Yesterday, I took a walk for my lunch break. It took about an hour, and I walked 4.01 miles. I laughed to myself, as RunKeeper said I burned 401 calories doing so. Today, my walk was 4.23 miles, which was a bit brisker, as it was still just an hour, but RunKeeper told me I had burned 750+ calories. I flipped back to yesterday’s walk to see what differences there were – perhaps RunKeeper and the GPS hadn’t agreed on something… but no. Yesterday’s walk now shows up as 706 calories. I flipped back to today’s walk, and it had changed again – now reading 735 calories.

Trying to figure out which number was right, I went to an online calorie counter, in which I put my weight, the distance I walked, and the time I took walking that distance. It told me I had burned 573 calories. Checking two other calculators, they gave me numbers right at 570. So, that’s what I’m going to go with. And I’m going to have to find a better way to track burned calories. A FitBit, perhaps?

Of course, now I need to find my Mac OS X Server install DVD collection.

The best way to learn is to do, especially with DIY projects.

For my first ever foray into working with concrete, I decided to make a small rectangular brick of concrete, with some decorative glass beads embedded in the surface. Last night, Qais and I used a small section of particle board and some foam core to build a rigid, smooth form to pour the concrete into. It’s about 12″ x 18″ x 2.5″, sided with duct-tape, and the interior joints lined with %100 silicone glue. The foam core should provide a smooth-enough surface to test against, and the silicon glue should keep any moisture from leaking out of the form. The form’s depth is about as deep as I expect to make the desk surface. I also got a 40 pound bag of #1101 Quikrete mix, which is usually used for setting fence posts and making patio steps. It hardens to about 4,000 psi when properly mixed and fully cured.

Today I mixed and poured the concrete into the form, in very small batches. I did this again with Qais’s help. I think it worked, and the concrete slab will setup properly, but there are a number of important lessons learned for next time:

• I need a finer concrete mix – the aggregate in #1101 is too coarse
• A real mixer would be better to use than my gloved hands
• I used way too much water. A mixer will help me keep this balanced
• Put the glass beads in before mixing the concrete
• Don’t rely on the attention span of a three year old

So, the form is full of wet concrete that is setting up. I’ve purchased a 5 gallon bucket and an 80 lb bag of Quickrete 5000 Pro Finish mix, so the next attempt will be either tomorrow or next weekend, with better concrete, a better designed mold, and a more consistently mixed concrete. If it’s tomorrow, I’ll post an update with pictures.

SmugMug is setup for professional photographers who need gallery space, to sell prints, and work in every browser ever made. The guys who run it are consummate professionals, and the pricing starts at $40/year. For that $40, you get unlimited uploads, galleries, etc. To make money selling prints, or to allow assistants to access the account, you need to step up in their tiers, which run all the way up to $120 a year. It’s a serious site for serious photographers.

On the other hand, 500px seems more geared towards individual images rather than galleries. Printing options are limited. However, their pro account level starts at $29/year or so, and seems to be adding some of these features. 500px was built around a community with a voting/ranking system which is one of the things that Flickr does (albeit poorly), so there’s a lot more ‘social’ in 500px than there is in SmugMug. I’ve got a free account there, and I use it, but not as often as I should.

I’ll update again when I make a decision. I’m not sure what to do, other than the fact that I know I want to pay for a service. If I don’t pay for it, I can’t be sure that I’m not a product being sold, and I help ensure that the product I am using lives on.