Enginerve's Blog

Treat yourself like someone you are responsible for helping, and always have a mountain in life to climb

  • I found Yoga for standing desk lovers at MNN.COM

    Standing all day is healthier than sitting, but adjusting can be a challenge. Some yoga moves can make the difference.

    a woman at a standing desk

    Photo: shawnporter/Flickr

    Since sitting has become the new smoking (OK, sitting probably isn’t as bad as a cigarette habit, but it has been linked to lower life expectancy), people at desk jobs have been looking for ways to both get their jobs done, and sit less — for some, a lot less. Standing desks have become popular, but along with the health-promoting benefits of standing for most of the day come a number of physical complaints from those who aren’t used to being on their feet all day.

    Some simple yoga moves can loosen up the muscles that get tight (hey, getting up and moving is pretty much always a good thing, so even if you are still sitting most of the day, the following moves are worth working into your day. Lilly Kovesi, a Connecticut-based yoga teacher, suggests a short routine (if you have done a basics yoga class, you will recognize these poses; if not, here’s a simple guide):

    "Start with a combination of Mountain Pose (tadasana) followed by Standing Half Moon (ardha chandrasana), a side bending pose.

    Move to Tree (vrksasana) on each side and then into Mountain Pose with arms over head (urdhva hastasana).

    Interlace fingers behind back and fold forward (Yoga mudra),  and finish with a Standing Forward Fold with an easy twist: One hand on the earth (under the face) other hand extended to sky. End in Mountain Pose."

    Lilly also suggests working Revolved Chair Pose (parivrtta utkatasana) into the routine to extend it. All these moves get you to pay attention to your posture, so they should help loosen your body up as well as remind yourself how to stand well (with both feet comfortably planted on the floor, weight evenly distributed). And the side bending and side twists should subtly realign the two sides of your body, so that you are evened out (which will make you less likely to slump in one direction or another, which puts strain on the back).

    So before you give up on the standing desk, try a bit of yoga or some breaks and see how you feel after a couple of days, and if you have been thinking of trying a standing desk, be aware that it’s probably a good idea to work up to a full day, take breaks,  and that a few stretches might ward off discomfort as you transition.  

  • From Google Chrome Blog

    Have you ever needed to print a boarding pass, whitepaper, or speech, and didn’t have your computer at hand? Google Cloud Print helps you print from anywhere to anywhere using any device, and we’ve recently made several improvements on that front.
    First, if you have an Android smartphone or tablet, we’ve released the Cloud Print app in Google Play to make it easier to print documents and files on the go.
    Second, if you work out of different offices or other public spaces like a school, you can now easily share a printer with anyone nearby, by simply publishing a link.

    In addition, we’re releasing two new tools today to make it even easier to print anywhere, anytime. The first, Google Cloud Printer, makes it possible to print to any of your cloud printers from Windows applications such as Adobe Reader.

    The second, Google Cloud Print Service, runs as a Windows service so administrators can easily connect existing printers to Google Cloud Print in their businesses and schools.
    We’ll continue evolving Google Cloud Print to make printing simple and easy from as many devices as possible. For now, the future looks good on paper.

  • Google-Yourself-Challenge-infographic.jpg

  • 29 ways to stay creative-A1_Final

  • I have seen one.  I have to get out more.

    10-places

  • Starbucks’ WiFi goes Google

    Google providing higher speed networks to Starbucks.  This would be fun in my neighborhood.  Of course, when they turn off my phone because they wish to control precisely what I do with it, my favorite company will have bitten me.   But it sounds so good.  Is Google now Apple on control?  Say it isn’t so.

    Posted: Wednesday, July 31, 2013

    Coffee shop + Internet—it’s a pairing that many of us have come to rely on. WiFi access makes work time, downtime, travel time and lots of in-between times more enjoyable and productive. That’s why we’re teaming up with Starbucks to bring faster, free WiFi connections to all 7,000 company-operated Starbucks stores in the United States over the next 18 months. When your local Starbucks WiFi network goes Google, you’ll be able to surf the web at speeds up to 10x faster than before. If you’re in a Google Fiber city, we’re hoping to get you a connection that’s up to 100x faster.

    Google has long invested in helping the Internet grow stronger, including projects to make Internet access speedier, more affordable, and more widely available. The free Internet connection at Starbucks has become an important part of many communities over the years, such as in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, or for students without Internet at home who do their homework at Starbucks.

    We’ll start rolling out the new networks this August. We appreciate your patience if it’s still a little while before we get to your favorite Starbucks—you’ll know your new network is ready to go when you can log in to the “Google Starbucks” SSID.

    Posted by Kevin Lo, General Manager, Google Access

  • I was in Athens, GA, home of UGA and @petebikes showed me his Porlex JP-30 Stainless Steel Coffee Grinder and this is going to replace my Braun which is common but relatively less useful being neither adjustable, useful (as it heats the coffee and packs it), or manual.  Without it being manual it is useless for a bike trip!

    I doubt I am going to have the same hack that is used in this picture: