Personal

Since I am a fully fledged geek and a runner, I would love to combine my passions for both things to enjoy them at the same time!  Enter the world of Running Technology, where GPS meets sweat bands and the cold hard open road meets hip mounted pedometers.

Here, I list my top 10 fave gadgets for the runner.

10.  Running Socks
Specially designed running socks are able to keep your feet cooler, more comfortable, dryer and therefore reduce the risk of getting the dreaded blister.  Made from high tech fibers, the socks are designed to re-distribute sweat away from the “key areas” to the whole of the fabric therefore reducing drying time and keeping you running longer.

Search eBay for deals on Running Socks.  Expect to pay around $15 (£10) per pair.

9.  Mini Sports Towel
Made from micro fibers that allow more moisture to be absorbed than that towel you borrowed from the bathroom to dry off with, the Micro Sports Towel is the runners best friend.  During and after the run.  Quickly rub down when you get back or carry the towel with you to mop your brow when running.

Search eBay for deals on Sports Towels.  Expect to pay around $20 (£10) upwards.

8.  Heart Rate Monitor
Geeks love stats and things that have LCD readouts too.  A heart rate monitor, available in either a chest strapped version or a wrist mounted unit will allow you to keep an eye on how much you are pushing that little fist sized organ inside you.  The majority of Heart Rate Monitors will also provide an alarm when you are at your limit - preferably before you are laying in the ambulance.

List eBay auctions for Heart Rate Monitors.  Expect to pay around $50+ (£50+).

7.  Pedometer
Want to see how far you have run?  Or how many steps it took for you to run to the pub to catch last orders?  Then you need a Pedometer.  The pedometer works by counting your movements and translates that into how many steps you have taken.  It’s certainly not an exact science, but the better, more expensive models come with better quality measuring equipment and better stats.

Search eBay for a good Pedometer.  Expect to pay at least $10 for a good one (£10).

6.  LED Head Torch
If you live in the UK, like what I does - you will be used to the cold, dark, misty mornings and getting home from school at 4pm only to find that it’s nearly night time already.  If you are not able to run during the light hours of the day then a head torch will help guide the way past the local hoodies and stray doggy presents.  Make sure you buy an LED one - as us geeks love LEDs - and possibly buy one with rechargable batteries too as this will keep the costs down over time.

Search for LED Head Torches on eBay.  Expect to pay around $10 for an LED model (£10).

5.  Sports Earphones
Make sure that your new iPod earphones don’t dangle and trip you up by buying a good set of Sports Earphones.  This essential item usually wraps around your ears or behind your head for maximum comfort and stability when running.  You can also get ones that “squidge” into your ears and hold fast, but they are not immune from the “cable yank” problem.

Get a good deal on some Sports Earphones at eBay.  Expect to pay $5+ (£5) but go for a Sony or Nike model for max geekiness.

4.  Nike+ Sports Kit
A few years ago, Nike and Apple teamed up to release the Nike+ Sports Kit which consists of a small transmitter located in your Nike+ compatible shoes and a wireless receiver that plugs into your iPod Nano.  The transmitter sends pedometer style information to the iPod which records the movements giving you verbal feedback and music designed to fit your run.  The new range of iPod Nano and iPod Touch have the Nike+ transmitter built in so you only need to get the transmitter.

Get the Nike+ Sports Kit on eBay.  Expect to pay around $50 (£50). You can also buy adapters for the transmitter that allow you to use it with shoes other than Nike+ branded ones.

3.  iPhone 3G
Since the introduction of the Nike+ Sports Kit, Apple and Nike have been in bed together - but that was until they released the iPhone.  Although the iPhone is Apples flagship product (at the moment) it is NOT compatible with Nike+!  What!  Crazy stuff.  And Apple have hinted that they are not planning to do so either.  However - if you get an iPhone 3G, there are a few applications you can buy such as xxx and xxx that will track your run with GPS markers and provide excellent feedback and stats based on that data!  If you have an iPhone 3G already then it is going to be cheaper to buy these applications rather than pay for a new iPod Nano and the Nike+ kit.  And that wouldn’t give you GPS tracking anyway!

A cheap iPhone 3G can be found on eBay.  Expect to pay around $200 (£200) for a second hand model.

2.  Garmin Forerunner GPS Watch
If you want to know where you have been, what speed you were doing, how many calories you burnt up and what color was the underwear of that nice lady you jogged past then you need a Garmin Forerunner watch.  Garmin have created a range of their Forerunner watches which go from the Forerunner 50 which has wireless heart rate monitor links and basic statistics - to the Forerunner 405 GPS sport watch which will do all of the heart rate monitoring plus GPS tracking when you are on your run.  They even sync wirelessly to your PC/Mac when you huff and puff back to your house.  The GPS versions of the watch allow you to plot your run on an online map and share/compete against others worldwide.  Definitely an amazing piece of kit.

Find deals on the Garmin Forerunner watches here.  Expect to pay from $100 (£100) upwards and nearer $300 (£300) for the top models.

1.  iPod Nano
Apple recently announced a new range of iPod Nano’s that have the capability to wirelessly work with the Nike+ Sports Kit transmitter.  Instead of having to plug in the receiver, Apple have combined the interface into the new Nano.  Add to that Apple’s excellent track record of making an amazing MP3 music and video player and you have a winner on your hands - or arm.  The new iPod Nano is also Apple’s slimmest and lightest yet, so running with it strapped to your arm will be the perfect addition to a geek’s running gear.

Get the iPod Nano and Sports Arm Strap at eBay.  Expect to pay around $100+ (£100+)

I expect there will be lots of runners out there who swear by other Geeky products to help the run, get home and then recover.

If you have, let me know.

Here’s mine:

Get yours here at FaceYourManga.com and lets see it!

Awww… don’t I look cute!

As part of the couch to 5k plan you have to enter into a race. Running 3 times a week is all good and well - but why are you doing it? (apart from to get fit).

I have entered “The Big Fun Run” at Milton Keynes which happens on the 12th of October - so that gives me enough time to work up to the full 5k run.

My workout has now increased to running 7 minutes at a time with a 5 minute breather/spit phlegm in the bushes break in between. And again - it was not too hard to complete. Maybe this training thing really works!

I have to run for 15 minutes on Friday though - and considering it kind of clashes with a party starting at 6pm - I might be getting up early in the morning that day to do it. Thats going to be a killer.

I used my new Belkin iPhone Sports Batman Utility Belt on Monday for the first time and it worked a treat. I could not decide which music to listen to so I settled for a comedy podcast of Radio 4’s “The Now Show”. Trying to run whilst giggling a little was fun too. I have downloaded an application for the iPhone which allows you to enter a total time and then interval times too - so I can set it for 7 minutes running and 5 minutes walking and then it repeats. It’s cool too as it vibrates the iPhone and sends a “ding! ding! Round 1″ type noise over the earphones to let you know when to start/stop.

I might need to spend some money on some different headphones or an adaptor of some sort though as my headphones kept falling out of my right ear (not the left for some reason!). Now all I need to do is work on planning my 5k route around the local area. Google Earth will help.

I have been following the Go from couch to 5k in 6 weeks running plan and have reached the first milestone of running for 10 minutes non-stop!  I mapped it out on Google Earth and the distance came to about 1.16 miles which is about right for my current running speed.  Half a mile in 5 minutes.

Up til now I have been running for 5 minutes at a time with 5 minutes cool down in between.  I have actually been doing this first step for 2 weeks to get my stamina up as going from nothing to running is actually a bit of a killer.  I have been completing a course of aproximately 2.6 miles with 15 minutes total running and 15 minutes cool down.

The run for 10 minutes was not too much effort to be honest.  I was only troubled by the fact that my timer on my iPhone might have gone wrong and that I was running further than needed!

According to the plan, next week I will be running for 7 minutes at a time with 5 minutes cool down in between and then for a total of 15 minutes at the end of the week.  I am no Usain Bolt though so I might string this one out for 2 weeks with the final run being 15 minutes.  I will have to see how I get on.  7 minutes running will not be an issue though I think - but I might swap to doing a 5 minute warm up walk first rather than running straight away.

I am getting my Belkin iPhone Sports Armband today too, so I will no longer have just the rhythmical slosh-slosh-slosh of my water bottle to run to.

Any suggestions for some good running music?

The widely publicized hack to use Google to search for MP3 files has been around for a long time. Several sites have done a good job of using the technique to produce a good front end to the process and also allow you to search for other files too such as PDFs and videos.

• SeeqPod
• Tyoogle
• G2P

I stumbled across the new WorryAboutYou site today which does an amicable job of the same process, with the added benefit of giving you a direct download link to the file - which other sites do - but not so easily.

Other sites like Seeqpod are better as they let you create a playlist of tracks you find on the fly, but do not give you the link to download the track from. WorryAboutYou is simple, quick and provides relevant tracks - even though the name is a little odd. You can also choose to remove duplicates from the list too.

You can use this to download tracks to upload to your MuxTape account. What? You haven’t started using that yet either?

It has been announced today that Oasis will be releasing their new single “The Shock Of The Lightning” on September and 29th.

This will be closely followed by their new album “Dig Out Your Soul” on October 6th.

I know lots of people hate the pretentious, arrogant, gibbon-like rockers but I still love them.

Plus - it will give me a few new tunes to play on my guitar!

Via stopcryingyourheartout.com

It has been just over a month since I posted my grand plan to get 100 affiliate sites up and running by the end of the year to bring in some extra cash. - hopefully enough to pay my mortgage each month.

I have only created 4 more sites since then - so I am way off target for completing my goal.

I have started to realise that making 100 sites will bring me some money, but I will also have to do the following:

• Add unique content to each page on each site.
• Add links from other places to each site to build its profile in Google.
• Make sure each site is working all the time.
• Analyse each one regularly to monitor how people got to my site and what they came searching for and adjust it accordingly.

So, making a few sites selling high value items that are optimised is the way to go I think.

Quality not quantity

I have a total of 7 sites using the new software I bought to make them with and I am on target to earn back what I have spent already. Including the cost of the domains.

It does get addictive though.

Searching for a new niche market that has the right amount of searches in Google and the right amount of competing pages backed by a solid, regular selling high priced item that people NEED and WANT.

It’s actually fun just doing that bit!

If anyone is interested in what I am doing, I might knock together an eBook describing the process and how to make money at the end of it.

I have a confession to make.

I am into “Blogging” more than I am actually into blogging.

By that I mean that I am more interested in the whole area of writing blogs, promoting content, internet marketing, search engine optimization,keyword research and that sort of thing - rather than actually writing on my blogs.

Just the same as I am more into the technology and ideas behind Flickr - rather than photography and actually taking photos.

It’s kind of like when, after playing guitar for 15 years or so I would go to see a band play and spend more time and concentration on seeing what chords were being played rather than enjoying the music.

Writing witty posts and having fun has been replaced with the technical aspects of PHP blog plugins, search engine hacking and trying to get some extra cash from what I was writing at the same time. There was a time that I was making about $3 per day from 1 page - until Mr Google blocked the ads that were being displayed as they were against their terms of service.

I have a lot of knowledge in “this here head of mine” and it’s time I did something major with it - so here is my promise to myself I made recently:

To have 100 websites active by the end of the year that earn me money.

And - the websites will be low maintenance, self perpetuating and income generating too. I don’t have the time to spend slaving over continual blog posts or networking with other “like minded professionals” either. I just want the cold hard cash!

It will take time to get this up and running - but the seeds are out there already and growing. I now have to decide on a few things to move forward. They are technical stuff like whether to use full domains like www.megatao.com or use subdomains like moneysite1.megatao.com. There are pluses and minuses to both though - but I will not bore you with the details.

I am not going to be able to quit my day job with this scheme - but if it works and I can bring in some spare cash then I will be more than happy.

There is some initial outlay for web hosting and domain names (100 domains = aprox £500 per year!) but I would hope to recoup this easily within the first month of the 100 sites being live.

Then I can go for 200 sites by this time next year!

There are approximately 639 named skeletal muscles in the human body - and at the moment, all of them are hurting.

For Sport Relief, our office events organiser arranged a Dodgeball tournament at a local leisure centre.
For those who do not know the rules of Dodgeball, I will allow Mr Wikipedia to summarise here:

The object of the game is to eliminate all of the opposition by any of the following methods:

• Hitting an opponent with a thrown ball.
• Dropping the ball used to block an opponent’s thrown ball eliminates the blocker.
• Catching an opponents thrown ball in the air prior to its hitting the ground. Also, at that point the defending team gets a player back if any have been eliminated.
• Hitting an opponent in the face eliminates the thrower (referee’s discretion).

• The game begins by placing the 6 game balls on the center line, three on each side of the center hash mark.
• Players must place at least one foot on the end line.
• On the opening whistle, players may rush to the center line to retrieve the balls. Each team may only retrieve the balls on the right hand side of the hash mark.
• Players may only begin to throw at the opponents once the ball has been brought back over the “attack lines” closest to their own end line. At no point can any player cross over to the opposite side of the center line to the opponent’s side.

A match will consist of three, 15 minute games in which there may be multiple rounds. The first team to eliminate all 6 opponents through legal methods shall be declared the winner of that round and receive one point. A second round will then begin if time permits. The winner of the match shall be the team which has accrued the most points at the end of the match.

If neither team has eliminated the other team at the conclusion of a period, the team with the greater number of players left on the field shall be declared the winner of that period and be awarded one point.

Our team, known as Team Sleaze, were undefeated - until the final where it went to a draw which results in a one-on-one battle between the 2 best players on each team.  Our opponent plays semi-pro Dodgeball and can throw the ball at an amazing speed and with incredible accuracy - so we lost

It was really good fun - but physically, I am paying the price for it now.  Soreness, fatigue, pain and suffering.  I am right handed and my throwing arm feels dead!  Wiping my arse is great fun, I can tell you!

If you saw me in Tesco last night shuffling around with my trolley, unable to move faster than a snail and then having to slowly ease myself down into my car seat, and then pull my right leg in - you may have mistaken me for an invalid.

The cashier took pity on me though and packed some of my bags for me.

You can see Team Sleaze (and me) in action over at my Flickr page.

Note to self: You are not as fit as you think you are.  In fact - you are not fit at all.  Sort it out, lazy arse!