Archive for March, 2008

100 email addresses from gmail

Published by
the Hungry Dork Lord
at March 28, 2008 in Life Hacks. 1 Comment

I’m not big on posting about life hacks but I was just watching a clip from Tekzilla the other day and I thought I’d share something that gmail does that is really cool.

So it’s like this, my 1 email address from gmail can be modified limitlessly with a few additions to my current email address.
So say my email address is: thoughtsforbarter@gmail.com

With gmail you can add a “.” anywhere in your email address and it still goes to you.
For example: thoughts.for.barter@gmail.com
or: t.h.o.u.g.h.t.s.f.o.r.b.a.r.t.e.r@gmail.com

Also you can put a “+” after your email address and add anything to it and it still goes to you.
For example: thoughtsforbarter+wordpress@gmail.com
or: thoughtsforbarter+youtube@gmail.com

Add this to gmail’s filtering options and if you ever register for an online website and you start getting spam to that email address you know who’s spamming you and you can filter them out. And then send the company a nasty email for giving out your email address.

If you got gmail test it out.  Click on the register link on the right hand column under “Meta” and use your newly acquired knowledge to register for Thoughts for Barter.  I promise I don’t spam!  Go ahead.  Test me =)

Keeping it UP

Published by
jumpDAMNIT
at March 16, 2008 in Fitness and Jump Training. 0 Comments

Last time was about the jump start. The first work out that sets the tone for everything else to come. So this time around its only natural to go to the next step, which is “keeping it up”. So after my last entry I was determined to not only maintain but increase the level of intensity of my workouts. Unfortunately for me, after the basketball game loss on Sunday and other stressors involving my medicine rotation I wasn’t able to sleep a whole night. This of course threw off my whole entire schedule for the week.

It was hard, but everyday I had about only 4 hrs of sleep then went to rotations for 10 hrs. When I got home I was usually so exhausted I just knocked out for a few hours. This sort of sleeping cycle was tough, but when the clock struck 8:30 pm I knew it was time to get ready and go to the gym.

9:00 o’clock, time to do some work. I met up with my work out partner John Wu and gave him a look that I didn’t really want to be here. But I knew deep down inside I had made a commitment to myself and its going to take more than lack of sleep to keep me down. So here was the routine:

Squats: 135lbs x 10 reps, 5 sets. (these weren’t regular squats, rather they were explosive ones where you had to go all the way up to your toes and come down quickly)

Lunges: 15lbs x 10 reps in a forward and 10 reps in a lateral position for each leg. (my legs almost buckled on some of these)

Depth jumps: Standing on top of the highest box we could find, we jumped off and landed in a squat position and quickly jumped as high as we could. 5 sets x 10 reps.

Box jumps: 3 sets x 15 reps

Ab work out

Hamstring curl: 25lbs 3 sets x 10 reps.

I did all that on a wednesday and i’m still sore on sunday. So i’m thinking i’m doing something right. I think the weights and reps don’t even matter too much. Its more about level of intensity. When i’m trying to jump and grab that rim I need to be giving it my all. Therefore, it shouldn’t be a surprised if i’m working towards that goal I need to always be matching that same level.

On another note, 2 weeks ago I jumped for the rim and was about 2 inches off. I think sometime during this week i’ll give it another go and see how close i get. Wish me luck.

A1200 Ming, takes Red Pill, Moves Beyond my Reality

Published by
the Hungry Dork Lord
at March 12, 2008 in Story Time. 1 Comment

motominga1200.jpgAlas, my wonderful Ming, a phone that has become a huge part of my life, has evolved beyond my own reality. What seemed like a mistake, in actuality, was an escape from the matrix. It all makes sense now. While on my trip in the Bay, my friend (who shall remain nameless) Patty, dropped my Ming into her bowl of red soupy bun rieu goodness. My Ming wasn’t in there long but it was long enough for it to get a taste of what I now believe to be the red pill in soup form. Ming was tweaking out when I got home but after undressing her to allow her to dry off she seemed all better in the morning. In the days to follow, Ming started glitching but I didn’t believe it was a big deal. Then yesterday came, yesterday went, and apparently so did the mind of my Ming. My Ming is still with me physically, but her mind… her mind is just a blank red screen!

motominga1200red3.jpg

a bird pooed my shoe

Published by
the Hungry Dork Lord
at March 11, 2008 in Story Time. 2 Comments

My first day back in the bay and I was enjoying the cool breeze and the refreshing ocean air.  I had to transfer some fund at the bank so I headed down to Westlake.  As I was walking toward the bank there were a bunch of seagulls flying overhead.  At first I thought, “Wow, I haven’t seen seagulls in a while.  It’s good to be home.”  Then I thought, “Hmmm I hope I don’t get pooed on.”  Sure enough, as I’m walking, a seagull lets one go as to welcome me home.  Lucky for me it only hit my shoe.

Now there are two ways to see this.
The negative side: I got pooed on.
The positive side: a bird pooed my shoe.

There is a big difference.  The way I see it is when walking my feet are probably about a foot in front of me at most.  Sometimes my foot is directly under me.  So the fact that my shoe got pooed on instead of my face brings a big smile to my face.

This little incident pretty much foreshadowed my whole weekend too.
One crappy morning but a great weekend overall.

Make a great week!

JUMPSTART

Published by
jumpDAMNIT
at March 8, 2008 in Fitness and Jump Training. 0 Comments

It has begun. In the last previous weeks i’ve been preparing to “jumpstart” my jump training. Lots of stretching and I would say mild workouts on my legs to get them ready for the battle ahead.

First, I did my HIIT (high intensity interval training) which consisted of me riding a bike for 6 minutes, where the last minute was a full out cycling sprint. From there, I proceeded to the treadmill where I sprinted and jogged in intervals for 10 minutes. As I was letting my legs rest a bit, I continued to do some workouts for my abs and back. Now once my legs got about a 10 minute break it was time to start the real training.

Plyometrics: Basically its jump training. All you are really doing is jumping, but the technique, speed, and balance is what gets someone to increase their vertical. I started off with box jumps. I did a total of 7 sets about 12-15 reps depending on how much energy I had. The key for box jumps is to try to tuck your knees into your chest at the highest point of your jump before landing on the balls of your feet onto the box. Then immediately hop back down into a 3/4 squat, then repeat. Its important to keep the knees bent as to avoid any knee problems. It should be noted that a 3/4 squat gives me the practice of getting down and jumping up as quickly as I can as opposed to just hopping off and resting before i jumped again. There are many different ways you can do box jumps to focus on different types of jumping. This particular method will help me with the speed of my jump.

The next jumping exercise was the “one legged to two feet plant on a box”. I know its a long title, but it explains what i’m doing. I started off on my right foot only and bent down to a comfortable low and jumped up onto the box (smaller box then the one i used in the previous jump training) and landed on it with two feet. Then I quickly hopped back down and landed on the right foot again and repeated. I did 6 sets of 12 reps. This jump exercise obviously helps with jumping one legged by increasing the speed, balance, and height of my jump.

And that was that. My quick little “jumpstart”. Expect more workouts at higher intensity as the weeks come, however, it is getting increasingly harder to get good workouts and at the same time provide the rest time for my basketball games. But hey, whats another challenge to my list.