A Quote from Brak

I love my arms... that's where my hands live!

SEL

I just finished a phone screen with Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories (SEL). They're located in Pullman and are looking for interns who can work from now through the summer. This would be a good job, since I have a relatively light course load next spring and will be coming back to WSU in the fall for grad school. The phone screen went pretty well, and I'm supposed to hear back within the week.

[DupyFlicks] Flags of Our Fathers

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Posted by Kylan to DupyFlicks at 11/01/2006 04:26:00 PM

[DupyFlicks] The Departed

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Posted by Kylan to DupyFlicks at 11/01/2006 04:25:00 PM

Graduate School

Yesterday I got word that I've been accepted into the graduate program here at WSU. I'm being offered a research assistantship and two fellowships. Yay!

[DupyFlicks] Scoop

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Posted by Kylan to DupyFlicks at 10/16/2006 10:36:00 AM

[DupyPics] Pics from the Trip to OSU

Oregon State Trip

Oct 8, 2006 - 11 Photos

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Posted by Kylan to DupyPics at 10/08/2006 08:53:00 PM

The Way I See It #119

Starbucks puts these quotes on the sides of their paper coffee cups. This one especially reminded me of Rwanda...

"As you sip your coffee, think about
all the science behind it: in
agriculture, processing, roasting,
extraction. Then think of all the
science around you: in your cell
phone, your computer, even your
food. Shouldn't everyone be
educated to understand the science
that permeates their lives?"

-Dr. David Balitmore, President, California Institute of Technology, and Nobel laureate in Physiology or Medicine

[DupyLinks] Save Darfur

[http://www.savedarfur.org/content?splash=yes]

Jutta pointed me to this link. You can use this site to send a message to George Bush and Kofi Annan about the genocide in Sudan.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyLinks at 10/02/2006 01:27:00 PM

[DupyLinks] Hitler watercolours bring a brush with evil to Cornwall

[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,13509-2376921,00.html]

An amusing article. Well-written and kind of funny, actually.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyLinks at 9/26/2006 03:43:19 PM

[DupyFlicks] The Volunteers

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Posted by Kylan to DupyFlicks at 9/17/2006 11:40:00 PM

[DupyFlicks] Hook

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Posted by Kylan to DupyFlicks at 9/17/2006 11:40:00 PM

WSU vs. Baylor

Just got back from the annual Cougar football game in Seattle. We beat Baylor in a nail-biter. It really shouldn't have been that close, but we a bunch of mistakes along the way. Mom and Dad were there, and they got special front-row seats at Qwest field because Dad is hobbling around in a knee brace after his surgery. This year the band stayed an extra night and played on the steps of the stadium for the Seahawks game the next day.

[DupyLinks] Washington State U. Student Engineers to Design Sudan Hospital - New York Times

[http://www.nytimes.com/uwire/uwire_CYEL090820067222222.html?ex=1158811200&en=b690b538f5b88606&ei=5070&emc=eta1]

Our Sudan project was picked up by the New York Times. Once again, too bad the reporter didn't bother to interview anyone but the Civil Engineering guys.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyLinks at 9/14/2006 08:28:28 AM

[DupyLinks] Noah Kalina

This guy takes a picture of himself every day. Here's a video with the pictures from the first six years of his project.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyLinks at 9/17/2006 11:33:00 PM

OK Go - Here It Goes Again

OK Go, Dancing on Treadmills Buy the album at iTunes: http://doiop.com/ohno/itunes More OK Go: http://okgo.net http://myspace.com/okgo (music_video)

[DupyPics] Rwanda Pictures

Just trying out a new PicasaWeb function.

Rwanda

Jul 31, 2006 - 200 Photos

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Posted by Kylan to DupyPics at 9/08/2006 03:28:00 PM

[DupyLinks] Switchfoot.com

[http://www.switchfoot.com/]

Switchfoot just announced the release date of their upcoming album, "Oh! Gravity." Visit their site for countdowns.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyLinks at 9/08/2006 01:16:38 PM

[DupyPics] 9/04/2006 11:17:33 PM

Playing air guitar, Jutta providing the vocals.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyPics at 9/04/2006 11:17:33 PM

[DupyPics] 9/04/2006 11:17:12 PM

A last night with our friends.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyPics at 9/04/2006 11:17:12 PM

[DupyPics] 9/04/2006 11:16:54 PM

Ashley, me and the kids.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyPics at 9/04/2006 11:16:54 PM

[DupyPics] 9/04/2006 11:16:39 PM

On the way to Nyungwe.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyPics at 9/04/2006 11:16:39 PM

[DupyPics] 9/04/2006 11:16:20 PM

Funny face for me, Cleophas looks mini.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyPics at 9/04/2006 11:16:20 PM

[DupyFlicks] 2 Fast 2 Furious

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Posted by Kylan to DupyFlicks at 9/04/2006 07:38:00 PM

[DupyFlicks] World Trade Center

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Posted by Kylan to DupyFlicks at 9/04/2006 07:38:00 PM

[DupyFlicks] Crank

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Posted by Kylan to DupyFlicks at 9/04/2006 07:37:00 PM

[DupyLinks] Croc Hunter Killed by Stingray

[http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,19923,00.html]

This was a shock, even though it's not really that surprising.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyLinks at 9/04/2006 11:05:04 AM

[DupyLinks] lowercase people

[http://www.lowercasepeople.com/index.php?theIssue=3&theSection=justice]

I found this article Friday. It's from an online magazine called lowercase people, which is somehow related to Switchfoot. Interesting article, this group traveled in Eastern Rwanda where we didn' t have a chance to go. The pictures all look very Rwandan to me.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyLinks at 9/03/2006 04:52:09 PM

[DupyPics] 9/03/2006 04:46:00 PM

Sipping coffee by Lake Kivu.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyPics at 9/03/2006 04:46:00 PM

[DupyPics] 9/03/2006 04:36:40 PM

Telecenter opening ceremony, in Maraba.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyPics at 9/03/2006 04:36:40 PM

[DupyPics] 9/03/2006 04:30:57 PM

Prague from the castle.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyPics at 9/03/2006 04:30:57 PM

Project Fuji

This semester I've been acting as a recruiter for my senior design class. My job is to research a given project, explain and advertise it in front of the class, and hire a team to carry out the design. During the first week of classes I was assigned to Project Fuji, which is tasked with designing a solar-driven power system for a hospital in Nubia, Sudan.

This is a very exciting project because it will directly affect the lives of 40,00 Sudaneese people. At the moment, people are forced to travel over 200 km for medical treatment, and many die because they can't make the journey. Many people in the region die from scorpion bites because there are no refrigerators which can store the simple antidote.

My presentation to the class was very successful, and many students were interested in joining the team. At the simulated job fair a week later, I hired three very excited individuals who will work with me to complete the design. Their names are Charles Renneberg, Takele Taffesse, and Vladimir Yerokhin. We have a couple of faculty mentors on campus, John Yates and Mat Taylor. Stay tuned for more information about the project. Hopefully, we can get a project website and blog set up for you all to see so you can follow our work.

[DupyUpdate] It's Been a Long Time

It's been a long time since I've updated Dupyshon.com. And I miss it. Since we're in the middle of a long weekend (four days long for me since I don't have any Tuesday classes), expect to see some changes.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyUpdate at 9/03/2006 02:24:00 PM

[DupyUpdate] Dupyshon.com is Back

Sorry, everyone, the server I've been hosting Dupyshon.com on was down for a long time. But now it's back. If I keep running into these problems, I'm going to have to find somewhere else to host my site.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyUpdate at 8/28/2006 03:25:00 PM

[DupyLinks] Revisiting Rwanda

[http://www.ottawasun.com/Showbiz/Movies/2006/08/03/1716650-sun.html]

When we were in Rwanda, we stumbled upon one of these production companies shooting a scene at the Hotel des Mille Collines. I was able to get into one of the scenes as an extra.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyLinks at 8/03/2006 05:19:43 PM

[DupyLinks] Monkey Bites

[http://blog.wired.com/monkeybites/]

This is a pretty fun blog concerned with Web 2.0, new stuff on the Internet, etc.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyLinks at 8/02/2006 03:57:42 PM

[DupyLinks] Colbert and African Elephants

[http://blog.wired.com/monkeybites/index.blog?entry_id=1531623]

This is the best segment of the Colbert Report that I've seen all summer. It also happens to be the only segment of the Colbert Report that I've seen all summer, but it's still pretty good.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyLinks at 8/02/2006 03:55:22 PM

[DupyLinks] USAID Commits US$3.8 Million to Nyungwe Forest

[http://allafrica.com/stories/200607310501.html]

We met Ryan Washburn and spent a day in Nyungwe. What a small country!

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Posted by Kylan to DupyLinks at 7/31/2006 02:21:03 PM

Zidane Headbutt

Here's a fun Zidane headbutt game:

Back Home

Alright, I'm back in the US. It's good to be home, but I'd like to return to Rwanda soon. Now I'm getting ready for school and finishing up a few last things for the project.

[DupyUpdate] All Aboard

Take a look at the Rwanda blog. We now have all three team members contributing. It's starting to get exciting!

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Posted by Kylan to DupyUpdate at 6/11/2006 07:50:00 AM

[DupyUpdate] In Rwanda

I'm in Rwanda! There's a post on Six Weeks in Rwanda for you all to read.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyUpdate at 6/09/2006 09:45:00 AM

[DupyFlicks] How to Steal a Million

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Posted by Kylan to DupyFlicks at 6/03/2006 01:01:00 PM

[DupyFlicks] The Last Round: Chuvalo vs. Ali

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Posted by Kylan to DupyFlicks at 5/27/2006 11:58:00 PM

[DupyFlicks] Match Point

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Posted by Kylan to DupyFlicks at 5/20/2006 11:51:00 PM

[DupyFlicks] The Greatest Game Ever Played

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Posted by Kylan to DupyFlicks at 5/27/2006 11:49:00 PM

[DupyLinks] Internet And Coffee Make a Robust Combination in Rwanda

[http://allafrica.com/stories/200605260581.html]

This article is specifically about the work I'll be doing in Rwanda. How exciting!

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Posted by Kylan to DupyLinks at 5/27/2006 04:51:07 PM

[DupyPics] 5/27/2006 04:37:16 PM

And on the WSU website.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyPics at 5/27/2006 04:37:16 PM

[DupyPics] 5/27/2006 04:36:29 PM

Here it is in color.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyPics at 5/27/2006 04:36:29 PM

[DupyPics] 5/27/2006 04:35:28 PM

Last fall, the official WSU photographer took a picture of Kristen and me eating on top of the library. Now the pictures are everywhere!

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Posted by Kylan to DupyPics at 5/27/2006 04:35:28 PM

More Videos

Okay, I know I've made a lot of posts today. But I don't hear anyone complaining. So here's two more videos, both taken by my friend Christine Baker.

Crazy K-Steck

If you're a true fan of this site, you'll probably recognize this video from one of my picture albums. It's so good, though, that it deserves a repeat appearance. Thanks to the magic of Google Video, you can enjoy a crazy Kristen Steck from the comfort of this blog.

[DupyUpdate] The Big Bash

Finally, after almost two months, I've posted an album with pictures from the Big Bash. You can find the pictures in DupyAlbums.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyUpdate at 5/27/2006 03:38:00 PM

Cougar Baseball

Last night I went to watch the Cougar baseball team play UW in Seattle. I met Weston, Kristian, and Jon Conrad there and we had a lot of fun cheering on the Cougs. The impressive thing was that at least a third of the crowd was wearing crimson. It was an exciting, close game, and we ended up winning 3-2. Jay Miller got one single, making him the all-time leader in hits for WSU. You can read the recap of the game here. After the game, Weston's folks took us out to eat at the Ram.

[DupyPics] 5/27/2006 02:43:46 PM

The view from the Arch.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyPics at 5/27/2006 02:43:46 PM

[DupyPics] 5/27/2006 02:34:11 PM

One last one, with the Arch this time.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyPics at 5/27/2006 02:34:11 PM

[DupyPics] 5/27/2006 02:33:25 PM

Another one, during the game.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyPics at 5/27/2006 02:33:25 PM

[DupyPics] 5/27/2006 02:32:57 PM

A panorama from Busch Stadium.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyPics at 5/27/2006 02:32:57 PM

[DupyFlicks] De-Lovely

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Posted by Kylan to DupyFlicks at 5/24/2006 11:35:00 PM

Fast Fact

The Empire State Building was built on the original site of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City.

[DupyUpdate] Illinois

If you haven't already noticed, I put up an album from my Illinois trip. You can find it in the DupyAlbums section.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyUpdate at 5/24/2006 05:43:00 PM

[DupyUpdate] Jaron's Corner

My brother Jaron and I have been talking about getting him some space on this website for a while now. I decided it would be easiest for him to make his pages in the form of a wiki, since he doesn't know any HTML. So check out Jaron's Corner.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyUpdate at 5/22/2006 04:58:00 PM

[DupyPics] 5/22/2006 04:58:05 PM

Will and Weston right before Weston's baptism.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyPics at 5/22/2006 04:58:05 PM

[DupyLinks] An Inconvenient Truth - Al Gore

[http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/22/movies/22gore.html?_r=1&oref=slogin]

I think that when someone gets bored of being the "Inventor of the Internet," they turn to bigger and better things. For Al Gore, this means becoming both a movie star and an environmental crusader.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyLinks at 5/22/2006 11:54:14 AM

[DupyFlicks] Over the Hedge

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Posted by Kylan to DupyFlicks at 5/21/2006 11:31:00 PM

[DupyLinks] Fox to visit farmworkers, business execs

[http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003008935_foxvisit21m.html]

Vicente Fox, the president of Mexico, will be visiting Washington state this weekend. He is spending time in Yakima and on the West Side, talking to people and promoting his new trumpet mouthpiece, the Vicente Fox Ey Carumba 3000c4a. Or maybe not.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyLinks at 5/21/2006 11:22:24 PM

[DupyLinks] Office 2007 would cost Massachusetts four times Open Office: Quinn

[http://www.itwire.com.au/content/view/3773/106/]

The state of Massachusetts is considering switching from Microsoft Office to OpenOffice. In this article, it is predicted that doing so would cost them four times less money than upgrading to the new version of Microsoft's suite of programs. I think this shows that open source software is a great solution for organizations and businesses that need to save money and can afford to sacrifice a small bit of functionality in their software.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyLinks at 5/16/2006 11:05:00 AM

[DupyLinks] Skype Goes for Broke

[http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/may2006/tc20060515_240433.htm]

Wow, free PC-to-landline calls! This is a really good thing for me, especially since WSU is taking out all of the phones from the dorms next year.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyLinks at 5/16/2006 10:57:00 AM

[DupyLinks] Google keeps eye on Vista search

[http://networks.silicon.com/webwatch/0,39024667,39158821,00.htm]

Google CEO Eric Schmidt: "There is room for more than one winner. Each of the strategies can coexist independent of the others."

I think that Google is much more competitive than they sound. Yes, I know that their motto is "Don't be Evil," but I think they also believe in "Don't be Dumb." Brin and Schmidt are smart guys, and they know that they are in big-time competition with Microsoft.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyLinks at 5/12/2006 12:22:00 AM

[DupyFlicks] Mission Impossible: III

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Posted by Kylan to DupyFlicks at 5/12/2006 12:25:00 AM

[DupyLinks] Reuters AlertNet - FEATURE-What price nature? Bogs $6,000, reefs $10,000

[http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L20346902.htm]

"Dasgupta said one problem for Eco-nomics was that nature is inherently priceless -- without it all life would die."

This is an interesting concept, applying monetary value to ecological assets. The figures sound like very conservative estimates to me, though. I agree with the Dasgupta quote above.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyLinks at 5/11/2006 10:55:07 AM

[DupyLinks] Czech Republic elected U.N. Human Rights Council member

[http://www.praguemonitor.com/ctk/?story_id=w31533i20060511;story=CzechRep-elected-U.N.-Human-Rights-Council-member]

Congratulations to the Czech Republic for getting on the Human Rights Council. It would be fun to represent them at next year's MUN. Being on a brand new human rights commission would be pretty exciting.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyLinks at 5/11/2006 10:03:43 AM

[DupyLinks] Russian Leader Urges Steps to Lift Birthrate

[http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/10/world/europe/10cnd-russia.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5088&en=9bb03afc4beb5c44&ex=1304913600&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss]

We hear so much about the overpopulation of the world these days. India and China have booming populations, and my biology professor said that the human species is currently operating above its carrying capacity. This story, then, was a little surprising to me. The Russian government actually seems quite concerned that their population is going to collapse and they won't have a country anymore!

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Posted by Kylan to DupyLinks at 5/10/2006 12:37:05 PM

[DupyUpdate] Domain Forwarding

There was a problem with my domain name forwarding over the last few days. Don't worry, though, I got it figured out and now everything should work again.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyUpdate at 5/10/2006 10:37:00 AM

[DupyFlicks] General Idi Amin Dada: A Self Portrait

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Posted by Kylan to DupyFlicks at 5/10/2006 10:21:00 AM

[DupyLinks] The RFID Hacking Underground

[http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.05/rfid.html?pg=1&topic=rfid&topic_set=]

This is a neat article about the security vulnerabilities of RFID technology. I think that this means of identification will become widespread in the future, so it is important to take a look at the security concerns before it gets widely implemented.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyLinks at 5/05/2006 01:36:22 PM

[DupyFlicks] The Producers

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Posted by Kylan to DupyFlicks at 5/01/2006 09:08:00 PM

[DupyFlicks] King Kong

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Posted by Kylan to DupyFlicks at 5/01/2006 09:09:00 PM

[DupyUpdate] Final New York Update

I finally finished the New York Page of Dupyshon.com. The blog posts are all complete, one for each of the seven days of the trip. The links to both Weston's and my photo albums are also active. If you haven't heard about our New York trip yet, check it out.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyUpdate at 5/02/2006 04:53:00 PM

Switchfoot

On Friday I went to Spokane with Weston and a bunch of Chi Alpha people to go see Switchfoot play at the Gonzaga McCarthy Athletic Center. We left at about 5 o'clock for the 8PM concert and at a little Italian place called Geno's before the concert. A band called Lovedrug ("love drug," not "loved rug" like we thought) was the opening act. They were okay, but they were very loud and it was hard to understand the lyrics. Then, after changing the stage around, Switchfoot came out and started off with "The Shadow Proves the Sunshine." They played "Lonely Nation" and "Stars" from their newest album before playing "Company Car" and dedicating it to their longtime fans (like me!).

I hadn't expected the band to sound too great, since I've heard a couple recordings of their live performances. On Friday night, though, they sounded excellent! Jon's voice and all of the instrumentation sounded just like on the albums, sometimes even better. I was really happy that they played some of their older stuff, including "Dare You to Move" and "Chem 6a." Best of all, though, Switchfoot played a new song that's not on any of their albums. It was called "Awakening" and I liked it a lot. It featured Jon on the harmonica and catchy sounding chorus. It'd be really neat to hear that song on their next CD.

[DupyFlicks] The Godfather: Part II

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Posted by Kylan to DupyFlicks at 4/30/2006 09:41:00 AM

[DupyFlicks] A History of Violence

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Posted by Kylan to DupyFlicks at 4/30/2006 09:40:00 AM

[DupyUpdate] DupyWiki

I'm hereby announcing a new Dupyshon.com feature -- the DupyWiki. Wikis are web pages that are totally user-customizable. This means that you (the user) can visit this section of my site, view what's currently there, and make any changes you like. Don't worry, you don't have to know anything about HTML or web programming. There's an easy style guide that will help you out. I am sent an email any time there's a change in the wiki, so I'll be able to moderate what goes on there.

I'm in the process of developing some ground rules. There's a short list of them here, but the permanent list will be located on one of the wiki pages.

1. When you make a change, leave your name. The sign-in page asks for a name, so please provide one. If you want to sign your name on the actual page as well, feel free. We'd all like to know who says what.
2. Keep it clean. Pretty self-explanatory.
3. Have fun with it. Dupyshon.com isn't the most serious of websites, and that's on purpose. I want this to be an enjoyable website to visit, so be creative and express yourself.
4. You're welcome to reorganize pages, add style stuff, or create brand new pages altogether. Just because I'm the moderator doesn't mean I should have to do all the work to make it look good. If you feel a bunch of posts belong to their own category, maybe creating a new page would be a good idea. Just an example.

Okay, and now for the most important part of this post: how to log in to the DupyWiki. When you open the DupyWiki page, you'll see a button that says "Log In to Edit." Click on that button, enter your name in the "Name" field (duh!). You don't have to enter in your email address, but it's a good way for me to keep track of the changes that are made. Finally, THE PASSWORD FOR THE DUPYWIKI IS kylan. I thought I'd keep it simple.

Have fun, people.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyUpdate at 4/29/2006 08:43:00 PM

[DupyPics] 4/26/2006 05:59:55 PM

Over the past few days, I've been consumed by the final project for my CS30 class. It's a complete ext2 filesystem, and I'm calling it the DupyFileSys. I even made a little ascii art logo for it. It's displayed on the screen every time you start the program.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyPics at 4/26/2006 05:59:55 PM

[DupyLinks] Pixel noise said to create unique camera "fingerprint"

[http://www.engadget.com/2006/04/23/pixel-noise-said-to-create-unique-camera-fingerprint/]

This is a pretty cool idea. CSI will incorporate this idea into an episode soon, I bet.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyLinks at 4/23/2006 08:57:41 PM

[DupyUpdate] New York Update

Ok, I've published blog posts for the first two days of our New York trip. In a few minutes, I'll have the albums up that correspond to those days.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyUpdate at 4/16/2006 05:48:00 PM

[DupyFlicks] Rumor Has It...

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Posted by Kylan to DupyFlicks at 4/16/2006 05:47:00 PM

[DupyFlicks] Fun With Dick and Jane

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Posted by Kylan to DupyFlicks at 4/16/2006 05:47:00 PM

Snow!?

After a week of great, warm weather in New York, it was snowing when I woke up this morning. Go figure.

New York - Day 7

This morning we woke up and packed our things. Our last day in New York! Today we walked down to the UN building for some voting and some sightseeing. We ate breakfast across the street from the UN building at a place called the Nations Cafe.

Everyone in the WSU group took a turn voting as part of the GA Plenary. On the last day of the conference, the GA Plen reviews the reports and votes on all of the resolutions produced by the various committees. I really enjoyed this activity, because we got to see our votes up on the Big Board. We also wore the translation earpieces, even though there was nothing that really needed to be translated. It was all very official looking, though. At one point I just started poking around at the buttons on the desk and I ended up hitting the microphone button. My microphone's red light lit up and I interrupted the whole meeting! Thankfully, the chair realized that I'd made a mistake and turned my microphone off.

Some other people from our group came to relieve us, so we toured the UN building for a while. I bought some stamps at the UN Post Office (the only place in the world that you can buy international postage.) We also perused the bookstore and the gift shop. I ended up spending a lot of money on UN stuff. Upstairs, on the main floor, we took some time to look at the art and the various UN-related displays. We saw the Chagall stained glass, a Norman Rockwell mosaic, and the Foucault Pendulum. Weston and I even snuck into a couple of restricted areas. We went in one door just to see if it went anywhere. It ended up leading to a gallery over one of the large conference rooms. At another point, we were stopped by a security guard in an area which was labeled "Restricted Access: Security Clearance Required." We just flashed our conference badges and acted confidently, so she let us pass.

Before long, we had to head back to the hotel. We packed up the rest of our things and checked out of our rooms. Then we went out for lunch at Yum Yum Bangkok. It was great food! And cheap! For $6.95, we had a three course meal with appetizers, soup and salad, and a Pad Thai entree. The service was excellent, too. The waitress always kept our water glasses full and our food came very quickly.

After saying goodbye to Times Square, we piled into vans again and headed off to Laguardia. The plane ride was long, but I was able to sleep for part of it. We had a stopover in Denver before returning to Spokane. By the time we got back to Pullman, it was around 1AM. But since we were used to New York time, it felt like 4AM. That's 21 hours of straight activity.

It was a fun trip. I learned a lot about the United Nations and had a blast exploring New York City. I'm really grateful that the Honors College and WSU alumni contributed so much money to cover our expenses, because it truly was a worthwhile experience. I'm also glad that Weston came. It was nice to be able to share it all with a friend. This adventure gave me a greater appreciation for the work that the UN does, and it's made me eager to return to New York someday soon.

New York - Day 6

Today was the last day of committee meetings! We were all pretty excited about this because the committee sessions seemed very long. In my committee we got a few more draft reports approved by the dias, for a total of ten in all. I spent a lot of the caucusing time talking with EU countries and figuring out how they were going to vote. Usually, Czech Republic simply follows the opinion of the European Union. Most of the UNHCR delegate in the Czech Republic bloc (the one's at O'Neill's the night before) weren't at the morning session. I think they didn't get much sleep because they stayed out too late.

For lunch we went to another Irish pub. These little places usually have pretty good food. I had an amazing pot pie with really flaky crust, and Weston had some kind of burger which looked pretty good. I invited the representative of Belgium (who was actually from a school in Ohio), so he came along with our little WSU group. When we got back to the UNHCR, we finally started voting procedures. All of the draft report segments passed without a problem. There were no motions to divide or to vote by roll call. Some of them even passed by affirmation, which meant that a vote wasn't even needed.

After finishing up with the committee, we had a short delegation meeting and then Weston and I went to meet his friend Laura, a student at NYU who's originally from Issaquah. She took us out to an Italian place called Pietrasanta. The food was excellent, a culinary masterpiece. I am still amazed at how good these little hole-in-the-wall restaurants can be, especially with their limited space. We shared some tiramisu for dessert, which was a definite treat.

Then it was off to our Broadway show, The Producers. Weston picked up the tickets from Will Call and we stood in line for a few minutes until they opened the doors. I was impressed by the St. James theater. It seemed very old but also quite comfortable. We had seats on the mezzanine level toward the back, but we could still see the stage very well. The show itself was amazing from start to finish. The orchestra was brilliant. It was perfectly balanced and sounded just like a recording. The actors were superb. They were fun and exciting to watch, truly masters of their craft. The singing was flawless. The songs were easy to understand and the singers never strayed off pitch. I thought The Producers was hilarious, especially with Springtime for Hitler and Carmen Ghia. It's highly likely that I'll never see such a good live performance again in my life.

When the show got out, we found ourselves in a sea of people. They were everywhere! Times Square on Friday night is crazy, especially when all of the Broadway shows get out at the same time. We said goodbye to Laura, took some more pictures of Times Square, and went to bed.

New York - Day 5

There's really not much to write about today. I think everyone spent at least twelve hours in committee meetings and caucussing. My committee is having some problems, because the chair isn't accepting any of our draft report segments. I'm a signatory on four or five of these reports, so that's good. I'm not allowed to be a sponsor on any, since the Czech Republic is only and observer in the UNHCR. Anyway, the chair called the Undersecretary General to come talk to us and get us on the right track. Essentially, she wanted us to consolidate our ideas and efforts. We had around 20 or 25 working drafts, and we needed to have a maximum of ten. The rest of the day, then, was spent merging papers and cooperating among the groups. Finally, by the end of the night, we had our first draft report accepted by the dias. Everyone was so happy that they started clapping. It was pretty funny to me. There was even applause for the next few delegates on the speaker's list! The chair finally got us all calmed down and order was eventually restored. ("Decorum, delegates!")

For lunch today we went to a great Chineese place with the WSU gang. Everyone ordered an entree and shared. People got full quickly, though, and we had a bunch of food left over. I did what I could to help and ate a good chunk of the leftovers. We didn't have much of a break for dinner, so Weston and I swung by the famous Times Square McDonalds. I don't know of any other two-story McDonalds' in the world, and it had giant neon golden arches outside. This evening we went to an Irish pub called O'Neill's. Some of my UNHCR friends were there, and we had some fun "caucussing." I tried a little bit of Foster's, which was pretty good. We left early, though, because we have an early meeting tomorrow.

New York - Day 4

This morning we got up and went to breakfast at a little cafe. I had a crossaint and some orange juice. Then we strolled over to St. Patrick's Cathedral, a very old and historical church. One of the popes visited here. Next we went to the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, probably the most famous hotel in the world. It was very nice inside, although all we got to see was the lobby. It's located on Park Avenue, which is a very well-groomed street. There are wide medians in the middle of the road, and they have tulips planted in them. Central Park is only a few blocks away, so we spent some time walking through the park. We wanted to see the chess players, but they were nowhere to be found. After lunch at a pizzeria, it was back to committee meetings. In the UNHCR, there was still a bunch of pointless discussion about speaker times, but we finally started to do some work. We all got into our blocs and started some ideas for drafting report segments. I met up with weston for dinner, and we ate at the Trolly Cafe. I had a burger bacon and sauteed onions and some Red Stripe beer. Two thumbs up for Red Stripe. After one more committee meeting, which lasted for about three hours, we went to Ben and Jerry's for dessert. Oddly enough, we saw a guy there wearing a Tumwater golf club t-shirt. It was a tiring day, so we went to be pretty early (and by that I mean around 12:30).

[DupyUpdate] New York, NY

Ok, I realize that all of you are anxious to see some New York pictures or blog posts or anything that lets you know what I've been up to. The thing is, though, that I'm a little too busy to be working on my website. We've been going nonstop ever since getting here. In short, we've been having a lots of fun, going lots of places, eating lots of food, being very good diplomats, and taking a bunch of pictures. (Between Weston and I, we've taken well over a thousand pictures so far.) So after this week, and after I get a bit caught up from missing a week of school, I'll make some blog posts and picture albums for everyone to see. That's all for now, I'm off to a UNHCR committee meeting.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyUpdate at 4/12/2006 11:00:00 AM

New York - Day 3

We got back to the hotel a little past midnight and headed to the bar for a birthday drink. I had one of their signature cocktails called The Producers. We got a great table right next to the window, and the bar was on the eight floor overlooking Times Square. Not many people get to celebrate their 21st birthday with such a great view. Then we went upstairs and went to sleep.

The next morning we got up early to take a tour of the Empire State Building. We walked down there in our suits because we wouldn't have time to change before going to the Czech Mission. We stood in various lines for about an hour before finally riding the elevator up to the 82nd floor. The observation deck was pretty nice, and we were able to see all of the city. It was a little hazy that morning, but the visibility was still around five miles. Weston and I both got some good pictures.

After returning to the hotel, we met all of the other WSU people and rode the subway up to the Czech Mission to the UN. The Czech ambassador greeted us and talked to us for about 40 minutes about the Czech Republic's role in the United Nations. It was very helpful information, a first-hand account of how international diplomacy really works. He was very nice, complimenting our position papers and taking questions.

For lunch a group of us tried to find a certain cafe that the returners had eaten at last year. We looked for a long time but couldn't find it. (Turns out that it had recently changed its name.) So instead we ate at an Irish pub. Pastrami on rye.

The next item on the agenda was going to the UN building for the conference's opening ceremonies. We had to wait outside for more than an hour, but we finally got in and were seated in the General Assembly room. It's quite an impressive place, especially considering all of the history that's been made there. The decor is very outdated, though. The UN building hasn't had a major renovation since it was built, so there were a lot of puke greens and browns that people used to think were pretty stylish. We listened to a few speeches, using the famous earphones, and then we left to walk back to the hotel.

After grabbing a quick bite to eat along the way (pizza), we all split up and went to our first committee meetings. I was the Czech representative to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The first thing each committee does is set the agenda. This orders the list of topics that the committee will discuss, and it is an important task because committees almost never make it through all of the topics. Surprisingly, there was consensus among the delegates in the UNHCR, and we were able to get started on the first topic rather quickly.

One of the big issues during the first night of the conference is setting the speaker's time. We entertained countless motions to change the speaker's time. Finally, everyone seemed to agree that one minute and thirty seconds was the right amount of time for each speech. Beyond that, we didn't accomplish much else on the first committee meeting.

For dessert that night, Weston and I went to a little cafe in Times Square and had brownies ala mode. They were very good, and we had a chance to watch some very drunk people falling off their barstools and smashing their drink glasses. Then we went to sleep.

New York - Day 2

This was our big sightseeing day, since we had nothing scheduled until dinnertime. We woke up pretty early were out of the room by 7:30. We ate breakfast at Dunkin' Donuts (a very New York thing to do, we thought), and found our way to Rockefeller Center. We saw the ice rink there and the entrance to NBC Studios. The Today show was being shot live there, and we saw Katie Couric, Matt Lower, and Al Roker when they were visiting the crowds outside.

Then it was on to the subway station. We had a lot of ground to cover today, so we figured that an all-day subway pass was the way to go. The subway system in New York is surprisingly intuitive and easy to use. There are stations near all of the important places we wanted to see, so that saved us a lot of time. First we stopped off at the Brooklyn Bridge. I suggested checking it out on a whim, but it's a good thing we decided to see it. There's actually a pedestrian path on the bridge, so we were able to go out on it and get some pretty good pictures of both the bridge and the city. New York City Hall is right next to the bridge. We tried to get in there to talk to Michael Bloomberg, but the security guard said that there was nothing to see in City Hall.

Wall Street was next. The station there is right next to Trinity Church, which is an impressive building. It was visited by the Queen of England once, a plaque said. Wall Street has the New York Stock Exchange building and one of the Trump towers, but not much for a tourist to really be excited about. They stopped giving tours of the NYSE after September 11. Our next mission was to find the Wall Street Bull. Weston really wanted a picture of him "grabbing the bull by the horns." It took a while to find, but we finally did. That was a good photo-op.

I was surprised that Battery Park was so close to Wall Street. Battery Park is located directly across the water from both Ellis Island and Liberty Island, which is where the Statue of Liberty is located. We had considered riding a boat around to both of those islands, but the line was almost a two hour wait. We were able to get some good pictures, at least.

Next stop was Ground Zero, the former site of the World Trade Center Buildings. It's a strange thing to be walking around downtown New York City and to suddenly see a gaping hole in the skyline. I was impressed at how much work has already been done on the sight. Construction is moving forward. There is a sort of informal memorial off to the side, and I took some pictures.

When we got on the subway after that, we weren't exactly sure where we were going next or what we wanted to do. Weston and I were able to cover a lot of ground quickly today, and we had crossed off everything on our list by 12:30 or one o'clock. We ended up just jumping on the first train that came by. It ended up taking us underneath the East River and letting us off in Brooklyn. We weren't prepared for this and we didn't know exactly where we were, so we got lost in Brooklyn for about an hour. Finally, we got our bearings and decided to go to Coney Island. It was a long train ride, but it was worth it.

Coney Island seems like a place that's past its prime. I bet it was really exciting back in the '50s and '60s. Today, though, all of the amusement park rides were closed and the souvenir shops weren't high quality. The presence of Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs made the jaunt worthwhile, though. Nathan's sponsors the world hot dog eating contest each year, and it was a treat to be able to try out their signature wieners. Coney Island also has a pretty cool beach. We walked around in the sand for a while and watched some high school kids trying to play football. They were very bad a football. I mean very bad. They couldn't punt, pass or kick of their lives depended upon it. My favorite attraction a Coney Island was a game called "Shoot the Freak." Apparently, the contestant shoots paintballs at live human targets as they run around in a maze. Too bad it wasn't open for business while we were there.

We still had a few hours before we had to meet up with the rest of our group, so we decided to cross the East River to get a look at the UN building from afar. We rode the subway and met a nice girl who attends City University in NYC. She talked with us for a while and gave us good directions. We got off the train and found a park with a great view. We stayed there for a while taking pictures and enjoying the amazingly nice weather. On our way back to the Marriott, we saw the famous Bryant Park. It's really nice, it has a big lawn and many small tables with chairs. It is located right next to the New York Public Library, and there were a lot of business people there taking a break from work.

For dinner we went to a Brazilian restaurant called Charrascuria Plataforma. It was so good! Probably the fanciest restaurant I've ever been to. To start off, we were seated and had a chance to meet our alumni hosts. Then we went through the salad bar, which had enough variety, quantity and quality for a whole meal itself. At this restaurant, when you're done with the salad bar you turn your drink coaster over from the red side to the green side. Then the waiters know to start bringing you the meat. They carry the meat around on these big huge skewers, and they come around and slice off pieces onto your plate. I must have had about twelve different kinds of meat on my plate at once, all cooked to perfection. When you couldn't eat anymore, you turned your coater back to the red side. I'm sure that this was a very expensive meal, probably upwards of $70 per person.

After filling ourselves to the brim, we decided that we needed some cheesecake for dessert. A subset of the group went to a place called Ben Ash with Bill Smith. We each ordered a different kind of cheesecake, and each one tasted great. Most people couldn't finish their dessert because dinner was so intense. I finished mine, but I was very, very full afterward.

The night was still young, so Weston and I decided to check out Chinatown and Little Italy. By the time we got there, most places were closed. It was still fun to walk around and explore, though. A lot of the cafes were still open, and we looked at their exquisite pastries and desserts. One place had a chocolate Easter Egg that was at least a foot long. After a bit of exploring, we went back to the hotel.

New York - Day 1

Today Weston and I went to New York. We are part of the National Model United Nations this year, representing the Czech Republic with WSU. There are thirteen people in our contingent, and we'll be staying until next Saturday.

We woke up this morning at 3AM for the drive up to Spokane. We'd spent most of yesterday packing and planning for the trip, so we were able to just get up and go. We picked up Erik Dahl and piled all of ourselves and our belongings into Weston's car. The drive up wasn't too eventful; we missed the exit for the airport but that was pretty much it.

After parking Weston's car in one of the airport lots, we took a shuttle to the terminal. The driver was pretty nice, but he let us off in a really funny place. We were flying Frontier Airlines, so he dropped us off in front of their ticket counter. The thing is, there aren't any doors there to walk through. So by trying to help us out and get us as close to our destination as possible, he made us walk more.

We waited for everyone to show up to the airport because we were the first ones there. The WSU and UI delegations eventually all showed up, even though Kristin Simmler (our head delegate) was late because she misplaced her ID. While we were waiting, Samuel L. Jackson walked into the airport, went to the ticket counter, and got checked out through security. Someone said he's been doing a movie in Spokane for the past few weeks. It isn't often you get a little brush with fame in the Spokane Airport.

The flight to Denver wasn't too eventful. Weston traded seats with someone so we could sit together. Bill Smith (our advisor) and his wife sat behind us. There was a short layover in Denver before we caught a flight to Laguardia.

After arriving in New York, we were picked up by two shuttle buses. The drivers in New York are fearless. The go flying down narrow roads and pay no attention to staying in their own lanes. Our driver gave us a sort of tour of Queens. There were fenced-basketball courts just like you'd expect, and there are also a significant number of very large, very old cemeteries. We took a toll road and a tunnel that went under the East River, I think, and before you knew it we were in Times Square. We checked into our room at the Marriott Grand Marquis on Times Square, which has a great view of the big video screens and neon signs.

For dinner we met up with the rest of the WSU delegation and went out to a Thai restaurant. To get there, we walked down Times Square and ended up crossing through Grand Central Terminal. It's an impressive building which reminded me a lot of Union Station in Washington, D.C. The food at the restaurant was very good, especially considering that it was free. The Honors College paid for the whole thing: appetizers, main courses and desserts. (Honors, we're that cool.) The Thai tea, fried bananas, and green tea ice cream were all good.

After dinner Weston and I took a little walk around the city to see what we could see. First we tried going into the Chrysler building, which is probably the coolest looking skyscraper in New York. It isn't open for tours, though. Then we wandered over to the Empire State Building. We decided to pay the $16 to go to the top during the daytime so we could take pictures. On the way back to hotel we crossed 34th Street (of movie fame) and Macy's. When we got back to the room, we spent some time planning our adventure for tomorrow.

[DupyPics] 4/08/2006 09:49:52 AM

This picture is from spring break. I guess the News Tribune had a bunch of Seahawk stuff for the Super Bowl.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyPics at 4/08/2006 09:49:52 AM

[DupyFlicks] Adaptation

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Posted by Kylan to DupyFlicks at 4/08/2006 09:03:00 AM

[DupyFlicks] Ice Age: The Meltdown

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Posted by Kylan to DupyFlicks at 4/03/2006 03:14:00 PM

[DupyFlicks] Gorillas in the Mist

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Posted by Kylan to DupyFlicks at 4/02/2006 07:28:00 PM

[DupyPics] 4/01/2006 09:40:23 PM

Weston is developing a restaurant menu for one of his classes. It's a high class steak and seafood joint, which he wants to call Stover's Steak and Seafood. His group probably won't go for that name, but I'm guessing they'll love this little logo he drew up.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyPics at 4/01/2006 09:40:23 PM

[DupyFlicks] Lost in Translation

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Posted by Kylan to DupyFlicks at 4/01/2006 06:17:00 PM

[DupyLinks] Google Romance

[http://www.google.com/romance/press.html]

You can always count on Google for a good April Fool's joke. This one is very funny, with "contextual dating ads" and the tagline "love is just another search problem."

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Posted by Kylan to DupyLinks at 4/01/2006 12:26:07 AM

[DupyFlicks] Walk the Line

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Posted by Kylan to DupyFlicks at 4/01/2006 12:04:00 AM

Dancing with Cowgill

Last night we went to the Beach for some country swing dancing, and I happened to notice that WSU basketball center Robby Cowgill was there. He's hard to miss, especially since he was at least six inches taller than anyone else there. Anyway, I had a class with Robby last semster so I decided to go say hello. I asked him about Josh Akognon, who's transferring from WSU to play a different style of basketball. He said that it was sad that Josh was leaving the Cougars, especially since he's such a nice guy.

Then I got a great idea. I told him that I have a friend who always complains that guys aren't tall enough to dance with her. Robby said that he'd dance with her if I introduced him. So I took him over to Christine and asked her if she'd like to dance with Robby Cowgill. She said, "Yes!!" without realizing that he was standing right behind her. Needless to say, she was a little embarrassed by it all. She pretended to be angry at me, but I'm pretty sure she liked it. Now we'll always have to listen to her talk about "that one time I danced with Robby Cowgill."

[DupyFlicks] Inside Man

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Posted by Kylan to DupyFlicks at 3/29/2006 05:02:00 PM

[DupyUpdate] New Software

Today I started using some new software for Dupyshon.com. This site incorporates a bunch of applications to provide you with all of the features you love, but this new program is special. It's special because I wrote it! Using shell scripts and C programming, I've written a new application which automatically updates and formats the CSOTW page. No more fooling around with Visual Studio and my FTP client, now I can enter each week's new song from the command line of my iBook. Should save me 5-7 minutes of work per week. How nice.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyUpdate at 3/29/2006 04:39:00 PM

[DupyUpdate] Prelude to the Big Bash

Today is when we start unveiling the top ten country songs of the year, one by one. So check the Big Bash Page each day as we celebrate a full year of CSOTW.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyUpdate at 3/28/2006 11:06:00 AM

[DupyPics] 3/28/2006 11:03:56 AM

Yesterday night I went to a hall program about the WSU Raptor Club. I learned a bunch about hawks, falcons, and owls, and got to see some amazing birds. This red-tailed hawk was very impressive and very large.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyPics at 3/28/2006 11:03:56 AM

[DupyPics] 3/28/2006 11:03:39 AM

This isn't a very good picture, but it illustrates my point well. I borrowed this disk from my computer science professor, KC Wang. This professor writes on disks like he writes on whiteboards - no erasing allowed. In class, professor Wang often writes over the top of what he's written before without bothering to grab the eraser first.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyPics at 3/28/2006 11:03:39 AM

[DupyFlicks] Troy

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Posted by Kylan to DupyFlicks at 3/26/2006 12:43:00 PM

March Madness

"We've got tapeworms in our bellies. We still want to eat."

-LSU Forward Glen Davis, after his team beat Texas and advanced to the Final Four.

[DupyFlicks] Wedding Crashers

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Posted by Kylan to DupyFlicks at 3/25/2006 04:39:00 PM

[DupyFlicks] The French Connection

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Posted by Kylan to DupyFlicks at 3/25/2006 04:39:00 PM

[DupyLinks] United Nations expresses concern over Afghan Christian facing death

[http://www.newkerala.com/news2.php?action=fullnews&id=30272]

More on the controversy surrounding the Afghan Christain and his possible situation. The UN is weighing in now, saying that his right "to change religion or belief" must be respected.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyLinks at 3/23/2006 01:51:42 PM

[DupyLinks] Afghan Christian Could Get Death Sentence

[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/19/AR2006031900366.html]

It is popular these days to say that Islam is not about violence, but love. This man might be executed because he changed his religion from Islam to Christianity.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyLinks at 3/21/2006 11:45:56 AM

Name Recognition

I was watching highlights of the NCAA basketball tournament on ESPN yesterday, and they were doing a recap of the Bradley-Pittsburgh game. (Bradley won, which messed up my bracket even more). The score display in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen caught my attention because it listed the schools' abbreviations, with Bradley on top. It looked something like this:

BRAD
PITT

Brad Pitt! He's really making a name for himself, even in college basketball. I wonder how many people noticed this coincidence.

[DupyPics] 3/19/2006 10:24:56 PM

It's my dad's 48th birthday today. Happy birthday, Dad!

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Posted by Kylan to DupyPics at 3/19/2006 10:24:56 PM

[DupyUpdate] New Rwanda Blog

I decided to start a Rwanda blog, since Rwanda-related posts have been taking over the DupyBlog lately. I'm calling it Six Weeks in Rwanda, and I'll be using it to chronicle my trip, link to Rwanda articles, review Rwanda books, and post some of my pictures. Be sure to check this blog often, as I'm sure I'll be posting to it often between now until the middle of July. I'll also be updating DupyAlbums with sets of pictures from Rwanda, so you'll want to check there, too.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyUpdate at 3/18/2006 10:22:00 AM

[DupyLinks] A Promising Future in Every Pound

[http://finanzen.net/news/news_detail.asp?NewsNr=380351]

"Rwanda has the perfect terrain and climate forgrowing the highest quality arabica coffee."

Starbucks will debut its first line of coffee from Rwanda tomorrow. The beans were grown at the Gatare and Karengera washing stations.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyLinks at 3/14/2006 01:53:46 PM

[DupyLinks] CIA - The World Factbook -- Rwanda

[http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/rw.html]

Want some general information about the country of Rwanda? You can find some quick facts here.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyLinks at 3/14/2006 01:59:51 PM

[DupyLinks] Aspiring for a broadband revolution

[http://www.physorg.com/news11729.html]

An article on Rwanda and broadband Internet connections.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyLinks at 3/14/2006 01:48:01 PM

Rwanda

I just got accepted for an internship in Rwanda, setting up computers/networks and teaching people how to use the Internet. This is a really exciting opportunity for me, and I am really looking forward to it. I'll be in Rwanda for six weeks this summer, from June through the middle of July.

[DupyLinks] Owen Peth and the Crimson Brass Band

[http://www.myspace.com/owenpeth]

I know most of the members of this band from the CMB. You can listen to three of their songs on this site, they sound pretty good.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyLinks at 3/10/2006 08:23:28 AM

[DupyLinks] Learn to Dance like Napoleon Dynamite

[http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/napoleon]

If you've ever wanted to have Napoleon Dynamite's dancing "skills," this is the website to visit. You can replay his moves in slow motion to really get a chance to analyze them.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyLinks at 3/09/2006 07:56:10 PM

[DupyFlicks] Millions

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Posted by Kylan to DupyFlicks at 3/09/2006 05:22:00 PM

[DupyLinks] A call to outrage

[http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.rubin07mar07,0,4240528.story?coll=bal-oped-headlines]

"Bush officials talk tough and give lots of aid, but their words have had little impact on the killing."

"Former Marine Capt. Brian Steidle photographed Darfur's horrors, and the images are driving him crazy. He wants a million Americans to write President Bush and urge him to ensure that a strong multinational force is sent to Darfur."

You can go to www.savedarfur.org to send a message to President Bush.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyLinks at 3/07/2006 01:57:19 PM

[DupyFlicks] The Constant Gardener

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Posted by Kylan to DupyFlicks at 3/06/2006 11:41:00 AM

[DupyLinks] Gentle primate fast disappearing in Congo

[http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-03-05-bonobo-congo_x.htm]

I learned about bonobos from an expert while at the National Youth Science Camp and was able to see a family of bonobos at the San Diego zoo when I was there for the Holiday Bowl.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyLinks at 3/06/2006 11:38:08 AM

[DupyPics] 3/05/2006 01:55:12 PM

Cyborg Stover

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Posted by Kylan to DupyPics at 3/05/2006 01:55:12 PM

[DupyUpdate] San Jose

Just got back from San Jose, from the 2006 Women's Pac-10 Basketball Tournament. Keeping with tradition, we lost the first game. Embarrassingly, we lost it by nearly 40 points. Anyway, I've posted an album of pictures from the trip under DupyAlbums.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyUpdate at 3/04/2006 06:58:00 PM

[DupyFlicks] Scent of a Woman

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Posted by Kylan to DupyFlicks at 3/02/2006 12:12:00 PM

[DupyLinks] U.N.: Chadians flee to Sudan's Darfur

[http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/africa/02/28/chad.darfur.ap/index.html]

"At least 180,000 people have died in Darfur, and 2 million have been displaced, since decades of tribal clashes over land and water erupted into large-scale violence in early 2003. The Sudanese government is accused of using ethnic Arab militias in a scorched earth policy against Darfur rebels, some of whom draw support from ethnic African villages."

There it is in a nutshell. This article says that now Chadians are fleeing and crossing the border into Sudan because the milita raids have become so bad.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyLinks at 3/02/2006 10:17:12 AM

[DupyLinks] U.N. reports Sudan threat

[http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/bal-te.darfur01mar01,0,651021.story?coll=bal-nationworld-headlines]

The way I see it, Khartoum was given plenty of time to resolve this issue internally. Since they could not, it has become necessary for the UN to step in. The Sudaneese government cannot call this an internal affair any longer. Refugees from Sudan have crossed the border into Chad, and they are being chased and attacked by government-backed militias. The fact that President el-Bashir is now making threats against the UN, saying that "Darfur will be a graveyard for any foreign troops venturing to enter," is only proof that international intervention is right.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyLinks at 3/02/2006 10:18:00 AM

[DupyPics] 3/01/2006 04:25:50 PM

Pictures of me as an ape, an Asian, an old man, and an impressionist painting. (See DupyLinks for a link.)

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Posted by Kylan to DupyPics at 3/01/2006 04:25:50 PM

[DupyLinks] Face Morpher

[http://www.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~morph/]

This goes right along with the face research link, but it allows you to upload a picture of yourself and morph it. Check out DupyPics for some examples (they're funny).

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Posted by Kylan to DupyLinks at 3/01/2006 04:24:05 PM

[DupyLinks] Face Research » Psychology experiments about preferences for faces and voices

[http://www.faceresearch.org/]

In biology we learned about attractiveness and mate choice. Here's a website I found put up by the University of Aberdeen. They are conducting a study on psychology and face attributes. The experiments are pretty entertaining (and actually a little difficult at times).

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Posted by Kylan to DupyLinks at 3/01/2006 04:14:05 PM

"We Wish to Inform You..."

I just finished another book about Rwanda, "We Wish to Inform You that Tomorrow We will be Killed with Our Families: Stories from Rwanda," by Philip Gourevitch. This book was very well-written, providing a unique perspective one the genocide of 1994. The author made three trips to Rwanda and interviewed hundreds of individuals, and this research allowed him to build a comprehensive picture of the tiny African country. The book also gives a complete backstory of the history of violence in Rwanda, giving the reader an understanding of how such a horrible, terrible situation could develop. Most intriguingly, Gourevitch analyzes post-genocide Rwanda and explains the effect of the massacres on the country itself, the surrounding Great Lakes region, and the world as a whole.

[DupyPics] 2/28/2006 09:05:45 PM

Steven K. Rose

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Posted by Kylan to DupyPics at 2/28/2006 09:05:45 PM

[DupyFlicks] Just Like Heaven

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Posted by Kylan to DupyFlicks at 2/28/2006 01:31:00 PM

Un-Pimp My Ride

Wow, this is really funny.

[DupyLinks] Britain presses for UN to move into Darfur - Yahoo! News

[http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060222/wl_uk_afp/britainunsudandarfur]

Good to see Britain getting into the mix. It is certain that the African Union troops have done what they could, but an international force is essential now.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyLinks at 2/22/2006 03:04:22 PM

[DupyPics] 2/21/2006 11:36:36 AM

The ski jumping venue at the Winter Olympic Games in Torino.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyPics at 2/21/2006 11:36:36 AM

[DupyLinks] Bolton chides Annan on UN planning for Darfur force

[http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N20330750.htm]

"The United States has sent four military planners to help the United Nations map out a Darfur mission to take over the underfinanced African Union, which has 7,000 troops and monitors in the vast western region of Sudan.

Bolton said that while the United Nations had begun contingency planning 'a lot more could be done.'"

"Bolton has distributed what he called "elements of a resolution" to the other 14 Security Council members outlining the duties of future peacekeepers in Darfur, rather than awaiting the result of U.N. planning."

Wow, I'm impressed by this. Kudos to the US federal government, they look like they really are committed to ending violence in Darfur. Hopefully Bolton can help cut through the bureaucracy and the Security Council can pass a resolution soon.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyLinks at 2/21/2006 10:49:00 AM

[DupyLinks] UN troubled by Chechens' plight

[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4735176.stm]

This story talks about IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons) from Chechnya who live in squalid refugee camps in Russia. Notice that the UN Human Rights Commission, not the UN High Commissioner on Refugees, is handling this issue. This is because IDPs aren't considered refugees by the United Nations. I think they should be, though. If they were, they would be protected from refoulement and be covered by the 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees. These Chechen people might as well be international refugees because they obviously don't have the same rights as regular Russian citizens.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyLinks at 2/21/2006 10:43:53 AM

[DupyLinks] After genocide, a ray of hope

[http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/02/20/opinion/edkao.php]

This editorial shows how the horrors of the 1994 genocide still affect every aspect of Rwandan life, even 12 years later.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyLinks at 2/21/2006 10:37:14 AM

[DupyLinks] Rwanda fired up by methane plans

[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4698278.stm]

It seems to me like Rwanda is leading the way in the Great Lakes area of Africa. They are developing quickly, and this natural gas could make them an electricity supplier to the whole region.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyLinks at 2/21/2006 10:32:07 AM

[DupyFlicks] Sometimes in April

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Posted by Kylan to DupyFlicks at 2/20/2006 01:15:00 PM

[DupyFlicks] Lord of War

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Posted by Kylan to DupyFlicks at 2/18/2006 12:47:00 PM

[DupyFlicks] Cool Runnings

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Posted by Kylan to DupyFlicks at 2/18/2006 12:43:00 PM

The Big Bash

Almost a year ago now, Weston and I started picking a "Country Song of the Week (CSOTW)." It became a tradition to pick a CSOTW for each Thursday night (Hot Country Night at the Beach). Now the Weston and Kylan CSOTW list is probably the best part of this website. Since the one-year birthday of the CSOTW is just around the corner, we're planning a Big Bash to celebrate. Check it out by following the link on the sidebar. You're all invited!

[DupyFlicks] Along Came Polly

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Posted by Kylan to DupyFlicks at 2/17/2006 04:30:00 PM

[DupyUpdate] DupyLinks Finally Works

OK, so I finally fixed the problem with DupyLinks. The original plan was for it to work like this:

-I find a page/site I like on the internet
-I click BlogThis on my browser
-I make some comments
-I publish the post
-Everyone in the world has access to this page by clicking on the post title.

When I set everything up, though, the post titles never turned into links. Which sort of defeated the whole purpose of having a "links" category on this blog. Plus, I'm too lazy (my professor said that all good programmers are really just lazy) to type in the URL every time I want to include a link on my blog. Anyway, I finally got some time today to get the problem figured out, and now it all works as it should.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyUpdate at 2/17/2006 04:21:00 PM

[DupyLinks] Bush: Darfur force should double - Yahoo! News

[http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060217/pl_afp/ussudandarfurunrest]

This is a good sign, President Bush is being pretty vocal about stopping the genocide in Darfur. Apparantly, Secretary of State Rice repeated the administrations claims that the violence as genocide. Now if only we can back up our words with some action...

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Posted by Kylan to DupyLinks at 2/17/2006 04:16:20 PM

[DupyFlicks] Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

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Posted by Kylan to DupyFlicks at 2/13/2006 08:16:00 AM

[DupyFlicks] Dreamcatcher

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Posted by Kylan to DupyFlicks at 2/08/2006 10:56:00 PM

[DupyFlicks] The Girl in the Cafe

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Posted by Kylan to DupyFlicks at 2/07/2006 07:40:00 AM

[DupyFlicks] The Pianist

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Posted by Kylan to DupyFlicks at 2/01/2006 10:18:00 PM

[DupyFlicks] Love Actually

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Posted by Kylan to DupyFlicks at 1/29/2006 05:52:00 PM

[DupyFlicks] Windtalkers

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Posted by Kylan to DupyFlicks at 1/29/2006 05:51:00 PM

[DupyFlicks] The Godfather

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Posted by Kylan to DupyFlicks at 1/25/2006 09:21:00 PM

[DupyFlicks] Cold Mountain

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Posted by Kylan to DupyFlicks at 1/21/2006 06:35:00 PM

[DupyPics] 1/21/2006 02:24:18 PM

I found this while I was working at Washington High School as a custodian during the summer of 2004.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyPics at 1/21/2006 02:24:18 PM

[DupyPics] 1/21/2006 02:15:59 PM

From Up All Night. That's all I'm going to say.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyPics at 1/21/2006 02:15:59 PM

[DupyLinks] Silver Mountain

Weston and I went skiing over the three day MLK weekend at Silver Mountain. He took some pictures and posted them on his website. It was a pretty good day for skiing. I even did a few black diamond runs. To see his album from that day, click here.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyLinks at 1/21/2006 10:59:00 AM

[DupyFlicks] Waiting

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Posted by Kylan to DupyFlicks at 1/21/2006 10:55:00 AM

[DupyFlicks] Glory Road

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Posted by Kylan to DupyFlicks at 1/21/2006 10:54:00 AM

[DupyPics] 1/12/2006 05:40:10 PM

Quite possibly the best picture ever taken of me.

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Posted by Kylan to DupyPics at 1/12/2006 05:40:10 PM

[DupyPics] Whiteboard

Sometimes we get some interesting messages on our whiteboard.

[DupyUpdate] The Categorized DupyBlog

Here's something new: the DupyBlog now has categories. This function isn't finished and polished, yet, but it's almost there. Each entry is placed into a different category now - DupyFlicks, DupyLinks, DupyUpdate, and DupyPics. This way you can look at just one category or all of them at once together.

DupyFlicks

I decided that I needed a page that listed all of the movies I've seen. So I started a new Blogger blog and modified the template so that clicking on the movie title takes you to the corresponding page at imdb.com (The Internet Movie Database). For now I've just listed the titles of the movies, but in the future I might include my personal reviews. I haven't decided yet whether or not ot let people leave their own comments.

WFP Foodforce - The Game, The Reality, How to Help

Wow, a UN game! I just found it, can't wait to try it out.

Resume Posted

I was talking to Weston's dad last night before coming back to WSU and he suggessted that I post my resume on my website. Sounded like a good idea, so here it is.

Shed Building

This was my project during the last few days of Christmas break. It's a 10x9 aluminum shed, and I built it all by myself for one of Rich's rentals.

Originally, I wasn't going to post pictures on this blog since I have photo albums on my website. But I decided that I could post individual pictures here if they were unrelated to others and wouldn't fit into a nice album.

Favorite Music - Pandora

So far I am really liking Pandora. It is a streaming music website which tailors itself to your own preferences. You get to hear whole songs from all the major labels and artists, and you narrow down your tastes by rating the songs. If I find a new song I like, I add it to my customized favorites page, http://www.pandora.com/people/kylanr. It's free, too.

The Best Web 2.0 Software of 2005

Until today I'd never heard of Web 2.0. I realize now that Web 2.0 has everything I like about cool web sites: dynamic content based on web APIs, RSS, and online services. There are some really cool (and free!) programs listed on this best-of compilation. So far, the neatest ones I've found are Backpack and Pandora. Maybe I'll write about them a little later when I've figured out how to use them a little better.