Allow me to start off by saying that I am truly sorry for the recent events that have transpired. It should not have ever gone this far. This apology is threefold:
 
1. I spent no more than 5 minutes making a campaign for the Kart contest with no true desire to win, regarding it as nothing more than a popularity contest. Regardless of the very light-hearted approach I took, others did not perceive it this way. Some regarded it as a cheap publicity stunt to sway votes, while others felt I was stomping on a contest that they took more seriously. Either way, my attempt at being creative and having fun may have inadvertently stepped on the toes of others who were putting far more effort into their campaigns. For not considering the full impact of my actions, I am sincerely sorry.
 
2. The "I will do this if I win" approach was the wrong way to go. Worse yet, I stated that I would declassify an old Kart shortcut. I knew this would gather a lot of attention since I knew it was something I could deliver, but did not anticipate the backlash in how this was perceived. While the campaign was perfectly legal according to the rules, it was against the spirit of fair play. For making a campaign in which I had a completely unfair advantage, I apologize.
 
3. I withheld a shortcut from the Kart community since 1997. This shortcut would have literally halved the World Records in its day. It would have had a deep impact on the community and stirred up some unnecessary controversy, so I decided it was best not to unveil it. This was the right decision... for 1997. Now it is 2010. The impact is nowhere near as significant now, and this should have been unveiled in more recent years. My intent was to later unveil it to key people (which I did) and eventually unveil it in a very public way. Unfortunately, I used this Kart Contest as the means to do this, which went against the very nature of the Kart Contest. For derailing the contest and harming others, I am deeply sorry.
 
I was wrong for what I did, and I intend to correct these errors in judgment. For #1 and #2, I initially considered making modifications to take out the more controversial elements. I made a poll to see whether people felt my campaign was unfair. While there wasn't quite a majority indicating so, there were enough votes to tell me something had to be changed. In the end, I decided it was best to withdraw my so called "campaign", as there was never any true desire to participate in the way it was meant to be. I have tainted it and could have skewed votes from far more deserving people. I hope that by withdrawing, I prevent any further damage that could happen. I will let the powers that be decide whether to keep me as a candidate in this contest. If they decide I still have the right to vote, I will vote for someone I think that is far more deserving to win. I would rather lose for the right reasons than win for the wrong reasons.
 
For #3, I intend to unveil the mystery shortcut this year anyway, regardless of how this Kart Contest turns out. Probably the best place to do so will be at the kart meet in Virginia. I had already made some attempts to recreate this shortcut in a previous meet, and some of the closer runs are saved there. This is the right thing to do, and I should have unveiled it as I did with everything else back in the day.
 
For all the transgressions above, I ask the community for forgiveness.

Good heart.  I still wish you would reveal absolutely EVERYTHING, but at least the sc in question will be nice.

Booth actually probably knows ever single shortcut ever fluked or possibly invented...he really should just spill the beans on everything (anyone has ever told him).

Kevin Booth wrote on 05/20/10 at 20:02:11:

I think 1 & 2 are a irrelevant.

I think had you found a short cut out two weeks ago and said i'll reveal it if i win, no one would be getting at you over it. I think you'd also win the contest, i'd certainly vote for you to find it out. It would've been epic.

However.. I think I speak on behalf of a few people when I say..

The real issue here as you make in point 3 is that you kept it from everyone for so long without what other people see as good cause.

You say you play to reveal it sometime this year, potentially at the kart meet. I think personally that you should do it now, i've no idea why you should wait any longer.

I've had you on my AIM for ten years and we've spoken countless times over that. I know you're not a bad guy and I think you're incredibly talented. I think you've just made an error which you can now make right quite easily (and get all the praise for anyhow! woop woop!).

I rate you for being humble about this and apologising. I'm cool with you when you decide to tell everyone what the SC is.

He discovered it anyway, so he can do whatever he wants with his own information. Although I'd prefer that he shared it with us all, because there shouldn't be secrets in a community.

Anyway, talking about a secret incredible fantastic SC and then behaving so elusively is like throwing a bomb in Times Square and then claiming you didn't.

Why dont you just make a video?

Respect for a man who has the guts to acknowledge his mistakes and apologize for them!

Zarkov wrote on 05/21/10 at 05:56:53:

 
I have a pretty antiquated setup, as Kevin can attest from his previous visit. I do not have any modern video-capture tools. At best, I would be hooking up a beat up VCR from the 80s, finding a blank tape, hope the VCR doesn't eat it, and then snail-mail that tape to someone. This would obviously take time for someone to receive and convert to something usable on the web. Just this week as a test, I sent Kevin some shots via camera phone of a recent LR Mylestyle replay racing against one of my old 2001 ghosts doing Mylestyle in a different spot, since I thought it looked neat having two completely different Mylestyle runs happening on the same screen at the same time. Let's just say the quality of the footage was quite sub-par.
 
The alternative is to record this with Andrew's TAS setup when I go there in August. The quality will be much better and far more interactive. I have tested stuff there in previous meets, and believe me, it's a far better setup for this sort of thing.

alaktorn already knows what it is.

TvL wrote on 05/21/10 at 06:38:45:


my very thoughts, too. that is never easy, and too seldom seen.

finn

David Wonn wrote on 05/20/10 at 19:44:03:


If padz is in on this I will shit bricks!

finn wrote on 05/21/10 at 11:14:32:


I've done this multiple times, never ever got your respect for it.

David Wonn wrote on 05/21/10 at 18:42:54:


I'M YOUR BIGGEST FAN, I'LL FOLLOW YOU UNTIL YOU LOVE ME..PAPA..PAPARAZZI!