The Fountain of Accelerated Old Age?
Disclaimer: This opinion piece is merely conjecture and is not founded in any scientific research. I am part of the current generation of twenty-somethings. I see our elders who are more active and energetic than we are. Based on my observations of my friends and family, the current generation of twenty-somethings is aging quickly. How many of us have poor eyesight? How many of us have aching joints? How many of us have grey hair already? How many of us are lethargic all the time? Could it be our food and lifestyle? Consider the "advancements" made in the past fifty years. The current generation of twenty-somethings and early thirty-somethings are the first generation to have grown up with the following from birth:
- Non-stick cookware. First sold in France in the mid-1950s, non-stick cookware came to the U.S in the mid 1960s.
- Microwave ovens. When initial prices fell in the 1970s, microwaves started to become a common household appliance.
- Artificial sweeteners. The earliest artificial sweetener was developed in the mid-1960s.
- Ozone hole. Ozone depletion became an issue in the 1970s.
- Artificial food additives. Most artificial food additives came into prominence in the last half of the 20th century.
- Fast food. The first of the major fast food chains started in the 1940s.
- Processed foods.
- Cell phones. The first commercial cell phone service became available in 1978.
In addition, we have the intangibles of:
- Increased exposure to car exhaust.
- Sleep deprivation.
- Increased pace of life.
This list is not exhaustive and is, again, only conjecture based on observations. The list is unsubstantiated and is intended to spark discussion. Is it possible that the above-mentioned items and issues are causing us to age more quickly? Share your thoughts in the comments!
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Could Hillary Still Win?
I was having a discussion amongst friends and we started talking politics and the Presidential Election. The following questions were posed: What if all of Hillary Clinton's supporters decided to write her in? What if a few Obama supporters were swayed in her direction during the last six months of the campaign? Could this possibly result in Clinton being elected? A cursory search on Google shows that many people are considering her as the write-in candidate. If a grass-roots movement such as this were to gain momentum, and she does not garner/maintain a sore loser status up until the election, this could possibly happen. Let me know in the comments!
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"Shackler's Revenge," a song from the upcoming Guns N' Roses album Chinese Democracy, will appear on the video game Rock Band 2, coming to the Xbox 360 in September. This is exciting news! Maybe the August or Septemeber Chinese Democracy release dates are correct!
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Triple M Blog Fails to Credit VoiceOverTheWall.com
I guess I am actually doing them a favor by linking to them...the complete opposite of what they did for this site, but anyhow... The Triple M blog recently credited GNRDaily.com for information pertaining to the developments of Chinese Democracy webpages on Amazon.com and its sister site Amazon UK. What Triple M failed to do was to credit this blog, voiceoverthewall.com, for the research and time it took to track these developments. This considered bad business on the web as many bloggers know. To top it all off, they misinterpreted the information... Don't get too excited. As gnrdaily.com point out, this is the fourth time they'll listed a date in the history of the album's 15-year incubation period, but it is the first time it's got its dedicated page. The correct information is as follows: Amazon.co.uk is now listing the release date of Chinese Democracy as August 25, 2008. It is worth noting that they have previously listed its availability as September 2007, February 2008, and December 2008...Amazon.com finally, for the first time ever, has a page for Chinese Democracy. Triple M apparently refused to correct their story by declining to even post a comment submitted by the same visitor that originally submitted the voiceoverthewall.com story to GNRDaily. One more thing...Thank you GNRfan for letting GNRDaily and me know you noticed the story. It is proper to give credit where credit is due.
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Chinese Democracy Starts...August 25th 2008?
Amazon.co.uk is now listing the release date of Chinese Democracy as August 25, 2008. It is worth noting that they have previously listed its availability as September 2007, February 2008, and December 2008. Because of this, it is hard to put any faith in these dates. Amazon only knows what they are told by the record companies. Perhaps more promising though, is the fact that Amazon.com finally, for the first time ever, has a page for Chinese Democracy. Again, Amazon only knows what they are told by the record companies, but this one is worth putting stock in! Why? Never before has Amazon.com put up a Chinese Democracy page. In case you haven't heard, the world was buzzing on June 18th when nine tracks of Chinese Democracy were streamed by Antiquiet.com. For more, check out these links:
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Adobe Alters Photoshop Express Terms of Use
John Nack posts a note about the alarming Terms of Use for Photoshop Express, and the response from the Photoshop Express Team. Adobe does not claim ownership of Your Content. However,... you grant Adobe a worldwide, royalty-free, nonexclusive, perpetual, irrevocable, and fully sublicensable license to use, distribute, derive revenue or other remuneration from, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, publicly perform and publicly display such Content (in whole or in part) ... The Photoshop Express Team quickly replied and is altering the Terms of Use. We've heard your concerns about the terms of service for Photoshop Express beta. We reviewed the terms in context of your comments - and we agree that it currently implies things we would never do with the content. Therefore, our legal team is making it a priority to post revised terms that are more appropriate for Photoshop Express users. We will alert you once we have posted new terms. Thank you for your feedback on Photoshop Express beta and we appreciate your input.
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TNA Wrestling
I was there for the filming of the 2/28 episode! TNA has reused this footage of Me, Jami, Robby, and Ms. Mindy during the 3/6, and 3/21 episodes of iMPACT!  
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IceBreakers Mints Make Me Sneeze
Online Storage
With an ever-expanding need for more space and backups of critical files (photos and music, of course)...I have been looking at the various online storage options. Here are the ones I have found... - Mozy Home Free - 2Gb free for Macs and Windows. - Mozy Home - Unlimited for $4.95/month for Macs and Windows. - Photoshelter - Tiered photo storage plans starting at $9.99/month. - Skydrive - 5GB free, from Microsoft. - Jungledisk/Amazon S3 - $.15/GB/month for Macs, linux, and Windows. - Flickr Pro - $24.95 for unlimited photo storage. - Adrive - 50 FREE gb. There are many more, such as Shutterfly Pro (photos), Smugmug (photos), Google, etc. ArsTechnica reviews some of them here and ExtemeTech has a review of six free services here. If you find one of interest, please add it to the comments.
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Office Live Workspaces
I was curious about Microsoft's Office Live Workspaces when I heard it had been opened up to the public in beta form. Worthy of noting are the prize giveaways associated with registering and using the service. I signed up. It looks good and usable for many things (including the creation of quick notes and predefined task-based documents), but it is seemingly missing a HUGE feature curently available with Google Documents. Why can't I create a blank Word document or Excel Spreadsheet in Microsoft's Office Live? Why does this have to be an "extension" of Office and not a web-enabled Office? I think the answer is obvious...
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United States Tossing and Turning...
From Arstechnica... The US CDC wants you to get enough sleep. The agency tracks a variety of ailments, including Type 2 diabetes, depression, and cardiovascular disease, that have been associated with a lack of sleep. They also contributed a member to an advisory board that formulated a long-term plan (PDF) for research into sleep disorders. Now, just in time for National Sleep Awareness Week, the CDC has released figures indicating that the US population isn't getting enough rest.
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Are Your skills Obsolete?
Ultimate Collection of *NIX tips
Premium Priced the Same as Mid-Grade?
Maximizing MPG
Autobytel on the subject of obtaining the best miles per gallon. Check your owner’s manual to find out what fuel octane-rating your car's engine needs, then buy it. Resist the urge to buy higher-octane gas for “premium” performance. Octane has nothing to do with the gasoline’s performance, just its volatility factor in the combustion chamber. The higher the octane, the more stable the gas in the combustion chamber environment. Why do high-performance vehicles need higher-octane fuel? Because the combustion chamber environment is much hotter in the performance engine. Using high-octane fuel reduces pre-ignition in the upper regions of the combustion chamber, which can damage valves and pistons if allowed to go for long periods of time. Experts from the Automobile Association of America (AAA) say that about five percent of the cars sold in the U.S. require premium gasoline. Yet premium gas accounts for 20 percent of all gasoline sold. Check your owner’s manual for the recommended octane rating and stick to it.
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