A lot of us are thinking about monetizing models for the Net Age. A comment under that article has some interesting data. Andrew wrote:
Slightly less drastic than the ransom model, but similar, is the subscription model, as practiced by the German avant-garde band Einstuerzende Neubauten. They've been going about 30 years now, and have a hard core of followers as well as a fuzzier halo of more casual listeners.
In 2002 they ditched the record companies and switched to subscriptions. The idea was, you subscribed to the next album, and thus paid for them to make it.
In return you got a special edition of the finished CD before the normal edition hit the shops, and access to freebie content on their website, e.g. interviews, live studio webcams, bonus tracks, outtakes etc. You also got the chance to go to supporters-only gigs and other events.
Since then they've released several albums and DVDs, and toured almost every year, playing in decent-sized venues like the Forum in London as well as much larger events like the All Tomorrow's Parties festival. So it must be working for them.
Perhaps authors with existing followings can work along similar lines?
(See: Wikipedia, and neubauten.org)
Sounds clever.
If I were them, I'd send out the special content on a DVD along with the CD, instead of putting it on the site. It would not cost much more (less than a dollar per subscriber), but it would feel a lot more special to the subscribers.
Another commenter, Robert, says:
Where does the 3-500 pages format come from? It must have something to do with the limitations/advatages of the printing process.
Perhaps online a different model is needed?
Good point. My feeling is that it would be better to sell a novel in short-story chunks, perhaps ten thousand words at a time, for two bucks each perhaps. It would also encourage the writer to keep the story interesting, something a novelist sometimes forgets in the middle of a 600-page tome!
And I feel it might be wise to work on many different levels. For sure, there needs to be lots of free content, it's the best way to attract new readers/viewers. And then two more levels, where people can buy online content according to how strong fans they are. And then a level of physical content for hardcore fans who want something special, something they can place on their shelf. And a super-exclusive level of that, with the object being signed, perhaps in a special edition (extra nice binding or something).
(This is a development of what the book industry is already doing with paperbacks and hardbacks. A hardback is not much more expensive to produce, but sells for much higher price, early, to the real fan.)
Re micro-payments, I was once convinced that this was a great solution to many things. But I actually used them on a part of Domai for a while (via the bygone Bitpass system), and I found that, unexpectedly, that a 500-picture collection at $5 sold much better than separate 50-picture collections at $0.50, despite the per-picture price being the same! It seems that there is a minimum value at which buyers "can be bothered" to buy.
Saturday, February 06, 2010
Easy and hard
Life being what it is, one dreams of revenge.
-- Paul Gauguin
... Wow, he must have had a hard life!
Some of the worst mistakes of my life have been haircuts.
-- Jim Morrison
And he must have had an easy life!
-- Paul Gauguin
... Wow, he must have had a hard life!
Some of the worst mistakes of my life have been haircuts.
-- Jim Morrison
And he must have had an easy life!
Ukrainian belly dancer
Алла Кушнир ("Україна має талант")
Alla Cushnir. Friends know her as "Fire Hips". (Not really. Dang pretty though.)Seems "Ukraine's Got Talent" also.
(This does not look like any amateur act to me.)
[Thanks Jim]
Friday, February 05, 2010
Readability
I have made a new design, new colors really, for my nudie site Domai.com. I'm pleased with it, and it seems most others are too, but a few people have mailed me and told me that the new colors, dark blue text on light grey background, is harder to read than the old color, which had a very light yellow background.
Examples: before:
After:
I don't get it, because I care a lot about readability myself, and to me, dark blue on light grey is one of the most readable combinations. (Black text is better, but not significantly.)
Does anybody know why this should be so for some people, and how many it might affect?
Update: one of my readers wrote:
Now I know that you don't set a specific font size (I should have checked the source) I increased the font size in my browser and the text became quite readable. This has highlighted a problem I never knew existed in Google Chrome. Although the default font size was set to 16pt, which should be bigger than I prefer, the font was actually rendered at 8 or 9 points, which is what made it difficult to read.
Indeed GC makes very tiny text.
And most text can be enlarged in the browser, which has enormous influence on readability.
(And again I'll mention "Readable app" for easier reading on the web.)
Examples: before:
After:
I don't get it, because I care a lot about readability myself, and to me, dark blue on light grey is one of the most readable combinations. (Black text is better, but not significantly.)
Does anybody know why this should be so for some people, and how many it might affect?
Update: one of my readers wrote:
Now I know that you don't set a specific font size (I should have checked the source) I increased the font size in my browser and the text became quite readable. This has highlighted a problem I never knew existed in Google Chrome. Although the default font size was set to 16pt, which should be bigger than I prefer, the font was actually rendered at 8 or 9 points, which is what made it difficult to read.
Indeed GC makes very tiny text.
And most text can be enlarged in the browser, which has enormous influence on readability.
(And again I'll mention "Readable app" for easier reading on the web.)
(Update: I have just made the background graphic a shade lighter. I actually like this better.)
Why We Make Home Videos
Why We Make Home Videos, thought-provoking article by DP.
"I'm telling you, these tapes are INCREDIBLE. My wife and children wander up to my attic office, spot whatever movie is currently importing, and they're just goggle-eyed. We'd completely forgotten what we used to look like, how we used to talk. Our lives are so full, we barely recognize some of the places we've been and the experiences we've had."
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"I'm telling you, these tapes are INCREDIBLE. My wife and children wander up to my attic office, spot whatever movie is currently importing, and they're just goggle-eyed. We'd completely forgotten what we used to look like, how we used to talk. Our lives are so full, we barely recognize some of the places we've been and the experiences we've had."
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Ads and so on
An ad on NYT broke through my ad-blocker, this one for student loans.
And it strikes me how effective advertising can be, because few people could be further than me from the target audience, and yet immediately I saw it, I noticed myself feeling (not thinking) something like "ah that's nice, maybe I should get one", before I'd even really noticed what it was about. Surely the tasteful and simple design, along with the very attractive models and photography was a factor.
In the excellent SF novel The Diamond Age, Neil Stephenson offhandedly presents the idea (just a casual sentence, really) that fifty years from now, advertising may be illegal.
Apart from the fact that this would surely increase dramatically the extend of underhanded advertising such as product placement, I must say I think the idea has some appeal. I think 90% of advertising has some aspect of dishonesty. Most things are not sold on their own merits, but rather on the message from the advertiser that shelling out the bucks for this product will make you cool and popular and sexy.
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Update: an article about ads and the magazine/paper revenue model, and how can a writer earn money in the Net age.
Thursday, February 04, 2010
Wise Blood, film
Wise Blood, film.
(UK link.)
"No man with a good car needs to be justified!"
An outrageous story.
I suspect it made a bit more sense as a novel... because a novel does not need the same kind of story arch as a film. I think. In the film I find it a little bit jarring that a character which barely featured in 95% of the film suddenly is a major character in the last five minutes.
Also, while I have not read the novel, at least not yet, I feel that it's not quite as important in a novel that things "make sense". In the film I find myself wanting explanations as to "why is he behaving like this? What's his problem? Why is he talking about cars all the time...?" In a novel I think it can just "come with the flow", as it were.
Don't get me wrong, it's a very strong movie, with a weird and dark sense of humor, and very strong actors.
I bought the movie because of the several strong samplings from the main character's odd, but compelling little speeches were used in Ministry's Jesus Built My Hotrod, the long version (not the version at the link).
Pocket Blu
I've just bought Funny People on blu-ray (I couldn't rent it, some flub with the distributor). And on the disc is an application included called "Pocket Blu". It's to play the bountiful extra features... on your iPhone. I find this quite humorous, given that the sole raison d'etre of blu-ray is high resolution, which you obviously can't enjoy on an iPhone.
Rooms for the tablet
[Thanks to TidBITS]
Interesting article about possible uses in the future around the home, for an iPad.
Here's an interesting item: wireless audio link from iPod to a music system.
And here's an article about the "future shock" effect of the iPad.
"People talk about Steve Jobs' reality distortion field, and I don't disagree that the man has a quasi-hypnotic ability to convince. There's another reality distortion field at work, though, and everyone that makes a living from the tech industry is within its tractor-beam. That RDF tells us that computers are awesome, they work great and only those too stupid to live can't work them."
And Seth Godin has a comment on "saving" the publishing industry.
"We need to get past this idea of saving, because the status quo is leaving the building, and quickly. Not just in print of course, but in your industry too."
Here's a long-view article about reading changes: Zombie Authors.
"Classic works from the great authors throughout history have long been available in print, but on paper they weren't notably cheaper than current works. In ebook form, however, works from zombie authors have a steep price advantage."
Article on bookstore death.
"The big chains will be next. Did you know Borders, with more than 500 stores nationwide, is now a penny stock at risk of being delisted from the New York Stock Exchange?"
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Wednesday, February 03, 2010
Olympus PEN E-PL1
Olympus has released a new Micro Four Thirds camera, it's slightly smaller and cheaper than the E-P1.
It could be interesting with the Panasonic supercompact lens 20mm F:1.7, adding the missing image stabilization to the latter, and being more compact yet than the Panasonic GF1, though maybe not a lot in practice.
Here's a practical round-up page for the camera.
It could be interesting with the Panasonic supercompact lens 20mm F:1.7, adding the missing image stabilization to the latter, and being more compact yet than the Panasonic GF1, though maybe not a lot in practice.
Here's a practical round-up page for the camera.
Moving comics? (updated)
Here's more speculation about a subject which was discussed here recently: if you start adding motion and such to comics, for Net publication purposes, are they still comics? And, will they be strong comics, or just weak animations?
(The couple samples I've checked out so far of the new "motion comics" looks to me more like typical low-budget animation features than comics with added motion. Not great, but no worse than much of what's on TV.)
Personally I'm considering making comics, not with any motion, but with the text replaced by speech. Or maybe picture books like that. (I think pictures are stronger without any text on them.) It seems that it should work, although it may be difficult to do really well.
(The couple samples I've checked out so far of the new "motion comics" looks to me more like typical low-budget animation features than comics with added motion. Not great, but no worse than much of what's on TV.)
Personally I'm considering making comics, not with any motion, but with the text replaced by speech. Or maybe picture books like that. (I think pictures are stronger without any text on them.) It seems that it should work, although it may be difficult to do really well.
I'm considering something a little different too: an illustrated audiobook. Just a regular audiobook, except every minute, a new illustration for it appears on the screen.
Me, I immediately want to be pretty experimental with the drawings, since that's my nature. And since the story is fully told by the text/audio.
But I must admit I suspect there's only a small audience for that really.
Coolpix P100
Everything is falling. Now you can get a super-zoom camera for $340.
The Nikon Coolpix P100 seems quite advanced. What I like best is the tiltable screen. As my regular readers know, I always found that highly useful.
On the other hand... 26x zoom!? I guess it comes down to a magic number, twelve. For me, twelve is the sweet spot for megapixels, even for professional applications, you almost never need more. And I think 12x zoom is about the right amount for a super-zoom, above that and the compromises just stack up too high, in image quality, aperture, hand-holding ability.
Also, I never drink more than twelve drinks in one night, or have more than twelve girlfriends in one week.
Still, this looks like a fun camera, and it shoots ten pictures per second! Great for the kid's soccer game, like the long zoom is. And it seems quite capable video-wise too.
But you will do well to remember that even though this sort of looks like a DSLR camera (like the D60 or D3000), you will not get the same image quality as these slightly bigger cameras (with exchangeable lenses). The reason is the sensor in this type of camera is much, much smaller, to allow for the long zoom. The quality difference is especially noticeable in low light.
PanelFly
Remember I said I hoped major comics would come to the iPad. Well, it seems they will sooner than I'd imagined. I just found a comics-reader app, PanelFly, for the iPhone (and soon for iPad, one imagines, though their site is vague here*), which include Marvel comics. And the app is very well received, based on iTunes user reviews. Promising.
(It may be just the novelty though, a reader on Scott McCloud's blog calls it buggy.)
Here's a preview video. It looks like a full-featured app which should be excellent on the iPad, if it's not buggy.
... I'm trying the app right now on my iPod Touch, so far not bad at all. I've bought the first issue of some title named "New X-Men" for two bucks I think it was, and the download seems pretty speedy, half a minute or so.
... Even with a comic book reconstituted from paper pages, and on the small screen, it's actually a decent reading experience, though you have to fiddle with the screen a lot to zoom in and scroll around. This should be pretty much eliminated once it's on an iPad, given the latter's more than 5x resolution.
The automatic panel selection feature (by clicking on the right of the screen) is very neat. I gues they must have to program that in carefully for each page of every comic, well done. They even select well-choses sections of a page in sequence, when there are no clear panels to go by, or when panels are too large.
(My own photos.)
I find that the graphics look really good, and that $2 per comic book issue is a quite fair price. So far so good!
Prices vary though. Some are just one dollar. And one I've seen so far, is $5, and unfortunately this one, "Pinocchio Vampire Slayer" is the most dillettantish piece of guano I've seen in a long time. No color, no drawing skills, no story. But then that may be promishing for other creators, if that guy could find a publisher.
I just hope that Panelfly and iTunes will open up to self-publisher, this would be a great marketplace. Panelfly does actually have a page on their site aimed at creators, but it's not open yet.
Well, if they don't, if I make a comic and it's decent, I should have a chance at getting my foot in at one of the many independent publishers they already have in their roost. Years ago I was in talk with one about doing adaptions of Hans Christian Anderson, but then they went belly-up before it happened. And I'm sure I could do a much better job these days.
Unlike paper publishing, publishing digitally is virtually risk-less, you don't have the big overhead of the printer's cost, which for a color comics is a huge outlay. So it should be easier to get in.
And of course if you make the product for digital media from the beginning, you can design it for them, page sizes/formats etc.
*"Theres some iPad news breaking today - so keep watch," mailed to me by Stephen Lynch, Chief Technology Officer
I'm quite pleased with PanelFly. And the store works as well as iTunes, surprisingly.
(Only tiny sour note so far was that I just bought a three-issue story arch of The Fantastic Four, and the third issue is taking aaaages to download for some reason.)
(It may be just the novelty though, a reader on Scott McCloud's blog calls it buggy.)
Here's a preview video. It looks like a full-featured app which should be excellent on the iPad, if it's not buggy.
... I'm trying the app right now on my iPod Touch, so far not bad at all. I've bought the first issue of some title named "New X-Men" for two bucks I think it was, and the download seems pretty speedy, half a minute or so.
... Even with a comic book reconstituted from paper pages, and on the small screen, it's actually a decent reading experience, though you have to fiddle with the screen a lot to zoom in and scroll around. This should be pretty much eliminated once it's on an iPad, given the latter's more than 5x resolution.
The automatic panel selection feature (by clicking on the right of the screen) is very neat. I gues they must have to program that in carefully for each page of every comic, well done. They even select well-choses sections of a page in sequence, when there are no clear panels to go by, or when panels are too large.
(My own photos.)Prices vary though. Some are just one dollar. And one I've seen so far, is $5, and unfortunately this one, "Pinocchio Vampire Slayer" is the most dillettantish piece of guano I've seen in a long time. No color, no drawing skills, no story. But then that may be promishing for other creators, if that guy could find a publisher.
I just hope that Panelfly and iTunes will open up to self-publisher, this would be a great marketplace. Panelfly does actually have a page on their site aimed at creators, but it's not open yet.
Well, if they don't, if I make a comic and it's decent, I should have a chance at getting my foot in at one of the many independent publishers they already have in their roost. Years ago I was in talk with one about doing adaptions of Hans Christian Anderson, but then they went belly-up before it happened. And I'm sure I could do a much better job these days.
Unlike paper publishing, publishing digitally is virtually risk-less, you don't have the big overhead of the printer's cost, which for a color comics is a huge outlay. So it should be easier to get in.
And of course if you make the product for digital media from the beginning, you can design it for them, page sizes/formats etc.
*"Theres some iPad news breaking today - so keep watch," mailed to me by Stephen Lynch, Chief Technology Officer
I'm quite pleased with PanelFly. And the store works as well as iTunes, surprisingly.
(Only tiny sour note so far was that I just bought a three-issue story arch of The Fantastic Four, and the third issue is taking aaaages to download for some reason.)
Color Theory For Designers, Part 2
Color Theory For Designers, Part 2, long article. Part one was great.
Fuji 3D printer
Fujifilm is introducing a new 3D printer, at least in the UK.
"Excellent ‘photographic’ results are produced using dye-sublimation technology to print directly on to the base of a lenticular sheet."
(I'm not sure why Fuji puts "photographic" in quotes, one must assume printed photos look like photos, even in 3D!)
There's no pricing yet, but I get the feeling this is aimed at shops rather than individuals.
(Here's a picture of their 3D camera, also pretty new.)
"Excellent ‘photographic’ results are produced using dye-sublimation technology to print directly on to the base of a lenticular sheet."
(I'm not sure why Fuji puts "photographic" in quotes, one must assume printed photos look like photos, even in 3D!)
There's no pricing yet, but I get the feeling this is aimed at shops rather than individuals.
(Here's a picture of their 3D camera, also pretty new.)
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
Joel Meyerowitz interview
Thanks to tOP, here's a video interview with Joel Meyerowitz. It turns out (around 17.30) that he was the guy I remembered seeing Cartier-Bresson and recognizing it must be C-B without know how he looked, just from how he moved.
What I'm sorta wondering is, why would C-B be jumping around and pirouetting like a ballet dancer when he photographed? Except for the rare occasion when you'd quickly need to get in place for a "decisive moment", I don't see how it helps him.
What I'm sorta wondering is, why would C-B be jumping around and pirouetting like a ballet dancer when he photographed? Except for the rare occasion when you'd quickly need to get in place for a "decisive moment", I don't see how it helps him.
Internet celebrities
[Thanks to Jan]
Who the heck is the Tron Guy, and why is he interesting?Thirty years ago I talked about how it would be fun to make a fan club for a totally ordinary guy. In the Internet age, this seems to be happening all over the place.
"Everybody should have a T-shirt ready to sell, even if the shirts are homemade", as the Gem Sweater Lady said. Oddly I have not found the original "Goatse" picture, which apparently is an old infamous picture of a guy stretching his nethermost orifice to the limit with both hands.
Feeeeeeed me, Semour!
Kind reader Esri has created a "feed" for this blog. Thanks!
Apart from the word being slung around a lot, I have no idea what it is, to my shame. I'm hoping we can all learn together.
Apart from the word being slung around a lot, I have no idea what it is, to my shame. I'm hoping we can all learn together.
Update: Philocalist says:
There is an RSS link on the main page,in the right side white column, titled 'Sites by the same author' ... 3rd one up from bottom.
Ah, so a feed is RSS. OK then.
There is an RSS link on the main page,in the right side white column, titled 'Sites by the same author' ... 3rd one up from bottom.
Ah, so a feed is RSS. OK then.
Innocence on TBBT
Something was pointed out about one of my new favorite TV shows, The Big Bang Theory:
Pretty much all the characters are good folk, they are innocents. They are not nasty and scheeming and underhanded characters, like it feels like all adults film/TV characters usually are. It very refreshing, and very pleasant. And it proves that comedy does not have to come from nastiness. I just really enjoy this show.
Pretty much all the characters are good folk, they are innocents. They are not nasty and scheeming and underhanded characters, like it feels like all adults film/TV characters usually are. It very refreshing, and very pleasant. And it proves that comedy does not have to come from nastiness. I just really enjoy this show.
Cameron Chapman
Cameron Chapman is a writer who wrote this excellent article about color in design.
She also wrote this one about the iPad. I don't think she really gets the iPad (she claims that it mostly will attract geeks), but she mentions some interesting competitors coming up, some I hope will work well.
She also wrote this one about the iPad. I don't think she really gets the iPad (she claims that it mostly will attract geeks), but she mentions some interesting competitors coming up, some I hope will work well.
Tee-shirt short, mine
I'm establishing a shop with my own tee-shirt designs.
It's very much in beta yet, I'm not even sure if ordering works.
(The site, for merchants, is not all that user-friendly, so it's slow work to build it. For example it takes them a week to convert a graphic to the format they need to print in "flex print", the high-quality print I want.)
If you order one, tell me how it goes. If you're not satisfied, I have a full money-back guarantee, including shipping price.
The first design is of course based on my popular Running Man painting. I may make a couple more varieties of it.
Bloodhound Gang- Fire Water Burn
Recently upon studying the lyrics of this very funny old hit, I realized that "roof fire" in question is red hair!
Dancin' The Boogie - Silvan Zingg (piano), Will & Maéva ♫ ♪ ♫
Dancin' The Boogie - Silvan Zingg (piano), Will & Maéva ♫ ♪ ♫
Awesome!
I wonder why boogie is not a more popular genre of jazz, it's so engaging. Too hard to play?
The male dancer, William, is one of my correspondents, he alerted me to this.
Tune title "Dancin' The Boogie" (composer and performer Silvan Zingg)
Download on itunes.
Pianist Silvan Zingg plays his composition "Dancin' The Boogie". Dancing by worldchampion Boogie Woogie dancers William and Maéva.
Awesome!
I wonder why boogie is not a more popular genre of jazz, it's so engaging. Too hard to play?
The male dancer, William, is one of my correspondents, he alerted me to this.
Tune title "Dancin' The Boogie" (composer and performer Silvan Zingg)
Download on itunes.
Pianist Silvan Zingg plays his composition "Dancin' The Boogie". Dancing by worldchampion Boogie Woogie dancers William and Maéva.
Pink Gets Wet for Grammy Performance
[Thanks to Joe]
See, it's still possible to catch attention in showbusiness, even in these jaded times. But I say with something this daring in several ways (no safety line!), Pink deserves all the attention she gets.And if that's not playback, that's good concentration too!
Update: I don't know Pink other than just another pop singress. But upon repeated viewings I'm getting past "woa, sexy", through "woa, acrobatic" to "woa, good song and really good performance".
(Esri found this higher-quality version)
The Depressing News About Antidepressants
The Depressing News About Antidepressants, article.
"By and large," says Kirsch, "the unpublished studies were those that had failed to show a significant benefit from taking the actual drug."
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"By and large," says Kirsch, "the unpublished studies were those that had failed to show a significant benefit from taking the actual drug."
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Monday, February 01, 2010
Charlie Rose - Henri Cartier-Bresson
Charlie Rose - Henri Cartier-Bresson, interview, video.
I prefer André Kertész, but C-B was certainly good, and most of all effective. My once-teacher Ben Lifson said that to me, at least that was my impression, and I think I agree. But the world need kings in all fields, and C-B fell into that position. No harm, no foul.
I prefer André Kertész, but C-B was certainly good, and most of all effective. My once-teacher Ben Lifson said that to me, at least that was my impression, and I think I agree. But the world need kings in all fields, and C-B fell into that position. No harm, no foul.
John5
Why it works:
- *Gradient tones in the background.
- *Eyes are nice and sharp.
- *Reflection in the glasses (John's left eye) does not cover the eye and gives some idea of what John is looking at (something bright and brilliant...maybe the Big E. himself?)
- *Very nice B&W conversion.
Eolake said...
Thanks, nice to get nice comments, especially from a sharp critic like your good self.
BTW, I refrained from correcting levels all the way, I think it works best being a bit on the dark side. (I even pushed down the shadows in curves.)
I had him take the glasses off for later pictures out of fear of reflections, but I actually like the one in this picture. Puts a symbolic mental dimension on the eye.
And I'm afraid the window is the Bright thing rather than my humble self. :-)
Focusing Follies
Focusing Follies, article by Ctein. Like usual from Ctein, a well written technical article, this time about the seldom-talked-about weaknesses of all traditional camera focusing methods, and what might be done about it.
Anna said...
What's that whole story about making focus in tune? I didn't really get it. Just notice that many of my pictures are out of focus with that automatic focus system. Is there a way to improve that?
Eolake said...
Funny enough I've never myself noticed all those accuracies that Ctein talks about.
That's why I noticed and published one more John image, I was checking focus in them, they were taken with a super-critical fast lens. All sharp.
I recommend that you only use the middle focus point, point that where you want to focus, and then re-compose the picture. This is more accurate than letting the camera select the focus point.
Anna said...
What's that whole story about making focus in tune? I didn't really get it. Just notice that many of my pictures are out of focus with that automatic focus system. Is there a way to improve that?
Eolake said...
Funny enough I've never myself noticed all those accuracies that Ctein talks about.
That's why I noticed and published one more John image, I was checking focus in them, they were taken with a super-critical fast lens. All sharp.
I recommend that you only use the middle focus point, point that where you want to focus, and then re-compose the picture. This is more accurate than letting the camera select the focus point.
Self-publishing for ebook readers (updated)
Thanks to TTL for pointing to this article about the EPUB format, used by many ebook readers including Sony Reader, the Nook, and iPad.
They point to a very promising free multi-platform tool for making/editing ebooks, Sigil. God love the hard working geeks and open software.
Sigil appears at first glance to be very user-friendly and simple, I always appreciate that.
Update: hmmm, I can't see how to wrap text around images, though, and I can't find any manual/guide, can anybody find one?
(Meanwhile I'll mess around a bit with InDesign CS4, a rather more humbling tool! (But I'm not likely to run into anything it can't do...)) (Gawd, humbling is the word. I can feel that the last time I did any serious desktop publishing was with PageMaker 6!) (Hmm, despite what the article claims, I don't see any export option for EPUB format.)
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Update: t it turns out that InDesign has a separate export command for "digital editions". Why?? Why isn't it simply under Export, it's the logical place to collect Export options. (In any case, "digital editions" is Adobe's proprietary EPUB readers, heavily readied for Digital Rights Management, of course. Some would almost say draconically so, though that's probably up to the individual publishers.)
Thanks to anon for linking to this.
Update:
It seems it's not Sigil's fault it can't wrap text around images, this article says:
"the EPUB file you create won’t look the same as the printed version of your book unless your original design is quite simple. For example, if your book contains sidebar notes and images with captions, the position of those elements will be discarded in the EPUB file and all the content will be displayed in one continuous flow—with the sidebar notes, images, and captions inline with the main body text."
Well, that certainly keeps things real simple!
Of course, when I think about it, an EPUB file will also have to be display on 3-inch screens, and you can't really have text side-by-side with images on such a tiny screen and still have things readable!
So basically for IPUB books one should not count on any formatting at all pretty much except bold and italics. (And I'd keep italics to a minimum, hard to read on tiny screens I'm sure.)
They point to a very promising free multi-platform tool for making/editing ebooks, Sigil. God love the hard working geeks and open software.
Sigil appears at first glance to be very user-friendly and simple, I always appreciate that.
Update: hmmm, I can't see how to wrap text around images, though, and I can't find any manual/guide, can anybody find one?
(Meanwhile I'll mess around a bit with InDesign CS4, a rather more humbling tool! (But I'm not likely to run into anything it can't do...)) (Gawd, humbling is the word. I can feel that the last time I did any serious desktop publishing was with PageMaker 6!) (Hmm, despite what the article claims, I don't see any export option for EPUB format.)
-
Update: t it turns out that InDesign has a separate export command for "digital editions". Why?? Why isn't it simply under Export, it's the logical place to collect Export options. (In any case, "digital editions" is Adobe's proprietary EPUB readers, heavily readied for Digital Rights Management, of course. Some would almost say draconically so, though that's probably up to the individual publishers.)
Thanks to anon for linking to this.
Update:
It seems it's not Sigil's fault it can't wrap text around images, this article says:
"the EPUB file you create won’t look the same as the printed version of your book unless your original design is quite simple. For example, if your book contains sidebar notes and images with captions, the position of those elements will be discarded in the EPUB file and all the content will be displayed in one continuous flow—with the sidebar notes, images, and captions inline with the main body text."
Well, that certainly keeps things real simple!
Of course, when I think about it, an EPUB file will also have to be display on 3-inch screens, and you can't really have text side-by-side with images on such a tiny screen and still have things readable!
So basically for IPUB books one should not count on any formatting at all pretty much except bold and italics. (And I'd keep italics to a minimum, hard to read on tiny screens I'm sure.)
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Girl geek in leather skirts
Girl geek in leather skirts, repost of article by my friend Beth, on my other site MacCreator. (Dormant these days, the blog takes the brunt.)
"I added my first RAM chip. I opened the computer all by myself with no one watching me, to catch me if I fell... a heady feeling. Well, OK, I had to install it twice. Sheesh, give me a break. I didn't know you had to push so hard the first time. I was a virgin."
LOL. I had the same experience with my first Mac. I installed more video RAM, and at the same time I found out that the monitor was connected wrongly. Connecting it right allowed for higher resolution, which I took to be the doing of the RAM, so it was only by talking to a supporter that I found out that I never had pushed the chip all the way into place... you had to push really hard. So I gained even more resolution than I thought. (Uh, screen resolution. Although I gained a bit of willpower too.)
I also remember friggin' around with "modem scripts" and that kind of bullshit in those days. Things are easier now, even as the computers can do many more things. (Oops, did it again.)
"I added my first RAM chip. I opened the computer all by myself with no one watching me, to catch me if I fell... a heady feeling. Well, OK, I had to install it twice. Sheesh, give me a break. I didn't know you had to push so hard the first time. I was a virgin."
LOL. I had the same experience with my first Mac. I installed more video RAM, and at the same time I found out that the monitor was connected wrongly. Connecting it right allowed for higher resolution, which I took to be the doing of the RAM, so it was only by talking to a supporter that I found out that I never had pushed the chip all the way into place... you had to push really hard. So I gained even more resolution than I thought. (Uh, screen resolution. Although I gained a bit of willpower too.)
I also remember friggin' around with "modem scripts" and that kind of bullshit in those days. Things are easier now, even as the computers can do many more things. (Oops, did it again.)
Doonesbury on Kindle, and comic books (updated)
This is from the free sample of a Doonesbury book, from the Amazon Kindle store. I did not know they published this kind of stuff there.
It's pretty brave to publish Doonesbury on the Kindle! It's just hard to read. (I have adjusted the levels to make it look on the photo like it looks to me in ordinary indoor lighting, even pretty good light.)
I'm really looking forward to this kind of stuff on the iPad though.
Admittedly you'll have higher resolution (I hope) if you buy it on the bigger Kindle DX, but you'll still have the grey background, and the Sunday pages won't be in color (those look fabulous in the paperback collections).
-----
Again, keeeeewl:
I just got "custom recipes" for reading updates automatically on my Kindle, via the calibre software, of Luminous-Landscape, The Online Photographer, and swedish site Kamera&Bild. Love that this can be done!
Sometimes the feed is cut off by a link to "read further" in an article, but usually it works fine.
-----
By the way, I just tried the experimental web browser on the Kindle II, and found out that surfing the web on the device "can't be done in some countries due to local restrictions". I'm guessing this means that the cell phone providers are being paid enough by Amazon from Kindle book sales to support connection to the book store itself, but they judge, not enough to pay for web surfing. They surely fear it would cannibalize their data packet contracts with their own customers.
-----
Update:
I hate to be such an iPad fanboy... but I am, no denying it. Oh well. Anyway, it feels to me, after using the Kindle much more recently, and thinking about the iPad, that the web, and as such the global communication and creativity, has become closer. I had not realized it could.
Also, if comic books will begin to be published on the iPad (and it would be a huge missed opportunity if they don't!), then I just may start reading them again. They have sort of fallen by the wayside for me in the past couple of years (amazingly since they were a stable of my life for 40 years), and I realize I sort of miss them. I'm not sure of all the factors, but one of them is surely the huge amount of great entertainment available on DVD when I want to relax. Also, comic books have become so much work! You can't just read three titles if you want to understand what's going on, you pretty much have to read all the titles in the DC universe, or the Marvel one, it's insane. And they are so grim too! Not much fun. I miss Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman.
It's pretty brave to publish Doonesbury on the Kindle! It's just hard to read. (I have adjusted the levels to make it look on the photo like it looks to me in ordinary indoor lighting, even pretty good light.)
I'm really looking forward to this kind of stuff on the iPad though.
Admittedly you'll have higher resolution (I hope) if you buy it on the bigger Kindle DX, but you'll still have the grey background, and the Sunday pages won't be in color (those look fabulous in the paperback collections).
-----
Again, keeeeewl:
I just got "custom recipes" for reading updates automatically on my Kindle, via the calibre software, of Luminous-Landscape, The Online Photographer, and swedish site Kamera&Bild. Love that this can be done!
Sometimes the feed is cut off by a link to "read further" in an article, but usually it works fine.
-----
By the way, I just tried the experimental web browser on the Kindle II, and found out that surfing the web on the device "can't be done in some countries due to local restrictions". I'm guessing this means that the cell phone providers are being paid enough by Amazon from Kindle book sales to support connection to the book store itself, but they judge, not enough to pay for web surfing. They surely fear it would cannibalize their data packet contracts with their own customers.
-----
Update:
I hate to be such an iPad fanboy... but I am, no denying it. Oh well. Anyway, it feels to me, after using the Kindle much more recently, and thinking about the iPad, that the web, and as such the global communication and creativity, has become closer. I had not realized it could.
Also, if comic books will begin to be published on the iPad (and it would be a huge missed opportunity if they don't!), then I just may start reading them again. They have sort of fallen by the wayside for me in the past couple of years (amazingly since they were a stable of my life for 40 years), and I realize I sort of miss them. I'm not sure of all the factors, but one of them is surely the huge amount of great entertainment available on DVD when I want to relax. Also, comic books have become so much work! You can't just read three titles if you want to understand what's going on, you pretty much have to read all the titles in the DC universe, or the Marvel one, it's insane. And they are so grim too! Not much fun. I miss Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman.
Street view in DK (updated again)
DK got google streetview now. I've never tried it before, but Copenhagen Eye roused my curiosity by mentioning this scene on Vestergade 12, Copenhagen. (I tried to link directly, but for some reason it seems you can't.)
It amazes me how nostalgic, or something, it makes me to browse pictures of Copenhagen. I've only been there pretty rarely in the past decade, but I know it so intimately, so it's at once some strange and wonderful place, and like home. I keep wanting to shout: "I know that place!"
Not to mention my home town, you can browse street view of Karrebæksminde, Denmark, now. Amazingly that seems less familiar, but then of course I have not lived there since I was 18 (nearly thirty years ago), so it's bound to have changed a lot.
I mean, I've visited, of course, but not enough to make it intimately familiar in its current form. It's been modernized a lot, more open and clean in the lines.
Wow, it really is amazingly different. It gives me a really strange sensation, which I've felt before once when I visited my childhood street and it did not seem familiar at all... a sort of feeling of... unreality or something. Not unpleasant, just very odd. Does anybody know that?
... Man, I lived on that beach in the summer as a kid. Well, before I learned to read for serious anyway. (Funny, they forgot to blur the man's head for some reason.)
Wow, the more I look... this is the entrance to the street where I grew up, and I can't describe to you how alien it looks to me. To the point where I'm actually wondering if they actually have not just renovated the houses, but actually rebuilt them! I think one has to look long and hard (and have photos or an unusually good memory) to find any details at all which are the same from my childhood.
It should probably be obvious to me that things change, so I guess I've been so involved in my own life that I have never really thought much about this before. Live and learn.
... Well, hey, found a couple of buildings, especially the one one the right, which look pretty much like they did!
And of course, I should have realized: the buildings on this old, central street are generally classified in the highest order, so outwardly they look pretty much like in my childhood. My granddad and father used to have a paint store right in the middle of this picture (next to the canal), and one of my childhood bud's grandmother used to live in the red house.
Above: something really familiar! That wooden gate has been the same for over fifty years! :-)
Boom, and we're back in Copenhagen for no good reason! I used to live in one small room, in my twenties, at the top there, with three other young men, in near-poverty (or at least none of us ever had any cash), here in central Copenhagen (district Vesterbro). Now I'm probably way past the point where anybody cares anymore. :-)
-----
See below how street view is made, using a camera/man cyborg.
I like that they use film, and print the pictures, and then scan the prints! You just can't trust those newfangled digital cameras...
(OK, on second look it does not scan as such, merely spot licence plates and such. But amazingly, these streets are free of humans!)
I'm just realizing one use of Street View can be to location-scout for street photography, for somebody like me who does not have a car. A bit feeble, but I'm not sure how many uses it has otherwise, but it must have some, for them to make such a huge effort.
Update: They have to do it over in Japan, due to too many backyards been covered, the cameras are too tall. Ouch!
It's interesting that they have so many problems, because so far as I know, very few countries have laws against photographing in public.
It's gotta be a tough job driving those cars. When it's not just boring...
"Most recently we've added a new vehicle to our fleet that we call the "Trike." We basically took the same technology in our Street View cars and towed them behind a 3-wheeled tricycle in a device reminiscent of an ice cream cart. The Trike lets us reach areas not accessible by car, such as hiking trails, biking trails and college campuses, just to name a few." - Google article.
It amazes me how nostalgic, or something, it makes me to browse pictures of Copenhagen. I've only been there pretty rarely in the past decade, but I know it so intimately, so it's at once some strange and wonderful place, and like home. I keep wanting to shout: "I know that place!"
Not to mention my home town, you can browse street view of Karrebæksminde, Denmark, now. Amazingly that seems less familiar, but then of course I have not lived there since I was 18 (nearly thirty years ago), so it's bound to have changed a lot.
I mean, I've visited, of course, but not enough to make it intimately familiar in its current form. It's been modernized a lot, more open and clean in the lines.
Wow, it really is amazingly different. It gives me a really strange sensation, which I've felt before once when I visited my childhood street and it did not seem familiar at all... a sort of feeling of... unreality or something. Not unpleasant, just very odd. Does anybody know that?
... Man, I lived on that beach in the summer as a kid. Well, before I learned to read for serious anyway. (Funny, they forgot to blur the man's head for some reason.)
Wow, the more I look... this is the entrance to the street where I grew up, and I can't describe to you how alien it looks to me. To the point where I'm actually wondering if they actually have not just renovated the houses, but actually rebuilt them! I think one has to look long and hard (and have photos or an unusually good memory) to find any details at all which are the same from my childhood.It should probably be obvious to me that things change, so I guess I've been so involved in my own life that I have never really thought much about this before. Live and learn.
... Well, hey, found a couple of buildings, especially the one one the right, which look pretty much like they did!
And of course, I should have realized: the buildings on this old, central street are generally classified in the highest order, so outwardly they look pretty much like in my childhood. My granddad and father used to have a paint store right in the middle of this picture (next to the canal), and one of my childhood bud's grandmother used to live in the red house.
Above: something really familiar! That wooden gate has been the same for over fifty years! :-)
Boom, and we're back in Copenhagen for no good reason! I used to live in one small room, in my twenties, at the top there, with three other young men, in near-poverty (or at least none of us ever had any cash), here in central Copenhagen (district Vesterbro). Now I'm probably way past the point where anybody cares anymore. :-)-----
See below how street view is made, using a camera/man cyborg.
I like that they use film, and print the pictures, and then scan the prints! You just can't trust those newfangled digital cameras...
(OK, on second look it does not scan as such, merely spot licence plates and such. But amazingly, these streets are free of humans!)
I'm just realizing one use of Street View can be to location-scout for street photography, for somebody like me who does not have a car. A bit feeble, but I'm not sure how many uses it has otherwise, but it must have some, for them to make such a huge effort.
Update: They have to do it over in Japan, due to too many backyards been covered, the cameras are too tall. Ouch!It's interesting that they have so many problems, because so far as I know, very few countries have laws against photographing in public.
It's gotta be a tough job driving those cars. When it's not just boring...
"Most recently we've added a new vehicle to our fleet that we call the "Trike." We basically took the same technology in our Street View cars and towed them behind a 3-wheeled tricycle in a device reminiscent of an ice cream cart. The Trike lets us reach areas not accessible by car, such as hiking trails, biking trails and college campuses, just to name a few." - Google article.
Modern Drift by Efterklang
[Thanks to Luke]
A music video for the song Modern Drift by the Danish band Efterklang (a more poetic word for "reverberation"). Made by Danish multi-artist Kristian Leth.
I admit I didn't care for the song at first (something about his voice), but it grew on me. Definitely catchy.
It seems the wildlife in Dyrehaven include a few nude humans, wild and feral.
Dyrehaven is a huge park by Danish standards. It used to only for royal hunting use, I think, but now it's open to the public. I once was there with my ex-gf Birgitte, we visited the mansion shown briefly in silhouet a third into the video (Eremitageslottet*). It's apparently a summer home of the Danish king/queen's. The outside stairs had female sphinxes at the bottom, and they had the most round, pert, naked tits I have ever seen on statues! I just found it hilarious that such delightful earthiness was found in a royal home. And they were sort of sexy. Birgitte found it really male-stupid that I was so fascinated by them, though. But I'll def go back and photograph them, and Dyrehaven (the animal garden or the deer garden).
* The Hermitage Castle. Hermitage: any secluded place of residence or habitation; retreat; hideaway. (Photo: Copenhagen Eye.)
Update: TCGirl found pics of the statues mentioned.
(Photos by NunoG.)
I think they were designed so the lords could delight in the titties, but when the countess gave them the evil eye, they could say "No no, honey, they are just the breast plates in the armor, see?"
HC-B was shy
It appears that Henri Cartier-Bresson was hysterically adamant about that nobody must photograph him (I mean seriously hysterical). I must say I think that's a big blind spot, or hypocrisy, from a man who made his fame and fortune photographing others who had not given permission.
His reason given was that if his face were to become famous, he could no longer photograph people in anonymity. I think even so this was very full of himself. I think one has to become much more famous than any photographer has ever been, to be widely recognized on streets. I have my face prominently on a web site with 80,000 visitors daily, and I've been on a TV program which has been seen by millions of people, and yet it has only ever been locally that people have called me out in the street. It's odd, for I consider myself to have a humongous ego, but I still can't imagine myself so famous that I couldn't walk in peace on streets. (And by god I would not want it.) But maybe HC-B had an even bigger ego, I dunno.
Update: Contrariwise, Mike Johnston actually says (in the comments under that article) that there were stories about how Henri actually did get recognized sometimes, and even followed. Sounds strange to me. Perhaps he was one of the kind of people who just has such a strong presence that people notice him. But still: who the hell would recognize him, and how, except for his using a Leica in the street?
... But I'm actually reminded of somebody who wrote that he had seen Henri photographing in the street, jumping about in a quick manner like a hunting cheeta, and the man wrote that he immediate knew that this was HC-B, despite the fact that he had never seen his photo. Interesting thought.
I remember in 2000, I heard of this singer, Shania Twain. I don't own a radio, never listen to it. And yet, one day I heard a song in a restaurant, and I immediately knew that it was Shania Twain. I find this so interesting, I just knew. I knew almost nothing about her, except I guess I'd seen her picture and name, but something of the feeling of her just trans... (what's the word for going past barriers?*) everything somehow. (And it's not that I was or am a big fan, I can hardly remember her music now, and I even remembered her name wrong.)
* (update, TCGirl pointed me again to the reverse dictionary. I guess I was thinking of "transcends".)
His reason given was that if his face were to become famous, he could no longer photograph people in anonymity. I think even so this was very full of himself. I think one has to become much more famous than any photographer has ever been, to be widely recognized on streets. I have my face prominently on a web site with 80,000 visitors daily, and I've been on a TV program which has been seen by millions of people, and yet it has only ever been locally that people have called me out in the street. It's odd, for I consider myself to have a humongous ego, but I still can't imagine myself so famous that I couldn't walk in peace on streets. (And by god I would not want it.) But maybe HC-B had an even bigger ego, I dunno.
Update: Contrariwise, Mike Johnston actually says (in the comments under that article) that there were stories about how Henri actually did get recognized sometimes, and even followed. Sounds strange to me. Perhaps he was one of the kind of people who just has such a strong presence that people notice him. But still: who the hell would recognize him, and how, except for his using a Leica in the street?
... But I'm actually reminded of somebody who wrote that he had seen Henri photographing in the street, jumping about in a quick manner like a hunting cheeta, and the man wrote that he immediate knew that this was HC-B, despite the fact that he had never seen his photo. Interesting thought.
I remember in 2000, I heard of this singer, Shania Twain. I don't own a radio, never listen to it. And yet, one day I heard a song in a restaurant, and I immediately knew that it was Shania Twain. I find this so interesting, I just knew. I knew almost nothing about her, except I guess I'd seen her picture and name, but something of the feeling of her just trans... (what's the word for going past barriers?*) everything somehow. (And it's not that I was or am a big fan, I can hardly remember her music now, and I even remembered her name wrong.)
* (update, TCGirl pointed me again to the reverse dictionary. I guess I was thinking of "transcends".)
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