So, today is the last day of July and I have just under 4 weeks left until I go back to university. Things have certainly been slow this summer, being without a job and all. I thought I would be working on a bunch of freelance projects, but it didn't turn out that way. I did, on the other hand, work on personal developments.

I went to the DMV two days ago to get my Driver's Permit, but that spoiled after they didn't accept my passport because it was expired. I should've known better. Tisk tisk. I was supposed to renew my passport last year but I lazied out - plus, the picture I took was terrible! I went and got a new one taken today which is much better! I know I live in NY and all, but having a Driver's License is important nonetheless.

Speaking of school, I am going to drop one of my classes in order to keep a clean schedule while maintaining fulltime status. I got in touch with one of my professors and he recommended that I drop it as well, and that I shouldn't be in a hurry to finish all the classes for the degree. I also received a textbook catalog from SVA (School of Visual Arts) and their programs are very intriguing! I'm consider a transfer after this semester. More to come as this develops.

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I've mentioned a number of times in the past that I love Mixed Martial Arts and now I am finally getting into it. I have to modify my school schedule in order to join to the MMA school that I'm planning to attend. When I was younger I used to take Shotokan Karate for around 3 years and even after that, I remained interested in martial arts and all forms of styles including grappling, boxing, kickboxing, etc.

I am currently scheduled to take 5 classes during this semester of college, totaling 15 credits. In order to stay fulltime, a minimum of 12 credits is required and I will be dropping one class to give myself more time. The class that I am dropping will free up A LOT of time and will allow me to do more things. I will have all morning and afternoon classes with Thursdays free.

So yes, this is big change in my life. In the past, I've always concentrated on school first, but now I realized how important it is to cater other things too, especially at my age. I also mentioned in the past that getting my Driver's License was one of the items on my 2008 Resolution list. I'll keep you guys updated with how all these things develop.

Question for you: Are you taking any sort of Martial Art now, or have done so in the past?

I must give credit to Current.com for this video. I've watched it a few times and showed it all of my friends. Can't forget all the great arguments we've all had between Macs and PCs. Ever wondered what a face off between Bill Gates and Steve Jobs would be like? If so, you're going to like this. Enjoy!

It's July 4th and that time of the year is here again. The day America became a free nation. History lessons aside, tonight I'm planning on heading into the city to watch the fireworks in person! I hope all of you out there (in the States) have a great day and have lots of fun.

On the 30th of June, I celebrated my 20th birthday at home and with the family. A bunch of relative came over and they all had a pretty good time (while being very loud, not to mention). I got about 10 different shirts and $200 worth of gift cards for cloth shopping - which is great because I've been wanting to refresh my wardrobe.

I know that to many people, their birthday is a very special day. Some go drinking, some go crazy on buying themselves gifts, and some party like animals. I, on the other hand, have never been excited about my birthday. I guess the reason for that is because birthdays aren't all that to rave about in my family.

I don't feel any older or any different at all than last year and the year before - other than knowing that I am smarter than I was the previous year. I usually compare myself to the past versions of me in things like technical skills, health, general knowledge, and accomplishments. Every year I strive to make a better me. I consider birthdays to be marks of milestones. I don't know how others feel about this but I certainly hope that everyone tries to better themselves - just as some attempt to for New Year's resolutions.

If anyone's birthday just happen to pass, or is coming up shortly, I wish you a very happy birthday filled with happiness, health and success!

There are lots of advantages of going to college and getting your bachelor's degree. With the amount of online success stories building up these days, some might think that it's an easy path and skipping college is okay. Going to college has its advantages and the positive factors beat out the negatives any day.

1. More Money: There's a reason why I put this first. In this world, it takes a decent salary to live comfortably. Anyone can get a job paying just enough to support yourself in a tiny mousehole apartment. Having a college degree opens more opportunities to higher paying jobs, even if your field has nothing to do with what you're applying for.For example: If you have a degree in Philosophy and you've always had a thing for finance, who do you think will get the job when applying, person A or B? A) Somebody who doesn't have a degree and loves finance but has nothing to prove his worthiness or, B) somebody with a college degree who has demonstrated that he/she has devoted time and effort to successfully achieve a goal.
2. Increased Knowledge & Skill set: College is a period of communication and interactivity with your professors and classmates. The skills you can learn such as a writing efficiently, speaking and presentation skills are vital for career success of any kind. Whether you choose to attend a 2 or 4 year program, you will learn how the real world works. Professors and students share experiences that will sometimes put an end to things you've always wondered about. Professors are there to help - it's their job! Most professors find it self-fulfilling when they truly help a student understand and achieve something great. You don't have to spend a fortune to get a quality education. Little things that are learned during the college experience is what helps people get through certain steps in life. Continue for more...

June is usually a decent month for me. The school semester is over and I have a nice long 3 month vacation from school. This is usually the time where I enjoy myself and put aside all the hard work and stress. I have yet to come up with a good place to travel to this summer, but I'm thinking San Francisco. I also have a few tutorials that I started working on; one of them showing how to recreate the Fox 5 logo.

During the month of May, I thought I would have more time to write, but finals and other happenings required too much time. There are a lot of things that I will cover this month that relate to Psychology, Technology, Design, Apple, and the Internet.

In terms of health and wellbeing, this is the month I will start making regular visits to the gym. It's about time I burned off the extra few pounds I've gained in the last few months. I also need to take my bike to the shop to get it fixed up; a couple of friends and I are planning to start biking around the city. So far, this is sounding out to be a pretty fun month.

For a couple of years now, I've been interested in Parkour, an athletic discipline dedicated to moving fluidly through your environment using only your body and the obstacles in front of you. Some people call it crazy, while others think it's child's play, but I look at it as both. Training yourself both physically and mentally to perform certain things takes a lot of dedication and confidence. Once one gets a hang of the basics, it's all fun times from there.

I was first introduced to Parkour a few years ago after watching some videos online. I was always into this type of activity as it always got me excited and made me want to do it myself. It wasn't until more recently times where I actually started going to the park and other open places to practice Parkour and feel the adrenaline rushing through my body. More after the jump...

I came across an article over at BBC.co.uk stating that web users are becoming more selfish. They're spending less time on websites, and using direct links mostly through search engines to access data.

Basically, what it's trying to say is that people in general are spending less time looking for what they want. I don't understand how this is "selfish." The web is a developing platform where infinite amounts of data can be stored and accessed by virtually anyone. Last time I checked, searching and getting info quickly was as normal as anything else.

There's a misclassification with the term "web user," and I believe it's being used too broadly. A user can jump on a computer and quickly look up something about the second world war and be done in 45 seconds. This same user may have a list of websites that he/she visits often for much longer periods of times. One cannot say that people who use the web are getting more selfish. "Savvy" is a word I prefer to call it. More after the jump...

Ever since my brother purchased a Sony HDV video camera (HVR-Z1U), I've had the desire to somehow get into filming things. I have a few ideas about what I can capture, and hopefully I can get something done during the summer as long as my other web projects don't get in the way. From my recent purchase of the Adobe Master Collection, I now have full access to Premiere and Affter Effects. I have never used these applications but I am very eager to learn.

The things that I have in mind are mostly shorts, but I'd like to work on something a bit longer at some point. Right now, I'm contemplating on how I should distribute the works when completed. There's always YouTube and others like Viddler, Revver, and Vimeo. Maybe I can have my future videos distributed throughout all of them. I don't have any skills in this art whatsoever, so any and all advice on how to get started is welcome.