I volunteered all day one Friday at Lily’s school as a Watch Dog.  (Watch Dog program is by fathers.com)

It was tiring yet a great experience. I starting by meeting the car riders in the rain. When school started, Lily and I appeared on the announcement system. (When did school announcements start being via TV?)

After announcements, I read to Lily’s class and did some lessons with them. I gave them some tests and we had a great time with an exercise from Stories with Holes.

Next, I made deliveries to class rooms. During lunch, I worked the cafeteria delivering ketchup, napkins, straws etc to students who needed them. Approximately, 1,000 students go through the cafeteria each day. That part was exhausting and the woman who choreographs that everyday is my new hero.

After lunch, I worked with the art teacher. I was very excited to meet the art teacher because I had the chance to show her a photo of all of Lily’s art projects framed on the wall.

After art, I delivered transport change orders to classes. Finally, I helped car riders get loaded into cars to go home.

The whole process was extremely well organized. I was exhausted at the end of the day, but I am very happy to have participated. The kids treat you like a hero and your own kid thinks you are awesome for participating.

If your kid’s school has a similar program, I highly recommend participating.  I will do it again next year — in fact I’ll probably sign up for more days. Unfortunately with my work schedule this year and how late my first day was, I could not find  a second day to participate.

Here is the note we recently received from the coordinator Down Howard:

Dear Watch Dogs,

I want to Thank You for being a Watch Dog this year. We started out this year not knowing what to expect of this program. Watch Dog has added so much to our school. Our kids think our Watch Dog’s are Rock Stars and love seeing you around the school. Our staff appreciates the help you have given them this year. You have brought the biggest smiles to your children’s faces and they have so much pride when it is your day to be a Watch Dog. Thank you for making this program such a success. I have some good news for our Dads that will be moving to Wilson, we will also have the Watch Dog program next year. With that being said I would appreciate if you could reply back to me with your first & last name and the school your child will be attending next year.

I have one more favor to ask of you. I had a Dad tell me this week that his work will donate $500 to Griffin for every 20 hours he volunteers up to $1,000. If you could check with your HR department and see if your company does something similar that would be wonderful for the school.

Thank you for all your support,

Dawn Howard

MGE VIPS & Watch Dog

Thank you Dawn for organizing the program.

Using a reverse image search tool against some of my photos on flickr, I found that someone was using my copyrighted photo to promote an app in the Apple app store. See the image below from the app store. And here is a link to my space shuttle cockpit photo being used.

After finding my image being used, I searched the internet to find instructions on how to file a copyright complaint against an app in the Apple app store, but I could not find the information that I was needing.  From having occasionally read Plagiarism Today, I know that filing a DCMA take down notice against an Apple Store App should be very simple and easy.  Suing for damages due to the copyright infringement would probably require an intellectual property lawyer.  I was not concerned about damages — I just wanted the developer to stop using my images, and I know this can be accomplished without using an attorney.

I went to Facebook to ask friends how to file a copyright complaint against the app, and friend Jeff Rawdon came through with the link that I needed to file the complaint.

Here are my instructions on filing the complaint against the app and my sample results of what happens after filing the complaint.

1. Gather information about the infringing work — screenshots, links, etc. Also, gather links and information supporting your claim that you own the copyrighted material.
2. Go to Apple’s link to file a copyright complaint.
3. Fill in the form providing the information that you gathered.
4. Wait for a response — see below for what happened in my case

The information to Apple in my complaint was short but I also included information about the Creative Commons license which I was afraid might complicate the claim. If you are unfamiliar with Creative Commons, see the licensing terms I frequently use. Trey Ratcliff uses these licensing terms on his beautiful travel photography, so this is not unusual.  Despite the Creative Commons license, Trey is willing to sue if his images are used for commercial purposes. Back to my story and experience… Here is exactly what I filed with Apple in the copyright complaint:

From: Brett Morrison
Subject: App Store Violation of Copyright
Date: February 28, 2012 8:03:47 PM PST
To: AppStoreNotices@apple.com

Infringing App URL:  http://itunes.apple.com/sn/app/space-shuttle-views/id401110297?mt=8

Description:
The Space Shuttle Cockpit photo used in the second screenshot on the “Space Shuttle Views” app is my photo. It was taken from Flickr http://flic.kr/p/8htErM.  My copyrighted photo is posted on Flickr with a Creative Commons License that is non-commercial. Creative Commons does not nullify my copyright.  Since the App sells for $1.99 and my photo is being used to advertise the App, it is a clear violation of my copyright by using my image for commercial purposes.

Thank you for investigating.

Thank you,
Brett

I shortly received a message back from Apple:

Dear Brett,

Thanks for your message.  We have contacted the developer of the application listed below.  In the meantime, if you have any questions please contact appstorenotices@apple.com and please include APP18409 in the subject line.

Developer: Quantis,Inc.
Provider: Quantis, Inc.
App Title: Space Shuttle Views
Apple ID: 401110297
-
Sincerely,
Jenny

And as of March 2nd at around 3PM, I noticed that the App was no longer available in the App store. That felt certainly like a victory to me, but of course the developer has a chance to respond.  The developer chose to contact me directly shortly after this and apologize. The app has returned to the App Store — minus my photo.

Here is the apology letter:

Dear Brett Morrison,

I’m a developer of the “Space Shuttle Views” app. The app is designed to use Flickr API program to search and display photos uploaded onto Flickr with Creative Commons License that is available for commercial use. However, because of the bug, the app mistake your photo for commercial-CCL, and I used it for the screenshot.

I’ve already removed the app and screenshots from the App Store. The latest bug-fixed version will be delivered soon to existing users through iTunes software update.

I’m sorry for the inconvenience.

Regards,

Toshimori Itabashi
Kanagawa Japan

Toshimori Itabashi, I accept your apology and wish you the best of luck with your app.

Since I had such difficulty figuring out how to file a copyright complaint against an app (it required turning to Facebook since Google was unable to help), I hope this information helps you if you also need to file a take down notice against a developer in the App Store.

Let me know in the comments if your experience is different or similar to mine in filing a complaint with Apple. Thanks!

There is a photo being shared on Facebook with a presumably aged woman who is homeless and a beautiful woman who is not homeless. They are holding a cardboard sign that reads “We are the same age. Housing: It’s good for the skin.”  Below is the photo posted by “The Denver Foundation.”

Uploaded with Skitch!

It is a tragedy that Dawn passed away and it is sad that in one of the richest nations in the world that she had to live this way. I must also point out though that Photoshop is also good for the skin. The woman on the right (the one who supposedly has housing) seems clearly photoshopped, so I opened out Photo Police to be certain. And yes, it seems she has had her neck/chin improved, her nose fixed, and lots of skin rework both under the eyes and on the left side of her face.

Uploaded with Skitch!

I rode the MS150 training ride Head for the Hills in Chappell Hill, Texas on Saturday. It was a lovely day and a great route — with the exception of a small dirt section.

After running a half marathon, I decided to try CrossFit for a while.  Several of the CrossFit members agreed to run a half marathon together in Austin in mid-February.  I decided to join them to see if I can complete a half marathon in less than two hours.

I was concerned about meeting that goal because I have not run more than the running in the prescribed WOD (Workout of the Day).  You can see the daily workouts on the WOD blog. Only once was the running more than two sets of 800 meters, so I have not been running much at all with CrossFit.  Most of the METCON (metabolic conditioning) workouts at CrossFit Elevate are 20 minutes, but occasionally they take up to about 30 minutes depending on how fast you can finish the WOD.

So today, Christmas day, I decided to step out into the misty weather and see how I would compare to my last 45 minute run-walk-run training from just before the marathon on October 12th.  That run I was pushing the pace to show myself how far I had come during the Galloway training program.  By the way, I had already added 3/4 of a mile during the prior four months to the same 45 minute run (see June 1st’s data), so I had already made excellent progress in increasing pace before October.

Today, after doing nothing besides CrossFit for just under two months, I ran an additional half mile in the same 45 minute period (RunKeeper data).  The two data summaries for comparison are at the top of the post. That shows a definite improvement in run time over the last two months.

I am pleased that CrossFit seems to have kept me in condition to do mid-level runs without needing to run more than the WOD. To finish training for the half marathon, I will add only one long run per week for the next six weeks and an occasional 45 minute run. I want to see if I can beat my half marathon time of 2:02. The runs long will match the last six weeks of the Jeff Galloway program that I just completed.  I wish I would have given myself an additional two to four weeks, but I have to start where I am since there is a deadline.  I’ll post how it turns out — hopefully I can say that I took those two minutes off my time.

Of course this is just one case study, so if you don’t think it would work for you, the only way to find out is to join a CrossFit gym and try it for yourself.

UPDATE

I ran a longer run and compared it back to my run during my summer half marathon training. Below are the results… I ran one mile per minute faster pace on this same Run-Walk-Run training program.

As recommended in the book  the Four Hour Body, I have performed several tests to measure changes.  Last week, I returned for an updated BodPod Scan at the Memorial Herman Executive Wellness Center.  Per the BodPod chart, I started out the year as a Risky (High Body Fat) with 34% and have dropped to moderately lean with only 19% body fat.

Over the year I lost 45 pounds of fat and gained six pounds of muscle.  I thought training for and completing the MS150 would have caused me to gain muscle, but I actually lost one pound of muscle. (I’m riding the MS150 again from Houston to Austin in 2012.)  I also doubt that I gained any muscle from running a half marathon.  So that means it is highly probable that I gained seven pounds of muscle in just over three weeks of CrossFit.  Per the results of a regular scale, I thought my weight loss had stalled over the last month when I was still losing fat but also gaining muscle at the same time.

Here is another inspiring example of weight training and diet that I came across via Leroy Gardner.

View Larger Size Result Photo (opens in a new window)

So, I lost weight, completed the MS150 (I am riding the MS150 again in 2012), ran a half marathon, so what should I do next for fitness and health?   Well, as I promised LeRoy Gardner, after I finished the half marathon, I joined Crossfit Elevate in Katy, Texas. LeRoy is one of the owners of Crossfit Elevate and has convinced me of the benefits of the training.

I took photos for the CrossFit Elevate Fall Brewses CrossFit Competition and became even more sold upon the training due to all the absolute grit and determination that I saw which was stacked up upon the strength and physical fitness. Photos of the event are below.

I decided to start and made the mistake of showing up on a Saturday without checking the CrossFit Elevate Blog. Normally, there is a free Saturday morning community workout per the usual schedule, but I showed up on the day of a competition.  Never one to back down from a challenge, I entered the competition — it was my second CrossFit work out ever.  I completed the regular men’s competition event and completed the following WoD scaled down to the women’s weight.   So just about one week after completing a half marathon in 2:02, I found myself face down in the grass sucking for air, consciously holding food down, and people standing over me asking if I was OK.

I had planned to start the following Monday but that was delayed due to the pain from Saturday.  So my third CrossFit workout was Wednesday and the fourth Friday of last week (Second week of November 2011). The following Monday I started in earnest by following it up with a work out on Tuesday (including a 10 mile spin bike ride in 20 minutes shortly after the WoD), Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. Right now it is Sunday, and I need more rest. I am nearly certain that I did more pull ups on Friday than I have completed in my entire life — and that was half the prescribed number.  I’ll be back, but need a few more days to recover. I don’t see myself doing five days per week again for some time.

Here are some of my favorite photos from Fall Brewses CrossFit competition.

Full-size photos from the event are available:

• Event One
• Event Two
• Event Three