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Hoi Hoi Newsletter Peeps! Here we are in the thick of CES week! I have to say, I wish I was in Vegas with Ray this year. Not necessarily Vegas, as I find the city a bit overwhelming, but in the energy of CES! I know some people grow old of trade shows, but I haven’t been to an Interbike, Eurobike, ANT+ Symposium, or CES with Ray in YEARS!!!
I miss getting to scurry off and investigating the sort of “b-roll” items for him. You know, the booths who have been tucked away in the back corners and maybe not getting the attention they should. Or even companies and products that are not so much tech focused, but gear, nutrition, even event and race booths. I found this gem of a post that I wrote for Ray back in 2011, I think this was from my first Interbike show. Oh well, maybe this year I’ll get a promotion from the paper pusher I’ve turned out to be these days! So, enough of that. The real interest is in what has Ray been up to the last few days in Vegas? What has he seen, what has he tested, what has he found interesting? *** Public Service Announcement! This is a sneak peek link to Ray’s CES 2019 Tech Wrap Up of CES 2019! You newsletter readers are getting first dibs on this video that is set to post in a few hours from now, roughly once Ray wakes up on the US West Coast. It's him giving a bit more raw thoughts on sports tech and non-sports gadgets alike. Sorta like a live stream, all in one shot without edits, but just not live. Get it before its hot! ***
First up is the Garmin Vivoactive 3 Music Cellular. Everyone reading my newsletter week to week knows I am not the tech wizard of our household. So you might be surprised to read that I was SUPER excited to see this watch has made it to beta version! I know there will be a 1,000 naysayers about the product (including a bit of Ray himself), and for a while I’m sure the product won’t even be functional for anyone outside of the US Verizon telephone community. BUT, for me, this product fundamentally marks the start of the recognition by companies that they have a major opportunity (possibly responsibility?) to increase safety and peace of mind for runners (and their families). Introducing the panic button, distress signal, SOS, “HELP ME” call from your watch. I will admit that I am totally biased as a female, mom of daughters, and a slice of worry-wart. Unfortunately, I tend to think about the worst case scenarios in the running world like when a young female runner goes missing for weeks on end. Ray had to deal with me for WEEKS yelling at him “Why can’t they type in her Garmin serial number and magically ping her location through reverse GPS stuffs????” Really, the poor guy got yelled at for weeks while the search was on for the young runner. So, let’s all give this technology some encouragement. It might not be a finely tuned product yet, but hats off to Garmin for putting it out there and hopefully peer pressuring the rest of the wearable manufactures and cellular providers to get on board! In my mind, this should be a requirement. End. Rant.
Next up was the hands on with the Withings Move ECG watch. Another inside look into some cool technology breaking the mold. This post seemed to stir enough of the hornet’s nest in the comment section, so I won’t poke the bear too! Maybe you will read the post and come to your own opinion. For me, after reading it, it also left me wondering if we will ever see this same type of seamless technology for glucose readings? Back of the wrist "magic" compared to pricking one's finger 6 times a day or CGM sensors seems like a dream! Speaking of impressive technology! How about the First Look: Body Heat and Solar Powered Matrix PowerWatch 2. With technology such as a “thermoelectric generator” used in something as small as a watch, I continue to be amazed with what’s happening each year in tech innovations. Also, for any of you who have already read about the thermoelectric generator and are impatiently awaiting my comments (or fears) of Ray trying to sell me on why we need this new automated bread machine. Let me remind you, the 6-7 simple tasks on his to-do list still have not been completed for his Pizza Oven. At this rate, it is safe to say the man is never getting a bread machine!
And finally, we have 4iiii! Teasing out what is technically a power meter theft detection system, but in reality is actually a bike theft detection system. It'll use some magic wizardy to connect with potentially millions of phones nearby so that if someone jacks your bike, you've got a reasonably good chance it'll ping off one of those phones and tell you where your bike is. Or something like that. There's also a bunch of geekery in a new company that 4iiii has formed that Ray dives into as well. YouTube As always, if you think reading is faux-pas and audio-visual is more your style, be sure to check out the DC Rainmaker YouTube Channel. It’s a big help to the site if you click the subscribe button or “like” a video… just saying! Also by doing so, you will be “in the know” for future new videos by Ray. · First Look: Garmin’s LTE enabled Vivoactive 3 Music (For Verizon) · First Look: Withings Move ECG // $129 ECG Activity Tracker · Matrix PowerWatch 2: A Body Heat and Solar Powered GPS Watch
· Power Meters with Theft Tracking // 4iiii Precision Concept First Look That’s the round up from this past week. Now if you have time, keep it moving to below the fold for the “In-Depth Thoughts from The Girl”. |
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In-Depth Thoughts from The Girl Hey, To start off, I just want to say HI and thanks to everyone who sent Cape Town emails my way! So great to hear from you all! I will get back to you all, but this week is end of Q4 tax deadline and clueing up of all of the loose ends before we embark on our big adventure next week! I have flagged all of your messages, they will not go unanswered! Thank you, thank you! What else is new this week? Ray is away and practicing his radio silence skillz yet again. With his meetings schedule and 9-hour time zone differential, romance chats are limited. Nothing too crazy is happening at home, it’s not like the place has gone to the dogs or anything!
I have officially decided that over the last three months Ray and I did entirely too much eating and over indulging in our wine habits. We had visitor after visitor all fall (not complaining), and a lot of late nights getting the DCR Cave set up, and now that I look back on my life over the past 90+ days, exercise was in no way a priority. Making it even more of a stark reality, I just started pulling warm weather clothes and bathing suits from the back of the closet. Ahhhhh! I’ll be facing the bikini demons in a week…
But you know what? No need to panic. I’m not one for New Year’s resolutions, or fad exercise/diet programs. I am one for making a goal and holding myself accountable for it. I’d very much prefer just making exercise a lifestyle again. As well, with some sunshine in our near future I am hoping I will get geared up and take advantage of summer season in South Africa. Not to be forgotten, I did achieve one major “Dutch Mom Goal” that I had set back in the summer. I ponied up and installed the baby seat on my bike just in time for the new year!
I’m also becoming (I think) a little wiser to the fact that we all likely need to be a little easier on ourselves. I’m healthy, and I’m certainly not just sitting around doing nothing, but time does seem to slip away from me lately. Juggling the day to day house stuff and job, it’s easy to get to the end of the day with the kids settled in bed, and opt for the latest episode of Top Chef instead of a run. I am endlessly envious of the memories of my mom and dad who seemed to have four kids super organized, two careers managed, and magically still played their chosen sports (competitively). I am sure there are many of you reading and nodding along. Or laughing at me because you know “the secret” and I don't. Either way. I do strive to keep it moving and perhaps set some new goals for myself. Maybe my next fitness challenge will be hashtagged as #SlowCrawlTowards40Min10Km or #JustGetOffTheCouchFitnessChallenge. I’ll see what I can’t talk Ray into. Pretty sure I can pressure him into getting fit enough to Sherpa me through a fast 10km. Maybe the family goal for 2019 could be, “if Bobbie run’s a 40 minute 10km, then Ray gets a pizza oven!” hahaha As always, thanks for reading! ~The Girl |
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