Best Exercise for the Electronically Addicted

Welcome, friends and neighbors, to the Information Age, an era perhaps best defined by its unparalleled number of distractions. When you add them up -- chat rooms, Web zines, e-trading, cable TV, lazy afternoons spent Palm Piloting in the park -- your consciousness can now reside almost entirely in an electronic world. Of course, the rest of you will still be here on Earth, and may start getting a little soft around the edges. Fortunately, Netpulse has a solution. Available at Crunch, the Bay Club, 24 Hour Fitness, and finer YMCAs citywide, to name a few locations, Netpulse exercise bikes offer e-mail, Internet access, cable TV, and frequent-flyer miles, all of which shut off the second you stop pedaling. Normally, wasting 10 hours watching football on Sunday isn't the best way to keep fit. If you spend the time on one of these beauties, though, your brain may still turn to mush, but at least the rest of you will look good.