A Letter From Iceland

The story of Iceland from a journalist living in the country since 2003.

Read the whole story here.

Light Pollution

A little more on light pollution. I was never sure of the reasons to limit lights except for the energy consumption, this says it well.

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/11/light-pollution/klinkenborg-text/1

Unlike astronomers, most of us may not need an undiminished view of the night sky for our work, but like most other creatures we do need darkness. Darkness is as essential to our biological welfare, to our internal clockwork, as light itself. The regular oscillation of waking and sleep in our lives—one of our circadian rhythms—is nothing less than a biological expression of the regular oscillation of light on Earth. So fundamental are these rhythms to our being that altering them is like altering gravity.

TED Talk - Mushrooms Saving the World

This is impressive, I've watched it 3 times over the past month of so. A must watch video.





http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/paul_stamets_on_6_ways_mushrooms_can_save_the_world.html

This Guy Can Juggle...

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4776181634656145640

Revisit Your Thoughts On Yoga

Throw out the stereotypical impression you have about Yoga - it is much more than housewives chanting OM, deep breathing and excessive stretching. I am literally pouring sweat at the end of each class, and have noticed gains in strength and flexibility throughout my entire body. Yoga also unlocks freedom of mobility in joints and muscles leading to better posture and alignment, sitting at a desk all day is terrible for your body. Yoga massages internal organs, promotes blood flow to all areas of the body, protects your spine and generally improves your temperament. My recommendation is to give it a try - the first thing you'll need is to find a studio with good teachers and students.

Find Variety and Help in a Studio
I have been to a couple studios in New York - Bikram near Union (not worth the money), Yoga to the People (cheap and good for beginners), and Yoga Room in Astoria (expensive, but a good studio). On a recent trip to LA I visited Yoga Works, that place was on another level - the UCLA studio has great teachers and impressive students. It opened up my thoughts about what to expect from a studio. When learning anything new I think it's important to surround yourself with those that are better at it than you. I also think it's helpful to try as many styles as possible. So yesterday I joined Pure Yoga on the upper east - lets hope this new place will stand up to the test. Basically, I don't think it's possible to fully appreciate Yoga without a group of people around you challenging you and teaching you new things. Each studio is different and not everyone wants the same things from their studio- try out as many as possible.

Yoga Is For All Body Types
You don't have to be flexible to practice yoga, every pose has a modification or you can use a block to compensate for the distance you can't stretch. I use a block every practice - it's like any type of workout, good form and control allow each exercise to accomplish its intended goal. The helping/limiting muscles will strengthen and stretch in time.

Yoga builds strength and flexibility.
Flexibility is gained through the strengthening of muscles. Therefore if you have a goal of increased flexibility you will need to increase your strength as well. Yoga does them both and in a compact time frame. For me it is hard to get the same level of total body workout from the weight room that I achieve in Yoga. If I had the time I would do both regularly, because strength training with heavy resistance is something that Yoga cannot accomplish. But, for me (and the average person with limited time), it is much easier to work through a guided 1.5 hour yoga class than plan and motivate an hour long gym session.

Basically I'm saying remove the stereotype of a granola munching hippy-in-a-head-stand, and give yoga a try (In every studio I've been to there are more good looking women than bizzare health nuts... guy or girl straight or gay, you can't lose). Think about a brief trial membership somewhere or visit a donation based studio like Yoga To The People, they are cheap and commitment free. As long as it's not Hot Yoga (try that later), I bet you'll feel great after your first class. Make yourself try 3 classes in under a week and if it's not for you then you can tell me about how I might be turning into a kashi munching hippy myself.

Thai Massage is Brilliant

It has been too long since my last post, it's not until life slows down a little bit that one makes time to think about blog posts. That's unfortunate. I'm towards the end of a week long vacation in LA, and I am slipping into the good ole habits very quickly. How can I always live like this without working... Future blog post - check back every day for that answer...

I have never actually paid to have a professional massage. Until now, and since I've been here I've already had 2 hour long massages. The place I went came highly recommended and it only $45 per hour.

Traditional Thai Massage
1951 Westwood Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90025
(424) 354-3394

The massage is very firm - they will press as hard as you like. I was particularly tight and she brought out a walker so that she could stand on top of me and press with her feet. Along with massage they also do a few stretches similar to yoga partner stretching and pop every joint in your fingers and toes.

Although $45 is pretty cheap, I could get used to these things and run up a huge bill. Next stop in my travels - Thailand...

Soccer + Badass = Foot Capoeira?

These guys are remarkable!

Keyboard Shortcuts

Thought I'd write a quick list of keyboard shortcuts to make your life easier...

Windows:
WindowsKey + D = Show Desktop (toggle for show / unshow)
WindowsKey + E = Windows Explorer
WindowsKey + Pause = System Properties
Ctrl + Escape = Start Menu
Alt + Tab = Duh

Firefox
Ctrl + K = Top Right Quicksearch (to enhance this feature, press Alt and Down to choose from a list of search - you customize them yourself. Wiki, imbd, amazon, etc)
Hold Alt + Left or Right = Back and Forward in your browser window

That's it for now!

TED Talks

TED = Technology, Entertainment, Design

These talks are recorded from the TED conference, a yearly event that brings together some of the greatest minds in tech, entertainment, and design.

These talks are truly worthwhile. Try this one by Hans Rosling, he shows us how wrong we are to assume countries can be broken down into only two groups -Industrialized and Developing. That's like saying there are only two types of wine -Red and White.

Cheney Proposed Smallpox Vaccination

I was reading and excerpt from “The Bush Tragedy” by Jacob Weisberg. This is scary stuff. I’ve re-written and condensed the story.

Soon after 9/11, during the time the government was shoring up defenses against terrorism, Dick Cheney was planning something a little crazy. The Bush administration was convinced that biological warfare would be the next means of terrorism in the United States – leading that fear was Cheney. After several anthrax outbreaks and a noticed attempt to target the White House, the administration began developing contingency plans for different types of biological attacks. Some intelligence suggested the smallpox would be one of the most terribly effective means of attack, and that stores of the disease were not as controlled as once believed. Cheney proposed a mass vaccination of the US population.

The smallpox vaccine has not been widely given since 1972 in this country, due to the horrible side affects that can occur. These includes scabs, lesions, pustules and even death. Despite the best medical advice the Bush administration sought, the order to give a mass-vaccination was moving forward – medical preparations has already begun. At the last moment, Bush overruled Cheney on this matter and it sank quietly away. Cheney himself chose not to vaccinated.

I don’t know about anyone else, but this scared the crap out of me. Can you imagine the military coming to your town to give small pox vaccinations to everyone? Can you imagine the mass-hysteria that would be caused, even though there was no outbreak! What the fuck was this guy thinking?

Staying Up-to-date on Iraq

-Iraq war total cost. $484,134,001,000 (That's just what congress has given) and this increases by 275 million per day.

-About 4,000 US Soldiers killed and 60,000 wounded.

-About 700,000 Iraqis killed

-The war is coming up on 5 years in March.

I wish we could have taken just a fraction of this money and invested in infrastructure...

The One Thing I Agree With Romney About

Romey has proposed to eliminate the Capital Gains tax for the middle class. I know there is much left unsaid here, who defines the middles class, etc. But this is a good idea.

This should encourage a good number of middle class to commit a bit more money to the market and start saving more money. Stock prices should see some upward pressure as well, there will be more money flowing into the mutual funds and othe average joe investment vehicles. If they start making money, it may not even affect consumption / spending too much.

Democrats, this is a good way to show some middle class support!

Prevent Lower Back Pain (from sitting all day)

My first old man post... Sad sad day.

I analyzed the ergonomics of my workspace and discovered why my back has been killing me. I sit all day long and haven't taken the proper care to adjust my chair and sit with the correct posture. I just assumed I was strong and healthy and that strength training and fitness would take care of me. Don't underestimate to detriment of sitting for 12 hours a day.

Quick Facts:
-Despite everything we know about back pain, ninety percent of us are going to have a disabling episode at some point in our lives. This often happens to people in their early 20s and above.
-Low back pain is the #2 reason that Americans see their doctor -- second only to colds and flus.

Recommendations:
-Adjust your seating position (See links below)
-If injured avoid a sedentary lifestyle, you need to get your blood moving to heal.
-Exercising daily (getting your heart rate up for at least 20 min) will help you heal.
-Move around often when you are at work, take little walks and stretch.

This is really common sense, but there is a lot of good information below. It's worth reading and acting on if you work in an office all day.

Good information.
http://www.spine-health.com/topics/cd/ergo/ergo05.html
http://www.drbookspan.com/SittingHealthy.html
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003108.htm

Obama's Iowa Victory Speech

This is a moving speech. It gives me hope for America.


It's only 13 min and worth your time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNZaq-YKCnE

Radiohead: Hour Long Private Taping

Radiohead's Scotch Mist, brought to you by Current TV. It's well worth your time.
http://current.com/items/88803042_radiohead_s_scotch_mist

Cyprus and Malta Adopt the Euro

It is interesting to see how the European Monetary Union continues to grow. I don't know that much about Cyprus or Malta, but I do know that the EMU has just added another 1.2 million participants (CIA). Which should bring it in the neighborhood of 316 million people total (World Bank). More on the Cyprus and Malta conversion here.

Europe and the Euro are continuing to strengthen. 2008 may not look like a year for strong growth and Euro Market returns, but there's no generally accepted decline in their future economic strength --seemingly opposite of the US. Despite the price of the Euro in dollar terms, Europe still exports a considerable amount more products than the US. They also make up about 30% of the world economy, but most American portfolios don't have near that exposure. It seems like their years of slow growth while investing in infrastructure paired with low inflation might make for a stable environment, who ever would think that?...

Immigrants Leave Oklahoma

Oklahoma's new law to combat illegal immigration has had a significant affect on the immigrant populations in Oklahoma. The new law makes it a felony to harbor, transport or aid an illegal immigrant. This is having an affect on both legal and illegal immigrants.

Listen to the NPR report here.

Anti-Spyware Application Recommendations

Spyware is evolving. Just AdAware will no longer take care of your machine. Developers laugh at the common virus and go straight for more effective spyware and rootkits. These programs will help out:

AdAware (a standard)

PC Tools Spyware Doctor (Free as part of the Google Updater software pack).

AVG Spyware Detector

AVG Anti-RootKit

Helps my machine run smooth. I'm sure there's even more I could do...

iPhone Password Manager

Having one device for everything, and having all that info backed up on my computer makes me kind of excited. Phone / camera / music / podcasts / internet (you get the point). Now I want the connection with all of these products to be seamless and I want a guarantee that I won't lose all the hard work. 2 external hard drives for media is a must. I also use every feature on Google Mobile as well. (Search, Maps, Gmail, Calendar, Docs, News, Photos, Reader, Blogger, Notebook). Brilliant job Google.

The Password Manager
I often have problems remembering all of my passwords and login names and want to add this to the list of things my iPhone can do for me.

The most promising app is from eWallet.
See a good blog post on it here.

I feel comfortable enough with this app to upload my credit card and financial info. Unfortunately it is only in beta at this time, but I will keep an eye on its progress.

For now I found jkpassword.com. It is a nice web app and seems secure. I couldn't find any internet complaints on it, but I don't trust it as much as eWallet. One downside is that it only allows 8 free entries. I'm using it for now and just putting multiple passwords in each entry. It works quite well for your everyday password storage, and it loads like a breeze on a mobile device.