Feeling a Bit Under the Weather

Saturday I started developing a slight cough. It is now Wednesday and I am feeling a bit under the weather. It could be that I keep waking up early and heading to Alta where I spend an hour hiking up the mountain and skiing down. That probably won't help me feel better but I do admit that I feel rather good even during the hike up. Unfortunately my cough has gotten worse.

I have gotten to the point where if I had to go into an office, I would probably opt to work from home so as not to spread my germs and get anyone else sick. I only wish that whomever gave me the cough had done the same. I have a sneaky suspicion though that it came from a family member as I don't really interact with anyone else.

Fortunately the world of COVID made it possible for me to work from home on a regular basis. It is normal to attend meetings using Zoom, WebEx, or Microsoft Teams. Now we just need to take advantage of the technology and not go into work when we are sick. I know that isn't possible for every job but if you can use it, then please do.

A $49 Smartwatch Just Doesn't Cut It

Last Friday I received a nice surprise before leaving to do some hiking in Zion National Park. My replacement smartwatch arrived from Suunto even though I was told not to expect it until Monday. It showed up and I had time to charge the battery before the drive down to Cedar City, Utah. That means I left my cheap temporary replacement at home. I haven't used it since I took it off.

I will admit that I did get used to one or two features of my $49 smartwatch. First it is very thin compared to the Suunto. Of course it doesn't have a GPS and that does take up space. It also is noticeably brighter but that comes at a battery cost. It also had a tendency to light up the room in the middle of the night when I went to check the time.

The thing I missed the most on my Suunto is all of the various sport modes. We hiked around Zion on Saturday and it recorded our path. I can then go back and look at where we walked on my Smartphone app. It also recorded average and maximum heart rate. I never figured out how to do that on the temporary watch. Yesterday and today, I hiked and skied Alta. There is a ski touring setting that records all of the stats one could possible want, including time going up, time skiing down, vertical feet climbed, heart rate information, and a lot of other data that can help determine if you are getting stronger or not. I really missed not having all of that information. It may sound useless until you start to use it and then you find you can't live without it.

One nice thing about my temporary watch is that it does have an off button. I have charged the battery and will put it back in its case. Then I can use it should my Suunto have to go back to the service department in a year or two. I do hope it is longer than that though.

The Smartwatch Saga Continues

Yesterday I wrote about my temporary smartwatch while I wait for my Suunto 9 Baro to be repaired. Before posting to my blog, I checked the status on the Suunto customer service website and could see that they had received the watch but had not done anything with it. They publish they have several statuses but the fact that mine continued to say "Received" led me to believe they had not yet looked at it.

This morning I woke up to a text from DHL saying they had a package for me arriving on Monday. That's nice but I don't have any orders I am expecting and so I didn't click on the link in case it was a phishing attempt or worse. I went down to my computer and had two more messages from DHL. They also had a lot more information and so I knew they really did have a package for me. My inbox also contained a message from Suunto with an update about my watch.

It is important to note that my Suunto watch was well past the one-year warranty and so their message surprised me. They told me that they couldn't fix my watch and were sending me a new one free of charge. They also explained that they removed the band from my original watch and were sending it with the new one. I am pleased that Suunto stands behind their products and is replacing my watch at their expense. I am also confused.

The text and e-mail from DHL now made sense combined with the knowledge from Suunto so my package on Monday would be my replacement watch. What confuses me is that the replacement watch is coming from Hong Kong and my watch band is in Ogden, Utah. I would have expected some sort of an update from the service center saying they were working on the watch, couldn't repair it, and were sending it overseas for further evaluation. That would explain how my new watch is getting my old band. Maybe I will be getting 2 packages in the near future and one will contain the replacement with the other my old band. Ultimately I am happy to know I am getting a new watch and I didn't have to pay for it. I also didn't have to pay for shipping.

This experience reinforces my idea that you want to go with name brand smart devices. I am sure Apple would have done something similar. As for my inexpensive no-name temporary replacement. I'm sure I would be out the $49.99 I paid for it.

A Temporary Smartwatch

Last week my wife found a very inexpensive smartwatch at Amazon and ordered it for me. I think she got tired of listening to me complain about me not having my Suunto 9 Baro. I'd provide a link to the watch but at $49.99, I'm not sure it will be around very long. There are pages of equally inexpensive smartwatches and they probably all come from the same factory in China. The watch showed up on Saturday and I have worn it everyday since then.

I figured the moment I got a replacement watch, my primary watch would be repaired and returned. Nope, it is still at the Suunto Service Center waiting for them to replace the battery. At this point it has been 6 weeks and I wonder if I will ever see it again. I hope so. I love that watch. Just be forewarned that if you have a Suunto watch that needs service, it may take longer than the advertised 14 business days.

The first thing I noticed about my daily habits with the temporary replacement watch is that I am paying attention to my daily step count again. When I didn't have something telling me how far I walked every day, I stopped worrying about it. Now I am fighting daily to make sure I hit my goal of 10,000 steps per day. That is a lot of walking and I took it for granted before. A month off and I have gotten lazy. If you have the slightest concern about your personal fitness, I highly recommend having a smartwatch.

The other thing I noticed about the new watch is that I don't trust the manufacturer nor do I trust its software. I had to install a new app on my smartphone and it naturally wanted all sorts of access to information on my phone. I didn't give it any. I especially didn't allow it to read my location service. That sort of defeats part of the smartwatch experience as it can't track distance walked or where I am. As I really am only concerned about my step count, I can live without actual distance. The last thing I want is data from my smartphone being used for nefarious purposes. I guess that is one of the reasons my Suunto cost so much more is that it had its own GPS receiver. I never had to turn on location services for my smartphone.

One more thing about my temporary smartwatch is that I didn't think I would worry about checking my sleep data. I actually am. Lately I feel like I have been getting the right amount of sleep and so I checked it on my watch. I confirmed that I am.

I am not going to replace my Suunto 9 with this inexpensive smartwatch. The more costly watch has enough features to justify the cost and I eagerly anticipate its return. While I wait, this temporary one works well and helps my fitness level. In other words, it is doing its job.

Video Game Review: Horizon Forbidden West

Friday night my wife went to dinner with her siblings. I opted to stay home and finish up Horizon Forbidden West. What a great game! Now I am probably partial as I used to work for PlayStation and this is an exclusive title that I got for free when one of my former colleagues gave me a download code as a parting gift from the company. I also played the precursor Horizon Zero Dawn all the way through and enjoyed it so much I earned every trophy in the game (also known as Platinuming).

At the end of Horizon Zero Dawn you discover there is more to the story and another cataclysmic event about to happen to earth. Horizon Forbidden West is that continuation. You continue to play as Aloy and move from the Intermountain West to the West Coast of the United States. There are new lands to explore and more people to discover that are even more bloodthirsty than the previous game. Naturally you show your excellent fighting skills and are immediately accepted by everyone except the bad guys who try to kill you. While you pretty much have combat mastered with the robot dinosaurs from the previous game, you get to meet more advanced versions as well as superior robots with an extraterrestrial origin. The only downside is you don't get to keep your invincible armor from the first game. Its batteries are dead and that became a foreshadowing of what would happen to me in a lot of battles . . . I died.

If you enjoyed the first game, you probably will the second as well. There are various quests to complete and friends to meet along the way. Not all weapons are created equal and so be sure to use your interactions to learn about what works best for you. My son ran through the game and focused on the main story at the expense of side quests. I found those extra missions added to the story and I enjoyed searching out different areas in the hopes of gaining experience. When it came time for the final battle, I did very well and sort of breezed through it. I think I enjoyed the game much more than my son.

Today I got an e-mail from PlayStation congratulating me on my accomplishment of finishing the main story of the game. They also reported that I spent 116 hours playing the game and earned 47 trophies. I still have 14 more to go to Platinum the game and will probably do that over the next week or so. My son's total hours played came in at much less than that. I guess I took my time.

Horizon Forbidden West has an ESRB rating of T for Teen because of language, mild sexual themes, and violence. To be honest I didn't notice any strong language but I am sure it was there. As for violence, there is a lot of that and the blood to go with it. The story also includes hints at same-gender relationships, hence the mild sexual theme warning.

I highly recommend this game to anyone looking for a 100 hours of pure entertainment. If I had not gotten a free copy of the game, I would have had no problem paying the $65 when it first came out so I could play it on my PS5. It is also available on the PS4.

Android Gift Cards

This post originally appeared in November of 2011. Google then de-listed it because it was classified as SPAM. I asked to have it reviewed and they posted it now even though the information is outdated. For completeness, I am leaving it in the blog.

 

I am in the process of putting together my annual gift guide and I started to do a bit a research on Android Market gift cards. Guess what, they don't exist. I think it is a shame because they would make perfect stocking stuffers. When you look at Apple's iStore and compare it with Google's Android Market, they look very similar. The biggest difference though is with music. You can get iTunes gift cards from a number of retailers because most people use them to buy music. While there is some music found in the Android Market, it is mostly used to sell apps. I did see that they have a number of movies for rent and my hope is that this will spur Google to get someone selling Android Market gift cards. There is one positive aspect of Google not selling gift cards though. I have noticed that a number of free applications found on the Android Market actually cost money at the iStore. Angry Birds is a good example. There is a "lite" version on the iStore, but the complete version is available for free from the Marketplace. Perhaps not having gift cards sold all over the place is actually a good thing. What do you think?

Keep It Simple

I am working on a project at Sony related to customer data consent that I made way too complicated. As a customer, you control what vendors can do with the information you provide them. In most of the United States, purchasing a product or service requires you to opt-in to a data agreement for the company using your data before you can make the purchase. California and Europe have laws that require vendors to allow you to opt-out of letting them use it. While nobody wants their personal information sold so another company can send you unwanted advertisements, vendors often use your information to customize your experience with their product. For instance a video streaming service can use your previous viewing history to recommend new movies or shows that you may be interested in watching.

The conversations I participated in a few weeks ago led me to believe that my team would want to keep track of various levels of data tracking for our customers. I felt we should have a number of different flags for how much data we can share. For instance, we should keep track of if people will let us sell their personal data to receive advertising e-mails. Ultimately we don't need to keep track of that because: 

1. Nobody in their right mind would want to receive more junk e-mail
2. Sony doesn't sell our customer data to other companies

I created a number of other consent flags I thought people wanted to keep track of only to discovered they similarly are not needed. Ultimately all my team needs to do is keep track of being able to customize our users' experiences or not. People that opt out of letting us use their data get the most popular recommendations while everyone else will have more a more personalized experience.

California has the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and Europe has the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that impose very strict requirements on what companies can do with your data. They came about because certain companies decided they could make more money by selling customers' data than actually selling products. These laws are there to protect you from such bad actors. Unfortunately that means companies that sincerely have your best interest in mind have to do a lot of explaining so that you will allow them to use your data for your benefit.

Laws meant to protect ultimately complicate things. I am discovering that I need to then unravel the complexities and try to keep things simple. Simple systems work, complex ones tend to be much more fragile.

Fat Bear Week

Yesterday I received an e-mail that mentioned Fat Bear Week. With such a humorous name, I had to investigate and ended up voting in the contest that is run annually. I wish I would have heard about the contest sooner to help send traffic to the site as it is actually a great event and something everyone should know about.

My youngest daughter spent the summer in Alaska as a kayak guide near Valdez. I knew she would be spending the entire summer living in a tent and one of my concerns for her was that she might have too close of an encounter with a grizzly bear. She is now back home and had plenty of experiences meeting various bears, including one just outside her tent. Fortunately none of her bear sightings required medical attention but it exposed a fear I have about man-eating bears. I think we all want to keep our distance from them.

Fat Bear Week is a contest put on by the staff at Katmai National Park. It started in 2014 and gives viewers the chance to vote for the brown bear that has gotten the fattest during the summer from a diet of salmon. They show before and after photos of specific bears and anyone can vote on their favorites. They also have short bios for all of the bears in the contest so you get to know a little about each contestant. The reason it appealed to me is because of all the before/after photos I see for people dieting and this looked similar, only in reverse. Bears spend the summer building up fat stores so they can hibernate all winter. It is especially important for female bears who give birth mid-winter. If they do not have enough fat reserves, mothers will not give birth that year.

Yesterday I voted for my favorite bear and he ended up winning the contest: bear 747. His bio mentions that it is only fitting that his tag number is the same as that of Boeing's largest commercial jet aircraft. He also won the 2020 Fat Bear Week contest.

Fat Bear Week is a great use of the Internet because it allows everyone to view one of nature's most powerful creatures without being in danger. While I have a healthy fear of grizzly bears, it made them more personal and helped me want to protect them. I probably won't write a check to the Save-the-Grizzly-Bears foundation but I am more aware of their needs and apt to support measures relating to their habitat as opposed to falling back on my fears and the attitude of "protect the humans at all costs."

When I found out about Fat Bear Week, I let everyone in my family know. My kayak-guide daughter responded that she had been voting all week. I guess that shouldn't have surprised me as she is a fan of all things related to Alaska. Now I just need to add it to my calendar for next year so I remember to join in the fun.

I Have a Spare PS5

Last week I received an e-mail from PlayStation letting me know I would be given the opportunity to purchase a PlayStation 5 at the manufacturer's suggested retail price. On Wednesday, I was told to log into the PlayStation Direct site on Thursday at noon using a special link to purchase the PS5. At 12:01pm on Thursday, I logged in and found myself in a virtual queue waiting to purchase the coveted console. I was told the line was about an hour long. 10 minutes later, I was let in and purchased the device. It then arrived at my house on Saturday at 1:25pm.

This is my second PS5 and so I didn't purchase it for myself as I already have one. I got it for any of my family or friends that want one and didn't want to pay the scalpers for it. So far, nobody has taken me up on my offer to sell it to them for what I paid, $536.24. I used to work for Sony Interactive Entertainment and am contractually not allowed to sell it for a higher price than I paid. While I no longer work for PlayStation, I do work for Sony and am honoring the agreement just to be sure. I would hate to have Sony cut off my account, which is something they could easily do.

I sent out messages to all of my family members on Saturday and everyone declined my offer. Next I talked to a few people that have expressed interest in the past about getting a PS5. They are still thinking about it. I am reluctant to advertise too widely about my device as I don't want someone buying it only to turn around and resell it for a profit. I looked at the usual retail sites like Walmart, Gamestop, Best Buy, Target, and a few others only to confirm the console is still hard to find. It is.

If you can convince me you will keep the PS5 for your own use and not resell it for a profit, you are welcome to buy it from me for the price I paid.

What I'd Like to See in the Metaverse

Yesterday I posted about the Metaverse. Today I would like to dive a little deeper and share what I would like to see. Given the recent pandemic we all have learned a lot about our tolerance for staying inside. I recently visited Disneyland and chose the dates I did because it was supposed to be empty. Everyday it was crowded and full to capacity because travel restrictions have lifted and that is what people want to do: visit places they haven't been able to because of COVID-19. I also recently tried to book a trip to Zion National Park as it has been a few years since I have been there. Hotel rates are $600-$700 per night in the town just outside the park because so many people want to visit. In order for me to stay home and spend more time inside, the Metaverse better offer something really special and unique.

I love skiing in the winter and rock climbing in the summer. I also enjoy spending time on my bike or sailing. How can you create a world that has a better experience than the activities I enjoy outside? Let's start with exercise.

Today I went for a beautiful bike ride at lunch. Soon the weather will turn ugly and while I have the equipment to ride outside in the pouring rain, I will probably ride inside on my stationary bicycle. Currently I just put in my ear buds and listen to music. I don't use my over-the-ear headphones because they get all sweaty and nasty. I doubt I would ever put on virtual reality (VR) goggles for the same reason. Perhaps I could set my indoor bike up in front of a TV and bike in a virtual world. I have an unused 60-inch television in my office that I could use for such a purpose. Furthermore it is capable of 3D movies and could create a wonderful indoor biking experience. While that does require glasses, I wear sunglasses on my daily ride and so it wouldn't be that much of a bother. The important thing to remember is that I can't be expected to wear cumbersome goggles while I exercise.

I mentioned how I visited Disneyland a few weeks ago. How much is it worth to me to visit an online version of the park in the Metaverse? Probably not much even though you wouldn't have to wait in line for hours on end to ride the rides. There is something about having the wind in your face and feeling the motion of the roller coaster as you experience Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, or Thunder Mountain Railroad. That would be hard to replicate at home even with smart devices like an Internet-controlled fan or a perfectly timed bucket of water. However the more gentle rides like the Jungle Cruise, Peter Pan, or Snow White could become a more magical experience than they are at the theme park. I also would like to see earlier versions of the park. Perhaps even visit the park I remember as a child. I would pay real money to experience opening day at Disneyland which is something only possible in VR.

My daughter has a shirt that says, "Hike the Crimson Canyon of Mars National Park." We have robots on the red planet right now collecting high-quality images of our planetary neighbor. NASA could easily put together a VR experience without the unnecessarily long and dangerous space flight to get there. That is something I would like to see. I would also like to see all of the places in the world that are difficult or dangerous to visit. I have sailed a relatively small boat through several massive storms and I don't want be put in such a dangerous situation again. However I wouldn't mind being able to appreciate the power of Mother Nature from the comfort and safety of my living room.

Unfortunately the visions I am describing do not suit the tastes of all. There are bound to be online destinations that offend in the same way we have websites of the same genres now. As I said yesterday, the Metaverse is here now and so hopefully we can apply some of the same barriers to keep our children from wandering into the dangerous destinations soon to arrive.

What is the Metaverse

Today I watched a presentation on the Metaverse and the speaker began by talking about what it is not. He prefaced those remarks by saying that he would be breaking a fundamental rule by so doing. I don't fault him for it as quite a few people are trying to define what it is and a number of companies are working to help create it in the hopes of making large fortunes.

Before continuing  I have to go back a few years when Facebook changed it's name to Meta. Facebook was created as an online social site where people could go share the highlights of their lives. With the passing of time they realized that people will continue to evolve with how they interact online and it is no coincidence that Meta is one of the leaders promoting the Metaverse. It would not surprise me if they try to trademark the name as it so closely matches their own company name.

Ultimately the Metaverse is already in existence and is simply how we interact online. Just as any technology evolves, so will the Metaverse. Right now we use a computer, tablet, smartphone, or game console to interact online. Those tools that we use will evolve to include virtual reality (VR) headsets and augmented reality (AR) glasses. There will be other inventions to come along so that it might evolve into an environment similar to the OASIS from the movie Ready Player One. Unfortunately that is our interpretation of the Metaverse and most likely it will be different. Just as we currently have multiple devices capable of browsing the Internet, the Metaverse won't require VR glasses, they will just be helpful to get the full experience of the environment.

One of the topics that surfaced in the presentation I watched included current video games. There are a number of wondrous worlds created for the latest video games and it would be enjoyable to spend more time in them. Often times we are rushed through the action adventure story and never get the chance to stop and enjoy the environment we are in. I feel that way about my current game, Horizon: Forbidden West. While I could just stop, sit on a rock, and watch a sunrise in the game, there isn't enough sensory stimulation in my current interface to make me want to stop. Perhaps that will be there in the future.

There are some other video games that could become building blocks to the Metaverse. The two big ones mentioned are Roblox and Minecraft. Both allow you to build and create things. I always tell people that Minecraft is like Legos without the mess. The reason they are important is that they show how users can add to their existing game environment. Imagine being able to create your own world and then watch how popular it becomes as others come to explore it. It reminds me of my YouTube channel and the importance of acquiring new viewers. Of course some will want to keep their worlds to themselves but there is an inherent trait in most to share their art with others.

Right now the Metaverse is in its infancy and is built on the current Internet infrastructure. It is how we interact socially online and will grow and blossom as we create more content for it. Will any one company control it? I hope not. I also hope that it becomes a benefit for us instead of another waste of time.

I Miss My Smartwatch

A few weeks ago I noticed that my watch was having difficulty holding a charge for any length of time. A quick Internet search revealed that the rechargeable battery probably needed to be replaced. I boxed it up and sent it to the Suunto service center in Ogden, Utah. Suunto even provided me with a UPS label so I didn't have to pay for shipping. At least not yet.

The service center has had my watch for 3 weeks now and probably will for a few more as they have a large backlog of devices to fix. I really miss my watch. While it is helpful for telling time, it actually does so much more and so I eagerly await its return.

A lot of millennials don't wear watches because they just look at the time on their smartphones. I figured I would give that a try until my watch is sent back. All I can say is that pulling my phone out to check the time is kind of a hassle compared to looking at my wrist. I don't check it enough and find myself being late to quite a few appointments. For this reason alone, I am thinking of picking up a cheap watch to use until my Suunto 9 is returned. Fortunately a lot of the millennials that have refused to wear a watch have fallen in love with Apple's Smartwatch and have started wearing them. This doesn't explain why they are still always late but let's hope that gets better.

The second thing I have noticed is that I am not exercising as much as I did when I had my Smartwatch. I still try to get out for my daily bike ride but I have stopped taking as many evening walks. The exercise feature of most Smartwatches allows you to track distance walked, steps taken, and pulse. These are all great indicators of how much exercise I am getting and something I track daily. I really miss this information and am thinking about getting a cheap Smartwatch with these features until my primary one is returned.

I used to constantly check my sleep quality when I first started wearing my Suunto 9. Fortunately I have learned what habits contribute to good sleep and don't check it nearly as often as I am sleeping very well. When I don't have quality sleep at night, I know it and adjust my habits to fix it. I guess that is something I don't need in a temporary replacement watch.

My wife is probably tired of listening to me complain about my missing watch. Last night she suggested that I find a temporary replacement until mine is returned. I guess I had better set a budget and minimum features I can't do without. If I use the health features on my phone, I can probably just get a simple watch that is waterproof and tells time. Time to go do some research.

Efficient E-Mail

I spent last week traveling around the United States. I had to go to Los Angeles for work during the first half of the week and then to visit my son with his family in Ohio. During that time, I built up quite a bit of e-mail and so I spent today going through all the messages I put off until I got home.

While in Los Angeles, I got to spend some face-to-face time with my boss and could see that he has very few e-mails sitting in his inbox. I consistently have over 100, and that is much better than I used to be when I had close to 1000. I could still improve and so I hope to share a few tricks that I hope to use more myself.

Growing up my dad always counseled that you should try to touch an item only once. He generally meant that for cleaning up the house but it also applies to efficiency with e-mail. When you get and receive an e-mail, you should try to deal with it immediately instead of going through all of your messages and then going back to respond to the important ones. This is an area where I could use some help.

My wife is someone that likes everything put away. If she sees something out, she will put it away. If it is a new item and there is no home for it, she will make one, sometimes without telling me where it ended up and so I have to hunt for it. I tend to let things rest on a shelf or counter for way too long. The same holds true for my inbox. Most e-mail programs have folders to help you sort and keep those important messages. I have started creating folders but could probably be better at it. Then so many e-mails won't clutter my inbox.

Finally, not all e-mails need to be saved. This is one area I am great at. I have my trash folder set to delete messages after 1 to 2 months depending upon if it is my personal or work e-mail. Should I accidentally delete something, I can always rummage through the trash and find it for a short time. There are a lot of unneeded e-mails that can be deleted and so don't feel bad throwing them away.

I'm sure there are a few more ways to keep your inbox down to only a few messages. I would be interested in finding out other tricks so don't hesitate to leave a comment and let me know what works for you.