Posts Tagged ‘Running’

Sansa Express Upgraded

Saturday, January 5th, 2008

Sansa Express in Windows ExplorerI have been using my SanDisk Sansa Express for about 4 months now. I still really like it. I used the MP3 player feature while running until the ice came to Iowa. Now I use the radio feature to listen to the audio portion of the television shows.

One of the features of the Sansa Express is that it can be expanded by adding a Micro SD card. Yesterday I picked up a 2 GB Micro SD card. But when I installed it into the Sansa Express slowed way down and was very unresponsive to input. Also, when plugged into the USB port with the external memory installed in the Sansa Express, Windows Explorer didn’t show the “External Card” node, just the “Internal Memory” node. Hmm. At first I thought that I may have gotten too much memory; maybe 2 GB was too much.

I went to the SanDisk site for the Sansa Express. I noticed a link on the right side of the page that said “Firmware Update“. This location provided a link to download the Sansa Firmware Updater program.

I noticed that before running the updater, the firmware on the Express was at 1.1.1. After running the firmware updater program, which went very smoothly, the firmware was updated to 1.1.5.

Now, with the updated firmware, the Sansa Express display was very responsive with the extra 2GB added. User input was also very good. And, when the Sansa Express was docked into the USB port, both the “External Card” and “Internal Memory” nodes were available.

I now have an MP3 player with 3 GB of memory!

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Happy 25th Birthday, Epcot

Monday, October 1st, 2007

Epcot’s Spaceship Earth from Family Fun Run in January 2003 (cropped, scaled)Epcot, part of Walt Disney World in Florida, celebrates it’s 25th anniversary today. Here is a picture of Spaceship Earth (with the wand. 🙁 I’m not a big fan of the wand, which has now been taken down. Yeah!) from the 2003 Walt Disney World Family Fun Run.

So in October 1982, when it opened, I would have been 11 and in sixth grade. Being that I was already a computer geek by then, I was fascinated by Epcot. There have been a lot of changes in the 25 years of the park, but I still like it. One of my favorite things is the food available in the World Showcase. I am partial to Les Chefs de France. (I like French cuisine. 🙂 ) I haven’t yet been to the Epcot resort area, which includes Disney’s BoardWalk Inn. (This resort has shops and restaurants in the boardwalk section and is in walking distance to Epcot. You can enter through the World Showcase entrance. But it is a deluxe resort, so I probably won’t be staying there any time too soon.) I haven’t been to the new and improved “The Seas with Nemo & Friends“. (It used to be called “The Living Seas”.) And Spaceship Earth is currently being updated (which is why the wand was taken down) and should be open by my next visit. So, even though it is 25 years old, there is still something new to do in the park.

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Running headphones: Nike Flight

Saturday, September 1st, 2007

Nike Flight Sport headphonesYep, the stock earbuds that came with the Sansa Express didn’t work out well while running. They popped out of my ears after a few strides. I found these at my local Target store: Nike Flight Sport headphones. They are designed to fit around the back of your neck, with the cord coming out the back. So I decided to give them a try.

They worked out quite well. The ear piece doesn’t actually fit in your ear like earbuds; the band keeps the speakers pressed against, but not in, your ear. The band itself is plastic that is fexible; it keeps it’s shape, but can flex to shape to your head. The cord runs through a channel in the band. The connector worked fine with the Sansa Express. I used them for the first time on Friday, August 31, 2007. I plan to use them on my next run.

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Opossum sighting this morning

Monday, July 2nd, 2007

This morning on my morning run, I saw a juvenile opossum. It was very near the northern sidewalk of 42nd Street in Cedar Rapids, by the park next to Twin Pines golf course. [map] It was just out, looking about. I didn’t see an adult nearby. It was very cute and looked very soft and fluffy. The babies seem to be out in our neighborhood. Last evening, around 7:00pm, the kids and I were returning from renting a movie and we saw a doe and two fawns run across 42nd Street west of Emerson.

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Morning run

Tuesday, May 29th, 2007

I have started a morning run. Since I have completed a 4 runs, I figure that I can write about it now. (I was afraid that I would do it once and then quit.) I have run the Disney Half-Marathon for 4 years now; 2008 will be my fifth year. I really didn’t do a whole lot of running in preparation for the half-marathons (13.1 US miles). (This really made Nancy upset-more from the fact that I was able to do it. She wasn’t afraid that I would get hurt.) I have put together my typical route so far using http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/.

We’ll see how long I keep this up. I started in late spring so that I could get used to running in milder weather. I am not too worried about the hotter summer weather. What I am worried about is winter. We get snow and ice in Iowa winters; I anticipate this to be my challenge.

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