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Category Archives: Tips & Hints
Don’t Let Perfection Be the Enemy of Productivity
I’ve worked with organizations that thought perfection was the perfect standard. It actually killed creativity, progress, and growth.
They were stuck in place and productivity stalled. Perfection is the enemy of great.
— Read on hbr-org.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/hbr.org/amp/2020/03/dont-let-perfection-be-the-enemy-of-productivity
Bluetooth is bad and you should stop using it
Seriously. Turn it off.
Everyone uses Bluetooth. Perhaps they shouldn’t.
The technology that we’ve come to rely on to connect our phones, smart speakers, cars, vibrators, and toasters is problematic for reasons more serious than pairing issues. Bluetooth has been shown time and time again to be a security and privacy nightmare — albeit one that can be mostly solved with a simple toggling of an off switch.
Bluetooth has long been a dirty word for security professionals. So much so, in fact, that one of the most common pieces of advice given to attendees of the annual DEF CON hacker conference in Las Vegas is to make sure Bluetooth is disabled on their phones.
This is not just paranoia. In fact, at this year’s DEF CON researchers showed off the ability to use Bluetooth to identify vulnerable digital speakers. Once identified, hackers could take control of the devices and force them to play “dangerous” sounds that could lead to hearing loss in anyone unfortunate to be nearby.
— Read on mashable.com/article/bluetooth-is-bad
Delete Chrome Now
Your privacy is compromised.
A new tracking admission from Google, one that hasn’t yet made headlines, should be a serious warning to Chrome’s 2.6 billion users. If you’re one of them, this nasty new surprise should be a genuine reason to quit.
CyclingDiet Product Review
By: R. Michael Brown, Freelance Writer [Follow on Facebook: @RMichaelBrownLLC]
📸: Let Ideas Compete is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
After joining a bunch of Facebook cycling groups I started to receive ads for CyclingDiet. You may be getting them too because you are part of the Facebook groups or post about cycling.
As a former US Olympic Cycling Coach and professional freelance writer, I thought I would take a look at their plan and write a review to be helpful to other cyclists.
The bottom line, BUYER BEWARE!
According to their Facebook ads and their Facebook page [@cyclingdietforweightloss] they say, “Fun, easy, and safe way to lose weight! Find what will work for you with 60-sec quiz approved by cycling coaches and experts and get your personalized plan & diet!”
So I purchased the program to check it out and it cost $66… not including the international charges because the company is based in Lithuania (Didn’t know that when I registered).
In addition I paid an extra, $4.99, to get the “rush” evaluation on the quiz I took. They say the personal evaluation is done by cycling coaches and experts.
I signed up as a beginner to see what they were teaching new cyclists. When I received my plan it included some generic daily workouts for before and after stretching, calisthenics, and bicycle training. You could easily come up with these on your own via the web for free.
But when I got to the diet part, and you are led to believe with a name like CyclingDiet this is the robust part of their offering, all it had was a Cycling Recipe book in a PDF showing calorie amounts for the few dozen recipes they provided. No daily plan, no meals to sync with the daily cycling and off-day workouts, no technology to track your calories… Just two mentions above the recipe “book” that showed total daily calories you should stay within to maintain weight and total calories you should target to lose weight.
Honestly, you could buy a paperback weight loss cookbook for under $10 and get more information.
What they sent me is what their “cycling coaches and experts” came up with?
After working with Olympic cycling sports nutritionists and many nutritionists over the years on my own diet and my daughter’s because she has Type 1 Diabetes, the CyclingDiet isn’t a diet or diet plan by any stretch of the imagination.
The whole plan is basically – stay under 1,500 calories a day and you add it up on your own. Oh, and exercise a lot. Not worth $5 let alone $66.
If you’re used to MyFitnessPal, Fitbit, WeightWatchers, or the many other online programs, CyclingDiet looks like a bad joke.
Plus, when I attempted to get a refund after telling them the deficiencies in their product, they gave me some back and forth customer support static and said they would refund only half ($33) and it may take 2 weeks to process.
So just to check on them by doing a Google search, turns out the company for CyclingDiet, UAB Kilo Grupė, in the first few Google results, are about “unauthorized charges” and scam alerts.
Now I’m going to have to watch my PayPal and bank accounts to see what happens.
They buy a lot of online ads. They’re everywhere. I blocked them.
As you can imagine, I won’t recommend this product. Far from it.
In fact this is the best $33, hopefully, I’ve ever spent if it helps you not fall for this waste of your time and money.
If you need a diet, talk to your medical doctor or a licensed nutritionist. They work with you and legitimate online programs for you to evaluate, plan, and track your diet. That’s the safest and will get you the best results.
Happy cycling!
For more free reviews and stories go to BrownieBytes.net
Small American Cities are Making Attractive Offers to Lure Tech Workers Away from the Metros
Cities in North-West Arkansas are making offers to workers in New York and Los Angeles that’re simply too good to pass. Incentives including cash bonuses, free mountain bikes and year-long discounted rent prices.
Are you ready to move out of the big metro areas and why?
Why Do Gas Pumps Run Slow?
Last week, I twice found myself standing at a gas pump, in single digit temperatures waiting for what must have been individual droplets of gasoline to drip into my car’s tank. The digits slowly ticked over and, as my hands grew colder, I thought about going into the car for my coat, maybe some gloves.
I thought about ending the transaction and trying another pump. But I waited. And I told myself I’d Google why this happens. Then, I got in my car and drove away without Googling a damn thing, just like I had every other time it happened.
— Read on jalopnik.com/i-finally-looked-up-why-gas-pumps-sometimes-run-slow-an-1846356588
Wind Chop Rideable in Boca This Morning
Looks like a small 2’ windchop this morning. The Pavilion in #BocaRaton looks rideable on a #longboard. Check out the Surfing Webcams in #Florida at BrownieBytes.Net #surf #surfing #waves #beach
Boogaali | The Ugandan Company that’s Making Affordable & Sustainable Bicycles Out of Bamboo
It’s in his workshop, in the capital city of Kampala, that young Ugandan entrepreneur Noordin Kasoma designs bicycles made from bamboo. His company, Boogaali Bicycles limited, produces bicycles that are, not only affordable but also sustainable.
In an industry dominated by steel and aluminium, the use of bamboo is not as bizarre as it might seem. Kasoma says his bikes are strong, light and durable. They are also comfortable, he says.
Boogaali-Bamboo Bikes
“The bamboo itself tries to absorb the shocks that you are passing through, better than steel or aluminium.”
Bamboo frames aren’t uncommon in the cycling world. Noordin’s bicycles, however, come with a Ugandan spin: the joints are reinforced with bark cloth, a traditional clothing material extracted from the inner bark of the Mutuba tree.
In addition to being hand-crafted, the Boogaali bamboo bicycles are customized according to the cyclist’s needs and specifications.
Forgive and be free
When I was 26, my world fell apart. I had just started graduate school and was travelling back and forth between Richmond, Virginia and Washington, DC because my wife was finishing graduate school in a different city. On one of those trips, I was doing laundry and found a note crumpled in the bottom of the dryer. It was addressed to my wife from one of her classmates: ‘We should leave at separate times. I’ll meet you at my place afterward.’
Although not confirmed until months later, my wife was having an affair. To me, it was a blow of monumental proportions. I felt betrayed, swindled, even mocked. Anger exploded in me and, over days and weeks, that anger settled into a simmering mess of bitterness, confusion and disbelief. We separated with no clear plan going forward.
Although this pain stabbed with an intensity I hadn’t felt before, I was certainly not alone. Many people experience similar hurts, and much worse, in their lives.
Being in relationships often means being offended, hurt or betrayed. As people, we often suffer injustices and relationship difficulties. One of the ways that humans have developed to deal with such pain is through forgiveness. But what is forgiveness and how does it work?
Find Out More (Aeon):
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