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Said on the KETSO website, Ketso is a toolkit for creative and effective engagement. It is designed to encourage creative thinking, and to engage people from different backgrounds and experiences, so diverse groups can work together enjoyably and productively.
I feel it's useful for people who run workshops, teaching or organise events. I don't feel the idea is new. It is similar to using any other concept map software. It is similar to other workshops that use colourful pens, stick-on-it, paper to draw down your ideas. However, I like the reusable materials that can be easily washed off and reuse; very efficient.


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Published: Feb 26, 2010

subset: commoncrawl


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WHOOP Review – the strap
In this WHOOP Review we will see that here we have a potentially super-clever performance/training optimising strap for serious-to-pro athletes covering most sports, including triathlon & team sports.
In simple hardware/software terms it's 'just' a wrist-based, heart rate monitor and an online/smartphone app.
It offers a holistic HRV-based view of your 'recovery' coupled with a view of your daily HR 'strain'. Specifically, strain & recovery feed into your readiness to train and into your sleep needs.
What is it?
It's a wrist-based optical heart rate monitor made by WHOOP. It has the ability to be worn during swimming and is designed to be worn 24×7.
It takes continuous/high rates of readings and analyses nightly RR/HRV data.
It has an internal rechargeable battery and a variety of straps can also be purchased.
It has no display and is a 'closed system', with no standard means to export data and furthermore it does not broadcast HR over standard Bluetooth/ANT+ protocols. Data can only be viewed on the WHOOP app, to which there are no public import/export mechanisms.
For monitoring an exercise, the WHOOP app only has fairly rudimentary information on display but can use your phone's GPS for speed and location data. Other than GPS, there is no other external sensor support.
The app does also allow numerous, subjective inputs (not used in calculations).
It's focus is 24×7 strain, recovery and readiness based on HR data and HRV data. The resulting knowledge and insight into your training regime is likely to be currently missing, at least in part, from your training regime.
WHOOP is positioned to sit alongside whatever you currently do. Triathletes' will still use their existing Suunto/Polar/Garmin devices to execute, monitor and analyse their workouts.
To see the value in WHOOP you have to understand that, when training, it is the LATER ADAPTATION of your body to the STIMULATION of the exercise that results in a positive change to your fitness. WHOOP endeavours to make sure that you have information to enable you to adapt as best you can. Part of that involves recommending to you the amount of sleep you need 'tonight' and also assessing what you actually achieved and benefitted from in your sleep by the time you wake up 'tomorrow'. It then recommends a level of strain/activity for the day.
What it is NOT
It's not a heart rate monitor that you can link to ANYTHING else. It only works with the WHOOP iOS app (Android later this year)
It's neither a 'step counter' nor a typical activity tracker. It does track calories but if that's the sort of thing you are focussed on then WHOOP is probably not for you.
So What?
Maybe I'm not explaining this very well if you are not already excited.
In the original draft of this review I went off on a tangent here to give you my life story and how I tried to find a product such as this a couple of years ago…but couldn't.
Suffice to say I am excited by the potential of a wrist-based product like this. As far as I know; it is unique.
If your sport requires that you care about your recovery and adaptation to exercise then you should, at least, consider WHOOP.
OK. You've got this far. Thank you. I'll do the regular review stuff now. You will probably have already noted that I've sat on the fence quite a bit.
WHOOP is priced at around the £/Eur/$500 level. As much as I'd love you to buy one of these and support my blog with a small automatic commission that comes from that when you use the discount code, below, I need to do it in good conscience. Luckily I have quite a few gadgets to bring to bear to endeavour to test some of the claims made for WHOOP. I've used WHOOP continuously for well over 6 weeks and this review is based both on that usage and on several actual and emailed conversations with WHOOP staff. But it's going to be tricky as WHOOP is a closed system in terms of data. As I've already said, I'll do my best.
Box Contents
The pleasant cylindrical packaging contains: the WHOOP device; an interchangeable strap; a proprietary charging cradle; and a generic micro USB cable.
The WHOOP Device
WHOOP has a novel clasp. It's very light, comfortable and not really noticeable when wearing it. There are no electronic pods inside rubberized straps that can pop out and get lost – like from some other brands.
The strap is secure in normal usage
There's only one way the WHOOP can be inserted into the charger and, as you can see from the images below, the metal ports on the side of the WHOOP need to line up with the pins on the charger for it to charge. You can even charge it whilst wearing it.
Let's look at WHOOP's own-designed sensor array. For comparison I've shown it next to a Scosche BLE/ANT+ armband HR monitor and its sensor array.
There are 2x green photodiode LEDs. That's similar to many optical sports sensors on the market today, although the Scosche has 3 (2 green, 1 yellow). Apparently green light produces optimal results for most people. WHOOP also has an orange LED but that has not yet been firmware enabled.
Sensor spacing can affect accuracy. WHOOP and Scosche are broadly similar in that respect. In any case much of the 'accuracy' comes from the algorithms that you can't see.
WHOOP also contains a 3-axis accelerometer which detects activity and the data from this accelerometer is used to cancel motion artefacts (errors caused by moving the wrist).
When you sleep, WHOOP continually takes high frequency HR readings (100/sec) but only at night are they used to determine the recovery score through heart rate variability (HRV) analyses. HRV analysis potentially could be determined during the day but this is not yet enabled. There are no features which could yet use that facility.
There is a lot of science behind HRV and recovery using the RMSSD calculation. Google it for more info. Alan Couzens blog (here) is a great place to start.
Inbuilt sensors also determine ambient temperature (a proxy for environmental temperature) and there is a touch sensor to determine if the device ie being worn or not.
Battery Life
Battery life is given as up to 44 hours ie not quite 2 days. That seemed about right from my experience and I was charging the device every other day, which was fine. Full charge time from empty was said to be about 90 minutes but I found that a good top up of 30 minutes whilst I was at a desk kept things going nicely. Unusually for wrist devices, both straps and watches, WHOOP can be charged whilst being worn.
LEDs indicate battery life:
- 3 solid white lights = full Strap battery
- 2 solid white lights = 60%
- 1 solid white light = 20%
- 1 solid red light = 10%
I occasionally ran out of battery without realising it. Grrr.
Data Transfer
A full transfer of 2/3 days worth of data over Bluetooth to iOS can take up to 5/6 minutes. That's fairly slow. That transfer can be initiated manually but happens silently in the background if the app is open and if a live pairing exists. So, although it is fairly slow, you will never normally notice the transfer happening.
WHOOP Versions
The original v1.0 product was release in September 2015. The WHOOP 2.0 was released a year later in Oct/Nov 2016 with the addition of: automatic sleep-detection; the sleep coach; and more accurate sensors & algorithms.
WHOOP – Why it's different in how it works
WHOOP can communicate over Bluetooth but will never broadcast as a 'normal' heart rate monitor over Bluetooth in a standard form.
Here's why.
WHOOP was designed with the sole purpose of being 'always on' to capture raw, high frequency HR data and other sensor data and, generally, sending that for processing 'elsewhere'. This enables battery conservation for extended periods.
So ALL the processing is either done in the WHOOP app or on the cloud service (and the results passed back to the app).
Contrast that with other commercially available, wrist-based, devices – none of which yet produce HRV data to my knowledge. They perhaps have to: handle ANT+ and BTLE channels; or have to incorporate a display and/or an on/off button; and/or be an activity/sleep tracker; and/or provide smartphone notifications. Lots of other functions, lots of other complications, lots of battery juice eaten.
Setting Up The App
The WHOOP logo to the right clicks through to the WHOOP app on iTunes.
I used version 1.6.3 which works fine on an iPAD.
You have to create an account and a profile. You know how to do that; it's all standard stuff.
You have to pair the device to the iPhone/iPAD. Again, you know how to do that – it must be worn in order to pair.
Here is the manual: WHOOP v2 User Guide – March 20 – 2017
Here are setup, wearing & charging instructions: (this link).
You strap it on and you are good to go for about 2 days until the next recharge. Simple.
Well of course it's NOT quite so simple.
- As shown in the image above the wearing position IS important, as it is with all optical HRMs. If you wear it too close to your wrist bone ie closer than shown, then you risk wrist movements affecting the accuracy of the readings. You could wear it on your upper arm for more accurate readings, strap size permitting, but it IS designed to be wrist-worn.
- The WHOOP app takes a while to build up your baseline data. Over 3 days. That's normal for HRV-type apps. Once the baseline kicks in then so does the richness of information from the app.
- The app does show battery status but you will likely only look at the app a couple of times a day. You need to remember to charge it every other day. Surprisingly you can charge it while you wear it.
- Optical HR readings are notoriously susceptible to many factors causing inaccuracy from hairiness to the colour of your skin to movements. There's a LOT of movements going on in the wrist area and they're all potentially subtly different across different sports.
Suffice it to say, you may have a different experience to me.
A dark band was supplied with the model I had. It was like a strong elasticated sticking plaster-type material (hard to describe). This was perfectly fine for every usage EXCEPT swimming when it 'flips' and twists leaving the sensor facing outwards. If you intend to swim with it you will need the HYDRO-BAND which is a more rigid woven strap that will stay in place. That's the white band shown in the previous image.
USE CASE SCENARIO: Triathlete
So that's all well and good. We've got LEDs, sensors and an 'app'. But most of us want actionable data, presented simply. This is precisely the intention of WHOOP. Let's see how it does that.
I'm going to look at WHOOP+me. Here's a bit about me so you know where I'm coming from: I train for TRIATHLON between 40 minutes a day and 5 hours a day, sometimes more. I have managed 10-20 hours a week almost every week for years. I sleep between 5 and 8 hours a day. My diet is generally good and I only drink alcohol occasionally and I neither smoke nor take non-prescription drugs. I have a partner. I train for triathlon multi-sports including, occasionally, gym. I would consider myself an occasionally half-decent age-group triathlete. So I am by no means anywhere near a pro level. BUT I take my training seriously even if nobody else does 😉
I'd say WHOOP is aimed at people similar to me (or better) who consider themselves an athlete of some sort, probably training 7 hours a week or more for triathlon. WHOOP is looking at giving someone at MY level 'notable gains' but much more serious athletes would be looking for the fabled 'marginal' gains. Important gains in either case and potentially EASY gains in either case.
For WHOOP to work it automatically records your sleep and automatically records your 'strain' (exercise). If you didn't wear it for the rest of the day its predictive algorithms should still broadly work; although you might be surprised at the impact of the strain of a meeting or the strain of walking to work.
WHOOP is not invasive to your lifestyle. Really, you only need to look at the WHOOP app 2-3 times a day424242
- When you wake up – enter qualitative data and review your sleep performance – how recovered and ready for training are you? WHOOP suggests an appropriate level of STRAIN/LOAD for you for the day. Adapt your plan accordingly.
- Only if you intend to train a second time during a day might you look at how strained you were after the first session. Adapt your next workout that day accordingly towards WHOOP's daily strain target for you.
- After your last exercise of the day – enter qualitative data about your workouts and WHOOP then determines how much sleep you need to recover. Adapt you evening and night plans accordingly.
Of course you can ignore what it says entirely or look at it more or less frequently.
TRAINING: You CAN use the WHOOP app to show your HR and you can probably record GPS with your smartphone. I never did that. Pointless. You are a vaguely serious athlete, right? WHOOP just slots alongside the Garmin/Polar/Suunto regime you already have (I know as a triathlete that you DO have one!). You want to know how fast your HR is or how fast or powerful you are right now during your training? You look at your normal sports watch. That's why you bought your normal sports watch. You want to check if you hit those power durations or paces during training? look at Training Peaks/SportTracks/GoldenCheetah, that's why you have them. Nothing changes! You just wear the strap all the time and very occasionally tap on a few things on the app.
You use WHOOP to recommend SLEEP and to RECOMMEND LOAD/STRAIN. Don't try to use WHOOP for something it's not intended for.
The App – A look at all the components in the WHOOP review
I didn't like the app when I first used it. It seemed basic. But as more data was gathered, so more knowledge and insight was returned. Many of the areas of the screen are multi-functioned so it delivers a little more than you might, at first, think with little snippets of information popping up from time-to-time about how you are progressing.
I'd personally prefer a rich web interface (there is an online dashboard for trends, I hardly used it) but I'd admit it makes better sense to interact with the app. Shame there is no Android app yet. Grrrr.
Sleep is auto-detected. It does a good job, in my opinion, and seems to correctly identify my sleep durations. I tend to go to bed too tired and fall asleep quickly. Maybe if you sat up in bed reading for an hour you'd fool it. Either way you can manually over-ride sleep times.
As you can see in the following slide show WHOOP takes some responses to standard questions as well as showing your sleep performance against what it calculated you needed before you went to bed, based on your strain for the previous day. You can 'drill down' to look at the sleep stats in a bit more detail.
If you've ever used a sleep monitor before you probably found it IS very interesting to look at all the various sleep phases and other stats. But after a while the novelty wears off. Quantified introspection takes time! Really it's the actionable data you want ie "you didn't sleep enough last night" or "sleep 8 hours tonight" and that's what WHOOP delivers. Simple, actionable stuff.
Activity is NOT auto-detected which is a bit of a faff. For my American readers 'faff' means 'annoying'!! or perhaps more generously 'more time consuming than it needs to be'.
Activity auto-detection was stated by WHOOP to be delivered in early Q2.2017 and that will be a welcome addition.
You can either manually assign a sport type to an already-completed activity period or press 'start' and 'stop' before and after selecting a workout type.
So in this image I had 78% of the sleep I needed; delivering only 38% recovery. I woke at 9:00am and then I had a swim from 10:30 to 12:00 (not auto-detected).
So in this case I manually added a swimming activity over the HR track giving start & end times as well as adding qualitative impressions about how I felt I performed. These qualitative data are not used to determine any component of 'strain'. I would, however, have hoped for an estimated figure for strain in the scenario where no HR data was gathered eg 'flat battery' or eg 'forgot to wear'.
WHOOP identifies the strain automatically. It just doesn't automatically ask you to assign it to a sport. You do NOT NEED to assign it.
Anyway, you enter your exercise parameters and WHOOP goes off and calculates AND SHOWS your workout strain score; in this case coming back with 11.5/21 By the end of day you can see a very, very slightly higher strain of 11.9.
This is actually a nice example for other reasons. There are some peaks around 6:00pm that are probably false and also slightly raised HR around 9pm. But they make little or no material difference on the daily strain IMO. I've seen some comments on the net about users taking issue with the unexpected peaks. Yes the peaks are probably wrong but what's important is the area under the curve, that is (sort of) the training load/strain. There is virtually no 'area' underneath those peaks so their effect is highly likely to be trivial.
Two possible downsides for triathletes in the calculation of strain are:
- WHOOP calculates strain (training load) from HRmax and the day's HRrest. Creating zones based on the HRreserve. It's neat that a varying HRrest is used but many triathletes and Garmin users are becoming used to setting zones based on the AnT/LTHR (Lactate Threshold Heart Rate – strictly the LT Turnpoint)
- Furthermore some athletes use different Ant/LTHR for each sport resulting in potentially very different zones. So the 140-150bpm, or thereabouts in the above chart is probably Z4 for me when swimming but for running the same HR level would be Z2.
Whilst those factors, even if included, might not make too much of a difference I would expect that most data-orientated triathletes would expect to be able to define their own training zones. Against that WHOOP might, in part, argue that such training zones are static as and are inaccurate as they do not reflect changes to your resting HR. Which IS a good point.
Indeed on this point WHOOP specifically asked prior to publication that I include the fact that they initially determine HR zones based on clustering algorithms (which include age) and that their algorithms refine the data over time, with usage.
WHOOP – APP Trends/Summaries
Trends are not shown on the app as such (see the online dashboard part of the WHOOP review). However there is a limited, but useful, calendar view where each type of measurement is shown, colour-coded, for each day of the month.
The most interesting view, from my personal perspective, was the 'Readiness' view. In the examples shown below I am following the same training structure each week with Monday as a rest day and Tuesday PLUS one weekend day as hard days.
Clearly the images below show that on most Wednesdays I had a low readiness (red). Tuesdays was always a fairly long run and a hard evening swim. Perhaps suggesting that I should either: train easier on Tuesdays (probably not, as I performed well in the swim); or that I should take it easier than what I did in Wednesday's Brick training where I did often feel tired; or to improve recovery by actually following what the sleep coach suggested I should have done and got at least one hour more sleep on Tuesday night! Probably the latter!
Regardless of whether or not I made the correct training decision, WHOOP's views of my training and of my recovery seemed to quantify how I felt.
WHOOP Review – Online Dashboard
There is also some additional, albeit limited, trending functionality online. The colour-coded red/yellow/green recovery line is platted against the blue-only strain/load line. Maybe I should have been performing high load workouts on days of green recovery?…maybe. Conversely my load/strain should have been low on the days of the 5 red dots. They weren't.
Maybe I made some bad decisions? It is sometimes easier to rigidly follow a plan. Doing less training feels intuitively wrong.
But we probably know in our hearts that it is better to sometimes ease off. WHOOP gives you that information. Ignore it or follow it. It's your call.
I consider myself to be reasonably aware of my sleep quality and very aware of my training load. I've used several disparate tools to measure those over the years.
So I wasn't really expecting to learn too much.
However WHOOP's recommendations for the amount of sleep I needed were eye-opening. Routinely I was 2 hours short of my recommended sleep each night. I have managed to get that down to one hour and I even scored a 100% sleep on one night (just one!). But I then do feel better for that extra sleep. Kinda stating the obvious. But so obvious I haven't done it for years.
The other main insight comes with alcohol consumption. There have been a few occasions when I have consumed relatively small amounts of alcohol but then the next day the recovery shown on WHOOP is very small. Again it's stating the obvious that Olympic athletes are not prescribed alcohol during training for a reason. It's not great for athletic performance. Seeing that with your own data can be a game-changer.
So all that looks great. But how accurate is it? Indeed what is accuracy in this context?
PLEASE!!: I have to point out that I am not claiming any kind of scientific accuracy in my 'tests'.
I have over 50 sessions' worth of data with WHOOP alongside 'something else' and have taken them into account when producing this WHOOP Review. Many of my training sessions were similar but I chose a few, below, that seemed representative of different types of training and asked WHOOP for the HR data. It was very time-consuming to put all this together but I think the results are worth it.
I've endeavoured to cover the normal range of my exercise-based heart rates; that's from 120-170bpm or thereabouts. I've done that over the three triathlon sports and, where possible, I've tried to compare to two other devices one being an alternative source of optically derived HR. For the higher levels of exertion in intervals I've also included different types of recovery activity (standing vs. jogging vs. Z2).
WHOOP were kind enough to send me CSV files of the raw data and Matthias Krallmann, publisher of what I consider to be the 'gold standard' of sports file data conversions helped to get the data into FIT format that I then performed comparison suing sporttracks desktop (data conversion with the Fit File Repair Tool).
Here's the first example comprising: Scosche (optical arm band) paired with the Lezyne; Suunto SPARTAN and Suunto chest strap; and the Polar M200 with inbuilt optical HR. For this 'test' the WHOOP was also worn on the upper arm like the Scosche (it's an easier place to get better readings than the wrist).
Two things to ignore: Fristly I wore the WHOOP to run to the starting point of my test, that's the bump at the start. Secondly the Polar tails off at 1 hour 20, that's just because I fiddled with it.
Clearly, visually, there is a great deal of tracking between the four lots of data for the test period between 20:00 and 1:45:00
The following chart is for a more demanding session with a mile of fairly hard effort leading into 3x 1 minutes fast with different kinds of recoveries. WHOOP didn't track quite so well here. We'll come back to the interpretation later.
Cycling poses issues around filtering out the 'noise' caused by movements of both the wrist in different riding positions as well as vibrations from the road surface. WHOOP and Polar both suffered here for short bursts but over the duration of 3 hours of Z2/Z3 yet both broadly tracked the Suunto. You can consider the Suunto to be 'correct'.
Swimming is not supported by many of the optical HR sensors. Indeed up until 2017 Garmin did not enable optical HR for swimming on any device. I've found that Polar's M200 or M600 either perform very well in water OR have a 'bad day', The following image is a good day for the M200 as I tracked through varying intensities and cadences of front crawl for 20 minutes or so. The green line is the WHOOP this time and, again, assume the Suunto is correct.
Further test using the app for indoor cycling: I used the WHOOP app to get a feel for the 'live' HR and how it visually compared to the instant HR from my Garmin. There were some notable, short spikes with the WHOOP. Generally it seemed 'about right'.
ACCURACY – what does accurate mean?
I showed another set of my data to WHOOP and their feedback on the variation to the WHOOP data was that it was: "it's consistent enough throughout such that our Strain and rest of the system will be able to identify the important physiological aspects of the workout." Source: JC, WHOOP.
My 'take' in this WHOOP Review is that: they believe they are getting the 'time-in-zone' correct enough to meaningfully record strain/training load.
Our sceptical view might be: "Well they would say that, wouldn't they?" Let's look at that too…
ACCURACY – A 'truer' measure?
TRIMP is a heart rate measure of your training load and is a well established principle in endurance sports (link to: trainingimpulse.com). It quantifies the effect of the time spent in each training zone, giving a higher weighting to time spent in a higher zone.
So here is what Sporttracks calculated the training load to be. The load is based on TRIMP. These are the TRIMP scores from some of the examples shown above.
That looks reasonable to me.
If you bought WHOOP and solely wanted to use it as an instantaneous source of HR for your sport then there are definitely LOTS of better solutions out that for that purpose. You probably already have one with the word Garmin written on it!
I am the first to admit my tests are rudimentary and non-scientific. IF you wanted to conduct a scientific experiment to validate WHOOP then my suggestion would be to try to validate the 'overall usefulness' through a measure of training load/strain like TRIMP.
Initially I was concerned about some of WHOOP's HR spikes when viewed live. However, after looking at the training load calculations, such as those shown above, my view changed to becoming generally happy with what WHOOP does on the STRAIN side of its calculations.
Really we are trying to measure the accuracy of RECOVERY not sleep.
First of all put aside your Fitbits and your Garmin wrist bands. They either measure motion or simple HR and try to infer a LOT from those simple measurements. Most of them probably infer an AWFUL lot.
A simple HRrest/HRmin in the morning might generally have some value in indicating recovery. Might. Let's leave it at that.
Here are two nights' worth of my sleep with a simple HR chart plotted for each night comparing EMFIT to WHOOP. I'm certainly NOT implying EMFIT is the gold standard for medical-grade night-HR accuracy.
The general HR trend for both nights with the two devices seems similar enough.
BUT that is nothing to do with HRV.
I buy in to the broad argument that a rising trend in RMSSD throughout the night indicates a positive recovery/adaptation. RMSSD is calculated from the beat-to-beat variation of your HR ie HRV/IB/RR – whatever you want to call it.
The key thing that WHOOP has that your Garmin lacks is that it can measure your HRV at night from your wrist without the need for a chest strap.
I can't sleep with a chest strap and years ago I used to use a 3 minute waking HRV measurement in the morning from a chest strap. this takes up a lot of time over the year and I eventually moved to QS EMFIT which involves a sensitive metal strip underneath a mattress to measure all-night HRV.
EMFIT produces a RMSSD calculation of my night's HRV data. It then plots a line of best fit. voila. It should then look something like this:
WHOOP did provide me with beat-by-beat data to perform my own RMSSD calculations but I was unable to import it.
So I am somewhat of a dead-end for that line of investigation for the time being. Sorry.
What I do have, however, are these two overviews of trending RMSSD in February – one from EMFIT and one from WHOOP. EMFIT has a very slick interface and feels more accurate and there is more depth on analysis of the data.
However I KNOW that on Wednesday morning of each week I was very tired from two multi-sports workouts each and every Tuesday. The red dots on the chart, below, from WHOOP identify nearly all of these 'tired' Wednesdays. WHOOP also identify that Mondays were my day off in this time period, EMFIT does not measure strain/training load in any way. So whilst EMFIT might be a slicker interface, WHOOP does seem to correctly identify some key weekly moments in my training that push me somewhere close to 'the edge'.
Pondering over WHOOP's recovery stats I'm erring towards feeling that it's 'about right'.
RESEARCH: (Here) are some of WHOOP's validations and white papers
WHAT'S MISSING FROM THE WHOOP Review
- Auto sleep detection worked for me but auto workout detection is needed to make the product much more user-friendly. This feature is due soon.
- As a triathlete I expect to be able to enter my own zones and to enter different zones per sport.
- When I manually enter a workout with the various subjective attributes BUT NO HR DATA I still expect to see a strain score.
- An Android version.
Others could argue that better integration with the existing sports data sources like Garmin/Polar would be useful. I would disagree with that. WHOOP needs to keep its focus on doing what it does.
Others would argue that WHOOP should broadcast or make available HR data.
- Broadcasting of ANT+ HR is unlikely to happen for hardware reasons. Although it would make it easier for a triathlete-user if only one HR device needs to be worn DURING EXERCISE. An alternative, that I don't think will happen, could be that WHOOP links to external sources to pull-in exercise HR data from Garmin & co.
- Sharing could happen if the demand were there.
It's a neat product concept. I wanted EXACTLY this product 3, or so, years ago. But it didn't exist.
Now it does! It has no direct competitors for a wrist-based measuring solution.
WHOOP bridges the gap that the likes of: waking HRV products like ithlete and BioforceHRV; and non-intrusive HRV sleep monitors like Beddit and QS EMFIT, do not yet fill. In that WHOOP provides a combined picture of recovery and strain. Rather than just one side of the picture. AND WHOOP provides that insight through a non-intrusive wrist-wearable.
In my opinion WHOOP does seem to be guiding me in the right direction towards how hard/long I should be training and how long I should be sleeping.
The sensor readings do show incorrect HR spikes from time-to-time during the day. I attribute this to either me incorrectly wearing the device and/or how WHOOP handles motion artefacts such as a twisted wrist on a bike on a bumpy road.
I've looked at my trainingload calculations based on HR on a near-daily basis for almost 10 years. The spikes from WHOOP are rarely long enough to have affected the overall load calculation too much from what I can see. The resultant score or recommendation would likely be little-changed even with perfect data. As to whether or not the recommendation is scientifically 'correct' and well founded, then "I don't know".
Yet many of us have looked at HR spikes on our Garmin (and other) running watches with optical sensors and bemoaned their inaccuracy. I'd suggest that is a slightly different use-case. When you are running hard for a minute then you want an accurate figure for that minute. It DOES matter to you when you are training and WOULD make you do something different if you believed the data. That minute won't make much of a difference to what WHOOP does. BUT that will be of no comfort for those amongst you who expect a 99.9% accurate product all the time. If that's what you want then don't buy the product.
If you want an easy-to-wear holistic solution for recovery/strain measurements and recommendations then I can see no single product alternative to WHOOP.
MISC points in the WHOOP Review
There are several other views of WHOOP based on studies of 'other sports'.
WHOOP is also available as a TEAM solution.
IMPORTANT EDIT: As of May 2018 WHOOP have changed their pricing model and they now have a monthly charge. IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO PURCHASE THE BAND, YOU HAVE TO SIGN UP FOR THE SERVICE. The discounts, below, do not currently work.
US$30/month, minimum 6 months.
You can use the following discount code, THE5KRUNNER10, on the WHOOP site to get a 10% discount and that also helps to support this blog. Thank you!.


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Statewatch bulletin
monitoring civil liberties in the European Union
May - July 2002, vol 12 no 3
Front page lead:
EU: surveillance of telecommunications: Data retention to be 'compulsory'
Even as the European Parliament was discussing and voting on fundamental changes to the 1997 EC Directive on privacy in telecommunications the Belgian government was drafting (and circulating for comment) a binding Framework Decision on the retention of traffic data and access for the law enforcement agencies. Also published on Statewatch News Online.
EU: Unaccountable undercover teams set up
Quite unnoticed, and unreported, the EU's Justice and Home Affairs Council adopted at their meeting on 25/26 April, without debate (an "A" Point), a "Recommendation establishing multinational ad hoc teams for gathering and exchanging information on terrorists". The Recommendation, is intergovernmental (ie: outside of EU treaties) and is not binding on EU states and so there was no obligation to refer it to national parliaments or to the European Parliament for scrutiny. The discussions made clear that the object of these ad hoc teams is not to arrest and bring suspects to court - and thus they would not compete with existing EU plans for the creation of "joint investigative teams" for criminal offences. Rather small groupings of EU states - led by Spain and Italy - will set up unaccountable, undercover teams of police and internal security officers and agents to target and place under surveillance suspected groups and individuals.
EU: Law enforcement agencies win out over privacy
This feature looks at the "deal" done between the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union over data retention, the vote in the European Parliament and the leaked text of the draft "Framework Decision on the retention of traffic data and on access to this data in connection with investigations and prosecutions" (prepared by the Belgian government).
US/EU/ICC: Farcical birth of International Criminal Court
On 17 July 1998, the Rome Statute on the creation of an International Criminal Court (ICC) to prosecute people accused of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes was agreed. The treaty was welcomed by governments, lawyers and civil society groups as the most significant development in international law since the UN Charter more than 50 years before. For the court to be established sixty states had to ratify the treaty. This feature looks at the extensive efforts of the US administration to undermine the ICC and prevent it developing into the future world criminal court its supporters promote.
EU: The EU Constitutional Convention: Will the Sinners Repent?
Since the end of February, a (constitutional) Convention has been meeting regularly under the chairmanship of former President Giscard d'Estaing of France to consider the future of the EU. This would seem an ideal opportunity to consider the problems with the legitimacy, transparency, democratic and judicial control and human rights obligations of the EU, particularly as regards Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) matters. But the obvious problem is that national executives and the Council Secretariat that services them benefit from the lack of transparency and democratic scrutiny wihin the EU system. To what extent do they show signs of willingness to change their ways?
Viewpoint: In the name of a Just War - defending the civilised world, Phil Scraton
Within this distorted world of "with us or against us" the casualties of war, regardless of their status as military or civilian, are held responsible; their losses, their injuries, their suffering reconstructed as self-inflicted. With so much reporting and commentary derived in the manufacture and selection of news through spin and manipulation, it is not difficult for states and their administrations to deny responsibility for their part in atrocities, their part in the long-term consequences of war. "Refusal to acknowledge" reveals the power within advanced capitalist states at its most cynical, its most self-serving. History soon becomes rewritten, truth becomes degraded, the pain of death and destruction heightened by the pain of deceit and denial. It is from within this experience that the next generation of terror strategists will emerge and develop their consciousness. And the "sacrifice, determination and perseverance" demanded by Rumsfeld in the US global "war on terror" will be matched. Extracted from a collection of essays edited by Phil Scraton: Beyond September 11 - an anthology of dissent (Pluto Press, 2002).
ICC/EU: US tries to split EU on the ICC
The US has adopted a new tactic to exempt its forces and officials from legal action by the newly-fomred International Criminal Court. Having almost succeeded in its quest for permanent immunity through the UN Security Council, the US has is now pursuing a new tactic. Under Article 98 of the Rome Treaty, a country cannot be forced to hand over a suspect to the ICC if it has a bilateral agreement with the country whose citizens are wanted for trial. American embassies throughout the world are now busy pressuring governments to enter into such bilateral agreements.
EU: Fast-track to expelling migrants
The EU Summit in Seville adopted a whole series of measures on immigration and asylum which reflect the post 11 September ideology. Although a number of the proposals had been foreseen in the Tampere Council (1999) much of the content of sweeping new programmes has been influenced by numerous meetings with USA officials.
EU/NETHERLANDS: Eurojust's "ETA suspect" bailed
On 16 January 2002 Juan Ramón Rodríguez Fernández - Juanra - was arrested in an Amsterdam supermarket by a Dutch police snatch squad and detained pending extradition to Spain, where the authorities claim he is a supporter of the Basque separatist group ETA. The Spanish authorities have now changed the charges against Juanra five times. Discrepancies and contradictions from Spanish prosecutors and unanswered questions from the Dutch court have met with the response that key files and documents have been "lost".
GERMANY: Contempt for refugee children
In January 1990, the Federal Republic of Germany signed the UN Convention on Children's Rights. The Convention prohibits any discrimination against children and declares that the child's welfare is a top priority. In 1992 the German parliament expressed five reservations, two of which refer to refugee and foreigners' children. Article looks at contemporary practises in the application of these reservations.
UK: "Snatch squad" storms mosque
The principle of the sanctity of a place of worship was violated on 25 July when five immigration officers and 12 policemen smashed their way into a mosque in Lye, West Midlands, dressed in riot gear and armed with a battering ram. The action was carried out by an immigration "snatch squad", twelve of which are supposed to enforce the government's annual deportation target of 30,000 from the end of this year onwards. A strong community based anti-deportation campaign and a legal challenge has forced the government to postpone the family's deportation, and Muslim community leaders have voiced outrage at the "military-style" raid.
UKRAINE: EU deportation regime adopted
In 1996, the Ukraine started to implement the policies and measures imposed on non-EU countries by the EU in an attempt to thwart migration and flight routes. The same year, the Ukraine announced its closer cooperation with NATO and the EU. Since then Germany, in particular, has started to carry out systematic deportations via Poland to the Ukraine, which represents an important transit country for migrants who want to enter the EU as well as being a country of emigration. Poland rejects migrants who try to enter at the Ukrainian-Polish border, on grounds of corresponding repatriation agreements.
EUROPE: International Border Camps 2002
Border camps (see Statewatch, vol. 9 no. 5 and vol. 10 no. 3 & 4), which protest against the EU's repressive migration regime and its corresponding racism have become tradition. Activists, human rights and refugee and migrants groups will meet over a period of two months (July-August) in camps in Poland, Finland, Germany, Strasbourg and Slovenia.
SPAIN: Expulsions rise three-fold
On 25 June 2002 the Spanish Interior Ministry announced that 19,290 foreigners were expelled, denied entry or returned to their countries of origin between January and May 2002. The breakdown of the figures shows 3,643 expulsions (the total for 2001 was 3,817), signalling a three-fold increase from 1,025 compared to the same period in 2001.
Immigration - in brief
Spain: Electronic border monitoring in Fuerteventura
UK: IRR concern over sentencing
The Institute of Race Relations has issued a press release expressing its concern over the extensive sentences handed out to youths of Pakistani descent who took part in the riots in Manningham, Bradford in July last year. The sentences - mainly for stone throwing - has prompted the launch of a campaign, Fair Justice for All (FJA), which will protest outside the court and set up a support network to look after the welfare of families who have imprisoned relatives.
Military - in brief
EU: Foreign ministers agree on military spending; EU: Report urges EU procurement policy; EU: Funding cleared for Galileo
Civil Liberties
ITALY: Ombudsman criticises "anomalous" data retention
In his annual report the data protection ombudsman, Stefano Rodota, estimated that at least 350 billion pieces of telecommunications traffic data may be held in Italy due to current laws that require the storage of information for five years - which is sometimes extended due to "incorrect interpretation by judges".
GERMANY: Death of a prisoner
On 11 May, Stefan N. was taken into custody by Cologne police after a report of a family argument. On 23 May, after spending two weeks in a coma, he died of a brain oedema. Colleagues reported that he had been repeatedly beaten by six officers in the police station, resulting in his hospitalisation. A forensic examination concluded that his death did not result from the beating, and the public prosecutor has refrained from bringing charges for bodily harm resulting in death or manslaughter. The family's lawyers have demanded compensation and argue that not only Stefan N's death, but his arrest itself was unlawful.
UK: O'Brien family - £250,000 damages, but still no apology
The family of Irishman Richard O'Brien, who an inquest found was unlawfully killed by Metropolitan police officers in south London in 1994, was awarded £250,000 in damages at the High Court in May. Richard died of positional asphyxia after he was held down by policemen following a disturbance at a christening in which he suffered 30 separate injuries, including 12 cuts to his head. Eye-witnesses described how the father of seven repeated to the police officers several times "I can't breathe. You win, you win". A policeman kneeling on his back replied, "We always win."
ITALY: Genoa - police evidence discredited
After two days of tension and clashes between police forces and protestors in Genoa on 19-21 July 2001 a police raid on the Armando Diaz and Sandro Pertini schools led to the arrest of 93 people, many of whom were beaten, on the evening of 21 July. Criticism in Italy and across Europe mounted over the raid and subsequent ill-treatment in custody suffered by protestors in Bolzaneto police barracks, which was converted into a makeshift detention area. Police and interior ministry sources reacted by claiming that militants had been staying in the Diaz school and that stones were thrown at the police. The police claims appear increasingly unlikely.
Policing - in brief
Northern Ireland: Orde new chief constable; UK: Police car chase deaths triple
Security & Intelligence
NETHERLANDS/TURKEY: Case reveals tampering with intercepted evidence
Hüseyin Baybasin was arrested in Lieshout, Holland on 27 March 1998. He was charged with membership of a criminal organisation and conspiracy to murder, hostage taking and attempted murder in connection with the heroin trade. On 10 February 2001, he was convicted and sentenced to 20 years imprisonment in the special security prison at Vught, by the court in Breda. During the course of his trial Baybasin, who is Kurdish, made serious allegations about contacts between the Turkish authorities and drug traffickers and argued that there had been interference with taped telephone conversations used during the trial.
NETHERLANDS: Intelligence services expand
In September 2001, Holland acquired another intelligence service, the Social Intelligence and Investigation Service (SIOD). It is a trend that, if it continues, will see every ministry getting its own law enforcement department. The Ministry of Agriculture and Fishery has a General Inspection Service, the Ministry of Finance has the Fiscal Intelligence and Investigation Service and now the Ministry for Social Affairs and Work will get its own department, too.
IRELAND: Call for Saville-type inquiry
Edward O'Neill, whose father was one of 33 people killed by loyalist car bombs planted in Ireland on 17 May 1974, has called for a public inquiry into the events based on the Saville inquiry into Bloody Sunday. The Dublin and Monaghan bombings are Ireland's largest unsolved murder case and within days of the explosions the involvement of the British intelligence services was suspected because of the sophistication of the devices and organised planning involved. The bombs were claimed by the loyalist Ulster Volunteer Force but it is widely accepted that acting alone they lacked the capability to carry out the acts.
GERMANY: Government still refuses to disclose NPD informants
In January the Federal Constitutional Court interrupted proceedings initiated by the German government and parliament to enforce a ban against the far-right Nationalsozialistische Partei Deutschlands (NPD) on grounds of violating the free democratic order of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG). The plaintiffs had withheld the vital information that their witnesses were neo-nazis who had also worked for the Verfassungsschutz (VS - internal secret service) as informants (see Statewatch vol. 12 no. 1). The extent of the involvement of VS informants became evident because state money in the form of informants' wages was fed back into the party, many asked if the NPD was not effectively built up by the state.
Security & intelligence - in brief
UK: "Big Brother" nominee appointed security chief; UK: MPs call for Israeli Embassy bombing reinvestigation
UK: European court decision frees Satpal
Satpal Ram has been released, after spending 15 years in prison, following rulings by the European Court of Human Rights and the UK court of appeal. Satpal was jailed in 1987 after defending himself against a violent racist attack, in which one of the aggressors died after he refused hospital treatment. However, the racist motivation behind the assault and the issue of the right to self-defence were not raised by Satpal's defence lawyer and he was convicted of murder and jailed for life, with a recommended tariff of 11 years. Successive Home Secretary's refused to release Satpal once he had served the recommended tariff, because he would not acknowledge his "guilt".
ITALY: Suicides and protest in Marassi
On the evening of 7 May 2002 there was a protest by detainees in Marassi prison (Genoa) after two suicides within three days in the prison's medical centre. In the afternoon 38-year-old FB hanged himself in the centre's toilet using a belt. He had been arrested in February following a violent argument with his parents, and was reported to be in a psychologically fragile condition.
Racism and fascism
NORTHERN IRELAND: Racist attacks on increase
According to an Overview Analysis of Racist Incidents Recorded in Northern Ireland by the RUC - 1996-1999, commissioned by the Inter-Departmental Social Steering Group and published by The Office of the First Minister & Deputy First Minister in February this year, there has been a substantial increase in the number of racist incidents recorded by the police.
AUSTRIA/UK: Fury at Haider's London visit
The extremist governor of Carinthia, Jorg Haider, who stood down as leader of the Freihertiche Partei Osterreich (FPO, Freedom Party) two years ago following international protests at his inclusion in the Austrian government, visited London at the end of June. Haider's visit, to launch a Ryanair airline service between Britain and Austria, prompted immediate protests and a vocal demonstration outside his London hotel. Ryanair did not attend.
WALES: Mosque official dies after attack
The treasurer of a Llanelli mosque, Muhammed Ashraf, died from a heart attack after witnessing members of his congregation being attacked by a racist gang. Twelve white men in their early twenties carried out the attack on the group of elderly worshippers at the beginning of June, as they made their way to the mosque. Four men have been arrested and charged with assault and police are looking for a fifth attacker.
FRANCE: Presidential candidate was a torturer
Fresh allegations of torture were levelled against presidential candidate and far-right Front National (FN) leader, Jean-Marie Le Pen, in the run up to the French parliamentary elections in June. Evidence gathered in Algiers by the French daily Le Monde, who interviewed new witnesses, and reported in the Guardian, confirmed previous reports that the anti-immigrant politician engaged in a torture campaign involving electrocution, rape and beatings during the Algerian war of independence.
Racism and fascism - in brief
France: Nazi extremist's gun attack on Chirac; UK: BNP wins three council seats
* In addition, the bulletin carries a round-up of new books, reports and publications
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text: I just noticed in my new (almost 3 week old) S85 that wile driving, the driver side front "dome light" turns on and often stays on, sometimes goes off after a while. I have the dome lights set to "auto" but when I used the controls to shut them off, the light stayed on. This is very annoying and seems to occur at random times. I'm wondering if anyone else has had the same problem? I have Software v6.0 and tech package


text: Ok, this is going to sound really silly... but I was just reading about all the people in the iPad forum complaining about their pages in safari reloading. Of course this is due the 512mb of RAM and the way the OS is designed to free up any older space whenever it needs more space. That got me thinking... I know that Lion is being designed to run more iOS-like, where the OS is in charge of handling RAM. Does this mean that with Lion is there the potential to have the same situation? Obviously Macs have more RAM so the chance of it happening is reduced. Or along those lines, say I have itunes (or any app) open and "running". If I run enough RAM intensive apps over the next few days without again using iTunes, would Lion ever get to the point where the window would actually close and shut down the app? I know that if you don't have any windows open the app could shut down, but what about if you leave the window open?


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Question: What HAT member hopped a freight train back in 1934 in order to be able to go to Chicago and see the World's Fair? Answer: It was Howard Kelley. This was the first of many freight train rides Howard took back in the days of his youth. Howard entertained us with stories of riding the rails at today's ALGAE luncheon.
In addition to Howard there was Larry, Dana, Julia, Mary, Gail, Jan, and myself. It was good to see so many friends once again. Other topics of discussion included the book The DaVinci Code, the book Who's Who in Hell, church camps and homesickness, the Girl Scout camp murders, authors and geographical places associated with them, the treatment of books, Civil War markers and monuments, and The Hobo's Hornbook.
If you missed the gathering today, you will have an opportunity to be with your humanist friends this Sunday, 1:00 PM, at Hardesty Library.
See you there.
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
A Little Group of Atheists Eating
Posted by Dan Nerren at 1:56 PM
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text:
Wandering Cat Yarns updated this morning. Slinky Cat Lace--Merino/Silk Lace, and the new Fluffy Cat--Alpaca/Silk/Cashmere.
Sounds like the Fluffy Cat might be Valerie's new favorite. Not sure how the other cats are going to feel about that.
I think the lace edging on Jared's shawl is taking the longest to finish. So I better get back to it.


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This week, My English class and I have just finished watching Rocky, the 1976 movie that earned its place as one of the greatest motion picture of all time, and on e of the most inspiring ones yet.
The setting takes place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where the plot revolves around Rocky Balboa, a dedicated boxer and an enforcer for the heads of a bank.
Rocky is a sort of person whom some may refer to as a "bum;" He is a tall, hefty, middle aged man with a noticeable swagger that can be visible in the way he carries himself in and outside of the boxing ring, a characteristic that usually works to his advantage when dealing with low-lives and cheap-shots with his muscular, daunting stature he holds over those who look down on him.
However, although these attributes may be looked down upon in one way or another, the viewer is able to look past that and see Rocky for who he really is; A protective, yet kind person who is dedicated to devoting himself fully to his passion (Boxing) and his true love, Adrian.
I think we're all able to connect with Rocky in one way or another, and I feel like I was connected to him through running.
One of the most famous scenes in the movie is Rocky's run to the top of this huge building overlooking the city. On his first attempt, he only makes it halfway up the stairs before having to stop and walk the rest of the way. As he practices over and over however, he finally reaches the summit and basks in all his glory.
As a runner myself, I'm well aware of all the strength and toil it takes to reach your goals. Practically all of my cross-country races involve hills, and they come in all shapes and sizes, some are larger than others. They're not easy to get over, but I know that I can't stop; If I stop I'm disqualified and unable to run a PR and feel good about myself because I quit over momentary pain.
I'm sure that people have said before to you that everyone faces hurdles in life, some are big and some are small. But the thing is, once you clear a big hurdle and its finally behind you, you may often forget to look back at all the hard work you've put in to recognize it as the accomplishment it is.
When we see challenges as hurdles we see them as setbacks, a fly in the grape juice, yet another wall we must tear down to pass through.
This differs from looking at them as hills; Hills can't exactly be knocked down, but with a boatload of determination, a spoonful of grit, and a teaspoon of hope, they can be achieved and conquered. Once you reach the summit of a hill, you can sit back and admire the beautiful view on the valley floor.
I for one, believe that we should stop seeing challenges as hurdles, but instead of hills, as the chance to accomplish something extraordinary rather than to deal with an issue and brush it aside.
So dear reader: Carpe Diem! Seize the day! Turn obstacles into opportunities, take life by the reins and go on the crazy roller coaster ride that will make you alive with the wind and one with the gods.
And many years from now, when you are on your deathbed, look back on that mountain of a hill you just conquered and smile-For the journey was worth every second of it.


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i have had some pieces replaced under warranty. my center piece around the auto shift started to peel post warranty. my shop tried a glue/resin, forgot the brand but it was a two part glue. anyway that only lasted a week.
so today we just said f-it we'll screw the damn thing down so it never comes off again. here are the results (sorry console is a bit dirty needs to be wiped down):
20171005_171816 by sixpointzero
20171005_171802 by sixpointzero, on Flickr
they took out the bezel. when we tried glue we also removed the whole bezel and clamped it tight overnight while the glue dried.
3060 by sixpointzero, on Flickr
Nice. Here's mine with the carbon fiber and chrome removed. Also, I like the shift knob from the 2nd gen challengers better than the stock knob. Ignore the dirt. I haven't cleaned the console in a while.
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I just put in 2 screws in mine and it forked just fine for me.
I would use polyurethane liquid nails glue or even window weld (3m) they are some of the strongest bonding adhesives I ever used and never had a problem of the things I glued separating.
- SPC - Hellwig/Police Sways - BC Coils/Swift Springs - Drake FSB - LMI CF CAI - Corsa Extreme - 08+ Black Leather Int. Conv. - 2010 SRT Charger Interior - Hurst - 91 Tune - MTCM - HC 20X9/10 - HC 6 Pot - LED OEM Tail Conv. - Sponh Arms - BT Bling - Chrome Delete -
Summer must be here. The trim above the glove box and both passenger doors are lifting. Good to know I can use the trim as a temp gauge...have 40k on the car and the dealer said to call Chrysler-out of warranty...have a case number now. Let's see what they say...
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Check out my full build at worldsfastesthemi.com
The gorilla "flexible formula" super glue gel is still working best for me. It's been a long while since any piece has fallen off. My far-left drivers side piece on the dash is lifted off about half way. I think I'll just pull the whole thing off soon, and re-glue it down.
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2012 300 SRT8 exhaust, intake, tuned, 180 thermostat, oil catch can
2011 M37s 22's, BC coil overs, exhaust, intake, other small stuff
2006 Land Rover (Wife's Ride) 22's
2012 Camaro LS (wife's Ride) 22's, exhaust, intake, stereo upgrade
2012 Hyundai Veloster (Daughter's Ride)
2004 Impala SS Supercharged (Sold)
2004 Escalade (Wrecked) 22's DVD's
1999 Dodge Durango (Sold)
1996 Accord heavy Modded (Traded)
1995 Impala SS heavy Modded (Sold) Gone but not forgotten
They still have no permanent solution for this. So next summer I will be in the same situation. Whole lot of parts I would rather spend that kind of money on. Thinking about having it all replaced with the standard 300 trim pieces and be done with it. I really like this car. I really hate that they won't own up to this...
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I tinted windows and added a covercraft windsheild screen as well as stopped using the heated and cooled cup holders and the shifter plate bezel has survived for about 8 months now. I do believe I had 4-5 installed under warranty. I had one installed on Friday and it had to be replaced Monday morning lol.
My dealer has replaced so many they now keep them in stock. Direct sunlight seems to kill these these things the one that warped over the weekend I left the panaroma roof uncovered all weekend and the car sat and cooked in the sun.
all my door trim has fallen off and Chrsyler refused to warranty that but I will try to glue that in as it isnt as warped as the shifter bezel.
Keep us posted, I feel as though I might have to replace all of mine my as well too in the near future when I get around to it, hope I can find something at a local car/auto shop that can fix this issue.
Anyone have any laying around for sale?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920AZ using Scat Pack Forums mobile app
Bought this and used it on the doors and passenger dash. Rear door trim had completely fallen off and the front passenger door and dash were curling from the edges. Has been holding in the summer heat for about a month now so I think I'm good. This stuff was a gel so it was easy to apply without any runs. Saved about $594 versus paying the dealer. Still hacked that FCA won't do anything about it...Going to use my "savings" to buy fatter tires—managed 40k out of the stockers and they are b-a-l-d.


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Here are some highlights.....
1950s - establishment of the first Deaf schools in Kenya
KNAD established 1987 – 2000 tremendous growth supported by SHIA (Sweden)
KNAD affiliate 11
Advocacy, Youth, Women, Economic/Labor , Sports
1990s established KSLRP
1990s first KSL pictorial dictionary
1990 – 2000 KSL training at KSLRP
2000 – KSLIA established
2005 – KSL interactive dictionary
2002 – KNAD lack of funding
2005 – 2011 Restructured KNAD
Milestones in Deaf World- Kenya
2000 – GDC established
2000 – DOOR Internationals
Constitutional Review Process
2005 – 2012 KNAD restructuring
KSLIA, KNAD, GDC, Deaf Aid – Interpreter Forums, Code of Ethics, Interpreter trainings,
LVCT Reproductive health
Sarakasi Deaf Acrobatics
IDC – IYDCC emergences
Deaf Sports - blackstars, basketball, athletics
COE query into KSL – UoN, WFD and KNAD letter and Memorandum accepted
Deaf students at KU, UoN and Maseno
Deaf Aid's CISCO Academies, ECD
CBM, Undugu, Leonard Chesire Disability, LVCT, Peace Corps, employ Deaf professionals
Kenyan Parliament accepts 4 Interpreters
Deaf Paralympic teams
Interpreters Forum
Challenge - Problem
Access to information – TV, Cell
Education – all levels
Essential services – healthcare, legal, commerce,
Lack of Research and Documentation
Quality of KSL training
Operationalization of legislation
Lack of standards
Lack of IEC – (appropriate) a poster is not a poster in Deaf Culture
Lack of consumer awareness
Where we are at
Constitution provisions
PWD Act 2003/5/12
Special Needs Education Policy
Making sense of the legalese
Operationalization - What next
KSL Policy
ECD programs – Education
KSL Research and Documentation
Interpreter Training Program
Labor 5% rule
Next generation
Revitalize membership for KNAD
Voice within the larger disability movement
Ishaara Project
Technical Working Group within KNAD to champion
Kenyan Sign Language Research, Training and Documentation,
Interpreter Training and Certification
Remuneration Standardization for interpreters
Ethics Committee and Conflict Resolution
Technical Interpreters Forum
Interpreter Registry for the Deaf in Kenya IRDK
Why a TWG?
Professional and Technical approach
Morphing into a project becomes easy
Resource mobilization is easier
Credibility and usefulness – membership organizations do not succeed due to priorities of the membership, agenda by those in leadership and lack of governance structures to sustain the gains; transitions decimates the gains
Engaging with other professionals is easier and fast tracked
Volunteerism is difficult to sustain
Model for change making and agitation
So what is Ishaara Project
Volunteers to work on behalf of KNAD on issues of language and interpretation
As the name suggests – Sign embodies the whole issue of language in the Deaf community
It is not a company or an NGO it is a project within KNAD
It is a Technical Working Group
Deliverables of Ishaara Project
Functioning TWG initial 2 years
Establishment of a permanent Commissions/Committees on KSL, Interpretation, Deaf Education, Deaf Culture within Government and Academia
Establishment of a team of Deaf and Hearing professional researchers
Establishment of a training program in universities or a Deaf Institute
Establishment and maintenance of registry of interpreters
Establishment of a conflict resolution mechanism for interpretation services
Social outshoot – Deaf Clubs of Kenya
Regional exchange and learning platform
Financing for Ishaara Project
Department of Culture/Heritage
County governments
Training Program
Research and consultancies
Local donors
International partnerships
Challenges and Solutions
Resistance from already existing mechanisms
Lack of quorum to establish TWG
Financial hardship
Slow start up
Use gatekeepers
Business model for recruitment and fundraising
Manage expectations at KNAD, Deaf Community level
Use already existing mechanisms
Why should you Support Ishaara Project?
Posterity's sake – future generation
One Million Deaf Kenyans – their families, friends, potential employers, inclusion and making Kenya a better place
You are part of making history – history in the making
Create opportunities for yourself, for others
Contribute your skills, talents, passion for a worthy cause
5% rule and CIC processes
Voice in the larger disability movement
Strengthening KNAD


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There are a number of global events that FGG organises and partners with for you to get involved with.
Of course there is the quadrennial event The Gay Games, which will take place in Paris, France between the 4th and 12th August 2018. Click on the links below to register or find out more.
Other fundraising and awareness events are held around the globe throughout the year. We are working on a growing calendar of events to promote these and encourage you to come along and support our mission of equality for all through sport and culture.


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If you go . . .
What: Utah State Fair
Where: Utah State Fairpark, 155 N. 1000 West
When: Daily through Sept. 14, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., until 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays
How much: $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and children 6-12, children under 5 free
Saturday's events: 10 a.m., Notable Youth Folk Band and Children's Chorus; 12:30 p.m., The Band From Space; 2 p.m., Odor Eaters Rotten Sneakers Contest; 3:30 p.m., Utah Old Time Fiddlers; 6 p.m., Kodi and the Chillbodi's; 7 p.m., Allison Affleck; 8 p.m., Abraxas Tribute to Carlos Santana.
Information: utahstatefairpark.com or call 538-FAIR


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Learn the Argentine Tango with Dayle Schroeder, Chris Kailing and Jennifer Barrett. The class will focus on beginner steps with advanced instruction provided to those with Tango experience. Rather than having a basic step, Argentine Tango is an improvised dance that combines a set of elements in a spontaneous manner, such as turns, figure eights, walks, leg hooks, and breaks.
*Please bring socks to dance in*
Instructors: Dayle Schroeder, Jennifer Barrett and Chris Kailing
Dates: Alternating Tuesdays
September 12, September 26, October 10, 24 November 7, 21 December 5
class 7:00 – 8:00 p.m.
practica (open practice time) 8:00 – 8:30 p.m.
$15 for drop-in
$90 for 7-class bundle


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Adjusting Appointments, a trading title of IAUK, was established in 1981 to provide a specialist recruitment service for the loss adjusting sector.
As the leading recruitment agency, we have a base of 20,000 reputable clients, ranging from small independent firms to large national and international organisations throughout the UK.
We recruit for a variety of roles within the profession including general insurance, loss adjusting and claims. These roles include:-
All our recruitment consultants are experts in their field. This ensures that they have the skills, knowledge and experience to help you find the right candidate for your vacancy.
To register a vacancy with us click here.
Alternatively call 0 3333 202 420 and our experienced consultants will be happy to help.


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No, it's not a case of radiation from Japan freakishly landing in the middle of a Chinese dairy (though you'd be excused for thinking so). Instead scientists have introduced human genes into 300 cows to produce milk with human breast milk properties. The scientists are hoping to replace formula in stores, and say they are backed by a major biotechnology company.
I'm kind of creeped out, and kind of incredibly excited. After all, I wouldn't feed my baby GMO food of any other kind, so why breast milk? On the other hand, if this genetically modified breast milk is completely safe (yes, I realize what a huge, probably inaccurate, assumption that is), then more power to 'em.
But would those of you who condemn formula be okay with women feeding their babies mass-produced breast milk?
The reason I throw that out there is my feeling is, for some women, the actual act of breastfeeding is what you're defending. Especially when you see backlash for women who exclusively pump. Sometimes it feels like the breast vs. formula "war" is more deeply rooted in a lifestyle choice than a nutritional discussion. As witnessed by one side calling formula-feeding mothers selfish and lazy, and the other side saying how it's disgusting to breastfeed in public.
For those two groups, this news may not even be relevant. But for the rest of us -- probably most of us -- in the middle, getting SAFE mass-produced breast milk will be a blessing. Sadly, I just don't know if I can trust this particular breakthrough from China. But I'll be anxiously awaiting more information.
What do you think about these cows making human breast milk?
Image via eierea/Flickr


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POTTSTOWN PA – Advertising to employ store clerks and meat cutters for a new Save-A-Lot discount supermarket on Pottstown's west side began during late June and remained available today (Monday, July 13, 2015) online, although the number of jobs still open and the store's opening date were not announced.
Those interested can apply for a position here; search for "Pottstown PA" as the location.
Meanwhile, interior installations and outfitting of what has been designated as Save-A-Lot No. 201, at 80 Robinson St. in Plaza 2 of the Tri-County Business Campus, are continuing. Contractors have been seen at the strip shopping center and inside the site regularly, the retailer's signs are prominently erected, and a parking lot security system for shopping carts is in place.
Also, real estate leasing agents are looking for more businesses to occupy the vacant spaces adjacent to the coming, nationally known grocery chain.
Save-A-Lot is part of Minneapolis MN-based SuperValu Inc., which both sells foods in its own stores and distributes products to independent and chain grocers. In addition to more than 1,170 Save-A-Lot locations, the company also owns the Cub Foods chain in Minnesota, Hornbacher's in North Dakota, Shop 'N Save in Missouri, Farm Fresh in Virginia, and Shoppers in Washington DC.
Save-A-Lot represents what is known as a "hard discount" grocer, positioned to compete with other reduced-price marketers like Aldi, which is located in Lower Pottsgrove Township.
Industry experts report Save-A-Lot stores are generally smaller than full-sized supermarkets and offer a more limited range of products, many of which carry SuperValu brand names. Interior displays are less lavish, according to reports, but reducing those expenses is in part what helps to lower product prices, they add.
The new, 14,000-square-foot market is occupying a portion of what stood for several years as a partially finished retail shell fronted by an empty parking lot, positioned on the Robinson Street loop near its eastern intersection with Shoemaker Road. It is located between the Comfort Inn and Motel 6, both on Robinson, and its frontage is visible from Route 100.
Leasing agents hope to fill the remainder of the building with about 10 other retailers needing between 2,000- and 3,500-square-feet of space or more. More than 61,000 adults who live within 5 miles of the site could be future Save-A-Lot customers, according to demographic research provided by the LoopNet commercial property listing service.
During this month (July 2015) alone, Save-A-Lot reported its would open 11 new stores: one each in Alabama, Mississippi and Michigan; two in Illinois, and three each in North Carolina and New York.
Part of the new store's technology will include a shopping cart anti-theft system (below), the signage for which is already displayed. Wheels on Save-A-Lot carts will automatically lock up once they reach defined limits of the parking lot, so they can't be wheeled away.


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By F. Barton Evans III
Routledge: London, 1996.
(Also available in Questia)
Harry Stack Sullivan, "was the founder and chief proponent of a branch of psychodynamic/psychoanalytic thinking called variously interpersonal psychiatry or interpersonal psychoanalysis." (p. 3)
Sullivan is often criticized for his "lack of concern for intrapsychic phenomena." However, Greenberg and Mitchell (1983) believe that the criticism is mistaken:
The belief that Sullivan's theory ignores intrapsychic phenomena is what one usually hears from psychoanalytic colleagues, indicating that it is deeply in the lore of the psychoanalytic community. Yet, as Greenberg and Mitchell (1983) state, the criticism that Sullivan favored interpersonal over intrapsychic phenomena is largely due to a misreading or lack of understanding of Sullivan. Regarding the so-called debate between interpersonal versus intrapsychic models, Sullivan pointed out that human experience is a dynamically unfolding interaction between interpersonal, environmental influences and the internal (i.e. intrapsychic) meaning system of self and other personifications which interpretatively modify one's perception and responses to these external experiences. (p. 7)
Greenberg, J.R. and Mitchell, S.A. (1983) Object Relations in Psychoanalytic Theory. Cambridge, MA: Harvard.
Sullivan's theory is to be described as an interpersonal theory of psychiatry.
Whereas great thinkers like Freud, Jung, and Kraepelin oriented their penetrating insights on the functioning of the individual, Sullivan offered a systematic conception of humankind in its social world or context. (p. 55)
It is not that Sullivan neglected the intra-psychic.
For Sullivan, that which is truly intra-psychic is purely private and essentially unknowable. Once a person discusses, or even anticipates discussing, an "internal" experience, it is no longer private or internal, but becomes an interpersonal event, affected by social forces. (p. 57)
A psychiatrist or indeed any observer interferes with her own observation and everything she observes is at least partially affected by her: other observer would see a different picture and no one is the true observer.
As Sullivan observed, everyone has his or her own conception of human living (i.e. our personal "theories of personality") which is experienced and strongly held as intuitively correct. This deeply personal conception of "reality" is central in bringing coherence to the personal and non-personal world around us and to whom we are in that world.
Similar to Heisenberg's (1958) principle of indeterminacy (which, in sub-atomic physics, is where the measurement of a phenomenon with the same level of phenomenon alters the phenomena measured), the psychiatrist observer participates in and alters every interaction that he or she observes. Unlike Heisenberg's measurement electrons whose properties are well known, the properties of the psychiatrist are far more puzzling. (p.58)
Heisenberg, W. (1958) Physics and Philosophy. New York: Harper & Row.
Likewise, other persons around a person constitutes what the person is through interactions.
Sullivan's central definition and most distinguishing contribution is a revision of psychiatry as the science of interpersonal living,that personality could not be separated from the interpersonal world in which the person lives. The interpersonal theory is a significant critique and reworking of Freud's psychoanalytic approach and major departure from Kraepelin's descriptive psychiatry. (p.60)
Sullivan also takes a developmental approach. Of great interest is his distinction of prototaxic, parataxic, and syntaxic modes of experience.
The following is a summary of Sullivan's idea of epochs of development.
Sullivan defined infancy as the period from birth until the development of articulate speech. Childhood marks the appearance of the need for playmates, both adult and child, and is the first step in developing interpersonal communication through language. The juvenile era begins with the child's entrance into school and continues until the child finds a chum. Most importantly, it was the first developmental stage where family limitations and peculiarities were open to substantial modification. In pre-adolescence, the need for chumship, an intimate relationship with a compeer, a person of comparable age and status, is the central developmental event. Early adolescence begins with puberty and genital sexuality, the psychologically strong interest in members of opposite sex, and involves resolving the complex interplay between the dynamisms of lust, security, and intimacy. In late adolescence, the person begins to integrate the partially developed aspects of the personality into an age-appropriate, early adult identity. The task of adulthood is to establish a relationship of love with another person, someone who becomes as important as oneself. For Sullivan, this adult intimacy is "not the primary business of life, but is, perhaps the principal source of satisfactions in life" (1953:34). (p. 73)
Sullivan, Harry Stack (1953) The Interpersonal Theory of Psychiatry. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.


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Egg-cellent Behavior Egg Hunt30 March 2012
During the week leading up to Easter, I use a classroom management activity that helps motivate my students to make good choices and follow the rules. This especially is great for me this year, because it will be the week after Spring Break and will be a good reminder of classroom expectations.
Each student in my class gets 5 easter egg tickets on Monday. During the week if I see children being "EGG-tra" great then I will give them another egg ticket. If a child is choosing to make bad choices then they lose egg tickets. On Friday the children will get to go on a EGG-cellent Behavior Egg hunt that is put on by my room mothers and other parent helpers. The children get to find as many eggs as they have tickets for. The eggs will have candy, prizes, and numbers that match to LARGER prizes. The kids enjoy this and it really does help with positive behaviors!
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The Missouri Association of Student Financial Aid Personnel (MASFAP) and the Missouri Department of Higher Education (MDHE) are partnering closely to bring an expanded CGS program to Missouri for 2010. To assist students and parents with the FAFSA process, financial aid professionals will be on hand Sunday, February 13, at the MACC Learning Center.
Textbook vouchers will be given to students attending the event statewide. Winners will receive their textbook vouchers upon receipt of enrollment verification for the 2011 fall semester.
Families who bring their completed 2010 income tax returns to a FAFSA Frenzy event will be able to complete the 2011-12 FAFSA on-site. Families who haven't completed their tax returns will still learn valuable information to help them finish the FAFSA at home. For quicker filing, please obtain your PIN in advance by visiting www.pin.ed.gov.
2011 FAFSA Frenzy events will mark the seventh year that Missouri has participated in CGS. Last year, CGS helped more than 800 Missouri students obtain financial aid.
*FAFSA Frenzy, a program of College Goal SundaySM, is offered in Missouri through partnerships between the Missouri Department of Higher Education (MDHE) with the Missouri Association of Student Financial Aid Personnel (MASFAP), the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority (MOHELA), the Lumina Foundation for Education, and the YMCA. To obtain additional information or access a complete list of FAFSA Frenzy events, visit http://www.dhe.mo.gov/ppc/fafsa_completion.php.


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There is no drug shortage whatsoever in the Colombo National Hospital or any other State hospital in the country at the moment. The media reports published in certain Sinhala newspapers are completely fabricated, the Health Ministry said in a statement.
According to the statement issued by the Health Ministry, there is no danger of closing down any State hospital in the North Central Province as stated in certain media reports. There are plenty of drugs in all varieties available freely at all State hospitals.
The statement says that Colombo National Hospital Director Dr. Anil Jasinghe has also issued a special statement in connection with the same issue and assured that there is no drug shortage whatsoever at his hospital and all drugs are freely available for both in-house and OPD patients.
North Central Province Health Services Director General Dr. W. M. Palitha Bandara has assured that there is no threat of closing down Welikanda, Kahatagasdigiliya, Galenbindunuwewa, Kebithigollewa etc. due to any drug shortage. The entire State hospital system in the Province works smoothly without any issue.
A new software has been introduced for the State hospitals to prevent any drug shortage. The Health Ministry requests the public to not to be misled by fabricated information.


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BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) - LSU Police have arrested a man accused of several thefts and burglaries on campus in the last few months.
Officers arrested 42-year-old Marcus Armstrong Friday. Investigators say they were able to find several items pawned by Armstrong that were stolen on campus.
When Armstrong was arrested, officers say they found several computers and electronics stolen in several incidents on campus. They also say they found a Chevy Avalanche that was reported stolen from Mississippi.
Armstrong was booked in the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison.
Copyright 2014 WAFB. All rights reserved.


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What does the Rogaine format mean for this race?
There are no Mandatory CPs or OPs (Orienteering Points) on the course. Every single CP or OP (Orienteering Point) will have a point value from 1-4 and will be identified on the Clue sheet provided at Check-in. The point values are based on either distance from a TA and/or difficulty of CP location. This allows everyone to be an "Official Finisher"!
What is the scale of the maps?
The maps will have a couple scales. The Main race maps will be a MyTopo 1:24,000 scale maps and any Orienteering Maps will be 1:10,000 Scale.
How many maps will we be receiving?
Racers will get one large MyTopo Map (1:24K), Map and 1 Orienteering Map for each O-Section(s) of the race. You will also get important applicable park maps.
Will the maps be waterproof?
ONLY the MyTopo Map is waterproof but any ink you write on it could most likely run if it gets wet with all the water in this race. All other maps are non-waterproof. SBB Racing highly suggests having adequate Map protection. (ex. Map Case).
Will we be plotting the points onto the maps we receive?
Racers will be plotting the Paddling and Biking CPs on their MyTopo maps with free provided Map Plotting Tool (if needed). All O-Section(s) maps will be pre-plotted.
Where is the START Location of this race?
The Host City will be the Greater Williamsburg surrounding area. The exact START/FINISH location for this race will be at the Chickahominy Riverfront Park.
What if I am missing a piece of gear specified on the gear list?
AR folks are always prepared. We're sure there will be another team out there who might have the missing item needed, come race day at check-in (just ask us at Check-in). If out on the course you're found to be missing an item at Gear Check, your team will receive the Missing Gear penalty(s) identified at pre-race briefong. Items that sometimes need clarification are: Knife type/size, Fleece garments, waterproof garments, Certain First Aid Gear or ANYTHING else from the Required Gear List. If in doubt, see Race Director with item(s) to insure item meets required gear for the race.
When will we get our maps , passport and rules of travel?
Teams will get their maps, passport, punch card and rules of travel after your ENTIRE team has completed the check in process Race morning.
Can we check in if a team member will not be there for check-in?
Not unless there is a special circumstance for this. If so, let the Race Dir know ahead of time and we will work to accommodate your team.
When will the Gear Check be performed?
SBB Racing Volunteers WILL be checking gear somewhere out on the race course once or twice. Each item missing per team will equal a penalty of the value in points of your highest value checkpoint found (ex. Your team found a bunch of 2pt, a few 3pt and a 4pt. CPs on the course, but was missing a Required Gear item. They would lose 4 pts toward your total Rogaine Team score).
Can I get a refund if I cancel?
There are no refunds for our SBB races. However, we will offer up to a 100% credit towards a future SBB event that year for 30 days or more cancellation prior to race event date. 30 days or less before the event, no credits will be issued.
12-hr Race:
Sat June 18th, 2016
5:30-6:50 AM: Boat Drop, Bike Drop, Check-in, Maps & Instructions
6:50 AM: Team Race Brief
7:15 AM: Capt Final Brief & Passports
7:30 AM: Race Starts for ALL
Approx. 6:30-7:30 PM: 12-hr Racers Finish
6:00 PM – Post Race picnic begins
7:50 PM – Awards banquet
8-hr Race:
Sat June 18th, 2016
5:30-6:50 AM: Boat Drop, Bike Drop, Check-in, Maps & Instructions
6:50 AM: Team Race Brief
7:15 AM: Capt Final Brief & Passports
7:30 AM: Race Starts for ALL
Approx. 2:30-3:30 PM: Racers Finish
2:30 PM – Post Race picnic begins
3:45 PM – Awards banquet
From Richmond, VA – DIRECTIONS
From Virginia Beach, VA – DIRECTIONS
From Raleigh, NC – DIRECTIONS
From Washington, DC – DIRECTIONS


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Aloha Hawaii: Aulani: Disney Resort & Spa Review
Posted on October 1, 2013
A family friend was attending a conference at the hotel with one night's stay so I was lucky enough to tag along and enjoy the resort. My experience at Aulani was good but it didn't have the Disney feel that I was expecting.
It has about an 80% relaxing, Polynesian resort feel (which was beautiful) but only a 20% Disney feel. The lobby had nothing to indicate that it was Disney and in our hotel room (two double beds), there was one Disney item – a wooden lamp with Mickey carved into it. Being a big Disney fan, I was disappointed.
However, they had Mickey and Minnie walking around all day so people could take pictures with them. The photographer gives you a PhotoPass card so you can check your pictures online after but they also offer to take pictures for you with your own camera or phone! I was very impressed with this!
I went in September so there weren't a lot of people as kids are back to school. Lots of chairs to lay on, tubes to go down the slide in and the lazy river was peaceful.
What the water park has:
- There are two water slides – one where you slide down sitting on an inner tube and one where you slide down on your butt and the entire tunnel is pitch black.
- The lazy river is quite long and very enjoyable
- There are two small infinity hot tubs for adults to relax in
- A shallow pools for kids to swim in
- An adult pool with a pool-side bar
- A man-made lagoon with calm water and smooth sand
- If you want to snorkel, you can pay $15-20 to go into the Rainbow Reef tank
- There was an interactive play area where kids can run around in the pirate ship and streams of water
Things to note:
You can still stay the whole day after you check out at 11am. The Pau Hana Center has free lockers and showers for you to use before you head to the airport. Lots of towels in there and even has hairdryers! You can also make leis for free, just ask the attendant for string.
Everyday you need to show your room key to get a coloured wrist band in order to use the pool but no beach is private in hawaii so you are welcome to walk in, check the place out and enjoy the beach.
Parking was $35 for valet or self-park
I would recommend this place for families with small kids who love playing in the water every day but not if you're hoping for Disney themed things everywhere. Personally, since I don't have kids – if I had the money, I'd pay for the hotel for one night, play in the pools for two days (since you can stay the day after you check out at 11am) and then move to another hotel.