OT: uncle_Bob, C'Man & other cyclists - New tracking app

[dsm]

Some weeks back I showed the details from using Runkeeper on my iPhone to display the route I ride to & from work on my cycle & in the most recent link I provided I included pics taken along the way. uncle_bob put me onto Runkeeper & I remain highly impressed.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=48159&p=438087&hili ... er#p438087

I paid (IIRC) $AUD 12.90 for the Runkeeper Pro app (the version that includes pics). Now Runkeeper have added a live tracking capability.

What this means is I can get on my bike or walk or drive - and before starting off I register the journey & as the journey progresses anyone who has access to the link of the activity on Runkeeper's website (I can email it to a list of friends), can view the journey progress on google maps in real time as it happens (we call this route bread-crumbing in the distribution industry that I work in - we are about to track delivery trucks as the go out on deliveries around the country).

The potential for this is enormous. It goes way beyond just the fitness app. As mentioned above - the company I work for is about to pay $1Mill+ for a system to manage our deliveries around the country where we track the trucks, at each delivery the driver takes a photo (which has added to it a GPS location & timestamp data - just like Runkeeper) & the driver also obtains a digital (screen) signature - this is all sent back in real time via 3G mobile network to our HQ server. My job as a senior IT architect has been to discuss the requirements with the many parts of our business & to evaluate the various offerings & soon we will choose the one we wish to start trialling it with. So for me to see Runkeeper doing a bit similar re the bread-crumbing & photos, for $12.90 per copy is very amusing & a testimony to the inventiveness unleashed by the internet & web.

I think many of us here already realize that soon cpap machines will have 3G web accessible with real time data reporting. I think there will also be the ability for clinics to remote control a home cpap machine using secured comms over the web

Back to Runkeeper.

Basically Runkeeper now allows anyone to use their facilities to track anyone who buys the Pro app for their iPhone & it now tracks in real time.

The photos that the user takes are all GPS & time stamped & made available in real time as well. I suppose next Runkeeper might be able to add a webcam like video feed that sends a live video stream to the web page. It isn't impossible & with the incredible speeds of 3G 3.5G & the promised 4G networks, it should become normal. Apple want to sell us TV over the Internet (& already do).

Here is a youtube demo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VL81NLe8 ... _embedded#

Here is the Runkeeper site listing the new live feed feature which just got announded today.
http://runkeeper.com/howitworks

Enjoy DSM

[carbonman]

I think many of us here already realize that soon cpap machines will have 3G web accessible with real time data reporting. I think there will also be the ability for clinics to remote control a home cpap machine using secured comms over the web DSM

dsm, as some of these things appear to be fun toys....
I can't share your joy.
Technology is consuming us.
It is not so slowly taking control of our lives.
Through credit card purchases, cell phone calls and computer banking
our lives can be tracked by the hour, right now.

The thought that our therapy will be remotely controlled by
incompetent, uncaring DMEs, docs or sleep labs scares the crap out of me.
"We're sorry, Mr. Carbonman, if you do not relinquish control of your
cpap machine to us, you will not be eligible for medical care."
It is possible that we may be denied medical care simply because
we do have OSA, compliant or not.

My bike is one of the few places left where I can be alone.
No records of where I go and what I do.
If I want to know, I'll take my GPS and do it on my computer,
in my own time.

I appreciate that you thought of me......and I don't mean to rain on your parade....
just my view.

[Uncle_Bob]

Thats interesting dsm. Although I'm with carboman on wanting to be alone on my leisure rides I think i could use it on my commutes.

I commute through some not so nice areas of Phoenix and the wife often worries about me, i always have to call when i leave work and i have to call if i get a flat or get delayed en route for any reason.

Now if i had the live tracking she could just see where i am herself. My only concern is that when using 3G for GPS the iPhone gets very warm and I often ride in 100-115 degree temps in the summer, I could fry my phone !

Are you not running into any battery issues yet? 3G sucks down the battery pretty quick so tracking a ride longer than 2 hours would probably not be possible.

Checkout Sleep Cycle alarm clock app. You sleep with your phone next to your pillow and it uses the accelerometer to figure out the best time to wake you up in a 30 min window so you wake feeling refreshed.

[dsm]

C'man (& uncle_Bob)

No issues at all with how you feel about the level of tracking already going on & what is coming re phone tracking & cpap net tracking/control.

I'm just telling it like it is & will be. What I am seeing from all these tracking advances is a world that is very different to the one I grew up in, but as long as we stay in it, It appears we have to adapt. As with all change, some has the potential to trigger mass protests & opposition wich in turn causes social disharmony. But I doubt we will see mass protests over these advances just described. In a broader sense, 9/11 tamed most of us in terms of being too 'independent' & the current need for national security is keeping the lid well & truly on this.

There are probably 2 main views we can take of technological advances, a) the ingenuity & intricacies of the technology (techo wow factor) & b) what we think of the impact of the technology in both its practical & philosophical sense.

As a technologist I am in awe of what we can come up with. There are times when it seems reality outstrips our fantasies. But, As a person living in this world there are a lot of these incredible advances that scare & greatly intimidate me. One such example is seeing computing integrated into weaponry & weapons control systems - some of these new weapons systems add a vastly different statement about life & death than the one we used to use in the 1950s coldwar => "one flash & your ash". Today it seems more like "dial a death" (type in a code & via a remote weapons drone, there goes that jeep load of suspected enemy).

But getting back to Runkeeper - seems clever & useful

DSM

[Gerryk]

Tuesday was the first day since I had surgery that I was back out on the trails walking for exercise. It was also the first time since I got rid of my blackberry and started using a droid phone. I thought it would be great to have my phone that would actually be able to use the internet connection and play music for me when I worked out or just wanted to walk slowly and relax.

I put my headphones on and closed the door behind me. My music was on and I was on my way. Then a text message rang through the headphones as the music shut off. Back to my music for a couple minutes until a few emails and more text messages and a couple twitter updates came through. Well, After I walked five miles, I came home showered and went and purchased an ipod touch. I will now be listening to my music and walking or exercising uninterrupted unless I want to grab that phone.

Technology is wonderful but it shouldn't be interrupting certain things or should be easily adjusted or turned off so it doesn't interrupt us.

Hey, I still have that cool new phone but I also got a another toy out of it. Now I started listening to Podcasts.

Where do I go to find more time in a day?

[dave21]

Not sure if you're tried CoPilot Live on the iPhone, that does something similar in showing GPS Tracks on the web and allows you to invite friends and family and allow them to send you messages whilst being able to use it as a SatNav and has car, bike and walking modes. I use this quite a lot.

[biggziff]

Checkout Sleep Cycle alarm clock app. You sleep with your phone next to your pillow and it uses the accelerometer to figure out the best time to wake you up in a 30 min window so you wake feeling refreshed.

FYI...I've been using this for a little while now and I can honestly say that I'm feeling much more refreshed in the mornings. A few friends who are hoseheads are also using it and having similar experiences. Well worth .99!

[dsm]

Checkout Sleep Cycle alarm clock app. You sleep with your phone next to your pillow and it uses the accelerometer to figure out the best time to wake you up in a 30 min window so you wake feeling refreshed.

FYI...I've been using this for a little while now and I can honestly say that I'm feeling much more refreshed in the mornings. A few friends who are hoseheads are also using it and having similar experiences. Well worth .99!

Yup as you say - at that price why not try it

Txs

DSM