May 5th, 2009
Well, I’ve given up on trying anything too humorous for the App Store— if you have to finish your idea BEFORE it’s approved, what’s the point?
But that hasn’t stopped others from trying ideas that are beyond the pale, and some that are so truly tasteless, that our little attempted joke at the expense of the outgoing president of the US seems really sterile by comparison.
I’m sure you’ve all heard about the “Baby Shaker” app controversy. It got the press scrambling to look at Apple’s app approval stories once more and, after months of assuming the whole thing had been relegated to its proper place as a footnote in the appendix of the Apple history books, I got contacted by ABC News and the Wall Street Journal over Apple’s rejection of Freedom Time.
All very exciting, I suppose, except that the reporters never seem to get the gist of what I was trying to say, which was this:
If Apple makes itself the gatekeeper, it is actually causing itself the problems it’s trying to avoid. By rejecting an app that makes fun of Bush, but accepting one that lets you kill babies, it implies that it disapproves of one and approves of the other. If someone had made this application for Windows, Mac OS X, or any other desktop system, no one would accuse Microsoft, Apple or Linux for not building an OS that prevents Baby Shaker applications from being installed. Apple made both a whole lot more work and a whole lot more controversy for itself by insisting on manually gatekeeping for every single app that goes in the store.
Tags: App Store, iPhone Apps, iPhone Development
Posted in Freedom Time, Miscellany | 1 Comment »
February 10th, 2009
Juggleware’s long-standing immensely popular multiplayer game Conqueror! now can be played solo. (Before you had to log in to the server and create a private game in the Lobby to test your skill against the AI’s.)
Conqueror! is a free, original turn-based empire strategy game for fans of games like Risk and Civilization, but want a shorter game than Civilization, and Risk can be a little too simplistic (nothing but dice rolling, really). A game of Conqueror! can be as short as 30 minutes, and our ingenious system of simultaneous move-planning means that as little time is wasted during network games as possible, unlike other games where one player moves at a time.
Conqueror! Screenshot of a game in progress.
It’s not just about moving armies, but supporting your troops, and your population while building your culture and influence. An empire that grows too fast in Conqueror! will surely fall as quickly and leaving a province unguarded an unhappy will certainly lead to its rebellion.
Conqueror! has 10,000 registered members and nearly a million logins logged (and that’s since we started counting). It’s playable with the latest version of the free Adobe Shockwave player. A downloadable version of the game will be available soon.
Tags: Adobe Director, Adobe Shockwave, Conqueror, empire games, free games, multiplayer games, Shockwave games, strategy games, turn-based games
Posted in Conqueror, Games | No Comments »
February 10th, 2009
It’s a new year and a new era!
Juggleware’s debut iPhone app, Freedom Time, as many of you so cleverly noticed, was an application with a time-specific usage. Funny, it just happened to coincide with the inauguration of President Obama.
For those of you who were lucky enough to get the banned iPhone app, or even bothered to look at the Flash version on the site, you’ll see that the time began to move forward at the precise instant* of the swearing in of President Obama at the inauguration, and the text end of an error changed to time to clear some brush!
So it’s a kind of forced obsolescence, but it’s still functional for those who wish to count the days, hours, minutes and seconds since the Bush regime, it’s still working. And in all humility, we were the first to pat ourselves on the back for the nifty symbolism of time moving forward from that moment on.
We’re not giving away any more copies of the app however. We’re moving onward and upward!
In that respect, we hope to have some nifty games for the iPhone in 2009. Keep checking back for news on the latest.
* actually, the precise scheduled moment; he was sworn in a few minutes late and the clock actually ran out during Yo Yo Ma’s cello introduction.
Tags: Bush, countdown, Freedom Time, iPhone Apps, satire
Posted in Freedom Time, Miscellany, iPhone Apps | No Comments »
January 12th, 2009
Steve Jobs might think that counting down the last days of Bush’s grip on authority (and loose grip on reality) might be too controversial to allow in the Apple iPhone world, but today Bush actually said that he did a good job responding to Hurricane Katrina.
Yes we all know the guy refuses to take blame in any case, shifting reality to suit his power politics; but I thought he’d at least be smart enough to shut up about it now the gig’s been up.
The whole world knows his famous phrase “Heckuva Job, Brownie,” that he was cutting birthday cake with John McCain and only days later blessed the skies with Air Force One as he looked down upon the mess caused by the failures of the federal levee system. The Coast Guard did their best, as did local volunteers and others who drove to New Orleans, but Bush couldn’t get a single bottle of water distributed in a week, and people were on roofs for 5 DAYS or longer.
If you think Katrina wasn’t enough (you don’t live in New Orleans), here’s another 127 reasons why.
Tags: Army Corps of Engineers, Bush, delusional, FEMA, Michael Brown, new orleans
Posted in Miscellany | No Comments »
December 11th, 2008
Once every 5 years or so, it snows in New Orleans
Tags: Add new tag, iPhone Apps, new orleans, snow, weather
Posted in Miscellany | No Comments »
November 7th, 2008
I made a promise to myself on November 3. If Obama wins, I’ll make a downloadable version of Freedom Time for Mac and Windows and let everyone download it.
Well, as everyone in the galaxy knows, we now have two reasons to celebrate at 12:00:00 GMT -0500 on January 20, 2009: good riddance to the worst president of all time, and hello to the first African-American president (and the first president I ever voted for with a smile on my face!)
You don’t even need to have an iPhone now to have a virtual iPhone on your desktop.
Watch the actual countdown on this page:
http://www.juggleware.com/iphone/freedomtime/
and download the version for your computer and keep it on.
Only 73 days left! TIME for a NEW leader!
Tip: click on the screen to hear the next Bush quote. (These are all actual audio quotes by Bush and are unedited.)
Tags: apple, Bush, censor, clock, countdown, Flash, Freedom Time, iPhone Apps, Mac, satire, Windows
Posted in Freedom Time, Uncategorized, iPhone Apps | No Comments »
October 1st, 2008
Apple redacted the NDA (Non-disclosure Agreement) that has been such a thorn in the iPhone Developer community’s side. “Thanks to everyone who provided us constructive feedback on this matter,” they say.
So, in the spirit of open-ness I am hereby un-censoring the blog entry I removed last week, at least for the moment.
For more information see this story on CNET.
Now, let’s hope they keep going forward, and find a place for apps like Freedom Time.
Posted in Freedom Time, iPhone Apps, iPhone Development | No Comments »
September 23rd, 2008
Well since we can’t sell it for 99 cents on the App Store, we’re going to give it away for free via Apple’s Ad Hoc distribution model.
Send us your iphone’s UDID (unique device ID) on the contact form on this page.
And we’ll send you a link with install instructions.
Why do we need your UDID? Because we have to authorize your specific device to run the app.
Where to find your UDID:
Make sure you have a recent version of iTunes (version 7.6.2 or later).
Connect your iPhone to your computer.
When your iPhone appears in iTunes, select it.
Click the summary tab. The name and other information including the serial number for your iPhone will display.
Click on the Serial Number field. It will change to the Identifier, also known as the UDID number.
Tags: Ad Hoc, App Store, apple, Freedom Time, iPhone Apps
Posted in Freedom Time, iPhone Apps, iPhone Development | No Comments »
September 23rd, 2008
Wow, although I’m not happy with Apple right now, I have to give Apple’s CEO some serious credit for answering the email I wrote yesterday:
Dear Steve,
A quick note to let you know what kinds of apps are being rejected for the App Store.
This app is not defamatory, harmful or speaking untruth. It is lighthearted and humorous. Does it imply critique? Of course it does, but not without crossing any lines of decency or the boundaries agreement.
For a quick screen shot:
Alec Vance
juggleware llc
Mr. Jobs replied :
Even though my personal political leanings are democratic, I think this app will be offensive to roughly half our customers. What’s the point?
Steve
I’m not sure if he’s asking what’s the point of the app (not much—just poking fun and a time-killer), or what’s the point of letting me risk alienating a portion of his customer base (which is what I think he’s asking, rhetorically).
My friend John Barousse (the guy who convinced me to write Mr. Jobs) makes the point that the market should decide. And why not? No one thinks this is an Apple app, it’s clearly from an independent developer. Why would Apple lose business because of this app? As John says, “It’s not Apple’s application; they’re the store.”
Here’s a link to a good article that John sent me, and I recommend you read it; it says a lot of things I’ve been trying to say, but better:
Of course the fact that Steve Jobs wrote me back, even in a pithy manner, can be taken only as a good omen. Juggleware wasn’t planning on developing only political apps of course (although a “W” voodoo doll would have been fun!)—most of the ideas we’re talking about are for games with a purely non-political angle.
Tags: App Store, apple, Bush, iphone app, rejected, steve jobs
Posted in Freedom Time, Uncategorized, iPhone Apps, iPhone Development | 23 Comments »
