Every so often a job comes in that stands out from the crowd as being particularly captivating or interesting. Naturally, different jobs appeal to different people but our latest British Library project is right up my straße as a one-time English Graduate.

Our brief is to conceptualise and design a site to support the Library's upcoming exhibition, Evolving English: a showcase of how and why our language has developed and changed over the ages. The magic of the exhibition is that it will be supported by dozens of astoundingly important documents and iconic texts such as Beowulf, Shakespeare folios and the King James Bible and we want to convey this magic in the online experience we are creating.

On the 8th September we are running focus groups at the Library to try and better understand how we can engage with website users through online tools that support the exhibition.

In total we are looking for 20 people who are;

• ‘Creatively cultured’ and open to ideas-based exhibitions
• Ideally, but not necessarily students of English, languages, history
• Between 16 – 40
• Internet Users
• Use a form of social network or other online tool
• Articulate
• Comfortable communicating in English
• Haven’t been to focus group in past 3 months
• Happy working in groups

We will be running 2 sessions with 10 people in each and you will be handsomely rewarded for your time.

Session 1: 9am - 12pm
Session 2: 2pm - 5pm

If you fancy getting involved and can make either of the 2 sessions on the 8th please contact either Michael or myself as soon as possible.

Not only will you be involved in the creation of something compelling, you will also be given more tea and biscuits that you can shake a sizeable stick at.

Boom! It's the Third Thursday of the month. In August we have not learned to line the camera up any better but Mark is wearing a white shirt which is a massive departure from his normal attire. In September we may introduce some colour... baby steps.

Bruna Magor - Our new Finance Director

Other links referenced...

• British Library Evolving English - (holding page)
• Hamleys Toy Shop
• Sarah Beeny's Rise Hall
• Hoxton Hotel £1 Sale

When @gillianmckeith picked a fight last month it was interesting for two reasons: firstly, there was a massive flurry of activity on Twitter and secondly, it prompted a respected journalist to suggest that he might sue the Twitter account holder for libel (although probably not).

Incidentally – I am saying @gillianmckeith when referencing what was said on Twitter instead of Gillian McKeith because at the time of writing, it’s not 100% clear that the two are the same.

Here’s what happened in a nutshell: someone started taking the piss out of Gillian McKeith because they felt that her PhD is not a 'real' one (whatever that means). They made reference to a chapter in a book by the medical doctor, broadcaster and writer, Ben Goldacre in which he discusses Ms McKeith.

There then appeared the following Tweet from @gillianmckeith: “How sad a life to enjoy reading lies about another by an ass who makes money from pharmaceutical giants.” 

The result? Well Ben Goldacre asked her to contact him and, according to the BBC, asked for her to retract the statement by saying: “Bad Science by Ben Goldacre is not lies”

What then followed, again in a nutshell, is a series of bizarre distancing by @gillianmckeith and the Gillian McKeith website . They removed any mention of being able to follow her on Twitter from her website. Apart from they didn’t really. The last time I looked, the code for following her is still in the source – it’s just been commented out. (For those of you who don’t code, that basically means that the bit of code has some parenthesis around so it is not shown on the page, but at the same time hasn’t been removed completely – the idea being it can easily and quickly be reinstated at a later stage if needs be). @gillianmckeith also started posting statements such as “Do you believe this is real twitter site for the GM?” (sic). And since 14th July…. nothing at all and all her followers and all those she is following have disappeared. It's as though none of this ever happened. Apart from it did.

The point here, is not whether Gillian McKeith has a ‘real’ PhD. (If I were her and felt that my professional integrity was being rubbished publicly, I'd be pretty cross too). But the way in which it was handled. For me it always comes down to transparency.

Ideally, she (or whoever had access to the Twitter account) should have thought a bit harder before writing a potentially libellous statement. It seems there is still a sense that Twitter, because of its immediate and informal nature is not something that is taken seriously. But a person is libelled if someone discredits them in their trade, business or profession. It makes no difference whether that’s done in a newspaper, book or online.

Once the damage was done, she (or those advising her) should have explained her position - if for no other reason than just wanting to clear things up - (did she say it, or did someone else posing as her, was it a simple mistake), apologised if necessary, retracted the statement and above all, been seen to be transparent and open. Instead, according to several commentators, the whole event has been denied, deleted and ignored.

Maybe denial works in the real world, but in the online world, it’s very hard to totally delete anything you have done or said. It’s potentially there forever. And how much less of a story would this have become if the response had been forthcoming? Perhaps people would have had some sympathy. After all, we’re all human and we’ve all said things in haste we later regretted.

It goes without saying that our PMs, coders and designers are world-class website-making geniuses but without their tools they are useless. Like Zeus without his lightning bolt or Wonder Woman without her lasso of truth. So which tools are used by these apocalyptic menaces to create such wonderfully functional pieces of digital perfection?

Here are the top 5 free or cost-effective web-apps used by Codegent on a daily basis to keep this engine running.

#5 Tickspot

Tickspot is a great tool for everybody here to log how much time they’ve spent on projects and to compare the total time with the target. It’s really simple to use and at $39 a month, pretty good value.

We could have also mentioned Yutiti. Like a pre-project tickspot. A time managing application for our project managers. Yutiti allows the user to manage the use of resources and projects, so everybody knows what to do and when. With its simple graphics and Gantt chart, it’s very easy to use. Other features include a drag & drop system and world-wide access.

#4 Twilert

We feel that it’s of great importance to see who’s saying what about us and our clients. That’s why we invented this handy little gismo. Twilert is a free service which lets you know when you, your company or... well anyone really is being tweeted about. It sends you email notification in certain time intervals that you choose which means you’re not bombarded with emails about how your Aunty Sheila likes your dog or how your best friend when you were six has just bought a mars bar.

We could have also mentioned Tweetdeck. Tweetdeck lets us browse all of our social networking sites in one place. Available for computers, iPhones and iPads; a great way to keep on top of everything at once.

#3 Codebase

This tool is quite new to us but getting popular fast. It has a few features including tickets & milestones for each step of building a website. Codebase basically helps us to see what’s been done so far and what’s left to do – like an interactive checklist. It also acts as a database for our progress. The developers will upload their work to the project so it can be seen by everybody else involved.

We could have also mentioned Google Docs. Google docs is an incredibly useful web app for sharing documents in real time. A really simple and effective way of updating and sharing documents between computers and countries.

#2 Skype

Where would we be without Skype? Like a massive string and cup system between London and Bangkok. We create rooms for projects so everybody involved can discuss progress as they work on it. We also have room for project managers, designers etc so they can talk between themselves. It means that there is a paper trail for everything that’s been said if you join the conversation late and the team in Thailand are just as accessible as the people in the next room.

We could have also mentioned Campfire. Campfire is like instant messaging but designed exclusively for groups”. With this in mind, it’s designed to deal well with group conversations and conferences.

#1 Dropbox

Dropbox is a brilliantly simple and invaluably useful tool for us here at Codegent. We are often faced with large amounts of videos, photos and other large files which need to be shared between people here in London and in Bangkok. Dropbox is the perfect tool for this. The files are as accessible as if they are on your local network and they are also available from the Dropbox website, so you’re never left without them. Plus there is an iPhone app that lets you manage files on the move.

We could have also mentioned Backblaze. Backblaze is a back-up system which is constantly adapting to keep your work safe. Every file on your computer is constantly being backed-up without you even having to lift a finger. A small icon on your taskbar allows you to check the progress and your items are instantaneously saved. It’s never funny to lose your work. This makes sure that never happens.

It was only a couple of years ago, when we would get a brief a week to design & build a flash game. These simple games were designed to appeal to the casual gamer, a simple game the can dip into and out of, and share with their friends. Over the past year the market has changed, the “viral game” has remained the territory of the tech savvy, leaving the mainstream to be catered for in a whole new wave of viral social games.  What I am talking about here is the rise & rise of Farmville and how it fits into the life the consumer.

When I told my friends I was writing an article about Farmville, I was met with 2 responses. The first “If you take your iPhone out to water your crops, while we are in the pub, Consider yourself no longer my friend” and the second “Have you got the limited edition silver rainbow baby sheep, which gets your double XP points?... I can send one to you”.  This ‘Marmite’ reaction to Social Gaming is brought on by what is at its core; playing a game, and getting your friends involved. This is seen as negative by the social media “creators” as it’s easy to have your Facebook news feed polluted by the constant “calls to action”  to receive gifts from your friends playing a game that you aren’t.  But it is this emphasis on getting your friends involved has lead to Farmville makers Zynga notching up 235 million users of their games per month, with 65 million coming back every day.

For those of you who have been living under a rock for the past couple of years and aren’t part of that 235 million.  Farmville is a game which is built on the Facebook platform, which has become a social network unto itself.  In this game you can build & tend a virtual farm, doing everything from sowing virtual crops, to rearing virtual animals, to building virtual barns. Users spend their Farmville coins on crops which they can sow,  wait a couple of hours then come back to harvest & sell the crop for which you are paid in Farmville Cash, to repeat the process all over again

But what happens if you want to buy something you don’t have enough Farmville coins for?” I hear you ask... Well this is where Farmville will convert your hard earned and very real Great British Pounds into virtual Farmville coins.  This transaction is currently earning Zynga $1million a day.  Zynga is forecasting to turn over $450m in 2010, this puts Zynga in second position of PayPal’s largest merchant list only behind eBay. The Farmville economy has grown so much that now, more virtual tractors are bought every day than there are real tractors in the U.S.

Facebook are making sure they get their share of the pie, not just by scraping 30% of the top of transactions for these virtual goods, but by accepting almost $100m in facebook ads from Zynga to Advertise its game.

But who are the people spending so much time and money playing these virtual games? The demographic from the game developers shows an even spread of ages, with a slight skew towards female. It is these figures that game developers would like us to believe as they suggest that social games are played by everyone. The anecdotal evidence, however, suggests that this audience’s can be grouped together as passive users of social networks. To these users, social networks aren’t about the usual sharing content with their friends. They aren’t updating their status or engaging conversations. To this audience, Farmville IS social networking. They only really communicate their friends via the game, to send them free gifts… and get their friends to help them to the next level. Farmville has saved this audience for Facebook. Now that their initial interesting in snooping what their friends from high school are doing now has worn off Facebook offers them nothing without social games like Farmville

With so many Farmville users, brands are chopping at the bit (all puns intended) to get involved. The most interesting has come in the shape of Organic food maker “Cascadian Farm” who sell fresh blueberries throughout Canada. They have placed branded blueberry seeds into the Farmville Market so users to buy & grow their own “Cascadian Farm” Blueberries. I haven’t been able to find any stats to prove that these in game sales have effected real sales of blueberries, and I would be keen to know how effective this brand communication is (If anyone has any more information on this campaign please drop us a line in the comments below.)( http://mashable.com/2010/07/22/farmville-organic-blueberries/

A whole host of other brands from Lovefilm to O2, who want to target this market but don’t have products which can be placed into a virtual farm, are now offering Farmville money as a bolt on for the services they are selling. For example when you buy a monthly Lovefilm subscription you can receive 89 Farmville Coins.  Will this style of Bolt on get me to change my mind and switch my mobile contract from T-mobile to O2, or is this just a nice little extra to sweeten the deal? Once again I would like to see the stats and figures on the effectiveness of this style of promotion.

One thing is for sure; with $1.6 billion estimated to be spent on virtual goods this year, the Virtual Economy is expanding at a radical rate. The answers to these questions are going to become more important to both brands and government...can you tax virtual goods?