The Gadgets Page

The directions for bicycle speedometers say to attach the sensor to your front tire. When you use a bicycle trainer (like the CycleOps Trainer I reviewed last week), the front tire remains stationary and the only tire that is moving is the back tire. Is it possible to attach the sensor to the back tire? Does it affect the mileage calculation?

If your back tire is the same size as your front tire (most are), then you won’t have to reprogram your speedometer. If you just bought your speedometer, then you’ll have to program it using the size of your back wheel. The Bell Spinfit Calorie Speedometer, which is the speedometer I have on my bike, has plenty of wire to reach the back tire. Attaching it to the back tire was actually easier for me than attaching it to the front because I didn’t need to figure out what to do with all the extra cord.

The biggest problem with attaching the sensor to the back tire is that the frame is further from the spokes on the back tire. The Bell Speedometer didn’t have a problem with that and I was able to position the sensor so that it was close enough to the magnet on the spokes. Other brands might need some help with this matter. One way of bringing the sensor closer would be to wrap electricians tape or duct tape around the frame until the sensor was close enough to the spokes. This might interfere with removing the back tire, so if you have to do that often, take that into account. As it was, I was able to attach it quite easily using cable ties (the bright green bands pictured here).

Ironically, a workout on an indoor trainer is a lot harder than one outside in the real world, so the eight and a half miles I did on my last workout felt so intense that I couldn’t believe that I only went eight miles. It’s not a problem with the speedometer, however, the resistance is just so much that I get an incredible workout. It feels like I’m going uphill the entire time.

The entire process of changing my speedometer from my front tire to my back tire took a total of about five minutes. The hardest part was getting past my fear of putting it on the back tire. I thought that if the sensor was meant to be put on the back tire, then they would have given alternate directions for it. As far as I can tell, as long as the sensor can reach the magnet on the spoke, there is no problem with putting it on the back tire instead of the front. The best part is that I get a measurement of my workouts in something more than time.

I purchased the CycleOps Mag Indoor Bike Trainer a few days ago. Once the snow started to fall here in Salt Lake City, I sadly locked up my bike, thinking I wouldn’t see it again for at least four months. I resigned myself to ill-fitting exercise bikes at the gym. I just wished I could ride my own bike instead. This trainer gave me the chance. Read more to find out whether it’s a pain in the butt or not…

At the store, the salesmen said that I needed to change my back tire to a slick. The first salesman said that the trainer wouldn’t work with a mountain bike tire. The second salesman said that it would work, it would just make a horrible noise and vibrate my house to pieces. I even had a man who had purchased a trainer who was in the store buying a tire to put on his bike to make the vibration stop. I must have really strange mountain bike tires because mine works fine. There is some vibration and a little noise, but it’s quieter than the exercise bike I used to have and it’s quiet enough for Mike to sleep through my workout this morning.

Attaching the bike to it was pretty easy, especially since I didn’t need to change my back tire. I didn’t change the quick release lever because the one on my bike was the same style. All I had to do was adjust it a little and attach my bike. I was able to ride it within 30 minutes of opening the box.

Working out with the trainer is actually harder than riding my bike around town. I rode my bike to work every day for months and the only time it was really difficult was when I had to ride up the huge hill that goes over I-15 and the train tracks. Now, with the tension settings on the trainer and my gears, I can make it hard enough that I can barely move the pedals. Hopefully, I’ll work up to that level, but for now, I can keep my heart rate above 70% of Max with the gears at a much lower level. Even the lowest gear possible is high enough to almost put me in the 60% of Max zone. I’m so glad I have a heart rate monitor. I would be tempted to push myself a little too hard with this gadget.

The trainer comes with a workout DVD. I did a review of the DVD for Starling Fitness and you can see it here:

• Starling Fitness » CTS Train Right Videos

The front of the bike would be kind of loose and tilty if I didn’t get a riser. I got the Kinetic Riser Block. It has four heights, so you’re pretty likely to find one that feels good and works with your trainer. This one seemed a lot more stable than the CycleOps Riser Block.

On the whole, I’ve been very pleased with the CycleOps Bike Trainer. Being able to workout in my home on my own bike is so much better than going to the gym and trying to get comfortable on the one-size-fits-all exercise bikes.

At first, I was shocked when I saw young kids with cell phones, but I see it more and more every day. I actually understand why parents would allow their children to have cell phones. It makes them more accessible and are handy in an emergency. I remember many a cold day searching for a pay phone so I could call my mom. A cell phone would have come in handy back then.

This article tries to address the factors that should be weighed when deciding whether a child is worthy of getting a gadget.

• Happy News – Parents weigh when kids should get gadgets – Associated Press

It talks about maturity levels and mentions that there really is no hard and set rule. They do have a word of advice if you do decide to get a gadget for a child:

“Setting such limits is important, experts say. Just as parents make rules for use of the family car, they should set limits on use of computers, and gadgets.”

I’m always wary when the mysterious “Experts” say anything, but I think it’s sound advice. More importantly, I would have liked to see more advice on knowing when a child is ready for such a device. One indicator is whether they are willing to put their money where their mouth is.

My mom was always willing to get us the gadgets we wanted, but I think she had a test for us. She would tell me that if I wanted something, I would have to save up my allowance for it. By the time I got about fifty percent of the money, she would be willing to chip in the other fifty percent. Sometimes, on particularly big purchases, she would tell me up front that if I could save half the money, she would pay the other half. That always worked. When I was saving up those dollars to buy the Barbie Star Traveler, I had to weigh every penny to see if it was worth it. I think if parents did the same thing as my mom did, they would KNOW that their child really wanted the gadget and was worthy of it.

On Monday, Salt Lake City finally got an Apple store. Mike and I usually have to drive all the way to Vegas to sidle up to a Genius Bar. Now, we have it right in the heart of our city. The locals were very excited about the opening and camped out in the 27° weather to be the first in line. There is a link to a V-Cast of the event on Blurbomat’s site:

• Blurbomat | Meth

I like Apple products. I think they have the best design around, barely narrowing Sony out of the picture. I just don’t need any iPods, PowerBooks, or iMacs right now. I usually save those purchases for a trip to Vegas or San Diego. Being able to walk in and buy an Apple product straight from the source in my hometown is a strange feeling for me.

All I know is that I’m avoiding the crowds until after the Christmas Season.

With a paranoid title like that, I had to read the article in full.

PCWorld.com – 20 Things They Don’t Want You to Know

Here’s my take on their “secrets.” I’ve included links to the most interesting.

• Your CPU May Be Much Faster Than You Think: I knew that overclocking could make my computer faster, but I’m not about to rip apart things and add fans just to increase the speed a little bit.

• You Never Have to Pay Full Price: Ever since Priceline.com hired William Shatner to tell me that I could get good deals on the Internet, I have been watching things like a hawk. That’s what it takes to get the good deals: logging on every day and checking the price of what you want to buy.

• Faster Shipping Isn’t Always Faster: They’re right, sometimes regular shipping will get to you just as fast as two-day.

• You Can Kill the Messenger: I haven’t had any trouble with MSN Messenger running in the background.

• Extended Warranties Aren’t Worth It: It depends on how clumsy you are. I have used a couple of these warranties to their fullest because I tend to drop things. Make sure they cover customer clumsiness, though.

• You Too Can Exploit Windows’ Bad Security: I didn’t know about these holes. We tend to keep all our necessary keys easily accessible because you never know when you’re going to have to re-install windows.

• You Can Save Big Money on Big-Name Software Packages: This feels like stealing to me. If I’m not really buying it OEM, then I’m not going to cross that moral line.

• That Dead Pixel on Your LCD May Not Be Covered: Haven’t had this problem, thankfully.

• Your Cell Phone’s Been Crippled: Yeah, I know. Cell phone companies are evil…

• High-End Manufacturers Don’t Always Make Their Products: Yeah, but they do make them BETTER.

• You Can Call Amazon, EBay, and Other Web Businesses: This is the most important information in this article.

• Security Center Can Be Muted: I don’t care.

• Game Consoles Are Hackable: I’m not modifying my Xbox. The reason I love it is because I plug it in and it works every time. I’m not messing with that just to get a crappy Linux machine.

• You Can Use an IPod to Move Music: That’s what SD cards are for.

• You Can Get a Human on the Phone: Knowing the magic words to say to the automated response on the telephone is more than half the battle. Here is the IVR Find-A-Human Cheat Sheet.

• MP3 Players Run Down Too Fast: Yeah, but there isn’t a fix for this yet.

• Useless Specs: Another good piece of information if you are in the market for an LCD monitor, speakers, a digital camera or hard drive.

On the whole, they aren’t really big secrets, but knowing the background information is really nice. I have to make sure I write those phone numbers for Amazon and Ebay down in my Treo just in case I need them.

This looks like a really cool way to slice apples. It’s offered by the Museum of Modern Art, so you know that it’s probably more form over function.

• MoMAstore – Apple Slicer

Benefits:

• You can eat half an apple. Leave the slicer on the apple and it will keep the fruit from going brown or drying out.

• Slices thin, easily edible slices of fruit, great for eating with cheese and crackers.

Negatives:

• How does it work? I can almost feel the blood from my clumsy fingers flowing.

• Do we really need a different tool for each food that we eat? I already have an apple slicer and an apple corer. How many more tools can I fit in my kitchen? I guess I need a new kitchen.

I really like the idea of easily slicing an apple in thin slices. I can almost taste the cheese now. If only I could find something that easily slices cheese, too.

Via: Popgadget: Personal Tech for Women – Apple slicer

Unlike the Cola Wars and the Burger Wars, the Toothbrush War has gone largely unnoticed. It has only resided in my peripheral vision, confusing my toothbrush selection because the brush in my medicine cabinet doesn’t exist anymore and I must choose a new one from the wall of toothbrushes. I was faced with that choice last week and this time I selected the Aquafresh Extreme Clean toothbrush.

I can’t say that all the new technology has changed my brushing experience. I bought a medium brush, but it feels like a soft-bristled brush. My teeth feel just as clean as they did with my boring toothbrush. Those orange plastic bits aren’t bothersome, but I haven’t noticed any benefit in the cleanliness of my teeth. I think their primary function is to look really cool.

The casualties in the Toothbrush War have been swept under the rug, unnoticed. I can no longer find a Firm toothbrush. Every once in a while, I can find one in a store brand, but on the whole, firm bristles are dead. The compact head “Reach” toothbrush is difficult to find anymore, we fear its extinction. It’s impossible to buy a toothbrush with all white bristles unless you go with the store brand.

I can’t take sides in the Toothbrush War. All I can do is stand and gaze at the wall of toothbrushes in disbelief.

The Roomba, by iRobot, is a self-propelled and self guided light vacuum/floor sweeper. It’s the first robotic device for home use that is actually useful, and it’s so useful that it will actually make a positive permanent change in your life by eliminating a daily chore.

After three months of testing in a home with two toddlers and an inordinate amount of spilled crackers, dropped gummy snacks, and directly imported dirt from the yard, we highly recommend this device. We use ours two or three times a day.

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