Category: Technology

  • A new training partner

    —

    by

    Sam
    in , , , ,

    Check me out, with my state of the art gadge! My longest running sponsors, mum & dad (& my brother & sister), bought me the brand new Garmin 910XT multisport watch for my birthday! Thanks everybody! As I train on my own and often these things are my constant and primary companions. Sometimes you set…

  • Upgraded software: cardifftri.net

    —

    by

    Sam
    in , ,

    I got stuck into upgrading cardifftri.net‘s content management system from the ageing, crumbling Mambo 4.5.2, through a number of iterations of Mambo (none worked for me), through to Joomla! 1, then on to Joomla! 1.5, and then, finally at the weekend, over to Joomla! 2.5. This is the latest release of this content management system,…

  • iBike update

    —

    by

    Sam
    in ,

    The wired handlebar mount for my iBike cycle computer died this summer, and I’m quite impressed with myself. Unusually I didn’t panic (too much) about being unable to collect data, and I didn’t run out and drop £800 that I didn’t have on an upgrade to a Powertap. I was helped a little by the…

  • Autumn fixes: ibike upgrade

    —

    by

    Sam
    in ,

    Since the speed sensor for my iBike power meter died late in the summer I’ve been keeping one eye on eBay for second hand power meters and the other on the upcoming slew of next generation PMs. Garmin announced their pedal based Vector power meter, but at a price much higher than expected. Powertap announced…

  • Garmin Forerunner 610. It’s getting there.

    —

    by

    Sam
    in ,

    Look at this thing. It’s almost the perfect triathlon watch. Slim(ish), GPS based speed and route logging stuff, heart rate monitoring, cadence & speed sensors for the bike, touch screen, stick all your intervals on it, a bit of navigation, and Ant+. It’s almost great for triathlon. All Garmin need to do for me is:…

  • Learning

    —

    by

    Sam
    in , ,

    Here’s a great blog entry about learning for educators and lurners alike: Donald Clark Plan B: 10 techniques to massively increase retention There’s a lot of really good stuff in there, hopefully stuff we’re already trying to do in Swansea. Note number 9: mobile technology. The author talks about drip feeding assessment via those mobile…

  • Higher Education Academy mag & Turning Point clickers

    —

    by

    Sam
    in , ,

    I’ve been a proponent of using interactive feedback technology in lectures (which means I can ask questions in my lecture, students can answer using a remote control with 10 or so buttons on it and we can all see how well we’re doing) for some time. As such I’ve been occasionally pulled out to demonstrate…

  • Heart rate and power

    —

    by

    Sam
    in ,

    Heart rate and power, originally uploaded by samwebster. Here is an example of why I think it’s helpful to know both heart rate and power. Here’s a screenshot of a part of today’s ride, climbing the main hill. You can see that heart rate rises early in the climb and continues to increase as the…

  • Polar to Garmin

    —

    by

    Sam
    in ,

    Like me, my Polar heart rate monitor, chronometer, speedometer and sole training partner (other than my shadow, but he hasn’t been out much lately) has been struggling recently. His memory failed this week after getting a little water inside his case, and he’s never really recovered. Sorry buddy, but it’s time for a replacement. Polar…

  • LEGO Universe

    —

    by

    Sam
    in ,

    Could LEGO Universe be the nail in the coffin for my WoW gaming? I hope I won’t have to pay out for two accounts (one for me, one for Jack) to play LEGO’s new, MMO game this summer, but I have a feeling that I will. It’s likely that Jack will go nuts for this.…