Jason's Log

Updated ABSI Calculator

Based on user feedback, I've now updated the ABSI online calculator. This version will now display the smoothed average value for your age and gender, as well as the standard deviation. According to the original article, an ABSI value that was greater than one unit of standard deviation above the average indcated a significantly increased mortality rate.

A Body Shape Index (ABSI) online calculator

A paper published recently in PLoS One - "A New Body Shape Index Predicts Mortality Hazard Independently of Body Mass Index" - describes a new approach for assessing mortality rates based on a few, simple body measurements. It expands and improves upon the BMI - Body Mass Index - which has been used for years as the basis for a clinical definition of obesity.

The paper describes the new formula, but does not provide an online calculator for the new measure - ABSI - A Body Shape Index. So I decided to implement a simple online ABSI calculator, which you can access here:

http://absi-calc.appspot.com/

The best way to evaluate your ABSI value to the general population is to view the larger version of Figure 1a from the article. The chart in the top-left corner shows the mean ABSI values by age and gender. Using that chart, you can compare yourself to the US average values.

My score - 0.071 - which puts me comfortably below the mean for men in their early 40s <whew>

 

 

DIY Low Cost NNTP WiFi Digital Wall Clock

Living out on the west coast in a home with all kinds of RF interference, I've had problems getting 'atomic clock' time signals to reliably keep my wall clock properly synchronized. I searched the net for WiFi enabled digital wall clocks that could be configured to use a reliable NTTP server for synchronization, and quickly learned that most such devices were prohibitely expensive. The same can be said for GPS-enabled clocks.

I then glanced down at my desk, where my old Motorola Droid (without mobile service, rooted and upgraded to Android 2.3 via Cyanogenmod) had been sitting for months. It has WiFi of course, so I decided to go looking for a few essential ingredients: An NNTP synchonization application, and an easily readable digital clock app. I found both, and managed to mount the droid near an AC power source:

I've got a carpenter/handyman coming out to make the mounting look nice, but here is the list of ingredients:

• Rooted Motorola Droid without mobile service
• Digital Clock by Notes
• Clock Sync by Sergey Baranov
• Ultimate Rotation Control by FaMe IT (with license)

The configuration:

I installed all of the above applications. I configured Clock Sync to use the default 'pool.nntp.org' server name. I configured Digital Clock to always keep the screen on (prevent screen timeouts), and selected a nice pale orange text color. I configured Ultimate Rotation Control to lock the screen into the orientation I wanted.

I then enabled WiFi on the device, made sure it connected to my home WiFi network, and attached it to the ceiling. This could easily be adapted to work on a desktop or wall.

So I now have a WiFi enabled, NTTP synchronized digital wall clock. Total cost (not including original Droid purchase): $2.99