America, as a whole right now, is in the toilet.

I love my country and I am proud to be an American (just like the song). I am very blessed to enjoy a lot of freedoms and opportunities that you don’t get in some parts of the world. But Americans are viewed pretty poorly by the general world, our society seems to be in a freefall on occasion, our government is in massive amounts of debt, and we love arguing so much that nobody gets along. It’s stupid.

What’s funny is, I could have said this about our great nation a few years ago, too. Back then, if you asked somebody on the street what the problem with our country was, they would have said our president. At the time, George W. Bush was working on a variety of things, including a war and public policies, while the media and the public ripped him to shreds.

The Election of 2008

Bush was a Republican, and everyone pretty much knew that, unless the Republican Party came up with a good candidate, the Democrats would win the Presidential Election in 2008.  (And don’t get me started on political parties – what a wildly unnecessary part of our government!) The Democratic Party nominated Barack Obama, a younger Senator from Illinois who could give a good rallying speech and had a great presence behind the podium. The Republicans elected a forgettable candidate named John McCain, who was about 10 years older than Bush and somebody that nobody under the age of 50 wanted to vote for.

Obama ran a very smart election, promising “change” to the people of America. It worked, and he won. But his main platform was basically this, in a nutshell: “I’m not George W. Bush.” He spoke vaguely about what he wanted to accomplish, other than fixing what Bush apparently screwed up in his 8 years in office. Both candidates, in fact, seemed to have this same platform, and both focused on what the other guy was doing (just read the opening paragraph of this article on one of their first debates).

This isn’t a rant about Bush or Obama, for that matter. Regardless of political affiliation, anyone who was listening to what Obama and McCain were saying noticed that they were saying nothing. They were just talking about what they weren’t. Since he’s been elected, President Obama has frequently talked about how they “inherited problems from the previous administration“. The President goes on countless talk shows, seemingly still campaigning for a job he already has. But his message remains: “I’m not Bush.”

So here we are.

After a couple years of Barack Obama being in office, I would argue that not much has changed about America. This isn’t entirely the President’s fault, either – we have a pretty slow-moving government in general, and it can take a long time for certain things to shake out. But the people of America elected Barack Obama to be President because he was going to fix America, which was apparently broken by our previous President.

Before you run off, this isn’t about politics.

It’s about change. The Democratic Party’s goal of the last couple years is to not be Bush. It’s to be the complete opposite of what Bush was and what he stood for. But they were never really clear on what exactly they wanted to be different. They had some lofty ideas, but they never strategized beyond them. They want the world to be at peace, the wars to be over, and everybody to be happy… except they never really determined how.

The point is, our government system (and that includes both parties and the “Tea Party”) is so focused on what they’re avoiding that they aren’t figuring out what they’re supposed to do. They know what not to do, and that’s not getting them very far.

Here’s where you come in.

You hate your job. You hate the fat on your body. You hate your debt. You hate your life right now. You know what the enemy looks like, and your goals are something along the lines of, “Lose weight” or “Quit your job” or “Get a better job” or “Get out of debt”. These are all admirable goals, but all they are focusing on is what you are running away from, and not what you are running towards.

Here’s that race analogy again…

As a cross country runner for 7 years, I seem to always fall back on the analogy that life is like a race. But so many people run the race of life while looking behind them – looking at where they aren’t instead of where they are going. They know they don’t want to be at the starting line anymore, so they run around, looking back at the starting line, thinking, Whew! At least I’m not over there anymore! But they don’t realize where they are now, and they don’t realize where the race track is, or where the finish line is.

Instead of setting negative goals, set positive ones.

What does this mean? It means, instead of what you are getting rid of, focus on what you are gaining. Want to get out of your job? Start looking at what kind of job you do want. What does that look like? How about losing weight? Figure out what a healthy lifestyle looks like – what do you do every day? What do you eat? What do you enjoy doing in your free time? Setting positive goals is where you paint the finish line. The wording of your goals is very important. Make sure that you are shooting for something, instead of away from something else.

Then, figure out how to get there.

We’ve got our eyes on the finish line, but now we need to know how to get there. This is where you set smaller, achievable steps that you can measure and see your progress. It’s nice to set a goal of having a million dollars, and it might be achievable. But you need to know how to get there first. How do you make your first $10? $100? $1,000? How are you going to scale this idea up until you get to a million dollars? It’s the same with any goal – you need a road map.

America has no road map right now, so we’ll keep arguing for a while and pointing fingers. We’ll play political games like trying to blame a crazed and tragic shooting on a political party to win a stupid election. But at some point, our country needs to wake up and answer the question: “Okay, so what now?”

Beat them to the punch, and start answering that question in your own life.

Where is this road going?

I quit my customer service job to focus on my writing, and I get easily frustrated with The Nerd at times, because I feel like I’m not doing enough with it yet. But I’ve been going at this thing for over a year and a half, so it feels like it should be bigger. In the meantime, I’ve wanted to be a big-time freelancer, and I’m still sitting around with little odd jobs that, while they pay well, are not what I want to be doing with my life.

Two days ago, I stumbled upon this post that was being tweeted around by my new friend Jacob Sokol. It details 48 people who have turned what most people simply call “blogging” into a lifestyle that helps other people, inspires other people, and supports themselves. In short: they’re doing what I’ve always wanted to do. And some of them have only started months ago. What do these people have that I don’t?

Nothing.

They’re normal people. I’ve connected with a few of them, and they are pretty down-to-earth, regular people. I bet they even put their pants on one leg at a time. So why are they successful when I’m not? They committed. They’ve put everything they have into that one thing, that one focus. They pushed themselves to be amazing at what they do, and they help people along the way. I haven’t done that.

I’ve kinda putzed around, writing when I kinda feel like it, drifting along in a sea of unfocused garbledy-gook (write that word down). And the result? The feeling of being lost. My personal life is outstanding, but my professional life is just… kinda there. I’m still working for a paycheck (albeit from a home office, which is still ten times better). My wife came into the bedroom, where I was laying with my laptop reviewing these 48 amazing stories, and she asked me what was wrong. I looked her dead in the eye and said, “I’m unhappy.”

I don’t want to waste any more time – I want to bring razor-sharp focus to this place and to my life. I want to help people. This isn’t a New Year’s Resolution; this is a December 14th Resolution. I promise to do the following:

• Stop writing pointless drivel on this site and write something that really matters.
• Bring a laser focus to what I want to accomplish professionally.
• Find the things – beyond money – that I want to do with The Practical Nerd.
• Help you become amazing at something and even, dare I say it, a little happier with life.
• Create more.
• Get together with fellow up and coming “bloggers” and help more people than I ever have before.
• Make my success happen.

What kind of “resolution” can you make? What is the one part of your life that you just want to grab by the you-know-whats and absolutely dominate? Now’s the time to resolve to do it. Not tomorrow, not January 1st. Right freaking now. Stop spinning your wheels and get going.

It's one idea of many.

Growing up, I didn’t have a ton of friends. Whichever friends I had, I didn’t live by them. So when I needed something to do, more often than not, I was on my own. So I sat in front of that beautiful idiot box and watched an endless stream of sitcoms and professional wrestling. And while I have fond memories for both of those things, I started realizing as I grew older how much time was being wasted on that stuff – but I couldn’t stop. When I moved into my first apartment, we got a DVR, and I kept taping stuff and watching it. I still spent hours every day watching TV. When I moved in with my brother’s family, I got my own DVR box and recorded everything under the sun – if it was on, I’d watch it.

When I finally broke out on my own, and I started to build my business, I needed to cut living costs, so I dropped my cable. My family laughed at me, knowing my love for television, and they said, “I could never live without ESPN/Lifetime/Disney Channel, etc.”. And while I had a place in my heart for the Travel Channel and ESPN myself, I forged ahead. And I survived.

Actually, not only did I survive, I thrived! I had more time to really accomplish things and more time to spend with people, instead of staring at that box. I started reading more, and writing more. It’s a wonderful feeling. But here’s the kicker: had I not needed to cut costs, I’d still have cable today. If I had not went cold turkey, I’d have lost approximately (quick calculation here, based on $70/month for cable and DVR service): $2,940. Nearly THREE GRAND. What can you do with that kind of money?

And those who argue that three grand over three years isn’t that much are usually the same people who have cable and then complain that they don’t have a dime extra to spend on going out or getting a book or taking a vacation or whatever. What would you do with an extra $70 per month?

So I’m going to issue a challenge: take this week and don’t watch cable. You want to watch network shows? Go ahead. But take a week and don’t turn on any of the cable channels. The Monday Night Football game is the Ravens-Texans and should be something of a snoozer anyway. If you want to force yourself even further, unhook the cable box and get yourself a set of rabbit ears. If you live in a city, you’ll likely get good reception, and you’ll still get all the HD channels. And here’s a list of things you can do to get yourself through the week:

• Ditch the DVR and watch your favorite shows on your computer the next day. Virtually all network shows have their new episodes on the morning after. Or hop on Hulu. Get your sports fix by watching “America’s Game” on Hulu, which is a miniseries of documentaries on all the Super Bowl winners – it’s fantastic.
• Go to InstantWatcher.com and browse the Netflix Watch Instantly library. It’s growing all the time. Start entertaining the idea of signing up at least for their streaming-only option if you watch a lot of movies ($70/month vs $8/month).
• Go get a book from the library, or order one from Amazon. Find something on a topic you like. You like sports? There are TONS of fantastic and gripping sports books out there that chronicle great, dramatic stories that makes the latest “Brett-Favre-Is-Still-Questionable-So-We-Should-Keep-Talking-About-Him” headlines seem ridiculous by comparison. Like celebrity gossip? Read about the sordid lives of celebrities of the past – you’ll have the same scandal, but at least those people were famous for DOING something.
• Get your news from sites like Google News or BBC. You can even watch local news, but watch with discretion: most stories are local violence stories and are not indicative of the state of the world as a whole. Online news sources update in real-time (for the most part), and you can browse the news quickly and get back to your life.
• Start a blog. Yup. Go to WordPress and sign up for a free blog. Just start writing about something you love. Create something. It doesn’t matter if you’re good or not. Hate writing? That’s because you never wrote about something you wanted to write about.
• Get a hobby. Pick up that old guitar and start browsing some tabs over at Ultimate Guitar. Go to Instructables and find a tutorial on how to make something you really want to make. Dive in.
• Work on your relationships. When was the last time you sat down and played a board game with your friends? Your parents? Your wife/husband/girlfriend/boyfriend? Your kids? I don’t mean Madden, I mean Scrabble. I mean Catchphrase. I mean Monopoly. Invest some time in your personal relationships and have fun doing it.
• It’s winter – go ice skating. Go sledding. Go outside and build a snowman. Grab some friends and go play some tackle football. Have a snowball fight. I don’t care how old you are. It’s good for you and it gets your blood moving.
• Find the one thing you’ve always been meaning to do, and do it.

And that list is just off the top of my head. Nobody cares if you miss the latest I’m a teenager and I got pregnant so I get to be on TV now-type show. When someone says, “Hey, did you see [insert name of show here]?”, you can respond by saying, “No, last night I [insert meaningful activity here].”

Uncomfortable with the idea? Hey, this site’s tagline is “Try something new today.” Go for it and see what happens. You can always go back to your old ways if you hate it. But stick to it for a week and see what kinds of cool things you can dream up.

It’s a time of maturation for The Practical Nerd. As you can see, a lot of changes have been made to the site, and I’m really excited about where it’s going to take us! There have been some problems on the backend in the last few months or so, and I took some time to finally clean them out and update the site. Let’s take a look at what’s new:

Cleaner site design

I have a soft spot in my heart for the last design – it was an uncommon theme and it grabbed the eye. However, the theme itself caused quite a bit of problems for the way the site ran. After a while, it felt like the site design was getting cluttered and bogged down. I was not a fan of that.

This new theme is simple, but still has a nice splash of color to it. There’s a sophistication to it – just like us nerds. I think this will go a long way in making this site more pleasant to spend some time on.

The return of the podcast

You bet. The podcast has been strangely absent, but that has mainly been due to a month-long battle with bronchitis that saw me fluctuate between endless coughing and sounding like Barry White. The fiance and I both had to load up with antibiotics and cough medicine, and it just wouldn’t make for a very good podcast to listen to. I’ve since cleared up and I’m excited to record one this week. I also have since upgraded my microphone, so we will have a nice, clear sound – again, a little more professional!

ACTUAL related posts

One of my pet peeves over the past few months has been the "Related Posts" section of each post. Previously, it would just list the most recent posts for some reason. I have since fixed that, and now you can see posts actually related to the one you’re reading from the full Nerd Archives! How cool is that?

Condensed categories

As a baby blogger, I thought having a bunch of categories would help in organizing the site. Now, I realize simpler is better, and tags are where it’s at. So I pulled back on the categories for a more streamlined approach to organization.

New tagline

I have retired the "Helping Cooler People improve and enjoy their lives." I had a dream that I could make "Cooler People" the official buzzword of the blog – a derogatory term for people who live in the mainstream. I now know that I should be focusing my efforts on the word "nerd". So now I am redefining the word "nerd" and the tagline zeroes in on that. This was also aided by the surprise popularity of my "9 Reasons Why Being a Nerd is Awesome" post.

A return to WLW

This one doesn’t mean a whole lot to you, but I have installed Windows XP on a virtual machine within my Ubuntu operating system just to use Windows Live Writer. If you are a blogger, you understand why: WLW is quite possible the best thing Microsoft has ever put out. Ubuntu just didn’t have a comparable solution. I wanted consistency in formatting and WLW is the way to do it, so we’re back in that regard.

More focused sidebar

As of press time, there are 236 posts on The Practical Nerd. That’s not a lot of content for some bloggers, but that’s a good chunk for me. And I want people to be able to navigate through some of that and enjoy all of this great content that I’ve put up here over the last year and a half (if I do say so myself). The simpler sidebar highlights the "Random Posts" section and the tags. Start browsing around and enjoy some classic Nerd stuff!

FIXED FEED!

My most hindering complaint about the site, technically-speaking, over the past year has been the broken feed, which screwed up how the posts looked if trying to subscribe to the site (via Google Reader and others). Happily, we can chalk that one up to the previous design as well, as the feed is fixed! This means I will be setting up the Facebook feed once again, and those looking to subscribe can finally see the content as it is supposed to be presented!

Cleaned up backend

Once again, I believe the last design caused a number of problems on the backend of this blog. You probably won’t notice much of a difference in performance, but all the blog plugins have been updated and the entire system is running remarkably better. To be honest, this whole update has restored my faith in WordPress, and it gives me a better feeling to be writing in a nice, clean blog again.

This update was a long time coming and is a big step for the future of this site. I thank everybody who has stuck around, and I hope to continue to see you guys (and more) throughout the near future!

The world waited with baited breath for Hulu to finally announce their subscription service. In case you missed it, Hulu confirmed that they will be offering full seasons of TV shows from NBC, Fox, and ABC at a price of $9.99 per month, including the ability to watch from your iPhone, iPad, and a number of set-top boxes.

As exciting as this news is, I can’t help but feel a little underwhelmed by it. I thought of four reasons why that is. Please keep in mind that I’m aware TV contracts are much more complicated than I’m making them out to be, and I know Hulu will probably be offering some of this stuff down the line. But here’s what’s keeping me from signing up:

Tiered pricing

The reason you hate cable TV is because you pay for a lot of crap you don’t watch. I know this can’t be avoided, but why not come up with a way to tier it per channel? Maybe I don’t watch anything on Fox, and I only want to subscribe to NBC and ABC? Why should I have to pay for Fox if I’m never going to watch it? Let’s give the people the ability to choose what stations they want. And in that same vein…

Open it up to cable offerings

Here’s one I’m oversimplifying, but it still is a valid argument: I’m not going to give up cable to have access to network TV shows for $9.99 a month. I want shows like Mythbusters, Man Caves, and awesome stuff from The Travel Channel. I want Phineas and Ferb (darn it!). Most good network TV shows are in syndication on regular TV. If I’m going to pay for TV, I want a broader offering.

XBox 360/PS3 Integration (for now)

Yeah, I know it’s coming, but two of the biggest platforms for this sort of thing are currently left out while they haggle over contracts or whatever it is. If I were Hulu, I would have waited to announce this service until they were nailed down.

The Killer Alternative to Netflix

Frankly, I don’t see why I would pay for Hulu right now. Netflix continues to broaden their offerings, including cable shows in HD, and I can watch it on my XBox 360, and get DVDs of stuff not streaming, for under $10/month. There’s no killer feature that makes me go “WHOA! I need to go out and get Hulu!”

Will it come? Sure – in time. But right now, I’m saving my money. What is your reaction to the big announcement?

Reading was once a privilege only enjoyed by those well-off and those with patience. It wasn’t that long ago that books took forever to print and the world clamored for new books a couple times a year. Now, books are published and distributed in so many ways that it’s hard to even keep up. In Martin Luther’s day, The Bible was chained up in the library. I have a version of it on my Blackberry that I can search different translations with just a few buttons.

Technology has met books with the introduction of the e-reader. Amazon released one of the first mainstream e-readers in their Kindle, a device that employs “e-ink” technology, where the page treats your eyes like a piece of paper but you don’t have to turn pages. Reviews raved about this little device: you could download books from anywhere – especially with wi-fi hotspots – on the fly, and store hundreds of books on a little device like this. Ebooks generally run cheaper than regular books anyway, so it seemed like a slam dunk. Plus, the e-ink took less power to operate, so battery life could be over a week.

One problem: the price. Amazon’s Kindle was $259. Sony’s comparable e-reader was a whopping $349. Barnes and Noble released their Nook last November at a price of $259. This is a pretty high upfront price to pay, and you’d have to read a lot of books to make up the price of just buying books like normal. So the niche market has always been travelers and very heavy readers – people who need to lug around a lot of books and can store them in one little device instead. But all these e-readers are looking to crack into the full, mainstream reading market.

Then: The Price War Began

Two things happened that kicked off the price war. One, the iPad . As much as I hate this piece of hardware, it has a slick presentation that grabs eyes. One of the biggest features of the iPad has been iBooks, which is just a slicker version of an e-reader. Even though the iPad is at the ridiculous price of $499 (and jumps to an even-more-ridiculous $629 plus a monthly data plan to add 3G service like the Kindle/Nook offers for free), some people justify that price for a color e-reader. So that started taking market share from the other e-readers; why pay almost $300 for a device that reads books when you can pay $500 and get (in certain ways) more functionality?

The second was the brilliant move by Borders: bringing the Kobo eReader to the U.S. While this device lacks any internet connectivity, its price point of $150 finally started to look enticing to the mainstream. And with the announcement of bringing in the Aluratek Libre eReader for $120 , Borders looks like it is readying itself to start bringing in some serious market share.

Until earlier this week, when Barnes and Noble announced they were dropping their Nook to $199, and releasing a wi-fi only version of the device for $149. With access to a ton of free wi-fi hotspots in the country, all of a sudden, the Nook looks like the best option. Amazon, the same day, responded by dropping the Kindle to $189 . With wi-fi and 3G service, as well as a pending App Store , it looks like the one to beat.

So where is the future of reading? So far, here are your options:

1. Buy an e-reader and use ebooks.

Pros: Extremely convenient – get a book in a matter of minutes, either through your computer or through your device. New releases available immediately. Low price for ebooks. Carry a ton of books without the weight.
Cons: Big upfront price for device. Quality of device varies from company to company.

2. Go to the library .

Pros: Free.
Cons: Can be a limited selection. You’re on a time limit, so you have to keep renewing the book. If you’re like me, you don’t like that added pressure sometimes.

3. Trade books on PaperbackSwap for cheap.

Pros: Own a book for $2-3. Big selection available.
Cons: Have to wrap and mail books to get credits. Receiving a book can take weeks. Quality of books can vary depending on sender. Few new releases available.

4. Buy new books at the bookstore.

Pros: New releases. That “new book” smell.
Cons: Sticker price.

5. Download free e-reader software on computers and smartphones and buy ebooks.

Pros: Software is free. Ebooks are cheap. Take your books anywhere on your phone.
Cons: Reading on smartphones can be hard on the eyes, reading on computer is less-than-comfortable for long periods of time.

6. Buy used books on Amazon.

Pros: Low price. Generally good quality. Excellent selection – pretty much any book you want. Free shipping on orders over $25.
Cons: Shipping charges if you just want one or two books. Have to wait for books to be shipped to you.

What’s the answer?

I don’t know yet. I think e-readers are getting very close to breaking through. If you show me an e-reader using the e-ink technology and works well (and looks slick enough) for under $100, I’m buying in. $150 is still just a little too pricey for me to buy (although I would take one as a gift!). What are your thoughts? With so many options for reading books, which one is the best for your situation and why?

There is just a crapload of good stuff in today’s Pile. Let’s dig in!

The (Practical) nerdy stuff

• The Hassle-Free Guide to Ripping Your Blu-Ray Collection [Lifehacker] – I’m a huge fan of digitizing DVDs and storing them on a secure, backed-up hard drive. I’m actually in the process of doing this again. But I had no firm instructions on backing up Blu-Rays. Here you go. This one went into my Evernote, and it should go into yours, too!
• Use Google Maps’ Starred Locations To Find Your Car [Lifehacker] – Most Blackberries, iPhones, Androids, and others have GPS capabilities now. This would work really well with my Blackberry Curve when parking in big, confusing parking lots. Slick idea!
• Why You’re Hooked On Email, and 5 Ways To Stop [Dumb Little Man] – One of the most glorious days of my life was when I stopped getting pop-up notifications of my e-mails. That’s just one way to cut down on this time-suck.
• How to Return Facebook’s Privacy Settings to What You Signed Up For [Lifehacker] – Facebook is getting very close to jumping the shark with me. How about you?
• The Realities Of Dropping Cable [The Simple Dollar] – It just makes me happy to see other people doing the same.
• The Set-It-and-Forget-It Guide to Never Missing Important Events [Lifehacker] – TV shows, movies, concerts, events, birthdays, money, cell phone minutes, job hunting… yeah, you need this.
• Clean Up Your Photo Collection With Free Tools [Lifehacker] – Geez, a lot of Lifehacker articles, as usual! I’m also a big proponent of digitizing your photo collection (again, to a backed-up, secure hard drive). Make it easier and more awesome with this guide.

A ridiculously giant pile of money articles

• A Cheapskate’s Advice on Affording Anything You Want [Lifehacker] – Personal finance takes thought. Not a whole lot of it, but some.
• Think the iPad Will Save You Money on Magazines? Think Again! [Wise Bread] – I held my first iPad the other day. It’s very nice and very slick. But it’s a toy. An incredibly expensive toy. Those that think it will save you money are fooling themselves.
• Three Passive Barriers I Use to Counter Consumerism [Get Rich Slowly] – A short video from Adam Baker demonstrates how to keep control of your spending mentally.
• 5 Ways To Save Money With Online Banks [Christian Personal Finance] – I’m a huge fan of my checking account with ING Direct, and this is a great list for those considering it.
• My Checklist to Financial Freedom [Christian Personal Finance] – Again, personal finance is not complicated. It just takes time and a little thought.
• Calling BS on 5% Rewards Advertising [Wise Bread] – This is a great, well-researched article that blows open the idea that you are getting 5% cash back on your credit card.
• How Large Should Your Emergency Fund Really Be? [Christian Personal Finance] – It’s an interesting debate, and there are plenty of arguments. However, what’s most important is that you have one.
• Looking The Wrong Way [The Simple Dollar] – An interesting view: we have a hard time fighting debt because we can’t actually see it or use it.
• Debt Consolidation and The "Orbital of Stupid" [The Simple Dollar] – Here’s what debt consolidators say: “Give us your money and we’ll manage it for you. You don’t have to change a thing.” But smart people know that the only way you will beat debt is by changing up your lifestyle and socking money at it. Knock off the consolidation. It doesn’t work.

Health: Physical, Mental, Social. It’s all important

• Anyone Can Spend Less for Food [Wise Bread] – I learned this on my own. Food, at its core, is not expensive. Processed food is what kills your budget.
• How to Improve Your Social Life: 6 of my Favorite Timeless Tips [The Positivity Blog] – I’m a firm believer that everyone should actively work on their social lives. Continue working hard to be a better friend.
• Newsflash: There Is No Magic Bullet [Dumb Little Man] – Easily my favorite post of the past couple of weeks. I struggle with this sometimes. It’s crucial to understand that any measure of success will take time and sacrifice. You’ll get there. So will I.
• How to Reboot Your Sleep Cycle and Get The Rest You Deserve [Lifehacker] – I’ve been caught countless times in webs of insomnia. This is a great article to get you back on track if you do the same.
• 10 Essential Kitchen Items for The Healthy Cook [Cheap Healthy Good] – Cooking healthy, like personal finance, doesn’t take a whole lot.
• Slow Down and Enjoy Relationships [Zen Habits] – Facebook, Twitter, texting, etc. It’s time we start savoring our relationships instead of passing them by en route to somewhere else.
• 6 Reasons Why People Don’t Change, and What to Do About That [The Positivity Blog] – You want to change, but “can’t”, right? Yes, you can. Try these.
• Is The News Making You Sick? [Simple. Organized. Life] – I hate the news. I never watch it. Crime rates are down and the economy is on the mend. All you see on the news are tragedies, murders, kidnappings, and doom. Turn it off and get your news on your own. You’re better off.
• The Cost of Negativity [The Simple Dollar] – You’re losing time and money by being a cranky old butt. Knock it off and find some solutions.
• 7 Must Read Life Lessons From Abraham Lincoln [Dumb Little Man] – Smart guy, that Abe.
• Discipline Outdoes IQ in the Long Run [Lifehacker] – You think you just got a bad break? Get down to business and quit whining, and you can go places.
• 4 Ways to Spend Time With Kids When You Have No Time [Stepcase Lifehack] – Another great parenting article for struggling parents in the modern age.
• 11 Reasons Why You Aren’t Getting Results [Stepcase Lifehack] – Feel like you’re spinning your wheels in the mud? There might be a reason why.
• What Is Manliness? [The Art of Manliness] – Hint: it’s not abs.
• Finding The Fire: Nine Things I Do To Make Each Day Great [The Simple Dollar] – You have more control over your day than you realize.
• Top 10 Ways To Upgrade Your Morning Routine [Lifehacker] – Are you getting up, limping along, sucking down coffee, and sitting at your computer? Get moving and jumpstart your day.
• 7 Harsh Truths That Will Improve Your Health [Dumb Little Man] – My favorite? “#1. Nobody is responsible for your health but you.”

That’s it! Enjoy – and feel free to share your favorites in the comments below!

[Note: I was planning to do a podcast today, but I felt this article might have a wider reach if written out. I have a feeling more people would rather read this than listen to my nasally voice for 20 minutes on the issue.]

There are lots of political and personal reasons why I’m not a fan of the Health Care Reform that’s being signed today (and why are we taking this advice from a group of people that hasn’t balanced a checkbook in 50 years?), but the biggest, farthest-reaching one is this: it fixes the wrong problem.

Yeah, health care costs are expensive. It can be difficult getting health insurance. I get that. But why is it so difficult getting health insurance for some people? Because we’re sick all the stinking time. The second we get the sniffles, we pop a pill. I know several people who work in different departments of health care (hi, honey!), and I know for a fact that there are thousands of people who go to the doctor the second they start feeling like crap. They clog up our emergency rooms and flood our doctor’s offices to hear that they have a cold, or those chest pains are just a little acid reflux (guilty of that one).

And the other group are just sick all the time – cancer, heart disease, etc. Is this a by-product of global warming (excuse me, “global climate change”)? Is it because vaccinations are making us sick? Nope – it’s because we don’t make our health a priority and a responsibility in this country. I think those that compare our health care system with those of other countries don’t factor in that many of those countries just flat-out take better care of themselves.

The people supporting this whole reform are assuming a few things about the American public:

• Everybody that doesn’t have health insurance is a victim.
• They’ve just been going about their lives like normal and suddenly get sick.
• They can’t afford health insurance.
• They all work really hard.

These are faulty. Americans, generally speaking, are the laziest bunch of people on the planet. Our priorities are out of whack, and we need to fix them. These are the real problems with the health of our nation:

We blame the system

Are you fat? Oops, I mean, “overweight”? Must be a genetic thing. Or it must be because you just can’t lose any weight. Or it must be because all the skinny people can lose weight like nothing. That’s okay, we have gastric bypass surgeries and things like that. We can shrink your stomach to the size of a peanut and force you to eat less. It may not work, but that’s okay – you can just blame the ineffective surgery. It has nothing to do with the fact that you eat garbage and sit on your can all day.

Hey, if you’re sick all the time, it must be because everybody keeps spreading stuff. It must be that crazy virus that’s sweeping the nation. It must be because you can’t afford medication. It can’t be because you don’t properly fuel your body and your immune system is shot as a result.

We do stupid things

I know it’s obnoxious to write this in all caps, but I’m going to do it anyway: HOW CAN THERE POSSIBLY BE ANYBODY UNDER THE AGE OF FIFTY WITH A CIGARETTE IN THEIR MOUTH?!?!? Is this some big, government secret that nobody’s heard? Smoking destroys your body. There are ZERO health benefits to smoking. I don’t care if it feels good. What in God’s name are we doing? Have you not seen or talked to somebody dying of emphysema or lung cancer because of smoking?

I know that smoking is one of the most addictive activities in the world. And if you’re over 50, chances are you started doing it at a time when nobody knew what was going on with smoking. But if you’re young enough to know better, you have got to be kidding me. It boggles my mind. You’re going to have the nerve to act surprised when the doctor tells you your lungs are shot when you’re 40 years old.

Also stupid things: drinking until your liver pickles, driving without a seat belt on, combining those two activities, etc.

We don’t prioritize health insurance spending

One of the most common examples proponents of the Health Care Reform have are the mother that gets fired from her job, loses her health insurance, and then gets cancer. I would have to assume that this example is by far in the minority.

Did that mother put aside some money for emergencies? Nope, she spent it and racked up her credit card debt on clothes and vacations. Does she have cable TV? Probably. And I wonder what’s in her fridge.

Here’s some full disclosure for you: I had a terrible year, business-wise, last year. I wound up having to go get a part-time job, and eventually a full-time job, to get myself back on my feet financially. My gross business income was $13,000. This is right along the poverty line in America, and I was paying over $600 a month in rent, $200 a month in credit card payments, $400 a month in student loans, and I tend to eat food. But I was able to get health insurance coverage for $60 a month. It wasn’t great coverage, but it was going to take care of me should disaster befall me. You know how much I used to pay for cable? $70 a month. If you have cable TV and no health insurance, you have no excuse in my eyes. Turn off the TV and go take care of yourself.

We sit on our butts

We’ve come to the conclusion that everything we do has to be fun. “I just don’t like exercising.” Well, then don’t complain to me when you’re sick. Exercising helps you lose weight, fights off diabetes and heart disease, and gives you a host of other benefits. I don’t even feel like I need to talk about this one for particularly long. Start going for walks, do some light yoga, run in place, hop on a bike, join some kind of sports team, whatever. Put down the remote and go get your blood moving.

We’re eating crap

I decided before this Health Care Reform thing that I wanted to make this week “Food Week”. I’m currently reading an awesome book by Michael Pollan called In Defense Of Food. In it, he discusses how eating habits in this country have changed over the past 50-75 years, and how disease rates have skyrocketed as a result.

Want an eye-opener? Take a look at the ingredients in that loaf of bread you bought. Water and flour, right? A little yeast? Didn’t expect to see “high fructose corn syrup” in there, didja? We’re going to talk a lot more about food this week, but take some stock in the following questions:

• How often are you going out to eat instead of cooking something?
• How many meals are you making by opening a box and following instructions printed on them?
• When you do go out to eat, where exactly are you eating?
• Compare the time you spend eating your meals and the time you spend eating snacks.
• The World Health Organization says you should only have about 10g of sugar per day. For some reason, in the United States, this number is 25g. A single bag of Skittles (my favorite candy) that you buy at the checkout counter contains 47g. How much sugar do you think is in your diet?

As I said, we’ll discuss food a little more this week, but I want you to really think about what you’re eating – and I’m not talking antioxidants and riboflavin and omega-3s. I’m talking food – vegetables, fruits, unprocessed meats, all that good stuff.

So, I think the problem here is we’re blaming the wrong people. We don’t need to reform the health care system all that much. We need to reform ourselves, and we need to reform our health. Stay tuned – we’ll talk about this more this week.

The world is abuzz about the pending iPad and it’s pre-orders. Everyone is talking about the Microsoft Courier. You love your iPhone/Droid/Blackberry. You constantly search around for bigger, better devices that will do almost everything in the world. In this “buy-buy-buy” haze, have you forgotten the love for your laptop?

A laptop is a versatile tool. When people talk about user experience on new gadgets, they distract people from an important point – you already know how to use a laptop. A laptop can fit in a small bag and go anywhere you want it to. It’s never as flashy or as impressive as one of these new gadgets, but are you just paying for the flashiness? The status? Aren’t we over that in this country?

Over the past few years of developing into the Nerd that you see before you today, I learned how to push a laptop to do almost anything. It boasts an impressive array of features that we’ve all forgotten about. Today, I want to remind you of all the things your laptop can do, and hopefully inspire some of you to hang on to that relic instead of swiping that credit card for another gadget purchase, or dipping into your hard-earned savings. But first, here are the specs on my laptop, so that you know I’m not talking about some super-laptop that you can’t afford:

This is a dual-core, 1.60GHz Toshiba Satellite laptop with 1.5GB of RAM. It has an 80GB hard drive. I bought it with Vista and downgraded to XP about a year and a half later. This setup cost me about $700 when I bought it in 2007, and a quick search on Newegg.com pops up a computer with twice as much memory and a hard drive FOUR times as large as mine for under $400. Honestly, this computer blows mine out of the water, and it cost almost half as much as I paid for mine.

So here’s the list, in absolutely no particular order. I sat down and jotted down all the things I can use my laptop for, so this is a “stream of consciousness”-type list. A quick editor’s note: I’m not dumb. This list assumes moderate maintenance (i.e., running CCleaner about once a week, having a free antivirus application running at all times), Windows XP (though you don’t need XP for most of this stuff), and a decent internet connection.

1. An e-reader

It’s the flashiest feature of them all right now – read books on a screen! The iPad will have books! Well, you don’t need to buy a new gadget for this necessarily. Barnes And Noble and Amazon both offer free software for reading books on your computer, so if you want to buy ebooks, go right ahead! Better yet, visit Project Guternberg and download over 100,000 free ebooks from the public domain if you want.

This is probably the feature I use the least, since you can’t compare the ease on the eyes of a book compared to an LCD screen. This is one place I think the iPad will fail, and why, if you’re a heavy reader, I actually would recommend getting a dedicated e-reader. The e-ink technology is much, much easier on the eyes.

2. A portable television

I’ve written at length about how you can use your computer as your television, and even hook it up to your TV. But also, for quick show-watching on the go, just visit a site like Hulu. I subscribe to a lot of shows within Hulu and they post to my queue the morning after they air. So, all I need to do is log in, go to my queue, and click “Play”. Boom.

If you’re looking to watch live sports, start getting to know TVAnts and StreamTorrent. Plus, this method ensures that you get out-of-market games, too.

3. A pretty good gaming machine

You hardcore gamers looking to play graphics-intensive games will probably want a powerful desktop, but laptops can handle quite a bit too. Plus, if you’re a casual gamer (like myself), you are just looking for simple games to pass the time, in which case, there are plenty of great gaming sites out there like this one.

4. Your new teacher

Miss college? Want to learn a new skill? There are lots of great places online to see and hear lectures and lessons taught by fine professors from all over the country. Looking for something a little more fun? Learn guitar (see link above) or build something cool at Instructables. There are endless possibilities for what you can learn through your laptop.

5. Your complete photo album

When I go to my grandmother’s house, looking through pictures involves emptying a cabinet full of old albums and sitting at the kitchen table while everyone crowds around them and tries to see what’s going on. Nowadays, all those pictures (and more!) can be stored on your laptop. Back them up to a site like Picasa (my favorite) and tag, organize, and share them with everyone forever.

Bonus tip: set your screensaver to pull pictures from the folder on your computer where you keep all your photos, and your monitor becomes an instant digital photo frame when not in use.

6. Your radio

Talk radio, comedy stations, music of all types and genres – internet radio is fantastic. Set up a Pandora station for customized listening goodness, or listen to hundreds of live radio stations on iheartradio.com. Take it with you.

7. Your complete music library

The local version of the previous tip. Imagine: no CD towers to buy, no cases to spend half an hour opening. Download music from iTunes or Zune Marketplace or Amazon. Store them on your computer (and back them up, of course). Rip your current CD collection and then pack away those discs in a bin somewhere. You can listen to any music at any time, anywhere. It’s a beautiful thing.

8. Your map command center

It doesn’t matter if you are biking, running, or driving a car – sometimes you just need directions. Now, you can type in any location or address into sites like Google Maps or MapQuest and you know exactly how to get anywhere. You no longer have a need for a big paper map that takes up half the front of the car. Just search, print, and move on.

9. Note-taker and organizer

If you want a laugh, look at my notes from high school and college: they’re messy and smudged (I’m a lefty), completely disorganized, and a total failure. Today, with services like Evernote, you can organize and tag your notes, and they won’t be smudged or unreadable. Heck, you can even just use a word processor to get the job done if you want. Just pull your laptop out of its bag and get to typing.

10. Complete database of knowledge, regardless of usefulness

Remember how embarrassing it was to go to a bookstore or a library and pick up one of those stupid “For Dummies” books? Now, you don’t need them. I’m amazed they’re still on the shelves at all. There is no longer an excuse for not knowing something. You can Google it, you can Bing it, you can even Ask Jeeves if you want. Get your plumbing/cooking/health questions answered just by typing your question into a search engine. For facts (mostly accurate), hit up Wikipedia.

11. Your calendar of events

I use Google Calendar, but you can use whatever you want. All the things going on in your life can be chronicled, and you can have reminders sent to you straight from your calendar. Stop missing those anniversaries/birthdays/whatever.

12. An address book

My mom kept an address book for years. When I needed a phone number, I needed to go to the closet, pull it out, flip to the section with the first letter of their last name, navigate through old, crossed-out addresses and skim through until I found what I was looking for. Now? I just sit at my laptop, open up Google Contacts, and use the search box to find the entry with the person I’m looking for. You can use Outlook or something else if you want. But have a backup of all your contacts, and you can search them easily at any time.

13. Your weather station

Hop on Weather.com and enter in your zip code at the top of the page – severe weather warnings, detailed forecasts of the next couple of days, and extended 10-day forecasts all come up. You can watch the live radar if you want. Do this stuff for monitoring the weather of your next vacation destination. Turn off the Weather Channel and put down the newspaper.

14. Your professional presentation tool

Ever notice how you don’t see presentations done with big poster boards anymore? That’s because you just need to load that PowerPoint presentation and plug your laptop into a projector. It looks slicker, makes you look good, and was easy to do with your laptop.

15. Your new checkbook

Wave “bye-bye” to adding and subtracting errors. A complete money management system can be had on any laptop. Need to share it with your husband/wife? Use a free online service like ClearCheckbook or share a Google Doc. The math and tracking is done for you – all you need to do is enter in those transactions.

16. Call anybody, anytime – even by video

VoIP technology continues to advance. I run a Skype phone line with a little headset for business. Want to video chat with somebody like you see in the movies? Get a cheap little webcam and you can all you want. I used to video chat weekly with my then-girlfriend while she was in Taiwan. You can now talk to somebody and see them, regardless of where they are. Powerful stuff.

17. Keep in touch with all of your friends, all the time

High school reunions are becoming obsolete with sites like Facebook. We all know what we are doing, all the time. That’s lame sometimes, but it comes in handy. For example, I have friends all over the country, and I can stay a part of their lives through my communications on Facebook. When done correctly, Facebook can enhance your personal relationships, and you can share joys, sorrows, and laughs with people every day.

18. A retro gaming system

Here’s where the fun starts! Do you miss the Super Nintendo? How about classic Nintendo? Sega Genesis? Hop over to your favorite search engine and type in “SNES emulators” to find a program that will play old Super Nintendo games. Download it, then search for “SNES roms” to find and download the games. Plug in a USB controller and you’ll feel like you’re 8 years old all over again!

19. Sports/News Central

Whether you do it in an RSS feed reader or you just visit a site like CNN or MSN, the headlines are always updating and keep you in the loop at all times. Hit up ESPN for live scores of all of your games. Then, cancel your newspaper subscription. I mean, like, NOW.

20. Your recipe database

When I cook, I just put the laptop on the kitchen counter. I don’t need a shelf of cookbooks (although I do still have a few). You can store recipes in Evernote or use a service like Supercook to manage your inventory of recipes. It makes your cooking life a lot easier, and you never have to remember which recipe book that breaded chicken recipe was in.

21. Track your workouts

DailyMile lets you map and save your runs. DailyBurn allows you the ability to track any type of workout, and even track your nutrition levels. You don’t need to keep a paper notebook or print out a spreadsheet. Type it in, submit it, and move on with your life. Slick, slick, slick.

22. Business-builder

Build a website, run a blog, connect on Facebook/Twitter, design brochures, write copy… the list goes on. Take notes during your meetings with clients. A laptop computer offers the flexibility to work anywhere you choose, provided your business can pay those bills. A laptop, in my opinion, is an absolutely essential tool for business-building today.

23. Create CDs and DVDs

I remember back in 2000 when I first learned how to burn a CD. It took forever. Now, I use CDBurnerXP, but you can use just about anything. Put those home movies on a DVD. Make that mix CD for your friend (or that girl you like). It only takes a couple of minutes, and you can do it right from your laptop.

24. Stream home media anywhere in the house

XBox Media Center, now on the original XBox, PCs, Macs, and Linux machines. All your movies and music on any TV in your house, from your computer.

25. Portable CD/DVD player

Again, another invention that I am shocked is still on shelves: the portable DVD player. Instead, play this stuff on your laptop when sitting on the plane or when you’re supposed to be paying attention in class. Chances are, your laptop can handle any kind of DVD, too.

26. Your to-do list

Google Tasks or Remember The Milk, or about a dozen others. Ditch the paper to-do list and type it up in your laptop. Want to keep it simpler? Open up a little Notepad document and bang out your list.

27. The answers to your minor medical questions

I’ve always been a big fan of WebMD, but there are other ways to get medical questions answered, too. This is not a substitute for a doctor’s visit, of course, but it can help you diagnose minor situations instead of paying that co-pay to be told those lumps on your throat are just leftover food scraps. [Note: this is not a good tip for hypochondriacs.]

28. Your shopping mall, all the time

Want to buy anything? Put your shoes down. Stay in your pajamas. Open up your laptop and get to Amazon. Search for whatever you want, and they’ll have it. Oh, and it’ll be cheaper, too.

Okay, so some of these are obvious, but it helps to have them here. Your laptop is a remarkably strong piece of technology. I would think twice before you ditch it to use some fancy-looking thing that only does two or three things on this list.

What do you use your laptop for?

As always, if you can’t see the “play” button at the top of the post, click on the title! Thanks for listening!