Column | The MsBehaviour Files

It might seem impossible to go from an idea to launching a business in a weekend, especially with people you have never met. But as Helen Baxter reports in this guest MsBehaviour File, that's what happened at Wellington Startup Weekend. Read More »

By Helen Baxter

You are reading this on Judgement Day, two days ago Skynet became aware. According to the sci-fi series The Sarah Connor Chronicles, on 21 April 2011 the machines declare war on mankind - which may be why the Government rushed through amendments to the copyright law last week, to save us from the Terminators. Read More »

Digital commentator Helen Baxter takes a look at the top digital trends for 2010, in this guest MsBehaviour File as part of The Big Idea's feature on Digital Culture.

"The technological advances of the past tended to benefit industry, but the revolution fostered by the Internet has brought changes and benefits to the creative community." Read More »

In her final file for The Big Idea, Helen Baxter highlights her top twenty Web tools and how digital culture has grown since The MsBehaviour Files started at the beginning of the ‘Web 2.0’ wave.

“There has been a seismic shift in creative tools and ways of doing business.” Read More »

MsBehaviour looks at using Arduino programming to create wearable electronics and art installations. Read More »

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I can't make it to New Zealand Fashion Week this year, but I can make-over my Firefox Browser. At Mohawk Media I use Google's Chrome browser for studio logins, and run Internet Explorer for testing pages, but prefer to use Firefox for visiting my creative spaces.
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Helen Baxter puts her digital spin on the traditional column with the all new Multimedia MsBehaviour Files! Her first monthly file looks at the maker, crafter and hacker spaces across New Zealand, including 2D laser-cutting and 3D printing for digital designers.

Watch the animated clip, listen to the podcast or read the show notes. Read More »

MsBehaviour looks at why tagging data is important as the next phase in the development of the Semantic Web and provides some tips for tagging your content on The Big Idea. Read More »

The concept of Crowdsourcing has been in vogue for some time with the media making open calls for content and input from audiences. Now independent filmmakers, musicians and other creative types are harnessing communities of fans to microfinance, or 'Crowdfund' their creative projects. Read More »

Local brains have been buzzing this weekend as the X|Media|Lab moved their festival of ideas to Auckland. Seventeen international mentors, keynote speakers, plus seventeen projects teams met at the Viaduct Harbour to share their knowledge, experiences and pathways to success. 
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Digital columnist Helen Baxter writes about commercialising ideas and X|Media|Lab in Auckland. Read More »

One of the most rewarding things in life is sharing knowledge and experience. Years ago this took place in schools or guilds but now anyone can learn online with how to guides and tutorials. If you want to join in the global knowledge swap, then a good place to start is with screencasting tools. Read More »

You are reading this MsBehaviour File on The Big Idea's new website, made with a lot of love and the Drupal Content Management System or CMS. Drupal is one of a number of tools from the Open Source Software community that allows companies, educators or not for profits to build websites without having to pay for a software license. Read More »

I heard it first on Twitter, as I do with most breaking news these days, that the infamous S92A Copyright Law had been rejected in its current form by the New Zealand government. After a quick re-tweet I breathed a huge sigh of relief and then danced around my studio in glee. Read More »

Once upon a time copyrights were controlled by monasteries, patrons and guilds, until the English Statute of Anne in 1710.  Considered to be the first modern copyright law it gave legal rights to authors to protect their work, with protection also extended to consumers. Rights were limited to a period of 28 years after which all works passed into the public domain. Read More »

Every social movement starts with conversations, between passionate people willing to collaborate and make a difference. The conversation that sparked last week's internet blackout in New Zealand came from the annual Kiwi Foo Camp AKA Baacamp in Warkworth. Read More »

Twitter was launched back in 2007, and a whole new language has emerged from this microblogging service. Over a million tweeple across the world are now twittering about their lives in 140 character tweets sent online or by mobile phone using SMS. Read More »

I have just spent a satisfying few weeks, re-designing the Mohawk Media studios. I start every new year throwing out rubbish, filing old paperwork and working out our needs for the year. The process helps clear my head and focus after the holidays. When you design a space whether online or off the first thing to consider is the purpose. What activities do you want to take place in your space, and what outcomes would you like to come from them? Read More »

My first mp3 player was a little black box that barely held four tracks, which was given to me as a wedding present. It would play enough music for my cycle ride to work, but I'd have to listen to the same tracks on the way back. Eight years later and my media player now stores days worth of music, it records audio and can play videos. With the holidays coming up I have been looking for some fresh tunes to listen to at the beach, and have found some great new music ideas for both fans and artists. Read More »

I remember the last recession well. IT and creative jobs disappeared overnight, but what emerged was Web 2.0 and a whole new way of working. Many talented people have become freelancers due to redundancy, or have been forced to move away from permanent to contract positions. Some of them have turned their windfall of time and money into a new career, and are now doing what they love with people they like, every day. Read More »

A few years ago I was caught up in a reality TV travel show. It was fascinating to see how much behind the scenes work went in to make it appear spontaneous. We filmed meeting the cast 'for the first time' repeatedly until they got the right shot, and climbed up and down the same set of stairs until my legs felt like rubber.

Now every day real people are making their own reality TV online with raw, unedited, web streams. You can have your very own Truman Show without the cast of thousands and huge crew, with the new easy to use webstreaming tools. Read More »

A few years ago an edit suite would be a room full of people, high end hardware and expensive software. These have been replaced by desktop and now online editing tools that run through a web browser. Some online tools can resize an image quicker than you can open a desktop design package, and often for free when traditional vendors are still pricing geographically. It is cheaper to fly from London to New York to buy a box of one new software release, even with dinner and the overnight stay, than it is to buy it in the UK. Read More »

Sharing content is key if you want it to spread virally. Most sites now have a syndication feed but text links are visually boring. The new wave of slick looking timeline tools, gadgets and widgets that are springing up online let you remix and re-publish in slick interactive players. They can provide a fresh new way of seeing the web, and let your audience add your content to their own sites with simple embed codes. I particularly like timeline tools as you can see your work in context as an ongoing story. Read More »

The Video Web is growing fast, and it's amazing to think that You Tube is still only three years old. The value of media rich content is on the rise as automated text blogs come online. Text can be faked unlike an authentic voice or face, but like the early days of the web it is still hard to find that perfect clip to embed. For both viewers and publishers Video Search Tools are key, as is Video Search Engine Optimisation or VSEO. Read More »

The big buzz in Auckland right now is around Air New Zealand Fashion Week. Four days of catwalk shows, air kissing and people watching. It's an annual showcase of the best designer threads, jewellery & accessories from Aotearoa, which I rate as some of the most creative I have seen in my years of travelling. It's far less of a circus here than overseas, where many of the Stylesetters and Fashpack look like they have raided the leftovers of a jumble sale. Thankfully New Zealand is far enough away from the maddening crowds of trend followers, for our designers to come up with clothes that you can actually wear in Real Life. Read More »

One of the things I enjoy the most about writing for creative entrepreneurs is hearing back from startups who are making it work. The founder of a Kiwi design company mailed me at the tail end of last year, inspired by something I had said on a Radio New Zealand show. She had a great website and beautifully made products but was feeling a little daunted by the next step - marketing her creations. My advice was, "Don't get overwhelmed by the marketing thing. All you need to do is think of people who would love your designs, and then tell them about in your own words." Her solution was inspired, call the whole process 'Funketing' instead. Read More »

I have loved animation from a very early age. I was lucky to spend time at animation nights as a child, where we watched crazy old cartoons from Canada, Poland and Eastern Europe on a noisy old spool projector. I also adored Road Runner with his Nemesis Wil E Coyote, Jungle Book, and the British kids classic Dangermouse. My list of favourite cartoons could go on for hours given enough time for nostalgia. Read More »

The Melbourne X|Media|Lab on DIY TV was an adventure in many ways. My taxi ride from the airport to the city started eventfully, with a tyre blowing out on a truck in the fast lane. Luckily we were saved by some nifty driving and I was deposited at the Hotel Windsor safely. I met the other mentors in the lobby later including Mohammed Nanabhay, Head of New Media from Al Jazeera. We jumped in a cab for the VIP reception at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image , but neither of us knew the way. Mohammed yelled "Follow that cab" then turned round with a huge grin and said "I have always wanted to say that!" Read More »

With the costs of petrol rising fast and companies feeling the squeeze, the home based workspace is becoming an appealing choice. Changing attitudes have been forced by a smaller pool of skilled workers to draw on and the need to look outside one's own city region or country for experienced people. Now that the internet is a core part of every 21st Century company, organisations relying on face to face communications may not be able to afford that luxury for much longer. Large central studios or expensive offices spaces can be replaced with distributed, networked and often home-based teams. Which is a great step toward the fabled perfect work/life balance that has been promised since the birth of the computer age. Read More »

Colour is very important to me and strongly affects the way I feel. It was the long, grey UK days that made me flee to New Zealand, a land filled with sunlight and vivid colours. I love the tropical blues, deep lush greens and bleached out beachside towns, like living 1970s movies shot on old 8mm film. The shimmering east coast with creamy white dunes, and the dark, dramatic west coast with inky black volcanic sand. I went through a few major colour phases throughout my early twenties. From the black years, to the blue years, an obsession with all things fluoro, then back to black with bright flashes. My current obsession is with bright vampy reds, and the deep rich purple I mix for my hair. Read More »