Thinkcage

Finally, it is here. The first full release of Mozilla’s little browser that could. Download it now.

If you are in the dark, Firefox is web browser created by the open source software community. It has several advantages over other more ubiquitous browsers:

• It is fast, streamlined, and a small download.
• The browser looks, works, and feels almost identical on Windows, OS X, and Linux. (I never understood why the Mac version of Microsoft Internet Explorer was so fundamentally different from the Windows version).
• It’s secure! Firefox is not susceptible to the myriad of security vulnerabilities that plague Microsoft Internet Explorer. It is a service to the web community to ensure that you do not contribute to the proliferation of security exploits, spam, and viruses.

C|Net has a nice collection of recent press on the Firefox phenomenon. Already, Firefox is cutting into Internet Explorer’s market share and with planned marketing efforts seeks to become the preferred browser of the masses.

Personally, I have really been happy with Firefox. Tabbed browsing is a truly essential feature and the setup was a piece of cake. On Windows, Firefox will actually import your preferences, favorites, cookies, etc. from Internet Explorer making the switch almost seamless. Bravo to Mozilla for making a piece of open source software that really can be used by novice computer users!

If you haven’t tried Firefox, what are you waiting for? Get it now!

Friday night, we took the kids to see the new Pixar movie, The Incredibles. What can I say? Another home-run for Pixar. Brett and Grace charged out of the theatre imitating Dash’s incredible speed and speculating about which super powers they wish they could have.

Like each of the previous Pixar films, The Incredibles was absolutely dripping with the lore of its theme: super heros. The story moved in and out of classic super hero staples form the serials of the 1950’s to modern hero and action flicks with equal grace. A particularly fun moment had the villain catching himself as the hero escapes while he is “monologuing”. I find it truly remarkable that Pixar takes so much pride in really getting into the theme for each film. They handled the insect world in A Bug’s Life; the world of toys in the Toy Story films; a world of childhood monsters in Monsters, Inc.; and marine life in Finding Nemo. Each film is an example of Pixar’s ability to completely understand the theme of each film and then to weave a story that is alive with mild satire, humor, and great characters. Not to mention the amazing technical achievements like Sully’s perfectly rendered fur in Monsters, Inc. or the accurately sterile plastic featured in Toy Story. The Incredibles had me marveling at the amazing rendered sheen of the red nylon super suits and the perfectly rendered hair effects.

To me it feels like Pixar’s approach is to choose a subject matter to act as the theme of every film. Then everything else is created to support that theme. The story, characters, art and design, and sound all act to really describe the world of this subject from top to bottom. I think that is a big part of my interest in these film because it is an approach that is very familiar to me as a graphic designer. In my work, I am constantly immersing myself in the world of my clients and their audiences seeking to support a message that is equally strong both visually and textually. As designers, we are taught to create designs were every element is carefully considered work as a whole in communicating the message of the piece. I think Pixar approaches their films in a similar manner.

One more point I’d like to make about Pixar’s films is the superb visual design of the characters. In their first attempt at a film featuring primarily “human” characters, Pixar avoided the pitfall of other studios that have sought to create realistic looking human models and instead has left in just enough style to keep them fun and cute. I don’t think anything that Dreamworks pictures (creators of Shrek) has ever looked at good as the work of Pixar. Their characters tend to be creepy. The characters in The Incredibles are human cartoons that are realistic enough to fit into their environment, but have enough cartoon elements to allow them to really be attractive and emotive. This is a huge factor for me. Compare the characters in The Incredibles to the creepy 3D Tom Hanks in the trailer to the animated The Polar Express. Yikes!

This is one of the coolest and most useful web services I’ve seen in a long time. Google has just launched the Google SMS query service. Send a query to 46645 (googl) on your phone and get a nearly instant SMS reply.

To get started, simply SMS “help” to 46645. The reply will contain some basic instructions that detail the four currently supported queries:

• Business and residential directory listings – Send person or business name and city, state or zip code.
• Definitions – send define and a term.
• Prices – send price and a product name.
• And tons more – such as zip code lookup, area code lookup, calculator, etc.

So far this looks incredibly promising. And what a contrast to the slow, and unintuitive service the mobile phone companies offer. I have service, through T-Mobile’s T-Zones which, though rich with information takes many more clicks and tons more time to come up with the same info. All Google needs to add it directions and movie time to make this service complete.

A CNN article refutes Bill O’Reilly’s assertion that viewers of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show were nothing but “stoned slackers”. The article cites a survey that shows that Daily Show viewers are better informed on politics and election issues than viewers of other late-night talk shows and even scored better than newspaper readers and news network viewers.

Not only is The Daily Show one of the funniest and best written shows on television, but it clearly is informative when it comes to critical issues. I think many underestimate the viewership and power of this program. It is telling that nearly every major political figure from both parties (John McCain, John Kerry, John Edwards, Bill Clinton, numerous campaign advisors/managers, etc.), with the notable exception of the President, has appeared as a guest on the show in recent months.

… despite the fact that no one’s watching.

;)

An article posted on cnet | News.com this morning, Game publishers sweat console change, discussed the upcoming 3rd generation of the big three gaming consoles. The next iterations of the Playstation 2, Xbox, and Gamecube are each set to launch in the next 18 months or so and with that upgrade, game developers must also upgrade their capabilities, processes and budgets. The estimate in the article is that the cost of game development—already over $5 million for many “A” titles— could triple with the upcoming change.

Naturally, game developers will have to find new ways to meeting the demands of these graphics thirsty systems while working with perhaps less resources. For my point of view, I can only see two results of this crunch and I’m not excited about either:

1. Game developers are forced to cut back in terms of story, talent, cutscenes, and design in favor of horsepower and graphics. The sad reality is that above all, graphics sell games, but gameplay is what makes them fun. When push comes to shove, I’m afraid that sales will win when a publisher has $15 million on the line. This is already an issue today and only looks to get worse. I fear that we will see an increase of games based on licensed properties, which are not now known for their quality.
2. The other senario is could be dubbed the Brittany Spears Effect, as game publishers will only choose the games that will sell the best. If a publisher has to turn 10 million copies of a game to make a profit, then only the games that will appeal to an audience that wide will be made. Much like brilliant, original musicians are passed over every day because they could never appeal to a wide audience like Brittany and other pop stars can. The end result is less choice, and arguably, less quality, innovation and creativity in games.

This kind of destruction of the creative, independent artist is a real concern for me in gaming, in music, on the web, in everything around us. Gone are the days when a single developer with a personal computer and a great idea could turn out a state-of-the-art video game. When a great idea for a game never sees the light of day because it only appeals to a niche market, we lose. Likewise when a talented band is passed over for yet another 17 year old model lip-syncing songs created by a record company “team”. Even more so when a product cannot make it to market because Wal*Mart refuses to stock it. That is the end of choice and of the power to create.