The Core

That synopsis resonates.  Will read with interest.

Yeah, he didn't hold back.

Quite some turn of phrase...

>And when finally given the keys to the kingdom — the ability to elevate Google Search even further — he was ratfucked by a series of rotten careerists trying to please Wall Street, led by Prabhakar Raghavan

>Rot Master Raghavan is here to squeeze as much as he can from the corpse of a product he beat to death with his bare hands.  Raghavan is a hall-of-fame rot economist, and one of the many managerial types that have caused immeasurable damage to the Internet in the name of growth and “shareholder value."

Behind the scene of food commercials

https://old.reddit.com/r/BeAmazed/comments/18m1h71/behind_the_scene_of_food_commercials/

True.  My mother worked as a food tech prepping food products for TV commercials in the 1970s.  Blowing cigarette smoke on plates of food to give a hot-from-the-oven impression was a popular trick apparently.

Craig, great to hear your update.  Congrats on the progress, results and commitment.  Sounds like you're getting your rewards.

> I look at food differently now, I see it as a fuel for the day

This resonates.

I'm about a year into a lifestyle change which has brought around a lot of positives for me.  I might have posted this earlier in this thread somewhere.  In short: I started regular offroad cycling, which has led to winter seasons of cyclocross racing.  Last winter - I didn't have a plan beyond: try cyclocross and try to get fit.  This winter I've got a running start and have thrown myself into training hard(ish) and aiming for better results in races.

I started the season (first race was in September) hoping to get a top 10 finish - and finished 42nd in that first race.  A reality check - so reset the ambition at top 20.  Good progress through the season, and managed 11th place last weekend.  Now looking ahead to a national level competition in 2 weeks time.  Its a niche sport - so the capacity of even the national races allows for keen relative newbies like me to qualify!

As for the fueling... I've probably been somewhat less scientific than you.  The first shift I made was generally cutting out / significantly reducing obvious crap like chocolate, crisps, etc.  Taking the obvious healthier choice when available.  Second: dropping carbs in favour of protein.  I think these both helped me drop some excess fat and the training helped tone up and build muscle.

More recently, I'm back on the carbs!  I find I get really tired and can't train as well without a normal dose of carbs - so always try to ensure I have potato, rice or pasta with a main mean, plus bread at other meals, and a solid breakfast.  I figure the earlier months I must have been burning fat reserves that I can't rely on so much now.

Feels great being in control of this.  I don't take it for granted, but want to keep the routine strong for as long as possible.  Cyclocross season is short - ending January - so will need to find new outlets, but having been round this last year, I'm not too concerned.

Related

https://www.wired.com/story/google-antitrust-lawsuit-search-results/

Both articles are a great read.  This one particularly piqued my interest - but not sure I agree with the wholly negative sentiment...

This onscreen Google slide had to do with a “semantic matching” overhaul to its SERP algorithm. When you enter a query, you might expect a search engine to incorporate synonyms into the algorithm as well as text phrase pairings in natural language processing. But this overhaul went further, actually altering queries to generate more commercial results.

There have long been suspicions that the search giant manipulates ad prices, and now it’s clear that Google treats consumers with the same disdain. The “10 blue links,” or organic results, which Google has always claimed to be sacrosanct, are just another vector for Google greediness, camouflaged in the company’s kindergarten colors.

Google likely alters queries billions of times a day in trillions of different variations. Here’s how it works. Say you search for “children’s clothing.” Google converts it, without your knowledge, to a search for “NIKOLAI-brand kidswear,” making a behind-the-scenes substitution of your actual query with a different query that just happens to generate more money for the company, and will generate results you weren’t searching for at all. It’s not possible for you to opt out of the substitution. If you don’t get the results you want, and you try to refine your query, you are wasting your time. This is a twisted shopping mall you can’t escape.

Why would Google want to do this? First, the generated results to the latter query are more likely to be shopping-oriented, triggering your subsequent behavior much like the candy display at a grocery store’s checkout. Second, that latter query will automatically generate the keyword ads placed on the search engine results page by stores like TJ Maxx, which pay Google every time you click on them. In short, it's a guaranteed way to line Google’s pockets.

It’s also a guaranteed way to harm everyone except Google. This system reduces search engine quality for users and drives up advertiser expenses.

As an SEO for commercial content, this sounds ideal.  Google blending the SERPs to give commercial content exposure where it may not have otherwise received it!  Thank you Google.

And its been pretty clear for sometime that Google is blending the 10 blue links with a variety of alternative perspectives on a query.  Was it Hummingbird that brought this to scale?  I don't recall.

ergophobe, so much in your post resonated / triggered me I'm not sure where to start with my follow up.

Well, probably the most emotional trigger first - and a silly one.

> I also read Bill Perkins

Bill Perkins was my grandfather's name.  Like lots of kids, we worshipped our grandfather, so will check out BP2s work out of love for his namesake.

> It's been a while since anyone has checked in.
> How's everyone doing?

I'm not sure I've ever "checked in" on this thread, but now feels like as good a time as any.

Up until about a year ago, I'd slightly lost all fitness routine.  Cycling had been my regular outlet - even just commuting between home and office 5 miles, twice a day, 5 days a week - gave a reasonable baseline of fitness.  That fell away when covid came around and home became the office.

Potentially long story short(er): fed up with lack of exercise, I went along to a cyclocross training session at a local cycling club about a year ago.  In an ideal world, I'd be mountain biking.  But being a father of 2 young kids, living in not so mountainous - or even rural - London, its tough to find the time to get to the trails, do some riding and get back without compromising your weekend family time.  Cyclocross seemed to offer the chance to ride offroad in a condensed format...

* the cycle club is 5 mins ride from my house
* they have a nice network of trails in an otherwise urban environment
* cyclocross or "cross" - as I have learnt - is a race focused discipline, with races limited to 40-60 minutes

all good for the time poor, city dweller!

So after putting the kids to bed one September evening last year, I went along with zero fitness, mediocre offroad technique and almost no understanding of what cross is, let alone any intention to race and slowly fell in love with it.  Over the season, I entered 4 races, built up a lot of other miles cycling on and offroad.

Now, a year on, I'm actually nursing a couple of injuries - one picked up in a crash in a summer cross race 5 or 6 weeks ago and another from wakeboarding on my 45th birthday more recently.  But, I think they're on their way out and I'll be racing cross again in 2-3 weeks from now.  Injuries aside, the regular exercise and incremental objectives I set myself (1. do something; 2. do it again; 3. see what the races are all about; 4. race more; 5. get a top 10 finish in my category - and I'm still working on that one) have really helped reinvigorate my love for cycling, but also given all the side benefits I'd hoped for in terms of general wellbeing.  Injuries aside, I think I'm the fittest I've been in 10 years and hope to build on that.

> but there's also been a lot of talk about fuel in the strict sense (i.e. actual calories) this year following the Tour de France

All that said, probably no surprise the TDF comment was also of interest.

I've just finished reading a book called the Midlife Cyclist by Phil Cavell

https://www.cyclefit.co.uk/journal/the-midlife-cyclist

Renowned cycling biomechanics pioneer, Phil Cavell, explores the growing trend of middle-aged and older cyclists seeking to achieve high-level performance. Using contributions from leading coaches, ex-professionals and pro-team doctors, he produces the ultimate manifesto for mature riders who want to stay healthy, avoid injury - and maximise their achievement levels.

Time's arrow traditionally plots an incremental path into declining strength and speed for all of us. But we are different to every other generation of cyclists in human history. An ever-growing number of us are determined to scale the highest peaks of elite physical fitness into middle-age and beyond. Can the emerging medical and scientific research help us achieve the holy triumvirate of speed and health with age?

The Midlife Cyclist offers a gold standard road-map for the mature cyclist who aims to train, perform and even race at the highest possible level.

I found it the most compelling read I've had in years.  Brining together commentary from his experience as a bike fitter, and scores of relevant specialists: sports scientists, physios, cardiologists, pro cycling teams...

In reference to the TDF particularly, one factor was called out above all, even above nutrition and fueling as I recall: sleep.

There's discussion of how the top teams will invest in ensuring their lead riders get the best access possible to a good night's sleep.

>>I also try to do one "special" day each week, i.e. a day where I do something I don't normally do.  A bit more carpe in my diem ;-)

This is great!  Your frequency here is admirable!  I started the year by writing down some personal objectives.  One of them was to try a new sport once a quarter.  I allowed myself different forms of cycling (Q2 was a criterium race), or picking up lapsed sports (Q1 was running).  Come to think of it, I'm not sure what I'm chalking down for Q3... better get on that.

But compared to your weekly, the quarterly seems pretty unambitious!  Hats off.

Its supposed to be getting a little hotter at the start of next week.  So far (in London) at worst its uncomfortable, but TBH I think the vast majority are finding it rather pleasant.

Pretty clear though that with a few more °C on the thermometer in years to come, there's going to be a significant impact.