Sawyer Paul's Blog, page 19

Peloton after 3 months

Peloton doesn’t bury its data export stuff deep in settings, either. It’s right there on the your workouts page. With this data, I can build some pivot tables in excel and get some data that’s useful to me.

I opened my Peloton account 96 days ago, on May 31, 2019. Here’s what I’ve got after three months.

Number of types of workout



Fitness Discipline
Count




Cardio
1


Cycling
6


Meditation
24


Strength
48


Stretching
8


Yoga
14


Grand Total
101



Calories Burned (this would be massively approximate)



Fitness Discipline
Calories Burned




Cardio
117


Cycling
399


Meditation



Strength
2508


Stretching
86


Yoga
568


Grand Total
3678



Time Spent in minutes



Fitness Discipline
Minutes




Cardio
20


Cycling
215


Meditation
160


Strength
580


Stretching
40


Yoga
270


Grand Total
1285



Instructor Frequency



Instructor
Number of classes




Aditi Shah
8


Ally Love
4


Andy Speer
2


Anna Greenberg
8


Becs Gentry
4


Cody Rigsby
1


Colleen Saidman Yee
1


Denis Morton
2


Emma Lovewell
23


Hannah Marie Corbin
2


Jennifer Jacobs
1


Jess King
4


Jess Sims
1


Kristin McGee
11


Matty Maggiacomo
2


Oliver Lee
3


Olivia Amato
5


Rebecca Kennedy
6


Robin Arzon
3


Ross Rayburn
9


Selena Samuela
1


Grand Total
101



Live vs On Demand



Class Type
Count




Live
7


On Demand
94


Grand Total
101

Some data was blank because I only use the app subscription. I don’t have a Peloton bike or treadmill, so I have no data for:

Avg. Watts
Avg. Resistance
Avg. Cadence (RPM)
Avg. Speed (kph)
Distance (km)
Avg. Heartrate
Avg. Incline
Avg. Pace (min/km)

That data would be cool to have, but it’s not “Buy a Peloton Bike” cool. A Fitbit would probably give me approximates there. I know the stereotype for Peloton is that it’s ludicrously expensive, but the app subscription by itself is only CAD$20 a month. I’m pretty happy with it so far.

You’ve got to have freedom to Ape Out

I was sitting at the ranch when “You’ve got to have freedom” by Pharoah Sanders came on and it bothered me for like three days that I couldn’t think of the movie or the TV show that most recently heard this song on. I looked over all the Internet data bases that connect TV shows and movies to songs and nothing came up and it was really bothering me. Turns out the song was used for a trailer for a video game called Ape Out. So obviously the TV and movie and song data bases need to be updated to also include video games or else I’m just gonna keep going insane.

Also I might need to buy Ape Out.

Logbook, August 26-September 1, 2019

August 26, 2019

I added Canon EF 40/2.8 STM Standard Lens, Black: Canon: Amazon.ca: Camera & Photo to my wishlist.

I recommend you read Writing is Easy Work, but Nothing Lasts Forever.

New writing workflow https://t.co/fexkHhuAMw

I watched The Curse of Evangelion.

August 27, 2019

New fave XKCD: How to Send a File.

Writers: you ever just dictate into your headphones out in public like a crazy person?

Movies I’d show in the office if such an occasion arose https://t.co/mNLG7CMTAr

August 28, 2019

I went to Therapy.

August 29, 2019

I read When Your Boss Is Also Your Boyfriend, “Neon Genesis Evangelion”—“Rebuild of Evangelion”: It’s Happening Again, Astral Chain: The Kotaku Review, Pacific Breeze: Japanese City Pop, AOR & Boogie 1976-1986, and Peloton Is a Phenomenon. Can It Last?.

More accurate iPhone names, 2019 https://t.co/XYgLKWs0Rd

August 30, 2019

I added The classic and understated Caran d’Ache ballpoint pen, made from aluminium, exclusively features the Monocle and Caran d’Ache logos and will give you about 8,000 metres of gentle handwriting pleasure. Trust the Swiss to develop a pen of pinpoint accuracy and appeal that’s perfectly balanced, weighted and considered. Its hexagonal profile signifies its heritage, with the company name being a play on words based on the Russian term for “pencil”. to my wishlist

August 31, 2019

I went to The Ex. I did not win at Ex Bingo.

September 1, 2019

Absolutely nothing.

More accurate iPhone names, 2019

As the iPhone gets older and its naming scheme spirals into marketing nonsense, I thought it might be a good time to give people a better way to describe each generation. Updated for 2019, two weeks before the new iPhones are actually announced.

Original Name
More Accurate Name




iPhone (2007)
iPhone No Keyboard. $500?!?


iPhone 3G (2008)
iPhone apps


iPhone 3GS (2009)
iPhone Angry Birds


iPhone 4 (2010)
iPhone You’re Holding it Wrong


iPhone 4S (2011)
iPhone Siri Not Available


iPhone 5 (2012)
iPhone Absolute Jewel


iPhone 5C (2013)
iPhone Plastic


iPhone 5S (2013)
iPhone The Good One


iPhone 6 & 6 Plus (2014)
iPhone Wide Boi


iPhone 6S & 6S Plus (2015)
iPhone Wide Bois


iPhone SE (2016)
iPhone The Good One Again


iPhone 7 & 7 Plus (2016)
iPhone Darth Vader


iPhone 8 & 8 Plus (2017)
iPhone 7S


iPhone X (2017)
iPhone Rich Boi


iPhone XS & XS Max (2018)
iPhone Rich Bois


iPhone XR (2018)
iPhone Touch


iPhone 11 (2019)
What’s in my backpack unboxing video


iPhone 11 Pro & Pro Max (2019)
Apple Card

Movies I’d show in the office if such an occasion arose

Movies I’d show in the office if such an occasion arose

Organized by decade

40s

Ball of Fire
Casablanca
The Lady Eve
The Philadelphia Story

50s

Funny Face
GIGI
Love in the Afternoon
Sabrina

60s

Can Can
Charade
From Russia with Love
How to Steal a Million
Paris When It Sizzles
What a Way to Go

70s

I don’t own any office-appropriate films from the 70s, nor do I believe any exist.

80s

Die Hard
The Princess Bride
Aliens
Beetlejuice

90s

Brain Candy
Cant Hardly Wait
Death Becomes Her
Gosford Park
Office Space

2000s

Death to Smoochy
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
The Royal Tenenbaums

2010s

La La Land
Moonrise Kingdom
The Night Is Short, Walk On Girl
What We Do in the Shadows

Logbook, August 19-25, 2019

Monday, August 19

Logbook, August 12-18, 2019 https://t.co/pLXqkekVie

I recommend this episode of Kotaku Splitscreen: How To Avoid Internet Distractions.

Cura, August 15, 2019 https://t.co/UpXAXKXMyJ

Creating a “Recommended podcast episodes” Airtable that updates with iOS Shortcuts https://t.co/cWzDUOp36y

August 20, 2019

I read Travel / Walking Gear. God, Craig Mod owns nice stuff.

Fran’s Not Here 38 - Three Hours https://t.co/2MDgpbUK3C

I read You’ve got to write… A 33 step guide on how to write..

I recommend this podcast - You are a computer Athlete,

I recommend you read You’ve got to write… A 33 step guide on how to write..

I read I Hate These Chairs.

August 21, 2019

So there’s lots of good tech podcasts that hover around Apple. Are there any good ones with different companies at its center? I feel a little bored with Apple punditry.

The video for Normani - Motivation is straight out of the mid-90s in terms of not only r&b but the three-dance structure of a pop video. Great throwback song.

I watched Where Zombies Come From.

I read Fun Economic Facts.

August 22, 2019

I added Super Mario Maker 2 for Nintendo Switch to my wishlist

I rated When Tomorrow Comes, 1939 - ★½. There’s an off-screen Donald Duck cameo for no reason at all and It’s all I’ve thought about since.

I watched Miike Snow - Genghis Khan (Official Video).

I read Why All Of Our Games Look Like Crap.

I recommend you read Why All Of Our Games Look Like Crap.

I read Advice on writing, In defense of reading the same book over and over again, and The age of comfort TV: why people are secretly watching Friends and The Office on a loop.

August 23, 2019

Instead of making new Spiderman flicks, couldn’t we just release Into the Spiderverse every eight months until people actually watch it?

“Some have told me I’m too ‘controversial’ to have an athleisure line” is my new drag name. https://t.co/Xz6K6wYS3T

I recommend this podcast - http://dobyfriday.com/146,

Ever wish you could retweet two tweets at once? @infinite_scream @lmatsakis https://t.co/7OG1qqn0da

Real effective there, do not disturb. #iOS13 https://t.co/xxeqMME4zY

I recommend this podcast - The Secret Life of Alex Goldman.

I watched Broadway Melody of 1940, 1940 - ★★½. Maybe don’t put a juggler girl that good in your first act if you want us to pay attention to anything afterwards. The movie should have ended with the love triangle all getting fired and having Frank Morgan bring her back to juggle into the credits. It would have paid off the crazy antics and tied the whole thing in a bow.

August 24, 2019

I watched Myra Breckinridge, 1970 - ★★★★. The letterboxd average for this movie is crazy. An almost equal amount of 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 star reviews.

I read Every productivity thought I’ve ever had, as concisely as possible.

August 25, 2019

Afternoon Tea at Old Mill Toronto for 3.

New writing workflow

I made a new iOS shortcut to do quick novel writing a few times a day. But shit, I’m going to have to type in Drafts because Scrivener has a bug in iOS 13. It’ll just capitalize random characters. I don’t know if it’s Scrivener or my bluetooth keyboard, but that’s okay. It’ll be a little easier in Drafts. Less baggage. This is my fourth or fifth time using this script. I read a thing today that suggested the following advice: if closed, knock. That’s what I’m trying to do with this writing practice. So a few times a day for at least 90 seconds, I write some stuff and hopefully it works. If I find myself in a flow state I’ll go longer. If I find it might work in the book, it’ll go in the book. I want to think about the book a little bit more often, and I think a few reminders will help. The Tuesday night writing thing was nice but it didn’t do too much in terms of actually moving the book forward.

So the plan is to write sketches multiple times a day. Try for 5 sketches. 2-3 minutes of writing. None of it has to fit. None of it has to matter.

But once every few days, read them. Filter. Decide if they fit. Re-write them a little to loosely fit a part of the book.

And really, I’m disappointed with part 2 so far. It’s flat. It doesn’t have the electricity that part 1 had. So maybe this’ll help. Pump it with a little chaotic electricity.

Letting go of word count

I’m pretty much in complete agreement with Britta C. here in her Medium post: Why I no longer focus on a daily word count goal - The Writing Cooperative:

It winds up taking me an hour or two just to crank out 200 words. And most of the time they’re not even a good 200 words. And I know you might be thinking: “your problem isn’t with having a word count goal — it’s with the fact that you allow yourself to get distracted.” And you’re not exactly wrong.

Which leads her to the next step: setting a timer and trying to stay focused instead of chasing a simple word count goal:

In 30 focused minutes, I usually write 500–700 words. They may not always be GREAT words, but they’re not as disjointed as they were when I was following the half-assed 200 words a day method. And I’m writing double the words in half the time, without even thinking about word count.

I think this is something I’m going to try to bake into my day.

Fran’s Not Here 38 - Three Hours

Listen on Fran’s Not Here’s Website

Recorded live at the Free Times Cafe on August 14, 2019.

I can’t stay. I’ve already been here too long or whatever.

Creating a “Recommended podcast episodes” Airtable that updates with iOS Shortcuts

As I write this sentence, I have no idea how to do this. But by the end of the blog, hopefully I’ll have figured it out. If at the end of this I still have no idea how to do it, I’ll still post the blog but write “Help!” on twitter, perhaps @ other people who might know better how to do this stuff.

Here’s what I want to have happen. When I listen to a podcast and like it, I want to say to my phone “recommend podcast.” I want those two words to trigger automatic computer things that do the job of putting an entry in a spreadsheet.

I want to do this because I figure it’s the perfect way to learn more about the Airtable API, and put all the podcast episodes I like into one place.

So, here’s what I did.

I created the Airtable database and filled in the recommended shortcuts from this blog going back to fall last year.

I searched Routinehub for a few Airtable shortcuts that might show me how to put this together.

“Add Airtable Record (Example)” didn’t really help.
“Get Airtable Records” also didn’t really help.

I took a few minutes to figure out where the API documentation resides on Airtable.com. It’s in “Help”!

I watched Automators 24: Blog Post Editorial Calendar in AirTable with Shortcuts. Then, I downloaded the sample base and shortcut from the tutorial.

So based on that advice, I made a txt file with the API key. I grabbed the url and placed it in the shortcut. And I modified the fields to match my database.

Then, I pre-pended these shortcut items with my current “Share Overcast” shortcut items.

I got a “No URL Specified” error. So I watched the video again and fixed my error. I’d accidentally selected “Get URL from file” as opposed to URL.

It didn’t give me an error the next time, but it also didn’t actually send anything to Airtable. So I deleted the txt KEY file and just pasted in the key and renamed some of the columns. This time it got a little farther, but I got a new error:

{“error”:{“type”:“INVALID_VALUE_FOR_COLUMN”,“message”:“Field “Last Modified” cannot accept a value because the field is computed”}}

So I deleted the “Last Modified” field and tried again. And this time it worked! I got this result:

{“id”:“recAvI1IWUE7ibpfk”,“createdTime”:“2019-08-19T18:06:03.000Z”,“fields”:{“Episode Title”:“Kotaku”,“Last Modified”:“2019-08-19T18:06:03.000Z”,“Episode URL”:“https:\/\/overcast.fm\/+FKOa63VXI”}}

The airtable database updated with the Overcast URL and the title that I wrote in (unfortunately Overcast will only give me a URL, nothing else).

Then I put the txt file for the API key back in, since that was never actually a problem. My columns just needed to be types in properly.

I added in “Ask for Show Title” and “Ask for description” text inputs so that they can be included along with the URL. Getting that automated will be extra credit on this project, but as it stands, I’ve made this work for now.