Random Thoughts

New Wordpress

2010-08-13T22:26:00.001-07:00

I'm moving my blog to Wordpress.... find me at http://ronblake3.wordpress.com

MMA - Values and Beliefs

2010-08-07T22:32:00.000-07:00

I was talking with a friend about MMA and the all the facets of the current scene. His take on the topic is that your need to have core values that you believe in, that directs your choices, and helps solidify you as a respected fighter, school, or promoter. Values based on attitude, honor, respect, courage, integrity, strength, mutual benefit etc. establishes a person or place as a foundation in which people can rely. So here are my random thoughts on the topic...

MUTUAL BENEFIT
I come from a background of Judo, in which one of the guiding principles is Mutual Benefit and Welfare. These strong core values lead to a system where each person is benefiting from others but is also providing benefit to others in their own way. I believe that this give and take system is very important for any athlete and program. It provides a means for a program to grow as well as a providing a fabric and support system for all who train.

RESPECT AND HONOR
In my classes, swearing is not tolerated. It seems like a simple thing, but swearing not only shows a lack of respect to all of the fellow training partners it shows a lack of respect to the school where the person is training. This goes all the way to the cage and the event, and how the opponent is treated. I do not tolerate any athlete making a mockery or showboating over a defeated opponent. We will always enter and leave the cage showing respect to our opponent. The same goes to the promoters that we work with. the promoters are providing a venue for the sport that we compete in. We will show respect to them as the provider of venue and we ask that they show respect for our fighters.

HARD WORK BEATS TALENT
So when you think about yourself and your drive / motivation, where does it come from? How do you make your decisions? As a trainer there are several things that I look for in an athlete beyond their natural ability or physical aptitude. Everybody wants an amazing athlete training under them, but can you rely on them? do they have what it takes to strive beyond their natural abilities? "Hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard." This is a phrase that was said to me many years ago when I trained in Judo and it has proven true many times. So what does this have to do with values? for an athlete, who does not have the value of hard work, regardless of their talent, they are destined to not achieve the level of success that they could. Not only that, but an athlete that does not have the minimum core value of working hard, will not improve the program because they are not going to be committed to improving and supporting the team. I ask myself, is this athlete going to be willing to give back to the program in some way? Or are they going to simply use the program to get what they want and disappear? Where are your values, are you willing to help bring that next athlete up to the next level?

WHAT DO YOU EXPECT IN A PROMOTION
With a seemingly endless number of promoters popping up all over the place, what do you look for in a promotion as a fighter or manager/trainer? Bottom line is that promoters are trying to make some money(and who could blame them reall?). But that does not mean that the promoter's sole purpose in life is the corralling of fighters into a cage to make a buck. Many of them do it because they have a unique opportunity to provide a venue and a love of the game (in this case MMA). As a trainer or fighter ask yourself, what are the promoter's values? Ask them? I have actually heard a promoter tell somebody "if you think that my main purpose is not to make money, then you are crazy." And then the same promoter corralled all 60 fighters into a dressing room, telling the trainers that they had to stay out and started making matches (this was on the evening of the fights). This was one of my first events. The promoter still runs shows. So how does the promoter treat you and your school? Do they stay in touch with you or only contact you when they need fighters? Do they support your school in some way? Is their match making fair and timely? We work with a promoter who sends us a paragraph describing each of the prospective opponents for our fighters, and they start this a month in advance. Does it feel to you like you are being controlled by them, or does it feel like you are working as a team with them? Remember, you are putting your fighters or yourself at risk to the benefit of their show, so what are they providing in return? It is important to know, to what benefit are you risking your health. Are you traveling 1 or more hours to the event? Does the promoter at least pay gas money for your team to show? and does the promoter require that you have blood tests for HIV, HEP B, and HEP C? If not, stop right there, because if they don't require it from you, then they wont be requiring it from your opponent. Integrity....Recently we attended a show, we had 2 fighters on the card. I asked the promoter for 2 tickets for family members, the short story is that the promoter never fulfilled the request. Not only that, but the name of our school, Southside Dojo was announced as Southside Gym several times throughout the show when our fighters were announced. While this may seem like a small oversight, I can guarantee that it was not. Honor and Respect. There is much more of a story to that event but later....

FIGHTER PROMOTER RELATIONS
I recently have heard of a few promoters tossing around the idea of making the fighters pay a fee to fight in their promotion. They are talking about doing this in an effort to guarantee that the fighters do not pull out of the card. In my opinion this will do nothing but backfire. I have seen greater success and more loyal followers and better competitions to the promoters that provide a clear and early set of matches, establish relationships with many schools, and provide travel, per diem, and gym donations for fighters that perform at their shows. To me this is a win win situation without being illegal for amateur fighters and shows that above all the promoter values the fighters. Making the fighters pay to put their butts on the line is mildly ridiculous in my opinion.

We have fought for many promotions. Most are good. Some really go above and beyond:

Gladiator Elite: Brian Poe provides an outstanding venue, he matches fighters at least a month in advance, provides backgrounds on all the fighters on his card, is continually trying to improve his event, has high quality officials, puts on a top notch show with known good fighters from reputable schools, provide high quality DVDs to the fighters, and provide fighters and schools with support to travel to and from the event. Quality, Integrity, Respect.

DonoFrio Promotions: Mr. Joseph Donofrio has been in the boxing arena for more years than we can count. He hold MMA events at Meadow Brook Festival site as well as The Palace of Auburn Hills which are both top notch arenas. Donofrio MMA provides an excellent venue which includes flames and a board walk that really highlights the fighter, top notch competition with almost all fighters being veteraned, supports the fighters as they travel, and provides a venue for pro fighters in Michigan. Mr. Donofrio personally makes sure that the fighters and schools are taken care of and dedicates efforts to improve his events through communication with schools - watch the video. Honor and Respect.

Ground and Pound Promotions: Paul Simpson has been spearheading the efforts with GPP for the last few years. Ground and Pound provides several venues for the fighters who are up and coming to establish their MMA careers. GPP has established The Ellison Foundation whose goal is to provide financial assistance to fighters who cannot afford to train or buy gear to train, GPP has done some of the small things like personalize belts for fighters who have shown support to GPP and won belts as well. Support and Honor.

Interested in training with us? Find out more here

Chicken Man on Google

2010-06-29T11:01:00.000-07:00

This is wacky...

Chicken Man on google.
Go to http://www.google.com and enter 2204355 in the search box and click I'm feeling lucky.

enjoy the chicken man.

2010 Warrior Dash Midwest Results are in!

2010-06-22T12:29:00.000-07:00

Well the results are in for the Warrior Dash 2010 Midwest.

The summary for the Southside Warriors!

Runner	Time	Pace	Lions Killed	Division	Place By Division	Place By Gender	Place Overall
Jamie Blake	34:55.75	11:16	0	F 40-44	75 / 325	902 / 3055	3776 / 7691
Tanya Lohr	27:48.45	8:58	0	F 25-29	38 / 915	134 / 3055	1192 / 7691
Dave Rich	33:25.30	10:47	0	M 35-39	325 / 665	2521 / 4636	3219 / 7691
Brian Skjold	24:42.60	7:58	0	M 30-34	78 / 987	404 / 4636	428 / 7691
Ron Blake	23:49.65	7:41	0	M 35-39	22 / 665	265 / 4636	280 / 7691
Chris Flach			27

2010 Warrior Dash Midwest - Joliet, IL

2010-06-21T18:55:00.000-07:00

I ran in a 5K obstacle race this weekend (June 19, 2010) called the Warrior Dash. This is a race that travels across the United States to 9 different locations, and it's touted as "The Craziest Frickin' Day of Your Life". I along with 4 other warriors(Jamie Blake, Dave Rich, Brian Skjold, Tanya Lohr) and warrior photographer (Chris "The Lion Killer" Flach from Southside Dojo ran in the event. We woke up early to dawn our warrior garb, including 300's Leonidas, The Last Air Bender, as well as Kimbo All Day Slice hook up, and Green shorts Rich. We threw on our Men's Nike Free and our Vibram Five Fingers and we were ready to go. Hands down one of the funnest things I have ever competed in. This was the second event that I have run in, the first being the Witchy Winter Wolf 25K. I like the off the wall, sort of odd events since I don't plan to be a competitive runner. Running is a great way for me to keep in shape for grappling tournaments that I compete in, plus it gives me a physical outlet.

In the Warrior Dash, waves of up to 500 runners make their way through approx five kilometers (3.17 miles) run that has 12 obstacles throughout the course. The night before our run it rained like crazy so the whole course and registration area was muddy. It didn't matter, we were going to get muddy anyway. The race / registration / bag check was very smooth, the volunteers and workers were very friendly and helpful as well. We were in the 3rd wave which started at 10am, so we arrived before things got too destroyed by the 1000s of people walking the grounds. Warrior Dash sets up a shuttle service for this event to ease parking. We parked our truck at the Chicagoland Speedway and rode a bus to the CPX Sports Complex. Picked up our race packets that had our race bibs and transponder chips, and checked our gear.

There was a lot of excitement in the air, it was a beautiful day, and we were ready to run. We started somewhere toward the first 1/3 of the pack. Everybody took off, and I followed Tanya Gunz and Brian Fear the Beard Skjold through the thick bushes as we passed about 20 people to get toward the front of the line. There was about a 1/2 mile run through fields until we came to the first set of obstacles which basically consisted of navigating through muddy forest and trying to not break our butts. The obstacles, which included large wire spools, abandoned cars, ruins, and a muddy ass bog were the first we encountered. The cars were some of my favorite obstacles, as you had to hop on the hood to navigate through them. There were muddy hills and trees that seemed to appear right when you needed to change direction. It was awesome! I rounded the corner coming off the ruins and doubled back toward the half way water station, saw Dave and Jamie and gave them the warrior yell "Southside DOJO!!!" Acknowledged....

As we rounded the last mile, we encountered the hay bail pyramid, the rope ladder, and the hills of torture. The course cut back and forth and there were probably about 12 hills to run up and down. I would guess they were 6 feet high. Quads and lungs were burning as I turned the corner to see the fire. And it was higher than expected, and hot, made it over both sets of flames to dive into the mud and crawl under the barbed wire and the final dash to the finish!

There was water and beer waiting. We had a fantastic time. Spent about 2 hours hanging out, and having some great beer from Pyramid Brewery. The final adventure was getting cleaned off. They bring in several water trucks and hose the runners down with fire hoses. Cold but fun, and the great thing is that the shower area is right by the start line so we took some time to heckle the runners just starting the race. A short bus ride home, some tom foolery at the hotel in the pool, and a little grub and we were out of there.... till next year.

It was a tired ride home. Next year we stay the night of the race and drive home the next day, that way we can enjoy more beer and checkout the fireworks in the evening!

Will post my time when it is available...

Warrior Dash - A+

Intensity

2010-06-12T21:38:00.000-07:00

It was a tough night at MMA last night.... lots of hard cardio and everybody was a bull in the ring for 9 minutes. So last night one of the guys (you know who you are) said to me during training. "Dang Ron, you must be mad at us or something...I'm sure part joking... Fair assessment though.... However the reason I do it is because I care about your performance. My goal is to push you as far as you can go, then add a little more. So this is what I have to say to you.

When you are owning your opponent because you have pushed them beyond their limit and they are ready to quit you will know why. When you have trained your heart out until you are ready to puke....And even when you are ready to puke you can mentally beat your body into doing more....then you'll understand and appreciate the effort that you have put in. So when you think, I'm stopping at 10, do more and when you say I'm too tired to keep going, do another, and another, and when you feel like quitting because it is to painful dig down deep and ask yourself if your opponent would quit from the pain? Then beat your inner sissy and keep going. Training with intensity is an investment that pays you back in wins. end. end. end.

A call to MMA Promoters and MMA Fighters

2010-06-12T21:33:00.000-07:00

As a MMA(Mixed Martial Arts) trainer I have witnessed / experienced several things over the past several years. With the popularity of MMA today, there are a lot people who want to capitalize on the money (promoters) and fame (fighters) that can come from MMA. So here is a list of things that I've seen and experienced that I feel need to be addressed / or at least said, and by the way, the list is in no particular order.

FOR THE PROMOTERS
==========================

Promote for the right reasons. If you are only in it for the money, then get out of the business. I've witnessed promoters that will try to match fighters that have 30lb differentials, just to fill their card (which might have 30 fights!). I'm not saying that I think it is wrong for a promoter to make money. I do believe that promoters need to responsibly create matchups, for the fighters safety if nothing else, and if money is all that is important then good matchups go out the window. Promote to make the sport better, and support the athletes that fight for you.
Get rid of your ego and make relationships with credible schools. A school that you establish a relationship with will bring fighters your way. They will probably be better trained and more exciting to watch than those one and out fighters that have not invested into their fighting. Trainers and managers will come out of the schools and work to make the events that you hold a success. Don't like a person that runs a facility? Take your ego out of the picture and think about how you are hurting your event by not bringing in good fighters...Then go and make that relationship. I have seen good promoters (or at least promoters that have had some good events), fall to the point of scrambling just to get the card filled, when there are several schools locally who could bring fighters. But their egos are too big. Their card suffers, and their next event may suffer (attendance wise) too.
Don't F up the relationships that you've built. Promoters, remember the most important component of your event are the fighters themself. If you screw up with their schools, then you are going to lose fighters. Good fighters. And, there are so many promotions available nowadays that a team can easily go to another event. Which leads me to
Take care of the people who fight for you. I don't believe that it is too much for a manager, trainer, or fighter to ask for an event entry for a spouse, extra corner, etc. I have been to events where we don't even have people fighting, but the promoter has gotten as many of our people into the venue as we wanted. And I have been to promotions where we have had several people fighting, but the promoter would not even give us one extra pass. I am much less likely to go to those promotions that are stingy these days. Seriously? You can't afford to give me a wristband so my wife who sacrifices countless hours so that I can train these guys can get in? I'm suddenly feeling like all my fighters are coming down with an ankle sprain.
At a minimum pay for gas. Every state has different laws regarding Amatuer fighters, and I realize that the promoter can not pay the fighters if they are amatuer. Giving the school or people traveling, gas money or a per diem to make the trip to fight for you, or paying for a hotel stay is not, in my opinion unreasonable. Paying the school for some training fees for the fighters is another thing that not only helps the schools that are supporting you and the fighters that are fighting for you, but also ensures that you will have a loyal school that you can draw fighters from in the future. Gladiator Elite puts the fighters up in a nice hotel right outside the venue!
Focus on schools, academies, clubs, gyms. I don't know how many times I have seen fighters whose opponent did not show, and how many times in that same case the opponent was an independent fighter. Focus on the facilities that have trainers that are focused on producing athletes for your event. Everything else is a crap shoot. I'm not saying that there aren't a number of respectable independent fighters, but chances are high that you'll run into trouble with them.
Stop calling it cage fighting. I know it sells tickets, but can you not establish a reputation in the area and sell it with something other than using the word cage fighting. I do not train cage fighters, I do not train bar fighters, or back yard brawlers. To me those are all terms that depict an unskilled thug fighter. I train MMA athletes, who happen to fight in a cage.
Require, enforce, and demand bloodwork. Every fighter(who fights for me) that I have gets bloodwork testing for Hep B,C and HIV done every six months. However 9 out of 10 times the promoter does not ask for the results. This is unacceptable, because if they are not asking us, they are also not asking our competitors. I shouldn't have to demand to see the opponents bloodwork.
Two corners in the cage between rounds. Between rounds in the UFC you will see at a minimum 2 corners, a cut man, and doctor (when necessary). I have gone into the cage where only one corner was allowed and had to deal with stopping blood, giving strategy advice, and delivering water, and trying to apply ice to the fighter. Oh and yes I also had to open the cage door by myself and carry in the stool (if one was even provided) for the fighter to sit on. I don't expect to have all the same things as UFC, but at a minimum 2 corners should be allowed in the cage. period. Ground and Pound promotions does an excellent job, allowing 2 corners into the cage between rounds.
Doctors. Make sure your medical staff know what to check for, especially in a knock out situation. I have seen / heard of doctors checking pupils immediately after a KO. The pupils were fine, but the fighter didn't know what day it was. Have to protect the fighters. Make sure the medical staff knows how to check for the common things like knockouts. Donofrio MMA even sends in a cut man between rounds for amatuer mma!
Dear promoter, stop drinking at your event. I have seen promoters drunk out of their minds. Save it for after the event is over. You can not make sound judgements when you are drinking. end.

FOR THE FIGHTERS

==========================

Stop training out of your basement. Find a local gym, dojo, school, academy, etc that has MMA instruction. Sure, you can be a tough fighter and be successful training at your home, but think about how much quicker you will become successful if you have appropriate instruction. Not only the training, but the support that you will get from the trainers at a school is well worth the money that you will pay. Do you truly know how to throw a kick or combination? Do you know how to apply a D'arce choke, an armbar transition? Coaches want to train you, find your school.
Be loyal. Hopping from one school to the next does not make you a better fighter. It only increases the number of people who recognize you as a school hopper and who will not put their 100% into you.
Stop calling yourself a cage fighter. Call yourself an MMA fighter. Break the thug image.
Be an MMA Athlete. Train like an athlete, which means stop smoking, start running, start eating right, be consistent with your training, and learn how to train mentally as well as physically.
Respect your training center and the venues where you fight. I can not count the number of times that I have picked up tape off the floor, cleaned up blood that was neglected, or thrown away bottles and food. If you go into a place and want to call it your home where you train, take care of it. clean up after yourself. I guarantee that if I have to clean up after you, that you will be paying for it later when I decide to give you the hardest workout you've ever had...because you can't respect the training center.
Watch your mouth. There is no place for F bomb or the like in a training environment. You are not a savage, so don't act like one. The occasional profanity when you get hurt or just lost a big match is one thing, but I've heard many far from appropriate profanities flying. If you do that in my dojo, you'll owe money to the donation jug.
Cross train. Enhance your skillset by doing something where you learn striking and you also learn grappling. MMA is not a one and only style of fighting. It incorporates all aspects of fighting from throwing strikes, to take downs, to submissions. Learn them all and be a well rounded fighter. Our toughest fighters train several arts.
Make weight. If you don't know how to diet and cut weight or it is your first time doing it, consult with your coaches about how to do it. It is one thing to really bust your ass to make weight and miss it, it is totally another thing to screw off / not diet / not take it seriously and then not make weight. It is disrespectful to your opponent, the promoter, your gym, and most importantly yourself if you cheat yourself out of making weight. I unfortunately witnessed a case where the person training missed weight because he 1. Went out for a huge meal 1 night before he started cutting, 2. Snuck in drinks of orange juice and water (when he was cutting) 3. Wasted the money that his coach paid for his entry, and never made weight or fought in the event. It was despicable and I lost all respect for him as an athlete that day.
Stop being so damn selfish. It is your responsibility to your team mates to show up to train after your fights. I'm not talking about taking a few days off after a fight or taking time off if you are injured, or even arranging with your coach to take an extended absence because of family or work commitments following your fight. There are too many times that I see athletes fight and then disappear, sometimes for months. They don't call / text / email / fly a plane with a banner for their coaches to let them know that they won't be at practice. My point is, that you owe it to your training partners to help them get ready for events. Even athletes that are injured can help out in the training center. You owe it to your team mates and your coaches. Take too much from them and eventually they will stop giving.
Protect your hands. Find somebody who can properly wrap your hands! Make tight fists when you punch, and train effectively on striking (ie learn from a coach). I see all kinds of hand fractures due to insufficient hand wraps. So you hit hard? All the more reason to have proper protection. How long do you want to be out with a broken knuckle before your next fight? Get those hands protected, and that means finding a reputable trainer who can do it.
Come prepared, on time, and train your asses off. Get to practice on time, ready to go, when the class starts, period. Unless you have an agreement with your coach prior, you need to be on time and ready to go! It always irritates me when I see athletes talking during their workout. I'm not talking about helping their partner through a move or giving feedback like "you almost got it". I'm talking about doing half ass pushups while you yap about your weekend. If you can talk during your workout 1. you don't have your mouthguard in which equates to not being ready to go or 2. you are not working hard enough. Your training will pay dividends(wins) or ask for interest(losses) in the end.

Train with intensity - Fight with spirit - Win with humility

Kutting Weight Suit from Boxing Depot - Review

2010-06-10T13:39:00.000-07:00

KUTTING WEIGHT SUIT!

I represented Southside Dojo at NAGA midwest earlier this year(2010) in my first NAGA and my first competition in over 2 year. I cut from 165 lbs to 149.9 lbs. I did this over the course of one week. I've used plastics before to cut water weight. This time I thought I would try the Kutting Weight suit after hearing about it from some people. So I ordered one up from BoxingDepot.com The suit is a neoprene suit that resembles a scuba suit, and the beauty of it is that it won't rip like a traditional plastic suit. It has a zipper in the front that lets you get into it easily. You can run, roll, and workout in it without really any hinderance. The night of the cut, I came in at 157 lbs, so I had about 7 lbs to cut. After and hour and a half I had cut 5 lbs. This is pretty comparable to what I might lose with a traditional sauna suit, but I guarantee that the comfort level in the Kutting weight suit was much much greater. Boxing Depot did a great job shipping the suit quickly. The sizing chart works well. I was on the border between a size medium and large with a measurement of 38" on my chest. I went with the large which is recommended for Chest sizes 38-40. I would say that I am of average of build with regard to my shoulders / chest / stomach being in proportion (I am 5'9" and weigh 160-165 lbs). Large was the right size for me. Anybody trying to shed some water weight would benefit from this suit, and I recommend it for anybody that plans to cut weight regularly. It will hold up for many many uses. And one of the great differences between this suit and the traditional sauna suit is that you don't have to worry about pools of water in the ends of your sleeves and pant legs that are typical with a plastic suit.

I made weight without any problems. I lost 2 matches in the expert no gi to decision and submission, and took 2nd place in the purple belt gi division.

Words of Caution regarding cutting weight.

The suit is Neoprene so if you are allergic to neoprene or synthetic rubber products, you may want to use the suit with caution.
Cutting weight should be done with caution. I am not endorsing cutting weight to anybody. And highly discourage cutting water weight in excess of 4-5% of your body weight.
If you will be cutting weight learn how to do it properly. Here is an excellent article regarding weight cutting from Martin Rooney at Grapple Arts.com

Frankie Ballard's Country Debut - Tell Me You Get Lonely

2010-05-25T06:56:00.000-07:00

Frankie Ballard is a West Michigan guy trying to make it big in country music. Here's his single Tell me You Get Lonely. This dude's got a good future ahead of him. Buy the song, listen and you'll see why. You can follow Frankie Ballard on Twitter too.

Earbud Review

2010-05-18T06:37:00.000-07:00

I have accumulated several different styles of earbud headphones over the past year. When I run I listen to music, and many times I forget / misplace / lose them so I get new ones. So I thought I would do a review on the ear buds that I have. I have a bit of cauliflower ear from grappling so comfort and fit is very important to me and I tend to stick with the smaller form ear buds. I typically stay away from the more expensive models since I lose so many headphones.

Apple I-Pod ear bud headphones
Model: Standard Apple Ear Buds that come with IPod Nano (2nd Gen)
Manufacturer: Apple
Price: $40.00
Overall: Poor

Review: The Apple ear bud headphones came with my iPod Nano that I bought a few years ago. The ear bud design for me is horrible, although it is better than the first gen as they are actually kind of wedge shaped. Sometimes the speaker actually sits flush on my ear when inserted and I cannot hear the sound very well. They become extremely uncomfortable after they have been in my ears for more than about an hour. I find myself adjusting these quite often when I'm forced to use them. Sound quality is mediocre at best, the bass is there but distorts fairly quickly at higher volumes. The cord can become tangled easily. As far as activity, these ear buds will stay in my ears while running - sometimes. It depends more on the proper orientation of the ear buds in my ear than anything else. I keep them as a backup pair. It is actually surprising to me that Apple would even package ear buds like this with a product like an iPod. My recommendation - use these in a pinch.

Sony MDREX36V/BLK EX Earbud Headphone (Black)
Model: MDREX36V
Manufacturer: Sony
Price: $30.00
Overall: Excellent
Review: I have purchased three sets of this model so far. Out of the four headphones reviewed the Sony ear buds receive my pick. First the ear bud is angled which makes it fit very nicely. These ear buds come with different sized rubber fittings so you can adjust the snugness of the ear bud depending on your ear canal size. I can wear these ear buds all day long and never have any discomfort and they stay in during activity that requires a lot of movement. The headphones handle high volumes very well and the bass response is good. There is a volume slider on the cord which is handy when you keep your music device out of reach. You can crank the volume on your MP3 player and control the output easily from the headphone cord. These are the only headphones reviewed that have a volume control inline. For the price you cannot beat these headphones. My only complaint about the headphone is with the cord. The cord can get tangled easily, especially during storage. I have to use a cord wrap to keep the cord in check.

Skull Candy S2INBB-BR Ink'd ear bud headphones Model: S2INBB-BR
Manufacturer: Skull Candy
Price: $20.00
Overall: Very Good

Review: The Skull Candy ear buds, like the Sony have rubber fittings of various sizes. The bud profile is straight and from the tip of the rubber fitting to the back of the headphone is a comfortable distance. In other words, the headphones don't stick out too far. The opening in the rubber fitting is larger than the other headphones tested, which probably helps with sound transfer. The overall sound quality of the Skull Candy headphones is the best of the reviewed earphones. I really like the tangle free cord. The cord is just stiff enough to keep it from tangling, and I can wrap it up in itself when I'm done using the headphones. The single drawback that I have with the Skull Candy ear buds is that when I run I get a metallic popping sound. This appears to be caused by the ear seal. I can make the popping disappear with enough adjustment. for anybody doing activity, you might experience this problem.

Rocketfish RF-MEP3L ear bud headphones - LimeModel: RF-MEP3L
Manufacturer: Rocketfish
Price: $10.00

The Rocketfish ear buds are a straight ear bud like the Skull Candy headphones. There are multiple rubber fittings as well. The Rocketfish ear buds are comfortable and they also have a tangle free cord, and come in some cool colors. They are priced lowest out of all the ear buds at $10.00 they are almost a steal. The major drawback to the Rocketfish ear buds is the sound quality. The bass response is quite poor, and very noticeable if you have listened to any headphone with decent bass response. For the money these are ok, but I would spend the extra $10 or $20 for a pair of headphones with better sound.

Overall Assessment
=======================

Best: Sony MDREX36V ear bud headphones
Better: Skull Candy S2INBB-BR Ink'd ear bud headphones
Fair: Rocketfish RF-MEP3L ear bud headphones - Lime
Poor: Apple I-Pod ear bud headphones

Blackberry Presenter review

2010-05-06T06:04:00.000-07:00

We recently purchased a Blackberry Presenter. Over the past several years I have been on a quest to find an easier way for our presentation teams to setup for presentations quicker and easier (giving them more time to do the presentation itself). I have tried various devices, from projectors with memory card readers to several devices that connect to the projector. The Blackberry Presenter device allows you to connect(wirelessly through Bluetooth) your Blackberry Smartphone to a projector for presentations. This is a really cool concept, as one of the biggest complaints that we get from presentation teams is the amount of time that it takes to setup the laptop, especially when there is a short amount of time for the interview. I had purchased a similar product (Impatica Showmate) a few years ago, but the maximum resolution was 800x600 and for us, not sufficient so it was never deployed. The Blackberry Presenter will allow you to present several different document types, images, and Powerpoint presentations (with transitions) to a projector or other device that supports the resolutions that the Presenter supports. The price tag of the Presenter was $199.

First look - Specs - Requirements
The Blackberry Presenter is small about 3" x 2.5" x 1" and weighs about 6 oz, there is a Blackberry button on the top, and on the side in a cutout is a VGA, SVideo, and Micro USB connection. There is also a switch for PAL/NTSC format. It comes with a leather carrying case as well as a USB cable and power cable. The Presenter will display at 640x480, 800x600, and 1024x768 resolutions. Blackberry lists the following smartphone compatibility: Bold 9000 & 9700, Curve 8500 series, Curve 8900, Tour, and Storm. The Blackberry must be running version 4.6+ device software, and have bluetooth enabled.

Setup
Setup if easy if you follow the directions provided. The following steps are required to get rolling with the device. CDs are not included with the device. All software is downloaded from the Blackberry website.

Install the Blackberry Presenter software on the Blackberry Device
Update the firmware on the Blackberry Presenter

Using the DeviceTransfer the file that you want to display to your Blackberry. I just use a USB cable and transfer the old fashion way, but I suspect that you could email, bluetooth, bb messenger a file to your device as well.

Make sure that Bluetooth is running on your Blackberry.
Open the Blackberry Presenter on the Blackberry. Browse to the file that you want to display (any previously viewed file will show in the opening screen). The file will first load into the Blackberry. It took 60 seconds on mine to load a 28MB powerpoint file. More on file size later.
Pressing the menu key will give you the option to Present, selecting this option will bring up the available devices. Make sure you can see the Presenter splash screen on the projector/screen because it has a passkey which you will need to connect(your Blackberry) to the device the first time.
After selecting the Presenter, the first slide will start to be transferred from the Blackberry to the Presenter.
The menu button gives the user several options such as loop, blank screen, and slide navigation. The user can also use the trackball or space bar to transition between slides/pages.

Supported file typesThe Presenter software will recognize Powerpoint and PDF files. The device will not display image files (in their raw format), video, web pages, etc.
Pros

The Blackberry is very compact
For road warriors, this would be an easy alternative to using a laptop for presentations as long as they use simple(small) Powerpoints or pdfs
Easy, easy connections
Innovative and sleek design
Supports most slide transitions
Device stays cool

Cons

Large files take a very long time to transfer from the Blackberry to the Presenter. The 28MB file that I transferred earlier took approximately 5 minutes to display the first time. On the second try, it took 1 minute to display the first slide.
Some images in powerpoints did not display. At this point I'm not sure why.
Maximum resolution is 1024x768. This can be an issue for wide screen format.
Does not support display of raw images such as .jpg or output of a screen such as a web page.
Does not display video files.

SummaryThe Blackberry Presenter is a really cool device if you have simple presentations and small files. For larger presentations that cannot be compressed to a smaller size (2-5MB), the Presenter might not be the best option. It would be nice if you could pre-load the presentation on the Presenter memory directly or if it incorporated a card reader so you could use a micro-SD memory card. It would also be nice to be able to display images directly from the photo browser, this seems like a no brainer to me. I plan to show the presenter to some of the people in our office as an option for presentations.

How to split wood

2009-09-29T13:06:00.000-07:00

Splitting wood is a great form of excercise. There's a great sense of satisfaction and accomplishment when you have finished, and they say that burning wood warms you many times - splitting, hauling, stacking, and burning.

We had a 50-60 ft Norway spruce which was too close to our house fell. The tree service did not want to take the logs since it is not good for resale, but it didn't matter to us since we will use it for those little fires in the fire pit. Hello marshmallows and beer! The base of the tree was approximately 24" in diameter, and was cut in 16" sections.

I figured it would be a good time for a workout so I grabbed my 6 pound maul and set to work, thinking pine would not be too difficult to split. It is not (too difficult) as long as you use the right technique....after spending 10 minutes on the first round I decided to try some different methods, mine was clearly not working. I had plenty of time to figure out what worked better and what didn't work so well. So here's what I learned.

Before you start

Use a maul (wedge shaped) for splitting not an axe
Buy a maul with a fiberglass handle or transfer your wedge to one. If you don't, you will be soon
Wear gloves, boots, and eye protection
Get warmed up with some practice swings before trying to deliver the single strike that splits that 24" round.

So here are some things to consider on your swing:

You have to generate maximum power, so velocity is key
Don't use the technique of swinging the axe in a full circle, it's too hard to control where the maul lands
Don't use the technique where you start with your hands on either end of the handle, and then slide your top hand to the end of the maul as rotate as illustrated here. Not good for splitting
The best technique I found was to hold the handle at the end with both hands and raise the head of the maul up has high as I could. Stand on your tip toes and then bring the maul down forcefully. This give the maximum amount of distance for the head of the maul to travel and pick up speed.
Come up on your toes.
flick your wrists down at the end of the swing to help generate more power.
Optionally, you can allow your wrist to bend so that the head of the maul touches the middle of your back before starting your swing, but I didn't find this to be any more effective than the technique I just described.

Placement of the strike

Aim the maul at either (far or near) edge of the round.
Don't try to split a large round by aiming for the center. Split at the edges
If you have a very large round, try to drop the maul successively from one edge to the other using short blows. This will help create an initial crack and will aid in splitting. Still deliver the splitting blows at the near or far edge of the round.

Know your limits

Some wood can be split right after it has been cut, ie Maple and Pine
Other wood needs to dry, or your maul will bounce right off, ie Elm

Good luck!

Integrated login issues with Deltek Vision

2009-09-23T08:55:00.000-07:00

One very nice feature that Vision has over Advantage (Deltek), is that you can enable integrated authentication so that the user's windows account is used to authenticate them to the Vision application. This was fairly straight forward to setup within Vision, just check the integrated enabled checkbox and specify the network domain for the user. Each user can be setup for integrated or non-integrated.

We are using Windows 2008 Std Server which puts us on IIS 7. For IIS, the Vision site must be set to Windows Authentication enabled (all others disabled); the VisionClient site must be set to Anonymous Authentication enabled (all others disabled).

With these settings, things may work just fine for accessing Vision. However, we were getting a server authentication box whenever we tried to load Vision. This was generated by the server, and no username/password/domain combination would work. After several hours of searching by myself while I waited for a callback, the Deltek technical support person was able to pinpoint the problem with a little thinking. The solution: disable Kernel-mode authentication.

To disable kernel-mode authentication in IIS 7, browse to the site, double click on the Authentication icon, click on Windows Authentication, click advanced settings (on the right hand pane). Uncheck "Enable Kernel-mode authentication"

Advantage to Vision conversion success

2009-08-20T11:13:00.000-07:00

The database has been successfully converted from an Advantage format to a Vision format. Key point! If you try to specify a target database name (in the conversion utility) that already exists on the sql server, you will run into a failed conversion. We needed to specify a Vision database name that did not exist on the SQL server.

Advantage to Vision Conversion

2009-08-20T06:08:00.000-07:00

Both our Advantage version as well as SQL version were out dated, so we are using a process of upgrading as well as conversion which has involved the following steps. These are based on several conversations that have taken place with Deltek support and consulting.

Original configuration was Advantage V8.0e being hosted on a SQL7 database. The final conversion needs to be done on the SQL 2008 platform so we need to do an intermediate upgrade to SQL2005. Why? Because you cannot upgrade directly from SQL7 to SQL2008. So the process will be SQL7 --> SQL2005 --> SQL2008.

Convert DB from 8-9.0 using the Deltek conversion utility
Convert DB from 9.0 - 9.1 using the Deltek conversion utility
Backup DB on SQL 7
Restore 9.1 DB .bak file to SQL2005 server.
Change Compatability level to 90 (SQL2005)
Run DBCC Update usage query
Backup DB
Restore DB on SQL2008 server
Change compatibility level to 100 (SQL2008)
Run DBCC Update usage query
Backup DB
Advantage DB is now on our new W2K8 server running SQL 2008.
Install Advantage on W2K8 server
configure/verify advlink.mdb through Advantage
Install Advantage to Vision 6.1 conversion utility
Run Adv to Vis conversion utility

The result of the conversion was some errors. So now we will utilize Deltek technical support to help resolve the issues.

Deltek Vision Upgrade Hardware

2009-07-01T06:34:00.000-07:00

Installation of the hardware went fairly smoothly except for the drive rails for the tape backup were too long (by an inch) to fit into our Middle Atlantic network rack. We purchased some very handy rack extender brackets from Rack Solutions to remedy the problem. The Dell R610 and R710 servers with the sliding rail racks went in almost effortlessly.

Upgrading to Deltek Vision Overview

2009-06-01T08:28:00.000-07:00

We are in the process of converting a Deltek Advantage 8.0e installation to Deltek Vision 6.1. The existing Advantage accounting system runs on a client server based system, where Vision is a web app and is module based. Modules are available for many different aspects of business including Accounting, Purchasing, Project Management, HR, and Marketing. Vision is based on the .net framework version 3.5. The migration is being pushed based on several factors, but we also anticipate benefits of the software:

Deltek's elimination of future upgrades and support of the Advantage product.

The need to push more information electronically to our project managers and executive team.

Data connection between Vision for software such as Excel and Word

new to us Expense Keeping

Dashboard views customizable per user

Another future possibility for us is to add the Marketing (CRM) module to help tie our Marketing efforts with client projects. We currently utilize Deltek CRM which is a sister product to Deltek Advantage. Our use of CRM is limited and further analysis of the benefits and use of a CRM module would need to be done.

We looked at several different systems in our evaluation process including: Microsoft Dynamics, SAP, and several SAS (software as a service) options. Deltek Vision was recommended for several reasons including: familiarity with the interface, project based business focus, industry leader for AE firms. SAS options were typically too high in cost for a firm of our size (75 people). Systems such as MS Dynamics and SAP were eliminated because we really need something that is somewhat pre-built as opposed to configure based on your needs.

To support the Vision system we have purchased 2 new servers and will phase out one aging server. We will be using a Dell R710 running Windows 2008 Server 64 bit to host the SQL 2008 database and provide reporting services, and a Dell R610 running Windows 2008 Server 32 bit to provide the web application and process services. We are taking advantage of our EMC CX300 SAN to host storage and we added 1.5 TB of disk space in conjunction with the other hardware. Additionally we will add a new LTO 4 Tape drive system for backup. Our existing LTO 3 Tape system will be brought to our second office.