For an unknown number of lucky beta testers (including myself, as of this afternoon) that return is now! So let me show you what all the fuss is about…

Something Old

The thing that reinvigorate has always done exceptionally well - what really set it apart in my mind - is its capacity for viewing startlingly up to date statistics.

Actually, ‘up to date’ doesn’t quite convey the immediacy of this service, ‘up to second’ would be more accurate.

With reinvigorate activated, I can visit anywhere on my webpage and at the exact same time be viewing my footprints through the reinvigorate ‘Session’ report. No other service I have ever used even comes close to providing this level of intimacy in their statistics.

To put it another way; while every other service just send you postcards from time to time, using reinvigorate is like climbing inside your web server and watching it tick. For a keen stat-o-phile there’s just no substitute.

Something New

Fitting comfortable into the brave new world of Web two point oh, reinvigorate’s new user interface is more than just an aesthetic facelift.

A clever two-tiered tabbed navigation system gives users access to 28 cleanly designed and information-packed report cards for you to peruse - all sorted logically under the five main headings of Traffic, Visitor Detail, Session, Site & Path and Search & Referrer.

Something Borrowed

As I mentioned earlier, the previous version of reinvigorate was shut down in early 2005 - largely, I believe, due to its own unmanageable success. For some time before the plug was pulled on it, reinvigorate had experiences huge problems dealing with the enormous demands being made on it by its many ardent fans. Slow loading and plenty of downtime marked its exit from the online scene just as many more users were discovering it.

This time around however, reinvigorate is boasting a proud endorsement of media temple’s web hosting services and from a quick eyeball test, seems to be inserting on pages even faster than google’s urchin include. Here’s to hoping they can maintain this standard once the service goes live for all!

Something Blue

Um.. the logo?
Though I had to finish out this terrible wedding cliché I appropriated, I definitely can’t say that I’m blue at reinvigorate’s well-overdue return.

If early signs are anything to go by, it seems that this excellent webservice is soon going to be back and better than ever!

Update

Looks like reinvigorate already has its own wordpress plugin; Reinvigorate for Wordpress.

Those of you who’ve visited before will notice there is now a new ‘embodied media’ section to encompass work I’ve completed in my latest semester of study, as well as a new business card and web design. So if you’ve just visited the site and are not quite sure what it is I do, or just want to see some more examples of my past work, go on and poke your head into the portfolio section of the site.

I can practically guarantee there’ll be something new for repeat offenders and first-time visitors alike!

What can Songbird do?

Utilising the same powerful technology that powers Mozilla Firefox (amongst others), this newest entrant into the Media Player war is sure to be a BIG contender! Beyond the simple functions you would expect of an mp3 player - Listen, Organise, Rip and Burn - Songbird offers it’s users an unprecedented level of connectivity to music and music-related services on the internet.

The difference between the Firefox and Internet Explorer browsers is substantial, but it’s nothing like the difference between iTunes or Windows Music and Songbird.
[Rob Lord, Songbird’s Lead Developer to BoingBoing]

The only thing you will have seen that could even compare to what Songbird seeks to do is the iTunes Music Store, and as Lord says, “Songbird is to iTunes what the Firefox browser is to… AOL.” With this program, you will be able to download and play music directly from your favourite music blog, access internet radio stations and P2P networks directly, conduct live searches for lyrics and other information, and a whole plethora of other activities - all through the one interface: your new hub of Musical explorations.

How can Songbird do all of these things?

Earlier I mentioned that Songbird runs on the engine that powers Firefox. It’s actually fairly accurate to say that Songbird is itself a web browser - of sorts… One could even go so far as to say that the Songbird interface is nothing but a fancy web-page! But that’s getting awfully technical and confuses even someone like me, let alone the poor sod who just uses Firefox because everyone says it’s better [Kudos to you!]

But a web browser; sure! Songbird is essentially a hacked up, pimped out version of a Mozilla browser which sees the web as a carrier of music. It will pick mp3’s right out of the the text on a page and display them in a list for your listening pleasure; to Songbird, every webpage is a potential playlist - even this one

Note: For those wondering where all this talk of web browsing leaves Songbird’s ability to play media; it uses the popular video player VLC for all of its [many] codecs.

Can Songbird do more?

Yes! And that’s the truly exciting thing about it! Being built on Firefox’s XUL, Songbird will boast the same adaptiveness and extensibility that has helped make Firefox the people’s choice in web software. Want Songbird to synchronise with your iPod (who doesn’t want to get rid of iTunes!?) - Songbird’s developers can’t make it; apple would shut them down… but John Doe certainly can!

But that’s just the start. John’s wife Jane can go a step further and make it synchronise with ANY portable mp3 player, or maybe have it access lyrics from a list of your favourite song and compose the words into an award-winning essay on the real consumer benefits of pharmaceutical isolationism (damn, you listen to some strange music!)

The point is; where Songbird’s development stops, it’s status as Open Source software and the extensibility of the code it runs on will enable end users to take over, developing extensions to perform functions undreamed of even by the program’s coders! That’s the power of XUL, that’s the power of Open Source, and that will be the power of this exciting new program!

As for this Alpha release… well let’s just re-iterate the fact that it’s meant only as a preview and leave it at that…

Download Songbird 0.1

At a meager 130 KB, it’s obvious where µTorrent got it’s name (’µ’ or ‘Mu’ is the greek alphabet symbol for ‘micro’ in modern-day science) but the feature-set of this BitTorrent packet-pusher is anything but diminutive! µTorrent currently boasts trackerless support [Mainline DHT], RSS Auto-downloader, four-mode file prioritisation and an inbuilt speed scheduler - all the features and more that you would expect from a BitTorrent client and at a greatly reduced size and memory footprint.

I could go on for hours so to save us all some time, here’s a rundown on µTorrent’s performance next to that of Azureus (probably the most popular BitTorrent client at this time).

_{*Not including the 120 MB taken up by Java Runtime Environment which it requires to run}

As you can see, µTorrent has a near identical feature-set to Azureus with greatly reduced system requirements. Although Azureus is Open Source and compatible with more operating systems, µTorrents remains the clear winner for a Windows user - particularly one such as myself who has somewhat less than bountiful memory to spare.

So what are you waiting for? Go Micro!

     

Visit µTorrent’s homepage

What I’m really writing for is to teach you how to pimp your Firefox! (Aren’t I kind?)

The first pimping feature I’ll introduce you to is a little-known one that is native to Firefox.

Revolutionise the Way You Search!

You probably think that the Firefox integrated search is pretty nifty, and it is, but there are better ways to find what your looking for…
Inbuilt in Firefox is something called ‘Keyword Searches’ which allows you to search directly from your address bar; any search engine, any time.

Here’s how it works.
Whenever you come across a search form you’d like to use in the future, say the search bar on the top-left of this page for example, you simply right-click it [ctrl+click for Macs] and hit ‘Add a Keyword for this search…’

In the window that comes up, just type in a name (eg. ‘FAUNStudios Blog’); a keyword (eg. ‘fs’) and allocate where the search bookmark should go (I recommend putting them in ‘Search and Directory or somewhere similar otherwise they make take over your bookmarks if you’re a search-junkie like myself.)

Now whenever you want to find an entertaining and enlightening document (*cough*) all you need to do is type ‘fs’ followed by your search terms into your address bar. For example if you wanted to search for articles that mention photoshop you’d just open up a new tab and type in “fs photoshop” [try it!]

With a good repertoire of keyword search bookmarks, you can do away with the integrated search bar forever [right/ctrl click blank space in the Firefox toolbar > Customise, drag off] and enjoy ultra-flexible keyword searched for all of your favourite sites*!

*Note: Searching isn’t the only thing this function is good for. You can use it to access almost any web form, giving you instant access to services like TinyURL for example.

Get info about Keyword Searches.

Must-Have Extensions

One of Firefox’s greatest strengths is its extensibility, but finding the right extensions for you can be a bit of an effort; particularly if you don’t know what’s out there! So here’s a brief run-down on the extensions that make my life just that little bit easier…

Have you ever seen a GeoCities page without tacky, annoying ads? It’s such a novel concept, and possible with this first and probably most important extension; AdBlock Plus.

AdBlock Filterset.G Updater

The natural companion to AdBlock Plus, Filterset.G Updater is a quiet little extension that runs in the background to keep your AdBlock block-list up to date with the latest ad-busting entries. In effect, your block-list will be kept primed and updated by the friendly people at pierceive.com so that no new nasties are allowed in.

HomePage | Install

PDF Download

You click on an innocent-looking link… instantly your computer slows to a crawl as you realise to your dismay that it was linking to a PDF document. When Adobe Acrobat Reader finally loads, tries to update itself then grudgingly gives your browser and half your CPU back to you, you realise the enormous PDF you just downloaded wasn’t what you were looking for after all. Not any more.

This nifty extension has saved my sanity countless times; particularly when doing research. It is a very simple one; all it does it check if what you’re clicking is a PDF, then it shows you the size of the document and gives you four options: Download It (as a file), Open it in a new tab (as would normally happen automatically), Open in a new tab as HTML (very handy for a quick scan), or Cancel (stay on the present page).

HomePage | Install

SpellBound

This portable spell-checker is perfect for bloggers and avid commenters, spell-check is never more than a right[/ctrl] click away*.

*Particularly useful if — against your better judgement — you are arguing on the Internet and want someone to have to address your points rather than hiding behind ‘ZOMG you cant even spell proply!’

HomePage | Install

Well that will do me for today; I hope you’ve learnt a little more about what your favourite browser can do. I may update this in future as more pimping extensions become available, but until then I’d urge you to look through the Mozilla Extensions repository and see if you can’t find some more ways to make your browsing life a little more enjoyable.

As for anyone still using Internet Explorer; I urge you to make the change. I can practically guarantee that after a few weeks use you wont dream of going back (and after a few months you’ll be the one bugging other people about how superior your browser is!)

Objective:

The objective of this tutorial is to teach you how to achieve a fresh, water droplet effect for use in web or graphic design.

Difficulty:

Easy-Intermediate. Some basic Photoshop knowledge assumed.

Step 1:

Open up your graphic editor (I will perform this tutorial using Photoshop CS therefore if you use a different version or program you will simply have to translate as best as possible) and a new image. The image should be at least 300*300 pixels for this tutorial but this can be easily changed later. Fill the background layer with a colour of your choice (I will use #75B523 but it really doesn’t matter what colour you use in this exercise.)

Step 2:

Create a new layer above this and with the lasso tool, select several smooth shapes such as water would form on a flat surface. Don’t worry about jaggedness right now, just get the general shapes of the larger drops. Your image should now look like the one below.

Step 3:

Click the Select–Modify> Smooth option and set it to around 5 pixels (this will obviously need to be changed depending on the size of the document your working on as well as the jaggedness of your initial selections. Having done this, hold shift and use the ‘Elliptical Marquee Tool’ (accessed by clicking and holding the Rectangular Marquee button) to create smaller droplets of water around your main shapes. After you have done this, fill with a colour of choice (the colour doesn’t matter, you will only be using it for finding the selections of your shapes.) You should now have something similar to the image below.

Step 4:

Create another layer [drops back] and reselect the shapes by holding ctrl and clicking the ’shapes’ layer. Click Select–Modify>Expand and expand the selection by about 2 pixels (again this is relative to canvas size.) Fill this new selection with a colour slightly darker then the background colour and drag the new layer under the Shapes layer.

Step 5:

Use a Gaussian blur [Filter–Blur>Gaussian Blur] of about 2 pixels on the Drops Back layer so that the darker colour bleeds out onto the background a bit more without it having a sharp edge. Create another new layer [Drops Base] and fill the droplets areas (ctrl click the shapes layer again) with a colour darker then the background but lighter then the Drops Back colour. Click the eye icon on the Shapes layer to make it invisible.

Step 6:

Create another new layer [Highlight] and select the shapes again. Using the fill tool, fill all the shapes in pure white. Now go back and use the erase tool set in ‘brush’ mode with a soft brush of appropriate size and delete the highlight back until only the side closest to the light source is showing white. This may take a while to do and you may have to change brush sizes several times depending on the size of the water drop. Persevere until you achieve an effect similar to mine below.

Step 7:

Now we are seeing some of the magic happen! Create a new layer [Glow] under highlight and select the shapes again. This time use the airbrush tool set at about 30% transparency with a colour slightly lighter and move vibrant then the background colour to create a gentle glow on the opposite side to the light source. When you’ve done that, go back and use the erase tool similarly to how you did in step 6 to reduce any overly large areas and trim the glow away from the bottom edges of the larger drops.

Step 8:

Now all that you need to do is fine-tune the different layers; for example, adjusting colours or shrinking highlights. You may also want move the Drops Back layer down a few pixels to look more realistic.

Step 9:

This is the most important step; Play! Try different variations of colours, shapes etc. to see what works best for you. Don’t feel constrained to these instructions either, just by experiment with different methods of highlighting and orders of lightness you can create an entirely different aesthetic for the same humble effect.

As technology powers the new global networked economy, it also puts new demands on corporate and private endeavours. For many years, strains such as these have been successfully controlled with the formation of industry clusters: a method of optimising production by localising into regional agglomerations.

Like organisms in a biosphere, these companies feed off each other’s knowledge and talents… They compete, often vigorously, for market share, employees and resources. However, they also rely on each other. Acting together, these companies generate skills in and knowledge of their particular sector… The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. (Witzler 2001)

By grouping together in this way, businesses achieve a kind of critical mass wherein they benefit from optimal competitive conditions and information trade: integral prerequisites for growth and innovation. With the continual acceleration of globalisation and the progressive movement from markets to networks – substituting property rights for access rights (Rifkin 2001 p43), atoms for bits (Negroponte); clustering is no longer enough.

The complement to this local clustering is to use the structure of the networked economy to create new online ‘business ecosystems’ (Moore, 1997, p.11) or virtual clusters. As Preissl (2003 p.2) states, “The globalisation of companies and markets and the specific requirements of innovation processes require the expansion of cluster concepts towards virtual dimensions.” This is particularly true in fields that are concentrated about fast moving technologies such as that of multimedia and computer generated imagery or CGI. In these fields, the Internet is often used to set up virtual clusters that consist of many different affiliate companies and community web sites. This enables companies to spark new ideas via information trade and to keep in touch with the consumers; many of who are active participants within the wider creative milieux surrounding the virtual cluster.

One such virtual cluster is the ‘deviantART cluster’ that I will refer to throughout this essay. Centred around the emergent field of digital art – imagery created wholly through the use of computers; this cluster provides involved companies with enormous amounts of feedback and other resources, both realised and potential. With ties to online-studies universities, industry leaders in software and imagery production and an extensive creative milieu of artists and critics, the deviantART cluster resembles a virtual ‘Silicon Valley’. Consisting of approximately nine leading community sites, hundreds of supplementary communities and independent professionals’ websites, and a broad range of software development companies (see fig 1), “The resulting cluster uses interaction as the constitutive element of clusters, not location.” (Preissl (2003, p3). With enough users on deviantART alone to dwarf the inner-city population of Amsterdam, and a user growth rate that continually exceeds infrastructure supply, this interaction has created an easily accessible, international milieu of staggering proportions. What’s more is that it is an accurate reflection of the most advanced of present web technologies as well as an icon of interdisciplinary collaborative achievement.

Figure 1: Diagram of deviantART virtual cluster.

Networking and Technology as a Catalyst

Without constant input and exchange there can be no innovation; something often sponsored by the clashing of different ideas. In many ways technology acts as a catalyst within the creative industries by providing the networking ‘firepower’ for information and cultural exchange to enhance the creative flow.

From dramatically changing business and political climates to grammatically changing spelling and sentence structures, particularly via short message service (SMS) texting, the Internet and wireless technologies are already transforming the world‘s countries and cultures in unprecedented ways…catapulting millions of consumers into the network society irrespective of decades-old last-mile problems. (Rao 2002 p10)

Global networking with such open access (even for the developing world that Rao speaks of) promotes the celebration of cultural diversity and functions as a forum for experimental movements, therefore stimulating change and growth within the creative industries and preventing cultural stagnancy. It’s no surprise then that the Internet, the largest and most powerful active network, has such a profound effect, providing opportunities for collaboration and information exchange on a previously unimagined scale. In this way, “Information technology can be seen as an enabler which is essential for efficient functioning of co-operation schemes between distant entities” (Priessl 2003, p3). Put simply: Wide networks such as the Internet make international organisation run as smoothly as local ventures.

For the creative practitioner, this has an enormous effect on the way they live and work. No longer limited to the market and resources around them, someone in the most remote location now has access to and all the advantages of the global network. They are able to work for companies and to collaborate with others half the world away without travel or great expense. What’s more is that with new networking technologies a plethora of activities can not only be organised, but actually carried-out simultaneously despite distance between locations. Being able to work in this way, as though working side-by-side, is an enormous aid for global collaborators. Also technological infrastructure now provided by the Internet enables these collaborations to go far beyond ‘multi-media’ and to form hybrid media in their own rights such as web design or computer animation. Because of this advancement in technology, people are able to create truly interdisciplinary enterprises based solely in cyber-space, a potential that will surely continue to grow as the web moves past it’s ‘nomadic’ stage (Businessline 2000). With increased access to and awareness of widespread collaborations, more and more creative practitioners are getting involved; making such projects a formidable new force within the industry.

Interdisciplinary Collaboration

The creative industries are fundamentally interdisciplinary. That is, most activities which are performed in the realm of the creative industries demand the use of multiple sub-sectors of the industry or ‘disciplines’. Because of this, interdisciplinary collaboration - working in teams of people who’s creative specialties differ - plays a large role in any work one does within the creative industries. The reason for this is quite simple: as Leadbeater states “Creativity stems from the interaction of a diversity of viewpoints, disciplines and outlooks, in which ideas are abducted from one area and transplanted to another.” (2000, p239-240) and the results of such interaction can be quite dynamic. When many artists from a diverse range of creative industries fields or disciplines work together in order to harness their individual ideas and combine them into alternative representations and applications, the resulting outcomes far exceed what could have been achieved by the sum of individuals. Indeed, as was mentioned earlier, the outcomes of such enterprises can be extraordinarily dynamic, sometimes warranting entirely new classifications of media or creating what has come to be called ‘convergent’ products.

Such a product is one that supersedes its individual classification as an item of media, telecommunications or computing. As Barr states, “These formerly discrete functions have now tended to come together… in a process called convergence” (2000 p22). An excellent example of convergent activity and also interdisciplinary collaboration can be seen in the craft of ‘skinning’. Skinning is an art form that emerged with the advent of Internet community groups of graphic designers, artists and coders collaborating with software developers (such as deviantART with Nullsoft) to create the ability to customise the look and feel of a computer program. The product of this merger is one that is being adopted even by software giant Microsoft’s Windows operating system in order to customise the way each user’s personal computer interacts with them.

Individualisation and Customisation

The consumer demand for individualised products and services that appeared during the early 1970’s and has continued to grow rapidly over the past thirty years is one that was dismissed at first as unrealistic. Twenty years later, argues Pine, it was the new frontier; “Today, it is the new imperative for businesses”(Pine 2003 p5). From the cut and colour of your clothes to the language on your letterhead and everything in between, Stan Davis’s ‘Mass Customization’ (“Future Perfect” 1987) and the emerging ‘DiY (Do it Yourself) Culture’ has replaced the crumbling ethos of the industrial age where you could have any colour car you liked (as long as it was black).

The growing availability of knowledge combined with improved individual capabilities for processing and sharing information, is raising the expectations of citizens – there is a growing tendency among people to expect tailor-made, customised responses. (European Commission 2003)

In no other region is this expectation as evident as in digital technologies.

It can be no surprise that customisation and DiY culture, of which skinning is a noteworthy embodiment, is particularly advanced in the digital media such as the Internet. Wether it be deciding what your ‘Homepage’ is or completely customising the way your computer and web browser function; individualisation and customisation are becoming so common in the virtual realm they are often taken for granted. Examples of the spread of this digital mass customisation can be seen in the colour choices and various user icons available to users of Microsoft’s Windows XP: an operating system that registers and calls it’s users by name.

The main reason mass customisation has taken so strongly to digital media, particularly web media, is because of its inherent accessibility to relevant data. Since the skins or themes that change the appearance of software are so simple to display and distribute on the net, the range is extensive beyond count; deviantART alone has over 12000 skins and themes to choose from for hundreds of applications.

This enables Internet users to ‘aestheticise’ their computers, essentially allowing them to choose the way they interact with the Internet and thus the rest of the world. To use the example quoted by Nagaraj in Businessline (2002) “If you are a football fanatic as well as a car buff, you can use the football theme when you are interested in football, and when you feel like checking out the latest news and views on cars, you just switch the skin to cars.” In this way, Florida’s view of the creative class can be seen in all who individualise their digital workspace; “…a fundamental characteristic of life today is that we strive to create out own identities. It is this creation and re-creation of the self, often in ways that reflect our creativity, that is a key feature of the creative ethos” (2002, p7). Inevitably, this demand for personalised software has also spread into the realm of promotion and advertising, spawning things such as ‘The Hulk skin for Windows Media Player’ or ‘The Lord of the Rings theme for Windows’ therefore transforming, for some, what were once hobbies into paying jobs.

Conclusion

With the ever-increasing rise of the creative class and advances is networking technology; the creative industries are expanding into the virtual realm as new virtual clusters subsequently emerge to foster and support the widest range of global collaborations ever staged. As this happens, convergence, individualisation and customisation have found a perfectly flexible media in which to blossom and expand globally across the networks of the world. From the way your operating system looks today, to the ways your computer will interact with you and the rest of the world tomorrow; the creative industries have hit the virtual realm with great impact. Where things go from here is anyone’s guess.

Bibliography

Barr, T. (2000). Forces for change: Communications as a catalyst. In newmedia.com.au: The changing face of Australia’s media and communications (pp. 20-39). St Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin.

Davis, S. (1987) “Future Perfect”, Massachusetts: Perseus Publishing.

Florida, R. (2002) “The transformation of everyday life” in “The rise of the creative class: and how it’s transforming work, leisure, community, and everyday life (pp. 1-17). New York: Basic Books.

Insight (2002) “A Global Affair”, retrieved April 14 from http://www.insight-mag.com/insight/02/07/col-6-pt-1-TakeStock.asp

Leadbeater, C (2000). A manifesto for the new economoy. In Living on thin air: the new economy: with a new blueprint for the 21st Century (pp.232-49). London: Penguin.

Nagaraj, N. (2002) “Chose your skin”, Businessline Feb 27, p.1

Negroponte in Bruns, A. (2004, March 8 ) “The networked, creative, knowledge economy”, Brisbane: QUT.

Pine, J. II (2003) “2003 World Congress on Mass Customisation and Individualisation”, retrieved May 10 from http://www.mcpc2003.com/mcpc03proc.pdf

Preissl, B. (2003) “Innovation Clusters: Combining Physical and Virtual Links”, Discussion Paper 359, DIW Berlin German Institute for Economic Research.

Rao, M. and Goodrick, J. (ed.) (2002) “The nature of the information society: A developing world perspective” retrieved May 10 from http://www.ehealthstrategies.com/files/developingpaper.pdf

Rifkin, J. (2001) “The Age of Access: The New Politics of Culture vs. Commerce”, retrieved May 7 from http://www.aec.at/en/archiv_files/20021/E2002_043.pdf

The European Commission (2003) “Organisational Learning”, retrieved May 13 from http://www.pjb.co.uk/npl/bp19.htm

The European Commission (2003) “The Social Situation in the European Union”, retrieved May 12 from http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/social_situation/docs/SSR2001_en.pdf

Witzler, M. (2001) “Management A-to-Z: Clusters”, Financial Times, retrieved May 7 from http://www.ftmastering.com/mmo/mmo04_6.htm

Xavier, M. (2000) “India: Real benefits of virtual clusters”, Businessline Dec 6, p.1

The parts of the previous version of the website is still accessible online at the moment, but I hope to have those areas taken down and updated within the next few days as most of the information is now outdated and generally feeling neglected after a busy semester at University.

Stay tuned for more updates soon…