Category: Reading (Page 8 of 35)

I’m reading– September 27th through October 17th

October 17, 2011 / Scott / 0 Comments

Facebook Missteps and Shortcomings – Exhibit F.

Heart Rate Training Zone Calculator – Will have to do until I write one. Which will be tomorrow plus infinity.

Page Speed Online – Woot…super useful tool.

Will the New Facebook Lead to Information Overload? – What he said.

Google Financing Solar Installations – This looks interesting. If the cost is the same as your typical electric bill and you don’t have to worry about the maintenance, what’s the downside? Thinking you could also get your pool heated this way. Yeah…I’m thinking.

Amazon’s Table Announcement…Let’s Get To The Important Part

September 28, 2011 / Scott / 0 Comments

Pricing.

The E-Ink Kindle is now only $79. Yeah…$79. That’s with “special offers.” For me, upgrading to the $100 version seems worth it because you can play mp3s and it has a touch screen.

And what about their new Android tablet?

The Kindle Fire 7″ tablet is $200. That’s right…a high functioning Android tablet for $200. That’s less than 50% of what the iPad costs. I was excited to get the Acer Iconia for $300 with a coupon earlier this summer. It seems like Amazon is going to basically give these things away knowing they can make it up on the back end by selling content through the stores that are tightly integrated with the device.

If I didn’t already have a tablet, I’d jump all over one of these. They are going to be great little media consumption devices. All the other things you can do with them are just going to be bonuses. I think Amazon is making a great bet here by leaving off the stuff most people don’t really care about for a tablet. I’ve never even considered using the camera on my tablet for instance.

iPad killer? No.

iPad competitor? I don’t think so.

I think Amazon just put this device out at a crazy low price with a strong brand behind it that will expand the market for tablet devices, and I think they are going to own the lion’s share of the new market growth.

Homeschooling, Robot IronMen, Unstructured Play, Plus MORE!

September 27, 2011 / Scott / 0 Comments

Another link dump. I promise I’ll try to include more bloggers and less news stuff in the future.

Here’s How to Stop FB From Tracking You Online – Logging out isn’t enough.

Can We Play? – Feeling guilty because you don’t get to spend enough time on education and they are aimlessly wasting the day? Don’t.

Career Ruin: Homeschooling

I realized that public school is like Social Security. There is no money to do what we are pretending we are aiming to do. We should just grow up and admit that we cannot have effective public schools for everyone. Just like we cannot have Social Security for everyone.

Well there go her Presidential hopes.

Gamers Unlock Protein Mystery That Baffled AIDS Researchers For Years – More of this please.

Woman tries to shoot possum, shoots acquaintance instead – I wasn’t even aware @knoxvillerugby was playing in ATL this weekend.

Dubya and Me – You don’t have to be a fan of his politics (I’m not) to enjoy this great piece on W.

Three Market-Based Solutions To Pull People Out Of Poverty – More of this too!

Robot Triathlete Will Complete An Ironman? – These things don’t have the greatest form, but I’m not one to talk.

A Tech,Education, and Fitness Link Dump

September 8, 2011 / Scott / 0 Comments

HOW’S THAT HOPEY-CHANGEY STUFF WORKIN’ OUT FOR YA? (CONT’D) – Not often Mr. Reynolds writes something this verbose, but when he does, it’s almost guaranteed to be quotable.

And if I’m peeing all over the wave of hope-and-change hype that got him into office despite his obvious unsuitability, it’s to help ensure that nothing this disastrous happens again in my lifetime. I realize that it’s painful for those who fell victim to the mass hysteria to constantly be reminded of their foolishness, but I hope it’ll be the kind of pain that results in learning.

It’s Not A Mirror, It’s A Crystal Ball – How and why @techcrunch works. And why traditional media is failing. I hope TC doesn’t get watered down by this latest dust up.

The Amazing Colossal Syllabus – The worst thing about this mentality is something I’ve noticed in adults too: their idea of learning is attending a class regularly and getting a certificate of completion. The notion of internalizing the course material and applying it to situations not specifically addressed in the text is completely foreign.

Dim & Dash: Breaking Up – I was once accused of pulling a “frat boy move” when breaking up with a girl this way. Maybe I should have considered that a compliment since she seemed to have a penchant for frat boys.

Quick Math for Understanding Any Goverment Program – Our congressional representatives often measure their success by how many pieces of new legislation they’ve been able to pass. I think a more accurate measure of success is how many pieces of legislation they’ve been able to repeal.

Mauricio’s Ironman – Love reading these race reports! Can’t wait until I get my turn.

Jogging beats weight lifting for losing belly fat – HT @sram9. Personal fitness, like personal finance, is 20% knowledge and 80% behavior. Those numbers may be even more skewed for fitness.

Firefox for Android Tablets Unveiled – Wait…and we still don’t have Chrome on Android devices? This is good news at least.

September 1, 2011 / Scott / 0 Comments

Google released a +1 extension for Chrome last night. Big news? I guess, but maybe not that big.

I’m surprised at a couple of things. First of all, I can’t believe it took Google this long to push this extension out. It’s nice, but nothing that Facebook can’t do for “Like”. I wouldn’t be surprised to see an official “Like” extension out in the next 24 hours. I also wouldn’t be surprised if Facebook acts like this isn’t even happening.

*UPDATE*

Here’s Facebook’s extension, less than 24 hours after….I should do this for a living.

*END UPDATE*

What I really can’t believe is that the +1 button hasn’t made its way to the Chrome base install yet. That’s something Facebook can’t do unless they build a browser and capture market share like Google has. Extensions are great, but they still require people to install extensions, and I’m not convinced that’s something the average user is going to go out of their way to do.

Now…when is the API going to be exposed so that my blog posts can show up in Plus automatically? Twitter has it, Facebook has it.

Well Google?

Get Off The Sidelines, Google + Button Update Coming, and Netflix for Kids

August 30, 2011 / Scott / 0 Comments

These link dumps every few days make it nice for me to keep some fresh content coming, even when I don’t have a ton to say. Of course, if you follow @sadcox on Twitter, you get this stuff almost-real-time…for FREE!

You Can’t Become a Man From The Sidelines – Join your local rugby club this season. Or learn to play an instrument. Or grow and kill your own food. Build a house. Paint a self-portrait. Anything is better than just watching other people live their lives.

Van hits, kills bicycle rider near DeLand – This is Sara McLarty’s father. Be careful out there.

Google+ Share to Specific Circles – Big news for publishers…you’ll be able to decide what images and descriptions are shared with Snippets.

Twitter Based Hedge Fund – Has someone finally found a way to tap the emotions of the market? I’ll stick with logic.

Tenured Professors: Get Out While You Can – This doesn’t seem outside the realm of possibility to me. “Get out while you can” may be a little strong, but contingency plans are never a bad idea.

90’s 411: Music, Fashion, Timelines, Movies, TV and More – I’ve perused this site to see if I can find the phrase, “Congratulations Possums on your 1998 Midwest Championship…” Nothing’s turned up yet.

New Swype Keyboard Makes Tweeting And Mapping A Breeze – Best text input method for Android gets better!

Netflix, Now For Kids – Out Netflix is already set up “just for kids”. All of the suggestions are for kids’ shows, because that’s pretty much all that gets watched. Seriously, this is a cool feature!

An Interesting Question, An Interesting Answer

August 18, 2011 / Scott / 2 Comments

From @MatthewHurtt

[blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/matthewhurtt/statuses/104211751242964992″]

If someone comes up with an App that lets kids remotely control a robot arm that picks up rocks and launches them or throws punches at defenseless passersby, we may be in some danger.

But rocks are heavy. And punching sounds a lot like exercise to me.

From what I’ve seen, that sounds like more effort than many of them would be willing to engage in. Plus, it would be hard to hit your target while simultaneously texting your friends that you are tormenting innocent strangers.

And some innocent strangers punch back.

August 17, 2011 / Scott / 0 Comments

This is so unfair to the rest of us.

“We are deeply concerned that Mr. Sorrentino’s association with our brand could cause significant damage to our image.”

This almost encourages these ignoranuses and the wannabes waiting in the wings to amp up their behavior even higher. Why not take the money from AF and invest in some higher end clothing, hoping those guys will pay you even more to not wear their clothes? Sounds both reasonable and logical to me.

Now, I hope I’ve never taken my obnoxiousness to The Situation’s level, but I think I could have given him a run for his money on the occasional Saturday night at the turn of the century.

I’m old and have gray hair…not at all the image they want to portray for their brand. If I had any kind of platform at all, I’d go out and dress from head to toe in AF stuff. I’d make sure I was mic’d every time I grunted when transitioning from standing to sitting, and I’d make sure their logo was prominently displayed every time I bent over to pick something up and grab my lower back to aid me in standing upright again.

Cha-ching!

I’m not sure what AF expected when they targeted this market.

Warren Buffet is not Your Grandpa and More Link Dump

August 16, 2011 / Scott / 0 Comments

Warren Buffett, Robber Baron? – Nah….he could never have anything but pure motives.

Mother of 13-year-old who smashed up shop blames government – “His mother described him as a ‘good lad’…” Right. Right.

Putting Your Chores on Auto-Pilot – Skimmed this…didn’t see anything about containing young tornadoes that undo your work faster than you can do it.

7 Facebook Features Google Plus Still Lacks – Uh…well, it DOES have photo tagging, and I’d assume search is coming and will blow away anything FB could imagine. This is Google after all. The big missing piece I think is the API. The rest of the garbage listed here (especially “birthdays”) are just more reasons why I like it better than FB. I’m sure games are coming though. All the other crap too.

Chrissie Wellington – The Importance of R&R – Maybe, just maybe, @ChrissieSmiles knows what she’s talking about. I can think of worse people to take advice from…like everybody.

CS man first in Texas to swim across Lake Tahoe – @zentriathlon did it! Awesome job Brett!

Start-Up Chile – Entrepreneurs Welcome! – Cool idea. Some cities in the U.S. should take note. Chile is on my “to-visit” list.

Side note: Thanks to Michael Silence for his continued support!

UT’s Rugby Coach Retiring

August 8, 2011 / Scott / 0 Comments

Thanks to the KNS for covering Butch Robertson’s retirement and 750+ career wins.

Rugby was just one of the many things he taught. I learned countless lessons from him from 1993-1996, not the least of which was that the way to make a real impact is by showing up every day ready to do work for decades.

The guy never got a dime for his efforts either. In fact, it probably cost him quite a bit of money to come out in bad weather twice a week for all those years and deal with the jetsam of high school soccer, football, and wrestling.

Thanks Butch, for all you’ve done for so many young men!

August 2, 2011 / Scott / 0 Comments

Saw this quote posted by @Zen_Moments and thought it was perfect for triathlon training, rugby training, living on a budget, learning something new, developing a work ethic, and about 1,000,000 other things.

The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war. ~ Hyman G. Rickover

Link Dump – I Think The Debt Ceiling Is Causing Global Warming

July 28, 2011 / Scott / 0 Comments

Five Facts About the Debt

“When it was Chrysler secured bondholders objecting to getting defaulted on by the president’s auto task force, Mr. Obama denounced them as “a small group of speculators” who were “hoping that everybody else would make sacrifices and they would have to make none.” Where was Mr. Obama’s newfound respect for bondholders back during the Chrysler deal?”

NASA Data Blow Gaping Hole In Global Warming Alarmism – The hell you say! Can we go back to regular light bulbs now?

Tips for overcoming fear of open water swimming – Good stuff here on overcoming your fears. Now I just need to find out why I feel like I’m going so much slower in the open water so I can calm down.

How to Migrate Your Facebook Account and Data to Google+ – Making some assumptions you actually want to move all that stuff, but useful!

Ironman Lake Placid Race Report – @emilysweats has written of the best race reports ever. Worth your time

‘Mad Men’ Begins Streaming on Netflix – Cracking open a single malt scotch and settling in for this one.

Why Leaders Need to Exercise – I’ve found this to be almost exclusively true, and not just with leaders. People in general seem to be more productive, less affected by stress, and more pleasant to be around when they are fit. I know I am.

A Short “How To” Link Dump

July 18, 2011 / Scott / 0 Comments

Lot’s of “How Tos” were read around here in the last week or so, and I’ve linked to some of the best ones. I was pretty excited to get Spotify too. This one may be worth paying for!

I’m also playing around with Post Formats in WordPress, which explains the drastic change in the way the blog looks. I switched to the Twenty Eleven theme and I’m going to be building off of that. The obvious change I’d like to make is to have a “Link Dump” format and change the way that appears here. I only post about 1/10 of what I read, and if I had a better format, I think these posts could be way better. Anyway…here are the links.

Got Spotify? Here’s How To Use It – Great guide to getting started.

How to Swim Straight in Open Water – One mistake I’ve made in ocean swims is not accounting for the current enough. Even though I started out beyond the break I found myself eventually getting tumbled by surf.

Was the Space Shuttle a Mistake? – You can begin throwing rocks and insults at me in 3, 2, 1…

How to Stock a Home Bar – Another part of the 5 year plan.

Learn jQuery & JAVASCRIPT for free – Can’t wait to finish my current project and dive into this.

“Download map area” added to Labs in Google Maps for Android – Very nice. Very fast. Thanks Google!

Link Dump Obsession With Ditching Facebook

July 6, 2011 / Scott / 2 Comments

How To Move Your Facebook Photos To Picasa – Get them over to Picasa/GooglePhotos/Plus. One step closer to ditching Facebook forever.

Facebook blocks Google Chrome extension for exporting friends – It’s ON! HT @slashdot.

Fast-food chains selling alcohol – HT @FrankStrovel. I will not rest until I can get a Cherry-Vodka-Limeade straight from the drive-up window.

RunKeeper Building ‘The Facebook Of Fitness’ – I started using RunKeeper when it became free, and at the time it was just the mobile app that drew me to it. I was using DailyMile as my “Fitness Facebook”, but was pretty frustrated at having to keep transferring from one system to the other. Looks like DailyMile may have missed the boat. I’ll know more when I’m able to work out more regularly.

The 5 Switches of Manliness: Nature – The last post in this series. Every one of them was a great and worth reading.

Running, Drinking and Nerding Out Link Dump

June 26, 2011 / Scott / 0 Comments

Long Distance Half-Steppers –

“Self-knowledge is a bitch.”

I have been all of these people at one point or another, and I’ve definitely run with all of them. There are more I could add to the list too!

Desmos Graphing Calculator – I am in nerd heaven. I can’t wait to play with this gadget. I can’t wait until my kids are learning higher math and we can do this together!!!

Get Drunk Not Fat – My knees wish my brain had been supplied this information at an earlier date.

‘Til debt do us part :

Leverage is leverage, and leverage always brings with it increased risk.

True, but what scares me most is the amount of this “leverage” that represents items of depreciating value or Super Value Meals. And that’s just on the consumer debt.

HTC EVO 3D Review – Hope to get mine before it’s obsolete.

iDoneThis – Very cool, very simple service. Every day it sends you an email, and you respond with that you did. Makes TPS reports a snap.

The 5 Switches of Manliness: Provide – Haven’t even read this one yet, but if it’s half as good as the others, it’s a must read.

India’s $35 Android Tablet Finally Ready Ship – Would be hard not to buy at least one of these. HT @_Neville

High-Pressure Tactics Culture At Groupon – More dumping on Groupon. The more details I read about this company, the more I am wary of it.

Forget Student Loans, And Maybe Even College – Can’t say it enough times–student loans are horrible. The whole industry is basically pay day lending that you can’t bankrupt.

Short Groupon – “Groupon is essentially holding a portfolio of loans backed by the receivables of small businesses. If a business goes under, consumers will come back to Groupon for their money back. Unless Groupon is actually doing credit assessments on businesses that it chooses to feature, this is a big risk for Groupon.”

Perfect Iced Coffee – A couple of weeks ago, I decided to give up coffee for 30 days. This post is the first time I’ve regretted that decision.

Gettin’ After It!