A trip to the apple store

Byrichard
Reading Time: < 1 minute

Playing with technology is fun especially when you could fit it into your shirt pocket. The ipod s one such device. it fits easily into the pocket and can play video, allow for the viewing of photos and more. I also like the user interface, whether the fact the screen is split into text on the left and images on the right or the ability to search through songs and such.

Two of it’s disadvantages are the small click wheel. Whilst easy to get used to it may leave some people with broader fingers slightly frustrated. Another flaw is that when video is dark there’s no image. It’s only good for normally lit subjects. That’s a shame since you’re always in the mood for Film noire on the tube.

The ipod classic has a newer user interface than the ipod I’m using at the moment and the search option is there. The most interesting feature is still the size of the hard drive  in relation to the device.

I’d like to get a nano because it’s so small that for a night out it’s more appropriate than the classic but the classic is interesting when you’re in need of a data backup of your laptop for example. My laptop drive is the same as the larger classic so theoretically it’d be a good alternative. Of course small drives are more fragile so less dependable over time.

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The Fitbit Charge HR

Byrichard

The Fitbit Charge HR is one of the better heart rate and step counting solutions out at the moment. It allows you to keep track of your steps and heart rate twenty four hours a day for a little less than a week between charges.

It is a wrist worn activity tracker that detects whether you are walking, running or climbing up a hill. I tested it over a period of weeks while hiking, doing via ferrata, cycling and sleeping. As a result of the test environment I was informed by the device that I had gone up 250+ floors in a single day. That’s when I was playing on a via ferrata or two.

I also tested it while I was sleeping. It automatically goes in to sleep mode so there is no chance of you forgetting. As it tracked my heart rate while I was sleeping I saw that my resting heart rate could be 47 beats per minute. As I challenged myself with a 1000m hill climb on a bike followed by via ferrata and hiking my body became fatigued and this was reflected in my higher resting heart rate. It went up by four or five heart beats per minute.

When I was using the Fitbit Charge HR I had it automatically tracking my heart rate but you can choose whether it is on/off or automatic. I kept it on automatic. When you take off the tracker the two green led lights stop blinking automatically after a few seconds.

I liked having the Fitbit Charge HR for a few weeks and liked that it tracked my heart rate and showed me how many floors I went up. As I spend a lot of time in the mountains though the results were skewed. The biggest weakness with the Fitbit Charge HR has to do with the regionalisation efforts by Fitbit. I live in Switzerland and until recently I had the site in English. For a few weeks I have had to switch languages between french and English several times. I wrote a tweet to get a response but they asked me to send an e-mail. I sent an e-mail detailing the problem and then they asked me to detail what the problem was. The problem is that I am in the French speaking part of Switzerland, my laptop and phone are set to English and the app and website default to German. Due to their regionalisation efforts when I sold the device as planned I did not replace it and went back to using the Fitbit flex. As both straps for the Fitbit flex broke I carry the sensor in my pocket.

As a point of reference my primary fitness tracker is the Suunto Ambit 3. When I cycle, swim, do via ferratas or hike that is the device that is tracking my progress and overall fitness level. I also pair it with Strava.

A Week and a Half With The Garmin 45S

A Week and a Half With The Garmin 45S

Byrichard

I have spent a week and a half with the Garmin 45S and it doe what I expect the Garmin to do, but with more regular charges. The battery is rated to last for a week working as a watch and up to 13 hours working as a sports tracker. You can track your workouts with GPS, GPS and Galileo or GPS and Glonass.


This watch is designed for running, rather than walking or other sports, so it provides running data that is easy to read, whilst running. At the end of the run it provides you with useful data, as you’d expect from such a tracker.


It does track walks but it does not track hiking. If you buy this watch as a hiker then you will meet that limitation. Another limitation is that it does not count how many floors you go up, or down, so if you’re working on keeping a streak then you will lose it.


GPS satellite acquisition seems slower than with the Garmin instinct but I have not timed both to see whether this is an impression or a reality. It could simply be that the display is different.


After a week and a half of wearing this watch I only miss one thing that the Garmin Instinct has. Floor climb counting. If the Garmin 45s has that feature then I would quite happily swap out the instinct for the 45s. It’s simple, it’s light, it’s cheap and it seems dependable. The feature that has me sticking with the Garmin forerunner 45s is that it measures VO2 max with every workout.


The reason I want to run and cycle more, is to see that my fitness is growing, not declining, and with walking fitness apps like to make us feel that we are losing fitness, whereas with running and cycling the opposite is true.


Casio VS Forerunner 45s


For about 100-150 CHF you can either by a forerunner for as little as 99 CHF or a casio for between 100-150 CHF but the casio will map a workout via the phone and count steps internally, without measuring HR, despite the app having vo2max. If you’re getting a fitness tracker for a child, or beginner I would go for the Forerunner 45s because it’s cheap, and delivers on what you want from a fitness tracker.


And Finally


The natural instinct is to go towards the higher spec, newer devices. The reality is that if we’re running, and walking for half an hour to an hour and a half a day the 45s will do what we want it to for half the price, and two thirds the weight. It is a small watch that fits smaller wrists. With the Suunto Spartan Wrist HR you say “I’m sporty, with the Apple Watches you say “I’m an apple drone”, with the garmin instinct you say “I am sporty” and with the Garmin 45s you say “My watch fits under my shirt sleeve at work.”


In conclusion, for the price of a fitness tracker you can get a running/walking watch that tracks your sports and displays that information on the device, as well as on the Garmin Connect app and website. Although this is a cheap watch, compared to others, it delivers more than fitness trackers. Remember, the cheaper the device you buy and play with, the sooner you can swap it for something better later on.


I would use the 45s for daily walks and runs, and for bike rides and proper hikes I would use the instinct Solar.

The COVID-19 Dynamic European Restriction Map

Byrichard

COVID-19 rules, restrictions and regulations are dynamic and changing much like drone rules. In Europe before you fly you should visit the local flight rule maps, to see where current restrictions are.


Information ranges from “You need third party insurance with coverage for up to two million in damages” or “In a town you are allowed up to this altitude, outside of a town, to that altitude, and in these regions you have a military flight corridor, thus a flying ban.


COVID-19 is a rapidly evolving situation so it would make sense to keep a Google Maps layer up to date with current information.


This information could be


  • prevalence of the virus
  • whether the number of cases is rising or declining
  • whether there are barriers or restrictions to entry
  • What are the curfew hours
  • What establishments are authorised to open
  • Where are the closest COVID-19 testing locations
  • Where are the closest Vaccination points
  • What is the hospital bed situation for COVID-19 situation


The demand for such a service is currently world wide and long lived. The motivation for such services may last for at least a few more months, if not seasons and years.


Google, Apple, Facebook, and maybe even Amazon, should work on creating such a service.

Lost Streaks
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Lost Streaks

Byrichard

On Saturday I drove for twelve and a half hours and felt exhausted by the time I got home. I didn’t write a blog post so I lost my 480 day blogging streak, and I didn’t read using the Kindle app so I lost my Kindle reading streak. In the end losing such streaks is healthy.

Kindle Streak

The problem with the Kindle reading streak is that it encourages us to read a page or two every single day, but that may result in us reading just a page or two, rather than a chapter or two. The other issue is that my reading streak is intact, in that I read an entire book while driving. I read Nowhere for Very Long, as an audiobook. It’s a shame that the book isn’t more focused on travel and adventure. I still read it in a day. I think it could have explored the pleasure, rather than the trauma that led to having that life.

Blogging Streak

With the blogging streak I think that it’s healthy to take a break from writing daily, because life isn’t that interesting. it doesn’t require a post every single day. It’s easy for posts to become spam, or boring, if we write every day. It also encourages us to be more negative, eventually. By taking a break we recharge, and we return to writing about positive things.

Free Once More

By breaking streaks I often feel a sense of freedom. A streak requires something to be done consistently and the further you get into a streak, the more difficult it is to reach a new record if you break it. I need to blog for 481 days to break my previous streak and read from a kindle for 281 days in a row.

The thing is that I don’t want to read books exclusively on my kindle. I want to read Kobo, Google Books, Kindle and Audible and have all of them count towards the streak, without it being propietary. There are several reading apps that keep track of streaks. With these the important thing is to read and log daily.

I have plenty of physical books. Now that I have broken my kindle streak I can read them. I can revert to reading a book in bed and lying down, and dropping the book onto my face as I try to turn the page. I collected so many books in physical form that I ran out of space on my shelves and now I need to read them, and place them in reading libraries once more.

And Finally

Breaking streaks is a good thing. Streaks are a sign of being in a rut. If we break a walking streak, or a blogging streak, or a reading streak it shows that our lives vary from day to day, or week to week. It shows that we have other things to do than keep routines. Years ago said that diving was a break from routine. That person has dived almost every week for a decade or more. That break from the routine is in and of itself a routine. My reading routine is intact. I just broke the shackles of having a Kindle centric reading routine.

On Cancelling On-Running Cyclon membership
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On Cancelling On-Running Cyclon membership

Byrichard

On-Running, is ideal, in theory, but sub-optimal in reality. The biggest issue I found with On-Running CloudNeo shoes is that they are seasonal running shoes. If it’s icy or wet you’re going to slip and slide all over the place. If you’re a former snowboarder and cyclist you will recover, but if you’re not used to slipping and sliding you will fall. As a result of this I got shoes a month or two ago but never used them because it was either rainy, or cold.

Imagine having a pair of shoes that you pay 35 CHF per month for, but that can’t be used for 4-6 months per year. That’s a lot of money for shoes that are dormant due to not being well suited to the running environment.

My second grudge with on-running is that they encourage you to think “Oh, you should, but you don’t have to return the shoes that are warn out”. The cost if you don’t return shoes is 100 CHF. If you have warn out shoes with the sole peeling off with the first pair then that is appalling customer service. If a shoe is degrading 100 CHF is very expensive for an unusable pair of shoes.

Comfort

The shoes were comfortable when running, at first but eventually they began to feel like crap. The shoes lasted three months with my use before starting to fall apart. The sole fell off. I felt that the toe box was uncomfortable when wearing them after several weeks of use, especially with walking. I find that on-running shoes in general are not comfortable walking shoes.

Cancellation process

I cancelled my subscription today. I haven’t used the replacement shoes at all, due to the unfriendly weather and badly suited grip for winter Switzerland. As a result I am stuck with a connundrum. Do I return shoes that are perfectly fine, to be recycled, to avoid paying 100 CHF on top of the 35 CHF per month I paid for several months, or do I pay 100 CHF? I think the answer is obvious. Return the shoes.

Idealisticly

Idealisticly, once you cancel the membership you should be given the option of running the shoes until they need to be recycled, and return them then. The first pair I had were worth the 105 CHF I paid. The second pair were worthless due to snow, ice and wet roads making the second pair unusuable for months. They’re still new. I haven’t removed any of the packaging from the shoes yet. I could use them for three months, and then send them to be recycled out of contract. I have paid for them. I just never got to use them due to them not being designed for a Swiss winter, despite being Swiss shoes.

And Finally

I really like the idea of a shoe subscription where shoes are recycled after their useful life is over. I liked running in them and during the summer months they were a pleasure to use, for running. For walking they’re sub-optimal, especially for longer walks.

What I would like with the Cyclon program is an option to suspend the plan while the conditions are not good for the shoes. When it’s raining, snowing, and the ground is frozen these shoes are dangerous. When it’s warm and sunny the shoes are great. Sending them back is easy, and the process is convenient.

In my opinion on-running need to make Cloudneo shoes that are usable in winter, and comfortable for walking, and I will renew my subscription.

Experimenting with Spherical photographs
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Experimenting with Spherical photographs

Byrichard

I was in Spain with the Ricoh Theta S last week so I took the opportunity to experiment with the Ricoh Theta S in a number of locations. What I like about such a device is that it takes a click to get pictures. I experimented with a manfrotto monopod and a smaller monopod. The Manfrotto base was clearly visible in shots so the immersive experience is degraded. With the smaller monopod the base is the same width as that of the camera. This means that at least the support was hidden.

runners in Denia, Spain – Spherical Image – RICOH THETA

The first image was taken at Denia port, showing two runners running along the port wall/promenade. You can look around and see that the sea was flat, that the car park is relatively full and buildings behind the scene. It provides you with context.

Post from RICOH THETA. – Spherical Image – RICOH THETA

The second image is taken with the monopod fully extended so that it is among the branches of the trees. You can see a light house ahead and you can look at the tree at the same time.

theta archaeology. 🙂 – Spherical Image – RICOH THETA

It would be interesting to experiment with archeology and 360 pictures and video. Instead of placing the camera to one side and having the camera operator choose what you see the action could take place around the camera and the viewer, sitting in a swivel chair could turn and look at where the most interesting thing is happening next. You can zoom in and out within reason, to see details or to see a wider picture.

Post from RICOH THETA. – Spherical Image – RICOH THETA

At the Denia Marina part of a bar is floating on the water. it has a sphere of sun shades around with speakers and lights. You can sit in comfortable seats and look up. A conventional image would show the dome from outside but with a spherical camera you can capture the feeling of being in the centre of the structure.

my camera and I, between shots. 🙂 – Spherical Image – RICOH THETA

This image was taken in Basel during a recent trip. This location is ideal for 360/spherical images because each wall is covered with paintings, the clock is decorated and more. As it surrounds you the subject lends itself well to 360° photography.

a rock outcrop – Spherical Image – RICOH THETA

For the last image I went to sea level and photographed the view from a headland and beaches on either side. One of those beaches has bars and a number of people whereas the other beach is nice and quiet. It is nice to look at these images and get a feel for the place.

The challenge in taking these photos is how to get the camera in to an interesting place and hide yourself or the support for the camera. I usually knelt down and tried to stay directly below the camera. The other option is to find a system to stand the camera at the right height but make the monopod invisible. With multi-camera setups parallax makes hiding tripods and other objects easier. The next step is to find a base that makes hiding the stand simple.

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