Machine Man Motivation

FitBit & Nike+ SportsBand. Always watching. Always tweeting.

I am cyborg.

More than a few of you have noticed recents tweets from me along the lines of: ran 5.18 mi on 1/31/2010 at 4:43 PM with a pace of 7′40″/mi http://bit.ly/caBEXv . Actually, the tweet didn’t come from me; it was automatically generated from NikePlus.com after plugging in my Nike+ SportsBand to my PC. I authorized Nike’s site to connect to my Twitter account and so now every run gets measured by the SportsBand and the data (distance, time and pace) uploaded to Nike where a beautiful graph and running tweet get generated for your amusement. Why would I do this? Why would I want to share something as mundane/vain as my training log with everyone on Twitter?

It was a good run. For me anyway.

Motivation.

Knowing my run training is transparent and my stats out there for anyone to see is a great motivator during the inevitable times of a run that I want to ease off, catch my breath, relax a little. It’s not that every run I do is a full-on sprint, but I do have a goal in mind every time I put on my running shoes. Sometimes it’s to complete a certain distance, sometimes it’s speed and sometimes I just want to stretch my legs. In any case, the knowledge that you’ll get the results of every run keeps me very goal oriented. You’re watching and that’s motivating.

Along those lines, I’m also fascinated by that black and blue device in the photo – the FitBit. You attach it to yourself (I keep mine on my belt) and it uses a motion sensor to track your every step. During the course of a day it counts the number of steps you’ve taken, the distance you’ve traveled by foot and the approximate amount of calories you’ve burned based on the level of your activity. It connects wirelessly to a base station attached to your computer and uploads the data to FitBit.com. You customize the algorithm in the device by specifying your age, sex, height and weight on the site and the FitBit adjusts accordingly. From all the data, FitBit calculates your daily Activity Score and then compares it to everyone else using the device. I’m sorta competitive, so knowing that raising my activity level will raise my rank turns fitness into a game that I get to play with everyone else using a FitBit (Nike+ offers similar comparisons and motivating challenges on their site based on their gadget). After two weeks of use, I’m scoring right at the 50% level among all FitBit users. Grrr. How annoying! Must be better than the masses!

FitBit data after a 5 mile run. Total slug before and after.

OK, that last sentence was perhaps a little too revealing, but really that’s the point in using these things. They motivate me by sharing my performance with you and frankly, by doing that, these gadgets make training fun.

Happy Holidays!

Two hours from my Christmas Eve with family. Shot in my brother’s kitchen using my iPhone and iTimeLapse. Happy 2010!

a close shave

Smoooth

This is by far the best best shaving cream I’ve ever used. Proraso is an Italian brand that’s been around since 1926. I used to be a dedicated fan of  Kiehl’s White Eagle, but after reading about Proraso on some hipster shaving blog, I decided to try it (don’t bother asking me why I read hipster shaving blogs).

Anyways, loved it from the first shave. It smells great and only a small dab lathers up incredibly well. Lubrication is by far the best I’ve experienced. It’s also fairly inexpensive – $11 for a tube that will last you 6 months. It’s made with Eucalyptus, Menthol, and Glycerin and leaves your face tingling and super soft. Afterwards, you’ll smell like Marcello Mastroianni. Which is kinda cool.

You can find Proraso Shaving Cream at Amazon and at C.O. Bigelow.

Seeking Intern

This picture has nothing to do with the words below.

Summer is fast approaching and  I need an intern to help me do interesting things in new media. The perfect intern candidate is a whip smart college or grad school student who is completely conversant in social media and online entertainment in its many present and emerging forms, must have a car, must live in Los Angeles for the summer, be willing to work for free at least 4 days a week and must receive school credit for their summer internship here. Geek cred is definitely a plus!

If chosen, you’ll be part of ICM’s summer internship program and will be working directly for me and networking with all the other interns from the motion picture, television and music departments in our LA office. It’ll be a rewarding and challenging experience (especially the working for me part). Interested? Submit your resume and I’ll get back to the candidates I want to interview.  Carry on.

Austin 09

I'll be there Friday to Monday.

I’ll be attending SXSW Interactive March 13th through the 16th. Lots of clients, friends, execs, CEO’s, buyers, entrepreneurs, geeks, dreamers, videogamers and internet cool kids will be there . I hear it’s going to be even busier this year than last year, but I hope to get a better start than 2008 when I got stuck with a “kids room” after I arrived late to my hotel. Still, I had a great time and met a lot of great people.

Hope you can make it. If you see me this weekend, say “hey”. I’ll be the tall guy with the camera.

The Deadliest Man Alive

Beware the Dim Mak of Count Dante!

John Keehan (aka “Count Dante”) is one of the most fascinating and mysterious figures to come out of the 20th century martial arts world. He broke the race barrier in Chicago by teaching martial arts to students of any color, organized large fighting tournaments attended by the likes of Bruce Lee and Ed Parker, was a hair-stylist to Playboy Bunnies, claimed he descended from Spanish royalty, dabbled in voodoo, boasted he could kill man with a mere touch, liked to wear a cape and took walks around Lake Michigan with his pet lion. Keehan was also involved in a bloody confrontation with members of a rival dojo that left one of his friends dead. He died at the age of 36.

Would you mess with this man?

The masthead to this blog comes from one of his ubiquitous ads found in the comic books of my youth. Watch this video to learn more about the original Deadliest Man Alive.

Thanks to @xenijardin for bringing the clip to my attention.

negotiate

Get Shepard Fairey’d!

Cheap Stuff I Like: Watch

Uncluttered interface. Stainless steel. Chronograph. Gorgeous.

I love my Timex T-Series Watch. Will you look at that face? Clean, stark, simple presentation of the time. Exactly how a watch should look. The case is stainless steel and quite beefy making it feel like a substantial piece of hardware on your wrist. It comes with a high quality leather strap that looks like it belongs on an Omega. It even has a chronograph (but really, who uses that).  Little details like the rakishly angled date nails the utilitarian but high design aesthetic of this watch. The only criticism I have is that it uses a unremarkable Phillipine-made movement rather than a Japanese or Swiss one. Still, it tells excellent time and the best part is that it’s only $64.  Save the money you would have spent on a Panerai and travel to Australia instead. Then you can take your Timex diving – it’s water-resistant to 165 feet. Get this watch. Link

Popular

I get a shout out.

I was mystified why I suddenly added 300 new Twitter followers this week until someone told me that my Twitter profile was mentioned by Alex Albrecht on Diggnation. I thought it  was due to my urbane and clever observations on life. Nope. Halo effect.

Alec is Human (after all)

A short video of Alec I put together with a little help from Daft Punk and Animoto.com. Merry Christmas!