SpaceX Space Suit

79: Awesome Space Suits

The one good piece of news happening these days is the rocket launch on Sunday. It went off without a hitch and is the first time we’ve sent astronauts into space in 9 years. It was a pretty amazing.

I also have to say the space suits were a nice upgrade from the old ones. I mean even the suits in Armageddon were better than what NASA has been wearing. Here are the 1962 suits and 2011 suits (the last time they went up):

The original seven Mercury astronauts in their spacesuits in 1962.NASA astronauts Nick Hague and Christina Koch in Sokol pressure suits

Continue reading “79: Awesome Space Suits”

When Google Glass Wins

 
I don’t really like Google Glass as it is now.  There’s no way that the look of it will ever let it go mainstream. However, i do like:

  1. how you can just click a button and video record everything you’re looking at
  2. Take a picture of what you’re seeing quickly and easily
  3. Overlay a map on top of whatever you’re viewing

What i want to happen is for them to build just these three use cases into normal looking glasses.  Get a few versions of Warby Parker that have Glass integration into them.  Then it’ll be sweet. I want to wear regular-looking glasses and go about my day and if i want just touch something and have it start recording.  That’s when Google Glass wins. 

My Pebble Watch

About 10 months ago, I watched this video on Kickstarter and was really intrigued about the thought of having a watch send me updates from my iPhone.

I put some money down in May 2012 and waited.  And waited. And waited.  It just so happens that I wasn’t the only one who wanted this.  The guys at Pebble raised over $10 million for their watch.  They then got started mass producing the watches which proved to be harder than they thought.  That said, last month I finally received my watch – almost 11 months after I backed the project. 
Continue reading “My Pebble Watch”

Generation Me

I just finished reading a fascinating book called Generation Me. It’s a non-fiction book about the youngest generation. The book dives into all aspects of this generation. It’s major parts are worth repeating:

Generation Me doesn’t need you approval. They don’t care what anyone thinks. For them social rules are out the window. It’s all about individual needs and desires. Because of this many changes in society occur from increased swearing, more self-expression, lack of respect for other individuals and social conventions. The book states right in the beginning:

July 2005, when about half the members of the Northwestern University women’s lacrosse team wore flip-flops during the White House visit

It’s all about self-esteem. Generation Me is raised to have very high self-esteem. By giving a gold star to everyone and removing the goals from the soccer field, kids are raised to think they are great – and they believe it. Because of this lots of Generation Me are narcissists. Narcissism is the darker side of the focus on the self, and is often confused with self-esteem. Self-esteem is often based on solid relationships with others, whereas narcissism comes from believing that you are special and more important than other people which is what happens when someone’s been told their entire life that they are great.

You can be anything you want to be. This is also shoved down their throats in movies, books and society. Because of this most of Generation Me thinks they’ll be famous. They all believe they’ll be an actor, artist or at least on TV.

Most people are not going to realize their dreams because most people do not dream of becoming accountants, social workers, or trash collectors…..In 2004 a national survey found that more college freshman said they wanted to be an “actor or entertainer” than wanted to be a veterinarian, a dentist, a member of the clergy, a social worker, an architect, or work in the sales department of a business

Because of this belief there is an advanced focus on appearance and materialism. However, achieving success is becoming harder and harder which leads to increase in anxiety and depression. More and more people have serious emotional problems. This is due to:

  • Economics: housing, education, health care and day care costs have far outstripped inflation. Most people spend over 40% of their income on housing instead of the typical 25%. The average home costs 37% of an average person’s pre-tax income.
  • Person-to-person interactions are at an all-time low. We’re malnourished from eating a junk-food diet of instant messages, email and phone calls instead of actually interacting. Relationships aren’t valued as highly. Increasingly, there’s a belief that there’s a fine line between love – and a waste of time
  • Higher expectations. As Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) says in Fight Club, “We were raised on TV to believe that we’d all be millionaires, movie gods, rock stars, but we won’t. And we’re starting to figure that out. And we’re very, very, pissed off.” All of society’s entertainment pieces show role models (read: celebrities) who are much more successful than the average person. From Cribs, Super Sweet 16 to Friends, to US Weekly.
  • Because of the focus on the self, when people are fiercely independent and self-sufficient, disappointment looms large because there is nothing else to focus on when it occurs.
  • Mobility stress. College admissions and jobs. They are both increasingly more selective and it’s harder and harder to standout in society as the number of people finishing both high school and college increase

After reading through the entire book, I found myself nodding my head again and again as things I see everyday start to make more and more sense. Similar to The Long Tail, Generation Me better articulates everyday patterns I’ve noticed and gives it some structure and theory. A good read – i recommend it.

Hit the Gym With These

Running with Liz
Image by pescatello via Flickr

It’s COLD.

I used to be able to take it but i’m living below the Mason-Dixon line and have become a totally softy. Because of this i’ve been confined to the treadmill for the past few weeks. I hate running on the treadmill. To make treadmill running less boring and sucky, i’m on a constant lookout for workout music to keep me going on a stationary machine. So, i’ve found a few things that have made me happy…

Mashups

If i owned a gym like Bally’s or WSC/NYSC i would play mashups over the loud speakers all the time. They are familiar songs but with a extra funky kick. Everyone likes them. Some of my favorite songs to run to are mashups. Here are 3 good examples for you.  You can download them from this site.

  • Prince’s Kiss + Rob Base’s It Takes Two = It Takes 2 To Kiss
  • Jay-Z + Nena = 99 Luft Problems
  • The Cure + Ying Yang Twins = Badd To Me
  • Kanye West + Beethoven + Walter Murphy = Beethoven’s Fifth Gold Digger
  • Kelly Clarkson + Depeche Mode + Rex The Dog = Since U Been Gahan

LCD Album

I bought this song on iTunes and it’s a 45 minute song created specificly for running. It has ups and downs to represent the highs and lows you have when going for a 45 minute run. This is the first time i’ve seen something like this and it’s good to have sometime if you want something to just be good background music for a longer run. I’m working to convert this to an mp3, stay tuned.

iPod T-Shirt

I normally don’t listen to that much music when i run outside, but i have to have it on the treadmill or else i get pretty bored. Also, i hate carrying the damn iPod when i’m outside. When i’m inside, i can put it on the treadmill. I did find this sweet shirt which makes it easy to stash my nano in my shirt when i run. There’s a little side pocket that’s good for my keys and nano. Both stylish and functional!

Free mp3s to workout to

There’s a great site that’s appeared called I Like This Song which posts a new mp3 every day of a good tune. I recommend you go there and get the tunes