Hacking The Body Week #6
Happy hump day, you know, Wednesday being the middle or hump of the week… it’s time for my weekly update on my weight loss Hacking The Body progress.
I’ve got some bad news folks. I haven’t lost one single pound this past week, however I didn’t gain any weight either.
The one thing I did notice this week is I’ve lost close to one inch around my waste, so I needed to notch my belt to hold my pants up… so even though I didn’t drop any actual weight, I did shrink around my mid section, so that’s a positive thing.
Lets see, I’ve stuck to drinking a lot of water and now only have one soda every other day, so I’m very close to giving it up completely.
Ok, now for the specific details of my morning weigh in… I weighed in this morning at 226.4 which is the same as last week.
So far in 6 weeks I’ve lost a total of 5.6 pounds. I’m sure next week will show some actual weight loss.
Feel free to keep track of my progress on my Hacking The Body Project page.
Thank you to everyone for your continued support and words of encouragement.
Reggie Watts: Out Of Control
In this video the artist creates every bit of sound and music with his mouth by recording little samples in real time, then sings over it while it loops.
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From what I can tell, none of this was manipulated by editing. It’s incredible.
Bad Behavior 2.0.10 Released
Heads up my blogging friends, Bad Behavior 2.0.10 has been released. It is a maintenance/bug fix release.
According to Michael Hampton, the creator of Bad Behavior, this is an optional upgrade for those of us already running version 2.0.9.
If you are running an older version, it’s highly recommended to update as soon as possible.
Also, for those of you using PHP 5.2.0 or later, this is a critical upgrade, so download it right away.
GoogleOS Rumors
If there is anyone bold enough with a large bank account who can compete with Microsoft it’s got to be Google.
Maybe this obvious choice was the reason for circulating rumors about a mysterious web-based GoogleOS.
While the rumors lie entirely in a realm of pure speculation, one thing is clear:
The world-wide-web of geeks is eager to see a light-weight web-based OS, not as much to replace but to complement Windows.
Some of the most commonly discussed GoogleOS evocations include:
- A web based desktop (not really and OS)
- A full featured Linux distribution
- A lightweight Linux distribution bundled with BIOS
Even though there is no concrete information on a GoogleOS, including even if there is in fact such a project, it is conceivable that Google can come up with a product similar to the one being discussed on forums and blogs by incorporating its online services into a lean, mean and hopefully sexy package.
While we can’t live without Google search, to the best of my knowledge, not to many people use Google Docs and Spreadsheets, both of which are web-based Google productivity services.
The services are no doubt useful for those who don’t have Microsoft Office but it doesn’t offer any compelling reason for existing Microsoft users to switch. Maybe in the future?
All said, GoogleOS even if it does come out is likely to be a web-top application running on Windows.
Here’s an idea… wouldn’t it be cool if Apple, which now uses Intel hardware could beat Microsoft on the desktop OS market?
Palm OS renamed Garnet OS
The Palm OS will now be known as Garnet OS, Access, a global provider of advanced software technologies to the mobile and beyond-PC markets announced Thursday.
Garnet was originally the code name used by PalmSource for Palm OS 5.4, the most current version of the software.
The renaming is part of a process begun in October 2006, when Access announced that its subsidiary, PalmSource, the developer of Palm OS, would also take the name Access.
Access will eventually remove all reference to Palm from its products as part of a previous agreement to sell PalmSource’s rights in the Palm Trademark Holding Company to Palm.
If you’re a Palm OS user and supporter like I am, be sure to check out the licensing agreement between Palm and Access.
GSM verses CDMA Cell Phones
Lately I’ve been playing with various cell phones and the technologies that make them work like CDMA and GSM.
I’ve also been checking into which cell phone carriers provide the various services.
Why have I been looking into this type of stuff?
Because I’m looking into changing my phone and possibly my cell phone coverage provider to what will give me the most freedom and expandability for other things down the road.
After a few hours of research, here’s what I’ve found.
Sprint and Verizon are CDMA providers, which I already knew, Nextel is a TDMA provider.
Now that Nextel is partnered with Sprint, I guess they’re also now CDMA.
Cingular and T-Mobile are the only GSM providers I’ve found in the USA but I’m sure they’re more, so if you know some, let me know in the comments.
Something interesting about Sprint is back in the late 1990’s they actually had some GSM coverage but converted that network to CDMA, then sold the GSM infrastructure in 1999 to Omnipoint which eventually became part of T-Mobile USA.
The end result: I needed a Quad Band GSM phone which will work on 850/900/1800/1900 networks to have the most freedom allowing it to be compatible on GSM networks in most North American, European and Asian GSM markets, providing the phone is unlocked.
Thanks to a few of my connections in the cell phone industry, I was able to get a brand new Motorola SLVR L7 as seen in the stock photo with my post.
When I first received my Motorola SLVR L7, it was locked to Cingular but after a little minor hacking, it’s now unlocked and I can use it on any GSM provider that I have a SIM card for. w00t.
All I need now is to find out how to remove all the Cingular branding (splash screens, etc.) so it will just have the stock Motorola features and screens which were removed when Cingular branded the phone.
I did find some online tutorials for this but they’re for non North America phones.
This isn’t a major issue because the phone will work in other areas now that it’s unlocked but I would like a way to turn off things like Bluetooth and the GPS system.
If you have some suggestions on this and don’t want to comment, feel free to contact me via my contact page.