Health Tech

The Revolution is Televised … But Will it be Subsidized?

Last year chef Jamie Oliver made a big splash by heading into a small school district in West Virginia and looking at what the kids were being fed … and then tracking back to homes and seeing the source of the issues. While our own kids are not overweight, several of their friends are (and there are some kids – girls in particular – with fed issues of different types) so it was a great discussion. It turns out that the food choices our kids have might be somewhat better than those in the West Virginia school system shown, but…

Editorials

Jenny McCarthy: Still Sticking with Debunked Autism Theory and Using ‘Mob Mind’ as Excuse

There are conspiracy theories everywhere that describe nearly every major political and social event throughout history, but until recently most common sense people simply dismissed them while allowing the theorists the ability to hold their nonfalsifiable opinions. Now there are those who think that conspiracy might be replacing democracy as the primary motivation in some people’s minds – in other words, they see every choice as motivated by some secret undercurrent hidden to most people. Most of these conspiracies are harmless differential theories that have an alternate explanation to an event. However, there have always been certain ‘lunatic fringe’ elements…

Gear Bits

GD Quickie: What in the World is this Crazy Old Man Doing??

What is this crazy old man in the nightgown doing? Is he- A. Playing the bongos on his head B. Pretending to be Carnac the Magnificent C. Taking his temperature without anything having to actually touch him? If you said C you are absolutely right. Elana took her dad to the hospital for a follow-up on some surgery he had a few weeks back and saw this new way of taking temperatures for the first time. The Exergen Coproration‘s mission is to “Change the way the world takes temperature”. Yup, without even having to touch Mark’s forehead the nurses were…

News

Guns Don’t Save Lives; Skin Guns Save Lives

Now THIS is an amazing use of technology for good. Did you know that the current method of helping burn victims through skin grafts takes weeks or months to heal but that can be brought down to literally an hour? It’s true and a National Geographic program will focus on the innovation that makes it possible. The “Skin Gun” takes stem cells from a burn victim’s healthy skin (not the controversial kind) and mixes them with a solution that then allows doctors to literally spray new skin on. Apparently it is LITERALLY like spray painting but with a far more…

News

Toe Salad, a Social and Review Site for Minimal Running!

It’s no secret that some of us at Gear Diary are big fans of shoes like Vibram Five Fingers. But VFFs are far from the only minimalist shoes available! These days it seems like every major running company has a minimal shoe in their lineup, and there are dozens of small shoemakers all trying to carve out a place in this new niche. Unfortunately, unless you’re lucky enough to live near a major city or a very progressive running store, you need to turn to the internet to figure out what shoe might work for your minimal running adventures. It…

Events, News

Nike Introduces the Nike+ SportWatch

Garmin has been the undisputed leader of GPS running watches for several years. Timex and Polar have similar devices, but neither has captured running hearts quite like the Garmin Forerunner line. Nike has the “poor man’s Garmin” with their Nike+ system, and at CES they stepped it up with a new GPS-based Nike watch. According to Nike: Starting April 1st, get the extra push you need with the Nike+ SportWatch GPS powered by TomTom. Not only does it track what you do, it tracks how you do it, then makes you want to do it again and again. Here’s how:…

Reviews

Review: emWave Desktop

Christmas time can be an incredibly stressful time of year. Some of the reasons for this stree may be seeing family you haven’t seen in a year. Or perhaps facing a long drive with a car full of kids. Or even the stress of finding the perfect gift for that hard to buy for loved one. We all need a way to de-stress. Emwave sent me their desktop software to test. Will it help? HeartMath’s emWave Desktop is a desktop version of the portable heart math tool. Heart Math or heart coherence is a technique that many have proclaimed helps reduce stress…

Editorials

Beware the Ice Pack, a Post-Run Safety PSA

Yesterday Carly shared one of what I consider to be the more important posts in recent memory (a close second to Michael’s post the other day). Carly related the story of a woman running with headphones on who “turned left abruptly, and went directly into the path of an oncoming bicycle.” The post highlights the potential danger of running or biking with headphones on. Increasingly we are (finally) talking about the issue of distracted driving. The fact is, distracted exercise is also an issue, and it is one that Larry has warned me about numerous times. Well, along similar lines…

News

8 Month Old Deaf Baby’s Reaction To Cochlear Implant Being Activated

A cochlear implant (CI) is a surgically implanted electronic device that provides a sense of sound to a person who is profoundly deaf or severely hard of hearing. The cochlear implant is often referred to as a bionic ear. According to Wikipedia, as of April 2009, approximately 188,000 people worldwide had received cochlear implants; in the United States, about 30,000 adults and over 30,000 children are recipients. There has been an ongoing debate in the deaf community over the use of this procedure. For some deaf individuals cochlear implants are an affront to their culture, which as they view it, is a minority…

News

Work Gear Review- The Ergotron WorkFit Sit-Stand Desk

I have a bad back, and when it goes out I have a very difficult time sitting for extended period. This can be more than a slight problem in light of the fact that, between my work as a rabbi and my work on the site, I do so much writing. At times I’ve ended up placing my keyboard on a box and typing … and that way works, but it’s not the best solution. That is the reason I was thrilled when Ergotron reached out to me and asked if I might be interested in reviewing one of their…

Reviews

Android App Review: Instant Heart Rate

You can use your smartphone in many ways to track your health; to keep an eye on what you eat, how far you run, how often you work out, etc. And now, you can also use your phone camera to track your heart rate! I don’t know much about medicine, but according to the app, it works “similar way [sic] as a medical pulse oximeter but without a dedicated light source.” Now, to paraphrase Dr. McCoy, Dammit I’m a geek, not a doctor…so I consulted my good buddy Wikipedia: A blood-oxygen monitor displays the percentage of arterial hemoglobin in the…

News

State of the ‘Obese-itude’: CalorieLab Releases the 2009 State-by-State Obesity Map

While the numbers displayed are staggering, that map only tells part of the story: – It is only about adults. – It displays obesity, not % overweight. CalorieLab has been tracking obesity in states for several years, and has been tweaking their methods over time, now depending on a three-year rolling average to smooth out spikes and look at long-term issues. Somewhat disturbing is that they have had to change their scales (pun intended) because the obesity trends just keep getting worse: because of the overall increase in obesity, CalorieLab this year again shifted the color coding used in its…

Health and Fitness

C25K: Larry Is too Cool for School

Week of 6 of the C25K program is in the books. Only three more weeks to go. Here’s how this week’s workouts looked: Larry: If you follow me on Twitter you may have noticed the lack of Tweets related to the C25K program this week. No it wasn’t a Twitter failure. Judie: And if you follow me on Twitter, you may have noticed the same lack of Tweets; that was not a Twitter failure, either. Larry: I was all set to follow this week’s plan until I ran until my old marathon training buddy at my neighborhood’s swimming pool over…

Reviews

Calorie Counter by FatSecret for iPhone/Touch/iPad

As I explained in a recent review, about six years ago I lost a large amount of weight and began getting back into shape. I have kept up a strenuous workout routine until just recently. The stresses of work, kids, bills and most of all graduate school caused me to begin to slack on my workouts. I was still jogging or lifting weights, but only a couple days a week at best rather than my six days of disciplined workouts. During that time, I briefly tried a few apps on my phone to help count calories but my heart, energy…

News

Morning Chicness Bags … Making Vomiting Stylish!

My wife always says that stuff available for pregnant women these days is much more stylish than when she was pregnant. Now I’m not a pregnant woman, nor do I play one on TV, but after the many difficult pregnancies that eventually resulted in our two wonderful boys … I can’t think of anything that would making the vomiting associated with morning sickness stylish. Less Nasty? Perhaps … and in that case, these bags just might do the trick! Check out the amazing selection of bags: So what do you think – is the next big trend just waiting to…

Reviews

Wii Thrustmaster Motion Plus Elite Fitness Pack – Review

Almost a year ago I was sent a Nintendo Wii as a birthday present by a good friend. About a month later my then six-year-old niece and nephew heard about it and were excited to send me, via their mom, my sister, a Nintendo Wiifit pack. Some time ago I was sent the “Wii Thrustmaster Motion Plus Elite Fitness Pack”. It contained a number of accessories to work with the Wii fit system. Here is the confession — I played with the Wii for a few weeks and then didn’t touch it again for quite some time. I opened up…

Reviews

Skin MD Natural Shielding Lotion, a GearChat Review

Judie: I was recently offered the chance to review Skin MD Natural Shielding Lotion, and figuring that I probably wasn’t the only female on the Gear Diary staff who was going through weather-related skin issues, I requested extra samples so that Carly, Jessica and Amy could also give it a try. Since we all have different skin types, and we all have different issues, I thought that it would be good to gather notes from all of us based on our experience with the product. For those of you with absolutely no concern for softer skin without smelling like a…

Reviews

Oregon Scientific Marathon Walker Measures Your Progress Step By Step

The Marathon Walker from Oregon Scientific is a pedometer that measures the distance (steps or KM/Miles) you walk or run. Unlike other more basic pedometers the Marathon Walker uses accelerometer technology. This means you’ll obtain a reading whether you clip it to your belt or slip it into a pocket. I’m an avid walker so when the company sent us one to test I jumped at the chance.

News

Universal Accessibility Becomes Mainstream (and Profitable!)

Loving that new shuffle with VoiceOver? Dictating all your emails instead of typing them? You may not think about it, but many of those improvements and technological bounds come from a specific area of research; accessibility for people with disabilities. Businessweek has a great article about how voiceover, Apple’s love it or hate it system in the new Shuffles, comes from accessibility designs in Mac OS X. Further, there is an argument that many businesses can learn from the innovations needed to create “universal access” for specific disabilities, and turn it into features that can make the experience better for…

News

Transit cover provides a barrier between seat and you – does nothing to stop germs from that hacking fat guy seated next to you

Travel slipcovers seem like a great idea. They slip over most transit seats and provide a barrier between you and the presumably germ laden seat. The cover includes a headrest pillow pocket to hold your own travel sized pillow. Unfortunately it won’t stop the coughing guy next to you from spreading the flu. If the germs don’t get you the 100 people waiting in the aisle while you unfold and spread this seat cover just might do you in. Transit Cover – $14.99

Editorials

Buying Prescription Eyeglasses Online – Why You Should Consider It

In 1999, I had Lasik surgery to correct my severe nearsightedness and astigmatism. At that time I was 32 years old, and I had been wearing prescription eyeglasses or contacts since I was 12. I have the ugly yearbook photos to prove it — just ask anyone who went to school with me in Eldorado. 😉 Because of my vision problems, it became a yearly ritual to go to an ophthalmologist or optometrist, have my eyes checked, get a prescription, and get a new pair of glasses; at best there may have been one or two years where I kept…

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