US
16 MIN READ TIME
FITOTR ACK

Custom open source health monitoring

Deciding to spy on himself for once, Michael Reed examines the ways we can keep a record of our activities using various pieces of software.

Part One!

Don’t miss part two in next month’s issue!

Part One!

Don’t miss part two in next month’s issue!

OUR EXPERT Michael Reed has a circadian rhythm disorder, and he often wishes there were more than 25.7 hours in a day.

QUICK TIPS The social stigma around unusual sleep times emerged from our agrarian ancestors, long before Linux and the accompanying need for all-night coding sessions.

QUICK TIPS The social stigma around unusual sleep times emerged from our agrarian ancestors, long before Linux and the accompanying need for all-night coding sessions.

W e’re always being told that the technology corporations are spying on us and gathering data, but there are times when we want to keep tabs on ourselves for the good of our own health. Fortunately, there are loads of Linux applications, mobile apps and websites that can help us to monitor our health, and that’s what we’re going to look at with this short series.

Logging applications can be passive or active. They are either stopped and started by the user or they sit in the background recording what you’re up to for later analysis. Some record useful data after being activated. Sports loggers are an example of this, because they record the start and stop time of your run or cycle ride, but also log your route and constantly record your speed.

You often have to make a decision when deciding to log your sporting, eating or sleeping activities: do you want to work with a mobile app, a desktop application or a website-based service? If you want to record your eating habits and keep a tally of your calorie intake, there are advantages to using a mobile device, and you probably don’t want to carry your laptop around while you’re jogging.

The advantage of bringing technology into the mix when keeping tabs on your activities is that computers have a perfect memory. They record exactly what you did, when you did it and how long you did it for. Once you have all this data recorded, it’s time to look back for an overview to get an idea of the trends and measure your progress towards your goals.

Sports monitoring

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Linux Format
May 2025
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