NSTR

I've been on the front for the past few weeks and will continue to be here for some work we have in Mordor. I have some updates that are interesting to me but probably not as much to you.

• For a while I was wondering if I should upgrade to iPhone 3GS and go through the pain of upgrade. Then I remember thinking that the iPhone would be perfect if it was just 25% faster and the battery would last a little bit longer. Now it's sometimes 100% faster with improved battery life. Then I also realized that I use my iPhone for everything and all the time. I have e-mail, games, phone, SMS, weather, traffic, everything I need in my hand. Now I just need to figure out how to get my current plan transferred over by navigating through AT&T's murky waters.
• I did the Master Cleanse for 10 days a few weeks back and had to stop all working out. By the end of the Master Cleanse I could do three wide-grip pullups from dead hang. Three days after the Master Cleanse, I could only manage one. Today, at my first CrossFit in weeks, I did a single wide grip pullup from dead hang, but then proceeded to bang out five kipping pullups! My max before was three! The really surprising part was that I hadn't practiced it in weeks and for some reason my weight was up ten pounds since I finished the Master Cleanse.
• My interest in animal flesh has almost completely left me. I still eat seafood every week but even that I'm cutting back. I just got a kickass 7-day meal plan from Mike Mahler (a vegan athlete who has biceps the size of my legs) and one day of that plan allows me to eat whatever I want. What will I be having? You guess it: sushi!
• I'm starting into the oil cleansing method this week or next. I'll let you know how it goes.

Onward!

Virgin America / gogo FTW!

While my previous post was about the iTunes FAIL, this post is about the Virgin America / gogo WIN. I'm writing this post somewhere over the state of Illinois at an altitude of 37,120 feet (according to my Virgin America in-flight telemetry monitor). Yes, technology is wonderful -- and it was only $13 for the entire flight!

iTunes Fail

A year ago when I bought a new MacBook, I started buying a decent amount of music legally through Amazon. I refused to use iTunes since it put DRM protection on the music, and I didn't want my music to be locked by an Apple mainframe somewhere. Fortunately, Amazon built a fantastic plugin to its store that would download and import a high-quality MP3 into iTunes -- complete with artwork. To seal the deal, most songs were actually cheaper, around $0.89.

Then, a few months later, iTunes introduced DRM-free songs called "iTunes Plus" that were $0.30 more, so I could buy a DRM-protected song by Third Eye Blind for $0.99 or get a DRM-free version for $1.29. I stuck with Amazon.

Even a few more months later, Apple finally reduced pricing on these songs so they were all $0.99 with a few exceptions. At that time, I had my new iPhone 3G, so I would hear a song I liked on the radio or wherever I was, and I'd want to buy it right there. Normally I'd use Shazam to identify it if I didn't know it, otherwise I'd just go straight to the iTunes store directly on my iPhone. I'd sample, hit buy, and 15 seconds later I'd have it. Awesome, I could hear, identify, sample, and buy a song in under a minute or two. For this convenience I'd happily pay the extra 10 cents.

Sadly, I recently switched back to buying music from Amazon.com rather than iTunes. A few weeks back, iTunes reintroduced variable pricing on its music, including both iTunes and iTunes Plus songs (i.e. DRM-protected and DRM-free, respectively). Now pretty much every song I want is $1.29.

In this economy, Apple, you're increasing prices? Who do you think you are? Fortunately, Jeff Bezos still has a smart cap on while Steve Jobs seems to be waxing eccentric like Howard Hughes. At Amazon, I can still buy almost any song I would want on iTunes, but instead I get it in MP3 format -- and often times it's only $0.89. I simply lack the luxury of buying directly from my phone (if only the Amazon iPhone app would support direct buying of music, but Apple does hold a monopoly over that feature -- for now -- they will eventually be forced to open this and not face anti-trust lawsuits).

Nutritional Update

I had an interesting discovery at dinner the other night. We ended up at a Morton's, and I ordered some form of sesame tuna dinner and had some crab cakes for appetizer. All of my colleagues ordered steaks. While they were eating, I found myself fixated on the steak of the guy across the table, and within a few moments I actually felt nauseated to the point where he noticed and asked if I was OK.

I guess I've hit a turning point where residual lust for land animal flesh has dried up. It's been well over a month since I've tasted any form of red meat, and several weeks since I've had any chicken (I had some in my soup a while back thinking it was actually tofu).

I suppose it's possible I'll eat meat again, but I'm glad that I have no craving for it. I'm actually interested in slowly reducing my seafood intake too, which is somewhere in the ballpark of 5 days/week. We're getting there!

Good response of the week for when someone asks why I eat plants: "You know dirt cleans off a lot easier than blood, Quintus?" (Maximus from Gladiator) You can substitute their real name of course, but Quintus is a badass name.