Touchy – visit http://touchy.mobi – is available on the Apple iTunes store and Android Market. It is a social game where players physically try to touch each others’ mobile screens. So it is a game of reaching and protecting – with shrieks of laughter!

Arlene and Bruce play Touchy on Dragons' Den

Arlene and Bruce laughing after a game of Touchy

The pitch went well – but I was called in the day after a three day conference with late parties each night and this was just after a long open house – after I stopped talking, I could hardly get my mouth open – all I could do was nod and smile! Oh well – Inventor Dan Zen.

Touchy Inventor Dan Zen on Dragons' Den CBC

We would love your help getting Touchy out to the people – please check out the game on iTunes and Android Market – just search for Touchy – links are available at http://touchy.mobi, leave a review and tell anyone who you think would like to play – it is hard getting the message out to the youth – the primary market.

If you are interested in getting involved in an upcoming Touchy Tournament – find us on facebook and leave a message on the Wall – http://facebook.com/touchymobi – all the best!

-12-

Altura at http://altura.mobi is a Web / Mobile site that lets people partake and write pseudo interactive stories in a fun and free manner.

We will not give away exactly how it works until you try it!  Suffice it to say, it is another interactive storytelling feature from creator Dan Zen – http://danzen.com to add to the long list of interactive fiction environments:

	GORGOLON Underwater Multi-user Sci-Fi Game
	SAVE EARTH Save Future Earth With This Online Remote Control!
	MOUSTACHE MYSTERIES Zany Mysteries from the Mind of the Moustache!
	SHRINK RAY Save thousands shrunk in a bottle!
	BLIMP RACE Fly your blimp with all your friends!

	HIP CATS Turn On, Jack In and Hang Out
	CHANGING MAIL Change sent mail after it is read
	SPIROGRAM Spiral Encode Messages To Friends
	DENS Atmospheric Forums
	SPY-MAIL Get Spied On!
	COMMENT RIGHT Encouragement for blog comments

	TOWER OF BABEL Whisper Words That Have Never Been Said
	ZEN MOTTO Philosophical Focus
	A MILLION CLOUDS Fly a Jet Pack Through a Million Clouds!
	GYCOPO The Game You Can Only Play Once!
	PREDICTION TRAIN Ride the Prediction Train Into the Future

	SNIPISODE Tell stories through Facebook status lines!
	TAPOLL Predict-a-Poll Web 2.0 Site!
	YASEESAY Say What you See Tool!
	ZEN MIX Cool Vlogging Tool
	ZEN PICTURE PAN ZOOM Scrolling Picture Viewer

-2012-

Dan Zen will give a talk at the Arnie Student Pub on December 5th 2011 at 6:30 as the keynote to the Software Hamilton DemoCamp.

The talk will go over using Hierarchies as a creative framework. So rather than approaching the subject philosophically, it will be a more practical guide with an explanation of terms and isomorphisms of hierarchies.

The talk will include a set of 20 hand illustrated and colored examples with similar style to the poster except done in black with white.

Dan Zen will connect everyone at the event physically and use this experience to explore creating new forms of mobile games and apps.

For more information and to register for free…

http://danzen.com/create

-11-

	TITLE: SWOODLE BUILD: 2 Nights DESC: Swoodle to hone your finger tai chi!
	TITLE: WAVY! BUILD: 1 Night DESC: Wave your device to make sounds!
	TITLE: TADA! BUILD: 10 Nights DESC: Decision and Faves tool.

The apps were uploaded to the three stores in one hour. This is amazing cross device efficiency from Adobe Flash and Flash Builder.

Dan Zen is the creator of TOUCHY the mobile app where players try to touch each others’ devices.

There has been a lot of buzz about how Adobe has “Killed Flash on Mobile”.  This is not true.

1. Flash on mobile is being focused to make APPS.  Adobe will focus on HCJ (HTML, CSS and JavaScript) for mobile browsers.
2. The current Flash plugin is still supported on mobile including security updates so any legacy content on mobile devices will continue to work.  Adobe will not be developing future plugin versions on mobile.

BACKGROUND

In general, the mobile browser is for looking at things and mobile apps are for doing things.  Flash is great for making apps.  HCJ is fine for presentation and animation on the browser.  Flash would have been fine as well if you discount legacy pages that were not designed for mobile and of course if all platforms supported it.

If you would like to read more of a background on the split between browsers and apps on mobile and the differences between Flash and HCJ, then please read my earlier post:
http://danzen.wordpress.com/2011/10/24/flash-and-hcj-html-css-and-javascript/

ADOBE

Adobe has clearly stated that it is focusing Flash-on-mobile for making APPS in articles such as these:
http://blogs.adobe.com/flashplayer/2011/11/focusing.html
http://mikechambers.com/blog/2011/11/11/clarifications-on-flash…

EXAMPLES

Here is a recent post about three mobile apps that Dan Zen has just launched that are made with Flash and Flash Builder:
http://danzen.wordpress.com/2011/11/12/swoodle-wavy-tada/

SOME COOL FLASH SITES

Flash remains on browsers on desktop and if indeed the plugin architecture fades on desktop, there is AIR for desktop apps which will support Flash.  Also, there are experiments in streaming Flash interactive content to browsers without the use of plugins  which would be ready I am sure by any demise of desktop/laptop browser plugins.  Below is a link to some excellent Flash experiences should you need a more positive reminder of what we can build.

http://www.thefwa.com/article/30-flash-sites-that-school-html5

Or click the icons below (thanks FWA for the compilation!):

In this post, I will compare Adobe Flash and HCJ (a handy acronym for HTML, CSS and JavaScript).

QUICK CREDENTIAL CHECK

I have built hundreds of features and sites in Flash and HCJ over 15 years of creation at http://danzen.com for which I received the Canadian New Media Awards Programmer of the Year.  I coordinate the Sheridan Interactive Multimedia Post Grad Program http://imm.sheridanc.on.ca for which I received the Canadian New Media Educator of the Year.  I also explore the philosophical side of coding at http://nodism.org.

PURPOSE OF POST

The purpose of this post is to help clarify what these technologies do to better guide our direction.  In a more specific context, there are a lot of people bashing Flash and I would like to put this in perspective.

  HCJ SUMMARY

HTML, CSS and JavaScript is an open source system to display Web pages and mobile Web apps

• HTML is a tagging language (XHTML is a subset of XML which is a subset of SGML) that defines the elements of the page.
• CSS defines styles that can be applied to the elements of the page.
  
• JavaScript is a programming language based on ECMA Script (latest Object Oriented) that can work with HTML elements and styles.

  FLASH SUMMARY

Flash is an application to make features that run in a browser plugin or in the AIR environment for desktop and mobile Apps

• The application has tools to build visual assets like vector illustrations, animations, text, images, sound and video.
• Flash has the ActionScript programming language which is based on ECMA Script (latest Object Oriented).
• Flash also supports CSS for styling.

COMPARISON

Both systems have the same potential.  The main difference is in culture and in tooling.

Over the last ten plus years, creators of Flash and creators using Flash have been in a symbiotic relationship to hone the tooling of Flash specifically for making enhanced interactive features (see INTERACTIVITY SCALE post). This means that there are  hundreds of media specific classes (code) with thousands of properties, methods and events tailored to interacting with the media.  Everything we need has been carefully catered to (or filtered out), organized, tested and applied.

HCJ, on the other hand, has been used primarily for display and collection of information.  So culturally, there is a ten year gap – even in basic functionality like rotation, let alone the culture of dragging, collision, keyboard commands, bitmap control, sound and video manipulation, filters, 3D, etc.  I say culturally, because some of these things were possible, just not really sought after.  There might be hundreds of hit tests done in HCJ and millions done in Flash.

Culturally, over the last few years (and particularly since the iOS no-Flash-in-Browser “NFIB” situation) there have been steps to move HCJ in the direction of enhanced interactive features. As mentioned, the potential is there.  People are building  libraries – a famous one being JQuery, and media is getting tag support with HTML 5, etc.

Tools are being built – even by Adobe, especially by Adobe, to support enhanced interactive features in the HCJ system.  Tool makers have the benefit of seeing Flash grow and will no doubt catch up to where Flash is now in a few years.  Of course, in a few years, Flash will have continued to progress as it is doing in the direction of 3D.

ANALYSIS

We are again at a time where Consumption and Creation have been separated.  In the 90′s we consumed online and created on our desktop.  In the 00′s, we did both on the Web although the creation pattern has always lagged far behind the consumption pattern. In the 10′s, with the arrival of mobile devices and in particular the success and arrangement of the iOS devices, we have the Web for consuming stuff and the Apps for creating stuff.  Communication sits between or can be done on both sides.

Consumption with browsers and creation with apps is a natural split as indicated by the names – browser and apps. As an application builder, I do not mind the the split because we have a way to get paid for the apps!  Try getting paid for a Web app – I have tried for 15 years with little success.

Marketing loves the split too – because they get to show authoritative content to the viewer.  Unfortunately, there has been a throw-back to authoritative content and I think they have forgotten the power of user created content – rotating a picture of a car in 3D is not user created content and only scratches at the surface of engagement.

PREDICTION

The split between consumption on the Web and creation with Apps will hang around for a while **.  There will be some enhanced interactive sites with the HCJ system but for the most part, people will think that fancy animation is enhanced interactivity and they will be satisfied consuming. The HCJ system will also be used to make apps.  Most of these apps will be information apps – as in, “it is on the Web but we wanted a presence in the App store”.  Other HCJ apps may rival Flash and Native apps in enhanced interactivity but if the Adobe Flash team and community does its job, Flash will keep ahead of the curve – the curve that they created in enhanced interactivity.  Props to Flash.

CONCERNS AND CONCLUSION

The Flash community is very open and creative – some have gone on to help HCJ with their experience.  What has not been very helpful is calling Flash (or letting Flash be called) taboo because clients can’t get their message on iOS Web.  Marketing agencies should offer (or continue to offer) engaging mobile APPS as a further opportunity to build brand experience.  Right now, for the most part, there is no better and efficient way to create enhanced interactive experiences across the mobile platforms than Flash and Flash Builder – I guarantee it.  Adobe is doing a wonderful job with the tools – just perhaps not as good a job as Apple with the hype.

Dan Zen – 2011

** It is possible that we will sway away from the Web as an all encompassing place for everything.  The Web will act like a promotional place for offline and online products. More and more products will access the Internet directly like multiuser game “clients”.  This will happen more so if we kill plugin architecture – either that or everyone will have their own browser (Google has already started with Chrome and its custom extensions).   If you are thinking of going this way – Adobe AIR allows you to make your own Web browser – similar to Steam for instance.

-11-

The following is a chart showing aspects of interactivity with examples.  These are ordered by general purpose going from simple navigational interactivity for consumption at the bottom to enhanced interactivity for creation at the top.  There is often a blend of these aspects, for instance, you select and move a collage piece as you organize it.  The scale shows tendencies.

Click the picture for full size.  Let me know if this is useful or used.

Inventor Dan Zen
http://danzen.com

–11–

Tapoll at http://tapoll.com has received over 100,000 views.  In honor, we have made it bigger!  We took the 980 pixel width of Facebook, Google+. flickr, etc. to make Tapoll easier to see and operate!

TWIST

Tapoll polls have a unique twist:

Tapoll lets you predict and vote on a poll at the same time.

The results then show the predictions which often vary quite a bit from the actual votes.  Using the graph feature, you can see over and under predictions as well as the percent of user who voted for their own prediction.  This is often in the 50% range.

SHARING

Just recently, we added share buttons for Facebook, Twitter and Google+.

VIDEO DEMO

The top left corner is redesigned and now includes a link to a video demo on YouTube.

INTERACTIVE VIDEO AD

On the right hand side you will see a video ad for the Touchy game at http://touchy.mobi.  It shows up every once in a while and relates the ad to the keywords of the poll you are viewing.

INSPIRATION!

Tapoll also shows related news and social links in the inspiration column at right.  If you press the TAPOLL button next to any of these, it will start you off creating a poll with this link, picture, video, etc. cited as a reference.  You can also make a poll based on another Tapoll poll as well using the TAPOLL button under any poll.

Please come on by and share a few polls on your social sites!

-11-

Click above to see Video.  Thee Gnostics at http://theeGnostics.com are a Space Rock band from Hamilton.  Dan Zen is the one with the big round glasses – Gaven in robe and Russ in Fried Potato Gang shirt.  Missing are Matt and Thomas although they are playing on the song.

Fun to get the gang dancing – quite the eclectic styles.  Please visit Thee Gnostic playlist on YouTube and leave a comment or two!

A few taps and Tada! Decision!

Quickly and easily rank options with Tada! Enter items to rank like sites, apps, people, food and rate them on factors such as usability, fun, nose, taste, etc. When you are done rating press to reveal the results!

Save multiple files, do secret rankings, and get tips if you are stuck. Helps solve dilemmas in a real way as opposed to a random way.  A few presses and Tada!

Available on the Android Market and soon for Playbook and iPad.

Have fun!  Tada! was used to come up with the name for the product.

-2011-