Nice People Thread No. 14, all Nice and Proper

kabayiri

GDB2222 wrote: »

...
I turn bluetooth off nearly all the time, to save battery life. So, even if people have the app, they might only run it when looking for something. Or, even if they run it, they might not have bluetooth on.

Perhaps I should turn the wet blanket mode off now?

To counter this, there are fitness watches appearing now which support the Connect IQ protocol. The idea is that BT is the comms and the mobile phone becomes a kind of hub between your watch, headphones, intelligent knickers, whatever!

It's a complete melting pot at the moment. It's not clear what will prevail yet.

kabayiri

Generali wrote: »

If you like. I quite like having my views challenged.

I note the following:

1. Everyone I have spoken to in person loves the idea of it
2. Having used it for a week or so I love it
...

There are a couple of other things I quite like :

- the Moov Now : a wearable fitness coach
- a camera called Autographer which takes pictures by itself

These also present new innovative thinking, but you wonder if the technology will be absorbed into other devices once it is proven.

Generali

kabayiri wrote: »

There are a couple of other things I quite like :

- the Moov Now : a wearable fitness coach
- a camera called Autographer which takes pictures by itself

These also present new innovative thinking, but you wonder if the technology will be absorbed into other devices once it is proven.

I really like something called Acorns.

If you buy a GnT for £4.50 it will round the purchase up to £5.00 and put the 50p into a balanced fund made up of equity and fixed income ETFs for you.

You can also put in a fixed sum each day, week or month. There is no fee for investing money beyond the spread on buying the ETFs and the account fee is a bit over 1% pa which isn't so bad, especially if you clear the account now and again to somewhere cheaper.

It's one of those things where you can save money without noticing it.

kabayiri

I am convinced this sort of personal technology will revolutionise the world of individual medical care...

...or at least I was, until my recent experience with a Heart rate monitor in my fitness watch.

According to a common formula, my max heart rate should be 168 or so.

Doing intensive intervals mine is peaking at 215 - 220. I am either on Speed or misinterpreting the data!

I reckon loads of people are going to visit their GP because their Fitbit Supreme is telling them they are in fact dead

ivyleaf

PasturesNew wrote: »

Would that mean one could receive a random knock at the door - and when you open it there's some scarey bint standing there, with arms crossed, saying "You've got our book. Hand it over".

:rotfl: What a wonderful mental picture! I love it!

DD1 has a lot of trouble remembering to return her books on time since the lending time was reduced from 28 days to 21. As a result, she doesn't use the library so often, and I wonder how many other people have reduced their usage of the service too it's a shame.

I've suggested she set a reminder on her phone to renew her books online, so I think she does that now. I wouldn't have a clue how to set one myself. But I'm much better than she is at remembering to renew them.

Generali

kabayiri wrote: »

I am convinced this sort of personal technology will revolutionise the world of individual medical care...

...or at least I was, until my recent experience with a Heart rate monitor in my fitness watch.

According to a common formula, my max heart rate should be 168 or so.

Doing intensive intervals mine is peaking at 215 - 220. I am either on Speed or misinterpreting the data!

I reckon loads of people are going to visit their GP because their Fitbit Supreme is telling them they are in fact dead

There has been a lot of coverage over here about the rank inaccuracy of the Fitbit's heart rate monitor although generally the charge has been that it dangerously under monitors so people push themselves too hard.

Sooo hot and sticky here. It was okay in the day but it's almost 11 and it's still 26C. And I got 'attacked' by a fruit bat tonight while going to turn off the pool filter. Gah!

kabayiri

Generali wrote: »

There has been a lot of coverage over here about the rank inaccuracy of the Fitbit's heart rate monitor although generally the charge has been that it dangerously under monitors so people push themselves too hard.
...

I have tried to calibrate mine against a range of machines in the gym with built in monitors, using different routines.

I have to say it seems pretty accurate, within 1bpm or so.

Generali

kabayiri wrote: »

I have tried to calibrate mine against a range of machines in the gym with built in monitors, using different routines.

I have to say it seems pretty accurate, within 1bpm or so.

I admit that the only heart rate monitor that I trust outside a hospital is my finger and a stopwatch.

Heart rates on monitors outside hospital seem too stable to be accurate by my finger + watch measure anyway.

Generali

PasturesNew wrote: »

I had a thoroughly nom nom nuked dinner today
Gen'd not approve....
It was all frozen goods, dried goods and tinned goods.
Bl00dy lovely though, will do that again ... and again...

A little secret between the two of us is that I always have a microwaved frozen roast dinner each time I go back to England to remind me of old times.

http://www.birdseye.co.uk/products/traditional-turkey-dinner

When I pushed things too hard on the bike they were a really good way of getting a bunch of food into me to give me the energy to cook a meal or go out for a plate of pasta. I used to call them 'Lance Meals' because like Lance Armstrong they were full of chemicals and helped me get over a training ride!

kabayiri

Generali wrote: »

I admit that the only heart rate monitor that I trust outside a hospital is my finger and a stopwatch.

Heart rates on monitors outside hospital seem too stable to be accurate by my finger + watch measure anyway.

The sensors in the hospital monitor which goes on your finger are the very same sensors you find in the wrist based monitors in these watches.

There are questions about the reliability of the data from the red led sensors. I know one manufacturer now relies only on the green led.

At Uni a friend's project to monitor the heart rates of crabs involved drilling through the shell, placing an electrode on the soft inner body of the crab, and passing a 25KHz electrical signal through it! That seems a bit extreme to me