Category: Fitness

Announcing ActiveOS

Reading Time: < 1 minuteIt’s been quite a while since I’ve regularly written a blog post.  I’m hoping to change that after the New Year and start writing regularly again as I have a lot to share, and much has been happening since the blog has been active.  With that in mind, my health & fitness tech startup – ActiveOS…
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Quantified Strength

Reading Time: 6 minutesBackground For the past 6 months I’ve been obsessed with the idea of strength.  Actually, obsessed is probably  a strong word but let’s just say *very* focused on being functionally strong and balanced. This is a far cry from where I was 3-4 years ago after chronic lower back issues originating during lifting (squatting specifically).…
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Jawbone UP API Discovery

Reading Time: 2 minutesOn Saturday I stopped by the Apple store and picked up an UP device by Jawbone. The UP is a wristband and iPhone app that will track your fitness and sleep activity and help encourage you to live a more active life style. As with most of my Quantified Self gadets (Fitbit, Zeo, Withings, Neurosky, etc.) my first reaction was to “free my data”. Similar to my initial journey with the Fitbit, I was inspired to find an “unofficial” way to get access to the data.

Automatically sync & import Garmin TCX data

Reading Time: 3 minutesOver the last few weeks, I’ve been gradually increasing the supported devices for TRAQS.me.  As of today, I’ve successfully integrated FitBit, Withings, GPS data (GPX files), MyZeo, and now Garmin Heartrate monitors (TCX files). Devices like FitBit make syncing and importing data relatively fast.  As soon as the device syncs with the ANT-based station, data…
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TRAQS.me – Tools for Reporting & Analysis of the Quantified Self

Reading Time: 2 minutesA month ago around this time I was anxiously awaiting the first annual Quantified Self conference in Mountain View, CA. This was a fantastic conference on many levels and, although a little late, deserves a future post detailing the great sessions, people, and companies who were there.  I didn’t have an official speaking session, but…
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Fitness Tracking Platform: Update on Progress

Reading Time: 4 minutesLast August, I enthusiastically blogged about an idea I had for creating a Fitness Tracking Platform; personal informatics for fitness.  Since that time I’ve been gradually making progress and am getting closer to fulfilling that original vision.  I figured I would do a quick writeup and share some of the progress I’ve made, and layout…
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Zeo Personal Sleep Coach – Hacking Your Way To A Better Night’s Sleep

Reading Time: 5 minutesWhat’s a better way to kick off the New Year than by giving tips on how to improve your overall quality of sleep? I decided to write this post as a mini-review of the Zeo Personal Sleep Coach and share some open source tools and APIs to help with saving your Zeo data for your…
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Fitness Tracking Platform – Personal Informatics for Fitness

Reading Time: 4 minutesWhen I woke up this morning, I didn’t say to myself “Boy, I don’t have enough going on and need to add just ONE more huge hobby project to my list!”.  But these things tend to happen, and when creative ideas ‘pop up’ it’s best to take action and at least start writing them down. …
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Fitbit – Unofficial Perl API and CSV Download

Reading Time: < 1 minuteThe other week I received my Fitbit and have been in geek heaven ever since. Fitbit is a tiny magical device($99 USD) that automatically tracks your fitness and sleep statistics. Throughout the day it will track your calories burned, steps taken, distance traveled, your activity level, and even track your sleep patterns. All of this…
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