news
October 15, 2008
As an iPhone owner who runs for exercise, my biggest disappointment at Apple's recent iPod event was the lack of Nike+ support for the GPS-sporting 3G iPhone. Instead, the second generation iPod touch has Nike+ built-in, and the iPhone still has nothing. I would be disappointed, but the power of the iPhone App Store pulls out a big win on this front, as several free Nike+ alternatives are already leveraging your 3G iPhone's GPS capabilities to provide you with many of the same functionality as you can already get from Nike+ and then some. Keep reading for a look at some of the best free Nike+ alternatives.
I tested two different iPhone apps: Fitnio and RunKeeper. Both of them are free from the iTunes App Store, and both automatically upload your running stats to a web site à la Nike+. (There are actually tons of similar apps in the App Store, but these are the two that caught my eye.) I took each on run side-by-side with my girlfriend, who was wearing her Nike+ kit with an iPod nano, for comparison. Here's how each worked:
RunKeeperRunKeeper is a beautiful iPhone application—in fact, it's exactly the kind of app you'd expect a real Nike+ solution to be. It tracks your speed, pace, time, and distance, displays that blow-by-blow information directly on your iPhone while you're running, and has a great history feature that lets you browse through your recent runs and delete a run if you don't want it. That's all completely awesome.
To add to the fun, RunKeeper automatically uploads each run to the RunKeeper web site, where you can browse your run history on a Google Map and view a great speed and elevation vs. distance graph.
The downside: For whatever reason, RunKeeper was terrible at mapping my run to Google Maps correctly. The actually distance measurements were on the money, but the route was way off. I'd give the folks at RunKeeper the benefit of the doubt that they'll get this one worked out, but right now it's a bit off the mark.
Fitnio is a little less polished all-around than RunKeeper, but it also outshines RunKeeper on a few key points. The Fitnio interface on the iPhone is nice, with big readable text you can quickly decipher while your iPhone is bouncing around in your running case (it beats out RunKeeper in readability). Unfortunately it doesn't log all of the blow-by-blow pacing and speed information that RunKeeper does, which is unfortunate—especially since this is one of the nicer features that you get with Nike+. It also doesn't have as many built-in options as the RunKeeper iPhone app, so you can't browse recent runs or anything fun like that. Instead, the only thing you can do with the Fitnio iPhone app is track your run. Give the app your weight and height and Fitnio also outdoes RunKeeper by tracking the calories you've burned. Admittedly, this feature will probably be trivial for RunKeeper to implement, but it's the kind of information you love to see when you're sweating it out.
Another point at which Fitnio bests RunKeeper is with its pseudo-lock mode. Since your iPhone's GPS won't work when your iPhone is locked, you have to keep both of these apps running and your iPhone unlocked during the entirety of your run. Fitnio is smart, though, and displays its own slide-to-unlock screen after a few seconds of inactivity so you don't accidentally bump a button and stop tracking mid-run. It also has a cool down mode for tracking your cool down work separate from the run.
Things are very much the same on the web front—Fitnio is much more spare at the moment, but what it does, it does well. For example, where RunKeeper's mapping of my run to a Google Map was erratic and just plain wrong, Fitnio mapped my route with impressive precision. On the other hand, Fitnio doesn't sport the cool Flash graph displaying your pace and elevation over the course of your run.
How Do They Compare to Nike+The distance and speed measurements matched almost perfectly with the readouts we got from the Nike+ iPod we were running with. As the Fitnio web site points out, these apps and web sites are just getting started. Where the Nike+ iPod site is slow to innovate and add new features, these dedicated little sites are much more likely to push the limits and give you everything Nike+ can and then some.
Granted, it may still be just a matter of time before the Nike+ iPhone GPS app hits the App Store, but by the time it does, you may already be hooked on one of these alternatives. The one thing these apps can't have that an official Nike+ app would is tighter integration with your iPod. You need to play your iPod before you start your run, and you can play, pause, or advance tracks using either your headphone button or by double-clicking the home button, so you can still get most of the functionality from your iPod. But you don't get the motivational soundbites of encouragement that Nike+ offers from the likes of Lance Armstrong (Congratulations, that was your best run yet!), and you can't set a super-motivation-song or whatever it's called to kick in when you need an extra boost.
But hey, these apps are here right now, they're free, and as long as you have a decent GPS signal, they work. Since Apple doesn't seem to be moving anywhere on GPS-enabled Nike+, I'll gladly accept these free and promising alternatives.
If you've tried these or any other fitness tracking iPhone app from the App Store, let's hear how they worked for you in the comments.
The Official Gmail Blog serves up a useful tip for laconic folks who like to send subject-only messages: add (EOM) to the end of your subject line to skip Gmail's prompt confirming if you want to send the message without any text in the body. Update: works as well, and it doesn't appear to be case-sensitive. EOM, of course, stands for "End of Message" and it tells both Gmail and your recipient that's all she (or he) wrote. Here's more on how EOM makes your email more efficient.
Firefox with Greasemonkey (All platforms): The Google Maps & Geode Greasemonkey user script adds a small Current Position link next to the Google Maps search box that instantly locates you on a map using Firefox's new geolocation technology. To use this script right now, you'll need to install the previously mentioned Geode Firefox extension—but as soon as Greasemonkey supports Firefox 3.1, which itself supports geolocation natively, you won't need any extra extensions. Since so many Google Maps searches start at your current location, whether you're getting directions or looking for nearby businesses, this quick link cuts out the work of entering in your address each time. Handy! Google Maps & Geode - Together At Last (gmap) [Userscripts.org]
Windows only: Give the new Firefox 3.1 beta a test drive without compromising your stable 3.0 installation with the portable version. The speedy folks at PortableApps.com are now offering Firefox 3.1 Beta 1 as a standalone application you can run from a self-contained folder on your desktop or your USB drive. Check out what's new in Firefox 3.1 here; the portable version is a free download for Windows only . Mozilla Firefox, Portable Edition 3.1 Beta 1 [PortableApps.com]
Mozilla Firefox, Portable Edition 3.1 Beta 1 Released [PortableApps.com]
YouTube has responded to McCain/Palin's call for more process before taking political video's down.
Windows only: Free application Virtual CloneDrive mounts any common disk image file type as a virtual drive that you can browse as though it's a normal hard drive without burning a disc. The app supports popular disk image types like ISO, BIN, and CCD, and mounting an image once you've installed CloneDrive is as simple as double-clicking the file. We've covered similar tools in the past, but CloneDrive is the simplest implementation we've seen, and it's made by SlySoft, the folks who develop the popular DVD decryptor, AnyDVD. Virtual CloneDrive is a free download, Windows only. Virtual CloneDrive [via gHacks]
Real estate web site Homethinking compares neighborhoods in different cities to help you find a new hood you'll like. Say, for example, you want to leave New York for Los Angeles. Homethinking tells you which neighborhoods in LA might fit your tastes based on which neighborhoods you like in New York (e.g., East Villagers might like Los Feliz or Echo Park). For a more detailed look at how the neighborhoods match up, click on a specific neighborhood. If you give it a try, let's hear how accurately it matches your expectations in the comments. Thanks Rick!
Homethinking [via Gawker]
"What the hell, you got a room in your house just filled with books? That's stupid," was one of the many memorable quotes from my first semester teaching in a school filled with at-risk and impoverished kids. Right now you're reading a productivity and technology blog. You're no stranger to literacy and you read for enjoyment. All day every day you process thousands upon thousands of words to make meaning of and enrich your world. As an educator both at the high school and collegiate level, I'm confronted again and again with children and adults who are only semi-literate nearly drowning in a world they can't process the way you and I can. Somehow, every year I find myself with hundreds of students that regard reading a book the same way they regard getting kicked in the groin. If a student makes it out of their formal schooling only semi-literate, their passage into adulthood is painfully crippled. All the social programs in the world won't be able to stabilize that person's life as much as the confidence that being a competent and literate adult would. Photo by Tom@HK.
You would be hard pressed to find an organization that has done more to advocate and foster literacy than Reading Is Fundamental. It isn't a new charity and it won't win awards for being trendy. It has, however, consistently won awards for being extremely efficient with its funding, receiving an A+ rating from the American Institute of Philanthropy and being ranked among the best 100 charities in the country according to Worth magazine. Consider the following spattering of facts about the state of illiteracy in the US and the economic impact of it:
- Nearly 50% of the adult US population reads at a 7th grade level or lower. Nearly 25% has reading proficiency so low they cannot read instructions on medication bottles, the manual that comes with a piece of machinery, or a newspaper. This means roughly 40 million Americans cannot do something as simple and critical as read the handout a pharmacist gives them that warns them of lethal drug interactions. *
- 62% of parents with high socioeconomic status read to their children every day. 36% of parents with low socioeconomic status read to their children every day. *
- The average lifetime earnings of a person holding a Master's degree or higher is $1,500,000 higher than that of a non-highschool graduate. *
Books for Ownership is a program that encourages children to take ownership of their literacy by giving them ownership of books. Many of my students over the years have told me that they've never owned a single book. How can a child be expected to feel any sense of ownership over their own reading ability or growth if they don't even own the most fundamental tools involved in the whole affair? Books for Ownership puts books into the hands of children and their families, and sponsors community literacy activities to encourage engagement with books.
Shared BeginningsIf you grew up in a literate household, you learned how to pass on literacy just like you learned how to tie your shoes or prepare your own food, by watching the adults in your life. The best time for a family to break a generational chain of illiteracy is with a new child. Shared Beginnings is a program that helps young parents foster literacy in their growing children. In a helpful and compassionate setting parents are helped to overcome their own reservations about reading and encourage a love of reading in their children through reading sessions, songs, reading related games, and other activities that help to stimulate a young mind and form a positive association with reading. Shared Beginnings is a wonderful solution to a problem I have often encountered as an educator: a student who thinks that reading and education is stupid because their own parents have passed on their own trauma from school and illiteracy onto their children. One of the most wonderful things about the Shared Beginnings program is watching a parent experience the excitement of reading through their child, recapturing the excitement they may have never had themselves.
Family of ReadersFamily of Readers starts at birth like the Shared Beginnings program, but continues even longer into the elementary years. There is a heavier emphasis on encouraging growth and independence among the adults in the Family of Readers program than in Shared Beginnings. Parents are involved in forming committees to select reading material for their children and communities with the guidance of a literacy counselor. They are trained on how to educate other parents about the importance of literacy, recruit them into the programs, and how to plan activities that are book-centric.
So what can you do? Money goes a long way towards staffing programs and filling delivery trucks with books. Volunteering in a local literacy program goes even further. A child you share a love of reading now can be one less student sitting in front of me giving up on before they even begin because the words on the page make no more sense to them than cracks in a sidewalk. When you sponsor literacy both through your money and actions you sponsor another person entering into a world of potential.
For more information about Reading Is Fundamental, from its half century history of successes with literacy to how you can become involved in literacy programs in your community check them out at rif.org.
Wired's How-To Wiki runs down how to optimize your web connection using tools like OpenDNS, a regular old router, and add-ons that block bandwidth-hogging content you don't care about. If you're stuck on dial-up or a cellphone data modem, see also our guide on how to survive a slow internet connection.
We're all feeling the economic pinch right now—the housing market is recovering from the subprime disaster, the stock market is in turmoil, and no one's quite sure when it'll all stabilize. This financial uncertainty means that for the first time in years, many middle-class families are wondering how we'll afford our homes, educate our children, and provide health care for our families. The bright side for most of us: Despite all the doom and gloom, it's temporary. Now imagine that instead of a relatively short-lived problem, you've had to deal with these issues every day for decades. Here in Los Angeles, I'm on the board of Esperanza Community Housing, a community organization that has been working for the comprehensive community development of the Figueroa Corridor of South Central Los Angeles since 1989. Keep reading for details on how we help our community and what you can do to help.
How You Can HelpIt may be presumptuous to start off asking for your help, but I understand how it is—you dropped by Lifehacker to read about technology and productivity, and there's a lot of text below. That's okay. Instead of making you read the brochure first, I'll let you know what you can do right now to help out.
As luck would have it, Esperanza is holding its first annual fundraising event, Dancing Under the Stars, this Friday, October 17th, at the Mercado La Paloma in downtown Los Angeles. It's a night of dinner (everything from Yucatecan to Thai), music, and dancing until midnight. Tickets are $50, and you can order them with a $50 donation to Esperanza (you'll be contacted with ticketing information after you donate). All contributions are tax deductible and your ticket will support the work and the mission of Esperanza. (If you do come, be sure to let me know and I'll see you there!)
If you're not in the Los Angeles area, you can still help by making a contribution to Esperanza Community Housing Corporation. Your contribution will help house low-income families, educate children, improve health outcomes, and create jobs.
Not quite ready to commit to a donation? Join our Facebook group or become a fan of Esperanza. We?ll make sure you're updated on our latest activities and keep you abreast of ways you can help. (Incidentally, if you're a USC student, you're in the perfect place to help!)
What We DoFor Esperanza, ?comprehensive community development? means engaging with the community we serve to address the many challenges that low-income families in our neighborhood face. It means building hope with community through justice, education, and opening up economic opportunities so families are given a fair chance to lift themselves up. Our program areas include:
- Affordable Housing: We house 165 low-income families in our multi-room, quality, affordable units.
- Community Health Outreach: We reach 80,000 individuals annually through our health programs
- Economic Development: We have created over 200 jobs in our community.
- Education and Arts and Sciences: We teach 400 low-income children in our neighborhood every year.
Not only is Los Angeles is the homeless capital of the United States, but it's also the least affordable metropolitan area in the United States; more people spend higher percentages of their income on housing in LA than anywhere in the country. The housing bubble may be bursting around the country, but in our neighborhood real estate values and rents are skyrocketing. The forces of gentrification squeeze our community from downtown Los Angeles to the north and the University of Southern California to the south, pushing out low-income families who have been rooted in our neighborhood for decades.
These low income families don?t have many options. Finding affordable housing in the Los Angeles area often means displacement to far-flung satellite cities and enduring 2-hour commutes—a heavy burden with rising gas prices. If families wish to stay in the neighborhood, most of the available, affordable housing is slum housing that lacks heating and is infested with vermin or contaminated with lead paint. It's not uncommon for the children of this community to suffer chronic health conditions directly related to sub-standard housing.
One hundred percent of the children in our programs are considered socio-economically disadvantaged by the California Department of Education, and our two feeder public schools have ranked on the bottom rungs of a state-wide scale for academic performance.
Esperanza has been working to meet these challenges with the families we serve for almost 20 years. Esperanza means ?hope? in Spanish, and as an organization we strive to build hope through opening up options and opportunities for families to help themselves break out of the cycle of poverty.
Why Esperanza WorksThrough our work, we have seen that poverty is multi-dimensional and therefore requires a comprehensive approach. We started with housing: by providing 165 units of quality affordable housing, 165 low-income families have a stable base to find a medical home, maintain continuity at school, and become leaders in the community.
Our health programs train people from the neighborhood to be Community Health Promoters, or Promotores. Our Community Health Promoters have a unique cultural competency that extends beyond mere language; our Promotores are the friends, neighbors, and family members of those they serve. The training is also an opportunity for adult education and an introduction into the health field. We have trained 310 people from the neighborhood, and most of them have gone on to work in clinics, other non-profits, or have been hired right here at Esperanza (80% of our staff is from South Central Los Angeles). This training has led to jobs and better health outcomes. Esperanza?s pioneering community health promoter model has been so effective that we have been entrusted with city, county, state, and even federal health projects covering lead paint and other home health hazards, childhood immunizations, childhood and reproductive health, dental hygiene, mental health, and more.
Training and education is the centerpiece of Esperanza?s vision for combating poverty. Our education programs supplement and fill in the gaps of the public education system by providing after-school homework assistance and tutoring during school breaks and arts & science education when funding for these programs has been cut. Our education programs serve 400 low-income K-5 students every year and bring 90% of them at or above grade level proficiency in math and reading. This base is absolutely essential as the students move through higher education and a much larger world of opportunities open up for them.
Finally, we also have created over 100 jobs in the community through our economic development programs. Our Mercado La Paloma is a former garment sweatshop that we converted into a marketplace for low-income, first-time entrepreneurs to start their businesses. Today it houses 14 thriving businesses and is a center of great food, wonderful gifts, and a community gathering space.
How You Can Help (Extended)We are a community-based organization, and our focus and expertise is in building relationships at a grassroots level. Expensive services such as graphic design, technological strategies, and others are often beyond our reach and we have to improvise with the skills we have. The readers of Lifehacker have a wealth of skill and knowledge, and if you have services that you?d like to offer pro bono or have creative ideas for how we can become more efficient and are willing to help us make it happen, we are open to ideas and suggestions. Contact shawn at esperanzachc.org.
If you support justice and opportunity, housing, health, education, and economic development, I encourage you to support Esperanza Community Housing Corporation through a donation, volunteering your time and skills, or keeping up with our latest activities on Facebook.
Online-video site YouTube and PBS have teamed up to create Video Your Vote, an election day project that asks you to record and submit your experience at the polls on election day. Want to participate? Better make sure polling place photography is legal in your state. [via]
Chris Soghoian of Berkman has a nice post about McCain/Palin's call on YouTube to review takedowns from campaigns before taking them down. He criticizes it as "special rules."
True enough, it is a special rule. But isn't it appropriate? For here's the new game for politics in the YouTube age: complain enough to get an account shut down (according to YouTube testimony, 3 complaints gets an account shut down (pg 17 near the bottom), and ideally, do it at the critical time just before an election.
Of course, no one should be subject to this arbitrary game. But especially a campaign. Let's start here and begin to build out from a clear example of bad incentives.
Windows only: Microsoft recently released a "Filter Pack" that adds in-document searching to the Windows indexing service. That means you can find Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and other Office 2007 documents based on their text contents from the Windows Vista search bar, or Windows Search 4.0 on XP. Adding the filters also adds the search capabilities to any program that relies on Windows baked-in indexing service. The Filter Pack is a free download for Windows systems only; instructions for adding content search to Exchange, SharePoint, and other Microsoft products are provided at the link below. Microsoft Filter Pack [Microsoft Download Center via gHacks]
