Hall of fame: Lucas Newman, Adam Betts, and Lights Off

Lights Off was the first native game made available for the iPhone. It launched in August of 2007, only two months after the original iPhone went on sale, and 10 months before the official App Store launched. Created by Lucas Newman, a developer at Delicious Monster at the time, and designer Adam Betts, it was built in 3 days as part of the C-4 Iron Coder event. While the gameplay was classic, the task of figuring out how to make it, absent an official SDK, package it, and release it in a way that anyone could install and use it, was nothing short of herculean.

On The Art of Adam Betts, Betts wrote:

I?ve always loved Lights Out game from Tiger Electronic and iPhone with touch screen couldn?t be any more perfect for Lights Out-type game.

A month later, Lights Off was updated to improve the puzzles, and to allow the progress to be saved and moves to be cancelled before they were completed.

Newman later went on to pursue other opportunities, and Lights Off was adopted by Steve Troughton-Smith of High Caffeine Content, re-written using the official iPhone SDK, re-freshed by designer Adam Betts, and re-released on the App Store.

• $0.99 - Download now

Being the first game on the iPhone, now one of the most popular gaming platforms in the world, is notable enough, but the work put into creating it, especially into understanding UIKit and the frameworks used by Apple, helped give a head start to every other developer on the platform.

That's why, as part of the inaugural iMore hall of fame, we're honoring Lucas Newman and Adam Betts, and their groundbreaking puzzle game, Lights Off.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/5IXDBd6bYQs/story01.htm

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More New Year's Resolutions for Filmmakers | Filmmaker Magazine

In 2011 on New Year?s Day I posted ?New Year?s Resolutions for Filmmakers? ? 10 items filmmakers could embrace to improve their practice and thought processes for the year ahead. Last year, I thought about revising or updating it but couldn?t think of much to add. This year I looked at it again, and had some new thoughts. It?s still a decent list, and if you want to read something that will prod you in the gentle, empathetic, self-help-y manner of lists of these kind, a post full of to-do items you can file alongside ?lose weight? and ?be present in the moment,? I continue to recommend it. But for something more specific, more rooted in the now of ?13, I offer here a crankier addendum.

Stop making feature films. Why are you trying to make a feature film? If it?s for any other reason than that?s how your brain processes stories, that it?s the form that thrills and moves you, or because it?s the form most suited to your subject matter, stop. If you?re doing it because you think it?s the dominant story medium of our time, or because you believe it?s the way to a mass audience or because you think you?ll get rich, you need a healthy dose of artistic and personal self-examination. Telling stories through media of some form, yes. But buying into the conventional feature-film format and all its legacy business practices? that is no longer something you do by rote. And if you do answer those above questions in the affirmative, think of other ways you can extend and expand your content beyond that feature-film format because more and more new audiences aren?t wired with cinema as their default entertainment program.

Learn to interact with developers. Should filmmakers learn to code? That?s a question bubbling under the surface of the nascent film/tech convergence, and it?s one we will examine in a series of blog posts co-authored by MIT Story Lab this Winter. The jury is still out on that one, but I will argue that in order to realize the full potential of their creative content, filmmakers need to learn how to speak to developers. They need to understand what it is that they do, how they work, and what their tools are so that they can augment and extend their stories.

Prepare for the second screen. The second screen is already here. Do you watch TV with a tablet on your lap, or a smart phone in your hand? Have you ever tweeted a reaction to a show as its happening? Has some form of fractured attention involving another device become the norm of your home viewing? Recognize that you didn?t do this before. (Did you ever call a friend on the telephone and chat while watching a TV show? I didn?t think so.) The so-called second screen, where there is content and viewer interplay between devices, exists already, but it will be pushed into the center stage at some point in 2013. Yes, there should be an Apple TV next Fall, but other industry players like Intel are coalescing around this area too. And you know what? It won?t be some kind of split screen where your Twitter feed will follow along with the show, like some kind of Mystery Science Theater. Oh, sure, it may be that in its most uncreative examples. What will make the second screen transformative will be when its creative potential is enabled via SDKs to individual developers who will disrupt conventional viewing in ways we can?t even imagine. Think of how mash-ups, remixes, and fan-made parody videos have changed the face of short filmmaking, and now imagine similar experiments applied to streamed live content. Start thinking about how your creativity can flow into this space now instead of waiting for the mega-corps to define it for you.

Change your listening habits. Okay, I nicked this one from financial blogger Joshua Brown, who wrote that?s he?s switching from Dad Rock to rap in the AM on his way to work. ??You musn?t subject yourself to this Sad Bastard Music en route to the battlefield,? he wrote. ?Primarily because you?ll be playing against people like me, who?ve been main-lining an overdose of corner-holding bravado while you?ve been listening to an art major lick his own violin. Switch it up ? aggressive and inspirational in the AM, plaintive and beautiful in the PM when the fightin?s done. Try this for a week, watch what happens.?

Cut out news and stop following. If you?re like me, you follow too much. You have too many feeds, too many alerts, and you check in too many times a day to different news sources because, well, you want to be in the know but also because you?re wired to the 24-hour news cycle the media has addicted you to. Okay, there are times when you may want to immerse yourself in the news cycle, usually during moments of national or world importance. But during other times, and to quote Brown again, ?Let Twitter and Facebook exist without you for large swathes of the day. Like the news, they are always going to be there when you are ready to deal with them. Go into settings and block the sirens and bells and whistles and vibrations now.? Oh, and to my film colleagues, there are things that merit news alerts. New posters and trailers ? pieces of marketing that distributors should be buying advertising space for on our sites ? are not two of them.

Don?t just like. This lifted from a friend on Facebook. If you ?like? because you?re acknowledging something a friend posted, or saying hello, fine. But if you ?like? a political or social call to action, understand that that ?like? means not much more than another piece of indexable information about you sent to some cloud server and used at some point in the future to sell you something. ?Like? if you want, but figure out what other kind of real-world action you can do.

Share your data. I interviewed first-time filmmaker Adam Leon about his wonderful Gimme the Loot for the next issue of Filmmaker, and he revealed to me a revolutionary new method he and his producers devised to write a business plan containing actual acquisition and revenue figures for their comps. What is it, you want to know? They asked. They went to people, more established producers, and said we?re making a film and we don?t want your money, we want your help. And by being nice and sincere they got it. Look, there?s probably not going to be some kind of Rentrak chart for VOD numbers or sales figures. As independent filmmakers we have to start building this data ourselves, and the first step is by being transparent and by sharing ? privately but collaboratively ? our own info.

Figure out their business model and if you fit into it. Maybe you were outraged by Instagram?s TOS changes ? you know, where they posted that they could use your photos in advertising without compensating you. Well, what did you expect? It?s a free service Facebook paid $1 billion for. So instead of being periodically furious when services change their terms, try to figure out what their terms will inevitably be before you load all your crap into them. And you know what? This applies to our film business too. When you go into partnership with a producer, or an agent, or a distribution company, figure out from their past work what their business plan is. How do they make their money, or increase their prestige, and will you be able to help them in that goal? If not, you may wind up disappointed.

Read more. Okay, here?s a carryover from 2011. Then I quoted Werner Herzog, who said you can?t be a filmmaker if you don?t read. This year, I?m repeating it as a personal reminder. Fact is, I read a lot. I read all day. Stories, emails, pitches, scripts, blog posts, etc. But too much of that reading I do in a kind of accelerated, semi-ADD skimming fashion, and too much of it doesn?t sustain me the way finishing a great book does. I did have some success this year, reading about half of Bolano?s 2666 towards the end of the year. But I had some failures, like a prolonged limping through a very slender book by French philosopher Jacques Ranciere that I?m still not done with. So, once again, this year I?m going to take my earlier advice and cut off the feeds and read more.

Go to galleries. Not just because galleries are beautiful, meditative spaces that create a zone for your own creativity, but because there?s tons of important hybrid art/film work being exhibited these days. And because there are filmmakers who have discovered that their media work is more remunerative and better appreciated in gallery contexts than in microcinemas. And because if you didn?t see the Freeman and Lowe show you don?t really know what?s going on.

Walk. It?s good for you. It helps you think. Frankly, I do all my writing while walking. I try to push pause on the podcasts, wander around, and write in my head. Then I come home and type it all out. Sitting at the computer, staring at the screen, with all the feeds going off ? sometimes the writing can be brutal. So, I have to remember to walk. To quote Rebecca Solnit from her Wanderlust: A History of Walking: Language is like a road, it cannot be perceived all at once because it unfolds in time, whether heard or read. This narrative or temporal element has made writing and walking resemble each other.? And: ?Many people nowadays live in a series of interiors?disconnected from each other. On foot everything stays connected, for while walking one occupies the spaces between those interiors in the same way one occupies those interiors. One lives in the whole world rather than in interiors built up against it.?

Start building your own distribution platform. ?It?s not self-distribution, it?s distribution,? a filmmaker who I won?t name now but who is featured in the new issue of our magazine said to me. He may be right. 2013 may be the year where self-distribution loses the ?self,? meaning that the fact that the filmmaker is spearheading his or her own campaign will no longer be something out-of-the-ordinary and deserving of comment. The folks behind the movie Indie Game speak eloquently on this in our next issue as well, detailing how they built their own distribution platform and how you can too.

Source: http://filmmakermagazine.com/61582-more-new-years-resolutions-for-filmmakers/

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'The Hobbit' holds on to first place with $32M

FILE - This publicity file photo released by Warner Bros., shows the character Gollum voiced by Andy Serkis in a scene from the fantasy adventure "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey." (AP Photo/Warner Bros., File)

FILE - This publicity file photo released by Warner Bros., shows the character Gollum voiced by Andy Serkis in a scene from the fantasy adventure "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey." (AP Photo/Warner Bros., File)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? A tiny hobbit has a mighty hold on the box office, staying on top for a third-straight week and wrapping up a year that saw a record-breaking $10.8 billion in total annual grosses.

The Warner Bros. fantasy "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" remained at No. 1 with $32 million for a total of $221.7 million, according to final studio figures Monday. That's slightly down from the Sunday estimate of just under $33 million but enough to retain first place in a holiday weekend that featured the much-anticipated debuts of awards contenders "Django Unchained" and "Les Miserables."

The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Hollywood.com are:

1. "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," Warner Bros., $31,960,000, 4100 locations, $7,795 average, $221,743,000, three weeks.

2. "Django Unchained," Weinstein Co., $30,122,888, 3010 locations, $10,008 average, $63,443,153, one week.

3. "Les Miserables," Universal, $27,281,735, 2814 locations, $9,695 average, $66,720,160, one week.

4. "Parental Guidance," Fox, $14,554,053, 3367 locations, $4,323 average, $29,342,745, one week.

5. "Jack Reacher," Paramount, $14,010,000, 3352 locations, $4,180 average, $44,661,000, two weeks.

6. "This Is 40," Universal, $12,501,060, 2914 locations, $4,290 average, $36,431,350, two weeks.

7. "Lincoln," Disney, $7,337,362, 1966 locations, $3,732 average, $131,867,159, eight weeks.

8. "The Guilt Trip," Paramount, $6,700,000, 2431 locations, $2,756 average, $21,102,000, two weeks.

9. "Monsters, Inc. 3-D," Disney, $6,447,437, 2618 locations, $2,463 average, $18,573,901, two weeks.

10. "Rise of the Guardians," Paramount, $4,900,000, 2055 locations, $2,384 average, $90,230,000, six weeks.

11. "Skyfall," Sony, $4,600,000, 1637 locations, $2,810 average, $289,600,000, eight weeks.

12. "Silver Linings Playbook," Weinstein Co., $4,079,314, 745 locations, $5,476 average, $27,330,036, seven weeks.

13. "Life of Pi," Fox, $3,780,269, 1178 locations, $3,209 average, $86,650,453, six weeks.

14. "Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away," Paramount, $2,400,000, 840 locations, $2,857 average, $7,407,000, two weeks.

15. "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn ? Part 2," Summit, $2,359,289, 1191 locations, $1,981 average, $286,039,065, seven weeks.

16. "Wreck-It Ralph," Disney, $1,855,213, 913 locations, $2,032 average, $175,505,332, nine weeks.

17. "Argo," Warner Bros., $1,015,000, 345 locations, $2,942 average, $108,474,000, 12 weeks.

18. "Anna Karenina," Focus, $525,790, 218 locations, $2,412 average, $10,705,866, seven weeks.

19. "Flight," Paramount, $460,000, 400 locations, $1,150 average, $91,922,000, nine weeks.

20. "Hyde Park on Hudson," Focus, $429,694, 84 locations, $5,115 average, $1,737,996, four weeks.

___

Online:

http://www.hollywood.com

___

Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2012-12-31-Box%20Office/id-00a78f5d6fbd4dd398a608df47a6a36a

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Gay Marriage Now Legal In First State South Of Mason-Dixon Line ...

By Alan with comments January 1, 2013 07:47

Same-sex marriage ceremonies commenced shortly after Midnight in Maryland, beginning with James Scales and William Tasker.? Scales works for the mayor?s office and was married by Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake.

Same-sex couples in Maryland have been able to get marriage licenses since Dec. 6, but they did not take effect until Tuesday.

Nine states and the District of Columbia have approved same-sex marriage.

Source: http://www.alan.com/2013/01/01/gay-marriage-now-legal-in-first-state-south-of-mason-dixon-line/

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PFT: Chiefs fire Crennel but keep GM Pioli

Getty Images

The day after the 2012 NFL regular season ended, Judge David Doty convened a hearing on the question of whether the NFLPA should be able to pursue a collusion claim arising from the salary-cap penalties imposed in March on the Cowboys and the Redskins.? The day after the 2012 NFL regular season ended, Judge Doty issued a decision.

In short, the NFL removed a total of $46 million in cap space from the two teams for treating the uncapped year of 2010 as, well, uncapped.? The NFLPA, despite agreeing to the cap penalties in exchange for an agreement by the league to artificially increase the 2012 salary cap to a level north of the 2011 number, claimed that comments made in the aftermath of the announcement of the cap penalties disclosed for the first time that shenanigans were occurring in 2010.

The NFL argued that any potential claim for collusion was barred by the simple fact that the parties agreed in 2011 to end all litigation when finalizing a new Collective Bargaining Agreement.? Judge Doty agreed, finding that ?the NFLPA released the claims it attempts to assert in the underlying action.?

As a result, the settlement agreement won?t be reopened, and the NFLPA won?t be able to pursue upwards of $1 billion in damages from the NFL.

While the union may now appeal the outcome, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has a reputation for being conservative and, thus, pro-business.? Which makes it highly unlikely that Judge Doty?s decision would be overturned.

Indeed, most judges regardless of politics prefer to see settled cases remain settled.? In this case, the NFL and the NFLPA resolved their differences, including any claim that there was collusion in 2010 regarding the uncapped year that, based on the penalties imposed on the Cowboys and Redskins, wasn?t really uncapped.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/12/31/chiefs-fire-romeo-crennel-not-scott-pioli/related/

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Duke still a runaway No. 1 in AP Top 25

Duke's Seth Curry, who scored a game-high 31 points against Santa Clara, celebrates a 3-pointer during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in Durham, N.C., Saturday, Dec. 29, 2012. Duke won 90-77. (AP Photo/Ted Richardson)

Duke's Seth Curry, who scored a game-high 31 points against Santa Clara, celebrates a 3-pointer during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in Durham, N.C., Saturday, Dec. 29, 2012. Duke won 90-77. (AP Photo/Ted Richardson)

Duke fans show their support during the Blue Devils' 90-77 win over Santa Clara in an NCAA college basketball game in Durham, N.C., Saturday, Dec. 29, 2012. (AP Photo/Ted Richardson)

For the third straight week Duke is the runaway No. 1 in The Associated Press' Top 25, and for the first time in 16 years Minnesota is in the top 10.

The Blue Devils (12-0) received all but two first-place votes from the 65-member media panel on Monday. The next five teams ? Michigan, Arizona, Louisville, Indiana and Kansas ? held their places from last week. Syracuse, Ohio State, Minnesota and Gonzaga rounded out the top 10.

Michigan (13-0) was No. 1 on two ballots for the second straight week. Minnesota is in the top 10 for the first time since it was third in the final poll of 1996-97.

New Mexico, which won at undefeated Cincinnati, returns to the rankings at No. 20 after being out for one week. The Lobos replace UNLV, which dropped out from 20th after losing at North Carolina.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-12-31-T25-College%20Bkb%20Poll/id-fd6091c071d44e5a8844df33d58964d0

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Heads roll on Black Monday as NFL coaches fired

(Reuters) - Heads continued to roll for under-achieving head coaches across the National Football League as the Philadelphia Eagles' Andy Reid, Buffalo Bills' Chan Gailey and Cleveland Browns' Pat Shurmur were all fired on what has become known as Black Monday.

The unemployment ranks are expected swell even further with reports that the Chicago Bears' Lovie Smith is also out of a job.

The 5-11 Browns, who closed out the season on Sunday with a 24-10 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, were among the first to begin house cleaning by announcing Shurmur and general manager Tom Heckert had both been relieved of their duties.

The news was quickly followed by the 6-10 Bills confirming they had sacked Gailey and the 4-12 Eagles announcing Reid was being relieved of his duties after 14 years in charge.

Reid's departure had been widely expected but still came as shock to many after a mostly successful tenure in Philadelphia leading the Eagles to six NFC East titles, five NFC championship games and a Super Bowl appearance in 2004.

His 140 victories are a franchise record and rank 22nd on the all-time NFL coaching list.

But a bitterly disappointing 2012 campaign that ended in 42-7 loss to the New York Giants on Sunday signaled to owner Jeffrey Lurie that is was time for a change.

"Andy Reid won the most games of any head coach in Eagles' history and he is someone I respect greatly and will remain friends with for many years to come," said Lurie in a statement. "But, it is time for the Eagles to move in a new direction.

"Andy leaves us with a winning tradition that we can build upon and we are very excited about the future."

JETS KEEP RYAN

Black Monday began with the Jacksonville Jaguars announcing they had fired general manager Gene Smith and was followed by the New York Jets dumping GM Mike Tannenbaum.

The Jets, however, ended the speculation swirling around Rex Ryan by confirming the under-fire head coach would be back next season.

"Rex Ryan will remain the head coach of our football team. I believe that he has the passion, the talent, and the drive to successfully lead our team," said Jets owner Woody Johnson on the team's website.

After a tumultuous 6-10 season, overshadowed by a quarterbacking controversy around the use of incumbent Mark Sanchez and polarizing Tim Tebow, Ryan was widely expected to pay for the Jets under-achieving results with his job.

With Ryan back for next season the speculation will now center on the futures of Sanchez and Tebow in New York.

The Jets sputtering offense ranked 30th among 32 teams, generating an average of just 299 yards per game.

Changes had been expected in Jacksonville after the toothless Jaguars finished the season tied with Kansas City Chiefs for the NFL's worst record (2-14).

"Now it is time for the Jacksonville Jaguars to begin a new chapter," new owner Shahid Khan said in a statement. "We're not looking back.

"I've made it clear from Day One that we pledge nothing less than to deliver the first Super Bowl championship to Jacksonville.

(Reporting by Steve Keating in Toronto, editing by Ed Osmond and Gene Cherry)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/shurmur-first-coaching-head-roll-black-monday-161619318--nfl.html

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