sleeping

Does your iPad prevent you from sleeping?

We need to talk.

Some of you have obviously been a little restless lately. You've been leaving comments that betray your irritability. You've been lobbing misspelled accusations about my sexuality that might affect my ability to be nominated for the Supreme Court.

So I'd like you to consider whether this fractiousness might just be the fault of your new iPad. It seems that the revolution that's only just begun might one of the culprits behind something of a REMolution that appears to be preventing so many from enjoying a good night's sleep.

According to CNN, … Read more

Mac OS X 10.6.3 causing sleep issues?

Users have reported an issue with their Mac when entering sleep mode. After installing the Mac OS X 10.6.3 update and attempting to put their Mac to sleep, the system freezes, necessitating a hard shut down (holding the power button until the system shuts down).… Read more

Measure the depth, quality of your sleep at night

This just in from Japanese health monitor manufacturer Tanita, a sensor mat that monitors the quality of your sleep.

The device is called Sleep Scan, and the idea is simple enough. Place the mat beneath your mattress and it tracks your body motion, breathing, and heart rate throughout to provide a sleep score.

Sleep Scan stores data on a secure digital high capacity (SDHC) card, and Tanita suggests that the 2GB SD card can store about 500 sleep cycles of data, unless you're like me and turn over like meat on a stick every five minutes, in which case … Read more

Four awesome alarm clock apps

During a recent spring cleaning, my wife and I wondered aloud why either of us needed an alarm clock on our nightstands.

After all, my iPhone and her iPod Touch both have a perfectly good alarm feature. What's more, the App Store is home to hundreds of alarm-clock apps--many of which are pretty slick.

With that in mind, here are four "alarming" apps that aim to make your mornings a little nicer:

1. Alarm Clock Free Just the basics. Alarm Clock Free lets you choose from an assortment of alarm sounds, any of which can "fade … Read more

Print queue could cause your Mac to delay when going to sleep

When attempting to put your Mac to sleep, it may not respond right away. The issue also could occur if you have your Mac set up to sleep automatically after a given period of idle time. This could be related to a printer not being recognized or due to a print job being in progress.… Read more

One inflatable sleeping coat to rule them all

This one ups the ante on all other sleeping bags with the ability to inflate. That's right, you get to float your coat, and it even rhymes. The Inflatable Sleeping Coat by designer Lin Tsui-Wei is one hardworking, multipurpose piece of survival gear--it's a raincoat, sleeping coat, sleeping bag, and even mattress rolled into one--that would have even Bear Grylls of "Man vs. Wild" heartily approving.

Quite amazingly, this looks lightweight and comfy enough to don all day as it stops just short of the knees, compared with the bulky Selky. Lin appears to have resolved … Read more

Wake up refreshed and kill zombies with plants: iPhone apps of the week

Before we get to the apps today, I have a couple of news items to tell you about. First, there is a sale right now for the game I wrote about in last week's post, Space Miner: Space Ore Bust (was $4.99; now $1.99). I really can't recommend this game enough (I'm still playing whenever I get a chance), so if you were waiting for the price to come down, now is the time to pull the trigger.

Also, a new Apple patent application, reported by AppleInsider, suggests that a future handheld device will have … Read more

Got sleep apnea? Stimulate your tongue

If you're someone who's never had to deal with sleep apnea, as I am, it may come as a surprise to learn that the most effective--and frequently prescribed--device to treat the disorder, CPAP, is an enormous, unwieldy in-the-vein-of-a-bad-Halloween-costume mask that tends to find its way to such places as the closet, waste basket, or list of inventions to improve before you die.

So it is with great relief that I, even with my lack of sleep apnea, have been tipped off to a new technique currently being tested in Belgium that, if effective, could do wonders for those whose health can seriously suffer from sleep apnea.

ImThera, a privately funded start-up, has developed a tiny neurostimulator surgically implanted near the tongue that is programmed to essentially keep parts of the tongue awake enough to not block one's airway at rest.

Called Targeted Hypoglossal Neurostimulation (THN) Sleep Therapy, the technique consists of a small electrical device implanted under the skin near the lower jaw and along the Hypoglossal (12th cranial) nerve, then connected to a programmable implantable pulse generator (IPG) implanted near the surface of one's upper chest. … Read more

The Sleep Suit, for a portable siesta anywhere

We're seen all kinds of strange-looking sleep gear, from the Selky sleepbag you wear to bed to the Vertical Bed you can lug along. But a sleep suit that lets you swaddle yourself in a cocoon for a siesta anywhere? If you don't get mistakenly rolled out with the trash, or carted off to the Egyptian mummies gallery of the Antiquities museum, that's a start.

Dreamed up by architect/artist/scientist/graphics designer Forrest Jessee, the concept Sleep Suit comprises connected but adjustable soft foam rings that are compacted enough to feel like you're being cushioned … Read more