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Why I Play: EVE Online
Sci-fi MMO EVE Online is possibly the most polarising online game in existence. It has some of the genre's most loyal fans and spawns some of its biggest news stories, but most people just can't stand the user interface and gameplay. It's been called boring, overcomplicated, and a griefer's paradise, but even those who don't play it often still watch from the sidelines as each insane story of theft or corruption emerges from the sandbox. Most games can only keep my attention for a few months at a time, but somehow I've played EVE for over eight and a half years. I've heard it said that EVE is a long-term commitment, a statement I find hard to argue with as at only 26 years old I've been playing EVE almost continuously for a third of my life. It's not just been a game to me; at times it's been a way of life, a refuge from stress, a way to stay in touch with friends, and even a place to learn skills that can apply to the real world. Thanks to Massively, my attachment to EVE has even grown from a hobby to a career in writing and games journalism. I've had numerous periods of low activity in EVE and even quit for months at a time, but something always brings me back to the world's biggest sci-fi sandbox. In this article, I look back at what drew me to EVE initially, some of the unusual factors that have kept me playing EVE over the past eight years, and the reason I'm still motivated to subscribe to this day.
Daily iPad App: Handwriting Without Tears encourages kids to write on your iPad
Handwriting Without Tears is a paper-based writing program that teaches children how to write by organizing letters into groups, such as Starting Corner Capitals, Center Starting Capitals and more . As part of its multi-sensory experience, the handwriting program also uses a chalkboard and the Wet-Dry-Try method to teach kids how to write. The Handwriting Without Tears app is a virtual adaptation of this popular handwriting system. The Handwriting Without Tears app teaches children their capital letter and numbers by emphasizing proper letter formation. Just like the physical chalkboard provided in the writing program, the iPad app looks like a wood-bordered slate and includes a piece of chalk, a sponge and a paper towel. There's even a personalized audio coach Marcy that steps your child through the formation of each letter The app follows the HWT method very closely and, in one mode, introduces the letters in groups such as the Frog Jump Capitals, Starting Corner Capitals and more. There's also a pick and practice mode that lets your child select any letter to write. The Handwriting Without Tears Wet-Dry-Try app is available for the iPad 2 and the iPad 3. It costs $4.99 and includes capital letters and numbers. As for lower-case letters and cursive, the company says "we will be evaluating the incoming customer feedback on this app to help us sort out the need for lowercase letters and cursive."
Daily iPad App: Multiflow helps you hone your child's multiplication skills
Just like addition, multiplication is a subject that requires memorization to learn. There's no way to avoid the drilling, but apps like Multiflow from Dactyl Applications can make the rote memorization fun. Multiflow takes the basic multiplication tables and adds a series of challenges that will have your children dropping their flashcards and grabbing the iPad to learn. The app has four different modes that will drill your children on multiplication skills in ways that are fun and exciting. One mode is the "Mad Minute", which challenges your child to answer as many multiplication facts as possible in 60 seconds. "The Flow" drills your child with the basic multiplication facts, but it changes the difficulty of the questions based on your child's performance. Another mode, "Reversals", turns things upside down by providing the answer and asking your child to choose the number pair that produces the result. Lastly, there is the "Pick em" mode which lets you pick a range of numbers that you want your child to drill. This last mode is as close as you can get to the traditional flash cards. One thing I enjoyed about Multiflow is that it adds fun to multiplication without straying too far away from the core task of learning the multiplication facts. Your child is learning, but they are having so much fun that they don't even notice that they are being drilled. Multiflow supports Gamecenter, so parents can throw a little competition into the mix. The app also tracks your child's progress and lets parents (or kids) share achievements via Facebook or Twitter. Multiflow is available for 99-cents in the iOS App Store.
Kno starts offering K-12 textbooks on tablets, scores industry-first deal with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (update: not as exclusive)
Kno's tablet textbooks have only ever been available to the college crowd; the younger among us have typically had to get a comprehensive digital education from either the tablet maker's own solution, like Apple's iBooks 2, or less-than-integrated options. A new deal for K-12 books is giving the students, if not necessarily the teachers, a fresh alternative. Parents can now rent books for home studying at prices under $10 per title. They're not state-specific books, but their Common Core roots will keep learners on the same (virtual) page as classmates while adding Kno's usual 3D, links, notes and videos. Just to sweeten the pot further, Kno says its current catalog centers around a pact with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt -- a publisher that hasn't offered K-12 books on any tablet platform until now, according to Kno. The initial focus is on iPad, web and Windows 7 readers, although Android-loving parents looking for that at-home edge will have to wait until sometime "soon" to leap in. Update: Although we were told otherwise at first, it's not true that Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has never offered K-12 books on a tablet before: we've since learned that the publisher posted Social Studies textbooks for the iPad in May. The Kno deal is still significant as a rare cross-platform offering. %Gallery-161862%
Use Eve to learn Mac OS X shortcuts
Eve is a brilliant little program that I just installed on my MacBook -- it's got one function only, and that is simply to pop up on the screen whenever you do something with your mouse, and remind you that there's a way to do it with your keyboard. I am a huge fan of keyboard shortcuts, but I have a terrible memory for them, and Eve is designed to fix exactly that problem. Most people know Command-X, Command-C, and Command-V for cut, copy and paste, but I often forget about other shortcuts for common tasks, so I'm hoping Eve can help me build up some muscle memory for them. Eve is an open source project, so it's being added to all the time (and it looks like a "learned button" is one of the first features on the list, which makes a lot of sense -- you wouldn't want a warning to keep showing up after you've learned the shortcut). It's free to download. This kind of instant feedback could be just what you're looking for if you want to increase your keyboard-fu. [via OTW & Lifehacker]
OLPC XO Touch 1.75 to use Neonode tech, take multi-touch on world tour
The One Laptop Per Child's project just got one step closer to updating its venerable XO portable through a newly-struck licensing deal with Neonode. The XO Touch 1.75, a slight rebranding of the as yet unreleased XO 1.75 we saw last year, will use Neonode's MultiSensing to give the laptop a multi-touch screen that's both very responsive and eco-friendly in the same breath. Even as it samples finger input at up to 1GHz, the new OLPC system's 300 DPI display will still use under 2W of power and remain viewable in bright sunlight -- students can even wake up the new model with a gesture instead of using anything so crude as a power button. As important as these advances are to bringing touch to remote schools, we still have some questions about the release schedule and the cost. The XO 1.75 was originally due this year, but we don't know if the Neonode pact will alter the timetable or hike the target price. We've reached out to the OLPC team for comment and will update if there's new details.
Blood Pact: Leveling is much better in Mists of Pandaria
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Blood Pact for affliction, demonology, and destruction warlocks. This week, Megan O'Neill delayed downloading the new beta build in favor of getting her witch doctor to 60. Priorities! With the overhaul to the warlock class coming in Mists of Pandaria, guildmates and friends have been wondering whether to revive old warlocks or not. Those without warlocks on their character screens have been asking the age-old question: Should I level one now or wait until the expansion hits? Unless you're particularly masochistic about your leveling, my advice is to wait. Here's why.
Hello Tutorials for Mac gets new users up and running in a jiffy
Every time there's an Apple earnings call, I'm always amazed to hear Tim Cook or Peter Oppenheimer spout figures on just how many Mac buyers are new to the platform. Whether those new Mac owners are moving over from Windows or are buying a computer for the first time, they may need a helping hand in getting up to speed. That's where the new Hello Tutorials for Mac (introductory price of US$2.99 in the Mac App Store) from It's About Time can come in handy. Hello Tutorials for Mac is a major update to developer Saied Ghaffari's "Learn the Switch to Mac" app. That app was much more expensive, and also came in a version that was bundled with Parallels Desktop. The new app is 998 MB in size and requires OS X Lion; when Mountain Lion ships later this month, purchasers are eligible for a free update to a new version focusing on the features of the updated OS. The old product had a "talking head" in a small window describing things, which was both unnecessary and somewhat distracting. Now the app uses a voice-over narration and screen video capture (in 1280 x 800 video) to demonstrate just about every feature of OS X. Upon launching Hello Tutorials for Mac, you're greeted with a screen that allows you to turn on "switcher mode" (if you've come from Windows), click anywhere on the screen to get a quick tutorial on how to use the app, or click on any icon or object on the screen to get more information. %Gallery-160082% For Windows users, the app provides comparisons between what users might be familiar with in Windows XP (the OS most users might be switching from) and similar features in Mac OS X. Hello Tutorials for Mac is unique among training apps in providing this capability. Lessons are divided into Beginner and Advanced tracks, with each lesson fully described in text prior to starting it up. Most of the lessons are less than six minutes in length, perfect for those who might feel intimated or overwhelmed by a longer session. There's nothing intimidating about Hello Tutorials for Mac. Saied narrates each lesson in a friendly, clear voice and everything is described in just enough detail to get the point across with flooding the new Mac user with too much information. If you'd like to make sure that the student doesn't get distracted by what's on the "real" Mac screen, Hello Tutorials for Mac can be placed in Lion's full-screen mode. If you're still fairly new to the Mac, you might want to pick up a copy of Hello Tutorials for Mac while it's priced at $2.99 -- you'd be surprised how many little tips and tricks you can learn. And if a friend or relative is getting their first Mac, I'd suggest that you do them a favor and install Hello Tutorials for Mac from the App Store right off the bat. Keep the app icon (which looks like an old time chalkboard with a Mac drawn on it) in the dock, show the new Mac user how to launch it, and you'll save yourself the frustration of having to answer a lot of questions.
Daily iPad App: Juicy Math is a fruity way to learn addition and subtraction
It's difficult teaching young children to add and subtract. The task is repetitious and most kids have very short attention spans. To help make this activity more enjoyable, parents might want to take a closer look at Juicy Math from Popapp factory. Juicy Math is a learning app for younger elementary students that'll drill them on basic single-digit addition and subtraction. The app uses pleasantly colored fruit in bunches to represent each number in a math statement and a number tile to represent the answer. The number tiles are laid out in a pile and the child must drag the correct number to answer the math statement. The app requires children to answer the question correctly before moving on, but each quiz only has three problems so younger children won't be overwhelmed by the task at hand. The app keeps track of the time your child spends with the app as well as the number they answer correctly. Juicy Math doesn't support profiles which means its geared for one child. You can use the app with multiple children, but it will throw off the statistics. Juicy Math is an excellent app for teaching your children their basic math skills. The UI is simple and colorful which makes it great for the younger set. Juicy Math is available for 99-cents from the iOS App Store.
FishPi sets course for the open sea, captained by a Raspberry Pi
Raspberry Pi's journey to reach owners has been a lengthy one, but Greg Holloway is preparing to send his board on a longer voyage -- one across the Atlantic. Nestled inside a tupperware tub, the RaspberryPi is the brains of FishPi, an autonomous vessel -- guided by GPS and a compass -- that measures 20 inches from bow to stern. Currently in proof-of-concept form, the craft uses a 40 mm rotating propeller and draws juice from batteries powered by a 130 watt solar panel. Producing kits for students, enthusiasts and professionals is the goal of the project, but testing and development are still on the docket. While the Linux-laden launch isn't ready for the high seas quite yet, you can sail to the source for the technical breakdown or check it out at the Nottingham Hackspace Raspberry Jam next month.
San Diego school district purchases 26,000 iPads
San Diego Unified School District is improving its classroom technology by purchasing 26,000 iPads for use in its schools, according to San Diego's 10News. The iPads will cost the district US$15 million and is funded through Proposition S, a money reserve available to help schools purchase up-to-date technology. The iPads will be used by 5th grade, 8th-grade and high school students in 340 classrooms. This program is thought to be one of the largest deployments of iPads within a K-12 school district. A smaller scale iPad pilot program just finished its first year in the Ashburnham-Westminster Regional School District in Massachusetts. In this pilot, 83 iPads were provided to all Kindergarten classrooms. A similar Kindergarten program was implemented in Auburn, Maine. Results from both programs are early, but encouraging.
Google: Chromebooks now serve web-happy students in over 500 European, US school districts
Whatever you think of the latest round of Chromebooks, school districts have clearly latched on to existing models. Over 500 school districts across Europe and the US are currently deploying the Google-powered laptops for learning the web way. Specialized web app packs and that rare leasing model are already keeping the material relevant and the hardware evergreen, but new certification for US ready-for-college criteria will go a long way towards making sure principals everywhere take a shine to Chrome OS in the future. That still leaves a lot of schools going the more traditional Mac or Windows PC route, with the occasional tablet strategy thrown in; regardless, we're sure Google doesn't mind taking any noticeable chunk of the market in a relatively brief period of time. We'll see if there's more reasons for Mountain View to get excited in a few days.
Valve announces Steam for Schools, helps teachers create educational Portal 2 levels
Who ever said being a scientific guinea pig couldn't be educational? With Steam for Schools, teachers can now use Portal 2's level editor to create lessons focused on boosting critical thinking, spatial reasoning and problem solving skills. Announced at the Games for Change festival in New York City, the educator edition of Steam comes with a free copy of Portal 2 and the Portal 2 Puzzle Maker. Students and teachers alike can use the tools to create puzzles, but distribution is handled by teachers alone. (That's right, kids -- no level sharing unless the teach says so.) An accompanying website serves as a gathering place for teachers to collaborate, and aims to provide sample lesson plans centered on science, technology, engineering and math. If you're an educator who can't wait to bring a Portal-assisted physics lesson to life, see the links below to sign up for the ongoing beta. Now if you'll excuse us, we're off to "study."
LeapFrog LeapPad 2 and Leapster GS Explorer hands-on (video)
If you've got little ones of your own, you're probably familiar with LeapFrog's various learning devices for children. Since last year, the company stepped things up a notch by offering up its LeapPad tablet breed for youngsters and pricing it at just $100. Not only did it ensure you'd never have to your precious iPad loose into rigors of the adolescence (read: having it tortured by kids in unimaginable ways), but it also packed LeapFrog's developmental education know-how into all of its apps. If you'll recall, it was just yesterday that the company announced its second iteration of the device, the LeapPad 2, and today we were able to spend some time with near production-quality engineering samples. On that note, the same can be said of its latest Leapster, the GS Explorer -- a $70 Gameboy-like portable unit focused more on educational gaming. Join us after the break for a brief rundown of what's been improved and our initial impressions of both. %Gallery-158728% %Gallery-158735%
LeapFrog reveals LeapPad 2 and Leapster GS learning tablets, priced at $70 and $100
Got a youngster who ain't keen on waiting for his or her Surface of choice to ship? There's a LeapFrog for that. The name in educational slates has just revealed a pair of refreshed gizmos, the LeapPad 2 and Leapster GS. Boasting higher resolution front and rear cameras / video recorders, twice the memory (4GB) compared to the original and an even more durable frame, the LeapPad 2 also touts a zippier LF 2000 processor, improved battery life and compatibility with an optional internal battery system and recharger pack. Buyers of the $99.99 device will also see a gratis music player (with five learning songs, no less), a Cartoon Director creativity app, an Art Studio creativity app and the Pet Pad writing app. The Leapster GS ($69.99) is a revised Leapster Explorer, offering a thinner design, larger screen, built-in motion sensor, 2GB of memory and a camera / video recorder. Sold already? Folks in the US, UK, Canada and Ireland can grab theirs on July 18th, while most other nations will have to wait until August. Summer learning never felt so right... right?
VTech refreshes its MobiGo and InnoTab lines, keeps things affordable
VTech's kid-friendly slab may not sport Google's dessert-themed OS, but it does carry a lower sticker price than its Android-based competitors. The InnoTab 2 Learning App Tablet keeps its predecessor's $80 price tag while packing in 2GB of onboard storage (expandable up to 32GB with an SD card) and a rotating camera for taking stills, videos and playing AR games. The slate's vanilla configuration will hit shelves this fall, but a WiFi-equipped version can be had this holiday season for a $20 premium. The MobiGo 2 Touch Learning System is set to roll out this summer in a similar fashion, retaining a $60 asking price despite adding a motion sensor and microphone to its repertoire. Saunter on past the break for the press release.
iLearnWith is an early childhood education program for the iPad
There are a wide range of educational apps in the App Store. Some titles like Tapfish are fun, while others like the iLearnWith program from Tribal Nova are geared for learning. The thing that sets iLearnWith apart from its competition is the ability to set up profiles for multiple children and track their progress across more than one app. iLearnWith is more than just a few loosely-associated apps with profiles. It's an iPad-based learning environment with several different apps that interact and share data with each other. The apps are geared towards the younger set (ages 3 to 6) and focus on basic skills like letters, phonics, and addition. There are also a few titles that explore science by introducing topics like animals and weather. Each educational app has a different theme and tests a different set of skills. There's i Learn With Poko: Seasons and Weather! HD which covers weather; i Learn With Boing: Ice Land Adventures! HD which focuses on letters phonics and spelling; i Learn With Savanna Adventures! HD which mixes animals with math; i Learn With the Mighty Jungle: Animals! HD which showcases animals and i Learn With Poko: Fun Counting and Addition! HD which introduces math. When your child is done learning, they can open the Planet Boing app, which offers kids a break from drills and lets them dress-up and play with a variety of cartoon aliens. When you launch one of the iLearnWith apps, you are greeted with an animated launch screen that matches the theme of the app. From here, you can start a lesson, select a child's profile, view your child's progress or browse other iLearnWith apps that are installed on your device. I was impressed with the sharing and tracking that exists between the apps when you use them with an iLearnWith account (available for free). I was able to launch one app, pull up my child's progress records from all the apps and then jump to another app to begin lessons. It was seamless to move from one app to another. I've used four of the apps in the series, and each app is colorful and engaging. The characters are cute and there's enough animation to keep your child focused on the activity. Instructions are very clear and tell your child exactly what they need to do at each screen. If your child forgets, there's always a character like Mister Murphy the Monkey hanging around to help. There's also background music and sound effects in the apps, but they add to the experience and are not overbearing. Children get positive reinforcement and earn rewards when they answer correctly. When a mistake is made, a sad noise gives mild correction and the child is prompted to try again. The reward system gives your child medals and trinkets that they can use in Planet Boing, an app within the series that's a more of a digital playground than a learning app. For parents or teachers, iLearnWith has section dedicated to tracking your child's progress in not just one, but all the iLearnWith apps. When you open the progress hub, you can view the learning activities for each app and the level your child has completed. At the top is the current app and its statistics, which in the detailed view can include the number of times the child completed an activity, their success rate and the average success rate of the group. At the bottom of the progress section are the other apps and their completion level. Parents can tap an activity, like adding up to 10 in the Addition! app, and that app will launch. Tribal Nova, the company behind the iLearnWith apps, is no stranger to early childhood education and it shows. The apps are filled with progress tracking features for parents and fun for kids who want to learn. You can read more about iLearnWith at the company's website and check out their other work which includes PBS KIDS PLAY!, Kid's CBC Wonder World, and Bayam. The iLearnWith apps are available in the iOS App Store for US$2.99 each. Select titles in the series are on sale now for a limited time.
Educational app series Motion Math reaches one million download milestone
We often hear about games reaching one million downloads, but, today, educational app Motion Math announced it has reached this notable milestone, too. Motion Math develops four math-oriented titles for the iPad and the iPhone including its self-titled debut, Motion Math. All four titles (Motion Math, Motion Math Zoom, Motion Math: Hungry Fish and Motion Math:Wings) contributed to this million downloads milestone. Interest is growing in educational apps, and this is evident in Motion Math's download stats. In its press release announcing its one million downloads, the company said half of these downloads have come in the last four months. And this is only the beginning -- as more schools adopt iPads, the download tally for Motion Math and other apps in the educational category is bound to increase. Besides its one million downloads, Motion Math also used this occasion to announce its next app, Motion Math: Hungry Guppy. This title is Motion Math's first app aimed at pre-schoolers and is expected to land in the iOS App Store this summer. [Via Motion Math] Show full PR text Motion Math Reaches One Million iOS App Downloads Fun Math App Company Announces New Preschool Adding Game for Kids San Francisco (June 13, 2012) -- Motion Math, the pioneer of fun, interactive mobile math games, has surpassed more than one million downloads of its four award-winning titles, Motion Math HD (fraction estimation), Motion Math Zoom (number line and place value), Motion Math: Hungry Fish (arithmetic) and Motion Math: Wings (multiplication). Half of those downloads have come in the last four months and all four apps have reached Top 10 or Top 5 recognition in Apple's App Store Education Category. Motion Math's fraction game was the subject of the first ever experiment on an iPad app, with research showing a 15% improvement in fractions estimation and a 10% improvement in math attitudes. Their latest game, Motion Math: Wings, features six different visual forms of multiplication, helping students build their understanding of the concept. Recognizing the importance of fundamental math skills for children's success, parents and teachers have downloaded one million Motion Math games, turning screen time into learning time. To address the needs of families with children as young as two, the company today also announced its first game for preschoolers, Motion Math: Hungry Guppy, the prequel to Motion Math: Hungry Fish. "We're excited that Motion Math can meet the learning needs of families with young children," said Gabriel Adauto, Motion Math co-founder. "By starting with dot visuals and slowly introducing numbers, Hungry Guppy helps preschoolers build an intuitive sense for addition." In the Top 5 game Motion Math: Hungry Fish, players find the many ways to create a specific sum, using the touchscreen to pinch two numbers together and instantly add them. Motion Math: Hungry Guppy has the same engaging gameplay, but uses a mix of dots and numbers to allow kids as young as two to learn their numbers and basic addition. The Motion Math: Hungry Guppy math game will be available for the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch later this summer. Both Motion Math: Wings (http://bit.ly/mmwings) and Motion Math: Hungry Fish (http://bit.ly/hungryfish) are available now as free downloads on the App Store. Motion Math creates fun learning games that let kids play with numbers. The company's fractions app, conceived at the Stanford School of Education won a Serious Play Gold Medal. A rigorous efficacy study - the first done on an iPad educational app - found the game improved test scores 15% and attitudes towards fractions by 10%. Subsequent games - Motion Math Zoom, Motion Math: Hungry Fish, and Motion Math: Wings – have received rave reviews, promotion by Apple, and #5 rankings in the Education category. Motion Math is backed by a world-class group of angel investors, including Mitch Kapor, Dave McClure, and Mike Wood (the founder of LeapFrog), and has been featured in TechCrunch, VentureBeat, Wired, WSJ, Forbes, PBS NewsHour, Fast Company and the NYT. Most importantly: kids, parents, and teachers love Motion Math games. To learn more, visit http://www.motionmathgames.com.
Solar-powered Son-X Octavia now bringing 'interactive sound' to school playgrounds
While initially announced in the summer of 2011, the Son-X Octavia has been working its way into reality ever since. As of this month, though, the solar-powered "interactive sound device" is now shipping to schools in Europe. For those unfamiliar, the coconut-esque device straps onto a conventional swing set in order to keep kids outside -- using technology to prevent kids from becoming supersaturated with technology, if you will. The company has designed it with tight school budgets in mind, making it completely wireless, self-contained and easy to install. Once in place, swingers can activate three aural games, each of which act to "awaken the natural curiosity in children to explore the possibilities through activity." Not surprisingly, it's designed to be upgraded over time, with new titles to be made available on USB drives. The outfit's still not offering 'em direct to consumers, but those with B2B connections can grab one for €499 ($624).
Pitch Perfect is the perfect marketing primer for the indie developer
If you're a developer with an app and a dream, you would do well to pick up Pitch Perfect by TUAW's Erica Sadun and Steve Sande. Their book lifts the veil on how app reviewers, bloggers specifically, operate. Most of the advice I give to people looking to pitch an app is in this book. Added to the valuable knowledge within are some great illustrations by Nitrozac and Snaggy (of Joy of Tech). Pitch Perfect starts with why you should care about reviews, and dives quickly into some essential advice on crafting your app. It's hard to be objective when you've slaved over code and graphics for months, but if you take Erica and Steve's advice to heart, it will snap you awake and hopefully give you a discerning eye before you send us your hard work. The book has several chapters on crafting your pitch, from what to include and what to avoid, all the way to how to reach out to harried, underpaid bloggers. Managing expectations, dealing with bloggers in general -- these are things I wish I could tell everyone before they send us a single PR email. Then there are a bunch of case studies, which they pick apart for good and bad examples. Finally, there are tips and techniques for making a product video, press release and more. A few quick tips on social media, and the all-important care and handling of bloggers rounds out the book. These last few chapters are marketing classes distilled into action items. How do you know which PR outlets to use, for example? How do you shoot a video of your app? I think the social media tips are the most sane I've read in a while, honestly. While this book is a great first step, it won't tell you how to measure ROI on your social media campaigns, or provide a list of secret emails that guarantee you great reviews across the galaxy. Pitch Perfect is tuned especially for indie devs who lack a marketing team, who likely can't afford one, and who have a ton of other responsibilities besides promoting their app (like, bug reports, making enhancements, eating food, playing outside, etc.). Once you've launched your app, however, this book is your best chance for a fair look from any number of review sites. Obviously I wouldn't keep Erica and Steve around if they couldn't write and knew nothing. I think any developer who is looking to understand how to pitch blogs for reviews would do well to read this book not just because it's a sneak peek into blogs or reviews, but because Erica and Steve know their stuff and (most importantly) know how to explain what to do in a wonderful way. You won't feel lost, either. Pitch Perfect is one of those delightful books that guides you through a process and points out all the right moves. Well-written, with great examples pulled from the stuff we do every day? It's a bargain at US$8.99 and available on Kindle and the iBookstore.
