Hector Alejandro's Blog

Hello

2012-01-17T13:02:00.001-08:00

VIA Reddit.com

Tomorrow I'll be blacking out this website and a few other websites I control. Learn WHY here.

Are you closing apps too often?

2012-01-05T14:12:00.000-08:00

Do you have an iPhone?
Chances are you open your multitasking bar to close apps and "save battery life."

As it turns out, you don't need to "close" those apps, since they're not really using any processing power...

Here are some highlights from mobile educaiton consultant Fraser Speirs's blog.

If someone tells you that all the apps in the multitasking bar are running, using up memory or sucking power, they are wrong.

When you hit the home button, an app moves from Active to Background and quickly to the Suspended state where it no longer uses CPU time or drains power.

An app may request an additional 10 minutes of Background running to complete a big task before becoming Suspended.

If memory is becoming scarce, iOS will automatically move Suspended apps into the Not Running state and reclaim their memory.

Five classes of apps - audio, GPS, VOIP, Newsstand and accessory apps - and some built-in apps such as Mail may run indefinitely in the background until they complete their task.

Let's get technical: iOS apps have five states of execution. These are:

Not running - the app has been terminated or has not been launched.

Inactive - the app is in the foreground but not receiving events (for example, the user has locked the device with the app active)

Active - the normal state of "in use" for an app

Background - the app is no longer on-screen but is still executing code

Suspended - the app is still resident in memory but is not executing code

Active and Inactive are not interesting for this discussion. Most of the confusion is around what happens as an app goes from Active to Background to Suspended to Not Running.
When you press the home button, the app moves from Active to Background. Most apps usually then go from Background to Suspended in a matter of seconds.

Source Fraser Speirs VIA Tested.com

50 Cent in, whaaa!

2012-01-05T13:55:00.000-08:00

You know how they say some actors only play themselves in movies.

Examples:
Seth Rogen only plays Seth Rogen.
Jim Carey only plays Jim Carey.

Well I don't think this is one of those instances...

Semper Fidelis All-American Bowl

2012-01-05T09:24:00.000-08:00

Intro Video
Motivation from D.I.s, Interviews with the players

Goal of the year?

2012-01-04T18:52:00.000-08:00

GOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLL.

VIA Reddit

Upside down fishing

2012-01-03T15:52:00.000-08:00

Mind BLOWN.

These cold weather divers are using their dry suits to float up, while filming their activities upside down which explains why the bubbles are going down and not up.
The buckets full of air, not water, is a pretty nice touch.

VIA Reddit

Olive Garden + No Breadsticks = ?

2012-01-02T18:53:00.000-08:00

Went to Olive Garden today to use the $25 gift card I won a few weeks ago, and as they were bringing the salad the waiter announced they had ran out of bread sticks.

80% of why I go to O.G. is for the bread sticks! He asked if we still wanted to stay or come back later, and after a no-brainer decision the manager offered a $15 gift card!

So now I'm $40 Olive Garden dollars richer than I was a few weeks ago.

Woohoo!

Georgia fan calls CPJ

2011-11-25T08:52:00.001-08:00

A classic University (Sic) of Georgia fan calls the Paul Johnson Radio Show.

What's the good word?

NCAA Football 12 Covers

2011-11-10T03:34:00.001-08:00

A few covers I made for NCAA Football 12. The credit to these photos belongs to multiple photographers like Josh Sandler, Quentin Biles, Jerry Pillarelli, and various AP photographers.

Sinnerman (Song of the Week)

2011-11-05T12:25:00.000-07:00

Where I heard it

At the end of "Witness," the latest episode on Person of Interest, there's a sweet song at the end. I knew it sounded familiar, but I don't think I had ever heard the full song.

The Song

As it turns out Sinnerman, is an old traditional spiritual song performed by a variety of famous artists.

The Nina Simone version, below, is certainly one of the better ones.

Other places you may have heard it before

Talib Kweli- "Get By"

Episode 1.11 of Scrubs

HTC Commercials

Week 9 NFL Picks

2011-11-05T10:14:00.000-07:00

The Colt's extremely dissapointing season continues as they march toward Andrew Luck. (RED HOT LOCK OF THE WEEK)
Jets offense, not the defense, pulls the upset against the Bills.
Colt McCoy keeps it close against a decent Texans team.
Cowboys get a much need W against a dissapointing Seahawks.
Kansas City builds off its momentum from Monday's win.
In what could be the game of the week, the Bucs upset the Saints in an exciting matchup. (UPSET OF THE WEEK)
49ers defense shines in the nation's capital.
Titan's win a close one decided by the kickers.
Tebow keeps it close this time, but still no cigar.
Go Pack Go!
Rams edge the Cards in a battle of one win teams.
Pats play a complete game against a good Giants squad.
The rivalry in Pittsburg continues with Big Ben's second outstanding performance in as many weeks.
Monday night victory for the Eagles.

Week 10 College Football Picks

2011-11-05T08:05:00.000-07:00

Landry rolls over A&M. (RED HOT LOCK OF THE WEEK)
Robinson continues his campaign for Heisman.
UNC's defense keeps them in the game against NC State.
Connecticut keeps it close against the future ACC team.
Mizzou's running game leads them past the Bears.
The Utes barely beat an up an coming Arizona.
Pitt puts together a complete game to give the Bearcats their second loss. (UPSET OF THE WEEK)
Arkansas finally loses a second game after a bunch of close games.
UT puts Texas Tech's upset bid down after the Red Raiders throw too many interceptions.
Game of the year in Tuscaloosa. LSU's speed edges the Tigers past the Tide. Saban is also out coached.

NFL Week 8 2011 Picks

2011-10-30T10:40:00.000-07:00

Notes

The Rams, Colts & Dolphins continue their winless streak.
Cam Newton notches another W.
Ravens offense wakes up after Monday's dud.
Jag's return to mediocrity.
Bills surge back into winning form.
Tim Tebow takes another bow.
Seahawks upset the Bengals at home.
49ers defense shines.
Pats win in a close game.
FGs make the difference in the Eagles victory.
Chargers win in a high scoring match-up.

Georgia Tech 41 - South Carolina State 10

2010-09-07T11:32:00.000-07:00

The B-Back Brigade pushes me up as I celebrate our 27 points on the board.

Thank you photographer Josh D Weiss for this awesome photo.

(Click on the photo for larger version)

B-Back Brigade

2010-07-29T00:32:00.001-07:00

Hey Everyone,

Go Jackets!
Football season is just around the corner! The Yellow Jackets are hungry for more than just an ACC championship. After watching those 25+ hours of practice in the spring, I can assure you:
(3-4) + (Al Groh) x (3ple Option) + (Paul Johnson) = Georgia Tech + Boise State in the BCS National Championship game in Glendale, AZ on JAN 10, 2011.
As most of you know, I'm graduating next week and will have to resort to winning this competition for my season tickets. (Let me know if you want to help me win this) The rest of you lucky enough to have 6 or 12 semesters left before graduation have the opportunity to join the B-Back Brigade for our PREMIUM FOOTBALL SEASON TICKETS starting with the second row, just like last year.
What's New
Reagan Eggert will be leading the group this year. He'll be sending you all an e-mail sometime soon with more info. A few things have changed this year, but I assure you its simpler than last year.
What's Next?
We're shooting for 200 people this year (we had 100 last year).

Invite YOUR friends and THEIR friends to join the best football block in the ACC.
Join the Facebook group, invite your friends.
Follow us on Twitter.
Take a look at the photos on Flickr from last year's games.

Questions?
Let me know if you have any questions.

Twitter - @hectorir

Construction Update

2010-06-21T06:54:00.001-07:00

The new dining options in the Georgia Tech Student Center appear to be about 70% ready.

3 new food court style restaurants will be opening soon: Taco Bell, Chick-Fil-a, and Subway.

In addition, a new sitting/eating area and a few counters have been installed in the area formerly used by Pandini’s.

The old Jacket’s restaurant has also been improved with a larger, more visible, entrance.

According to the Spring 2010 issue of The Buzz, the 4 restaurants are scheduled to open in the fall of 2010 and might be open late and on weekends.

The Task at Hand (POTD)

2010-04-19T18:19:00.000-07:00

Picture of the day

Midshipman 2/c Deric McNealy listening to the Marine platoon chain of command pass word at the end of physical training (PT).

As a third year Marine Option student in NROTC, McNealy is only a few weeks away from going to Marine Corps Officer Candidate School (OCS). There he will be screened, trained, and evaluated for his ability to lead as a Marine officer.

McNealy is very focused at the task at hand, successfully completing OCS. In many ways, OCS is like a co-op, internship, job interview, and on the job training all at the same time.

View the rest of the PT set here

Today I…

Participated in one of last PT sessions of the school year.
- Marine options still have a few military evolutions left like our physical fitness test (PFT) on Friday, our SULE I evolution on Saturday, and our 9-mile hike on Monday.
Went to the GT residence life staff yearly banquet.
- This banquet recognizes all the hard work of both the student staff (Peer Leaders, Resident Assistants) and the professional staff (Hall Directors, Area Managers, etc)
- Each staff consists of 12 to 20 PLs/RAs and 1 HD. During one of our recent weekly staff meetings we provided our input for Student Staff Member of the year. Hefty-Fit ‘n’ Strong’s (my area) chose Eli Beeker as SSM of the year.

Eli & Hall Director Victoria Martin

The Hefty-Fit ‘n’ Strong staff after the banquet.

Watch Out for that Wall! (POTD)

2010-04-18T15:38:00.000-07:00

Picture of the Day

Clemson junior left fielder Jeff Schaus crashes into the wall on a deep hit by Georgia Tech’s Tony Plagman during the Saturday game at “the Rusty C”.

Saturday I…

Watched GT clinch the series against Clemson in baseball
- Came in after they had run out of the free whiteout T-shirts.This was their design:
- It was another close one with a handful of lead changes.
Watched the football team scrimmage at Bobby Dodd Stadium
- I Took down a play-by-play of the whole thing.
- Later I compiled the information to make a box score. It’s all in my practice report here.
Dropped by Tech Beautification Day for a few minutes

Ate at my favorite restaurant: Papi’s Cuban Grill.
- After eating here fairly often for nearly four years, they FINALLY took my order without having to ask for “the usual”.
Spent some time at Under The Couch.
- My friends T.K., W.L., and Matt played during “open mic” night.

Sunday I…

Didn’t get to do too much interesting stuff. Sunday is a focus on school day.

Penguin Piñata Birthday Party (POTD)

2010-04-16T14:56:00.000-07:00

Picture of the Day

The candy in Spencer’s piñata is batted out the penguin.

Today I…

Spent part of my evening with the people of Hefty-Fit ‘n’ Strong. We:
- Played kickball at the Burger Bowl.
- Ate huge burgers at a cookout in our courtyard.
- Started a game of tug-of-war.
Went to the Beesball game
- Georgia Tech v Clemson
- For the 3rd time this year a Clemson team led by Kyle Parker (Right fielder, Quarterback) lost to Georgia Tech.
- The game was as exciting as GT/Clemson baseball games always are. We won in the 10th inning with a Chase Burnette homerun. I was standing right behind home plate when he did it.
Watched Football practice and wrote up a short practice report.

Motivation (POTD)

2010-04-15T14:30:00.000-07:00

Picture of the Day

MIDN 1/c Pham, soon to be 2LT Pham, demonstrates his motivation during our “pass in review” practice. See the rest of the set here.

Today (Thursday) I…

Played one of the most fun games of pickup football I’ve ever played
Rehearsed for the pass in review
- Pass in review is a military ceremony where a reviewing officer reviews the unit.
- Our ceremony will incorporate the change of command from one midshipman battalion commander to another.
Shipped a textbook I sold via Half.com.

The line at the post office was ridiculous since many people were sending tax related mail.

Had lunch at Pizza Hut in the student center.

I used all of my GT dining rewards funds.

3-0 in 4-on-4 [POTD]

2010-04-14T23:28:00.000-07:00

Picture of the Day

Kaylen intercepts a pass during our 32-20 victory of Hefty-Fit ‘n’ Strong.

Today I...

Listened to the Georgia Tech @ UGA baseball game on WREK online.

Final score Tech 25 – Bad Guys 6.
Tech scored its most runs ever against UGA game.
25 runs is also the most runs ever allowed by UGA against ANY opponent.
Georgia Tech’s record for runs scored is 41 runs against Earlham in 1975.
To Hell with Georgia
I’m really looking forward to the series against Clemson this weekend. Not only our biggest ACC rival, but they’re also really good at baseball.

Watched spring football practice.

Today was the 9th practice.
The spring game will be next Saturday, April 24th (ITS FREE):
I wrote my practice report on the North Avenue Bulletin.

Played intramural 4-on-4 football.

My team won 55-20.
We are 3-0 and play for the #1 seed in the playoffs next week.

Did my laundry since I needed to get my camoflauge uniform trousers clean from crawling in the dirt during Monday morning PT.

Also had to roll my sleeves for the first time since OCS.

Watched the EPIC 200th episode of South Park.

Did anyone catch that? I bet they don’t even make a continuation to it.

Found my phone (see yesterday)

PNS Inspection Today [POTD]

2010-04-13T17:27:00.001-07:00

Picture of the Day

Captain Stephen Kirby, GT NROTC Commanding Officer.

Captain Kirby, the Professor of Naval Science, inspects the midshipmen of the Georgia Tech NROTC unit. The PNS inspection is an event that occurs each semester. MIDN Blankenbeker, the Battalion (midshipman) CO, trails the captain taking note of any deficiencies in the midshipmen’s uniforms.
Checkout the rest of the set here.

Today I…

Discovered the interesting stores on 11th street like PPR where I found a replacement lens cap.
Started working on Fore ‘n’ Aft, the Georgia Tech NROTC yearbook.
Found a old DVD from 2003, did they have DVDs back then? The video was a video version of the 2002-2003 GTNROTC unit yearbook. I only knew about half a dozen of the people in it.
- Will try to upload the videos to YouTube later.
Lost my phone. Have you seen it?
Made some spaghetti for lunch.
Received a Bit.ly Pro invite. Exciting! Will set it up later.

Today I will…

Watch LOST at 9 PM. Only a 5 more episodes until the series finale.
Drop by Woodie’s for Dinner.
Go to the CRC, only a few more days until our semiannual PFT (Physical Fitness Test).

#GTNROTC, #POTD

OCS: POTD

2010-03-30T20:43:00.001-07:00

Picture of the day

It took me a while to get this scanned, but here is my platoon photo from OCS.
This was taken a few days prior to graduation. Our platoon was 5th platoon, or as we called it, the Forgotten Fifth. We called it that because they staff members at OCS weren’t used to having five platoons so we were often forgotten.
The 4 Marines in desert MARPAT uniforms are our platoon staff. From left to right they are: GySgt Rowland (Sergeant Instructor), Capt Throughton (Platoon Commander), GySgt Tsang (Sergeant Instructor), GySgt Washington (Platoon Sergeant). To the right of the 4 Marines is a Navy Corpsman, Doc Watts.
Did you find me in the photo?

Best GT Schedule Makers

2010-03-30T18:18:00.001-07:00

Registration Season

It’s that time of the semester when people’s hopes get raised by making awesome schedules for next semester, only to get hit with a registration error, a major restriction, and a hold on top of it all.
With just a few more weeks of school left, it usually helps to think about starting fresh with a new set of courses. Lucky for you there are some website that can make registration super easy:

GT EasyReg

Background	Started out as a group project for a Spring 2007 LCC 3401 class.
Pros	Easy to use No Registration required Class Locations Map (w/ walking times) Easy to print schedule Professor GPA comparison
Cons	Class Locations Map isn’t very reliable No saving your registration No class capacity Struggles with summer schedules
Final Verdict	3 Paul Johnsons Easiest to Use- Comes in handy for quick and simple searches.

GT Schedule Creator

Background	Developed by shtylman
Pros	Ability to save/load and import/export your schedule Projected GPA for the semester (based on avg GPAs of your classes) Professor GPA comparison No Registration required Easier to add/remove classes REMAINING Class Capacity info Link to catalog entry
Cons	No class location map Search by looking through lists instead of a search box No class conflict warning
Final Verdict	4 Paul Johnsons Best on Gameday- When its your time to register, this application helps you make educated decisions with its class vacancy information.

Background	The term “koofer” is to Virginia Polytech as the term “word” is to Georgia Tech. This website includes many other useful studying features.
Pros	Best looking website Color by GPA Projected semester GPA Ability to save Integration with textbook search Its own professor rating system
Cons	Registration required Doesn’t show you your compiled schedule right away Too cluttered Lacks ability to export schedule for offline use Koofers hasn’t been fully assimilated with GT students, so many of its features come out empty
Final Verdict	3 Paul Johnsons Most Versatile- The many other study tools such as flashcards, professor ratings, and course materials make this a very useful tool.

Bonus Entry: SGA’s

Course Critique has become rather obsolete due to the added value of the schedulers listed above.
Still useful for detailed GPA reports and the results of course (CIOS) surveys.

UPDATED

New Bonus Entry:

OIRP Grade Distribution App

Thanks to Raymond Chan for letting me know about this excellent app. Give it a try.

Did I miss any other good schedule makers? Let me know in the comments box

Spring Football Starts Today!

2010-03-29T11:11:00.001-07:00

Picture of the Day

This is what I do when I see UGA ads on Facebook:

Football

At 3:45 Georgia Tech’s spring football season officially begins.
Practices are Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays (in the morning). They’re OPEN to the public so all you have to do is walk over to Rose Bowl field and watch the Jackets as they begin preparation for a national championship.

Can’t make it to practice?

No worries, just checkout the North Avenue Bulletin’s practice report.
Should be done shortly after practice is over.

Hector Alejandro's Blog

Hello

Are you closing apps too often?

50 Cent in, whaaa!

Semper Fidelis All-American Bowl

Goal of the year?

Upside down fishing

Olive Garden + No Breadsticks = ?

Georgia fan calls CPJ

NCAA Football 12 Covers

Sinnerman (Song of the Week)

Week 9 NFL Picks

Week 10 College Football Picks

NFL Week 8 2011 Picks

Georgia Tech 41 - South Carolina State 10

B-Back Brigade

Construction Update

The Task at Hand (POTD)

View the rest of the PT set here

Watch Out for that Wall! (POTD)

Picture of the Day

Saturday I…

Sunday I…

Penguin Piñata Birthday Party (POTD)

Picture of the Day

Today I…

Motivation (POTD)

Picture of the Day

Today (Thursday) I…

3-0 in 4-on-4 [POTD]

Picture of the Day

Today I...

PNS Inspection Today [POTD]

Picture of the Day

Today I…

Today I will…

#GTNROTC, #POTD

OCS: POTD

Picture of the day

Best GT Schedule Makers

Registration Season

GT EasyReg

GT Schedule Creator

Bonus Entry: SGA’s

Did I miss any other good schedule makers? Let me know in the comments box

Spring Football Starts Today!

Picture of the Day

Football

Can’t make it to practice?

Don’t forget the Spring game

Note: Spring game time has been set to 1:00 PM

No Cameras Allowed at Practice!