DC Rainmaker

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Hello Amazing Newsletter Peeps!

Ah, you guys are seriously the best. Thanks to everyone who sent notes on social media, email, blog post comments, and so on. Yes, P3 has arrived, and we are all doing great! As promised, I spent the last few weeks bundled up on a recliner chair soaking up all the newborn snuggles. I think somehow on the first two pregnancies/ post-partum experiences I felt like I had this false pressure to prove something with “go go go”. I remember after our first babe, I still catered a 150 person wedding less than a week after her birth… Ummmm No. This time, I just said no. So now, just over 5 weeks later I’m crawling out of my baby fog and sitting down to the laptop once again. If you missed this itty bitty bit of news, you can read Ray’s “Hello P3- Expansion of the DCR Team” post.

Don’t get me wrong, there was still an outstanding amount of “go go go” in the Maker house over the last few weeks. But it was on my terms what I did or didn’t do, and Ray was a champ with supporting that. Many a days he was on “wrangle the toddlers” solo-duty, so myself and P3 could just rest. BUT, at the same time, Ray has also travel for over-night work trips already, leaving me to "level up" in the parenting game. Scoring wins with two bedtime routines and breakfasts, solo, with an infant and two crazy toddlers, and you know what? We are doing great. We are not “just” surviving; life is good. Life is well caffeinated… but all the same, good!

So, with that, thanks again to all of you who have stuck around the newsletter subscription during this hiatus. As well for allowing me to indulge in telling you all about life here in the Maker house. I’ll get off the baby soap box now and get on with what’s been happening in the Sports Tech world. If you are still wanting more of the life and times of 3 daughters 3 years old and under, keep scrollin’ to the Girl’s section. I’m not sure what I’ll write about yet, so poke down there after and see what’s on my mind.

With all of that out of the way, what has Ray been up to for the last 5 weeks? No, I will not insult you guys by recounting every blog post since then. I'm going to make a bit of a highlight reel for you, starting with one tidbit you might not have caught yet.

           

DC Rainmaker Ugly Christmas Sweater… errrr t-shirt. Last year, I goofed around and surprised Ray with a funny Sports tech gear t-shirt for our whole family. AND we received a lot of “where can I get one” sort of responses. So, last minute we put the t-shirts on our YouTube “merchandise” store without much advertising. So this year I figured I should get organized, and actually let you know about it before… yeah, Christmas eve! If this is something you are interested in for yourself, family members, or a friend, click here to go directly to our Teespring store front. You can even find "Ugly Sports Tech Socks" on there too!

DCR Annual End of the Year Open House. Yes, that’s right, we are at it again! Time is flying by, and this I believe will be our 7th time hosting an open house for our readers, supporters, fans… however you like to describe yourself! You can find all of the details on the blog post, but in line with years past, we will host a morning group run and an evening full of fun, giveaways, FIT File podcast recording, Q&A, and of course beer and cupcakes! As well, sorry to over advertise here, but if you are coming to the open house and want one of those nifty Ugly Gadget T-Shirts, we will also be getting them printed locally and have some for guests if they want to pre-order now. Ray will be sending out an email to those registered this week with the details!

Drumming up much attention is the annual Smart Trainer Recommendations Guide: Winter 2019-2020 edition. I could hear a release of stress from Ray’s brain when that post finally hit the interwebs. It’s a yearly staple now, and a great user guide in you’re in the market for an upgrade. No matter what your price point, Ray has some commentary for you on your best bet.

As well, the always popular release of a GoPro product. If you’re wondering if an upgrade for the holidays is in your future, be sure to read both the GoPro Max Action Cam In-Depth Review. This 306* cam is pretty nifty, but definitely a very specific tool for the video world. It might be just what you are looking for, or it might cement your choice to grab the new  GoPro Hero 8 Black. Who knows, take a look for yourself before you start spending all your savings!

The much anticipated “Smart Bike Shootout” post is live. Ray takes the latest Wahoo, Tacx, and Wattbike smart bikes and puts them to a head to head (to head?) test and comparison. Check it out to see which bike is best for you… if any (oh, and there's a video that's going to be uploaded sometime tonight too on YouTube with even more details)! The indoor smart bike market has its pluses and minus for sure! So curl up on a comfy seat to read this one, it’s a classic Ray style- wee bit long post!

And finally, while there are still many a blog posts I didn’t touch on today, the last one I will lead you to is the big news that dropped on Friday. Google acquiring Fitbit splashed the headlines with a cool $2.1 Billion US Dollar price tag. WOW. The future will be interesting in the wearables department. And the little pessimist who sits on my shoulder somedays just rolls its eyes waving goodbye to more privacy. I’m happy for someone to prove me wrong on that one, but it is a little eerie for Google to have one more data grab point, no?

Okie Doke. Now that we are semi up to speed on the last 5 week’s of sports technology blogging news and reviews, let’s now move on to other places Ray goes on the internet.

The FIT File with DC Rainmaker and GPLAMA:

The FIT File podcast with Ray and Shane continues. These two dads of new babes are still successfully juggling nap times and recording podcasts to keep you entertained with the latest tech gossip. Pick your fancy of streaming platforms and have a listen for yourself via iTunes, Google Play, or Spotify. As always, don’t forget to hit those subscribe buttons for updates… and to make Ray and Shane feel warm and fuzzy inside.

YouTube

It seems there has been a GoPro take over on Ray’s YouTube channel. With the 5 latest videos geared towards raw footage comparisons and “Things to Know” videos, this is definitely the YouTube page to visit if you’re interested in a new action cam.

If you like seeing all these videos, but wished you’d seen them sooner, be sure to subscribe to Ray’s YouTube Channel for new video notifications. It goes a long way for supporting the channel!

·         GoPro Hero 8 Black Review: 18 Things to Know

·         GoPro Hero 8 Black: Massive Test Footage Comparison

·         GoPro Max Review: 17 Things to Know

image Google Acquires Fitbit: What it actually means to wearables and the industry
image Smart Bike Shootout: Wahoo KICKR Bike vs Tacx NEO Bike vs Wattbike Atom
image VirtuGO Announces It’s Shutting Down: Where’d things go wrong?
image Suunto 9 Series Gets New Sleep & Fitness Metrics from FirstBeat
image Strava App Sensor Pairing Is Now Dead: My Last Workout Taking Out The Trash

In-Depth Thoughts from The Girl

Alright! We made it all the way to the bottom of the newsletter! I won’t tell you how long I have been sitting here at my kitchen table working on this. It’s not that the newsletter is even that time consuming to write, but there are a million other things happening in between.

I think there have been three loads of laundry swaps, some occasional folding, dishwasher cycle, microwaving my coffee for the fourth time, emails blaring in, t-shirt quote back and forths, iMessaging Ray ridiculous memes, oh yeah… and there is a tiny hooman depending on me for food, clean bums, and being lulled into white noise machine naps!

Again, none of these things are difficult tasks, but they do take up time and mental organization. Because as most parents reading here knows, if those yahoos come home from daycare and there are neatly folded piles of clothes that haven’t yet been put away… they will soon need a re-folding. And if the dishes aren’t washed and put away, there might be major consequences later if a certain someone can’t have her purple plate or unicorn bowl or doughnut cup at the dinner table. Believe me folks, just make sure the ORANGE SPOON is available for use, or don’t bother coming to dinner at all! It doesn’t matter what food is provided on said spoon, as long as the spoon is orange, food will be consumed… though today it might need to be the pink spoon. Who knows what the weather with bring home today! This is what I am contending with folks.

Well, knowing that I need to be sharp and on top of my game come 5:30 this evening, I’m cutting this parental humor off here. One must preserve mental agility for receiving the youngin’s!

As always, thanks for reading and being a supporter of the DCR family. Until next week,

~The Girl

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