11 unique web2.0 tracking tools for mind, body and wellbeing
There’s a new crazy in town. Lifetracking. Taking up where Twitter left off, a couple of services have cropped up around the web which are documenting your life further again. Lifetracking is the new Tweeting, with the main aim of providing a more thorough documentation of what you are doing, and when you are doing it. This in turn allows users to examine habits and routines which ordinarily go un-noticed. Want to know how many miles you’ve travelled in the past year – or how many different restaurants have you visited? No problem.
All of these questions are interesting to examine – particularly if you think there are things that are needing changed, or goals you wish to achieve. Here’s a few of the sites that aid you in your life pursuit.
Daytum
Created by Nicholas Feltron (who recently visited and spoke in Belfast) and Ryan Case – Daytum offers users the opportunity to record and report on a multitude of day to day things. The Feltron report is the documentation of Nick’s life which has gained noteriety inside the design community – which later evolved into Daytum.
Daytum describes itself as a tool for recording and communicating personal data. As you would expect from two designers of this calibre, it is an awesome piece of UI and graphic design into the bargain. The usefulness of tools such as this comes into their own, when you’ve significant data collected. People use it to record a whole manner of data, such as how many cups of coffee they have drank in a year, or what bands they listen to. Many dieters and foodies have taken to the platform as a way to control what they eat and drink, and to keep tabs on that digitally.
Bedposted
URL: http://www.bedposted.com/
If you are a real obsessive compulsive – and want evidence to show your partner that you aint getting your fair share of action – Bedpost chronicles how often you get jiggy wit’ it. An application which probably started out as a bit of fun now has in excess of 5,000 users. The site maintains that your data wont be shared elsewhere, which is a bonus I suppose. Personally, if you are counting how many times a month you get laid, it really isn’t that much of a surprise if its low..
Monthlyinfo.com
Cant say that I’ve tried this service – I was scared that I’d lose some man points, but I’m assured it does exactly what it says on the tin. For all you ladies out there wondering when Tom is in town. There’s a web 2.0 application for your needs.
Fertilitrack
URL: http://www.fertilitrack.com/
In much the same vein as the above – fertilitrack charts when the fairer sex is ovulating, so you can pounce on your man at just the right time. Clinincal I know, but fertility is a real problem for many couples, which this application looks to solve.
Gymfu
For all of you iron pumping gym junkies out there. There’s an Iphone application that encourages you to train harder, lift more weights and battle other users at the same time. They tout that the mini games are “like having a personal trainer with you in the gym or at home and every time you train. Only cheaper and more fun.” – a novel idea, that surely will cross over into other areas of fitness and training.
RescueTime
URL: http://www.rescuetime.com/
Ever wonder where that time goes when you are sitting procrastinating at your computer? Rescue time aims to report and solve that. It automatically monitors the programs you use, and the websites you visit whilst at your machine. Which shows whether you are being Mr. Productive, or Mr. MineSweeper.
Mycrocosm
URL: http://mycro.media.mit.edu/
Sometimes the guys at Mit come up with some tools that are great. Others just plain nerdy. (See this link for how they work out when to do laundry). Mycrocosm is in much the same line as Daytum, however it is much more graphical in the interface. I also would hazard a guess that the data you input would or could be used in a research paper somewhere down the line.
Nike+
URL: http://nikeplus.nike.com/nikeplus/?locale=en_gb
Nike plus is a great tool if you are keen on running, and happen to own a pair of Nike + ready running shoes. The system records your distance, pace, time and calories burned throughout the duration of your run, and sends the data back to Nikeplus.com – either through your Ipod Nano (a receiver plugs into the bottom of the Ipod) or through the nikeplus sportsband. A transmitter plugs into the bottom of your shoe which monitors your speed etc.
When you’ve come back from your run, simply unplug the transmitter, and the USB slot plugs into your PC or Mac, and uploads the data. This is great marketing and an innovative way for Nike to sell more running shoes – but if you are both web aware, and enjoy the odd run – this is the application for you. Goals can be set, and you can even challenge your buds within the application so its like having a virtual running partner.
Zumelife
Zumelife offers people with chronic illness a bit more peace of mind. They know that taking care of yourself can be extremely time consuming if you are living with an illness, and remembering to take tablets or look after your diet is both a stress and constant worry.
The application looks to take the burden of that away from the sufferer, and sets schedules and recurring events to remind you when to do these things. It integrates nicely with the Iphone which gives it the portability that many people need. If you are living with a disease such as diabetes and regularly have to take insulin or other medication, you could benefit from a service such as this.
TrixieTracker
URL: http://www.trixietracker.com/
TrixieTracker is a parenting tool that attempts to get a baby into a regular schedule of sleep – which translates into “parents getting more sleep”. It also monitors patterns such as eating and nappy changes, if you want to go down to that level. All aiming to establish better routines for parents and babies. There is also a new Iphone version available giving it the mobile flexibility that every parent needs. To date “curious” parents have recorded over 1.7 million naps, feeds and baby bum changes.
Your flowing data
URL: http://your.flowingdata.com/
Currently available by invite only (which seems to be the defacto standard with web applications now) – your flowing data attempts to tap into your twitter stream to record life events – which isn’t a bad concept considering the recent uptake of the service. Think of it as Daytum’s concept applied to Twitter.
linky
posted:September 27, 2010 12:15 am
Do you know of any apps/sites/tools that aggregate all your myriad forms of “lifetracking” data?
For example, it would be cool to be able to look back and see: On May 3, I read these 9 articles, had these 3 meetings, listened to this music, ran 4 miles in 31 minutes, ate here for lunch, and posted these 2 tweets.
J
linky
posted:November 17, 2010 3:37 pm
Try Time Doctor. Its an alternative to rescuetime aimed squarely at businesses or managers who want to make sure their staff and/or remote teams are actually working.
bittersweetnicky