Clans are for Noobs
There are times when I need to unload about 30 rounds of 5.56mm ammunition directly into someones head. For pretend, of course.
Since just about the very first instance of a multiplayer online first-person-shooter (FPS), players have found the need to seek out other players, to organize and to compete together. The "Clan" has a useful place in role playing games (RPG): these games are extraordinarily difficult at times, and only teams of well coordinated players with differing strengths can accomplish a goal. When it comes to FPS games, however, Clans are a way for no-talent noobs to pool resources, have their own forum and server and to coopt other noobs into their clique so they can abuse them. With one notable exception, I have avoided clans because - quite simply - I don't need them. I do better on my own as a lone wolf player than most other people could ever muster in a team.
Tonight I was reminded of this. And usually when these 'clanners' start with their infantile games, I kow myself so I can continue to enjoy whatever server I'm on. But as I get older, I realize that no unique mix of environment, weapons and objectives can be worth putting up with the puerile threats of a bunch of prepubescent foul-mouthed punks. So I did what any mature individual would do. I called them all names and left in a huff. But not until after smoking them all.
That Was Almost Another Giant Leap For Mankind…
Those who know my frothing dislike for anything Obama might expect me to react strongly to the news that BHO is moving to cancel NASA's Constellation Program. With the Space Shuttle Program winding down this year, this will leave us without any civilian, non-commercial space launch capacity. Surely, I would rail and shout against this, and paint horns and a goatee on BHO... but I'm not.
I'll give you a second to collect your jaw from the floor and discuss the Space Shuttle itself: it is a remarkable piece of engineering. Designed from more than a million parts made by the lowest bidder, this behemoth spacecraft rides atop more than a million pounds of potentially highly explosive thrust into space itself. It supports protects a small crew of humans from the vacuum of space, solar and interstellar radiation, volitile temperature changes and hurtling bullets of space debris as it itself orbits the planet at several thousands of miles per hour. Then, on command, it drops from the sky wrapped in an envelope of glowing plasma and hurtles through the atmosphere at speeds as high as mach 25, before gracefully gliding to touch-down on a runway usually not far from where it launched days-even-weeks earlier. It is truly a magnificent piece of junk.
Caught that last part, did you? Let's face it, every time they send an orbiter up, pieces fall off. It has a dismal safety record; of the five orbiters built since the 1970's, two have been destroyed during operation. Ironically, it's not the craft itself that failed in these events; a faulty booster shredded Challenger and debris damaged Columbia fatally on launch. The crew performed most of it's mission unaware that it was already doomed. If we omit the Enterprise - the prototype used for testing flight characteristics and support systems - then the shuttle has a 50% accident rate with a 100% mortality rate. In the entire Mercury, Gemeni and Apollo programs, we only ever lost three Astronauts, and every one of those spacecraft were practically prototypes. The promise of the shuttle was a reusable, single-stage-to-orbit (SSTO) payload and crew delivery system to support a manned presence in space. The inability to engineer the SSTO part ultimately made the shuttle no more practical than multi-stage rockets still in use by military and commercial space flight organizations.
The Shuttle Program was a grand experiment, but one that needed to be reigned in a decade ago in favor of a more advanced, more scalable, more efficient vehicle or fleet of vehicles. Instead, the brain cases at NASA gave us... rockets to the moon. The logic was sound mind you - rockets are a proven technology which are save and reliable. With a minimum of investment, we could get maximum results. The failure mode in this thought is that we were actually sacrificing a level of efficiency gain just to accomplish a goal that we had already accomplished.
Going to the moon isn't about reliving the glory days of yester-year. It's about reviving the effort itself, an effort that led to a bounty crop of technologies that impacted evey aspect of the life we enjoy today. Some people believe that America has lost it's mojo, that we could not get back to the moon even if we wanted to. I say, Yes We Can. And while Obama's reasons for cancellation have nothing to do with giving the American space program the kick-in-the-pants it needs, and there's no doubt that Obama doesn't truly believe in the concept of American Exceptionalism, at least he's nipped in the bud a program which stands completely contrary to the notion.
How Barack Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love The Bomb
I'm in danger of becoming an Obama Apologist. God help me.
Among the details of teh President's new budget is $7 Bn US for nuclear arms research and sucurity. This is a $624 Million increase over FY2009. This after pledging to work towards disarmament and to promote non-proliferation. Critics will be quick to point out that this is yet another broken promise among a list of Obama's failed policy initiatives.
To be fair, BHO deserves every bit of the criticism. I just can't help feeling a bit of sympathy. He came into office on a wave of self-generated enthusiams, believing that he had a mandate from the votors. (Refer to the infamous "but, we won" quote.) The reality of being the President of the United States coupled with the burdens of having to do what's right ahead of what's wanted is kowing him now. The security of the United States is paramount. In an age with any oil-rich tin-pot dictator can develop nukes, we need the ability to respond overwhelmingly. Reagan's MAD Policy is as pragmatic today as it was under communist threat.
February 1, 2010 – Like I’ve Got Jello in My Shirt Pocket
Today is the first true weight training workout I've done in a long time. A very long time. Last week I did hit the pecs and triceps, for which I have been made to suffer. This week, after a brief warmup on the track I hit the Smith machine. Mr Smith, whoever he was, was either a brilliant engineer or a dark-hearted sadomasochist. The versatility of the Smith machine - particularly combined with a recumbent bench - cannot be matched by anything else in the gym. In one machine in 20 minutes I did pects, delts, biceps, triceps and pretty much anything above the gut. I even worked that little muscle in my lip that lets me sneer like Elvis when I'm overdoing it. Hey... Jordan sticks his tonge out, I sneer. Get over it.
The reason for the questionable choice of title is... I have a series of metrics by which I judge whether a workout was "good" or "bad". When my workout is cardio with high intensity interval training, my metric is "I'm soaked in sweat." When I'm doing weight training, it's how long after my workout is finished do I continue to sweat. This is one measure of how fast I'm able to recover. As your performance level increases, your recovery time decreases. So when you've pushed yourself beyond your normal envelope, you will take longer to recover from a workout. Tonight, I quit my workout about 70 minutes ago, but I didn't stop sweating until about 20 minutes ago. My pects and biceps continue to quiver because my body has not yet been able to resupply them with glycogen.
Tomorrow, I will add ibuprofen to my diet.
Feb. 1, 2010
No exercise per se; spent the day doing work around the house and on the vehicles. Diet consisted of pizza, goldfish and wings. I observed moderation at least, but there is plenty of salt in all that. Felt great getting caught up on things.
It Starts…
This will not be one of the short posts; I'm still entitled to an occasional manifesto.
1. Gains and Losses
Being overweight is as much a state of mind as it is a condition. Once upon a time, I weighed 335 lbs. If that sounds like a lot, that's because it is. I wouldn't even admit my weight to people. I dare not speak it aloud. I carry my weight well, so most people give me 50 lbs of lee way. That may sound like a benefit, but in reality it led to a number of extended and embarrassing conversations. It was so bad, I wouldn't even tell doctors my weight unless it was in metric units. "My weight? 152 kilos." Nevermind the physical limitations it placed on me. I got winded walking to my car. I rolled on my side to get up when most people sat up. I was a fatass.
Once upon a time, well after the 335-pound mark, I weighed 235 lbs. Where once there were great rolls of flab, they had been replaced by toned muscles. Where once I got winded getting to my feet, I was running a mile in under 8 minutes. I was in shape - a shape other than "round". Then I got hurt, and slowly the scale edged back up. Soon I didn't recognize myself in the mirror. I had chins (plural). At 295 lbs, I realized that I needed to do something and got back to work. Within 16 months, I was better than ever. I could run a mile in 7:45 seconds. I could a 5k race in 25 minutes. Or, I could pace myself and run forever. I had large well defined muscles. I was giving clothes away because they were way too big for me. I stepped on the scale one morning and watch the needle bounce at the half way mark between 209 and 210. I rounded up, called it good and had a beer.
This morning I got off the scale, and the reading kept changing between 264.5 and 265. Giving myself the benefit of the doubt, I rounded down to 264, but I couldn't call it good - not yet. I had actually gained weight, but that didn't bother me. I've been here before. If there's one thing I know, losing weight is easy.
2. How Easy, Andrew?
So easy that most people be ashamed of theirselves for just not doing it. The reason the diet industry makes so much money is because those crazy juice diets where you pay $100 for a bottle of crap... they work. You will lose your ten pounds in week, if not in a day. My longest continuous streak of weight loss was 66 lbs. The first 10 lbs came off in a few days. I lost 20 more over the next week, and it would be two months for the next 36. Diminishing returns; the body adapts.
That first 10 lbs that anyone can lose isn't because the magical african root extract in the fad diet pill you'll never hear of again. It's called "water". Men will lose or gain as much as 5 lbs of water weight on a day to day basis. Women coming off their cycle can lose 10 lbs without doing anything. Most people are carrying a few extra pounds of water weight because of the high-salt diet we Americans eat (salt makes you retain water). When you go on a diet, its not the restricted calories that budge the scale. You cut back on salt, the water exits and your lighter. The caffeine in the weight loss drink is a diuretic - it stimulates your kidneys to suck you dry. Some even contain mannitol; as an organic compound similar to sugar, it is used as a sweetener in diabetic friendly candies and is a very powerful diuretic.
The next 10 lbs is a bit harder, and I'll explain why later. Know this: if you simply change tactics, you can keep it going. And a good weight loss streak tends to reinforce itself. Nothing creates success like success. Most people don't go on to the next 10 lbs because losing the first ten was effortless and they don't understand that a small effort may be required to go further. For now, let's eat.
3. Food, Glorious Food
First of all, if you're fat, don't blame food. That is the moral equivalent of blaming the rape victim for weight a short skirt. Don't even go there; I will punch you in your throat. We need food. Food not only powers the molecular engines that animate us, but it provides the building blocks that make and repair us daily. If you didn't learn that through countless hours of sitting in front of the TV with your finger up your nose watching Slim Goodbody on PBS, then you should have figured it out by now.
I'm also going to cut you off from believing in good foods and bad foods. There is nothing inherently morally superior about a salad (before or after the ranch dressing) than there is for a philly-cheese steak sandwich. In the early years of human existence, we ate berries when we could because the sugars provided quick energy. We ate leaves and roots to give us long term energy. And then we incorporated meat into our diets, and our development took off. Anyone that tries to convince you to eat only meat or only vegetables or in any way try to restrict your variety should be called names and stoned to death.
Here's the secret to food: it's quality over quantity. The fad diets that tell you to only eat off a menu of specific kinds of food only serve to restrict your calories by restricting your choices. (Exception: the Atkins diet. More on that later.) If you carefully manage your food choices and also portion sizes, you can make modest cuts in your diet and lose weight without will power and without giving up your favorites.
4. A Lesson in Biochemistry
Don't panic. Here's all you need to remember; fats, carbohydrates, carbohydrates, starches, sugars, proteins, insulin and leptin. In that order.
One of the biggest mistakes out there is to go on a low fat/no fat diet.Fat is good. Say it with me, "fat is good." Do you know why a big slice of pizza is so satisfying? Because it's full of fat! Do you know why dressing makes a salad tolerable? Fat! Fats have been demonized as being something bad. But, you need them. They contain vitamins like D and K which are absolutely essential for good skin and to prevent you from bleeding to death (in that order). The fat molecules themselves are a great way to provide long term energy for strenuous activities. They also have an uncanny capability to coat your stomach and make you feel sated. If you cut fat out of your foods, you tend to eat more. And when food manufacturers make non-fat versions of foods, they put in carbohydrates.
Carbohydrates actually covers almost everything else. A If you start with a sugar molecule and start stringing them together, you get starches. Add some more sugar molecules and your starches turn into simple carbohydrates. Add some more sugar and you get complex carbohydrates. You need the carbs, but if you can help it go for the complex carbohydrates. The thing about fats and carbs are that the body breaks them down to use for energy. Any excess you consume gets stored as fat. If you eat simple carbs or sugars, you quickly overwhelm the bodies need for that energy and the insulin kicks in transporting those sugars to your energy stores; your fats. With fats and complex carbs, your body has to use energy to break them down into usable components. A gram of fat has about 9.6 calories of stored energy, but your body will consume 2 calories to break it down and transport it. A complex carbohydrate might have 5 calories, but the body only expends .6 calories to break it down. A sugar molecule is a little more than 4 calories, but they pretty much fall apart.
As your body breaks down foods and converts them into energy in the form of glycogen, some of the energy is used right away. If you're fat, then you probably tend to overeat; that surplus of food is carried away by the blood and stored as energy in our cells. The hormone that regulates this activity is insulin. As we overeat, our bodies produce more and more of it commanding our cells to take more in. Eventually we become resistant to our own insulin and our pancreas produces excess amounts and our cells begin to go into a state of constant storage. We get fat and we stay hungry.
The flip side of this is leptin, a hormone that signals the brain when we've had enough food. Again, the act of overeating deadens our brain's sensitivity to leptin. Soon, we feel hungry all the time, we eat way too much and we gain weight.
Scientists are only recently understanding the interplay between leptin and insulin. They don't directly interact, but instead operate in similar fashion to regulate our eating. Insulin makes us feel hungry, and leptin makes us feel full. In overeating, we raise our levels of both and become resistant to their effects; we're always hungry and never satisfied.
5. What about that Atkins Feller?
Remember how we were talking about the calories in our dietary components? Try this: a gram of protein is 4 calories, and the body may expend up to 6 calories to break it down. That's -2 calories earned. We don't eat protein to get energy, we eat protein to get proteins to rebuild our body. Being well adapted survivors, our body has developed a way to get usable energy when we can't get carbohydrates. The liver begins breaking down our fat stores to produce ketones which can be used instead of glycogen. Your body is taking in food and you feel sated, but there's no energy to be had. Hence, people who go on high protein, low carbohydrate diets do lose weight. None work better than Atkins.
There are risks. For starters, these diets can overwhelm the kidneys and lever. You also don't get a range of vitamins and minerals normally supplied by fruits and vegetables. People on Atkins tend to consume more salt when they don't need to. And you can be the victim of your own success - the rapid weight loss induced under Atkins often leaves you with large flaps of loose skin. Your skin won't tighten up as fast as Atkins pulls the pounds off. Here's my quick advice on Atkins: don't use it to lose weight in general. Use it to break log jams in your weight loss efforts, but as soon as you get over the hump, work the carbs back in over the course of a week.
6. This Is All Leading Up To A Point
I promise. Just bear with me.
7. Bad News: You'll Need to Exercise
You need to exercise. The health benefits to exercise have absolutely nothing to do with losing weight. In fact, you can exercise all you want and probably won't lose a pound. You might even gain weight. Muscle is more compact than fat, so a person that weights 225 lbs at 6'2" could either be a pudgy couch potato or a sculpted body builder. For that reason, don't ever trust a height-weight chart to determine if you're a "good weight". They lie and it will hurt your heart.
Exercise increases your metabolism. You have something called a resting metabolic rate - it's the amount of energy you consume doing absolutely nothing more than being alive. An average person might have a RMR between 1,500 and 2,200 calories per day. If you jogged for an entire hour (and you know you probably can't), you would only burn a little over 700 calories. So you should not think of exercise as a way to burn off that candy bar you just pushed into your face hole. Rather, exercise increases your overall metabolism in part by adding muscle.
8. Good News: Exercise is Easy
I happen to enjoy running. My passion for running exceeds what my feeble body is capable of. I long ago learned to suck it up and run through the pain. That pain used to be my body resisting any attempt to accomplish exercise. When you're out of shape, that pain is your muscles and tendons tearing and your bones developing microfractures. On a small scale, this is necessary and good; our muscles and bones are built up and strengthened through cycles of stress and repair. But that extreme level is not necessary simply to raise your metabolism.
For starters, running is an aerobic exercise. Aerobic exercises are good for the heart, but won't help you achieve your weight loss goals directly. Aerobic activity does burn fat, but only after you've done it for about ten minutes and have exhausted the glycogen supplies in your cells and liver. Once you stop, so does the fat burning. Alas, aerobic exercise does not raise your metabolic rate. If you over-do it with aerobic exercise you will go into a state of anaerobic exercise. If you do that for extended periods of time, you will damage your muscles in a way that breaks down the muscle, which is the opposite of what you want to do.
The best way to raise your metabolic rate is through weight training. Weight training will build muscle. Muscle will burn energy doing nothing more than being there because muscles never really rest - they always are in a state of tension known as "tone". If you're thinking that by doing weight training you'll turn into some muscle-bound gorilla, let me save you some trouble and bring you down a notch: not in your wildest dreams. Champion body builders spend upwards of eight hours per day in a gym building muscle. These are athletes at the extreme balancing weight training and nutrition to get the biggest muscles and baddest pumped up look they can. And even after all that, the guys and girls you see on tv or magazines are winners of life's lottery of genetics. Do your best and you'll get a nice toned look, but not much more.
That being said, don't not do the aerobic exercise. In fact, the best way to start your weight training routine is by warming up with a twenty minute session of high intensity interval training. HIIT works like this: you do a brisk walk. About five minutes into the walk, you run flat out for 20 to 30 seconds, then go back to the walk. As you increase in fitness, you will walk a little more briskly and increase the amount of time to spend running all out.
Be careful - with aerobic exercise and HIIT especially, your breathing ability (VO2Max) and muscle strength will quickly outpace the ability of your bones, tendons and joints to absorb the stresses. This is when most excercise routines fail. People injure themselves and have to take time off to recover. Things like shin-splints or microfractures can heal in a few weeks, but a few weeks can easily turn into months, years or forever. Learn to pace yourself and don't feel bad if you don't go the distance every time.
9. That Point
I'm fat. Again. I could complain, but instead I'm going to do something about it. My goal is to lose 25 lbs by the start of summer. My other goal is to run in the Peachtree Road Race. I'm not even going to harbor dreams of running the whole thing, but if it happens that's good too. I've started with exercise. After a month of building up my body, I'll begin backing off the calories. I'll eliminate salt and caffiene to minimize their effects. The point of this blog is to track my progress on both goals and to make myself accountable. If you don't see an update, feel free to send me a nasty gram.
Ruskies Unveil New Fighter
I briefly toyed with the headline "Ruskies Still Copying US, But Getting Slower." The Sukhoi design bureau unveiled their latest prototype of a Generation 5 fighter jet - the Su T-50, or "Pak FA" with what appeared to be a maiden test flight (video). Note that the gear is kept down for most of the flight, indicating that this was a test of the retraction capability. However, the designers claim that the aircraft has already sustained super-cruise.
The aircraft is a shared project with India - Russia bringing the metallurgical technology and ample supply of titanium to the deal. India brings their advanced understanding of composite technologies and billions of dollars of capital to the table. Together they will be able to have this fighter operational in about 10 years.
The bragging rights for Russia is that they'll finally have a plane to go against the American F-22. Not so fast professor - the F-22 is fully stealth. The Pak Fa is clearly - at face value - limited in its stealth. Clearly they've chose maneuverability over stealth (something the F-22 didn't have to do) by having fully gimballed exhaust ala the Mig 29 OVT. And by the time this thing gets into production, we'll be hammering on our prototype Generation 6 fighters.
A reset has occurred
First, my brother has a blog. From the clear blue sky, he got a website, set up the blogging software and even wrote a few posts. Of course he's capable. The surprising thing is that he never struck me as a blogger.
The thing about having a blog is that you have to maintain a blog with regular frequency. Your readers won't mind if you post hourly, daily or weekly as long as you keep the same rythm. Upon realizing that I hadn't posted since November, it occurred to me that I simply don't have the time to post the kind of content I did before. And if you're going to change your style, then change your style.
I've a new wordpress theme, mainly because there is an entire generation of newer wordpress software to be had.
Alas, all the old content is gone.