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Get Buff While Geeking Out
Two different devices intended to slow the nerd obesity epidemic just came to our attention. PoconoPCDoctor writes about the Geek-A-Cycle, which is a workstation with built-on exercise bike that you have to pedal to run the computer. And several readers pointed out the FP Gamerunner (mirror), reviewed here: think treadmill meets Quake 4. Again, you have to keep moving to stay in the game.
These devices are a great step forward and I challenge criticisms of them. These are things in their infancy but with our economy as it is, I'll bet there's a few early adopters out there for this technology.
... after all, it's competition that drives the gamer. Hell, if you can make these cheap and very competitive in nature, I'm sure many schools will be interested in using them for gym class. The only requirement is that you have a healthy mix of strength versus strategy, I doubt that simply pumping your legs for five minutes and the fastest wins will draw many people. Provide a live course that adjusts for the path you take on the trail and penalizes you for falling and I think you're definitely headed in the right direction.
The only valid criticisms might be cost & intrusion. They are both fairly large devices from what I can tell. In order for them to last a while, I would assume they are made out of solid steel that would be ever present in a living room. Frankly, I'm surprised that they went the bike/running route when it would have been easier to set up a rowing or "hand cycling" device instead. I don't think this device is for the gamer who is looking to tone his already rock hard body so I wouldn't be so concerned which muscles the device works out, only that they achieve a cardiovascular exercise when they use the device. I can think of a contraption for rowing that is quite small (hooks to your feet and has a t-bar for your hands to pull) or a hand peddle device with little more than a base to stabilize it.
I like the FP GameRunner much more than the Geek-A-Cycle which simply powers the computer
These are good starts at addressing a growing problem, but I'm hoping innovation kicks in as this market grows. In college, my roommate would watch TV and fix an device to his arm that sent electric shocks to his muscles. He would sit there and twitch and twitch and I just could not stomach that. These are, in my opinion, better that the over medication and electrocution I've witnessed some people put themselves through.
My work here is dung.
Do you run faster with the knife?
I'd hate to have my workstation power dependent on my sales ability. Does the bidding have to keep going up a certain percentage per hour to keep the lights on?
Ooh, perhaps the editor meant "pedal". Yeah, that makes more sense.
You save only 59 seconds over 8 miles by going 75 instead of 65. Do you really have to pass that guy? Do the Math!
...does that mean I also have to imagine copies of myself riding virtual exercise bikes to keep them ticking over, too?
The person selling this is peddling something; if you got on it, you would be pedaling it. Geez ...
PoconoPCDoctor writes about the Geek-A-Cycle, which is a workstation with built-on exercise bike that you have to peddle to run the computer.
With the number of case fans and neon lights a lot of geeks out there have, they may need to hire lance armstrong to keep their gear running.
The theory of relativity doesn't work right in Arkansas.
I play Nerd-Folk!
And while we're talking about geeks and Obesity, let's not forget The Hacker's Diet. In my experience, it's a sensible and effective way for people with a sedantary lifestyle to lose weight safely, effectively and sensibily. Some comments in this related Slashdot article are helpful too.
An Indian-American Hindu committed to non-violent thought/speech/action alarmed by the global explosion of radical Islam
If you have to peddle it door-to-door, that will definitely keep you fit, especially in rural areas. It probably works in urban areas, too: the houses are closer together, but the people are more resistant to peddlers. But what do you do to keep fit after you make a sale ?
...the Atari Puffer. That was not a saleable idea either.
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
Must be a pretty light work-out, or you have a fan blowing on you. I've worked out on exercise bikes and the one thing you get lots of is sweat. Not perspiration, but highly corrosive sweat. Doesn't seem a good mating of things.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
I am solving this problem the cheap way.
I ditched my car and now get around on a bicycle.
My commute is 20 miles each way to and from work. That includes goeing up and down an 800 foot hill (Council Crest, in Portland, Oregon).
I am losing my weight fast.
I am saving about $400 per month in car related costs now that I got rid of the car.
People tell me it can't be done, but it' no problem for me so far.
And I don't need some new fangled cycle/workstation or treadmill/workstation. And I don't need to spend $$$ for waiting to use unwashed health club equipment.
Peace
Cleara
>exercise bike that you have to peddle to run the computer.
It's *hard* *work* to generate power by selling exercise bikes. Especially door-to-door: lugging three or four of those puppies around in a suitcase will buff you right up.
I was a bike racer for a long time. At my best I could generate about 350 watts continuously for an hour. A decent computer would suck that dry. I think I'll stick with my Qube-2, which only draws about 35 watts. It's challenging to hook a keyboard or a monitor to it, but at least it's low-power!
Nostalgia's not what it used to be.
The problem, of course, is that the BMI doesn't compensate for muscle or stature. Now everyone knows the BMI is only a rough guide, and that there are better ways to measure obesity. But if it's the main instrument for claiming an "obesity epidemic" then we have to know how rough.
If the BMI doesn't work for me, how many others does it not work for?
Slashdot is like buddhism for stories. All stories are headed for reincarnation until they reach Nerdvana.
My question exactly. My notebook draws around 35W when idle and 40-45W when loaded, including the battery recharging. This site http://www.windstreampower.com/humanpower/hpgtech. html is claiming for 125W of continuous pedaling power of the average human - and they even sell the equipment needed. But only in 120V US-voltage, which is not quite right for my European 220V appliances. Hmpf.
But nonetheless, one hour of pedalling would yield enough power for two hours of computing - which would ne rather nice to have in not grid-connected cabins to be able to watch some dvds in the evening. Not bad...
I used to be the lead developer at the Microsoft Health Club in Bellevue Washington and had a chance to test one of these at the health expo in Vegas (while I was attending Apachecon). You can't back up, you can't jump, the movements are very limited. I saw several of these device and while they were all nice, they all lacked in some way. Overall, I wouldn't suggest thes to anyone until they can get these prices down. I ended up just going home and buying a couple of dance dance revolution pads for my Playstation.
This is my sig. There are many like it but this one is mine.
If you're going to use a stationary bike for exercise, I strongly recommend a small fan blowing against your legs - especially the uppor portions, and that you wear shorts. Cooling the leg muscles greatly increases your power and endurance - far more than the power cost of the fan if you happen to be pedal-generating.
That's why stationary exercise bicycles sometimes have a blower, and why (absent the blower) riding an actual bicycle outdoors burns FAR more calories than riding a stationary bicycle indoors.
It's also why humans have essentially bare legs, with only enough hair for lubrication, in the first place, and why nothing is worn under kilts (which protect legs from sharp vegitation without impeding cooling): We cool better and can thus jog after most large fur-covered four-leggers until they collapse from overheating into a panting, pre-tenderized, almost self-cooked banquet.
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
...am still pumped from using the mouse.
---GEC
I'm but the humble pupil, seeking to snatch the scratchbuilt pebble from the master's fully articulated hand
http://www.powergridfitness.com/ by far the best out there. I have used it extensively on both PS2 and PC for FPS, puzzle and racing games. This is a fantastic controller, not just an exercise machine. No I am not a paid representative.
"The rich are paying their fair share, and then some, and then some more."
You reveal your income bracket here. The rest of your post is either condescension (you aren't entitled to any sonny) or meaningless statistics taken out of context and used for propaganda.
"Gas prices are down to near their normal inflation-adjusted levels."
Compared to when? The gas crunch? 5 years ago gas was about $1.50/gallon. Now gas is about $3/gallon. Your math seems a bit skewed to me. If you are claiming that inflation rates are so high that the dollar is worth half what it was 5 years ago then our economy is in a very sad state indeed.
"We are at 4.6% unemployment, which is pretty close to what economists consider full employment"
Sounds great. Of course it is meaningless. The biggest single glaring fact that makes your unemployment statistic worthless is that it only considers people who are actually drawing unemployment benefits. That is a small fraction of the unemployed. It also considers part-time and minimum wage (or near minimum) workers employed.
"At the same time, the share of national income earned by the top 1% has fallen from 21% under Clinton to 19% under Bush."
How about the top 5%? How about the top 10%? This is why statistics are useless for anything but propaganda. No matter what your viewpoint you can pick the numbers that suit your position.
"Most of what you think you know about the economy from listening to the mainstream media is a crock of shit."
The media? Who needs to look to the media to find out about the economy? Look to the people. Your average citizen is now making $25,000 or less and has no benefits. The reason they have no benefits is that almost all corporations have eliminated full-time positions among non-management workers. If you look at the workers filling positions typically held by teens you will now find adults working those jobs. A single adult in this position is forced to live with family or a roommate. In a marriage both the husband and wife must work just to keep up and they are building a landlord equity instead of themselves. Remember when the economy was healthy and one individual could work hard and support a house and car, plus put away something to take care of their family? Now both a husband and wife must work and they must save to be able to afford insurance, forget building to the future.
There is nothing fine about the economy if you are looking at it from the position of most of the working citizens instead of the position of the most successful citizens.
Cycling isn't going to get you buff. Try hitting the gym and picking up some weights. What a bunch of nerds you guys are.
I'm not trying to troll you here -- I'd love to see some citations for the fact's you're presenting, such as who's paying the taxes, how much wealth the top 1% are absorbing, etc...
"we are at 4.6% unemployment" ... "5.7 million new jobs have been created since 2003."
The CIA World Factbook entry on the U.S. (updated October 5th) states 5.1% (2005 est) unemployment index (okay, not a big difference, but still, when dealing with such small percentages, that's still a 10% difference), with 12% below poverty (not exactly great there, for such an economic powerhouse). And, keep in mind, the revised U.I. is not a true reflection of unemployment rates, it's based only on "new unemployment claims". In a nut-shell, it's not a terribly accurate measure of economic health in and of itself. If a person loses their $60,000.00/year job and starts working part-time at McD's to try to bring in some money, they don't even get counted as a new unemployment claim because, well, they're working!
Meanwhile, public debt is 68% of the GDP (the GDP, by the way, is $12,000,000,000,000.00, so apparently the debt-load is > eight trillion dollars).
In the two year period of 2004-2005 three million jobs were lost in the manufacturing sector alone. How you spin the data you selectively present makes a difference... While I'm certain that there are many benefiting in the GWB economy, there are many suffering as well.
(This is where you're supposed to respond and say something about poor people being that way by choice, that if they'd only work a little harder then they too could become rich and successful, and avoid a situation where the military seems like the only viable option).
Inflation is miniscule.
Quote from outside source: "The inflation outlook remains highly uncertain, and until we actually see inflation begin to slow down, I will be focused on the upside risks in the outlook," Yellen said in a speech to the California Independent Bankers convention in Laguna Beach, California.
In the Carter days, minimum wage was far closer to a living wage than it is today. Executive compensation was also much closer to employee compensation -- granted, there may be a higher level of benefits for the peons these days, but in almost all corporations, the lower you are on the totem pole, the more you are paying out of your own pocket for "benefits" such as health care (seriously, the U.S. still lacks national health care?)
Now, I'm not saying the Dem's would make it any better, that's not for me to say, but it seems that the truthiness of you post is aimed at justifying a specific agenda. Frankly, I think the Dem's are the same as the GOP with one small difference -- they tend to lack backbones. Bottom-line, both the primary parties seem to be no more than corporate lapdogs in this day and age. You'll never see any radical changes in economic policy based on who wins or loses, perhaps only in "moral issues" legislation and warmongering.
Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind. - Dr. Seuss
I'm with you. I've tried to figure out the same thing, and as far as I can tell, the "masochistic endorphin high" is the reason runners seem do do it. Most people aren't sightseeing when they go running (more often than not you run a route, so you've seen it before, and how much do you really see when you're zoned out and have the "thousand yard stare" going?), so that's not really it, like it could be for hiking or walking. There's really very little to enjoy about it, except for the feeling of exertion itself. If you don't take pleasure in the exertion, you're probably not going to enjoy running.
I have a suspicion that there is a difference in brain chemistry that makes some people enjoy the endorphin high more than others, because many runners honestly seem to really enjoy it, and not in an "I really like pain" way, but that they are actually deriving a form of physical pleasure from the exertion which outweighs the pain. Conversely, many (IMO, most) other people find the "high" to be more than outweighed by the physical discomfort necessary to obtain it.
I do a mild run a few times a week (and I used to do a lot more when I was in the military) but I've never once enjoyed it. I go running because it's good exercise and because I don't want to turn into Jabba the Hutt in my new desk job; if it weren't for the health and vanity/appearance benefits, no way would I put myself through that. (It's also cheap and requires very little equipment compared to other exercise modes.) Aside from the exercise, I could simulate the experience of running as I perceive it fairly well by having someone beat me repeatedly with a stick, and save a lot of time and wear on my joints.
If you could invent a pill that would allow normal people to enjoy the experience of running in the same way that some distance runners I've spoken to seem to enjoy it, I suspect that you're be a very rich person.
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