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Holiday Gift Guide 2022, with David MacDonald and Craig McClellan

I've got a new podcast episode out, and while it's probably not in time for most of your shopping, the stuff we discussed are amongst my favorite things of 2022 and are certainly great ideas to treat yourself with down the road, if not sooner.

Show regulars Craig McClellan and Dr. David MacDonald join the show to talk about stuff we like.

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Thanks to my sponsors this month, Scale Exercise Play-Along Tracks.

Show Notes:

Music Ed and Tech News

Books

Software

Services

Hardware and Gadgets

Bags, Pens, and other Misc stuff

The Pen Addict Podcast

Pilot Metropolitan - 6 Cartridges https://www.jetpens.com/Pilot-Iroshizuku-Shin-kai-Ink-Deep-Sea-6-Cartridges/pd/34517)

JetPens.com - Pilot Iroshizuku Shin-kai Ink (Deep Sea) - 6 Cartridges

Rhodia Notepad

Plotter

Tom Bihn Bags

App of the Week:

Robby - Spring for Twitter

David MacDonald - Cleanshot X / Spaceteam (Board game version)

Craig McClellan - Timery

Music of the Week:

Robby - Carly Rae Jepsen: The Loneliest Time

David MacDonald - Béla Fleck, Mike Marshall and Edgar Meyer: Uncommon Ritual

Craig McClellan - Bonny Light Horseman: Rolling Golden Holy

Tech Tip of the Week:

Robby - Curating your social media experience

David MacDonald - Firefox add-on: Display Anchors https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/display-_anchors/

Craig McClellan - Focus Mode Updates

Where to Find Us:

Robby - Twitter | Blog | Book

David MacDonald - Twitter | Website

Craig McClellan - Twitter | Website

Please don't forget to rate the show and share it with others!

The Music Ed Tech Talk Holiday Gift Guide, featuring Dr. David MacDonald

David MacDonald joins Robby to share their favorite books, hardware, apps, services, and musical gift ideas.

Subscribe to the Blog...

RSS | Email Newsletter

Subscribe to the Podcast in...

Apple Podcasts | Overcast | Castro | Spotify | RSS

Support Music Ed Tech Talk

Become a Patron!

Buy me a coffee

Show Notes:

Books

Hardware

More Hardware

Software

Services

Misc

Music of the Week

Robby - Sarah Jarosz

David - Sister Rosetta Tharpe

Tech Tip of the Week

Robby - Focus Modes

David - CopyChar.cc

Where to Find Us:

Robby - Twitter | Blog | Book

David - Twitter | Website | Blog

Please don't forget to rate the show and share it with others!

Syncing Peloton Bike Workouts to the Apple Watch Activity Rings

My wife and I started using the 12 dollar a month Peloton service, without the bike, early this year. It is full of engaging, thorough, and motivating classes that span everything from yoga to strength training. I recommend it. Even if you don't have an interest in the bike, it is still a viable service for staying physically active at home. That said, we did become interested in the bike through this service and have been owners since around February.

Go to the Apple Health settings of the Peloton app to begin setup.

Go to the Apple Health settings of the Peloton app to begin setup.

After my bike workout, I go to this screen of the Peloton app to review my workout.

After my bike workout, I go to this screen of the Peloton app to review my workout.

One of my favorite features of the bike is that it syncs my activity to Apple's health ecosystem, where I also track sleep, water, and numerous other fitness metrics.

The newer and fancier Peloton bike uses Apple’s GymKit technology to sync metrics only the bike knows (like distance) with metrics only the Apple Watch knows (like heart rate) and then immediately track it as an Apple Watch workout. 

I admit I am slightly jealous I don’t have this version but you can get the same results if you have a third-party heart rate monitor. All I do is wear this third party heart rate monitor on my arm when I do a bike ride, and then open up the Peloton app on my phone when I am done. The Peloton app syncs my ride metrics to the Apple Health app, which then syncs the fitness data to the Fitness app on the iPhone and Apple Watch, ensuring that I fill my rings. 

Post workout, I review my workout in the Peloton app and then open Apple Health to see the data tracked in that workout alongside other thigns I am tracking like diet, water, meditation minutes, and blood oxygen.

Post workout, I review my workout in the Peloton app and then open Apple Health to see the data tracked in that workout alongside other thigns I am tracking like diet, water, meditation minutes, and blood oxygen.

Next, I open the Apple Fitness app. Sometimes it takes a few minutes for the rings to show up here, and then later on the watch, but they always do.

Next, I open the Apple Fitness app. Sometimes it takes a few minutes for the rings to show up here, and then later on the watch, but they always do.

The best part is that I can charge my watch while I ride, which means I can wear it to track sleep throughout the night using AutoSleep.

Peloton also has an Apple TV and Amazon Fire Stick app now. Great for doing yoga in the living room. I track these workouts normally on my Apple Watch by running the appropriate workout type before I start.

Stay healthy out there.

Apple's Apple Watch and iPad Event

Apple had an event yesterday where they announced some new stuff. Here are some very quick thoughts I have on the announcements...

  • The new blood oxygen sensor in the Apple Watch Series 6 looks great. I love my Apple Watch for health tracking. The more health sensors, the better.

  • Apple Fitness+ looks awesome. I am a dedicated Peloton subscriber, but it will still be interesting to see Apple's take on this. One issue with Peloton (and other third party app workout class content) is that watching on Apple TV or iPad doesn't track any data from the Apple Watch. This seems to be a big benefit of Apple Fitness+. But as with most services, whether people like it or not will be determined largely by the quality of the content. Apple can engineer great tech features into their products to give them an edge, but fitness content is also very dependent on the engagement of the instructor.

  • Apple One seems like a great way to save money if you subscribe to a bunch of Apple's services. It's kind of like their version of Amazon Prime. It's looking like I will be able to keep paying what I already pay for Apple Music, iCloud Drive, and Apple Arcade, and get the Fitness+ and News+ services bundled in for a similar cost.

  • New iPad Air: this is a really nice update. If I didn't depend on the larger size iPad for reading sheet music, I would strongly consider this device over the iPad Pro now that they share the same design, Apple Pencil, and Magic Keyboard Case.

Here are some links to great posts about the event:

Click the headline to read more.

Apple Watch Series 6 and Apple Watch SE - The MacsStories Overview

The New iPad Air and 8th Generation iPad - The MacStories Overview

Apple One The Long-Awaited Services Bundle Is Coming Soon in Three Tiers

Brief Thoughts and Observations on Today's 'Time Flies' Apple Event | Daring Fireball.net

What was new at the Apple Sept. 15 event | Sixcolors.com

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