Google Enabling Offline Access! (Super Geeky)

This is pretty amazing. One of my major gripes about Google Calendar and Google Notebook (that you can only use them when you’re online) may be answered soon. Looks like Google is rolling out a new service called Google Gears that will allow you to store data for various Google applications (right now only Google Reader is supported) offline, on your hard drive. Then, when you get online again, you can synchronize any changes. This is great for anyone who uses Google Reader to read their RSS feeds and travels a lot (now you can read your RSS feeds while on the plane!). Eventually, if they make it work with Google Calendar, Gmail, Google Notebook… I think this could be a huge blow to Microsoft Outlook. I know that I’d probably switch from Outlook to Google Calendar/Gmail in a second if they 1) do actually implement this offline access thing well, and 2) implement better mobile device integration.

Launch: Access your Google Reader feeds offline with Google Gears [Lifehacker]

RunGeek: Training Logs (Long post)

One thing that definitely sets the hard-core runners apart from regular fitness runners: the training log.

I’m not talking about a running journal, like this blog, where you might write down your mileage and how you felt on the run and maybe reflect on the deeper meaning of life. I’m talking about a goal-oriented fanatic’s detailed record of miles run, time, average heart rate, max heart rate, outdoor weather conditions and temperature during the run, which shoes you were wearing… the list of things some people record goes on and on. This data gets collected religiously over time, and then plotted onto graphs and charts that break down the runs into easy runs, interval runs, tempo runs, races, cross-training… you name it, someone has tried to to analyze it in a chart.

Why would anyone get so wrapped up in breaking down the very primal act of running into cold objective data? Well, the most obvious reason is for competitive runners who are trying to track their training progress. Having a detailed log of your training can help you create a plan as you lead up to a big race or event. Also, it helps you figure out what worked and what didn’t after the event. The running journal helps you analyze particular runs – it helps you remember specific injuries, route, gear that’s working for you and gear that isn’t, etc. The running log is about analyzing trends over time using objective data, to see how you’re improving (or not). Many people combine both into one place, and often people use the two terms interchangeably to mean either or both. But I make a distinction because one is about subjective recollection, and the other is about objective data.

I think it would be really easy to get carried away with this data collection, and like most data-point collection moments in my life, I’ve spent more time than I care to disclose searching for the perfect running log to record my running data. I started out thinking this running journal was going to be it, but then I realized that I don’t want to mix my data with my subjective thoughts about particular runs – and besides, what kind of geek would I be if I kept data points buried within a journal, with no way to analyze them properly with some kind of table, chart or graph?

So a little while back I started using FitnessJournal.org, which has a nice clean interface. Unfortunately, as I started to become more serious about running and as I started to think about entering races and establishing goals, I realized that FitnessJournal is not really a runner-oriented log, but more of an overall fitness log. Many runners use it, as do triathletes and others, but for me the deal-breaker was the limited ability to generate useful tables and charts with my data to give me really useful information about my running at a glance. In fact, FitnessJournal seems more oriented towards tracking how much time you spend on fitness activities, rather than distance. It’s too bad, because I really did like the virtual journey map function (which, by the way, I will no longer be using). For anyone who is looking for a good way to keep an online journal of all of their various fitness activities and their nutrition, I highly recommend it, though.

Then I thought about using Excel, but I really only have a white-belt in Excel Geek-Fu, so creating my own Excel log would have taken a lifetime. I found a really good Excel-based running log online that was created by a runner/optometrist who clearly has some serious geek chops. This Excel file is definitely the result of some thought and testing, and I am in awe of its creator. I started playing with it and was amazed at all of the pre-generated charts that track various trends in your running history. It also has a very nice planning tool to help you plan your training in advance and then compares this to your actual training to see if you’re meeting your training goals. Then came the inevitable “Do I really want to have an offline-only setup that requires me to carry a file around on a thumbdrive and requires me to find a computer with Microsoft Excel?” dilemma. I may come back to this log some day when I decide to earn my yellow belt in Excel so I can tweak with it a little bit.

So finally I stumbled upon RunningAHEAD.com, which was created by runner/programmer originally so that he could track his own running history. In the developer’s words:

“Like I said before, I started keeping a record of my daily runs using Microsoft Excel back in 2003. The advantage of using Excel was I can create graphs to my heart’s content. Aside from the obvious daily/weekly/monthly distance graphs that some sites offer, I would like to see how my pace is affected by temperature, or if I run better at a certain time of day.

As I accumulated more data from runs, it became more tedious to create the graphs. It would be nice to be able to create the charts with a few key presses. It was then that I decided to move to a web based solution.

…I showed it off to my friends and coworkers and they urged me to make it publicly available. Some of them suggested charging money for its use so that I can recuperate the amount of time and money that I spent on it. I wanted it to be free because I had fun creating it, and it can be my contribution to the running community.”

I challenge you to find a truer friend to all geeky runners out there. Anyway, as someone who was looking for a simple – but complete – tool to track all of my running history that can easily be analyzed using easy-t0-use charts and graphs, this website hit the nail on the head. It also has a pretty active community of users who share knowledge and tips through a discussion forum, and has a mapping tool that allows you to plot your own courses, share them with others, and search for courses that others have mapped out. And it’s free!

Anyone who wants to track nearly every detail of their runs, give RunningAhead a try. You won’t regret it.

Blog Platform Dilemma

Now that I’ve switched over to WordPress.com, I’m finding these cool javascript badges that I want to incorporate into this journal but can’t, because of WordPress.com’s decision to prohibit javascript for security reasons.

So I do feel a little bit of swticher’s remorse, now that I’ve left Blogger.com.  Well, I guess I could switch back, but somehow I don’t think Blogger has a cool import tool for easy transferring of an entire blog, like WordPress does.

Moral of the story: tinker too much, and you might get burned.

RSS Readers – Feed Me!

I’m not sure how many of you guys read a bunch of different blogs, newspapers, and other sites with regularly updated content, but if you’ve tried you know that you can spend a huge amount of time just checking the sites to see if they’ve been updated.

I just wanted to suggest that everyone use an RSS reader to aggregate all the different media sources you check, so that you can have all your content in one place, regularly updated, for easy reading. Conceptually, think of how you can subscribe to Podcasts in iTunes, only instead of audio (and now I guess video) content, you do it with text. It’s basically the same thing, and I think most aggregators also handle media files.

I personally use Google Reader to keep up with all the different blogs and news sites I try to follow. It saves me a ton of time. A lot of people like to use Bloglines. I believe Firefox even has an aggregator built into it, though I don’t use it. If you want one that isn’t web-based… well, there are just so many. I used to use Mozilla Thunderbird, which is also a pretty good email client. There are ton of different RSS feed aggregators out there, and I haven’t really done much experimenting. Google Reader works for me, and it’s nice because I can access it at any online computer, just like my beloved Gmail. So, sniff around for a good reader that you like. Start subscribing to content, and see how much time you save if you’re already surfing around to several of the same sites regularly to check for updated news, sales, deals, gossip, reviews, essays… etc.

(Oh, and if it’s not too much trouble, subscribe to my blog, too. The feed link is at the bottom of the page.)

Ubiquitous Notetaking on the Treo and the Blackberry

For anyone who has a Blackberry, or is thinking about switching to a Blackberry, I thought I’d share a recent discovery that convinced me to switch from my Palm Treo 650 to a Blackberry: ideaMatrix.

First a little background: I’ve been a Palm user since 2000. The Palm operating system was great for what I needed: a reliable calendar and contacts manager – and the games and other entertaining aspects of it didn’t hurt either. But, since I launched my law practice, I’m finding that I need more reliable mobile access to my email, and the problem I’m having with the Treo is that it’s constantly restarting or locking up.

So I recently I started thinking about switching to a Blackberry, but one thing was keeping me on the Treo: I’ve been using a journaling application called Daynotez as an all-purpose note-taking database. In fact, it’s quite possibly the most used app I have on the Treo. The great thing about Daynotez is that on the Treo, you just launch the app and start typing and it creates a new note entry that is date- and time-stamped. I use the companion desktop app practically every day at work. It’s perfect for transcribing voicemail messages, taking notes during calls with clients, writing down important info when I’m on the phone with customer service reps, and just jotting down random information like phone numbers and stuff that I might want to use again later. I rarely lose any information, because it’s all in there (if I remember to put it in there), and searching for a particular entry is quick. For any Getting Things Done users, it’s basically my Ubiquitous Capture Tool. (For anyone who is still using a Treo, I highly recommend Daynotez, if you couldn’t tell already.)

So the thought of switching to a Blackberry and losing one of the most useful tools I have that keeps me sane really had me reconsidering. But after some diligent searching, I found ideaMatrix for the Blackberry, which looks to be a really excellent note-taking and information-organizing tool. It doesn’t have a desktop companion (which would make it perfect) but it does have what some might consider to be a better alternative: it synchronizes over-the-air to a server, where your notes database is accessible via a web-based client. Now that web-based software (like Google Apps) seem to be taking over, I suppose this may be better than only being able to access my notes from a single computer that has the desktop software installed. My only concern is not having keyboard shortcuts. Keyboard shortcuts are very important to me.

So the switch to the Blackberry is imminent. I’ll post any other discoveries that might be useful once I actually start using the new smart phone.

a quick aside on ubiquitous capture…

If you’ve bothered to read this far, I applaud your determination. (Bear with me, I’m a relative noob to blogging and brevity is not one of my strengths, but I’m working on it.) I also wanted to mention quickly the benefits of having a tool like Daynotez or Ideamatrix or a mini-notepad or even just a bunch of notecards clipped together with you all the time to jot down random thoughts and bits of information. Anyone who has read Getting Things Done by David Allen knows that one of the things he emphasizes is getting all the random thoughts out of your head, into a system that you trust you’ll come back to later, so that you don’t stress out about potentially forgetting things. This allows you to reach a state of mental clarity and focus on the task at hand. Some people already do this without having to read a book about it or spend countless hours reinforcing the habit. But for the rest of us who have at various times been really scattered, frazzled, overwhelmed by trying to keep everything in our heads, give it a try. For one week, try carrying around a notebook, or notecards, or anything that you can find to jot down any random thought in your head. Try not to hold anything in your head. At the end of each day, take all those thoughts and put them into whatever task-management system you have, and see if you don’t maybe feel a little more in control and less like there might be some random commitment or task lurking in your brain somewhere that you’ve forgotten. When it works, it’s like magic.