When you think about the types of people who play the game, you probably don’t think of jocks playing Dungeons and Dragons, but they do.
The stereotypical DnD player is probably a pimply teenager in their basement, or something, but this doesn’t give you an accurate picture of who is playing the game these days at all.
I’ve started getting back into Dungeons and Dragons in the last few weeks, and I really like how the game has evolved, and is very much going strong.
The people who are championing the game are diverse, and passionate about it.
I’ve just started watching some streamed DnD games, and really enjoyed this streamed game featuring Jocks Machina from June 2018:
There’s a great background interview for this game here, too:
I love this paradigm shift where people like these burly actors and sports professionals, who you wouldn’t expected to be into DnD, are super passionate about it.
As you may remember, I bought a Fitbit Charge 3 in October 2018. I hadn’t worn a watch, let alone a fitness tracker like this, before that. I soon came to enjoy having it, and the data it gave me.
Unfortunately, the screen stopped working soon after the warranty expired on the device, and I made the decision to switch to a Garmin Vivoactive 4. I’ve had the Vivoactive 4 for a few weeks now, and I’m really enjoying it.
My failing Fitbit Charge 3
My Fitbit worked really well for most of the time that I’ve owned it. I found the data I received from it when I exercised (whether that was running, walking, or something else) to be great motivation to get back out there and do more exercise.
I noticed that the device started becoming a bit sluggish when I swiped the screen while running sometime in November. I would swipe the screen to switch to a different option, and it would take a moment longer to change.
I went for a run after my 5km race, and the device just stopped responding to my gestures, and I basically lost the tracking on the run between trying to get it to respond, and just giving up.
My disabled Fitbit Charge 3
Following the recommended troubleshooting steps helped the first time, and seemed to restore the device to normal functioning. Unfortunately, it failed again, and this time the screen stopped responding altogether.
Troubleshooting steps for the Fitbit Charge 3
These are the troubleshooting steps the Fitbit Support team recommended:
Connect the device to the charging cable.
While the device is plugged into the charging cable, press and hold the button down for 15 seconds.
The device turns on and shows a battery icon. Two vibrations occur: first a short vibration, then a medium vibration.
The device turns off.
The device turns on and shows a progress bar and short vibrations occur. The progress bar completes. Note: A total of 7 short vibrations occur.
Remove the device from the charging cable. The device shuts down.
Important: Plug the device into the charging cable again.
I reached out to the Fitbit Support team on Twitter. They were pretty responsive, and were clearly trying to help me out. Ultimately, though, the device was out of warranty, so they couldn’t really do much more.
They suggested that I purchase a new Fitbit device. I considered going for the Fitbit Versa 2, but I was reluctant to buy another device that could die just outside its warranty period.
Researching alternatives to the Fitbit Charge 3
As you may gather, by this point I wanted something more than a simple tracker, so I started exploring something closer to a smart watch/fitness watch.
In the meantime, the Fitbit was still tracking my biometrics passively, so I still wore the device for step, and sleep tracking until my new device arrived.
I narrowed my options down to the Vivoactive 4, and the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2. In the reviews I watched, both received great feedback. Here are some of the reviews that I found helpful:
Galaxy Watch Active 2
Vivoactive 4
I made my choice
I ultimately decided to go for the Vivoactive 4 because it seemed like a more robust fitness tracker, with smart watch features. The Galaxy Watch Active 2 seemed to be a smart watch first, with fitness tracking features.
I also liked that the Vivoactive 4 seemed to have better battery life, and offers a lot more data. The data really appealed to me.
So I ordered the device earlier this month from a local reseller, and switched over to it almost right away. For the most part, I really like this device, and I’m glad I chose it.
I won’t go into specs, and details. You can find plenty of that information in the reviews I shared above (and many others). Instead, I’ll share some thoughts and experiences.
Nitpicking the Vivoactive 4
As much as I like the device, there are a couple small issues that detract from the experience a little. To begin with, the sleep tracking doesn’t seem to be as accurate as the Fitbit. I wore both devices one night, and noticed a few differences between the data I received.
Garmin Vivoactive 4 sleep tracking data
Fitbit Charge 3 sleep tracking data
Subjectively, the Fitbit seemed to be more accurate. I’ve noticed that my Garmin seems to regard anything short of actually getting out of bed and walking around to be part of the sleep cycle. If I lie in bed reading, for example, it tends to think I’m still sleeping.
I’ve started manually editing my wake times for a little more accuracy.
I like the Vivoactive’s Stress Tracking and Body Battery features (tracking stress levels, and energy levels, respectively), although I’m not sure how accurate they are. They roughly correspond with how I feel at a given point in time, but they either seem to exaggerate levels, or understate them.
Still, as general indicators, they can be helpful.
What I really like about the Vivoactive 4
In general, I really like this device. It looks great, it’s comfortable to wear, and I find it pretty easy to operate.
Garmin Vivoactive 4
I’ve had some fun switching between watch faces to find a watch face that offers me enough data points. The one above is called Crystal. It’s pretty customisable, and gives me all the data points I want to have at a glance.
I’m currently using Simple TDB that has a cleaner look, and with enough data points to persuade me to stick with it.
Simple TDB watch face
Using the Vivoactive 4 to track my runs is really easy. I push the top button, wait a few seconds for the GPS to start tracking, and then run.
It’s really easy to see a number of data points when running, at a glance, and my watch quickly sends my activity data up to Strava when I finish a run. By contrast, the Fitbit Charge 3 had to connect through my phone for GPS tracking, and that didn’t always work.
If my phone’s Bluetooth wasn’t working well at the time (which happens at times), I’d had to restart my phone to get it to sync correctly. My Garmin still uses the phone to send data to Strava, but it seems to sync more reliably.
I also really like that I have built-in GPS!
Performance
The device’s battery life really depends on what you’re using. If you’re running with music, and GPS, you’ll probably need to charge in a day or two.
On the days when I’m not running (and using GPS), the watch goes for a few days before I need to charge it. The battery life isn’t quite like the Fitbit Charge 3, but it’s ok.
I like the charging information, too
Charging the Vivoactive 4 takes roughly an hour at most
It takes an hour, at most, to charge the Vivoactive 4, and then I’m ready to go again. I’ll often charge it while I’m working, or watching TV.
Is it right for you?
Just based on what I know about Garmin’s fitness trackers/watches in this price range, the Vivoactive 4 seems to be a sort of “general” use device. It handle fitness tracking for a large number of activities pretty well, and it’s a good fit for me.
If you’re a dedicated runner, it will probably be great for you, too. At the same time, I found this comparison between the Vivoactive 4 and the Forerunner 245 to be really interesting from the perspective of additional features that the Forerunner has for, well, runners:
I’m really happy with my purchase, and I’ve been for a few runs with it already. As I had hoped, being able to track my activity is motivating me to get out there more often (which is the point).
Chris Finke, a colleague at Automattic, discovered a box of slides that were taken by the late David Tewes, Chris’ father-in-law’s cousin while Chris and his wife were going through his late father-in-law’s things.
On a spring day three years ago, Chris and Christina Finke were clearing out a building on the hobby farm near Mayer. It belonged to Christina’s dad, Doug Tewes, who had died a few years before.
“We’re deciding, you know, what stuff is going to go to Goodwill? What are we going to try and sell? What are we going to get rid of?” Chris Finke recalled.
Then he spotted something different on a shelf, in the back of the attic, where the roof met the wall. It was a hard-sided case. Inside were hundreds of old photographic slides.
The collection is a wonderful series of snapshots of mid-20th century America.
Licensed CC BY 4.0
Licensed CC BY 4.0
Licensed CC BY 4.0
Licensed CC BY 4.0
Licensed CC BY 4.0
This collection appeals to me because it’s a wonderful reminder about the importance of preserving our memories as we travel through this life.
It also reminds of of my goal of digitising my late father’s slides. My Dad’s photography may not be exhibition-worthy, but they contain priceless memories from my family.
I really enjoy Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, and I’ve been listening to variations of a few of the movements/pieces/parts (I’m not sure what the terminology is) from Four Seasons in the last day or so.
I’ve also really enjoyed watching different performances on YouTube, suchasthese:
We’re expecting rain in the coming week. It will be a perfect opportunity to play one of these pieces for dramatic effect when a storm arrives. Just for fun. 😁
I love this photo of our daughter's hand on my wife's hand as she lit the last night's candles.
While most of the world was gearing up for the Christmas (or Christmas analog) holidays, we celebrated the festival of Chanukah, my favourite festival of the year. I thought I’d share my Chanukah highlights in a series of photographs.
I usually take photos on each of the eight days of the candles, and this year was no exception. That said, I decided to add some variations to my collection so I wasn’t just capturing our candles that we lit each night.
Instead, I took opportunities to include other people’s candles, whether they were neighbours, or family we visited.
The first night.
The second night’s candles at home
We also lit our candles on the fourth night.
Another neighbour has this menorah on the wall of their balcony that you can see from the street. I really like this.
We joined our neighbours for a communal celebration for the fourth night.
We joined our neighbours for a communal celebration for the fourth night.
We also lit our candles on the fourth night.
I thought I’d go with a black and white look for the fifth night’s candles.
We spent the sixth night at family. I really like the colours in this photo.
Here’s my wife lighting the candles on the seventh night.
One of the reasons I love living in Israel is that we literally have a menorah on street corners.
I love this photo of our daughter’s hand on my wife’s hand as she lit the last night’s candles.
I’ve been listening to one of my Spotify Daily Mixes that comprises instrumental movie and TV soundtracks. It has been giving me some excellent choices, many of which I haven’t heard before.
I’m really impressed! Here are a couple tracks that have become new favourites:
If only my YouTube recommendations for videos were as accurate!
I’ve had Webmentions enabled on this site for some time now. Sending a Webmention is pretty straightforward thanks to plugins like Webmention for WordPress and Semantic-Linkbacks. The question is how to send Webmentions in comments when someone replies to one of my posts? 🤔
