Pem’s Tech Blog

I’ll start with the good news.  I’ve consistently been doing elliptical jogs, not every day, but around 3 or 4 days a week.  And I’ve moved from (30 min workouts) to (30 min + break + 15 min) to (45 min workouts).  My 2011/10/25 workout was 30 min, 387 calories, 2.19 miles, 0 elevation.  My 2011/11/23 workout was 45 min, 612 calories, 3.08 miles, 1277 elevation.  The one I just finished (night of 11/24) was 45 min, 644 calories.  The rest of this post is more rambling about the details of the elliptical’s computer’s ability to save workout data to a USB drive.

The USB transfer only saves five workouts at a time, and it saves them backwards chronological order (as in five XML files: 05.wrk, 04.wrk, 03.wrk, 02.wrk, 01.wrk).  So I apparently skipped a set of 5 (11/12, 11/13, 11/13, 11/16, 11/16), so my XML record skips from 11/8 to 11/18.  Saving only five at a time is really sad, considering that they are just tiny XML text files, is only 1.61 KB per set of 5.  For a machine that costs $1300 (an MSRP of $2000), it would be very inexpensive to save 5 million, or at least 50,000, or at least 50.  Ignoring the missing 5 workouts, here’s my latest graph from livestrong.com:

The 6th from the left is because I did (30 min, then a short break, then 15 min).  The 4th from the left spike is because it only records the date and I usually exercise late at night.  It says 1046 calories, which is (11/17 started ~11:45pm 45 min 535 calories) plus (11/18 started ~10pm 45 min 511 calories).  So it records the date based on the end time, since 11:45pm 11/17 + 45 min must have ended ~12:30am 11/18.  The XML doesn’t store the time, which is very unfortunate, but I wrote the start times on a piece of paper taped on the wall next to the elliptical.

As mentioned in my previous post, there’s some minor issues that make the overall experience of using the USB save-workout feature a lot less complete (less polished) than it should be.  It doesn’t store even some of the easy-and-obvious data (it doesn’t store time, exercise name, exercise level).  And it should save-and-USB-transfer a lot more than just the five latest workouts.

It also has a weird design glitch where all three sets of controls for incline are on the left (and resistance on the right), but the display has resistance on the left (and incline on the right).  Another weird design glitch is that they use the term “level” for “resistance level” since it’s an overloaded name space with “workout level”.

Because of these minor issues (mainly the USB backup shortcomings, but also that design glitch is pretty sad), I feel like the overall implementation of the elliptical’s computer system and USB backup feature is unfinished, aka like a prototype or a beta.  This is entirely (or mostly?) a software logic issue.

Finally, that website graph also feels kind of incomplete… Like what is the point of saying “2011-11…” instead of “2011-11-23” (btw, that’s in FireFox, but it looks even worse in Internet Explorer).  But to be honest, that bothers me a lot less (than the USB shortcomings and that silly design glitch), as I could use something else (or write my own desktop app) if I want a better graph, since they do at least give nice simple human-readable XML files.

Of course the more important thing is that it’s a good machine and that I’m using it to improve my health… But for someone like me, if it weren’t for the USB feature and my watch-lectures-while-I-jog setup, I probably wouldn’t be using it regularly.

Anyway, it’s still been fun to use, and now that I know how it works, hopefully my next 20 workouts will have better XML data.  I taped paper to the wall next to the elliptical so I can record the missing pieces of data (start time, workout name and level).  And I guess I’ll just need to remember to transfer the XML to USB then to my computer every 5th workout.

Pem (Admin) :: 2011/11/25 (Friday, November 25, 2011) :: Health / Food, Other :: No Comments »

USB

I doubt I’ll consistently do 30 min every single day, but in the last 5 days I’ve done a 30 min workout each day with calorie burn counts of 387, 355, 364, 402, and 398 (warning, I think the numbers are backwards, since they all said 2010/01/01, since I did these before I set the machine’s clock).  1906 calories of exercise in 5 days is pretty impressive compared to my previous week’s workout which mostly just consisted of just walking up a few flights of stairs, instead of the elevator, from the parking garage to my office cube.

I did a few uses of the elliptical before these 5, but I didn’t record it. The USB thing only lets you copy 5 workouts at a time, which is kind of ridiculous for a $1300 machine, when you consider how cheap 100 MB or 1 GB of memory would be.

The USB thing is a really cool idea for someone like me. But the details of the current version are somewhat disappointing. I tried updating the firmware, but it didn’t work. The directions were very simple, see here. But somehow the elliptical doesn’t find the ROM.bin, and says NO SOFTWARE ON USB. It’s a very simple process – but it just didn’t work.

XML

I was also kind of disappointed with how little info the workout XML file saves. I’m very happy that it’s a simple human readable XML file, which is what things like this should be – I’m a huge fan of simple data formats like this. However, I was hoping for more data. Like a snapshot of the current (resistance, incline, wattage, calories per sec, etc) at a time delta, such as every minute or every 5 seconds even. Of course that would probably be overkill.

But one obvious simple thing the XML file is missing is just the name and level of the workout program. It has different workout programs that automatically vary the resistance and incline over time (such as weight loss level 1 to 10, or muscle toner level 1 to 10, manual, or custom workout program uploaded from USB, etc). Also, the XML file has the date, but it’s missing the time of day, which I find very annoying.

That said, overall, I think it’s pretty cool that it auto-records the basic info – date, average pace, calories, distance, total time. For up to 5 workouts, then you copy to the USB stick, and to your computer. I just wish it did a little more beyond that – it could at least add the workout program’s name and the time of day.  Anyway, here’s the XML file it generated for my workout 01.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<workout>
<userid>USER1</userid>
<model>LS13_0E</model>
<summary>
<Year>2011</Year>
<Month>10</Month>
<Date>25</Date>
<Avgpace>13.42</Avgpace>
<Calories>387</Calories>
<Distances>2.19</Distances>
<Totalelev>0</Totalelev>
<TotalTime>1800</TotalTime>
</summary>
</workout>

Website Graphs

And here’s the nifty graphs it gave me on livestrong.com, for those five once-per-day 30 min workouts. The graphs are kind of cool, but they are also kind of bare bones. For one thing there’s no way to delete an incorrect entry – hence that empty 2010/01/01 entry. This is part of MyPlate, and I didn’t even mess with the food tracking (calorie counter) part of the website – I just wanted to try out the workout graphs.

In any event, relative to improved graphs, I’d be much more excited about a firmware update process that actually works, and saves more data to the XML files – again, even just the workout’s start time and the workout’s program name would be a great addition.

3 Digit Display

My friend decided to test what happens when the 3 digit display for calories-per-workout goes over 999, by seeing if he could get it over 999 calories in a 60 min workout.  The answer?  The display stops at 999, but the machine’s computer keeps counting.  It also doesn’t let you enter a weight below 50 pounds or above 350 pounds.  He said he’s going to test the distance counter next, since the display only has space for up to 9.99 miles.  Warning, 2010/01/01 is wrong – it defaulted to that because the workout was before I set the clock.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<workout>
    <userid>USER2</userid>
    <model>LS13_0E</model>
    <summary>
        <Year>2010</Year>
        <Month>1</Month>
        <Date>1</Date>
        <Avgpace>8.31</Avgpace>
        <Calories>1103</Calories>
        <Distances>7.05</Distances>
        <Totalelev>4730</Totalelev>
        <TotalTime>3600</TotalTime>
    </summary>
</workout>

Close

Obviously things like the quality of the machine in terms of doing exercise and durability and the physical engineering, are probably more important than the USB toys.  However, as a passionate software engineer and computer science graduate, it makes sense for my blog post to be about the workout machine’s computer toys.

Well that’s enough rambling. In the 30+ min it took me to write this, I probably could’ve been doing another 30 min workout . I hope this inspires someone out there on the internet to work on better health

Pem (Admin) :: 2011/10/30 (Sunday, October 30, 2011) :: Health / Food, Other :: No Comments »

I need more exercise and better health

Over the past almost 6 years since graduating from college in Computer Science, and starting my first and only fulltime job (other than a brief part-time pizza kitchen job, and 1 year 5 months of Coops during college), I’ve gone from 6 foot tall and 180 pounds, to around 235 pounds.  And from a Medium T-Shirt that I recently found in my closet, to an XL2 t-shirt being kind of tight.  This probably relates to my daily routine of a sedentary lifestyle, which involves a lot of sitting in front of a computer (or papers/books), at my cube office desk and/or home office desk.

I’m just a nerdy programmer guy who lives in the cloud aka Plato’s World of Forms as an aspiring ivory tower intellectual / brain-in-a-vat / mind-body-dualist (exaggerated, but not hugely).  Trying to impress anyone with my physique or athletic prowess or physical abilities was never very high on my list.  I guess ceteris paribus it’s preferred, but it’s just hasn’t been a very high priority for me.

However, regardless of one’s personality, we all exist in a physical reality.  And given current technology, we all have a lot of biological evolutionary baggage and imperfections that we have to live with.  Health is very important, even if it’s just for the potential benefits – to extend one’s lifespan, increase one’s energy level, and improve one’s emotional health.  One obvious way to improve health is to do is some routine exercise.

LiveStrong LS13.0E

One day I will setup a treadmill desk.  But for now, I’m starting with an elliptical and a media player.  With my new LiveStrong LS13.0E elliptical, I can now watch a programming lecture.  Such as Harvard’s intro to computer graphics from iTunes U.  Or Stanford’s intro to Computer Science from iTunes U.  Or Khan Academy’s math classes.

The table is for extra space for the media center remote, the TV volume remote, the fan remote, a glass or bottle of water, tissues, and even paper and pencil notes.  Yes I have actually tried to take notes while watching a class lecture and jogging on the elliptical.  It sort of worked, but will probably do better with some other setup, possibly typing with a keyboard or thumb keyboard.

I’ll post more later

Pem (Admin) :: 2011/10/30 (Sunday, October 30, 2011) :: Health / Food, Other :: 2 Comments »

> Recent studies find significantly higher risks for brain and salivary gland tumors among people using cell phones for 10 years or longer. The state of the science is provocative and troubling, and much more research is essential.

> We at Environmental Working Group are still using our cell phones, but we also believe that until scientists know much more about cell phone radiation, it’s smart for consumers to buy phones with the lowest emissions.

– http://www.ewg.org/cellphone-radiation

* phones go as low as 0.35 W/kg, the Verizon BlackBerry Storm is 0.57 W/kg
* my Samsung Saga is very low at 0.69 W/kg
* the AT&T iPhone 3G says (0.52 – 1.19 W/kg) (the 0.52 is WiFi only mode?)
* the LG env3 is 1.31 W/kg and the LG env2 is 1.34 W/kg
* the worst phone on the list is the T-Mobile myTouch 3G, one of the Google Android phones, 1.55 W/kg
http://www.ewg.org/cellphoneradiation/Get-a-Safer-Phone?allavailable=1

Supposedly bluetooth headsets are much lower, such as:
> Bluetooth radio module generates an SAR of just 0.001 watts per kilogram
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/apr2005/tc20050427_5651.htm

Besides getting a high radiation cell phone, the main concern is if you are holding the phone next to your head/ear (touching your head, near your brain) having a voice conversation (emitting high radiation).

I carry my Samsung Saga around all day, but hopefully I’m safe since I mostly use it for texting and data, and even when I take phone calls I almost always use a headset (and it’s a wired headset).

http://www.ewg.org/cellphoneradiation/8-Safety-Tips

Maybe something I should be more concerned about is to check whether it’s smart that I sleep right next to my computer (in a small apartment), including a WiFi router right next to my head!

Pem (Admin) :: 2009/09/26 (Saturday, September 26, 2009) :: Health / Food, Mobility :: No Comments »

Deaf Hear: cochlear implants
* wikipedia today says: It was estimated in 2002 that around 10,000 children in the US and an additional 49,000 people worldwide had received Cochlear implants. By the end of 2008, the total number of cochlear implant recipients has grown to an estimated 150,000 worldwide.

Blind See: put a tooth in your eye

* http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/09/16/tooth.eye.vision/
* http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Technology/woman-regains-vision-tooth-implanted-eye/story?id=8595589
* http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/22/video-doctors-implant-tooth-into-eye-restore-sight-creep-ever/
* Martin Jones of Great Britain
* Mary Shelley of Florida

Blind See: bionic eye
* recent project at MIT, prototype / research
* The eye implant is designed for people who have lost their vision from retinitis pigmentosa or age-related macular degeneration, two of the leading causes of blindness. — http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2009/microchip-blind-092309.html
* it wouldn’t restore complete sight, but could let them see enough to find their way through a room or walk down a sidewalk (which is certainly no small feat). They’ll also have to wear a special set of glasses (or visor, if you prefer), which will not only wirelessly send images to the implant, but keep it powered wirelessly through a set of coils. — http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/24/mit-researchers-tout-progress-with-retinal-implant-yes-it-com/

This is my first post in (Health, Safety, Food, Drinks, Exercise).

Pem (Admin) :: 2009/09/26 (Saturday, September 26, 2009) :: Health / Food :: No Comments »