Exercising With Friends in a Webcam Fitness Class

[ See post to watch video ]

Saturday morning, I joined three friends for a Circuit Training workout class. The odd part was that none of them left their homes and we live thousands of miles away from one another-in Washington, D.C., Massachusetts, North Carolina and Louisiana. Our trainer was in California.

[ See post to watch video ]

For the past week, I’ve been working out using Wello, a website that lets people turn on their computer webcams to take one-on-one, trainer-led exercise classes. Tuesday, Wello launched Group Workouts, which involve up to five participants plus a trainer. They cost as little as $10 an hour versus solo sessions that start at $35 for an hour. This week, all users get their first group class free. I tested three hour-long group classes ($15 each), as well as a 30-minute solo class ($29) to get a handle on how the site works.

The thought of seeing friends during workouts and not having to leave home motivated me to use Wello. I could imagine using it as a way to stay in touch with people who live far away, sort of like an activity-based Skype. And unlike using a stale workout DVD, Wello’s live trainers watched each move I made and offered feedback. A pregnant friend in my class even got specific modifications for her condition. (Before using Wello, users are encouraged to fill out a health form. This lets people notify trainers of injuries or specific conditions like pregnancy.)

The default view for a Wello class puts the trainer in the largest screen and class participants in smaller ones.

A page for a class combining kickboxing and high-intensity interval training.

But the Wello class is only as good as the technology it uses, and two of my classes experienced technical difficulties. In one class, the trainer froze half a dozen times, wasting about 10 minutes refreshing his set-up. (A Wello co-founder, Leslie Silverglide, explained that this trainer’s computer met only the minimum level processor accepted by Wello.) During the same workout, a friend could hear us but couldn’t see us for about 15 minutes. (It turned out she had two browser windows opened, with one showing us while the other hid us.) Another friend who was using the Internet Explorer browser could only be seen. (Wello asks users to read instructions beforehand, including a recommendation to use the Google Chrome browser.)

Despite some glitches, Wello is a solid product that I’ll certainly use again. I liked taking classes without signing up for an expensive yearlong gym membership. And it was easy to sort through the trainers on the site to find one who fit my needs.

Of the over 1,000 trainers who have applied to work for Wello, about 200 have been vetted and trained to work in the system as video trainers. Wello looks at experience, specialties, certifications, education, references and other qualifications, and then sorts trainers into three tiers by overall experience, certifications and experience on Wello.

All of the trainers I used fell into the “Tier 2″ category. Three were categorized as “fun and friendly” trainers, two fell into the “focused on form” category and one was labeled as an “all business” trainer. A “Celebrity Trainer” category is also available; this means trainers are well-known fitness experts and have experience training celebrities.

You can sort classes by skill level (beginner, intermediate or advanced) and by trainer specialty (like brides-to-be, postnatal, exercise novices or elite athletes). You can also enter a goal to search for a class, such as “get stronger, lose weight or get Zen.”

Wello’s Ms. Silverglide says the company doesn’t mind if two or more people share a webcam for a class as long as they notify the trainer ahead of time. But this isn’t encouraged as it’s harder for the trainer to see two people at once and to give feedback. I tested this by dragging my husband into a Core Conditioning class. It worked, though we were a little squeezed in some exercises and our trainer couldn’t always see us clearly when she tried to check our form.

Like an aerobics class at the gym, Wello’s Group Workouts could be filled with strangers, as was the case for two of my classes, though I didn’t mind. If only two people sign up for a group class, the class will be canceled 12 hours beforehand. Twenty-four hours before the class, Wello will send an email, encouraging you to invite friends; it will put the class on its home page and will send out targeted emails to Wello users to get others to sign up. Wello offers discounted one-on-one workouts to make up for cancellations. Users can always buy pre-paid bundles that cost less than pay-as-you-go workouts.

To check if your system will work with Wello, the site offers a quick diagnostic test to check your computer’s processor and Internet connection; on some of my computers I had to download a small plugin file before getting started.

After users sign into the Wello website, a handy dashboard displays their upcoming and past workouts. If users opt to “follow” favorite trainers, they’ll see a stream of activity from those trainers on the right-hand side of this dashboard screen.

Wello’s screen layout was a bit squeezed on my 13-inch laptop, but looked better on two larger iMac screens. The default layout puts the trainer in the largest viewing screen, making you and other class participants smaller. I wished I could see the trainer in full-screen view; Wello’s Ms. Silverglide said this option is something that may be incorporated in the next month. The company also is working on an iPad app.

In one of my group classes, called Morning Meditation Flow, the trainer played music, which set the tone and gave the class an added ambiance. Wello has been experimenting with music and hopes to integrate it into the video platform; for now, trainers can play music on their phones.

When classes went smoothly, the setup worked well. When they didn’t, my classmates and I wanted a way to use text chatting to talk to the trainer-or the ability to raise a virtual hand.

For people who hesitate to exercise, Wello wipes out their excuses by helping them work out with friends and trainers who they like. Just be sure you have ibuprofen on hand for aching muscles; these classes are addicting.

Write to Katherine Boehret at katie.boehret@wsj.com

QOTD: A Paint Job Instead of an Overhaul From Yahoo

Mayer's much-hyped relaunch of the home page seems a lot like adding a new coat of paint and some racing stripes to your old Chevy. It may make you feel better, but it's not going to go any faster.

– Mathew Ingram, GigaOM

Budget cuts will cause air travel 'calamity', Ray LaHood warns

Obama administration issues strongest warning yet over looming cuts as transport secretary urges Congress to find solution

The Obama administration has issued its strongest warning so far that that the looming sequestration budget cuts will cause "calamity" for air travellers.

Transportation secretary Ray LaHood, a former Republican congressman, became the latest senior voice to express concern about the $85bn sequestration cuts that are due to start March 1. He made a surprise appearance at Friday's White House press briefing and called for both parties to work together to head off the cuts.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) faces $600m in cuts that will lead to the closure of close dozens of control towers and the elimination of overnight shifts at others, he said.

LaHood said the vast majority of the FAA's nearly 47,000 employees would be furloughed for at least one day per pay period until the end of the fiscal year.

"This is very painful for us, because it involves our employees. But it's going to be very painful for the flying public," LaHood told reporters. "This is going to have an enormous impact." He predicted delays of up to 90 minutes following the cuts.

LaHood warned Washington that politicians phones would be "ringing off the hook" once angry constituents start experiencing the chaos he expects to ensue. "Why does this have to happen?" he said.

The cuts to the FAA would be a "meat-axe" that will a very serious impact on the transportation services, LaHood said. "We believe that it's not possible to do the same schedules with less people," said LaHood.

The transport secretary said he has been talking to Republicans colleagues about the sequester impact in order to prepare them for a barrage of complaints. "I'm telling them to come to the table and start talking to Democrats about how we solve this," he said.

"I suggest my colleagues on the Republican side go see Lincoln," LaHood said, noting that in the Spielberg film, people on both sides talked to each other.

President Barack Obama has spent the week warning about the dangers of the sequester. "This is not an abstraction. People will lose their jobs," he said in a speech Tuesday.

On Thursday he called Republican House speaker John Boehner senator Mitch McConnell, but the two sides appear to be at loggerheads with only days to go before the cuts come into effect.

The cuts to defense and social programmes are set to hit almost every part of the US government from national parks to the military. They were put in place after 2011's row over raising the budget ceiling in an attempt to force lawmakers to find a less onerous ways to reduce deficits and stabilize the national debt. Both sides failed to find an alternative, however, leaving the cuts to kick in this year.

David Einhorn wins battle to make Apple change shareholder vote options

Judge approves injunction barring tech giant from putting four votes on one ballot but 'iPref' share fight goes on

David Einhorn has one legal win under his belt in his battle with technology giant Apple.

Einhorn, the CEO of hedge fund Greenlight Capital, has been battling Apple on two fronts. The first has been to get the company to return some of its $137bn cash hoard to shareholders. Blocking his path was Apple's attempt to force Einhorn to take the pressure off the company's management and lobby its thousands of shareholders instead. That created Einhorn's second pursuit: to get Apple to change the way it presents voting options to shareholders, before its shareholder meeting on 27 February.

It is this second pursuit that has been successful. On Friday, Judge Richard Sullivan granted Einhorn a victory in federal court against Apple. The judge approved an injunction that bars the company from bundling together four different votes for shareholders on a single ballot, known as Proposal 2.

"It is plain to the Court that Proposal No2 impermissibly bundles 'separate matters' for shareholder consideration," Judge Sullivan said in his decision.

Einhorn was racing to get the voting slate changed before the shareholder vote next week. The decision on Proposal 2 lays a path for Einhorn to keep battering Apple's management on his insistence that the company return cash to its investors.

"This is a significant win for all Apple shareholders and for good corporate governance," read a statement from Greenlight Capital.

Einhorn started his campaign to get Apple to create a new class of shares - known as permanent preferred shares, which pay a quarterly dividend for life - several months ago. He has said that the move will boost Apple's stock price by increasing shareholder faith in the company. Earlier this week, Einhorn unveiled a more detailed proposal for Apple to create a new class of stock, known as permanent preferred shares, that would be worth $50 each and pay a $2 dividend every year. Einhorn called the shares "iPrefs", in a nod to Apple products like the iPod and the iPhone.

Apple, which has not wanted to let go of its hard-won cash pile, attempted to thwart Einhorn. The company decided to ask its investors to vote on whether it should change its corporate charter so that any issuance of "preferred" shares would require the approval of shareholders and not just management. Those votes are taken and tallied at the shareholder meeting.

Apple put that proposal on the same ballot as four unrelated issues, so that shareholders could not vote for each one separately. Einhorn successfully claimed that the move violated the Securities and Exchange Commission rules on shareholder votes.

While Einhorn sounded optimistic this week that Apple would carefully consider his proposal, Apple has strongly resisted his overtures. Apple CEO Tim Cook earlier derided the lawsuit as a "silly sideshow" and suggested that Einhorn and others disputing the subject should donate their money to charity instead.

The Greenlight Capital statement read: "We look forward to Apple's evaluation of our iPref idea and we encourage fellow shareholders to urge Apple to unlock the significant value residing on its balance sheet."

You Can Be a Real Superhero With This Crazy Spider-Sense Robot Suit

Who doesn't want real-life superpowers? Unfortunately, getting yourself bitten by some kind of radioactive spider isn't really the best way to go about it. But thankfully, tech is here to resurrect your childhood hopes and dreams. University of Illinois' Victor Mateevitsi, for instance, has managed to bring "spider-sense" to the real world with a haptic bodysuit.

The concept is simple. The suit is outfitted with a number of microphones to detect danger (or anything really) around you by picking up on ultrasonic frequencies, like a form of radar. It then relays this information to you with a series of robotic arms that push at your skin from the same direction the noise is coming from. The result is a suit than can both warn you of assassins sneaking up from behind and tripping hazards that just happen to be in your way as you stumble through the dark.

Mateevitsi tested the suit by outfitting some volunteers, blindfolding them, and then asking them to throw cardboard ninja stars at perceived threats, presumably while other volunteers menaced at them in the shadows. The suit worked to point out the "danger" a stellar 95 percent of the time. Ideally, the tech could be used as a navigation system for the blind, or outfitted for other stimuli like radiation. Or, of course, as augmentation for some kind of ninja vigilante. It's due to be presented at the Augmented Human conference in Stuttgart, Germany, in March. And from there, straight on to the super heroes. Hopefully. [New Scientist, Victor Mateevitsi via Engadget]

How to Lock Down Your Facebook Privacy Before Graph Search Strikes

David Nield

Graph Search is Facebook's bold new way of browsing the social network, letting you call up photos of your family in California, restaurants your friends like in New York, or any public updates from Gizmodo employees who also like hot air ballooning. It's currently only available to a limited number of users, but it's coming to your timeline soon. And in the wrong hands, it can be the ultimate stalker search engine.

Graph Search is useful, but it's also a little bit terrifying if you don't know how to protect yourself. Here are the settings you need to adjust today to keep the Facebook creepers away tomorrow.

It's important first to take a few moments to work out how you want to use Facebook. Your friends might want to utilize Graph Search to know which bars you recommend, or which brands you like, or what happened when you visited Venice — is this information you're happy to share, or not? That's going to affect how much of the below you can take or leave. But given the pervasiveness of Graph Search, we suggest you take.

1. Protecting your future posts

Any update or publish box you see on Facebook, whether you're using a mobile app or the desktop site, will have an audience selector drop-down menu with it. This menu controls who can see what you're about to post — options include "Public" (anyone can see it), "Friends" (only confirmed friends can see it) and "Only Me" (no one but you can see it, useful for those times you're feeling confessional). These settings apply across the board, whether someone is casually browsing your Timeline or using the full-fat high-powered Graph Search to run queries.

The audience selector lets you specify who can and can't see your content

Thankfully, the audience selector remembers your most recent setting, so if you can come up with a configuration you're happy with for any and everything, you can leave it in place for the future.

For more granular control, select the "Custom" option. This allows you to specify certain friends or lists of friends who can see your updates. It also lets you specify certain friends or lists of friends who can't. To sort your contacts into lists, follow the "Friends" link from your own Timeline. Rather than categorizing all of the hundreds of people who appear here, consider creating two lists: one for those who don't mind sharing everything with, and one for those who you'd rather didn't see anything.

Facebook in fact already has two lists already set up for exactly this purpose purpose: "Close Friends," who will show up more often in your news feed, and "Restricted." Anyone in your restricted list (such as your boss or your moralizing grandmother) will be unable to see your Facebook updates unless you specify them as "Public" from the audience selector. It's a useful shortcut for dealing with all the Facebook friends you're not really friends with.

A quick note on tagging. When you tag any of your friends in a photo, check-in, update or any other activity, they can then see that content irrespective of the audience selector setting. By default, their friends can see it too, which is why people you don't know may sometimes comment on your status or one of your pictures. You can disable this behavior using the "Custom" option from the audience selector. It can also be disabled on your friend's end, but the feature is switched on by default, so be aware.

2. Protecting your current posts

The audience selector drop-down appears next to everything you've put on your Timeline too; the books you like, the places you've worked, even your list of friends. Head to your Timeline and click "Update info" to find all of the options. If you don't want to show up in some weirdo's Graph Search for your hometown, for example, limit the audience for that particular piece of information. You can also control who can see the Pages you've liked (from restaurants to clothing stores). Use the "Activity log" button on your Timeline to review all of your Likes, and remove anything you're not happy with.

Use the Update info box to change the visibility of information on your Timeline

Facebook includes a built-in tool for limiting the visibility of previous posts set as "Public" or "Friends of friends." Click the cog icon on the toolbar (at the top of every Facebook screen), then choose "Privacy Settings." On the next screen select "Limit Past Posts." Read the confirmation message and select "Limit Old Posts" to restrict everything you've ever posted to friends only.

If you'd rather use a scalpel than a sledgehammer, you can adjust the audience settings of any specific past post by scrolling back through your Timeline and tweaking them one by one.

3. Protecting yourself from your friends

Of course, your own updates are only half the story on Facebook. There's all the stuff your friends are posting on your Timeline and tagging you in, from embarrassing events to incriminating photos. All these updates and pictures belong to your friends, which means they control the audience—and who can find them on Graph Search. Still, you're not totally powerless. You can prevent these posts from appearing on your own Timeline, and restrict the ways in which you can be tagged. This in turn limits your exposure on Graph Search.

Open your "Account Settings" page from the cog icon drop-down menu at the top of any Facebook page, then choose "Timeline and Tagging." From here you can set up a "review posts" feature that lets you approve or block any attempts to tag you. You can also specify who is able to see posts you're tagged in, and posts on your own Timeline. Adjust these privacy settings now, and they'll be waiting for you once Graph Search goes Facebook-wide.

Shortcuts to some of the features we've talked about can be found by clicking on the padlock icon on the Facebook toolbar (at the top of every page). You'll find a master audience selector setting under the "Who can see my stuff?" heading, for example.

Use the shortcuts menu to make quick changes

It's likely that your Facebook friends fall into two camps — those who you're happy to share most of your life with, and those who you're friends with out of necessity or obligation. A few tweaks to your privacy settings can make Graph Search very useful to the former group, while limiting the amount of spying the latter group or Facebook users in general can carry out.

If you have any more Facebook privacy rules or tips to share, let us know below!

European Decision on Google Antitrust Pushed to the End of Summer (Or Later)

Thought that whole Google antitrust brouhaha was over? It’s really not. The EU is now saying in the vaguest of terms that August or later is “a possible deadline.”

“We can reach an agreement after the summer break. We can envisage this as a possible deadline,” European Commission head of competition Joaquin Almunia said today at a conference, according to Reuters.

Marilyn Volan/Shutterstock

The slow turnaround comes as a bit of a surprise after Almunia had put pressure on Google to submit its proposed remedies to concerns about anticompetitive actions in search and advertising by the end of January — which the company did.

But it’s really not that shocking after repeated lags in the European antitrust investigation of the company, which started way back in 2010.

Critics of tech industry regulation charge that the pace of government moves much slower than that of innovation. The Google case is now becoming a textbook example — especially as search transitions to mobile, which was a consideration but not the focus of the antitrust investigation.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission already settled with and declined to bring charges against Google, under the leadership of Chairman Jon Leibowitz, who is stepping down.

As we’ve reported, it’s likely that in Europe Google will agree to better labeling of its own properties in search results, as a concession to the claims of competing vertical search engines. That would make it a stricter deal than in the U.S., but it wouldn’t radically alter how Google does its business.