SOMEWHAT FRANK

Gyminee Social Workout & Food Tracker

I have been on the road quite a bit this month and with that it is difficult to stay consistently doing something to stay in shape and maintain your health. So to help get back in the swing of things I thought I would check out Gyminee. Gyminee is a site devoted to helping you stay on track with your health by tracking your workouts, diet and connect you with motivational workout buddies. They are based in Boulder and were part of the this years TechStars program.

I chatted with the Gyminee team as they demoed at TECH cocktail Boulder 2. Check out episode 51 on SOMEWHAT FRANK as I chat with Andy Smith and Steven Blankenship from Gyminee.

Gyminee Social Workout Tracker from Frank Gruber on Vimeo.

NASA Lands On Mars, Google Health Launches, AOL/Bebo Deal Done, FriendFeed Adds Rooms, Twitter Database Crashes & Living Public Lives

Photo of the Week: Happy Memorial Day! Have a cupcake. Photo credit: Megan.

SOMEWHAT FRANK Weekly Tidbits: 5.25.2008

GoTrybe Aims To Keep Kids Fit & Healthy

Childhood obesity is a serious medical condition that affects children above the normal weight for his or her age and height. Most computer games, mobile devices and other online activities these days contribute to a sedentary lifestyle. How can kids keep on top of the obesity? GoTrybe, a Tennessee based startup, offers a interactive online approach aimed at attacking the problem. GoTrybe is an interactive community for kids based on health and wellness. 

ZocDoc Expands Coverage Still Only New York

ZocDoc, the New York-base d startup that I previously reviewed, offers an easy way for patients to find and schedule appointments with doctors and dentists. Primarily focusing on New York, ZocDoc has been adding new doctors and dentists everyday for the last five months. Recently dubbed "OpenTable for healthcare appointments", ZocDoc looks to make it easy to find an appointment. Patients can visit ZocDoc and find a doctor and book an appointment all in one motion.

Unfortunately, this service is not available in all areas but additional doctors are welcome to sign up to have their information and open appointments available for ZocDoc patient users. While I understand that there are lots of doctors to sign up for the service and it is probably a time consuming effort, I cannot wait to hear when this is available in places other than just New York.

Make Your Commitments StickK

Every year we attempt to make new year resolutions in an effort to ensure the next year is better than the last. Some of us try to exercise more, some try to quit smoking, while others just try and have more time to relax. Do you stay true to your resolution? I cannot say I always do. There is just something about having a little skin in the game that makes commitments stick. For example, I found that I would go to the gym more frequently when I was paying for the gym every month as opposed to when I had a free gym membership. That is exactly what StickK is all about. StickK is a site developed by Yale University economists who tested the effectiveness of commitment contracts through research. StickK uses currency to motivate you to reach your goals by making you literally pay for it you don't.

Somewhat Frank Contributes to RWW Network

I am pleased to mention that my recent Somewhat Frank health 2.0 roundup article has made its way onto the Read/Write Web Network by appearing today on the fabulous Alt Search Engine blog. In case you are new to the blogosphere, Read/Write Web, Read/Write Talk, last100 and Alt Search Engines make-up the RWW Network and have been contributing compelling content to the Web everyday for years. I am a big fan of the RWW Network and I am honored to be a special guest contributor. Thanks to Charles Knight & Richard MacManus for showcasing some Somewhat Frank content.

Give the article a read here on Alt Search Engines.

Apple Movie Rentals, American Content Producer Trend, Facebook Translations, Kayak Sidestep Analysis & 2007 Logo Design Trends

Photo of the Week: 'Tis the season for some holiday lights and this home with over 200,000 lights was quite the site. Thanks to Terren for snapping this photo and pointing out this tacky lights tour video on YouTube.

Somewhat Frank Weekly Tidbits: 12.30.2007

23andMe DNA Testing A Privacy Concern?

I think we would all rest more assured if we had a clearer picture of our health outlook. If we could better understand the makeup of our DNA we would be clearer on what hand we have been dealt by our ancestors. 23andMe, a Silicon Valley-based startup that launched in mid-November, looks to make it easy to get a clearer picture by offering at-home DNA tests kits.

NASDAQ Internet Index, Facebook's Ad Plan & China Strategy, Google To Bid On Spectrum, Health 2.0 & Working On What Matters

Photo of the Week: There seems to be a bit of a chill in the air and ice is probably on its way as we enter December.

Somewhat Frank Weekly Tidbits: 12.01.2007

I Need A Medic! A Health 2.0 Round-up

False alarm, I don't need a medic but sometimes I have medical questions, like what is "Steakhouse Syndrome", "Chronic Pain" or "Blurred Vision." Of course you can check out Web MD or HealthLine but there are a few new medical searches that offer more of  a Web 2.0 approach. This article will examine a number of the new health and medical sites on the Web.

After A Long Web 2.0 Week: How Much Time Did It Take Off Your Life?

After a long week of traveling from Chicago for TECH cocktail to San Francisco for a week of Web 2.0 Expo events as explained by Mike Arrington, I feel like I may have shaved a few days off my life. Is there a way on the web to find out the impact of this week of sleepless nights and long days at the expo? If you’ve ever wondered just how long you’ll be taking up space on project earth, several sites are available to project how long you will could live. Based on how you complete a series of lifestyle questions, the sites calculate a projected age you will live to celebrate, or put another less popular way, your death age.

Internist Dr. Michael Roizen is a pioneer with health related questions to determine how one’s daily habits contribute to their good health with suggestions on how to live longer. At Dr. Roizen’s Realage.com you can calculate your “real age” based on your lifestyle, eating and drinking habits, and even how often you floss your teeth.

If you want more information, including how long you will live, (and why would you really want to know that?) you can log on to LivingTo100.com for those under 50 years of age, and to Eons.com for those older then 50. Each site walks you through a series of questions on health, diet, exercise, family, attitude, etc. and then calculates how long you will live.

So keep eating the broccoli, taking the vitamins, blogging daily and having fun you should live a long and happy life on the web.

Photo Attribution: stephcarter via Flickr

Good: For People That Give A Damn

Good is a media company aimed at creating a platform for the ideas, people, and businesses that are driving change in the world. Good, an L.A.-based company founded by Ben Goldhirsh, offers up a print magazine, feature and documentary films, original multimedia content and local events.

The print publication is a work of art as the photos and compelling articles are extremely well done making is difficult to think there is only a month worth of prep time between issues. Good Magazine makes if feel good to become a subscriber as 100% of your subscription cost goes to help the participating charity of your choice. With a goal set of 50,000 subscribers and $1 million dollars given away by mid 2007, Good is about a quarter of the way to its goal.

On the web, Good covers a number of my favorite topics and makes it easy to filter to specific categories like Technology,  Art & Design, Business & Money and Media. Good employs an "It's Good" Digg-like rating system on each article in addition to offering RSS feeds by topic. In addition, Good has created close to a dozen video shorts on a number of different topics. The first video in the SplashCast below is titled, Paying for Your Attention points out how much advertisers are paying for your attention.

Good will be teaming up with Creative Commons, a Good supported organization, to host a party at South By Southwest Interactive on March 12, 2007. If you are headed to Austin for the event I recommend you check it out - judging by its NYC launch party I am sure it will be a GOOD time.

Vent Your Frustrations to the Web?

Do you get frustrated at school, work or home? Do you need to get it off your chest? You are not alone! While many look for ways to blow off steam (i.e. exercise, sex, drugs, alcohol & rock-n-roll)  B*SH recently launched to attempt to provide a safer, web equivalent.

B*SH, the self-proclaimed "new four letter word," is very simple site that allows users to post their rants, raves and complaints about home, work or school on the web for all to see. The idea is that the Internet is so vast that some of it could be used for venting. B*SH users can then come by and rate others complaints. Though it may sound like a great idea after a dozen beers at the local pub, B*SH appears to be more of a novelty site with no clear revenue intentions. To date B*SH has received a very limited number of user contributed complaints. Maybe people just would rather complain to a human in person than type their gripes on the web.

Rather than clogging up the Internet with negativity, I would suggest taking your B complex vitamins, exercising regularly and getting enough sleep to combat frustrations and remain happier. I guess you could scream at the top of your lungs too (like the image above), but I don't know if it will work.

Photo attribution: LaFilipinaNegra (Half Pinay)

A Look Back At 2006

It has been a great 2006, as Somewhat Frank has offered up over 400 articles which attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors. I thought it might be interesting to reflect on some of the best of 2006 as we look forward to 2007. Here are some of the most popular articles:

1. Facebook Redesign Angers Students Over Invaded Privacy (September  6, 2006)
2. VideoJug: The Online 'How To' Video Site (December 28, 2006)
3. Why Isn’t Internet Access Free For Travelers? (November 27, 2006)
4. The History of the Personal Homepage (September  3, 2006)
5. Widgets Live! Everywhere (November 11, 2006)
6. Philanthropy Through Technology (October 18, 2006)
7. Kiboze: Group Text Messaging Made Easy (August 12, 2006)
8. RunFatBoy.net and Get In Shape (September 26, 2006)
9. 37signals Preaches "Less" For Success (April 29, 2006)
10. PlentyofFish.com the Craigslist of Dating (March 25, 2006)

Most of the traffic to Somewhat Frank came from:

1. Google 
2. Digg
3. Direct or RSS feed
4. Yahoo
5. Technorati
6. MSN
7. Techmeme

The top web 2.0 keywords which brought visitors to Somewhat Frank were:

1. web 2.0 directory
2. web 2.0 compliant
3. web 2.0 widgets
4. wine web 2.0
5. how to start a web 2.0 company
6. web 2.0 aggregator
7. web 2.0 sites
8. web 2.0 techniques
9. web 2.0
10. learning web 2.0

Some of the top overall keywords that brought visitors to Somewhat Frank were:

1. frank gruber (no big surprise here)
2. plentyoffish.com
3. green monster games
4. moobella
5. goodsearch
6. like.com
7. somewhat frank (another shocker)
8. devilfinder
9. myheritage
10. chalksite

Finally, let's take a snapshot look at where Somewhat Frank readers came from (click the map to see a larger view):

Alas, Somewhat Frank is a global destination. Thank you all for reading and interacting with Somewhat Frank in 2006 and be sure to tune in for more in 2007.

Happy New Year from Somewhat Frank!

GoodSearch The Web And Help Find A Cure For Cystic Fibrosis

What if the charity of your choice could earned a penny every time you searched the Internet?

Well, that is exactly what is happening today (November 28, 2006) as Somewhat Frank has selected to support the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation as the charity of the day on GoodSearch. The GoodSearch charity of the day is displayed on the left side of the site and all of search revenue for the day is donated to the displayed charity. GoodSearch was highlighted recently on Somewhat Frank in an article titled Philanthropy Through Technology. 

Thanks to J.J. Ramberg of GoodSearch we were given the opportunity to select the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation as the charity of the day.  Please help to support the search for a cure for cystic fibrosis, the inherited chronic disease that affects the lungs and digestive systems of about 30,000 children and adults in the United States, by searching the web with GoodSearch today.