Finally launched a very basic web app I’ve been piddling around with for a while. It’s called ClipRunner, and it’s only purpose is to help get bits of text from one computer to another.

I built this mainly for my own needs. Seemed like every time I turned around, I needed to get a little bit of text from one place to another. Usually things like a long URL, an IP address, WEP key, or something I otherwise wouldn’t be able to remember going from one office to another.

The concept is pretty simple. Type or paste your text into the big field, enter a “pickup code” in the little field. Then go to the other computer and go to cliprunner.com/yourcode to retrieve it.

Is it secure? Well, it depends on what your criteria is. There is no real authentication, so if someone guesses your code, they’ll see it in all its glory. But as the fine print points out, be smart about it. For example, pasting a Photoshop serial number is one thing. But don’t SAY it’s a photoshop serial. And don’t use a pickup code of: photoshopserial. I think that’s pretty reasonable.

At any rate, I’d love to get feedback on the utility of this thing, even though I know I’ll be using it myself

I’m happy to announce that FireBox is now on board the web development team for the video podcast called ‘dotBoom‘. We’ll be doing the PHP and Ajax work for the new site to be designed for season two. Or rather, Season 2.0.

dotBoom is a show about frustrated web designers, all done with puppets. Excuse me, people of felt. The show is created by Brian Hogg of Ontario, Canada. He also creates the puppets, sets, and performs many of the characters.

Check out their 28 episodes so far, plus all kinds of outtakes and behind-the-scenes. Be aware, that these characters are web developers, so there’s bound to be some strong language

More updates as they become available.

We’re proud to announce that FireBox Studios has recently been awarded a bronze Telly Award for its documentary about the historic Colony Theatre in Marietta, Ohio. The film is a 45-minute look at the history of the theatre, starting in 1919, through the current efforts to renovate and reopen it.

“For me, the film was truly a labor of love,” says Andrew Jones, who wrote, filmed and edited the documentary. “I’ve been fascinated by the Colony since I was a little boy, seeing films like E.T. and The Empire Strikes Back in its auditorium. I jump at any chance I get to contribute back to the effort that will someday get the theatre opened up again.”

Jones, who has been a supporter of the Colony project since its inception in 1997, is also a founding member of the River City Film Festival, a successful amateur film exhibition and competition started in 2006.

“While my primary occupation is web development,” Jones added, “filmmaking is a real passion of mine as well. In fact, winning the Telly makes me want to go out and make something else!”

Founded in 1978, the Telly Awards is a premier award honoring outstanding local, regional and cable TV commercials and programs, as well as the finest video and film productions. The Telly Awards is a widely known and highly respected national and international competition and receives over 13,000 entries annually from all 50 states and many foreign countries. Examples of other recent Telly winners include CNN, FX Networks, Starz, HBO, ESPN, Geico, The History Channel, Discovery Channel and many independent filmmakers and creative agencies.

Just a quick update regarding FireBox Studios‘ upcoming relocation to Atlanta, Georgia and our holiday schedule.

First, we’ll be closed November 23rd and 24th for Thanksgiving. Email will still be checked regularly, so email me with any emergencies, etc.

Second, as many of you have already heard, FireBox will be relocating to Atlanta on December 1st, 2006. We’re very excited about this move, but it naturally will require some down time. So be aware that we’ll be completely offline from November 30th through December 4th. We’ll be doing NO development work during that period. Barring any unforeseen snafus, we’ll be up and running again on December 5th.

During that time, you can still send emails and/or contact me via the toll-free number, which will “follow” me during the move. Contact methods are listed below:

Toll-Free: 888.882.2296
Email: andrew@fireboxstudios.com
AIM: mariettaweb

A very big Thanksgiving “Thank You” to all FireBox clients and friends for their continued support. Have a great Turkey Day!

We are proud to announce the recent launch of pioneerspirit.us, the new web site for the Southeastern Ohio Port Authority (SeOPA). This organization strives to “enhance and encourage the vitality and competitiveness of the Washington County business environment as well as to be a catalyst for job creation and investment by businesses, industries and entrepreneurs.”

FireBox designed and built this comprehensive site and also supplied much of the photography. The site was built entirely within our custom content management system and facilitates easy maintenance by SeOPA staff.

This project was also a collaborative effort by our Ring of Fire partners. Claire Mullen Design created the brand new port authority logo, which inspired our web design and color pallette. CMD is also continuing to work with SeOPA on a wide range of collateral materials including brochures, business cards, folders, billboards, etc.

Also, copywriting for the entire Quality of Life section was provided by the Frank-Collins Group

The Ohio Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus (OACVB) asked FireBox to build a brand new site for their organization. We built a new site that’s simple and clean, yet effectively showcases their sixty-plus member bureaus.

Highlights of the site include full detail pages for each cvb, news and calendar databases, and a password-protected intranet for communication amongst members.

And to top it off, just a hint of Flash goodness.

FireBox Studios and the Marietta/Washington County CVB recently took home a second place Middy Award in the Web Site category for the comprehensive web site we built for them at mariettaohio.org. That makes two Middy’s in a row for us in this category. Last year we received a second place Middy for the Hocking Hills website.

The Ohio Association of Convention and Visitor’s Bureaus’ (OACVB) Annual Awards of Excellence are named the “MIDDY Awards” to reflect the Midwest region of the country, as well as the states contiguous to Ohio. Participants are recognized for excellence in planning, creativity and effectiveness of message, concept and design. The MIDDY Awards competition is open to all members of the Ohio Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus. While other Middy categories are grouped by the budgets of CVB’s, the web site category is not. This means we were up against much larger markets like Columbus and Cleveland. Not bad, eh?

FireBox has just released a new open source PHP application called AC/BC. This is a script built in support of a fairly new project management application called activeCollab.

Even though it’s original purpose was to be a replacement for the paid Basecamp service, it’s growing into something way better. The only drawback is that users wanting to switch had no way to get their old Basecamp data into activeCollab.

We needed this functionality as well for a project and set about to create the software for our needs, then offer it back to the activeCollab community as a free application.

Find out more here.

At the 5th Annual Meeting of ITAAO on July 26th, FireBox took home the “Best Website” award in the non-commercial category for the site we built for the Marietta/Washington County CVB.

This is the third year straight we’ve won a Best Website award. Last year we won for the Hocking Hills CVB and in 2004 it was for the Marietta Aquatic Center.

FireBox has just launched a new site for Kinetic Networking, a growing networking firm in Caldwell, Ohio. Click here for details.