Text "Haiti" to 90999 to Donate $10.00 Breaks Records

The Red Cross has raised more than $25 million in text message donations, and is still growing by $200,000 a day.  


By texting "Haiti" to 90999, Americans can donate $10.00 to the American Red Cross with ease, which is the main reason why this campaign has been the most successful mobile campaign to date!


According to the ARC, an individual donation of $10 will stock one first aid kit containing bandages,  ointment, and medicine, including antibiotics. 


When it comes to tragedy, the United States is always one of the first to arrive at the scene, ready to contribute everything we have to offer, and more.  I'm constantly reminded how proud I am to be an American.  

RBTL Across America

Please Join the National "RBTL Across America" Campaign!

Get your photo published & win an autographed copy of Read Between the Lines.


Here's How to Join:

• Visit any Barnes and Noble store in the United States between January 26th and February 23rd
• Go to the "New Arrivals Table" and locate the hippest new book called "Read Between the Lines".
• Snap your picture (or someone else) holding up the book.
• E-Mail the picture to campaign@rbtlguide.com along with your name, city and state for the Barnes & Noble store you visited.

If you happen to visit more than one Barnes and Noble - that's great... you could be a winner! Take another picture with the book, and e-mail it in with the above info.

The top 3 people with the most represented B & N stores will be sent a personalized & autographed copy of RBTL!

Along with the national press for "RBTL Across America" campaign, all submitted photo(s) will be published, and your cities and states represented on all of RBTL's links.

Good luck, and thanks for joining!

Diary of RBTL's iPhone Application - How Much?

The votes are in!

It's been decided that the iPhone App (and the Droid App) for Read Between the Lines should cost .99 cents each, and should be "Ad Free".

The overwhelming reason is simply "to attract more downloads".

The Applications continue to be in development, with a projected release date of January 29th.

I'll be posting screen shots soon!

Thanks for everyone's input!

Diary of RBTL's iPhone Application How Much?

I've asked several iPhone users the following question: "How much should the RBTL Text Lingo Dictionary cost?" The answers are split between .99 and 1.99.

Here's what the App will include:

1. Over 1500 Text Lingo Abbreviations and definitions
2. Ability to look-up an abbreviation
3. Ability to search the dictionary
4. Ability to select the term you want to use, which you can then pop it into your text

If my goal is to get as many users as possible to download the application, how much do you think it should cost?

• .99
• 1.99

In case you were wondering, Apple retains 30% of retail.

Thanks for your input - I really need it!!

Diary of RBTL's iPhone Application

Soon iPhone will offer a Read Between The Lines application available in the App Store, planned for release early next month.

We're in the design stages now, but here's the bottom line.

Soon, iPhone, Droid and Google phone users will have the ability to download a free RBTL Application, which will provide the "Top 50 Text Lingo" inside the App. If you like what you see, you'll be able to download the entire RBTL Text Lingo Dictionary for a nominal charge.

Here's some of the Application features we have planned so far:

1. Simple look-up, search and get the definition for text lingo/abbreviations
2. Select the text lingo you want to use and have the ability to "pop" it into your text
3. Over 1500 terms available within the paid version
4. Color scheme will be in the same flavor as the book - bright and fun
5. Ability to easily share your favorite lingo across e-mail and social networking platforms
6. Ability to preview and purchase RBTL right off your phone

My goal is to make the Text Lingo Dictionary readily available to millions of App users, in a fun and easy to use format. After all, don't you think you should have easy access to text lingo abbreviations where you use them most - on your cell phone?

Because this is another new experience for me (and maybe for you too) I've decided to document my iPhone Application journey, in hopes of providing you with some useful information.

Who knows... maybe you'll have your very own iPhone Application in the future?

Thoughts? Suggestions? Send them over!!

MTF! :)

Text "Haiti" to 90999 to Donate $10.00 to the American Red Cross

Here's a perfect example as to why you need to text.

We've all heard about the devastation that Haiti has suffered, and they need our help!

The American Red Cross Haiti outreach is underway, and they've pledged to donate $1,000,000.00. Here's a way to easily send your donation.

Text "Haiti" to 90999 to donate $10.00 to the American Red Cross relief efforts for Haiti. You can text to that number as many times as you choose, depending on the amount you want to donate. Your donation will appear on your next cell phone bill.

100% of your donation is passed straight to the ARC's Haiti relief fund... your wireless provider keeps nothing.

Texting your donation happens quickly and efficiently - which are two of the key reasons texting is a must!

CNN Interview with Ninette Sosa

I had a great time taping an interview with CNN's Ninette Sosa, who was interested in hearing more about Read Between the Lines and how popular texting has become over the last 2 years.




Ninette was full of energy and really easy to talk to, which made answering her questions about texting that much more simple for me.



She asked questions about specific chapters inside of RBTL like "Why do you describe a text as a post-it note on steroids?" and regarding teens and parenting, "What rules need to be laid out as a parent when it comes to teens and their texting habits?".

Of course, it was hard for either of us to ignore the question "What type of messages should you avoid sending by text?", especially with the recent Tiger Woods "text fiasco" that anyone who doesn't live in a cave has heard about.


My recommendation to Ninette was "Don't text anything you wouldn't want your mom to read".






Not only did I enjoy my interview... I was also pretty thrilled to hear that CNN was running it worldwide, and several times a day, where CNN Radio segments air.

Live Strong & Live Long

Did you know that the #1 new years resolution for 2010 is to lose weight? Of course you did!

According to www.nationmaster.com the United States ranks number one in obesity, with 30.6% of Americans carrying around more LB's than we should. Here's how the top 10 most obese (those with a Body Mass Index greater than 30%) countries break down:

Rank	Countries	Amount
# 1	United States:	30.6%
# 2	Mexico:	24.2%
# 3	United Kingdom:	23%
# 4	Slovakia:	22.4%
# 5	Greece:	21.9%
# 6	Australia:	21.7%
# 7	New Zealand:	20.9%
# 8	Hungary:	18.8%
# 9	Luxembourg:	18.4%
# 10	Czech Republic:	14.8%

Take a close look at these numbers and Read Between the Lines. A large percentage of Americans make the wrong choices when it comes to eating and drinking. With healthcare going to a National platform soon, it's time for us to take control and be pro-active when it comes to our own health.

It's not often I promote websites, but this one's well worth it.

If you're looking for a great and super simple website that allows you to set your calorie goals, keep track of your daily calorie intake AND log your exercise all in one place, and at no cost - I've got the perfect solution for you.

Go to www.livestrong.com and on the top of the home page, select "Daily Plate". From there, you'll set up your profile with your target weight goal and your daily calorie goal in just minutes.

Then, every day (I usually log my intake and output once after lunch and once before bed) you'll go in and add ALL of your calories and exercise. The great thing about this website is that I haven't had to add any specific foods myself, because they already exist in their data base.

My Starbucks Skinny Hazelnut Latte was there, and so was the Malto-Meal I had for breakfast. All you do is search for the item you ate or drank, and lots of options will instantly pop up for you to select from.

Here's a look at "My Daily Plate" for my breakfast and my lunch today:

Food Item	Servings	Cals	Fat	Cholest	Sodium	Carbs	Sugars	Fiber	Protein
Malto-meal	1.00	130	1g	0mg	0mg	23g	0g	1g	5g	x
Skinny Latte	1.00	120	0g	5mg	170mg	18g	16g	0g	12g	x
English Muffin - whole Wheat	1.00	130	2g	0mg	0mg	26g	0g	0g	6g	x
Skippy Peanut Butter	0.50	95	8g	0mg	75mg	4g	2g	1g	4g	x

Check it out for yourself, because there's way too many tools for me to mention here.

Take a look at some of the healthiest countries, that us American's need to strive towards:

# 24	Austria:	9.1%
# 25	Italy:	8.5%
# 26	Norway:	8.3%
# 27	Switzerland:	7.7%
= 28	Japan:	3.2%
= 28	Korea, South:	3.2%

Let's all decide to live strong and longer by taking control of what we're putting into our bodies! After all, our bodies are our own personal temples that deserve the utmost respect.

Let me know if you find Livestrong and My Daily Plate helpful.