The World Is Flat: Berlin, Germany

In this episode of 'The World Is Flat' we take you to Berlin Germany. While I prefer to highlight  and showcase amateur riders representing flatland from around the world, we here at Mass-IMO don't discriminate against the pro's who represent, or their sponsors. So a big shout out to Camilo Gutierrez for shredding up Berlin, and his sponsor G-Shock for making it happen.

ROM: R-BOX Pro (Update)

This is a small update to the previous R-Box Pro post detailing how to upgrade the stock firmware to a newer version. I managed to stumble upon a forum discussion on freaktab.com that detailed how someone (alienpearl) managed to manipulate (hack/mod) the firmware for the R-Box Pro to run Android TV.  The post is here.

(this is not an image of the R-Box Pro's Android TV, just a version of Android TV)

Having successfully flashed this rom to my R-Box pro, I can honestly say that it works, and works quite well. It was a rather different experience than the normal android tablet/phone environment, and it accepted my webcam without any problems. While it was a new refreshing look, at what could be an alternative for android boxes, it was a bit primitive for my mainstream use. I could however see how this O/S implementation could convert the more non tech savvy, as it was quite simple.  

If you want to give this a try, follow my previous post on flashing the R-Box Pro, and substitute the new android tv rom image file instead of the firmware update image file. You can get the android tv rom from the forum mentioned above or directly from here.

2005 Yamaha BWS: Front Fairing

It's been over a year since I've posted an update about my 2005 Yamaha BWS rebuild. 

(image stolen from www, might have been my scooter)

My build is nothing like reality TV, where customized rebuilds are completed in weeks. There are many factors that have resulted in my build posts to taking so long, the most serious issue has been my inability to post to BLOGGER (which has been documented before). Other factors, like the cold weather, a cold workshop, postal shipping delays, and the whole trial and error process have added to this lengthy build. Finally there are all the problems I've been plagued with during this build. It's also a bit surprising that, parts for this model of scooter are harder to find, considering that it's a newer model.

Now on to the actual build...

Supermarket Life: Preferential Treatment?

Why is it people are always in a rush at the checkout tills? People can spend hours shopping, yet when they get to the checkout tills, they can't wait for more than a few minutes.

Hey everyone, I have to say I'm almost embarrassed in writing this post, as it's the most unusual chain of events in my 26 years of working in a retail supermarket.

The World Is Flat: Toronto, Canada

I want to give a big shout out to the Canadian Freestyle Organization, and the city of Toronto for putting on this event.

Full Disclosure #1: It seems flatland, and maybe the BMX scene itself, is moving away from the 90's grunge look, and back to what seems like a more retro 80's look. This is definitely something I'm looking forward to. I'm tired of seeing pro-riders with mismatched bike parts and sloppy mismatched paint schemes. If you're a pro rider, you're bike should look the part, like the black and yellow or the red and white bikes featured in the above video. Now before I start upsetting people, I get it if your a struggling rider with no money and have to make do with whats available. In the end its all about the riding, but if you're a pro rider and are doing competitions, or your making promo video's then put some effort into the BMX scene and have a bike that looks the part, please!

Full Disclosure #2: I love seeing full brake setups on BMX bikes. Maybe it's something nostalgic, maybe it's out of some primal safety concerns, but I honestly think BMX bikes look better with full brakes. Now I totally understand the skill level needed to do tricks without brakes, and I get that, but couldn't you still ride with brakes, just not use them for tricks. On the flip side, to riding with no brakes, what happened to the skill set of knowing how to feather brakes, it, in itself, was a challenging skill set to learn, which seems lost in today's BMX scene.

Awesome work, Steven Lapsley, on capturing this video, keep up the good work.