Tonight, I finished my 1.2 miles in a record time of 10'03", baby! Eight weeks ago, I did my first run in a dismal time of 15'54".

That’s an improvement of 5'51", baby!!

Big thanks to everyone that supported me and joined in on my little Nike+ running buddies. After the Oregon Reunion, I’ll be jumping right back on the saddle to complete my next goal — one mile, non-stop.

In the meantime, all I have to say is…

Let’s start with the basics:

Black and White

$200 for 8GB, $300 for 16GB

Hits stores on July 11

Now for some of the stuff you probably don’t know:

$30/month for Unlimited Internet

The iPhone is significantly cheaper for two reasons, the first reason being the iPhone is now subsidized by AT&T. The cost of unlimited internet increased to $30/month, up from $20. $30/month times 24 months = $720.

Good Luck Unlocking

Because AT&T is banking on your 2-year commitment, they’re gonna be extremely anal about people trying to unlock their iPhones. In the previous model, you could buy the iPhone from the store, bring it up and activate it (or hack it). Now, just like any other phone, you have to get it activated immediately after you sign up with AT&T.

GPS = Convenient, Stalkerlicious

With the built-in GPS, you’re gonna see all sorts of apps that take advantage of geo-location (knowing where you are). When you take pics, it’ll know your exact coordinates of where you took the pic. Want to see reviews of all the restaurants around you at any given moment? Done. Want to track where your friends are? You could fire up an app and see their locations on Google Maps. “Dude, why the fuck are you at my girlfriend’s house?!”

32GB by February?

Apple is pretty good about updating their products at regular intervals. iPods tend to get updated in September in preparation for the holiday season. September is a little too soon for an update, especially since the 3G isn’t hitting stores until July 11. But January is a nice time to introduce an update because that is when Apple holds its biggest conference.

My final verdict:

People that have an iPhone…just keep it. Have a little self-control (I know, it’s hard) and hold out for the next minor update, which should be coming sometime early next year.

Everyone else? $200 and $300 is a fucking STEAL compared to all the other stuff that is out there. It’s an iPod + a phone + a web browser + a portable YouTube player (which is great for laughs at parties). All you Facebook whores will love it too.

While the RIAA tells you it’s illegal to rip your music CDs to your iPod, proposes a $5/month Music Tax and an iPod Tax, Trent Reznor says “download it, remix it, share it, post it on your blog, play it on your podcast, give it to strangers, etc”

Here’s what the official website says:

as a thank you to our fans for your continued support, we are giving away the new nine inch nails album one hundred percent free, exclusively via nin.com.

the music is available in a variety of formats including high-quality MP3, FLAC or M4A lossless at CD quality and even higher-than-CD quality 24/96 WAVE. your link will include all options - all free. all downloads include a PDF with artwork and credits.

for those of you interested in physical products, fear not. we plan to make a version of this release available on CD and vinyl in july. details coming soon.

I’m not a particular fan of Nine Inch Nails, but I’m a huge fan of people that stick up for the little guy.

Thank you, Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails. You guys fucking rock.

The Edge Brownie Pan for the corner-piece-lovers of the world?! Every single slice is has two baked edges!? GENIUS.

// thanks Will

Taking advice from Sherwin, I spent my Saturday afternoon getting fitted for new running shoes at a runner’s store. As soon as I get there, they ask me to walk over this foot scanner thing so they can record my weight-distribution on the computer. Next they use a video camera to record my feet while I run on the treadmill. After analyzing everything on the computer, here’s a few things I learned:

1. I overpronate.
2. My left foot is one size smaller (size 9) than my right foot (size 10).
3. My left foot’s arch is one size (inch?) smaller than my right foot’s.

With all that in mind, it was time to pick a shoe — the Brooks Beast 9.

For once in my life I pick a shoe based on performance & stability instead of name brand & looks. I mean they’re definitely no Nikes or Adidas…but these babies feel . And as an impulse buy, I also bought this sexy, high-tech weight scale that also measures body fat and body water percentage.

So yeah, I’m going all out with this running thing. I’m just waiting for my Nike+ SportBand to get here so I can log my first run — which I know will be completely abysmal & pathetic — and use as a baseline for my progress.

Can’t wait!