- a lot of snow where I live in the winter (way more than the average)
- my obsession with various iPod Touch games like Bejeweled, Real Racing 3 and Fruit Ninja
- an increase in my work hours (eight-hour shifts!)
- my 19th birthday
- the end of my freshman period of college
- joining a photography club (I'm not really good at photo editing lol)
- a lot of action in the NASCAR world, along with the creation of my NASCAR-specific blog
- rekindling my interest in computers, specifically Microsoft Windows ones.
Monday, June 30, 2014
2014 is half over
Today marks the end of the first half of the year 2014. The past six months of my life have seen these things:
Saturday, June 28, 2014
About YouTube's new Creator Studio
Surprise, surprise - YouTube introduced a new feature earlier this week. This one is a feature called the Creator Studio, which places things like channel analytics, the video manager, channel settings and your latest video uploads into a single screen. YouTube also removed the username display on the sticky navigation bar at the top, and users no longer have access to their channel by clicking on their channel icon at the top of the screen; they now have to go to the Creator Studio. But users can now click on their icon to go to their Google+ page or YouTube channel and change their icon.
In addition, the settings menu, which once had a link to the video manager, was moved to the new dropdown box from which the Creator Studio can be accessed, as are the complete list of the user's channels, if they have more than one as a result of the Google+ integration with YouTube back in November.
I could go on about YouTube introducing another new feature, and shaking up the layout of their website, which they seem to like doing on about a monthly basis now. But right now I have a NASCAR race to watch on TV and I'm not going to miss it. So bye for now!
In addition, the settings menu, which once had a link to the video manager, was moved to the new dropdown box from which the Creator Studio can be accessed, as are the complete list of the user's channels, if they have more than one as a result of the Google+ integration with YouTube back in November.
I could go on about YouTube introducing another new feature, and shaking up the layout of their website, which they seem to like doing on about a monthly basis now. But right now I have a NASCAR race to watch on TV and I'm not going to miss it. So bye for now!
Friday, June 27, 2014
Thank you, Portugal
The United States men's national soccer/football team lost to Germany 1-0 on Thursday in Brazil in their final Group G match before the Round of 16 segment. However, Portugal defeated Ghana in a game that went on at almost the exact same time, allowing the United States to advance after all and play Belgium in the Round of 16 on Tuesday.
The United States get out of Group G with a win, a tie and a loss, in that order. The Belgians are coming off a sweep of group H with wins against Algeria, Russia and Korea. This makes for yet another crucial matchup in the tournament.
The United States get out of Group G with a win, a tie and a loss, in that order. The Belgians are coming off a sweep of group H with wins against Algeria, Russia and Korea. This makes for yet another crucial matchup in the tournament.
Saturday, June 21, 2014
Summer started today
Spring has now given way to summer. The summer solstice occurred at 6:51 AM U.S. Eastern time, or 10:51 Universal Time. People have been saying "it's summer now" since around Memorial Day weekend, but for for nearly a month afterward it was still astronomically spring. Meteorological summer, which is based on weather patterns rather than the alignment of the Earth and the sun, began back on June 1.
I don't think I'm doing anything of note this summer. I finished my spring semester of college in the middle of May, just before my 19th birthday, and since then the only productive things I've done are going to work at a grocery store (same one I started at in September) and some errands. Also it's been really hot lately and my mom is saving energy by keeping the air conditioning off almost all of the time. That's why she got me a fan for my room and the fan works great. We've also had some rain in the last couple of days as well which has made it less humid.
So it looks like it's going to be like that until Labor Day or somewhere around there. I think I can survive the summer even though it won't be that exciting for me.
I don't think I'm doing anything of note this summer. I finished my spring semester of college in the middle of May, just before my 19th birthday, and since then the only productive things I've done are going to work at a grocery store (same one I started at in September) and some errands. Also it's been really hot lately and my mom is saving energy by keeping the air conditioning off almost all of the time. That's why she got me a fan for my room and the fan works great. We've also had some rain in the last couple of days as well which has made it less humid.
So it looks like it's going to be like that until Labor Day or somewhere around there. I think I can survive the summer even though it won't be that exciting for me.
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
United States defeats Ghana in World Cup opener
The United States men's national soccer/football team defeated the Ghana national team 2-1 in their first match in Group G of the FIFA World Cup on Monday in Natal, Brazil. The United States have suffered multiple defeats to Ghana in recent years, so this makes it an exciting win.
The first goal was scored by the U.S. just 30 seconds into the match by Clint Dempsey. Ghana did not answer until the 81st minute with a goal by André Ayew. The U.S. scored again with John Brooks four minutes later, and went on to take the win.
Ghana's next match is with Germany on Saturday, while the United States will play Portugal on Sunday.
The first goal was scored by the U.S. just 30 seconds into the match by Clint Dempsey. Ghana did not answer until the 81st minute with a goal by André Ayew. The U.S. scored again with John Brooks four minutes later, and went on to take the win.
Ghana's next match is with Germany on Saturday, while the United States will play Portugal on Sunday.
Thursday, June 12, 2014
My chocolate pudding adventures
Back in April, I suddenly had a desire for chocolate pudding. So I looked up recipes online and found one that involved adding egg yolks. I didn't have any cornstarch (an important ingredient) so I decided to substitute it with flour.
Well, the pudding came out really thick and grainy, so I thought it was just because I used flour instead of cornstarch. I didn't really want to eat it the way it came out but I did anyway because I didn't want to waste it.
Then on Monday, I decided to try the same recipe again because I had cornstarch this time. When I put it the cornstarch I noticed that it was pretty different from flour so I figured the pudding would come out right this time. After I had mixed everything including the egg and boiled it, I put it in a bowl but just like the first time, it had that grainy texture. So that meant it didn't depend on whether I used flour or cornstarch - it would still come out the same way.
Then when I was eating the pudding, I thought maybe I had just boiled it too long both times. But then I realized that maybe it was the egg that made the pudding like that, because it reminded me of the texture of eggs after they're cooked.
So I decided to try the recipe a third time today. This time when the first ingredients were boiling and I was mixing the other ingredients, I didn't put any eggs in. Then I mixed those ingredients with the others to boil together, and when they were done I put them in the bowl to put in the refrigerator. The pudding finally came out right this time, with that custard-like, slightly less solid texture. I put the bowl in the fridge, and then later I ate the pudding and was finally satisfied.
So I guess I learned from this that eggs don't go well in custard-type puddings. Or maybe it's just how my taste buds are. Whatever it is, I'm never using another pudding recipe that calls for eggs!
Well, the pudding came out really thick and grainy, so I thought it was just because I used flour instead of cornstarch. I didn't really want to eat it the way it came out but I did anyway because I didn't want to waste it.
Then on Monday, I decided to try the same recipe again because I had cornstarch this time. When I put it the cornstarch I noticed that it was pretty different from flour so I figured the pudding would come out right this time. After I had mixed everything including the egg and boiled it, I put it in a bowl but just like the first time, it had that grainy texture. So that meant it didn't depend on whether I used flour or cornstarch - it would still come out the same way.
Then when I was eating the pudding, I thought maybe I had just boiled it too long both times. But then I realized that maybe it was the egg that made the pudding like that, because it reminded me of the texture of eggs after they're cooked.
So I decided to try the recipe a third time today. This time when the first ingredients were boiling and I was mixing the other ingredients, I didn't put any eggs in. Then I mixed those ingredients with the others to boil together, and when they were done I put them in the bowl to put in the refrigerator. The pudding finally came out right this time, with that custard-like, slightly less solid texture. I put the bowl in the fridge, and then later I ate the pudding and was finally satisfied.
So I guess I learned from this that eggs don't go well in custard-type puddings. Or maybe it's just how my taste buds are. Whatever it is, I'm never using another pudding recipe that calls for eggs!
Sunday, June 8, 2014
I'm so tired
So yeah, I'm pretty tired right now because I had to work eight hours again and apparently that's my normal shift now. I was walking around the store almost non-stop like I do on all of my shifts. Also I've been watching a lot of TV (mostly sports stuff) so it's all sort of messing with my head. So maybe some sleep will help clear my mind of all of this!
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
Make up your mind, YouTube
About two months ago, YouTube rolled out a new, bigger default player size. It was about the same size as the "bigger player" option that previously appeared at the bottom of the player. This bigger player goes further down and to the right, giving a bit less space to the related videos sidebar and requiring scrolling down to see the top of the comments section.
Then a couple of weeks ago, YouTube started displaying the word "views" with view counts more than 1,000 on the counter below the player. Previously, it had only displayed the word "views" with view counts between 0 and 999, and just displayed the number without the word "views" from 1,000 views on. It was about this time that the default player size reverted back to the smaller one.
But this morning, after I had already been on YouTube for a few minutes, I clicked on a video and suddenly the bigger player had returned, and the site had also gone back to not displaying the word "views" on view counts 1,000 and higher. Maybe this time the large player is back for good because I heard that in April, YouTube was doing a test of it. But I've also heard they did something like that about two years ago as well. I don't know about the situation with the view counter though, or how they work everything out with it.
I just wish YouTube wouldn't get updated and tweaked so often because it's tiring seeing so many changes with it. I also wish they wouldn't change back to previous versions of things like the video player. But maybe I should just let them do what they want with it.
Then a couple of weeks ago, YouTube started displaying the word "views" with view counts more than 1,000 on the counter below the player. Previously, it had only displayed the word "views" with view counts between 0 and 999, and just displayed the number without the word "views" from 1,000 views on. It was about this time that the default player size reverted back to the smaller one.
But this morning, after I had already been on YouTube for a few minutes, I clicked on a video and suddenly the bigger player had returned, and the site had also gone back to not displaying the word "views" on view counts 1,000 and higher. Maybe this time the large player is back for good because I heard that in April, YouTube was doing a test of it. But I've also heard they did something like that about two years ago as well. I don't know about the situation with the view counter though, or how they work everything out with it.
I just wish YouTube wouldn't get updated and tweaked so often because it's tiring seeing so many changes with it. I also wish they wouldn't change back to previous versions of things like the video player. But maybe I should just let them do what they want with it.
Sunday, June 1, 2014
June
Today is the first day of June. Summer officially starts three weeks from today, although it is already feeling like summer for the past few days here. All I can say about today is that I worked eight hours and then got home in time to watch the end of a NASCAR race in Dover, Delaware, the closest track to my house. So this is my post for the beginning of June.
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