Another Milestone - 70,000 Visits

My blogs just passed 70,000 visits.  Nice. 

They are:

Tech and Startups blog

Blog on Autos

Blog covering travel, food and drinks

This blog (non-serious)

Wednesday Workout - Happy New Year!

A nice New Year's Eve workout.

Cardio - 30 minutes,  379 calories,  3.23 miles covered.

Weights:  Shoulders - 4 exercises, 4 sets each, for a total of 16 sets.

Crunches:  7 sets of 20 crunches each, so a total of 140 crunches

Tuesday workout

Afternoon:  Abs - 6 sets of 20 crunches each, total 120 crunches.

Evening:  Weights - biceps and triceps,  4 exercises of 4 sets each (16 sets for each body part).  So a total of 32 sets. 

Monday Workouts

Morning:  Abs, 5 sets of 20 crunches each, so a total of 100 crunches.  Made waking up feel good.

Evening:

Elliptical - 96 minutes (1 hour 36 minutes),  1,000 calories,  8.69 miles

Weights - Chest.  2 exercises with 4 sets each, for a total of 8 sets

VC Money Flowing Again

It only took a couple of months; VC money is flowing again.  We at Kosmix, of course, just got $20 Million.  And now San Francisco-based Scribd has announced a $9 Million round of funding from Charles River Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, and Kinsey Hills Group. 

I like Scribd, so I'm glad they're going to be around.  Essentially, the site lets you upload and share documents online.  I work in a remotely spread out team (Mountain View, New York, Oakland, Los Angeles, San Francisco), so Scribd is something we should be using at work too.

Former Bebo COO George Consagra (no, not the guy from Seinfeld) has joined Scribd as its president.  Which means they're getting serious.

Sunday Workout

Sunday was a biking day.  The Olympic Triathlon distance is 24.8 miles, so I wanted to complete at least that distance. 

Distance:  26.07 miles

Time:  2 hours

Calories:  744

I have three words -  Biking.  Is.  Uncomfortable.

Saturday Workout

Light cardio today, used for just warming up.  Followed by a good weights workout.

Elliptical - 15 minutes, 156 calories,  1.36 miles covered

Weights:

Back:  4 exercises of 4 sets each (so a total of 16 sets). 

Shoulders:  3 exercises of 4 sets each (total of 12 sets).  Stopped after the 12th set, as my shoulder started reminding me it wasn't fully healed.

So, a total of 28 sets for weights.  I slept pretty well after that!

Friday Workout

Super-cardio workout again today, but all on the elliptical.  The aim was to complete 2.5 hours:

2 hours and 30 minutes (150 minutes)

1,543 calories  (I slowed down in the last 30 minutes)

13.44 miles covered

I'm Going To Do An Olympic Triathlon!

A couple of people at Kosmix have completed the Ironman Triathlon.  They've inspired me, so I'm going to complete an Olympic Triathlon sometime between Jan 15 - Jan 30. 

The distances for the Olympic version are:

Swimming - 1.5 km (0.93 miles)

Biking - 40 km (24.8 miles)

Running - 10 km (6.2 miles)

Given my hurt knee, I'm going to do a "low impact" version, all indoors in the gym.  The 'running' portion will be on the elliptical machine.

And good stuff - some friends have signed up for it as well.

Wednesday Workout

A nice mix today, but the cardio section was a little light.

Cardio:

Elliptical - 2 miles, 21 minutes,  360 calories

Biking - 5 miles, 26:30 minutes, 158 calories

Weights:

Biceps and triceps, 12 sets each (3 exercises of 4 sets each, for each body part).  A pretty good workout, and my shoulder isn't hurting, which is great - its getting better.

Tuesday Workout

Started with biking today.  59 minutes to reach 12 miles, but only 360 calories burnt. 

Sunday Super Cardio Workout

Elliptical again.  1,500 calories burnt in 136 minutes (2 hours, 16 minutes),  and 12.9 mile covered per the machine.

And I'm not really sore, which is great! 

Slydial Update - Love It!

I had covered Slydial on my blog earlier.  This Monday, I was contacted by SHIFT Communications, who seem to be handling their PR, to let me know the app was available on the iPhone, and that I should try it.  (Slydial is an app created by the guys at MobileSphere)

I tried it over the last couple of days, and I have to say, I love it!  I hadn't even thought of all the uses I could put it to; 

• Calling a business associate late in the evening.  I've already done this a couple of times.  This way, I make sure I'm not delaying talking to partners on the east coast by another day; at the same time, I'm not calling them at a very late hour.
• Prank calls.  I know, this isn't a very elegant use.... but....
• Don't give this app to the folks in the Philippines!  If you do, you know they're going to start using it when they want to break up with someone.  A voice-mail does beat out SMS in some cases
• Relatives, friends, associates you don't really want to talk to.  Or don't have the time to talk to.

What's great is that the recipient also sees a missed call.  This way, there is no reason to believe slydial was used.

The app has made its way to the front page on my iPhone!

Friday - Super Cardio Workout

Super cardio workout this Friday, on the elliptical:

1,500 calories,   13 miles (per machine),  144 minutes (2 hours, 24 minutes).  woohoo!

Rested on Saturday, to recover

BMW M3 CSL - Isle of Mann

Jeremy Clarkson drove the BMW M3 CSL at the Isle of Mann.  Why there?  Well, it is a driver's dream - no speed limits outside the towns! 

The BMW M3 CSL is an amazing machine.  It makes a regular M3 look like a Toyota Prius.  Ok, maybe a Toyota Camry. 

• Nothing that adds extra weight-
  • no air conditioning
  • no radio
  • manual windows
  • carbon fibre roof (don't roll over!)
  • cardboard.... yes, cardboard!..... trunk floor.  in other words, groceries shouldn't weigh more than a few pounds
• An engine that squeezes out more horses from the same volume
• Slick summer tires; before you buy the car, you have to sign a waiver saying you understand BMW is not responsible if you drive in rain or snow.  Now that's a race car!

Check out the video

m3 csl

Wednesday Workout

Legs getting stronger.  86 minutes to reach 1,000 calories on the elliptical.  That's just under 9 miles on the elliptical

Shoulder still hurt, so only 2 exercises (3 sets each) for triceps

Monday Workout

Hurt knee and shoulder.  So no weights, and slow cardio - 500 calories in 58 minutes.

AT&T Layoffs

I hate AT&T, just as I hate Comcast. 

But I hate the company, not the people (at least non-executives) who work there.  So I'm sad to hear AT&T is joining the layoff bandwagon, letting go off 4% of their workforce, or 12,000 people.

There are two factors that are leading to this:

Firstly, they are seeing their landline customers defect - that business is shrinking by 11%, while AT&T's own wireless business is growing by 14%.   Their landline business is still bigger, and needs a bigger workforce compared to the wireless business, so that feeds directly into the total workforce.

Secondly, they are seeing people stop taking add-on services, and manage their minutes on limited plans more carefully (AT&T is one of the worst companies at charging through the roof for a single extra text message, or a single extra minute on your calling plan). 

Top Gear VoTW - Porsche Carrera GT

(VoTW, of course, means Video Of The Week)

Jeremy Clarkson drove and reviewed the Porsche Carrera GT.  He was completely floored by it. 

The Stig must have loved it too - at that point, the Porsche GT was the fastest car around the Top Gear track.

I wish I had Jeremy's job.

top gear porsche carrera gt

Super Workout Wednesday

Upped the ante on Wednesday evening on the cardio side:

93 minutes, 1,000 calories, on the elliptical machine.

Biceps after that - 3 exercises, 3 sets each.  But after the cardio, had lower energy so used lighter weights

Check out the Elliptical Trainer on Kosmix.com

All Worn Out - Sneakerplay Shuts Down

Sneakerplay was a perfect example of a niche social network - it catered to people like Entourage's Turtle, who are obsessed over sneakers. 

Huh?

And to think it was only one among a number of similar plays. 

Sneakerplay is shutting down now.  Its time for most of the other niche networks to fall soon.

Workout Tuesday

Tuesday night, I put in a relaxed 50 minutes, 500 calories on the elliptical machine.

Weights - Shoulder, with light weights (allowing wrist to recover).  3 exercises with 3 sets each, so 9 sets total.

Cardio Saturday

73 minutes, 750 calories on the elliptical machine. 

Thanksgiving Bargains Fuel J&J Acquisition Spree

The Thanksgiving buying bug has bitten my favorite blue-chip, Johnson & Johnson, which is buying Mentor Corp. and Omrix Biopharmaceuticals. 

Omrix is going to feed right into J&J's surgical care business.... and by that I mean the serious surgical stuff. 

Mentor, on the other hand, feeds into, shall we say, the sometimes desired-but-not-required cosmetic surgery side.  It is a leader in cosmetic products, including breast implants.  J&J has traditionally not been a market leader in cosmetic surgery, but this acquisition will change that. 

J&J's stock went down as a result of these acquisitions, but the long term prognosis is very positive.  I'm shoring up my position in the stock.

Cardio Friday

Giving my wrist another day of rest, so no weights on Friday either.  Cardio - 75 minutes on the elliptical machine, 750 calories

Santa's Email

This is NSFW,  but its very hilarious.  Check out a snapshot of Santa's Gmail, courtesy of Stefan

I put in a large image, so you have to click on it to view it. 

Cardio Thursday

Thursday evening, to give hurting wrist a rest, I didn't do weights.  Only cardio on the elliptical machine - 50 minutes, 500 calories.

Wednesday Workout

Last night, I increased the cardio portion of my workout - 50 minutes, 500 calories on the elliptical machine.

Followed by Back - 3 exercises of 3 sets each - 9 sets total

Alza's Changing Face

J&J's Alza division, over the last 7 years, has been a dismal place to work.  They started by helping Google out, shutting their offices near the search giant.  Google of course immediately snapped up those facilities. 

Alza's Vacaville location has been a not too happy place to be at, since.  In the last couple of years, there have been two massive layoffs.  A large part of this is due to J&J methodically moving facilities and costs overseas.  But in Alza's case, there is a lot more going on. 

Its very sad.  Right now, I can't even get their website to load.

Fruitless Trip To The San Francisco Auto Show

Yoshi and I decided to go this Sunday, Nov 30, to the San Francisco Auto Show.  Turns out we were a little off the mark - the show ended on Saturday. 

Exercising on Monday

Monday, I did:

Cardio - 30 minutes on the elliptical machine, 320 calories

Arms - 3 exercises each in biceps and triceps, with 3 sets in each.  So a total of 18 sets, half each in biceps and triceps

Exercising on Sunday

I'm going to start chronicling my workouts on this blog again, starting with this Sunday's workout. 

I started with 30-minutes on the elliptical machine (310 calories), followed by Shoulders - 3 exercises, 3 sets each, so a total of 9 sets.

Game Preview - Batman: Arkham Asylum

I saw a quick preview of Batman: Arkham Asylum - no gameplay, just an intro video that barely had any people visible.  And.... wow!

batman arkham asylum

This game is of course based on the graphic novel of the same name.  If you haven't read it, I highly recommend you do.