I don’t usually blog amount myself, but I recently updated my LinkedIn profile and have been bombarded by inquiries and well-wishes from friends and co-workers.  Thanks everyone, it really helps.  For those of you who don’t follow me on Twitter, here is what I’m up to…

In-Q-Tel

In July I left In-Q-Tel, the strategic investing arm of the CIA and US Intelligence Community.  It was a happy parting and one of my best career experiences.  In-Q-Tel is a national treasure and I would recommend it to anyone, both as an employer and a source of innovation solutions for the US government.  A highlight was working with the Intellipedia team  (If you meet Steve, Sean, or Don at a social media event, be sure to thank them for their dedication).

But after 3 years of the investing side … time for another start-up.

ManyWheels, Inc. – Look out, world!

Through a rather unique set of circumstances I began exploring challenges in the automobile transportation space.  Ever drive past a half-empty truck hauling cars and wonder why the truck isn’t full?  Every wonder why getting a car shipped is a harrowing experience for most people?  Me too.

After due diligence with a large company in this space I applied to the National Science Foundation for a grant to develop technology to improve automotive transport efficiency.  More on this in a few weeks.

For the past few months I’ve been trying to follow the advice I give to entrepreneurs:  focus on the market.  We’ve been vetting the opportunity with prospective customers and partners for the past few months, doing dozens of site visits, interviews, etc.  We now understand the major problems, have a vision for the solution, and just last week incorporated ManyWheels.

The Motley Fool

I also returned to the Motley Fool this Summer to do some consulting on a couple of fun projects.  It felt like homecoming, seeing many great friends that I missed.  The company has done an incredible job keeping its culture intact while becoming a world-class business.  I have no doubt it will become a premiere institution in the DC area.

(shameless recruiting plug:  The Fool is an awesome place to work!)

So there you have it, my work life.  In the last few months I’ve been working in the financial services, automotive, and intelligence sectors and volunteering with the most aggressive biotechnology initiative in world history.

You’re probably wondering about the common thread of all of this.  Me too.

But in the meantime, I’m working like a maniac and having an absolute blast!

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After receiving a lot of mail and inquiries about my article on ProBodX I decided to write an update on my experience with the program. I want to make it clear that I have no business relationship with the authors other than as a customer (i.e., this isn’t a shill).

After 8 months on the program I can definitively say that I will not go back to traditional workouts. I believe the core principles of this book – Instability, Multiple Planes, Reversing, and Resistance – will form the foundation of all athletic training programs in the future.

As luck would have it, Dr. Edythe Heus (one of the authors) lives near a family member in CA and I was able to take a personal lesson from her in May. I was a bit nervous about the meeting, figuring that my form was probably horrible since I had never taken formal instruction and learned from a book.

We met at her home studio and worked through a number of the exercises. She was incredibly encouraging and – to my surprise – complimentary on some of my technique. She also pointed out some of the key weaknesses in my exercises, namely that I wasn’t correctly activating my lower abdominals while doing them. We reviewed some minor changes and improvements in the exercises as well as some new routines. For example, we worked some balance exercises on the Bosu ball.

Integrating these technique changes into my workout was harder than I anticipated. In many ways it felt like I was starting from scratch. I experienced the feelings of nervous fatigue just as I had when I began ProBodX.

Two months later, the exercises are once again getting easier. The technique changes were very helpful and I am finding myself pushing harder and harder with some of the exercises, using more ballistic energy to generate resistance.

It is difficult to describe the results of this program simply because it is so different. Several people have commented to me that “it looks just like my ball routine”, “just like power Yoga”, or “just like Pilate’s”, etc. Based on my experiences the exercises may look similar but the feeling and results are totally different.

I have been doing personal fitness regularly since I was 14 years old, and the modest results I gained from Yoga, weightlifting, etc. took a long time with regular setbacks. The progress I made – however small – did not readily translate to the athletic field. I basically assumed that my lack of progress resulted from not being much of an athlete (I am not, but that wasn’t the reason).

Somehow Dr. Heus’s routines stimulate an internal signaling system that allows us to coordinate motion (she calls this a prime blueprint). When these signals are properly engaged the routines quickly get easier and I notice results week-to-week. At times the changes appear almost magically and I surprise myself at the difference in feeling. This nearly instant, positive feedback is a great motivator.

Several people mentioned to me that ProBodX is out of print. Fortunately Dr. Heus is developing a new program called The Heus Approach based on the same principles. She also has a DVD of the basic ProBodX workout; it is a great complement to the book, although I don’t think it would have helped me if I had not read the book first.

If you want to get a copy of the ProBodX DVD, order any of the equipment in ProBodX, or find out about the Heus Approach you can reach Richard, her assistant, at “edytheheus AT cox DOT net”.

I’ve been taking exercise and fitness seriously since my early teens. During that period I’ve tried just about everything out there: endurance training, weight lifting, yoga, isometric stretching, and plyometrics to name a few. I’m always on the lookout for something better or more appropriate for my age or current athletic endeavors. About 6 months ago I started the ProBodX workout by Marv Marinovich and Edythe Heus.

If you checkout the editorial reviews on Amazon.com or experiences of professional athletes reported in the media, you’ll see that the authors and followers make some big claims about this workout program. On the surface it appears to be the “Holy Grail” of fitness because it takes very little space and time, requires only a few pieces of specialized equipment, and improves every aspect of physical conditioning (strength, balance, explosive power, coordination, flexibility…) except raw endurance. Moreover, the program claims to be for everyone between age 6 and 90 as well as professional athletes. Sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it?

ProBodX stands for “Proper Body Exercise” and the book outlines several “proper” routines of balancing in funny positions and moving in oblique angles while rapidly swinging a light weight back and forth. It is hard to describe but very different than anything I’ve ever tried before. Although they recommend a bunch of different equipment for doing the exercises, I started by using doing just the basic routine which requires an exercise ball and some light hand weights.

The basic exercise starts with a warm-up routine where you’re rolling on the ball. After that it takes you to exercises designed to strengthen your feet. Not calves – feet. After that you do some basic hand exercises followed by a bunch on your back and stomach where you’re twisting and turning in weird directions. You finish up with some leg exercises on your back.

Sounds easy, right? Just swing some light weights around while twisting and turning? Well, I never got through the “basic” workout during the first few tries. My arms and legs were not tired like a traditional weightlifting workout but my whole body was exhausted. I don’t really know how to describe the feeling except to say that my nervous system felt overwhelmed.

Gradually it became easier, and after a few weeks I was able to finish the whole basic routine in about 30 minutes. I quickly began to notice that my balance was better, day-to-day tasks were easier, minor aches and pains in my joints slowly subsided, and my walking stride was more natural. I decided to stick with it, increase the intensity, and order the equipment necessary for the Basic+ routine.

After 6 months I can say that this program lives up to the authors’ hype. They are really onto something and I will never go back to Yoga, Weightlifting or other traditional workouts again without at least complementing with this workout. I am adding more and more weight, increasing my range of motion, and increasing the speed and intensity of the exercises. I notice a difference from week-to-week and thus it is more engaging than my usual agonizingly slow progress with other workouts.

Golf is now my sport, and I credit the ProBodX workout with an improved X-factor (the difference between shoulder and hip turn) that resulted in 5-10 mph of additional driver speed. My stronger feet and supporting muscles give me better balance and control in my swing.

So why haven’t you heard of ProBodX? I suspect that very few people will ever pickup this book and give the workouts a try. The descriptions are somewhat confusing and difficult to understand and it desperately needs a video to explain the exercises. I re-read the exercise descriptions constantly and occasionally videotape myself doing the exercises to evaluate my technique. I contacted Dr. Heus about a video and they advised me that one is under development.

I do hope they create a video and get some professional product planning help. The authors have managed to distill decades of expertise and ingenuity on this topic into a simple, powerful lifelong workout routine for everyone. Unfortunately it will never reach its full potential unless packaged and promoted differently.

If you are using the ProBodX workout, please leave some comments below about your experiences.

If you are interested in supporting US federal funding for stem cell research, you can send an email message to your elected representatives in about a minute through the Coalition for Advancement of Medical Research web site.

I suscribe to their email newsletters and send a message to my Senators and Congressmen whenever a key vote surfaces. Trust me, it makes a difference when they hear from their constituents.

Who wants to live to 94? Easy. A person who is 93.

As long as I can continue to live an enriching life – which is mainly a self-defined scenario – I have no doubt that I will never be ready to die. If you have any doubt about how you will view the world at 93, I suggest you check out this beautiful blog post by Donald Crowdis – a 93-year-old blogger.

Don, you are a hero and an inspiration to us all.

I’ve been practicing Calorie Restriction for about 4 years. If you’re not familiar with the concept, it is an attempt to slow the aging process by eating fewer calories but optimizing the nutrient levels of those you do eat.

Over the past year or so there have been a number of articles in the mainstream press about CR and I’m amazed at how much the purported experiences with the diet differ from my own. I suppose much of the confusion results from our society’s need for instant-gratification. Emily Yoffe’s My Starvation Diet from Slate is a perfect example. I’ll spare you the trouble of reading it with this summary: without apparently learning a lot about it, she suddenly tried CR for 2 months and gave up when she found herself too hungry and not feeling better.

There is a wealth of science and debate on the topic of CR. I’m not going to attempt to rehash the issues but instead provide some context based on my own experience.

For me, CR is a journey and not a destination, a part of puzzle in a personal commitment to longevity and the pursuit of an enriching life. The key for my long-term commitment to CR has been to practice it in such a manner that I can still enjoy occasional treats, play sports, and have a career and healthy relationships. This balancing act is different for everyone, and unfortunately articles like Yoffe’s suggest that we have two choices

* Continue to eat like the average blissfully-ignorant American and accept the consequences.
* Suddenly and permanently committing to eating 1500 calories/day in the pursuit of a longer life of starvation and misery.

FWIW, I think that suddenly picking arbitrary calorie targets and attempting to stick with them is an exercise doomed to failure. 1500 calories/day would not be enough for me, although based on this article some people will assume this is the magical number they would need to target for a Calorie Restriction diet.

I don’t track the number of calories I eat. I found the whole exercise of counting calories to be boring and unproductive. Most people who do target a specific calorie range usually eat the same thing for every meal. My career doesn’t allow this and I enjoy the social aspects of dining with my loved ones.

Instead I simply target a weight that keeps my BMI around 20 (which is about 10 pounds less than my college weight) and eat the healthiest foods I can find, including a large bucket of salad at least once per day. Some people call this approach “Mild CR”. I have dropped by BMI below 20 and found that I had a difficult time playing sports, I felt constantly cold, and I looked pretty scary. So 20 it is.

Hunger isn’t much of a problem. If I get too hungry I eat something. Being constantly cold is actually more of an annoyance and is the most frustrating part of the diet. At the same time I found that my digestion is much, much better and I need less sleep but still feel energetic. So there are pros and cons.
Fortunately, the emerging studies and common sense suggest that mild CR + exercise might be as beneficial as more severe CR. So I continue to exercise regularly as well.

Before you suddenly adopt a new starvation diet, take the time to do a bit of research. Phil Graves’ article is a great start, particularly the summary:

“The successful voluntary practice of CR in humans is

1) the life-long focused commitment
2) to gain knowledge, self-control, and motivation
3) to reduce calories consumed,
4) while maintaining adequate nutrition,
5) under active monitoring of current state of health,
6) with the hope of living better,
7) and the hope of living longer.

That’s really it in a nutshell.”

25% of people in developed countries die of cancer. One in 200 people are diagnosed with cancer every year. Almost everyone knows someone who has been afflicted with this horrible disease.

Cancer is terrifying because it seems to erupt like a bombshell without symptoms. Many of us know people who appear otherwise completely healthy (and often young) who suddenly develop melanoma, breast, or testicular cancer.

Cancer is also interesting because “the cure for cancer” stands out as a major scientific challenge for our species. The phrase regularly makes it into our common dialog.

“Nice solution. It’s no ‘cure for cancer’, but it sure is cool!”

“What do you want to do when you grow up, Billy?”, asks the teacher? “Why I’m going to find the cure for cancer!”, Billy proudly responds.

Can you think of a human achievement that would have a greater, instant, more positive impact on our species than curing cancer and alleviating the human suffering and lost productivity it produces every year? Imagine further if the cure was cheaply and widely available at almost no cost? Surely a potential solution like this would be front-page news in every major media outlet. What could possibly be more important to the American public?

Last week I stumbled upon this story in NewScientist.com. Researchers at the University of Alberta have discovered a drug called dichloroacetate (DCA) which has the potential to kill most cancers without harming healthy cells. They have demonstrated this solution outside the body and are now quickly moving to clinical trials. Because DCA has already been through Phase 1 and Phase 2 trials, they anticipate that the process will move forward much faster.

There are a lot of interesting aspects to this story. For instance, DCA is available in the public domain (no patent protection), so the funding from clinical trials won’t come from the pharmaceutical companies.

What I find most shocking is that nobody seems to care. On the day I discovered the story I couldn’t find one major news media outlet covering it. On the same day I was unable to find any outlet that wasn’t blasting me with information on the death of Anna Nicole Smith.

I had never heard of Anna Nicole Smith, but it sounds like the poor woman lead a tragic life that was on constant public display. I suppose the death of someone so young and who seemingly has everything you could want in the world is news. But is the story so critical to our lives and so interesting that we need constant, 24/7 updates for days on the situation? Does anyone really think that this story is more important than the prospect of a “cure for cancer”? What does this tell us about our human values?

Perhaps we should recognize that the public has grown cynical of “the war on cancer” after 40 years of little progress and billions of dollars spent on the fight. After all, DCA might very well turn out to be another “miracle” cure which works in the lab but is ineffective or harmful in the human body.

Nonetheless, this episode strikes me as another bizarre example of how the mainstream media doesn’t report news or put it into a meaningful context for the world. Fortunately, the old models are crumbling and we are entering a new age media where the public has the opportunity to drive the dissemination of news.

Consider this story my small contribution.

A couple of friends have recently asked my why I blog and what I get out of it. It is hard to explain, but spending time online, creating and interacting with innovative people feels like I’m “plugging-in” to a movement to redesign the world to our specifications.

At times I’m shocked by the contrast between the changes I see coming and what I see happening in the present, offline world. I can confidently say that most people are completely ignorant of how different the future will be and how rapidly it is approaching. Our existing laws, social structures, national organizations, and systems of government will have to be restructured to avoid irrelevance.

In no area are these changes more profound than biotechnology. Very soon we will be faced with the world of Do-It-Yourself Biotechnology, what Baris Karadogan correctly calls The Ultimate Empowerment of the Consumer. We will have to deal with new terrorist threats where small groups of people can home-grow biotech and nanotech weapons to wreak massive human destruction. We will be faced with complex social questions our parents couldn’t imagine, such as What is a Human Being?

Consider my experience this week. Every year in Washington D.C. we have thousands of pro-life and pro-choice protesters for the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision. Monday was no exception. These passionate people come from all over the US (and probably the world) to publicly show disdain or support for this landmark court decision and attempt to lobby our government for action.

On Tuesday I read one of the most startling columns I’ve ever seen on the Internet, Attila Cordas’s piece on How to Isolate Amniotic Stem Cells from the Placenta, at Home! As the title promises, it is a step-by-step process for using a placenta to get amniotic stem cells in your garage.

I suspect that most of Monday’s protestors would not believe such activity is possible, never mind apparently relatively easy. Of course Attila’s process has nothing to do with the raging social debates over embryonic stem cell research. But I also believe that many of these protesters would be absolutely horrified to see this glimpse into the future. How long until someone demonstrates how we can create our own embryonic stem cells? Or grow new organs in our basement? Or even clone ourselves for replacement parts?

Naturally the reaction of many would be to turn to their legistaters for action. They may demand new laws preventing such activity or a halt to federal funding of certain types of research. Unfortunately the creative minds of determined individuals will execute and adapt so quickly to make these efforts utterly pointless. I’m sure Attila could care less what Senator Sam Brownback thinks of bioDIY.

There are reasons to be terrified and delighted by this new power. As you can probably guess, I don’t much subscribe to the gloom-and-doom view of the world. I believe putting this type of creative empowerment in hands of self-organizing people will bring an end to much human suffering.

I doubt most people in America will agree with me. I suspect most will race to their elected representatives to try and control – if not slow – this rate of progress. It will be interesting to witness their reaction when these efforts yield little more than rhetoric.