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A Physicist Rigged His Pet Hamster’s Wheel to Upload to Strava. It Runs Surprisingly Far Every Night (www.runnersworld.com)
submitted 3 months ago by to c/technology@lemmy.world
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[–] 110 points 3 months ago

The one thing he didn’t plan for was that auto-uploading the files this way required a paid account.

“There was really only one reasonable solution: my hamster now has Strava Premium,” de Buck said.

Love the commitment to the bit. I was unsurprised to learn that the owner is a physicist and an injured runner meaning he has both the time and motivation to geek out on data and live vicariously.

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    [–] 72 points 3 months ago (4 children)

    Wow, 70km per week is no joke!

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    • [–] 44 points 3 months ago

    Hamster: I am not addicted, I can quit anytime I want. (hops back on wheel)

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    [–] 10 points 3 months ago (10 children)

    Wtf is strava?

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  • [–] 13 points 3 months ago (3 children)

    It's a social network based around exercise. You can share your runs and whatnot.

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  • [–] 4 points 3 months ago (5 children)

    Apparently, some kind of runner's tracking service?

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  • [–] 3 points 3 months ago

    I tried it a few years ago. It was expensive compared to popular alternatives, and it didn't directly integrate with my mainstream chest strap anymore. You still had to run multiple apps to collect your data, then go upload it to Strava separately. And that was it's new policy at the time; previously, it did support heart rate monitors directly, and I guess they decided "nah, that's not what we're here for." No idea what it does now because switching to a much cheaper app gave me more functionality. I think its shtick was the training feedback. So that tells you what it was trying to be, at least back then--a personal coaching app, not a comprehensive workout tracker.

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    • [–] 9 points 3 months ago

    I'd feel embarrassed about a hamster doing more distance than me, but the hamster doesn't have a job to go to, or chores to do.

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    [–] 6 points 3 months ago*

    okay, now put some sort of screen in front of the wheel that shows different things, and see if you can alter it's running behaviour to run more or less.

    Bonus points if you have it running through a landscape and it's movement translates into the proper speed/movement in the landscape.

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    [–] 4 points 3 months ago (2 children)

    What kind of hamster has a long tail like that?

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