Climbing Mt. Fuji = 10,000,000 Man Points

Man Points,

The essence of manliness.

Tyler, Gib and Myself (Jake) have acquired an unprecedented 10,000,000 Man Points.

Why? We have conquered Mt. Fuji.

Myself, Tyler, Gib. We're in Tokyo this week on business. We had a free day and decided to climb Mt. Fuji. It was a little colder, windier, and wetter than we anticipated. We took the above photo at the summit. The wind was so strong we could only stay for a few seconds. More than enough time to make history.

We learned the meaning of the word "Ganbare", which means to "hang in there". We shout "Ganbare" to the Japanese and they return the favor.

We see some spectacular views of the clouds.

Capitalism is alive and well on Mt. Fuji. We pay 600 yen (1200% markup) for a Cup of Noodles. In the cold wet wind, it's the best meal we've ever had.

We eventually reach the top. A Tori gate is all the separates us from eternal glory.

We feel camaraderie with the ancient manly Samurai who walked this mountain, cleaning up trash.

We arrive safety back to the base station in good spirits.

3D Printing Awesomeness

Today I attended a conference of Hawaii's technology folks, a group called TechHui. One of the presentations was about 3D printing, and... HOLY COW it's incredibly cool! I had no idea that it's not just a thing of the future, it's a thing of the present. You can actually buy a 3D printer for your computer today. It prints the object you've chosen (including any gears, ball bearings, etc.) in the color you've chosen. The material is apparently a little brittle, but once you coat it with an "infiltrant" to strengthen it, the speaker said the item becomes almost as strong as concrete.

The speaker said these things range from $25,000 to $75,000. For inventors, that's already cheaper than having just 1 or 2 prototypes manufactured. And it has other uses. For instance, the speaker said that surgeons are using these to model where in a person's skull their brain tumor is. When the surgeon sees the skull in 3D, it's much easier to strategize about how to reach the tumor than if the images are just 2D. And they can practice surgery on the 3D model.

Here's a video about a 3D printer you can purchase for your office today. (It's a little long, if you don't feel like watching all 4 minutes just watch 1 minute from 1:40 to 2:40, it's soo cool! )

Maybe someday you'll be able to go to Amazon, click "One-click-printing," and print off those bookends you wanted right in your home. Oh, or if you need a new car? Just print one off.

WeBeBloggers Travel Tip #1: Travel with Good Company

Sam and I have been traveling quite a bit lately. We've picked up some good tricks of the trade. Why not share it with the rest of the world? (And consequently boost our readership by providing actually useful information?)

So! Without much adieu...

TRAVEL TIP #1: Travel with Good Company

Long flights are much more enjoyable if

(1) you can share headphones,

(2) take embarrassing photos together on your mac, and

(3) most importantly, fall asleep on your neighbor's shoulders.

Jake Kills the Monsters

Jake developed an addiction a few hours ago: an iPhone game called Crystal Defenders. As far as I can tell, he's doing an amazing job protecting us all from troops of evil monsters today. Thank you, Jake!!

Pictionary Art

When Tyler and Jean visited us in Hawaii, they brought one of our favorite games with them: Pictionary.

In the new version of Pictionary, they throw in some twists to make the play even trickier -- sometimes you draw with your eyes closed, you draw 2 pictures instead of one, or you draw left-handed.

The games were *not* close. One team totally clobbered the other each time.

Here are the results from one round, where the drawers had to draw left-handed and the word was "Energizer Bunny":



The top one is Tyler's drawing for Jean, and the bottom is my drawing for Jake.

I won't spoil the surprise, I'll just let you readers come to your own conclusion about which team won this round and the game.

Fierce Bocce Ball Competition in Topeka Kansas

The Crows, Quists and Gonzalezes combined forces today to participate in the annual Potwin Place Bocce Ball Tournament. We call ourselves The Killer Crows. Our huddle-chant is a terrifying "Ka! Ka! Ka!"



The competition was fierce. We utilize Tony Gonzalez's superb baseball skills and score many points.



Dan executes a perfect Bocce Ball Toss.

In the end, The Killer Crows secure 2nd place!
Woohoo! Ka Ka Ka!

Tyler and Jean Visit Hawaii!

We had a great time last weekend: our friends Tyler & Jean came out for a short Hawaiian Visit.



Day 0: Tyler and Jean's plane is delayed 4 hours. (Ouch!) We celebrate their arrival with pizza and a midnight stroll to the beach.



Day 1: We take a visit to the north shore. Our fist stop is to Aoki's Shaved Ice Shack.

Our next visit is to Shark's Cove (not pictured), where we enjoy a few hours of world-class snorkeling.



Next, we trek to Waimea Falls



We win the prestigious Cutest Hawaiian Couple Award.



Tyler and Jean win the equally prestigous Cutest Mainlander Couple Award.



Day 2: Sam & I head near Kailua for a Tech Gathering, Tyler and Jean enjoy the Ko Olina lagoons.



Tyler captures a great shot of one of our lizard friends, hanging out on the window. (He's not as vicious as he looks, he's only ~1.5 inches long)

Day 3: Tyler and Jean ignore our suggestions to quit their jobs and join us in Hawaii. They leave for the airport and arrive safely back in Mountain View.