Author: John Mueller

Gifts for the Holidays

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With the holidays upon us this month, Martin and I thought we would provide a post of several products that would be interesting from our perspective.  Happy Holidays, and enjoy !! 🙂 – JM

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Martin’s fun suggestions:

martin_papa_johns

Below are several of my suggestions for gifts this holiday season.

ReKixx

rekixx_shoes

If you like to go green but do it in style, these shoes will do. These shoes are among the first to be completely made out of recycled materials and can be recycled again after usage. Not to mention that it is at a price that beats other shoe prices that are made out of non-recycle material. So if you are looking for a new pair of shoes but want to have a green toe, check out the link below to learn more about these shoes.

Source: ReKixx Cool Sneakers 100% Recyclable

Bikila Evo

vibram_bikila_evo_shoes

These aren’t your everyday shoes. These shoes allows you to run/walk/hike/swim barefooted to remind you what it was like before shoes were invented. I can’t tell you the huge different  that I felt from walking around in these. It felt like I was walking around barefooted, but with a shell to keep damaging my feet. Don’t let the price get to you, because you won’t regret buying these once you start training in these pair.

Source: Vibram

Born the Run by Christopher McDougall

born_to_run_book

Trying to find an inspiring story about running, well this is the story. I read this a few years back and the feels about running filled me. This author describes his adventures in discovering a hidden tribe that relies on running to survive, super athletes that live through running, and running a 100 mile race with a strong will. You will never forget this story once you read it. That is why I added the Vibram shoes above to your shopping list, all to make your discover through running barefoot.

Source: Christopher McDougall

HYDAWAY

hydaway_bottle

Hate when you can’t find space for your bulky water bottle? Well Hydaway allows you to not worry about that. With its ability to compress, you can store it away into small areas, including your pocket. Great for hiking if you pack large or just for college classes that you need to drink. 

Source: Hydaway Bottle

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John’s fun suggestions:

john_downtown_doubler

Below are several of my suggestions for gifts this holiday season.

Give Me Tap!!

[ write something about the shoes and why you picked them ]

Source: Y Combinator Gift List

Nebia

[ write something about the shoes and why you picked them ]

Source: Y Combinator Gift List

Online Coding School for Entrepreneurs

[ write something about the shoes and why you picked them ]

Source: Y Combinator Gift List

SunFarmer

[ write something about the shoes and why you picked them ]

Source: Y Combinator Gift List

 

It is Star Wars Release Weekend — Some Running Costumes

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In light of this weekend being the premiere of the movie, Star Wars – The Force Awakens (7th episode), we found some running costumes that are related to the theme.

The costumes include Princess Leia (hairbuns, Chewbacca, Han Solo, the rebellion’s X-Wing fighter plane, Lady Darth Vader, Mini-mouse storm trooper (mixing the Disney and ILM theme, since ILM is now owned by Disney), and more.

 

Article: For Fitness, Intensity Matters

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Who do you think lives longer?  The person that runs a 17-minute or less pace or a person that run a mile in over 17 minutes on average?  The answer is in the following article:

…more specifically in the following sentence from the article:

…people who walked briskly, at a pace of 17 minutes per mile or less, generally lived longer than those men and women who strolled during their walks, at a pace of 20 minutes per mile or slower, although the study was not designed to determine why the intensity of the exercise mattered.

Be intense, and immerse yourself.

Tools and resources being used for development

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As mentioned in my Dec 26th post, I am developing with Martin over the Christmas holidays to create an input method for collecting Pick’n Run trash data via mobile device.  This entails developing the infrastructure of the system, the web site for the system (so data can be viewed and accessed via a web site), and the mobile app.

Here are the tools that we are using for developing the Pick’n Run web site and mobile app:

  • HTML, Javascript (for showing the raw data via a web browser)
  • PHP (scripting language to make the user interface, both the web site and mobile app, more intelligent)
  • OpenStreetMap with Leaflet (for showing the trash data on a map)
  • MySQL (the database to store the trash data in)
  • Android SDK (for developing for Android mobile devices)

I am using Textwrangler for my editor, and am writing on a MacBook Pro computer.  Martin is using TextPad on an HP Probook 4520s computer notebook.

Any graphics that will be created for the site will be generated by GIMP (note: the first versions will not be graphically oriented — definitely text based and rudimentary to see if things work or not; there is always time in the future to make the design of the web site and mobile app more appealing visually).

The first version of the mobile app will be built for Android mobile devices (which will be done by the Jan 3rd deadline).  We are focusing on the Android mobile devices first since Martin and I have Android deices.  A mobile application iOS (Apple mobile devices) can be developed in the future.

We will be pushing code to the following locations if you want to see the development in action (maybe you will be willing to provide feedback on the minimal viable product):

Other items we are looking to make the system more useful:

  • Graphhopper (to show the run routes layer on the map)

Website Application Development as of 2013-12-27

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I have been working on the website application development (infrastructure, database structure, adding trash markers, viewing the data, etc.) the past couple of days (since Dec 24th).  The website development is being created before working on the mobile app because we need to know what should be collected via the mobile app and to be able to view what we have collected via the mobile app.

Below are several screenshots of the Map, the List, the Calendar, and the Add Trash Marker form as of 2013-12-27 (a minimal viable product for some 🙂 ).  The pages are very crude, especially any design elements…because there are no design elements created yet — it is all coding, which is what is “under the covers”.

On the Map, the green leaves represent trash that was picked up, and the red leaves represent trash that was not picked up.

In the Add Trash Marker form, the user just has to upload the picture he/she took of the trash to get the time and location information.  Thus, users don’t have to spend a lot of time entering information in the fields on the form.

Trash Diary Map

Trash Diary Map (showing trash markers)

Trash Diary Map (showing trash markers)

List

Trash Diary List (of Trash Markers)

Trash Diary List (of Trash Markers)

Trash Diary Calendar

Trash Diary Calendar

Trash Diary Calendar

Add Trash Marker

Add Trash Marker

Add Trash Marker

We have close to 50 trash items / markers in the database currently. Below I explain how these trash items / markers were collected and put into the system:

  1. During the run, take a picture of the trash item with the CAMERA app on my Android-based mobile phone: LG Optimus VM696  (need to make sure the geolocation settings are turned on before taking the picture; that way the geolocation will be stored in the EXIF metadata of the picture). The data in the system at this time (the 50+ trash items / markers) were obtained via runs in June and this week during our annual Christmas run to the former Gibson Guitar factory.
  2. After the run, transfer the picture to my computer using Dropbox.
  3. Add Trash Marker using the website form. In the form, upload the picture and have the system pull the time and geolocation information from the picture’s EXIF metadata.  Also select the trash type, manufacturer, and cause.  This puts the information into the system for that trash item / marker.
  4. Then view the trash marker on the View Trash page, on the Map, in the List, or on the Calendar.

So in a sense, we have already accomplished our Jan 3rd goal of being able to use a mobile device to collect trash data.  However, we would like to make it easier for us to collect trash data…in other words, less steps to get this data into the system.  Thus, I am now researching how to develop an app for Android devices.

Article: The Last Christmas Present: Lots of Trash

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This is the busiest time of the year for trash….

Garbage collectors can pick up much of the trash generated during the Christmas season.  However, there is probably loose items that are blown away in the wind when trash trucks pick up the remnants from Christmas folly from our houses.  That accident trash in the neighborhoods can be picked up by runners (and walkers).