Oy Vey! New Apple iPad App JUDOKU Teaches Users About Judaism

MINNEAPOLIS, MN, July 27, 2011–Oy vey! Move over, world of Sudoku apps targeting Jewish youth…there’s a new game in town! Okay, so maybe the Jewish Sudoku mobile gaming market isn’t huge, but it’s just grown by one. Today the Apple App Store published Judoku(TM), an educational Sudoku puzzle game aimed at educating Jews and Gentiles alike on the basics of Jewish culture.

Judoku (rhymes with Sudoku), developed by ACME Digital Laboratories LLC, is not your everyday Sudoku app. The iPad game, which sells for $1.99 on the Apple App Store, can be played as a traditional Sudoku game, with numbers 1 through 9 ordered across columns and rows, or by using Jewish symbols or the Hebrew alphabet in place of numbers. The game also includes humorous explanations of the Jewish components to further engage and educate players.

Judoku creator Andrew Charon, who was lead developer on the Webby Award-winning Yearbook Yourself app with its 450,000 visits, said “I’ve been creating educational games for companies like General Mills, Colle+McVoy, takemefishing.org and Blue Earth Interactive for many years, and most recently, I created a successful mobile app Sudoku game. My whole life people have asked me questions about Judaism, and then it occurred to me–here’s the opportunity to merge both into one fun user experience! I wanted a captivating tool I could use to teach my own children about Judaism. Learning the Torah was competing for their attention against Angry Birds and Justin Bieber Tweets. I figured if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em! That, and frankly, I really just wanted to create something called Judoku,” he added.

According to Charon, whether or not Judoku will be released for devices, such as Apple’s iPhone and iPod, or for Android and Blackberry devices will depend on the demand for the game from users of those devices. “I’m eager to hear how people are using the game, what they’re finding useful, and just getting their overall feedback. I’m expecting a lot of questions — it’s sort of a Jewish thing.”

For more information on Judoku, please visit http://www.judoku.net or http://www.acmedigitallabs.com; for review copies of the game, please contact ACME public relations firm WriteBrain Media by phone at 630.215.5623 by email at denise@writebrainmedia.com or via Twitter.com/writebrainmedia.

ABOUT ACME DIGITAL LABORATORIES LLC (ACME)

ACME Digital Laboratories LLC (ACME), founded in Chicago in 1997 by Andrew Charon, is now a Minneapolis-based creative software development company specializing in web and mobile application development. Judoku(TM) is the latest app developed by ACME. Previous mobile applications include The Crazy Monster Matching Game (iPhone) and The Monster Madness Memory Game and Sudoku Mania (iPad).

ABOUT ANDREW CHARON

Andrew Charon, the Webby Award-winning lead developer of Yearbook Yourself, has been working professionally in web development, design, and marketing since 1996. The Rubik’s Cube may have been the impetus for his award-winning career. At age 11, Fargo, ND native Charon was featured on his local ABC-TV affiliate for solving the Rubik’s Cube in record-breaking time. Currently, Charon is a full-time contractor at General Mills with a focus on creative software development, user experience, design and interactive strategy. Previously, Charon was employed at Minneapolis-based agency Colle+McVoy as a Sr. Creative Developer. He was a significant part of the agency’s transformation from a traditional to a highly interactive-focused agency, and while there, lead many award-winning projects for clients such as Yahoo!, Johnson and Johnson, Taubman Malls, Manhattan Toys, Kiehls and Rhymsayers Entertainment. With an undergraduate degree in fine art, Charon is continuing his education at the University of St. Thomas masters program in Software Engineering and Information Systems. Charon enjoys spending time with his family, long bike rides, around Minneapolis, soccer and listening to and composing his own music. When he’s not developing games for his clients or his children, he’s…sigh…still developing games.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Denise Dorman | WriteBrain Media

P: 630.845.4694 | M: 630.215.5623 |E: denise@writebrainmedia.com

Twitter.com/WriteBrainMedia | Facebook.com/writebrainmedia

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Mashable names PSGive.org “Most Promising New Company”

Mashable names PSGive.org “Most Promising New Company”

PSGive selected over renowned sites Quora and Instagram for the win

Las Vegas, NV – January 7, 2011—PSGive.org is pleased to announce that they were presented with the Mashable Award for “Most Promising New Company.”  Their win was announced last night during the fourth annual Mashable Awards at a gala event kicking off the 2011 International CES® conference in Las Vegas, Nevada.

“It was an honor simply to be nominated in the company of such great organizations as Quora, Instagram, Badgeville, and Getaround,” noted Sean Steinmarc, co-founder.

The Mashable Awards recognize the year’s best of tech and the web, per votes by the Mashable community who cast more than 1.3 million votes in 25 categories. “The Mashable Community has really grown the Mashable Awards program over the past four years,” said Pete Cashmore Founder & CEO of Mashable.  “We are grateful to our readers who made this year’s program such a success.”

PSGive.org was born of two lifelong friends, Paul Feldman and Sean Steinmarc, who had spent six years supporting non-profits dedicated to curing diabetes, a disease with which Feldman was diagnosed at age 25.  While researching methods to increase support, they identified that the non-profit community’s limited resources made it difficult for many organizations, not just those focused on diabetes, to reach and engage a wider supporter base. From that revelation, Paul and Sean developed a solution to this problem: PSGive.org.

PSGive.org was founded in May of 2009 and launched in October 2010, attracting donors with online “events.” Each event is assigned to a single charity, where supporters compete online to win prizes like luxury trips, electronics and more. Most recently, donors won an iPad for $4.49, a Kindle for $14.48 and a Flip Ultra HD for $16.53. Revenue from the events is generated by participation, allowing for these item discounts. Other benefits to the site include the following:

PSGive.org is fun: Each charity is assigned an event, where supporters can compete online to win prizes like luxury trips, electronics and more.

PSGive.org is affordable: There is never a membership fee for charities or supporters. Virtually everyone can afford to participate; tokens start at just $0.50 each.

PSGive.org is social: Members earn free tokens by referring friends; the “Share Button” at the bottom of each charity page and its event pages helps broadcast the message on Facebook, Twitter, and elsewhere, further raising awareness.

PSGive.org is accessible: The site is accessible via smart phones such as the iPhone, Blackberry and Android.

“PSGive.org is engaging a myriad of new supporters to give small amounts rather than hunting that one lump sum from a wealthy philanthropist. This does a better job of raising awareness of the charities immediately, thus raising further revenue in the future,” Feldman explained.

For more information, please visit PSGive.org, watch the founders’ in a TV interview, visit our press room and visit the following pages:

● Twitter

● Facebook

● LinkedIn

About PSGive.org

Founded in 2010, PSGive.org is an online community specifically designed to increase awareness of and revenue for non-profit organizations. PSGive.org allows nonprofit supporters to compete for amazing deals in online events benefiting their causes.

Media Contacts:

Stephen Crane

stephen.crane@psgive.org

951.732.7010

Denise Dorman

denise.dorman@psgive.org

630.845.4694

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I’m NOT One of the Top 50 Mommy Bloggers…But Who’s Counting?!?

So today they announced the Top 50 Mommy Bloggers. Apparently I haven’t done enough drinking and bribing with the judges.  That’s okay. I appreciate all of you, my gentle snowflakes. Each and every one of you.

A little Facebook exchange today reminded me to share with you one of my favorite practical jokes. I executed this operation when I was first getting to know Dave’s family. I had just moved to Shalimar, Florida and it was right around the holidays. Dave’s brother Jeff, sister-in-law Vicky, niece Stephanie and nephew John came down to celebrate with us and Dave’s father, USAF Lieutenant Colonel Jack Dorman.  Dave’s niece Stephanie and I hit the mall for some Christmas shopping and happened upon one of my favorite practical joke prop stores of all time (cue up the choir of angels): Spencer’s Gifts.

While perusing Spencer’s, I discovered the most delicious x-rated fortune cookies. As luck would have it (no pun intended), the whole family was going to Dave’s favorite Chinese restaurant that very evening. Stephanie and I were just buzzing with anticipation.

We arrived at the Chinese restaurant and ever-so-casually pulled the server aside and asked her to serve our fortune cookies. I don’t know about your family, but our tradition is that everyone reads their fortune aloud at the end of the meal. Like many ugly Americans, when little ears aren’t present, we end the fortune with the words “in bed” or “between the sheets.” This particular night, we all held off on that tradition to be more appropriate in a public place.

I’d give anything to recall the entire fortune-reading-aloud segment, but all that I can really remember is Dave’s brother Jeff reading, “Tight butts drive me nuts…?!?” as he looked up quizzically with a half-smile on his face. Everyone raced to open their fortune cookies and read them. Dave got really pissed and declared to the server, “What kind of fortune cookies are you serving here?!?” and then he saw it: the tears of laughter rolling down mine and Stephanie’s faces. Once again, he was the victim of my horseplay.

If pranks don’t come naturally to you, I recommend that you, too, peruse Spencer’s Gifts. The props there are downright inspirational. And when you pull your prank, please share it with me here or email me at denise@writebrainmedia.com. I can always use a good laugh.