Author Archives: admin

New personal goal met

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So yesterday was leg day for my new lifting schedule. The set of lifts I put together for this leg session is a lot, but should give me great progress.

It started off with squats. This is an exercise I had not enjoyed when I first started doing them.  Not sure if that was because of the difficulty, the fact that my first gym only had a Smith machine to use when doing them, or what… I had steadily gone up over time, and yesterday I felt mentally and physically prepared to go after my goal. Now, mind you this is lighter than many people, but I am quite satisfied – only lifting for a little over a year, mostly self taught with some pointers from friends, I’m happy with my progress.

I was able to squat 315 lbs. Happy. Now I need to get that for 5-8 reps and truly own that weight.

Muscle and Fitness – Poll

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Glad to see I’m about average on this one. It’s admittedly one of the areas I continue to feel I need major improvement. Here are the results from muscleandfitness.com. I’d love to be at least within that 18.8%, but all in due time…

What is the most you have ever bench pressed without a vest?

  • 201-250     514     27.2%
  • 251-300     427     22.6%
  • 150-200     367     19.4%
  • 301-350     356     18.8%
  • 400+           139     7.4%
  • 351-400       87     4.6%

Study Promises Benefits of Exercise in a Pill

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Wired has an article that it an interesting read.

People are always looking for the ‘quick fix’ magic pill. And, as we continue our way into the future it continues to present itself in different ways.  This is a very conflicting subject though. The part of me excited about the future (and also the part of me that knows we’re already there) is quite interested to see this type of study. Healthy or not, this is fascinating. The part of me that enjoys bodybuilding is interested to know what this type of treatment would do to enhance progress in weightlifting. But, the ethical part of me is worried about this. Not only for the animal testing I imagine that went into this research, but the long-term benefits/risks associated with quick fix pills, and the unhealthy expectations this could have for people.

Bottom line is – if it’s worth doing, the hard work is typically the more rewarding path to go.

Cuil

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Yep, another “I’m going to be better than Google” site has popped up. According to a Wired.com article ‘Cuil’ “Anna Patterson’s last Internet search engine was so impressive that industry leader Google Inc. bought the technology in 2004 to upgrade its own system.

She believes her latest invention is even more valuable – only this time it’s not for sale.

Patterson instead intends to upstage Google, which she quit in 2006 to develop a more comprehensive and efficient way to scour the Internet.

The end result is Cuil, pronounced “cool.” Backed by $33 million in venture capital, the search engine plans to begin processing requests for the first time Monday.

Cuil had kept a low profile while Patterson, her husband, Tom Costello, and two other former Google engineers – Russell Power and Louis Monier – searched for better ways to search.

Now, it’s boasting time.

For starters, Cuil’s search index spans 120 billion Web pages.”

 

… well then.  Now, according to the article, today is the first day of availability, but, let’s give it a test. I put my last name in, and I even have a domain registered for it. That didn’t even come up.  My twitter account shows, followed by an obituary for a couple dead relatives, and a few other things. Then there are two sites that come up that appear to be completely unrelated. (the reason I know they’re unrelated is this – per all my research, and knowing my family history, we are the only family to have this last name – anywhere.)

The site is nifty looking, polished, but, also slow and appears to be inaccurate. Granted, this is a new engine, and those do take time to ‘learn’, but I have to agree with a quote in the article for now: “I doubt (Cuil) will be keeping anyone at Google awake at night.”

Comic Con

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Dawn’s been at Comic Con for today and yesterday. Thursday she had one of the worst experiences at Con she’s ever had. First, took her 3+ hours to get there due to an accident on the 5. Then, once she got there, she was barely able to see anything she wanted due to the hellish crowds. (yes, we’ve been there before – for years actually – this year just sounds worse than ever).

Then, she called me and said she lost the camera. Needless to say she was distraught.  She checked lost and found, but no one had turned it in.  I was more concerned about her being upset than a missing camera. Sure, it wan’t good that the camera was gone, but things could be worse right? Luckily I was already at Best Buy when she called, so I just bought her a new one. We got a very similar model for a good price – it was on sale so we’ll just say the timing wasn’t terrible.

Later, she called and just said the day sucked, she didn’t feel well, and she was just coming home. Poor thing. She was so looking forward to it, and Thursday just crapped out.

Today was much better. She got to meet Simon Pegg. Also got him to autograph a few things (including his own head on a stick – we’ll have to post pictures later). She also called me and said some guy asked her if she was with anyone, to which she replied she was married and showed the ring.  –my wife is getting hit on at Comic Con, not sure if she’s allowed to go on her own next year!  ;)

Me and the little man are meeting her down there tomorrow.  I’ve been watching all the twitters come through about the con for 2 days <check here> and I’m getting excited. Hopefully our day turns out good.  (watching the twit updates come through also has me wishing I already had my iPhone too, oh well, soon right?)

Wish me luck tomorrow.