The case of the overly inspired

You know when you were way too excited about creating something, but for some reason ended up producing nothing, because you were too busy getting motivated and collecting inspirational material instead of working? That's the case of me and my Skillshare Premium account.

When I heard about Skillshare offering 3 months premium membership for just $0.99, I joined in agad and eagerly browsed at the many classes offered by outstanding artists. A month into it and I realized I haven't finished a class, let alone sat down and started drawing anything. So disappointing. I wasted an entire month jumping from one class introduction to another, adoring the trailers, the project galleries, but never enrolling.

Now, I want to make sulit the remaining months I have into actually finishing a class and producing something of creative value. Naks haha. Earlier I took the liberty to enroll in all the classes that interest me, particularly within the arts and design category, and grabe lang the joooooy of watching the video trailers showing snippets of the gurus' design processes and project outputs! Sobrang nakaka-inspire! Aaaaargh!

I'm calling this phase inspiration hoarding.

To the uninitiated, Skillshare is an online learning community where you can learn a skill or share your skills. In there you can take online classes about design, technology, business, film, photography, etc. and engage in a streamlined learning process in order to complete a class project.

Here are the top 5 visual arts classes I'm most excited to start (in no particular order), but will most likely ignore for the majority of the week (or month) cos that's just how I roll (unfortunately).

1. Mastering Inking: Basic and Pro Techniques

by Yuko Shimizu
http://skl.sh/1MQEysJ

2. Paint a Portrait in Photoshop: Blank Canvas to Finished Illustration

by Gabrielle DeCesaris
http://skl.sh/1RWNrjx

3. Drawing Collections: Illustrating Stories through Taxonomies

by Kate Bingaman-Burt
http://skl.sh/1MQzXGY

4. The First Steps of Hand-Lettering: Concept to Sketch (Lettering I) 

by Mary Kate McDevitt
http://skl.sh/1Wanq3j

5. Perspective Drawing: Creating Illustrations with Dimension

by Matt Laskowski
http://skl.sh/1MQEucq

To be honest, if I hadn't spent time working on this post I could've finished a class already but who cares! We all know my time's gonna be spent somewhere else like my Pinterest boards or, oh right, my job. :P

Join me!

Let me get you in the same offer and let's marvel at all of the classes together. The truth is if you join by being my referral, I'll get a free month! Yay! And you will too if you join and refer. :)

$0.99 is roughly ₱50 for 3 months access to premium classes. Most classes run for an hour which is divided into multiple segments per topic. If you take at least one class per week, you'll be able to finish 12 classes and produce 12 creative outputs! And your monetary investment? ₱50 lang, bongga.

Here's the sign-up link: http://skl.sh/1R0xxpl

Or you can also comment your email address so I can invite you another way. :)

:)

[FALSE ALARM] Broken images

Blogger has gone really bonkers lately. All of my uploaded images hosted under https://2.bp.blogspot.com cannot be displayed.

When I tried updating the images by using the same photo I uploaded, I noticed some of them have changed URLs. From 2.bp, I see some with 1.bp or 4.bp. I have no idea what happened since my photos were never moved. :/

I read around and was relieved to know this isn't an isolated case. It seems like blogger's image host 2.bp.blogspot.com is really down.

It's quite a bummer really.

ETA: False alarm goys, apparently, http://2.bp.blogspot.com was blocked by the company (for some reason). So much for my silly rants. Props to the Blogger Forum for helping me discover the real issue and to those who responded to my twitter rage charot haha.

I posted this topic on the forum and an expert answered me about how blogger images have multiple mirrors you can access just by changing the first digit.

Look, all of these URLs point to the same image

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-hzibNSHzceDoVzQFdNhmfwlPSzWwrC5K6aJpxRDWi_OrP2YHNwk-MKGT07NJ03xxmyOXKWTAJG2vGtpSVsna2Bj1tCa25iQSPxs3GPrcjhGBeRoB575s6FSRWqcWu_p-w5E441deV_Y/s1600/DSC_1111.JPG
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-hzibNSHzceDoVzQFdNhmfwlPSzWwrC5K6aJpxRDWi_OrP2YHNwk-MKGT07NJ03xxmyOXKWTAJG2vGtpSVsna2Bj1tCa25iQSPxs3GPrcjhGBeRoB575s6FSRWqcWu_p-w5E441deV_Y/s1600/DSC_1111.JPG
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-hzibNSHzceDoVzQFdNhmfwlPSzWwrC5K6aJpxRDWi_OrP2YHNwk-MKGT07NJ03xxmyOXKWTAJG2vGtpSVsna2Bj1tCa25iQSPxs3GPrcjhGBeRoB575s6FSRWqcWu_p-w5E441deV_Y/s1600/DSC_1111.JPG
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-hzibNSHzceDoVzQFdNhmfwlPSzWwrC5K6aJpxRDWi_OrP2YHNwk-MKGT07NJ03xxmyOXKWTAJG2vGtpSVsna2Bj1tCa25iQSPxs3GPrcjhGBeRoB575s6FSRWqcWu_p-w5E441deV_Y/s1600/DSC_1111.JPG

Amaaaaazing thing I learned today! :D

Fitbit Alta unboxing and review

So I bought a fitness tracker (my first) in response to my rotting motivation to live actively and limit my attachment to my office chair. And so far, here's what I have to say with my first two weeks with the Alta...

Previously, I shared about how to setup your Fitbit Alta for the first time. In this post, I'm sharing an unboxing (of sorts) and a review (kindof) having been using the fancy bracelet for two weeks (and counting).

UNBOXING

The box contains four major items:

1. Fitbit Alta fitness tracker (small)
2. Rubber strap (attached to the tracker) -- or is it silicone?
3. Charging cable
4. USB wireless dongle

Detachable straps

Back view lol

Just another shot haha

Other items include paper stuff and warranty notes in multiple languages that nobody really reads. Instead of a comprehensive setup guide, a note in the box suggests you go to ww.fitbit.com/setup to get your gadget up and running. I did just that and had quite a few hiccups but I eventually got over the initial setup hullabaloo. So don't follow the note, read my setup guide instead haha.

Related: Setting up Fitbit Alta for the first time

REVIEW (pros and cons)

Pros (you know, features I like):

Aaaah love the size

1. The form - It's functional and stylish at the same time. I got the small black version which I found perfect for my wrists. There's also a larger version available. The main reason I decided to go for the Alta is the form factor. The band isn't too wide and the straps can be swapped, though for now only Fitbit sells them and they're horribly expensive. Don't worry, I'm sure eventually 3rd party sellers will come out with better bands and more colors to choose from.

10k steps orayt + my sensored belly lol

2. It tracks steps quite accurately - I tried walking 10 steps while watching the step counter on the Fitbit app and holey moley it's perfect haha. I'm thinking it has something to do with the observer effect (naks very quantum physics) which changes the behavior of the activity being observed (in this case, the tracking) just by the mere act of observation. Don't we all try to act perfectly under close watch? Joke lang lol. It tracks well enough for me not to doubt my activity for the day.

3. Silent alarm - before you call it stupid, here's the magic word: vibration!

4. Move reminders - 10 mins before every hour (within your designated time range) it reminds you to walk 250 steps para cool. On the first day of using my Fitbit, I was so amused by this feature that I really took it to heart to walk 250 steps every time it reminds me to. Anyway, it will only remind you to walk if you haven't met the 250 steps/hour goal.

5. Call and text alerts -  as long as my bluetooth is on, the phone with push call and text alerts to my fitbit. It shows the sender name and message in a marquee which I find very useful specially when I'm out on commute and my phone is buried in my bag.

6. Good battery life - I was able to use it for a good 4 days before I received a notification (vibe and email) that my Alta's running low on juice. At my current settings (no silent alarms, no all-day sync), I only need to charge once a week.

7. Auto sleep tracking - which is super cool. Fitbit logs your 'restless' and 'awake' minutes and takes all that into account to calculate your sleep quality based on your #sleepgoals lol. I set mine at 7hrs a day and so far I'm averaging at 8. It's not really something I would check myself so it's good know a gadget is tracking all this for me.

9. Clock faces - with various display options

10. Water resistant - it doesn't mind me washing the dishes with it, but I take it off in the shower to be sure.

Cons:

1. Short charging cable - it's awkwardly short and a hassle to use. I hope the cable can be detached from the cradle. Good thing I only have to charge the Alta every 4 days or so. yey for long battery life.

2. No HR monitor - This doesn't monitor your heart rate. No biggie cos I'm not particularly looking for this feature, but I thought I'd tag it as a con so you'd know. I'm thinking Fitbit has plans to release a HR version of the Alta sometime in the future I'M NOT SURE. But given that it could compromise the size, who knows.

3. Move reminder - the move reminder is limited to 5-14 consecutive hours WITHIN THE SAME DAY. Working the graveyard, I wanted to be reminded from 9pm to 5am, but it won't let me cos it's crossing the next day and I figured it'd mess Fitbit's daily reporting chorvabels. I wish they'd enhance this feature to allow adding multiple move reminders instead.

4. Screen isn't scratch proof - I plan to buy screen protectors but I'm not sure if it will affect the tap efficiency haha. The face of my Alta has a tiny hairline already huhu.

5. Limited 3rd party app integration - Fitbit has partnered with quite a number of health monitoring apps (see here) but I don't see Nike+ Running yet which is weird cos it's too popular haha. It's where all my runs are logged and I would love to be able to integrate that with my fitbit data. Counts for better estimate of calories burned.

6. No GPS - I would love the Alta to have GPS without sacrificing its already perfect form factor. I've read about super small GPS modules, I hope they could find a way to get a small receiver that wouldn't compromise Alta's size.

7. I developed rashes - Taray! And it's not because I have sensitive dugong bughaw skin, but because I'm dugyot most of the time and the strap has turned into a cozy abode for bacteria. Now, I keep it a point to clean the watch every once in a while specially when I sweat a lot haha. It's really just a matter of sanitizing haha.

8. Hard to put on - Amazon reviews contain a lot of griping about how hard it is to put on. If you see the image on Con #1 you'll see how it's supposed to be strapped on. Unlike the Charge HR or the Blaze, it doesn't have a buckle strap, you have to push the two pins to the holes to set it in place. I have to agree that it's hard to put on, but that's only at the beginning. Eventually the holes will loosen up and make it easier to lock in the pins.

In summary:

This Fitbit is really not for the active type, if you're already familiar with the range of Fitbit trackers, the Alta offers literally nothing new except for the form factor. The older Fitbits have sported the same set of features, step counter, silent alarm, sleep tracking, fitness goals, etc. so if you're looking for something new minus the form factor, you can check out other trackers instead. Seriously though, this is (IMO) the best looking and most functional fitness tracker there is for people like me who is mostly sedentary.

Has it helped me in my seemingly eternal weight loss journey? As with any tracker, like a fitness trainer, it's a good motivator. Looking at my wrist sporting a fitness tracker kindof pushes me to live up to my fitbit goals naaaaks. But of course, a gadget can only be as effective as the one who wears it. I really need to be more disciplined haha.

:)

Pricing and availability

I bought the Fitbit Alta Fitness Tracker, Silver/Black, Small at Amazon for $129 when I was still in the US. I'm not sure if it will be available locally.

Friday's 10 Happy Things // 3

1. Xend has added more 7-Eleven drop off points, including the one nearest to the office. Yeyy!
2. Getting better sleep because of my blackout curtains <3
3. Found Abbey Sy's postcard set at Ministop and immediately bought it. Such inspiration

4. Filling up my box at halpu.com with Amazon stuff
5. Earned two free rides from UBER this week yeyyy.
6. Breakfast with college buddies

Beef tapa bowl @ Breakfast Bin

7. Potato Corner's wasabi fries
8. Revlon and L'Oreal's free hair color application at Landmark Trinoma is now PERMANENT. Rejoice! They're beside Counter 3 of Landmark department store.
9. Finishing a doodle piece

Blah #art #artph #illustrationart #illustration #doodle #backtoreality #drawing #

A photo posted by Yan Birog (@yanbirog) on Mar 31, 2016 at 11:55am PDT

10. Pretty lax work week

Thaaaank you Father! <3 <3 Happy April fools day and thankfully, this list isn't a joke. :P

Setting up Fitbit Alta for the first time

Got a new Alta? Here's how to set it up the first time :D

My Fitbit Alta just arrived in the mail yesterday and I was super excited to try it but I got so frustrated setting it up the first time! It just won't sync on my phone! But after a bunch of googling and almost hitting that 'refund' button on Amazon, I was able to solve my initial setup problem, thank you Lord!

So here's how to setup your Fitbit Alta for the first time :)

Short answer: 

Sync it using your PC and wireless dongle FIRST. Then it would be easier to pair it with your mobile next.

Short (story) answer:

I turned on the tracker by hooking it to the charging cable. It started alright: Fitbit logo, version number, and a message that says 'fitbit.com/setup'. Okay, so I came to the link, and followed the setup instructions for Android. I downloaded the Fitbit app, registered a new account, and went on to add the device.

As per instructions, I kept the tracker plugged, charging, and nearby while the app tries to search for my Alta. Unfortunately, it just won't pickup. I restarted my bluetooth, restarted my phone, tried to setup using my tablet, to no avail.

My heart was getting heavy cos I just recorded an unboxing video haha and was excited to shoot a 'hands on' one next. Clearly, not much hands are needed on a defective product so that's frkn saaad.  Anyway, what's extra saddening is having to comb through this difficulty knowing that I can only have it refunded. I can't wait any more days to get a replacement since I'm leaving the US this weekend. I really want this thing to work.

Google eventually led me to a solution, which is to sync using the PC instead. The Fitbit Alta came with a wireless USB dongle you can use to sync your tracker to your PC, you just have to download an app. Apparently, while the OP was able to sync on her PC, it still wouldn't sync with her phone. Much to her dismay, it looks like she can only sync all her Fitbit data on a PC. That makes her Alta a defective one.

And so I tried. I installed Fitbit Connect on my PC, plugged in the wireless dongle, and prayed hard for this solution to work. 

And it did! My Alta finally appeared on the list of devices on my dashboard! Yayyy!

But that doesn't end my problem, the real moment of truth is validating whether it would sync via Bluetooth, otherwise I would have to return the item. I unplugged the dongle and refreshed the Fitbit app on my phone to see if it has listed the Alta as well. It did! And after a couple of clicks, MY ALTA FINALLY SYNCED! Thank God!

That's pretty much it, if you're having trouble setting up your Alta for the first time, use your PC instead. I'm thinking it's the real proper way of setting up your Fitbit.

Hope this helps and sorry for the excessive blabber!

Next up: Fitbit Alta Unboxing and Review

Diet hard

I missed the days when I would immediately turn to blogging when I'm bored and have nothing better to do. Well, this is one of those times but I'm guilty of not immediately opening up the text editor lol. I really should get some sleep, it's only supposed to be 1:30 am right now but DST happened and sucked back time so everybody in this part of the planet shall be sleepless by an hour. Arg.

I'm going home on the 19th and I don't like how I'm preparing myself for it. I consciously dedicated my last two weeks here to eating healthy and exercising but guess what, if anything, I've managed to stay put on that part of the scale that reads 155lbs. I wonder what I'm doing wrong, but on the plus side, I didn't gain anything. HAHA.

Last week I tried GM diet and failed mostly because I get super hungry at night and binge on snacks, choco almonds, and my housemate's cooking. Later on, I discovered these cold pressed juices being sold at Sam's club in 49oz portions and thought this is the answer! I'm going on a juice cleanse!

So yeah. I'm doing that hahaha. Good night.

Welcome to TheBlahger.com! // Podcast 01

In which I try something new which is podcasting! huwow! I've always wanted to try it out but I don't know how to start so here you go, a short welcome for you guyz to my new home haha

Hope you like it, I'm planning on doing more pa naman HAHA jk.

EDIT: I moved the podcast to Youtube cos I just learned Buzzsprout only keeps files for 90 days and I had to pay if I wanted to host my files for longer than that.

Hope I didn't annoy you haha