This section lists all blog posts, regardless of topic.
Yes ManJune 9, 2009
I'm sure not everyone would give this 4 stars, but Meredith and I had lots of good laughs. There is definitely one very inappropriate scene, but even it, I have to admit, got some giggles.
7 PoundsJune 9, 2009
This wasn't exactly a happy movie, but it really touched me. I highly recommend it.
Tracking exerciseJune 9, 2009
I love to keep stats on how far I've walked, run, and biked, but it can be a bit time consuming. Sometimes it's fun to link to a Google map of where you went, but again, that takes time.
What I've realized is that devices that have an integrated GPS and wi-fi connection could completely automate this process. (ex. BlackBerry or iPhone)
Via the GPS, the device knows how fast you're moving, and so it becomes obvious whether you're:
  | Walking (Average speed of 2 km/h - 7 km/h) |
| Running (Average speed of 7 km/h - 17 km/h) |
| Biking (Average speed of 17 km/h or more) |
The software would need to be smart enough to know that if the person was cruising along at 25 km/h and then dropped down to 12 km/h for a few minutes, that should indicate a hill, not that they got off their bike and started jogging, etc, but these are fairly minor challenges.
Thus, the device knows exactly when you're walking/running/biking, how fast you're going at any particular point, your average speed, what route you took, etc.
With the wi-fi connection, it could upload those stats once you're home, again, automatically.
With a nice web user interface, you could then do the following:
Given any day, week, month, year, or range of dates, see:
| The total number of miles in each category |
| The total number of outings in each category |
| The total number of calories burned |
| Average pace |
| Graphs. ex. one bar per activity (by distance or time) per week (the possibilities are endless) |
Given any particular outing:
| Average pace |
| Maximum pace |
| Calories burned |
| A Google map showing the route |
What I find so fascinating by this is that it doesn't require any work on the part of the user... just having their cell phone with them, which people usually do. There's nothing else to remember or do. Wow.
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