It has been three challenging years for this little company.  It has been honoured by having enjoyed the talents of some amazing artists. It is to them that I am thankful for how they brought the vision of “The Meadow” to life. The compliments regarding the beauty of the game can justly be directed at them.

We are now at the brink of greater exposure.  With the launch of the Mac-compatible version of “The Meadow”, customers will be able to obtain the game in their local Apple Store this Christmas.

It’s a funny thing running a company for more than a few days. The new lessons to learn arrive almost daily. They all add up to something difficult to describe. It’s not a job, it’s not just a business, it’s the constant exclamation that something worthwhile should exist. I can barely contain the information I’ve absorbed these past three years.

You are only great at what you practice doing… for me, growing this business has been and is, a most wonderful thing to do. I look forward to getting better at it!

Participating in The Fusion Forum has been a humbling experience indeed. After several days of presentations, and subsequent fine tuning of the same, we stood up in front of a rather impressive group of business leaders and told our story of who we are, and what we do.

The response was amazing. Everyone loved The Meadow, offered sage advice, and were universally encouraging. Even venture capitalists enjoy hearing about children’s entertainment and bunny rabbits. Now on to the final round, wish us luck!

Google SafeSearch has long provided concerned parents, and web searchers looking to avoid adult sites, an easy alternative for opting out of seeing adult sites in their Google search results.

Today Google has just released a feature to let you lockdown SafeSearch settings. Once you put your search on lockdown, you’ll need to enter a password to revert back, and you’ll know your results are safe because you’ll see big, colored balls.

Yep, Google’s trademark colors — green, yellow, red, and blue — take the form of large balls so that you can be visually assured, “even from across the room,” that the search experience is locked down.

Although the feature doesn’t appear to be rolled out to everyone yet, you will be able to turn on SafeSearch lock from your Search Settings page, and use the colored balls as an ongoing reference to ensure that you and your children aren’t exposed to inappropriate content.

Watch the video below for a demonstration of how to setup SafeSearch lock.
Google’s safesearch lock

A fantastic charity event to raise funds and awareness for the Canuck Place Children’s hospice was held the past weekend at the Kitsilano Arena. Hosted by Agoo Apparel, kids got to run amok amidst the biggest bouncy castles I’ve ever seen. They literally FILLED the ice rink with huge inflatables. It was awesome! My own kids vanished for over four hours - returning red faced only to refuel and head back into the fray.

Parents and kids also were able to get hands on demos of “The Meadow”. Everyone really loved the game. One parent was so grateful on how it totally calmed her son down. He wouldn’t slow down at all due to all the castles but he managed to catch his breath while enjoying the peaceful setting and playing with some (virtual) animals. We also enjoyed seeing Rob Lewis, editor of techvibes and his family. Their little one was enthralled with the game.

We’re grateful to have been able to participate in an event supporting such a worthwhile cause as well as have such a wonderful time with all the children. Thank you Agoo!

Clicktoy has been busy coming out of a prolonged winter’s hibernation.  We’re finally in testing mode for our Mac OSX version of “The Meadow”.  We’ve just finished a bunch of meetings during Vancouver Digital Week. And we’ll be heading off to Como Italy to exhibit at the “International Conference on Interactive Design and Children“.

Stay tuned for more news about our upcoming Mac version launch. We are very excited about it!