A little over a week ago, I got my hands on one of those Iron Gyms. This thing has literally been all over TV media for the longest time, and a couple of my friends have already tried it - and love it! I figured it was about time I tried a cheap solution to get back in shape since getting a gym membership is not an option. So far so good.

The Iron Gym can help you with pullups (duh), pushups, dips, situps, and however else you can get creative (I claim no responsibility for giving you any ideas!). Every time I walk in and out of my room, or just walk by, I do a few pullups and maybe some leg raises to help out the extra belly junk. It's a pretty good visual queue that gets increases your overall activity around the house.

Right now, it's too early to see results, but I definitely feel the progress. I've been eating a lot healthier, paying attention to what and when I eat. Also, drinking a lot more water and avoiding random meals and midnight snacks has been a top priority.

Eat out has been something I've been doing way too much. At times, it's inevitable because of my day-to-day schedule, but I've been learning to manage pretty well. I can see a little smile coming from the corner of my wallet, and it's getting bigger. Now I just have to keep this up for a good month, and it's all smooth sailing from there. Wish me luck!

Throughout the past few months, Netbooks have been on the rise. There are more companies manufacturing Netbooks than one could have imagined a year ago from today. Acer, Asus, HP, MSI and Dell are all contributing to the game, each releasing various configurations of their machines. I own a 15.4" MacBook Pro that can outperform these machines combined, yet I still find myself craving for one.

What is it that makes Netbooks so attractive?

1. Price. With the current economic state, people are afraid to spend money. They are not as lenient with their wallets as they may have been before the "crisis," so, machines that easily run below $300 are quickly considered.
2. Portability. It's a great feeling to be able to carry stuff with you wherever you go, especially when it's something as useful as a computer. It's light, looks good, and does the job. Screen real-estate may not be there, but people don't seem to mind giving it up for on-the-go productivity (which is another issue on its own). Most of the time, we only need our computers to perform basic (but important) functions, and Netbooks often do a great job at it.

Read the rest after the jump...

Times are tough. Just last month alone, over 650,000 jobs vanished into nothingness. Right now, more people are thinking about going back to college than ever before. Granted, not everyone can afford doing so, but gaining a competitive edge in one form or another is important. Several months ago, I wrote an article called "Top 5 Reasons to Finish College" and it has recently been getting a lot of attention. Here are some of the things you should be keeping in mind:

1. Competitive Edge: If you lost your job and you can afford another degree, do it. Gaining the extra qualifications will give you the edge over most people with single/standard degrees. If a degree program is not an option, consider going for certifications in your field. Being a versatile job candidate will help you stand out from the bunch. Why hire multiple talents if one can do it all?
2. Career path change: It's a known fact that most college graduates are not happy with their jobs. This could serve as a great opportunity to go back to college if you're looking for a change. It is probably a good idea to figure out what you want to go for as soon as possible. There's no way to say when the world's situation will be on the rise again, but stay prepared. Continue for the rest...

Hello there Neeks, this is the first of what could be a new tradition for SOMM, a CrossOver Debate. When Lasha asked me to write a column about “why the iphone sucks as a business machine” due to my devotion of the greatest little business machine in the Blackberry, I gladly accepted the challenge. For those that don’t know me, my name is Frank and I am the Chief Creative Director/Editorial Director of Sliceofmymind.com. Lasha is a great friend of mine and my “to go guy” for anything Apple and I’m his techie for anything Windows related. With the formalities behind us, let’s get straight to the topic at hand.

You can call me a tech savvy person or geek for short given that I can’t keep away from anything technological, but when Apple first announced the iPhone I wasn’t floored like the majority of geeks. I’ve always been a lover of Research in Motion’s (RIM) Blackberry and the iPhone wasn’t going to create any voids in that relationship. I knew the iPhone was going to be killer device, but when I heard some of my friends calling the iPhone a BB killer, I quickly shouted foul. The BlackBerry as a business device is leagues ahead of the iPhone. There are many reasons why the iPhone can’t tackle the Blackberry as a business phone, but I’m going to give you my top five reasons....

This month has been pretty great so far - filled with tons of things happening!

Something I haven't talked about is my new internship. Back in December, I started working with GiftGenius.com, a rapidly growing online gift guide for all occasions, recipients, and more. Now, you may be thinking that an internship generally doesn't require much, but it's quite the opposite with this one. My job is to directly work with the Art Director, developing new designs, ideas, feature and interface enhancements, and so forth. So far, it has been an amazing experience, and we are currently in the process of revamping the entire website!

About 2 weeks ago, I started uploading some videos to my Vimeo account (finally!). There isn't much there at the moment, but I've got  a lot of ideas planned out for videos. The design show that I promised a couple of posts ago is still in progress and steadily coming along. Technical limitations are slowly becoming less of a problem, so that's definitely good news! Stay tuned for more on that!

Yesterday, I replaced my MacBook Pro's battery since it wouldn't hold a proper charge. Several days ago, I started reading my new Javascript and PHP & MySQL books. A part of my 2009 resolution list is to become a better developer, and more well-rounded.

One thing I haven't been doing as much as I'd like to, is design. It is such a huge part of my life, and the level of passion I have for it is huge! I just have to toughen up, prioritize what needs to be done, and insist on doing them as soon as possible. Quick Tip: Keep your work environment clean. Have as much open space and light as possible. It helps.

I didn't forget about the One Fused Life resdesign preview. Expect that very soon!

Here's a household item that could possibly change your life forever. Are you lazy to leave your house? Well, if you answered yes to that, this is the perfect (or not) product for you.

Once you manage to get this "treadmill" into your living room, consider yourself free of any whiney voices telling you to get off your behind and exercise a little. At a hefty $5,000, I doubt many people will be able to take advantage of it. For that price, you can get a (lifetime) memebership at a gym, plus a heck of a lot more fun than a table with a low-powered treadmill attatched to it. I'm a fan of Steelcase's products but this is just...silly. What do you think?

First off, I would like to wish everyone an excellent New Year! 2008 was filled with many changes and transitions in my life. By the looks of it, 2009 will be no different. There will be many things going on throughout the year, beginning with this month. Here's a short list of what's to come:

• One Fused Life Redesign: This blog has been around for nearly a year. It went from 0 to an average of 4,000 unique hits a month, thanks to the few Photoshop tutorials that I posted. After 2 months of planning, I believe I have the perfect recipe for a successful redesign, along with a re-focused direction for the blog. I will post a preview of the design, soon.
• Online Video Show: I have been juggling this idea for the longest while, and now is the time to make it happen. This show will mostly be about Design, Technology, and the Internet. There is always so much happening with all these subjects, and I will do my best to bring you the best of it all. I hope to make the show as insightful and useful as possible.
• Green Tips and News: If you look at the "Green & Environment" category archives, you will find that I have posted quite a few articles related to being green, environmentally efficient, and so forth. This month and so on, I plan to write a series of "going green" articles, as well as reports on the latest environmental happenings. In today's world, being efficient is not only good for the Earth, but for your pocket as well.

I would like to express my thanks and gratitude to all of my viewers that have supported me. This coming year is going to be filled with many new experiences, and I would love to share it all with you. Thank you!

When companies use efficient technology to operate their business, less people are needed to get the job done. Yes, I am referring to the recent technical specialist layoffs from Netflix due to the simplicity of Microsoft's Silverlight video player. Of course, this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to easy to use technology, but what's next?

Good design, maybe? I think so. I firmly believe that good design is a major part of what makes something a pleasure to use. Whether it's software or some kind of a device, companies will invest in producing better products to reduce support funding. Now, this isn't exactly the best thing for the job market as it will reduce the amount of jobs for support specialists, but competition will surely be on the rise.

It's too early to determine the exact direction companies will take, but it would be great to see an increase in the design & development departments, working to create better products. We will hopefully see a rise in the quality of products now that mass production does not work as well as it did yesterday. Things will eventually start to pick up again when confidence levels stabilize.

All I can say to the people running these businesses is this: Create, innovate, care, and pay attention!

I recently read an article over at HellYeahDude.com discussing how good design provokes customer interest. It stated the idea that customers generally buy things because of the essence, and whether or not it will cause interest in you from others. This idea was sparked by his recent purchase of the Starbucks Gold card simply because it looked good. Here's a quote from the article:

"A want can be things from cars, computers, clothes, or shoes. But why do we buy these things? First off, we ask ourselves, “are we going to enjoy this?” Then secondly, we ask ourselves subconsciously if it will cause the kind of interest we are seeking from other people."

After reading the article (fairly quick read), here's what I had to say: (continue reading...)

Today is the day we give thanks to our friends, family, and loved ones all around us. Gathering together to enjoy the presence of one another, having delicious food and fun conversations. Most of you are probably enjoying a long weekend off from work, so make sure you make the best of it (whether you overstuff yourself is up to you)! Enjoy your time off and spend it well, everyone!

PS. If there are fun stories to share after today, PLEASE DO! 🙂