Follow Me - Take Two

A few entries back I was playing around with an app called Brightkite. Well, here's another one called Loopt. Each has some advantages and some disadvantages. Loopt may have pulled into the lead a little because it allows me to add this widget to my blog, though it looks like a picture, it really is a recent history of my last few check ins. I can't play with it yet, but Google is getting close to releasing their version of this same type of service call Latitude. I have a feeling that Google's will be the winner, but at the moment, I like this little player. So, at least over the next few days, I'm going to try to keep Loopt updated and Becca might get lucky because I think it will be fun to "track" a Geocaching adventure.

So, if you want to stalk me, all you have to do is look at this entry (hint hint Shania Twain).

Lifted a Ton

Last night was another visit to the gym. I brought my normal gym buddy, Becca, though she wanted to take the dance class (umm...no!), so I decided to work on legs with the weight machines. Luckily I wasn't alone, I happened to bring a new friend, my iPhone, which happens to be loaded with a new app called Gym Buddy. You know how I've been complaining about not keeping very good track of my progress, well this app promises to do just that and tonight was it's trial run.

It took me only a few minutes to add each of the machines I was going to use and build "My Leg" workout. Gym Buddy comes preloaded with a number of exercise types, but I found it easier to build ones to match exactly which machines I use in the gym. Then it was time to start pumping iron, started my music and let the sweating and grunting begin. It was super easy to pick which exercise I was doing, enter the weight and the number of reps I did per set. I won't say I breezed through the exercises, but it didn't add any hassle to my workout at all. In fact, now I feel sorry for the people who walk around with a little log book. Music and log all in one place. Now if I could only add the iNeedWater app for my phone, it would eliminate carrying around my water bottle!

I think this gym buddy is going be a perfect partner to keep track of my progress. Too early to chart any progress, but this screen is showing my totals for the night. The number that jumped out at me was 3,375 for total weight I lifted (okay, so it took me 408 reps to do it). Obviously, no point of reference there, but to lift over a ton of weight I think is impressive! I never put any thought into how much total weight is lifted in a given workout, I'm always thinking about the total per exercise. If I'm at a about a ton and a half now, wonder how long before I can get two tons out of my legs?

Letters on My Mind

With the massive amount of time I've been spending at the gym lately, other hobbies have been suffering. Okay, part of has been the horribly cold weather and it really hasn't been massive amounts of time. But just like with exercising, muscles need rest to build up, it can't be all work and no play. With the great weekend weather, I decided to take a quick visit of my favorite relaxation place, Meijer Gardens. This is my favorite shot from the weekend.

If I Get Kidnapped...

Last year, I was totally amazed at the ability to geotag a photo with it's exact location where it was taken. This year, it's an improvement on that concept, how about not only tagging the photo but doing it in real time? It's now possible to not only take a picture of my favorite beach on Maui, with my exact location, add any thoughts associated with that photo, then post it for the world (make that the three people who are interested in me) to view within seconds of taking it. That's the latest toy I've been playing with my iPhone.

The app I've been playing with lately is by Brightkite. I'll admit, the name is dumb, but it has some possibilities of being handy. Maybe handy is a bit of a stretch, because the most useful application I can think of at the moment for this is if I were to get kidnapped, my first thought would be to locate myself! If I ever go missing, Here's my Status.

Since I don't find that scenario very likely, I'm going to attempt to keep it updated with my current adventures, however unexciting. In my previous blog I was complaining about not keeping track of my gym visits, well one of my first uses of Brightkite was tagging my last visit. My Friendfeed does pull in anything I post to Brightkite, but provided I find myself using it, I'll probably add a "Find Ace" link over on the right. I'll be at the gym at noon, follow me there, if you want.