Jeremy R Kolonay

Woo hoo!

2009-07-13T08:18:00.001-04:00

The Olympus E-P1 Digital Pen Camera

2009-07-10T10:27:00.003-04:00

Olympus will soon be releasing the E-P1 Digital Pen camera, and I am quite excited about being able to find a powerful digital in a rangefinder style package to replace my Cannon G10. Olympus has created the following promo video for the camera.

White FSB

2009-05-01T21:59:00.001-04:00

My Engagement

2009-04-10T12:06:00.001-04:00

American Tactical Imports GSG-5 MP5 Clone in .22LR accessories

2009-04-03T11:24:00.002-04:00

RRAGES, GSG-5 enthusiast, has started selling the most popular GSG-5 accessories online.

You can find his GSG-5 Accessories store here: RRAGES GSG-5 Accessories store.

RRAGES is responsible for piecing together the famous GSG-5 Screw Replacement set. He also sells HK Pushpins and a myriad of other popular GSG-5 accessories including genuine HK stock sets, claw mounts, and sling clips.

I have personally purchased the GSG-5 Screw Replacement set and the HK Pushpins from him. He's courteous, knowledgeable, and had a fast turn around time. Check his store often, as he keeps adding new accessories often.

Vortex Strikefire 2 MOA box

2009-04-01T16:41:00.002-04:00

**********UPDATE**********
Sam from Vortex optics confirmed in a post on AR15.com that the 2 MOA is a misprint.

This is Software Development

2008-10-02T18:04:00.000-04:00

OMG Lightsabers!!!!

2008-09-25T11:57:00.000-04:00

My new office decorations have arrived!

On Losing Weight: Chickens and Eggs

2008-08-18T13:07:00.002-04:00

I'm not riding my bike because I have no energy.
I have no energy because I'm not riding my bike.

Something has to give here, and it's me and my mental state. B and I just returned from vacation in sunny Californ-i-a. Expect a vacation photo gallery up later this week as well as bitching and moaning about how I gained weight and need to lose it (again).

On Losing Weight: Time to Face the Music

2008-08-06T08:39:00.004-04:00

So let's face it. I've been less than faithful to writing on my blog, especially about my weight loss activities. Anyone who follows my daily weigh-ins in the side bar can see that I have more or less kept up the same trend for the last three weeks. I spike into the lower 290's and dip into the mid 280's. I've done this three times now! What's the deal?

But Jeremy, didn't you just write a come to Jesus post about weigh gain three weeks ago?

Well, yes, I did, but that's not what this is about. This is about when to recognize that something is going wrong, and what to do about it...

I've not written lately because quite frankly, I didn't want to deal with the implications of my poor lifestyle choices of late. Sure, my mindset has slightly transitioned back to losing weight (when Brit and I went grocery shopping, we bought healthy stuff), and I have been at the very least going through the motions (biking three times per week instead of five, eating healthy cereal but three bowls full), but I've not been devoted to losing weight the way I have been previously.

Let's take another look at some factors in my life that contribute to the problem (also known as excuses):

I have only half-heartedly stopped the bad eating habits and have been lackadaisical
Work has been stressful lately because of some important projects
I've not had optimized sleep in a while

The long and short of it is that I actually had to sit here and think about things that could be affecting my performance. The first item is certainly true, but it's not a cause, it's a restating of the problem. Work is a lousy excuse because biking IS stress relief for me and eating well only makes biking easier. Sleep, while a legitimate factor is also BS because if I were eating correctly and exercising regularly, the quality of my sleep improves dramatically.

So here we are on week three of the cycle, but the truth is I've not focused since June. My goal in May was to be under 270 by September. This was a VERY attainable goal, but due to my lack of focus since my surgery, I may be at risk of hitting it. I will have to lose 17 pounds in 25 days to hit this goal, which may or may not possible.

So what do I do now? That's still the easy part. I now have to really face the fact that I have been a total slacker. Period. There are no excuses good enough for why I haven't broken through my lowest weight in the last three weeks. I've been lazy. I've been apathetic. I've been unmotivated. The goal of losing weight has not been as important to me in the last several weeks. Why is that? Why do I choose to eat three bowls of cereal instead of one? Why don't I get on my bike and ride some? I know the answer has to do with my mood, but that now has to stop.

I'm writing this post today because I now have to admit something to myself. The last time I wrote a post like this, I was saying "hey, no big deal, just get back on the horse!". Well, I never really made it. By writing this post, I am forcing myself to face the music; to face that I have a problem right now. I have encountered a mental wall. There. I said it. Let's move on.

I am correct. I do have the tools and the knowledge and the attitude to get "back on track", but I need something more than those this time. Biking and eating well were two things that used to make me very happy, but they are not bringing me the joy they once did. My new tactic is simple. The thing that used to bring me joy must now become mechanical in nature. I must become something that I simply do with no interruptions. No excuses. Living a healthy life style must now be as mechanical as going to work can be. I'm no longer giving myself a say in the matter.

I am also choosing to make some modifications to my cycling activities. As punishment , I have added two extra laps to my daily trek around the neighborhood, increasing calorie consumption, and hopefully rebuilding lost stamina at a quicker pace.

The good news is that in one to two weeks I should be back at a place mentally where I feel joy from my efforts. Until then, I'll have to keep fighting the good fight!

Things That Scare Me: Solo Road Rides in Unfamiliar Territory

2008-07-16T21:10:00.003-04:00

I've been road riding for the better part of three months now. This has become a very important and enjoyable part of the weight loss routine. I started riding a cheap mountain bike last year, but upgraded to a 2008 Giant FCR 1 fitness cycle this year. For the record, I can tell you that riding a road bike on the road will change your life if you're used to riding a mountain or hybrid bike on the roads.

Generally speaking, my exercise routine involves 8-12 laps around a section in my neighborhood. It's a good course that provides an opportunity to get the benefits of interval training when ridden correctly. Today though, I decided that I wanted to get out on the open road around some of the gorgeous horse farms that are practically in my back yard...
Thankfully, I didn't have to go out blind! I've recently become addicted to MapMyRide.com, an online community of cyclists (also available in a running flavor) that has an amazing set of tools to find ride paths, track your workouts online, interface with your Garmin GPS, and other tools that are just damned cool! So I found a track called "Bethel Beginners 12.25". This seemed like the perfect course and it seemed doable:

Bethel Beginner 12.25
Find more Bike Rides in Lexington, Kentucky

So I loaded my bike onto the top of my car, called the route up in Garmin Edge 305 (the coolest toy I've bought for my bike to date), and headed off.

The first thing I had to find was a place park, which didn't seem to be as easy as I would have though. The area is littered with almost nothing but beautiful, sprawling horse farms, and I didn't want to park in someone's yard. While seeking parking, I decided to take the opportunity to drive the full course so I could be familiar with it. When I got 1/3 through it, I was forced to turn on to a fairly hilly (for me) two-late road that actually had a fair amount of traffic. This road accounts for almost 50% of the total ride. I finished my survey and decided to stay on the secluded farm roads instead, figuring if nothing else, I could just double back to attain the mileage I was hoping for.

Too bad I'm a wimp...

While I had the best of intentions to ride something close to this, I got nervous because of the challenges I still face when mounting and dismounting my bike (a whole other story in and of itself) and the surprising amount of traffic I encountered tonight. So what I actually wound up with is this:
2008-07-16 Route - Wimpy Bethel :(
Find more Bike Rides in Lexington, Kentucky

To be fair, this was my first time attempting a full "road ride" by myself, and I have only ridden one other full road ride (13.5 miles) with a very experienced rider (friend, coworker, and mentor Jeremy Williams. So, I need to do some more exploring. I need to get my "road legs", and I need to ride like I got a pair!

Apple TV 2.1 and Remote.app for iPhone/iPod 2.0: Accessing Shared Media

2008-07-14T20:45:00.009-04:00

Dear Apple

Thank you for releasing Remote.app for my iPhone. It works wonderfully for my iTunes library. I had high hopes for control of my Apple TV, but am unfortunately disappointed. Since I don't store any of my music, movies, or TV shows on the Apple TV directly, I am unable to play any content using Remote.app since all of my content is shared via my iTunes library. Please add shared media playing abilities soon.

Love
JK

[UPDATE 2008.07.24] I discovered last night that you can in fact use the remote to play shared content on the Apple TV. I will post a write up soon about how to make this happen. The short and sweet version is that you add your Apple TV as a synchronizing device rather than a sharing device. This puts all of your media into the "My (Movies|TV|Music)" category rather than the "Shared (Movies|TV|Music)" category.

[UPDATE 2008.07.25] By popular demand, here are the instructions on how to make Remote.app access your iTunes shared content. I am on a Mac running Leopard, so YMMV.

In iTunes, select 'Preferences', then the 'Apple TV' pane
Highlight your Apple TV, then click the 'Remove Apple TV' button.
Click OK
Go to your Apple TV and from the main menu, select 'Sources'
Select 'Syncing'. The Apple TV will now display a unique pass code.
In iTunes, you should once again see your Apple TV in the devices list on the left side menu. Click your Apple TV.
iTunes will prompt you for a pass code. Enter the pass code from step 5.
If desired, provide a name for your Apple TV and click the 'OK' button.
Voila! Whether you elect to actually sync content between your computer and the Apple TV, you will now be able to access your iTunes content under 'My Movies|TV|Music|etc' on the Apple TV, and selecting those categories in Remote.app will now allow you to access your iTunes content.

[UPDATE 2008.07.29]: To the person who commented about syncing media. When you have an Apple TV in sync mode, it appears in iTunes just like an iPod. If you do not wish to transfer media to the device (which I also do not do), simply open each tab (Music, Video, etc) and remove the check box for "Sync media" on each tab.

On Losing Weight: Dieting vs Living a Healthy Lifestyle

2008-07-14T10:50:00.008-04:00

This morning I weighed in at 294.6. I haven't weighed that much in almost three months now. That number is quite a shock, but I think it's a good thing.

But Jeremy, how could gaining all that weight back be a good thing?

It's a good thing because it brings back perspective. It brings back purpose. It brings back focus...

Now, let's take a look at what's happened in the last three weeks. The major thing has been getting my wisdom teeth removed. That took me out of the cycling game for a couple of weeks due to pain and lack of good nutrition. But if you look at my weigh log, you can see that I had only gained back 5-7 pounds from that time period. What in the world has jumped me up another 9-7? That would be camp, of course! I just returned from a wonderful weekend at Camp:30 with my friends, and had absolutely no regard for the food I ate or the beverages I drank whatsoever! I have also historically used the days prior to camp as an excuse to eat whatever I want.

So the causes are quite clear. A complete and utter lack of exercise (it's hard to bike while on narcotics) combined with poor dietary decisions (McDonald's cheeseburgers, FTW!) lead to weight gain. The lesson here is that when you actually stop to keep track of your weight and your behaviors, it's quite easy to follow what happens to your body. All of the poor decisions made during the last three weeks were conscious. No one was shoving Wendy's down my throat, nor had anyone stolen my bike. I simply chose to take a break from healthy living for a while by using events in my life as an excuse. All the while I was conscious about what it would do to my body. I will admin that I am about 4 pounds heavier than I was expecting, but this may very well be due to water retention.

Now that I see what's happened, I must resume the behaviors that can undo the damage that's been done. It's Monday, the day after camp. I am eating correctly again. I will be back on my bike this evening. It's as simple as that! In the past, I would have used this gain as an excuse to stop eating well and exercising. Now I realize that I've gotten to enjoy some of the food that I enjoy, and that I have to do the work to get back on track. No biggie.

2008 has been a monumental year from me because this is the year that I finally stopped dieting and started living a healthy lifestyle. It seems that the social collective believes that dieting is something that starts and ends. The fact of the matter is that if you don't learn anything about your behaviors while losing weight, and then attempt to resume old patterns once you've hit your goal, you'll gain the weight back. I realized that the changes I've made this year are something that can never go away, and that's a great thing! When I started, I had a goal of hitting 280 and stopping. When I was halfway there, I changed that goal to 250, then to 220. Most recently, my girlfriend has actually gotten me to believe that I may be able to hit my BMI recommended weight of 189 (that's literally cutting my weight in HALF from where I started). I've really taken the attitude of I'll keep living healthy and see where I can get. I have intermediate milestones that I look forward to (my girlfriend promised to throw me a party when I hit 266.4, signifying a 100 pound weight loss), but I'm not trying to get to a weight. I'm trying to change my lifestyle so that I am healthy. Weight loss will follow by doing that.

On Software Development: Software Journalism

2008-06-26T10:06:00.003-04:00

Now that I officially have a certificate stating that I am a Certified ScrumMaster, I thought I would link to a blog post I had written for work that explains where software development should start. I was inspired to write this by a post from John Athayde that really nailed how I had felt about enterprise software development for a long time.

Click to read: LeapFrog Interactive Team Blog: Good Software Development and Journalism Go Hand in Hand

On Losing Weight: Hi. I'm Jeremy. I'm addicted to food.

2008-06-23T12:38:00.018-04:00

For as long as I can remember, I have been overweight. I still have vivid memories of children in the school yard cautioning to not piss me off, lest I sit on them. My parents would often comment that I needed to do something through my formative years, but no plan to regulate my weight gain ever materialized. In retrospect, my predicament could be simply explained as a byproduct of eating poorly and being lazy. I ate whatever I wanted whenever I wanted with absolutely no regard for how my decisions and lack of self control would impact me in the years to come.

Fast forward to my socially formative high school years, and the pattern continued. I was marginally more active due to my involvement with the high school marching band, but I still had no regard for what I was eating. I was solidifying an overwhelming lack of self-respect while my waist line continued to expand. I was awkward around girls (who would go out with a fat guy?), I started the behavior of not going out with friends if it involved walking (because I hate sweating, and sweating in public I hate doubly so), and I began to eat when stressed (...nothing a large double hot fudge milkshake can't cure). At the age of 18, a lot of damage had been done. I left high school weighing around 260 pounds with a waist size of 46-48...

To be fair, by nature, I have a large frame. I am 6' 1" and 2nd generation Eastern European. I'm bound to run large, ya know?

When I left home for college in 1998, I still had no desire to do anything about my body. Most people gain the "freshman 15". I gained somewhere around 25 pounds in my first freshman semester. In February of 1999 I was living at home working a co-op position. My mom came home one evening after returning from a business trip with a book that would make a huge short-term impact in my life. On her recent flight home, she had sat next to a husband and wife team of doctors that were busy promoting their new book, Protein Power. This book introduced to me the idea of weight loss through eating a low carb, high protein diet. At the time, this was some pretty revolutionary stuff (I had never heard of Atkins at this point) to me. The book made everything make sense, and thus began my protein driven weight loss.

After a mere five months of strictly following the guidelines presented by doctors Eades, I managed to slim down from 280 pounds to 240 pounds and my waist line went from 46-48 to 42-44. Unfortunately, my ability to maintain the diet completely fell apart when I transferred schools and moved back to Kentucky in the summer of 1999. Between August of 1999 and May of 2000, I somehow managed to gain almost 100 pounds taking me to an all-time high of 330 pounds and a waist line of 54. This happened due to a combination of non-thyroidal medical issues and a complete inability to realistically continue a low-carb/high-protein diet.

So thus began a long dark period in my life that may or may not be related to my weight gain. To make a long story short, by the spring of 2005, I was up to almost 370 pounds, I was developing high blood pressure, cholesterol, and triglycerides, all while my social/dating life had become nonexistent. Fortunately, the spring of 2005 was also when I finally decided to do something about it.

In May of 2008, I was casually dating a young woman who was actively following the Weight Watchers Flex plan. She and I would casually discuss Weight Watchers as a whole and slowly my interest was piqued. I originally likened WW to Alcoholics Anonymous for fat people. I had a lot of preconceived notions about what Weight Watchers is and what it wasn't. Ultimately, I decided to give it a go, as I really had nothing to lose.

That was the single best decision I ever made in my life.

On May 19th, 2005 I officially weighed in at 366.4 pounds. As of June 13th, 2008 I weighed 280.4 pounds netting a loss of 86 pounds (for reference, 86 pounds is probably the weight of a high school freshman cheerleader). My entire life is different as a result of my decision to realize that I had a problem. I no longer hate myself (as much), I ride a bicycle 6-10 miles 5 days/week, I gladly go out in public, I enjoy walking places, and I have set goals that were impossible to imagine three years ago. The last three years have by no means been a walk in the park. I have gone through many periods of up and down, but for the first time since starting to get healthy, I have managed to steadily lose weight for over six months. Most importantly, I feel better than I have ever felt in my life.

I should have started blogging about my weight loss journey years ago, but never thought to. I've decided to start actively writing about this topic today because I had a bad week last week. Through a combination of laziness, sleep deprivation, and a general attitude of nonchalance, I have managed to gain 7 pounds back in the span of 8 days. I am back on track today and am not fighting any cravings and am really looking forward to my ride after work. I want to use this blog as an additional motivational tool.

My ultimate goal is to lose another 60-100 pounds, which may seem ludicrous, but after you lose the first 80, the next 80 seems pretty attainable. I honestly will keep going until my body has decided that I have no more to lose. I've not made a decision to lose weight, I have made a decision to live a healthy life style. I never want to be this guy again...

Video leftovers

2008-06-06T09:42:00.001-04:00

In the last two days, I've been happy to find the following:

Big Ideas (Don't get any) from 1030 on Vimeo.

and

I just got home from St Louis...

2008-06-05T13:55:00.000-04:00

Say hello to my new (Pat)Riot!

2008-03-11T17:42:00.000-04:00

Just ordered my new Patriot

2008-02-18T23:11:00.004-05:00

So I ordered my brand spanking new 2008 Jeep Patriot Sport 4x4 on Saturday. Should be delivered in 4ish weeks. Expect a full review once she's here.

Please vote for my JPG submission for issue 15

2008-01-17T01:00:00.000-05:00

A visual guide to Apple's iTunes video content extravagenza!

2008-01-16T13:32:00.000-05:00

I stumbled upon a great guide to iTunes content from the kids over at Engadget. It looks like the HD movie content is for the AppleTV exclusively! Also, according to them, you cannot purchase HD content at this time. Read the full story at Engadget.

Apple TV : Take 2

2008-01-15T13:48:00.000-05:00

Ask anyone in my office and they will tell you that I am an Apple TV zealot. I've been slowly converting my DVD collection for viewing on my Apple TV using Handbrake because it's nice to have my digital video at my finger tips. Despite the wonder that is ripped DVD on my HDTV, my zeal was born not of what the Apple TV does, but what it could do. Today, Steve Jobs validated my feelings by announcing the Apple TV Take 2 during his keynote speech at MWSF. The good news is that this new version of the Apple TV will be available to all current owners via a software update. The bad news is that this device still does not seem to support streaming internet radio or storage expansion via the USB port (two oft requested features). While I am tickled pink at the new features this FREE software upgrade will bring, I would have liked to see them go the extra mile here.

The lack of storage expansion is particularly notable on the revamped Apple TV. Apple admitted that they missed the mark with the original incarnation of the set-top device. This version allows a consumer to plug in to iTunes for movie rentals as well as content purchasing without requiring a computer or an iPod. In theory, this should open the iTunes Music Store up to a new audience that could not be previously reached. These new customers will still face a 40 or 160 GB limit to the amount of content that can be stored on the device. This is an important consideration now that people can rent HD/Dolby 5.1 content from the iTunes Music Store.

I would like to thank Apple for remembering the faithful on this one. It's been a bit of a wait, but I feel that it was totally worth it.

Stuff that's on my mind.

2007-11-29T20:26:00.001-05:00

This is mainly for me to follow up on later, but perhaps I'll spark some discussion. Of course, both of these ideas may be useless:

-RoR partials trump JSR168 portals (WebSphere Portal server or not).
-There's a $1,000,000,000 industry waiting to be born from a heavy night of drinking where social commerce winds up in the backseat of a Volvo with microtrends...

In other news:
-I'll be camping this weekend for my 28th birthday (happy boozy time for me!)
-There is no Santa Clause
-I want my Apple TV to do MORE, dammit!
-I should be packing for aforementioned camping
-Thank GOD for telecommuting
-Skip the book and head straight for the Adobe Lightroom movie
-When will GPSs talk to each other for the purposes of traffic tracking?
-I still need to write a n00b's MySQL on Leopard guide
-I'm dreaming of a red Christmas

When I was a Kernel Photographer

2007-11-06T00:40:00.001-05:00

I was digging around google and happened upon this page which is my first and last KY Kernel photo credit.

Zombies on Main Street!

2007-10-28T19:11:00.000-04:00

2007 Thriller in Lexington, KY