IBM, Stanford University, Fridag og rejsen hjem + moms

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Hejsa folkens
Selvom jeg er kommet hjem, syntes jeg alligevel at jeg skylder jer og mig selv en sidste blog-post. For sådan at afslutte hele blog-forløbet.

Onsdag var en dag som vores supervisor, Michael Grant, havde glædet sig ekstra meget til, vi var alle spændte, men Michael var rigtig glad for at se en anden del af IBM end han var vandt til.
Vi blev mødt af Carolyn Wallace som bød os velkommen og gav os nogle indledende ord før vi blev ledt til et møde-lokale. Der var forberedt 3 forskellige præsentationer for os. En generel præsentation omkring IBM og hvordan de frembringer et tre-cifret milliard-beløb (dollars) hvert år, ved Carolyn Wallace.
Derefter en præsentation omkring virtuelle verdener og hvordan de kan bruges og bliver brugt i business verdenen og snakkede en del om et emne som ramte de fleste af os - 'Gaming', som i virtuelle verdener.
Den sidste præsentation var omkring kortlægning af hjernen for at kunne forstå hjernen bedre og prøve at kunne udnytte den måde hjernen er bygget op på, da hjernen er en meget avanceret 'computer', hvis man kan sige det sådan.
Vi fik frokost hos IBM og havde en rigtig hyggelig dag der og blev meget klogere på hvad IBM egentlig går og laver. De laver research :)
Efter IBM tog vi til Fry's Electronics, som er en kæmpe elektronik-forretning.

Torsdag var fridag, så den brugte jeg på at gå rundt og kigge på San Francisco. Jeg fik set downtown, Chinatown og endnu mere af havnen. Jeg var på en rundtur i en ubåd fra anden verdenskrig, det var utrolig spændende!

Fredag stod på rundvisning på Stanford University, som er det 2. største universitets-campus i verdenen.
De har en samling af statuer fra en fransk kunstner (navnet er lige forsvundet) som også er verdens 2. største. Kun overgået af samlingen i Paris, som er dedikeret til kunstneren.
Det var en meget fascinerende tur, som helt sikkert har sat Stanford på listen over steder jeg kunne studere videre på. Jeg ved ikke hvad jeg ellers skal sige, end det var så fedt :)

Lørdag havde vi indtil kl. 18, til at tumle rundt. Da vi først skulle flyve kl. 21:15.
Jeg hoppede rundt i Marina-området, hvor vi boede, hele dagen og så filmen "Where Wild Things Are" som var sød nok :) Den handlede om en dreng og hans fantasi.

Og nu er jeg så endelig kommet hjem. Min jetlag er der stadig, men den er ved at gå af.
USA-turen har været en fantastisk dannelses tur, som jeg ikke ville bytte for noget som helst i verdenen.
Jeg har lært en masse ting omkring kulture og folks hverdag udenfor Danmark eller et turistområde. Da jeg i grunden kun har været på charter rejser. Jeg fik et indblik i en amerikansk familie og de områder som ikke er turist-fyldte. Jeg er i grunden blevet mere voksen, kan man sige - og det føles fedt.

USA-blogging fra Christian Sjøbeck, over and out.

San Francisco - SUN, Alcatraz, Berkeley Universitetet og Eksperimentariet

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Hej folkens

Nogle dage er gået og vi har oplevet nogle nye ting de sidste par dage:
Mandag var vi hos SUN Microsystems, som var utrolig spændende! Vi så en masse af de ting de har gang i derinde og havde et meget interessant præsentation af 2 ansatte på henholdvis fler-trådet og fler-kernet programmering, samt omkring OpenSource. Ja, meget teknisk. Så jeg vil ikke gå ydeligere med det.
Hos SUN fik vi både morgenmad og frokost, som var fantastisk. Frokosten var som at være på restaurant. Vi blev rigtig behandlet som business-partners :) Alt for sejt.

Jeg fik taget en masse notater også, som jeg har tænkt mig at kigge mere på og evt. begynde at læse C (et programmerings-sprog) og begynde at fikse fejl på OpenSolaris, som er deres styresystem.

Efter SUN, tog vi til San Franciscos havneområde, som var utrolig interessant. Tiggerne er meget mere kreative her; hjemløse med "Ninjas dræbte min familie"-skilte og en gut som var ærlig; "Need $ for weed".
Derudover så vi alle de søløver som holder til i San Franciscos havn. Ja, freaking søløver. Tjek mit galleri for billeder (link i toppen).
Vi tog derefter til Alcatraz, hvor jeg fik taget TONSVIS af billeder, som endte med at blive slettet. Men de bedste er blevet filtret ud og serveret i samme galleri. Nyd dem :)

Idag startede med en tur til "University of California Berkeley" som er den bedste offentlige uddannelsedanstalt i verdenen. Der findes bedre - men alle disse er private.
Vi fik en tour rundt på hele campus og set noget af al den college-aktivitet, som man normalt ser i film. Idag var der en protest med abort, samt for abort. Det er i sandhed, en meget politisk skole.

Til slut, smuttede vi på eksperimentariet, hvor vi hyggede rundt i 1½ time, før vi smuttede hjem til hotellet.

og ja, og forresten, så var jeg på en fed restaurant igår, som har den fedeste 60'er (?) tema med Elvis Presley, Milkshakes, Burgere og hele det der diner-tema som man kender fra den gang. Skal der ned med Benjamin her om lidt igen og få aftensmad.

Hyg jer derhjemme!

Finally San Francisco!

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Så er vi endelig landet i San Fran og fået inlogeret os på America's Best Western Inn, hvor der trådløs internet.
Turen hertil har været bøvlet, med omkring 20-21 timer i tog, derefter 45 minutter i bus - for derefter at stene rundt til kl. 13, hvor vi endelig fik lov til at tjekke ind. Jeg bor på værelse med Alexander Conradsen, som jeg også bor sammen med på college.

Vi kunne lige nå et hurtigt bad - og syntes lige at jeg ville lave en hurtig update, før vi skal videre.

Vi skal være i San Francisco de næste 6 dage, hvor vi bl.a. skal nå at se Berkeley og Stanford University, Alcatraz, SUN Microsystems og IBM.

Men jeg er ankommet i San Francisco i god behold og jeg håber at I allesammen har det godt :)

- Christian

Undskyld forsinkelsen :)

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Undskyld den forsinkede post - men der er sket gode ting siden søndags! (udover mandag, den suttede)

Mandag:
.. er som mandage nu er.. mandage-agtige.
eller faktisk - vi var på Red Robin som er en rigtig god burger restaurant. Hard Rock Café-kvalitet.
Bottomless drinks og du kan få så mange pommes fritter som du vil!
Awesome!

Tirsdag:
Store udflugts dag!
Vi besøgte 2 firmaer idag: Monolith og Valve. Monolith kendt for F.E.A.R og Valve som er kendt for bl.a. Counter Strike.
På Monolith, fik vi lov til at se og teste et af de helt nye spil de arbejder på, som er utrolig sejt. MEN.
Desværre har jeg skrevet under på et lille sødt stykke dokument, såååå - jeg må ikke fortæller jeg noget som helst omkring det, da jeg derved vil kunne blive sagsøgt for et beløb, jeg kun ville kunne betale med min egen sjæl.
Spillet er fedt og vi fik t-shirts som tak for hjælpen. Fedt besøg.

På Valve fik vi ikke en decideret tour, men mere et meet-and-ask questions med Valves præsident, Gabe Newell og Bay Raitt.
Vi fik en masse at vide om Valve og hvordan de arbejdede. Var MEGET interessant og inspirerende.
Som tak for besøget fik vi en goodie bag med t-shirt, mussemåtte, klistermærke med Half Life 2, postkort med Half Life 2 og en key ring.
For fed dag, virkelig!
Senere på den dag mødtes vi med de andre, inkl. supervisorer, for at tage ud og spille paintball!
Vi brugte 3 fede timer på at skyde hinanden ømme og jeg kom der fra med et par blå mærker og nogle meget ømme lår-muskler, som jeg i skrivende stund stadig har super ondt i.
Vi kom hjem kl. 1:30 og hoppede direkte i bad og seng.

Onsdag:
Normal dag - udover at vi var på hyggelig restaurant tur med Carol :) Italiensk.

Torsdag:
Stress-dag! Sidste hele dag, hvor vi kan arbejde med vores spil!
Vi var derudover ude og spise på The Rock, som er en god pizza restaurant - på Duggis og min regning :)
Vi fik også set firma-lokalerne til RICE Group Inc. som er ejet af Carol og Duane, som vi bor hos. $2 millioner er investeret i den bygning. Meget imponerende lokaler - havde dog ikke mit kamera med : /
Hyggelig dag, helt klart!

Fredag - sidste hele dag i Seattle... Utroligt som tiden går. Jeg vil ikke hjem igen! *Kigger i sit pas* Heeey.. Mit visa dækker indtil d. 1 januar! Gæt hvem der bliver til nytår og fejrer det her!
P.S.: Fremvisning af spil imorgen, det bliver spændende!

I må have det godt derhjemme og så må vi jo se om jeg tager med hjem om en uges tid...

Sjov weekend - Nye oplevelser!

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Due to family readability, my blog posts will be in danish, from now on.

Så! Det har sku været en meget interessant weekend!

Fredag:
Skole dag med Kinsey hele dagen. Vi er igang med vores eget spil, hvor vi er i grupper med hinanden.
Jeg laver et spil, hvor du skal kontrollere en masse fly rundt og få dem landet - uden at de rammer hinanden selvfølgelig!
Efter skole kom de fleste med hjem til mig og Duggi til grill-aften. Duggi, Buhl, Evan og jeg smuttede efter øl og fik brugt godt 40$ på det. Vores grill-aften udviklede sig derefter til en fest, hvor Evan inviterede en masse venner, så de var 10 amerikanere og vi var 9 danskere.
Der blev spillet en masse drukspil! Vi tabte i øl-pong til amerikanerne, men vi vandt i "Ro-båd" som går i at man er 4 på hvert hold (så USA mod Danmark) og hver person har 2 øl. Det går som en stafet, hvor de 3 første drikker 1 øl, den 4. drikker begge sine lige efter hinanden og derefter drikker de sidste 3 deres sidste øl. Og ikke for at prale men.. vi vandt STORT! Danskere kan drikke hurtigere end amerikanere, det er bevist nu! Så Evan har lovet os at købe et trofæ, som vi kan få med hjem - som bevis på at vi kunne drikke hurtigst!
Festen blev ved til kl. 3 om natten, hvor folk crashede rundt omkring.

Næste dag stod den på amerikanske pandekager med tilbehør (sirup osv.), hvorefter at danskerne, undtagen Malene, Duggi og jeg, tog hjem. Malene tog hjem lidt senere, da hun skulle til Homecoming Prom (ret sejt :p).
Duggi og jeg crashede senere og vågnede omkring kl. 18, hvor der var hotdogs og leftover beans fra dagen før :) Så lørdag var rimelig meget en lazy dag.

Søndag har været en cool dag :p
Vi vågnede sent og bestemte os for at skulle opleve noget idag :D
Vi startede med at smutte i Alderwood Mall, hvor vi chillede lidt rundt og kiggede på tøser (og nå ja.. også butikker) og jeg fik købt mig 2 poser skumfiduser :9 Derefter smuttede vi på Red Dragon casino, hvor de (DESVÆRRE) kun spiller Spanish 21 og nogle andre mærkelig spil. Men ingen normal Blackjack.
Jeg endte med at tabe 20$, men jeg er stadig i plus - da jeg jo vandt 55$ på det andet casino :)
Klokken var kun 14:30, da vi smuttede fra Red Dragon, så vi skulle finde noget at bruge tid på. Så vi smuttede forbi en drive-thru kaffebar. Men det var selvfølgelig ikke en normal kaffebar, når en Sjøbeck skal have kaffe. Kaffen i den her kaffebar, blev serveret af en sød lille trunte i BH og g-streng. Helt klart værd de 3,55$ jeg havde :D Det var helt klart dagens højdepunkt - kaffe + pige i undertøj = :)

Her til slut på aftenen, var vi ved barbeque hos Malene og familien Zickefoose - meget hyggelig aften, som ikke udviklede sig til fest :p De havde en mega sej kælder med en oldschool xbox og projektor - ultimativ gamer / movie room :) Vi fik hamburgers igen ^^.

Håber I allesammen har det super, det har jeg ihvertfald!

Peace out,
Krille.

Normal days - yet a lot of experiences.

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yo peeps

I'm sorry it has been a while since I posted, but I just havn't had the time the last few days.
Since my last post, we have started and ended a game, as well as starting another game (which is our own project). I'm making a flight control game, that are gonna be awesome (hopefully) and I hope that I will be able to post a prototype of it one of the days.

We had Møllgaard over for diner and a sleepover on tuesday, which were cool - we got an awesome turkey, that we have been eating for lunch for the last 2 days :) So awesome! Yesterday, we got: spaghetti bolognese (pasta instead of spaghetti) / Jægergryde - was pretty cool, tasted very nice :)

So yesterday (wednesday) we went to Digipen and Microsoft.
At Digipen, we got a guided tour around the smaller facility. (Digipen is a school for people that want to work with games. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DigiPen_Institute_of_Technology)
The tour was very interesting and I have seriously thought about upgrading my grades for a year or two and go to Digipen and study. As - guess what, Valve, ArenaNET (Guild Wars) and such are employing students, right when they graduate - hell, even before they graduate! So I'm really thinking about it :)

After Digipen, we went for a selfguided tour, that showed some Microsoft technology. Was interesting, but a guided one around would've been cooler. So on this, Microsoft sucks.

Today, we went to Monolith (F.E.A.R 1 / 2). That was freaking awesome. We had a 2 hour tour around, by a producer from Warner Brothers (they own the company), so hes the one that pulls a lot of strings.
In there, we saw EVERYTHING. Everything from the audio-area, the motion-capturing-area, development area, designing area, art area - I literally mean everything. They even had a cafeteria with 7 refrigerators, 6 microwaves, 4 toasters, an advanced coffee machine and a storage that would please any geek. Their storage held sodas, coffee and toilet paper. Do you need anything else?
But me and a few other guys fell in talk with some Game Designers (for people that doesn't know, that is the job I want!) and we got some good infos about what it takes to become a Game Designer, and guess what - that is exactly what I want to do. Was so wonderful.
So yeah, I took a few business cards and I'll write a few mails tomorrow morning at school. I so have to stay in touch with these guys!

After school, some of us went directly to the mall, as our supervisors had set up a little trip to the cinema to watch 'Surrogates' - very interesting movie, so I won't spoil any of it! But worth a watch.

After the movie, Duane picked us up and here I am :)

I still hope you're all okay - miss you all, but I'm getting a feeling it's gonna be hard to go back to Denmark.. and if I do, it's gonna be hard to stay away from the US. This place is great :)

I'm uploading the pictures of the last few days right now and should be in the link in the top, by the time you guys read this.

cheers people
peace out

Day 8 - Weekend camping

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So Duggi, the Lewellens and me went camping at a property they own.
We made a bonfire, we made cool food, smores, pie and different kind of camping stuff :) Was acutally kind of nice..

Oh and btw, a smore is a roasted marshmellow with 2 gram crackers (kiks) and 1 piece of chocolate. Very cool :)

But we used the night up there, was a bit cold at times - but we survived :)

We took the longer way home and we started by going pass a fort with canons, basements, watchtowers and everything what a real fort needs :) Was a great experience! Both back at the property and on the trip home, we had LOADS of kodak moments. So I took 98 pictures after filtering the bad ones out, so there is a lot of footage.
At the end of the tour, we went by the casino, which is near an outlet market, Duggi and I went from there with more money than we arrived with! Duggi earned 20$ and I earned 55$ in only 45 minutes! We would've continued, but apparently the Indians in that area has different rules*.. So we might go to a 18+ casino later with Evan and have some fun :)

I'm just chilling with Duggi and having a RedHook ESB beer and enjoying the time here.
I love it here.

*Indian tribes have got their own land which is only under Federal Law (like we have the EU law) and therefore not under either county or state law. They are like their own state, so they can have other gambling rules etc.

I hope you're all cool back home :) I really miss you all!

oh yeah: and I bought the new Tiësto album and I will buy a ticket to his concert in Denmark (click here for more info)

Day 7 - Back from ze Canada!

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sup yo

Finally back in my own bed in Lynnwood, the american dollar and most of all, my lovely host family.

Vancouver was cool, but not THAT cool. It were better than I expected in general and the trip was good. I saw a lot in the 38ish hours we were there. I saw the dirty areas with the sex-shops and hookers, the business areas with walking armani-suits, the china town, the art-area, the expensive living area etc. etc. etc. Vancouver is a very multicultural city, with different types of people everywhere. Was a bit fucked actually. I saw a homeless guy with a black-berrie phone as well. Yeah, Canada really got it great.

We saw Radical Entertainment, who've made Crash Bandicoot, the Hulk-games and Prototype. Also, they are working on a new SECRET project, that I can't tell you guys about. But I think it's gonna be awesome!!

But there isn't much to say about the trip, else than:
Canada has cool homeless guys and the canadian dollar FREAKING SUCKS.

hope you're all well at home

cya

Day 6 - Blame Canada!

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yo peeps

I just woke up at the Days Inn hotel in downtown Vancouver.
Me and Christian Møllgaard are living together in a room with 2 huge beds, a big screen TV, coffee-maker, bathtub and free wireless internet! Yeah - freaking awesome shit, I know!

Well, yesterday we arrived at Vancouver after a 4 hour trip by train.
We hurried ourselves over to Radical Entertainment (the guys that made games like Crash Bandicoot, Hulk and the 'newly' released Prototype! I took a few pictures, but not too many - as we were all under an NDA. This meant, that we cannot tell the public about the project they are working on at the moment, since it hasn't been announced yet.

After a very cool tour at Radical, we went for a 2 hour bus-tour around Vancouver, where we got shown everything from the Art / Cultural area to China town and over to the Stanley Park.
Great tour!
During the 3rd stop, we found a very cool Public Market, which held a lot of raw materials. Like "Grøn-torvet" in Denmark. This was just more packed together.

So, we got home from the tour and people went for food. We all met up later at the local bar just next to the hotel.
But sadly, since you have to be 19 to drink in Canada, 3 people were asked to leave. I wasn't one of them. For some reason, I looked 19+ and didn't need to show ID when buying a beer, like some others.

2 beers and a play of pool with Søren (which I lost, sadly) I went home to get some sleep.

We got to be out at 11 AM today and we'll be home a tlike 10 PM tonight. So we got another day in Vancouver, before leaving at 6 PM.

hope you're enjoying your holidays, have fun!

Day 5 - Shopping!

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Today, we went to the Outlet mall. Crazy prices! Plus / minus 30% of the price in Denmark.
For example: A streetwear sweatshirt in Denmark: DKK 800,- USA: DKK150,-
Yes, no shit.

But I bought a few things and I went to the Casino, but due to big bags and little time, I didn't have time to check in my bags, go gamble (cause, yeah, I'm old enough for that here), and check out my bags, before our van had to go.

But I am definately going to gamble. I'm gonna be working on my card counting the next couple of days, for sure!

The lecture with Kinsey went good as normal and I just advanced the game that I already created.
Now with optimized code, like hash-tables, a timer and a best time window.

Oh yeah - cool shit.

I'm going to bed early today, as we have to get up early as well. We are going to Vancouver until friday. I will hopefully be able to keep up my blogging, else it's gonna be a good one on friday.

hope you're all good at home

Day 4 - Normal day

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Hey folks

Not much new from here.

Had a normal day, but Søren and Mikkel came by for dinner - was cool.

I'm all okay, so don't worry!

kind regards,
Chrille

Day 3 - Sup school

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Hey peeps

First off: Congratulations daddy :)

It's monday, right now it's 22:13 local time and you guys are just waking up.
Well - heres a morning update for you!

Today was the first day in college.
We had to meet at 09:30 AM, so pretty late and as I wrote in my last blogpost, me and Duggi woke up at like 6 AM, so we had a wonderful 3 hour morning-fun before meeting at school.

Day started with a introduction with all the practical information etc., including that an AT&T guy will 'maybe' come by tomorrow so we can buy phones and cards. Pretty cool.

We had a 1 hour break after the tour and some of us went to Supway (Sunset Blvd in the US) and got some lunch.

When we got back, it was time for a flash lecture with Mr. Kinsey Fobes - who is a great guy, great teacher and makes sure everyone is keeping up with the level.
Most of today consisted of noob-code, so no big thinking the first couple of days. Which is cool, some people is probably still hurt by jetlag.

We got french dippers today, which is basicly a roastbeef burger, dipped in beef sauce with french fries on the side. Real american food :p

After lunch, Evan, Duggi and I went to BestBuy where I bought a Nikon D3000 camera + bag + SD card. I think used like 3000 something DKK.. So now I've got my toy for the United States!

Søren and Mikkel (supervisors from IT-College) is going to come by my host family tomorrow for food - so that'll be cool.

I guess that was todays news really.

I hope you're all well back in Denmark, I miss you guys!

Day 2 - Sightseeing

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Hello peeps.
I'm actually writing this on the third day, but I went for a nap at 3 PM yesterday and jetlag decided to kick me in my balls and I didn't wake up until 6 AM today. Also, Jens Jacob (Duggi, that I'm living with) were supposed to wake me up, but he kinda went to sleep as well >.<

So I what did I do on my first whole day in Seattle?
We went downtown, to around the Space Needle and took a Duck-ride! But you might think, what is a duck-ride? Well, it's a truck, formed weird, called a duck. It can drive on the streets AND work as a boat as well. So I went sailing.. in a duck-truck :p
The driver was this crazy man in his 50's and you could clearly see that he LOVED his job. He told everything with such passion.. you can't imagine it.
He told us a lot of stories and small things about Seattle.

After the ride, we went to the top of the Space Needle and it's amazing. The view is fantastic. And since it's aside of the skyline, you can see all the skyscrapers, the mountains, the waterplanes, boats, house-boats etc. - fucking amazing.

We were done around 1 PM and went home with some vans from the college.
Me and Duggi was picked up by Evan (host family's son) and Mike (friend) and we went to the BestBuy to look at a camera. Unfortunately, I didn't find one that satisfied my needs : / Duggi needed some shoes - so we went to "The Mall"! And what a wonderful experience! I swear, the mall was, f to the d, filled with hot chicks - all around. The shop-keepers were mostly women as well, even in skater-shops and me and Duggi concluded that they were paid to look good.
Also, that single mall had 3 Starbucks's and 1 Apple Store. Mhm. Electronics + Hot Chicks + Coffee = Freaking heaven.

We went home, got a sandwich and as said - I passed out at 3 PM. DAMN YOU JETLAG!

Well, that's all for day 2.

Kind american regards from yours truly,
Christian 'Mr. USA' Sjobeck

Day 0 - Finally arrived!

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Finally! I am in the United States of America.
The time is 18:30 and I'm writing from the house of the Lewellen family (who are awesome, by the way), and we are going to have Barbeque sandwiches this evening.

So how was my 33-hour day? Well, so far, so fucking great!

The total travelling time from getting picked up by bus, to being picked up by the host family was 23 hours. I havn't slept more than 4 hours in a row, which was in the bus.

Oh yeah - and my stuff was taken aside, I had to go over and have a little conversation over my items. Conversation ended with "Pick up your stuff.. and when you're done - Follow the officer over there." - We're I freaked? Oh yeah. They went all godzillas with check on my laptop, but I found out it was only a random test. How did I figure? When the guy checking couldn't pronouce what he wanted - he gave up and went "Please, just go". Hilarious actually :p

The 10 hour flight was very hard to come through. Big shoulders ftl. We had two meals on board, which were decent. Free drinks too.
Before we landed, we had to fill out some papers to get into the US. Wasn't a big deal and went smooth through. We got our items and was picked up by some guys from Edmonds Community College in some vans and started driving. We stopped at a Starbucks though, where I got myself a Venti Frappachino. AWESOOOME! :D
We saw a lot of sign-guys - including one in a Sheep-costume:



We got to the college and was picked up by the Lewellens.
Thereafter, Duane, Jens Jacob and myself went to the store. A small one that is.
But in the US, small means a store equal to a big Føtex in Copenhagen with live lobsters, more products than I have ever seen, packing guys (packs your stuff while oyu pay) and a freaking Starbucks. IN THE FREAKING STORE. Geez. I love this country!

Sitting and chilling with Jens Jacob with a beer (Henry Weinhard's), which is a great beer btw. and Carol is making food right now :)

Day -1 - I'm goin' to the USA!

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Hey people!
At the moment, theres 7 hours and 56 minutes until the departure by bus towards Hamburg!
I have to be honest and admit, that I haven't been able to concentrate about anything in school this week. The necessary homework has been made, but that's it! I have been so excited about this trip :)
I'd like to thank my Mom, Dad and Grandma for giving me extra money for my trip. You're the best!
For the bus trip, I have bought some Marabou chocolate and I will be bringing a few bottles of water with me as well.
As entertainment I've got mah iPhooone, 2 books ("Tilfældets Musik" ("The Music of Chance") and a Java-programming book), my Rubik's Cube, a set of cards and my laptop! So I won't be bored!
I'm so excited and I will probably buy a digital camera from Amazon.com, when I arrive in Seattle, so I can supply you all with photos!
I will be writing one post per day and make additional updates to each post if needed.
If you want, you can create a user - but it's not needed for comments.
- Christian

An awesome weekend is ahead - what about you?

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Greetings everybody!

Personal Crap:
This weekend is just destined to be filled with 'awesome'!

First off, it's Great Praying day in Denmark, meaning no school on this day. So my weekend actually started yesterday and was spent celebrating a friends birthday.

Right now, I'm sitting on a fairy from Ebeltoft to Odden (google maps link coming up) as I am taking the journey from the little town I live in, to visit my whole family in Copenhagen! Today, Friday, is still very open atm. - it might end with clubs and booze and it might end with my laptop and watching TV with the family. Tomorrows plan is to visit my parents summerhouse and visit some friends in that area, then head off to another couple of old friends and it will culminate in a big dinner with waay too many people. My sister, her husbond, their 3 kids, my big brother and who knows else might attend :)

Sunday will be 100% chillout and relaxing day, aswell as returning home.

IPower / Self-development:
A little time before I joined the actual IPower, I changed a very drastic thing in my life. I changed my style in clothes. This might not sound big, but I went from Street Wear (baggy pants, big t-shirts etc.) to a more office / business style (shirt, not baggy pants and t-shirts that fit). Through the years of Street Wear, I've gotten quite a collection.. e.g. too much clothes. So I have cleaned up my closet and I'm gonna donate my clothes to charity (partly, I will ask my mother to distribute it and put the rest to the red cross). So by that, I went from being a gangster looking, to a business man.

I feel this has started a new 'chapter' in my life. Where I want to take things more serious and not fool around as much. Self-development ftw?

Resume:
My weekend will be awesome - what will you do in your weekend?
I started with a new awesome style of clothes - have you guys ever tried making a very drastic switch in your life? From what to what and why?

Take care of yourself and the people around you!
Regards,
Christian 'Ensey' Sjøbeck

The day after - How does it feel?

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Greetings everyone.

In the recent time, the people of the Internet has fought a great, yet soundless battle.

The European Parliament were to vote on new amendmets by the Trautmann and Harbour report.
Some of which, could cause fatal damage and change the internet as we know it today. An open line of communication is not in control - by the way the corporations see it. Which is possibly why the bad changes were brought up.

Us, "The Online Community" (I think that was what we were referred to in the Parliament), decided to stand up against this. We connected, we communicated and we fought for one the greatest services of all time.
We saw, in action, what the internet can do and what a few people (Dean and Reese) are able to get started in no time.

People started sending mails and telling their friends about it. People contacted their own MEPs and started fighting for their opinion. Personally, I called every danish MEP and talked the whole case through with them and out of curiosity, I asked them all, how much contact they've gotten about the subject. I calculated the average number of mails per day to be a little over 300. Some offices had even gotten 3000 (three thousand) mails over the last 5 days up to the votings.
I mean, this is insane.

We did a good thing for the world yesterday. People might not notice it, people might not understand it or figure what we actually did. But if they did, I'm sure they would be thankful. The few people I've talked with it today, that understood it - actually thanked me for what I did and told me to "tell it on".

We saved our most valuable tool. For this, I thank every one of you, that participated in this legendary event.

So does the internet feel any different? Well, you can say it's not blocked atleast! But 4chan is still messing around, communication is still running and people still do illegal downloads. But I sit with a very small feeling, that I fought for what I'm using. And honestly? It feels alright :)

Sincere thanks,
Christian 'Ensey' Sjøbeck

If you want to learn more about Net Neutrality and the people behind this event, visit:
http://ipower.ning.com
http://www.savetheinternet.com

Net Neutrality: The big day has arrived!

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Hello everyone!

The day that the European Parliament are to vote about the new Telecom Package has arrived!

First off - Great job everyone! I talked to all danish MEP offices and some could estimate that they would've gotten 300 mails a day and some had got a total of 3000 mails about Net Neutrality and the Telecom package. This is the biggest public interest they have EVER gotten for any subject.

Follow the EU Parliament online stream here: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/wps-europarl-internet/frd/live/live-video?language=en

Also, follow the discussion on Twitter - start following reese015 and DeanLeysen, as they will be the main connect points of the discussions.

Fun fact #1: Culture Minister Christine Albanel (who put up the three strikes law in France) is said to be resigning, if it gets voted against today, in the European Parliament.

Regards,
Christian 'Ensey' Sjøbeck

So, whats happened after London?

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Hello everyone! FROM NOW ON I WILL WRITE IN ENGLISH.
I've slacked a whole lot since the London trip, which is why I havn't blogged.

But what've happened since London?
Well - First off, I turned 18 years old! Which is the age in Denmark, where you can get a drivers license and buy tobacco (Note: I've already been able to buy alcohol for 2 years). My family and closest friends held a surprice party for me on Saturday the 21st! It was rather big, with around 40 people and 5 of them were some of my friends from Grenaa! Nimai and David lied to me about them going to Germany to update their ID, as it was a law to always have an active ID (wth, I don't know german law!), so both showed up to my party. Nimai brought his GF and Pav and Oleks also surpriced me by arriving to the party, as I was first expecting to see them later on the evening.
My brothers and sister were there, with their better half (Dennis & Anne), some good old friends showed up aswell and the most of the Broch family were there aswell! And I was also so lucky to be seated between the two lovely ladies, Sascha and Isabell. They made sure I wasn't thirsty for a second. But everyone knows, that I won the drinking match! ;)

I got some lovely presents aswell; loads of clothes, an assault alarm, a portable barbequegrill (DADDYS GOT A WEBER NOW, BITCHES) and around 8200 DKK :D Oh, and a love sheep aswell!

We went to Laurits Betjent around midnight and were there until they close around 5-6 AM. To return home after a great freaking day!

But, why did I stop blogging?
I actually don't know. My guess would be the intensivation of my real life in general.
Schools gotten a little harder, I'm personally being more social and interacting with people now! Before I was just bored in World of Warcraft all day, which takes alot of time. So yes, I stopped World of Warcraft (SHIT GAME). I am still a gamer though, I occasionly play Call of Duty 4 and started playing with a gaming organisation called VIP-Gaming (http://www.vip-gaming.net), who I was also at LAN with this easter (HLParty, great event guys!). Oh, and when on the subject of gaming - I bought Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock, aswell as Guitar Hero 4: World Tour Guitar Bundle (e.g. a guitar follows) and I ordered a Guitar Hero 2 guitar, to be a bit special. It's all white, and I will probably soon customize it! World Tour still havn't arrived yet though, but I placed around 4 orders a week ago.
I ordered a dj mixer at http://www.deejayshop.dk. Good service btw. They do have a bug in their mail system, but I called them and sorted it out quickly. They offer free shipping with UPS, when you shop for over 500 DKK in their shop. Which is pretty easy, as most items is at that pricerange. The third order was for a speaker set from Logitech (the X-540), that I bought at ComputerSalg.dk. The service was standard, like on all other big e-marked webshops. I got my order the next day, cause I placed to order early. Also a standard. The fourth order was for a soundcard from Proshop.dk. Standard again. All went smoothly and recieved the item the next day.
I then discovered that I lacked wires for my mixer to be connected to the rest of the system, so I will recieve those today. I ordered them at av-cables.dk and it was standard.

I will soon start to post some pictures of my normal day aswell and I hope that I can get the blogging started again!

What will you blog about?
I actually just got an idea, that I might start doing reviews.
Webshops, games, music - anything a young guy would have in his life!

xoxo EnseY!

Femte dag - Chill + Hjemrejse

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D. 24 var hjem-rejse dag. Vi havde fra 9:30 til 14:30 til at hygge rundt i London og nyde den sidste tid, før vi skulle rejse.
Buhl, Møllgaard, Ronnie og jeg var i HMV inde ved Oxford Circus og gik rundt og snakkede om tøser som normalt. Vi fik lidt at spise på Subway og sluttede af, før vi tog hjem, med is hos Ben & Jerry's.

Vi var hjemme allerede 12:30, og hørte musik, indtil de andre kom hjem.

Der var stress på, da vi skulle afsted, da nogen kom for sent, og Circle Line-toget som vi skulle med, var forsinket 20 mins. Så vi tog Bakerloo line og Metropolitan og endte på Liverpool Station som planlagt. Michael Grant havde ikke tænkt sig at tage med hjem med os, men at blive ved noget familie i London, så vi tog afsked med ham på Liverpool Station og tog Stansted Express til Stansted Airport, hvor alt gik stille og roligt igennem.
Vi havde en lille smule tid til at slappe af, før vi skulle til vores gate. Så vi fandt nogle "pay to use" internet computere og fandt en måde at cracke dem på, så man ikke behøvede at betale :p Meget effektivt. Resten gik af sig selv, vi kom til gaten, fandt pladser i flyet, ankom i Kastrup, propper i ørene, op i bus, 5 timer til Grenå og velkomst af Pav og David - samt et afsnit af "How I met your mother"!

Jeg skriver om idag, senere :p

Sussex University, Brighton og Hard Rock Cafe - Fjerde dag!

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Opdateret med fuld daekning af dagen!
Hej igen allesammen - klokken er 21:51 lokal tid og jeg er lige kommet hjem til Paddington igen.

Vi skulle en time foer op idag, saa jeg stod op kl. 7 idag, fik morgenmad paa hotellet og vi skulle moedes en time foer end normalt. 8:30.
Saa kl. 8:30 tog vi til Paddington Station og tog tuben til Victoria Station som er forbundet med "national rail", altsaa det rigtige tog system. Vi tog toget til Brighton, som er en tur paa omkring 1 time og 10 mins. Vi havde en smule tid i Brighton, saa vi blev vist et Royalt Palads, som lignede noget 100% fra Indien! Prinsen som fik det lavet, havde vaeret paa besoeg paa de engelske kolonier, og syntes at han maatte have saadan et palads hjemme i England. Utrolig flot!
Vi tog tilbage til Brighton station, hvor vi tog toget en smaa 10 mins. til Fulmer, for at faa en meget grundig rundvisning paa Sussex University! Utrolig fedt! Virkelig en vild oplevelse at se et rigtigt campus.
De har omkring 3000 (!) elever som lever paa campus (som er ustyret med supermarked, 2 banker, doktor og tandlaege! e.g. en lille by) og ialt 14000 elever / laerere! Vi var rundt paa de forskellige steder paa Sussex og se deres indretning, deres studioer, redigeringsrum, lecture-rum. Vi blev ogsaa vist rundt paa deres bibliotek som har, hold fast, 1.000.000 (en million) boeger! Vi blev fortalt hvad en Students Union er. Hvad de goer for en, hvad de arrangerer og meget andet. At onsdag, fra eftermiddag af, er fridag for elever over hele England. Her ser man sport for ens uni, mod andre og onsdag aften er druk-aften!

Det er aabenbart 50% studie og 50% fritid. Der er 115 klubber som man kan melde sig ind i og bruge sin fritid paa (Pirate club, hvor man klaeder sig ud!).

Vi blev ogsaa vist rundt paa Innovation Center som hjaelper alt fra smaa startup projekter til kaempe firmaer som American Express, med at finde paa og udvikle ideer. Meget interessant sted!
Jeg blev lidt ekstra i Brighton med Kaare, Duggi, Andreas, Malene og Rasmus, saa vi kunne kigge lidt ekstra paa byen. Der er utrolig mange butikker og restauranter i Brighton + at de har en strand med WiFi internet! Deres strand var virkelig cool, der var et tivoli ude paa en platform ude paa vandet (ligesom paa film=, med en bro til samt en nedbraendt version af den :P

Mig og Rasmus tog saa tilbage til London efter en time i Brighton, saa vi kunne komme paa Hard Rock Cafe med Ulrik, Alexander, Benjamin og Moellgaard. Hard Rock Cafe i sig selv var en vild oplevelse, selv for mig som har vaeret paa den i Koebenhavn flere gange. Udover at der var omkring 5 gange flere rekvisiter, fra kunstnere, i Londons restaurant, saa var den satme ogsaa todelt, mellem restaurant og shop! Shoppen laa naesten lige ved siden af og den havde ogsaa en masse rekvisiter, samt en "Vault"! Deres vault indeholdte alle de mest vaerdifulde ting. Nogle meget flotte guitarer og bass-guitarer og deres "Vault Master!", var virkelig sej, han kunne en masse sjove historier og var generelt cool over hele linien! Han sagde ogsaa, at hvis man betalte 3.000.000 zimbamwean dollars, eller 10 pund, saa kunne man faa et sejt billed med nogle fede guitarer! Hvilket mig, Benjamin og Alexander self. gjorde! Skal bare lige faa scannet det ind.
Jeg endte med at koebe et billed og en troeje.
Monster fed dag! 

Tredje dag og en god dag rigere!

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Hej allesammen! Klokken er 17:42 lokal tid og jeg har klaret mig igennem en ny spaendende dag i London!

Vi startede ud som igaar med morgenmad fra 7:00 til 9:00 og vi moedes saa kl. 9:30 for at tage afsted.
Idag stod paa en tur til omraadet hvor Science Museum og Natural History Museum laa. Vi blev sat fri, saa vi selv bestemte hvor vi ville hen og hvornaar vi ville holde fri.
Kaare, Malene, Andreas og jeg gik sammen og kiggede rundt paa Science Museum og naade stortset rundt til det hele. Der er ikke noget specielt og fortaelle omkring Science Museum, ud over at vi saa en Ford T (har vi haft om i Tek. Hist.) og saa var der et "Listening Room" som "viste" hvordan internettet loed. En masse smaa skaerme som viste forskellige beskeder fra bulltin boards (forums) og public chats. Saa beskeder som "I am a asshole toy" og "I like pizza" dukkede op. Virkelig fedt! Jeg uploader en youtube video saa snart jeg kan!

Efter Science Museum hookede jeg op sammen med Alexander, Benjamin og Anders og vi smuttede paa shopping tur paa Regent Street. Jeg fik koebt nogle >>ORIGINALE<< Armani Solbriller, som jeg fik sat ned fra 149£ til 130£ (e.g. 1100,-). Derudover koebte jeg et kabel til min nokia!

Jeg ved stadig ikke hvad der sker med aftensmad, men nu maa vi se hvad folk har lyst til.

xoxoxo Ensey!

Anden dag!

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Klokken er 18:16 lokal tid, og jeg foeler for at blogge igen!

Idag var vi paa Tower of London, som faktisk var cool nok. Vi var paa audioguides, som basicly er en baandoptager, uden baand men med stemme - saa vi kunne gaa rundt selv og kigge paa hvad vi nu havde lyst til.
Der var 5 forskellige ruter, hvor jeg tog den omkring fanger og henrettelse og kronjuvelerne (som foroevrigt ownede, men ingen billeder :/) - derudover saa mig, Andreas, Jon, Alexander, Benjamin og Anders en udklaedt gut tale om ridder skole! Dog kunne vi ikke vaere med pga. alders graense paa 12 aar. Vi fik frie toejer efter kl. 13:30 og vi delte os hurtigt i de grupper vi normalt gik i. Jeg hoppede med Andreas, Buhl, Moellgaard, Ronnie, Jon, Rasmus, Henrik og Anders og vi skyndte os til den subway-station vi nu kunne finde, saa vi kunne komme til Picadelly Circus. Der begyndte vi saa at gaa ned af Regent Street (som er fucking stor) og kiggede, talte OG nearmest raabte omkring toeser HELE VEJEN til Apple Store! Jeg koebte mig et headset og Anders koebte en iPod. Vi hoppede ind paa en sidegade for at faa noget at spise.. Vi satte os ved et langt 2+ meter bord, hvor Henrik pludselig syntes at kvinden ved siden af mig (skraat for ham) havde store patter.. og hvad blev emnet? Patter. Og dette er et faktum: Det bedste ved England er at de ikke forstaar dansk. Saa vi kunne sidde og snakke om hendes patter, lige ved siden af hende! Dog var hun meget "heldig". For vi har traenet siden vi ankom til England, paa ikke at snakke blandet englelsk / dansk. HURRA FOR AT VAERE NOERD! Vi har virkelig haft nogle fucket tidspunkter, hvor ordene var engelsk, men man snakkede til danske mates.

Naa, men vi skal ud og spise med Ulrik her i aften. Han tager os med paa et fedt Indisk sted her kl. 20:30, saa mig og min roomies er bare hjemme for at chille lidt - og jeg ville blogge :p

Det her var min anden blogpost, hope you liked it!

xoxoxo fra ensey!

P.S.: Man kan naesten gaa i t-shirt herovre.. Ingen sne. Hyg jer! :D

EDIT: Her er gaaturen :P http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=A4201%2FPiccadilly+Circus&daddr=A4201%2FRegent+St&hl=en&geocode=Fcv6EQMdavD9_w%3BFTQWEgMdlNL9_w&mra=mr&mrcr=0&sll=51.511814,-0.139089&sspn=0.018162,0.038452&ie=UTF8&z=15

Endelig i england - og endelig internet!

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Hej allesammen, jeg har fundet en lille internet cafe og klokken er 09:16 lokal tid.

Nu har jeg endelig fundet tid til at begynde paa min blogging omkring turen, men ogsaa det sociale eksperiment som jeg har sagt ja til!
Maaske skulle jeg fortaelle omkring det sociale eksperiement foerst.
Det gaar ud paa, at jeg fremover (uvist hvor lang tid) skal:
  • Bruge twitter saa meget jeg kan. E.g. give smaa updates, helst via mobilen.
  • Blogge alt (til et hvis punkt) omkring min hverdag, paa denne blog.
  • Skal have en google application (David, giv mig lige navnet igen) som skal ligges paa min mobil, som saa tracker min lokation via google maps.

Alt dette, skal saa undersoeges af mine venner, om jeg aendrer min maade at vaere paa.

Men England:
Vi tog afsted kl. 3:30 fredag morgen med bus mod kastrup. De fleste af os fik sovet, men det var ikke noget at raabe hurra for. Vi ankom til kastrup omkring kl. 8 og fik ca. 30 mins. senere et skraenke at checke ind ved og det hele gik faktisk rigtig godt gennem det hele! De fleste bestemte sig for at faa noget at spise, hvilket var en MEGET dyr fornoejelse... Men paskontrol, sikkerhedskontrol og bording gik faktisk okay (bordingen kunne vaere bedre, men what the hell).

Flyveturen tog halvanden time, som lige var nok til at faa lidt at drikke og se et afsnit af The Big Bang Theory (den med Penny som er i underskud en maaned og laaner af Sheldon).

Vi ankom til Stansted og det koerte saa lidt mindre glat.. Altsaa, at komme af flyet var cool, in-airport subway var ogsaa nice. Men paskontrollen slackede (!) og det hjalp ikke paa det, at man kunne kigge lige over paa omraadet til e-passports, som var !!TOMT!!, da alt bare gik hurtigt derovre, men vi var noget ala 10 koeer af 20 personer som ventede... Not good. Men bagagen var der da vi kom ud med det samme, som var kaempe plus.

Efter at alle havde faaet deres bagage, smuttede vi ned til underground delen af lufthavnen, om ved endestationen (Liverpool Street?) stod vi af og tog Circle Line til Paddington Station, hvor vi havde en lille gaatur paa 5 mins til vores hotel, som foroevrigt er okay :p

Efter vi tjekkede ind, havde vi 20 mins for os selv. Vi fik nogle forskellige stoerrelse rum, hvor mig, Jon, Buhl, Moellgaard, Ronnie, Buhl og Andreas tog et 6-personers rum (som er et 4 personers, med 2 ekstra senge). Efter de 20 mins for os selv, moedtes vi sammen og vi tog med toget til Westminster (hvor vi gik forbi Parlamentet, Big Ben) og sluttede den lange dag med en rigtig fed rundvisning paa Westminster Abbey! Men gud vi var glade for endelig at vaere faerdige med dagens plan. For teenagers som ikke har spist, sovet eller chillet ordentligt i 30+ timer, er ikke de mest interessante!

Men vi blev faerdige med rundvisningen og fik et tip fra vores guide - omkring en pub 150 meter vaek, som lavede mad. Men den var fyldt op med folk.. i jakkesaet? Det lignede virkelig det billed med Sams Bar! Men der var nada plads, saa vi smuttede med subway'en hjem til Paddington, hvor vi (mig, Ronnie, Moellgaard, Buhl, Jon, Alexander og Benjamin) og hoppede ind paa en "Scotch Steak Houses". Fik et bord til 7 og vi begyndte at undre os over at de kun var asiat'ere som serverede.. paa en skotsk restaurant! Jeg kom af med 16,16£ for en Barbaque Cheeseburger og en Cola. Burgeren var lidt trist og pommesfritter var faktisk det bedste. Meget skuffende og meget amatoer agtigt. Man skulle vente alt for laenge paa et bord, de kunne ikke finde ud af at gaa rundt med drinks, men sendte dem bare videre ned af bordet (fra person til person) og jeg saa at de suttede til at skaenke vin.. ALTSAA FORHELVED! Vi blev faktisk allesammen enige om, at pengene ville vaere bedre brugt paa Burger King! Men vi skyndte os at faa en regning og hoppede over og koebte noget vand og vi gik tilbage til hotellet hvor vi snakkede lidt, foer vi smuttede i seng.

Idag skal vi til Tower of London og se Kronjuvlerne (OH YEA) og vi faar en audio-guide den her gang. Ikke et naer saa stort program, hvilket betyder.. TIME FOR SHOPPING!

Jeg har optaget 8 film og taget billeder, som jeg uploader saa snart jeg kan!

I maa hygge jer med sneen derhjemme! FOR VI HAR IKKE NOGET!

Mange venlige hilsner fra England eller som de siger her:
xoxo ensey!