Utterly Nonsensical

image credit

I'm doing this exercise since I've seen it recommended so many places. This is what it looks like this year, I wonder what it'll look like NEXT year.

7:00AM

Wake up and drink 16oz of water.

7:15AM

Grab Sansa Clip and go for 20 minute morning walk around the neighborhood.

7:45AM

More water while bumming around the net with Email, RSS feeds, Reddit, Twitter, etc.

8:45AM

Down some BCAAs and head to the gym if it’s a training day. If not I train and do GPP and mobility work at home with EXF Freestyle and Kettlebell.

9:00AM - 11:00AM

Weight Training + Driving Time. I usually take a shake with me and down it on my way back home. At home I eat again.

12:00PM

I usually wash my face and floss/brush my teeth around this time. Can’t let my teeth fall out. I also have a very mild case of Seborrhoeic Dermatitis so I do all I can to minimize it.

12:30PM - 3:30PM

Throw on some fresh clothes, grab my laptop and bag and head to the local library or coffee shop to do school work or work on my small business.

If I'm not going to the library here I'll be packing up orders that are due for shipping.

3:45PM

Back home again, eat something.

5:00PM - 9:00PM

Here I drive 45 to 60 minutes (one way) to my classes. I am estimating here since I am unsure of my final schedule.

9:00PM

Might watch some Netflix if I have a bluray disc and the time. I’m on the one DVD plan and it’s good enough for me.

10:30PM

Computer automatically logs me off.

10:45PM

Take shower and get ready for bed.

11:00PM

Might read a little bit more. I strive for at least 30 minutes a day.

11:30PM

Lights out.

It seems that standing desks are getting a lot more attention nowadays, and no one can argue that it’s better to sitting more than you stand. A lot of people in America sit on their way to work in their car, sit at their desk for hours, sit on the ride home, and then sit on the couch at home. Even if you exercise it’s pretty easy to undue any postural benefits by sitting so much.

I have an IKEA Jerker and the simplest (and cheapest) solution I could think was to just buy some 8×8×8 concrete blocks from Lowe’s. Since I am over 6’3” tall I decided to get 8 of them, and put 2 at each corner of the desk. The eight blocks cost me a total of $13.31 with tax.

(download)

Click here to download:

thoughts-on-my-cheap-standing-desk-CsBHlflEBlawEvkjnbcC.zip (475 KB)

Google has recently released their latest beta, Google Music. Everyone is getting into the cloud music game, first with Amazon, now Google, and soon Apple with iCloud.

Starting it Up 

1. You sign up.
2. Pick genres you like.
3. Get some free music (that most will not care about).
4. Upload your music.

Here you need google music manager, and you can upload 20,000 songs maximum. The program will scan your folders for music (or iTunes which I refuse to use). Currently I have over 18,000 songs, so I am already quite close to their limit. It would take quite a long time to upload all of my music if I wanted to. On the other hand Amazon only gives you 5GB of free space which is good enough for a couple thousand songs at best.The UI is basic and clean and Google has a feature called Instant Mixes which is similar to iTunes Genius.

While Google Music is decent, I see no reason why would you want to use this over a superior service such as Grooveshark or Spotify which is coming to the United States very shortly. While everyone is currently focused on "cloud storage," current streaming music services are already doing a better job. I will never upload all of my music to the cloud, my library is just way too large for that. I have my music organized, backed up in a RAID, and running through Foobar2000 just fine. I only use my Droid X to listen to, and organize my podcasts, not my music. The only plus to Google Music is the streaming service it has to your Android phone. If you already use your phone to carry your music, then Google Music may be a good streaming solution. I use my Sansa Clip+ with whatever music I am CURRENTLY listening to without having to upload all my music to the cloud.

Google Music is a good service, don’t get me wrong, but it is not for everyone. If you rely on iTunes and/or have an iPhone, I would skip Google's offering and wait for iCloud and with their matching service you won't need to upload all of your music, they will gather it for you! Grooveshark right now is excellent for any music I don’t currently own (no need for piracy *wink wink*) and if you look around on the net you will find their Android app to stream music to your phone. It is currently what I would recommend over Google Music.

One of my goals for 2011 is to read 25 books; at least 30 minutes a day. The books themselves don’t matter as much as getting to the mythical 25 number. The latest book I have read is Predictable Irrational by Dan Ariely which takes a look at human behavior, economics, and psychology.

There was a massive thunderstorm in Georgia and the power has been out for over two hours now (I am currently writing this by flashlight). An amazing thing has happened though, I finished Predictably Irrational is just under two hours and now have started to write this post, so why couldn’t I do this before? What keeps me procrastinating and distracted? Distractions is what. I had no choice but to finish reading my book, and I felt no pressure to do so!

I believe and effective strategy to help you get things done is to voluntarily or forcefully remove distractions. It could be:

1. Your Browser
2. Games
3. Twitter
4. Facebook
5. Your smartphone
6. Text messages
7. Porn The TV

In my own case I want to test this out by going to the library to boost my focus and productivity to max with no laptop and minimal phone use. This is the same reason why college students cram at the library rather than on their couch next to their roommate. My mom is a nurse, and even at her hospital the receptionist spend most of their time playing Farmville. People say that no one gets eight hours of real work in nowadays (if ever), and distractions are a big part of the reason.

If you can't focus, maybe it isn't all your fault. We are all effected by outside distractions, and "will power" is not the only method available to combat this. In Predictably Irrational I learned that there are many forces that influence us from the environment called "context effects" along with emotions and other things. There are plenty of tricks you can learn to make better decisions in this increasingly distruptive age. In Chrome, for example, I use the StayFocusd extension that will block my list of distruptive websites after I have been browsing them for a total of 45 minutes per day.

My father recently stopped going to a local Caribbean bakery that he has loyally visited for 15+ years. Why? They changed the recipe on their Beef Patty, arguably their #1 seller. An instant and unforeseen cut in his CLV. I see a lot of businesses go through changes all the time, and not always for the better, especially when the change is sudden and drastic.

Earlier this year, Gawker media rolled out their new layout for all of their media websites like Lifehacker and Gizmodo. The internet was ballistic and the changes. Another website that also decided to change their recipe was Digg. Version 4 of the popular website got released last year to much anguish amongst their community, and Digg hasn’t been the same since.

There is an easy way to solve the sudden recipe change problem, and that is by testing your assumptions first. Everyone may believe they have the next greatest idea for their business, but you and your team only represent a tiny minority, especially versus a very large community that you serve, and what you may feel is great, actually may not be when unleashed on the public. Twitter’s new layout has been rolling out since late 2010, and all of Facebook’s tweaks and changes have been rolled out very very slowly. Although late to the party all Gawker websites have the ability to be reverted to their previous layout if you wish, an option that should have been there to begin with. Take a page from Netflix’s playbook and test everything you can. The bakery earlier could’ve compared their new recipe with their old in customer tests and gotten easy feedback, but instead they changed over with no concrete results.

It’s my opinion that everyone’s attention span and options today are almost limitless (especially on the internet). Even in regular business like the bakery above, there are at least four other Caribbean bakeries within a 3 mile radius that serve up the same fare. They now have all been tested by my father to find the suitable substitute. Please don’t screw the pooch and be sure to test your changes to avoid disaster. There are plenty of options for testing.

nprfreshair:

“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.”

—

Ira Glass (via nefffy)

Now that smartphones are everywhere, you see a lot of “Web 2.0” companies making apps for their services. One trend though is the introduction of an iPhone app first, while an android app comes months/years later, if at all. Now while I understand the development costs to producing apps on both iOS and Android is obviously twice as large, there is a genuine disservice here to your customers that do not own an iPhone.

TechCrunch even reported just a week ago that the Android App Store may surpass the Apple App store by August 2011. Yes that’s this year. While you, as the owner of the company, may have an iPhone, you must realize that now a larger (and growing) percentage of your customers may not. For example, I have a Droid X on Verizon, bought before the iPhone launch was even announced.

Having an iPhone app and then putting up a sign that says Android app coming soon is a real hear-breaker and a slap in the face maybe, especially when there is no timeline or any timely updates on the Android App’s development status. I just quit TeuxDeux yesterday for this reason. While I love the service, I can only wait so long to be caught up with the iPhone users who get to enjoy a great app. I also quit Toodledo for a similar reason, they have an iPhone app, and nothing for Android users. In the world of “to do” services, I have 50 other options. Another good example is the Netflix app. While it has been on iPhone for a while now, it is JUST NOW reaching Android, and only on a handful devices at that. I myself won’t quit Netflix over an app (since I love it too much), but for smaller companies, it could be a much more important factor.

A smartphone app in itself is an extension of your product/service, and therefore a much larger and more valuable package to the users that have it. Deciding to develop iPhone app first, and leaving the Android one in the wind, leads to market alienation, and as time goes on, perhaps even resentment from people who were once big fans.

P.S. On another note for another day, check out this post called “why do apps from the same company look worse on Android?” on Android Gripes.

I smell a growing trend in the internet air, and while I haven’t found an official “name” for it yet I’ll just call it self-produced amateur online “micro documentaries,” I guess. Basically, with the ever moving technology landscape (fancy), the emergence of higher quality digital cameras have now narrowed the gap between professional and amateur recording quality.

We now see a rise in much smaller funded, but very high quality shows, documentaries, and behind-the-scenes-type series. Even with very low budgets, people are starting to produce very nice work and with loyal following who needs a network channel? All you need is a website or video hosting website (like youtube or vimeo). Even a beginner DSLR such as the Canon T1i can be powerful enough to produce a great show. And if you didn’t know already, the last season finale of House MD was filmed entirely with a Canon 5D Mark II.
 
I believe this rise folows similarly to the rise of podcasts, and it’s only natural that video would be the next medium to follow. It’s only a matter of time before a smash hit arises from the bowels of the intertubes.

Below I have listed a few series and videos that I have found and watch regularly.
 
 

Penny Arcade TV

Episodes here chronicle the inner working of the Penny Arcade company and crew. They are now into season 2 and are looking to expand even more.

Put This On

This is a web series about “Dressing like a grownup.” If you are a follower of men’s fashion, it’s a great series to watch.
 

Miami Hustle & GenghisConFilms

This small documentary series will be following 4 professional MMA fighters that live and train in Miami, FL. Shot with the same camera the House finale was filmed with.

The Reem - Online Documentary

This is one of my personal favorites. This is an online documentary chronicling the life and times of MMA and Kickboxing star Alistair Overeem. You learn about his training, PR, family life, everything! Part 2 of this awesome series has already begun, so hurry up and catch up!
 

CurrentTV VC2 - Viewer-Created Content

Probably the biggest pusher of user-created content of this type is Current TV. The users who submit videos are called VC2 Producers and contribute 3 to 7 minute videos on a wide range of subjects. Below is two videos by Zia Mohajerjasbi showing off the music scene in Seattle. His brother Sabzi is part of both groups. He actually produces mostly music videos.

Culture Japan/Dannychoo

I was on the fence as to whether to include this series. Dannychoo is originally from London and moved to Japan 12 years ago, and grew a huge following and now is directing his own show about Japanese culture. While it actually has some pretty big sponsors and is shown in Animax TV, it is still pretty small considering Danny is directing.
 
If you are interested in this show or Japanese culture you can now watch it on Cruchyroll for free.

Domino’s Pizza has been undergoing a lot of changes in the past year. If you have been anywhere near a TV, you know that Domino’s has revamped their pizza recipe, changed their customer service, and done a few other things to bolster their appearance. They are attempting to repair their reputation of having lackluster pizza, and so far their plan seems to be working (the pizza is actually better).
 
Another tool Domino’s has to differentiate themselves is the Domino’s Pizza Tracker. Here was my first encounter with it. Three years ago, I ordered Domino’s pizza online, and they had this new feature in place called the Domino’s Pizza Tracker. “Neat,” or so I thought. It was horrible. It took over an hour for the bar to even move, and my pizza was delivered before the status even moved to “out for delivery”. Yeah, it makes no sense to me too. Needless to say, the tracking was inaccurate.
 
Fast forward to 2011, and I once again ordered pizza from Domino’s, mostly to test out their claims of a better pizza. Surprisingly, the pizza tracker this time was much, much better than three years ago. It tells you the name of the person making my pizza, when it was in the oven, and when it would be ready for pickup. I went out of my room for a few minutes and came back to find out my pizza was already ready far ahead of my typical, “Better give them 30 minutes” schedule.

Why is this is so brilliant (now that it works)? The reason is that no one else is doing this in the pizza arena. Nowadays if I order a product online, and a UPS or FedEX tracking number isn’t readily available I start foaming at the mouth. So why not apply this to pizza ordering and doubly so for deliveries? It’s a great idea, that would’ve been more much popular if it worked at launch. If you’re hungry, the wait can be unbearable, but knowing the status of your pizza and WHO exactly is working on it and delivering definitely eases the mind.

Quote from a USA TODAY article (2008):
PizzaHut.com already provides an estimated time when customers will receive their orders, says Bob Kraut, vice president of marketing.

Beware Bob Kraut, Domino’s now also has an iPhone app that let’s you order AND see the tracker. Times are changing, and cool features like this make the difference.

** Whether you personally will actually LIKE the new pizza though, who knows.