Running as a hobby or a way to stay fit is great.  If you have a great running route, it is a way to enjoy the beauty of your neighborhood, your park, or nature’s landscapes.  It is definitely a way to feel the inner you once you’ve reached a state of equilibrium during a very long run.

However, this feeling can quickly be interrupted when you take a spill.  If you don’t know how to roll, you can end up with injuries that will put a major damper on your training.

Below is an illustration of how a shoulder roll is done.  Although it is shown in a martial arts setting, the rolling concept is exactly the same.  Once you get used to rolling, your body will automatically go into rolling mode when you find yourself taking a trip.

How to do a shoulder roll

Zune with HTC HD7

I have a HTC HD7 for a phone.  I’ve been synchronizing it with my Windows 7 laptop, until my laptop’s disk drive got corrupted, and I had to re-install the original manufacturer’s image on it.  When I did, I had to re-install a few things to get my HTC HD7 phone to work with my laptop again.  For my benefit, I document what I had to do and where I obtained the software to make things work again.

1. Download and install Microsoft’s Zune software.
2. Download and install the HTC Sync Manager.

Install these and your phone will be detected by Zune when it is plugged into your computer.

At this point, follow the setup prompts from the Zune screen:

Click Next.

Zune start of setup

Name your phone, and click Next.

Zune Name Phone

As soon as it links with your phone, it will start doing some initial synchronization.

Zune initial synch

Now click Settings.

Zune Settings

You’ll see a detailed synchronization settings page.

Detailed Synch Setttings

Once you’ve made your choices, click OK and you will see the updated synchronization to match your specifications.

Zune Now Synchronizing

That’s it!

All Out 8 Drill

Since starting this drill to help me get faster, I’ve pulled back on some of my running.  Although this might work well for younger folks, I think it doesn’t work well for me, and probably others who are in my age group (50 plus).  Read on if you want to know more and how I’ve modified it to help reduce strains and injuries during training.

When I started this, I was following this training regimen:

• Monday:  Rest day
• Tuesday:  Ride stationary bike for 30 minutes.  The first 10 minutes is at an easy warm up phase.  The next 2o minutes is where I apply the all out 8 drill; by 30 minutes my legs are tired, and sometimes I would have difficulty standing for the first few seconds immediately after finishing.
• Thursday or Friday:  Run for about 30 minutes.  Use the same time and work out pattern as the stationary bike work out.
• Sunday:  Do long run (anywhere from 6 to 20 miles); apply the all out drill on the last 30 minutes of the run.
• During weeknights I cross train  by doing Taekwondo (a Korean Martial Art)

On my second week of doing this, I felt my plantar fasciitis flaring up as well as some right hip pain.  Note that I’ve been training in my minimalist shoes (the Five Finger Bikila LS).  This is probably the root cause of this.  The hip pain, which I haven’t felt since 2 years ago when training for my first marathon, is back.  I think the heavy impact of intense running did my hip in.

To modify my training regimen, I’m only going to apply the all out 8 drill to my stationary bike workout.  I will not do it for the short 30 minute run.  For the long run, I will do 4 repetitions of  gradual accelerations at the end of the run to help my end of run kick.

I will keep you posted on my progress on this, and post my race times to see if this truly helps with getting faster.

Run for Life by Wallack

I’ve been reading this running book titled “Run for Life.” Their premise is if you do certain things in your running and cross train, you should be able to continue running up to the age of 100!  The secret?  Run soft and do strength training.

Well today I focused on one aspect of this–running soft–mostly focusing on my arm swing.

During my long run–just over 20 Km (12.8 miles to be exact)–I focused 100% of my effort to ensuring my arms were just over 90 degrees bent and were swinging on the vertical plane.  Occasionally I would make sure my knees and heels were going up.

The proper swinging of arms, according to the book, helps keep the running balanced.  If you swing your arms across your body, it causes lateral stress on various parts of your body, especially the hips, knees, and ankles.  This unbalanced running is what causes the injuries.  So if you swing your arms in the vertical plane (basically forward and back), you reduce or eliminate the extra stress.

Here’s how I felt after the long run:

• Left calf sore — I think this was sore because I was partially correcting my form by trying to bring my knees and heels up during the run; normally my left foot drags, which causes the uneven wear on my left shoe compared to the right.
• No knee pain on either leg — Last year or the year before I felt serious pain on the right knee; later after the right knee recovered, I felt pain or soreness on the left.
• No hip pain — I normally feel pain on the right hip.  This time around I felt none.  That is a good thing.
• Hamstrings sore — My heels don’t go up enough, which means that my legs, on the turn over, would be limited in speed; since I did better heel kicks, it would only make sense that my hamstring are sore since the hamstrings are doing extra work.  Note that by bringing the heel up, the leg is shorter on the turn over, allowing the leg (as a unit) to move faster from the back to the front.  This is just plain physics.

Run for Life is probably the most comprehensive book on running I’ve ever read.  The information in it are very relevant for all ages, especially for those over 40 years of age just trying to stay fit.

I will share more useful information over time; for now think about arm swings as part of the overall process to run soft.

Run Races to Stay Motivated

Running is probably the cheapest way to work out without excessive side costs.  It is also one of the best ways to stay fit.  But sometimes, just running on a regular basis isn’t enough to stay motivated.  You need that something extra to help pull you along and keep you excited; otherwise, you’ll simply feel bored and worn out, and eventually just stop running altogether.  So how does one stay motivated?

Some people stay motivated because they have running groups or running buddies who can help them stay motivated and who can help the run more bearable, especially those long runs.  But what if you don’t have any running groups or running buddies?  How can you stay motivated?

The best way I’ve personally done it is by signing up for races throughout the year.

Here in the Central Valley, I didn’t realize how many local races there are until I signed up for one of the local small town events–the Micke Grove Zoo Zoom 5K.  There are practically several events almost every month as shown here at the On Your Mark Events schedule!

Signing up for running races is great for motivation for the following reasons:

•  It establishes milestones over time on which you know you’ll have to run.
• Nothing is better at motivating you to go faster than to try to beat your last race time.
• Running with a group helps you run faster than normal; the race excitement can actually shave off minutes from your normal time!
• After a race you want to know when the next one is so you can do it again.

If you are running to stay fit and can’t find a way to stay motivated, why not sign up for a race today?  It may just work for you.  After all running is something almost anyone can do.

Q1 2012 PC Vendor Market Share (credit: Apple Outsider)

Since the introduction of the Apple iPad in April 2010, then the entry of the extremely affordable Kindle Firein November 2011, the sales of traditional computers like laptops and desktops have slowly dwindled.

Check out the graph which clearly shows the trend in sales for the Apple iPad.  Notice Q1/2010.  This is when the iPad was released.  With the exception of Lenovo, all PC vendor market shares were trending down.

Look at Q4/2011. Notice that the Lenovo market share begins to show a hint of a downward trend.  Q4/2011 was when the Kindle Fire was introduced by Amazon.com.  For $199 a pop, the Kindle Fire quickly moved up second to the iPad in the tablet computer market.

I work in the IT (Information Technology) field.  My general bias is to people who happen to have the traditional personal computer.  But, based on recent conversations with people considering a new purchase of a computing platform, most see themselves as buying a tablet computer.  The reason being is that most users have really been using computers to do one or more of the following activities:

1. Check e-mail
2. Stay connected via social networking
3. Shop online
4. Read the latest news and gossip
5. Watch movies
6. Listen to music

If I missed one, let me know, but based on what I’ve heard directly from people who aren’t that computer savvy, these are pretty much all they do!  If that is so, then the tablet computer is the new paradigm of personal computing.

With Microsoft joining the bandwagon of tablet computing, there is no going back.  I bet you, when the next holiday season comes a long, the tablet computer will be the number one purchase.  There will be so many tablet vendors clamoring for consumer attention that tablet features will be full while at the same time prices will be amazingly low!

This is just on the consumer side of the fence.  I’ve noticed a strong trend on the business side as well.  Where I work, the standard computing device is a Windows-based computer.  However, within the last 3 or 4 months, the strong demand for tablet computers has forced iPads into our business environment.  Note that this is an IT department who is a strong Windows proponent.  This is simply amazing.

This technological revolution can certainly be attributed to the following things:

• The tablet operating system is extremely easy to use that even a two or three-year old could operate it.
• The battery life of these devices blow away those of laptops.  Tablet battery lasts anywhere from 8 to 10 hours.
• Tablet prices have been going down; for $199, anyone can have one.
• Tablet applications are plenty and extremely cheap.  In the good old days of PC software, $20 or higher software prices were typical.  Today there are many free apps; and for those you buy, the price ranges from $0.99 to $9.99.  Most are only $0.99!

Enough of my ramblings.  The tablet trend is definitely here, and there is now getting around that.

What do you think?  Is the tablet the new personal computer?

credit: Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

We all do!

This month has been a very busy one; as such, I have not been able to write something for April 2012; however, I did write something about computer backups on my Hubpages titled Computer Backups:  The Last Thing on Our Mind.

Check it out; it may save you some serious headache later.

I should have something in May 2012.

Traditional Radio (credit: zirconicusso from www.freedigitalphotos.net)

During the 70s, 80s, and even 90s, FM and AM radios were prevalent.  People used them regularly to listen to music.  There were many type of radio stations–with each station specializing on a genre of music.  People used to turn to radio stations for their preferred music.  If you were within reception range of  your type of music, you are in luck.    This means you can listen to music you like.  However, if you only had a couple of radio stations within reach, more likely than not, it  wasn’t your type of music, and probably had to purchase a few albums or CDs to listen to your favorites.

I was one of the lucky ones, but I was at the mercy of the radio station’s programming.

Fast forward to 2012.  Today people listen to their music everywhere!  Thanks to a development called MP3 player which were later popularized by Apple through their line of iPod devices.  Of course this is still not the same.  You still had to purchase music, thought not as expensive as before.

I too own an iPod player–specifically an iPod Nano.  I use it to listen to podcasts and music during my long runs.  That’s not quite the same radio experience though where everyone in the room can hear the type of music they enjoy from various artists they like without first purchasing the music.

Just last year, I realized what had replaced the radio in my life–Internet radio, specifically through services like Pandora.com.  What makes this experience similar to a radio is the emergence of tablet computers.  I know you can do this through laptops, but that seems overkill.  With tablet computers, you can play the type of music you like simply by having an account with Pandora.com and entering the name of the artist or song you like.  From there, Pandora does the rest.  You can even  fine tune it to the point where you click the thumbs up or thumbs down button in Pandora to help it determine your music preferences.

I started using my tablet computer like a radio last year just after Thanksgiving.  We used to tune into a radio station which played Christmas music from the day after Thanksgiving, all the way to Christmas.  They played it 24×7.  A few months earlier my wife bought me a tablet computer, and I decided to use Pandora.com to play the music she liked to hear.  From that point on, we were hooked.

Today and on most weekends, I use my tablet computer to play a certain kind of music that everyone in the family likes.  I leave it on during lunch while everyone enjoys their meal.  The beauty of using the tablet computer as a radio is its battery life.  My tablet can run for over 8 hours without a recharge!  It is certainly better than a laptop computer.

Bottom line is that the traditional radio is obsolete, especially for playing music in the house.  In my house, the radio has transformed into Internet radio on a tablet computer.

What is Mind Mapping

The visual way of mapping ideas has been around since the 3rd century (according to en.wikipedia.org). I learned about it over twenty years ago when I was going through my graduate studies at the Air Force  Institute of Technology or AFIT for short.  It’s primary use is the mapping of ideas starting with one central idea.  From there, other related ideas radially branch out.

You can apply mind mapping in various ways.  Here’s how I’ve used it in recent past:

• Document Complex Processes:  I used it to document how Apple’s educational volume licensing works.  Believe me, their volume licensing for educational institutions is complex.
• Non-Linear Outlining:  I created the foundation for an outline of a book I’m writing–I actually finished the outline, and have started to write portions of it in another blog–www.lifeandtechskills.com.
• Create a Task List:  Sometimes getting a good picture of a challenge can be better visualized using a mind map.  This was the case when I used it to determine the various tasks that would be needed to improve the computer and network security of a K-12 educational organization.
• Topic Generation.  Creating a list of topic ideas can sometimes be difficult using traditional means.  When I started with an experimental niche site several months ago, I use mind mapping to figure out various writing topics.  It was one way to figure out if I had enough content to write.
• New Way to Take Notes.  I used it to take notes on a recent webinar I attended.  The good thing about it is that I can update my notes without really worrying about sequence.  Remember, traditional note taking is linear and sequential in nature; get out of order and your notes start to look very messy.

Tools For Mind Mapping

You can always mind map with pencil and paper.  However, there are computer programs to do it.  There are several awesome programs available out there for people to use, and most of them can run on any computing platform–including tablet computers.

•  FreeMind - a free mind mapping application written in JAVA.  It is licensed under the GNU General Public License.  It has extensive export capabilities and works with Windows, Linux, and Mac OS.  I use this one on my Windows 7 computer at home and at work.  It exceeds my expectatios for a free product.
• Mindjet for Android (previously known as Thinking Space) – This is a free Android app available via the Android market or Amazon.com.  It works with cloud storage like DropBox, and it compatible with the FreeMind file format.
• Thinking Space Pro ($4.88) – Paid version of Thinking Space; allows for attachments and sharing of mind maps.  Available on Android devices.

Example Mind Map

This is an example of a mind map I started to build for a section of a writing project.  I was trying to figure out why social networking skill is important in today’s world, and mapping it out really helped me organize ideas that revolved around this topic.

Mind Map: Central Topic is Social Networking

For the above example, I used FreeMind.

Conclusion

When you find yourself out of ideas, try mind mapping.  There are some great tools out there to make this easy.  FreeMind is my favorite; it’s free and it more than does the job.

How have you used mind mapping tools?

We thought, how can this be?

Come to find out, our iTunes account had in it a specified credit card–probably from long ago when the account was first created.  My grandson, in the course of playing Monster Mayhem, touched some buttons which activated the purchase of thousands of coins needed to enable various options in the game.  Note that we didn’t even know this until we got the email notification about the purchase.

Undoing the In-app Purchase

The first thing we did was to see what we can do on iTunes to undo the purchase.  We followed the instructions but the online links just goes around in some circular link reference.  We could not find the place where we can undo the purchase!

Next we called up our credit card company to dispute the charges.  Since the charges weren’t really fraudulent, the credit card company didn’t refuse the charges, but they did get me in touch with Apple customer service.

I received instructions from the Apple support representative on how to undo the purchase.

Apple Contact Us

• Go to the Apple.com support page
• From there click the Contact Us link
• Next click the Express Lane for iTunes Player and iTunes Store
• From the product categories tab, click iTunes, then iTunes Store, and select Purchases, billing, and redemption; click Continue
• You will then be taken to the issue description page, select “my topic is not listed” and provide a short description of your topic.  I used “unintentional in-app purchase, need to undo”, then click the ENTER button.
• You’ll need your order number to complete the rest; make sure you have them
• Upon completion of the process, you will get a case number; you will also get an email

For our case, the response to the problem was quick and sent via email.  They credited my credit card and added credit to my iTunes account.  Whew!  I’m glad it’s over.

That takes care of undoing the in-app purchase.  Now own to preventing future unintentional in-app purchases since I know my grandson will continue to play games on the iTouch.

Preventing Future Unintentional In-app Purchases

Part of the response Apple sent us were instructions on how to prevent unintentional in-app purchases.

Before doing this, the smartest thing to do is to remove any trace of your credit card on your iTunes account.  This is the sure-fire way of avoiding unexpected iTunes purchases.

However, if you do occasional purchases, you’ll want to follow the instructions we got from Apple.

To prevent In-App Purchases from being made in the future, you can block them on your iOS device by following these steps:

1. Tap Settings on your device’s home screen.
2. Tap General.
3. Tap Restrictions.
4. If necessary, tap Enable Restrictions and enter a pass code. This pass code will prevent restrictions from being disabled without your permission.
5. Scroll down to the Allowed Content section. Switch the In-App Purchases option to OFF. Enter your Restrictions pass code if prompted.

That’s it!

If you found this tip useful, please share and comment below and let me know.