There's a (relatively) new video up on my Maker Freak You Tube channel. The 10 Minute Harry Potter Wizard came about because a few days before Halloween, my son informed me that he needed a hat to round out his Ron Weasley costume.
I prototyped it with some paper, playing initially with wrapping it into a cone. I didn't like that approach because it left a lot of waste once I'd have cut off the bottom to make an even brim. It occurred to me that I could just do two relative triangles (slight curve at the bottom). Once I figured that out, it was a very quick built.
For the outer material, I'd wanted a furry red material, but didn't have any luck finding red hairy material. I did have some red fur from inside an old swimming deck coat of mine from college. It's a little ratty looking but served the purpose. I really enjoyed the super tall hats, foolishly tall and impractical. I have yet to find a good excuse to wear them, maybe next time at the sledding hill.
The full instructions are over at Instructables. I hope you enjoy the project. I'd appreciate it if you'd like, share and subscribe.
Monday, January 2, 2017
Wednesday, May 25, 2016
Quantfied Athlete
There are plenty of gadgets and apps which help track your movement and activity through a day. My own path to quantifying my exercise was gradual. I started with tracking distance and frequency and later became more about performance than measuring distance.
First a little background. I was never a "runner". When I ran, it was part of another sport, such as soccer. I was a swimmer, so I knew what putting in time doing the same thing over and over meant. I started running after my second son was born and wife suggested we run a 5k.
So when I started running, making it around the block was an accomplishment. I was active, but not cardiovascularly fit. It didn't take long for me to build up on my distance to the point where I could do a loop near my home consistently (still less than 3mi).
It was then that I started tracking my running. Initially, I used the car to measure my distance and tracked time using an Ironman sportwatch. I would track my runs using pencil and paper taped to the inside of the kitchen cabinet. I gradually added other longer routes which I calculated using GMaps-Pedometer. It is a simple useful tool that allows you to map out a route and get the mileage easily. You pick a point and continue to mark points as it tallys up the mileage. I still use this to do route planning when I'm doing longer runs. It's light weight and easy to use.
Seeing that I beat a best time on a route was reinforcing, as was not hitting that mark. Occasionally, I would use a an on-line calculator to determine my actual pace over those miles, though at this point, I didn't have much of a reference for what was "good" for my age and experience. I wasn't worried about pace, but only whether I did better than before. Pace is great to compare yourself to others, but I needed only to better myself. I've gradually realized that racing and running more about what is "good" for you regardless of what others are doing.
I continued to track my workouts on paper for a while, but tapered off that as my runs became more consistent and gains were not a dramatic. I started tracking again when I started training for triathlons. I started using a free tool called Map My Run (and later Map My Ride). The benefit of this is that you can track your mileage and workouts in one. You set courses which tell you your mileage, then can log a workout against that course. If you use a GPS enabled device, you can also sync it with this instead of manually logging workouts. Map My Run added another dynamic to my training. It showed me my weekly miles and when I'd worked out (and when I didn't). It was helpful to see the total mile for a week at the crept over 40 or 50 miles.
I later bought the basic Garmin Forerunner (forerunner 10) to see if I liked it. At about $129, it's not a small investment, but not massive either as I'd been racing for about 4 years at this point. This model does pretty much all I want.. It displays pace during the workout, displaying it every mile, total mileage, course using GPS, and can do intervals as well as remind you when you fall under a target pace, neither which I've used (at least not intentionally).
Where the Garmin really comes into it's own, is when it's synced with the computer using their Garmin Connect software. You can then pull up a view of your workout, very similar to Map My Run, with elevations and the course, except that you can view your pace throughout that workout and see where you're falling behind. How fast are your uphills and how fast are your down hills etc. For running, pace is good indicator as I generally don't vary too much, however on the bike it's virtually useless unless I look at two workouts on the same stretch or similar incline/decline, because your speed can vary so much depending on the terrain. One thing I absolutely love about the Garmin and the bike is that I can see my average speed and top speed for the workout. It's always a bit of a game to see if I've broken my top speed (41mph) and how my average was.
I know, there are other tools for monitoring performance such as heart rate monitors (no interest) and power meters for cycling (too expensive for my needs). These are just a few ways to get started quantifying the workouts your doing. Frequency is one measurement, duration another, then there's performance. As I became more involved (not necessarily serious) about training and racing, the performance piece became more important. Decide where you are on the spectrum and get started. The key is to start.
First a little background. I was never a "runner". When I ran, it was part of another sport, such as soccer. I was a swimmer, so I knew what putting in time doing the same thing over and over meant. I started running after my second son was born and wife suggested we run a 5k.
So when I started running, making it around the block was an accomplishment. I was active, but not cardiovascularly fit. It didn't take long for me to build up on my distance to the point where I could do a loop near my home consistently (still less than 3mi).
It was then that I started tracking my running. Initially, I used the car to measure my distance and tracked time using an Ironman sportwatch. I would track my runs using pencil and paper taped to the inside of the kitchen cabinet. I gradually added other longer routes which I calculated using GMaps-Pedometer. It is a simple useful tool that allows you to map out a route and get the mileage easily. You pick a point and continue to mark points as it tallys up the mileage. I still use this to do route planning when I'm doing longer runs. It's light weight and easy to use.
Seeing that I beat a best time on a route was reinforcing, as was not hitting that mark. Occasionally, I would use a an on-line calculator to determine my actual pace over those miles, though at this point, I didn't have much of a reference for what was "good" for my age and experience. I wasn't worried about pace, but only whether I did better than before. Pace is great to compare yourself to others, but I needed only to better myself. I've gradually realized that racing and running more about what is "good" for you regardless of what others are doing.
I continued to track my workouts on paper for a while, but tapered off that as my runs became more consistent and gains were not a dramatic. I started tracking again when I started training for triathlons. I started using a free tool called Map My Run (and later Map My Ride). The benefit of this is that you can track your mileage and workouts in one. You set courses which tell you your mileage, then can log a workout against that course. If you use a GPS enabled device, you can also sync it with this instead of manually logging workouts. Map My Run added another dynamic to my training. It showed me my weekly miles and when I'd worked out (and when I didn't). It was helpful to see the total mile for a week at the crept over 40 or 50 miles.
I later bought the basic Garmin Forerunner (forerunner 10) to see if I liked it. At about $129, it's not a small investment, but not massive either as I'd been racing for about 4 years at this point. This model does pretty much all I want.. It displays pace during the workout, displaying it every mile, total mileage, course using GPS, and can do intervals as well as remind you when you fall under a target pace, neither which I've used (at least not intentionally).
Where the Garmin really comes into it's own, is when it's synced with the computer using their Garmin Connect software. You can then pull up a view of your workout, very similar to Map My Run, with elevations and the course, except that you can view your pace throughout that workout and see where you're falling behind. How fast are your uphills and how fast are your down hills etc. For running, pace is good indicator as I generally don't vary too much, however on the bike it's virtually useless unless I look at two workouts on the same stretch or similar incline/decline, because your speed can vary so much depending on the terrain. One thing I absolutely love about the Garmin and the bike is that I can see my average speed and top speed for the workout. It's always a bit of a game to see if I've broken my top speed (41mph) and how my average was.
I know, there are other tools for monitoring performance such as heart rate monitors (no interest) and power meters for cycling (too expensive for my needs). These are just a few ways to get started quantifying the workouts your doing. Frequency is one measurement, duration another, then there's performance. As I became more involved (not necessarily serious) about training and racing, the performance piece became more important. Decide where you are on the spectrum and get started. The key is to start.
Monday, February 1, 2016
Libraries as Amazon Associates
While this appears all well and good, AmazonSmile contributes.5% (yes that's 1/2%) to your designated charity, while the associates program pays roughly 5% of the purchase price (10 times what the Smile program pays).
Who is a greater promoter of books, movies, music and magazines than libraries?. Why shouldn't they be given the opportunity to be treated like the promoter they are rather than a charity? The idea is to ties user's library accounts and turn it into a purchasing platform and earning them up to 10% on some products.
The Idea
Library patrons can log into their library account and search for a book. If the book is in the library's collection, they can request it and/or buy it. If it is not in the library they can purchase it. Users can also go into their lending record and retrieve titles they've borrowed so that hey could purchase those as well. For every sale made, the library gets a percentage.
Patron's credit card and address are on file and products are shipped (free) directly to the customer. Free shipping incentivises people to purchase their media through the library rather than externally.
This would give libraries another (much needed) stream of income and blend a natural place for discovery of books and media to a way for people to own that media. How many times have you taken out a book and thought that you'd like to own it or that it would be a great gift. This would give you a way to easily buy it and benefit your local library.
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