Matt Younger | Winnipeg Manitoba

Just started watching this documentary after finishing off BBC’s Human Planet Series. Produced by and airing on The History Channel, this series has gotten support from some of America’s most influential people (Oprah Winfrey, Colin Powell, Jimmy Wales and Rudy Giuliani among them) to the point that the President, Barack Obama, kicks the series off by sharing some words.

Having and existing interest in history, seeing this series was a no-brainer for me. After two episodes however, I am hooked. The visuals are captivating, the facts are intriguing and the pace and level of detail is just right for people of all past exposure levels.

What many people don’t realize is that like the United States, Canada has a rich history with many common themes to our southern neighbor. Like the United States, settlement, rebellion, war, prosperity and struggle have all been and will continue to be motifs in the evolution of our country.

ATB‘s new album Distant Earth was released on Friday and I haven’t stopped listening to it since. ATB was the DJ/Producer who first got me into electronic music with his album Seven Years back in high school (still an album I can play front to back). Since Seven Years, ATB has continued to release great music which all hold a permanent place on my iPod.

The first single is a classical sounding trance track with male vocals called “Gold”. Many people are saying they are surprised that this song was chosen to be the first single as it doesn’t have the mainstream appeal some other tracks do. I personally love the track and respect ATB’s choice to stay true to his roots. The video is also amazing as it displays the universal emotion of happiness across cultures from around the world.

After being emailed this trailer for the eight part documentary series from BBC the other week, I instantly knew I had to see it. With school and exams recently coming to a close for the term, I was excited to finally have the time to unwind and spend an evening checking it out.

I watched the the first episode called “Oceans – Into The Blue” and it blew me away. Everything from sperm whale hunting to some incredible surfing sequences in Hawai . The most amazing segment for me however was the final section on “Compressor Diving“. Due to the dwindling fish supply in the ocean, fishermen are being forced to delve deeper into the oceans in order to feed themselves and support their families. Using an old air compressor and tubing that looks like a garden hose, these men freedive down 40 meters to the ocean floor for hours at a time to set up nets. Dozens of compressor divers die each year due to suffocation, compressor failures and complications relating to the extreme pressure at those depths of the sea.

Can’t wait to watch the rest of the series over the next couple weeks. Amazing perspective on how humans live outside of the small confines we are typically exposed to.

I was cleaning my room the other day and was shocked to find a couple tapes of some old badminton matches of mine. I decided to throw a couple of the good ones up on my YouTube channel with the intent of not only backing them up, but also to share with some family and friends.

The match above is probably one of my most memorable. It was my final year of eligibility for junior badminton. I was going into the National Championships unseeded (something I was a bit surprised about to be honest after playing fairly well all year) and had a tough draw. I managed to somehow play my way through 2 seeded players and 2 other strong competitors to make it into the semi finals where I faced the number 1 seed, Avish Makol.

I had beaten Avish once before at Canadian Senior Nationals in Winnipeg but had more recently lost in two straight games at a junior tournament in Alberta earlier in the year. He was playing pretty good and was probably favored to win the tournament. The match ended up being pretty amazing. Lots of yelling, screaming and emotions (almost to the point of humorous) as we both battled for a spot in the National finals. It ended up being pretty much as close as it can get by going to extra points in the third game. Despite battling back from a couple match points and having one of my own, Avish won.

A year or so after this match Avish died in a tragic motorcycle accident in India. While I was never close to him on a personal level, I have a tremendous amount of respect for him as a competitor. RIP

Avish Makol (AB) (1) def Matt Younger (MB): 21-17 18-21 23-21

Tournament Software Link: Click Here

Video Series Is The 2nd & 3rd Game In Best Of 3 Match
Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ca-JnnArfPE
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Y6M7hPSsXg
Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHa-tX7hojM

This is definitely one of the most amazing things I have seen in a long time. A true testament to how advanced technology has become.

Unlike Chess, Tic Tac Toe or Connect Four (all games that have been previously “solved” using computer engineering) Jeopardy! contains slang, word play, and a “confidence aspect” that was previously believed to only be reliably interpreted using human reasoning and logic. Watson’s win on Jeopardy! over the two greatest trivia minds of all time (Jennings & Rutter) proves that computers can be trained to a level of cognition that not only meets, but surpasses the limits of the human mind.

Although on the surface Watson’s appearance on Jeopardy! seems “light hearted” and “entertaining”, it also represents a significant milestone in in the evolution of technology.