Timothy Ferriss's Blog, page 131
October 30, 2009
How to Hold Your Breath Like David Blaine, World Record Holder (and Now, Me)
Last night, world-famous magician and endurance artist David Blaine taught me — along with about 10 other TEDMED attendees — how to hold my breath.
David holds the Guinness world record for holding his breath: 17 minutes and 4.4 seconds. I was born premature and, unlike David, I couldn't remember the last time I held my breath for more than one minute. It is my physiological Achilles heel.
What were the results?
My first baseline test: 40 seconds.
15 minutes of training later: 3 minutes and...
October 25, 2009
How to Breakdance 101: Unleash Your Inner B-Boy
An impromptu b-boying lesson at home after some Bulleit bourbon. Don't drink and dance.
Breakin' 2 did it. It was 1984 and I was convinced I would be a professional breakdancer. Alas, I was seven years old, and I looked exactly like this reader who left a comment on my tango instructional post:
Tim,
I'm pretty impressed by your achievements in tango, but what about tips on your first love?
B-boying is a sport I've watched and attempted for years. Sadly, the minute I go from uprock to six-step...
How to Breakdance 101
An impromptu b-boying lesson at home after some Bulleit bourbon. Don't drink and dance.
Breakin' 2 did it. It was 1984 and I was convinced I would be a professional breakdancer. Alas, I was seven years old, and I looked exactly like this reader who left a comment on my tango instructional post:
Tim,
I'm pretty impressed by your achievements in tango, but what about tips on your first love?
B-boying is a sport I've watched and attempted for years. Sadly, the minute I go from uprock to six-step...
October 16, 2009
Sneak Peek: The New and Expanded 4-Hour Workweek is Here
The 4-Hour Workweek was first published April 27th, 2007.
I did my best to cover all of the bases when it debuted, but there were gaps. Though I included cases studies of families using lifestyle design, for example, it was hard to find more than a few the first time around.
Not anymore. Things have changed. There are more than 30,000 comments on this blog, hundreds of people have shared their successes and failures via detailed e-mail, and both case studies and experiments continue to flow ...
October 8, 2009
Random Episode 6: How Kevin Rose and Glenn McElhose Got Scammed in China – Ha!
Total length: 20 minutes.
This is a weekend edition of Random. It is a happy-hour special of Chinese scams.
How did Kevin and Glenn get totally screwed by Chinese "art students"? More important, how do you avoid getting scammed while traveling?
This episode lays out one of the most common scams and explains how to spot similar set-ups worldwide…
Show Notes from Glenn:
- Open intro with weird light: Kevin shooting a laser into a "7 Cups" vessel. Animation by Tynan.
- Yin Bar, Beijing – a
October 7, 2009
The Best Decline Letter of All-Time: Edmund Wilson
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(Source: Crooked Timber)
Edmund Wilson, recipient of both the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the National Medal for Literature, was one of the most prominent social and literary critics of the 20th century.
He realized, like most uber-productive people, that, while there were many behaviors needed to guarantee high output, there was one single behavior guaranteed to prevent all output:
Trying to please everyone.
He had a low tolerance for distraction and shunned undue public acclaim. To...
October 5, 2009
Gout: The Missing Chapter from Good Calories, Bad Calories
Total read time (bolded sections): 2-3 minutes
Total read time (complete): 12 minutes
Last week, I had a wonderful conversation with Gary Taubes, my favorite science journalist and author of the incredible (and I consider definitive), Good Calories, Bad Calories. His ability to synthesize and recall research, both in writing and in speaking, is one of the most amazing feats I've ever witnessed.
It is with great pleasure, therefore, that I offer you the director's-cut chapter that didn't make i...
October 1, 2009
New Data: The 10 Worst Airlines in the US
"I see you. I'll get your water when I have a minute. Jesus Christ."
Um, did… that… really just happen?
Strike three for Delta Airlines. More like strike 37. The bad service had reached the "Orbitz threshold", where I would no longer purchase tickets from Delta, even if cheaper than the competition.
Life is too short to deal with surly nonsense, and — upon landing back in SF — I decided to poll Twitter to find out which airlines create the most collective misery. This would serve as my...
September 24, 2009
Finally: The End of Food Journals? The iPhone FoodScanner Arrives
But who keeps a food journal? Exactly.
Unless you have extreme note-taking OCD like me, it's too much of a pain in the ass to write down what you eat and track it all. I use the online food database here to keep my facts straight, but data entry sucks no matter how you slice it.
Here are first-look highlights of the FoodScanner, which launched a few hours ago and is now available…
1. DailyBurn's FoodScanner is the first and only application that uses the iPhone's camera to scan the UPC...
September 21, 2009
Lucid Dreaming: A Beginner's Guide
John Smith making another title look like child's play (no audio)
From 1994-1995 I had the great pleasure of training with wrestling legend John Smith, 2-time gold medalist and 4-time world champion (domestic freestyle record of 80-0; international freestyle record of 100-5).
He was famous for his low leg attacks that made even Olympic finals look like textbook demonstrations.
The problem was, of course, that I was in New Hampshire at boarding school and had never met John Smith. I only...
