imprison bogging: July 2013

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

The Last Guardian Is Still Being Done by SCE Japan

The Last Guardian

It?s no secret that the development of Team Ico?s The Last Guardian has been a troubled one. Between the game?s director, Fumito Ueda, leaving his full-time position at Sony and the game?s many delays, it?s no surprise that fans are skeptical about the game?s release. There was some?concern during E3 when Sony of America?s Jack Trenton stated the game was ?on hiatus?, but this statement was quickly countered when Sony Worldwide?s Shuhei Yoshida clarified that the game was ?in active development?.

In slightly more recent news (http://www NULL.joystiq NULL.com/2013/06/12/the-last-guardian-is-alive-with-no-release-in-sight/), PlayStation?s Scott Rohde confirmed that the game is ?alive?. He stressed that the game is one that ?there?s a lot of love for inside PlayStation walls? because fans are so ?emotionally driven?. He stated that they game is very important to them, but that they weren?t ready to?divulge specific details.

All that aside, it seems we?ve?received?yet another confirmation that?The Last Guardian?is in development. In a recent?interview?with Polygon (http://www NULL.polygon NULL.com/2013/7/19/4538902/the-benefits-of-developing-for-ps3-not-ps4), Gavin Moore, a developer for SCE Japan, discussed how they develop multiple games at once. He mentioned that ?multiple teams are always working on games with a core group, while a much larger group of developers move to which ever project is closest to completion?. When discussing how busy the studio was with projects he stated that, ?Knack?is being done in that studio,?The Last Guardian?is still being done in that studio, [Gravity Rush?creator Keiichiro] Toyama-san is doing his next one.?

So there it is folks! Another conformation that, despite all the bumps in the road,?The Last Guardian?is in development. Although no other details have been provided, at least we can rest assured?knowing?that the game has not been abandoned.

SOURCE? (http://www NULL.polygon NULL.com/2013/7/19/4538902/the-benefits-of-developing-for-ps3-not-ps4)

About Hailee Kenney

Hailee first started following Operation Rainfall when the localization of Xenoblade Chronicles was officially announced. Her gaming life began when she got The Legend of Zelda: Link?s Awakening on Gameboy, and she has loved the Legend of Zelda series ever since. Hailee loves RPGs or any game with a good story, and is especially fond of the Final Fantasy and Persona series; she is also quite fond of BioWare titles. She also admires any games that are unique in their gameplay or aesthetic. Although she has to balance gaming with earning a degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Hailee is always trying to broaden her horizons and try as many different games as possible.

Source: http://operationrainfall.com/the-last-guardian-still-being-done/

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Checking for updates from inside a Windows Phone app

Latest revision as of 21:02, 24 July 2013

This article explains how to check for app updates from inside an app.

Article Metadata

Tested with

SDK: Windows Phone 8.0 SDK

Devices(s): Nokia Lumia 920

Compatibility

Article

[edit] Introduction

A few months ago, I started receiving some crash reports from one of my most successful apps, Geosense!

After fixing the issue and publishing an updated version of the app, until today I still get quite a few reports from the very same old version, but none from the updated one!

This has got me to think on the reason to why people don?t update their apps! Here are some reasons:

No constant internet connection
Removing the Store tile from the Home screen
Don?t care about updating apps!

The first one doesn?t make much sense to me, as the Windows Phone ecosystem makes a lot more sense as a ?always online? system! Also, Geosense requires internet connection to work and crash reports can?t be done without internet connection, so this doesn?t seem to be the main reason in my case!

I don?t see the point in it, but not caring to check and update the apps in ones phone is just a matter of personal opinion!

That leaves the middle option: having the Store tile in the Home screen will enable users to get visual notification of updates (the number of updated apps appears in the tile); without it, the only other option is that the user actually opens the Store app from the applications menu.

[edit] Coding time

Wouldn?t it be nice to just get the app to notify the user that an update is available?

Keeping this in mind, I opened Fiddler on my laptop, set my phone to use it as a proxy server, opened Geosense info from the store, and this is the request I could see going to Microsoft servers:

http://marketplaceedgeservice.windowsphone.com/v8/catalog/apps/7ca9cfea-1b92-4ca4-8559-269936d5361e?os=8.0.9903.0&cc=GB&oc=&lang=en-GB&hw=520170499&dm=RM-821_eu_euro1&oemId=NOKIA&moId=VOD-GB&cf=99-1

I can see in the above url the application ProductId (7ca9cfea-1b92-4ca4-8559-269936d5361e) the windows phone version (os=8.0.9903.0), the store territory (cc=GB), the language (lang=en-GB) and a bunch of other stuff related to the device brand, model and version.

The response is even more interesting, as it shows all the Store information about the app, including the latest available version and release date.

Given we are only interested in the version, after manually clearing up the response this is what we get:

<a:feed xmlns:a="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:os="http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearch/1.1/" xmlns="http://schemas.zune.net/catalog/apps/2008/02">
<!-- other stuff -->
?
<a:entry>
<!-- other stuff -->
?
<version>1.10.1.8</version>
?
<!-- other stuff -->
</a:entry>
?
<!-- other stuff -->
</a:feed>

Well, we now know how to get the Store information about a particular app, we know what gets returned and how to read it, so let?s put that all together!

We will need the ProductID for the current running app, and for that we can just read it from the WMAppManifest.xml file like I shown in a previous article:

public static string GetManifestAttributeValue(string attributeName)
{
var xmlReaderSettings = new XmlReaderSettings
{
XmlResolver = new XmlXapResolver()
};
?
using (var xmlReader = XmlReader.Create("WMAppManifest.xml", xmlReaderSettings))
{
xmlReader.ReadToDescendant("App");
?
return xmlReader.GetAttribute(attributeName);
}
}

Given that there is no way in the current SDK to retrieve the Store territory, we will fallback to the CultureInfo.CurrentUICulture value for it and also for the language.

Here?s the complete async method to retrieve the latest version information from the Store:

private Task<Version> GetUpdatedVersion()
{
var cultureInfoName = CultureInfo.CurrentUICulture.Name;
?
var url = string.Format("http://marketplaceedgeservice.windowsphone.com/v8/catalog/apps/{0}?os={1}&cc={2}&oc=&lang={3}?",
GetManifestAttributeValue("ProductID"),
Environment.OSVersion.Version,
cultureInfoName.Substring(cultureInfoName.Length - 2).ToUpperInvariant(),
cultureInfoName);
?
var request = WebRequest.Create(url);
?
return Task.Factory.FromAsync(request.BeginGetResponse, result =>
{
var response = (HttpWebResponse)request.EndGetResponse(result);
?
if (response.StatusCode != HttpStatusCode.OK)
{
throw new WebException("Http Error: " + response.StatusCode);
}
?
using (var outputStream = response.GetResponseStream())
{
using (var reader = XmlReader.Create(outputStream))
{
reader.MoveToContent();
?
var aNamespace = reader.LookupNamespace("a");
?
reader.ReadToFollowing("entry", aNamespace);
?
reader.ReadToDescendant("version");
?
return new Version(reader.ReadElementContentAsString());
}
}
}, null);
}

All you now have to do is compare it to the active app version, like in this sample code:

private async void CheckForUpdatedVersion()
{
var currentVersion = new Version(GetManifestAttributeValue("Version"));
var updatedVersion = await GetUpdatedVersion();
?
if (updatedVersion > currentVersion
&& MessageBox.Show("Do you want to install the new version now?", "Update Available", MessageBoxButton.OKCancel) == MessageBoxResult.OK)
{
new MarketplaceDetailTask().Show();
}
}

At startup, just call CheckForUpdatedVersion() and it will check if a new version is available, and if so, show a confirmation message box to the user and open the Marketplace details for the updated app.

[edit] The Cimbalino alternative

If you?re using Cimbalino Windows Phone Toolkit, I?ve added the IMarketplaceInformationService that contains all the above logic to retrieve Store information for apps, with added bonus that will work not only for WP8 but also in WP7!

For the time being, this new service is only available in the 3.1.0-rc version of the toolkit, so make sure to install the pre-release version!

[edit] Version Hint

Windows Phone: [[Category:Windows Phone]]
[[Category:Windows Phone 7.5]]
[[Category:Windows Phone 8]]

Nokia Asha: [[Category:Nokia Asha]]
[[Category:Nokia Asha Platform 1.0]]

Series 40: [[Category:Series 40]]
[[Category:Series 40 1st Edition]] [[Category:Series 40 2nd Edition]]
[[Category:Series 40 3rd Edition (initial release)]] [[Category:Series 40 3rd Edition FP1]] [[Category:Series 40 3rd Edition FP2]]
[[Category:Series 40 5th Edition (initial release)]] [[Category:Series 40 5th Edition FP1]]
[[Category:Series 40 6th Edition (initial release)]] [[Category:Series 40 6th Edition FP1]] [[Category:Series 40 Developer Platform 1.0]] [[Category:Series 40 Developer Platform 1.1]] [[Category:Series 40 Developer Platform 2.0]]

Symbian: [[Category:Symbian]]
[[Category:S60 1st Edition]] [[Category:S60 2nd Edition (initial release)]] [[Category:S60 2nd Edition FP1]] [[Category:S60 2nd Edition FP2]] [[Category:S60 2nd Edition FP3]]
[[Category:S60 3rd Edition (initial release)]] [[Category:S60 3rd Edition FP1]] [[Category:S60 3rd Edition FP2]]
[[Category:S60 5th Edition]]
[[Category:Symbian^3]] [[Category:Symbian Anna]] [[Category:Nokia Belle]]

Source: http://developer.nokia.com/Community/Wiki/index.php?title=Checking_for_updates_from_inside_a_Windows_Phone_app&diff=204042&oldid=204040

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Saturday, July 20, 2013

Donated items for tornado victims sold at thrift store

Posted on: 7:34 am, July 19, 2013, by La'Tasha Givens, updated on: 08:09am, July 19, 2013

MOORE, Okla. ? News Channel 4 is investigating concerns about items donated for tornado victims ending up for sale at a local thrift store.

Jason Winick said part of his roof collapsed during the Moore tornado.

?The wind blew a hole in my roof and then it flooded into my living room.?

Winick said he went to the Donation Station to get some assistance.

He said instead of receiving donated items directly, he got three vouchers that would allow him to collect $150 dollars worth of products at a thrift store in Del City.

?I?m very concerned that they are taking donations right behind Moore Medical Center which is devastated by the tornado and people believing that they are a tornado relief station,? Winick said.

State Representative Mark McBride said he concerned as well.

He said he personally dropped off clothing at Donation Station but now worries his donation may not have been given to those in need.

State Rep. Mark McBride, Moore District 53, said, ?They took the brand new 10 pair of jeans that I gave them and they took them to Del City and sold them, that irritates me.?

Over the course of a week?s time, we?ve tried repeatedly to sit down with the owner of Donation Station.

He declined our requests for an on-camera interview but we?ve had numerous phone conversations.

We asked him if some of the donation items people dropped off in Moore are being sold at Value Village in Del City.

?Donation Station has operated at the Moore location at least a year before the tornado hit,? he said.

He told us, similar to Goodwill or the Salvation Army, Donation Station collects items people no longer want, then sells those belongings at its thrift store in Del City.

But unlike like the charities mentioned, Value Village is a for-profit business owned by Bazecorp Investments; that?s confusing for some who donated.

?In this particular situation, I think is very misleading because, I myself, have dropped stuff off there and they?ve offered me a contribution card,? McBride said. ?No one tells you those items are going to be sold.?

During our phone conversations, we addressed the other concern brought to our attention.

We asked if the prices at Value Village had significantly increased since the storm.

Some concerned about the situation said they believe that?s taking advantage of people who are in need of help.

The owner said since the tornado, they have received higher ticket items than normal but he said in no way have they ever raised the prices to take advantage of victims.

Bottom line, he said tornado victims can use their vouchers to collect items from his store, but admits some of the items that were donated after the tornado might end up being purchased by the general public.

Representative McBride said he plans to create an accountability system so people who donate to storm victims are clear about where those donations end up.

We also learned a request has been made to the State Attorney General?s Office asking that an investigation be conducted.

We do want to make clear, the owner of Donation Station told us that his company worked countless hours in the weeks after the tornado, directing donations to a number of charities and churches.

We checked with every organization he told us he had worked with and while we didn?t hear back from all of them, the majority confirmed that they did receive truckloads of donated items from Donation Station.

The owner also told one of our producers, in the future, during disaster situations, he will make it clear to anyone donating items that those items might end up in his thrift store.

Source: http://kfor.com/2013/07/19/donated-items-for-tornado-victims-sold-at-thrift-store/

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Friday, July 19, 2013

Japan's Abe may push nationalism after election

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Source: enews.earthlink.net --- Thursday, July 18, 2013
TOKYO (AP) ? With the economy perking up under his "Abenomics" policies, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his ruling party are seen rolling to a convincing victory in Sunday's upper house election and regaining control of both houses of parliament for the first time in six years. ...

Source: http://enews.earthlink.net/article/int?guid=20130717/2507804d-2fa6-4e7b-a2b2-3fdfc6b016bc

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Victory for salad bars: School, union officials reach agreement; salad bars are...

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Source: http://www.facebook.com/packernews/posts/10151790022309083

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@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-[[Category:Draft]]
+[[Category:Windows Phone]][[Category:Windows Phone 8]][[Category:XAML]]
-''Delete instructional text in italic''
+{{Abstract|This article explains how to check for app updates from inside an app. }}
 {{ArticleMetaData <!-- v1.3 -->
 |sourcecode= <!-- Link to example source code e.g. [[Media:The Code Example ZIP.zip]] -->
 |installfile= <!-- Link to installation file (e.g. [[Media:The Installation File.wgt]]) -->
-|devices= <!-- Devices tested against - e.g. Nokia Lumia 928, Nokia Asha 501) -->
+|devices= Nokia Lumia 920 <!-- Devices tested against - e.g. Nokia Lumia 928, Nokia Asha 501) -->
-|sdk= <!-- SDK(s) built and tested against (e.g. Windows Phone 8.0 SDK) -->
+|sdk= Windows Phone 8.0 SDK <!-- SDK(s) built and tested against (e.g. Windows Phone 8.0 SDK) -->
 |dependencies= <!-- Any other/external dependencies e.g.: Google Maps Api v1.0 --> ?
 |signing=<!-- Special Signing requirements -->
@@ Line 21: / Line 18: @@
 |update-by= <!-- After significant update: [[User:username]]-->
 |update-timestamp= <!-- After significant update: YYYYMMDD -->
-|creationdate= <!-- Format YYYYMMDD -->
+|creationdate= 20130724 <!-- Format YYYYMMDD -->
-|author= <!-- Enter link [[User:username]] -->
+|author= [[User:PedroLamas]]<!-- Enter link [[User:username]] -->
 }}
 == Introduction ==
-== Summary ==
+This has got me to think on the reason to why people don?t update their apps! Here are some reasons:
-''The "platform categories" will be displayed here in '''preview''' only - Copy paste relevant categories into text here''
+I don?t see the point in it, but not caring to check and update the apps in ones phone is just a matter of personal opinion!
-{{VersionHint}}
-''Add categories below using category selector. ''
+That leaves the middle option: having the Store tile in the Home screen will enable users to get visual notification of updates (the number of updated apps appears in the tile); without it, the only other option is that the user actually opens the Store app from the applications menu.