Health of My Family

Givin up a traditional job to blog

Health of My Family - Givin up a traditional job to blog

Skype Nokia and the True Story

Setting the Record Straight: Nokia CEO Stephen Elop about Skype and Nokia

Somehow, decisions were made the spin comments made by Elop at Nokia that he was “blaming” the lack of success of the Lumia platform on MSFT’s ownership of Skype.  This is fertilizer.

In an interview with Elop recently, he clearly told the actual story about how Skype’s integration with Windows Phone is actually an opportunity for carriers rather than a detractor.  What was very clear what that these discussions are quite “advanced”; that this is not a simple knee jerk reaction to someone taking away the networks ability to charge minutes.

Minutes are becoming more and more meaningless to the networks these days.  Applications which drive regular data use are the ones that will ultimately be most interesting to the networks.  They are not hating Skype for iOS and Android I am sure.  If they were, they would get blocked from the phone.

Microsoft is Going to Be Big in Mobile.  Count on it.

Between its WP7, WOA and XBox properties, combined with Skype and only 1 or 2 high quality hardware OEMs, MSFT will make a huge impact on mobile. This doesn’t even account for what can come through its proper integration with Office 365 and Lync in the enterprise. In fact, Lync will probably become Skype at one point or another, at least from a branding perspective.

Nokia is going to bleed some more, but will pull out of their 4G dive. They have excellent industrial design, a very good sense for application development (I have a Lumia 900 and really like their apps) and will be a player in the tablet market as well (how about a WOA tablet that looks like a giant Lumia 900?).

Buy the stock. Or wait, don’t buy it until I am done buying it.

David C.
Actionable Inc. Irvine, CA

30 Minute Workout

Monday was a great day and a great workout, after a great workout on Monday I had my worst day ever for the workout today, so for punishment I added a bunch of exercises to the 300 workout to not only make it more difficult but also more complete. If you don’t know much about the 300 workout you can see more at The Daily Workout. It goes through the basic workout and defines all of the exercises and has a 300 workout video to help you understand how to do the exercises (thanks to Men’s Health).

Below is the updated exercises and how to build them into the workout for a total body workout with isolation moves added in. Goal time 30 minutes or less.

50 – pull ups
75 – dead lifts (100 lbs)
50 – push ups
25 – bench presses (135 lbs)
50 – leg extensions (45 lbs)
50 – 20 in box jumps
50

300 Workout Record

It has been a while since I posted a workout and even longer since I updated my workout but today I decided I would start creating more regular workouts. A friend of mine has started go into cross fit classes in Washington and has really liked them so I figured since my workouts are similar in design and vary from day to day, so I figured that I would start posting my daily workouts on the blog again. December 15th I started by posting that I was going to start the 300 workout and I can say that the progress from that workout has been phenomenal for my wife and I both. Today I completed the 300 workout in 14 minutes and 32 seconds. What was the secret? 3 days of rest, focused attention and good meal planning.


My workout specifics:

25 – pullups
50 – deadlifts (100 lbs)
50 – push ups
50 – (20 in box jumps)
50 – Windshield wipers supporting 135 lbs (arms locked)
50 – 32 lb kettle bell clean and press’
25 – pull-ups

All in all my best day ever.

total weight lifted – 23,000 lbs + 50 box jumps and 50 windshield wipers
total time – 14:32
my current weight 158 lbs

Try it out, see how you do and leave me a comment. The goal is to do as many or all of the workout with out a break. This was the first time I ever completed it without a break.

Valentine’s Day Plans

Valentines Day is here again and like every guy, we are on the web looking for something to get our wives and girlfriend’s for Valentines Day. So I am here to offer advice as a father and husband of 4 years. It isn’t a lot of experience, but I normally come up with a few things that are inexpensive, but really hit home with the girls.

The 5 Musts for Valentines Day Shopping

1. Take your kids (or someones kids) with you when you go shopping. Kids are really good shopping help for Valentines Day. They don’t care about how much things cost or how simple a gift is and they always choose frivolous gifts that are fun, quick to buy and make someone happy.

2. Bring the camera with you when you go shopping. It will make the trip more fun and it will give you memories to share with your wife or girlfriend after you give her the gifts.

3. Have the kids pick out the card(s) if you aren’t good at finding cards – it’s fun to see how they pick out cards and the mom’s and girlfriends are mush when they hear you took the kids with you. BUY THE CARD EARLY-WRITE IN THE CARD-HAVE THE KIDS WRITE IN THEIR CARDS!

4. Always buy flowers and a vase even if it comes from the local grocery store. A small bunch of flowers is better than no flowers. BUY THE FLOWERS EARLY!

5. Always buy your girl chocolates. Especially if she has a favorite type. Don’t worry if she is on a diet or trying to lose weight. This is a good way to tell her you love her just as she is.

Anything else you do or buy is just icing on the cake. She will love everything else you do after you have followed these simple tips. And one other tip for those of you that are just over-achievers… try this. If you want a different way to get flowers try buying real flowers from the local nursery and plant them with the kids when the wife or girlfriend is not around. When she sees how much effort and thought you put into this Valentines Day, she will not only be impresses she will melt and not believe what you went through

Recipes and Learning to Cook

Sweet and Sour Sauce
Step 1 – introduction to cooking

From what I hear I am a decent cook. My family like it when I cook and my parents in-laws and most other people I cook for seem to like it when I have them over so I thought I would start a little part on my blog for recipes. Really I don’t plan on trying to write an exact recipe I would rather teach a little about cooking, but this is a great book to help getting started making sauces-my favorite meal add-on.

Cooking, if you’ve ever watched Martha Stewart or if you watched the movie “Julie and Julia” about Julia Childs’ isn’t really about recipes. Its about what flavors go together. Like what flavors would go well in a sauce or thinking bigger, what flavors would go together to make a meal.

Nexus One vs Droid, Pre and iPhone

Okay, I hate jumping on the band wagon for phones and electronics, but I think this the Nexus One is a really great phone. And I definitely like keeping my loyal following up on the latest updates for wireless and electronics. So with that in mind, I would say, watch for it at Walmart (since they carry T-Mobile phones). If you are ready for an update on

Nexus One vs Droid, iPhone, Palm Pre

img thanks to Bill Shrink

your existing cell phone plan or if you just want to upgrade your phone I think this the Nexus One would be a great choice. It comes installed with Google voice which if you don’t have it yet is one of the best inventions that exists to save minutes on your cell phone plan (this means saving money-I like that). Google voice among other things allows you to switch from your cell phone and home phone while

you are walking in and out of your house–Cool! And a bunch of other stuff too. On top of this there are many other great features that come with T-Mobile and Google apps. That gives you about 20,000 apps to choose from from the Android Market (it’s like the app store for iPhone). That isn’t quite as many as the iTunes App Store which is around 93,000 apps now but that is a lot more apps than I will ever use I am sure.

As far as competition, it is yet to be seen which phone will be the best. The iPhone still has the most apps and up to 16 GB of memory the Nexus One is 4 GB. The Nexus (by HTC by-the-way) does boast the longest talk time which is very important to me. I hate the idea of having to go buy an extended life battery just so I can for one day. And yes this is happening a lot more with the new touch screen phones. The big screens take a lot of battery power to run. And another money saving item on this phone is the free wi-fi.

I like being able to sit at B&N and surf the web over coffee. (For me it’s all about the little things in life.) granted, this phone is not the only touch screen phone that has wi-fi, the iPhone, Palm Pre and Motorolla Droid all have wi-fi as well, but most of them have more expensive calling plans. And as usual I am looking to get the most for my money and so I know that T-Mobile in major metropolitan areas is doing great for coverage. They also have a plan for $99.99/mo that is unlimited voice, data and messaging. Nobody can beat that, although sprint is trying to compete with that with their 5 GB plan for $89.99- a good deal as well if you choose the Palm Pre.

Overall I like many of these phones. The iPhone is the gold standard that everyone tries to match-and that’s a big goal. The Palm Pre is an amazing phone for Sprint, Verizon has the Motorolla Droid which has gotten rave reviews, but I think I am still banking on Google with the Nexus One (until the next big phone comes out). Google is a great competitor in any market and I would buy stock in them any day.

So go check out these phones. Pick up an upgrade at your local phone store, though my links to Amazon or at Walmart and have fun playing with your new toy. That’s what it’s all about anyway. If we just wanted a phone to talk on we would just get a free one somewhere, but for most of us it’s not about talking any more, it’s about the convenience that you carry with you when you have your phone that surfs the web, plays games and has fun apps .

How to Choose a Better Vitamin

There are many different vitamins out there and many of them will do a job, but when I consider buying vitamins I normally want to get the best and get my money’s worth. And with a little research on my part I always get the best deal. This time, when I went online looking for vitamins it was for my pregnant wife. I wanted to find her a nutritional supplement that would be safe for her and not cause and extra morning sickness (often this is a problem with pre-natal vitamins). So after a little research I found one of my first details. Vegetarian prenatals are often less likely to cause morning sickness. After looking around on Amazon and many other vitamin websites I came upon this vitamin supplement called Maxi Pre-Natal by Country Life Vitamins. It is vegetarian, safe and I can say after purchasing it a good vitamin that I would recommend.

Now, I am recommending this vitamin because I bought it for my wife, but if you want to do a little research for yourself, here are a few tips to help you research your own vitamins.

1. Make sure your vitamins come in a dark bottle. Most vitamins are affected by light and can lose their potency if they sit in sunlight.

2. If possible it is best to buy liquid, liqui-gels or capsule vitamins. These are much easier for your body to use than a compacted capsule like you would find in a Centrum type vitamin.

3. When you open your bottle of vitamins smell them. If they have a smell that is another good sign of how easy your body will assimilate the vitamins.

4. Taste your vitamins. If they have a taste that is strong or weak they are likely a better vitamin. They just need to have a flavor (this will not be as easy to tell with capsules), but if you can taste your vitamins that means that the saliva in your mouth can break down the substance you are about to take. If there is no taste it is likely that the vitamin may be so compressed that you will not be able to break down the vitamin into its nutrients in your mouth or your stomach. And if you can’t break down the vitamins that means you won’t get many of the nutrients.

Ice Cream, Costco and Apples at bedtime…

Many people are quick to think that they can have this or not have that at bedtime because they don’t want to gain weight. Truth is, we are often mistaken on what is better for us to eat. Just yesterday I was at Costco shopping- along with the rest of my list of items I was buying yogurt for my daughter. There are many different kinds of yogurt to buy, but I was shocked to find out that Gogurt (a kids yogurt) was actually cheaper and less calories and sugar than a popular name brand yogurt with duplicate serving sizes. This made me think – if I can be deceived ( a nutritionist and food label reader for more than a decade) than I was betting that most people could be deceived as well.

So here is a little game of which is better for you – if you want to lose weight?

Meryl Streep-Julia julia-child (217x271 pixels)

Which is better? and why…

1. Fat free or regular cookies?

2. Coffee with cream and “sugar in the raw” or Diet Cola?

3. Apple or low calorie Ice Cream (at bed time)

4. Pizza or Salad for dinner?

5. 1 serving of alcohol or a cookie?

6. See’s candy or no See’s candy? This one has to be a trick.

First of all let me say this… all the answers to these questions will be wrong if you only read part of these answers. The only real way to lose weight is through self control and portion size. My point here is to show you that you do have choices and sometimes the best choice is the unhealthy choice as long as you can control the portions.

Here’s the answers:

1. Regular cookies. Why? Because we are more likely to overeat on a fat free dessert than on a regular desert. When we see fat free we lose self control and eat too much and often the whole pack. A sure-fire way to gain weight from a fat free cookie.

2. The coffee vs the diet soda. This is a conditional answer – if you go for the diet soda you are likely better off because there aren’t any calories. the risk you take here is over eating. Studies have shown that there is a connection with having caffeine and over eating. The reason this happens is because caffeine without calories (like a diet coke) makes you more hungry. The reason the coffee may be better is because if you add cream in your coffee you are adding fat- the sugar isn’t needed. Fat makes you feel full by turning on a receptor in your brain that says you are feeling full.

3. Ice cream at bed time is better if you can manage the portion size. The reason this is true is because your body is more likely to process fat while sleeping than sugars. Sugars are stored while you sleep and will be converted to fat. The calories from fat in the ice cream will be burned while you sleep and will be less likely to be stored. To make sure this stays true you may even buy an ice cream that is sugar free or low sugar.

4. This one is a free choice depending on the type of person you are. The pizza is a more balanced meal that will keep you full much longer, but the portion must be one large piece or 2 small pieces. The salad can be the best, but is the most likely trap. Salad dressings, like ranch, can be so high in fat that they may be more fattening than a chicken sandwich from McDonalds. With options like chicken salads using alternate dressing like salsa or low-cal BBQ sauce the salad will become the best choice.

5. Alcohol is not the best choice. No matter what a cookie will have a better chance of being used as fuel than alcohol. Cookies have sugar, but will give you energy (calories to burn). Alcohol gives you little or no calories to burn and