Eating Healthy

A friend of mine recently told me that for the first time in his life he really wanted to lose weight. We talked about eating healthy for a while and it dawned on me that eating well is a very simple philosophy. The trick is the follow through. Below is my personal philosophy I have pieced together over the years:

#1 Know what you’re eating. You have to start paying attention to what you’re eating so you can see what needs to change. Write down everything you eat for two weeks. After a couple days you will be amazed at the junk and unhealthy meals you’re eating. Writing all this down may be trying, but I put is as #1 because I believe if you only do this step alone, you’ll instinctively start eating better.

#2 Eat real food. There is a difference between things you can eat, a.k.a. edible, and things that are nutritious. Don’t eat fast food and don’t eat at a lot of chains like Chili’s, etc. Don’t eat out of the frozen food section. Avoid foods made up of nothing but chemicals or a bunch of things ending in -zine.

#3 Eat the right amount. Portion control is important. In fact, Weight Watchers is largely based on portion control. But the basics can be stated simply. Don’t eat just to be eating or because you’re bored. Only order as much food as you feel like eating. Don’t order the super combo just because it’s a good deal. Don’t feel like you have to finish your whole plate just because you paid for it. Eat only what you are hungry for and no more. At the same time, don’t skip meals because doing so leads you to make bad choices later. Always eat breakfast.

#4 Eat balanced meals. Remember to mix in the fruits and veggies. Meat is not a meal by itself. Be careful not to overdo the carbs. When planning a meal at home, swap out the carb side with a second vegetable side. You’ll get your carbs without really trying. Avoid a ton of soft drinks and beer because they are huge sources of hidden calories. Advanced: learn about foods with omega-3 and the other essential oils and try to incorporate these in your diet.

#5 Exercise. Do some cardio twice a week: running, jogging, riding a bike. This can be outdoors or at the gym, but it should be something that gets your heart rate up, above 100 bpm. Add in a workout if you have time, but the point is to get into the habit of doing something a couple times a week.

Do I do all these things all the time? Hell no, but this is the plan. If you are over-weight but consider yourself to have a good amount of self-control, you may just need an updated eating philosophy.

New Apple Tablet could be named iBook

I want to go on record about the name of Apple’s new tablet computer, which will reportedly be introduced on January 26. Rumors have said it will be called the iSlate, or iGuide, but I still think the name that makes the most sense is iBook.

Consider: Apple owns the rights to the name and has not used it almost 4 years. Tell me a name that fits into Apple’s offerings and makes more sense for a small, book-sized tablet that will act, in part, as an eBook reader? I don’t think the fact that Apple’s former low-end notebook line shared the name will stop Steve Jobs from going back to the well.

The only reason I think Apple may not choose to call their new tablet the iBook is if they want to further highlight the fact that this is not just an eBook reader, but a multi-function computing device. The thing is, everyone knows that, just like they know a MacBook is a laptop. I guess we’ll see in two weeks.

I Dig It

idigitpromo-300x256My big time-waster right now is an iPhone game called “I Dig It.” You play Farmer Lewis who’s down on his luck and has gotten a few months late on his mortgage. He has, however, constructed a jet-powered digging machine which you must pilot. If you can dig beneath his farm and discover $100,000 in 4 hours, you’ll save the day. And when I say 4 hours, I mean you have 4 actual hours of game-time, though you can start, pause, and stop as often as you like. Do yourself a favor and spend the $1 on the full version. You’ll get more than your money’s worth, or less if you figure in all the lost production.

How to Unbrick EDGE iPhone 3.0 beta 5

Over the weekend, I attempted to install iPhone 3.0 beta 5 on my first generation EDGE iPhone. The install didn’t work, and my iPhone was stuck with the Pink Screen of Death (PSOD). The phone refused to update to the new OS, either through iTunes or Xcode. Numerous reinstalls, power/home button dances and prayers did not fix the problem and of course there was no way to go back to OS 2.2.1. Finally, I found the solution:

Download iPhone 3.0 beta 4. You will have to Google for the location, but should be able to find it. This beta expired May 29th, but that’s okay.

Restore your iPhone to beta 4 through iTunes 8.2. Option+click on “Restore” to selected the beta 4 ipsw file. Once it’s done, iTunes will complain that your software has expired. Ignore this and option+click on “Check for Updates.” Now select the beta 5 ipsw and it will install. I think the key to this solution is that iTunes is not doing a restore of beta 5, it is simply updating your phone from one beta version to the other. Good luck!

Why are people excited about the Zune HD?

This week Microsoft announced the Zune HD, a new sexy-looking Zune media player that will feature a touch interface, HD radio, and HD video (though not really). The features won’t make you forget about your iPod Touch, but a lot of people are excited about the refresh. Most probably thought Microsoft had given up on the whole Zune idea. Now that it looks like Microsoft has big plans for the Zune, why do people care?

The most obvious reason: because it’s not an iPod. It’s not that people don’t love their iPods, it’s just that we have an affinity for the underdog. It’s the same reason we love Macs and the New Orleans Saints. Some people just prefer things that aren’t mainstream, either because they like to be trend-setters, or simply because they hate the masses. The iPod has become the de facto standard.

Second, the Zune HD appeals to the Microsoft fanboys. Yes, such a sub-group exists. When Macs were getting their butts kicked, the Apple-lovers could unite in a single cause of increasing mac-awareness. In the last few years, it’s been Microsoft on the defensive with Vista, the Zune, Microsoft’s various failed web initiatives, and reaction to the “Get a Mac” campaign. This has given Microsoft supporters a reason to fight, and with PR nightmares like Vista, an inspiration to get the word out. The Zune HD is a good looking piece of hardware, and Microsoft doesn’t usually do “good-looking.” There’s reason to drool, at least until we get our hands on it.

Lastly, the Zune HD announcement offers the glimmer of a coherent device strategy from Microsoft, one that could bring some iTunes-simplicity to the Microsoft world. With a combined Zune/Xbox/Windows marketplace and media experience, Microsoft could make up a lot of ground fast. Throw in device syncing and things get interesting.

The Zune won’t catch the iPod/iPhone anytime soon, but a combined Microsoft ecosystem that builds on the successful Xbox platform and leverages a little bit of the natural reinvestment that will accompany Windows 7 could eventually give Apple some competition. That is a big “could.” The reality is that Microsoft “could” just as easily lose interest in the Zune again.

Repair Permissions!

“Repair your permissions.” It’s the Mac OS X cure-all for fixing almost anything, taking the mantle from the days of rebuilding your desktop. Along with restarting your computer, fixing permissions seems to eliminate 90% of the little problems that can occur everyday on an OS X computer. Recently, we began to have problems with several computers while printing to our Xerox Splash RIPs. We quickly realized that reinstalling the print drivers fixed the issue. Then one day while reinstalling print drivers for the second time on the same machine I started thinking: the OS obviously can’t see some of the files necessary to print. Why is that? The answer hit me like a ton of bricks: incorrect file permissions. If a file’s permissions are wrong, other parts of the OS can not access that file. I repaired the permissions and the printing program went away. Yes, this “quick-fix” really is the first step in troubleshooting any OS X issue.

Google to go Chrome?

The Internet is buzzing today over three stories: Hurricane Gustav’s course through Louisiana, the RNC and Gov. Palin’s pregnant 17-year-old, and news of Google’s new open-source browser, called Chrome. The new Web app, a beta of which could be released for Windows as early as tomorrow, will be based on WebKit and will run each web-address as it’s own protected process. The move marks a move to challenge Microsoft and their still-dominant IE browser head-on. Chrome would also act as the centerpiece of a Google pseudo-OS. With Chrome and Google Gears, the Google would control the entire web experience of corporate users using Google Apps in lieu of Exchange or other solutions. Stay Tuned!

Web-based music players

Sometimes I get tired of listening to the same music I’ve copied onto my work computer. I need a little variety while sitting in front of a computer for hours straight. Seeqpod is a web-based music player that can find music on the web and then play it like an iPod. Search for a song or artist, then add whichever songs you like to its flash-based music player. And if you’ve registered, you can save playlists for later.

Pandora does Seeqpod one better. With this innovative music service, you create personalized “radio stations” based on the music you like. To begin, enter a song or artist you like. Then, Pandora cross references music types from the music genome project to find more songs of the same variety. If you don’t like a song, you can give it a thumbs down. If you love a song, give it a thumbs up. The more you vote, the more Pandora figures out your likes and dislikes. You can also create multiple radio stations for those days when your music tastes take you in a different direction.

I Love You Mac Media Center

I’m now 6 weeks into the Mac Media Center experiment and I’m still in love. I watched the entire first season of The Wire over the Memorial Day weekend (yes my girlfriend was annoyed) but that’s just business as usual. I’ve also downloaded several movies from P2P sites and watched those as well. Anything Quicktime can view, your Mac Media Center can view via Front Row with a few caveats. First, to view WMV files, you’ll need to download the Flip2Mac plug-in for Quicktime. Again, preview it in QT first to see if it works. To watch AVI files, you’ll want to download Perian. Second, iTunes won’t recognize these files as it only supports Apple-blessed formats such as mp4 and m4v. However, Front Row has a built-in work-around : anything placed in Mac OS X’s “Movies” folder is accessible from Front Row. So, throw your AVI files in there, change the names to something sensible (because the only way they show up in Front Row is by file-name) and you’re ready to rock.

In addition to using Front Row as the engine of your Mac Media Center, remember that because you have a full-fledged computer hooked up to your TV, you can also take advantage of media websites like Hulu.com. Battlestar Galactica looks just dandy in full-screen mode on my 32″ LCD flat screen and the best news is, it’s free. One last note: you have a second, unlikely option if you want to turn your Mac into a Media Center: Xbox Media Center for Mac. I haven’t checked it out myself, but I’ve heard good things. XMCM may not be as smooth around the edges, but it’s full-featured, open-source, and treats AVI, DIVX, MP4 and MOV files all as equal citizens.