Village Gamer

Title: Little Bets – How Breakthrough Ideas Emerge from Small Discoveries
Author: Peter Sims
Publisher: Free Press (April 19, 2011)
Pages: 224
Cover Price: $28.99 _{Disclaimer: Clicking the cover graphic or the book title will link you to Amazon.ca through our Associate account. Purchasing the book through this link will help us earn money for the site.}

I picked this book up on our way home from Merging Media 2011 in Vancouver, having heard one of the speakers recommend it during his presentation. Through the wonders of the internet and cell phone technology, I was able to ascertain that our local Chapters outlet had one copy, and called ahead to have it held for me. Read the rest of this entry »

Title: Game On: Energize Your Business with Social Media Games
Author: Jon Radoff
Publisher: Wiley (2011)
Pages: 390
List Price: $35.99 CAD Disclaimer: Clicking the cover graphic or the book title will link you to Amazon.ca through our Associate account. Purchasing the book through this link will help us earn money for the site.

I’ll admit that I was leery of reading this book, mainly because I’ve grown tired of the over-used buzz term gamification, which is a main topic area for this title. I’ll also admit that I was quickly converted – not to gamification of business, but to delving into the contents laid out by Mr. Radoff. Read the rest of this entry »

Today’s markets are all about velocity and differentiation. Businesses need to compete hyper-aggressively in a price driven environment that’s saturated with choices for the consumer.  In his new book Cloud CIO Strategy, Toronto author Bruce D’Sena describes the pivotal transformation that’s required if companies want to keep up the pace and stay profitable.

Social networks, The Internet of Things, Wireless connectivity and the Cloud are just some of the disruptive forces dramatically changing the way consumers and businesses interact.  Yet, despite technology’s progress, the chasm between what a business typically needs and the value that their IT department provides is widening. The fundamental approach to how businesses apply information technology as well as their operating culture needs to change.

“Cloudsourcing and the Cloud’s utility service models can bring simplicity, flexibility and speed to businesses, with significantly lower expenditures and a much better cost structure,” says D’Sena. “But many companies approach this the wrong way and make things difficult for themselves. This is not an IT project, but a better approach to IT itself. To succeed, a Cloud strategy must be executed through partnerships that are properly matched, and must deliver incremental value to the business right from the start. Cloud CIO Strategy shows how this can be done.”

Traditional approaches are simply no longer relevant.  Companies that rely completely on their internal IT infrastructure are putting themselves on a path to certain extinction. The knowledge and currency lag, ridiculously high expenditures and other management overheads will drive them to the ground. The social and product frameworks that drive consumer ecosystems are also transitioning to the Cloud, so companies that wait too long are just going to be left behind. The most dynamic new players are already taking advantage of opportunities that Cloud models provide, and getting ahead of the game.

This book is meant to be an eye opener for business and technology executives, as well as for the investment and entrepreneurial community in general. Cloud CIO Strategy conveys a sense of urgency and provides the direction and tools to get started. Filled with ideas and examples, the book addresses Cloud concepts and their relevance to business strategy as well as their application in practice. Topics covered include Cloud fundamentals and architecture, the unique characteristics of utility computing and Cloudsourcing partnerships, organizational aspects, distribution of responsibilities, strategic planning, and many other insightful perspectives on leadership, transition and culture.

The book also includes an engrossing commentary on the Cloud’s confluence with disruptive areas like Wireless Payments and Augmented Reality, and their related impacts on online commerce. Cloud CIO Strategy is available in hardcover and paperback from Lulu Press.

Indie Ink Publishing announced an unusual contest today as part of the launch of its new young adult contemporary fantasy novel release, Strange Places, by Saskatoon’s Jefferson Smith.

Raised as a modern-day kitchen slave in an orphanage run by child-loathing nuns, and now stalked by disturbing strangers, the novel’s 13-year-old heroine Tayna gambles everything on a desperate journey to discover her origins that will lead her to the far corners of two strange worlds: one filled with shopping malls and televisions, the other with Gnomes, Djin and magic.

One part book launch, one part community celebration, and with a healthy dollop of strange, the launch promises to be memorable. How else would you describe a night that goes beyond plain readings, and includes a dramatic interpretation by school kids, an original musical score, an original pop song about events in the book (written by Jefferson and his daughters), and even an original new drink recipe from the book called boh-cho?

“We’re so proud to launch this amazing book and series,” said Indie Ink founder Suzanne Paschall, “Not to mention this bizarre contest Jefferson has dreamed up.” The series is called Finding Tayna, so readers are encouraged to follow Jeff online and at appearances, where he’ll be giving out clues throughout the year. All you have to do is find Tayna. What makes the contest so unusual is the prize: In addition to traditional prize packages, two winners will be immortalized as non-trivial characters in the second book of the series (planned for 2012 release).

“Jefferson’s wonderful sense of fun and magic has involved young people from the beginning,” Paschall says. “His eldest daughter was the inspiration for the protagonist, and all three daughters formed the dinner-table editorial committee, reacting to each chapter as it was written. When a fourth daughter was born, the family decided that there could only be one name for her: Tayna, the book’s heroine.”

Jefferson, a creativity theorist at the University of Saskatchewan, carried this inclusive style of creation into local schools, too, workshopping scenes with classes and inviting students to critique the book in advance, resulting in writing that captures an authentic youth voice, making it unique among the plethora of other young adult fantasy books written by adults.

Advance praise from independent readers is already coming in. Agnitha, 12, from Saskatoon says, “Holy crap, this book freaking powns!” Connor, 11, from Austin, Texas adds, “A strong beginning with powerful, flowing ideas. Exciting and suspenseful throughout…a wonderful novel for experienced young readers.”

The book officially launches tonight, June 21 (7:30 p.m.) at McNally Robinson and Friday, June 25 (9:00 a.m.) at Caswell Community School.  A list of sales outlets can be found on findingtayna.com. The hard cover book retails for $22.95. Strange Places will also be available in e-book format in all major online e-book stores.

If you have been considering switching to Unity 3D for game development but are unsure of where or how to start, Ryan Henson Creighton, founder of Untold Entertainment, has written a book just for you. Available now for pre-order, Unity 3D Game Development by Example Beginner’s Guide is due out later this month.

Overview of Unity 3D Game Development by Example Beginner’s Guide:

* Build fun, simple games using the free Unity 3D game engine even if you’ve never coded before
* Learn how to “skin” projects to make totally different games from the same file – more games, less effort!
* Deploy your games to the Internet so that your friends and family can play them
* Packed with ideas, inspiration, and advice for your own game design and development
* Stay engaged with fresh, fun writing that keeps you awake as you learn

What you will learn from this book:

* Find out how people are using the amazing new Unity 3D game engine
* Develop and customize four fun game projects, including a frantic race through hospital hallways with a still-beating human heart and a catch game with a jilted lover that morphs into a space shooter!
* Create both 2D and 3D games using free software and supplied artwork
* Add motion, gravity, collisions, and animation to your game objects using Unity 3D’s built-in systems
* Learn how to use code to control your game objects
* Create particle systems like shattering glass, sparks, and explosions
* Add sound effects to make your games more exciting
* Create static and animated backdrops using multiple cameras
* Build crucial elements you’ll use again and again, like timers, status bars, title screens, win/lose conditions, and buttons to link game screens together
* Deploy your games to the Web to share them with friends, family, and adoring fans
* Discover the difference between game skins and mechanics, to earn more money from your games

PadWorx Digital Media, Inc., an independent developer of a new category of interactive eBooks for tablet PCs, today announced that it is set to debut a series of eBooks on September 15th that combine text, gameplay and interactive touch screen technology to create a new digital book experience completely controlled by the reader. The series of interactive eBooks will be released on Apple®iPadTM in Fall 2010. There will be two debut titles, the first of which is for teens and adults, with the second title being suitable for families.

“With user interaction on almost every page, our books put the power to bring stories to life into the hands of the reader,” said Jeffery Alan Schechter, director and producer of Padworx Digital Media, Inc. “This is not your typical passive eBook experience. Because we develop our eBooks on our own game engine, our readers get engaged not only with the text of the story, but also with the interactive graphics and the gameplay elements. The reader, the graphics and the text form a partnership to create the ultimate reading experience.”

Schechter, a two-time Emmy-nominated writer and producer who is well-known for creating Contour, Mariner Software’s award-winning story development software system, founded PadWorx Digital Media in 2010 with his partner, Tod Baudais, a game programmer and the head of software for a feature animation film studio. PadWorx Digital Media is dedicated to pushing the boundaries of tablet PC capabilities in order to create unique ways for readers of all ages to experience both literature and entertainment.

Desire2Learn Incorporated (Desire2Learn), a leading provider of mission-critical enterprise eLearning solutions, is the recipient of a Best in Category Award for Learning Management based on the results of the 2010 IMS Learning and Education Technology Satisfaction and Trends (LearnSAT) survey.

For the 2010 competition, only 12 awards were made for “Best in Category.” Recipients were honored at the awards ceremony and presentation held earlier this year during the Learning Impact Conference in Long Beach, CA. Jeremy Auger, COO, Desire2Learn was on-hand to receive the award.

“Congratulations is extended to Desire2Learn on receiving this unique and meaningful award,” says Dr. Rob Abel, Chief Executive of IMS Global Learning Consortium. “It is the only award we are aware of where the end-user institutions and school districts can express their satisfaction with the vendors.”

The survey, conducted by the IMS Global Learning Consortium, in cooperation with Campus Technology magazine, is unique, for an open web-based survey, in its qualification process of the respondents and cross-check to eliminate any vendor responses or “ballot box stuffing.”

The LearnSAT report, and underlying research, is conducted to provide level of satisfaction information in the use of technology to support teaching and learning to a new and rapidly evolving marketplace. Through the LearnSAT report, those responsible for implementing and supporting solutions in this new marketplace have additional information to supplement that supplied by vendors as to the level of satisfaction expressed by current clients.

“We are honored to be the recipient of this prestigious award from IMS,” states John Baker, President & CEO, Desire2Learn. “The award provides external verification of our continuous commitment to our mission of focusing on our clients and providing them with outstanding client service and support as they continue to strive to ensure program and service excellence to their learning communities.”

A unique aspect of this research is that it also looks at trends in how these technologies are being used and supported, as well as the technologies themselves. It is based on over two years of research uncovering best practices for success in Internet-Supported learning. The IMS Global Learning Consortium LearnSAT is the learning community’s number one source for satisfaction and trends in the use of technology to support learning. Further information on the survey can be found online.

Desire2Learn was also the first LMS provider to have attained the IMS Basic Learning Tools Interoperability (IMS Basic LTI) standard. LTI is a standard developed by IMS Global Learning Consortium to allow Tool Consumers (Learning Management Systems primarily) to easily link to and pass user / organization / course information to Tool Providers (other online applications for eLearning such as wikis, simulations, protected content, assessment tools, etc.).

Stock photography is more popular with designers, businesses, web developers, publishers and artists than ever before, and the number of photographers who have found microstock to be a great source of part- or full-time income has increased steadily in the last few years. A new book, Taking Stock: Make Money in Microstock Creating Photos That Sell by veteran stock photographer Rob Sylvan, provides valuable insights into maximizing profit in this increasingly competitive industry.

An iStockphoto inspector since 2002, Sylvan helps determine which photos qualify to be sold on the most selective microstock site in the business. He has also had tremendous commercial success selling his own stock images privately. Sylvan writes the Under the Loupe column for Photoshop User magazine, and blogs about Adobe Photoshop Lightroom® at Lightroomers.com. In Taking Stock, he shares his hard-earned insider knowledge on how to shoot, edit and keyword photos that sell in this growing high-volume, cost-conscious market.

“I’ve been helping new members get started selling stock for years, and this book contains everything they’d need to know to hit the ground running,” said Sylvan. “Beyond sharing the fundamental information needed for creating and selling stock imagery, I’ve included over 50 great examples of successful stock photos along with tips from many of their creators.”

Taking Stock helps readers look at their photos through the eyes of designers, photo editors, and other frequent buyers. It explains how to set up an effective digital workflow and, perhaps most importantly, how to focus on creating truly evocative imagery. It also covers:

* How to license photos as stock
* What type of images are in demand
* Effective use of titles, descriptions and keywords
* Tips on shooting food, people, places, nature, objects, and animals
* Editing techniques to maximize sales

Taking Stock retails for $35.99 (CAD) and is available at Chapters-Indigo, Amazon.ca, Black Bond Books and other retailers worldwide or directly via the publisher, Peachpit Press.

Yesterday while we were at the grocery store, I was killing time at the checkout by perusing the magazine stand, and noticed that Mike Holmes (Holmes on Homes, Holmes Inspection) has a magazine. Who knew? So, being a fan of his shows and because it had an article on smart homes, I bought the magazine. (I wonder if the sales guy we’ve been dealing with for our modular home design is tired of hearing “Mike Holmes said…or…I saw on Mike Holmes’ show…”) One of the magazine’s features is a “bookmark it” blurb, and this issue’s featured bookmark was the Insurance Bureau of Canada’s home (or office) inventory tool, Know Your Stuff™. This is a very handy – and free – tool that those of us with an abundance of high-tech and high-priced equipment should use – just in case.

According to the IBC’s info page, “The Know Your Stuff™ tool will help you to build a room–by–room record of your belongings and calculate replacement costs. A home inventory will help you get the right insurance coverage and make it easier to file a claim, should you need to. And with IBC’s free, secure, online storage you will have access to your inventory anywhere, anytime.”

MaRS today launched a new commercialization program called TechStart! Consumer, following an open call for promising start-ups in the consumer digital media space. A total of 15 aspiring ventures have been chosen for the 16-week intensive boot camp program led by MaRS Advisors and subject matter experts from the industry.

The program was created in response to the growing demand of consumer-facing digital media companies seeking advisory services, mentorship and market connections from MaRS to help refine their business models and market penetration strategies. The TechStart! program combines advisory, peer-to-peer interactions and focused sector-specific education into one intensive, fast-paced program.

In the last year alone, MaRS’ client portfolio – the approximately 600 Ontario-based companies actively working with MaRS advisory services – has seen a 61 per cent increase in digital media ventures. Today, digital media companies represent 50 per cent of the broader information technologies practice area.

TechStart! Consumer is composed of 10 intensive advisory-driven sessions that cover a range of important business-building topics including: market assessment; user experience design; business modeling; consumer branding; and market launch.

“We hope that TechStart! Consumer will allow us to further our business model and refine our strategy,” says Kuhan Puvanesasingham, Co-founder of Price My Ride, one of the participating companies. “Not only will we be able to closely work with a broad group of seasoned MaRS advisors and experts, we’ll also be able to share our energy and enthusiasm amongst other participants.”

“The TechStart! Consumer program is the first of its kind in Ontario. Creating a meaningful experience for 15 companies is challenging, but the program has been designed to meet the considerable demand from entrepreneurs for this type of immersive learning experience, working closely with both advisors and other entrepreneurs,” says Krista Jones, the MaRS Practice Lead who is spearheading the program. “We have benchmarked a number of acceleration programs internationally in the design of TechStart!, and we believe that the program will help catalyze, scale-up and enrich our entrepreneurial ecosystem.”

In addition to launching TechStart! Consumer, MaRS is also renaming its ICT practice to ICE – Information technology, Communications & Entertainment – to better reflect the growth of consumer facing start-ups working with MaRS.

“Repositioning our practice name is the right response to a fast-changing marketplace,” says Jones. “It better reflects the types of clients we attract and work with today. ICE is just a more succinct, sharper and relevant way to describe our focus and expertise beyond traditional ICT to include consumer and entertainment-based ventures.”

Winnipeg’s Indigo Rose Software has released AutoPlay Media Studio 8 Personal Edition for use on Microsoft Windows 7, Vista and XP. This new version of the company’s popular visual software programming environment is being offered free for non-commercial users. The program is designed to help encourage the development of free software applications and utilities by students, hobbyists, open-source programmers and freeware developers. Read the rest of this entry »

Title: The Ultimate Guide to Video Game Writing and Design
Authors: Flint Dille and John Zuur Platten
Publishers: Watson-Guptill Publications
Year: January 2008
Softcover: 260 pages

The Ultimate Guide to Video Game Writing and Design is mistitled, but only slightly so. For any designer or writer with aspirations of success in the gaming industry, this book will aid them. However, the book should not be the last guide an amateur buys,i nor the first. The Ultimate Guide to Video Game Writing and Design is not ultimate, simply thorough, with solid advice for both novice and veteran writers. The book’s great weakness is that its authors only seem able to address half of their audience at a time; this is no one’s ultimate guide.

Each half is well-written and concise, if festooned with typos. The first half provides a walkthrough of the process of developing a strong, marketable property, and the second half teaches its readers how to see that property through the corporate minefield. The first half errs on the side of simplicity; it’s difficult to conceive of a would-be game designer unaware of the basic history of video games, or who would need to be reminded of the difference between onscreen and offscreen dialogue. A newcomer will benefit from the learning exercises provided, if they’re the sort of writer who works well with templates, but writers who fancy themselves experienced creators may find Dille and Platten’s fill-in-the-blanks approach demeaning.

The second half of the book contains valuable advice for staying hired at a development agency, but their suggestions about how to ease into the industry are not only basic, but common. Even a reader completely unconnected to the industry will find their advice rather obvious; in 2010, it is unlikely that aspiring designers are not already aware of their need to network and check for jobs online. Fresh hires will find the chapter on the various uses of lawyers, managers, and agents useful, but only if they can afford them, and the glossary will be useful only so long as the references are relevant—and references to plot devices like the Giant Rat of Sumatra may not be relevant as long as the authors seem to think.

The guide may be penultimate, but it does have its strengths. Dille and Zuur Platten both are warm, considerate writers who want their readers to succeed in the field. But the odds of any novice being guided to chairmanship through this guide alone are slim to none. The readers and writers both would be better served through an expansion of this book into a two or three volume set to give the writers the breathing room to be more cohesive, and the vast scope of readers more distinct attention. Dille and Zuur Platten have the necessary skills and ambition to make an ultimate guide to videogame writing; this just isn’t it.

Title: Grown Up Digital
Author: Don Tapscott
Publisher: McGraw Hill
Year: October 2008
Hardcover: 368 pgs.
Companion Website: Grown Up Digital

Don Tapscott has a deserved reputation as a prolific, adept, and enthusiastic futurist author. However, his personal realities make him an ill-serving advocate for the ‘Net Generation’.  The book’s opening salvo of corporate approval rightfully informs a young reader of the work’s intended audience. This work is about the Net Generation, not for it, and if the axiom of never trusting anyone over thirty is to be adhered to, the sixty-three year old Tapscott deserves a double-dose of scrutiny.

According to Grown Up Digital, the twenty year span of individuals aged between eleven and thirty-one at the time of the book’s publication has acquired a reputation for being selfish, narcissistic, violent, and, worst of all things, unemployable. Tapscott supplies strong evidence to the contrary from the research conducted by his thinktank nGenera; with approximately ten thousand interviewees of all ages, no one can fault the project’s scope . And he is right–this is a bright generation, with ingenuity and conviction. However, he is perhaps more selective with examples than he should be if he hopes to address the needs and wants of the Net Generation at large. Effie, the Princetonian Google employee mentioned in Chapter Six, exemplifies only the most privileged of current graduates; his chapter on education advocates the proper introduction of technology into the classroom without mentioning how failing school districts should acquire the money to do so. Chapter Six may advocate a utopian, Googlesque workplace, but the capital investment required for such a heaven is too considerable to ignore.

The book does have its strengths; the writing itself is strong and concise, though Tapscott’s fondness for juvenile neologisms remains–Growing Up Digital introduced his readers to the word  ‘cyberbro’, this work gives us ‘N-Fluence’– and his tendencies towards self-aggrandization  are as strong as ever. He reminds us that he has eleven books to his name and a rip-snorting family band, but he can’t be bothered to include the name of the Ogilvy “young Australian” who developed the award-winning Dove ‘Evolution’ television spot (Tim Piper).

After eleven books, his ability to write a readable sociological text is not up for discussion, yet the book suffers from its clashing purposes. The first four chapters pay tribute to the strengths of the Net Generation; his only real concern is a generational ignorance of Facebook filters. This is not unwarranted, and the notion that a respected technological guru wants to shepherd the development of the Net Generation has its charms. But Tapscott is just as happy to tell marketers exactly how to get us to spend our money, and the final chapter, ‘In Defense of the Future’ is founded on concept that the future that young people strive for is one that Baby Boomers have good reason to fear.

Don Tapscott may be for the Net Gen, but I can’t say the same for Grown Up Digital. There’s no particularly strong reason for a twentysomething to read this book, but if you happen to be a middle-aged bureaucrat without a younger friend to connect with over a beer, this is the book for you.

Do you want to learn more about Deep Packet Inspection in Canada and who is using it? Deep Packet Inspection Canada is a website which is meant to be the largest repository of publicly accessible information concerning the use of deep packet inspection in Canada, so that Canadians gain insight into how the technology is used by Canadian Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and why they are using the technology. I recommend this site if you want to learn more about service throttling and the hot issues being discussed around it.

Late last year, I was a participant in a conversation with game design students regarding freelance work. I came across a book today in my morning email travels which, while I haven’t read it (but I probably will), was written by Canadian freelance illustrator and author Holly DeWolf. While many students are lucky and easily find work at established studios, it has been a topic of conversation about how schools don’t really prepare their graduates for the freelance world.

Holly agrees with this line of thought, stating that “many institutions are not preparing students for the realities of the work world. It’s important for freelance creative types to see themselves as a business in order to make it. There is a real need for recent graduates, freelance illustrators and designers plus self-taught artists to have the proper resources they need to make it as a self-employed creative”.

To that end, Holly filled that need in the artistic community with her 2009 book, Breaking Into Freelance Illustration: The Guide For Artists Designers and Illustrators. This book helps readers to develop skills in the business side of artistic practice, addressing many questions which Holly found being asked throughout her many years as a post-NSAD graduate and mentor. This book has received some very good reviews on Amazon.ca, so I can feel confident in recommending this title even though I haven’t yet personally read it. I have a huge stack of books already waiting for my perusal, and I feel that this one needs to shared with students and grads now, not when I have time to finally buy it and read it – especially as someone else just recommended another title I should read.

Don’t forget that the Early Bird discount period for the Banff World Television Festival ends on April 20th – the festival is about far more than just television – check it out. Dentyne Gum has launched their new interactive site with a new AR contest – you could win $25 000.00 with the symbol on the pack of Dentyne gum you’ve purchased. Canada 3.0 Forum has just announced that David Usher (ex-Moist) has joined the great line-up of speakers for this year’s event which will be MC’d by Global TV news anchor Kevin Newman. Taking place in Stratford on May 10 & 11, Canada 3.0 offers a unique opportunity to engage in seminars and discussions about Canada’s future in the tech industry.

Congratulations are due to Waterloo tech company Dejero – creator of the new Dejero LIVE Platform, the company has been awarded a Broadcast Engineering Pick Hit award at the 2010 National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) international tradeshow in Las Vegas. The Dejero LIVE Platform is a ground-breaking new way to broadcast live high-quality video without the high cost or complexity of satellite or microwave transmission. Dejero was selected from 1,500 companies that exhibited at NAB for their introduction of the Dejero LIVE Platform that is set to transform live television. Read the rest of this entry »