Evaluation of Careeach HR

The Careeach HR is a free tracker provided by Health Promotion Board. The following is a comparison with Garmin Forerunner 935. The comparison is one way. That is to say only compare what Careeach HR has to Forerunner similar functionality only. It is unfair to compare with all the available features of Forerunner 935.

1. Steps - Steps are fundamental feature however it is noted that Careeach HR always track about 10% less compared to Garmin even the steps setting are the same. Garmin seems to show slightly more steps than usual.

2. Heart Rate - Careeach heart rate measurements are very unstable. It can go above 150 while Forerunner shows a modest sub 90. The measurement can simply drops well below 80 while exercising and can drop out of continuous measure mode unexpectedly. Its auto mode is most unreliable. I always turn on continuous mode while exercising. Garmin shows a bit less accurate in auto mode but function well in continuous mode. I can use Garmin to control the heart beat rate but not Careeach. The latter heart beat goes up and down too much and too quickly. Careeach calculates max heart rate according to age. It will buzz user to slow down if the heart rate goes beyond heavy range. Garmin does not buzz user and its range is fixed percentage.

3. Display of the Careeach tracker is always off but can be activated by hand or a twist of the hand but often have to make very large angle swing of arm in order to activate it. Garmin does not have this feature as its display is always on. Both tracker will switch over to clock mode if it not in continuous measure mode. Garmin heart rate display will switch to clock mode after a while but it will stay if it is displayed in sports tracking mode.

4. Upload of data is a hassle. At times the HPB App has to be turned off and on a few times to make it update. Sometimes, the whole hand phone has to be rebooted to get it to work. Garmin update to HPB is via its apps. Although two steps are required but the updates are usually reliable.

5. Charging of Careeach is via USB but the display can some times go straight into full by just plugging in the tracker. The full charge display can stay till it run suddenly out of juice thus lost valuable data. Turning off and on the tracker does not help. Garmin charging can be a bit of problem due to contact issues but never have wrong display issue.

6. Careeach states that its tracker is splash proof. However, one tracker died after going though a light drizzle. Had to replace it. Garmin is water proof up to 50 meters.

7. Battery life of Careeach is way too low to be compared to Garmin. But it can last at least 10 hour of continuous heart beat tracking mode. It could last 2 days or more on normal mode.

8. Careeach will buzz user if they stay static for too long. I am not sure Garmin has it.

For a free device, Careeach HR could be used for tracking steps. Heart rate is at best good for indicator only. Just don't exercise in the rain or use quick charger to charge it.

Time and light

I am fascinated about time. There are already two blogs on the subject. This blog is to further elaborate on it against light.

The concept of time has already been discussed in earlier blogs. Light is the visible element that enables us to see things when light reflects on it. The speed of light is 299792458 meters per second or 1080,000,000 KPH. The speed of light according to WikiPedia is "a universal physical constant". However, X ray and laser seems to be travelling faster than light. Thus it is merely a reference value. Lets just take the reference value as the standard.

Now to see the light one second before now, you have to travel faster than the speed of light. It takes twice the speed to reach the light one second ago if you are travelling in the same direction as light. However, you can't travel in the opposite direction as light has not reflected from the object yet otherwise you would have gone past the object and chasing the light that does not exist. At best, you would have chased the past light in the other direction if the light is always on.

Travelling to see one second of the light before now needs you to travel at double the speed for one second. How long to take before you can catch up with the light one hour before at the same speed?

Now, even when you can see the light one second before, there is nothing you can do to alter it since it is already in the past. Therefore, the theory of changing the events that occur in the past is meaningless since you are only chasing the light not the object.

Even if you are chasing the object that travels away from you, you are merely reaching the object in its present state. There is no way you could have change anything before that state even if you travel ahead of it. You will only be able to see the "now" state of the object. Obviously you could change the environment before the object reach you but its not the future of the object, you are merely changing the "now" state of the environment so that the "now" state of the object and the "now" state of the environment where you are now coincides.

An analogy can be shown by a person shooting an arrow towards a target and another person moved the target before the arrow reaches it. It is just the "now" moment with the two object. 

Frankly speaking. The "now" state occurs on everything simultaneously. Nothing you do that could possibly change the "now" state as time is a measurement of a past event that is not changeable.

On the speed of light thing, a person can only withstand a certain G-force before he black out or dies. 1 G is 9.81 meters per sec. Light speed is 299792458 meters per sec. Without calculation, you will know that it is impossible to survive if you travel at the speed of light.

On the joking side. If there is no light then you can see nothing. How would you be able to chase the light at light speed? How is it possible to see anything?

One other thing, if you are travelling at the speed of light, those light you will see is probably a small area of light that is travelling in the parallel direction. How big a lens would be able to use to view an area of a square meter that is 299792458 meters away?