Purely Thoughts

  • The Connected Home – I’m starting to get it!

    You’ve probably gathered by now that I’m a gadget guy. Some might even call me an early adopter although I’d argue that I typically wait for version 2 of anything brand new before I entertain buying it, which technically disqualifies me as early adopter. The “connected home” is one of those things I really didn’t “get”. I didn’t see the point.

    That changed recently. It started with the replacement of my A/C, which was a big (and unfortunately expensive) project. Looking at whiiPad main controlch thermostat to use, I ended upwith the ecobee3, which – similar to the Nest – has a touch screen, proximity sensor, etc. The cool thing is that it connects to a remote sensor which I placed upstairs. Both the thermostat and the sensor not only register temperature, but also whether that level of the house is occupied. The system can now automatically and intelligently turn itself on and off not only vis a schedule but also based on whether someone is in the house. I can also make it so that at niPad follow meight only the upstairs sensor is used for temperature regulation (who cares what temperature it is downstairs when all the bedrooms are upstairs?!). I can change temperatures and setting from my iPhone and iPad and see from anywhere what my the temperatures are upstairs and downstairs and even if these levels are occupied. This info is accessible from the ecobee app as well as from the iOS Notification Center. Moreover, I can use Siri to control iPad weather impacttemperature and switch to different modes. The iPad app offers various stats on what’s going on in the house. I was starting to get hooked…

    Then I was rethinking home security. ADT is not only not exactly cheap, but the technology started to look a little long in the tooth. So I selected the Canary home security device. It constantly monitors the downstairs area with camera (it also has night vision), audio iOS Notification Centerand motion detection. It arms and disarms itself when registered users enter and exit the house. It records audio and video snippets and makes them available within a timeline for viewing from all iOS devices. It sends notifications if activity is detected while the device is armed and one can trigger a built-in audio alarm and call the police remotely. Canary is supposed to “learn” patterns in order to automatically distinguish suspicious from normal activity. Of course a live video feed is also available (great for checking in on the family when I’m traveling) as well as widgets for iOS’s Notification Center. Oh, did I mention it also measures air quality, temperature and humidity over time?

    Now it’s starting to make sense to me. While I don’t care about turning on lights from my phone or changing their color hue “automagically” in my home, monitoring temperature and home security make a lot of sense. It’s amazing how all this information is put at one’s fingertips and how seamlessly these systems allow for monitoring and controlling the home, no matter if you’re at home or somewhere halfway around the world. I sense this may be the starting point for more in future. Now I’m also starting to wonder what our homes will be like 3-5 years from now.

  • Sonicare – Doesn’t Care?!

    On 12/31/2015 I purchased a set of Sonicare electric toothbrushes at the local Costco store. When I prepared one of the brushes for use, I noticed a small amount of white deposit on the top. I didn’t think much of it and scraped it off with my fingernail. Maybe this was some kind of manufacturing residue. No big deal. We started using the toothbrushes.
    A few days later I got around to unpacking the 2 charging units as well. At the bottom of one of them, I came across a dark grime that reminded me of what my old brushes had at the bottom. My spider sense went off! I turned the unit around and saw dried foam on the top as well (photos below). Clearly this unit had been used before and I’m sure so had the brush I had already been using for several days at that point! I realized that somehow a refurb/used toothbrush and charging unit had been re-packged and sold as new. Disgusting! (The package/box was clearly sealed and had not been opened!)
    I immediately reached out to Sonicare customer service via chat and also Twitter in early January. The social media guys were somewhat responsive and kept promising I would be contacted by customer support, but nobody did.

    Mid January I was finally asked for a proof of purchase, which I provided. I was then issued a return label for FedEx. I told them I had no intentions of returning the items because I had – unfortunately – already started using them. I asked for a refund instead. That was 1/18.
    As of 1/31, I’ve heard nothing. I certainly would like a refund, but I’m mostly interested in is an apology and someone trying to explain how a used unit got resold (which is disgusting!) and what they will do to ensure this doesn’t happen again. But overall I’m very disappointed with the follow-up and lack of care. Obviously toothbrushes are personal care items requiring highest quality and hygienic standards from the manufacturer. Sonicare has obviously failed miserably and resold used units as new. From a consumer’s perspective, this is scandalous and their lack of apparent care extremely disappointing. I must conclude that Sonicare doesn’t care!

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  • Lone AFib – Exercise Cool Down and Swallowing as Trigger?

    webmd_rf_photo_of_atrial_fibrillationI’m in my mid 40s and exercise very regularly. And when I say regularly, I mean very regularly… (see Working out 7 Days a Week?!). About 7 years ago (years before I started my more intense exercise routine), I had my first episode of atrial fibrillation (AFib), which feels somewhere between weird and scary. At the time, I started going through all kinds of EKGs, ultrasounds and other tests (you name it). The end result: my heart is healthy, I have no other risk factors and I don’t abuse drugs or alcohol. The official term for this is “Lone AFib” (LAF), which basically means nobody knows where it comes from or what causes it.

    Since then, I’ve now had a total 4 episodes:

    • I ended up in the ER every time.
    • Gaps in between were 4 years, and roughly 21 months thereafter.
    • The first time I was admitted and converted back to normal sinus rhythm due to drugs overnight. The 2nd time I enjoyed a cardioversion (read: defibrillator & electroshock). The 3rd and 4th time I spontaneously converted while already in the ER but without clear reason – maybe it was the stress of the ER experience or that the Flecainide ended up working after all. (After the first incident, my doctor advised me to take Flecainide only in case I go into AFib, not as permanent treatment.)
    • I stayed in AFib between 8 and 23 hours during those episodes.

    Coming back to the mysterious trigger, there seems to be a common pattern that emerges from the various circumstances when my AFib episodes started:

    • Walking off the mat after a Tae Kwon Do class on a Saturday morning and taking a swig from my water bottle (2 occasions, exact same situation and day and time of day!).
    • Coming home from a jog and getting something to drink.
    • Sitting down after a hike up a mountain and starting to sip water.

    It seems obvious: the 2 factors that always appear to come together are 1) finishing cardio-intensive exercise (the heart going into recovery from high BPMs) and 2) swallowing liquid. I’m wondering if the nerves controlling the swallowing reflex/process (vagus nerve?) intersect with or related to the part of the nervous system controlling the heart rate or if there is another way these two bodily processes relate?

    From what I’ve read and the doctors I’ve talked to, there is no clearly documented connection. And yet at least for me this pattern is obviously way too consistent to be coincidental.

    I’d love to hear from others who’ve been diagnosed with “Lone AFib” as to whether they’ve experienced the same or similar patterns?


    On a sidenote: has anyone found that Flecainide affects the blood sugar level (a maybe undocumented side effect)?

    Please respond with comments.

  • The Force Awakens – Parallels

    TheForceAwakensparallelsJust having watched The Force Awakens, I couldn’t help but notice the almost overwhelming number of parallels it had with previous Star Wars movies, which go beyond the recurrence of familiar characters, machinery and phrases (“I have a bad feeling about this!”. Here’s my initial list:

    • Bad guy in black with a mask in addition to emperor-like figure.
    • Desert/sand planet
    • A junker on a desert planet being called to a higher purpose (Anakin/Rey)
    • Old, bearded uber-Jedi in seclusion on a remote planet (Luke/Yoda)
    • Special light saber finding  its way down to off-spring
    • An old, greenish, tiny, wise creature as spiritual guide for the unexacting future Jedi.
    • Evil superpower is in search of droid(s) containing key information about their good opponents.
    • Breaking good guys out of a evil fortress.
    • Dark bar with riff-raff and music..
    • Kids being separated from parents and hidden away.
    • Han in trouble with other bad guys.
    • Rebel/resistance base is uncovered and attacked.
    • A person with the force in need of completing their training (Luke/Kylo)
    • The main bad guy’s struggle with the light side and being good.
    • Destruction of a death star by X-wing fighters via exploiting a design weakness.
    • The bad guy is punishing people (soldier types) who fail harshly.
    • Torture by the main bad guy.
    • The force awakening in someone who didn’t know about their origins/family tree (duh!)
    • Generational reversal (parent vs. offspring being either good or evil)

    Thanks to JJ Abrams, there are also some interesting contrasts with the Force Awakens:

    • The  bad guy tends to take off his mask and show a human/good side early on.
    • Storm trooper defection.
    • The bad guy has a bad sidekick reporting to the uber villain.
    • The evil villain has a terrible temper.
    • And he gets pretty beat up already early in the course of the trilogy.
    • More obvious slapstick humor (“That’s not how the Force works!”)
    • Nobody’s hand has been chopped off yet… 🙂

    To stretch this even further, JJ has even brought a little bit of LOST into Star Wars with Ken Leung making an appearance and a theme of “parent issues“.

     

    Update 3/28/16: Apparently I’m not the only one noticing the parallels. Check out this UPROXX article!