Waiting for a Google Wave

Back in June Google announced the Wave at their IO conference and I put in for an invitation to get on Wave.

It's truly been a while since I've anticipated something like Christmas to hurry up and get here.

So - while I've been waiting I've been thinking of Linux and Firefox and riding the new wave.

So the following image is my idea of waiting for the wave to come !



Who knows - Maybe the developers will send me an invite today !?

I've been closely watching the buzz on Google's nearing release of Wave and speculating aloud at just how it may be received.

It seems right now that it is both very exciting and - surprisingly as yet unnoticed by the world at large. But for how long is anyone's guess.

On Twitter today a number of people retweeted today's article by Ben Parr of Mashable which questioned whether or not the current beta is close enough for them to really succeed with their scheduled release two weeks from now.

My own prediction for this one is that it's going to be a real sleeper. On release it's going to get the most attention from the truly geek-at-heart. This crowd will all bandy their praise and criticisms and bug complaints and generally flog the blogosphere.

Give that a few weeks while it makes the rounds of all the computing user magazines and technical reviews on computing advice websites.

Next will be some initial notice among moderately alert ( as Google will no doubt have created introductory links and pages to introduce Wave as they've done with other Google Labs releases in the past with their products such as Gmail and Picasa ).

Twitter spent a little time being just sort of an in-thing amongst campuses before it finally reached publications like Time & Newsweek. A surprisingly large number of people I know right now are still at: "Twitter, yeah, I've heard about it. - Uh, what is it ??" ! But e-mail, yeah, they know email. So I'll give it a little more time.

Meanwhile - ( I'm going to call this The Mozilla Factor ) is the in-between part where Google's brilliance in keeping this project open-source is taking effect -- developers with great imagination continue to create applications for use in the Wave and begin to get a feel for what works, how it works and how to use the Wave. Just look at the Mozilla project, the GNU project, the Open Source Initiative, OpenOffice - and get the idea of the creativity that's out there.

The really useful ones are going to make the rounds in widening circles and create their own applications to somewhat automate the creation of their mashups.

The number and variety of applications will increase to a point where several are not only stable but of obviously high value and at that point we'll see the larger effect. But -- unlike Twitter, which still seems to be seeking the grail of how to really monetize itself, I believe Google's Wave is going to find it's groove at a much faster rate.

Why ? Because Wave is about communication & collaboration, and while Twitter has been described variously as sort of a haiku and poetry - very popular and engaging - it's not ESSENTIAL. The Wave facilitates doingness. It brings together the use of tools people already use and understand the value of.

When I can use The Wave to live chat with a client (or multiple clients) on a project, retain a running record of how it develops over time, exchange thumbnail sketches on a shared whiteboard in real-time, I'll have a tool that effectively simplifies and refines what I already do.
I'm no ultra-geek, but that's obviously going to be possible and I can see it will get there.

Get there it will. A few days following Google's spring IO conference where they gave the presentation and demonstration someone blogged that Wave will be a Tsunami. That's my take on it as well.

Tommy Kane

Find your Images Anywhere

I was rummaging around on the Web the other day & looking for new stuff on Delicious when I ran across mention of a new search engine called TinEye.



As an artist, or web designer you may have an interest in finding where your images appear on the Web.

The demo clip pretty much speaks for itself. All I might add is my experience trying it out for the first time.

Several months ago I'd found and saved a great Anime character that I admired for its style and I haven't been able to rediscover the site where I'd found it.

Enter TinEye.

I uploaded the image to TinEye's Search field and hit Enter. AMAZING response - The original website instantly appeared at the top of the search results, together with all of the other instances of it, or a part of it on the web. 1.09 Billion images searched in 1.something seconds.

Prognosis: TinEye rocks.

Have the Web be what you want

I'm a sucker for new knowledge.

Finding new tools, new ways to work. So I spend some time each day studying and that usually includes technology & the web.

As I've mentioned before, I'm certainly no geek by far. But by golly if I keep up at this rate I'll eventually -- still be years behind!

Nevertheless here's my latest find. A recent project beta release from the Mozilla Labs called Ubiquity.

ubiquity ▸ noun: the state of being everywhere at once (or seeming to be everywhere at once)

Ubiquity for Firefox from Aza Raskin on Vimeo.

At this juncture it's a bit steep for us most, but not too hard to see where it's going to take us in a very very short time.  I'm getting to the point where I enjoy being able to merge the use of various applications and always pleased to discover moments when an intuitive guess as to what may happen with a new one is rewarded by success.

I truly admire and applaud the developers in the Open Source community.  (If the people that currently consider themselves to be our government could remotely approach the group competence and cooperation level of the guys working with Mozilla, Linux, Google & all the rest we'd be experiencing all of the freedoms we desire !)

I've been using the new Firefox 3.5 for a little bit here and ran across this one today when I decided to foray in search of any other recent goodies.

Google's Wave is going to be shattering with its use of open-source code that allows anyone with an idea for an application to create an interface to incorporate it into and with other applications.

Similarly this Ubiquity will shortly enable us non-geeks to create "Mashups" with our own work ( In web development, a mashup
is "a web page or application that combines data or functionality from
two or more external sources to create a new service. The term mashup implies easy, fast integration, frequently using open APIs
and data sources to produce results that were not the original reason
for producing the raw source data. An example of a mashup is the use of
cartographic data from Google Maps to add location information to real estate data, thereby creating a new and distinct Web service that was not originally provided by either source. - wikipedia )

I tried this out today.  Went to Mozilla's Firefox addons and found the latest version, installed the addon and walked through the intro.  Granted, I didn't start flowing maps into my Gmail or move like Aza Raskin but I discovered I can begin to learn it and who knows where that will take me next.

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Brushes and Paint.Net

You’ve already heard me say how much I love Paint.Net, so there’s nothing new about that. Paint.Net just IS the greatest thing to come along in the last few years, through the hard work of developers Rick Brewster and Tom Jackson.

Just one thing though — while you can do anything you could ever want to with Paint.Net, there is ONE single feature yet missing — Brushes. Go to the Paint.Net Users Forum and you’ll see post after post, asking: “when will there be brushes?” etc.

Well just relax, everyone. Here’s the solution: ArtRage 2.5.

I needed a really good airbrush for a recent client’s job and tried out ArtRage. AWESOME! Not ONLY does ArtRage have ANY type of brush or paint effect you could ever hope for, it costs only $25, and (here’s the great part) you can use it in tandem with Paint.Net. Piece of cake.

Just one thing though — while you can do anything you could ever want to with Paint.Net, there is ONE single feature yet missing — Brushes. Go to the Paint.Net Users Forum and you’ll see post after post, asking: “when will there be brushes?” etc.



ArtRage allows you to create multi-layered files just like Paint.Net and save them as individual files. So you do whatever you like in Paint.Net and any time you desire a brush effect, save the layer as a .PNG image and open that image in ArtRage. When you have the effect you like, Save the ArtRage Layer as a .PNG image.

Bottom line ? Photoshop costs about $400.00. Paint.Net is free. Add ArtRage 2.5 for another $25.00 and you just saved yourself $375.00.

Never Give Up

This clip pretty well speaks for itself. Mere mortals just resign themselves to "fate" and succumb. Some just won't agree to that.



Remember this landing next time you're having "a bad day".

Happy Drawing Day !

What would you do with 4200 spare Scrabble tiles ?

British artist David Mach used them to create "Myslexia" a stunning life sized nude
with a cleverly ambiguous name.



More views appear in his display page at cass sculpture foundation

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Taking Woodstock and Tweeting It

I've always been thrilled with poster art.

As a kid I'd spend hours poring over books of illustrations. Toulouse-Lautrec, the storybook works of Maxfield Parrish, Norman Rockwell's covers, Robert Crumb's cover art for Big Brother & the Holding Company's Cheap Thrills album.

Last week I was admiring the new ad poster for the upcoming film: "Taking Woodstock" and fooling around with the Twitter platform.

I sleep close by my studio because I often wake up with new ideas. And a couple of days ago I got this concept for bringing the Woodstock bird forward into the Twitter Age.

Largest Train Layout in the World

Here's a bunch of guys(& girls)that just have way too much fun all of the time.

This is the largest model train layout in the world.

Before the OFFICIAL recognition of the terms "geek" or "nerd", there were modelers.

Model builders are in my opinion the Pre-Geek.

Before the days of computing or experimental radio, modelers were creating scaled replicas of existing machines, landscapes, structures & the mockups for new inventions not yet created.

When I built models for rail years ago I dreamed there being a way to get a trackside view on film, but small cameras for stills or video were yet too large.

Today, Miniatur-Wunderland in Hamburg brings the latest technology to the oldest of arts! And not just trains! Autos, ships - the works.




If I were in Hamburg, you'd find me here!

... After checking out all of the food and the beer.

Back to the 60's and Woodstock

I've ALWAYS loved poster art. Whether it was Toulouse-Lautrec, Maxfield Parrish or Wes Wilson's Fillmore Concert Posters coming out of San Francisco, I'd spend hours looking at it.

This artist absolutely nailed the genre here for the film "Taking Woodstock"

I haven't yet found the artist's name. The Internet Movie Poster awards site credits MOJO, LLC.

Truly inspired work.

Drawing all Day

Drawing Day by ~PenmanShipp on deviantART

Self Publishing: 2.0

Ran across this just now while enjoying the latest from artist Tommy Kane's blog and it struck me as such a brilliant and workable concept I had to share it with the world !

Artist Danny Gregory appears in Tommy's blogroll and his blog: Everyday Matters has a couple of book thumbnails promoting his sketches available in book form from Blurb at a very reasonable price.

Okay. Maybe despite my devotion to being up on all the latest and greatest I'd never heard of Blurb, but I use Cafepress and Zazzle and this is the make-your-own ala Web 2.0 concept to the ne plus ultra. ( the state of being without a flaw or defect )

Damn.

If you're a photgrapher, artist or writer, how could you lose with this? Blurb gives you the ability to create your own high quality books without the interference of an editor or art director and sell them or print a specific number for your own use.

Nuff said.

I have some ideas myself . . .

Why we can All Quit Whining a Bit

Comedian Louis CK makes some pointedly funny observations with Conan O'Brien about our ability to bitch and moan in the midst of fantastic times.

Can you afford to lose your portfolio ?

A few weeks ago I noticed that my computer's hard drive seemed to be making more noise than when I bought it. Louder when reading or writing. Clatter. Clacking.

It had been a while since I'd burned any backups, so I threw in a disc and made one.

Then I checked the disc to confirm all was good, only to discover MY COMPUTER COULDN"T READ THE DISC !

Now I'm concerned. I have a lot of images and projects for clients, both done and in-progress, and I certainly can't afford to start all over again.

NOW WHAT?

I began thinking of anything I could fall back on to keep from possibly losing hundreds of hours' work.

I went to Google and looked for "best online backup" and got MOZY as the result that had the best reviews and satisfaction. THEN I discovered you could have 2 GB free without subscribing to their service -- "2 GB of 100% free backup space. No setup fee, no credit cards, no monthly payments, no expiration." So I did. In a hurry.

After uploading the most critical files I started to think about their pro upgrade and realized that an hour of my work is a LOT more valuable than their $4.95 monthly fee.

I upgraded.

Their interface is easy to use. You configure it to run the way you like and it does it's thing while you aren't working, so there's no distraction from your day-to-day production.

Once all was secured and duplicated online, I took a moment to contact my local independent computer tech and told him of my concerns. Made an appointment.

Took the machine in to his shop. He turned it on and immediately pronounced that my hard drive was toast !

To make a long story short, MOZY saved my ass in the nick of time.

I lost several day's work while my machine was in the shop getting a new drive, but recovered everything when I restored the entire system from MOZY into my brand new drive.

I heartily recommend you try them.

Grab your pencils everyone !

Drawing Day 2009 is coming.

I don't know if anyone else is like me, but I get an absolute kick out of drawing -- with anything -- for anyone. I just do.

It's not really very hard to make me happy. Give me a new No.2 yellow pencil and some paper. Or a crow quill pen and a bottle of ink.

Why Drawing Day ?

To quote the organizers: "Why is Drawing Day important?

Illustrators and artists alike often go unappreciated. The creation of art and illustration captured our minds ever since we were children and our parents turned the pages of our first book. These stories came to life via the illustrations that took us to an imaginary world full of inspiration.

Whether you're a professional illustrator or you just enjoy the occasional scribble, you can give back to the illustration community by drawing on this day. By injecting more and more illustration and art into our community, we are not only showing our appreciation to our fellow artists, but we are spreading awareness of the joy of drawing. It is important that you contribute - Drawing Day will only be a success if we all participate and make some noise. So, please tell your friends and spread the word."

Nuff said.

Absolute Killer Web Design

Want to laugh and clap your hands with surprise ? Six Revisions posted "40 Beautiful Examples of Vintage and Retro in Web Design".

These are some of the most entertaining, fresh & exciting bits of creativity I've seen!

My top 2 Picks ? Level 2 Design and TARGETSCOPE.

These sites are art !!

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How Valuable are Artists?

Despite all the news about our going into a "recession", "economic slowdown" and all I have nevertheless found myself with more demand for my art over the last 6 months than ever before.

So how valuable are artists?

Your art, your ideas, your entire creative output - is more valuable to the day to day world that anyone would ever possibly imagine.

Our art is the virtual source of the life of our culture we create every day. We take our audience to realities that we imagine. We bring hope. We show ways to envision futures.

The British poet Arthur O'Shaughnessy stated it beautifully in his book Music and Moonlight:

Ode

"WE are the music-makers,
And we are the dreamers of dreams,
Wandering by lone sea-breakers,
And sitting by desolate streams;
World-losers and world-forsakers,
On whom the pale moon gleams:
Yet we are the movers and shakers
Of the world for ever, it seems.

With wonderful deathless ditties
We build up the world's great cities,
And out of a fabulous story
We fashion an empire's glory:
One man with a dream, at pleasure,
Shall go forth and conquer a crown;
And three with a new song's measure
Can trample an empire down.

We, in the ages lying
In the buried past of the earth,
Built Nineveh with our sighing,
And Babel itself with our mirth;
And o'erthrew them with prophesying
To the old of the new world's worth;
For each age is a dream that is dying,
Or one that is coming to birth."

Arthur O'Shaughnessy 1844–1881

Hang a copy of that in your studio. There's more truth right there than you might currently imagine.

So ignore the "experts" predicting doom, and realize something basic about yourself; You are the entire cause of your future and your own economy.

If you paint, then paint up a storm. If you write, write something wildly subversive.

And you will find there are more audiences than you'd ever notice while paying attention to media or experts.

I make a point every single day to back away from the the general "reality" and find a different game to play. And I play that game.

It never fails to take me out to where there is inspiration and energy and a higher spirit of play.