Joulukalenteri & Link of the Day 2014

[cd]

Yeah Kingston! Both look great. The way Dante plays is reminding me of Will Digges.

Oh and I just watched Greenwood's. Triple dexes all over the place.

[Allan]

Hey Nick I hope you're well. Great work with the calendar so far I'm stoked. Thank you so very much to you and all who have contributed videos I've not been playing much and have been finding it very difficult, and these videos are providing me with much inspiration. I'm going out today to play for sure! Thanks!!

Can you please do me a favour though? And this goes for posting in the forums in general and is actually addressed towards pretty much everyone on the board:

The images you're using for each day: you're uploading them as PNG files. If you could instead upload them as JPG files, it would save an enormous amount of bandwidth and speed up page-loads for everyone considerably. I'm ambivalent about your choice to put the entire calendar into one thread, but this is one technical reason that it's not a great idea; between the unoptimized images and the many video embeds, page 5 of this thread alone weighs 5.24MB and takes ages to load (dev tools actually stops reporting the time loaded on my system).

It's possible to kill the server doing things this way, and for anyone viewing on mobile, you're actually costing people potentially significant amounts of money. For me, 5.24MB is ~1% of my total monthly data allotment. For a single page. Using JPG for those images would literally reduce this by a factor of 10 and not take anything away from the page.

And not to hijack this wonderful thread with my technical BS for much longer, but it's related:

I've noticed quite a few people using the image uploader to post photos to their blogs, and they're apparently not using the resize feature, resulting in HD photos that weigh, like, 2MB being shown on screen. Relating to the above issues with PNG images, this causes problems on multiple levels.

If you've got a legit reason for posting an unoptimized picture, it's totally cool; people need to print shit out sometimes. In these cases, instead of embedding the photo on the page using img bbcode, just paste a direct link to the file. If want to actually embed a photo in a post, it would be make me sooooo happy if folks were to re-size their photos to a max of, say, ~1200PX on either side (using a photo editor, you can even reduce file size further by bumping the quality scale down into the 40-60% range without loosing appreciable clarity). Any attempts you can make to optimize and reduce file sizes is greatly appreciated! Destinations like Facebook automagically perform these optimizations for you; comparably, think of modified as being more ... artisanal

Thank you again for the all the dope videos, and thank you for considering the health of our wonderful web server

Shred on.

[F[uns]tylin' Eclectic]

Damn :/ Sorry Allan. I can only imagine that has been pissing you off since Day 1 :/ Computers are not my forte, so I had no idea I was causing the system to slow down. I only used .png because Kevin said Jpg files make the graphic look sort of pixelated. I will do the rest in .jpg from now on... not that it will do much good since there are only a few days left. My deepest apologies for this.

Also, I decided to do the calendar in one thread because I found that in previous years, when the videos were posted in separate threads, it got confusing and hard to search for. I liked when Jay did the calendar in one thread, so I decided to copy that method.

[F[uns]tylin' Eclectic]

Ivan Iakimenko Both of those videos made me extremely happy. Wow. Fantastic edits, sweet tricks... and now I guess I can't use the excuse "it's too cold outside" to not have a session. First person to play in Antarctica? Too cool.
23 hrs · Unlike · 3
Jakub Mościszewski sweet editing and nice links
20 hrs · Like
Ilya Sernov Both videos... just wow
17 hrs · Like
Mathieu Gauthier penguins of madagascar footbag video was my favorite
17 hrs · Like · 1
Cass Taylor Whoa!! Great to see some fresh footage from the Kingston crew! Really nice edit.

I wanna play with the penguins OMG!! So cool!!!!
17 hrs · Like
Ianek Regimbald good shred from Kingston crew, and the Antarctica video is f***ing EPIC !!!
16 hrs · Like
Aaron Price christoph has to be the only human being on the planet that can say he kicked a footbag on fucking antarctica!!!! holy shit that was cool!
12 hrs · Like · 1
Richard Reese Dante is Super Good! Wow! Cool Styles all around. Penguins were great too!
12 hrs · Like · 1
Erik Chan Incredible shred from both. I really want to do gyro instead of spinning now. Looks so good. Smooth style as always, Greg! And Dante is just a machine. I feel his game isn't done justice unless seen in person, and I don't think I've said that about any...See More
9 hrs · Like
Ken Somolinos Maybe my favorite day so far. Great edit on the KFM video, and holy crap Dante is good! The Landorfer video was also amazing. Now we can say that footbag has been played on every continent!
7 hrs · Unlike · 4
Mathieu Gauthier Christoph made me want to go see antarctica one day, it's just incredible
3 hrs · Like

[F[uns]tylin' Eclectic]

(Graphic will be late, Kevin got very busy and I was going to just post a picture of a cat, but I decided not to)

Good evening... Day 20... It's always been "Jupe Day"... you have always been so used to clicking this link and watching an astonishing Juho video... Unfortunately.. this year.. he politely denied doing a video since he hadn't played in a while. However, he is currently shredding in Australia with Dan Boyle and Caroline Birch, so at least we know he's kicking!

However, I sort of dreaded today.. Was wondering what to do. Wanted to make it just as epic somehow and today, I thought of something... In the last week, some amazing players have hooked me up with random backup footage... But it's been too amazing to not use. So today, I'm PACKING your stockings with videos from EPIC players...

1) Evan Gatesman: Just a teaser for what may or may not come in the near future... Thanks to Mikko Lepisto for the footage

2) Matthias Blau: The newly BAPped "Matrix" shreds face in a sweet little Denmark Footbag getaway vacation house. Footage provided by Jan Birkel.

3) Jindra Smola and his crew: You've already seen some of the other 2 players, Vojta and Sidorin... Now here is some incredible footage from Jindra "FootZEPP" Smola from the Czech Republic.

4) Jakob Wagner: Personally, one of my favorite styles. When Aleksi Airinen messaged me and said he had a "Jakob Wagner Special", I realized today would be an EPIC EPIC EPIC day with all 4 of these videos. This video, I cannot actually find the right words to tell you how much I love it. And Aleksi's camera work on it is beautiful. Coming at you from Berlin, this dude will turn your day upside down.

Here you are, I know it's a lot of "AWESOME" all in one day, and if you don't like what I've done... you don't have to watch them Juho is irreplaceable... But I think today will be just as fantastic.

Enjoy!

1) Evan Gatesman:

2) Matthias Blau: 3) Jindra Smola: 4) Jakob Wagner:


Link of the Day

A nice lil Beastly...

[Wiktor]

Oh Jakob! Superb shredding. Music and editing was great as well. Thanks.

[MetZelRio]

If the calendar were to be over today, I would be very satisfied with what we have received. GOOD WORK CONTRIBUTORS AND PROJECT SUPERVISOR!

[boats]

whoa that jakob video was off the chain! I love how those guys are always playin in abandoned factories

[Lycanthrope]

Duuuude! Jakob and aleksis video is pretty much the definition of metal hahaha I can definitely imagine it to diesel power by prodigy

[taishi]

Everything is awesome.

[C-Fan]

Everything is awesome.

[Allan]

Damn :/ Sorry Allan. I can only imagine that has been pissing you off since Day 1 :/

It's OK No need to be sorry. And I've never been pissed off. I just know about these things and want to attempt to educate folks on how to make things better.

I only used .png because Kevin said Jpg files make the graphic look sort of pixelated.

PNG is generally for "line art" or vector images; solid colors and lines; logos and charts etc. The format is optimized for that sort of graphic. JPG is for photographs (or other bitmap images that change colors from pixel-to-pixel). Even when you have, such as in this case, images that are mostly photographic, but still have line art (like text overlays) in them, you should generally use JPG and not PNG. To avoid pixelation of the line art parts in JPG, you have save things at a higher quality setting. You end up with a slightly larger file than if it was a photo alone, but the file size will still almost invariably be ~10x smaller than a PNG.

If you're using photoshop, the "Save For Web" option gives you a window that lets you experiment with file types and compression rates. You can use that to experiment and see which format gives you the best file size results and go with the lowest size and best quality. It creates extra work/time, but the results can be pretty dramatic and overall quite worth it.

Regarding the single thread thing: yeah, it works well I'd maybe go with a single-thread-per-day, but then have a separate "Joulukalenteri 2014 Index" thread that was locked... I dunno. There's no wrong way to do. The fact that it's happening at all is beyond awesome.

[Allan]

I wish I had the time to do something like this again: http://modified.in/joulukalenteri/2012/

[F[uns]tylin' Eclectic]

Nick Polini Not sure why I can't get Gateman's video to embed. Allan Haggett?
23 hrs · Like
Steven Lanza Just got done with the Gatesman's vid. Wtf did I just watch? Is that what waking up in Heaven is? Cause thats what the flow of that video was...heavenly. Evan, I really hope you do more of this wandering freestyle type stuff. In skateboarding its known as filming a line. And this is something Nick Polini and I were discussing earlier this year. I told him I hoped some players would take ideas from that sport in terms of really interacting with the environment as well as the bag.
21 hrs · Unlike · 1
Allan Haggett Nick Vimeo links should be httpS ... I'll fix this embed code to be more resilient too (soon).
21 hrs · Unlike · 1
Ethan Red Husted Nice. Love Evan's vid. Matthias is really mixing it up from just doing hard technical. Great stuff from the Czechs, Jindra is as usual fast as lightning. Awesome how Wagner's vid was filmed. Thanks Nick and nice 6's!
20 hrs · Edited · Unlike · 1
Mike Wilson What a great way to start the day.
19 hrs · Like
Sergio Garcia I have loved every bit of every vid. Thank yall!
18 hrs · Like
Ilya Sernov What a sick day! Every video is awesome, btw Jakob's special is the most underground vid I've ever seen.
18 hrs · Like · 1
Brian Sherrill dave and i have to follow this up?! easy,
18 hrs · Like
Paul Gressett Heaven Gatesman
14 hrs · Like · 1
Ianek Regimbald well, i can,t wait to see more from Evan. Mathias have a very good variety and he his so consistent. Jindra can definitely bust hard tricks. and the Jakob/Aleksi video is a Masterpiece, damn i like Jakob's shred and Aleksi did an amazing job, the video is so cool.
12 hrs · Like · 1
Ken Somolinos https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhA0TqvPlqg
LOTD 18 19
Got furious when I missed the double spin on 19
youtube.com
5 hrs · Like · 2
Erik Chan Everything Ianek said. Love that Jakob video. The music is perfect. Incredible shred as always. From the others as well. Great stuff. And sick link of the day, Nick!
3 hrs · Like

[F[uns]tylin' Eclectic]

So, no more graphics this year. I really appreciate every graphic that Hogan made for us, though. I really hope people give him a nice thank you for doing those. It did take a chunk of time out of his day and I asked him if he would do those graphics really last minute, so the fact that he did that many for us makes him a freaking champion. Thanks man, the graphix added a nice feel to the calendar. You're the bomb.

Speaking of bombs, Santa's about to drop some bombs down your internet-chimneys with Day 21. Massive shreds from Brian Bear and David Clavens. I haven't watched them yet, since Brian just sent them, but I am anxious to watch ASAP. I have to post this early because I have important Santa matters to attend to in the North Pole, which is located conveniently near/in my girlfriend's house. Anyway, I hope Brian didn't like send me offensive material as a joke because I'm posting what he sent me without reviewing! #InsaneInTheCandyCane

Enjoy!

Brian Bear Special: David Clavens: Why do I feel like these videos are going to break the internet with their awesome forces?



Link of the Day

No time to check what it is.. Girlfriend is waiting in the car. Hope this doesn't suck!

[Ohios1]

Those vids are sweet. Always big fans of both. That link was unique and crazy. You don't need it but good job on that. I'm going to be pissed if you get bap and they give you a shit name. I'm going to loose it. You deserve something unique at minimum.

[AlekseyV]

my god
thanks Brian for making this, all of this 20 days i was in expectation of David's video, and fuck yeah, it happens, but i wanna say too, that your profile surprised me a lot, some of drills was super huge, thanks again, love you guys, and ofc thx Nick :p

[C-Fan]

Holy shit Brian.

[mahhkohh]

very nice videos from brian and david. insane links all around!

[F[uns]tylin' Eclectic]

Paul Gressett I cannot believe you haven't seen what Brian did, Nick. You will poopoo your panties.
23 hrs · Like · 1
Paul Gressett No comprende.
23 hrs · Like
Dante Diotallevi yeah Brian's vid is amazing, his game has really accelerated. it's great to watch his relaxed style with hard difficulty and just the right amount of variety to keep it interesting. i look forward to our next shred-off Brian!
23 hrs · Like
Richard Reese Great Vids! Clavens is such a beast! 12 mobi by Sherrill plus Marius to GP! Plus, plus, plus!
21 hrs · Like
Jakub Mościszewski sick day
20 hrs · Like
Justin Dale Just finished Brian's vid. Lots of impressive stuff. Could watch those gyro dynos all day. That shred body's filling out. Looking good man!
20 hrs · Like
Alexander Trenner holy crap, a clavens video. sweet. and brian is killing it. I'm impressed. very smooth runs and sick combos.
19 hrs · Like · 1
Kyle Shane Cook Everyday has had great videos. Thanks so much to everyone that's worked hard on these.
15 hrs · Like
David Owen Beyers some people are too good at footbag. Dave and brian are two of those people. Holy ish! Dave is so fast.
12 hrs · Like
Erik Chan Omg
I swore more at my phone during brian's video than's dave's. And thats saying something. Marius > void repeat?... All those drills. Ridiculous shred from both. I'll be watching both again multiple times. The spinning gyro dyno drill was super unique. Have you done blenders?
12 hrs · Like · 1
Ianek Regimbald very impressed by Brian, i've always felt he had more talent then what you could see from him, i was right! and David is mind blowing as always, i liked the far symp blink a lot!
12 hrs · Unlike · 2
Nick Polini Lol! I can't believe I'm the 12th person to comment on this... The videos were incredible, guys! So many disgusting links! Brian Sherrill, your game is going off like a rocket. That Marius> Void drill in the beginning, I was like "Damn, nice link... oh...See More
12 hrs · Like · 2
Skyler Lon Smith It might take me a while to leave worthy comment about these two masters.
11 hrs · Edited · Like · 1
Marco Hartig both of the videos are not available for me/most likely the rest of germany. any chance of getting them to vimeo?
11 hrs · Like
Jakub Mościszewski Marco, try changing country to worldwide on the bottom of youtube page
11 hrs · Like · 1
Marco Hartig allready done that, youtube is very strict in germany, i´d also load it from someones dropbox or something...
11 hrs · Like
Marco Hartig i got it now, thanks!
10 hrs · Like
Tuukka Antikainen Clavens still owns the circle shred. Number 1 in the world. Brian, it is great to see how your style has improved. It looks all mature. Links were ridiculous. Marius>void rpt is a insane repeat combo. I cannot even imagine myself hitting that
10 hrs · Like · 4
Richard Reese It was Jani Walker, Fury, Fusion Repeat that messed up my brain!
9 hrs · Like · 1
Ethan Red Husted Great stuff from both shredders
7 hrs · Like
Cass Taylor Dope as fuck
5 hrs · Like
Nick Polini After watching Brian's again, I found my favorite string... It's the one with toe bails halfway through.. it really stands out as saying, "f*** it, I'm a good player and I can still rock tiny tricks and it's not lame." I think this string can serve as a great lesson to a lot of players. Thanks for this string, specifically, Brian Sherrill
2 hrs · Like · 1
Brian Sherrill thanks all my homies! i worked hard to hit all the combos for you to enjoy so i am glad you did Dante, your game is gettin scary and i can't wait to shred off with you! Justin, yeah i have been doing pull ups and push ups inspired a bit by you you....See More
2 hrs · Like · 1
Derek Littlefield Look at that form! Jealous of them arms, Señor Bear. Dave is just so damn amazing.
1 hr · Like