Dan Russell-Pinson

Stack the States

Posted on September 3, 2010 | Leave a comment

I’ve just submitted my latest iPhone app, Stack the States, to the iTunes App Store. This time around I decided to try something different and create an educational app. The goal was to create a learning app that was actually fun to play.

The object of the game is fairly simple. You are asked various questions about the 50 states including capitals, state shapes, abbreviations, bordering states, location on the map and even nicknames. If you choose the correct state, you get to actually pick it up, move it, rotate it and place it wherever you want. Your goal is to carefully create a stack of states that reaches the checkered line.

Every time you complete a level you earn a random state. As you try to collect all 50 states, you can always check your progress on your personalized map of the US. All of the states you have earned appear on your map in their correct locations. As you earn more and more states, you start unlocking the three included bonus games: Pile Up, Puzzler and Capital Drop.

Bonus Game: Pile Up
Pile Up becomes unlocked and playable after earning 10 states. The object of Pile Up is to remove all of the states before they pile up to the top of the screen. To remove a state, simply tap the state shape whose name is displayed at the bottom of the screen.

Bonus Game: Puzzler
Puzzler is the second bonus game in Stack the States and is unlocked after earning 25 states. The object is simple, move the displayed state shapes around and put them together like a jigsaw puzzle. Puzzler is great for teaching and reinforcing the relative locations of the states.

Bonus Game: Capital Drop
Capital Drop is the third and last bonus game in Stack the States. The object of the game is to match the states with their capitals. When you see a match, simply tap the capital box and the state shape in any order and they fly away. The game ends when a state falls off the bottom of the screen. Match as many states with their capitals as you can.

Click here to see Stack the States in iTunes!

REVIEWS:
★ “Stack the States has filled a void in the average child’s education – geography – and done it splendidly!” -TeachersWithApps.com
★ “If you have children who are elementary school aged this is a fantastic educational app that’s also a hoot.” - The iPhone Mom.com
★ “Stack the States is a must have.” - The iKids Blog
★ “Don’t let the educational nature of this $0.99 game fool you. It is both addictive and fun to play.” - 1st Impressions

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Posted in Games, Stack the States

One Nation Indivisible

Posted on June 30, 2010 | Leave a comment

One Nation Indivisible

On June 21st, 2010, Charlotte Atheists and Agnostics, a group I’ve been a part of for many years, put up our first billboard. After considering a couple of options, the group decided on a simple message that would coincide with July 4th.

The billboard simply reads “One Nation Indivisible” and is intended to spotlight the contradiction of placing “under God” in the pledge of allegiance. To quote Joseph Stewart, the person who came up with the concept: “When the words ‘under God’ were inserted into the Pledge of Allegiance between ‘one nation’ and ‘indivisible,’ they made a lie out of both those ideals because you can’t have an indivisible nation if you draw a line between the godly and godless. We all belong here.”.

One Nation Indivisible - Vandalized

Over the following weekend, one or more persons defaced the billboard by spray painting the words “under god” and an arrow pointing between “One Nation” and “Indivisible”. However, this stunt has seemed to have backfired as word of the vandalism spread, the story of the billboard grew even bigger than before and is now being covered by many more news outlets both National and International. This news coverage has also brought in a flood of new members to CAA. The crime has been reported to the police and a new billboard is expected to be installed before the 4th of July holiday.

Many people responding to the story (and even some news anchors) were not aware that the words “under God” did not actually appear in the original pledge of allegiance written in 1892. (They were added in 1954 in the midst of the McCarthy era and under the fear of Communism.)

I believe that our country can never truly achieve the pledge’s goal of “liberty and justice for all” until the separation of church and state that our founding Fathers conceived of is fully realized. Hopefully this small consciousness raising effort will help to plant a seed in those who see the billboard or read about it in the news.

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Posted in Uncategorized

Night Photography at Kiawah Island 2010

Posted on June 29, 2010 | Leave a comment

This is my third night photography attempt at Kiawah Island and I incorporated all of the lessons learned from the previous outings.

I branched out from my previous attempts by incorporating my light figures into the natural surroundings of Kiawah Island. I also visited many different locations than before adding a little more variety to the images.

Most images were shot with a 90 to 150 second exposure at night with no light except for the (almost) full moon.

Night Photography at Kiawah Island 2010, a set on Flickr.

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Posted in Photography

Unicycled the Booty Loop for the First Time!

Posted on May 30, 2010 | Leave a comment

Had a great unicycle ride today! I took my usual route to Freedom Park and did a few laps around the water. I got a lot of the usual comments and one man sitting on a bench even took my picture. After unicycling by the soccer fields and baseball fields, I found myself at the East Blvd. entrance to the park. I realized I was just a couple minutes away from the famous “Booty Loop” (where the “24 Hours of Booty” charity event is run), so I thought I’d give it a try.

I couldn’t believe it… I was actually able to ride my first lap around the 3 mile Booty Loop without stopping. I decided to try for a second lap and completed it with only one UPD (UnPlanned Dismount). It was great to be out on the course with so many cyclists. (They were all passing me of course.) I received a lot of positive comments from many of the people on the loop and a few puzzled looks as well. One cyclist actually pulled ahead of me, stopped at an intersection and took my picture as I rode by. She said she had never seen a unicyclist on the Booty Loop before.

This was my first ride with a Speedometer/Odometer, so I was able to track my distance more accurately.

Total Miles: 11
Avg. Speed: 7.2 mph
Ride Time: 1:31

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Posted in Unicycling

Unicycling!

Posted on May 22, 2010 | Leave a comment

Since I’ve been spending so much of my time unicycling lately, I decided it’s about time to add a “unicycling” category to my blog.

Just to catch up: I’ve been unicycling since July, 2008 on a 24″ Torker CX unicycle. I’ve just recently upgraded my ride to a 36″ Nightrider Pro unicycle. I’ve been on about 5 rides with the Nightrider and it’s unbelievable.

The Nightrider tire rides so smooth and the extra speed is amazing. I love being able to feel the wind in my face as I ride!

It took me about 10-15 minutes of getting the feel for it and getting my confidence up. I learned quickly that I had to lean forward more than with the 24″. Pretty soon I was zipping around the neighborhood with no problem.

I went with the Qu-ax 145mm ISIS crank arms which are a little shorter than the standard 152mm that I’m used to. This together with the size and weight of the 36″ wheel makes it a little more challenging to accelerate or to slow down on a sleep hill, etc. Hopefully a little more leg strength will compensate for this.

Freemounting a unicycle is always a challenge for me. After watching a few videos online, I’ve settled into a rolling mount technique that works for me. I can now land a freemount within about 1 to 3 tries pretty consistently.

The standard gel saddle is a ten-fold improvement over my Toker CX seat. I feel like my weight is more evenly spread over it. I’ll see how it does for longer rides and decide if I want to upgrade it later to a KH fusion or something.

Overall, I love my new Nightrider Pro and I can’t wait to put many, many miles on it!

Getting the feel for my new Nightrider Pro Unicycle

One of my first rides on my new Nightrider Pro Unicycle

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Posted in Unicycling

Inside the Mind of a Tea Bagger

Posted on April 19, 2010 | Leave a comment

My first attempt at a comic…

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Posted in Uncategorized

Collider for the iPhone is Released!

Posted on January 26, 2010 | Leave a comment

After two months of intense development, Collider for the iPhone is finally released!

Collider first hit the scene as a Flash game in April, 2009. I started learning iPhone development soon after and released a port of my Flash game Block Drop followed by Furballs!. I’m glad I waited a while to port Collider because I needed everything I learned from the first two projects to even think about creating a game this complicated.

The iPhone version features updated graphics including brighter, more colorful background images. I was also able to preserve the dynamically generated music so each level has a different musical composition. Collider for the iPhone also features a much requested new feature, a fast-forward button, as well as an “auto-save” feature that allows you to quit the game at any time and resume playing right where you left off.

Download Collider Now!
Collider the Game on iTunes

Gameplay Video

About Collider
Collider is an addictive, physics-based iPhone game featuring 56 intricate levels of play and dynamically generated music. Your goal is to destroy all of the positive and negative particle balls. Simply drag the particle balls where you want, press play and watch them come to life! Navigate them through pipes, gears, sensors, bombs, springboards, pendulums, seesaws and more to make them collide.

Collider Reviews:
“Collider the Game is definitely a nice physics puzzler with some great level design that is both challenging and rewarding.“
- TouchGen

“Collider Is Physics-Puzzling Paradise“
- AppSmile

“Enjoy hours of fun with this unique puzzle game!“
- AppShouter

“The graphics are surpurb, the physics life-like, and the dynamically generated music really combine to produce a game well worth the $0.99 price tag“
- 1st Impressions

“It has great original graphics, it’s casual, easy to access and play, but also features some hardcore levels that are really hard to beat!“
- ProjectNext

“I really liked it. I thought it was a great, fun game.“
- iPhoneSlutz

Screenshot: