An Easy Way to Stay Current: theSkimm

As you may or may not know, Hungry and I studied the International Studies field at college. We are very concerned, aware, and conscious of what happens in our world. We look beyond America’s borders into every other place in the world. Sure, we have our specialties, but it all matters to us. Why am I talking about this? Because I want to share with you an easy way to “be in the know” with what’s going on in the world every day.

In comes theSkimm. A quirky, smart newsletter (I’m not sure what else to call it) that finds its way in your inbox every weekday morning. This newsletter contains very short briefs of the most immediate issues occurring worldwide. Almost as if you were skimming the newspaper (get it?). It’s usually around two to three main “articles” while the rest are little tidbits of information. It’s fun, it makes you laugh, and it’s easy to understand even if you were not previously aware of the story beforehand.

We are not sponsored by theSkimm at all, but when I find things I really like, I want to share it. Even though I am on BBC and NPR every day, I still like to get my fill of theSkimm in the morning while I’m making my tea. It’s that fast. It’s a combination of the younger generation’s lack of time and their way of packaging things up into succinct, clear ideas that makes this newsletter great.

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Here’s an example of yesterday mornings theSkimm:

“THE UN

THE STORY

Yesterday, the UN Security Council said it wants an independent international investigationinto last week’s plane crash over eastern Ukraine. Russian President Putin said ‘fine.’

DETAILS, PLEASE.

The US says pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine shot down the plane with a missile they got from Russia. This has the international community taking a harder look at just how close Russia is to its separatist friends. European leaders have already hit Russia with some sanctions over the Ukraine crisis. But now, they’re thinking of turning up the pressure with new measures that could do damage to Russia’s economy.

ANYTHING ELSE?

It wasn’t until yesterday that the separatists agreed to release the victims’ bodies, and handed over the black box flight recorders. President Obama had some harsh words, saying it “begsthe question: What exactly are they trying to hide?”

theSKIMM

After months of frustration over just how helpful Russia has been in dealing with the ongoing Ukrainian mess, you’re seeing a global spasm of anger against Russia. Although it’s unclear exactly what the consequences of that will be.”

See? Easy to understand while getting the important points across. It’s great for all ages. I have been spreading this around to friends and family so I thought it only fair to spread it to Hungry and Fit fans as well. Although we are all about eating and working out (nerdiness too), I believe it to be incredibly important that we stay socially aware and conscious of what happens every day of this inter-connected world that we are a part of. Sign up! As always, stay hungry and fit!

Jun292014

Top 3 World Cup Commercials

With all great sporting events, come great commercials. The World Cup is certainly not excluded in this. True, not all Americans will “get” them because Americans aren’t super into soccer. But still, I think anyone can appreciate these commercials. It was tough to choose between the many that different companies have put out, but we have narrowed it down to a Top 3 with a few honorable mentions.

3. The Last Game (Nike). This commercial is long, so you will mostly likely not see the entire thing aired. However, it is awesome. It’s set in the future where they’ve replaced the “Greats” with clones who can do no wrong. Ronaldo goes around to recruit the Greats back from where they’ve slunk off to (Neymar turns into a barber). They train together and face the Clones to bring back true football. Who will win?!

2. House Match (Adidas). This is just hilarious because you get two all-time “retired” greats–Zidanne and Beckham. You also get two current players, Bale and Moura. The younger players are playing themselves in a video game and Beckham proposes they play actually football. The hilarity ensues as they play two on two, wrecking Beckham’s house. Pure classic.

1. #BecauseFutbol (Hyundai). Although it’s the shortest commercial of the bunch, I think it’s the best. It has the most genuine, puts-a-grin-on-my-face feeling. A pregnant couple walk into the hospital, only to be surrounded by other expecting parents. Nurses are struggling to find places to put newborns and wonder what happened 9 months ago. And what of course was 9 months ago in this commercial? The Spain winning the World Cup. It shows a flashback and shows the genuine joy you feel as your team wins. I love it. It always leaves a huge smile on my face.

Honorable Mentions: You can see for yourself…it was tough not to put these in the top 3.

1. Adriana Lima Transforms a Man Cave (Kia). Simply classic making fun of Americans.

2. “Avoidance” (#BecauseFutbol) (Hyundai). Literally me at work.

I hope you enjoyed our selection of favorite World Cup commercials. I could watch them over and over. I hope you are enjoying the World Cup itself, as well! Cheer on! As always, stay hungry and fit!

*Question of the Day: What’s YOUR favorite World Cup commercial?

Jun152014

The World Cup: Perfect for Machine Cardio

Ahhh, the World Cup is finally here! If you unfortunately don’t know what I’m talking about, let me explain… biggest sporting event of the world! Teams from all parts of the world coming together to battle in tournament (soccer or football). It’s a glorious glorious thing for soccer-lovers like Hungry and I. And I’m telling you that these games can tie directly into your fitness! Do you ever feel the drudgery of doing cardio on machines (aka treadmill, elliptical, bike, etc.)? Then this is the ticket for you!

Since Thursday (the start of the World Cup), I’ve found myself on the cardio machines more than usual. Why is that? Because as I’m pumping away at the elliptical, I’m completely engrossed in the World Cup games! Yes, I may be embarrassing myself by throwing up my hands or yelling at the gym TVs, but I am WORKIN‘ it.

“Machine cardio” becomes a chore for most of us on a routine basis. This means we aren’t putting our all in, say if we did sprints or some other high-intensity, high-focus exercise. When you’re into something, whether it be a song you’re jamming to or a game you are loving, you are working hard. Your mood is up and you are pumping those machines! This means you are working harder, burning more calories, increasing the capacity at which your muscles are fighting, and generally getting a better workout. Set the program to “interval” and just rock it.

Take advantage of amazing soccer being played every day (at least once a day!). Jump on that elliptical or treadmill, even if there’s only 15 minutes left in the half. Something is better than nothing! I know I’ve stepped on the treadmill in these past few days JUST for an excuse to watch the game at the gym. The World Cup is such a perfect way to sneak some machine cardio in especially if you normally despise it! Watch the World Cup to stay hungry and fit!

*Question of the Day: Who are you rooting for in the World Cup?

BONUS KITTY PIC

Sajah being so darn handsome

Jun062014

Transitor Review

This is a guest post from our good friend, Nerdy Neanderthal, a nerdy fitness dude. Expect more posts from him ranging from workouts to beer discussions to nerd surges!

Pros:

Excellent, deep combat
Stunning visuals and music
Price ($20)

Cons:

Drags in the middle slightly
Too much information at times
Little sense of exploration

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Transistor is a beautiful dystopian RPG; reminiscent of the Great Gatsby if it were written by Ernest Cline. You play as Red, a lounge singer, whose voice has been stolen by the “Camerata” a group of nefarious people trying to restore order to the city of Cloudbank. The seamless blending of turn based and action combat lends itself perfectly to a world graced by beautiful music, both score and soundtrack, and a story that is revealed slowly and carefully. This game is an absolute must play for any rpg fan, and I would recommend it to almost anyone who just enjoys good games regardless of genre.

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Artistically, this game is stunning. Bright vibrant colors are spliced with the rust of a falling city. The touches of color from yellow on a motorcycle to the red on the Process (the bad machines) show the great discourse of this world. The writing does nothing but enthrall. While the story shies away from the save-the-blank-to-save-the-world troupe of most RPGs that does not mean you will not be invested in the story. The player is giving little snippets here and there from the voice-over sword to writings in computer consoles that slowly unravel the complex and shades of grey story. The music is the perfect accent piece to bring up the emotional tones of the game. The developers used sound perfectly from a near perfect musical score to the needle drops of Red’s song. The main theme, “We All Become” will be stuck in my head for days.

The combat system is the perfect “easy to learn, hard to master” model. As you unlock powers, there are no tutorials, just experimentation and the knowledge that comes from it. You can get in there and mash but you will not want to just spam “x.” Every power in the game can be an action, an augment, or a buff; allowing great complexity for a limited move set. The action is a blend of turn-based and real-time, very similar to the VATS system from the Fallout games. You are given unlimited time to plan but each action has a cost. The game does not coddle, some of the process hit very hard so proper strategy is not only rewarding but a must. You are encouraged to experiment as bonuses are giving for linking different moves together. The player can re-spec at any save point in the game for no charge, and the stations are frequent and easy to find.

Transistor is not without flaws. There are stretches in the towards the end where you never have an exciting encounter but there is an influx of computers without the knowledge of which information is important; a little streamlining would have gone a long way.

Transistor is beautiful, fun, engaging, but lacking a little bit of direction in the third act. For any JRPG or action RPG fan, I cannot recommend this game highly enough for the price of a movie ticket and a popcorn. (you will get a lot more time out of Transistor) The music and visuals will draw you in, the combat will keep you experimenting all the way until the end.

9.5

Nearly Perfect

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May212014

#24 Greatest Video Game of All Time

It is time to bring you #24 of our “Top 25 Video Games of All Time“! I’ve been looking forward to this since last week! Make sure you check out our video game brain trust before reading further. If you missed last week’s #25 games, read here to update yourself. Ready, get set, go #24!

#24 Favorite/Best Video Game

Kai – Worms Armageddon – One of the few multiplayer PC games that could be played on a single computer. An amazing party game, full of humor and customization as well as tactical depth and variety. I spent countless hours at home and at friends’ houses trying to master the art of the ninja rope or the exploding sheep. A great game that perfectly captures the idea that games are about fun and shouldn’t take themselves too seriously.

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Scott (Po) – Skies of Arcadia – I’m a sucker for sky pirates and RPGs. I fell in love at first sight.

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Andrew – Major League Baseball Featuring Ken Griffey, Jr. (N64) – Call, call, call me Junior. Pretty sure that reticle size never, ever made any difference at all here. Pretty sure that Scott Rolen + anyone else was an absolute trading machine and other teams would drop him pretty much right away for rinse and repeat. This is my most played sports game after Madden and I just felt like I could replay the season mode over and over again. The music, the pageantry, the dynamics were just so fun (only thing holding this game back was that overthrows didn’t happen – if they did, absolute surprise to me). Naturally Mark McGwire shouldn’t be used in game. …with all this said, I tried to play whatever 2K Baseball or whatever people play now a days and I had like 0 outs with 3 runs against me in the top of the 1st so…yeah…

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Alana (Fit) – FIFA World Cup Series – What a perfect way to continue the list as the actual World Cup 2014 approaches. FIFA games are all great, but I specified World Cup so that I could play as those famous countries. For me, it’s a timeless game that I can return to over and over. Soundtracks from that game will forever populate my mind. I started playing around 2000, I believe, and Kai and I would play tons of it. I would love to go through the whole World Cup process–it didn’t matter how bad the graphics were. There’s something about that game that gives you that addiction. Even when I start to play real life soccer, I say, “Let’s play FIFA!” It’s a great game for multiplayer and solo, especially for those who love the game. FIFA will always have a special place in my heart and I will continue to play it time and time again. Definitely my most favorite sports video game series.

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Chris (Hungry) – House of the Dead III (ARCADE) – There will be a few arcade games that will make my list. The reason I am choosing the arcade version rather than the console release one is the pump-action shotgun that you get to whip around like Arnold in that mall scene in Terminator II. House of the Dead III is by far my favorite arcade shooting game, although there are tons of top choices including: Revolution X, Time Crisis II, Virtua Cop, The Ocean Hunter, etc., mainly because of the memories it produced. It also was one of the few that I beat in the arcade over and over again, along with all the ones listed earlier. It was a money issue, typically, but I couldn’t hold my quarters back for this one. The continuing story throughout the series, the decent graphics, the presence of voice acting, and the ability to choose your stages made this game better than most of its competition. Plus, the fact that it was released for multiple consoles made it even more accessible for in-home gamers. It might have been released in 2002 but it is a game I will still throw quarters into over 16 years later. If I have an arcade in my home one day, this will be one of the first three machines in it.

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And with that ends our #24 greatest video game of all time. Keep your eyes ready for next week’s #23! Looking forward to what everyone lists! Let us know what you think with comments below! And as always…stay hungry and fit!

Mar072014

Giveaway: Gold-Plated Bassbuds

If you want some bling that’s actually useful, look no further. Yes, we are giving away 24-carot gold Bassbuds. If you want to be styling with some earbuds in, this is your giveaway! These are a limited edition that have not been released yet. Hungry and I are always searching for more pairs of headphones that suit our mobility but provide quality sound.

If those characteristics are important to you, you’re in luck! Bassbuds has provided you all with a giveaway for these simply awesome earbuds. If these don’t make you a boss, I’m not sure what will. All you have to do is enter in the raffle below and you could win these 24-carot gold Bassbud earbuds! This giveaways is running for the next 31 days, so don’t miss out! The winner will be chosen at random through rafflecopter.

And as always…stay hungry and fit!

Mar062014

HabitRPG: A Quest for Productivity

This is for you gamers out there or people who are looking for a new way to encourage productivity. I happen to be both. This is not necessarily just an app, it is so much more! Similar to CARROT, it makes productivity more into a game, which is brilliant (for me, at least). You level up in CARROT, but HabitRPG takes it to a whole different level.

It originated as just a website, but it seems more like a program or an online game. You make an account with HabitRPG and make your “avatar” aka your character or “you.” We’re talking about old-school pixelated graphics. It has the old-time feel to it, I like it. After all, this is a free service (there’s a subscribe option to support the developers), and these people are putting their own time into it. Once you are all set up with your Level 1 character, you are guided through a little tutorial. This just explains the basic functions and whatnot for you to be able to “play.”

How do you level up? Well, by being productive, of course! Let’s move on to the most important aspect of the program: the tasks. This where the productivity and efficiency come in, alongside the fun and questing. In order to gain levels, to gain gold, or cool items, you have to get stuff done! There are three types of productivity: habits, dailies, and to-dos.

I’m the character on the left, my brother, who is in my party is shown on the right

Habits are every day things, as you would expect habits to be. These are things you can tick off multiple times a day. You might have “drink water” or “eat junk food” (which would drain your hitpoints). Dailies are a once-a-day tick-off like “exercise” or “take vitamins.” And finally, to-dos is obviously a to-do list. Each can have different difficulties which gains you more or less experience, gold, and items.

Those of you familiar with MMORPGs know about dailies. In this program, if you don’t complete all your “dailies” (things you should be doing every day OR every certain day that you set), then you lose hitpoints in your character. Nobody likes losing health! It really motivates me and drives me to do all those daily tasks and set the bar higher and higher. I love it! And as you level up, more and more becomes available to you like pets, mounts, and other items like equipment to give you buffs. Just like a real RPG!

Equipment

There’s also a big “Social” aspect to the game. You can join several guilds (some that I am in include “Health Nuts,” “Mastering Buddha,” and “Pet Owners”), create challenges (that other people can join and get the tasks and dailies specific to that challenge such as learning languages, meditating, and so forth), and start your own party (aka a group). Right now I’m in a party with my brother, who is the one who introduced me to this awesome program.

Finally there are Rewards (which you see on the “Tasks” page) which are basically things you “purchase” with the gold that you have earned. Rewards can range from whatever you want. There are some pre-set ones like equipment you can buy and such like shield, sword, etc. Then there are also ones you create. So on mine, you can see “1 hr video games,” “buy something for yourself,” “take a bath” and so forth. Make the price sensible so that it makes sense with the reward you are receiving. So if I really want to play those video games, I better get some stuff done!

I would love for more of you to join us! It’s also a great support network if not a fun and motivating way of being productive. My user is “hungryandfit” and I encourage you to join HabitRPG! I give it a huge thumbs up so far, it’s made me floss every day and we know that’s a win! And as always…stay hungry and fit!

Sep262013

iOS 7 Review

This is a personal review. It is not professional. Although I have a lot of experience with technology and cellular devices, I want to talk about this update as a “real” person.

I have never been happy with Apple operating system updates at first. iOS 6 grew on me but I always regretted updating. One of the major issues that I faced was a battery bug that resulted in my phone randomly turning off whenever it was under 40% charged. At that point, despite having battery power, it would not turn back on until it was plugged in again. When it was plugged back in the phone would have the same charge that it had when it shut off randomly. You can imagine how frustrating that must have been for a 4S in perfect condition.

With that being said, I have had a Macbook since 2007 and it is still my only laptop. I broke the logic board when the computer fell off of my bed, but it is still fully functional with the exception of the built in speakers. I have never had a problem with any of those operating system upgrades although I can’t say that I certainly got leopard, snow leopard, lion or mountain lion yet (The purpose of this paragraph was to show that I don’t automatically hate all Apple operating system changes).

This is the point where I start to actually talk about iOS7 for the iPad and the iPhone. I currently have an iPhone 5 and a 4th Generation 64GB iPad. I updated the two at the same time and the update took nearly 15 minutes for each. I had them attached to a strong wifi signal and they were also plugged in at the time. I decided to not use them in order to hopefully speed up the process and it may or may not have worked.

Upon resetting the devices after the download and the installation, there was a setup that included basic questions such as: do you want to enable location settings, do you want to set up airdrop and iCloud, do you want to register with Apple, what language would you like to use, do you want to enable passcode restrictions, etc. Nothing too complicated but make sure you think about the passcode restrictions since it makes it much more difficult to quickly access features.

Oh, quick side note, you NEED 3.1 GB of free space on your hard drive before you can start the download.

In Colorado, it seems as if talking and texting while driving is not illegal. This is a stupid law. It needs to be changed. Nevertheless, if you are driving and using your phone and now need to unlock it as well that may increase the risk of accident or mishap. Just a warning.

The layout is much smoother and more attractive, in my opinion. With that being said it does take longer to move from one screen to another. It may look smoother but it takes longer as a result. I haven’t timed it but it seems pretty obvious. That doesn’t mean that it’s a painfully slow process, I just notice the little things.

You no longer need to swipe left in order to get to the screen to search your device. You can simply swipe down so that eliminates a pointless screen. If you pull the top menu down it is relatively similar but much less cluttered. If you pull the bottom up you receive a new menu that is quite clean and useful. My problem with that is now you can access the flashlight (you get a new FREE built-in flashlight! which is worse than the one I have always had), calculator, camera, and clock multiple ways. You can access the camera three different ways. It makes your device more cluttered! The nice part of that swipe up menu is that it gives you very easy access to changing the mode of your device. You can go into airplane, silent, locked, sleep, wifi, and bluetooth mode easily now.

Speaking of the camera, it has some new features and it laid out in a much more organized manner. It includes built-in filters and allows easy access to video, panorama, and more. Safari also presents an interesting interface when you have multiple tabs open. I think it is quite attractive and practical enough.

The only other practical change involves closing out your apps that are open. You can still double tap your home key on the bottom of your phone but now your screen is taken over so that you can swipe the apps upwards in order to close them.

Other than this I have not found other practical changes that are worthy of me mentioning. A lot of the changes are just aesthetic, some work for me and some don’t. All in all I like iOS6 for my personal use on my iPhone but I prefer iOS7 on the iPad. I don’t think this new setup works for people who have very streamlined efficiently working phones that they use at work and in the gym and on the go. It is slower which is why I do not mind it on the iPad. If I could, I would go back to iOS6 for my iPhone and keep iOS7 on the iPad.

My recommendation for you is to find a friend that has the update and see if you like it first. I told Alana not to get it on her phone and she has not yet decided. Half the population loves it and half hates it. I’m sure people will get used to it but we all know the old saying, if it’s not broke, don’t fix it.

My FAVORITE part of the update pertains to a matter I have been bothering Apple about for years. The newsstand is a waste of space, especially since it is not collapsible and cannot be put into a folder. WELL NOW IT CAN! Technology is a complicated way that can or cannot help you stay hungry and fit!

You might also like…

BONUS KITTY PIC

Kitty pile on Alana for Castle marathon!

Aug062013

Techie Tuesday: CARROT To-Do App

So I’ve become obsessed with getting things done lately. Which is GREAT. Great for me, great for the house, great for everybody. But why? Well…I give all credit to my new to-do app, CARROT. I constantly struggle to find apps that improve my productivity and organization, and still would like more, but as far as to-do apps go, CARROT really works for me.

CARROT is brilliant for gamers or competitive people because here’s the thing: it’s an AI to-do list with personality that gives you points for completing tasks. So I started at Level 1. I’m now at Level 41. Yeah, I’ve been going crazy. But at Level 1, I didn’t have many capabilities. Some people may be turned off by that, saying if I’m paying for an app, I should get all the capabilities right away before me! I totally hear you. But I’m okay with this because it actually improves my productivity. I want to complete more and more tasks so I get more and more upgrades. So at first, I couldn’t set reminders, now I can. I couldn’t rearrange my list, now I can. And so forth. Even though it holds back all it does until you gain levels, that is one of the biggest reasons you want to keep being productive.

My to-do

Obviously, it’s very different from other to-do apps as it’s interactive. It gets mood swings. CARROT will be happy if you complete many tasks, but if you slack, CARROT will turn angry and turn all black and red and make me scared. It’s not always an upgrade when you level up, sometimes you get a KITTEN (yup) or sometimes he tells you a story. Or asks you to sacrifice bunnies for him. I think it’s a female, but I always change the gender.

All in all, CARROT has all the features other to-do apps have, but it makes you work for them so that you are improving your productivity. It makes getting things done fun because who doesn’t like leveling up? I think I may have found my to-do app, finally! Check it out here: http://www.meetcarrot.com/. Use this app to stay hungry and fit!