Well, it's about time.

Dries is finally done with his PhD work, and is kicking off Acquia, his commercial Drupal startup company. Dries' write up is fairly extensive, but there is also a FAQ on the Acquia site.

Dries explains that Acquia will focus on "Drupal distributions". I'd like to think that myself and the team at Bryght pioneered the concept of Drupal distributions: we've been running them as part of our mass hosting system since January 2005. It took a few more years to get "install profiles" into the core of Drupal, with the release of Drupal 5. There is still a ton of work to be done in improving the base infrastructure / code / APIs for install profiles, but it's the right direction.

We've Struck a Deal

With great enthusiasm, we are pleased to announce that Raincity Studios has acquired the (almost-legendary) Drupal pioneer company, Bryght. The companies have enjoyed a longtime collaboration offering complementary services as they've grown professionally together. Our cultures and personalities are a great match and everyone around here is eager to see what we can create together.

Joining up with talented Bryght team allows Raincity Studios to combine support and operations while also offering an increased service roster to our growing client base who can now enjoy one-stop shopping. The expanded company will operate under the Raincity Studios banner and the Bryght name will carry on through the hosting products.

In Vancouver, like many other cities, complaining about the weather is the local pasttime. Certainly there *is* a reason we are called 'rain city' and for several months we Vancouverites toil indoors away from the perennial drizzle - i suggest true locals never use umbrellas but i digress ...

New Media BC and the Vancouver International Digital Festival have launched the first annual PopVox Awards honoring excellence in digital media!

If you have digital content/products launched between September 2006 - August 2007, please submit your entries at www.PopVoxAwards.com through September 7th.

Award categories include:

• Best Web 2.0 Application
• Best Mobile Game or App
• Best Digital Animation Short
• Best Digital VFX
• Best Game
• Best Digital Music Score
• Homegrown: The Best of British Columbia (BC)

Winners will be determined via online votes. So, gbet all your friends and family to support your creative works!