jeffkao.net

Stanford’s Audi TTS vs Pike’s Peak

jeffunderscorekao — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 17:46:12 +0000

Standford’s Electronics Research Lab is sending a fully automated Audi TTS up the famous Pike’s Peak.

Wired Magazine has an article about the endeavor which takes place in the fall.

In the meantime check out Climb Dance which shows Ari Vatanen’s 1988 record time of 10:47.77 in his Peugeot. The current record is held by Noburhiro Tajima (10:01.408).

New website coming soon…

jeffunderscorekao — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 02:45:55 +0000

Best of the ’00′s

jeffunderscorekao — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 03:55:17 +0000

Better late than never here are my lists of my favorite media from 2000-2009.

-Music-

01.Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002) - Wilco
02.Four Cornered Night (2000) – Jets to Brazil

03.Chutes Too Narrow (2003) – The Shins

04.The ’59 Sound(2008) – The Gaslight Anthem

05.Sea Change (2002) – Beck

06.Time (the Revelator) (2001) – Gillian Welch

07.Feast or Famine (2007) – Chuck Ragan

08.Elephant (2003) – The White Stripes

09.The Argument (2001) – Fugazi (2001)

10.Decoration Day (2003) – Drive By Truckers

Honorable Mention/Keep the Skip Button Close – Illinois (2005) – Sufjan Stevens

- Movies -
01.Memento (2000) – Christopher Nolan
02.Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) – Michel Gondry
03.Reprise (2006)- Joachim Trier
04.You Can Count On Me (2000) – Kenneth Lonergan
05.There Will Be Blood (2007) – P.T. Anderson
06.Royal Tenenbaums (2001) – Wes Anderson
07.Mulholland Drive (2001) – David Lynch
08.Ghost Dog (2000) – Jim Jarmusch
09.In the Mood For Love (2000) -Wong Kar-wai
10.Election (1999) – Alexander Payne
Honorable Mention/Best Animated Movie – Spirited Away (2001) – Hayao Miyazaki

- Documentaries -
01.Murderball (2005) – Henry Alex Rubin & Dana Adam Shapiro
02.The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007)- Seth Gordon
03.Dig! (2004)- Ondi Timoner
04.Grizzly Man (2005) – Werner Herzog
05.Man on Wire (2008) – James Marsh
06.Spellbound (2002) – Jeffrey Blitz
07.March of the Penguins (2005) – Luc Jacquet
08.Capturing the Friedmans (2003) – Andrew Jarecki & Marc Smerling
09.Winged Migration (2002) – Jacques Perrin
10.Waltz with Bashir (2008) – Ari Folman
Honorable Mention/Bob Dylan Fans – No Direction Home (2005) – Martin Scorsese

- Books -
01.The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay (2000) – Michael Chabon

02.The Road (2006) – Cormac McCarthy

03.Devil in the White City (2003) – Erik Larson

04.The Blind Assassin (2000) – Margaret Atwood

05.Empire Falls (2001) – Richard Russo

06.The Time Traveler’s Wife (2003) – Audrey Niffenegger

07.Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell (2004) – Susanna Clarke

08.Life of Pi (2001) – Yann Martel
09.A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius (2000) – Dave Eggers
10.Cloud Atlas (2004) – David Mitchell

Resolution for 2010: Spend less money on books & music by reading & listening to what I already own, but haven’t gotten to yet.

J.D. Salinger 1919-2010

jeffunderscorekao — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 18:46:33 +0000

NY Times

jeffunderscorekao — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 03:31:23 +0000

jeffunderscorekao — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 05:23:31 +0000

View from the top of the South Kaibab. I took this photo on my way up to the South Rim after spending a night on the Canyon floor.

Signs like these are all over the place at the park as a warning. To give a little perspective I carried 4 liters of water and enough food for a full day on the same hike.

One night when I was sleeping in my tent I heard all sorts of creepy noises outside. The next morning I found this little guy a few steps away from my campsite. I thought it was a wild pig or boar, but later learned it was in fact a Collard Peccary. From wikipedia:

“Peccaries, indeed, are aggressive enough in temperament that, unlike Eurasian pigs, they cannot be domesticated as they are likely to injure humans. Indeed in recent years in North-western Bolivia near Madidi National Park there have been reports of people being seriously injured and killed by large groups of peccaries”

View from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon

jeffunderscorekao — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 02:36:19 +0000

Happy Veteren’s Day

jeffunderscorekao — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:43:01 +0000

Amtrak from Chicago to Williams, AZ

jeffunderscorekao — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:38:52 +0000

One Big Post

jeffunderscorekao — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 03:19:39 +0000

Hello Everyone! – I haven’t posted anything in quite awhile so I thought I’d just throw up a whole bunch of photos up.

First off was XXX Racing-Athletico’s cyclocross race in Jackson Park.

Dana showed up to cheer me & the rest of Team Pegasus on. She also took a bunch of pictures.

The next week we went to Kathryn & Chris’ amazing wedding. Here’s a picture of us at the wedding from the photographer.

Soon after I found myself with a little bit of a extra time which I used to go on a short trip. I decided to go to see the Grand Canyon and then visit my sister & her husband.
As part of preparations I got myself a new point & shoot camera that I could conveniently carry on my trip without the bulk & weight of my digital SLR. Here’s the first picture from my new Canon Powershot SD970 IS.

Here’s all the gear I brought on my trip.

Next time I’ll start posting photos from my actual trip. Thanks for reading!