My Daily Routine
(Unknown author)
I am a conservative.
This morning I was awoken by my alarm clock powered by electricity generated by the public power monopoly regulated by the U.S. Department of Energy.
I then took a shower in the clean water provided by a municipal water utility.
After that, I turned on the TV to one of the FCC-regulated channels to see what the National Weather Service of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration determined the weather was going to be like, using satellites designed, built, and launched by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
I watched this while eating my breakfast of U.S. Department of Agriculture-inspected food and taking the drugs which have been determined as safe by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
At the appropriate time, as regulated by the U.S. Congress and kept accurate by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the U.S. Naval Observatory, I get into my National Highway Traffic Safety Administration-approved automobile and set out to work on the roads build by the local, state, and federal Departments of Transportation, possibly stopping to purchase additional fuel of a quality level
determined by the Environmental Protection Agency, using legal tender issued by the Federal Reserve Bank.
On the way out the door I deposit any mail I have to be sent out via the U.S. Postal Service and drop the kids off at the public school.
After spending another day not being maimed or killed at work thanks to the workplace regulations imposed by the Department of Labor and the Occupational Safety and Health administration, enjoying another two meals which again do not kill me because of the USDA, I drive my NHTSA car back home on the DOT roads, to my house which has not burned down in my absence because of the state and local building codes and Fire Marshal’s inspection, and which has not been plundered of all its valuables thanks to the local police department.
And then I log on to the internet — which was developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Administration — and post on Freerepublic.com and Fox News forums about how SOCIALISM in medicine is BAD because the government can’t do anything right.
Merry Christmas, Bob
by Chris Shugart
“So, what are you doing for a living these days?” Bob asked me. We’re sitting on the couch at one of those tedious holiday get-togethers, you know, the ones where you’re supposed to be nice to family members you never see except during major holidays and funerals. I think Bob is my wife’s brother-in-law’s second cousin or something.
“I’m the assistant editor and a writer for Testosterone magazine,” I say. Bob looks at me with a blank expression on his face, as if I’d just told him I sell handmade testicle warmers beside the freeway and was looking to open franchises across the nation.
“It’s a bodybuilding magazine,” I say.
Blank expression. Deer caught in the headlights. Ronnie Coleman doing trigonometry.
“Oh,” Bob finally says, “I heard you were, like, one of those bodybuilder guys or something. So, what’s that like, you know, working out every day and stuff? I just don’t have time to lift weights all day, but I have been meaning to get rid of this beer belly.” He takes another sip of beer. “What do you suggest?” Sip.
At first I was a little offended. I wanted to grab him up and say, “You can’t tell I’m a bodybuilder?! Look at my ass! Now, if that’s not a nice round squat-built piece of sirloin, I don’t know what is! You think that comes naturally? I can crack walnuts with this puppy! Wanna see? Huh, punk? Do ya? Do ya?”
Then I realize this just might cause a scene and could cost me several Christmas presents. I was planning on returning any presents I got and using the money to buy a power rack, so I didn’t want to jeopardize this gift getting opportunity. I also realized that old Bob probably had a certain preconceived image of a bodybuilder and I just didn’t fit that image. I’m not gorilla huge; I weigh about 205 at 5′11″ right now. (When I first started lifting I was a pudgy 159, so that’s not too shabby.) Also, I wasn’t wearing clown pants, a fluorescent string tank top, a hanky on my head and one of those little fanny packs. And isn’t that what real bodybuilders are supposed to wear?
Bob continued to sit there drinking his Natural Light, smoking a cigarette and waiting for an answer, oblivious to the fact that he’d come this close to seeing some serious walnut- crunching ass power. I tried to figure out how I could explain to the average guy what the typical T-Man does and why he does it. How could I get him to understand what it is we do, how we feel, how we live? So I took a deep breath and told him something like this:
“Well, Bob, I guess you could use the term bodybuilder if you really need a label for what it is we do. Most of us actually don’t stand on stage and compete, though. We lift weights and manipulate our diets so that we’ll look good naked. Sure, it’s healthy too, and we’ll probably live a longer and more productive life than the average guy, but mostly it’s about the naked thing. Truthfully, it goes beyond even that.
“Let’s be honest here. We do it because of people like you, Bob. We look at you sitting there with your gut hanging over your belt and we watch you grunt and groan just getting out of a chair. Guys like you are our inspiration, Bob. You’re better than Anthony Robbins, Bill Phillips, Deepak Chopra, and Zig ****ing Ziglar all wrapped up into one. We love it when guys like you talk about not having time to exercise. Every time we see you munching on a bag of potato chips, you inspire us. You’re my shot in the arm, Bob, my living and breathing wake-up call, my own personal success coach.
“You want to know what it is we do? We overcome. We’re too busy to train, too, but we overcome. We’re too busy to prepare healthy meals and eat them five or six times a day, but we overcome. We can’t always afford supplements, our genetics aren’t perfect, and we don’t always feel like going to the gym. Some of us used to be just like you, Bob, but guess what? We’ve overcome.
“We like to watch ‘normal’ people like you tell us about how they can’t get in shape. We smile and nod sympathetically like we feel your pain, but actually, we’re thinking that you’re a pathetic piece of **** that needs to grow a spine and join a gym. You smile sheepishly and say that you just can’t stay motivated and just can’t stand that feeling of being sore. (For some reason you think that admitting your weaknesses somehow justifies them.) We listen to you bitch and moan. We watch you look for the easy way out. Because of people like you, Bob, we never miss a workout.
“You ask us for advice about diet and training and usually we politely offer some guidance, but deep inside we know you won’t take our advice. You know that too. We smile and say, ‘Hope that helps. Good luck,’ but actually we’re thinking, ‘Boy, it would suck to be you.’ We know that 99% of people won’t listen to us. Once they hear that it takes hard work, sacrifice and discipline, they stop listening and tune us out.
“We know they wanted us to say that building a great body is easy, but it just isn’t. This did not take five minutes a day on a TorsoTrack. We did not get this way in 12 short weeks using a Bowflex and the Suzanne Somers’ ‘Get Skinny’ diet. A good body does not cost five easy payments of $39.95.
“We like it that while you’re eating a candy bar and drinking Mountain Dew, we’re sucking down a protein shake. You see, that makes it taste even better to us. While you’re asleep we’re either getting up early or staying up late, hitting the iron, pushing ourselves, learning, succeeding and failing and rising above the norm with every rep. Can you feel that, Bob? Can you relate? No? Good. This wouldn’t be half as fun if you could.
“We do it because we absolutely and totally get off on it. We do it because people like you, Bob, either can’t or won’t. We do it because what we do in the gym transfers over into the rest of our lives and changes us, physically, mentally, maybe even spiritually. We do it because it beats watching fishing and golf on TV. By the way, do you know what it’s like to turn the head of a beautiful woman because of the way you’re built? It feels good, Bob. Damned good.
“When we’re in the gym, we’re in this indescribable euphoria zone. It’s a feeling of being on, of being completely alive and aware. If you haven’t been there, then it’s like trying to describe color to a person who’s been blind since birth. Within this haze of pleasure and pain, there’s knowledge and power, self-discipline and self-reliance. If you do it long enough, Bob, there’s even enlightenment. Sometimes, the answers to questions you didn’t even know you had are sitting there on those rubber mats, wrapped up in a neat package of iron plates and bars.
“Want to lose that beer belly, Bob? I have a nutty idea. Put down the ****ing beer. I’ll tell you what, Bob. Christmas morning I’m getting up real early and hitting the iron. I want to watch my daughter open her presents and spend the whole day with her, so this is the only time I have to train. The gym will be closed, so I’m going out in my garage to workout. You be at my house at six in the morning, okay? I’ll be glad to help you get started on a weight training program. It’ll be colder than Hillary Clinton’s coochie in there, so dress warm.
“But let me tell you something, Bob. If you don’t show up, don’t bother asking me again. And don’t you ever sit there and let me hear you bitch about your beer belly again. This is your chance, your big opportunity to break out of that rut. If you don’t show up, Bob, you’ve learned a very important lesson about yourself, haven’t you? You won’t like that lesson.
“You won’t like that feeling in the pit of your stomach either or that taste in your mouth. It will taste worse than defeat, Bob. Defeat tastes pretty goddamned nasty, but what you’ll be experiencing will be much worse. It will be the knowledge that you’re weak, mentally and physically. What’s worse is that you’ll have accepted that feeling. The feeling will always be with you. In the happiest moments of your life, it’ll be there, lying under the surface like a malignant tumor. Ignore it at your own peril, Bob.
“Don’t look at me like that either. This just may be the best Christmas present you’ll get this year. Next Christmas, Bob, when I see you again, I’m going to be a little bigger, a little stronger, and a little leaner. What will you be? Will you still be making excuses? This is a gift, Bob, from me to you. I’m giving you the chance to look fate in those pretty eyes of hers and say, ‘Step off, bitch. This is my party and you’re not invited.’ What do you say, Bob? Monday, Christmas morning, 6am, my house. The ball’s in your court.”
Okay, so maybe that’s not the exact words I used with Bob, but you get the picture. Will Bob show up Monday? I don’t know, but I kind of doubt it. In fact, Bob will probably take me off his Christmas card list. He probably thinks I’ve got “too much Testosterone,” like that’s a bad thing. I think Bob is just stuck in a rut, and as the saying goes, the only difference between a rut and a grave is depth.
The way out of the rut is to make major changes in your life, most of which won’t be too pleasant in the beginning. The opportunity to make those changes seldom comes as bluntly as I put it to Bob. Most of the time, that opportunity knocks very softly. What I did was basically give Bob a verbal slap in the face. You can react two ways to a slap. You can get angry at the person doing the slapping, or you can realize that he was just trying to get you to wake up and focus on what you really want and, more importantly, what it’ll take to get it.
If you’re a regular T-mag reader, I doubt you need to be called out like Bob. But maybe you’ve caught yourself slacking a little here lately. Maybe you’ve missed a few workouts or maybe you started a little too early on the usual holiday feasting, like, say, back in September. Just remember that the time to start working on that summer body is now. The time to get rid of those bad habits that hold you back in the gym is now. You want to look totally different by next Christmas? Start now. This isn’t because of the holidays or any corny New Year’s resolutions either. The best time is always now.
Christmas day I want you to enjoy being with your family and friends. I want you to open presents, sip a little eggnog and have a good meal. But if your regularily scheduled workout happens to fall on December 25th, what will you be doing at six o’clock that morning?
That’s what separates us from guys like Bob.
Boneless skinless chicken breasts are one of the healthiest, easiest-to-cook protein sources out there. Though they’re especially great for low-cost bulking b/c of their high protein content to cost ratio, they also have only a couple of grams of fat per breast which makes them superb for cutting as well.
Here’s some of the ways I’ve recently discovered you can cook them with just a skillet, spatula and the necessary spices:
ALL RECIPES ASSUME YOU HAVE THEM DEFROSTED, RINSED AND PATTED DRY WITH A PAPER TOWEL. To defrost them easily, just put their container in the fridge and leave them there for around 24 hours.
1. Pan-Fried With Garlic
Ingredients: chicken breasts, chopped up garlic, salt, extra virgin olive oi
Directions:
1. Heat up a skillet to HIGH, add oil
2. Add chicken breasts. I love the loud frying noise when you add each one in.
3. Sprinkle salt onto each one.
4. Wait about a minute until the water that appears in the bottom of the pan is nearly gone. Then quickly turn the oven to MEDIUM, add a half cup of water to the skillet and COVER IT.
5. After 5 minutes, check the water level in the skillet; if there’s not much water left then add some more. At this point add all your chopped garlic to the chicken, I like covering each breast with as much as I can, then adding some more to the water underneath. RE-COVER THE SKILLET.
6. After another 5 minutes, use your spatula and flip each chicken breast over. Add more water if necessary, re-cover.
7. After another 5 minutes, cut open the thickest part of the thickest chicken breast and see if there’s any pink inside. If there is, then add more water and cover the skillet again for another few minutes. Repeat until the pink has disappeared. (Don’t wait too long though, or else the chicken won’t be juicy anymore.)
8. UN-COVER THE SKILLET, and turn the stove to HIGH. Let it fry for another 1-2 minutes until most of the water is gone, and you’re done.
2. Curry-Flavored
***This recipe is DELICIOUS***
Ingredients: chicken breasts, curry powder, salt, pepper, extra virgin olive oil
For the curry powder I use the one below, but you can use whichever brand you like. I would just go to the international section of your grocery store, and try to find something that looks Asian or Indian, and is in powder form. Whole Foods has some especially good curries if you have one nearby.
Directions:
THIS IS OPTIONAL BUT WILL MAKE IT TASTE BETTER: A day or so before you want to eat the chicken, take a Rubbermaid container and add your washed, defrosted chicken breasts. Sprinkle salt liberally over the chicken (don’t worry about making it even), add even more curry (more = spicier) and add a tiny amount of pepper. Now stick your hands in and rub the salt/curry/pepper all over the chicken breasts, coating them on all sides. Now cover the container, stick in the fridge for 24 hours to let the chicken marinat
IF YOU DON’T WANT TO GO THRU THE ABOVE: Just do the same thing except don’t let the chicken marinate in the fridge.
Now it’s time to cook the chicken:
1. Heat a skillet to HIGH, add oil
2. Add now-coated chicken breasts
3. Let sit for a minute or two for the chicken to sear on one side, then…
4. Add 1/2 cup water, turn stove to MEDIUM, cover skillet
5. Every 5 minutes or so (as with recipe 1 steps 4-7) check to see if you need to add any water, and if the chicken has turned completely white on the inside. Remember to flip the chicken over after 5 or 10 minutes of being in the covered skillet.
6. Once chicken is all white, turn heat back to HIGH, uncover, and let the water evaporate and the other side of the chicken sear.
7. You’re done!
Picture:
Protein Pancakes
For many who are trying to get in shape or gain muscle, the most challenging aspect is getting the right nutrition. It is so easy to become really sick of the daily protein shakes, oats and egg whites, and as a result one’s diet may become difficult to maintain for a prolonged period of time.
Recently I discovered a recipe for protein pancakes, which seemed like a breath of fresh air - it combines all the right ingredients, yet has the potential to taste like normal food. I have modified the recipe slightly to taste, and have decided to share it here.
What’s great about this recipe is that it’s so easy to modify - by adding more oatmeal, you’ve upped your ratio of carbs; by adding nuts such as almonds you’ve added additional (good) fats. One day I’ll try making these with flaxseed oil, but I fear it may taste terrible.
Ingredients
1 cup Quaker’s Old Fashioned oats
2 scoops vanilla whey protein
1 cup egg whites
1 cup skim milk
Cooking spray
Salt to taste
Directions
1) Add everything to a blender, and blend until smooth.
2) Heat up a medium skillet, coat with cooking spray to prevent sticking.
3) Pour enough batter to coat bottom of skillet (you should be able to make 3 pancakes with a 10″ skillet).
4) Cook on one side for 5 minutes, then flip (either with a spatula or by tossing in the air) and cook on the other side for another 5 minutes.
5) Take pancake out and serve. Repeat with the rest of the batter.
Nutrition Facts
These facts are for all the pancakes combined. Your mileage may vary depending on what brands of ingredients you use.
Total calories: 556.8 kcal
Protein: 74.4 g
Carbohydrates: 44.7 g (Sugar: 14 g, Fiber: 4 g)
Fat: 9 g (Monounsaturated: 1 g, Polyunsaturated: 1 g, Saturated: 3.5 g)
Cholesterol: 5 mg
Potassium: 268 mg
Sodium: 434.5 mg + however much salt you add
Why I Chose Stanford
As many of you know, I have recently chosen to matriculate at Stanford University this fall for a Ph.D. in Bioengineering. Though I feel tremendously lucky to be admitted to such a fine institution, my decision only became possible after many weeks of agonizing and second-guessing, and it was only after speaking to almost everyone I know - including advisors, research mentors, colleagues and family members - that I could choose with any sense of closure. The reason behind my ambivalence lay in the following:
Washington University in St. Louis - Accepted 1/16, 1 year fellowship ($27,000)
Boston University - Accepted 1/23, 1 year Distinguished BME Fellowship ($27,300)
University of Southern California - Accepted 2/23, 5 year Provost’s fellowship ($30,000)
California Institute of Technology - Interviewed 2/20, Accepted 3/2, 1 year DEAS fellowship ($28,000)
Stanford University - Interviewed 2/27, Accepted 3/8, 2 year Bioengineering fellowship ($29,600)
UC Berkeley/UCSF - Interviewed 2/23-24, Accepted 3/9, 1 year fellowship ($27,000)
Johns Hopkins University - Interviewed 3/13, Accepted 3/22, NIH fellowship ($26,855)
University of Pennsylvania - Interviewed 3/6, Accepted 3/24, HHMI-NIBIB Interfaces Fellowship ($27,540)
Duke University - Offered interview, withdrawn
University of Washington - Offered interview, withdrawn
Columbia University - Offered interview, withdrawn
HST Medical Engineering/Medical Physics - Rejected 2/15
I had the extraordinary fortune to be accepted to twelve out of thirteen Bioengineering/Biomedical Engineering programs I applied to this year, which led directly to my indecision during the past several weeks. During my five interview weekends I was able to witness a diverse range of schools, varying in location, size, research focus and program age, and met many wonderful people - fellow prospective students, current graduate students and faculty alike. To summarize some of my thoughts about the different schools:
California Institute of Technology. The campus was beautiful, and the faculty were absolutely brilliant - everyone I met had amazing ideas for their research in addition to the track record proving they could bring those ideas to fruition. I especially enjoyed speaking to the professors involved in imaging - Mory Gharib, Changhuei Yang and Chin-Lin Guo. However, being used to the behemoth that is UIUC, I felt the campus was too small and that there wasn’t enough to do in the surrounding area. In addition, as the Caltech campus is relatively far from the nearest large hospital, I felt that I would have to compromise my interests in translational research.
UC Berkeley/UCSF. I really enjoyed touring the UCSF Mission Bay campus and speaking to the professors at the MRI suite - Dan Vigneron and John Kurhanewicz especially. I was lucky enough to be given a tour of the Surbeck Center for Advanced Imaging and its multitude of MRI and NMR scanners, which was very exciting. On the other hand, I did not particularly like Berkeley’s campus and the fact that I would most likely have to commute between my apartment, Berkeley and the UCSF campuses for many of my classes - I really prefer having everything in one place as I feel dashing from place to place wastes too much time.
Stanford University. There is a short backstory to this: prior to my Caltech interview, I had to give a 45-minute presentation on directed evolution for my molecular/cellular bioengineering class at UIUC. This presentation introduced me to the field of synthetic biology, or the application of engineering principles to create molecules such as proteins and nucleic acids to serve novel functions, ranging from therapeutics to imaging agents to biofuels. I became increasingly interested in the field in the week leading up to my Stanford interview, and as a result I took the chance at Stanford to speak to a few professors working in the area - Christina Smolke and Jennifer Cochran. It was at Stanford that my research interests transformed from being undecided within imaging to specifically molecular imaging and synthetic biology, which was a huge deciding factor for me later on. Overall, my interview weekend was absolutely spectacular - I tremendously enjoyed speaking to the faculty, staff, and the current students, and I loved (of course) the gorgeous campus.
University of Pennsylvania. At Penn I applied to the HHMI-NIBIB Interfaces Program, a prestigious training program allowing students to take almost two years of the medical school curriculum with a focus on clinical imaging. Matriculating only 4-5 students per year, the program would provide an unparalleled educational experience, combining medical training with graduate work in order to maximize each student’s potential. Moreover, I think that ultimately I had the most fun during my Penn interview weekend - I truly enjoyed hanging out with the current graduate students, especially those currently in the HHMI program. However, during my interviews I only met one professor I was very interested in working for - Andrew Tsourkas - and given my newfound interests in molecular imaging and synthetic biology, I would have liked to have more than just one option for a rotation.
Johns Hopkins University. As this was my last interview, and having already received offers from Caltech, Berkeley/UCSF and Stanford, I was much less nervous during my Hopkins visit than the others. It turns out that I didn’t need to worry anyways - apparently they accept the vast majority of the interviewees, and they would only reject a student if he/she really didn’t fit in or did something completely stupid during the visit. (Apparently, there was a prospective in the previous weekend who had sexually harassed some other students during the night out, which obviously resulted in him being kicked out.) At Hopkins I had the chance to speak to Elliot McVeigh and (briefly) Xingde Li, who work on translational MRI and optical imaging respectively. Though by this time my research interests had already evolved, I was extremely interested in both professors’ work, and in addition was in awe of the sheer volume of work conducted at the Johns Hopkins hospital. However, I was not as impressed with Baltimore in general, especially the aging buildings and obsolete architecture that make up much of the city.
My decision ultimately came down to between Stanford, Penn and Johns Hopkins. I loved the molecular imaging research at Stanford, the prestige and medical training at Penn, and the clinical and translational focus at Johns Hopkins. Stanford had the advantage of being in California and so close to both beaches and mountains, but Penn and Hopkins were closer to Boston where Morgan will be for at least a year. Hopkins had an extremely well-established program that had the track record of turning out superstars, but Stanford had a terrifically planned, newer department that still had so much nascent potential. There were just too many factors to consider, and even after I quantified them one night with a weighted metric system, I could not say for sure where I wanted to go.
With such a monumental decision on my hands I felt I could not decide logically on my own, and as a result requested help from my advisors, mentors, colleagues, and parents. Their replies generally centered on two common themes: Where did I enjoy the research most? And where would I be happiest living? After pondering these questions for a long time, running through my experiences at each school in my head, I realized that the answer to both questions was Stanford. Stanford had a terrific molecular imaging program headed by Sam Gambhir, and in addition recently hired two more really great synthetic biologists to their faculty. It was close to beaches (which I love) and mountains (which I also love), had a great hospital and medical school for my clinical work, and in addition had many opportunities for entrepreneurship in case I wanted to start a company. In essence, it would allow me to do anything I could ever see myself doing - a fact I realized did not apply to any other school. As a result, in the middle of night last Wednesday, I finally arrived at my decision.
Although I currently feel that I have made the right choice, I know that there will be a part of me that will always wonder how it would have been had I chosen any differently. On the other hand, I am tremendously excited for what Stanford has to offer, and I am definitely looking forward to this fall and the years to come.
I have the worst luck when it comes to electronics. Both my two-year-old Lenovo ThinkPad T60 notebook and my month-old Western Digital Passport external hard drive failed within several weeks of each other, and as a result much of my valuable data - including all of my schoolwork over a period of a month and a half, in addition to a digital photo collection I have been keeping since fourth grade - was lost. Subsequently, after receiving my new MacBook, I began looking into redundant backup and recovery solutions - I did not want to risk further losing data and productivity due to future hardware malfunctions.
Mac OS X Leopard includes a built-in backup feature called Time Machine, which automatically saves the state of your hard drive (minus whatever folders you specifically set) to an external storage device. Because it saves as many backups as it can until the drive is full, it facilitates the easy recovery of deleted or modified files; all the user has to do is select “Enter Time Machine” after which he can view versions of each file in as many save points as the software has set. To use the software, I assembled a makeshift external hard drive using an old 80 GB notebook drive I had lying around and a Rosewill aluminum enclosure, which provided me enough storage space to reliably back up my documents, pictures, and music.
However, at that point I was still not satisfied - what if (God forbid) my messenger bag was stolen one day, when I had both my laptop and my backup drive with me? I needed a permanent home backup solution just in case I lost both copies of information. As a result, a few weeks ago I purchased a network-attached storage (NAS) drive, the 1 TB Buffalo LinkStation Pro Duo. Featuring two 500 GB hard drives within a RAID-capable enclosure, the drive can also serve a multitude of other functions right out of the box including acting as a media server, print server, and BitTorrent client.
Setting the drive up was easy on both my MacBook and on John’s ThinkPad Windows laptop; the drive pretty much worked immediately and the only setup I had to do was reformatting the drive into a RAID 1 (redundant) array instead of the RAID 0 it arrived as. I installed the LinkStation software on my computer, which turned out to be completely useless as upon connecting the drive to my router, all of the configuration and setup could be completed using the web interface. The NAS could be reached via an SMB connection on my MacBook, and could be mapped as a network drive on John’s ThinkPad.
The LinkStation came with a CD containing the Memeo AutoBackup software for Windows, a great piece of software featuring instant, automatic syncing of user-selectable files and folders, providing a very painless backup solution capable of recovering modified or deleted files. However, no such solution was provided for Mac, and so after looking at my options online I decided on purchasing SuperDuper, which allowed me to easily and automatically perform daily backups of my data onto the LinkStation.
After getting all the backup software up and running, I began investigating the other capabilities of my drive, the most appealing of which was the media server. I wanted to be have the capability to stream video (mostly my favorite TV Shows at this point in time: Boston Legal, Grey’s Anatomy, House, and The Practice) from the drive, watchable anywhere and by anyone on my apartment’s network.
I was able to reach a usable solution surprisingly easily, through an open-source piece of software called Plex. Initially written to provide media center capabilities on the XBox, it has since been adapted for the Mac and provides an extremely aesthetically pleasing, Front Row/Windows Media Center-esque interface that organizes and allows remote-controlled access to media stored on any number of hard disks or network drives that the user chooses. Although I had to rename/rearrange my video files and folders to their rigid format, “Show Title (Year) - S##E## - Episode Title”, after doing so and adding the correct folder to the library, the software immediately downloaded a background wallpaper, poster, screenshots and plot synopses for each of my TV shows and movies, presenting them beautifully in the clean, modern interface.
One feature of Plex that really appealed to me was that it is intended to be a media center, which meant that unlike QuickTime and VLC, all of the menus are navigable via keyboard. This meant that one could use a remote control - users have had success with the Apple Remote, the Logitech Harmony, and even their iPhones - eliminating the need to get up every time to play/pause/select a video, or as I had done before, using my mouse on the sofa to control the computer. Furthermore, Plex has an actual library and menu system that is significantly better than that in Front Row, which makes selecting and watching videos that much easier.
As I have neither an Apple Remote nor a Harmony, I decided to use my iPhone to remote control the software. Following the directions on the Plex Wiki, I installed an application called Snatch on my iPhone and the corresponding server on my MacBook, which allowed me to remote control my mouse and keyboard. Snatch has a feature that allows users to create a custom interface, creating buttons and mapping them to keyboard characters or shortcuts. I subsequently designed my own remote control that could turn Plex on/off, navigate through its menus to select a video, and fast-forward/rewind during the video. For the capability to turn Plex on/off I wrote an AppleScript to check the status of the application and perform accordingly, and set a keyboard shortcut to run the script using Quicksilver.
At this point, I definitely do not regret purchasing the Buffalo LinkStation Pro Duo NAS Drive - it is excellent both for backing up one’s files and for streaming media, and it is calming to know that the RAID 1 configuration makes it very unlikely that the data will ever be lost. Furthermore, Plex is a great media center software and ultimately is a pleasure to use; the beautiful interface coupled with the intuitive navigation system makes for a highly enjoyable media experience.
My New MacBook
The Apple MacBook line has not witnessed a significant update since 2006, when the 13.3″ widescreen black and white polycarbonate notebooks were released to the public. In contrast to the high-powered aluminum MacBook Pro that was released several months prior to that, it had significantly lower system, materials and build quality, marking its place as a consumer-only model. Its price, on the other hand, was low enough to appeal to college students, which caused it to achieve much higher market share than any other Apple notebook in the past.
Last week, on October 14th, Steve Jobs announced at an invite-only keynote address the long-awaited refreshes of both the MacBook and MacBook Pro lines. Prominently featured in the event was the new method of construction for both laptops, a one-piece aluminum shell (termed the “unibody”) that holds all of the computer’s components in place. Carved out of a single block of aluminum with the same technology used to build aircraft, it was billed as a more efficient, stronger and lighter way to build notebook computers, as opposed to the old-fashioned way of assembling multiple irregular pieces to form the inner chassis. The keynote also heralded a significant change in the design philosophies of Apple’s “pro” and “consumer” notebooks, with the MacBook receiving many of the features once solely available on the Pro, including a backlit keyboard, aluminum frame, and faster video card. The new MacBook is so powerful, in fact, that there are many Mac users purchasing it as a replacement for their old 12″ PowerBooks, or as an alternative to their larger and heavier MacBook Pros.
Featured in the new MacBook is a new integrated graphics chipset born out of a collaboration between Apple and Nvidia. Termed the Geforce 9400M, it is allegedly 5x faster than the old Intel GMA chipsets and has the capability of running many modern 3D applications and games, a performance level necessary for many artists and designers to fully utilize their photo editing software. In addition, both MacBook and Pro now have an LED-backlit display, which is thinner, brighter and uses less energy than the previous version. Also found in the new notebooks are 39% larger, multi-touch trackpads with no visible buttons - in fact, the entire trackpad itself is a button, and the finger’s location when clicking can have an impact on how the system responds. The trackpad is also able to support one- to four-fingered gestures to easily control everything from scrolling to switching windows to running Exposé. The inner workings feature a 1066 MHz front-side bus and DDR3 RAM, in addition to a new SATA SuperDrive that could potentially be replaced with a second hard drive for those who need more secure or faster drive access.
There are currently three MacBook models you can buy: (1) a sub-$1000 model that is almost identical to the old white polycarbonate notebook, but with an updated SuperDrive; (2) a 2.0 GHz unibody aluminum notebook with a 160 GB hard drive and 2 GB DDR3 RAM; and (3) a 2.4 GHz aluminum model with a 250 GB hard drive, 2 GB DDR3 RAM and a backlit keyboard identical to the ones found on MacBook Pros. Interestingly, the Apple Store claimed erroneously on Launch Day that the 2.0 GHz model also had the backlit keyboard, in contrast to the rest of the Apple website and Steve Jobs’ keynote earlier in the day. I was one of the many users who purchased that model thinking that it did, only to find out the following day that it actually did not. Thankfully, after calling Apple’s customer support to complain, they offered me a $150 discount to upgrade to the 2.4 GHz model (with the backlit keyboard) which I gladly accepted.
After an excruciatingly long wait for the notebook, I finally received it on Monday, delivered by FedEx straight from the source - Shanghai, China. Upon opening the box, my first impressions largely revolved around the beauty of the aluminum exterior and the physical thinness of the notebook, both of which were vastly superior to my Lenovo ThinkPad T60 that I owned previously.
Getting the notebook up and running was a breeze, though since it was my first exposure to Mac OS X, I was a little slower learning where everything was. However, within 24 hours after receiving it I had already installed all the programs I needed (Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Acrobat, Microsoft Office, et cetera), installed Windows Vista on a 32 GB Boot Camp partition and gained access to it through VMWare Fusion, and calibrated both the battery life monitor and the screen’s color spectrum. Vista actually runs unbelievably fast on this computer; my Windows Experience Index is 5.2 out of a possible 5.9 which is an tremendous score, especially for a notebook.
The new trackpad, with all its clicking and gestures, is surprisingly efficient - so much of an improvement, in fact, that I now cannot stand the tiny trackpad with its physical buttons on Morgan’s ThinkPad. Getting used to pointing and clicking with the same finger was intuitive, and some of the gestures (the four-finger Exposé ones especially) have made many tasks such as navigating through open windows faster and easier. Furthermore, I am really enjoying using the Mac operating system, as it seems to require a lot less input than Vista to accomplish the same tasks in addition to being absolutely gorgeous.
At this point my MacBook is fully functional, and is ready to do some serious work - I cannot wait to try out some more computationally intensive programs like MATLAB in order to really judge the laptop’s performance.
Keep checking for updates, I’ll keep you posted! 
A few days ago, Morgan tried her hand at Italian cooking again by whipping up an extremely tasty shrimp scampi with linguini, coupled with bruschetta and saganaki for appetizers. Everything was absolutely delicious, especially the shrimp which was very tender. Saganaki is something I’ve only recently begun to enjoy; it is made by grilling or frying Halloumi, a Mediterranean cheese made from cow’s, sheep’s and goat’s milk, and tastes salty and very flavorful.
We paired the meal with the Marqués de Cáceres Rioja Reserva 2001, a full-bodied, fruity but smoky wine from Spain that was extremely smooth on the palate and coupled very well with the strong flavors of the dish.
Mooncakes and Sushi
Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival, an annual event celebrated by many East Asians which is based on a beautiful story:
(From Wikipedia) Houyi was an immortal, while Chang’e was a beautiful young girl, working in the Jade Emperor’s Palace as the attendant to the Queen Mother of the West (wife of the Jade Emperor), just before her marriage. One day, Houyi aroused the jealousy of the other immortals, who then slandered him before the Jade Emperor. Houyi and his wife, Chang’e, were subsequently banished from heaven, and forced to live by hunting on earth. He became a famous archer.
Now at this time, there were 10 suns, in the form of Three-legged birds, residing in a mulberry tree in the eastern sea; each day one of the sun birds would have to travel around the world on a carriage, driven by Xihe the ‘mother’ of the suns. One day, all 10 of the suns circled together, causing the earth to burn. Emperor Yao, the Emperor of China, commanded Houyi to shoot down all but one of the suns. Upon the completion of his task, the Emperor rewarded Houyi with a pill that granted eternal life, and advised him: “Make no haste to swallow this pill; first prepare yourself with prayer and fasting for a year”. Houyi took the pill home and hid it under a rafter, while he began healing his spirit. While Houyi was healing his spirit, Houyi was summoned again by the emperor. Chang’e, noticing a white beam of light beckoning from the rafters, discovered the pill, which she swallowed. Immediately, she found that she could fly. At that moment, Houyi returned home, and, realizing what had happened, began to reprimand her. Chang’e flew out the window into the sky.
With a bow in hand, Houyi sped after her, and the pursuit continued halfway across the heavens. Finally, Houyi had to return to the Earth because of the force of the wind. Chang’e reached the moon, and breathless, she coughed. Part of the pill fell out from her mouth. Now, the hare was already on the moon, and Chang’e commanded the animal to make another pill from it, so that she could return to earth to her husband.
As of today, the hare is still pounding herbs, trying to make the pill. As for Houyi, he built himself a palace in the sun as “Yang” (the male principle), with Chang’e as “Yin” (the female principle). Once a year, on the 15th day of the full moon, Houyi visits his wife. That is why, that night, the moon is full and beautiful.
The consequences of the festival is that many people eat mooncakes around this time, which Morgan and I gladly took part in - the intricately decorated cakes are DELICIOUS.
Morgan also made sushi and soba noodles today, which can be seen in the following set of pictures:
Liquor Collection
Over the past year or so, Morgan and I have accumulated a considerable collection of liquor, ranging from college party staples - vodka, rum, and tequila - to lesser-known liqueurs such as Chambord, Frangelico, and Midori. Along with attaining such a collection, we have honed our mixological skills as well, up to the point where we (Morgan at least) can mix common concoctions and invent unique yet delicious combinations of spirits with the same ease.
This is the first post in the new Cocktails category, and in the future I will be posting some of the more delicious cocktails we have made - recipes, tastes, and reactions.
Here is a summary of our collection, arranged by shelf in the above image:
Top shelf (too high to reach, and as a result the lesser-used bottles): Bombay Sapphire Dry Gin, Smirnoff Green Apple Vodka, two empty bottles of wine
Middle shelf (our favorites): Porfidio Single-Cane Rum, Belvedere Citron Vodka, X-Rated Fusion Liqueur, Hpnotiq Liqueur, Midori Melon Liqueur, Effen Black Cherry/Vanilla Vodka, Frangelico Hazelnut Liqueur, Chambord Liqueur Royale de France, Patron XO Coffee Liqueur
Bottom shelf (mixers, creams): DeKuyper’s Peachtree Schnapps, DeKuyper’s Sour Apple Pucker Schnapps, Malibu Mango Caribbean Rum, DeKuyper’s Triple Sec, Sauza Hornitos Tequila, DeKuyper’s Blue Curacao, a bunch of shot glasses, Amarula Fruit Cream, Courvoisier Cognac, Kahlua Coffee Liqueur, E&J VSOP Brandy, three bottles of wine
Not shown: 1.75 L bottle of Grey Goose Vodka - it is too big to fit on any shelf.
Stay tuned for updates!
FenguinDesignAll rights reserved.
