Update: iBonsai
Michael (Admin) | Feb 4, 2009 Entertainment, Updates
User rating: 
(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
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The original review of iBonsai is here.
Here’s the update from Brainpower Labs:
iBonsai 2.0 is here! Now with several new features that make the experience even better. Since version 1.0 we have had many requests for background music and more control in general. In version 2.0 we have added these and more without detracting from the original theme.
After updating to 2.0, explore the new iBonsai preferences in your iPhone/iPod Settings, and see the new instructions page within iBonsai.
List of Changes
• Added auto-generated ambient music.• Added interactive growth shaping tool.
• Added growth speed feature.
• Added auto regrow feature.
• Made the buttons on the main page simpler and more visible.
New Feature: Ambient Music
In keeping with the theme of procedurally generated art, we have added a music composition algorithm which automatically produces an endless supply of unique ambient music! This optional feature creates a sparse sequence of plucked strings which never repeats. The resulting soundtrack provides a subtle audio backdrop which complements iBonsai’s elegant visual style.
New Feature: Interactive Shaping Tool
The core iBonsai experience is to enjoy its automatic random growing process. However, for those that wish to have more control, we have added a shaping tool to guide the trees’ growth patterns. Simply touch and hold your finger on the screen for a short time to make the shaping tool appear. This tool exerts an outward force on all growing branches, pushing them away from your finger. Let go at any time to resume the normal growing process.
New Feature: Growth speed
You now have the option of adjusting the tree’s growth speed. Set it slow to enjoy a relaxed, meditative experience. Or set it fast to see a variety of trees more quickly.
New Feature: Auto Regrow
With this hands-free loop feature enabled, iBonsai continually grows new trees. Plug into your dock and let iBonsai paint trees for you all day long!
Tags: Updates
Update: BarnacleJive
Michael (Admin) | Feb 4, 2009 Updates, Website Stuff
User rating: 
(No Ratings Yet)
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...If you read my post about the app formerly known as Explosive Diarrhea (now called Mega Fart) you know I was pretty pissed about the developer’s ad placement… ads at both top and bottom of the screen which, in most cases, is just tacky and not that big of a deal. The thing that got my panties in a wad was that the bottom ad totally looked like it was strategically placed to generate false ad clicks! And just in case you’re wondering, I actually wear boxers, not panties… today, anyway.
BarnacleJive Software just posted The World’s Longest Comment on the original post, and here are the parts that matter most:
I’d like to note that the Ad at the bottom of the fart apps has been removed. It was not my intention to “trick” users into clicking on the ad.
Almost immediately after the app became available the ad providing company, AdMob, contacted me directly and said the ad placement was in violation of their guidelines, and that they had stopped serving ads to my apps. If I wanted ads to appear I would have to remove the ad and submit an update.
So I quickly removed the ad and posted an update. The update excluding the lower ad has since been approved by Apple and AdMob, and I suggest you update if you have the app.
I admit that the ad placement was poor judgment, and I regret that that action has lead to an otherwise very reputable software development operation to be criticized because of it. BarnacleJive software primary sells educational and general lifestyle and utility apps. The paid apps have no ads.
The decision to boycott my entire body of work because a couple ad placements annoys you a little is wrong. Again, it was poor judgment to place an ad there, but accidental clicks cost the the user nothing but a couple seconds of wasted time. On the other hand, a boycott of my apps has the potential of really affecting what I have worked so hard to accomplish (stupid fart apps excluded), and is not fair.
Thanks to BarnacleJive for the update.
For the record, though… accidental clicks are no big deal only when they’re truly accidental. It’s when people start to profit from designing these “accidents” that I start to get agitated! BarnacleJive has stated that what they did was unintentional and we’ll leave it at that, but I’m just sayin’…
Tags: Updates
Update: Campaign
Michael (Admin) | Oct 27, 2008 News, Updates
User rating: (2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5) Loading ...Got this from Gorloch Interactive, developer of Campaign which I reviewed about a month ago:
- We’ve expanded the Candidates section to include Public Statements and Issues. The statements are updated several times throughout the week (almost daily) and pull data from Vote-Smart.org. The candidate blog now pulls all the candidate blog data within the application (instead of using the iPhone RSS reader).
- We’ve added more election content to the Polls section. In addition to the Poll of the Day, we are now including electoral data for National and Battleground State polls (from fivethirtyeight.com). We have also added electoral graphs showing the US map distribution of electoral votes, popular vote percentage, electoral vote distribution, and likelihood of winning percentage (also from the five thirty-eight site).
- In the news section, we have adopted user requests and included various new sources.
- We have also introduced a new section called Your Voice, which is a Twitter-like microblog where users can comment in issue-specific forums about what they feel most passionate about.
- We’ve also made various performance and memory improvements to improve load times across the application.
- And finally, we’re making a commitment to keep the application active following the elections. We’re taking requests now about what features to add, but we would like to make Campaign the official news reader for political junkies, not just during campaign season, but in between as well.
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- Ralph Nader's gonna be pissed that he's not on here!
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- This section should include some hot pics of Obama Girl
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- Damn, Barry makes a lot of statements
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- The latest from the "elite liberal media"
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- I wish Joe the Plumber would just die already!
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- Lots of nice, new polling features
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- Blue states rule, red states drool
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- It's all about the polls
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- McCain should just give up and sell Palin's clothes on eBay
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- Alright kids... be nice now...
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- My policy on education: don't be a dumbass
Tris Update
Michael (Admin) | Aug 25, 2008 Games, Updates
User rating: (1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5) Loading ...Looks like I picked the wrong time to review Tris! Noah Witherspoon, Tris’ creator, pointed me to his blog where he explains why the game will soon be disappearing from the App Store:
Well — I’ve received notice from Apple that they’ve been contacted by The Tetris® Company about Tris. That, I’m afraid, is essentially game over. Do they have a case? No. Not really. I am convinced that if it went to court, the “copyright” claim would get thrown out completely. The trademark, perhaps not — but if I changed the name, to e.g. “Trys”, that would be much harder for them to argue.
The trouble is, I’m a college student, and not an affluent one, and I simply do not have the time, energy, or resources to fight this battle right now. There’s a point at which I am willing to give up and be practical, to let the world have its way with that ever-mistreated little ideal of “principle”. Thus, it’s with great sadness that I must announce that I’ll be pulling Tris from the App Store on Wednesday, August 27th, to remain in Apple’s systems but publicly unavailable until I work out a solution to this.
That blows! If you’re reading this and you have the ability to help Noah out with legal counsel or something that might help him fight The Man, let him know through his blog, Two Finger Play.
Otherwise, INSTALL TRIS WHILE YOU STILL CAN! It won’t be there for long. :mad:
Tags: Updates
Now Playing Update
Michael (Admin) | Aug 15, 2008 Entertainment
User rating: 
(3 votes, average: 3.67 out of 5)
(3 votes, average: 3.67 out of 5) Loading ...
Well, it used to be called BoxOffice. Probably a smart move for Cyrus since the words “Box Office” get thrown around quite a bit in movie talk, and Now Playing is maybe a little easier to get indexed on the search engines.
If you’re looking for a review of Now Playing, you can find it here.
