Timothy Ferriss's Blog, page 132

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...

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...

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...

Do You Really Know Bill Gates? The Myth of Entrepreneur as Risk-Taker

Photo: Laughing Squid/Scott Beale

Before I had to establish my no-blurb/no-review policy for books due to volume (picture: one day's mail), I received an e-mail from Rick Smith, the founding CEO of the World 50, one of the most exclusive senior executive networking companies on the planet, with members and contributors like Bono, Francis Ford Coppola, and Phil Knight…

He was interested in having me look at his new book Leap, and I suggested he send it along with the understanding that I might ...

7 Reasons to Eat More Saturated Fat

Photo: Eduardo Amorim

I've invited Dr. Michael Eades and Dr. Mary Dan Eades, two of my favorite bariatric (obesity treatment) doctors in the US and the first to introduce insulin resistance to the mainstream, to explain the facts and benefits of increased saturated fat intake…

The sub-headings are mine, and a few edits have been made for space and context. Please see Dr. Michael Eades' references and responses to questions in the comments.

Mid-Section Fat Loss: Problem Solved?

A couple of...

Random Episode 5: The Bloody, Filthy Travel Edition

This is a short Random episode — 10:30 — and easily the most disgusting to date. I also think it's the funniest. Imagine Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations if he didn't need to edit for cable.

This episode has some educational bits, but it's focus is on enjoying the not-always-so-smooth experience of travel.

Not for the faint of heart.

From Glenn:

The following video segment is a continuation of the randomly shot randomian-thought random show project with Tim Ferriss and Kevin Rose. This time, we

How to Respond to Criticism – Learning from Dr. King

(Photo: Africa Within)

Total read time (bolded sections) = 5 minutes

Total read time (all) = 40 minutes

I am embarrassed to tell you that, up until three weeks ago, I had never read Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Letter from a Birmingham City Jail. It is, without a doubt, one of the best case studies in how to deal with criticism I've ever come across.

Much like the historic Declaration of Independence (4-minute read time) and Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address (30-second read time), not much

Random 4: Tim Ferriss and Kevin Rose on Y-Combinator, Language Learning and More

This pre-China trip includes the below:

- Personal experiences with Y-Combinator, demo days, and pitching new ideas through avenues like YC.

- Five things you can do as a new startup to get your ideas, app, or product in front of influencers.

- Tweaking your website: per-user metrics, cost per acquisition, lifetime value of the customer, etc..

- The iPhone 3GS, talking some about the new updates and then a short comparison with the Palm Pre.

- Learning new languages and reactivating old ones (in this

Google Website Optimizer Case Study: Daily Burn, 20%+ Improvement

This post will show exactly how one start-up improved their homepage conversion rate (visitor to sign-up flow) more than 20%, then 16% again, with a few simple changes and Google Website Optimizer.

Once reading this, you will know more about split-testing than 90%+ of the consultants who get paid to do it…

There are a few advanced concepts, but don't be intimidated; just use what you can and ignore the rest.

—

Along with Founders Fund (Dave McClure), Garrett Camp (CEO, StumbleUpon), and others, I

Dean Kamen – Don't Tell Me It's Impossible

Roger Bannister broke the mythical 4-minute mile barrier in 1954. (Source: Guardian UK)

Dean Kamen is no stranger to innovation.

He's also no stranger to doubters and skeptics. People said the Segway was impossible, but Kamen disagreed, and he was right.

"Don't tell me it's impossible," he says, "tell me you can't do it." "Tell me it's never been done. Because the only real laws in this world–the only things we really know–are the two postulates of relativity, the three laws of Newton, the