Picture from the BBC

XCITING news (for me at least) came out yesterday afternoon. I won the rowing competition (first stage among 10) with the time of 10:43.5 for 3000 meters. The second among the 10 contestants was almost 1 minute behind me, which considering my neglected endurance, makes this a high achievement.

Related items on exercise:

• Rowing Ahead
• Decade of Exercise
• Mr. Fitness

A rare and important story such as this cannot and should not be ignored. An intersting scientific discovery has just come to my attention.

It turns out that nature’s own chemicals are more able to fight bacteria than one of man’s most significant developments: the invention of penicillin. And get this: a compound in wallaby milk is said to be 100 time more effective. Will humans start breeding wallabies? Or is the statement made in the article an exaggeration that will sooner or later be balanced?

Scientists have discovered a bacteria-fighting compound 100 times more effective than penicillin – in wallaby milk.

Researchers found the highly-potent compound, tagged AGG01, was active against a wide variety of fungi and bacteria including antibiotic-resistant superbugs.

I am not too happy to have read the following:

Caffeine boosts risk of heart attacks in the genetically susceptible.

People carrying a common variation in a certain gene could be worsening their risk of a heart attack simply by drinking several cups of coffee per day.

Daily count of coffee mugs: 6 so far.

More ‘coffee items’:

• Coffee Leads to Stress
• Mister Coffee
• Coffee Beer
• Concentrated Coffee
• Coffee in a Can

Shut your ears, stop the radiation and avoid the fumes

O this date, I loathe the prevalence of high-intensity antennas, particularly those that serve mobile communication. These are often installed on the top of roofs of businesses, which in turn get paid (bribed) to tolerate consequent inconveniences. It was only last month that I came to discover one such controversy. This happened at a hotel I used to go to, where demonstrations by local residents were sparked by a decision to install monstrous antennas.

I still refuse to embrace telephony (alluded to in this previous essay) unless it is vital. I am aware of the ‘radiative implications’ of cellular phones, especially when they are active, i.e. on call. Vis-a-vis, my father encouraged my older sister to always use headphones and a microphone with her cellular phone, if not limit its use altogether. The issue of radiation lingers on and exacerbates as time goes. The reason: wireless communication rises owing to customer demand and bandwidth greed.

To digress, then comes the issue of wireless Internet networking, which I have always been wondering about with health complications/implications in mind. Whether commonplace Wireless or even Bluetooth, such radio frequencies of strong magnitude increase the risk level or rate of tumour growth and development. Turning over to some recent news, you can finally find a University where wireless access has been limited due to health concerns.

Criticism of wireless network is somewhat of a taboo, still. You cannot comfortably point this out among your surrounding colleagues and friends. The crushing majority does not care and does not want to know about the long-term consequences, which are yet to affect the young(er) generation most prominently.

While on the subject of self-damaging habits amongst society, choice of headphones should be yet another important matter. Many choose in-ear headphone and listen to loud music. Some of the local clubs would leave my ears ringing for 2 days afterwards, so no doubt damage is being done.

Lastly, my last health concern is related to smoking. Fortunately here in Britain, nightclubs and pubs were very recently requested to inherit and embrace the “No Smoking” policy, thereby joining other venues like the workplaces. Surely enough, some of us could abstain from going to smoky places, but what about the staff — those who do not necessarily smoke? The smoke-free workplace arguments collide. Some employees at the pubs, such as bartenders, may spend dozens of hours per week passively exposed to constant inhalation of damaging smoke. It clogs up the lungs, ruins the voice, and makes the clothes reek. That is not a matter of choice, but a way of making ends meet.

Photo from around 1984

Warning: shameless rave lies below, but it is no lie.

sometimes wonder how my life would have turned out if I had chosen a different career path. I believe I could stick to a particular sport and make a living out of it. Yesterday, the guy at the cashout (a friendly lad) asked me if I was a bodybuilder, making me shy and flattered at the same time. He then began asking for some general guidance and workout tips, while packing the groceries very slowly with the intention of earning time.

More often than before I find myself giving others advice on fitness, diet and exercise (apart from computers). Yet, on many other occasions I sought help from personal trainers with whom I am in good terms and, as a matter of fact, it was my father who got me started with regular exercise over 10 years ago. So, I merely pass on the experience I have absorbed from others.

This year’s fitness competition is coming up and I am already obliged to sign up and participate. I was the winner in all previous contents among this series, which got me in an ecstatic mood.

NN runs an article on that well-understood impact of excessive information digestion. This often leads to addiction, which can be treated by clinics these days.

Will all this instantly accessible information make us much smarter, or simply more stressed? When can we break to think, absorb and ponder all this data?

“People are already struggling and feeling like they need to keep up with the variety of information sources they already have,” said David Greenfield, a psychologist who wrote “Virtual Addiction.” “There are upper limits to how much we can manage.”

Related items:

• Treating Online Addicts
• Blog Depression
• RPG Fantasy World
• Internet Addiction

I looked rather different back in 1984

NE major aspects of my life is exercise — weight training in particular. On pretty much this date, precisely 10 years ago, I began to work out. The road has been long and I now reap the benefits. Today is by all means a personal milestone.

Christmas appears to be the time of many resolutions and changes for me. It was around this time (22^nd/23^rd of December) in 2001 that I joined the health club, which I have cherished ever since. It was only yesterday that I decided to take the WordPress forums more seriously as well, especially because of the upcoming release of WordPress 2.0 (probably this Monday).

All in all, this time of the year, only a few days before Christmas, has special magic for these peculiar reason. These days of significance, namely those that go back to December 1995, still are and will always retain a sentimental value. As I have worked out regularly ever since (i.e. no breaks) this also symbolises the time when I got ‘shackled’ for good. Yes, for good, for the better.