I know I said I would document it daily for those playing The Home Game, but honestly, there was nothing to report most days. Every other entry would have looked much like Day 3, and wasn’t worth writing home about.

The final tally wound up being 5.6 pounds less than I started at, which isn’t bad at all. I still really think it was all water weight, and noticed the slowdown right at Day 4, which I assume is when I ran out of excess water to drop. Measurements are all about a half inch lower, except stomach which is a full inch lower. Not really a visible difference but not a bad start.

I don’t know that I can confidently say that the SLIMQUICK Cleanse had much, if anything to do with this though… I honestly think that drinking a lot of water (which I am notorious for not having done before starting this program) and eating reasonable food did it all. I’m going to hit all the points that The Cleanse says it helps:

1. Eliminate TOXINS: SLIMQUICK cleanse contains ingredients which help eliminate toxins from the digestive tract.  Toxin elimination is a key process in any cleansing or detoxifying regime.

It’s hard to comment on this specific point. What do toxins look like when they vacate the premises? How do you feel after? I don’t feel any cleaner… *shrug* No ideas on this one.

2. Increase METABOLISM: An increase in metabolic rate helps contribute towards weight loss by increasing calories burned throughout the day. SLIMQUICK cleanse contains clinically researched key ingredients to boost metabolism.

Another one that’s hard to comment on, as you can’t really *feel* your metabolism. Can’t really weigh the weight loss results against anything either as I drank more water and ate less calories while my metabolism was “faster” so there’s no way to measure this claim.

3. Improve functions of DIGESTIVE TRACT: SLIMQUICK cleanse contains ingredients to help with daily functioning of the digestive tract as well as ingredients to help promote a healthy intestinal flora.  Healthy intestinal flora is central to the functioning of the digestive tract.

My digestive tract did not seem improved. More on that in Point 5, which may be a bit TMI.

4. Increase ENERGY: Increased energy expenditure or calorie burning through physical activity is a key factor in any weight-loss program. SLIMQUICK cleanse contains ingredients shown to elevate one’s energy levels.  By increasing energy, women are able to get through their busy days and still have energy to undertake regular physical exercise and maintain an active lifestyle.

Not at all. I felt just as tired the whole time I was on the cleanse than I did before it… moreso on some days. I even cheated one day and had a cup of coffee in the morning and was still not more energized.

5. Cleanse the COLON: SLIMQUICK cleanse contains ingredients which have been shown to help increase one’s ability to achieve effective bowel functions by increasing the frequency of bowel movements and improving the efficiency of the colon.

NO. No, this did not happen at all. If anything, I pooped less than I usually do. I feel rather constipated and would love nothing more than to have an “effective bowel function” right about now. The only effect SLIMQUICK Cleanse had on my poop was making it softer (which wasn’t necessary, my poop was not rock hard thx), smaller and stinkier. I think I’m more backed up now than I was before.

6. Balance BLOOD SUGAR: SLIMQUICK cleanse is designed with ingredients to help balance blood sugar (glucose) and promote healthy blood glucose homeostasis. It is important to maintain blood glucose homeostasis for overall maintenance of bodyweight and good health.

This point, however, I am more than happy to give them. I am inclined to say that it did help stabilize my blood sugar, as I didn’t get dizzy when I got hungry, which happens to me often. My blood sugar has been known to tank with no warning, leaving me feeling horrible on top of being hungry. This did not seem to happen during my cleanse. I was, however, chronically hungry all week.

So, over all, it seems like many of these claims are not really measurable. I did lose 5 pounds during the week long cleanse and am very happy about that, but I just don’t know that I believe the Cleanse had anything to do with that. Drink plenty of water and eat reasonably, and I suspect those first 5 pounds will come off easily… if it works like I think it does you’ll simply pee them away. In a nutshell: I wouldn’t do it again.. at least, not without trying the water-and-healthy-food thing first, to have something to compare to.

I do have the SLIMQUICK Caplets, which I intend to try out starting tomorrow (I really need a break from swallowing ginormous things, ugh!) and will share my thoughts on as they come up. Stay tuned.

SLIMQUICK Cleanse series: Intro · Day 1 · Day 2 · Day 3 · Final Review

In what has been dubbed “the dumbest move Twitter has ever made”, Twitter made a “small settings update” that turns out to not be so small after all, and has the Twitter community up in arms.

Their blog post doesn’t even hint at the gravity of the change. They took away people’s ability to choose what they saw. So really, they made things worse for everybody.

One of their reasons was that only 2% of their users were opting to view @replies to people that they weren’t following. I admit- most of the time I had the feature turned off. But I’m still mad that they took it, and here’s a few reasons why.

1: I did occasionally go in and turn on @replies to people I didn’t follow, because it was a good way to find new, interesting people. This is why the 2% that had it on did so, I assume. It was nice to be able to pick and choose when I saw those replies.

2: So, when the ability to choose was turned off, people started mangling their replies by starting them with other symbols before the @reply, which forced it on my FL. Ok.. so, by taking away my ability to turn off @replies to people I didn’t follow, I’m actually now BEING FORCED to see them because everybody is dodging the filter. Thanks, Twitter.

3: I hate being given the ability to choose, then have it taken away because “big brother knows what’s best for you.” Yeah. Bite me.

So Twitter has now “reversed the settings change”, except for the part where they only show up if they’re not actually replies. O…k… question! How many of those @replies are not replies? Doesn’t that take away the whole “reply” part of it? Isn’t it then a “mention” which Twitter just recently added that confuses a lot of people? Oh wait. That’s the best part about this whole thing. Apparently Twitter took it off because “it was confusing”.

The whole thing is dumb. Every day I find myself wishing more and more that Google had bought Twitter instead of Jaiku. Twitter shot themselves in the foot with this one- could this be the beginning of the end?

Here are some other articles on the issue:
Goodbye People I Never Knew
Is This Why Twitter Changed It’s Reply Policy?
Only A Little Reversed
Twitter Decides We’re Not Smart Enough for @Replies

So, my contract with T-Mobile just ended, and I switched over to Verizon.

Blackberry’s are a bit spendier on every other carrier, so I decided I wasn’t going to get one this time. I am testing The BlackBerry Theory (“once you go BlackBerry, you never go back”). I gotta say… I miss it already. But, that’s not what this entry is about.

I got an LG Dare, and so far, I have to say… I am not at all impressed. Maybe it’s just that I’ve been spoiled. But the point is…. I’m not impressed.

Section One: The Touch Screen
I’ve been spoiled by competent touch screen technology. The boyfriend has an iPhone that I play with from time to time, and I’ve got an iPod touch that I regularly access the internet and type on. I barely have to touch it to get it to register my keys. On the Dare… not so much. It’s slowed down my typing speed considerably to have to go back and hitting keys that it didn’t register that I hit.

Dragging leaves a bit to be desired as well. More often than not, the phone things I selected some option that is on the screen while I am trying to drag, instead of dragging. It’s a little counterproductive one may say.

Section Two: The Other Features
The “full feature” browser is a sad excuse for an HTML browser. I think I would have preferred a normal mobile browser, as navigating and using this one is a pain in the neck. Bah.

Uhm. So, I know there were other things I didn’t like about it but since I took the phone back a couple days ago, I’ve already forgotten about it. I started writing this on Friday and took the Dare back on Saturday.

I traded it in for a Voyager, and oddly enough, the Voyager (which has a full QWERTY keyboard on the inside) has a more responsive touch screen. The browser still sucks, but I like this phone a lot better.

Though, I just saw that RIM put out a touchscreen BlackBerry, and omg, I want it.

So, I downloaded the Google Chrome browser today.. I’ve only had a limited amount of time to play with it, but so far, I’d just like to say, wow. This thing is BLAZING fast. *love*

It’s a very simple, minimal looking browser. It’s kind of boring but in a good way I think.

The install was quick and painless, though I don’t recall it giving an option of choosing where to install.. the import features worked well and it grabbed all my stuff from Firefox, though it was kind of annoying that it made me close Firefox to do so.

The blank page shows a list of most visted sites, which is handy. Also, I like how the domain is black, and the rest of the URL is a lighter grey… minimize the spoof!

All in all, there are some features that I’d like to see added, but it’s a pretty solid beta, and I rather enjoy it.

So, there’s a lot of states that are passing laws requiring hands-free devices while driving. I figure Oregon will pass one in the near future. Also, I want to be one of the cool kids Actually, I’m just too lazy to hold my phone to my ear, and I really missed having a Bluetooth headset (I used to have a Jabra BT125 and was pretty fond of it, up until I dropped it in a puddle and it stopped working). So over the weekend I went and picked up a new one.

I was hanging out at Best Buy and picked up the Jabra BT8040 since I had liked my original Jabra headset… that didn’t work out so well for me. I plugged it in, let it charge for a bit, went to use it… the connection was extremely flaky. When it was connected, it was really static-y and dropped out ever few seconds, then would completely disconnect. No good. Also, pressing the button was not bringing up my voice dialing (srsly? Voice dialing is pretty key to the whole “hands free” thing). So I went to get the firmware update for the headset and started to install it… and it crashed. Fantastic! Do you know what happens when a firmware update fails on a headset? There’s a good chance that it will leave the headset nonfunctional. Which… it did. So there I am with a bricked headset. *sigh*

So the next day I went back to Best Buy and returned the defunct Jabra and got my money back. I had been talking to my friend Shawn and he was telling me about the new Jawbone.. his exact words about it were “Seriously, the Jawbone is one of those techs that is so advanced, it’s close to being magical.” I’ve got to say I’m pretty inclined to agree. The noise cancellation on it is amazing!

Now, in the Jabra’s defense, I did wind up having to update the firmware on my BlackBerry to get the Voice Dialing to work properly, even with the Jawbone… but man, the Jawbone totally put all other headsets I’ve ever seen to shame. I am so pleased! Best.splurge.ever.

I have seen the light and I am never going back.

Let’s briefly talk about what they both are. I’m sure you have an idea but I’m gonna throw it out there anyway. The RAW format is not really standardized, but in a nutshell, it’s minimally processed data from an image sensor, such as the one in a camera. It’s something like a digital photo negative… it contains the information needed to make an image. Then there’s a JPEG, which is more like the final printed picture. It’s an image that you can look at. A final product, persay.

Many cameras (well, maybe not the point-and-shoots so much, but most of the digital SLRs) give you the option to shoot in JPEG, RAW, or both in some cases. I admit, I shot in JPEG for a long time. But for people that edit their photos (much like how film photographers used different methods when developing their film for different effects), RAW is the way to go. Allow me to show you some visual examples.

Here’s a flower photo I took today.

It’s a decent picture, but a little boring and the colors don’t look nearly as vibrant or natural as they actually are. So, I spruced up the RAW file a bit.

Now that’s better. Yay better! But, just for curiosity’s sake.. let’s see what happens if I apply the same exact changes to a JPEG version of the original image that I applied to the RAW version of it.

Yes. Not so good, right? That’s because RAW files store more information than a JPEG. The RAW file doesn’t have a set white balance, and it hasn’t had saturation or contrast levels forced on it, or anything like that, so it can be changed in ways that a JPEG can’t, because the JPEG only kept the information that was visible at the time, instead of the information that could have been used to make adjustments. RAW is also 16 bit data as opposed to 8 bit, so it has 65,536 levels to work with instead of just 256 like the JPEG. It’s a little hard to explain what the difference is between the information.. but basically, there are not nearly as many things set in stone in a RAW file, so you have more control over the editing.

Another good example is in how you can edit the exposure. Today when I was out shooting, I had forgotten to adjust the manual settings on my camera when I went outside after shooting inside. This, of course, led to a painfully over exposed picture. Had I only been shooting in JPEG, the image would have been ruined forever, because you just can’t turn a white blur into something that makes sense. The RAW image however, stored more information about what the image looked like before it crossed the line to overexposed. So I was able to pop the image into Lightroom and turn the exposure down to rescue it. Allow me to show you what happened when I took the overexposed image and edited the RAW, and the JPEG versions of it.

So as you can see, there are many benefits to shooting in RAW. The only downside is that they take longer to write, and they are large files. They also require special software to read them. Lightroom is a great program for it. If you don’t do any post-processing on your photos, then it won’t be worth it to shoot in RAW. But if you do… try it out. I think you’ll like the amount of control you get with a RAW file over the JPEG.

So, I went up to Seattle this weekend (I will blog more about that tomorrow), and while I was there, my friends and I went to see the Jet City Roller Girls bout. I’d never seen roller derby before, and can I just say, it was the MOST FRICKEN AWESOME THING EVER!!!!

I mean, how can you beat it? You’ve got all these hardcore chicks on roller skates knocking the hell out of each other while their jammer tries to survive the chaos and pass everybody. It’s great! People break bones playing this game. Ouch, but yeah, it’s definitely bad ass! I sat in the crash zone for a while, but nobody fell on me. I was a little sad. Here’s a video I took of one of the jams.

So now that I have been exposed to the glory that is the roller derby, I really want to get into it! Portland is home of the Rose City Rollers and I would absolutely LOVE to be part of it. I figure, if I can survive kickboxing and mosh pits, and love every second of it, roller derby is meant for me to play! They have some clinics and tryouts coming up quick. Sadly I don’t think I’ll be able to get in this time around though. For starters, I don’t own skates or any of the rest of the gear. Secondly.. well, it’s been YEARS since I’ve been on a pair of roller skates. In-lines I can do.. quads… not so much ha. So I will have to get a pair and practice being about to stay on my feet. It looks like an expensive thing to get into… but some time soon, I will do it! And then you all have to come to Portland to cheer for me. *nods*

In short… if you’ve never been to a roller derby bout, look up your local team and go! It’s fun

Moses and the Israelites were on drugs, says Benny Shanon, an Israeli professor of cognitive philosophy.

Writing in the British Journal Time and Mind, he claims Moses was probably on psychedelic drugs when he received the Ten Commandments from God.

The assertions give a whole new meaning to Moses being “high” on Mount Sinai.

According to Shanon, a professor at Hebrew University, two naturally existing plants in the Sinai Peninsula have the same psychoactive components as ones found in the Amazon jungle and are well-known for their mind-altering capabilities. The drugs are usually combined in a drink called ayahuasca.

“As far as Moses on Mount Sinai is concerned, it was either a supernatural cosmic event, which I don’t believe, or a legend, which I don’t believe either, or finally, and this is very probable, an event that joined Moses and the people of Israel under the effects of narcotics,” he told Israel Radio in an interview Tuesday.

The description in The Book of Exodus of thunder, lightening and a blaring trumpet, according to Shanon, are the classic imaginings of people under the influence of drugs.

As for the vision of the burning bush, well obviously that too was a drug-fueled hallucination, according to Shanon.

“In advanced forms of ayahuasca inebriation,” he wrote, “the seeing of light is accompanied by profound religious and spiritual feelings.”

Shanon admits he took some of these drugs while in the Amazon in 1991. “I experienced visions that had spiritual-religious connotations,” he said.

The initial reaction to this controversial theory from Israel’s religiously orthodox community and the powerful rabbis who lead it was less than enthusiastic.

Orthodox rabbi Yuval Sherlow, quoted by Reuters speaking on Israel radio, said: “The Bible is trying to convey a very profound event. We have to fear not for the fate of the biblical Moses, but for the fate of science.”

Source

Okay. This is definitely the most interesting article I have read all day. There are two things I try not to really talk about too much: politics, and faith. Those conversations just never seem to go well. But I couldn’t resist posting this.

Now, allow me to preface these next few paragraphs by saying this: I was born and raised Protestant. I have my ups and downs with religion as we know it. Sometimes I’m not sure if I even really believe in God as he was taught to me. I am very confused about my own personal faith. So, I think a lot about possible alternatives.

One of my favorites, that ties in with this story, is this: Why do science and religion have to argue? Why does one have to be absolutely right? What if they’re both right? I think it makes more sense to believe that they’re both right. For instance!

Let’s say Moses was high. Ok… they like to say that the Lord moves in mysterious ways. Maybe God chose to come to Moses while he was high, so that science could explain this vision, but the people that have faith would be able to exercise that faith by believing that God really did make himself and his will known to Moses. Science and Religion are both right.

What about The Big Bang theory? What if… maybe it’s crazy… but what if, when God created the Heavens and the Earth, he didn’t just will it into existence, but rather, was the cause of the Big Bang? Again, Science and Religion can both be right.

Maybe God uses science to his advantage. Maybe it’s his way of doing things so that us mere mortals can somewhat understand it. Maybe he wants us to be able to relate to him just a little bit. Maybe it was never meant to be Science verses Religion, and the two are supposed to work hand in hand to explain Existence.

... just a thought.

(now, before people start commenting, let me remind you of the comment policy, particularly rules 5 and 6. I mean it; I don’t tolerate immature fighting on my blog.)

BERKELEY SPRINGS, W.Va. —  Their air might bring pollution complaints, but residents of Los Angeles drink the nation’s tastiest tap water, according to the judges of an international competition.

More than 120 water sources competed in the 18th annual Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting, held Saturday.

A panel of 10 journalists and food critics sampled sparkling, tap and bottled water from 19 states and other countries, including New Zealand, Romania, Macedonia and the Philippines.

The title of best municipal water was shared by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which serves Los Angeles, and the town of Clearbrook, British Columbia.

Los Angeles won a gold medal in 1998 and has been in the top five in four other competitions since then, according to the competition organizers.

“It means they give special care and attention to their water and how it is processed,” said event producer Jill Klein Rone.

source

Am I reading this right? Los Angeles has the best tap water in the nation? Are these people crazy?! Take it from me… I spent 21 years in L.A. and the tap water is NOT tasty. In any way, shape, or form. It tastes metallic. Bottled water companies made a killing on me and my family.

The tap water here in Portland is significantly better. I don’t buy bottled water anymore because the tap water here is actually drinkable. Those tasters…. have no taste. Durp. What other places have good tap water?

So, I installed Sim City Societies today. Here are my initial thoughts.

One: It’s nice that getting power to my city isn’t so god damn annoying. My biggest turnoff about the older versions is I had to actually pay attention to where I was putting water pipes and power lines. Not my thing. I just want to generate power and assume it knows where it’s going. bam! Place some windmills, produce power, go start building.

Two: ... you know, I didn’t really get much further than that because the game crashes every five-ten minutes. Seriously. I didn’t even get to finish the tutorial. Lame to the MAX. The patch says it fixed the random crash bug. Yeah, it lied. Screw you patch!

Three: From what I could tell, it looks like it’d be fun.

I know a lot of people are complaining about how it’s fundamentally different from the traditional Sim City games, but since I was never overly fond of the other ones, I think that’s probably going to prove to be a good thing, for me at least. I just wish i could actually play it.

So, I recently bought a new computer, and like the goober that I am, I didn’t notice that I had the option of having XP installed on it. So, I got a computer with Windows Vista. Now, let me say, Vista is very pretty. Very.

However.

My webcam is not compatible with it. Firefox crashes if I have too many tabs open. iTunes won’t run on it (it worked for about an hour, and crashed, and I haven’t been able to get it open since then). If I turn off User Access Control (which is the most ANNOYING thing on fricken earth, it asks if it’s ok to run something every single time I open a program that it doesn’t like), my software for syncing my cell phone doesn’t work. You have to reboot to turn that feature on and off by the way. It’s insanely slow. My music skips every time I open a full sized photo from my camera. And so on and so forth

I am, to say the least, annoyed.

DOOOOOOOOD.

So I went to the midnight showing of Spiderman 3. I LOVE SPIDERMAN!! (pronounced: spih-der-men)

Anyway. It was totally awesome. The Sandman was cool! I liked the part when he was first getting up. Ok and can I just say I love Topher Grace? He’s such a dork haha And uhmmmmmm, I still don’t like Kirsten Dunst as a redhead. And poor Harry. Ok so I don’t want to accidentally give any spoilers in my half-asleep state, and I have to be at work in 5 hours so I should probably make it a full-sleep state soon.

In a nutshell: Spiderman 3 was a little cheesy but still TOTALLY AWESOME.

The end.

Ok, the burning question, because I really must know…

Real or Fake Christmas trees!?

Please come cast your vote on the sidebar, because I don’t feel like redoing my whole template to include the poll in this entry. Thanks.

For the record: I am all about REAL trees. If looks could kill my mom would have been dead in a heart beat the one year she even mentioned putting up a fake tree. Go vote. Then comment here if you feel like it.