What is Twitter?

Twitter is a microblogging community. In other words, imagine sending out a text message to 2 people. Or 200 people. or 2,000 people. Now imagine being able to follow the text messages of the same amount of people as well. All these people interact with one another in a real-time environment. You get to see everything that is happening in the world first-hand, free of the bias and filtering of traditional channels. That is Twitter.

For more – Check out this slideshow for Twitter for Beginners from Paul Bradshaw.

Who is using Twitter?

As it emerged, twitter became home to technologists and first-adopters eager to use the latest and greatest in web 2.0 technology. As is such, a lot of twittterers are quasi-geeks like me or New Media Douchebags seeking a medium to market their goods! But as Twitter has gained traction, users beyond the technology sphere have begun to adopt twitter as well.

Now it’s not just everyday people like you guys buying into the Twitter phenomenon. Corporations, realizing that they actually need to engage their stakeholders in this day-and-age, have jumped on the bandwagon as well. You can follow some of these guys at @starbucks, @wholefoods, @comcastcares, and many more.

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Two weeks ago we shared the first 9 of these tips for beginners.  Check them out here.  This week we finish up with another 10 must-know items before beginning your weight training regimen.

10. Intensity Is Underrated

Whatever your routine is, do it hard.  (After you’ve gotten the form down.)  When I say hard, I mean hard.  You should feel like you couldn’t get another rep out of your set.  If you can do 3 more than your plan calls for, then you need to increase your weight.  And heavy weight helps your progress.  To get the proper hormonal response from weight training for building muscle, losing fat, and gaining strength you have to really push yourself.  This also means that you don’t skip workouts.  I realize that life happens, and you might have to miss a day.  But with your 3x per week schedule, you can miss a day and make it up to stick to 3x/week.  If you do get to the gym and “don’t feel too motivated”, you need to psyche yourself up.  A short intense workout is far better than a long half-effort one.

11. Rest

There are two types or rest:  in between sets and in between workouts.  For rest in between workouts, that’s taken care of by only going 3x a week (see previous point).  Muscle doesn’t grow during the exercise.  It grows AFTER the exercise and if you don’t let the fibers heal, you’ll see minimal progress.  As far as rest in between sets, this is a subjective area.  Generally, if you are going for fat loss as your primary goal, you want to have only 1 minute max in between sets.  For strength or muscle gain, you might want 2 or 3 minutes.  But remember point #3?  Stick to the program.

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This past week at work sucked for me. This is why this past weekend I was excited to try out the Nintendo Wii’s latest boxing title, Ready to Rumble Revolution (by Atari). It would allow me to relieve some stress and have some fun punching somebody’s lights out.

With the latest incarnation by Atari, Ready to Rumble Revolution makes its way onto the Nintendo Wii console. If you were a fan of Midway’s original Ready to Rumble Boxing, or the follow up Ready to Rumble Round 2, there is definitely a striking resemblance. Both those previous games had a sizable following and accounted for countless hours of button mashing good times.

Here are my quick thoughts on the game.

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The 19 Weight Training Must-Do’s For Beginners – Part 1 of 2

Tired of your current physique?  Looking to build some muscle?  Burn fat?  Gain Strength?

Done properly, weight lifting is the best exercise for all three goals.  Wanna lose fat while you sleep?  The more muscle you have the more calories your body burns at rest.  Wanna look good in a t-shirt and shorts?  Build some curves by adding muscle.  Looking for extra power in your favorite sport?  Strength training with weights helps almost every sport.

But if you’re just starting out (or if you’ve been just toying around at the gym and need to get your butt into a serious routine), you need to remember these 19 things.

1. Don’t Read The Muscle Mags
Ok.  You’re fired up like a George Foreman Grill, and ready to become Arnold Junior.  So where do most guys like you turn for advice?  The muscle mags.  But 50% of the muscle mags are pure ads.  And another 30% are ads disguised as articles.  And another 15% is either flat out bad advice or advice inappropriate for beginners.   That leaves 5% of goodness.  And the sad truth:  as a beginner, you won’t know the difference.  Skip the magazines and go for a serious book (see below).

2. Only Full Body, Compound Exercises For Your First 3 Months (No Curls!)
I know you want to do curls.  It’s ok to admit it.  Guys think big biceps are the sign of a real man.  Stop.  If you can’t do 15 chin-ups, you have no business doing curls. What you want to do – exclusively – for the first 3 months are compound movements.  Compound movements are those that involve more than one joint (and thus, recruit more than one muscle group).  Why?  You’ll burn more fat, you’ll get stronger, and you’ll build muscle more evenly throughout your body.  Plus, you won’t look like a ninny standing there doing curls for your full workout while your chicken legs squawk at all the serious lifters in the gym.  Most guys think the big guys at the gym will laugh if they do too little weight.  What the serious lifters really laugh at are men who think curls are going to do them much good.

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This guest post is from Chris Schonberger, Editor-in-Chief of Gradspot.com. He has never actually hooked up with a co-worker, but he once received unprompted relationship advice from three middle-age women during his days as an intern.

A Practical Guide to Office Romance

So, you’ve managed to buck the odds and land yourself a new job in this tanking economy. Excited to hook up with all your officemates? You should be. But you need to tread carefully—no matter how “progressive” companies claim to be, some HR departments will still come down on you like a ton of bricks if they think you’re using the terms “spread” and “sheets” in a context that doesn’t involve Excel.

That said, the taboo of the office romance is fading to some extent. Yes, there was a time when a little cubicle copulation was considered anathema to a successful career. “Business and pleasure don’t mix,” said the conventional wisdom. “Sex in the office is harassment, even if it’s consensual.” But while many people profess a “don’t deuce where you eat” philosophy with regards to getting it cracking in the workplace, the stats show that at least 40% of workers have tried it.

Young people are working longer hours, and as the work-life balance shifts further toward the “work is life” end of the spectrum, the office has become the new bar (with the only difference being that you have to wear headphones when you listen to “Living on a Prayer”). Before you dive in head first, consider a few crucial questions: Will an “affair de cubicle” alienate you from the rest of the office? Will your suit accommodate a surreptitious Texas tuck when the CEO rounds the corner? Do you really have no other prospects?

If you do decide to play with fire, here are the different scenarios you might run into:

Dating an equal. If you are dating another newb, it’s mostly up to the two of you to decide if competing for the same promotions, raises, and projects will breed ill will. Most other people won’t care as long as there’s not too much repulsive canoodling in the break room. However, think about your work-life balance—at the end of the day the last thing you want is a reminder of work, even if that reminder has boobs.

Dating a superior. When the boardroom becomes the boudoir, you’d better make sure you’re not the one under the table on all fours (unless you’re plugging in the projector). Let’s be blunt: sexing your boss is almost always a bad idea. Even if you successfully pull off an unethical plan to get ahead through sexual favors, the rumor mill is quick to spot an unjust promotion. If you really “like” your boss, check your feelings to make sure they are genuine. Then check his or her hand for a wedding ring. Then quit the job and get it cracking.

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	Engine Coffee Table Hand carved solid mahogany wood base and soft black leather, beautiful inlays of alligator and stingray skin … you could almost miss how bad ass this coffee table is.
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