Basic rules for life

The goal of "The Pursuit of Technology" is to help other people avoid some of the many mistakes I have made with technology over the years.

However, I have made many mistakes over the years. Many, many mistakes. Not all of them were technology related. So, before we dive into me deleting my config.sys and autoexec.bat files, here is some basic life advice I wish I had followed, because every time I failed to follow these rules I have paid a terrible price.

Learn from my mistakes.

Obey Wheaton's Law: Don't be a dick.

Follow my father's rules for driving:

• Keep your car on the road
• Don't fucking hit anything!

Want to stay healthy?

• Don't smoke
• Wear your seat belt
• Use condoms

Last year I lost 90 pounds. How did I do this?

I used the power of Math!

Weight loss or gain (assuming you are otherwise healthy) is just math.

If you eat more calories than you burn on a daily basis you will gain weight.

If you eat fewer calories than you burn on a daily basis you will lose weight.

To lose weight, all you have to do is:

1. Count the calories of everything you eat
2. Don't eat more than you burn off everyday

But on the news they were talking about "that thing" and how bad it is for you. So what should I eat?

Michael Pollan answered this beautifully in his article Unhappy Meals a few years ago. It's very simple. Eat:

• Food
• Not too much
• Mostly plants

That's it. Simple rules that everyone can remember.

Next up: Internet Security - Wherein a hacker gains access to my entire online identity after stealing my username and password from one site.