WiiFit Workout Week 8

Beginning Weight:  201.5 (-3.5 pounds)

Monday January 19th – Week 8, Day 1
WiiFit Age 33

Torso Twists (6 reps)
Triangle
Spinal Twist
JackKnife (30 reps)
Bridge
Standing Knee
Dance
Single-Leg Extension (20 reps)
Plank (30 seconds)
Cobra
Palm Tree
Tricep Extension (20 reps)
Single-Leg Twist (20 reps)
Half-Moon
Basic Step
Push-up and Side Plank (6 reps)
Downward-Facing Dog
Tree
Single-Arm Stand (6 reps)
Super Hula Hoop (3 minutes)
Warrior
Lunge (20 reps)

Total Workout Time: 53 minutes

Wednesday January 21st – Week 8, Day 2
WiiFit Age 26

Triangle
Torso Twists (6 reps)
Standing Knee
Dance
Single-Leg Extension (20 reps)
Rhythm Boxing (Beginner, 3 minute)
Bridge
JackKnife (30 reps)
Spinal Twist
Sun Salutation
Sideways Leg Lift (20 reps)
Free Step (20 minutes)
Chair
Rowing Squat (15 reps)
Lunge (20 reps)
Warrior
Tree
Single-Arm Stand (6 reps)
Palm Tree
Tricep Extension (20 reps)

Total Workout Time: 64 minutes

Thursday January 22nd – Week 8, Day 3
WiiFit Age 30

Cobra
Plank (30 seconds)
Chair
Rowing Squat (15 reps)
Half-Moon
Single-Leg Twist (20 reps)
Single-Leg Extension (20 reps)
Dance
Standing Knee
Downward-Facing Dog
Push-up and Side Plank (6 reps)
Spinal Twist
JackKnife (30 reps)
Bridge
Warrior
Lunge (20 reps)
Tree
Single-Arm Stand (6 reps)
Free Step (10 minutes)
Rhythm Boxing (Beginner, 3 minute)
Basic Step
Sideways Leg Lift (20 reps)
Sun Salutation
Free Run (10 minutes)

Total Workout Time: 69 minutes

Comments: This was my first week starting back on my Weight Watchers-inspired diet.  As such, I credit the diet for this week’s weight loss more than WiiFit.  However, this isn’t to say that I haven’t noticed any change with WiiFit.  There hasn’t been a dramatic weight loss, but I’ve noticed that formally "jiggly" areas of my body (I’m looking at you, upper thigh) are now not so jiggly.  My endurance is up as well.  Workouts that would have left me out of breath are now a breeze for me.  This week, I tried to push myself to see how long of a workout I could take.  I got up to 69 minutes and could have gone for more had it not been late at night.  I am happy with my WiiFit workouts so far.

Public Domain Wisdom From A Children’s Book

I’m very interested in the subject of Copyrights and the Public Domain.  I happen to believe that the length of copyrights have been extended way too far.  When the Constitution was written, copyrights lasted for 14 years.  After that, you needed to apply for a one-time renewal of 14 years.  Over the years, Congress extended copyright terms and made the renewal automatic.  As it stands now, a work copyrighted by a single individual stays under copyright for 70 years after the author’s death.  A work copyrighted by a company stays under copyright for 120 years from the date of publication.

To give an example of how long this is, take this blog post here.  It is under my copyright and will be for 70 years after I die.  I’m 33 years old as I write this.  Let’s assume that I live until 83 (to give nice, round numbers).  This means that this blog post will remain under my copyright until the year 2129.  Of course, I won’t be around to see the copyright run out.  Assuming each of my children (and their children, etc) have their own children at age 30 (again, to keep things nice and round), this blog post will go out of copyright when my great-great-great-grandchild is 5 years old (NHL’s current age).

Why is this a problem?  Well, for one thing, copyright was designed to help encourage innovation.  You get a temporary monopoly on your created work and in exchange the work passes into the Public Domain after a short while.  The temporary monopoly acts as a financial motivator and the Public Domain helps inspire new works.  I’ve had no problem arguing the first part:  How does having my decedents retaining ownership of something 70 years after I pass away motivating me to create new works?  Am I going to rise up out of the ground zombie-style and create new blog posts?  (Latest Post: BRAAAAIIIINNNNSSSS!!!!!)

The second part, however, has eluded my argumentative skills.  I know that a rich Public Domain is important but was never able to fully argue why.  And, more troubling, I’ve been confronted more and more with people who question why we need the Public Domain at all.  Why, they argue, can’t copyrights last forever?  After all, your ownership of your house doesn’t expire and can be passed down to your children.

The immediate argument that came to mind was that, as a work gets older, it gets harder to track down the owner.  There are some video games from the 1980’s whose copyright ownership is unknown.  How could we hope to track down the proper owner of Romeo and Juliet after over 400 years?  Besides this argument, however, I couldn’t come up with a coherent argument for the existence of the Public Domain.

Then, one night, it came to me from the most unlikely of sources.  I was reading NHL his bedtime story, Magic Tree House #30: Haunted Castle on Hallows Eve by Mary Pope Osborne.  We had finished the story itself and were reading the Notes From The Author when I came upon this quote:

Old tales and poetry from around the world are a constant source of inspiration for storytellers. Creating something new from something old allows us to link hands with people of the past. Or, as Morgan le Fay once said to Jack and Annie (in Magic Tree House #16, Hour of the Olympics), "The old stories are always with us. We are never alone."

That was it.  If we allowed the Public Domain to become extinct, we’ll lose touch with that link.  Yes, new stories will be created, but there is something to be said for using old ideas and putting new spins on them.  Disney (one of the big proponent of extending copyright terms) has made many successful films off of stories in the Public Domain.  Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella, Pinocchio, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Alice in Wonderland, and The Jungle Book were all in the Public Domain when Disney released their movie versions.  Copyrighted works aren’t physical property.  They should be allowed to pass into the public’s ownership after a short period of time so that the public can use those works to create new works.  Thank you, Mary Pope Osborne, for putting it more eloquently than I ever could have.

WiiFit Workout Generator

As you probably know, I’ve been working out using the WiiFit.  As the weeks progressed, I realized two things:

1. I was avoiding some workouts that I didn’t like simply because they challenged me more.

2. I was spending *WAY* too much time between workouts trying to decide what to do next (thus letting my heartrate drop).

I decided I needed some sort of system to randomly select the workouts for me so I could just follow a predetermined list.  Since nothing seemed readily available, I did what any webdeveloper would do: I built it.  It’s gone through a few iterations but I think it’s ready to finally be unleased on the world.  So go ahead, make your own workouts, and get (Wii)fit!

The WiiFit Workout Generator

If you have any comments or suggestions for new features, let me know about them.  I always consider my web applications perpetual works in progress.  There’s always room to improve!

Oh, and thanks go out to the wonderful jQuery and jQuery UI team for their great work on the jQuery and jQuery UI libraries.  I couldn’t have built this site without them.  (Ok, I could have, but it wouldn’t have looked as cool!)

This week in Tweets

  • Got an e-mail promising $7.5M from the UN to anyone who’s been scammed. Just send personal info to W. Africa. How stupid do they think I am? #
  • RT @GeekMommy: Okay, seriously, Adam Savage (MythBusters) couldn’t have chosen a more perfect Twitter handle – @donttrythis just rings true! #
  • Tweeting Mythbusters. Whoda Thunk it? #
  • It’s going to be a long night. NHL has already woken up 3 times: 1x w/ a nightmare, 1x to get a drink, & 1x because JSL made too much noise. #
  • JSL, meanwhile refused to go to sleep until nearly 9. Then fussed in his crib before waking up & waking up his brother. #
  • NHL & JSL are finally asleep now, so I’m getting to sleep while the gettings good. Goodnight everyone! #
  • RT @ProActiveDads: State of Michigan is forcing a new Dad to pay girlfriend’s hospital bill or marry her! http://tinyurl.com/7lbo54 #
  • They want to marry anyway, but on their time, not the state’s. Meanwhile, state is taking the $$$ from dad causing financial probs for the 2 #
  • First week back on my WW-based diet and I lost 3.5 pounds. I know from experience this will slow in the coming weeks, but still a good start #
  • Lunch today: Flat roll (don’t know its real name) w/ hummus & Fiber One cereal on top + cottage cheese w/ Fiber One cereal. 5 points. #
  • Celebrities on Twitter http://is.gd/fq2w – I might have to follow some of these folks. (Not the porn stars though. Honest!!!) #
  • William Shatner tweets? @WilliamShatner #
  • Got an e-mail that begins: “I am calling about…” Um… You aren’t calling. You’re e-mailing. Tough to confuse the two. #
  • This morning, NHL didn’t know our current Pres is. As I tucked him into bed he told me he knows who it is: George Bushington! #
  • Woah. Almost forgot to work out. Time to clear some space and generate a WiiFit Workout http://www.techydad.com/WiiFitWorkout/ #WiiFit #
  • #WiiFit workout done. Pushed myself to 53 minutes today. #
  • Wow. Only 24 followers to go before I hit 200. #
  • RT @historicaltweet: Obama’s Historical Tweets http://bit.ly/SQiK <== My Historical Tweet idea made it! Cool! #
  • Sheesh. Someone in one of my forums hung his flag upside down last night & now is putting it away for 4 yrs to protest Obama being sworn in. #
  • It’s way past time to stop the campaign feuding. Obama won the election & we should get behind him regardless of who you voted for. #
  • Besides, wouldn’t it be better for America if Obama’s a good Pres & he is proven wrong than if he’s proven right & Obama’s an awful Pres? #
  • Ditching the Hulu feed & going to try CNN. Too much fluff there for my taste. #
  • The band playing & announcer make this seem like a sporting event. “Ladies and Gentleman, your home team: the House of Representatives!” #
  • That announcer sounds like the “Let’s Get Ready To Rumble” guy. #
  • “Ladies and Gentleman. In this corner, the President Elect. In that corner Chief Justice Roberts. LLLLLLLet’s get ready to RUMBLLLEEEEE!” #
  • Seriously, who *IS* that announcer? Weird to hear a voice that might normally announce sports/wresting announcing political figures. #
  • Can’t wait to hear how the “Rumble” announcer will announce Obama. “Ladies and gentleman. Your President Elect: BARACK OOOOOOOBAMA!!!!” #
  • Rumble Announcer tripped over his words. How embarrassing would it be if he did that w/ Barack? #
  • CNN’s video feed keeps freezing. Audio working fine. #
  • …and now the audio is breaking. The Internet is breaking!!!! #
  • Quoting the Shma #
  • Shma Y’Israel Adonoi Elohainu Adonoi Echad = Here O’Israel. The Lord our God. The Lord is One. #
  • And now for the main event! #
  • Should I stand if I’m sitting in my office? What’s the inaugural etiquette? #
  • Constitutionally, Obama’s Presidency started at noon. So Bush isn’t Pres anymore but Obama’s not sworn in yet. Who’s our Pres??!!! #
  • Here we go…… #
  • Yikes! He’s messing it up. Nerves must be awful at this moment. #
  • We’re DVRing this. I’ll need to watch it again tonight when my video won’t lock up. #
  • Small shots of the crowd, but holy smokes are there a lot of people there! #
  • Wow. People on statues. People on walls. People on top of people on top of people. It’s just a sea of people out there. #
  • More inaugural etiquette. Do I rise in my office? #
  • WhiteHouse.gov will publish all non-emergency legislation to the website for 5 days & allow comments before the Pres signs it. Cool! #
  • Link about the changes coming to WhiteHouse.gov: http://tinyurl.com/6tdmhy #
  • RT @jquery: The new White House website (http://ping.fm/8vE8H) uses jQuery <== jQuery. JavaScript powered change you can believe in. 😉 #
  • W gets on the helicopter. #
  • Closing the streaming cast now. Time to get back to work. #
  • Wait. Obama’s left-handed? How did I not know that? Hooray for us lefties! #
  • To all my left-handed twitterfolk out there, remember: Left-handers are the only ones in their right minds. 😉 #
  • Wishes Adobe Air didn’t open 2 tabs in FireFox every time I clicked a link in Twhirl. It’s just annoying. #
  • RT @dhlawrencexvii: Ah…thanks, Ben Shields! The announcer today is a Navy man: http://www.dailymail.com/News/inaug09/200901190401 #
  • Just realized I can’t make my planned meal for tomorrow night. Don’t have a pan that goes from stove to oven. Got to come up with alt plan. #
  • Morning Twitterers. #
  • I turned in early to catch up on sleep but JSL sabatoged my effort by waking up, coming into our bed, & refusing to go back to sleep. #
  • Driving into work today, I noticed my Emergency Brake light was on. Brake wasn’t on though. Simple sensor failure or bigger problem? #
  • My car already has 1 sensor failure. The Seatbelt Unbuckled light blinks regardless of seatbelt status. Cheaper to let it blink than fix it. #
  • I take a 32oz Nalgene bottle w/ me everyday. Down to 8oz already. Thank goodness for the water cooler in my dept. (24oz in 1.5hrs? Yikes.) #
  • RT @elijahmanor: Check out “40 Useful Print-Ready Cheat Sheet For Web Developers” #tech #web http://bit.ly/PVbY #
  • This is simply incredible to behold. Yesterday’s Inauguration seen from space. http://is.gd/gDgY #
  • Almost done with my second 32 ounces of water. Man, am I thirsty today! #
  • RT @thinkgeek: “i’m tweeting this” t-shirt! http://thinkgeek.com/b587 Does not include fail whale or annoying auto “thx for the follow” DMs. #
  • RT @WAHMRevolution: Click on links to see full list of recalled products http://bit.ly/3Foyta #
  • RT @debworks: http://snipr.com/ahlfk some great companies to follow here <= @SouthwestAir is there too. We’re flying them to DW in 4 months. #
  • RT @BuildingCamelot: To all the ladies: what should your man NOT buy you for Valentines day? <= Reply to @BuildingCamelot and retweet #
  • Are Nut Bans Promoting Hysteria? http://is.gd/gKnj “…early exposure to peanuts lowers risk of allergy…” So should we give JSL PB? #
  • RT @OwenC: Let me summarize the last 24 hours for the PC Geeks: BUSH = CTRL + X, OBAMA = CTRL + N. (via @jowyang) #
  • How many oz of water should one drink per day? I’m up to 64oz. Might finish off another 32oz by day’s end. Maybe I’ll shoot for 100oz. #
  • This site says Daily Water intake = 1/2 oz of water per pound of body weight if you’re not active. So I need 100oz per day. #
  • Oops. Forgot the site’s URL: http://www.naturodoc.com/library/nutrition/water.htm #
  • Win Little Debbie 100 calorie snacks: http://tinyurl.com/b6hboj #
  • Brake light was on on the way home too. Google search shows I need to check my brake fluid. If that’s fine, my brakes need to be examined. #
  • The website I wound up at explaining about the brake light: http://tinyurl.com/c5u234 #
  • Trying to get the WiiFit Workout Generator to work with my site’s header. #
  • This isn’t working right. Giving up for now to work out. Might need to make some kind of custom header for non-blog pages. #
  • My WiiFit age is 26. I’m 7 years younger than I really am! #
  • Got my Wii stamp on #WiiFIt. #
  • #WiiFit Free Step for 20 minutes. 2,000 steps. #
  • #WiiFit workout at 48 minutes, can I hit 1 hour? #
  • Got the Silver Piggy bank! #WiiFit #
  • A 64 minute #WiiFit workout. A new personal best. That should burn some calories. Burn, calories, burn! #
  • Way past time for some sleep. Hope I can, though. JSL is already in our bed & I drank a gallon of water today. #
  • Morning all. Hope your day’s off to a better start than mine. Tried to check the brake fluid level in my car, but the hood wouldn’t open. #
  • Dropped NHL at school, left my stuff at home (in case they needed to take my car in) & brought it into the service shop. #
  • Of course, brake light decided to work properly then. Got my stuff at home, went to work, realized I left my shoes at home. Only have boots. #
  • Computer doesn’t want to respond today. Another sign I should’ve stayed in bed today. Maybe things will go better after I get breakfast. #
  • 2 new AA’s put in Canon A570IS. 1 video taken. 2 days later camera says they’re dying. Checked & they’re fine. Camera’s sensor is messed up. #
  • …And now FireFox decided to bomb out on me. Can I crawl under my desk and just hide there till 4:30? #
  • I really wish Novell’s iChain would forward on detailed HTTP 500 errors instead of showing a generic error page. Makes debugging difficult. #
  • Which of my FireFox extensions is insisting on opening my.yahoo.com every time FireFox starts? That’s definitely not my home page. #
  • Why is it when my motivation to get work done increases, my computer decides that’s a good time to slow down? #
  • The “Gaston” song from Beauty and the Beast keeps playing in my head. NHL watched B&tB last weekend, why is the song playing in my head now? #
  • Playing songs I bought from AmieStreet.com to exorcise “Gaston” from my head. #
  • RT @BuildingCamelot: A 17 year old girl has had 6 kids! (3 pregnancies) http://tinyurl.com/bc2lhp <= The fathers didn’t stick around either. #
  • My wife is responding to me talking via IM. And I’m only 10 feet away from her! #
  • I have 196 followers now. Wonder who will be #200? #
  • I have (oh god) a plan! (anyone get the reference?) Going to show NHL Food Network shows to try to expand his culinary horizons. #
  • Already showed him Good Eats. After seeing the Edamame episode, he requested that I DVR tonight’s Popcorn and Pretzel episodes. #
  • #WiiFit workout generated & almost set to begin tonight’s workout. The workout has both Free Step & Free Run. Should be interesting. #
  • Yikes. A 69 minutes #WiiFit workout. Am I nuts? (Well, maybe, but still….) #
  • Way too tired to be in work this morning and yet here I am. #
  • The AC was shut off so I’m not freezing. Unfortunately, this means the ants are back. I shouldn’t have to choose between ants & freezing! #
  • *klonk* *zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz* #
  • RT @elijahmanor: Check out “Firebug in IE… a dream come true!” #tech #web http://bit.ly/11n3l #
  • Just booked my flight to see my parents. Long Island here I come. (Next weekend) #
  • RT @BrettTrout: Call on Obama to boost the tech sector by tackling software patent reform http://is.gd/gVKF Do it for your BlackBerry … #
  • Wow. Haven’t taken photos off my camera for awhile. 296 photos to go through dating back to Jan 1st! #
  • WiiFit Workout Generator now using #jQueryUI Tabs. Works better than my “fly-out” code. Might have to redo the CSS though. http://is.gd/h07v #
  • Pizza Hut commercial advertises 12 pounds of pasta as serving “4 or more.” Really? 3 pounds of pasta is a serving? #
  • Got a set of ankle/wrist weights to help kick my WiiFit workouts to the next level. #
  • Speaking of which, I think #WiiFit isn’t burning fat so much as building muscle. Formally “jiggly” areas of my body seem to be firming up. #
  • NHL just woke up saying “My coughs don’t sound good.” Sounds like he’s getting sick. Croup-y cough. Oh joy. #
  • #WiiFit Workout Generator styles updated. Magic Tree House book wisdom copied for a future post. Time for bed. Night all! #

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WiiFit Workout Week 7

Beginning Weight: 205 (+1 pound)

Monday January 12th – Week 7, Day 1
WiiFit Age 37

Tree
Single-Arm Stand (6 reps)
Palm Tree
Tricep Extension (20 reps)
Push-up and Side Plank (6 reps)
Downward-Facing Dog
Half-Moon
Single-Leg Twist (20 reps)
Sideways Leg Lift (20 reps)
Sun Salutation
Warrior
Lunge (20 reps)
Jackknife (30 reps)
Bridge
Spinal Twist
Free Step (10 minutes)

Total Workout Time: 45 minutes

Wedesday January 14th – Week 7, Day 2
WiiFit Age 34

Basic Run (Island Lap)
Single-Arm Stand (6 reps)
Tree
Lunge (20 reps)
Warrior
Free Step (10 minutes)
Arm and Leg Lift (20 reps)
Jackknife (30 reps)
Spinal Twist
Bridge
Super Hula Hoop (3 minutes)

Total Workout Time: 47 minutes

Thursday January 15th – Week 7, Day 3
WiiFit Age 32

Rhythm Boxing (Beginner, 3 minutes)
Basic Step
Single-Leg Twist (20 reps)
Half-Moon
Basic Run (Island Lap)
Sideways Leg Lift (20 reps)
Sun Salutation
Advanced Step
Standing Knee
Single Leg Extension (20 reps)
Dance
Arm and Leg Lift (20 reps)
Tricep Extension (20 reps)
Palm Tree

Total Workout Time: 46 minutes

Comments: This week marked my first time using my (soon to be released) WiiFit Workout Generator. I got tired of sitting around between exercises trying to figure out which one to do next, so I worked up something that would make a random workout for me to follow. It wound up including some exercises that I wrote off as ineffective. For example, I did a 10 minute Free Step on Monday while watching Batman: The Brave and the Bold. I never would have considered Free Step and almost didn’t include it as an option for the Generator to use, but I’m glad I did. I hope to release the Generator this week.

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