I’ve been subscribed to Globe’s BlackBerry Max service for the past few months, and I’m so happy I have it. I don’t need to bring my laptop on vacation, and I don’t have to hunt down a WiFi connection just to check my email or do a simple Google search. (And can I say the ability to access Google Maps has been a boon for this frequent traveler?) This is aside from my Twitter addiction, of course…

There’s been only one thing I hadn’t done: video streaming. My monthly subscription notice says I should be able to view videos from Youtube at no additional charge, but the videos don’t load.

Thanks to my friend Winston, I learned that all I need to do is tweak a setting on my BlackBerry.

1. Go to Options > Device > Advanced System Settings > TCP IP. This sets the options for internet connections.
2. Make sure the check box for “APN Settings Enabled” is selected.
3. In the APN field, type “internet.globe.com.ph” (without the quotes, of course).
4. Press the Escape button (the curved arrow). When the phone asks you whether to Save, Discard, or Cancel changes made, select “Save”.

Voila! Now you can watch streaming videos. The phone will notify you that you might incur additional data charges when you try to watch a Youtube video, but the notification is automated and you can safely ignore it. Streaming video charges are covered under Globe BlackBerry Max’s all-in unlimited data service. And at P599/30 days, it’s the most affordable unlimited data plan for BlackBerry in the country.

By the way, to make my first experience using streaming video via BBMax truly unforgettable, the first video I watched was Chris Hemsworth on Australia’s Dancing With the Stars.

Noelle De Guzman is a Globe Mobile Data Services Brand Ambassador.

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The great thing about staycationing during Holy Week is catching up on TV shows through the series marathons channels show. While everyone else is out of town and maybe outdoors splashing about in pools and oceans, I’m at home indoors watching So You Think You Can Dance reruns.

Being a BodyJam instructor, I have to educate myself about dance styles. The great thing about SYTYCD and what differentiates it from other dance shows, like America’s Best Dance Crew (Filipinos represent!) or Dancing With the Stars (*shudder*), is the variety of dance styles showcased and the technical excellence with which they’re performed. Over the past few hours sitting here watching SYTYCD I’ve seen ballroom, latin, hip hop, jazz, contemporary, Broadway, even Bollywood.

One of my delusions is that I can approximate the dance styles we use in BodyJam. I’m not a trained dancer, but I think can fake my way through the latin, jazz, and hiphop routines we use in class and I do pick up Jam choreography relatively quickly.

Compared to these dance giants, I am a mite.

I’m really happy that I still do get to dance for a living even though my dancing isn’t on that level. I also love that I can share my love for dance with my class participants. I try to take them with me to that rapturous place where only the passion for dance can take a person.

We’re launching BodyJam 60: Mambos and Moombahton at 360 Fitness Makati next Friday and I’m super excited to dance like this:

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I thought that when I transitioned from working in an office to being more on the go as a fitness professional, I was leaving behind the health risks associated with a sedentary lifestyle.

Apparently, the amount of time I spend sitting, whether it’s in front of a computer screen, at a table doing arts and crafts, or commuting in heavy traffic, also exposes me to a risk of a shorter life. According to an Australian study, people who reported sitting for at least 11 hours a day were 40 percent more likely to die during the study than those who sat less than four hours daily.

For the new study, van der Ploeg and her colleagues surveyed about 220,000 people from New South Wales, Australia between 2006 and 2008. The surveys included questions about participants’ general health and any medical conditions they had, whether they smoked and how much time they spent both exercising and sitting each day.

Then the research team tracked responders using Australian mortality records for an average of almost three years, during which 5,400 — between two and three percent –died.

They found that the extra risk tied to sitting held up regardless of whether people were normal weight or overweight, how much time they spent working out and whether they were healthy or had pre-existing medical conditions, van der Ploeg’s team reported this week in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

She said too much sitting may affect blood vessels and metabolism by increasing fats in the blood and lowering “good” cholesterol levels.

“When you are standing or walking your leg muscles are constantly working, which helps to clear blood glucose and blood fats from the blood stream,” she said. “If you are sitting this is not happening because the muscles are not active.”

So, time to peel yourself away from your laptop, or your iPhone playing Draw Something. It’s summer; get up and do something!

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