While CCGs are not really new media, Matt is a buddy of mine who I met through new media and he has been putting his heart and soul into this project for a long time. If you are into CCGs you should definitely give it a look-see (and tell him I sent ya…I don’t get anything for it, but I like people to know they have friends!)

From the site:
MvM Mission Statement:
Monsters VS. Monsters was designed with one goal in mind, to be a low-cost fun and engaging game for children ages 5-18.

MvM Story Line:
“In the middle of the 21^st century, a world-wide television company decided to use its newly purchased genetic engineering division to design a new breed of combatants for an Arena based Reality TV show. The scientists chose 10 creatures of legend from around the world, and created these monsters for the show. A Bigfoot, the Wolfman, the Yeti, the Chupacabra, Loch Ness, the Mummy, a Skeleton, a Zombie, Frankenstein, and a Vampire were genetically designed in a lab. Once these monsters were born, they were trained in the habitat from the tales to become the perfect fighting machine. Monsters VS. Monsters is televised live and streamed through the internet in over 130 countries. Even though the show is loved the world over, it still ranks as the 2^nd most watched show on the planet.”

Combining the simplicity of War, with the exciting elements of a dice game, MvM allows players to play an addicting game where loss can be defeated with a lucky dice roll. Each deck was designed to be a 1-2 player experience.

You can also follow Matt on Twitter and follow updates on the game.

Enjoy!

This is a great site I just got turned on to by Camden Carr over at Cine-a-Craze:

MyPDFScripts

How do most veteran screenwriters respond when asked how someone can become a better writer? Usually by stating the obvious: write often and read a lot.That said, we exist so that burgeoning screenwriters and filmmakers everywhere have a free resource that provides them with the highest quality screenplays available on the internet. That’s a bold statement, you say? Well, that’s because this site is about quality and not quantity. We want screenplays that look like screenplays. Why? Because we write screenplays. Because we study screenplays. Because we know what a properly formatted screenplay should look like, and John Boy’s 352 page digitally converted script in 32 pt. Arial Bold isn’t it. That’s why we only provide PDF formatted scripts, because they represent the most accurate representation of a tangible script, which we feel is crucial when studying the craft of screenwriting where so much emphasis is placed on structure and page count.

Every script available on this site has been double-checked to ensure quality, stripped of extraneous non-essential information, and file sizes have been reduced when possible.

The site covers a whole lot, so get to reading!

MyPDFScripts

Obviously, I haven’t been posting. I have been focusing on my writing and trying to break in to both the comics and screewriting industries. I simply don’t have the time to devote myself to what I really want to be doing and keep up with the blogs.

So all my sites are up for sale:

1. http://writenewmedia.com
2. http://socialmediaphilosophy.com
3. http://socialmediasuperheroes.com

Social Media Superheroes never took off, the other two have content. I would prefer, of course, if the content and purpose of the sites are maintained, but the entire sites minus my personal data are up for sale. SMP has a PR of 3 and WNM has a PR of 4, both get reasonable traffic and are good domains.

So make me an offer. If I can’t sell them by the next time my accounts expire I am just going to pull down the sites. Contact me at thepuckwrites [@] gmail.com.

It’s been fun, thanks to all my readers for the support. This isn’t about you, you have all been wonderful. This is just one of those life-choice things. I wish you all the best.

Finally, a writing contest at the burgeoning social creative site TalentTrove. As many of you regular readers know, this site was once all about writing, so here is a contest for all of you old-schoolers.

A creative writing contest with a focus on it being the foundation for a film script

NEW YORK, N.Y., Aug. 3, 2009-Everyone has a story to tell, whether it’s sad, funny or downright unbelievable. TalentTrove is holding a creative writing contest, where contestants will share their narrative for a chance to win $250 and have their story be the foundation of a movie produced by TalentTrove.com.

This contest is part one of a series of competitions that will be held on TalentTrove.com. Each contest winner will be given a chance to be a part of a movie, which will be filmed in New York City.

What You Need to Know:

· An unpublished work

· Must be in text, video or audio format

· 1,000 word maximum

· Stories cannot be obscene, lewd, discriminatory or threatening.

· Valid entries must be original works and not be subject to any other persons’ or entities’ copyright.

· Must be the work of the submitting participant only.

· There is a one (1)-entry submission limit per person. All submissions must be received through TalentTrove.com during the submission period.

· No images, illustrations or any other type of graphic is permitted

· All entries MUST include a cover page/introduction that has the following:

o Title of “Story”

o Author Name

· Acceptable Genres for entries are:

o History

o Comedy

o Drama

o Action

o Horror

o Mystery

o Romance

o Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Entries will be accepted Aug. 3 at 12 p.m. until Sept. 7 at 12 p.m. and voting will take place Sept. 10 until Sept. 24. For more information on the contest or TalentTrove, visit, http://www.talenttrove.com/whatsyourstory or http://www.talenttrove.com

Get over there, vote/write, and have some fun!

Fans and creatives interested in the up-and-coming social portfolio site TalentTrove will be happy to know that, as I promised, more contests are on the way.

Sam Ash Music Holds an Electronica Contest on TalentTrove.com

WOODBRIDGE, N.J., July 27, 2009- Global online talent community created to help artists develop their talents, has partnered with America’s largest family-owned music retailer.

Sam Ash will sponsor an Electronica music contest on TalentTrove.com. Registered TalentTrove members will be able to enter the contest by creating tracks that employ electronic music instruments in its production.

Excited to provide the prizes for this contest, Paul Ash, President of Sam Ash Music, says, “I support TalentTrove’s services to people with talent…”

The grand prizewinner will be awarded a $250 gift certificate for Sam Ash Music and one runner-up will also receive a $100 gift certificate for Sam Ash Music.

What you need to know:

* Qualifying content consists of dance music featuring extensive use of synthesizers, electronic percussion and samples of recorded music or sound

* The submission period for this contest will start at 12:00 pm EST on August 5, 2009

* Submission period ends at 12:00 pm EST on August 26, 2009

* The voting period will start at 12:00 pm EST on August 28, 2009

* Voting ends at 12:00 pm on September 14, 2009

So get busy all you musicians, and you fans, get over there and vote.

… I am not dead, as followers of my Twitter and FriendFeed accounts can attest. I have been very busy coding for a client, and as much as I love this blog, it is not my primary means of income. I hope to be posting more frequently now that the most recent project is done, but I have plenty of other work on the slate as well, and while that is great for my personal finances, that also means I have to limit the time I devote to the blogs.

I have some fresh material and, schedule permitting, will be getting several new posts over the next couple of weeks. I hope they are useful to all you new media fans and up-and-coming creatives out there! Stay tuned.

PS Oh, and I got a haircut! What do you think?

I cover a lot of different sites here where people interested in new media can show off their work, promote themselves, or sell their services. I decided to start collecting all of these different sites in a single place. Right now it’s limited to online portfolios and places to sell your work, but I will soon be adding more resources as well.

New Media Resources Page

I hope you find it useful. Enjoy!

If you provide a new media resource of any type, please contact me for a review and (if favorable) a listing.

Hiya, folks! I am a busy nerd at the moment and knee-deep in that wonderful blend of right and left brain activity I love so much, but I didn’t want you to think I forgot about you! Here is some news from the world of new media!

TalentTrove wants you to shred.

I like TT and apparently so do you, from the comments I get whenever I mention them. They have a neat contest for you new media musicians that guitarists should check out. From the press release:

TalentTrove Launches Best Guitar Solo Contest Sponsored by Michael Kelly Guitars

WOODBRIDGE, N.J., June 8, 2009- Can you Shred the guitar like Slash or play blues like Eric Clapton? Guitarists will have their chance to be a star with global Internet talent Web site, TalentTrove.com’s Best Guitar Solo Contest sponsored by Michael Kelly Guitar Company. Submissions will begin being accepted June 15 at 1 p.m. and last until July 22 at midnight.

“Having a sponsor like Michael Kelly Guitar will not only give the winners quality instruments to make their music, but will take all of the participants one step closer to their dream of discovery and that’s what we’re all about at TalentTrove,” said Jaime McGee, Director of Marketing at TalentTrove.com

Contestants will go directly to the contest page where they will be prompted to upload their audio or video files for submission.

A grand prizewinner will receive a Michael Kelly Patriot Custom electric guitar along with $500 provided by TalentTrove.com. The second place winner will receive a Michael Kelly Nostalgia 60SJCE acoustic guitar.

“I love what TalentTrove is all about,” said Tracy Hoeft, Founder and VP of Marketing for Michael Kelly Guitars. “This world is filled with talented people and it is exciting to see this great venue where those people can get noticed. Michael Kelly Guitars is thrilled to be able to partner with them to create a virtual stage for guitar players specifically to showcase their talent and passion.”

For more information visit the Web site www.TalentTrove.com or email questions to contest[@]TalentTrove.com.

Wordpress wants you to update.

Everyone’s favorite open source blogging platform has popped their latest version into the main distribution. People who use the hosted service at Wordpress.com will get new features as they roll out, but for the industrious bloggers with their own installs you can upgrade now manually or automatically via the “Tools” menu in your WP backend. WP 2.8 includes some new features such as a rebuilt widget interface, faster admin navigation, and a revised plugin interface.

Users who use a lot of plugins should wait to update, as I have seen some serious bugs already, and don’t forget to back up your database first.

StumbleUpon wants you to be Su.pr.

SU has launched a new service called Su.pr, which attempts to be a better Diggbar. It allows you to post your links to Twitter and Facebook and then track the activity through those links. So far I have had great results, and in general find SU to be a better overall source of traffic and promotion for quality new media content than Digg or similar sites.

Su.pr is in private beta right now, so you will have to sign up and hope you can get in. For more great tips on using StumbleUpon to promote your work, check out SU Comments, a great little blog that will get you up to speed.

GapingVoid wants you to buy his book.

Hugh MacLeod, aka GapingVoid of “cartoons drawn on the back of business cards” has released his new book “Ignore Everybody: and 39 Other Keys to Creativity“. It’s available in text and will soon be available on audio, and no one in new media should give this one a pass. Hugh is a great cartoonist and has some great things to say on the world of creative professionals, creativity in general, and of course he is a wonder of new media, so check out both his cartoons and his books for some funny, smart, and considered ideas.

Online luminary Seth Godin has also asked an important question I want to return to in a later post, but first I wanted your opinions:

Some people avoid Hugh’s work because he’s unafraid (even eager) to write about sex and to use language that looks good on Jack Nicholson. I have no problem with this, but a lot of people do, certainly at work.

So, the question: Should Hugh leave it out?

So, should he?

Closing up the day:

Had a lecture on user-generated content from Scott Porad of ICanHazCheezburger.com which was a good introduction to the theories of UGC and viral content. It was a bit too general for me, but for those who are new to the notions of the “Wisdom of Crowds” or “SmartMobs”, it was a good little presentation. The main points:

1. User-generated content is not new. Academic journals and other classical forms of media have used it.
2. By using the crowd, you are more likely to hit. He used the example of guessing the number of jellybeans in a jar. If one person guesses, they are probably not going to be right, even when using their best judgment. However, if many people make a guess using their best judgment and you roll the guesses into a averaging function, you are going to get closer and closer to the right answer with each guess. This is how the user-generated voting systems work to bring us content we want to see.

I wish he would have talked more about their voting algorithms and how they avoid the gaming so prevalent on sites like Digg and so on.

Right now on the stage is John Lilly, the CEO of Mozilla, talking about building open-source projects that can make viable business and technological systems. His main points:

1. Asking the question “How to build a successful open source project” is too big. It becomes meaningless. Every project is different.
2. When building and engaging a community to build a project, increase the inner circle. Let everyone who wants to participate, participate. “Surprise alienates.”
3. Community are not customers, they are citizens, and the best citizens challenge the status quo and are “huge pains in the asses”.
4. Engaged citizens are noisy (insert slide of Chris Messina). Chris made an hour-long video which tore Mozilla a new one over what was wrong with what they were doing…apparently Mr. Lilly, while of course upset by such an intense criticism, reacted like a champ and took the criticisms to heart.
5. “The web is central (but it is at risk)”.
6. The web is forking among technologies that are improving at different rates.
7. Companies are trying to lock the web into traditional bindings between manufacturers, service providers, and software providers, a la Ma Bell or AT&T. This must be avoided.
8. “On the web, you don’t need to ask anyone for permission”. (just build it)

That’s probably it for the night, hope you all got something out of it.
Technorati Profile

Philip Greenspun spoke on writing and blogging, and is making some great points on new media. While he is a bit of a rambler (bad for making spoken presentations) he made some short points:

1. Prior to the blog, there were two primary forms of publication: the book and the periodical. Because of this, important content would not be publishable because it would be either too short or too long.
2. Marcus Aurelius was the first blogger. Flame wars were apparently much more bloody then. One must also wonder as to their commenting system.

He also got confronted on some of his humor, which included racial jokes, by a young woman in the audience. His response when asked why he included the material, he responded with the old story about when Chuck Jones was asked about why he included all the violence in his cartoons, to which he explained that they “put in the violence because they thought it was funny”. While I don’t like the PC police who seem to increasingly police our words and thoughts, I thought he dealt with it well.

Next, the Lockergnome himself, Chris Pirillo, is on the stage, talking about community. His primary points:

1. We are all walking Venn diagrams of interests and characteristics.
2. Community connections through technology are becoming more and more distributed. While in the early days of Usenet one had to go to a specific location to seek out community, now those connections are non-localized.
3. The problem with closed source and closed communities is that they force you to live in someone else’s idea.
4. “A blog is just a tool. If you think a blog is a community, then YOU are a tool.”
5. “You know you have a community when it takes care of its own instead of eating its own.”
6. “Community is a commodity, but people aren’t.”
7. “Community cannot be controlled, only guided.”
8. “The best community leaders come out of the community, rather than being dropped into it.” (wise words for you community managers out there)
9. “Community is no longer defined by physical boundaries.” (this is a big idea, one that I have discussed on the Social Media Philosophy Project often)
10. He collects Garbage Pail Kids and still has nightmares about rotary phones…this seems off-topic, but he is talking about how the ability to have community has morphed and expanded since his youth.
11. “Community grows its own leaders.”
12. “Community is the antithesis of ego. It is inside of you, but it is not about you.” (best quote ever about social media in general)

More to come later!