My day started at 0530, which is early in my book, but considering i'm usually woken up around 5 am while doing my job its sort of like i got to sleep in. Anyway, I finished out my training for the month. Now to finish out my 2 classes so i can focus on the third as well as my upgrade at work.

The Taco Bell Diet:
Really, I can't imagine a more horrible campaign from a fast food company. My friends and I were trying to come up with the logic behind this drive-thru diet they are promoting all over the place. A. They watched the "Jared has Aides" episode of South Park and were dumb enough to try it. B. They are finally acknowledging that about 80% of the food at Taco Bell will give you "the squirts" (technical terms only people).  C. They actually know you're dumb enough to think you can lose weight solely by eating food from a drive thru, where the implication is you are probably too lazy to walk into a restaurant, wait a little bit, and walk back to your car with a to go order. or D. Studies have shown that the al fresco menu is actually laced with cocaine or something causing you to get addicted to an easily obtainable and currently cheap meal item (science has not verified this, but i have a feeling drugs were involved in the creation of this campaign). Well to all you new year's weight loss types i'd like to say one thing. Eat Healthy (i.e. stop eating processed foods, lettuce with less color than snow, smaller portions, and more frequently) and Exercise (you gotta mix up your routine, sure walking an hour is better than not walking, but mixing up sprints, jogging, walking, and non aerobics will certainly kick-start your body). Taco Bell is not a cure, in fact, you're going to what most would argue is the problem-- for the answer. You don't go to the cheesecake factory to get over your lactose intolerance (tempting as it may be).

Paul Oakenfold:
Good Sir, I am completely enjoying your Perfecto Podcast, its free, it fills the iPod, its got your signature touch, and it fills the void of no longer being able to listen to E-Leven with Paul Oakenfold that I used to in Colorado.
If you are a reader, love electronica, know who in the world mr. Oakenfold is, and have access to itunes, definitely check out the "Perfecto" podcast. There are other DJ's out there with podcasts where you can listen pretty much every week to new content without having to hit up the exclusive clubs. Perfecto easily joined my normal routine of podcasts... speaking of...

NSFW:
With a name like that, its no wonder most people don't subscribe.... while at work... but certainly check it out from your home. Sure they call it NSFW, and sure it has an explicit tag, but if you know who Brian Brushwood is (@Shwood on twitter,  magician, and head proctor at everyone's favorite "Scam School"), then you know the show isn't nearly as off-limits as the name implies. Anyway, since they are still trying to find their groove, the show up until now has been a pretty good variety show of content. Heck they had "Matt Parkman" (Greg Grunberg) from Heroes on last episode, and unlike a traditional interview show Grunberg had a blast. The show is a little bit of everything that happened in the world of magic/ the hosts lives/ the news/ and lately about the faux-intershow dispute with Martin Sargent (leader of the Unscrewed Army) and Sarah Lane (cute woman we associate with all things tech... who is apparently working at Current but i wouldn't know since i haven't had cable in months, viva la internet/hulu/justin.tv). Check it out at one of my favorite websites-

TWIT.TV:
And of course the network that makes NSFW possible the TWIT network! No, not that social bird site (though i'm @quickrecipes if you really wanna follow me, number 4 in North Dakota, and i'm just stationed here, this isn't really my home). TWIT being This Week In Tech, among other things, and you'll find most other shows on the network were independent podcasts at one point or if they are fairly new, they follow the TWI monacher. Take a trip on the wayback machine to about 12-14 years ago, on ZDTV... or TechTV as it became... or G4 as its known now, remember way back then? There was a couple of really smart guys surrounded by pretty ladies that knew the difference between USB and Firewire, and a couple other younger fellows that may or may not be huge internet celebrities (Kevin Rose and Chris Pirillo to name a few). If you remember way back then you remember Leo Laporte. He's the guy making it all happen at the TWIT "campus" out in California. He hosts so many shows, you're only missing out on Free Knowledge by not listening or visiting the site. look up Twit.tv, go... now.... find a subject your interested in... learn....

You kept reading? alright well then i'll give you one last treat, not that name dropping my favorite tv sites isn't enough, check out revision3.com , sure it sounds like a super technical company name, but its a great internet tv network with a lot of original programs. If you've been at the watercooler and heard someone talking about "digging a story" and its not 1950, then they were most likely talking about digg.com, and Kevin Rose hosts a show (Diggnation) about the site summarizing the tops stories that he and my guild buddy Alex Albrecht pick.... although there may or may not be some heavy drinking involved. which is a formula for great entertainment.

Well that killed an hour, back to doing work.

You Deserve a Pizza.
Peace, Love, and Applesauce:
-Jeff