August 4th, 2009, 15 Comments »
Let’s be clear on something: I hate exercise. I have ever since Phys Ed class in high school. It was my poorest class–I probably averaged a C+. Whenever we did any kind of long distance running, I would usually come third to last in the class. I’d beat the corpulent Chinese kid and an asthmatic Brit with skin the colour of flourescent light.
I actually don’t mind competitive (though not too competitive) sports like soccer or Ultimate frisbee, but lately my schedule has prohibited much of that. And hiking is nice.
These days I go to the gym twice a week, and loathe every minute of it. It’s a necessary evil, though, and I’m planning on adding some cardiovascular activity to the routine.
When we lived in Morocco, I did most of the Couch to 5K running plan jogging barefoot on the beach. It’s an interval program where you start with lots of walking and a little running and, after nine (though I’ll probably take 12) weeks, you’re running five kilometres.
Because it’s an interval program, you spend a lot of time glancing at your watch and saying to yourself “okay, run until the second hand goes past the three, twice”. I found it a little tricky to focus on the audio book or podcast I was listening to when this time-tracking sub-routine was always running in my head. And the audio book or podcast is critical, because it’s the only enjoyable aspect of exercising.
I’m embarking on the Couch to 5K routine again. This time, I’m going to do so armed with this nifty little iPhone app:
It provides vocal cues–in male voice, female voice or beeps–to tell you when to switch from walking to running and vice versa. You can listen to music or other audio and it just interrupts for a moment to tell you to slow down or speed up.
I’ll still hate jogging, but this will make my morning runs 4.6% less excruciating. Which is a good deal, at $1.99 for the app.
15 Comments »
May 27th, 2008, 10 Comments »
Over dinner, Julie and I were musing about setting up a mutual friend. We scanned our brains for other friends and acquaintances who are single.
Recognizing the shortcomings of my brain, I figured Facebook might do a good job of standing in. I poked around a bit, but didn’t immediately find what I was looking for.
I turned to Google, and discovered the Facebook app Most Eligible Singles. It looks pretty silly, but once you add it, there’s an option on the app page to show your single friends. I have shockingly few, particularly of the female variety. Of the 465 Facebook ‘friends’ (take that term with a Dead Sea’s worth of salt) there are only 17 females who are declared as ’single’. And only six of those are in Vancouver.
After a little more looking, I eventually found the Facebook profile search, where you can filter on any profile variable. However, the results don’t seem to easily discriminate between your immediate friends, and friends of friends. So, it’s sub-optimal.
10 Comments »
October 25th, 2007, 6 Comments »
Rob, of Social Signal (among other) fame, emailed me about their first Facebook app. It’s a project for BC Hydro, and has a sunny conservation message:
We’ve created Green Gifts to give Facebook users from B.C. and everywhere else a fun way to keep in touch with each other while spreading the word about energy efficiency and sustainable living.
Green Gifts are free to send and receive. Each one comes with a Green Gift picture and your personalized message. And it also comes with a Power Smart tip: a simple, practical way you can conserve energy and shrink your environmental footprint.
The app enables you to send your friends environmentally-friendly gifts (well, little icons really) such as reusable coffee cups and bus passes. It’s all viral-ready, because the gifts are free (unlike the standard Facebook presents) and it’s easy to pass them on to your friends. Plus they offer an “I’m green” subtext, and green equals cool these days.
Moi, J’ai Facebook Fatigue
While I’m on the subject, can I confess to some Facebook fatigue? I was talking (er, on our Facebook walls…walling?) to Meg about this yesterday, and said that I’d found Facebook good for the following:
- Organizing events
- Starting and joining affinity groups
- Finding old friends (this is time-limited, of course–there are only so many old friends)
- Losing at Scrabble
There are plenty of professional applications (see, for example, the aforementioned Facebook app), but personally, I’m kind of spent. I guess everything else (well, the Scrabble too) feels like a time-waster, and I’ve already optimized by time-wasting elsewhere (swimming, biking, World of Warcraft and so forth)?
6 Comments »
