simplicity

Long article, but a very interesting read. While, I’ve known that these drugs can help athletes significantly I wasn’t sure how. What I found really interesting was how the HGH assisted in eyesight as well as skin clearing. Highly recommended read.

Everybody knows that many athletes cheat by using performance-enhancing drugs like steroids, testosterone, and EPO. But what is it like to take these banned substances? Do they really help you win? To find out, we sent an amateur cyclist into the back rooms of sports medicine, where he just said yes to the most controversial chemicals in sports.

Source – Drug Test | Outside Online

Just had the opportunity to check this out. Wow. Talk about filling the void of between overheardeverywhere.com and fmylife.com. Just wow.

Among other things, Twitter is a thought market. In the same brief, fleeting moment you can whisper something in someone’s ear – or mutter it under your breath – you can commit it to the web via Twitter. And with that, the service provides you with the feeling that you can say what’s on your mind and hear what’s on the minds of others. You don’t necessarily have�to provide any explanation or context the way you would if you were saying it out loud to someone or divulging it on a blog. In its inherent brevity (i.e. 140 character limit on tweets), Twitter gives you an outlet not many other media do, with the added benefit of an audience.

But up until the launch of SecretTweet a little less than a year ago, if you wanted to say something anonymously, there wasn’t a popular, organized means to do so, since your musings are tied to your account. But what if you wanted to get a thought or secret out in the open, without anyone knowing it was yours? SecretTweet, much like the popular blog Post Secret (which encourages people to write their secrets on cards to be posted online),�allows you to do just that – instantly, and for the growing audience of your Twitter peers.

From ripping on eBay’s strategy to Googling people’s houses

Initiated by Twitter user @mozunk, the SecretTweet site – through which folks can submit their anonymous tweets, as well as read and comment on others’ – has attracted over 35,000 readers daily, according to a company blog post from last month.

The submissions, which are all said to be moderated before they get pushed to the corresponding @secrettweet account on Twitter, have ranged in motif from humorous to personal to professional to downright scandalous – and sometimes a wee bit revealing. Take these examples:

• “I’m a VP�at eBay – I hate my job. eBay doesn’t know who it is – the strategy is to fill the space between Amazon [eBay] Craigslist.”
• “I Google Earth people’s houses after I meet them. and then judge them based on their house. yours was pretty nice, i approve.”
• “My employer cut my pay, thats ok though. i more than make up for the loss by selling our secrets to the competition.”
• “I fell in love with my stalker.”
• “Sometimes when I’m watching you sleep it’s almost impossible not to wake you and tell you how beautiful you are.”
• “I stole the identity of a dead guy with the same name as my son, open credit cards and then moved. I sometimes think I’ll get caught.”

Sadly, according to SecretTweet, an uncomfortably large group of entries relate “to personal struggle and suicide.” In response, the service, which strives to remain impartial, has linked to a suicide prevention site and provides stats about suicides in the US.

You can find follow me on Twitter here as well as VentureBeatniks MG Siegler, Eric Eldon, Dean Takahashi, Anthony Ha, Chris Morrison, Tam Vo, Camille Ricketts, Dan Kaplan and Matt Marshall. We have a VentureBeat account (for posts) as well.

[photo: flickr/naama]

Source – Psst. Got a secret? Share it on Twitter anonymously – eBay VPs do

SmartSwitch embeds intelligence into a traditionally simplistic device � the ordinary household light switch. With SmartSwitch, the mindless activity of flipping a switch becomes an informed decision. Equipped with a network connection and a brake pad, the switch provides its user with tactile feedback about the amount of energy being used either within their household or by the electrical grid as a whole.

via Core77 Presents: Greener Gadgets Design Competition.

Interesting idea. From reading the comments though there seems to be a significant amount of negative criticism. I personally think it’s a great idea, flipping the switch has become such a natural reaction that not a lot of thought goes into what you are doing. This could provide a little bit of the spark to remind you that you may want to rethink what you are doing from a power consumption stand point. I’ve added the video of the SmartSwitch demo, though something like this needs to be physically inspected to get the true idea behind it.

Hilarious songs. Mad props to FotC.

The recent chatter between Hulu and Boxee regarding Hulu requesting Boxee to stop streaming Hulu videos is kind of crazy. I’m not surprised that this is occurring as Hollywood’s reaction to anything new and user-adopted is always fear. This occurred with sound in films, the VCR, and the DVR just to name a few. But, what is very surprising is that there isn’t a valid reasoning yet from the content providers. Whether you watch the videos on Hulu.com with Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari, or Boxee the content as well as the advertisements are the same. The only difference is that Boxee essentially is gives you a different presentation of from which to watch the videos from.

I can’t fathom what the thought process is. If I don’t use Boxee, I can still hook up my laptop or computer to my tv and watch it with the browser, so the argument can’t be that I’m watching these videos on my television. I truly hope that this can be figured out soon, because it will be important for the future of watching studio created content.

This is a little bit ridiculous at first I thought he was just acting weird, but geez. He’s out of his mind.

Ouch. Really? Did this kid just forget to use his hands? Come on..

I’m looking forward to seeing this bad boy in action. It does look far sleeker then the first one and from the first impressions I’ve read it is marginally better. But I’m still not sold. I think I need to read some of the reviews as well as actually use the device before I splurge. God, I love tech toys.

Kindle 2 is more eye-catching than the original, more Apple-like. Amazon got a lot of heat for the retro look and feel when it launched in November 2007. Critics compared it to a 1970s calculator or medical device. Some said it felt like a prototype that wasn’t ready for prime time.

In that respect, Kindle 2 is a big improvement. It feels sleek, with a brushed metal back and pencil-thin profile. It’s as though the Kindle raided the iPod’s closet and hired its personal trainer. For the most part, the much-needed makeover is excellent. Just as iPod envy befell everyone who encountered the white-earbudded early adopters, Kindle 2 ensures that Kindle envy will set in when you notice a fellow traveler reading one on the subway or on a plane.�

Source – Kindle 2: First Reading and Impressions | A Dash of Salt | Fast Company

The Lonely Island’s new single, enjoy.

The last statement of this video is great. I mean really? Come on!