Old? Hardly.

So this weekend, (instead of you know, reading or studying). I wrote a whole bunch of blog posts! I don't want you all to be overwhelmed and binge on my awesomeness, so I'm keeping them in the background and releasing them one at a time. I have posts set for the next couple weeks and I always have more ideas that I will continue to draft. But having this head start makes me really really happy. It should make you happy too because it means that I will be posting more regularly (you should also be happy that this means most of my posts receive a second round of editing ;)

Read up!

Starting off, thoughts on an article in the NY Times (my favorite newspaper in case you hadn't noticed).

This lady is a rock star. At 91-years-old she continues to compete in "masters" track events. And not just compete, she blows away the competition. Master's track competition begins at the age of 35 and performances are compared using age-graded tables that turn times/distances into percentiles when compared to other athletes in the same age group. Olga's percentiles run at 100% (or more, since the tables are new because of how few athletes in her age group compete). She often beats athletes who are in age-groups one or two classes below her own.

Many scientific disciplines are studying her to determine why she performs better than her peers. There may be some inherent genetic/physiological factors specific to her, and that is being looked into. What interests me, however, is the theory that intense exercise makes a bigger difference on the aging process than the moderate exercise that is generally recommended for the elderly. The reason for this recommendation is to prevent injuries (which are more likely as people age). But if one can find a balance between training hard enough to see the most gain and moderately enough to avoid injury, they can reap the most benefit.

So should we start encouraging older people to exercise more intensely? Are we recommending a sub-optimal level? Or are we being responsible and not encouraging people to test limits (and thus risk injury)?

Recent Discoveries

Over break I did a lot of web surfing. I came upon some interesting and useful sites, and I want to share them with you!

Study Hacks: Written by Cal Newport, a postdoc at MIT (he started the site when he was still working on his PhD).
Study Hacks is built around the concept that success and stress do not have to go together. He gives great advice for everyone, from high school to graduate school and beyond. There are hundreds of posts in the archives and he has also published three books on the subject. I haven't read the books, but they're on my list.

WolframAlpha
This is like a database of.....well, everything. My brilliant younger brother introduced it to me. Want to know about benzene, calculate the interest on a loan, compute a pediatric trachial tube size? This is the site for you.

Free Tax Filing: TurboTax, CompleteTax, H&R Block
These sites aren't really new to me, but they are particularly useful this time of year. The first time I had to file taxes I picked up the paper version and was terrified. Take this number from line 10C subtract it from line 27A, add line 437Z, and divide by line 9432AA. Never fear, these programs tell you exactly which forms you need to have, break it down into simple steps, and suggest deductions. And you can file your federal taxes for free if you make less than $58,000 (which most of us students do). If you want to pay a little more, it will also file state returns and allow returns with itemized deductions.

Research Subjects
Are you in Iowa City and looking to make a few extra bucks? Are you willing to let researchers poke and prod you and do some tests? (This past fall I made $500 for just a few hours of my time)

This might be the point where "useful" ends...

QR Code Generator
I'm not sure what I would ever use this for, but it's still pretty neat. It makes 2D barcodes the can be read by smartphones.

Personality Tests
Just in case you don't know who you are yet...

Couchsurfing
A network that helps you find a "couch" to sleep on wherever you are traveling in the world.

Digital Photography Tips
I do a lot of photography, so I do find this to be rather interesting.


On an unrelated note....some of my music professors from Iowa State (the Ames Piano Quartet) played today at the University Hospital. It was good to see/hear them again.

Productive Procrastination

I am usually amazed at how incredibly productive I can be while trying to avoid homework.

Today I have not been productively procrastinating. So I'll leave you with a couple videos from my senior flute recital at Iowa State.










~L