Saturday, 22 August 2009
The Future is Bespoke, The Future is Free
I've been thinking of writing this post for a while now, but as usual it was annoyance and aggression that got me round to finally sitting down and writing it. You see I, like you, have recently been enjoying Spotify and all the free music that comes with it (only I've also been recording it using a program that lets you save sound from your computer as mp3 files... which kind of defeats the whole argument I'm about to launch into). Only then in Esquire magazine I read about some twat who calls himself 'The Internet Sherrif'. No one pays this guy, he's instead taken it upon himself to report what he believes to be cases of copyright infringement to authorities and record labels and gets the sites shut down (here's hoping he doesn't find a couple of the sections on my site - get downloading while you can!). Basically then he's no sherrif, but an 'internet busy body' or 'internet snitch'. Full of self importance. I'll find out his address then egg his house... This is the guy mostly responsible for the death of Pirate Bay and now he of course has his sights set on Spotify believing that the artists aren't getting the royalties they're due. 'The days of 'free internet' are coming to an end' is his battle cry.
The truth is however that he couldn't be more wrong. The days of free are in fact only just beginning and soon this will be the all-prevaling business model. Businesses have two choices - adapt or die.
The internet is so large you see that it's impossible to regulate the distribution of free material. Even if a company were to manage however, and stop people downloading their products for free, punters will just jump ship to those that do offer their products for free. We've had a taste of free now and we're going to resent paying for anything from this day onwards. Let's take Spotify as an example. We all have Spotify now, so when they take off the Westlife and the Eminem we're still going to have it. From this point on however we'll only be listening to the bands that are free (which we're constantly reminded about in the clever advertising) and that means that these are the bands that are going to start catching on and the concerts we're going to start going to. The big record labels will die out...
Just look at the Arctic Monkeys. Would they ever have gotten so famous if they charged people to listen to their MySpace page? And where are they now?
The true creative artists are going to carry on making free material which will make the large corporations extinct unless they buck up their ideas pretty quickly. And there's a lot of money to be made from free. I mean, just look at my website. Okay it's not making a lot of money as such, but it's making far more money than it would if I charged a membership fee and all that's from advertising. My mailing list has grown exponentially because I started giving away an e-book for free. Once you have a captive audience there's a lot of money to be made. Why do you think that Facebook hasn't started charging yet?
And this business model of 'free' is one that can be highly profitable for the organisations and individuals that embrace it. Neil Gaiman demonstrated this when he allowed readers to download free copies of his book 'American Gods'. As a result, sales of the book increased massively. I've seen this myself, and giving away free copies of Project Superman the e-book has proven one of the best ways to get people to buy the hard copy.
The thing is that you can only charge for things that are limited or in short demand. Information, music, art, ideas... they're bottomless resources and so to charge for them is really rather immoral. Now technology and websites allow us to share all these things for free or to make them ourselves exactly to specification and the middle man is being cut out more and more.
Look at a website like Shapeways.com, the tagline of this site is '3D printing for everyone'. Essentially, by submitting 3D designs from a programme like Autocad and specifying the materials, you can have your own metalic scuptures, jewelery, even basic mechanical devices and for barely more than the cost of printing. What this results in is a website full to the brim with inovative designs - literally billions of rings, ornaments, vases etc etc - and all far more creative and original than any design that would have to go through a whole bored of directors before it could get approval. Lulu.com - the site that publishes my book Project Superman, is yet another example of giving people the 'tools' of an industry rather than selling pre-made goods. Like Wikipedia has proven - give people the tools they need (and make them free) and they'll do a far more diverse, comprehensive and creative job than ever single organisation could ever do.
And not only do you have millions of unique designs to shop for, but you can also design your very own. Why give your girlfriend a ring you bought from Essentials, that a thousand other people own, when you can make her one from scratch that is entirely her own? This is what the first part of my title refers to - 'the future is bespoke'. Why would you ever buy something that someone else designed, and pay more for the priveledge, when you can have something entirely your own, perfectly designed for you, and at half the price? It's the equivalent of growing your own vegetables and making your own cheese (which as living 'green' becomes more and more popular is only going to increase as well). It's the equivalent of designed and making your own clothes. We no longer live in an age where creativity and industry is something only attainable by an elite few with the know-how; technology and society has evolved to the point where anyone can make practically anything they desire if they put in a little bit of time.
It's easy to see then that as these sites and technologies grow, the market for items that are of a fixed design sold at a high price is only going to dwindle. Of course this share of the market will always exist, but if companies don't start chaging their ways and becoming more flexible and less pricey there are going to be a lot of casualties. People are going to expect their products to be made to spec and largely free. Then they're going to spread them and alter them and unleash them into the open creative community. Everything is going open source which is only natural and reflects the way that we are at once more individual and more communal than current business models assume. It's the ultimate merger of communism and capitalism.
And this model of society and business has truly utopian potential as technology takes it to greater and greater extremes. Transhumanism and nanotechnology represent the future development of this kind of thinking; transhumanism showing how even our genetic code is going open source, how even our own bodies and minds will be bespoke; nanotechnology showing how everything will one day built entirely from scratch - particle by particle and with limitless supply. Both of these are genuine technologies - gene manipulation has already been demonstrated in mice and other animals, and nanotechnology promises to one day allow us to build any material out of the very particles in the atmosphere. In an age where we can alter our bodies, and an age where we can build anything at no expense with limitless supply, what place is there for traditional business and for traditional politics? Already the internet provides an almost limitless source of revenue if you know where to look, that's how I'm managing to work from home. Soon going to work and working for corporations 9-5 will be almost obsolete and it'll seem archaic that we ever did. But then when materials are infinitely available money will be obsolete too.
Of course this is only one possible futre, but I do think it's safe to say that the days of 'free' are not coming to an end. The days of Dinosaurs like the Internet Snitch are what is coming to an overdue end.
Wednesday, 5 August 2009
Project Superman: Ultimate Edition
Ahoy there me hearties! Have just finished work on the latest edition of Project Superman, I've added a whole bunch of material from the site and original writing and it's looking pretty hefty now at over 89,000 words and exactly 164 pages! This new version really is the culmination of everything I've been working before and if you want to replicate any of what I've achieved on the site then this is how. It contains advanced and unheard of bodybuilding techniques for ultimate muscle gains in minimal time, strange martial arts techniques, cutting edge technology, groundbreaking psychological research and news from the front line of advanced athletic training - ending with a simple day to day plan that will tap into all of these things to allow you to transform yourself over night. So head here and buy your copy now!
Need more incentive? Check out this impressive list of contents:
6. INTRODUCTION
6. Intro
7. An Overview of the Philosophies of Omni-Training
9. Omni Training
11. The Power Quotient
13. Averages and Records (2009)
14. Real Super Powers
16. Time Division Training
17. Power Positions
19. STRENGTH
19. The Science of Bodybuilding
22. Zero to Hero - 5 Steps to a Bodybuilder's Physique
25. Become an Incredible Hulk
26. Higher Intensity
28. Life is Training
30. The Nature of Training - The Secret They Don't Want You to Know.
30. Improve Your Bench Press
31. 'How can I add an inch to my biceps?' - Join the Arms Race!
33. Get Abs Like Brad Pitt in Fight Club
34. Why and How You Should Squat
34. The Home Legs Workout
36. Training for Symmetry
36. Get Ripped Like Bruce Lee
39. Develop That V Shape
40. Add an Inch of Muscle in Twenty Four Hours
41. Unusual Bodybuilding Methods
43. Train ANYWHERE!
45. Gym Buddies
46. Be Quicker in the Gym
47. Higher Intensity
48. Understanding Nutrition in Bodybuilding
51. Super Foods, Drinks and Recipes for Bodybuilding
54. Which Supplements Do You Need?
55. The Best Supplements Stack for Bodybuilding
58. SPEED
58. Go Faster! Training tips to improve your running speed
59. The Biomechanics of Running
60. Running Training
60. Improve Your Reactions
63. ENDURANCE
63. Improve Your VO2 Max
63. Be An Energizer Bunny – Improve Your Energy Levels
64. Iron Kung Fu – Feel No Pain
66. AGILITY
66. Improve Balance
67. Improve Flexibility
67. Improve Your Jumping Height
69. Basic Parkour/Gymnastics Moves
How to Wall Mount
How to Hurdle
How to Walk on Your Hands
How to Backflip
How to Kipup
77. Parkour: It's Hard on the Bones
80. TECHNIQUE (MARTIAL ARTS)
80. A Brief Introduction to the Martial Arts
82. Mixed Martial Arts: Control the Range
83. Adapting to Your Opponent
84. Finishing Moves
85. Being Stealthy
85. Unlikely Weapons - How to Turn Everyday Objects into Deadly Weapons
86. Blocking
87. The Psychology of Combat
89. Chi? Ki? Qi?
89. Explosive Punching Power
90. Fighting Animals
91. Keysi Fighting Method
92. Bushido, Chivalry, Honour and the Way of the Warrior
94. MIND
94. Brain Plasticity
94. Improve Your Senses
96. Homo-Universalis
100. Change Your Thinking
100. Improve Your Brain Power
102. Double Your Processing Speed and Learn to Speed Read
104. Sports Psychology
107. Crisis Strength – The Mind/Body Link
109. Become a Memory Master
110. Become Ambidextrous
113. NLP
114. Meditation
116. The Best Nootropics (Smart Drugs)
118. The Ultimate Nootropics Stack
120. Binaural Beats and Digital Drugs
122. MISC: HEALTH & LIFESTYLE
122. Mr and Mrs Perfect
123. An Introduction to Vitamins
125. An Introduction to Minerals
126. Polyphasic Sleeping
127. Sleep Like a Baby (but not in a cot): How to Improve the Quality and Quantity of
Your Sleep
129. No Caffeine for a Week
131. New-trition: 5 Quick Diet Fixes
132. Become Immortal - How to Live Forever (or at least not die for a few more years)
137. Goal Setting and Discipline
138. Invest in You
140. Who Are the Real Life Superheroes?
142. How to Make Your Voice Deeper
143. Become Taller
145. TECHNOLOGY (TRANSHUMANISM)
145. What is Transhumanism?
146. More Than Human: Transhumanism, Real Mutants and the Future of Bodybuilding and Sports
148. Transhumanism in the public eye – A Focus Group Study
150. Potential Categories of Transhuman Technologies
152. Augment Yourself
155. EPILOGUE
155. Project Superman and Omni-Training, an Overview
155. The Omni Training Routine – For The Ultimate Power Quotient
156. A Week in the Life of an Omni Trainer
163. And That’s That
Friday, 17 July 2009
Invest in You
Recently I’ve been working from home, both writing articles for websites and magazines, and also running my own website and small publishing start up from home. That’s a lot of work to be doing if I want to eat and to eventually have time to enjoy life too. While I spend a lot of time working though, I also realise how important it is for me to spend some ‘me’ time. Literally.
In any kind of business, as in life, there are two things you can invest with – time, and money. And in business, as in life, the most important thing to invest in is people. And the most important person – is you. You see whether you’re happy in your job and want to progress, or if you’re not and you’re working towards your own business, a new job or extra qualifications, then you really need to make sure that you’re the best you can be. You need to be better than the competition for that job, or you need to have a fuller understanding of the market and industry. In short you need to be the best, the strongest, the smartest and the best informed.
That’s why when I have a deadline looming, you’ll often find me reading the biography of Richard Branson, Barack Obama, or my personal hero Sylvester Stallone. It’s not idol relaxation – although it is relaxing – it’s inspiring and giving me ideas. That’s why I buy ‘Wired’ magazine, ‘Men’s Health’ and ‘Esquire’ out of my ‘business’ account, as well as a gym membership and various supplements. Role models and inspiration are actually particularly useful, whether you’re the head of a business or the lackey in administration. Either way learn from the greats and keep your finger on the pulse, it’ll keep you at the cutting edge and with the right frame of mind to spot entrepreneurial and business opportunities. It’ll help you make other wise investments and to keep an eye on the future.
If I’m not reading, I might well be in the gym, taking supplements or buying good clothes and equipment. Being fit keeps your mind active, but it also gives you the drive and the determination to succeed in any field. It gives you an air of confidence and makes you more imposing. People will see you and know that you mean business and that you’re capable of setting your mind to something and accomplishing it – which is really what all business is about. You will blow the competition out of the water, you’ll be the complete package.
Furthermore, spending money on nice clothes and accessories/supplies will propel you to success in business and in life. It’s true that you get out of life what you put into it – the more money you put into your appearance and the more you spend on your ability, the more your salary is likely to reflect that. If you take pride in your appearance and accessories – get a good hair cut and a nice pen – then you’ll inspire more confidence in those you’re dealing with. It reflects high standards and ability. I read something interesting just recently, that like spawns like – meaning that you get in life not what you deserve so much as what you’re accustomed to. So if you make yourself accustomed to high standards – high standards will be what you find coming out of life. For example, think about the people in your life – with some you’re careful to be on the top of your game while with others you can relax, indifferent to their opinion. It doesn’t mean you’re a bad guy, it’s natural. If they seem like someone who’s used to being treated with less respect or just not the same admiration because they’ve let themselves go then you will be less concerned with how they see you. Similarly, when thinking of what gift to get someone for Christmas or birthdays you generally spend more on people who are better off. In reality this should actually be the other way around – surely it would be nicer to get something nice for someone who really needs it? And yet we don’t. You see other people will treat you the way you treat you, if you treat yourself well others will follow suit. And you have to respect yourself before others will. So it’s worth investing in you even if it just means better Christmas presents…
If you’ve put time and money into developing every aspect of your game, then you can rely on yourself to perform when necessary. My own personal business model, or it’s more of a maxim really, is do everything yourself. So many individuals and businesses, waste unfathomable amounts of money by hiring unnecessary amounts of staff to perform even the most menial roles, or by outsourcing for a task that they could probably learn themselves. I was tempted to hire someone to programme a website for me the other week as I don’t understand CSS or PHP. But then I had a change of heart – that would probably cost me a couple of hundred quid, which incidentally is pretty much what I earn in a year. But then I had a change of heart and learned CSS and PHP myself – by reading a book then reverse engineering other sites. That took me two days and saved me several hundred pounds. And now whenever I want to invest in a new website I can do the programming myself in a fraction of that time and at no cost. If you’re weak in a certain area, or there’s something you want to do better. Take time out, train, put time in and learn to do it better. Don’t be satisfied with what you’ve got, almost every aspect of yourself can respond to training.
You should also make it my job to be aware of everything that’s happening and upcoming in your field, so that your work can be on the cutting edge and ahead of the competition at all times. Riding the waves of new trends and technologies. Right now I can tell you that made-to-order, consumer designed goods and transhumanism are where my head is at – the future is bespoke.
As well as being fully aware of your field though – be aware of everything in other fields. Combining disparate areas is one of the greatest ways to creativity and originality – and adopting other ideas can help you to succeed too. See what’s working in other industries and try and work out how they can help yours. That’s why I’ve set my home page to Sky News. If you’ve ever seen or read the Watchmen then you might have seen the scene where Ozymandias is sitting watching a giant network of monitors showing every television broadcast in the world at once. A giant wall of sensory information that he uses to identify patterns and trends in the human psyche. Brilliant. And he can catch bullets. See what’s working, or what’s upcoming, give it a unique slant – by simply investing some time into thinking about it – maybe setting side an hour of meditation – then do it. Do it first, do it different or do it best.
More than exercising, reading or buying nice clothes though, you’ll often find me just staring into space thinking. That is possibly the best use of my time I can think of. If you have a specific problem you can set yourself of thinking until you come up with a solution. If you don’t have a problem, what others will write off as ‘daydreaming’ can infact be imagination, creativity, visualisation… and it can lead to a breakthrough. That’s why I’m doing this writing job – so I can invest in my own ideas and be the only person reaping from those rewards. I watch Dragon’s Den and I’m always confused by those people – they have these ideas that they genuinely believe will make them millionaires, but then they give half of the profit to someone else, and half of the control. Why not have a business plan where they can start from scratch, where they can earn enough money a the beginning to invest in themselves?
If you think about anyone truly successful you’ll see that they are usually in good shape, great public speakers, fully aware of everything that’s currently going on in their field. I recently saw Richard Branson interviewed and was actually really surprised that he was as shy and nervous as he was. He’s a pioneer, a great businessman, an adventurer… he should just spend some time to complete his game and fulfil his potential by becoming a good spokesperson and improving his confidence. (Lol – because Richard Branson really needs to be taking advice from me… still it’s a valid point!). The other month I graduated – a bunch old chancellors and deans marched around the hall at a snail’s pace, doddering around, before speaking uncharismatically for half an hour. These guys are supposed to be ambassadors for the university, they’re supposed to inspire respect. If they want me to respect them they need to earn it. They need to get in the gym!
And of course there’s a chance you could fail if you invest in yourself, that you might end up losing money and time, ending up with nothing. If you do then that’s great – you’ve learned a lesson and increased the challenge. Pick yourself up and try again, taking the lessons you’ve learned and do it again better.
Investing in yourself will help you in your business life, your private life and your love life. Like anything else, you need to put the time and money into yourself get the time and money out. And that’s the best investment you can possibly make.
Monday, 6 July 2009
Introducing: The Statue Technique

Tuesday, 23 June 2009
Training On the Move

Anyway, on to the point of this post. The last week or so I've been in Guildford in the build up to graduating. Unfrotunately though my tenancy has run out in halls, so I'm house surfing and living out of my sister's car (not the most manly vehicle). It's sort of cool and I feel a bit like captain Jack Sparrow or a gypsy, but the problem is that it makes it very hard to train. Luckily I've found some ways around this problem however, and I thought I'd share my experiences.
Exercise wise I'm lucky in that my gym membership hasn't run out yet. So I'm parking up at the side of the road, getting changed in the car then using the gym and showers before coming back. Showering nude with up to eleven other guys isn't great, but sometimes it's the only access to washing I've had. On the day of my graduation I'm looking forward to the prospect of heading to the gym, doing a heavy workout, then emerging from the changing rooms kitted out in my tailored tux. How Bond is that?
Fitting around other people's schedules sometimes however means that I can't always make it to the gym in which case I have other options. Sit ups and press ups for example are acceptible I believe at a friends house so long as you're quiet and you can also use chairs to support your hands and feet giving you an extended range of motion. For CV I've been going for runs which you can do anywhere so long as you have access to a shower afterwards.
Protein is a bit more of problem. I've lived out of my car before while I was visiting on placement and that time I brought a bunch of raw eggs. These cracked and covered my dissertation proposal in yolk, so that's not a good idea as it turns out. This time I've bought myself some sachets of 'Whey to Go', which is foul and crap but probably better than nothing. I've then been attempting to pour this into water bottles; however while standing by the car in strong wind this has occcasionally resulted in a dashboard covered in protein... I'm dead when I return the car.
The only other difficulty is updating the site and writing. This has resulted in late night/early morning sessions at other people's houses, going back onto campus, and occasionally sitting outside random houses and stealing their wireless. Playing with my new Optimus Prime toy while sitting on the side of the road got me some weird looks, but I could totally live like this if my life goes to shit...
Saturday, 6 June 2009
Times they are a-changing
First of all we're giving away a FREE e-book titled 'Men's Lifestyle: The Biomatrix Guide' which you can see below. It's 16,000 pages and all you have to do to get hold of a copy is to visit the homepage and sign up to the newsletter at the top right by typing in your e-mail. As the Biomatrix deals so heavily with the training/psychological/technological side of self improvement we thought it would make sense to publish something on the lifestyle everyday aspect. Check out my awesome lifestyle on the cover as I eat a very big kebab while showing off my weird hat and vest top...

So that's that, but as books and publishing go we all know that Project Superman is really the don. The book's been selling rather well just lately too which is why it's been moved to Amazon.com. So you can now buy it from there, just by clicking HERE. No excuse now not to check it out!
I myself have been writing all sorts of articles to try and fund the site so you keep your eyes peeled for more of my articles finding their way around the net.
Since the site has been around for so long now I thought it might also make sense to recap a few of the more successful articles on the site. If you haven't checked out the following then I suggest you do! Don't make me come over there...
Jacked Like Jackman - Hugh Jackman's Wolverine workout
Sylvester Stallone Training - Stallone's Expendables training
Become Ambidextrous - Does what it says on the tin
The Ethics of Transhumanism - Whether gene doping should be allowed
Who Are the Real Life Superheroes? - About people who actually fight crime
The Home Legs Workout - Bodyweight training for your legs!
Characters in the Gym - Observational humor for those who spend as much time as I do in the gym
Vertical Limit - Jump higher!
Go Faster - And run faster!
There's loads more on the site too so please do look around, enjoy the new layout and if you like it spread the word! Keep punching!
Oh yeah and check out this new video tutorial:
Tuesday, 26 May 2009
How to Bench Press THE EARTH (Assisted)

My sister has recently started dating a dude (at least it's a dude I guess) and I wasn't quite sure how to deal with this. While talking to Nathan in the kitchen however we came up with the idea of issuing him 12 Olympian tasks to perform before I gave him my blessing. These include such things as downing a glass of sea water, getting Arnie's signature, bringing me an empty wasp's nest and destroying the moon. One in particular caught my eye however: Bench Pressing the Earth.
This lead us to thinking about how this could actually be accomplished. It's certainly something I'd like to be able to put on my CV and it's definitely something I'd like to be able to say in the pub. So we started thinking...
Our first thought was that it wouldn't actually be that heavy (stay with me) as it would be floating in space. That would mean inertia - no friction - so that the just the tiniest touch would send it travelling forever into the distance.
That's not accounting for gravity however, you see there's the slight issue of the sun... That means that it's kind of on a trajectory and you certainly can't push it through space. You could always destroy the sun...
The other reason that wouldn't work is that there would be nothing to push against and being captured by the Earth's gravity yourself you wouldn't be able to get a good footing. It would be a bit like standing on your own barbell while you did a bench press. So the sun is safe for now.
All is not lost however as according to Nathan when you jump, some believe the Earth actually moves the tiniest billionth of a fraction back towards you as well as vice versa - so you're kind of 'pulling' the Earth every time you jump right?
Since thinking about this idea however I've realised it's definitely bullshit. I mean, what if there's someone jumping on the other side of the world, which there probably definitely is? It can't go in every direction!
But starting to think of gravity as an ally rather than an enemy set me along a different line of though. What if you pushed the Earth in the direction it's already moving? What if you 'helped' it along its orbit around the sun? I realised that if you were to be exactly 'behind' the Earth as it went round then did a press up (or better yet a clapping press up) you might be technically bench pressing the Earth. Asssisted by the sun itself - the ultimate spotter!
At first being a bit simple (as this post clearly attests) I thought this would involve travelling... until I realised that the Earth rotates! Horay! So that means all you have to do is wait until the time that you're facing in the direction that the Earth's rotating. Now if it was a perfect circle that would be 6am (exactly 6am, accounting for your precise position on the globe). But sadly that's not the case... further maths is required. So I'm going away and doing the maths and asking people and shit. Stay tuned. Until then do press ups at 6am and 'kind of' bench press the Earth. For heaven's sake though don't drop it...
*Edit*
Ah you'd probably also have to be 'half way up' the world too on its longitudinal axis - so the equator... Or maybe just slightly higher or lower as the axis is skewed. My brain hurts.
I am going to find the exact time and spot and I am totally going to do this...