Sony Logo - CES 2013Coverage notes of the Sony 2013 coverage of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES).

Sony Xperia Z and ZL. Xperia Z has full HD 5inch screen & is powered by Mobile BRAVIA Engine 2 for brilliant colors, contrasts, sharpness. Xperia Z has a 13 MP camera w/ Exmor RS, world’s 1st image sensor w/ HDR video for smartphones. Sony COO Phil Molyneux said “It has the sharpest & brightest full HD screen that Sony has ever brought to a smartphone.”

Mr. Molyneux stated, “You can use your Xperia Z anywhere whether it’s blogging in a bathtub or downloading in a downpour.”

Sony presented the Sony One Touch System – SRS-BTV5, a BlueTooth and wireless speaker system.

Displaying later the Sony Bravia 84″ 4k TV with Triluminos Display and the Sony Generation X Headphones. New 4K TVs will feature magnetic fluid speakers for awesome sound as well as 4K X Reality Pro upscaling technology. Sony will introduce the world’s 1st to-the-home service will allow owners of our 4K TVs to download native 4K movies created by Sony Pictures and others. Later this summer, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment w/ Sony Pictures Colorworks is working to release a 4K lineup of Blu-rays of existing films this spring.

The brand new Cyber-shot WX80 is Wi-Fi enabled. Send pics to your phone to be shared on your social networks!

“Be Moved” was a central theme throughout the press conference and many loved the visuals.

Stay tuned. We’ll post more information as it comes available!

ECA LogoThe Entertainment Consumers Association (ECA) has announced that this year that chapters throughout the United States and Canada will be the participating in “Gamers for Giving” as a way to team up with food banks and help put a stop to hunger.

We have two pieces of news to release on the ECA food drive initiative. First up is from Josh Hughes, Zookey of Team KAIZEN, regarding their local ECA chapter’s support in Great Falls, Montana. This particular chapter of the ECA is focused on representing themselves as an Indie Game Developer Chapter.

Hello everyone! As some of you know, Team KAIZEN and Add-A-Tudez have teamed up with the Entertainment Consumers Association (www.theeca.com) to make an Indie Game Developer Chapter. The ECA is basically AAA or AARP for gamers, members get discounts at a bunch of places and the ECA keeps members up to date on legal and social issues that could affect gaming. Earlier this year, Trevor and I went to Washington DC with the ECA to have sit down sessions withseveral members of Congress (including the staff of Senator Jon Tester) to discuss how policy affects gaming. The focus of the Indie Chapter (which is an internet wide group based out of Great Falls) is centered around 3 pillars:

A) Support Game Entrepreneurship and show people how to make games and break into the industry.
B) Show how video games can be a pathway to active citizenship both through charity work and civil engagement (like when we went to Washington DC).
C) Support initiatives to get game design in the classroom (like the work we do with Great Falls Public Schools and LittleBigPlanet Club).

In the spirit of option B there we are pleased to announce our support of the ECA-wide food drive! All ECA chapters are currently collecting food for their local food banks to help those who need the most during the holiday season. If you’d like to help out and have your donation attributed to the Indie Chapter, simply donate food to your local food bank and report back to me on it! If you’re in the Great Falls area and want to jam out while donating, we’re teaming up with the 406 Club to have a Great Falls Food Bank collection bin at the Freaker’s Ball this Saturday, October 27th. Please swing by, drop off some donations and rock out with us to a huge list of regional rock banks from the Helligans to Switch Off Safety and Hell City Kitty to M-79!

Below is the press release from the ECA regarding the food drive, if you have more questions about the drive, the ECA or the Indie Chapter please let me know!

Second, the official press release from ECA Vice President of Marketing, Heather Ellertson, is as follows:

WILTON, CT – October 23, 2012 – The Entertainment Consumers Association (ECA), the membership organization which represents gamers, today announced that chapters are lending their support and providing food drive in locations all across the US and Canada where the respective chapters are located. The ECA is asking its members and the gaming community to help support this mission and get involved. You can join a chapter or (form one if there isn’t already one in your area) by visiting http://www.theeca.com.

“We look for ways in which to help communities in need.” said Heather Ellertson, ECA Vice President of Marketing. “Our chapters are a great way for gamers to get involved in the gaming community and to partake in activities with others who share similar interests. They each have their own activities and events that they do, such as game nights or membership drives. They help drive ECA campaigns, and are used for focus groups and beta testing. We are pleased that our chapters, will be the driving force behind this years “Gamers for Giving” food drive.”

About The ECA

The ECA is the membership organization which represents consumers of interactive entertainment in the US and Canada. The association was founded to give gamers a collective voice with which to communicate their concerns, address their issues and focus their advocacy efforts. As such, the ECA is committed to a host of public policy efforts, empowering and enabling the membership to effect change. Additionally, the organization provides members substantial affinity benefits including discounts on games-related purchases and rentals, as well as community and educational initiatives. For additional information on the ECA, including affinity benefits, member discounts and joining the association, please visit: www.theECA.com

ECA Media Contact:

Heather Ellertson
Public Relations
(203) 761-6186
heather@theeca.com

We hope that you’ll support your local food bank along with everyone else during “Gamers for Giving”.

The PlayStation Mobile platform launches today. Here’s the official scoop from Sony:

PlayStation Mobile Header

As you may remember from our previous post about PlayStation Mobile, PlayStation’s brand new mobile games platform for select mobile devices has been in the works, and you can try it out yourselves starting today! PlayStation Mobile allows you to get PlayStation-like experiences on a variety of platforms such as PS Vita and PlayStation Certified devices such as select Android phones and a variety of tablets. Downloading content, including games, on PlayStation Mobile is easy for gamers with a SEN account. Simply use your PSN Wallet to purchase PlayStation Mobile content.

PlayStation Mobile: Super Crate Box

While we’ll be constantly expanding our content offerings for the platform, we’re excited for you to check out our initial line-up of launch titles, including Loot The Land, Beats Slider, and Super Crate Box. Let us know which titles are your favorites.

For PS Vita users, as long as you have Internet access, you can use your PSN Wallet to download the full range of PlayStation Mobile content. Simply visit the PlayStation Mobile section within the PlayStation Store on PS Vita and take your pick from the list of available titles. If you purchased PlayStation Mobile content on another PlayStation Certified device, go to [Options] > [Download List] to select the title and download it directly to your PS Vita. With PlayStation Mobile, PS Vita owners are getting yet another way to access PlayStation content on the go!

PlayStation Mobile: Loot the LandPlayStation Mobile: BeatsSlider

For owners of select PlayStation Certified Sony smartphones and tablets powered by Android, you can find instructions to access PlayStation Mobile content here.

Here at PlayStation, we’re always looking for ways to improve your PlayStation gaming experiences, and we can’t wait for you to get up and running on PlayStation Mobile so we can hear your feedback. Be sure to check out PlayStation Mobile starting today, and let us know what you think in the comments and in the official PlayStation community forums.

Google, Yahoo, Facebook and Amazon are considering a day of blackout to protest the “Stop Online Piracy Act” or SOPA. Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian discuss SOPA and what kind of impact this protest would have.

Most people are completely oblivious as to what SOPA is. We hope that a tech blackout DOES occur so you can whine and call and complain that your cat photos aren’t viewable on the Internet. The Young Turks, no affiliation (yet), explain it above pretty well, but we’ve added some additional information below. We’ve given several examples of who is supporting it in past blogs and highly encourage you to go take a look before you logon to the Internet one day and have a stroke because you can’t look at cat photos on Facebook.

More info about it states on this pastebin:

Stop Online Piracy Act(SOPA) is a bill that would create America’s first Internet censorship system. In a nutshell, its similar like the censorship in China, Iran, etc.

Time Magazine’s Graeme McMillan wrote this about it:

SOPA: What if Google, Facebook and Twitter Went Offline in Protest?

Can you imagine a world without Google or Facebook? If plans to protest the potential passing of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) come to fruition, you won’t need to; those sites, along with many other well-known online destinations, will go temporarily offline as a taste of what we could expect from a post-SOPA Internet.

Companies including Google, Facebook, Twitter, PayPal, Yahoo! and Wikipedia are said to be discussing a coordinated blackout of services to demonstrate the potential effect SOPA would have on the Internet, something already being called a “nuclear option” of protesting. The rumors surrounding the potential blackout were only strengthened by Markham Erickson, executive director of trade association NetCoalition, who told FoxNews that “a number of companies have had discussions about [blacking out services]” last week.

According to Erickson, the companies are well aware of how serious an act such a blackout would be:
“This type of thing doesn’t happen because companies typically don’t want to put their users in that position. The difference is that these bills so fundamentally change the way the Internet works. People need to understand the effect this special-interest legislation will have on those who use the Internet.”

The idea of an Internet blackout should seem familiar to anyone who’s been paying attention to the debate so far. In addition to a blackout already carried out by Mozilla, hacking group Anonymous proposed the same thing a couple of weeks ago, suggesting that sites replace their front pages with a statement protesting SOPA. That suggestion itself came a week after Jimmy Wales had asked Wikipedia users about the possibility of blacking out that site in protest of the bill.

As a way of drawing attention to the topic, it’s something that will definitely work. Just Google alone going dark would cause havoc online, but the idea of it happening at the same time as Facebook, Twitter et al. follow suit seems almost unimaginable.

The question then becomes how to translate the inevitable confusion and outrage from those who don’t know what SOPA is into activism. The key, I assume, lies in the execution of the blackout: Will the sites that voluntarily go down be entirely unavailable or will they follow the Anonymous-proposed model of replacing the front page with a statement explaining what is going on, why and how users can best become involved in the discussion? If the sites do go entirely dark, is the hope that the resulting outrage will be enough to fuel news stories about the reason behind the decision? And that users will not transfer their frustration to the sites themselves, as opposed to the bill they’re protesting?

The fact that Facebook and Twitter are both said to be considering taking part in the blackout is simultaneously heartening and worrying. The former because, well, they’re standing up for what they collectively believe in — and that’s a good thing. But the latter because the lack of availability for social media on the proposed blackout day feels like it’s giving up the best chance to harness the frustration and energy people will feel about the temporary loss of the Internet as they know it, and a great possibility to focus and direct that energy into productive activism against SOPA. Then again, it may take losing Facebook and Twitter to really drive home how dramatically SOPA could affect the Internet.

All of this may come to nothing, of course. The companies may decide not to black out their sites and find other ways to protest SOPA. That could be for the best; collectively closing down the most trafficked sites on the Internet to prove a point will certainly garner a lot of attention, but the effects it’ll have beyond that (and the reactions it’ll cause as a result) are difficult to predict and could easily end up causing a backlash against the sites responsible at a time when they least want it. But still … just try to imagine an Internet without Google, Facebook or Yahoo. Even for a day. Almost makes you want it to happen, just to make people realize how reliant we are on the Internet as we know it now, doesn’t it?

GoDaddy sucks. Period. If it isn’t obvious to you from the smutty campaigns with Danica Patrick, supposed President and former CEO “Bob Parsons” having ‘secrets’ like, “The SECRETS to finding and hiring GREAT employees. + 2 Smoking-Hot Go Daddy Girls!”, while being totally sexist and a general creeper, poor advertising in general or the absolutely crappy hosting plans they over-sell hosting nodes on, then we need to talk. This has been a long time coming from us as timing is everything. We wanted to make sure that we took proper precautions to protect ourselves, our intellectual property and free speech as what we’re pissed off about is far from acceptable and borders on near to criminal on Go Daddy, Inc.’s behalf. So to make it crystal clear, this is an account of our experience and not some random slanderous prose on who to hate.

GoDaddy

Might as well preface this with: A) It’s technical, B) It’s personal, and C) We gave them ample opportunity to make this problem right before we had to take the issue into our own hands. And in light of recent SOPA problems with GoDaddy, we hope this testimonial is even more of a reason that you don’t use their service. Speaking of, their real CEO, Warren Adelman, put out a statement about SOPA stating that because the Senate couldn’t come to a consensus that GoDaddy was no longer supporting SOPA. Read that again if you need to figure out why we’re astonished or read the whole article about SOPA and GoDaddy sucking. Now, on to the show!

We affiliated ourselves with GoDaddy, a.k.a. GoDaddy.com or Go Daddy, Inc., as an ICANN domain provider back in 2006 before we went public and as a reseller in 2008 to offer competitive pricing and an alternative storefront when we did begin offering public services. As a reseller, they take one of their other companies, Starfield Technologies as well as Wild West Domains (remember this name, it’s key to what went wrong) and have your WHOIS/Registration information pass through them. Since then, we’ve obviously learned that there are just as viable alternatives to domain acquisition and purchases than dealing with GoDaddy, often for pennies more or less. And our network continues to grow.

Looking for a way to keep costs the same or lower and provide the same if not better service, we looked at integrating what was called GoDaddy’s AnyCast DNS now called ‘Premium DNS’. We suspect that they stopped calling it ‘AnyCast DNS’ because you can’t serve DNS from one datacenter and honestly call it AnyCast… sort of a technical oxymoron. This was to be used as an extension of our services and as an alternative to running solely our own network of DNS servers. We didn’t jump in with both feet, but we were deep enough to start losing air before it was too late.

We called and spoke to a sales representative about their services a long time ago, long before our trust was broken and our issue ever occurred. At the time, we declined moving forward with their DNS service because there was no way to CNAME or create a hostname for the servers that matched a domain name of our own as we said a moment ago. When GoDaddy added the ‘vanity name servers’ bit to the DNS service, we were more interested. We called back several months later and spoke to a sales representative that we had make sure with her supervisor her statement was accurate and ordered the Premium DNS service because we were able to not hand out a string like a CDN does. At the time, we had been hosting our own servers and wanted at least one extension off of that for even more redundancy. Since we already had our .com at GoDaddy at the time with the core hostnames coming from GoDaddy, it was easy to say yes to testing out something for like $2.99 a month since we were paying much more than that per DNS server.

Before I get too far into this, a very important part of hosting relies on DNS. DNS to the layman is a server or network system which broadcasts the IP address or location of a server by converting the name of a top-level domain like turkreno.com into an IP address. DNS serves out usually every request that goes through a network and it also plays a very large part in the latency, or speed, in which content is found. There are times when a network is undiscoverable or slow just because of routing issues with backbone service providers. Those providers in the United States, such as AT&T, Global Crossing, Layer3 and others actually run the flow of the Internet and usually own the fiber optic cable on which it runs. So, when a DNS server does a query, the response or reply may tell your traffic to go to Washington first, because that’s where the first router is between you and the domain that resolved and the server you’re asking for, then further “hops” to other locations until your request reaches its destination. Having multiple servers, or an AnyCast-type network, that are within multiple datacenters around the world where those backbones are routed through provides what’s known as a Point-of-Presence (POP) and will decrease latency since the answer is locally cached to that router. In a worst cast scenario, the traffic where a network client requests a site that isn’t cached by the ISP, which is the usual case, the router may have to search or query the router ahead of it to search for a resolving DNS server, thus creating latency. Speed is of the essence and maybe that explains why this improvement is important for any network.

Digressing back to what happened is most likely easier if we just put it into a handy mind map and bullet out the entire issue here for those who don’t want to view a huge PDF. For months this issue was up on the whiteboard in the office and it took precisely that long to fix all of the screwed up issues that happened. We ended up making a mind map chart of what went wrong and we’ll go from there.

We spent hours on this with them. Hours we want back from our lives. Maybe we can save you some time. Switch hosting to us, we’re not on GoDaddy’s crappy 4GH Network or whatever they want to call it. Or maybe you want to contact the Office of the President for GoDaddy. No problem, here’s all of their contact info:

E-Mail: president@godaddy.com

Phone: 408-505-8828

CEO: Warren Adelman

Alt. Numbers to GoDaddy Corporate Offices: 408-505-8800

So, when you think of DNS hopefully GoDaddy won’t be the first that comes to mind. We’ve got an awesome platform setup to accommodate multiple types of needs, including those of web masters using Linux or WHM/cPanel. Contact us if you’re interested. It’s private for the time being, but will be live soon.

Don’t trust GoDaddy with your DNS, their SysAdmins know NOTHING of how to complete a ticket and they COULD be stealing your traffic, or worse, blocking it because their tech support knows NOTHING.

The great evil of the modern day Internet: SOPA. The Stop Online Piracy Act, or as it’s formally known H.R. 3261, which threatens Freedom of Speech and Expression on the Internet. The Bill titles itself with the very false objective – “To promote prosperity, creativity, entrepreneurship, and innovation by combating the theft of U.S. property, and for other purposes.” – and it’s the “Other purposes” as usual we’re all worried about. Blocking a site at the DNS level is one of the primary concerns. The other concerns that we’ve heard and see online are the linking of one site to a site that is infringing against Copyright laws. With SOPA marked as it is now, the whole site would be taken down rather than the offending content. What ever happened to the DMCA? Wasn’t that good enough? Apparently not.

This Act, when read in further detail, not only pressures Internet Service Providers like TurkReno to make rather extraneous measures to filter content and national providers of ICANN services to block a domain that they blacklist from search engine results and beyond. If they passes it to the US Senate then you can expect more than one derivative of its kind following SOPA. You see, it’s failed before. And, like a bad cold, this is another variant. Here’s the best summary from Wikipedia that shows what it was and how it’s moving:

The PROTECT IP Act is a re-write of the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA), which failed to pass in 2010. A similar House version of the bill, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) was introduced on October 26, 2011.

GoDaddy

What’s disgusting about this is that GoDaddy, one of the largest ICANN domain registrars was, and under speculation still is, supporting the writing of this Act. They crafted it themselves. And then they release a press release today stating they would not further support SOPA, but we don’t trust it and neither should you. If they knew what they were getting themselves into, then it’s clear that their Executives are bluffing their way into keeping business. What really matters here is that they see the big picture. GoDaddy isn’t the only registrar.

And, with as much content as GoDaddy hosts, and over-sells (see Caption 1), they’d shut down 5,000 to 6,000, yes – THOUSAND, customers at a time per ONE (1) SOPA takedown order.

And here’s what they had to say:

GoDaddy No Longer Supports SOPA

Looks to Internet Community & Fellow Tech Leaders to Develop Legislation We All Support

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (Dec. 23, 2011) – Go Daddy is no longer supporting SOPA, the “Stop Online Piracy Act” currently working its way through U.S. Congress.

“Fighting online piracy is of the utmost importance, which is why Go Daddy has been working to help craft revisions to this legislation – but we can clearly do better,” Warren Adelman, Go Daddy’s newly appointed CEO, said. “It’s very important that all Internet stakeholders work together on this. Getting it right is worth the wait. Go Daddy will support it when and if the Internet community supports it.”

Go Daddy and its General Counsel, Christine Jones, have worked with federal lawmakers for months to help craft revisions to legislation first introduced some three years ago. Jones has fought to express the concerns of the entire Internet community and to improve the bill by proposing changes to key defined terms, limitations on DNS filtering to ensure the integrity of the Internet, more significant consequences for frivolous claims, and specific provisions to protect free speech.

“As a company that is all about innovation, with our own technology and in support of our customers, Go Daddy is rooted in the idea of First Amendment Rights and believes 100 percent that the Internet is a key engine for our new economy,” said Adelman.

In changing its position, Go Daddy remains steadfast in its promise to support security and stability of the Internet. In an effort to eliminate any confusion about its reversal on SOPA though, Jones has removed blog postings that had outlined areas of the bill Go Daddy did support.

“Go Daddy has always fought to preserve the intellectual property rights of third parties, and will continue to do so in the future,” Jones said.

Here’s the great crux in this Press Release: SOPA has not been introduced to the US Senate. And it’s a reaction, not something they’ve done after hearing the SOPA proceedings. As celebrities threatened to leave GoDaddy, they pushed this out to stop the bail out. It’s a House of Representatives Bill. As stated on the US House of Representatives Website under “How Are Laws Made?” this answer can be found (We’re at the In Committee phase):

Laws begin as ideas. First, a representative sponsors a bill. The bill is then assigned to a committee for study. If released by the committee, the bill is put on a calendar to be voted on, debated or amended. If the bill passes by simple majority (218 of 435), the bill moves to the Senate. In the Senate, the bill is assigned to another committee and, if released, debated and voted on. Again, a simple majority (51 of 100) passes the bill. Finally, a conference committee made of House and Senate members works out any differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill. The resulting bill returns to the House and Senate for final approval. The Government Printing Office prints the revised bill in a process called enrolling. The President has 10 days to sign or veto the enrolled bill.

Anyone with half a brain can see this is just a PR stunt on GoDaddy’s behalf. Maybe even the protection of the recent additional DNSSEC properties which don’t totally jive with their product offerings. And admittedly DNSSEC doesn’t really jive with SOPA either, but it’s their main point of pressure to go after when attempting to take down a domain aside from seizing the name registration itself.

And the kicker to both Go Daddy and the rest of the world? DNSSEC is all controlled by IANA, Verisign, the gTLD (Generic Top-Level Domain) registrar for ALL .com and .net domains, acknowledging these Zone directives. ICANN and the U. S. Department of Commerce. Don’t believe me? http://www.root-dnssec.org.

Either way, this is part one of a few more that will outline why GoDaddy is failing as a company and why we believe that it’s not in your best interests to continue to do business with them.

Update 1/5/2012: GoDaddy, in all of it’s uncanny glory, has released a statement from CEO Warren Adleman. They don’t support SOPA because the representatives could not reach a consensus. I like one of the comments that state that “transparency should be a two-way street and not a one-way mirror”. Here’s the statement:

Go Daddy opposes SOPA because the legislation has not fulfilled its basic requirement to build a consensus among stake-holders in the technology and Internet communities. Our company regrets the loss of any of our customers, who remain our highest priority, and we hope to repair those relationships and win back their business over time.

Still don’t trust them. Part two coming soon.

Checkers LogoIf you’ve driven down east Airport Boulevard in Mobile within the past few weeks, you’ve probably noticed something great. Checkers is coming back with a brand new look. And coming back is great because they have some of the best burgers and fries around. Not only that, but they’re going to be giving away to the first 100 people who attend the launch on Saturday Free Checkers Fries for a year!

According to their website, Checkers was first started in Mobile back in 1986 and has been cooking up great burgers ever since. The Checker’s story, which some of you may know from outside of the area as Rally’s goes like this:

“Checkers & Rally’s restaurants were born out of the idea that a bland and flavorless burger was downright bad and that Americans everywhere deserved a better tasting burger — one that was unexpectedly bold, made-to-order and priced at a value that was hard to beat. Founded by experienced foodies with a renegade spirit, both the Checkers & Rally’s unique double drive-thru concept, with its over-the-top checkerboard squares, chrome styling, red neon signs and of course the food, was an instant hit. These two new burger experiences were hot, fresh and served with a smile. People were hooked, and the world of cookie cutter corporate burger establishments was about to change.”

And here’s the official release about the re-opening:

Checkers French FriesThe new reimaged Checkers restaurant at 2213 Airport Blvd in Mobile, AL will host a Grand Opening celebration for the hungry public on Saturday, November 12, 2011.

To kick off the grand opening on Saturday, November 12, Checkers is offering FREE fries for a year to the first 100 guests in line. And, guests in line, 101 and after will receive FREE fries with purchase all weekend. So, be sure to be one of the first people in line, as we anticipate people camping out!

During the grand opening celebration, there will be a kickoff to food eating contests open to the public with a competition showdown at 11am between the University of South Alabama’s STATS (Students Today, Alumni Tomorrow) student organization versus the University of Mobile’ SIFE (Students in Free Enterprise) student organization.

Checkers will also give away prizes, coupons, and promotions to reward the community and its loyal fans.

Hoping to see you all there!

Mobilize Mobile - Mobilize Your Site Now

According to the Mobile Press-Register and other local sources, Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) recently approached local marketing firms and the Downtown Mobile Alliance to begin to “Mobilize Mobile.” Most likely playing on the name of the city, Mobile reportedly will be the first to be a part of a program named “GoMo” launching November 14 where local businesses, both private and nonprofit, will be able to come to a Google storefront, have a mobile-browser based website created for them within half an hour and also have Google host the website for one year on a first-come, first-served basis.

From the Press-Register:

The Google storefront will be at Space 301, across from Cathedral Square, according to Carol Hunter, representative for the Downtown Mobile Alliance said.

Having a city that shares a name with a tech buzzword hasn’t always been fortuitous, as anyone who has searched online for “Mobile phone company” or “Mobile apps” could tell you. Not to mention all the time residents spend telling out-of-towners that they are from “Mo-beel,” not “Mo-buhl,” Hunter said.

“If you are not thinking about getting mobile with your website, then in the near future you’re going to be behind,” Hunter said. “This is an opportunity for us to really be ahead of that curve.”

Google Sites

No doubt that the south Alabama area could use the attention. However, no sources on the Internet tie the event to the website HowToGoMo.com. There’s no doubt that Google intends to do something with the website because they did register it, but the website remains under password protection so no one really knows what it’s for.

Despite a few websites registered by Google, it’s perhaps Google’s re-branding attempt at drawing attention to the mobile world we are evolving into. Millions rely on smartphone devices to find food, entertainment, directions, keep up with social media and communicate in ways we never thought would be possible.

If you’re looking to get a website created for a mobile phone, Google already has the Google Sites – Mobile Templates website available where you can choose templates for your business, add information and have a live mobile browser website finished in minutes.

So what’s our take on this? It probably will happen. To have a Google storefront in Mobile, Alabama would be awesome as-is. On the other hand, there’s probably a silver lining. Google is notorious for monetizing websites using AdWords. We expect ads. Not only that, but having a site that’s more than likely template-based and not created by a professional website design company is more than likely going to bring the quality of the site down. So, in terms of search optimization, if it’s going to be free and hosted at Google, you’re going to get what you pay for especially if you don’t have control over your content. GeoCities Mobile anyone?

All attempts to confirm this information were made at the time of the article, however neither Google nor our contacts in the Silicon Valley area were aware of the event.

2011 South Alabama Film FestivalThe 3rd annual South Alabama Film Festival seeks to showcase and educate the community about filmmakers and their creations, while welcoming all who enjoy the medium. One of the nation’s oldest and most beautiful cities, Mobile will alight with the cinematic arts throughout the year, culminating in November’s three-day festival.

In addition to feature-length and short films, the festival will offer seminars and workshops for adults and school children, to further its goal of educating – as well as enchanting – the growing regional film community. In its third year, and for many more to come, the festival strives to be the yearly event in Southern Alabama for all who love, and create, film.

The festival takes place November 4th, 5th, and 6th at multiple venues throughout Mobile, AL.

Passes for the festival are available now and at the downtown office. Weekend passes will be $30 and individual film tickets will be $5. Click here for tickets.

The South Alabama Film Festival is a part of the Mobile Arts Council made possible by the generous support of the Mobile Public Library, The Crescent Theater, The Center for the Living Arts, The Bike Shop, The Fort Conde Inn, The Hampton Downtown.

FEATURE LENGTH FILMS
Wrestling For JesusWrestling For Jesus (documentary)
Sat, Nov 5
3pm
The Crescent Theater

A documentary about Timothy who was born in Mobile, AL and grew up a wrestling fanatic. After moving to South Carolina, Timothy started a Christian wrestling organization. His goal is to use wrestling to evangelize his neighbors. However his passion and vision for his ministry are tested when his personal life begins to disintegrate. Wrestling for Jesus is a raw and honest all-access pass into the two worlds of independent wrestling and religion in the rural South.

– Timothy (T-Money) is originally from Mobile
– Timothy is scheduled to attend

http://www.facebook.com/wrestlingforjesus
http://wrestlingforjesus.com

Missing Pieces (special preview screening) (narrative)
Missing PiecesSat, Nov 5
5pm
The Crescent Theater

This is a story about a man who’s lost everything and his misguided attempts to put it back together. Missing Pieces is an emotional enigma about love and loneliness…and a kidnapping. Through interwoven, poignant vignettes, this multi-plot tale unfolds and untangles into a truly unique and heartfelt love story about finding hope when all is lost.

– Kenton Bartlett (writer/producer) is from Birmingham
– Started the film when he was 19; he’s now 23
– Filmmaker is scheduled to attend
– Along with film Q&A, Kenton will also be participating in a workshop/Q&A session with the kids camp students

http://www.facebook.com/FindYourMissingPieces
http://www.findyourmissingpieces.com

Prairie Love (narrative)
Prairie Love PosterSat, Nov 5
9pm
The Crescent Theater

When a mysterious vagrant living out of his car among the snowy plains discovers a nearly-frozen local with a pen-pal girlfriend, he sees an opportunity to change his lonely existence. From the harsh Midwestern frozen plains, comes this wonderfully bizarre but heartwarming look at three people searching for love and self discovery in the oddest ways.

– This will be the first screening in South Alabama
– Ashley Bias & Dusty Bias (from Baldwin County)
– Filmmaker scheduled to attend
– Official Selection: 2011 Sundance Film Festival
– Grand Jury Prize, Best Narrative Feature: 2011 Oxford Film Festival

http://www.facebook.com/prairielove
http://www.prairielove.com
http://www.prairielove.com/press/mr.pdf

Man of Deeds (documentary)
Sun, Nov 6
1pm
Bernhiem Hall

Born into the chaos of the French Revolution, Mathias Loras would come to develop a vision for a state of spirituality in the New World that few dare dream. Brought up in an elegant, bourgeois family he would eventually become a missionary assigned to a remote outpost in the frontier territory of Iowa. There he would sow the seeds of the church to rough miners and farmers, while battling the unending hardships of life on edge of civilization.

– Filmmaker Craig Schafer is scheduled to attend
– From 1830-1832 Mathias Loras served as the first president of Spring Hill College

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathias_Loras

The Reconstruction of Asa Carter (documentary)
The Reconstruction of Asa CarterSun, Nov 6
4pm
Bernhiem Hall

Forrest Carter, best-selling author of The Outlaw Josey Wales and The Education of Little Tree, was an exalted Cherokee hero of New Age wisdom. As a leader in the Native American cultural revival of the 1970’s, Forrest touched millions of readers with his gentle and earthy tales of Indian life. Twelve years after his death, however, the public learned that Forrest had a hidden past. Forrest Carter was actually Asa ‘Ace’ Cater, violent Ku Klux Klansman and Alabama Governor George Wallace’s principal speechwriter; author of the infamous 1963 inaugural address, ‘Segregation Now! Segregation Tomorrow! Segregation Forever!’

– Filmmaker Douglas Newman scheduled to attend

http://www.facebook.com/reconstructionofasacarter
http://www.reconstructionofasacarter.com

FESTIVAL VENUES
Ben May Main Library, Bernheim Hall
The Crescent Theater
Space 301
Cathedral Square

More films are scheduled to show. Check the South Alabama Film Festival Website and find out more:

http://www.southalabamafilmfestival.org

Follow the South Alabama Film Festival on Twitter at:

http://twitter.com/SoALFilmFest

Alabama Moon the Movie - PosterFairhope, Alabama (February 18, 2011) – “Alabama Moon,” the movie based on Alabama author Watt Key’s best-selling novel about adventure, survival and friendship, comes to the big screen beginning March 18. This action-packed, family film starring John Goodman, Clint Howard and Jimmy Bennett debuts first in Birmingham, Alabama. The film shows next in Mobile, Alabama and then opens in other Southeastern cities.

The film, produced by Alabamians Kenny McLean and Lee Faulkner, follows eleven-year-old Moon Blake (Jimmy Bennett), who has spent most of his life hiding out in the forests of Alabama with his anti-government father who clings to conspiracy theories and trusts no one. Moon’s life suddenly changes when the land is sold and his father dies. Knowing only what he learned from his father, Moon decides to follow his last instructions: make your way to Alaska where “people could still make a living off trapping.”

In the path of civilization, Moon quickly lands himself in a reform school where he meets the mean-spirited Constable Sanders (Clint Howard) and learns what friendship is all about. With the help of Mr. Wellington (John Goodman), Moon adapts and learns to survive in the outside world. “Being involved with this movie has been the experience of a lifetime,” said Lee Faulkner. “When I read Watt Key’s novel I knew it would make a perfect family film.”

“Alabama Moon’s” Alabama ties run deep. Watt Key’s novel and the movie are set in the forests of Alabama; Key, Faulkner and McLean all reside in Fairhope, a small city in Baldwin County, Alabama; and one of the actors in the film, Uriah Shelton, lived and attended school in Fairhope.

Alabama Moon is a classic kid’s film complete with adventure and survival that most of us only dream about, which is what makes it great for the entire family. The film was awarded the Dove Foundation Family Approved seal in 2010. The non-profit foundation is dedicated to advocating for families and moving Hollywood in a more family-friendly direction.

Alabama Moon Website – http://www.alabamamoonthemovie.net

Alabama Moon Release Schedule

3/18 Birmingham

Rave Patton Creek
Rave Lee Branch
Premiere Tannehill
Premiere 16 (Gadsden)
Cobb Hollywood 16 (Tuscaloosa)

4/1 Mobile
Crescent Theater
Hollywood 18
Rave Jubilee (Daphne)
Rave Wharf 15 (Orange Beach)

4/1 Pensacola

Rave 18

Media Contact:
Gina Gregory
Public Relations Director
MDi media group
251.438.6999
ggregory@mdimediagroup.com