Social Media Dump: April 16-30 (2021)

See also: April 1-15, May 1-16 (View All)

RECOMMENDED (FREE!) EXERCISE APP: I really liked J&J’s exercise app for doing indoor exercises. Lots of levels to choose from, plus animation to illustrate each movement. This trainer worked with the New York Times to produce this app — which is phenomenal on a tablet. Here’s a long NYT page explaining the different exercises, Here’s a 5 minute summary of these exercises (boring but useful), Here’s a 50 minute discussion between the NYT reporter and the fitness trainer who invented it.

I’m actually trying to exercise more and lose weight (to take off those COVID pounds!). After reading about it on wirecutter, I started using the Bodyelastics Stackable Tube Resistance Bands. It’s great equipment and offers a range of exercise options. One major problem with this exercise method is that the exercises take a while to learn and the enclosed booklet is not well-organized. Indeed, it took 6 months just to get around to figuring out to do the exercises! The main problem is that book lists the resistance bands as attached to the top, middle or bottom part of the door, but it’s in random order in the book; also, you have to switch bands and alternate between using handles and straps. I printed out a summary of the exercises for easy reference.

Food critic and high school friend Mike Riccetti wrote about his favorite pizza restaurant in Houston: it’s Tiny Champions on the East side of downtown Houston. A while back Riccetti wrote about three great restaurants right next to one another on a bland shopping strip. It always has been crazy how many restaurants Houston has — there are several Venezuelan/South American restaurants in the Katy area where I live, and I haven’t even gotten around to eating there.

This comedy sketch reveals why it’s always better to make sure your translator is competent. Another reveals things only women would understand.

My secret Youtube obsession is watching old Craig Ferguson clips. Most of his shows seem to be flirtatious double-entendres with beautiful young actresses. Here’s Kristen Bell, Brittany Murphy, Alison Brie, Actually Conan O’Brien’s interviews are also great. Here’s a dating coach’s explanation of Ferguson’s appeal. Hey, here’s another 55 minutes where you can watch the master in action.

A FB friend alerts me to the fact that bitcoin mining is nullifying the gains from solar power production. According to a Techcrunch article, newer cryptocurrencies like Ethereum might have a smaller carbon footprint. Some proposals to do carbon fee and dividends do cross border taxes to implement a fair carbon price, but it seems hard to imagine doing this for cryptocurrencies. According to Forbes,

A single bitcoin transaction uses roughly 707.6 kilowatt-hours of electrical energy–equivalent to the power consumed by an average U.S. household over 24 days, according to Digiconomist. On a yearly basis, bitcoin consumes more energy than all but 38 countries, falling in line with countries like Finland, Chile and Austria.

I imagine that the huge carbon footprint affects the perception of value, and so eventually it will lead to a decline in price. On the other hand, governments can and should accelerate this process; I mean, it’s not as if jobs are at stake here; it’s just computer cycles.

WE ARE BEHIND ON ELECTRIC CAR ADOPTION: If every new vehicle sold today was an electric vehicle and it was entirely powered by renewable energy overnight, it would take 10 years or more for us to achieve a 50% redeuction in greenhouse gases. (Chris Atkinson, engineering professor). “We are not going to be able to meet the target with new-car EV sales only, said Aakash Arora, a managing director with Boston Consulting Group and an author of a study on electric vehicle adoption. “The fleet is too big.”

As it happens, I’ll be on the road until the end of the month and relying on a substandard laptop, so postings will be lighter than usual.

As family and friends can attest, I have an uncanny knack for predicting which film will win Best Picture at the Oscars months before the nominations are announced — and before I even am able to watch the movies. (I predicted Nomadland in early January). I can finally reveal my secret: I am a time traveler. If you have any questions you need answering about the next 12 months, feel free to ask them before I make my next jump.

NEWHART AND COMMUNITY THEATRE: This 80s sitcom was known for its droll humor and unpredictability; this episode is about Bob’s wife pressures Bob to direct an old play he wrote for the town’s community theatre. I love this show to death. Amusingly, while watching the DVDs for season, one extra (produced in the early 2010s) had commentary from the actresses who said it’s now apparent their wardrobes and makeup and hairstyles looked ghastly. They were exaggerating a bit for the camera, but they had a point.


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