Vibram FiveFingers (VFF) KSO Test Run & Review (w/ Nike+)

After a number of friends telling me I needed to try the Vibram FiveFingers (also called VFF for short), I decided to pick up a pair today.

WOW is about all I can say to start!!!  They are absolutely awesome.  A very different way to run than what I’m accustomed, but very very satisfying.

Vibram FiveFingers KSO top view after test run

The first thing you’ll notice when you try them on is how difficult it is for you to put your toes into the little finger slots.  After a couple times though, it’s like putting on gloves (literally).  The KSO’s fit awesome.  It’s like they’re not even on.  When putting them on for the first time, one thing to keep in mind is that you want them snug, but not uncomfortable.  The toes will un-curl as you wear them more.  Tightness in fit will quickly go away, but anything that feels like it’s pinched, jammed or otherwise not-normally uncomfortable should be an immediate alarm bell. For me, my right foot fit snugly but very well.  My left foot big toe had some extra pressure, but not rubbing or uncomfortable. Just what seemed to be stiffness in the shoe from never being worn.

Vibram FiveFingers KSO

Vibram FiveFingers KSO top and bottom

In addition, I picked up a pair of injinji Performance Mini Crew Toesocks.  I was in between size 43 and 44 and this made sure that the 44’s weren’t too loose.  In addition, since I’m primarily planning on running in them (at distance eventually), I wanted to have some extra padding and moisture absorption in shoe.  The socks are awesome.  Very very comfortable (I’m actually still wearing them as I write this post).

injinji Performance Mini Crew Toesocks

Since I’m a NikePlus addict, I was able to strap my sensor to the to velcro strap and it read my stride as well as it normally does.  I’m pretty sure any pouch will work with the VFFs.  All you need to do is make sure that it’s looped into the velcro binding strap.

NikePlus on the Vibram FiveFingers

Although people have said to only go a half mile on your first run with them, I thought it’d be better for a little bit longer.  I ended up going just over 2 miles when my right calf had enough and I decided it the most wise to cease running at that point.  The shoes truly change the way you (or at least the way I) run.  I found my self running in better form immediately and actually moving a tad faster than my normal pace and stride.  You will immediately notice the fact that you can FEEL much much more of the running experience.  You can sense the texture of the pavement, the twigs and stones and anything that meets your feet on the run.  The only thing to really get used to is there’s FAR less cushioning than you’re used to on the balls of your feet.  You will get far more impact from the first step.

Here’s how my run looked:

My test run (from Twiike)

Amazon has stock presently of the KSOs as well as the injinji toesocks.  I had to go to 2 different retailers and call 2 more before finding them in the Bay Area.

Here’re the links to the items mentioned in this review:

• Vibram FiveFingers KSO
• injinji Performance Mini Crew Toesocks
• NikePlus Sensor Kit
• Marware Sportsuit Sensor Case for Nike + iPod Sport Kit for iPod nano 3G

Happy Birthday Dad!

Today would have been my Dad’s 74th birthday. He passed in ‘99.

I continue to miss him with no end.  However, this year I vowed to take better care of myself. I’m now an avid  runner, logging between 10 and 30 miles per week. If/When I kick the bucket, it won’t be because I’m not taking care of myself.

Regardless, I miss you terribly Dad. You’ve been and will always be a primary reason I am who and what I am today. For that, I’m beyond thankful and ultimately pleased.

Love,
Jason.

Updates to Twiike (v.0.2) – Twitter your Nike+ runs!

Just pushed an update to Twiike (figured why not make an update the same time Twitter was doing theirs).

Enhancements in this release:

• Made signup 1-step using your Nike+ login.  This removes the need to use the “Share with friend” link from within Nike+.
• Added pulldown menu to set default distance metric (km/mi) on your Twitter settings. This is now used for any runs published.  It’s initially set based on your Nike+ user preferences.
• Added the user tweets to the Twiike timeline to drive additional traffic for Twiike users
• Added retrieve your password (which is set to your Nike+ password when you sign up).
• Added ajax progress bars to all functions that require the server to respond so users don’t think the site is not doing anything

Please keep it coming with the suggestions.  I received a ton today and would love to know how to keep making it better for users.

Post your Nike+ Runs on Twitter (Nike Plus)

Over the last couple weeks I’ve been getting more and more into running again.  While I don’t have the gumption to go run on streets since breaking my foot, I have been hoofing it on the treadmill at least 3-4 times a week.  The challenge has been that I love to update my Twitter and Facebook pages with my status and wanted a simple way to NOT have to update my runs by hand.  So today I’m releasing a VERY alpha version of what I’m calling Twiike (Twitter+Nike).  What it does is watch for me to sync my iPod after runs and posts those runs to Twitter (which I also have wired to update my Facebook status via the Twitter Facebook app).

It’s SUPER easy to use.  Basically login to your Nike+ account, click ‘Share with Friends’ in the upper right corner of the run, click ‘Send to a friend,’ enter ‘nikeplus@twiike.com’ in the email address field and click the ‘Send it’ button.  You’ll get a welcome mail that will link you to login and enter your Twitter account (or set one up if you don’t have one yet) and VOILA!  Twiike will auto post to Twitter every time you sync after a run.

I’d love feedback on what people like and what people think sucks and where it can be improved enhanced.

Click here to try it out.

Here’s what it looks like on Twitter

Elephant on a trampoline!!!

Came across this on FFFFound.  Great ani-GIF of an elephant bouncing on a trampoline.  Not sure why it’s so damn cool…but it is.  LOVE the trunk floppin around!

Right-click menus for redesigned Facebook using Firefox!

With the recent redesign of Facebook, I’ve been getting questions regarding whether the add-on for Firefox is compatible with the newly redesigned version of Facebook.  After confiming over the last couple weeks with some of the ~500 daily users and the 2,000+ downloaders who have shared emails, the current version of UltimateFacebook is not only fully-compatible with Firefox 3 (and naturally Firefox 2), but also with the newly redesigned version of Facebook.  Install it by clicking here.

The add-on enables you to right-click any Facebook user and:

• write on their wall
• send them a message
• poke them
• add them to your friends
• view their friends
• see a thumbnail of them by rolling over their name in a news feed, photo gallery, etc
• see how you connect to them
• tag them
• bookmark them – a.k.a ’save them as a crush’ (invisibly — kept private)

ObjC Dictionary (NSMutableDictionary) for all of the States in the United States (U.S.) (US)

I’ve been teaching myself ObjC over the last 2 weeks and in one of the test projects I built, I ended up wanting to use a UITableView where an iPhone user could pick from a list of the states in the US.  I tried to Google for one out of laziness and then ended up finding the basic entries I needed in some old project PHP code.  Figured “sharing is caring” so here’s a simple NSMutableDictionary containing all of the states in the United States.  Enjoy.


NSMutableDictionary *dStates;
dStates = [[NSArray alloc] initWithObjects:@"AL - Alabama", @"AK - Alaska", @"AZ - Arizona", @"AR - Arkansas", @"CA - California", @"CO - Colorado", @"CT - Connecticut", @"DE - Delaware", @"DC - District of Columbia", @"FL - Florida", @"GA - Georgia", @"HI - Hawaii", @"ID - Idaho", @"IL - Illinois", @"IN - Indiana", @"IA - Iowa", @"KS - Kansas", @"KY - Kentucky", @"LA - Louisiana", @"ME - Maine", @"MD - Maryland", @"MA - Massachusetts", @"MI - Michigan", @"MN - Minnesota", @"MS - Mississippi", @"MO - Missouri", @"MT - Montana", @"NE - Nebraska", @"NV - Nevada", @"NH - New Hampshire", @"NJ - New Jersey", @"NM - New Mexico", @"NY - New York", @"NC - North Carolina", @"ND - North Dakota", @"OH - Ohio", @"OK - Oklahoma", @"OR - Oregon", @"PA - Pennsylvania", @"RI - Rhode Island", @"SC - South Carolina", @"SD - South Dakota", @"TN - Tennessee", @"TX - Texas", @"UT - Utah", @"VT - Vermont", @"VA - Virginia", @"WA - Washington", @"WV - West Virginia", @"WI - Wisconsin", @"WY - Wyoming", nil];


UltimateFacebook added to Softpedia and certified 100% Clean of Spyware, Adware and Viruses!

Woot!  Got an email from the folks at Softpedia!  They’ve just added and reviewed UltimateFacebook, the Mozilla Firefox add-on that makes using Facebook easier and more fun.  It’s beed certified to be 100% Clean of spyware, adware and viruses.  Very cool.  With several 1,000 people now using the add-on, it’s cool to see the social graph grow from the my graph of 200 or so friends in May to almost over 900,000 Facebook users in the graph today.

Here are the links

http://mac.softpedia.com/get/Internet-Utilities/UltimateFacebook.shtml

http://mac.softpedia.com/progClean/UltimateFacebook-Clean-38864.html

http://apps.new.facebook.com/ultimatefacebook/

Happy Birthday Dad!

Today’s my Dad’s 73rd birthday.  Well, it would have been.  He passed away in ‘99.

There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t miss him and wish I we could talk.  I could go on a tirade now about how people should take better care of themselves, as he died young because of just that. Go for a walk, ride, run, something…it all helps.

I Love You Dad-

J.

Facebook Right-Click Menu for Firefox. Make Facebook WAY easier to use!

So over the last several months I, like tens of millions of people, have been using Facebook to find and stay in touch with friends and my biz network. As I used it more and more, I became more annoyed with how long it would take me to send messages, write on walls, etc. So I’ve written a Firefox add-on to make that easier. Called ‘UltimateFacebook,’ all you do is right-click a hyperlinked name in a news feed or a person’s profile image/thumbnail and a menu will appear. You can now send messages, write on walls, poke users and add or view friends with 1-click instead of the 2-3 it normally takes to get to the page to normally do the action. I’ve been playing with it for the last several months and have had about 300 people helping me test it. It’s rather stable at this point, but is an alpha product. Holler with ideas and/or feedback, but definitely try it out.

Click here to read more and try the add-on!