“Too Much Information” is a commonly used acronym now. I’m not sure when I first started hearing it but it has definitely soaked into the culturesphere. “She is getting a brazilian? Um, TMI.” MSNBC today writes about how certain online profiles are chock full of TMI violations. Not necessarily a bad thing but they could be, especially if you are a hot 14 year old girl.
It seems that either Bush hasn’t been honest to the American public again or Scooter Libby, a man whose very career was founded on following orders and listening to his bosses, is now totally lying about those very same people to save his own skin. I somehow feel that is unlikely. While I’m not surprised, I’m certainly disgusted. How can one raise children to tell the truth when most leaders and role models they are told to look up to lie on a constant basis?
It is really hard to keep up with Web 2.0. Amazon for instance has been rolling out tons of web services and lots of smart people are figuring out ways to use them. I would love to think of something super cool that will allow me to create a company that Yahoo!, Google, Microsoft or AOL is forced to buy due to its amazing coolness. I am definitely trying though so far, no eureka moments.
One service that I found especially cool is called Amazon Mechanical Turk. It provides a web services API for computers to integrate “artificial, artificial intelligence” directly into their processing by making requests of humans.” Basically, people complete simple tasks that people do better than computers and get paid for their effort. For instance, to help the rollout of the A9 local search engine, you might identify stores in photos, something humans are great at but computers kind of suck at. The name was taken after Wolfgang von Kempelen’s mechanical chess-playing automaton. Too bad the pay is literally pennies right now. I’ll be keeping tabs on it to see how it evolves…
Here are some great clips that I watched on YouTube this past week:
* A Family Guy clip of when Sauron lost a contact lens
* A trailer of the Simpsons movie that will arrive in 2007.
* Feel great story of the month about an highly functioning autistic kid who is given an inch and takes a yard
While I made this declaration to myself on 4/1, it is anything but a joke. It is a simple pledge to try and “return to 19.” When I was 19, I was 10 pounds lighter, in much better physical shape and definitely more, as the kids put it, ripped. Stephen King wrote a great essay called “On Being 19” that can be found in a number of his books, such as the re-release Dark Tower books. It’s about how we crystalize our view of ourselves at 19 and that we forever view ourselves as being in a sense 19. So, if you played sports then but haven’t since, you always consider yourself an athlete even if you are 100 lbs overweight and a total couch potato. I have been guilty of thinking that I am now what I used to be and am hoping to break this routine. I want to get back to being the person that I think I am.
While I have started and stopped many previous attempts to recapture my former glory, I have decided to use my blog a forum to publically declare my intentions to “Return to 19.” I figure, if I put it out there, I’ll have to be accountable. My goals are pretty simple and attainable:
* I will no longer eat after 10 pm during the week, period.
* I will do at least 50 push-ups a day at first which will eventually get up to 100 a day.
* I will eventually will run both a 5K and 10K race (I have never done the latter) this year.
* I will bike 60 miles (not 30 like I’ve done the past few years because I haven’t been in good enough shape) in October in the MS Bike Tour.
* I will increase my metabolism (I’m buying Ultrametabolism tonight) by modifying my habits. This includes having breakfast (something I never do) each day to kick start my digestive engine.
* I will reduce the amount of coffee I drink and increase in the amount of water.
* I will get a journal so that I can keep track of what I’m supposed to do and will give myself gold stars as rewards. In case you didn’t know it, gold stars rock. If it was good enough to help me learn how to go on a potty like a big boy all those years ago, it’ll work now.
That’s about it. Exercise more. Eat less. Fix my metabolism. Get ripped. Sounds easy enough, right? Wish me luck. Change is hard but simply putting my goals in writing is a huge step for me. Sometimes the first step is the hardest. Good bye perpetual fall – I’m ready for this new leaf to stick…
As MLB games started last night, I decided to once again look up my favorite minor league player and namesake Lipso Nava. It seems that early last week, star infielder Lipso Nava was traded to the Newark Bears. As the press release stated, “last season with the Riversharks, Nava batted .312 with 97 hits in 88 games, establishing a career high with 23 doubles. The veteran of over 1,300 games will be joining his third Atlantic League team after spending parts of five seasons with the Somerset Patriots and the Riversharks.”
This is fantastic news for me as Newark is even closer to NYC than Camden. I am in the midst of contacting da Bears to arrange an interview with Mr. Nava. I hope to attend one if not several games this season. Buena suerte Lipso!