Monday, February 18, 2008

Increase your productivity with an internet-connected home gym & treadmill workstaion

[Note, 12/8/08: due to popular demand, all internet treadmill walkstation/workstation posts have been moved the the following blog, http://internet-treadmill-workstation.blogspot.com/. ]


[UPDATE: 2008.06.12]
Just when I didn't believe the best could get bester, this "holy grail" has in fact been polished and improved upon. See http://crockettdunn.blogspot.com/2008/06/internet-treadmill-workstation-and.html
I will have pictures as soon as cdllc.la hits a plateau after our current growth spurt.
# # #

Well friends, it has been a long journey on this quest to make my treadmill time more productive than that of a hamster on a wheel (or another way to look at it, make my computer time more healthy than a frog on a log), but at last I am at peace with- no, not merely at peace... I am TOTALLY PSYCHED ABOUT the home-gym exercise room internet-connected treadmill workstation.

The first breakthrough was the treadmill-while-you-guitar discovery (PLEASE DO NOT try this at home without first consulting a medical professional and sports therapy specialist or personal trainer!).

After the guitar, a world of possibilities came flooding to mind. My first application, I decided, was to be able to work while I walk on the treadmill. "Work," for me, means business/technology communications. The requirements: HID (keyboard, mouse), video display, audio output, computer system, disk storage (optional), and network connection.

The first experiments went well (with the exception of an embarassing PSP Tony Hawk Project 8 ankle injury which we shall never speak of again). Trial 1 can be examined here.

The natural tendency is to physically attach everything to the treadmill. This is a mistake, and breaking out of those mental constraints enabled version 2.0, here.

I've even drafted a guide on Amazon.com to the ultimate internet treadmill computer workstation, where you can see the available parts to build your own, or shop for comparable prices to build the not-quite-so-ultimate-but-cost-effective internet-connected treadmill workstation.

Just imaging: it now seems utterly absurd to me that I would have ever consciously decided to sit on my ass for 1, 2, or even 3 or more hours just to read, triage, respond, delegate, categorize, tag, or file EMAILS. Those days are long gone.

Today, my email reading time means improving my cardiovascular health, strengthening my core and lower body, and ultimately increasing the precious amount of time I get to spend living inside this body. I hope by sharing this experience, someone else may do the same.

WARNING: what is presented below is not for casual computer users or amateur fitness hobbiests, nor is it for those who do not consider their health and life quality valuable items to invest in. Listed below is the BEST solution, crafted over a period of 15 months of trial, error, and correction, until the ultimate, premium solution has developed.



Smooth Fitness 9.45ST treadmill with 60" Deck, Hydra Suspension and Motion Control

txt: Smooth 9.35 HR Treadmill with Wireless Heart Rate Control and Hydra Suspension


Evo 1 Treadmill'

Smooth Fitness 9.45 TV Treadmill with 15" Flat Screen TV

Samsung HPS6373 63" Plasma HDTV


OmniMount MOTION 52 Motorized Cantilever Wall Mount (fits 37"-52" flat panels)



COMBO 88KEY USB RF GO PRO AIR MOUSE and KEYBOARD BLACK 2.4GHZ 100FT (GP6105CKM)

[revision] oops- I omitted the entire computer (thin client/terminal) and network connection part. For geeks, use your throwaway laptop, and, well, you already know how to do you network hookup.


For non-geeks, please post a comment requesting network, computer hookup instructions, and, time permitting, I will post detailed instructions.

If there is enough interest in this, and I have he opportunity to help enough IT workers, I will start a new blog devoted to this, with detailed analysis of the product evluation and selection process for each component.

Also, if there is interest, there is also a whole lot more to this system. Full power backup and network fault tolerance, plus a 1000Mbs-wired home-network with 3 TiVo HDs that all talk to one another and the PCs.

[added april 2008]
More info, as promised, re: DVR (TiVo is the only one UI worth considering at this point) and wired/wireless networking.

TiVo TCD648250B Series3 HD Digital Media Recorder




TiVo TCD652160 HD Digital Video Recorder




Netgear GA311 Gigabit 10/100/1000 Mbps PCI Adapter




GA511 Gigabit PC Card



Thursday, February 14, 2008

doppleganger/future-Crockett sighting II

It's common knowledge that there are many Crocketts from various points in the not-so-distant, sci-fi future, running around trying very carefully not to cross paths with present-day Crockett (me).

On rare occasions, however, I do catch a glimpse of a future Crockett or alternate Crockett. The first sighting is documented here.

On February 14, 2008, it was reported that there was another sighting of future-Crockett. This image originally arrived in my inbox, and can be seen in its original context in the header image of this blog.



This latest spotting was in the LA Comedy Scene. The evidence arrived in my inbox early this morning (Valentine's Day). This future-Crockett instance appears to be much happier (and getting on well with the ladies, too) than future-Crockett instance #1 (henceforth referred to as "angry future-Crockett").

We shall refer to future-Crockett instance #2 as, "Ladies Crockett."

Thursday, February 07, 2008

de-institutionalization part 2

very happy cat

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

a glimpse of the future, or, "what good is twitter?"

Have you read The Long Tail by Chris Anderson yet? How it discusses democratization of various aspects of our culture?

[2008.05.04 updated with current, non-political example]

Here is a sweet example: http://maps.google.com/maps/mpl?moduleurl=http://www.google.com/mapfiles/mapplets/elections/2008/primary/primaries.xml&utm_campaign=en&utm_source=en-ha-na-us-google-mp&utm_term=decision2008

http://www.twittervision.com/ (check out the 3d view)

The ramifications are HUGE. Centralized media powers can be bypassed, and near-direct democracy can happen (boy that's a double-edged sword). Information can be gathered directly from the horse’s mouth, rather than filtered through a TV station with a (conscious or not) agenda and spin.

**How media manipulation works: An “expert” on TV who wants to subtly advocate his or her candidate will raise a question implying a candidate might be hurting or losing. This motivates voters to go out and support the candidate feared to lose. If an advocate were to broadcast that someone had an election "locked up" or already won can, this would negatively affect voter turnout.

Saturday, February 02, 2008

Idiot Dance, defined

Performing the Idiot Dance.

Idiot Dance (n), the ritual of having a subnormally-qualified telephone support representative guide one through a troubleshooting script in order to confirm what one has already diagnosed. In American culture, Idiot Dances are commonly required by large technology companies in exchange for RMA numbers.