You Must Play Geoguessr (and Challenge My High Score)

Geoguessr, if you haven't heard of it, is a brand new Google Maps game where you're given a random location in the world and you have to use the clues in the Google Street View photography to figure it out and take a guess. Each game gives you five locations, and you only have one guess for each location. However, you can take as much time as you need and can click around as long as you need to take your guess. It sounds simple, but it's not easy. Even if you know what to look for, it can still be difficult if you get thrown into a rural location where there aren't any roadsides.

I Started Off Well...

The first time I played, I got 11000 and some points. That's about 2100 points per rounds, which is guessing within 1500 kilometers of the actual location each time. That's a really good score. It also helped that three of them were in North America, so it was pretty easy to guess. However, I've played it a few more times and haven't been able to come close since. I suppose I used up all my deduction and geography skills the first time around. I also received harder locations after the first time around. I actually gone one that was just ocean! My clues were the coral, the fish, the three swimmers/tourists/scuba divers looking at the fish, and the bright blue water. How am I supposed to guess my location with clues like that? It didn't help that I started to stress out because I felt like I was underwater and that a shark could get me at any minute.

Hint: Google Street View has only been around the Cape of Good Hope, and that's about it. So, if you get one that looks like Africa, or has something that says, "Africa" you're best bet is to guess somewhere in South Africa or western Botswana.

This through me off the first couple of times, because rural Africa doesn't have any road signs, you all you have to guess your location with the shrubbery and the vehicles (which may, or may not help, depending on where you are. License plates are blurred so you can't look at numbers, or colors, or anything). It also throws you off because the signs are in English, so your instinct is to go to Western Australia, but that is not correct.

I Want to Challenge People!

I know I can do better (I can do better tomorrow. I will start again tomorrow. I am in pain with all the clicking and guessing and all the wrong guessing)! Therefore, I will issue a challenge! I'm going to say that my highest score was 11,000 so far, since I know it wasn't bigger than 12,000 but I don't remember the rest. If you can beat that, then let me know! It's harder than you think, even if you've been around the world. It's only after you've played a few times that you learn what to look for, and what indicates what about your location.

Hint 2: When you guess, guess near a road. Obviously, this is Google Street View, so your starting point is always on a road. Whether it's a country road or a city road is a completely different story. Although, my first location for this last round wasn't exactly a road. Fortunately, I followed the stone steps to receive a big clue about my location.

Hint 3: Obviously, if you are in a city, then you want to guess in a city. It's one thing if you know you're in France (of which you might not be, because French Canada is always a possibility). But, if you know you are in a big city in France, then you want to make sure that you don't guess in the middle of nowhere.

I should stop giving away hints! This is supposed to be a challenge where I beat you! From here on out, you'll have to learn the rest on your own!

But, give Geoguessr a whirl. As hard as it can be, it's surprisingly addictive.

Two Hours Left in the Day

Arrgh! I have two hours left in the day and I have no idea what to write about! I only planned up until yesterday in my editorial calendar, as I blanked on ideas. I've also be blank for the past 30 minutes or so as I tried to come up with something to write about. I've scanned Pinterest and come up with nothing. Came up with an idea earlier today but I'm no longer interested in that idea. Kind of scanned Twitter, but only managed finally to disable to mobile connection between Twitter and my phone. I've gotten tired of it making noise every 10 minutes because someone tweeted or because some people I follow have an automatic response when you follow them.

Finishing this Before Poker

I need to get something done within the next 48 minutes, as I have a poker tournament starting in 48 minutes. Friday is my poker night, as I am working on improving my multi-table tournament abilities in preparation for a big live tournament in mid-April. I want to do well, and my MTT success is nowhere near what I do in sit-n-gos. It's tougher to manage a full ring for a longer period of time, with blinds still rising. It would seem like you are supposed to play tighter for a lot longer, but all of sudden you can't do that when you only have 10 blinds left. But, running hot early can't be the only viable strategy out there. I am studying and practicing to find another way to win (or at least make the money so I have some success rate).

Running with Each Thought

In the sixth grade, it was our homework to write for 10 minutes every day. Sometimes, we got a chance to write in class, and when we couldn't think of anything to write about, our teacher suggested to write about whatever came to mind and to go with that. No filtering, no questions asked, as it was writing time and you were supposed to be writing. I hated it, and would sometimes cheat by writing a short poem because there wasn't a length requirement. But, we did have to show something each day because people were assigned to be homework monitors each week and would check to see if we did our homework. It's funny that I hated the writing then, because I write for a living now. But, at least I get write by choice in that I chose do it for a living, and for the most part I do get to choose what I write about.

Almost Done!

I have 36 minutes left, and I so close to complying with all the rules of this study. This whole thing won't be about doing enough to get by. I'm just doing that for today since it's Friday and I went blank and I don't want to waste my blog post going over what I did today. That's boring. No one cares what I did today, except perhaps the coffee shop/general story I went to this evening. I went there for a cup of coffee, and left with about $25 of snacks. I couldn't help myself, as they had a whole bunch of vegan snacks that looked delicious. So, they would care that I showed up, because I gave them more business than I intended.

Well, that wasn't so bad. Although, I didn't say anything cohesive or groundbreaking. However, not one of the blogging case study rules (I do need to add a few more, which I intend to do this weekend, perhaps tomorrow). Is this post of value? That's debatable. At the very least I would say that it's not boring.

What is Hawaiian? That is the Question

It's Aloha Friday! That means that in preparation for the weekend, I have prepared something a little more historical and intellectual for the blog. Fridays from here on out are reserved for answering questions about Hawaiian history and culture. Today's question asks, What is Hawaiian?. The answers to this question will illustrate what is meant when the word "Hawaiian" is used and delve into some detail of what this word connotates both in the islands and on the mainland. In a future post, I will talk about the history and origin of common Hawaiian icons. But for now, let's talk about the concept of 'Hawaiian'.

So, what is Hawaiian?

The Associated Press Stylebook defines Hawaiians as "members of an ethnic group indigenous to the Hawaiian Islands and are also called Native Hawaiians. Use Hawaii resident or islander for anyone living in the state." This definition is important because AP Style is used by almost every news organization in America. This also means that "Hawai'i" would never appear in the newspaper, except maybe in Hawai'i. I understand that this might mean that the title of the blog is misspelled, but "kawaii" doesn't have an 'okina (the glottal stop symbol that looks like the apostrophe) and I am anal about consistency. I would have to misspell one or the other or else change the name of the blog entirely.

What is a Native Hawaiian? According Section 3, Definitions, of Senate Bill No. 147, March 2005, sponsored by Senator Daniel Akaka (D-HI),

(1) ABORIGINAL, INDIGENOUS, NATIVE PEOPLE. - The term "aboriginal, indigenous, native people" means people whom Congress has recognized as the original inhabitants of the lands that later became part of the United States and who exercised sovereignty in the areas that later became part of the United States.

According to the U.S Census Bureau Demographic Profile, there are over 400,000 Native Hawaiians currently living in the United States. About half of these people live in the state of Hawai'i.

Hawaiian could also refer to the Hawaiian language, one of the two official languages of the state. It was originally an oral language until missionaries in the 19th century created a written form in order to teach Hawaiians the word of the Bible. It's very similar to the Samoan, Tahitian and Marquesian languages. In 2002, the University of Hawaii at Hilo established a masters program in the Hawaiian Language. In fall 2006, they established a doctoral program in the Hawaiian Language. In addition to being the first doctoral program for the study of Hawaiian, it is the first doctoral program established for the study of any native language in the United States of America.

With all this in mind, what does 'Hawaiian' mean to you?