The Open-Source Classroom

I've been writing for Linux Journal since 1997. Through the years, I've gotten hundreds of e-mails from readers and fellow geeks, but never do I get as much e-mail as when I talk about the geek lifestyle. Whether I'm discussing my network-connected health monitors or my latest attempt at emulating console games from the 1990s, there's something about everyday geek life that is just fun to discuss. For this article, I decided it would be interesting to start a discussion about health and lifestyle, then follow up a little later in the month via Twitter, Facebook, Reddit—or whatever we decide makes the most sense. I must warn you, I'm not limiting myself to technology here. Geeks are people too, and it's fun to see how our geekiness leaks into the rest of our lives!

First off, let's be honest. We spend a lot of time working. Even when we're not at work, we tend to be working on work stuff—work work work. Thankfully for most of us, technology is what we enjoy, so even though we spend a lot of time doing it, work is a labor of love.

My day job is that of a teacher/trainer. I create video-based training for Linux and open-source tools. Because that often means integrating with multiple systems, it means from my desk I'm within arm's reach of:

I also have a Workrite Ergonomics desk that allows me to stand up or sit down while working (Figure 1). Sometimes I just raise it and lower it for fun, because it's truly awesome to press a button and have your entire workspace rise into the air!

Figure 1. The motorized lifting desk means I can stand or sit, or just play!

When I'm sitting, I use a Swopper Classic chair to help keep me active. You know those animal toys at the park mounted on giant springs so kids can rock back and forth? The Swopper chair is basically an adult version of that (Figure 2). I can bounce, spin and sway all day long, and the instability keeps my core muscles active and forces good posture—or at least that's what I tell myself. I just like to bounce all day!

Figure 2. The Swopper chair takes some getting used to, but it really helps with posture.

And of course, no office would be complete without hot caffeinated beverages. This time of year, I tend to drink more tea than coffee. For Christmas two years ago, my wife bought me the Breville One-Touch Tea Maker (Figure 3). It makes a perfect pot of tea every time, and it makes brewing tea as simple as brewing a pot of coffee. I never imagined how much of a difference it would make, but truly it makes perfect tea every time, even with delicate white teas.

Figure 3. The Breville One-Touch adjusts temperature, steeping time and automatically removes tea leaves.

I stink at video games. I really do. It doesn't make sense that someone with such a geeky lifestyle wouldn't be a gamer, but I'm really not. The only exception to that rule is classic games. I love arcade games, and I love old-school console games. Thanks to the miracle of emulation, I can play the NES and SNES games I grew up with on modern hardware. In fact, in the next couple issues, I'll be writing about my new console emulation device built inside a cigar box. I can't wait to share it with you!

Most of my playtime is spent reading. My favorite genres are science fiction and fantasy (big surprise, right?). In fact, I'm already connected with many of you on-line at www.goodreads.com. If you're a science fiction or fantasy reader and want to share book insights, please connect with me (snar.co/goodreads).

If you've been reading Linux Journal for a while, you know that I'm a big fan of audiobooks. I cover my current favorite audiobook player in the UpFront section of this issue (the Listen Audiobook Player). I also read traditional books, but admittedly not as often. For those, I either buy the dead-tree version or read on my Kindle Paperwhite. I keep my non-Amazon e-books organized with Calibre and send them to my Kindle via e-mail whenever I need to load one.

Anyone who follows me on Twitter or reads my personal blog knows that during the past year I've had many health problems. The worst of which was “acute renal failure”. That was exactly as scary as it sounds. My kidneys haven't completely failed, and right now, they're functioning at a steady “sorta crappy” level. Thankfully, they don't seem to be getting any worse. Needless to say, it's forced me to take my health a lot more seriously than ever before. Since I'm a geek, that means I'm trying to include as much science and technology into the process as possible.

Somewhere around my mid 20s, I started another growth spurt. Unfortunately, it wasn't the sort of growth a person hopes to accomplish. I grew both in width and gravitational attraction. One of the most important body hacks I'm working on is losing weight. While having a healthy BMI (body mass index) is a good idea anyway, my kidney problems make it vital that my blood pressure stays under control. Being overweight increases blood pressure, and since high blood pressure destroys kidneys, it means I have to lose weight.

I probably should take a second to say right now that I'm not advocating that everyone should do what I do. Our size doesn't define who we are, and I'm not some vain athlete who is worried about what I'll look like on the beach this spring. The concept of me being an athlete or wanting to go to the beach is just insane. Still, I get a lot of e-mail about my process, so I'm sharing.

The science for losing weight is easy. Burn more calories than you consume. Sure, there are lots of nuances about carbs and fiber and such, but the math is the math. If you burn more than you consume, you will lose weight. There are two variables in that equation. Either you exercise more, eat less, or both. I'm trying desperately to do both. I used to be really good at eating less, but recently, I've been better at exercising. I've never managed to be good at both simultaneously.

The easiest way I've found to succeed with eating less is simply to track what I eat. There's something about consciously recognizing what you eat that helps moderate it. Even if you don't plan to decrease the amount of food you eat, if you record everything, you probably will find yourself eating less. The best tool I've found for recording what I eat is MyFitnessPal. It's a free on-line tool that allows you to add food from its extensive database and have the calories calculated automatically. It even allows you to scan the barcode on packages and import the nutrition information automatically. The social aspect of MyFitnessPal is also helpful, because having accountability partners can make a world of difference. If you'd like to try it with me, and possibly with other Linux Journal readers, feel free to connect to me: www.myfitnesspal.com/shawnp0wers.

When it comes to exercise, there are obviously many ways to burn calories. Some exercises burn more than others, but for me, the best fat-burning activity is walking. Sure, there are other exercises that burn more calories per minute, but I find it difficult to swim or jog very far before tiring out. Walking, however, is an exercise I can do for hours. It burns far more calories to walk for an hour than it does to run for five minutes. And personally, I think it's easier to do the hour of walking.

I try to walk a minimum of 10,000 steps per day. It's easiest to have a pedometer to keep track of your steps during the day. My favorite pedometer is one of the models from www.fitbit.com. I love the geeky Bluetooth syncing, graphing on so on. Plus, like with MyFitnessPal, there's a social aspect to the FitBit. You can join forces (or compete against) your friends on-line. Sometimes a quick look at the leaderboard will be enough motivation to get out and walk for a while. In fact, ever since we started wearing FitBit trackers, my wife and I have started parking at the far side of the parking lot when we go shopping. That way, we get a few more steps in while we're getting to the store!

If you'd like to connect with me on FitBit, head over to the Linux Journal group page and join (https://www.fitbit.com/group/22M75H). The service is free, but the FitBit devices are unfortunately on the pricey side. Still, I think it's possible to join even without a FitBit device. If we get enough people to join, it could turn into quite a group!

Walking and weight loss have developed into something that I never in a million years expected. I still have weight to lose, but I've lost enough that I have a little more stamina. After reading a book by Matthew Inman on running, I decided to give it a try. Even if you have no intention of ever running, I highly recommend his book. Most of it is available on-line at his Web site: theoatmeal.com/comics/running.

Running is a surprisingly controversial activity. Some people say it is hard on joints. Some people say it is good for joints and strengthens them. Many think running helps keep you young, while many others claim running ages you faster. Some people claim it will cause arthritis, while other say it's a great way to build bone density and prevent osteoporosis. The one thing everyone agrees on, however, is that running is a very effective way to get a cardio workout. I never was able to run as a kid, and now that I've been diagnosed with asthma and can treat it, running is possible for the first time in my life.

I'm not a good runner. I'm slow. I can't go very far at once. I concentrate so hard on breathing that I end up spitting and drooling. I jiggle—a lot. Still, I'm slowly getting better at it. After a month or so of working on it, I'm actually starting to enjoy it. It's very hard work, but it's the sort of hard work that is rewarding in and of itself. If you've never run before, or if you're even remotely interested in starting, here are a few of my tips. Keep in mind I'm still a beginner, but the following tips got me through the miserable beginning stages.

Right now I'm to the point where I want to increase my distance and increase my speed. I can run for 30 minutes, but just barely. There is a lot of advice out there for brand-new runners, but oddly, not so much once you reach that magical 5K/30-minute mark. Because I want to keep getting better, I recently thought it would be a good challenge to run at 6mph instead of my regular 5mph. As it's a measly 1mph difference, I didn't think it would be all that bad.

I. Was. Wrong.

I learned through the school of hard knocks that increasing your speed 20% overnight is really dumb. I went from being able to run three miles to almost collapsing after one. It was frustrating. It hurt. I got discouraged and honestly considered quitting the whole running thing. Thankfully, just like with dieting and walking, there are some incredible social tools for runners. And if there's one thing runners are good at, it's encouraging other runners—especially new runners. I suspect it's because they remember being a beginner, and know just how horrible and difficult it is at first.

By the time this issue goes out, I hope to be one of those crazy running guys who goes out and runs 5–6 miles on a regular basis. It's still hard for me to imagine that being the case, but I really hope it happens. If you want to start running and could use some encouragement, I urge you to check out a site like dailymile.com. It's a great way to record your runs, but more important, it's a community of runners. Have I mentioned how encouraging runners can be to other runners, especially beginners? Look me up on the Dailymile Web site—maybe we can encourage each other (www.dailymile.com/people/shawnp0wers).

This article was largely focused on my day-to-day life in geek world. Normally I'd say drop me an e-mail with your particular twist on living the geek life, but my e-mail box has been largely untamable lately. You still can e-mail me if you like, but please don't hesitate to reach out via Twitter, Facebook or Google+. I have lots of ideas for future lifestyle columns, like:

But, I'd love to hear ideas and requests from you. I had a lot of fun talking about the geek life here, and I can't wait to hear from all of you on-line!