Author: Scott (Page 36 of 80)

Link Dump From Stuff I’ve Been Reading

January 31, 2012 / Scott / 0 Comments

Denso (and others) Plea Guilty To Price Fixing – Coming soon, “Shame on Denso” signs in front of Alcoa Highway Wal-Mart.

Has the Higher-Ed Revolution Begun? – I’ll take advantage of the CS courses, but I’d really love to see a business school offer this type of program. We may have to wait all the way until next year for something like that.

What’s Wrong With the Teenage Mind? – In summary (I think), they need to be taught responsibility and experience in addition to facts.

A future President

It’s time for us to get to work. To get busy. My advisors and cabinet members are going to sit down to find ways to help get out of your way. To encourage you.

Re-elect this guy. If we ever elect him.

Whatever happened to: Rucking?

The key advantage of ‘traditional’ rucking was that it produced quick ball. It also occupied forwards who might otherwise loiter in midfield clogging up the pitch.

The game started changing in this regard as my career was ending, and I remember that feeling (we’ve all had it) just KNOWING that the boots were coming after doing something on the edge of the law in a tackle in order to steal or secure the ball for my team.

And then…nothing would happen. Occasionally someone would curse your actions, but they wouldn’t dream of chucking boot and letting you know that was not acceptable.

I do know of at least one referee who was more than happy to have the game become more about him than the players on the field and welcomed the changes in rucking.

10 Things You Can Do to Raise a Reader – On of the most important things you can do as a parent.

Sweden Plans A New Superhighway For Cyclists – Not going to pretend I wouldn’t like to see this here. Privately funded of course.

Federal government debt site – But it doesn’t track the federal government’s massive debt. Instead, it gives them information on decreasing their own debt. Isn’t that rich?!

So Why Read Anymore? – Damn. Just…damn.

Somehow we must convince this new wired generation that speaking and writing well are not just the DSL lines of modern civilization, but also the keys to self-mastery, a sort of code that one takes on — in addition to others, moral and legal — to uphold standards of culture itself, to keep the work and ideas alive of our long gone betters for one more generation — as if to say, “I did my part according to my time and station.”Nothing more, nothing less.

The Future of Personalized Medicine – Can’t wait for this to be widely available. Can I get a GPS add on?

QUnit – jQuery JavaScript Library – Free, and a time saver down the road.

Spotify Free Unlimited Music Streaming Ends After Six Month Promotion – Sadness. Extreme sadness.

Newt or Mitt? So Many Missed Opportunities

January 30, 2012 / Scott / 0 Comments

There are a few things they could have done to help themselves gain votes with Floridians:

Campaigning here in August instead of January. Florida in January is a no-brainer. Who really wants it?
Participating in a spelling bee with only Spanish words.
Having a first name that isn’t a four-letter word.
Having a first name that sounds like a name instead of an inanimate object.
~~Lobbying~~ consulting with the National Hurricane Center to have the next devastating storm named after the other.
Attending a Marlins afternoon game. That would have almost doubled attendance.
Make a speech on the floor of the House of Representatives like the one below. It never gets old.

Florida Political Cage Match

January 23, 2012 / Scott / 0 Comments

If Mitt Romney had been thinking ahead, he could have put an ace in his pocket that he may just need. In rasslin’ terms, this would have been the proverbial foreign object or loaded boot. It may even be sneaky enough to be called an eye gouge.

Think about it–the guy’s been running for President pretty much continuously for the last 4 years. How shrewd would it have been to donate loads and loads of money to charities and err on the side of over-paying taxes for all of those years? Then, when his wealth/success became an issue and he was asked to release his tax information, he could reluctantly agree to release four years’ worth at just the right moment, showing just how generous and over-taxed he is.

And the obvious question to opponents would be, “how much have you given to charity and paid in taxes over the last four years?”

He’s spending money like mad anyway, and it doesn’t seem to be working. He probably could have donated his way out of his image as a one-percenter at a discount.

Image Credit

Need Help With Debt? Just Ask The Feds

January 20, 2012 / Scott / 0 Comments

This is amazingly rich.

The federal government has a web site to help Americans with their debt. It’s called “Knee Deep in Debt“. I can’t think of a better place to go for advice when you’re knee deep in debt than an organization that is over its head in debt.

It gets better. According to the site, the first step to eliminating debt is to set a budget. From my experience, this is great advice. Dave Ramsey says the same thing. The thing is, the last time we did a budget at our house was 21 days ago, before the month of January started. The last time the federal government did a budget was over 800 days ago.

Next up, sites on healthy living run by fat smokers and tips on living clean and sober by alcoholic meth lab operators who supplement their income running product from pill mills.

Remember this bit of wisdom from the gov’ment:

Your financial situation doesn’t have to go from bad to worse.

Enjoying the Silence Once Again

January 19, 2012 / Scott / 0 Comments

I’m happy to say that Michael Silence is blogging once again.

For some of us who were (and still are) ~~D-list~~ Z-list bloggers, one of the first major milestones of our endeavors online was getting linked to by Michael. I’ve always appreciated the fact that he was out there bringing attention to the stuff us weeds growing among the tall trees of the internet had to offer to the blogosphere, specifically in East Tennessee. As if that isn’t enough, he’s a guy they bigger guys actually pay attention to. For example, I’ve received exactly two Instalanches in my blogging ~~career~~ ~~exploits~~ ~~efforts~~ time served, and they both came about because he was the first to bring attention to the posts.

Back a few years ago, there were several blogs in Tennessee aggregating smaller voices, and it fostered some great discussion. Slowly but surely, and with no small amount of drama, these all disappeared. The one thing that was different about Michael’s blog was that it was consistent, unbiased, and completely void of public drama.

Glad to have you back!!!

On Missed Swim Sessions

January 19, 2012 / Scott / 0 Comments

I know the general rule for missed short workouts is to just move on without worrying about picking them up. I usually follow this to a fault.

I’m rethinking this a little right now though, at least for the swim. I usually don’t place a huge amount of importance on the swim anyway…those are definitely workouts I don’t stress about missing since it’s the shortest leg of the race by far. This time around though, I’d planned on concentrating more on the swim for no other reason that it provides low-impact time training. I’m thinking of them as heart workouts as much as they are swim workouts.

But due to my inability to buy tickets for weekend youth hockey games in advance, I’m one week into a training plan with no access to a pool.

Long story.

What I’ve been doing instead is jumping on the spin bike and knocking out very light and short rides in place of the swims. My logic here is based on three ideas:

Swim workouts are short periods at low heart rate, so I can ride the bike for 20-30 minutes at this low work rate without burning myself up and still get the heart benefits I’d have gotten from swimming, even if I’m not getting the swim technique benefits.
The spin bike is available to me 24/7 and I don’t have to drive to it. It’s no problem to get on it at 2 am for 30 minutes if I have to.
I’ve never (Ever!, EVER!!!) reviewed my performance in a race and concluded I spent too much time on the bike in training. Ever.

I still plan on abandoning scheduled short rides I miss, and definitely short runs. Missed runs are usually the result of being so whooped and beat up that I legitimately need the rest.

Image Credit

Idea: Revamp Pinterest’s Comment Feature

January 17, 2012 / Scott / 0 Comments

[poll id=”9″]

If you aren’t really sure what Pinterest is, I’ll assume you are a male.

If you do know what it is and have spent any amount of time on it, you may have noticed the words that show up in the comments section underneath the photos of Stuff-Women-Fantasize-About-When-HGTV-Is-Not-On. On occasion, Pinterest users put these words together to form things that begin to approach sentences. My proposal is that we improve Pinterest by making it easier for them to choose a comment instead of having to type the same things out over and over.

***UPDATE***
Tizzle Van Dizzle has some Pinterest slogan suggestions.

12 Step Recovery For Mileage Junkies

January 9, 2012 / Scott / 0 Comments

My name is Scott, and I’m a mileage junkie.

The first step is admitting you have a problem, right? It feels good to say it out loud…like a weight off my chest. Now if I can just get some weight off the rest of my body.

I’ve been reading “Be Iron Fit”, and while it’s mostly a collection of the same advice and information I’ve read before, I think I’m actually letting stuff sink into my thick skull this time. I’ll chalk that up to the author’s effective way of preventing the material.

[amzn_product_inline asin=’1599218577′]

The mileage junkie aspect of my personality is just the tip of the iceberg of training mistakes I’ve made, but it’s the only one I’m trying to address right now. If you don’t know, a mileage junkie is someone who focuses their energy on racking up miles in training. This indirectly makes you a “pace junkie” by my estimation, and that’s a much more accurate description of me.

I like to tell myself I’m running on heart rate and not feel, but that’s not true. The truth is I usually try to walk a thin line between feeling ok and pushing my pace, and then pay attention to my heart rate…afterwards, when filling out my log.

I justify this by telling myself I’m training to throw caution to the wind for the running leg on race day based on feel and guts. That may not be an altogether horrible idea for sprints and olys, where my biggest fear is finishing with something left in the tank. But for 1/2 and full iron distance I’ve finally decided to give in a listen to what the science has to say about things. In most other areas of life, I start off by listening to science first, but in this case I’m going to blame my superstition and stubbornness on previous marathon training programs that specified mileage and tricked me into obsessing about pace.

I’m generally more disciplined about heart rate zones on the bike during training, at least for 80% of the ride. The trouble is, I end up looking at my computer and getting worried about average speed. Then I spend the last 20% of the ride jacking my heart rate up to see if I can squeeze out another .2 mph for the ride. Again, probably doesn’t hurt me much for shorter races, but it’s just not workable for 140.6.

I’ve done one 70.3, and the program I ~~used~~ referenced specified HR training and runs based on zone 2 minutes instead of miles. Of course, the first thing I’d do is figure out the number of miles I need to run based on “my pace”, then proceed to go out and try to run even faster than that. I ended up veering off of this schedule to suit my own needs. It worked out…for that distance. That time anyway. But I know I’m going to have to humble myself to the actual data and listen to some people much wiser than me to get where I want to be for 140.6.

I will train in zone 2.

I have much more to say on this, but I won’t spill it all it into a single post. I haven’t finished the book yet anyway. Right now I’m focusing on re-wiring my brain before I start training for a 70.3 the way the schedule says. That’s the second step.

Training for a 140.6 in January 2013 will be steps 3-12.

I’m glad this 12 step program doesn’t call for me to make amends.

I’m reading– December 14th through January 5th

January 5, 2012 / Scott / 0 Comments

Plugin Performance Profiler – HT @mwender. This is a good one!

English Pronunciation – The next poem will be on conjugation.

California, There It Went – California, Rest In Peace. That could make a catchy tune.

Orientation to Android Training – On the late night to-do list

10 Myths about Introverts – INTJs unite!

Shakespeare Takes Center Stage In The Digital Age – I once wrote a paper asserting that "Romeo and Juliet" was meant to be a comedy, not a tragedy. The data says I'm wrong. That's what my professor said too. I'm now publicly admitting defeat.

What Will We Do With The 2%?

December 28, 2011 / Scott / 0 Comments

The 2% payroll tax holiday has been extended for a couple of months, and it will probably be extended for the rest of 2012. I’m guessing a lot of people don’t realize this 2% goes straight to Social Security–no other government spending is involved. Long term, that means Social Security isn’t going to be funded as planned. You can’t keep a pyramid scheme going ad infitum, but this may bring Social Security as we currently know it to an end sooner rather than later.

That may be a really good thing.

The longer people are taking the 2% home, the more difficult it’s going to be to convince them it needs to be withheld later. The longer people keep taking that 2% home, the more likely it is there will be some kind of Social Security reform deal cut to end the tax holday.

Here’s a possibility…

Bush 43 failed at convincing people that Social Security needed to be partially privatized. But how would people feel in 2013 if they were offered the option to save that 2% in a private account when withholding resumes? For those already saving responsibly for their own retirement, there wouldn’t be much resistance. They could break even by reducing their contribution to a qualified plan by the same 2% they’re going to be mandated to save. For those doing nothing currently on their own, they’ll be forced to take some ownership of their future instead of only relying solely on the current Social Security plan. Some may balk at that, but when you tell them they’re going to be taxed an extra 2% either way, they probably won’t complain much.

I’m guessing this would lead to some sort of means testing for Social Security, which we’re probably headed for anyway if we’re honest with ourselves. I’m betting I’ll never see Social Security either way, so I’d happily take the compromise of being guaranteed my 2% private account and having to give up the other 4.2% as a “safety net tax”. Well, “happily” may be a stretch, but 2% is better than getting none of the 6.2% I’ve had taken from me up to now.

Newt Gingrich as suggested something similar, but without the means testing. Instead, he’d guarantee current Social Security benefits as the floor.

Image credit

Adding Insult and Gunshots to Injury

December 27, 2011 / Scott / 0 Comments

This is rich.

Break into someone’s house with two of your buddies, get beat down with a baseball bat by the homeowner, and then get shot several times by your buddies as they flee–leaving you bleeding on the lawn, presumably with a pretty bad headache to boot.

Clay will be charged with home invasion robbery upon release from the hospital, Lt. Heath Sanders said.

I wonder if this guy will be willing to share the identities of his ~~assailants~~…err…accomplices with investigators.

Two Big Features Google Plus Photos Still Doesn’t Have

December 20, 2011 / Scott / 0 Comments

Google added some really nice touches to Plus Photos yesterday–pretty lightboxes, and better navigation for tagging and comments.

But there are a couple of problems I still have…

Photos and Picasa are basically the same thing now, but in order to manage my albums, I have to go over to Picasa and move/copy/delete. There isn’t any album management available in Plus anywhere. Kind of weird.

I’d also love to have stuff like red eye elimination available in Plus.

I know Google is releasing new features to Plus every day, but I don’t get why they haven’t included some very basic photo management and editing functionality yet.

I’m reading– December 7th through December 12th

December 13, 2011 / Scott / 0 Comments

‘Vocal Fry’ Creeping Into U.S. Speech – Combine this with the growing tendency to make declarative statements sound like questions, starting every sentence with the word “so” and inserting “like” every few words as if it’s a punctuation mark and you start getting really annoying.

Can UT Afford Not To Spend the Money for an SEC Contending Coach? – They are. They’re just paying him to stay home. #fulmer

Woman caught making meth inside S. Tulsa Walmart – HT @joelance “I was too broke to buy the products and take them outside to manufacture the meth.” That’s a sound defense if I’ve ever heard one.

And to think, people in Atlanta worry about small things like needles in the clothes at their WalMart.

Walt Disney’s Five Greatest Innovations – Disney believer right here.

Your Community’s Gem Is Lurking Right Over There

Another Daggum Link Dump!

December 7, 2011 / Scott / 0 Comments

‘Blue Christmas’ drug bust targets illegal prescription drug sales in Brevard – Big day tomorrow for mugshots!

Tools vs insight – I am Jack’s complete astonishment that Seth Godin can come up with these amazing posts for his blog on a daily basis. I would read it in a box, and I would read it with a fox.

Does Beer Affect Your Training? – I was warned not to read this, but I did anyway. Dammit.

Rethinking the Value of the Brick Run for Long Course Triathlon – And here I was thinking I was bucking the system by doing “rested bricks” on the weekends. Sounds like I may have been on to something.

How to Make a Citizen’s Arrest – Yes!

If Everyone Else is Such an Idiot, How Come You’re Not Rich? – Atlantic Mobile – Great article from someone who is NOT an idiot.

Stop Trying to Coach People Who Shouldn’t Be Coached! – This applies to so many people in so many situations. And I’ve been all four of these people at one time or another as well. I try my best to be coachable though.

Proper Pacing for Your Best Run – I’ve always just used HR control on the bike and tried to build a good run with negative splits with whatever I had left. There are some good ideas here I could definitely use to improve at different distances.

Cuba Libre! – Check out @hungrymother featured in this article!

A Food Label That Actually Teaches You About Food – There should be a “nom nom” graph on there somewhere too.

December Giveway…Straight Off Our Wish List!

December 5, 2011 / Scott / 0 Comments

Back by popular demand (and because some people are signing up for last year’s) we’re excited to announce this year’s giveaway. Last year’s giveaway was really popular, but we realized that we sort of limited the scope of it since it was a toy for a specific skill level. So this year we’re going to do something a little different…we’ll let the winner choose the prize.

This year’s choices are coming straight off our own shopping list for our girls, so you’ll know they’ve are Ana-approved!

Just as a side note…please don’t think limit our kids to reading and literacy toys. We’re only including those here because this is a reading site. They also love to play with craft toys, crayons/paint/chalk, counting and math games (that could be a whole different site), and anything with a Disney Princess on it. Now…let’s get to the choices!!!

Pop for Letters Game

We can’t wait to get this toy! There are so many fun things you can do with this! Memory match games for capital and lower case letters, shuttle runs (quickly becoming a favorite activity at our house) matching cases or sounds to letters, changing the first letter of a word to make a new word, etc. The possibilities are literally endless. Yeah…you could do the same thing with a few pieces of paper, but the fact that this is popcorn themed makes it way more fun and inviting for the kids.

Pop for Sight Words Game

Just like the Pop Letters game, but with sight words–endless possibilities! “Quiz games” with multiple kids to see who can read the word first, putting words together to make sentences, and once the kids can read all of these words you can play games for parts of speech sorting and spelling bees. You can even use the Pop Letter Game with this toy to create prefixes and suffixes for the sight words!

Pretend and Play School Set

Not necessarily a literacy game, but our girls love to play school, and the Pea just happens to teach Bug letters and sounds in almost every class since reading is her favorite subject. It really has helped drive home all the things Bug is learning, and we’re so excited the baby will hopefully have two teachers when it’s her turn to start school!

Silly Sentences

I remember Ana taking a long time to prepare for centers when she was a teacher so the kids in her class could play this exact game! It’s so convenient to have it made for you, and even better that the kids can go grab this game and play any time they want. Some ideas for extension activities are to have the kids draw a picture of the silly sentences they make or create entire stories based on the sentences.

How to Enter

That would be useful information, huh? Just like last year, all you have to do to be eligible to enter the contest is like us on Facebook. That means like us on our Fan Page, not like this post (although you’re welcomed to do that as well). We’ll randomly choose one of our fans at midnight on December 13, 2011 and contact the winner through Facebook to find out what prize they’d like to receive.

Thanks for your continued support this year. Merry Christmas!

Gettin’ After It!