http://www.exercisesatwork.com/<p>I evolved this service over several months and since June it's in a state where I can show it to the public.<p>The service is built on Google App Engine - an interesting experience on how the restrictions of the platform make you focus on the scalability of your app.<p>Edit: wanted to add details as this might be interesting to HN.<p>The challenge was to be able to get the emails and the associated timezones AND know what the time it is right now in that particular time zone. Then, I would have to email those records that would match the time, all this in 30 seconds.<p>I ended up using MapReduce for this. Still have a haunting feeling there's an easier way for it...<p>So every hour I create a task that runs MapReduce that then cycles through the emails and checks the timezones and times in them.<p>My understanding is that Mapreduce creates sub tasks that basically make it possible to run all emails in 30 second chunks. We will see how this works as the number of emails grows.<p>I've noticed that occasionally all of my Task API is consumed by the Mapreduce library trying to start tasks.<p>The daily exercise is set by another task, once a day, and is then passed along into MapReduce.<p>Feedback welcome.<p>Edit 2: removed the <a> around the link.
Good idea. Some criticisms about the execution:<p>1. I'd like to see an example of the email.<p>2. Reduce the amount of writing on the landing page. We all know why we should do exercises at work, you really don't need to sell that concept, use that space instead to sell your service- why should I give out my email? What makes you different from other similar products?<p>A good start.
Just got my first email (Pile Squats), some feedback:<p>1. the stickfigure exercise illustration is a fun idea<p>2. how do I know the number of reps that I need to do or how long I need to do the exercise?<p>3. what will this exercise do for me (how will it help me)?<p>4. what is the thought process behind recommending a specific exercise- is there a program that is being followed, will tomorrow's exercise build on today's? etc.<p>Some of these questions (like the programming and where do the exercises come from questions) can be answered on the main site, but this needs to be done in as little words as possible (or maybe in a separate FAQ section).
This is a really good idea. I don't usually sign up for random newsletters, but this is different. I have just signed up.<p>I assume you're going to place health/office related adverts in the emails, and Like/+1 links?<p>You could perhaps add a link that people can click once they've completed a task, and maintain a running score for them or something? Turn it into a game.