October 8th, 2011
*****
DroidRunner
Free. It displays Google ads.
Very good charts
Calculates calories burned calculation in kcal
Free from prompts to upload and share sessions (social free)
Easy, simple, few settings
Weather conditions logs
Full data exported in kml and gpx formats
Screen can be switched off to save on battery during long training sessions
****
SportsTracker
Tracks can only be upload to the paying version
Includes calculation of calories burned
Includes heart rate with Bluetooth connection
Decent charts
Keeps screen awake
**
iMapMyRUN+
Demo version limited in export
The screen shows the main statistics as you go.
Includes calories burned calculation in kcal
Too many settings for social
Exporting with the demo version does not include altitude and time
*
Endomondo
The demo version is workable
Includes calories burned calculation in kcal
Heavily social-oriented
Exports directly to Endomondo.com
And the winner is: DroidRunner of Adolfo Bulfoni for simplicity, exporting features and price. Unfortunately there is no available version for iPhone.
Do you know of any other candidate app to be reviewed?
September 13th, 2011
Richard Hamilton was friend of the pioneering Marcel Duchamp. “Pop art” was a term coinde by Hamilton. He defined Pop as “Popular (designed for a mass audience), Transient (short-term solution), Expendable (easily forgotten), Low Cost, Mass Produced, Young (aimed at youth), Wicked, Sexy, Gimmicky, Glamorous, Big Business.”
http://www.studio-international.co.uk/studio-images/hamilton/shock_b.asp
http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ViewWork?workid=5832
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/exhibitions/artandthe60s/swingeinglondon.htm
More about the artist: interview with the Guardian
Read more: Green papers on Tate Modern
August 20th, 2011
We sailed on the boat of Turmares in Tarifa, hosted by Whale Watch Tarifa.
We sailed along the Spanish coast of the Strait of Gibraltar and the north-African one. It was a bright afternoon with good visibility.
I remembered to flash up my GPS device in the middle of the trip to record the coordinates of the whale watching trip. We saw the dolphins in southern points of the itinerary and the fin whale near the entrance of the Tarifa port.
Spotted lots of striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba):
Among the birds, shearwaters, a young alcatraz. The best surprise was a sighting of a (leatherback?) sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea?).
We failed to spot killer whales (Orcinus orca). The local killer whales usually move from the north of Africa to Spain in the second half of July. This year they remain busy near Morocco, apparently enjoying easy catches from the local fishermen.
The captain insisted to find a whale before heading back to Tarifa. He managed to spot a fin whale. This was a special moment. We only managed to see the top of the head and upper back of the whale. That was enought to appreciate how huge that beast is. The jets of water are very conspicuous and powerful.
The guides at Whale Watch Tarifa are friendly, although their English is a bit lacking. The founder started taking 76 tourists in her first season to sea, in the mid 1990′s. The captain of the Turmares ship showed the cabin and the navigation instruments.
June 25th, 2011
Nature published a seminal case of successful genome sequencing for one single patient. A chronic disease was identified and treated thanks to a study costing about US$100,000. The study took two months. Scaling of technologies, uptake of demand and economics of the sequencing process will, in a few years time, drop the cost of full sequencing to $1,000 per patient.
Therapeutical uses of personal genomics other than diagnostics include diseases risk prediction, response to drugs
Paternity tests are by far the most popular use of the sequencing of personal genetic information. Other uses are being explored commercially, led by 23andme:
- find the geographical original of the ancestry
- track the migrations of the lineage
- connect with living cousins
Pricing models are being tested, with upfront fees of $99 followed by $9 monthly subscriptions for at least one year. The company allegedly has 65,000 customers so far. In contrast to its high profile in the technology, Internet and media, 23andme features a bit less than 10,000 followers at the time of writing this post on Twitter. Concerns over privacy protection of individuals of the business model and the lack of regulation of therapeutical uses of the information have been covered in the mdia. The article about the company on Wikipedia includes the history of the relation of direct-to-consumer gene tests and regulators. New York State sent ‘cease and disease’ letters in 2008 to 23andMe, Navigenics, Illumina , DeCode and Affymetrix.
Some laboratories go as far as to offer turnkey labs, complete with project, building, training and transfer of technology and technical support.
