Book review: The Circle

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The Circle by Dave Eggers

When I read Brave New World last year, I was amazed at how Aldous Huxley was able to predict the effect technology would have on society. The Circle by Dave Eggers is of the same mold, with a couple of very important differences. For one, the technology that Eggers describes in The Circle is not nearly as far-fetched as that described in Brave New World. Most, if not all, of the technology described in The Circle is available now. It’s the application that’s evolving. Second, Eggers predictions aren’t that far into the future. I would suspect that a lot of what is described in The Circle will come to pass within the next ten years, if not sooner.

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Life is about choices

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Boiled down to its simplicity, life is about choices. Every day, we must make an endless number of choices about all sorts of things – when to wake up, what to wear, what to eat, what to spend our time on, who to associate with. The list goes on and on. The best part is that we are in control of these choices. While some have limited scope, others can influence what path our life takes, whether we succeed or fail, and in extreme cases, whether we live or die.

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The 2014 edition

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Just like last year, I let the beard grow out over the holidays. I didn’t start as early, and I kept things trimmed a bit shorter, which seemed to work better. While it didn’t get quite as unruly, I’m still not a facial hair person.

Here is this years edition:

It’s getting shaved off in the next day or two. If you’re curious, here’s the link to last year’s edition. Interestingly, it’s almost a year to the day since I ended last year’s experiment.

With the beard coming off, it’s now officially 2014!

Book review: Crux

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Spolier alert – if you haven’t read Nexus, or are in the middle of it, be aware that there are a few mild spoilers in this review of Crux. In case you’re wondering, the short summary is that I didn’t enjoy it as much as Nexus, and it didn’t make my must read list.

Crux by Ramez NaamWhile browsing my lengthy Amazon wish list recently, I noticed that Crux, the sequel to Nexus by Ramez Naam, was available. I thoroughly enjoyed Nexus, so I figured Crux would be worth a read. I was curious to see where Naam was going to take the story and the technology.

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Smart TV, dumb idea

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The Roku TV - yet another smart TV

One of the items being hyped at CES this year is the smart TV. There’s word that Roku, makers of the streaming media player, is integrating its technology into a TV that will be available this fall. There’s also word that LG has revamped WebOS and will use it in their smart TVs. They will join other manufacturers such as Samsung, Sony and Vizio who already have smart TV offerings. There’s also been rumors over the last couple of years that Apple will at some point release a smart TV as well.

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Book review: Ready Player One

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Ready Player One by Ernest ClineFor my first book of the year, I chose Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. It fit with one of my reading themes regarding futuristic, dystopian versions of the future with an interesting twist. The story contains a lot of references to 1980’s pop culture, with a particular emphasis on video games of the era. Since I grew up during the eighties and spent a lot of time during my junior high and high school days on an Atari 2600, Colecovision, Commodore 64 and various TRS-80 models, I figured it would be an interesting read as well as a nostalgic trip down memory lane.

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My 2014 fitness goals

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I had a decent 2013 when it came to fitness. I walked a lot, completing over 660 miles with my loyal Golden Retriever at my side (see the graph below for the monthly figures). I also made it to the gym quite a bit, mixing up a decent amount of cardio and weights.

Walking distance as tracked by RunKeeper

So why wasn’t the past year great? I’m not totally happy with my weight. I’m toting around about 170 pounds, and my preference is to stay somewhere between 160 and 165. Overall, that’s my target goal for the next year. To continue working out as regularly as I did in 2013 while shaving off a few pounds.

So here are my goals for 2014. I wanted to document them for this upcoming year to make myself more accountable. I’ve also tried to make them as S.M.A.R.T. (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, time-based) as possible.

  1. Log 160 days at the gym in 2014
    I want to hit as many weekdays as possible in the gym for either weights or cardio. I figure there are about 260 weekdays during the year, so hitting 60% should be attainable.
  2. Walk 650 miles in 2014
    Since I hit 661 miles in 2013, hitting 650 should be achievable. I’d like to see if I can get as close to 700 as possible.
  3. Eat healthier
    OK, so this isn’t very S.M.A.R.T., but I’ve got to figure out how to eat better. For starters, I need to be more conscience of my calorie intake, and then I need to be a lot more careful about the types of calories I eat. In other words, I need to cut down on things like refined sugars, junk foods, and items with ingredients like high fructose corn syrup. The key will be figuring out how to measure it in order to enforce accountability.

I’m pretty confident about numbers 1 and 2, but it’s #3 that I’ll need to concentrate on if I want to make it to my stated goal of getting under 165 by the end of 2014.

Well, now that I have it written down, it’s time to go and perform!

If you have any ideas or tips on how to eat healthier and measure it, please leave them in the comments. I’m all ears!