looked black to me but it came out a grey color on the camera because the shutter was open for so long. I also had to hold my finger down the entire time which was a total pain. But I hope you think the photo is interesting. If you click the image you should get the full size version, which is significantly bigger.

: Nate Holland :