Inzen Studio, a small game startup in Singapore has just released an ambitious project called Game Show Warriors. The launch kicks off with the release of an iOS game called Amazing Studly Strikes, but the studio has quietly released the first two episodes of a Web comic, and episode three just dropped to accompany the release of the mobile game. The game app will also include the Web comic, according to Inzen’s co-founder, Gerald Tock. Inzen was started in October last year, and is made of six developers, with the founders and writers in Singapore, and relies on some development work from China. Its Web comic was created by artists in Uruguay. The comic and its first game center on a character they created, G-man Studly. The game appears to be a tapping frenzy, with waves of enemies attacking G-man Studly from different corners of the screen, requiring you to tap on them furiously as your character scales a skyscraper. Tock said the team is hoping to make the rest of its project happen. It has enough material for another “larger” game and four mini games to be produced under the Game Show Warriors banner. It plans to wait for the response to the first episode to decide whether to continue, however. Besides having people download and play their games, Inzen is hoping that the investment into the online manga will get fans making derivative works such as fan fiction, videos or cosplaying as the characters. Inzen is angel-funded in the “low six figures”, said Tock. The five founding developers in Singapore are graduates from the Singapore-MIT Gambit Game Lab. Prior to creating this project, some of them produced apps that enjoyed some success on the mobile scene. Dark Dot was a shooter they produced in 2011 that climbed to the top of the action charts in 48 countries including China, the US and Singapore, and was the top free iOS app in several Southeast Asian countries. Check out the trailer for Amazing Studly Strikes here:
Author: Timothy Oldfield | Total views: 65 Comments: 0 Word Count: 1604 Date:
Canada is a hockey nation. The U.S.A. is certainly becoming one. This game is our culture. As long as I can remember my kids have played hockey. As the typical hockey dad I was very involved in minor hockey, and even to this day still love going to the rink to watch my kids play. Throughout this time I have seen hockey change dramatically. It has become a year round sport with spring leagues, summer camps, personal trainers, sport specific equipment, and even synthetic ice to train on at home year round.
People have all sorts of opinions around synthetic ice. Certainly there are those who really like it and cannot get enough of it. Still there are those who will hate it, can't skate on it and will never want to try it again. Admittedly it can be difficult for one to get their head around skating on plastic - in particular for both adults and skating purists. The questions are endless. "Do you use regular skates"? "Can you stop on it?" "Is it close to real ice?" "What is the maintenance?" "How do you compare company X with Company Y?" "What makes your product better?" 'Why is yours so expensive?" "Why is yours so cheap?" And on and on it goes. The debate will go on. I can tell you this much. My two children grew up training at home on synthetic ice and they are two of the nicest, strongest skaters you will ever see. So yes I'm biased, but it certainly helped my kids and they love it.
In the mind of the consumer, no matter what brand you buy, none of it is "cheap". You are taking your hard earned money and putting it toward your kids skating future - it doesn't matter if they are figure skaters, sledge hockey players, or ringette players. You are likely going to drop thousands of dollars whether you buy the very best product or the very worst. Frankly, it is worthwhile to do some research and understand a few things that will make or break the purchase and user experience. Hey its fine to buy a cheaper product or conversely the most expensive one so long as it meets your particular application and expectation.
Based on survey research we've completed, one of the major reasons people hesitate or simply don't buy the product is because they simply cannot get what they feel is credible information from the supplier. For example when a consumer asks "why should I buy from you verses your competitor?" and the answer is "well I've been in the industry for 30 years". Well that's not really an answer is it? Think about it. GM has been in the car business for a long time too, but that didn't stop them from filing for bankruptcy and needing to completely overhaul the company. Its just one barometer, not the only one.
The consumer expects good information. The problem is that they may not always know what good information is. They don't know what they don't know. So what do they do? They will often default to price. One thing the consumer does understand is price, and that is something easily compared. The concern with that is the consumer may never get the product quality and skating experience that they expect. So what's a consumer to do?
Well let's think this through logically. The buyer should know that they will almost never get the best product for the lowest price. Then there is the low end of the market when we are discussing price and material qaulity? And for the lowest price what would they get? At worst you can stand on your skates and shoot a puck and stickhandle. At best they will get a product that can be skated on and might actually be pretty well suited for the small home rink. Here again, consumers need to be realistic and manage their own expectations. Meanwhile the sellers of product have to do so with integrity and reliable information that is backed up by fact...not just ego and opinions. There is a market at the low end of the product scale. The reality is however that these products will never be the best nor should they ever be marketed as such. That would just be irresponsible. The likely price range for this category will be between $6.00 and $8.00 per square foot - and frankly there will be a significant difference even between $6 and $8 per square foot product, so just use this as a guide.
The next level - for simplicity - for simplicity sake just call this one the mid-level performer and it will likely be the most common type of product available in the market. Here we are talking about typically massed produced sheet material such as HMWPe (High Molecular Weight Pe) and HDPe (High Density Pe) that is simply machined into a suitable panel and can be used for skating. The results will vary widely of course because there are a wide range of product materials within these categories. There are also differences in how the materials are made from injection molded and extrusion on the lower to mid-range of this category to sinter pressed material on the higher end of this category. We can debate the differences and it would be a lengthy debate - and it is here where you start to lose the consumer with technical talk about molecular weight and coefficient of friction etc.. The key thing for the consumer to know here is to buy a mid grade product you want to have a 500,000 molecular weight specification. If you just do that one thing then your skate experience will be a good one for the long term. Expect to pay between $9.00 and $12.00 per square foot. This will be the majority of sales to home rink buyers who just want a good product to skate on for their kids at home, and in all likelihood they will become satisfied consumers. Once again however, don't assume that a $9.00 product material is the same as a $12.00 product. One might be extruded, one might be sinter pressed so the durability,quality and skating perofrmance can still vary widely. If you want to really separate the quality material from something that might be "suspect" then ask to see a copy of their certificate of material authenticity. Companies with ridged quality systems in place understand this. Companies that say they are the best but can not produce such a document will quickly fade from the conversation. I'm always suspicious of that.
Now, onward and upward. The last category of product to consider is the high end products. There really may only be three or four products truly worthy of being in this category - sorry for the sellers, manufacturers and distributors that think theirs is the only product worth talking about in the marketplace - but it just ain't so. If a homeowner is planning on a 200 square foot rink then they really should not worry about buying a product with the best glide. Save your money and go with low or medium end product as already described. You can't truly appreciate a better skating product if the surface is so small you will never get to full stride. On the other hand larger home rinks like 1000 square feet and up or certainly commercially operated synthetic ice surfaces really need to pay attention to only this category. When your business income is dependant on the quality of the skating and long term product durability then you really need not bother considering anything but a product within this category! In this category there are essentially two types of material. One is classified as VHMWPe (Very High Molecular Weight Pe) and the other is UHMWPe (Ultra High Molecular Weight Pe). Products within this category are typically sinter pressed simply because it the only reliable manufacturing process when the molecular weight is so high. As a buyer, if you are unsure of what you are getting simply ask the seller for the material specification sheet, and also ask to see the manufacturing quality certificate, such as ISO 14001 or ISO 9000 or similar. This will at least ensure you are most likely getting what you should be getting in terms of consistent high quality material within these classifications. The debate can continue about the superior skating material for the long term but these are the most expensive materials and you can expect to pay between $18.00 and $24.00 per square foot for these materials. Even in the high end category prices can vary. The material will be different but so will the joint connection system. There are at least five vastly different, but effective in their own way, systems out there. It is important that the joint connection system is based on the proper understanding of the project application. Suffice to say, there is no one synthetic ice panel connection system that is the best at every application - so just ignore those companies that make this claim.
So there you have it. Three categories of product somewhat simplified as a way for buyers to better understand what they are getting into. Hopefully this can help you at least zone in on one of these categories to help make better, more informed decisions and set buyer expectations. It might be worthwhile to find and talk to companies that actually sell all three categories; at least then all your information can come from one (hopefully) reliable source.
SmartRink sells, distributes and rents high quality synthetic ice rink products around the world. High profile clients include the NHL, HGTV, Las Vegas Sands Corporation, the NY Rangers, and many others. SmartRink educates customers on the best product for their synthetic ice application. For information on SmartRink please visit our website at smartrink.ca
1: How Seiko Kinetic Watches Compare With Citizen Eco-Drive For Divers
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If you've been taking far too many virtual road trips after employing the (unofficial) Street View Hyperlapse chauffeur, you may be running out of places to go next. Well, today Google has added Hungary and Lesotho (a country within South Africa) to the list of lands you can vicariously visit, which brings the total number of Street View-catalogued countries to 50. This being the "largest single update" since, well, the last big one, Google has also added "new and updated imagery for nearly 350,000 miles of roads across 14 countries," including more places of interest for its special collections, thanks to the Street View trike. So, why venture outdoors this lunchtime, when you can wander the streets of Budapest instead?
Remember when you were holding it wrong? Remember when Apple was supposed to compensate you for holding it wrong? No? Well, if you didn't opt for the free rubber bumper back in the day, apparently that $15 "we're so sorry your iPhone 4's antenna sucked" settlement check alternative's finally being sent out via snail mail. So, case closed iFans. It's time to move on to greener, 5S pastures.
Cutting back on sleep harms blood vessel function and breathing controlPublic release date: 22-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Donna Krupa dkrupa@the-aps.org American Physiological Society
Findings could help explain why sleep deprivation associated with cardiovascular disease
BOSTONWith work and entertainment operating around the clock in our modern society, sleep is often a casualty. A bevy of research has shown a link between sleep deprivation and cardiovascular disease, metabolic disorders, and obesity. However, it's been unclear why sleep loss might lead to these effects. Several studies have tested the effects of total sleep deprivation, but this model isn't a good fit for the way most people lose sleep, with a few hours here and there. In a new study by Keith Pugh, Shahrad Taheri, and George Balanos, all of the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom, researchers test the effects of partial sleep deprivation on blood vessels and breathing control. They find that reducing sleep length over two consecutive nights leads to less healthy vascular function and impaired breathing control.
The team will discuss the abstract of their study entitled, "The Effects of Sleep Restriction on the Respiratory and Vascular Control," at the Experimental Biology 2013 meeting, being held April 20-24, 2013 at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, Boston, Mass. The poster presentation is sponsored by the American Physiological Society (APS), a co-sponsor of the event. As the findings are being presented at a scientific conference, they should be considered preliminary, as they have not undergone the peer review process that is conducted prior to the data being published in a scientific journal.
Cutting Sleep in Half
The researchers have worked with eight healthy adult volunteers between the ages of 20 to 35 to date. For the first two nights of the study, the researchers had these volunteers sleep a normal night of eight hours. Then, rather than restrict their sleep completely, the researchers instead had them sleep only four hours during each of three consecutive nights.
Each of these volunteers underwent tests to see how well their blood vessels accommodate an increase in blood flow, a test of healthy blood vessel, or vascular, function. Following the first two nights of restricted sleep, the researchers found a significant reduction in vascular function compared to following the nights of normal sleep. However, after the third night of sleep restriction, vascular function returned to baseline, possibly an adaptive response to acute sleep loss, study leader Pugh explains.
In other tests, the researchers exposed subjects to moderately high levels of carbon dioxide, which normally increases the depth and rate of breathing. However, breathing control was substantially reduced after the volunteers lost sleep.
The researchers later had these volunteers sleep 10 hours a night for five nights. After completing the same tests, results showed that vascular function and breathing control had improved.
A Mechanism for Cardiovascular Harm
Pugh notes that the results could suggest a mechanism behind the connection between sleep loss and cardiovascular disease. "If acute sleep loss occurs repetitively over a long period of time, then vascular health could be compromised further and eventually mediate the development of cardiovascular disease," he explains.
Similarly, the loss of breathing control that the researchers observed could play a role in the development of sleep apnea, which has also been linked with cardiovascular disease.
Pugh adds that some populations who tend to report sleeping shorter periods, such as the elderly, could be at an even higher risk of these adverse health effects.
He and his colleagues plan to continue studying these effects in more subjects to strengthen their results. Eventually, Pugh says, they hope to discover a mechanism to explain why restricting sleep harms vascular function and breathing control.
###
About Experimental Biology 2013
Six scientific societies will hold their joint scientific sessions and annual meetings, known as Experimental Biology, from April 20-24, 2013, in Boston. This meeting brings together the leading researchers from a broad array of life science disciplines. The societies include the American Association of Anatomists (AAA), American Physiological Society (APS), American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB), American Society for Investigative Pathology (ASIP), American Society for Nutrition (ASN), and American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET). Additional information about the meeting is online at http://bit.ly/ymb7av.
About the American Physiological Society (APS)
The American Physiological Society (APS) is a nonprofit organization devoted to fostering education, scientific research, and dissemination of information in the physiological sciences. The Society was founded in 1887 and today represents more than 11,000 members and publishes 14 peer-reviewed journals.
NOTE TO EDITORS: To receive a copy of the abstract or schedule an interview with a member of the research team, please contact Donna Krupa at DKrupa@the-aps.org, 301.634.7209 (office) or 703.967.2751 (cell) or @Phyziochick on Twitter.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Cutting back on sleep harms blood vessel function and breathing controlPublic release date: 22-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Donna Krupa dkrupa@the-aps.org American Physiological Society
Findings could help explain why sleep deprivation associated with cardiovascular disease
BOSTONWith work and entertainment operating around the clock in our modern society, sleep is often a casualty. A bevy of research has shown a link between sleep deprivation and cardiovascular disease, metabolic disorders, and obesity. However, it's been unclear why sleep loss might lead to these effects. Several studies have tested the effects of total sleep deprivation, but this model isn't a good fit for the way most people lose sleep, with a few hours here and there. In a new study by Keith Pugh, Shahrad Taheri, and George Balanos, all of the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom, researchers test the effects of partial sleep deprivation on blood vessels and breathing control. They find that reducing sleep length over two consecutive nights leads to less healthy vascular function and impaired breathing control.
The team will discuss the abstract of their study entitled, "The Effects of Sleep Restriction on the Respiratory and Vascular Control," at the Experimental Biology 2013 meeting, being held April 20-24, 2013 at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, Boston, Mass. The poster presentation is sponsored by the American Physiological Society (APS), a co-sponsor of the event. As the findings are being presented at a scientific conference, they should be considered preliminary, as they have not undergone the peer review process that is conducted prior to the data being published in a scientific journal.
Cutting Sleep in Half
The researchers have worked with eight healthy adult volunteers between the ages of 20 to 35 to date. For the first two nights of the study, the researchers had these volunteers sleep a normal night of eight hours. Then, rather than restrict their sleep completely, the researchers instead had them sleep only four hours during each of three consecutive nights.
Each of these volunteers underwent tests to see how well their blood vessels accommodate an increase in blood flow, a test of healthy blood vessel, or vascular, function. Following the first two nights of restricted sleep, the researchers found a significant reduction in vascular function compared to following the nights of normal sleep. However, after the third night of sleep restriction, vascular function returned to baseline, possibly an adaptive response to acute sleep loss, study leader Pugh explains.
In other tests, the researchers exposed subjects to moderately high levels of carbon dioxide, which normally increases the depth and rate of breathing. However, breathing control was substantially reduced after the volunteers lost sleep.
The researchers later had these volunteers sleep 10 hours a night for five nights. After completing the same tests, results showed that vascular function and breathing control had improved.
A Mechanism for Cardiovascular Harm
Pugh notes that the results could suggest a mechanism behind the connection between sleep loss and cardiovascular disease. "If acute sleep loss occurs repetitively over a long period of time, then vascular health could be compromised further and eventually mediate the development of cardiovascular disease," he explains.
Similarly, the loss of breathing control that the researchers observed could play a role in the development of sleep apnea, which has also been linked with cardiovascular disease.
Pugh adds that some populations who tend to report sleeping shorter periods, such as the elderly, could be at an even higher risk of these adverse health effects.
He and his colleagues plan to continue studying these effects in more subjects to strengthen their results. Eventually, Pugh says, they hope to discover a mechanism to explain why restricting sleep harms vascular function and breathing control.
###
About Experimental Biology 2013
Six scientific societies will hold their joint scientific sessions and annual meetings, known as Experimental Biology, from April 20-24, 2013, in Boston. This meeting brings together the leading researchers from a broad array of life science disciplines. The societies include the American Association of Anatomists (AAA), American Physiological Society (APS), American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB), American Society for Investigative Pathology (ASIP), American Society for Nutrition (ASN), and American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET). Additional information about the meeting is online at http://bit.ly/ymb7av.
About the American Physiological Society (APS)
The American Physiological Society (APS) is a nonprofit organization devoted to fostering education, scientific research, and dissemination of information in the physiological sciences. The Society was founded in 1887 and today represents more than 11,000 members and publishes 14 peer-reviewed journals.
NOTE TO EDITORS: To receive a copy of the abstract or schedule an interview with a member of the research team, please contact Donna Krupa at DKrupa@the-aps.org, 301.634.7209 (office) or 703.967.2751 (cell) or @Phyziochick on Twitter.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Windows Blue, Windows 8.1, Windows 8 SP1... whatever Microsoft wants to call it, it's coming soon. And along with it there will be updates to its RT and Server products too. References to Windows RT 8.1 Preview and Windows Server 2012 R2 were found buried in a DLL of a leaked build of Blue. (Build number 9374, to be specific.) The mentions turned up in basebrd.dll.mui, if you're wondering what file to start rifling through. Don't get too excited, though: there's basically no info to glean other than their existence -- which is no surprise at all. Hopefully all of the much whispered about updates will arrive sooner, rather than later, and pack a few tweaks that will make the Microsoft faithful feel a little bit more at home.
Inzen Studio, a small game startup in Singapore has just released an ambitious project called Game Show Warriors. The launch kicks off with the release of an iOS game called Amazing Studly Strikes, but the studio has quietly released the first two episodes of a Web comic, and episode three just dropped to accompany the release of the mobile game. The game app will also include the Web comic, according to Inzen’s co-founder, Gerald Tock. Inzen was started in October last year, and is made of six developers, with the founders and writers in Singapore, and relies on some development work from China. Its Web comic was created by artists in Uruguay. The comic and its first game center on a character they created, G-man Studly. The game appears to be a tapping frenzy, with waves of enemies attacking G-man Studly from different corners of the screen, requiring you to tap on them furiously as your character scales a skyscraper. Tock said the team is hoping to make the rest of its project happen. It has enough material for another “larger” game and four mini games to be produced under the Game Show Warriors banner. It plans to wait for the response to the first episode to decide whether to continue, however. Besides having people download and play their games, Inzen is hoping that the investment into the online manga will get fans making derivative works such as fan fiction, videos or cosplaying as the characters. Inzen is angel-funded in the “low six figures”, said Tock. The five founding developers in Singapore are graduates from the Singapore-MIT Gambit Game Lab. Prior to creating this project, some of them produced apps that enjoyed some success on the mobile scene. Dark Dot was a shooter they produced in 2011 that climbed to the top of the action charts in 48 countries including China, the US and Singapore, and was the top free iOS app in several Southeast Asian countries. Check out the trailer for Amazing Studly Strikes here:
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Public release date: 22-Apr-2013
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