A couple of months ago, I was looking up ways in which internet users could make money from surveys. Some of them seems legitimate (others, not so much). One of the good ones I found is an Android app called "Google Opinion Rewards". Google sends the user short surveys (usually three to five questions, each taking less than a minute to complete) and then pays out currency for the Google Play Store (to be used in apps, movies, tv, music, et cetera). I downloaded it and gave it a spin.
After setting up some demographics, your first survey is sent. After completing it, you are awarded a whole dollar to use in the Play Store (good for an app), opening the Skinner Box. After that (for me, leastways), surveys came only once every two or three days and each only payed about thirty or forty cents a piece. On average, I was earning around a dollar a week. My girlfriend also downloaded the app to her tablet and usually got a survey a day, so she earned money faster than I did, but I know it's about demographics (Google wants answers from a certain group about a certain product, so no biggie). Your money is tied to your Google account instead of the device, so you could take a survey in the morning on the device and then buy something on the Google Play website on a PC. The currency expires after a year, so you could save up for more expensive apps.
The slow pace of survey availability (for me) has pros and cons. Like I said above, the pace is predicated on demographics and it depends on what Google (or the company Google hired to proctor the survey) wanted to know. Also, I think if somebody did a bunch of surveys in one sitting, they would buy up all the apps and media on their wishlist gratis. For me, that would kill the fun of doing these surveys, making it more like a job. I think there is something exciting about seeing the icon for a new survey available after not having done one for a few days (like getting a postcard).
If you use the Google Play store frequently, Google Opinion Rewards is a nice, fun little way to supplement your money on there. It was a bit of a bummer that Google paid only in currency for their store, but it was made immediately available upon completion. Other surveys required a PayPal and would pay after a certain amount of time or once you've made a requisite amount of money first.
Requiring the app to take surveys didn't sit too well with me. It would be nice if there was a way to take these surveys via web browser (even if it's only through a Chrome extension). While the apps on the store are only for Android devices, there is still a lot of content you can buy ON a PC, FOR the PC (music, movies, et cetera. Heck, the whole store is available on PC, apps included).
Overall, this was actually a fun app. The surveys were quick and felt unintrusive (the option for "Prefer Not To Answer" is available on a lot of the questions), plus making a little money for the Google Play store is a nice bonus. My first purchase was Minecraft Pocket Edition (I may review it later), which took me about six or seven weeks of surveys to afford. My girlfriend bought a season of a travel TV series. I don't know what I want to purchase next, but the Google Opinion Rewards app makes it a fun way to slowly earn your way up to the apps and media you want.
--Right now, my next purchase is a coin toss between Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars and Star Wars: Knight of the Old Republic. I've played the former on the Nintendo DS and loved it...and I'm already halfway there currency-wise! I've never played the latter and it's more expensive, but I've heard it's a fantastic RPG. I've also considered the Final Fantasy series, but those are really pricey compared to other apps. Ah well, we'll see...
Saturday, May 28, 2016
Wednesday, May 25, 2016
100 Days on 5BX and Looking Ahead
Yesterday marked my 100th day with the 5BX exercise program. I must say I've come a long way since making that Lent promise to give up video games (ie: Wii Fit U) and switched to the low-tech exercise plan. There have been a few days I've missed, either due to sickness or soreness, but I do have 100 successful workouts logged in my Google Sheet!
Assuming I consistently hit my daily marks, I figure I am only 60 days away from meeting the programs prescribed goal of Chart 4, Level C- (I am currently at Chart 3, Level D). Part of me is wondering what I will do when I get there. Would I cut back on the progam, doing it every other day instead of everyday? Would I stop the program altogether and move to a different exercise regime? I know it's a bit early to start thinking about things like these, let alone a bit more than shallow to focus on the end when I'm little more than halfway through the journey ("It's the sides of the mountains that sustain life, not the top." -Robert M. Pirsig). That being said, my focus should be hitting my marks and nothing else.
This is going to be a short entry, but I leave with the knowledge that fitness is a lifelong affair. The fact that I've kept up with an execise program for 100 days is awesome (last time I did something similar was a few years ago with Wii Fit Plus). I don't know if motivation was the problem why I kept dropping programs. All the same, I'm glad I found something that works for me right now and look forward to keeping myself healthy.
Assuming I consistently hit my daily marks, I figure I am only 60 days away from meeting the programs prescribed goal of Chart 4, Level C- (I am currently at Chart 3, Level D). Part of me is wondering what I will do when I get there. Would I cut back on the progam, doing it every other day instead of everyday? Would I stop the program altogether and move to a different exercise regime? I know it's a bit early to start thinking about things like these, let alone a bit more than shallow to focus on the end when I'm little more than halfway through the journey ("It's the sides of the mountains that sustain life, not the top." -Robert M. Pirsig). That being said, my focus should be hitting my marks and nothing else.
This is going to be a short entry, but I leave with the knowledge that fitness is a lifelong affair. The fact that I've kept up with an execise program for 100 days is awesome (last time I did something similar was a few years ago with Wii Fit Plus). I don't know if motivation was the problem why I kept dropping programs. All the same, I'm glad I found something that works for me right now and look forward to keeping myself healthy.
Thursday, May 19, 2016
5BX Chart 3 First Impressions
This morning started the third chart of the 5BX exercise program. I've come a long way since I originally started the program for Lent (I had given up video games, so no Wii Fit U workouts for me). I was originally planning to stop 5BX when Lent was over, but I actually enjoyed doing 5BX and was impressed by the progress I was making, so I stuck with it. With a new chart comes new variations and goals of the same five exercises. Here are just some first impressions of how they feel:
Stretching
In this one, you are basically making a circle, touching the ground to the right of your feet, then inbetween them, and then to the left before going back up. You reverse the direction after a set number of reps. On the plus side, I felt way looser faster than with the previous stretching exercise (where you only touch between your feet and bounce). However, my right thigh and calf (the latter being my old sciatica spot) was bugging me. I took it easy for the rest of the exercise, lest I reinjure myself. All the same, this is an exercise I'll keep a close eye on.
Sit-Ups
For the abdominal portion of Chart 3, the participant lays down with legs flat and hands behind head. He or she then does a sit up. Previously, hands behind head were not necessary. I had a problem with this one. After five or so reps, my old sciatica spot was feeling a bit tense (maybe a combination of this exercise and the stretches?), so I bent my knees and finisned my reps with no aggravation. This is another I'll keep an eye on.
Back
For this exercise, the participant lies on his or her stomach with hands behind the back. He or she then lifts the shoulders, chest, legs, and thighs off the ground as high as possible. It's basically the same exercise as last time, but with hands behind the back instead of under the thighs. This one was easy. No pain.
Arms
This one was...interesting. You lay on the ground with hands underneath your chest and there are three motions: touch your chin to the ground; touch your forehead to the ground; and then move yourself into a "downward-facing dog"-like pose. To finish, you move into the prone position and then lower to the ground. I admit that I hated doing Push-Ups in Chart 2, but this one was actually kind of fun to do! It was really hard though (just barely passed for today), but I imagine doing this for the next 48 days will help.
Running
The only thing that changed was the time I needed to run my mile. I've actually been doing well enough during the past week to pass at the C Level on Chart 3 (after a few weeks on Chart 2, I just stopped looking at goals as I was comfortably hitting them). However, with an actual timetable and new goals to hit, my work is cut out for me. By the end of the Chart, I'll need to consistently be able to run a sub-eight minute mile. The last few days though, my leg has been bugging me a little. If I need to take it easy, I will, but I also want to do my best.
...
Chart 3 is a mixed bag. I imagine if my leg were feeling better, I might enjoy these exercises a little more. All the same, there are some good ones in there (especially push-ups, just gotta be careful I don't hit my head on the ground. Also need to keep an eye on my leg). At this point, I'm over halfway toward my goal of Chart 4, Level C- (the level the program recommends I hit to be considered physically fit for someone my age). Here's to continued success! Onwards and upwards!
Stretching
In this one, you are basically making a circle, touching the ground to the right of your feet, then inbetween them, and then to the left before going back up. You reverse the direction after a set number of reps. On the plus side, I felt way looser faster than with the previous stretching exercise (where you only touch between your feet and bounce). However, my right thigh and calf (the latter being my old sciatica spot) was bugging me. I took it easy for the rest of the exercise, lest I reinjure myself. All the same, this is an exercise I'll keep a close eye on.
Sit-Ups
For the abdominal portion of Chart 3, the participant lays down with legs flat and hands behind head. He or she then does a sit up. Previously, hands behind head were not necessary. I had a problem with this one. After five or so reps, my old sciatica spot was feeling a bit tense (maybe a combination of this exercise and the stretches?), so I bent my knees and finisned my reps with no aggravation. This is another I'll keep an eye on.
Back
For this exercise, the participant lies on his or her stomach with hands behind the back. He or she then lifts the shoulders, chest, legs, and thighs off the ground as high as possible. It's basically the same exercise as last time, but with hands behind the back instead of under the thighs. This one was easy. No pain.
Arms
This one was...interesting. You lay on the ground with hands underneath your chest and there are three motions: touch your chin to the ground; touch your forehead to the ground; and then move yourself into a "downward-facing dog"-like pose. To finish, you move into the prone position and then lower to the ground. I admit that I hated doing Push-Ups in Chart 2, but this one was actually kind of fun to do! It was really hard though (just barely passed for today), but I imagine doing this for the next 48 days will help.
Running
The only thing that changed was the time I needed to run my mile. I've actually been doing well enough during the past week to pass at the C Level on Chart 3 (after a few weeks on Chart 2, I just stopped looking at goals as I was comfortably hitting them). However, with an actual timetable and new goals to hit, my work is cut out for me. By the end of the Chart, I'll need to consistently be able to run a sub-eight minute mile. The last few days though, my leg has been bugging me a little. If I need to take it easy, I will, but I also want to do my best.
...
Chart 3 is a mixed bag. I imagine if my leg were feeling better, I might enjoy these exercises a little more. All the same, there are some good ones in there (especially push-ups, just gotta be careful I don't hit my head on the ground. Also need to keep an eye on my leg). At this point, I'm over halfway toward my goal of Chart 4, Level C- (the level the program recommends I hit to be considered physically fit for someone my age). Here's to continued success! Onwards and upwards!
Saturday, May 7, 2016
Deutschelingo Trial
For the past few weeks, I've been doing Duolingo to brush up on my Spanish. I've only been doing a few minutes a day, aiming for just ten experience points instead of fifty (mitigating the risk of burning out). For the most part, I am happy with the progress I've made. It's mostly been a refresher on what I've learned so far, but I do feel more comfortable with talking and translating. My "fluency" is back up to 37%, about where it was before I stopped. I intend to press on and see what I can learn.
Before the idea of speaking Spanish even popped into my mind, I took German in high school and I was pretty good at it. I took it for two semesters and I made all A's. I even found myself practicing German by translating songs from English (eg: Blue (Da-Ba-Dee) by Eiffel 65). However, college happened and I stopped doing German altogether. I don't remember the language being offered at Lord Fairfax at the time...or if it was, I couldn't fit it into my schedule. Instead, I picked up Spanish a couple of years in and the rest of that is history (in the making).
A few days ago, my boss was texting her son and asked me if I knew German. I said, "Ein kleine" (a little). She asked me to translate "no" in German. To which, I could (ie: "nein"). All the same, this got me wondering how well my German held up over the past fourteen years. I logged onto Duolingo, started their German course, and I jumped right in and took their placement test. While I wasn't as confident with German as I am with Spanish, I thought I'd do okay because I did really well in high school. The result: ... I suck at German.
The few questions I did get right were only because I remembered that all nouns in German are capitalized. Otherwise, I would never have gotten "the dog drinks the milk". I also missed a lot of articles for their proper nouns (Der, Die, Das). Lastly when I asked for a slower demonstration of the audio, the sound byte sounded angrier, which was jarring and, admittedly, kind of funny at the same time. About halfway through the test and a few minutes of getting the questions wrong, the app crashed on my tablet! I guess even my RCA was tired of me destroying the sister language of English.
Later that day, I logged back on. It gave me the option to do the placement test again. To which, I said "no" and elected to start from scratch. Likewise with Spanish, I opted to do only ten experience points. After the lesson, I felt pretty good. I know I'm not as good at German as I was, so but I think I can get back up to high school proficiency with some work (kind of curious to see where I would have landed on Duolingo's "fluency" rating). I am still taking Spanish and will do so alongside German for a total of twenty experience points a day.
The saying "if you don't use it, you lose it" is true with languages. A lot can disappear in fourteen years. However, I think this is something I want to try and bring back. I don't know how practical learning German will be, especially when speaking Spanish is a great skill to have when job hunting in the United States, but I want to do this for me. German was a big part of my high school identity (academically speaking) and I'd like to try and preserve that. Maybe my tablet will be less testy with me as I do this as well.
Before the idea of speaking Spanish even popped into my mind, I took German in high school and I was pretty good at it. I took it for two semesters and I made all A's. I even found myself practicing German by translating songs from English (eg: Blue (Da-Ba-Dee) by Eiffel 65). However, college happened and I stopped doing German altogether. I don't remember the language being offered at Lord Fairfax at the time...or if it was, I couldn't fit it into my schedule. Instead, I picked up Spanish a couple of years in and the rest of that is history (in the making).
A few days ago, my boss was texting her son and asked me if I knew German. I said, "Ein kleine" (a little). She asked me to translate "no" in German. To which, I could (ie: "nein"). All the same, this got me wondering how well my German held up over the past fourteen years. I logged onto Duolingo, started their German course, and I jumped right in and took their placement test. While I wasn't as confident with German as I am with Spanish, I thought I'd do okay because I did really well in high school. The result: ... I suck at German.
The few questions I did get right were only because I remembered that all nouns in German are capitalized. Otherwise, I would never have gotten "the dog drinks the milk". I also missed a lot of articles for their proper nouns (Der, Die, Das). Lastly when I asked for a slower demonstration of the audio, the sound byte sounded angrier, which was jarring and, admittedly, kind of funny at the same time. About halfway through the test and a few minutes of getting the questions wrong, the app crashed on my tablet! I guess even my RCA was tired of me destroying the sister language of English.
Later that day, I logged back on. It gave me the option to do the placement test again. To which, I said "no" and elected to start from scratch. Likewise with Spanish, I opted to do only ten experience points. After the lesson, I felt pretty good. I know I'm not as good at German as I was, so but I think I can get back up to high school proficiency with some work (kind of curious to see where I would have landed on Duolingo's "fluency" rating). I am still taking Spanish and will do so alongside German for a total of twenty experience points a day.
The saying "if you don't use it, you lose it" is true with languages. A lot can disappear in fourteen years. However, I think this is something I want to try and bring back. I don't know how practical learning German will be, especially when speaking Spanish is a great skill to have when job hunting in the United States, but I want to do this for me. German was a big part of my high school identity (academically speaking) and I'd like to try and preserve that. Maybe my tablet will be less testy with me as I do this as well.
Monday, May 2, 2016
5BX Core Exercise Addenum
As I said in my last post, I felt a pop in my back which caused some mile sciatica down my right leg. Since then, the sensation has not gone away. I am, however, able to mitigate it (or even eliminate it) with good posture. All the same, this episode reminded me of what my physical therapist said to keep my back strong. With that, I am thinking about adding a core element to my workout regimen. Part of me is aghast at the idea of adding more to an already solid number of exercises (five basic exercises), but I've also been doing 5BX for a couple of months and my back popping still happened. I'm doing this so I CAN do 5BX and stay healthy. On that note, I've been thinking of a few exercises:
Hula-Hoop
I was thinking of doing a total of six minutes for the hula-hoop, with three minutes in each direction for the sake of consistency. The 5BX program calls for an eleven minute workout, and this would bring that number there. I would still go running as I would look at hula-hooping more as a core exercise than cardio (metabolically speaking, hula-hooping is comparable to walking). It's a fun activity that could serve as a cool-down when the other exercises are finished (except the running portion). However, this would be the only exercise that requires equipment (one hula-hoop) as opposed to the other exercises.
The Plank
I was thinking of doing a minute plank each day. Like the other 5BX exercises, this one does not require equipment and can be done practically anywhere. It's a simple, old-school exercise that does measure core endurance. However, I don't want to burn out and possibly exacerbate my sciatica.
Any thoughts? Ideas?
Hula-Hoop
I was thinking of doing a total of six minutes for the hula-hoop, with three minutes in each direction for the sake of consistency. The 5BX program calls for an eleven minute workout, and this would bring that number there. I would still go running as I would look at hula-hooping more as a core exercise than cardio (metabolically speaking, hula-hooping is comparable to walking). It's a fun activity that could serve as a cool-down when the other exercises are finished (except the running portion). However, this would be the only exercise that requires equipment (one hula-hoop) as opposed to the other exercises.
The Plank
I was thinking of doing a minute plank each day. Like the other 5BX exercises, this one does not require equipment and can be done practically anywhere. It's a simple, old-school exercise that does measure core endurance. However, I don't want to burn out and possibly exacerbate my sciatica.
Any thoughts? Ideas?
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