Digifit and Bluetooth Smart

I have had ANT+ fitness gear for a while now.  I talked about getting some here, but never actually posted what I eventually bought it seems.  Although I bought it ala cart and different generations of the components, I essentially bought this bundle. Which works amazingly well with the iPhone.  The heart rate and stride sensor for running, heart rate and speed/cadence for biking.  I wish ANT+ would have been more successful.  It's a great technology, and doesn't chew through battery the way standard bluetooth does.  Unfortunately the dock connector for my iPhone 4s is getting flakey, which means that the transceiver needed to talk ANT+ wouldn't always work.  It was getting to the point where I would spend 10 to 15 minutes each run or ride trying to get the stuff to talk.  On top of that I'm due for a new phone in November, and it won't have the same connector.

So that lead me to find a replacement setup that would be iPhone 5 (or what ever the next model is going to be) compatible. It quickly became apparent that the new setup was going to be BlueTooth Smart (aka BlueTooth LE or BlueTooth 4.0).  It offered dongle-free connections and no longer required line of sight to the sensors to work.  It also puts me in a good position if Android ever gets off their asses and gets full BT 4.0 support (which according to the various news sites is 'soon-ish').  So should be in a pretty good place with the new gear and not tied to the iPhone exclusively.

The first thing I bought is the Polar H7 Bluetooth Smart Heart Rate Sensor. It's got a pretty comfy strap, has reasonable reviews and reputation.  I considered Wahoo fitness's version of the device but the reviews were a little less favorable and a little more expensive. So far it's been performing very well, but I did learn that it matters what way you snap it into the belt.  If you put it in backwards it won't sync.  So if you have a Polar H7, and it worked one day, and not the next, try popping it off and putting it on strap the other way.  Maybe you have it backwards like I did.

The next thing I bought was a Wahoo Fitness Blue SC Cycling Speed & Cadence Sensor for iPod/iPhone for the bike.  It's pretty straight forward to install, installed a lot more securely than the Garmin unit I had before.  The shape fits the tube on my bike better I guess. The magnet by the pedals fits better too.  It's a nice unit and was the most affordable name brand I could find.  So far after a week's worth of rides it's been doing great.

The last thing I bought was the Polar Stride Sensor Bluetooth Smart. I don't know how well this one works yet, because it's not supported by many apps yet.  The Polar app does (of course) but I don't want to start down that rode just yet.  Support for the sensor is in indefinite coming soon category.  Hopefully I can get in on the beta and begin counting my strides again.

Ordered a ChromeCast

I, like a lot of gadget obsessed people, was intrigued by the google announcement of their ChromeCast device. It will probably upset most of the content providers to the point that they will put restrictions on it (I agree with Mr Kafka's assessment of what content providers reactions are going to be).

Not going to re-hash it hear other than to say it plugs into your TV's HDMI port and then allows you to display stuff from your Google device (tablet, phone, chromebook, etc) onto the TV. It has an amazing price point: $35. It will eventually work with all Google Android and HTML5 based apps.

It's basically going to be Google's 3rd attempt at getting mobile and web content onto the TV. First there was Google TV which didn't take off. It was cool, but not cool enough. It's still around, but it's kind of an afterthought since most smart TV's already do what it did for you. Next came the Nexus Q which was another flop. So much so that the google play service doesn't even work with it anymore. Now we have the ChromeCast.

The initial user reports coming in are all overwhelmingly positive, but they were pretty positive for the first two attempts too. Here's why I think it's going to be a hit: Price point. It's so cheap people will buy one even if they're not 100% sure they'll use it. There are a truckload more android phones out there than before. It's very simple, no wires, adapters or power cords.

Apple has it's version of this technology called AirPlay, which as been around for a while. It didn't get a whole lot of traction. The ability to stream music from my iMac to my Airport Express was neat, but not the ultimate solution. Then came the AppleTV. Ok, little cooler, now I can play to my TV speakers, both audio and video. Add iPhones to that mix, and it started to take off a lot more. My kids and their friends make videos on the iPad and then instinctively know how to double tap and bring up the output selector and stream their new creation to the TV instead of huddling around the small screen. I also have an iHome W3 portable speaker I recently acquired to play music from my phone, tablet or PC.

Here's one interesting aspect of AirPlay that I don't think Chromcast can match in it's current incarnation. On both my AppleTV and W3 speakers I have control buttons (a remote for the AppleTV, they're built into the W3speaker). If I press those buttons while someone is streaming to the device, the remote presses are sent to the streaming device. So if my phone is in the charger up stairs playing music to the speaker in the kitchen, I can play, pause, volume up/volume down with out having to go to the source device. I think that's missing in the ChromeCast device. How many people have a phone charger on the couch with them so they can keep their phone with them while it's streaming without worrying about battery? The notion of the phone/tablet being the player and the remote is going to present some battery life issues for people who don't charge their phone in the same room as they chromecast. It's still going to sell like crazy though. It's already sold so many that google has stopped the 3 months of free Netflix promotion.

 

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Website to FaceBook Ad in under an hour

Got surprised today.  I was looking at a tent on w00t.com today.  I wanted to see if it was a good deal, if there were reviews, etc on it.  One of the links was on OverStock.com.  Less than an hour later, I'm looking at facebook and I get the following:

So in less than an hour, the browser cookie from OverStock.com has been correlated to me in Facebook. In theory, now OverStock, who had no idea who I am other than a web user, now knows as much about me as facebook can sell them.

I guess the linking doesn't surprise me that much, it's just the speed in which it was done.  It was faaaast.  All my banner ads are now for tents as well.  The future is now... and it's CREEEEEEPY.

The other side of the Human Rights Watch story in Rwanda

I visited Rwanda in March of 2010.  More specifically, I visited my friends Alma and Richard Johnson who were living in Rwanda at the time.  I had a fantastic time and it is an amazing country.  Even more amazing considering the genocide that had occurred 15 years ago.   I've done a little bit of reading about the issues pre and post, but my friend Rich has done a lifetime's worth.  He has written a very well researched paper on the role of the organization Human Rights Watch and the country's healing process. Anyway, I would encourage you to give it a read if you find African politics interesting. The paper is titled: The Travesty of Human Rights Watch on Rwanda on his blog created specifically for this topic.  Hopefully he can share more insights on the issues in the future.