3 months ago, I acquired a Nike+. The basics, for those of you who don’t want to deal with the flash-only website: it’s a piezoelectric sensor that goes in (or on) your running shoe and links up with your iPod to record running distance, pace, etc. You can then upload this data to Nike’s website, and share it. You can also set it up so that you get verbal feedback through your iPod on where you are in your run (e.g. “point five miles completed”).

I don’t wear Nike shoes, so I have a lacelid. Which, apparently, Apple is trying to prevent me from using. Which I find hilarious. [Article from last Sept; haven't been able to find followups.]

I started writing this review in my usual “things I like, things that could be improved” format and realized that the “things I like” section was really really short, which would probably give people the impression that I don’t like it. I do, a lot. It’s great to have an idea of how far I’ve run, especially having a notification that I’m at the halfway point. And if I set aside my aversion to flash-only websites, the tool to view my completed runs is pretty slick.

So, yeah, it’s cool, BUT.

Things that could be improved:
- I would like to be able to save my custom distances, as the defaults are a bit limited. Having to change it every time with the touch wheel is annoying.
- When I “end” my workout, the volume control is unusable for at least 30 seconds. Sometimes I have the tunes cranked up a bit, but I don’t want the coach guy yelling at me, yanno.
- Even though my workout distance is in miles, the you’re-getting-close-to-the-end-don’t-give-up-now coaching is in meters (”200 meters to go”). Seems silly.
- I can’t calibrate on distances longer than 2k (1.25 miles). I would like the option to calibrate on a longer distance, or average my last 3 calibration runs, or something.
- Changing the music during the run is not intuitive. menu -> change music takes me to my playlists. I select a playlist, and that pops me back to the ‘resume workout/pause workout/change music/end workout’ menu, where I select ‘resume workout’ to start the new music. Sure, it makes sense *now*.
- I would like the option to have Fabio tell me how far I’ve run.*
- Nike’s website for the data upload is flash-only. :shudder: The privacy settings are also globally on or off – if I want to share my run data with someone, I have to make it globally viewable. Some of the effort that went into creating the flash would have been better spent on a more flexible privacy implementation.
- Luckily, the data is stored in XML format. I am currently tinkering around with uploading it to rrdtool and making my own graphs, instead of dealing with the icky flash.

*Think about it: “Only three more miles, daaahling.”

(Link to original review)

So far there are only two things I’m annoyed with:

1. If I’m sitting between the screen and a bright light source, the action of my typing interferes with the ambient light sensor for the display and it brightens & dims, brightens & dims.  Yay.

2. The power supply could really use an integral strap or some flanges to wrap the cord around, like the one on my Dell.  (Unmanaged cords = pet peeve.)  Meanwhile, I’ve improvised with a velcro cable tie*.

So yeah, no real complaints so far.

*Whoever invented those things is my hero(ine) and I hope someday to buy them a beer.

(Some notes from my initial install of Ubuntu, backdated so they’re in the correct place.)

When attempting to install Ubuntu (Hardy Heron) on my laptop, I couldn’t get past the partitioning step: I’d get “Partman failed with exit code 10″ or “Summary failed with exit code 141″. Apparently windows hibernation mode can cause some conflicts with partitioning…ugh. [That windows partition came in handy later though; I'm glad I didn't delete it.]

To fix:
- in windows, disable hibernation mode to delete hiberfil.sys.
- reboot & make sure it’s gone.
- defrag C:
- run chkdsk on C: (required a reboot; chkdsk ran at reboot)
- run chkdsk on C: a second time (annoying!)
- boot from Ubuntu CD & install.

Voila.

Link to Ubuntu LTT page for this laptop

I have a new laptop; my first all-new-to-me computer!  Well, that I didn’t get through work.  My PCs have always been Frankenputers.  (And actually, it’s a refurb.  Like I said: new-to-me.)

First, today’s interesting tip.  I have a different definition of “gentle” than the recommendation there – I had to push pretty dang hard, but it did work.

I demoed HP’s 2510p at LinuxfestNW and it was pretty much love at first sight.  I confess, it was the touchpad.  Touchpads usually give me the creeps – using one is like nails on a chalkboard.  The touchpad on the 2510 is smooth, and molded as part of the wrist rest, so it won’t get any goo caught in the edges.

Next super-sweet feature:  the keyboard.  I have small hands, long fingers.  Laptop keyboards are usually a pretty good size for me, until we get down into the “ultralight” category; then they start feeling a bit cramped.  While I certainly wouldn’t want to, say, write my dissertation on this keyboard, the size of the individual keys gives it the feel of a bigger keyboard.  It’s got a nice clicky feel, too – you’ll probably annoy the people you’re sitting next to.

According to the instructions in the users’ manual, the keyboard should be pretty easy to replace.  Good news for those of us who have a history of inadvertently* destroying our keyboards.  Perhaps I will order a spare right now.

It also doesn’t hurt that the laptop weighs in at 3.2 pounds with the 6-cell battery.  It’s important that I not be weighed down by my computing equipment.

Speaking of battery – I ran this battery test (mainly because it was the easiest one that popped up in google.)  Max sound, max brightness, Conan the Barbarian + Star Trek:Insurrection brought it to just under 50% power remaining.  I’ll do more tests later with actual work, but for now, I’m not going to worry about battery life too much.

It came with a bluetooth PC card mouse.  Wouldn’t want to use it full-time, but it’s pretty nifty.

The fingerprint scanner is cool, but with the small overall size of the laptop, I find that my hand sets it off & I get random popups (when I’m in Windows) telling me to swipe my finger slower.  (More about Windows vs Linux on this laptop in later posts.)

The sound is actually quite excellent for a laptop.

Oddities:
The (GigE!) NIC seemed flaky at first; it randomly dropped several times over the first few days.  The cable tested fine, and I haven’t had the problem since, so haven’t been able to troubleshoot that further.

The delete & end keys are reversed from every other keyboard I’ve ever used.  This is annoying, but can be fixed with keymapping.

Check out the temperature photo in this excellent review.  This baby gets warm – unpleasantly so using it directly in my lap.  You definitely want it supported on a hard surface.

*That’s my story, and I’m stickin’ to it.