Photo captured in July 2005

month ago I mentioned the fitness competition which took place right here in Manchester. I may have neglected to properly acknowledge and give attribution to the winner, Mike Coogan. He beat me by 20 points (a small gap) and snatched the Mr. Fitness title for 2006. For what it’s worth, here is a detailed list outlining of the different stages of the competition, which spanned a period of approximately 5 months.

1. Rowing 3000 meters, ‘Concept’ ergo level 10 (slow equipment)
2. Bench press (Scott machine), 1 repetition maximum
3. 800 meters on treadmill, 10 degrees horizontal incline
4. Shoulder press (Scott machine), 1 repetition maximum
5. Crosstrainer 3,000 strides at level 5, no grip on bars
6. Maximum pushups (120-second limit)
7. Step-ups 200 repetitions (with two 6 KG dumbbells)
8. Squats on Smith machine, 1 repetition maximum
9. 10.15 KM run (treadmill)
10. Mini-triathlon (3-mile run, 1,000 strides (level 5) on crosstrainer, 1-mile row on ergo (level 5))

With the exception of certain processes in chemistry and maybe even medicine, all so called ‘intellectual property” should ultimately become void. Even in medicine there’s an in-between because people are dying due to patents that lead to heavy levy.

Intellectual property — no such thing. There is property. There is intellect. What society/industry calls “intellectual property” is neither an intellectual thing to do, nor can it be owned.

Intellectual property — no such thing. It’s a man-made concept intended to gain personal advantage at the expense of communal/mutual benefit.

(shown on the left is John Von Neumann — a man of science, not a man of money-making)

A long time ago I mentioned the UK rich list, which actually got this site many visits I do not really deserve. For what it’s worth, here are some more shocking figures.

Richest 2% own ‘half the wealth’

The richest 2% of adults in the world own more than half of all household wealth, according to a new study by a United Nations research institute.

I find this highly disturbing and this requires immediate change, or else society will collapse. Environmental issues aside (they are partly a result of greed), the gap between the rich and the poor seems to be widening. I am not entirely sure about it, but it seems as though the middle class gradually vanishes, which is something that projects such as the one-laptop-per-child (OLPC) concept try to address and resolve. Here’s another BBC article. It was published earlier today and it elaborates on this very humane initiative.

$100 laptop project eyes launch

Ultimately the project’s backers hope the machines could sell for as little as $100 (£55).

The first countries to sign up to buying the machine include Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Nigeria, Libya, Pakistan and Thailand.

Photo from around 1984

EREK tagged me almost a fortnight ago, but I didn’t realise this until Technorati (also known as Egorati) flagged a related ping from Dave. Initailly, I was not going to tag anyone because my response is so overly belated, but in order to carry on this chain and off the top of my head (and feed reader) I’d choose Homer, Computer Guru, Michele, Chetan and last but not least—Harvey.

So, five embarrassing (by choice) things you did not know about me:

1. I never tie my shoes these days. Whether it’s sneakers or something more formal, I tie the laces just once and then use the shoes as though they were flip-flops.
2. As s child, I wanted to play the trombone
3. I worked at Burger King for a year
4. I have had imposters in the past. Misrepresentation and social engineering then became more of a threat.
5. I always use the computer while I eat

The path of this chain so far: me » Derek van Vilet » Chris Finke » C.K. Sample » Jason Calacanis » Amanda Congdon » Michael Ambs » Rick Rey » Steve Woolf » Steve Garfield » Jeff Pulver.

S another year opens, I would like to wish all the readers a happy and joyous new year. I am wishing and hoping to see a continued trend where not only is Open Source being promoted (2006 was the year of desktop Linux in my eyes), but also Freedom gets properly understood, appreciated, and embraced.

I could probably count on hand the number of times I used Windows and other proprietary software this year. I never use Windows, yet I am fairly familiar and even proficient with it, owing to memory. Yes, it is not because it’s intuitive. It’s because it has neither changed much nor evolved for a decade. It remained widespread for the same reason Britney Spears and Macdonald’s are popular (or just “successful”).

I’ll close with an odd and sarcastic statement.

“Windows is used by the most people, so it must be the best“, says Hugh-Gotta B. Kiddin Mae.

Make prevalence no indication of quality. Same with cost. If needed, make it your new year’s resolution. Again I say:

HAPPY NEW YEAR

You can obtain many long fragments of the full film from video sites such as YouTube.

EREMY Allison of Samba Fame has recently left Novell in protest over the company’s deal with Microsoft. BoycottNovell has had an interview with Jeremy—one that covers the events which preceded the deal, as well as ways forward. From the interview: ‘My guess is that the negotiations for the useful parts of the agreement (the virtualization part and the federated directory interoperability part) had, as Ron (Hovsepian) says, been going on for months and just before Novell wanted to seal the deal Microsoft turned up with “there’s just this one more thing we want you to sign…” and in desperation to get the other parts of the deal done they rushed it through.’

I enjoyed my E-mail exchange with Jeremy, who I must add has a wonderful personality. Like many of us, he appears to be a freedom enthusiast/fanatic facing a scientific chasm and a world where nothing at all is free.

This interview got Slashdotted and, although it was not my first time being Slashdotted, this was my first time a submission of mine was accepted. I only tired a handful of time in the past (first attempt almost 2 years ago). I guess I’m not longer confined by the cushy space of Digg and Netscape after all…