Moving on (and out) of here

I’ve decided to give my blog life to Tumblr.  It’s a beautifully-designed platform that puts as little between one and one’s content as possible.  The goal is a simple, life happens, journal (and perhaps some geekery thrown in.)

You can find my new blog at http://brian.inderwi.es

At some point I wish to consolidate (the few) save-worthy posts from here into the new blog, but until that happens, I’ll keep both alive.  Know that until then, this place will spawn more tumbleweeds.

iOS Must-Have Apps, May 2011 Edition

There are many, many sites out there devoted to reviewing mobile apps, in particular those for the Apple variety of devices.  Several friends have asked me over the last week about what they should put on their new shiny.   The amount of information is overwhelming, and reductionism makes sense. Consider this a curated, not a comprehensive, list.   This information becomes outdated virtually each week, so I’ve called this the “May 2011 edition.”  Enjoy!

For the iPhone

Photography

For me, one of the greatest delights is to use my iPhone as a camera.  As quoted from a tagline in the BestCamera app, the best camera “is the one you have with you as life is lived” (my addition in italics.)   With a 5 megapixel camera, flash, and high-quality sensor, it’s hard to justify packing the point-and-shoot separately.  But how do you get the most from it?

Instagram (instagr.am) – free – Instagram has captivated the hearts of many photography lovers and has created the gold standard in simple photo-sharing.  With a slate of 12 or so simple-yet-interesting filters, no two photos should appear the same.  Over time, as your friends join in, your feed becomes an interesting concotion of frozen memories in a timeline.  It fully integrates with Facebook, Twitter, flickr, posterous, and other services.

Instagram’s beauty lies in its simplicity.  I’ve used many photo apps but gravitate towards it because of 1) ease of use (3 clicks and you’ve shared a memory) and 2) its social DNA (don’t we all love when people “like” our photos?)

Other apps worth mention:

Camera+

360Panorama

Film Lab

 

 

Brevity

How many words do you read in one day?

If you’re like most connected folks today, this number is in the tens of thousands. Hundreds of apps, feeds, posts, tweets fly by us each minute.

Andy Selsberg in The New York Times recently published an op-ed, “Teaching To The Text Message.” A professor of English at John Jay College in NYC, he posits that writing for brevity is a survival skill for adding to the world’s conversation. Not all of his graduates will be tweeting daily, yet Selsberg suggests an irreversible trend: the skill of essay writing, while essential, must dovetail with the ability to reduce an idea to 1-2 sentences. This is consistent with the 140/160 character repartee we often engage in.

This idea needs to be contagious. I utilize Google Reader daily as a time-efficient, sanity-saving way to sift through 200+ news sources. A one-liner (title + initial words/description) are all that separates a interested “click” from a massive “mark as read” operaton. I desire more depth, but time doesn’t permit it. This is the reality. The fold and front page are dead. Those 100 characters are everything.

Ignite Boulder 14

It’s been quite a while since I’ve plunked anything into this bloggity.  This, of course, after a resolution to do more writing.  Whoops.

Earlier this month, I presented a “spark” at Ignite Boulder.  The title is “You’re Being Watched – Living in a Data-Intense World.”  I endeavored to (in five minutes and 15-second slides) pull some anecdotes of how a world in which our movements and actions become database records impacts us, and why it just might be net-positive for humanity.

The whole experience, frankly, was both humbling and exhilarating.  I feel incredibly fortunate to both have had my idea chosen by the Boulder community AND to be able to share the stage with some incredibly talented folks.

Anyway, enough from me.  I’ll let you be the arbiter of it.  Here are the slides:

And here’s the video:

I would find your questions or comments to be awesome.

Calling Home

One of the ways in which I’ve tried to change in 2011 is to call home weekly.

During my undergrad years, I enacted a standing Sunday evening call to my mother.  Occasionally, my father would join in, but I learned quickly after leaving home that the phone is not his favorite medium.  (Thankfully, he’s embraced email.)  In that season of life, things were moving at a blistering pace, and I could easily fill 90 minutes with the events of a week full of academic peaks and valleys, community events, rowing news, et cetera.  It was a cathartic, centering moment after what ordinarily a whirlwind weekend.

Somehow, as college turned to grad school, Baltimore became Boston, and Jasmine entered my life in a serious way, this tradition was lost.  In fact, there was a notable six-week gap in 2005 – which was certainly met with justifiable criticism from Mom once the drought subsided.

For years, I was concerned that life became too boring to send a dispatch.  What’s new?  Not much… over and over again.  I tried adopting Google Talk’s video chat, but the ramp-up relegated it to special occasions only (or when my 6-year-old niece found us online.)  Soon, my relationship with my parents drifted to a new, unhappy place.  While in Boston, we’d make frequent trips home, but radio silence would fill multi-week gaps between them.

I suspected my relationship with my folks would only disintegrate further upon moving to Colorado.  After all, with a father who’s not a “phone person,” how could I expect to go several months between visits (if that) and stay connected?  It turns out that work provides a vehicle for inordinately many visits – I fly to Boston about twice every three months, and will occasionally drive home for the weekend.  However, in 2009 and 2010 I began to latch on to an unshakable feeling that life was just flying by while I was watching from afar.  Which, of course, was exactly what was happening.

In this age of having at least a dozen communication utilities alone on my iPhone, I decided to old-school it for 2011.  I’ve restored the Sunday-evening call home, sometimes even from my office landline (thanks, AT&T.)  Some Sundays are encumbered with obligations; without fail, the call happens on Monday night.  It’s simple, really.  Even between small talk and the ennui of the weekend arises a level of conversation, of emotion, that needs constant attention, like a parched garden.  Plus, a 30 minute call weekly is far greater to relational health than a 90 minute call once per month.

I once read that Michael Bloomberg, New York City’s longtime mayor and inventor of the ubiquitous research device for investment bankers, calls his mother each day.  If this guy can find the time, than why not me?  Why not you?

None of us are getting younger.  This includes my parents, and most definitely yours.  Take the time to call home, even if you have nothing to say.  You’ll regret it later if you do not.  It really is the greatest investment of time.

The Home-Cooking Experiment

Anyone who’s been around me for more than a few minutes probably understands how much I believe in the power of data.  There’s a saying that only measured processes can be improved, and I firmly believe this, after years of observing the contrary.  I was in Boston last week and speaking to Jasmine about some of the following concerns.

• I’ve struggled with eating Paleo.  Or even consistently healthy.
• I don’t really know how to cook creatively, and am yearning to correct it.
• I’m not too pleased with the lack of discipline I have around how I’m being fueled (see #1)
• We spend a great deal of money eating out.  Not just for occasion meals – but for everyday breakfast and lunch.  (Having three eateries across the street from where we live doesn’t help matters.)

It doesn’t take a genius to connect the dots.  It was time to eat at home.  Faced with making changes, I developed yet another challenge: The Three Week All-Meals-At-Home Challenge.  (Creative name suggestions welcome.)

The ground rules here are pretty simple.

• Every meal must be eaten at home for three weeks.
• Snacks are permitted, but a meal cannot consist of prepared snacks alone.
• The challenge excludes weekends.  (explained further down.)
• To ensure success, Sunday is set aside for planning, shopping, and meal prep.
• I will collect data on what meals I prepare and what I eat.
• Paleo principles will be applied to the meals.

Courtesy of flickr user exlibris

What about the weekends? Sounds like a wuss-out, but we realized that eating at home entirely on the weekends (or even bringing home-cooked food with us places) was just not entirely feasible.  Snowboard trips, gatherings, and the like preclude us from having the time to properly prep, and our weekends are usually spent running around.  Instead of setting ourselves up to fail, we decided to set a boundary.

Today is day 1.  Yesterday, Jasmine and I prepared a Moroccan lamb tangine stew, we purchased some salad implements, and I loaded up on ingredients for home-cooked breakfasts (much like the ones that launched my Paleo eating last year.)  I’ve been making breakfast, and hope by next week, I can take the lead on supper prep.

I’m grateful for such an awesome, encouraging wife to help me give this a go.  I’m looking forward to the discipline but also the learning.  It’s going to be fun!

Before Facebook Connect takes over the universe…

…it had better account for the firewall problem.

Many American enterprises (both of Goldman-proportions and 100-person startups) are systematically firewalling Facebook – and all that goes with it, “like” buttons, FacebookConnect single sign-ons, apps.

If your web/cloud service is intended to reach the nation’s cubicle-dwellers (and who doesn’t want this income-producing slice of the pie), consider this reality as you architect and develop… and use old-school alternatives as a simultaneous login scheme.

If you develop front-ends, consider that the firewall may present a janky box in place of your beautifully-appointed Facebook controls.

F Gluten – and other sustainable, healthy habits

This time last year, I was overweight by about 20-25 pounds, out of shape, and generally feeing sorry for myself.

Today, I’m about 10 pounds overweight, less sorry for myself, and in okay shape.

Last May, I was pretty much at my ideal weight, invigorated, and in probably the best shape of my life, save for the 1.5 years I rowed on a collegiate crew team.

What happened in between these points? Why the sine wave on fitness and happiness?

The Power of Family.

I owe CrossFit Roots, an affiliate in Boulder, a lot for the motiviation I needed to look at my health and body in an entirely new light, and for the knowledge to implement real change.  Roots is much more than just a gym, or even a nameless CrossFit shop – it’s a family of people who are all aligned with getting results and performing at peak levels.  It’s competitive in that each person is looking to break their own personal records and surpass their goals, but collaborative in that members encourage each other in kind.  The social scene at Roots makes you want to get your tail beaten in the shop, because you know you’ll be with people you like and are acquainted with,  and connections form from repeated meetings in classes (With about 120 members and 40 classes a week, odds are great for such encounters.)  There’s brotherhood/sisterhood by trial, but also common linkages amongst Crossfitters in the business and tech community.  I’m certain some deals have likely been facilitated by it.

While folks at the shop keep me motivated, the most important driver is the family at home.  There is no way I would have had the courage to even seek out CrossFit if it weren’t for my wife.  And even if I’d happened upon it, the shared experience and accountability is what has kept me there for a year and counting.  I was able to conquer six months of Paleo eating (and winning a gym challenge) and workouts that I felt would defeat me because of her support.

Old Habits Die Hard.

Sounds great, right?  But I mentioned above that I did not keep the momentum that was created the first half of 2010.  After the first few weeks of eating Paleo, it became much easier.  Excuses as to why I couldn’t do it (travelling for work, novel environments, no time to cook) just evaporated away, much like the extra weight I’d been carrying.  I was making time for workouts.  Naturally, a positive feedback loop kicked in – the better I felt, the more workouts I scheduled.  Rinse and repeat, and by June I’d run four 5K races (with times dropping dramatically between them), was planning to summit a 14K ft peak, and felt like a circus clown in my old, baggy clothes.

Then what happened? There’s no one event that can be sacrificed as the “one thing” that caused it to (mostly) fall apart.  I slowly receded.  For a few months, my insulin resistance had remained strong.  I slowly started eating carbs again, noticing that my weight wasn’t being impacted (my workouts were starting to hurt more again, but I wasn’t using proper measurement!)  The travel schedule began to pick up.  I started to rationalize why I hadn’t moved my butt in 2-3 weeks.  ”When I get back to normal” became a mantra.  What happens when crazy becomes the new normal?

A good clinical psychologist could probably do a fine better job of digging into this trend of reward and reinforcement evident here.  For one thing, I had used appearance as motivation – once it became “good enough” I decided that all I needed was “maintenance mode.”  I kept looking for reward in eating carbs again – first as a reward once in a while, and then every day.  Folks all around had complimented me on an improved appearance – not an intrinsic motivation, per set, but a strong reinforcement of what I’d accomplished.  But I got lazy. I considered that I could eat with “Paleo principles” (but not strictly Paleo) and be okay.  (I wasn’t.)  So, by Christmas, I had slowly reverted to a body that closely resembled the one with which I’d begun the year.

Sustainable Change.

Was 2010 a wash?  Not at all.  But it’s important to consider how to keep momentum alive.

I do think that eating Paleo is sustainable.  It is possible to do long-term, and I know folks who do.  I also know that a diet free of gluten (something that celiacs must do non-optionally) is a huge directional step.  It may not come overnight, but it needs to last.

Getting one’s butt kicked in CrossFit is sustainable (so long as one has the money for the classes.)

Now, the missing link is how to get up from the laptop and do it.  I plan on making solid diet and exercise plans non-negotiable parts of my life.  We can’t afford not to do this.

Are “four hour” efforts magical?

Tim Ferriss is on fire lately.  The success of his first book, The Four Hour Workweek, catapulted him into the crosshairs of the world’s most influential movers and shakers, and provided him with a base of capital to invest in some of the hottest private tech companies of the moment – Twitter, Posterous, RescueTime, and others.  (if you haven’t heard of Posterous or RescueTime, you owe it your yourself to explore these terrific tools.)  In short, he is a dynamo of our times.

In December, he built upon the success of Workweek with a new tome, The Four Hour Body. It’s a treasure trove of many, many experiments that Ferriss personally conducted with his own body.  This isn’t merely an academic tome, but it is filled with practically-appointed research from exercise scientists and biochemists.  While some may initially be dismissive of some of Tim’s ideas (the New York Times had a particularly snarky review of the book), this guy puts his research skills to good use – and for the benefit of the reader.

The overarching idea behind Ferriss’s books (and, natch, his philosophy on life) is that the contemporary world we live in can be hacked.  Work can (and should) take on a new shape than it did in 1978.  Knowledge workers need the community for which an office environment is so well-suited, no doubt.  But why can’t we aggressively pursue different ways of doing things – perhaps outsourcing mundane tasks to folks overseas?  (Perhaps this isn’t suited for xenophobes, but it certainly is consistent with principles of gleaning and the poor, and I like it.)  The same goes with our bodies.  I know I’ve spent years trying to take the long road to being rounded and healthy… and the result has been that I end up round.  It would be easy to dismiss Ferriss as the king of shortcuts; this summary, in my humble opinion, is patently false.  He is constantly striving for the best approach to work and fitness – and a key ingredient to the best is the least time-intensive.

What can you change to give yourself more free time, and get results in fewer hours?  The result can be more time with family, or more life to immerse in music, art, or whatever makes you whole.  The upside is tremendous.

Facebook Vacay: Day 1

Today marked the first full day I’ve abstained from Facebook.  I plan on staying the course for 20 more days, at least.

Sounds like a cheesy, Pyrrhic sort of victory, no?  It does to me.  But, after considering from what I would abstain for 21 days, a simple fact came to light: I spend gobs of time each day on Facebook.

So, you may ask, how was day 1? Damn productive. I spent most of the day working in coffeeshops in Boulder and didn’t feel the least bit distracted.  There was room for social interaction – email, a few phone calls, some chats with folks back East.  But I didn’t get sucked into a vortex – one that involves chasing down links and building a browser window of 20+ tabs as I traverse down people’s content.  It’s become a classic ritual, and trust me, it’s unproductive.

There’s a place for sharing.  Truth is, I love the voice of each person with whom I’m friended on Facebook.  I don’t accept connections for which that would not be the case.  So, I enjoy learning about others’ lives.  I thought it would be challenging to block out, essentially, the voices of people with whom I want to stay connected – even folks with whom I probably haven’t actually spoken in 5 or more years.

As I offered previously, we are what we repeatedly do.  I’d like to be engaged in the moment and its present company, reflective and focused.  I knew Facebook had become problematic in my life when I would look down at my phone during meals, flipping away at status updates.  It became my pacifier, a place of retreat when the world became to predictable to enjoy.

To spare the internet from drivel, I won’t dispatch on this topic each day.  But I hope to keep somewhat of a journal encapsulating my viewpoints during these three weeks.  Habits are tricky to break.