Placebo Update #3.1415926539~
Well, progress on Placebo has gone extremely well in this past couple of weeks, after a two week break as I worked on unpacking, worked on my latest post in the Pragmatic Peace series (which will be available in a couple of days, once I’m done proofreading and I’ve contacted Jeff, who is helping with the post as well), and visited family that I haven’t spent significant time with over the past eight years.
Right now, Placebo is working considerably well. I have fifteen ‘test’ tasks in the program, scrolling by smoothly, showing the same three words: “Finish this program.” I have some limited ability to add and edit the tasks (and very, very minimal ability to schedule a task), the ability to delete a task, mark a task as done, display the tasks based on their priorities, as well as cleanly close the program (very important 
) and move the main bar between the top and bottom of the screen.
I was considering putting in a screenshot, but since it is still in the prototype phase, the program is still, well, offensive to the eyes.
I have five tasks to finish up before I can start the beta testing portion… I need to add a way to quickly scroll between items, I need to put finishing touches on the ability to add/edit and schedule tasks, I need to make it look pretty, I need to be able to safe the tasks to a file (so that they can re-appear if the computer is turned off, or [gasp] someone shuts down the program), and I need to choose a finished, marketable name.
I figure that adding a quick scroll ability will take about a week of work; maybe just five hours, maybe up to fourty, depending on many different factors.
Adding/editing and scheduling tasks should only take another three hours of work. Most of it is quite well and done with, except for a couple of arbitrary decisions and implementing them in the program.
Skinning the program seems like it is going to be the most time consuming part, since I am most certainly not a graphics wizard. Fortunately, I have my wife to sit over my shoulder and hit me upside the head when I make foolish color choices. I should only suffer three concussions from making Placebo look pretty. Anyways, I am considering adding the ability for other people to make and add their own skins, though I might wait until I make an updated version, as skinning isn’t absolutely necessary for a to-do list manager.
As for saving the information to a file… Unfortunately, this has to be done last, as the details of the to-do lists change ever-so-slightly each time I sit at my computer. Before I can tell the computer exactly how to save the information, well, I need to know exactly what information I’m saving, right?
Naming Placebo, though, will take much less work… Especially considering that I have access to one of the greatest networks of imaginative minds in the world. My only limit is on how many people hear about this project.
So, I have a contest: Name Placebo.
Here are the rules: Send in a possible name for the program, using either this site’s contact form, or through my regular email address (if you have it). Entries must be received by midnight, the morning of September 21st, Mountain Standard Time (GMT -7). No, I don’t observe daylight savings time, nor do I keep track of when the changeover is, so for those who are in a Daylight time zone at the time, consider it the same as Pacific Daylight time.
In order to consider a submission, I must have an accurate return email address, either in the “reply to” portion of the email, or in the body of the email itself. Email addresses collected for this contest will only be used in the course of this contest, and will be removed from my address book at the end of the contest. (Unless, of course, I collected your email address from another source… in which case, you already know just how much I “spam” people… which is never. )
On Sept 22nd, I will choose from one of the submissions. I will email the person who’s submission I picked, letting them know that they have won… I will give them 3 days to respond, where if I don’t hear back from them, I’ll choose another submission. (For those who use the contact form, please expect an email from a GMail account.)
If I choose a name that multiple people have picked, I will select the person who submitted their suggestion first, based on the timestamp on my email server. If I can’t reach that person, I’ll select the next, etc., until someone does respond within the 3 day limit.
Multiple suggestions are allowed, either in one email, or in multiple emails.
I will post the winner on Sept 22nd, along with their suggestion… If I don’t get a response, then the second winner will be announced on the 26th, 30th, etc., until I do get a response within the 3 day limit.
Now, the reason why I’m being so specific is because there is money on the line for the prize, and I’m trying to plug all of the loopholes that I can.
The Prizes: 1 license for Placebo, when it comes out for public release, as well as for all future versions, as well as 10% of the total sales for the first three months after the public release, to be paid at the end of those three months.
In other words, if I set the price at $30 per license, and I get 100 sales in the first three months, my total sales will be $3,000. That will put $300 in your pocket. (This is not a gaurentee of sales… If I only sell one copy, that only puts $3 in your pocket.)
In order to redeem the cash prize, you must either have a valid PayPal account, or be willing to give me a mailing address for the check. (Yes, I’m American, so I don’t spell it “cheque”.) I greatly prefer the PayPal address, since it is much more secure than sending a check over physical mail systems, though I accept that some people may not be in a country where PayPal offers their services. The purpose of confirming your email address is so that we can exchange the necessary information to get your free copy and the money, which is why I’m such a stickler to the three day response time.
Also, please, please, please double check your email address when sending in your submissions. If I can not reach you to let you know that you have won, then you will forfeit, and will lose the chance to collect the prize (and I may well lose the chance to use your submission, if nobody else has sent it in).
Once I have the name, I can begin working on its website. I’ll be doing the initial copywriting and page design myself, but I have another author and web designer in mind whos services I’ll be purchasing once I’m able to afford it.
Most excellent! Congrats on settling in, too!
How many times may we enter the naming contest? I’m thinking of sending multiple entries — say, one sounding Latinish, one Germanic, etc…
Enter as many times as you want to, with as many different names in each submission as you would like. The only limit is time.
I suggest OnTime as the name for you program. It just works for me.
Gene
Hi Adam, I’m relatively new to your site. What’s the Placebo program?
In Spirit,
Nneka
Sorry, Nneka. I sort of assumed that everybody here was here because they’re long time readers, back when I actually had something interesting to say…
Placebo is the code-name for a project to make a task managing application bar. When the first version is completed, people will be able to add tasks, prioritize them, schedule them, and mark them as done. Yes, it is a simple to-do list, but I do have more plans for the future, such as adding in an RSS reader and adding greater planning abilities and information organization features.
What should set it apart from other to-do list programs is that it will sit in an easily ignored part of the computer screen (either the top or the bottom, depending on what area you ignore more), and quietly show the tasks that you want to accomplish. As you finish a task, the program is already loaded and available, so you simply need to click on the “Done” button, and you’ll have plenty of other tasks in the list to remind you of what you should be doing.
The first announcement of Placebo, along with the reasons why I decided to make it and why it has such a strange code name are located in the post Hindsight, Forsight. There are a few technical design details in there, as well, but a nerdly amount of details.
I have a second suggestion for the name of your program. The name is DoIt.
Update:
I have just put the finishing touches on scheduling tasks.
This leaves the ability to scroll quickly, skinning the program, and saving the information to a file, as far as the programming side of things go, and the name will be selected on September 22nd.
I expect to be ready for the beta testing sometime around when I select the name. At that time, I will also be releasing the beta version to a select group of people… and giving more details about how I will be advertising this, which will most definitely include affiliate marketing.
I am also thinking of starting a new blog which will be far nerdier than this one.
It will be based on my experiences with programming, so I imagine that the readers will be a very tight niche group. Then again, if an infinite number of monkeys at an infinite number of typewriters with an infinite amount of time can type up the entirety of Shakespeare’s plays, then, well, maybe I’m just a code monkey after all. 
Also, thank you Gene, for giving me suggestions. Other people have also submitted suggestions through the contact form (link is available at the very top of the site) and through my regular email, although right now it is a very close contest… All of the submissions are good, but nothing really stands out as a clear-and-present winner yet.
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