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June's smart oven adds Whole Foods meals to its library
Healthy eating without the tedious fuss of preparation -- that's the dream, right? Well, things are set to get a lot easier for lazy cooks looking to improve their diet, thanks to a partnership between Whole Foods Market and June, the do-it-all smart oven. From today, foods sold at the store will be integrated into the oven's custom cook programs.
NASA institute will find ways to protect astronauts' health
Lengthy deep space missions pose higher risks to spacefaring humans compared to trips to the ISS or to the moon -- after all, our bodies evolved for life on Earth. In an effort to find ways to reduce those risks, NASA has joined forces with the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. The partners will operate a new institute, slated to begin its operations on October 1st, dedicated to developing ways to protect astronauts' health for long-duration missions.
The only way to win a gold PS4 bundle is to eat a lot of Taco Bell
If you like to fill your pie hole with Big Boxes from Taco Bell, you could leverage your habit for a new console. Starting September 24th, the fast-food chain is giving away 6,000 limited-edition gold PlayStation 4 bundles. For a chance to win, though, you'll have to have to suffer through enjoy any of the restaurant's Big Boxes before November 4th. One bundle will be given away every 10 minutes, and the package includes a gold DualShock 4, Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection, and one year of PlayStation Plus. Of course, if you really want to win one, you'll have to buy a lot of fourth meals.
Set healthy goals with iHydrate
Despite the numerous studies about how drinking more water keeps us focused and energized and does things like help us fight off colds and stave off migraines, most of us fail at drinking the recommended eight glasses of water a day. iHydrate, US$1.99 in the App Store, helps you to get your daily 64 ounces through reminders and goal setting techniques. Before you start tracking your beverage intake, iHydrate asks you simple questions about your sex, age and weight so that it can set your water intake for each day. The app set my daily intake to 80 ounces of water. This seemed a bit ambitious to me, so, with the custom setting option, I reset it to 64 ounces. While iHydrate's goal is for you to drink more water, you can enter in any type of beverage. There are options for water, milk, soda, coffee, tea, juice, plus energy and sports drinks. Each of these is associated with a color so that you can track how much of each beverage you drink. Simply click on your drink of choice and enter in the amount of ounces to add it to your daily tally. Ounces are the default measurement, but you can change this to milliliters in the settings. Once you've added the drink, it shows up in the pie chart and iHydrate tells you how many ounces you have left for the day. The only flaw in this app is that it does not account for the variations in hydration levels of beverage types. When you drink a cup of coffee, the app counts that toward your daily 64 ounces of water. If the app's goal is hydration, then a diuretic like coffee shouldn't count the same as water. The more coffee you drink, the more water you need to consume to offset coffee's negative effects. The app should increase your recommended daily water intake based on how much coffee, tea or soda you drink. Maybe that will end up in a future update. Still, the pie chart clues you in to how much of your fluid intake is actually good for you. That's important for those of us who don't realize how much we subsist on coffee and soda. There is a reminder feature, which I never used because the idea of the app itself was motivation enough. You can set as many reminders as you need and make them recurring to help you build healthy habits. Other than the one flaw mentioned above, iHydrate is a great app that I plan to keep using. It's perfect for anyone who wants to make a small change that will have a big impact on their overall health.
Track your Domino's order via a Pebble smartwatch
A Pebble smartwatch is handy for a number of things, and now you can use it to keep tabs on your pizza order. Thanks to Domino's app for said gadget, you can monitor the status of your Wisconsin 6 Cheese pie, Crispy Bacon & Tomato Specialty Chicken and Stuffed Cheesy Bread with a glance at your wrist. The app shows updates when food is being made, baking, undergoing a "quality check" and either ready for pickup or on its way to your door. Don't have a Pebble? There are options for ordering via iPad, TV and more, because of course.
The Daily Grind: Have you ever fallen into unhealthy play habits?
Pretty much no one who plays video games regularly likes to be called a game addict. There's a stigma attached to gaming, one that makes a lot of players particularly uncomfortable. But we are frequently able to recognize when we're putting in more hours than are entirely healthy in various games. We don't want to be called addicts, but we recognize that spending our entire weekends in Final Fantasy XI or World of Warcraft or Guild Wars 2 is probably not a great sign. Sometimes it's just an isolated thing when we have a free weekend and wind up spending all of it gaming. Other times we step back and realize we're devoting too much of our time and energy to our games of choice and we need to back off a little bit. So does that sound like you? Have you ever fallen into unhealthy play habits by accident? Or do you feel you've never been a bit too focused on playing your MMO of choice? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
IBM wins diet monitoring and reward patent, celebrates with sip of Spirulina
Does your employer offer a "wellness rebate program?" No? Then you can't be working for IBM, which has been bribing its staff to eat healthier since 2004. It's a Watson-worthy idea, because what the company pays out in incentives it recoups in lower healthcare costs. Now, after a decade of toing and froing with the USPTO, IBM has finally patented a web-based system that makes the whole process automatic. For it to work, a person must use a micro-payment network to buy food, which allows their purchases to be monitored and compared against their health records. If they've made the right choices, the system then communicates with their employer's payroll server to issue a reward. Completing the Orwellian circle, the proposed system also interacts with servers in the FDA and health insurance companies to gain information about specific food products or policy changes. You can duck the radar, of course, and buy a Double Whopper with cash, but it'll bring you no reward except swollen ankles. This is IBM we're talking about; they've thought of everything. [Photo via Shutterstock]
Vuzix Wrap 1200VR video eyewear does 3D with head-tracking for $600, now available
If you scored yourself Vuzix's Wrap 1200 side-by-side 3D video eyewear last month, you may want to know the company's VR variant is now available for $600 (about 100 bones more). With the Wrap 1200VR, you'll again be viewing a simulated 75-inch, 3D (or 2D, if you'd prefer) 16:9 display at ten feet away. The shades feature a single 852 x 480 monitor per eye and support input resolutions of up to 1280 x 720. The VR bit comes from the included Wrap Tracker 6TC with compass, which enables head-tracking with three degrees of freedom. Better yet, its coupled drift control should maintain silky smooth visuals when you're tilting your noggin' to scope out the on-screen action. Out of box, these specs are said to play nice with most Windows machine's graphics cards and VGA connections, but adapters are required to rock them with your PS3 or Xbox 360. If your eyes are already tearing up with joy, you'll find full details in the PR just past the break. Update: We initially reported the that the Vuzix Wrap 1200VR outputs video in simulated 720p, when it actually supports input resolutions up to 1280 x 720 -- both WVGA monitors have a resolution of 852 x 480. We've updated this post accordingly.
Breakfast Topic: How do you make time for working out?
This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages. A recent NPC comic strip touched on an issue I find very near and not quite dear to my ... mid section. It has one of the main characters admitting he's gained some weight; he then suggests that a rule be enacted that he cannot play WoW until he has worked out. Sounds simple, right? Some would say that depends on your level of self-control and willpower. Having tried this rule myself, I also say it depends on your raid schedule, your work schedule and any unexpected overtime, the traffic levels on your drive home, what's for dinner ... There is so much to this balancing act that such a rule is tough to keep in place. Do you make 24 people counting on you to be in a raid wait for you or replace you while you do your workout regimen? An obvious rebuttal: Work out in the morning! Well, as the comic strip characters find out, that doesn't always pan out either. On a regular day I get up at 5 a.m., which is plenty early enough for me without a workout on top of it. How do you balance your gaming habits and health concerns? Do you work out in the morning? Do you have a rule in place as the comic characters did, that you can't play til you work out? Or perhaps you're one of the lucky people who just have a high metabolism? /jealous
Watermelon cooler push cart: perfect for those sultry North Carolina summers
Crazily enough, the device you're staring at above -- jaw solidly on the floor, we're sure -- is real. As in, you can purchase one for you and yours. So far as we can tell, this here watermelon cart (priced at ¥19,950, or a whopping $231) serves to keep your voluptuous fruit cool when being transported from market to mouth, but everything beyond that is lost in translation. What's curious, however, is that this seems like a device created and sold exclusively in Japan. If we had to bet, though, we'd say it was originally dreamed up by a farmer in eastern North Carolina -- you know, the home of watermelon Cook-Out milkshakes, an official watermelon license plate and roads where chop-top school buses are frequently used as watermelon hauling machines.
Swedes say WoW is as addictive as crack
We've heard a few horror stories from Sweden already about excessive WoW-playing there -- we've reported on a 15-year-old collapsing after not taking any breaks, and we've even heard from a teacher in that country who's targeted World of Warcraft as a challenge to her students' attention. But now one group up there is claiming it's an epidemic -- the Youth Group Foundation has released a report comparing the game itself to cocaine, and says that of all the game addiction cases they've encountered, World of Warcraft has played a part in every one.Obviously, here at WoW Insider, we're fans of the game, and it's hard to blame an inanimate object like a computer for serious problems in someone's life -- while World of Warcraft is one of the easiest ways an addictive personality can manifest itself, millions of people around the world are able to play it and maintain healthy lives and relationships.Still, if you're playing World of Warcraft (or doing anything else) so much that it's affecting your health or social life, it's time to stop and/or get help from an organization like this. We won't blame the game for causing someone to pass out (common sense says that doing anything for 15 hours straight isn't good for you) or do poorly in school, but if either of those things are happening to you, in Sweden or anywhere else, because you're playing the game, then cut it out.
15-year-old collapses after playing Wrath for hours on no sleep or food
Reader Danny sent us this article from Holland Sweden, where apparently (a rough translation of the piece, thanks to Google, is after the break), a young boy of 15 was taken to the hospital after collapsing while playing Wrath of the Lich King. He reportedly had played the game for fifteen hours straight, and because he'd only gotten two hours of sleep and had almost nothing to eat the entire time, felt cramps and apparently collapsed from exhaustion.Obviously, it's a stretch to blame this on the game -- doing anything for 15 hours straight with no sleep or food won't be good for your health. There were millions of people who played this very same game this weekend (some probably even for the same amount of time or more) and had no problems at all -- they realize that to stay healthy, you take breaks, get sleep, and eat healthy. But this kid (and his parents) didn't do things correctly, and as a result, he ended up in the hospital.Hopefully the kid's all right, and the parents have learned their lesson: they have decided to limit his time in front of the computer, which is exactly what they should do if he can't limit it himself. The article ends by saying that "teenagers" around the world are playing the new expansion, except that the average age of gamers is now up to just under 30, and the average World of Warcraft player is actually older than that. Fortunately, the vast majority of them know how to enjoy the game and stay safe and healthy at the same time.
LA Times covers the WoW community
Wait, what's this? A mainstream media story that actually -- gasp -- shows the world that playing MMO games together can actually be fun and healthy for relationships? Thrall be praised, apparently someone at the LA Times gets it. Yup, Brad and Cynthia Murdock, like millions of other players of this game, play the game together and have a great time doing it. Of course, near the end of the article, they get back to Mike Akers, a "self-described recluse" who plays against his wife's wishes and once made her wait for 10 minutes while in labor so he could defeat an "end boss," but we guess we can look past that -- the headline is about people playing the game in a healthy way, and we need more stories like that. since there are a lot more players like that.Blizzard's Frank Pearce also shows up in the story, and admits that Mages could use a higher damage output at endgame. No, we're just kidding, this is a story meant for non-players, so he just says that the game has a "huge social element," and a giant community that supports everyone who logs in. That's you guys! Take a bow!And not even the LA Times can get Blizzard to give us a Wrath release date -- they try, but Pearce waves them off with an understatement: "We typically try to avoid launch windows." Blizzard? Avoiding release dates? Sounds about right.[via WorldofWar.net]
WRUP: Let's get fit edition
This week's releases are full of titles aimed at making you a healthier human being. We can get behind that, because being healthy is a pretty important thing in life. And, of course, there's also Iron Man.Any of our faithful readers looking to cleanse their body and soul and go for a healthier you? Or, are you already knee-deep in another game, like The World Ends with You? What will you be playing to get you through this weekend? What are you Playing? is a weekly feature where we ask what it is that you're, well ... playing! Every Friday, look for a new topic and a new chance to converse with the community about what games you're enjoying and which games are disappointing. So tell us already!
New York Times can't let WoW duo get away with it
Reader Roland (thanks!) pointed us to this weird WoW reference in the New York Times. In the wedding section of all places, there's a story about a couple that used World of Warcraft to play and have fun as a duo, and it's too damn bad that the NYT falls back into the old media idea that playing videogames as a couple isn't healthy.Can we get one mainstream media article that breaks the mold? Can we get one portrayal of a WoW player (or players, in this case) that doesn't fall back into the old line of MMOs being the territory of cave-dwelling social outcasts? That's most certainly not the case in reality -- how long is it going to take for mainstream reporters to forget this moronic angle and report on what's really happening here: two people in love sharing a hobby in between the rest of their full and fulfilling lives.There are now ten million people playing this game around the world, and the large, overwhelming majority of them are healthy, fulfilled individuals who lead great lives both in and out of game. In fact, the two people this article is about are two of those individuals. It's perfectly healthy to sit down and play a videogame with your significant other, on a beautiful spring day or at any other time (yes, it's never healthy to do one thing all the time, be it videogames or TV watching or anything else, but that's not what's happening here). And it's crazy that the NYT bent over backwards to make it seem like that's not the case.
Far Infrared HandStrap: Mysteries of the Unknown
This exotic wrist strap claims to make use of bio-ceramics, a composite of lead-free minerals, to douse your arm with far infrared rays and help with blood circulation. Though "far infrared rays" might sound sinister if you're not familiar with them and their uses, they are supposedly quite healthy.You can't see far infrared rays in the sun's light, but you can feel their warmth absorbed into your skin. In addition to their blood circulation benefits, these miracle beams are also said to naturally reduce inflammation, decrease pain, and revitalize skin cells. All that for only 780 yen (approximately $6.33)!
Playing more and eating less
Staying active with Wii Sports and Dance Dance Revolution isn't the only way video games can help you lose weight. Sometimes, all you need is a distraction to keep you from overindulging your appetite. According to Cynthia Sass, RD, a nutritionist and spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association, playing with a portable can help you forget about food: "When you start to visualize your craving, you've already lost half the battle ... A video game occupies your eyes, your hands, and your mind." Of course, if you insist on playing games like Cooking Mama or Cheeseburger Town, you're probably not going to get the desired effect. Sitting in front of a chocolate cake while an oscillating fan blows its saccharine aroma towards you isn't going to be too helpful either. But if you can manage to avoid food-based games and afternoon desserts, and if you'd like to try something new to make you stop thinking about eating, grab your DS the next time your stomach starts asking for a snack. Maybe that'll do the trick. [Via Infendo]
MMO Art owner injured, should be back to work soon
Some bad news from our friends over at MMO Art (makers of extremely fine custom character art). They sent a message to their mailing list this evening that owner and artist Jomaro Kindred suffered a "chemical burn to his throat and lungs last week." Not sure how that might have happened (art or drawing materials, maybe?), but we sure hope he's ok.The announcement says that emails (and, supposedly, art processing) have been slowed down a bit, but that they expect him back up and working as soon as possible. That's definitely expected. No word on whether he spent any time in the hospital, but they say they expect "a full bill of health very soon."Very sorry to hear of the injury, but our thoughts and prayers are with both Jomaro and his family and friends. Hopefully, he'll be back healthy and churning out that great WoW character art sooner rather than later.
Here comes Beefiness Training
From Dorasu, developers of Duke Saraie no Kenkou Walking Navi, comes the very latest in awkward-looking health training programs for the DS. Nobuaki Kakuda's Kaku-chan Type Muscle Train-Navi will use exercise descriptions and animations of the very big and tough-looking karate champion Nobuaki Kakuda to teach users how to bulk up. Users will be able to choose what bulk-related issue they need to work on, with exercise programs based on specific goals, like looking good in a tank top. Then they'll get to watch Nobuaki performing the exercises in a fake living room, sometimes using chairs as props.Stuff like this is precisely why we love reporting on the Nintendo DS. We can't wait to see what the other four games in Dorasu's series are.
Shocking study reveals that activity in gaming fights obesity
Providing a mighty blow to both "research studies" and the value of Ph.D degrees everywhere, the latest rubbish information to come flowing from the Mayo Clinic's research lab is as close to an insult to intelligence as you can get. While it may have been somewhat understood that television can act as a painkiller for children, and that wireless headsets actually don't improve driving safety, this obviousness of this one takes the literal cake. The study, which is proclaimed as the "first to scientifically measure the energy spent playing video games," proved that sitting around while gaming burned the same amount of energy as kicking back and watching the tube, but when engaged in a "camera-based activity" (Eye Toy?), the "energy expenditure tripled." It was also shown that walking on a treadmill while gaming it up also tripled the energy burned, but it showed a "fivefold increase for the mildly obese group" of participants. While these results may be miles away from shocking, the most depressing aspect of the entire study was the conclusion that the results were so awe-inspiring that "they warrant further studies in randomized trials." Now, who's paying for this hoopla again?[Thanks, Mike]
