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Bookcrossing and A November Walk
Today I went for a slight variant and came across a book dating back to 1930 so of course I picked it up. I like the look and feel of old books. I also like that they carry history. The book is 91, almost 92 years old and it has been passed on from generation to generation for almost six generations. I looked in the book and at first I just ignored the scribbles at the front of the book, not thinking much of it. Now that I looked closer I noticed the BCID so I looked up bookcrossing.com and logged that I found the book.
Now that I know about this project I feel that I should add books that I own to that database, for people to find and share them. One book has 601 hops, and the next only 198. That is how many times books have been passed on from person to person.
I see that the project is still new but it will soon reach two million members (bookcrossers) and approaching 14 million books. It is present in 132 countries, and what is impressive is that this is only since April 2021, so the site is still new. Registering a book is quick and easy. Note the ISBN, Double check the info, write a comment, create the book, and then add the BCID to the inner cover and a new book is logged. It takes seconds.
I believe that this is a great project because if you think that the use case for cars, is bad, due to how much time they spend sitting around, then imagine how bad it is for books. They spend years, even decades on shelves collecting dust, without being read more than once. With a website like Bookcrossing those dormant books are given the opportunity to travel, to be read, to be discussed and to be shared, over and over again. A book is no longer read by one person but dozens, or even hundreds. It works like a library, but the library is the world, and everyone can be a curator.
I could now create an entry for The Unbearable Lightness of Being and other favourite books of mine, and over time I could follow as they are shared, commented on, and as their locations move either west or east, south, or north. It would show how interconnected the world is.
I will participate in this project. I like the opportunities that I think it opens up.
The Garmin Instinct Solar And Activity Tracking
For two days I have played with the Garmin Instinct Solar and I already see a niche for it. If I want to be like every other reviewer I will say, “use the expedition mode for up to 127 days or hours of battery life, but I won’t because I think there is another more interesting niche. Activity tracking, without needing to take off the watch for weeks or months at a time. With Suunto, Apple and other devices you need to remove a watch at least every three or four days to recharge it, which means that you have a gap in heartrate and activity data.
With a watch like the Garmin Instinct Solar you can track your days for 25 days in a row without recharging. In summer, in theory you could wear the watch and it would charge as you’re eating lunch or walking on the beach or sitting at a terrasse in the mountains. I really like the idea of going back to watches that we can wear for weeks, without having to take them off.
I tried using the watch in normal mode yesterday, and wore it overnight, and by the next morning it said that it had six hours of power left so I had to charge it. I tried with the morning sun but it didn’t work, so I tried with the mid morning and afternoon sun and that was better. I had to recharge it from a power socket anyway.
26 Days of Tracking
Today I put the watch into normal mode for a run, and then as I walked I tracked hiking, for a little bit, before switching to just counting steps and charging with the Autumn sun. When I got home it was at 25 days of battery life from 26-27 days. Four weeks of battery life, with the Autumn sun.
What makes this solar watch stand out is it’s price. It costs 298 CHF. Compare that to the Casio hr1000 Solar watch that cost up to 1000CHF a few years ago, and the Garmin Pro Fenix solar that costs about 800 CHF.
Power Hungry GPS
The problem with GPS technology is that it uses a lot of power, so for a solar powered watch to work effectively the solar panels would have to be quite a bit bigger. That’s where a solar powered activity tracker is brilliant. The watch can do a lot more, if you want to charge it every day, but if you don’t, then simply keeping track of your steps will be enough, along with heart rate.
Power Modes
You have expedition mode, for 127hrs of battery life, You then have battery saver where the heart rate monitor and phone connection are turned off for 70hrs. You then have jacket around 40hrs I think and normal that is about 30hrs.
Smartwatch: Up to 24 days/54 days with solar*
Battery Saver Watch Mode: Up to 56 days/Unlimited with solar*
GPS: Up to 30 hours/38 hours with solar**
Max Battery GPS Mode: Up to 70 hours/145 hours with solar**
Expedition GPS Activity: Up to 28 days/68 days with solar*
Better For The Environment
The Apple Watch needs to be charged every day. The Suunto that I have needs to be charged every second activity, especially after over three years of daily use. The Garmin Instinct Solar, in the right mode could go for three or four weeks without needing to charge, and in the middle of summer, could recharge, at least partially, while you are active.
On Activity Trackers
Most activity trackers last from 5 to seven days between charges, when they are new and this depends on whether you have heart rate and o2 monitoring. With the Garmin Instinct you leap up to 68 days over the summer months. In theory you will have no gaps in data, for months at a time. This means that if you’re trying to save on weight, you could travel without the charging cable for weeks at a time.
Should You Get it?
Yes, if you want to track your activities but are not worried about heart rate and using the watch for notifications. It is one of the cheaper solutions, and from that aspect it stands out. It gives you plenty of functionality that you find on higher end devices, without the price. Add to this that plenty of functionality is accessed via Garmin Connect and you have a good reason to get this alternative solution that costs a third of the price.
If you’re replacing a Suunto Spartan Wrist HR because it’s getting a little old then don’t. The battery life on that device is still better or as good, and the screen is easier to read. After a decade or so of using Suunto I find the menus and navigation more intuitive and rational.
My reason for considering switching from Suunto to Garmin is two fold. The first is that suunto is moving over to android, so it no longer has a unique OS, and that it’s move to more colourful displays means that battery life will suffer. They also no longer offer a web interface for the application, so you are forced to use a mobile phone.
I was also curious to play with the Garmin ecosystem. I like to be familiar with these platforms.
And Finally
And finally the best device is the one that can last as long as the activity you do, whether it’s a two hour daily walk, a two day hike or a longer duration journey. Switching from Suunto to Garmin has a learning curvey. The navigation menu is different. Eventually you understand the logic.
Can You With Trail Glove 7 Around Lavaux?
Yesterday I tried an experiment which could have been a silly one. I tried to do the Lavaux hike from Puidoux to Vevey with Trail Glove 7 shoes. They are barefoot minimalist shoes so I could have regretted it. I didn’t but mainly because of the preparation before hand.
The Preparation
I have worn through one pair of Trail Glove 7 shoes before switching to the pair that I am using now. In that time I have walked at least 800 kilometres with one pair and an unknown amount with the second pair. The second pair is starting to show signs of wear. I think the left heel is about to fail.
The key difference between barefoot shoes and normal shoes is that barefoot shoes do not offer much padding for the heel. Every time your heel hits the ground it hits with more force than it would with normal shoes.
With the Vapor Glove seven, trail glove 6 and meindl barefoot shoes I find that the padding is not enough for my normal walks so I wear them very little, especially when walking my usual walking routes.
The Walk
Yesterday my shoes felt fine for almost the entire walk. They felt fine when going downhill and they felt fine when going uphill. They also felt fine in terms of temperature despite the snow. I think this is due to walking fast enough not to feel uncomfortable with the temperature.
It’s near the end of the walk that I could feel that my left heel was starting to hurt. It wasn’t excruciating pain. I was simply aware that my body was getting tired. You would expect this. It’s hundreds of meters of climbing and descending as well as a reasonable walking distance.
It’s 11.3km of walking with 447 meters of climbing and 636 meters of descending over three hours of moving time and three and a half hours overall.
And Finally
The advantage of barefoot shoes, once you get used to walking with them is that they are light and malleable. You have a more direct contact with the ground. I tried them because I started to find cheap shoes uncomfortable, and wanted to try something new.
I knew that this walk would be on tarmac and concrete so I wasn’t worried about deep muddy puddles and more. I still had spare socks in case. I switched to these shoes because I was curious and stuck with them because I find them comfortable.
The Lure of a Walk to a Walk
There is a good chance that tomorrow I will go for a walk along the Toblerones from Prangins to the lake side and on to Nyon. For this walk I have the luxury that I can walk to the starting point before doing the group walk.
The issue is that the walk to the starting point is about 8km which will take at least an hour and a half or more so I need to set off at least an hour and a half early if not more. Due to the activity starting at 1300 that’s quite easy to do, with a relaxed morning.
The train ride takes three minutes, once I have walked 20 minutes to the train station, so really it takes 23 minutes, every half hour. In contrast the walk takes one hour and 20 minutes. The train will cost about 4CHF whereas walking costs time.
The loop, if I walk the entire thing, will be about 14-20km, so a good day of walking. Due to the walk being linear, starting in Gland and heading to Nyon it doesn’t make sense to drive to Gland because I would then have to walk back to get the car. I could take the train but it seems absurd to spend so much on such a small journey. Having said this, if I drove there and back I would spend 4 CHF in petrol. 😉
There are two things to consider. The first is that this is a tame walk. For the most part walking from Nyon to Gland, and Gland to Nyon is relatively flat. The second consideration is that i like to walk loops rather than linear walks. By walking the loop I get to experience new portions of road that I have previously cycled rather than walked along.
From Nyon to Gland I would walk along the top of Nyon, and then head down towards the road that runs from Prangins to the aerodrome, and from there either to the left through the industrial zone or to the right down to the bowling, climbing gym and then up to the train station where I would wait for people. I would then walk the “toblerone” walk back to Nyon and from there home.
And Finally
If the experiment is a success then I will have a new, ambitious walking route that I could enjoy on Sunday, without the need for a car. I have walked from Nyon to Coppet and up towards Crassier but I have barely done any walking beyond the East of Nyon. This is a good opporunity to range.
The Long Walk and More Playing with Nextcloud
Two days ago I went for a longer walk than usual. I walked along roads rather than along the narrow agricultural roads I normally use. I wanted to avoid crowds and dog walkers. The thing about solitude is that it’s enjoyable when you are not reminded that you are alone.
Today I will also have to try to avoid people. Some might be really happy for good weather, but not me. Good weather means that the reminder that others are not lonely is brought home. I go on walks to listen to podcasts and get some exercise. That little walk I went up was so good for my health that I had 18 PAI as a result of that single walk.
On a walk like I did two days ago I combine two, three or even four walks together. These are the walks that I started to walk years ago, after my scooter was hit by a careless driver. She hit the back of my scooter so hard that we slid for several meters. I stayed upright but the scooter needed to be fixed. It was. It took time.
Several times I walked to the scooter place to ask “Is it ready yet?” and several times I got a “nope” answer. In the end that walk that I did to check on the scooter became my ordinary walk. It became one of the circuit walks that I would walk daily for several years. I still like the walks. If people walked with smaller dogs, and kept them on leashes, I’d be happier. I would also be happier if people didn’t drive on farm roads as if they were normal roads, because on foot this is dreadful, especially when people drive too fast, too close, several times a day.
More Experimenting with Nextcloud
This morning I experimented with Nextcloud. I experimented with uploading photos from google takeout zips to Nextcloud using both an Ubuntu machine and a mac. The experiment was a partial success. I found that uploading individual pictures from individual folders is clumsy via Linux. I then tried via MacOS and that was also clumsy. Nextcloud can be used for photo management but that is not what it is really designed for.
There are a few features missing. One of these is the ability to select more than one image at a time. I’d like to select a range of images with ease, rather than have to select sixty video files one by one, before moving them.
I also experimented with moving images from one folder to another and that’s chaotic as well, via the command line. The issue is that Nextcloud detects the images, and indexes them, but if you remove those images it then keeps them in the database. I’d like to be able to refresh the database after making such a move.
Mount a Prepared Drive
Imagine that you have a photo archive that is already well organised. Imagine that everything is organised by year, month, date, and subject. With this tutorial you can learn how to mount your external drive. Nextcloud then sees the images and their folder structure and populates either Memories, or Photos, depending on which interface you prefer.
And Finally
After some trial and error I got Nextcloud to work as I expected it to so I can use it to backup photos from my phone automatically. In this regard it’s a great iPhoto and Google Photos replacement. I think I would have Photoprism and Nextcloud running in tandem. I would have Nextcloud taking care of backing images up, from the phone, and photoprism to work as a DAM/MSM solution.
I will experiment and comment, when I have an opinion.