Eclipses are rare, even rarer, a solar eclipse that coincides with the Winter Solstice – but it happened and was the first since 1638. Stargazers might have had to give up a little sleep but they were treated to a heavenly show. A lunar eclipse happens when the Earth becomes positioned between the sun and moon. The Earth ends up blocking the sun and causing a shadow to be cast on the moon. As NASA explains, “As the moon moves into the Earth’s shadow, the moon appears to change color, turning orange. Our atmosphere filters out most of the blue colored light, leaving the red and orange hues.”

Lunar eclipses are different from solar eclipses in that they can be seen with the naked eye.

NASA said the eclipse started Tuesday night, December 20, 2010 starting at about 1:33am ET and ended at 5:01am ET, “For eclipse watchers, this means that the moon will appear very high in the night sky, as the solstice marks the time when the Earth’s axial tilt is farthest away from the sun.” NASA also streamed live video feed of the eclipse from a camera at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

Because of severe weather in parts of North America it was difficult for some to get a good view of the celestial show. In western Europe and Asia those stargazers were only able to see the start and end of the show. The next total lunar eclipse will occur on April 15, 2014.

The Earth casting its shadow on the moon as the Lunar Eclipse starts.

Did you get a chance to see the show? DMAC are amateur astronomers and was there to see it – just take a look at these incredible pics. If you’re interested in science, check out Digital Media Academy’s Science and Engineering Summer Camp. The world of science is exciting and full of exploration and discover. Want to see more pics? Then check out DMA’s Facebook page – and while you’re at, add DMA to your facebook.

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Sony will release the official PlayStation 3 app to the iPhone and Android most likely in early 2011. So does this mean you’ll be able to play your favorite PlayStation games on your mobile phone? Not exactly. The new app will allow you to track your PS3 gamer trophies and stay connected with friends. The app will be available first in Europe – the UK, France, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands – with release in the U.S. to follow.

The PlayStation app on the iPhone. It connects directly with the PlayStation Network, so gamers can keep track of their friends or update their own status.

Many in the mobile industry believe this is Sony’s answer to Microsoft’s Xbox Live app that was included with the Windows 7 phone. That app allows gamers to play mobile versions of Xbox 360 games on the Windows phone, earning points and extras that can be used on their console games. The PlayStation 3 app gives smartphone users the ability to connect with the PlayStation Network, keep track of gamer trophies, connect with friends through Facebook, Twitter or email, updating their status all through the iPhone or Android mobile device. Best of all, the app is free.

The app will also give gamers news updates on Playstation and PSP games and hardware gadgets. Sony Europe have also said updates and added features for the app will be added over the next few months after the release. It’s also interesting to note that app will not launch in the U.S. first, this decision could be related to the next Sony PSP which will also work as a phone. Finally, to run the app you’ll need to have iOS 4 running on your Apple device or Android 1.6 or above.

DROID. The PlayStation app will apparently have the same features as the iPhone on the Google OS.

The app market is rapidly growing and it’s connection with console games inevitable. If you’re interested in developing games for the iPhone or developing for the Android, get started by taking a class in mobile game development. If anything, this market will continue to grow as we become an increasing mobile culture.

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Infinity Blade is one of the hottest games on the market. Surprisingly, it’s an iPhone game that shows the iPhone can not only be a serious contender to the Nintendo and Sony handhelds, but possibly the new mobile gaming king. You don’t have to tell that to Epic’s VP Mark Rein, he’s fully behind Apple’s handheld and feels Apple’s App Store is the best market for mobile gaming.

Epic Games (the developer behind Infinity Blade and folks behind the Xbox 360 megahit Gears of War), believes in the iPhone so much that they’re releasing the iPhone Unreal Engine – the tools they used to make Infinity Blade – to the public.

The UDK will be made available for free, as long as the game or app you develop with it is not sold. If you want to sell your creation, you’ll need to pay Epic a $99 developer/licensing fee, plus a 25% royalties after your first $5,000 in sales.

The beautiful Epic Citadel was created using the Unreal Development Kit.

The Unreal Development Kit is a powerful mobile dev platform. It gives iPhone Mobile game developers even more options than ever to create experiences that rival or surpass console games. That and great content has helped make mobile development the fastest growing segment of the gaming market.

“If you’re going to make a game for a mobile device, and you want to make the most money… make it for iOS.” – Epic’s VP Mark Rein

If you’re interested in iPhone game development there are great technology camps and courses in mobile game development to help you get started creating games. Mobile gaming is hot, and so is Android game development it’s just as popular as iPhone.

Get started with mobile game development and get in on the hottest area of gaming. Check out the iPad demo for Epic Citadel also created with the Unreal Development Kit.

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It’s likely you’re too young to remember him or maybe, you haven’t even heard of him. But you should know who he is. Meet Kevin Flynn. The real star of Tron: Legacy and the greatest videogame and computer programmer, ever.

In the world of Tron, bits and bytes make up the virtual landscape.

Who is Kevin Flynn and what makes him so special? Flynn was the video game Steve Jobs of the post-Atari and arcade era. So why haven’t you heard of him? Well, in a story that sounds like it was ripped from today’s headlines, Flynn was just a game or two shy of starting his own video game company (or becoming the CEO of ENCOM, the software company he worked for), when he was side-swiped by a rival co-worker – Ed Dillinger. Dillinger stole Flynn’s brillant programming code and got promoted to CEO, while Flynn was let go by the company he helped build. Shortly after he vanished.

The Golden Age of Video Games

Welcome to 1982. Practically nobody plays video games at home anymore – and believe it or not, this is the golden age of video games. Now, arcades rule and yet-to-be classics like Frogger, Pole Position, Galaga, Ms. Pac-Man, Centipede and Donkey Kong Jr. dominate malls, movie theaters and pizza parlors. And even though it’s less than a year away from being announced to the public, the 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is unheard of – the home video game console market having been demolished by the Atari 2600 and shovelware.

It’s a good time to own an arcade and Kevin Flynn decides to do just that. Flynn’s also happens to be one of the most popular. In his make-shift home and office above the arcade, Flynn starts hacking ENCOM’s computer mainframe to dig up the evidence he needs to prove his co-worker wrongdoing. Then the unthinkable happens.

Kevin Flynn, the video game programmer and hacker who designed some of the most cutting edge video games of the day, gets zapped inside his incredible 3D virtual world to battle his own creation. Keep in mind, this was twenty years before massive mulitplayer online worlds like World of Warcraft or other virtual world concepts, like The Matrix, came along. Kevin Flynn, like Steve Jobs would do years later, introduced us to a whole new digital frontier.

Becoming a Game Programmer

Today gamers and future programmers have great options to jump start a career in video game or computer programming. You can start by creating game levels using industry standard tools or creating game characters. Have you already been hacking code on your own and want to learn advanced programming techniques to create 3D worlds? You can.

The next Kevin Flynn is out there, could it be you?

Developing Cyberspaces

It’s the dream of every video game programmer (and for that matter, every video gamer), to actually live, or play in the computer game world they’ve created. And Kevin Flynn did it before anybody.

Computer programmer Kevin Flynn looks in on his creation, the world of Tron and Tron: Legacy.

Played by Oscar-winner Jeff Bridges (The Big Lebowski, Crazy Heart), Kevin Flynn was the young anti-hero for a sci-fi flop called Tron, a movie that became video game and computer programmers Star Wars. Tron was the first movie to truly visualize what might be possible in future video game worlds.

In the Disney film Tron: Legacy Flynn will once again take moviegoers and video game junkies into a computer generated world unlike anything you’ve ever experienced, courtesy of 3D.

Will you see Tron Legacy? Are you ready to become a video game or computer programmer? Tell us!

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