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I put my whole life into a single database

howisfelix.today

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Re: I put my whole life into a single database

#81

Post by Arn_Thor »

gardenhedge wrote: post #53
lejalv wrote: post #38

A simple back of the envelope calculation shows that Felix causes between 70 and 110 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year just from flying. Paris accord says 1.5t per person per year, from all activities, Felix's flying alonre is ~10-15x current European yearly per person emissions and ~50-75x those compatible with +1.5C.

Isn't this a drop in the ocean? Why would any 'normal' person forgo flying? How much CO2 emissions have 'world leaders' produced going to summits, or Taylor Swift and her fans flaying to concerts or war flights?

Couple of things: 1) NO ONE is suggesting any one forego flying altogether, or skipping their once-a-year overseas vacation or periodic family visit. 2) THIS level of flying is not normal and is exactly the kind of harmful behavior people have in mind when they complain about frequent flyers. 3) Whinging about summits and Taylor Swift is just a bad faith red herring argument. Obviously less flying is better, no matter by who. To the extent it's related to the topic at all, it bolsters the case for less air travel.

Re: I put my whole life into a single database

#82

Post by ericyd »

brodo wrote: post #4

The takeaways at the very bottom of the page are valuable: > Overall, having spent a significant amount of time building this project, scaling it up to the size it’s at now, as well as analysing the data, the main conclusion is that it is not worth building your own solution, and investing this much time. When I first started building this project 3 years ago, I expected to learn way more surprising and interesting f…

Cynical take: I didn't need to read to the bottom to know it was useless to track the correlation between drinking alcohol and dancing

Re: I put my whole life into a single database

#83

Post by nkrisc »

cj wrote: post #41
nkrisc wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But you didn’t spend hundreds of hours on it, so when it did happen to be useful it seemed like an outsized benefit. I would wager that for most people, most data about themselves will be useless and not worth collecting. Of course you can’t know what data will be useless or not, so unless the cost of collecting it is minimal or nil (wearing a smart watch, writing down your weight each day/week), it’s probably not wo…

Like anything else, I think it comes down to having a good use case. I've gotten deep into weightlifting/bodybuilding over the past couple of years, and that's the kind of hobby where micro-optimizations and data tracking can have a pretty big impact on results (and sort of necessary, you can't fly blind with things like diet, especially) E.g. I track and weigh everything I eat, take body measuraments on a weekly bas…

True, if you have a current and real need for the data, then it makes sense to collect it. But that’s an entirely different scenario.

Re: I put my whole life into a single database

#84

Post by gnfargbl »

criddell wrote: post #51
alex_duf wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly, I stopped reading when I saw the flying stats. There are people who still haven't clocked where our climate is headed. I get that you may have to see family abroad or maybe indulge for a holiday, but this is "I'm using an airplane to commute" kind of level. And here I am trying to book my train tickets to go to London instead of flying even though it costs three times as much just to avoid a few kg of CO2 (a…

> And here I am ... Reminds me of the soggy straw memes floating around now. I've been having those why bother? thoughts as well.

Eh, other people throw litter on the floor and rob elderly folks in their homes. Those people hardly ever get caught, but neither you nor I are are going to start copying their actions.

Re: I put my whole life into a single database

#85

Post by ainch »

gardenhedge wrote: post #53
lejalv wrote: post #38

A simple back of the envelope calculation shows that Felix causes between 70 and 110 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year just from flying. Paris accord says 1.5t per person per year, from all activities, Felix's flying alonre is ~10-15x current European yearly per person emissions and ~50-75x those compatible with +1.5C.

Isn't this a drop in the ocean? Why would any 'normal' person forgo flying? How much CO2 emissions have 'world leaders' produced going to summits, or Taylor Swift and her fans flaying to concerts or war flights?

The general concern around Taylor Swift's emissions has always struck me as shortsighted. Her Eras tour is estimated to have generated around $5bn in economic uplift in the US, at an estimated 10,000 tonnes CO2e for her personal travel. Even if the total footprint is higher, that is thousands of times lower than the emissions intensity of an industry like fast fashion. From an environmental point of view, attending a Taylor Swift show is a much less carbon-intensive way to spend your money than ordering from Temu.

Re: I put my whole life into a single database

#87

Post by yoz-y »

afc wrote: post #69
cj wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Like anything else, I think it comes down to having a good use case. I've gotten deep into weightlifting/bodybuilding over the past couple of years, and that's the kind of hobby where micro-optimizations and data tracking can have a pretty big impact on results (and sort of necessary, you can't fly blind with things like diet, especially) E.g. I track and weigh everything I eat, take body measuraments on a weekly bas…

How long have you been tracking? Can you share an insight you've had from your data? I've been weight lighting for ten years and initially tried to track things (down to how many reps I did of which exercise, with how much weight) and quickly came to the conclusion that is want worth it for me.

I track the reps weights of every exercise (in my own app). But the historical values are only useful up to last couple of weeks just to now if the general trends go up and what is stalled. Unless your goals are the numbers themselves and not health, I don’t think there is a reason to track everything. But it is fun.

Re: I put my whole life into a single database

#88

Post by drstewart »

glemmaPaul wrote: post #44
lejalv wrote: post #38

A simple back of the envelope calculation shows that Felix causes between 70 and 110 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year just from flying. Paris accord says 1.5t per person per year, from all activities, Felix's flying alonre is ~10-15x current European yearly per person emissions and ~50-75x those compatible with +1.5C.

yeah America treats flying as like taking a bus, so I am not at all surprised

Exactly, you'd never see any airlines get popular in Europe on the back of fares costing less than a bus ticket

Unrelated link: https://xcancel.com/Ryanair/status/776292730179682304

Re: I put my whole life into a single database

#90

Post by cj »

afc wrote: post #69
cj wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Like anything else, I think it comes down to having a good use case. I've gotten deep into weightlifting/bodybuilding over the past couple of years, and that's the kind of hobby where micro-optimizations and data tracking can have a pretty big impact on results (and sort of necessary, you can't fly blind with things like diet, especially) E.g. I track and weigh everything I eat, take body measuraments on a weekly bas…

How long have you been tracking? Can you share an insight you've had from your data? I've been weight lighting for ten years and initially tried to track things (down to how many reps I did of which exercise, with how much weight) and quickly came to the conclusion that is want worth it for me.

The goal in bodybuilding during a gaining phase is to be in a very slight calories surplus (200-300 calories above maintenance, at most) to maximize the amount of time you're building muscle before you need to cut again (bring calories back to a deficit to shed body fat).

Tracking scale weight is difficult because shifts in water weight and hydration can swing the scale 5+ pounds in either direction without any change in body fat. So I pair scale weight with a 7-point skin caliper measurements taken on a weekly basis, along with waist circumference, in order to infer whether body fat is trending up or down. And also take weekly progress photos of 6 angles/poses with consistent lighting, which I share with a coach.

And then you pair that with weighing and logging everything you eat, and you can make small adjustments to your meal plan on a monthly basis to try to stay in that 200-300 calorie per day surplus for as long as possible. (Although most bodybuilding coaches adjust diet based purely on how your physique is changing in weekly check-in photos without the need for measurements, but I like extra data)

> down to how many reps I did of which exercise, with how much weight)

I also do this. Track every exercise, every weight, number of reps. It's necessary for knowing whether you're progressively overloading over long periods of time. Progressive overload becomes harder to measure once you're past newbie gains because you can't increase weight every week, so some weeks the goal is just to squeeze out an extra couple of reps. Which adds up over time

This is obviously excessive for 99% of people. But I enjoy doing it as a hobby. I would absolutely not recommend this level of tracking for health reasons (not necessary) - I find enjoyment in the process.

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