FitSugar

Get in Gear: Must Have Gadget for Hiking

FitSugar — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 04:00:00 PDT

Seriously, sometimes I think I am MacGyver. Especially when I am out in the woods on a hike but the truth is that while I love the occasional hike in the woods (or along the coastline) I am no outdoorsy guru.

That being said, I like to feel prepared at all times, especially when playing in the great outdoors. Many day hikes may not require the AdventurePlus ($20.00), but it never hurts to be prepared, now does it? This one little gadget includes a compass, a mirror, a magnifying glass, a whistle, a thermometer, a flashlight and a tiny little compartment to keep things (like matches) dry. Buy it online from Highgear.com.

Hiking will be even more fun now that you're prepared to take on any situation so you can concentrate on getting that heart rate going. Now all you need is a good trail to explore -- Check out this listing of free trails.

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Body Wedge for a Full Body Workout

FitSugar — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 08:45:00 PST

Looking for an all in one fitness product that actually does what it says?

If yes, then BodyWedge21 ($79.00) is a great and unique addition to your home gym. It keeps exercise simple and to the point. The 21 exercise routine developed specifically for the Bodywedge21 is a great way to change up ordinary exercises. To start, simply follow the video of the 21 exercises and once you have that mastered, just use the exercise chart printed right on the padded wedge itself. Follow the planned exercises and you can also add variation to exercises you already do. With the wedge you can work your abs, butt, thighs, triceps, chest and lower back. BodyWedge21 allows you to use your own body weight and strength for resistance but for added work, you can use weights or resistance bands. It's like a bench (on an incline) combined with a step, combined with a personal trainer. To get the most out of it, be sure to add cardio (before or after) as well. I think I might have to add this to my list of home gym essentials. Buy it directly from BodyWedge21.com.

To see all of the exercises you can do with one BodyWedge21,

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How To: Get Your iPad Ready For Resale

Kristy Korcz — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 11:48:28 PST

If the rumors are true, the iPad 3 should be announced in March. If you're ready to upgrade from your first-gen iPad or iPad 2, now's the time to start thinking about selling. But before you post a listing on Craigslist or eBay, get all your ducks in a row first. Here's a few tips on how to prep your gadget for resale, and get top dollar for your efforts.

Back up your data and do a clean sweep - First thing's first - make sure you connect your iPad to iTunes and back up all of your data. You'll be able to sync it with your new iPad after you bring it home. And just like a computer, before you sell your old tablet, you'll want to wipe it clean of any sensitive information, apps, and contact lists. Erasing all of your content and settings (go to Settings > General > Reset > Erase All Content and Settings) is great, but go ahead and perform a full restore in iTunes as well.
Polish the exterior - Cleaning your old iPad is kind of like cleaning your LCD monitor - you don't want to use any harsh chemicals or, even more damaging, water. Using a tried-and-tested cleaner like iKlear ($30) will ensure you won't damage your iPad's sensitive bits. Use the included microfiber cloth (or one of your own) and shine that baby up.

To see the rest of my list, including tips on how to get your gadget sold quickly online, just keep reading.

A Doctor Dishes: Which "Superfoods" Are Worth the Cost?

LearnVest — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:15:00 PST

We're thrilled to present this smart LearnVest story here on Savvy!

Most people you speak to these days are trying to stretch every dollar as far as possible - even the ones they spend buying apples and oranges.

Food prices are expected to increase yet again this year, and food manufacturers are making portions smaller without reducing prices. Not surprisingly, a recent Rasmussen poll found that 93 percent of adults report paying more for groceries now than they did a year ago.

So how can we supercharge our grocery dollars and get them to do overtime for us?

Yes, some foods are obviously a better nutritional deal than others (think apples vs. potato chips), but there’s another class of foods that blows the rest of the field away in terms of nutrients and health-protecting qualities: superfoods.

Superfoods can help prevent diabetes and heart disease, repair damage to your body’s cells, and more. But before you go piling them into your cart, know that some superfoods are better nutritional bargains than others. As a doctor and a mom, I’ve sleuthed out which ones are worth the extra cost in terms of their long-term health benefits. Below is the scoop on which ones may help you age better, ward off cancer, and more.

What to Know Before Buying Superfoods

Before we dive into what to buy, there are a few important things to remember about consuming these foods:

Eating foods fresh and in their natural state, especially fruits and vegetables (rather than in pill or powder supplement form), usually allows us to absorb the greatest amount of their nutrients. The way a superfood is processed or cooked can significantly lower its antioxidant content.
If the superfood can’t be eaten fresh, look for easy and appetizing recipes containing it. No matter how “super” a superfood may be, if you don’t know how to cook it, you’ll probably let it go to waste.

Are Superfoods "Good Buys" If I’m Shopping on a Budget?

Read on to find out.

5 Tech Must Haves From GeekBeat.tv's Cali Lewis

Kelly Schwarze — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 12:50:36 PST

As host of GeekBeat.tv and tech expert extraordinaire, Cali Lewis spends close to 75 percent of her time on the road. It's fitting that during a recent Macworld panel when asked to name five technology innovations she can't live without, she didn't give a coveted spot on the list to just any fad. Cali's list of life-changing tech is a combination of the practical for someone always on the go and the lifesavers that make mobile work life efficient. Check out her picks below!

Pandora and Spotify - Cali uses each music streaming service equally so she's never without tunes. Discovering new music is Pandora's niche, while she uses Spotify to have on demand music on any device.
Powerbag - Knowing the outlets at an airport or convention center are almost always already in use by someone else desperate for battery juice, Cali has "fallen in love" with the Powerbag solution and charges her gadgets wherever she goes.
The Cloud - The ability to access all your important music, documents, and media files from anywhere just by signing in to a cloud account is a pretty big deal. Never go without a file again!
Tablets - Without the need to carry a heavy laptop around, tablets have reimagined the way people work on the road - and lightened the load.

Check out the one tech advancement Cali can't live without after the jump.

Geeks We Love: Susan Orlean Shares Her Tech Secrets

Kelly Schwarze — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 06:34:14 PST

As a New Yorker staff writer, author of nonfiction books on subjects ranging from Rin Tin Tin to orchids, and woman with an all-around awesome job, Susan Orlean spends a lot of time alone writing from home on her latest reporting venture. So when she wanted to find all the camaraderie of an office no matter where her travels took her, guess where she turned for comfort . . . Twitter.

In an event at this year's Macworld in San Francisco, Susan explained that Twitter changed the way she worked, thanks to conversations with strangers, and helped to solidify her place with the geeks. Here's more of what we learned from our favorite tech-obsessed writer, including how to work efficiently with technology and deal when a loved one won't convert to your favorite gadget brand.

Keep the analog - Though Susan was speaking from her perspective as a writer, her tip to always keep a little part of your work in the offline, analog world can apply to so many other fields. It's a reminder to rely on our wits in the face of fast information. Don't Google every question that pops up, go out into the real world and discover the answer for yourself.
Don't skip the human part - Twitter serves as a natural extension of friendships, but it certainly doesn't replace the subtle nuances that occur in face-to-face interaction. Keep your curiosity (and relationships!) intact by picking up the phone or meeting for a coffee chat.
Download Evernote! - When asked about her favorite app, Susan emphatically responded, "Evernote." Its functionality across desktop, browser, phone, and tablet platforms lets you stay productive from anywhere and never forget the digital content that matters.
A united tech household is key - As someone that's "hopelessly obsessed with new gadgets," Susan understandably is an Apple evangelist, a brand known for its enthusiastic early adopters. The new products and industrial design beauty only goes so far, though, when half of the house is living in a different world - a PC world. After coping with a home office filled with piles of cords and multiple printers for the different operating systems, Susan half-jokingly finally convinced her husband to switch to Apple products when she simply stopped packing the bulky cords for his PC. Now they live in OS harmony.

Are you someone like Susan who has found a way to make social networks help you develop relationships and achieve work goals, rather than let them distract?

How to Fight Your Financial Demons

LearnVest — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 00:15:23 PST

We're thrilled to present this smart LearnVest story here on Savvy!

We all have our demons.

Some just lurk under the bed, but others bare their teeth as we go about our day - say, every time we pull out our wallet.

Financial demons are particularly vicious because their effects aren’t confined to the pages of our journal or emails to our best friend. Our finances permeate just about every aspect of our lives, from where we live to the job and lifestyle we choose.

And for that reason, our financial demons can be particularly invasive - and toxic.

But the good news is that demons can definitely be vanquished (or subdued, at the very least). As with anything, they can be worn down with the right tools and the right mind-set. Fortunately, we have both.

First, identify your demon . . . or demons. Then we’ll show you exactly how to send them packing.

If You Have Shopping Demons . . .

The Tools: As you know, “just stop shopping” isn’t helpful advice. Instead, look at your habit from the other end: Your closet. Your makeup bag. Or your gadget collection, depending on the spending that’s most problematic for you. Use our process from Priceless Style Boot Camp to evaluate your 10 most recent purchases. If lots of your recent buys are rated “not worth it,” it’s time to reevaluate your spending patterns. The first step is to avoid letting one bad spending choice drag you into a downward spiral. If you suspect you’re currently in such a phase, you can use this tool to spiral back up. If your purchases are all rated “worth it,” but you know you’re shopping too much, take a close look at your last month of spending and ask yourself whether you’re truly happy with everything you bought, or if that same amount of money could have been applied to a different financial goal, whether it's bulking up your emergency fund or beginning to invest.

Read on for more.

CNET's Women in Technology Panel: Where My Ladies At?

Kristy Korcz — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 12:06:03 PST

We just arrived back in San Francisco after a whirlwind four days at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, and while we're still processing the stats, data, information, and products we've seen, there is one thing we noticed: there's an obvious disconnect in the ratio of men to women at the show.

CNET brought together some of the most influential and powerful women in the tech field - including Padmasree Warrior of Cisco, Marissa Mayer of Google, Caterina Fake of Hunch, and Lindsey Turrentine of CNET - at this year's CES to talk about the state of the tech industry, pink gadgets, and how to strike a balance between work and home. You can see the entire panel (it's about an hour long) in the embedded video after the break, but first, a few highlights:

The general consensus is that women have come a long way in terms of the technology field, but there's a lot more work to be done.
Marissa Mayer says that more students (men and women) should be exposed to computer science at the high school level, so that they have more of a chance to get into the technology industry after college. When speaking about women in technology, it becomes a numbers game, but it's not about the size of the slice of pie, it's the size of the pie as a whole; we need to make the pie bigger, and expose women to computer science earlier.
Caterina Fake lets her daughter in on her work life in order to make her feel included. She conducts family meetings every morning around the breakfast table to talk about what worked yesterday, what they could do better today, and the goals they have for the week ahead.
Lindsey Turrentine says that one of the most important things you can do for your children is to show a strong partnership at home. When raising kids - girls and boys alike - it's important to show that you can do both: have a strong family and lean on each other to pick up the slack when work needs to be done. No one's career is more important than the other.

See what all of the amazing women had to say about the state of the tech industry for women in the full video after the jump.

This $68,000 Speaker is Made of Diamonds and Magic

Kristy Korcz — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 12:24:33 PST

CES is a place to find expensive gadgets and fine leather tech goods, but you may also stumble upon speakers made of diamonds and simulated wood grain products.

These $68,000 speakers were inspired by a flower in a wine bottle (you can see it now, can't you?), and were carefully crafted only after 3D mock-ups were perfected in a studio. Metal, leather, gold accents, and Russian diamonds cover the entirety of the speaker and accompanying subwoofer, while a brushed aluminum with floral accents keeps it standing upright.

You'll have to wait in line to get one of your own though, as the manufacturer, All Jack, hasn't released an availability date.

How to Follow GeekSugar at CES!

Kristy Korcz — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 07:06:14 PST

CES is back gadget fans! The expo opens tomorrow, but the tech news machine is already in full force so we're down in the desert getting an early look at all the gadget and tech goodies you can handle. Can't be here but want to follow along on our electronic adventures? There's more than one way to get the inside scoop from our point of view.

The GeekSugar homepage! - Naturally, your first stop in all the latest news will be our homepage. We'll be live blogging press conferences and bringing you the first look at what to expect at the expo before the show floor opens to the masses.
Twitter - We'll be tweeting up a storm before, during, and after each press conference, and keeping you up-to-date on breaking news and discoveries.
Facebook - For live updates, exclusive videos, and more, be sure to like our Facebook page!
Instagram - Want a behind-the-scenes look at CES, hot parties, booths, and more? Then follow us on Instagram at @GeekSugar!
Pinterest - For the coolest and most eye-catching gadgets, be sure to subscribe to our CES board!