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Gadget WEEKENDS

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app103:
I am now the proud owner of a Fitbit One. 



It counts steps, miles, calories burned, and has the distinction of also being able to track flights of stairs climbed, sleep, and quality of sleep. It also includes a silent (vibrating) alarm that can be used to wake you up without disturbing anyone you might happen to be sleeping next to. It will also email you to let you know when the battery is getting low and needs a recharge.

I have been using it for about a week, now, and really enjoying it.

The web app that goes along with it also allows you to log other details, such as water consumption, food, other activities, weight, and a variety of other health related info that might be useful for people needing to keep an eye on info such as blood sugar or blood pressure.

It allows you to set goals, and will even help you with weight loss with a dynamic daily calorie consumption plan, based on your current weight, target weight goal, daily calories burned, and how fast you want to lose the weight.

Due to chronic foot problems, I have set my daily step goal to be half of the default recommended 10,000 per day. Also, having 3 kidneys and being more prone to dehydration, I have also increased the goal for water consumption.

The device itself does have one con that I have noticed, so far. The way it logs floors climbed is that any increase of altitude of 10 ft can result in it registering you as having climbed a floor. This means hills can count as floors.

How it does it is with a tiny altimeter that measures changes in air pressure that would normally indicate a change in altitude.

But it also can be affected by weather, as it has already done for me. It registered a rather stormy night as me having climbed a few floors in my sleep.

On their forum, a woman complained that Hurricane Sandy registered as her having climbed 360 floors in a 1 story house. :D

So, I have chosen to ignore that data and removed the widget from my dashboard and changed the setting on the device to not show floors.

The web app has good privacy controls, allowing you to choose what info you make public, what friends can see, and what data to keep private, for your eyes only. It also will post your daily or weekly step counts to Twitter or Facebook, if you choose. The data can also be posted to your accounts on various supported health, fitness, and diet related sites.

One thing I have noticed about the web app is that it is subject to the whims of the developers, with them removing features without notice, and they are not always very well thought out changes. Where they had the ability to log 6 meals/snacks per day, they suddenly decided to eliminate the "Anytime" category, that many used to log their evening snacks, reducing the number to 5. (this is also the one I was using to log all of my food, since I don't live by a concept of breakfast/lunch/dinner) Their response to the angry mobs on their forum was to tell them all to go vote for a new feature request to bring it back, but named "Evening Snack" instead, and they will maybe consider it.

But all in all, it's a great little gadget that is giving me a reason to get out of the house every day, and doing more walking than just down to the corner and back.

Here's my Fitbit profile. If any other DC Fitbit users want to add me, feel free to do so. :)

Some screenshots from the web app that goes with it:

Dashboard:

Gadget WEEKENDS

Steps:

Gadget WEEKENDS

Distance:

Gadget WEEKENDS

Active minutes:

Gadget WEEKENDS

Calories In vs Out:

Gadget WEEKENDS

Water consumption:

Gadget WEEKENDS

And because mouser was particularly interested in this feature, 3 screenshots of the Sleep data:

Gadget WEEKENDS Gadget WEEKENDS Gadget WEEKENDS

ewemoa:
After struggling (and failing) to get a mechanical keyboard recognized by an ATEN kvm, came across and got the following replacement:

  Uniclass AH-04

Switching can be done via physical switches on the kvm unit or via the keyboard -- although the unit looks like it can use an AC adapter, it doesn't come with one and it has worked so far without one.

Works like a charm -- quite happy so far :)

Mark0:
Finally decided to ditch the neck strap and got both Leash & Cuff by Peak Design for my M43 camera.



They have an quick connect & release system, and can be configured in a variety of practical ways.

mouser:
I had another opportunity this weekend to use a cheap tiny little gadget that i love:

Neiko 03044A Mini Ratcheting Screwdriver and Bit Set, Pocket Size Close-Quarters ,1/4-Inch Drive



This is a bit-taking screwdriver that can be used when you have virtually no access clearance -- it's tiny and it has a ratchet feature so you can tighten or untighten without removing the bit from the screw. It's only $8 and it's about 5 inches long and 1/4 inch thick.

http://www.amazon.com/Neiko-03044A-Ratcheting-Screwdriver-Close-Quarters/dp/B000XYOUS6

4wd:
Picked up a GOAL ZERO Nomad 7 before I went OS, (I have V1 - previous version of the linked one), for charging the phone while I read ebooks.

Gadget WEEKENDS

Gadget WEEKENDS

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