An Open Letter to Deborah Roberts of ABC News

An Open Letter to Deborah Roberts of ABC News
June 17, 2011


Dear Deborah,

Thanks for your video report shown on ABC World News last night regarding the health risks of sitting all day long:

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/everyday-health-hazards-13862146

This may be a cliché already, but I'll say it anyway. Believe it or not, there's an app for that.

In early May, I released Sgt Fitness, an exercise reminder app, exclusively for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. It's a workout coach for the Twitter generation, if you will, an app that displays reminder notices several times a day for you to do some sort of exercise. The sergeant will drill you with pushups, sit-ups, squats, stretching, balance, laps and stairs.

It's a great app for people who have those office jobs where they are typically sitting all day long. Sgt Fitness turns your iPhone into the dose of self-discipline you need to get up and move a little during the day.

You can find Sgt Fitness and more information about it:
- in the app store http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sgt-fitness/id427780309?mt=8
- on my web site http://www.dlrsoftware.com/SgtFitness
- in my blog entries from May and June, 2011 http://dlrdave.blogspot.com

I encourage you to check it out. It just might be a part of the solution to the problem of "people stuck at their desk" jobs.


Sincerely,

David Cole
Creator of Sgt Fitness

Who Uses Sgt Fitness?

So who uses Sgt Fitness anyway?

Well, it's a useful app. A remarkably simple exercise reminder app for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. Really, anybody who is interested in getting or staying fit could use it.

But I imagine there is a certain sort of person who will be the ideal candidate for being an avid, every day, do or die Sgt Fitness drillee. (A "drillee" (you) does the drills that the driller (the sergeant) tells him to...)

This certain sort of person has the following characteristics:

• busy, possibly over-scheduled
• lacks discipline to exercise regularly without being badgered
• works in a sedentary job, frequently sitting for hours and hours and hours on end
• wants to be physically fit, but can't find the time
• can't / won't pay for a gym membership
• already has an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch that is with them all day at work anyway

Perhaps you recognize one or more of these traits in yourself. If all of them apply to you, then you are the perfect candidate for using Sgt Fitness. You've got nothing to lose by giving it a try. Except maybe a little flab.

I'm sure this entire list of characteristics, each and every one of them, applies to millions around the globe... Now, I've just got to let them know the Sgt is here now, ready to drill them. Help me get the word out, and point some of them to my blog today.

Stay fit, my friends.

iPad Only, Bring It!

I'm ready for the future. I'm ready for the day when an iPad will be my only computer. The only thing that I cannot do on the iPad *today* that I still need to do on a "real computer" is... write programs for the iPad. And for the other pesky computers that remain on my desks at work and at home. Unfortunately, that writing sort of pays for the rest of my life right now, so I'll have to keep at it for a bit.

This is absolutely amazing to me. I know I predicted when they first announced the iPad a year and a half ago that it would be a death knell for the personal computer as we've known it. But I didn't really think it could actually happen quite so fast. Now that I've been using an iPad for about two months since getting one at work, I'm quite convinced: it is definitely the way of the future.

There is no reason whatsoever that regular people should buy anything but iPads or their progeny from now on. There's no turning back. It's a brave new world: I'm embracing it; you should too.

Give It Away Now

I think I'm going to adopt "Give It Away" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers as the official theme song for Sgt Fitness.

"Give it away, give it away, give it away now..."

One of the things that inspired me to give away a significant fraction of the revenue from Sgt Fitness was a twitter campaign for, believe it or not, a museum of computing history in the UK. They were trying to raise £1.5 million to build the museum, and their tactic was to appeal to the "twitter-verse" to see if they could get 1.5 million people from all over the world to donate £1 each. Their logic went something like: if certain unnamed (in)famous Hollywood personalities can garner twitter followings of a million or more fans in days with their drivel, then a worthy cause should surely be able to raise some money. A little viral fundraising action.

"I realize I don't want to be a miser"

The thought then occurred to me as I was putting the finishing touches on the first release of Sgt Fitness. What if I donate a dollar, or a little more, for each copy of Sgt Fitness I sell on the app store? And then, what if I spread the news far and wide that it's my goal to sell a million copies of the app, thereby donating a million dollars or more to charity? I know, let's make it even more interesting: let's let the folks who actually buy a copy vote on what charities to donate the money to, and put a deadline of the end of the year on it. Could we do it? Is this idea good enough to take off? Will the Sgt go viral?

"Come on everybody, time to deliver
...
Give it away, give it away, give it away now..."

So How Is This Sgt Fitness Charity Thing Gonna Work Anyway?

I haven't gotten much direct reaction yet (in front of my eyes) to my "Help me give one million dollars to charity!" tag line. I'm curious to know what people think: do they think I have a million dollars in the bank already, ready to give away now? (Hint: I don't...) Or that I'm delusional to think I could sell so many copies in such a short amount of time?

My wife's told a few people over the last month, handing out some of my Sgt Fitness promo cards, and she tells me some have asked "How are you going to give away a million dollars?"

The answer is really simple, actually. It's just a matter of a little discipline, some arithmetic, mixed in with a little publicity, a bit of luck and some dogged persistence.

Here's my pledge at its most basic: I will donate $1.25 to charity for each copy of Sgt Fitness that sells on the app store from now until the end of 2011.

To get from that pledge to $1M to charity is simply a matter of selling 800,000 copies of Sgt Fitness on the app store. Ambitious, perhaps, but certainly within the realm of the possible...

Now, Sgt Fitness only costs $4.99+tax for each person who buys a copy. A one time cost. There are literally now millions of iPhone users out there, each paying something like $30 a month each and every month just for their data plan. I really don't think it's a stretch to say that a very small fraction of them would: (a) be financially able to purchase a copy of Sgt Fitness, (b) actually find it useful in helping to stay fit, and (c) have that warm, fuzzy feeling of knowing they're helping to fund a worthy cause or three.

Everybody who buys a copy also gets a say in how the money will be donated. I have set up a voting capability on my web site so that people who visit the voting booth from inside the app may cast a vote (once per day, per device) for their favorite charity. I'll tally up the votes at the end of the year, and use those votes to decide how to divvy up the million dollars (or however much we're up to at that point...)

Obviously, I'm going to have to exercise some discretion and judgment with respect to tallying and evaluating the votes. For one thing, the charities will have to be real, recognized charitable organizations, and not just "Joe the Plumber's Belt Fund." For another, depending on the numbers, I'll probably end up splitting the vast majority of the money proportionally among the top three vote getters, with "substantial" donations going to the runners up. Perhaps even up to 10 to 20 or more organizations, if there are that many organizations receiving votes.

So: regardless of how many copies I actually sell this year, whatever funds are available based on $1.25 per copy, will be donated to charities in December 2011. I, for one, am hoping to meet and even exceed the million dollar goal.

Hope with me, won't you?

Stay fit and be generous!

(And spread the word to help me reach this goal!)

First Four Weeks, Made Public

A slow start? Maybe. Single digit weeks? Yup. I'm not sure I'll do this every month, but here's a recap of my first month selling Sgt Fitness on the app store.

Weekly sales numbers for the first four weeks: 5, 2, 1, 3
Monthly sales, May 2011: 11
Funds earmarked for charitable donation: $13.75
Votes for favorite charity: 2
Top voted charities: Hannah's Hope (1) and 3 Day for the Cure (1)

I am still confident that the future is bright for Sgt Fitness. Once this catches on, it's gonna take off. You'll have to wear shades. Stay tuned.

Sgt Fitness Promo Cards

I've printed up a few promotional cards for Sgt Fitness. I'll be handing them out to people sporting iPhones, iPads and iPod Touches wherever I go for the foreseeable future.

Let me know if you'd like a pile of 10 or 20 of them so you can hand some out, too. :-)

Stay fit, even while keeping your deskbound day job; get the Sgt Fitness iPhone app today.

Sketching is Good For You

Back to sketching again. On our recent vacation. Staying at Azul Sensatori south of Cancun, Mexico.

Here's how our Nikon Coolpix saw it:

And here's how Scratching-with-Pencil Dave saw it:

Be creative! It feels good!

From 0 to 1,000,000 in 8 months

Possible? Or am I crazy?

Could we possibly go from 0 to 1,000,000 users in a mere eight months?

So far, only a handful of people have purchased and downloaded Sgt Fitness since its release 2 weeks ago. Thank you. You know who you are. ("Thanks, Mom, Rob, my sisters and my cousins.")

But it will ramp up. I am trying to figure out strategies to get the word out. Writing and publishing the app was a piece of cake... now comes the hard work of continuously promoting it. I'd like to see everybody who buys Sgt Fitness "talk it up" and convince one other person each month moving forward to check it out. And by check it out, I mean, buy a copy, use it, and then convince one other person each month to check it out.

If we can somehow get that sort of a user base as the first 4,000 Sgt Fitness devotees, and we can get to that 4,000 level quickly, watch what happens:

Starting with 4,000 people, each convincing one other person to check it out each month, after 1 month, we'll have 8,000 people.

Then after 2 months: 16,000 people

After 3: 32,000

4: 64,000

5: 128,000

6: 256,000

7: 512,000

8: 1,024,000

Perfect. Eight months from 4,000 to over a million people once we get that rhythm established.

Now: how to establish such a rhythm?

Will you be one of my first 4,000 that helps launch us to the "million dollars to charity" level? I hope so.

If you are one of my early adopters: thank you. Help spread the word by leaving Sgt Fitness on all the time, and actually using it. When people see you doing pushups in the office, they're bound to ask "What's up?" When they do, tell them it's all Sgt Fitness's fault and they should do it, too.

Leave the sound turned on for your iPhone. With the sound on, people will hear your phone saying "Drop and give me 20!" and ask "What's up?" When they do, tell them...

Of course, to go from my first 16 users, to 4,000 may take just as long. It may take sixteen months rather than eight to hit the goal. I might not achieve the million dollar goal until 2012 at that rate... :-)

Starting with 16, which we will definitely have by the end of May, 2011, we can get to 4,000+ after 8 months by doubling each month:

1: 32

2: 64

3: 128

4: 256

5: 512

6: 1,000

7: 2,000

8: 4,000

Which, if it actually pans out that way, would put us at 4,000 users by end of January, 2012.

Or... we could get somebody famous to be our spokesperson, and accelerate the whole thing, by speaking to millions of people at once. Got any famous friends who'd be willing to have lunch with me?

 

Sgt Fitness: now available in the App Store

Help me give $1,000,000 to charity!

My latest creation for the iPhone, Sgt Fitness, the workout coach for the Twitter generation, is now available in the App Store.

It's an exercise reminder app that drills you daily with short workout sessions that you can do anywhere, anytime. Each one only takes a minute or two, but over the course of the day, these drills add up to way more activity than you normally get just sitting in front of your computer.

If you've been making excuses like "I don't have time for a workout" or "I can't afford a gym membership" or "there's no shower at work" or ... then Sgt Fitness is for you. Everybody's got time for a minute or two here and there, the app costs way less than a gym membership, and working out in micro-bursts of activity won't get you too sweaty for your officemates.

Sgt Fitness converts your iPhone into a pocket-sized dose of self-discipline to help you get and stay fit.

Watch out, though. Sgt Fitness has a voice! If the sound is on, sarge'll let you know it's time for a drill with a verbal "Drop and give me 20!" Or, if you're like me, and you hate it when your phone makes sounds in the middle of a conversation with somebody, you'll get the old "vvvmmmppp" vibration alert. Either way, it's time for some activity, private.

Got ADD? No worries: the sergeant tells you exactly what to do and when to do it. You don't even have to think about it. And by the time you get distracted while doing the drill, it's over anyway. On to the next shiny thing, and before you know it, another couple of hours and a few hundred web pages have gone by, and it's time for the next drill.

"David, this is fantastic!" you say. "I've been thinking I should get more fit, and Sgt Fitness will help me there. I get it. But how will this help you give a million dollars to charity?"

I'm glad you asked. But I'm not going to answer that question until the next blog post. For now, suffice it to say that I am seeking the first 4,000 users of Sgt Fitness, and that I hope to recruit them within a month. Friends and family, I implore you: help me sell Sgt Fitness to the whole wide world -- blog, tweet, linked-in and facebook it up for me.

Sgt Fitness is available exclusively for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch devices. Buy a copy today, and then let all your friends know there's a new workout in town. No gym membership required.

Stay fit!

Follow @SgtFitnessApp on Twitter for news and updates about the app... And check out the Sgt Fitness web page.

Building an iPhone Web Page

Excellent article on building a web page for display on an iPhone or iPod Touch: http://www.engageinteractive.co.uk/blog/2008/06/19/tutorial-building-a-website-for-the-iphone/

Thanks, man. That was helpful.

(Hard to believe that page is almost 3 years old now...)

Bedroom Wall

My first "Brushes" sketch on an iPad. Very cool pencil on paper substitute... With a splash of red.

Five Fingers

We went running again this morning. Just over 5 miles looping around our neighborhood.

The Vibram Five Fingers shoes are awesome. They're "barefoot" shoes -- super thin, snug, you can feel the ground with much more tactile sensation in your feet than typical heavily padded running shoes. It's like your fingers on a touch screen, your feet in the Five Fingers on the road.

We got them last fall, and we do not wear anything else on our feet to run anymore... just the Five Fingers. If you are a runner, and you have not tried these shoes yet, then you must!! What's stopping you? And if you're not a runner because of knee, hip, back or other impact related issues... try again with the Five Fingers -- they really make a difference: you don't land as hard in these shoes, so you don't hurt yourself as much.

Before we got the shoes, we were lucky to be able to run for a half hour or so before knees or backs were complaining too much. Now we can run for more than an hour, no problem. Now we wish we had more time to run... Before we thought 5k, no problem, maybe 10k at the most. Now we're thinking maybe a half or even full marathon might be in the cards for us down the road.

By the way: "Yay for spring!" too... We were warm enough today when we started out for the first time in months. Literally, I think the last time we were this warm was last fall, maybe in October. Very nice to finally be past this winter.

Bling, bling, it's silver...

Another geek badge:



From their "about" page:
"Ohloh is a free public directory of open source software and people."

If my ranking is true, I'm in the top 1% of open source contributors in the world. Not sure I believe such a ranking...

Rebels with a Cause (and American Shame)

I was ashamed to be an American (yes, just like the Dixie Chicks said) when we invaded Iraq on a pretense without any just cause all those years ago. I lost what little respect I had for George W. Bush when he sat there and tried to convince us all it was the right thing to do just because it was what he wanted. Just cause? Just because.

Are we still over there? When are those boys coming home?

And now, once again, I'm ashamed to be an American because we have not yet invaded Libya. What kind of sick, f***ing twisted world is this? There are people over there who really are willing to die to make Libya free from a terrorist dictator crazy-a** madman and we're sitting back, doing NOTHING? WTF? Hello!?

Come on, America! Do something! I'm lookin' at you, Obama. Do the right thing.

Rebels with a cause are worth our help: as the original rebels with a cause, you'd think we'd understand.

Reading Time

This article:
Fact and folklore in software engineering

...led me to want to read this blog entry:
http://forums.construx.com/blogs/stevemcc/archive/2008/03/27/productivity-variations-among-software-developers-and-teams-the-origin-of-quot-10x-quot.aspx

...and these two books:
Aramis, or the Love of Technology
Making Software

When am I supposed to find time for all this reading? When? Huh? Sheesh. Who filled up this internet thing with all this information anyway?

got flair?

Been using Stack Overflow again recently. Answering questions about iPhone/Objective-C stuff and CMake stuff.

This is what they're calling my Stack Overflow flair:

And here's an rss feed link of my recent answers:

recent answers feed

Cool, right? Or maybe I really am just a geek.

Beautiful Home For Sale 26 Mountainwood Drive

It's official: we're downsizing on the home front. I nailed a "For Sale by Owner" sign to our mailbox post this weekend, uploaded photos of our beautiful home, and listed our Glenville, NY house for sale on Zillow.

If you'd like to buy it, call us, or if you know somebody looking to buy a house in the Niskayuna school district, send them our way. We'd be happy to show it to you: just let us know when you'd like to stop by.

It's a 2,900 square foot craftsman style home, 4 bedroom / 2.5 bath, gorgeous stone fireplace (gas, double sided) right in the humungous kitchen, stainless steel appliances, other side of the fireplace is the spacious, yet cozy family room, custom tile and hardwood floors, office/den with French doors, generously large bedrooms, double headed shower in the master bath, gas fireplace in the master bedroom, 2 car garage, full basement.

It's on the cul-de-sac block of Mountainwood Drive, the neighborhood is wonderful, lots of families, diverse population, friendly people.

Make us an offer! You'll love it here.

Links:

Photos on PicasaWeb

The listing on www.zillow.com

Contact:

David Cole

DLRdave@aol.com

518-429-8849

Cyclist's Creed

I am a cyclist and this is my creed:

Shift up when you can
Shift down if you must
And pedal always!

Go Mom!

My Mom is going to walk 60 miles this Friday, Saturday and Sunday! 20 miles each day. She's been training for months now. And she's been raising money, too. It's all for a good cause -- the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure. Net proceeds from the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure are invested in breast cancer research and community programs.

Her fundraising goal was $5,000. She started at $0 last November or so. Tonight when I checked her thermometer, she was up to $5,777!! Woo-hoo! I love it when a goal is massively exceeded: 115+% - awesome.

See what she has to say about it herself in her posts here:

http://www.the3day.org/GoTo/JaneClaus

And while you're there, make a donation. Do it in honor of somebody you know who is fighting cancer. Or in memory of a loved one you've lost.

Don't worry if you run across this later: she'll still be fundraising after the event is over. I think she told me donations could still be made on that web page until the end of the calendar year.

Go Mom!

We'll be there to cheer you on over the finish line on Sunday.

Love ya,

David and Robin