Ryan j Budke

Twitter… down
Engadget & Tuaw…. sporadic
Joe’s Goals… down
All other Weblogs Blogs… slow at best
Google Reader… crawling

Way to go Apple, you just gave the bsod to Web 2.0

I don’t like Gizmodo, I think they’re a bunch of immature spoiled brats who really represent the term blogger in it’s worst form. They have an immense audience, and are therefore invited to participate in a lot of events and products by companies that are trying to get their word out. Gizmodo obviously doesn’t care what either their audience or peers think however, since they have a history of shitting on both crowds. A few months ago, Microsoft sent Gizmodo editor Brian Lam a copy of Halo 3 complete with all swag before it was released to the public. Now, obviously, Microsoft wanted to reach out to the piece of Gizmodo’s audience that was interested in Halo 3, since it was an early exclusive however, Gizmodo stood to draw a huge crowd, increase pageviews, increase adsales, thus, increasing how much they earn. After treating the press stuff like garbage, Brian got hung out to dry by the Halo fans in the comments. He responded by doing this. Literally throwing the gifts out the window and spoiling the game’s ending. This is a touchy subject though. Just because Microsoft sent Gizmodo the package early, doesn’t and should never mean that it gets them a favorable review. It’s just a courtesy, something that Gizmodo has never shown towards anyone.

These past couple of days during CES, Gizmodo had apparently thought it funny to pull a little “prank” on those presenting there. You can read all about it here, but a quick summary is this: They had a device that can turn off any television set, so they went around turning off all the sets they could; demo units, sale items, and even those being used in presentations. Now, it’s become pretty glamorized, but CES is still a trade show. That means there are companies there who depend on being there and looking good to current and potential clients. The instance getting the most notice is when Motorola’s presentation kept flickering off. Motorola, and most of the other companies in their video, are not small companies that are going to crumble to pieces because of this, but I’m sure somewhere on that show floor, there was some small company that was just getting off the ground, had scraped and saved to buy it’s way onto the floor, and their display did go off during an inopportune time.

I’m all for mischief, I’m all for people not taking themselves too seriously, but this is messing with a LOT of average folks’ livelihoods. The shots in the video of the guys scrambling to get the sets back on, those are the guys that caught hell. Those are the guys who worked for days on setting those systems up, who woke up and prayed “Just please don’t let anything go wrong today.” And because of a few self-serving jackasses, it did. I somehow doubt Gizmodo would think it was funny if their site started going up and down next week during Steve Jobs’ keynote presentation, or anytime really.

The sad fact is that this is how Gawker (Gizmodo’s parent company) runs most of their sites. Jalopnik, with some regularity, breaks embargoes with unreleased press shots of cars. Gawker Stalker has been held to task numerous times on its shady celebrity tracking. It’s sensationalist crap that may drive up pages views, but drives down respect.

I wasn’t going to write anything about this actually, and just link to Loren Feldman’s video because I think it sums it up pretty nicely, but I had a couple of emails this morning asking me what was going on. While I’m for all intents and purposes a nobody, and I don’t have any auto maker or tech pundits read this blog, there are a few people in the media high enough up to make a difference. So for those of you that do, I’d challenge you to stop dealing with any Gawker blogs until they can make some changes. As a disclaimer, I do work for the company that owns Engadget, but that doesn’t come into my feelings about this at all. I know way too many people who have worked insanely hard to make internet journalism both respectable and high caliber for a bunch of jokers who represent the smallest vocal minority of jackasses tear it all down.

Gizmodo, you guys are pricks. Karma’s a bitch.

So yesterday was the first day I didn’t exercise at all (outside of the extra long walks Deuce and I have been going on) since the beginning of the year/my diet, it also happened to be the first day I ate like total crap. And what’d ya know, I feel like crap today. Surprisingly, my weight didn’t go up or down (with a dinner consisting of Taco Bell, and eggs benedict for breakfast, I was sure it would have gone up), but it was the first day it didn’t go down in the slightest, which sucked.

Wednesdays are normally my busiest days of the week as they seem to be when most of my meetings land on, and on top of that I spent the first five or so hours of the day down in Hollywood (including commute), but those are just excuses and I should have found time to continue the habits that I’ve been working hard to establish. Off to the gym I go!

I bought a really nice scale made by Taylor from Target last night that on top of my weight also reads out my body fat, muscle and water percentage, and bone mass. My weight was 208.4, right about where I (unfortunately) thought it was. I want to learn a little bit more about the other readouts and numbers before I report on those. Overall though, even though the number itself is kind of pitiful, it’s doing nothing but motivating me more.

There’s going to be parts that suck, but I’m actually pretty excited about this whole endeavor. Who doesn’t want a better them?

I love to drive. My family has always been into cars, and we got new vehicles at a rate that would alarm most people. Granted, we would only get a brand new car maybe twice a decade, but the cars that had reached the end of their life-cycle with friends and family would find a new purpose and home with us. So being into cars was just second nature, I was helping dad tear apart engines well before I ever got behind the wheel, and still hate paying anyone to change the oil to this day. Ironically, I don’t consider myself that knowledgeable when it comes to cars because my dad and brother put me to shame. I’m more zen when it comes to cars, and enjoy “the drive” much more than “the how”.

That’s why when others scoffed at the idea that I was driving from Cincinnati to LA, I only got more excited as it drew closer. As I talked the other day, 2007 was a challenging year, and I am so happy I was able to take that drive to clear my head and prepare for 2008. When Angry Ken and I made the drive out here last year we came by way of Route 66 and south, this time I went north and through the Rockies. It was absolutely amazing. Just me, my dog, my truck and the road. I took a ton of pictures that I’ll be putting up over the next couple of days/weeks, and I can’t wait to see what memories they stir up.

I was just telling Tom earlier that even though it’s screwed up my internal calendar to no end (it’s not Monday?) that I loved the way Christmas and New Year’s fell this year. The full week of “Christmas-time” was awesome, and has left me really jazzed to get back to work.

I do miss the family and friends back home, but have so many fun memories from such a short happy time that I’ve been more or less smiling non-stop for a week.

What’s the old saying? The first step is admitting you have a problem… I’m fat. So there, I said it. In all honesty, it feels pretty liberating putting it out in the open. I also know this is going to motivate me by allowing others to hold me accountable. I wasn’t always in bad shape, a fact I plan on sharing by putting up some photos of me from “back in the day”, but I’ve just been lazy the past couple of years. I was in pretty damn good shape when I was in the Air Force, and actually won a couple of fleet-foot awards there. I want to get back to that, I want to feel better about how I look.

I hurt my back pretty bad a few years back, and along with tons of physical therapy, the doctors put me on steroids. I gained a ton of weight quickly, and just as quickly used that as a crutch. It’s been way too long to keep saying that that’s the reason why. The stone cold fact is that I’m lazy and don’t move nearly enough. I don’t eat real bad, I certainly don’t have the healthiest diet, but I don’t eat horrible. Fruit, yogurt, no caffeine, turkey instead of beef, but I need to move more. Even walking around the strip last night I was embarrassed at how bad I was feeling (out of breath, sore, etc).

I’m not exactly sure what my current weight is (I’m getting a really nice scale as soon as I get back to LA) but it’s well over 200, and probably pushing 210. I want to get down to 180, and am shooting for a July 1st goal. I’m going to use Traineo to keep track of my progress, and probably won’t go completely full on Fat Blogging like Jason did, but do want to post here at least once a week to keep it public and accountable. I’m going to start journaling all of my food so I know EXACTLY what I’ve been eating. I also plan on getting in a pretty regular exercise routine. There’s a gym up at my apartment’s clubhouse that has a treadmill and a basic weight machine that I want to get to a few times a week, I also plan on starting up Tai Chi (took it in college) in the mornings and playing Wii Sports once a day.

I don’t expect to get insanely cut, or plan on going into underwear modeling after this, I just want to be able to go up and down the stairs to get all the groceries without being winded.

If there was one thing I learned from being home over the holidays, it was that a lot more friends and family read my blog than I ever thought. So I apologize to all of you that do, and promise that there’s going to be more updates. I started privately blogging somewhere else a few months ago, just for myself, when I all but disappeared from here, and may put some of those up from time to time. Please don’t be strangers yourself, you know how to get a hold of me, and I’m always up for a good chat.

Now, on to the real reason for this post: I can not wait for 2008! I was one of those kids who actually looked forward to the beginning of the school year. Not because of school itself, but because you got to come back and show everyone how much you had changed over the summer (even though I rarely did). As we grow up, and move on from school, we don’t really have that “break” anymore, the long stretch of time we had to improve privately. Now those stretches are public, seem to go so much slower, and we have to define the beginning moments for ourselves. Most use the passing of the year to make that “fresh start” and aim for something more in their lives. I start looking forward to that moment almost as soon as I get back from vacation with my family every year.

It’s not that I’m uncomfortable with who I am now, it’s just that, I’m addicted to reinvention and learning. I love changing things about myself. Whether it’s blond hair or a new tattoo, or going so far as moving across the country or learning a new language. When I was younger, I learned a couple of pretty hard lessons that (I think) shaped me into who I am today. You never know when things could come to an end. Whether it’s a job, your hairline, your own life, or that of someone’s close to you. So you have to enjoy it the best you can. Now, I’m well aware that this isn’t any chunk of knowledge that other more important people haven’t told you a thousand times over in your life, but everyday is only what you make of it. I try to live everyday like it’s the best day of my life, and most of the time, they are.

2007 hasn’t been (it’s not over yet) a bad year, but it was by far the most challenging year of my life. I passed on some amazing opportunities that I was honored to even have offered to me. I worked my ass off for sometimes, nothing at all, and other times (more than most realize) more than I could have ever hoped for. I moved across the continent. I lost faith in some friends, got it back in others, and gained friends I can’t imagine not having in my life. I was physically very sick for a while, and didn’t even realize it. I screwed up a few relationships. Through it all though, I remained positive. Not naive, not oblivious to what was going on around me, not “the world is full of sunshine and rainbows”, just positive. Were there days that sucked the high hard one, well f*ck yea, but you keep going. Remember the good stuff, learn from the bad stuff, and keep going.

I’m looking forward to 2008 because I’ll get to see the fruits of a lot of labors. Crops don’t grow overnight, good things come to those that wait and all that jazz. I’m very proud of my job and think our team is doing amazing work that I can’t wait to share with everyone else. I’m looking forward to a new me (more on that one tomorrow). I can’t wait for all of the little surprises that life has in store. It’s going to be a good year.

You can’t have tomorrow before today though. So right now, I’m going to go celebrate today, and where else better to do that than Las Vegas? Wish me luck, and when I win big, I’ll take you all out and celebrate the day.

Have a safe and wonderful New Year’s. I love you all (yea, I’m a big softie… no fat jokes), and I’ll see you in 2008.

Check it out… This time some books on those aforementioned shelves attacked me. I need to fix those.

This is the funniest s#!t I’ve seen in a while.