The Big Noob

'Round the Campfire

Brad — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 21:59:00 GMT

The Virb Team is comprised of 5 ~~individuals~~ superheroes. Most of the time, 4 of us can be found, snugly nestled, in our humble Boston office; while one team member works from Los Angeles. Why LA, I cannot say. But that's not the point of this post. I kid, Rubin. I kid.

For the past few months, we have been scattered about (geographically speaking) more than usual. Between work and personal related trips, office power outages and a new baby, we've been forced to find a better way to keep productivity and communication unscathed; despite the thousands of miles between us.

Earlier this month I was in Chicago and had the chance to grab some dinner with Sarah at 37Signals. We chatted it up, came to the conclusion that our waitress was actually a dude waiter, and eventually ended up on the topic of project management. Go figure. Enter the conversation on Campfire. Being another product from the geniuses behind Backpack and Basecamp, I really can't say why I never checked it out before.

Now, let's hop in the DeLorean and zip forward a few weeks... **CRACK-CRAAACKLE-BOOM**

I honestly can't see how our team ever did without it. Campfire is open in a browser tab all day long. It's launched when the day begins on the east coast and isn't closed until the last left coast'er signs off in the evening. We fire-up iChat for group audio chats several times a day, but otherwise, no project communication happens outside of 'the campfire'.

Ye olde naysayers might think that the feature list for Campfire isn't the most robust; and I'd have to admit, I was one of them. Yet I've discovered that it gives me ONLY what I need. Nothing more, nothing less. All group conversations are logged and archived as transcripts. All file uploads are appended to the same daily transcript archives. There is a simple search feature for plowing through the archives. That same search has also made me aware that I use the word "like" a little too liberally. The tour of Campfire from 37S says it all. Like really.

If I step away from my desk, upon returning, I can catch up with the team simply by reading. Tis wondrous. The iPhone support is pretty frakking stellar, to boot. I was on a train to NYC a few weeks ago. Zipping down the tracks at 90MPH I was getting live status updates from the rest of the gang, just as if I was behind my computer.

Maybe your remote team uses it too. Maybe it just isn't your thing. My only point is that it works for my team! The end. Hell, some days it seems productivity is more solid when we're scattered about the land, versus sitting 5 feet from each other. Therein lies the application's true value.

I've found the product that works for Virb Inc. Maybe Your Company Inc. has something that fits you better. I'm always curious of other teams' workflow and structure. If you've got something that tickles your fancy, do tell.

Brad

New York: A Documentary Film

Brad — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 05:28:00 GMT

In terms of my DVD viewing habits, I have been on somewhat of a documentary kick as of late. I'm pacing my way through a Bob Dylan biography, while furiously tearing thru PBS's New York: A Documentary Film. I've found myself consumed by this 8-disc, 17-hour film.

First released in 1999 (in a pre-9/11 world), the documentary takes you from New York City's humble beginnings as a Dutch trading post in 1609, throughout the city's destruction and rebirth, and closing the film in a not-so-present day 1999. If you dig the history of American cities or simply love NYC, you should certainly Netflix this baby. Amazon stocks it, but it ain't cheap. I'm four discs down with four to go. You can expect to see a review of verbose proportions upon my completion.

For those now intrigued, I have posted a short clip taken from Part 1. In just over 7 minutes, you'll learn about Manhattan's road system, known as The Grid, and how it came to be. Enjoy! I sure did.

Brad

The 2008 Un-Texas Competition

Brad — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 23:19:00 GMT

The time is now upon us. SXSW is in full swing and we are not there. Oh, my dearest noobs, do not be weary. There is no need to weep. For this week we are going to have a little un-Texas fun of our own.

Have you heard the news? There's another convention coming to town! It's free to attend and is packed full of noobs from across the globe. Rumors are even swelling about some gosh darn swell prizes. This gathering is aptly named 'Noob by Big Noob' (NxBN) and it is the premier conference for noobs everywhere. Big, small, tiny, tall; we're all here. Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to help me prepare for the conference. I have panels to book, promotions to run and bags of goodies to stuff. So, let's get started!

THE RULES. This is how you play.

1. Grab any device that'll record video: Digital camera, video camera, phone, iSight, etc.**
2. Pick one of the following NxBN categories and complete it. Have fun. Don't cast your cousin. You know he's not that funny, anyway. Be yourself and use any humor you have to spare. If you haven't got any, Google it. Google has all the answers. Don't take yourself too seriously. God knows we don't. Maybe even poke some fun at SXSW. They are a NxBN competitor after all.
3. You will have ONE week to complete your submission. SXSW wraps up this next weekend and so will this little competition. Your deadline for submissions will end on Monday, March 17th at 12PM EST. As the deadline nears, I'll post the details on how to submit your entries.
4. My board of noob executives and I will then gather your submissions and start the judging. We'll pick a first and second place winner.

THE CATEGORIES. Take your pick.

Welcome to NxBN
You have been given the position of Marketing Director for NxBN 2008, and must produce a 30 second commercial (radio or television) to promote the event. Remember, we're looking to attract noobs from across the globe. It's your job to get them to attend.

How Not To Approach an Internet Celebrity
Many of us have tried it. From across the room you spot that internet celeb. Maybe she's a hot video blogger. Maybe it's the guy that wrote that boring book about fonts. Some are friendly, others are ~~douchebags~~ not so talkative. Either way, there is a proper way to (and NOT to) say hello. Your NxBN presentation will need to include 3 examples of how NOT to kick off the conversation.

How To Pick Up A Noob
You are giving a NxBN presentation to promote 'interaction' between the conferences attendees. We're noobs. Let's face it. For some of us, talking to the opposite sex just doesn't come easy. Your presentation should include 10 original pickup lines to help your fellow NxBN'ers score their perfect noob. Keep 'em noobish and somewhat clean.

The Schwag Bag
Your job at NxBN is to research 10 items to fill the gift bags that each attendee will receive. It's a conference full of Noobs, so what would you pick and WHY? Note: A PlayStation 3 and/or MacBook Air are not good choices. We've got a (fake) budget here, peoples!

While not at SXSW
If the previous four options didn't seem to peak your interest, then this is the one for you. It's simple. What did you do while not at SXSW? What did you do with all the cash that didn't go to airfare, badges and hotels? Have fun with this. Be creative. Video entries are preferred in this category, but photos are eligible too.

THE PRIZES. What you are trying to win.

When I first had the idea for this little project, I had no clue I would find so many awesome people willing to donate such great stuff for the betterment of noobkind. Taste the rainbow!

1. The new 2GB iPod Shuffle in the color of your choice. Mmm, Apples.
2. One year of FREE Grid-Service hosting from (mt) Media Temple. Only the best for the noobs!
3. The freaking awesome Monsterpod (viscoelastic polymer-based tripod) from Photojojo.
4. Two (2) t-shirts of your choice from Cottyn.
5. The infamous "I'm a noob" t-shirt from us little 'ole noobs.
6. Currently procuring the final few items. Will update this when I get 'em.

Welcome to NxBN, everyone. Now, ready. Set. Go!!!

The Fine print (that despite being the same size as the rest is still considered the fine print):
a) While the judges and I would prefer all entries in the form of video, we know that not everyone has the means to do so. In that case, surprise us. Use whatever creative way you deem necessary to deliver your entry.
b) You only need complete one of the categories above. However, if you are dying to submit more, go for it!
c) Along with everyone's permission, I'd like to post some of the submissions after judging is complete. I can't keep all the fun to myself, can I? When you submit your entry, you will have the option to choose if you want to keep it private between just you and our judges.
d) As for all you SXSW'ers in Texas, if you have the time (which I doubt you will) and want to play, you CAN! Just know that you aren't eligible to win any prizes. Sorry.

Brad

While Not In Texas

Brad — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 23:08:00 GMT

I'm no Oprah. I don't have my own television show and I have no frakking clue what a 'Big Give' really consists of. Yet, if I ever did wake up in Oprah's body you can be assured that (after rolling over and kicking Dr. Phil out of my bed) I would adopt the world's population of orphaned children and gift my financial worth to noobs, everywhere. How does this relate to what I'm about to say? It doesn't.

For those of you rockin' Noobs that took a shot at winning my SXSW Interactive Badge, I thank you. I feel a little guilty, however. For one, I had only one badge to give away, yet so many worthy candidates. Second, and foremost, I was the one lucky enough to read the comments and emails full of humor, promises of first-born children and even nudes. Yep. Nudes. I can only assume that individual was a new reader and simply misread the the title of our flagship. Telling myself that will, at the very least, help me sleep tonite.

I'm excited to say that the fun doesn't end there. Oh no, my fellow citizens. We have only just begun. You see, while the internet world is away and at play in Texas next week, we're going to have our own bit of nerdery and fun.

Starting Monday, there will be contests (comprised of your submissions and my board of judges). There will be prizes (comprised of goodies ranging from Apples to apparel). There will be blood* (and fun had by all).

RULE #1: If you are attending SXSW in any way, shape or form, you can't play! For one week only, The Big Noob will NOT be an equal opportunity community. It's only fair.

Keep your eyes peeled for the kick-off on Monday. Get those skills of wit and humor (and a digital camera) all greased up and ready for battle. For on Monday, we wage war on Austin.

*Note: I don't do well around blood, so I'm gonna knock that one off the roster.

Brad

Happy VD

Brad — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 16:23:00 GMT

Happy Valentine's Day from us in Noobland to all of you around the globe. May it be full of candy hearts, chocolates and the best of Marvin Gaye (or my personal favorite, whiskey). Just remember, Valentine's Day can be abbreviated with the letters VD. So can Venereal Disease. Just sayin'...

V-Day Fact, Update #1:
[11:28 AM] We assume that Valentine's Day derived its name from two early Christian martyrs. This is untrue. It was named after Sir Galith Valentine, a heretic, who killed puppies for fun.

V-Day Fact, Update #2:
[12:45 PM] Why is it that we exchange Valentines? Whether it is a 'Will You Be Mine?" card, a box of chocolates or a gift pack of KY products, we have all gifted them at one time or another. After some research late last night, I discovered that the tradition came from the late 14th Century as the Black Plague (or Black Death) was sweeping throughout Europe. Those that were not yet infected, were chosen (by a system of lottery) to leave the affected areas in hopes of survival. The winners were gifted a document called the Valentins. One piece of paper. One chance to escape death. Will you be mine?

V-Day Fact, Update #3:
[1:59PM] The Cupid that we now associate with this flowery day isn't the original god of erotic love and beauty from Roman mythology. When the observation of Valentines day came to the US Colonies in the late 1780's the image of Cupid was perceived as a false idol. A quaker pastor, by the name of Francis L. Cupid, was known to hide in the church's belfry every February 14th. Upon seeing a passerby that was in celebration of Valentine's Day, he would shoot them with an arrow. In the heart. It should also be noted that Mr. F.L. Cupid was one of the first 'little people' on record in the new colonies.

DISCLAIMER: The previous 3 facts are not, in any way, even close to true. If you want the real truth about Valentine's Day, trust Wikipedia; not the things that were concocted in my head while I walked to the office this morning. Happy Valentine's Day ya'll! ;)

Brad

Cinematic Web Design

Ryan — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 18:56:00 GMT

As designers, every decision we make is informed by what we see and hear. The things we experience. Our inspiration. Our passion. For me, that passion is film. The whole idea of watching a movie gives me the warm fuzzies. Sharing a tub of buttery popcorn with a good friend. The glow of the screen in a dark theater. An excuse not to speak, only to watch. A rare chance to let go of the day—and to see a happy ending. Venturing back outside after the credits roll. The tell-me-your-favorite-part game on the drive home.

But the thing that fascinates me most about film is how thousands of pieces make up the larger storytelling puzzle. From the dialogue and its subtext to the way a scene is lit to the actor’s performance—they all contribute to furthering a story.

In the beginning, there is the screenplay. The story, the IDEA. Your Photoshop canvas is blank but your mind is racing. The time has come to pool together all the resources available to you, and to decide how and when to use them. You obsess over every pixel the way a good director would obsess over every frame. You delight in finding that perfect font, in sculpting that subtly rounded corner, in choosing the best line height for the main copy.

Now, imagine what your page looks like in a viewfinder. Try to see what your audience will see. Are supporting parts upstaging more important ones? Is the scene balanced? Do the colors convey the right mood? When you step back and look at the big picture, you immediately see when something isn’t working. And that’s where you start the editing process. Even if you personally love something, if it’s not serving the idea, it’s got to go. So you cut it.

Okay, so no one is going to throw a red carpet premiere for your www.acmeinsuranceonline.biz project launch. And your client may not understand why you debated over Helvetica or Verdana for half an hour. These little behind-the-scenes battles are what turn average websites into masterpieces. When everyone else is content to say “The End,” keep bringing it all into focus. Be a storyteller. Let your point of view shine through, and everything you create will have a depth that is sorely missing on the web.

I don't write much these days. Before becoming disenfranchised and apathetic about writing as a means of "self-exploration" by my early twenties, I would always carry a Mead 5-star with me in case I thought of that perfect line for a poem or a song. I found it cathartic, but more importantly — challenging. Designing visually always came easily for me, but using words was a struggle.

So when UK magazine .NET asked me to write a 400 word piece for their January issue on any topic of my choosing, I was excited for the challenge, and simultaneously terrified. So, here's the article as I originally wrote it (.NET edited it without notifying me). Of anything I "created" in 2007, I am proudest of this wee article.

Ryan

Say Hello to PackRat

Keegan — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 06:14:00 GMT

Many of you have waited patiently over the past several months as we've been working away on something a little new and secret at Firewheel. In fact, we deemed that it was so new and so secret that we decided to form another company just for this little secret something. The new company is called Alamofire, and the little secret something is a game we've been diligently working on called PackRat.

A little background is in order:

First, because I know you're gonna ask... Alamofire is the name of a Texas wildflower. It's basically like a Bluebonnet, but it's red. Why they didn't name it the Redbonnet, I'm not sure. Maybe it's because Alamofire sounded hot. For the record, a Firewheel is also a wildflower native to Texas. Now you know. We have a habit of naming our gigs after flowers.

Anyhow... almost a year ago we launched a new version of IconBuffet, our well-known icon trading site. Its success astounded us, and over the months we became intrigued with the idea of taking some of the game-like elements of IconBuffet and unchaining them from any sort of practical use. Since building a pure game didn't exactly fit our design-consultancy model at Firewheel, we decided it would be best to simply spin it in to its own company — Alamofire.

Now about our game... PackRat is the first game built by the Alamofire team. It shares a lot of similar concepts to IconBuffet, though in ways its quite different — and played purely for fun. Also, we knew that many of our friends spend a lot of time on Facebook and other social networking sites. So instead of recreating your friendships and social connections simply to play a new game, we decided to build PackRat right on top of Facebook.

Unlike most of the games on Facebook, you'll find that PackRat isn't some rehashed flash game, or another social variation of poker. PackRat is original, compelling, and addictive. And while we'd love for you to invite your friends to play with you, we certainly don't require this. Honestly, we believe PackRat is the best gaming experience you'll find on Facebook. Period.

We started sharing the game — which involves collecting, buying, and stealing a plethora of pixel-perfect iconic objects — with some close friends about a week ago.

The early response has been great:

"I am so addicted to this. I really, really hate you..."
- Patrick Haney

"Curse you! I'm obsessed with your game!"
- Noam Lovinsky

"Holy cow, guys. You have really out-done yourselves. This was completely worth signing up on the myFace to play..."
- Jason Novak

"This game is wicked fun! The artwork is amazing."
- Zachary Allia

"Best designed app on Facebook"
- Christian Montoya

We *really* hope you'll give PackRat a try. If you already have a Facebook account it's as simple as installing the application. If not, you'll need to create a Facebook account first. Either way, you can get started here:
http://apps.facebook.com/packrat/

If you want the latest and greatest PackRat updates, we encourage you to become a fan of PackRat on our Facebook application page:
http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=2431403991

This way, you'll be the first to know when we release new items, updates, and hidden features.

Finally, we've spent so much time working on the game itself, our new company doesn't have much of a formal presence on the web. There will be much more news coming out of this thrilling new adventure. Look for another update soon at:
http://www.firewheeldesign.com

Keegan

We can be noobs.

Ryan — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 17:00:00 GMT

Well, we finally got our act together and did something with an idear we had. Sitting in our office is a crapload of noobery in physical format. Specifically, a nice blue, soft, shrinky-prone, feels good on your body t-shirt, by way of LA (American Apparel) by way of Arizona (Acme Prints). We decided against any sort of "branding" on it. No TBN logos or whatnot. Just a simple tee for those of you with simple taste.

So, without any further adieu: GO BUY A FREAKING T-SHIRT. If you buy a shirt and take a photo of yourself wearing it, we'd love to see it and possibly use it in the store's design. Please post a comment below with a link to the image. Thanks!

Shoutouts: Big ups to Big Cartel for building such an incredible web app. It was a dream how easy it was to setup shop in the online retail world with them. They're super nice guys, to boot. Also, the fine people at Acme Prints, as recommended to us by The Cederholm, have been a blast to work with. They have a great sense of humor, were exceptionally speedy and did a great job on the actual printing of the tees. In short, we HIGHLY recommend both these companies to anyone.

Ryan

Bustin' mad bytes with the (mt)

Brad — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 21:30:00 GMT

There have been a few exciting occurrences taking place behind these scenes of the 'ole Noob this week. First off, if you haven't already noticed, Simmy and I have (finally) placed the order for the Noob T-shirts. Our friends at Big Cartel are even hooking us up with a sexy little storefront. Everything is falling into place, so these bad boys will be on sale very soon. Simmy has another t-shirt in the works, too. More on that when he's ready for the big reveal.

We are most excited to announce that we've officially shacked up at the (mt) Media Temple hizzouse. We've hosted The Big Noob there since the site's resurrection in May, but the amount of traffic that flows through the Noob has kept things running a bit sluggish. As of late last night, that problem is no more. I have completed the migration to our very own (dv) Dedicated-Virtual Server; and my-oh-my, it is quite zippy to say the least. Thanks (mt)!! We are forever thankful for your blessings of bits and bytes.

Finally, back on the topic of tees... We've decided to toss a few goodies in with every order. Simmy and I aren't letting this out of the bag until you see it, but WOW - we think you will be quite pleased and/or amused. The Media Temple gang has also sent over some swag to share. Booyah.

All in all, it's a great Friday for noobs everywhere! Now I just need to figure out how to get this Sharpie-art removed from my hands before the weekend.

<3 B

Brad

iPhone Day

Keegan — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 17:24:00 GMT

Right down the walkway from Firewheel headquarters is an Apple Store. Josh Williams and John Critz (two beloved Firewheelers) are standing (err...sitting) in line, enduring the hot hot heat. I didn't feel like getting baked today, so I resorted to making videos. Here is some one-the-ground video coverage of the iPhone launch.

iPhone Launch (Part 1) - 10am
iPhone Launch (Part 2) - Josh plays Pokemon
iPhone Launch (Part 3) - Hot Hot Heat
iPhone Launch (Part 4) - First in line
iPhone Launch (Part 5) - Rain
iPhone Launch (Part 6) - First 100
iPhone Launch (Part 7) - Call of duty
iPhone Launch (Part 8) - Girls with Phones
iPhone Launch (Part 9) - We're In
iPhone Launch (Part 10) - Pwned the Line
iPhone Launch (Part 11) - Careful Cowboy
iPhone Launch (Part 12) - Cool vs Lame

Here an extra iPhone video for your enjoyment.

More videos will be uploaded as the day develops.

Keegan