I wonder if Carbon Credits

...are printed on unbleached, 100% recycled paper using only soy based inks on printers that are Energy Star certified and run on solar power?

Doubt it.

Making money at the gym

A little over a month ago I decided it was finally time to "get in shape," so I joined the gym / fitness center / health club that is about a mile down the road from my office. The plan was to go during lunches three days a week, and, so far, that has worked pretty well. I have been consistent for over five weeks now! Although I have not noticed much of a difference in my appearance, I think that I am getting a little bit stronger, and I even started running on the treadmill a little (makes me kinda proud, even three or four years after my knee surgery).

This gym, which is pretty state-of-the-art, but does not have a website, has been open for about a year now, yet is still partially under construction and has not had it's "official" grand opening. What this means for me is that they are still charging their pre-grand-opening prices. Combine that with the corporate discount that I get since about half of my office are members there, whether they actually go or not, and it's a pretty sweet deal. Twenty-five bucks a month plus a $50 "processing fee" (they are careful not to call it an initiation fee) is about the best thing going.

To sweeten the deal even further, my company's health insurance provider offers discounts off our premiums for "healthy lifestyle" choices - one of which is joining a gym! The discount only works out to $4.50 a week, but since there are 4.33 weeks in a month, that saves me $19.50 every month off of my health insurance premium, making the real cost of my monthly gym membership only $5.50, if you don't include the processing fee (and only $1 more if you do).

Combine all of that with the fact that, since I go work out during my lunch hour, I don't have time to go out to eat on those days and am therefore forced (or at least encouraged) to bring my lunch to work, saving me even more money!

So really, by joining and going to the gym, I am somehow making a net profit on the decision.

Sweet.

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This video or Arnold in his earlier days is probably not safe for work or children, but I'm still totally entertained by it.

What Can Brown Do...

...for your waist line?

Mmm... breakfast.

(There's a good chance I'm going to die at 30.)

Psychologically Manipulating the Beeb

Wow, if I knew it was this easy to manipulate a major news organization into changing a story to better fit your agenda, I would have started doing this years ago! (Read the linked article at American Thinker.)

If it only takes a few well placed forum postings, idle threats, and insults of intelligence to change this:

Global temperatures this year will be lower than in 2007... This would mean global temperatures have not risen since 1998, prompting some to question climate change theory. But experts have also forecast a record high temperature within five years, probably associated with another episode of El Nino.

into this:

Global temperatures for 2008 will be slightly cooler than last year as a result of the cold La Nina current in the Pacific... But this year's temperatures would still be way above the average - and we would soon exceed the record year of 1998 because of global warming induced by greenhouse gases.

then I've been going about things all wrong! Who needs logic, critical thinking, and evidence?!

And really, is "way above average" even good writing for a "journalist"?

I'd tap it...

So. Not. Right.

Gmail Custom Time

Google always has to be on the bleeding edge of innovation. Today they introduced a new feature that is sure to be the envy of all of the other geeky email services: Gmail Custom Time.

Now you can send email from the past, (not before 01 April 2004, though) and have it show up in the correct order in the recipient's inbox!

They must be rolling it out slowly though, like they have done with other new features, because I still don't have the "custom time" option in my compose window. Oh well, I can wait - because when I get it, I can always send an email from the past as if it were already there!

April Fools! That's totally not possible.

Yay, that was a good one, Google.


**Update: More Google April Foolery - Project Virgle! A colony on Mars.