Archive for the ‘technology’ Category
Bar codes 35 years old
Friday, June 26th, 2009Twitterature - Classic Literature Retold in “Tweets”
Thursday, June 25th, 2009The Telegraph reports that two American students have been commissioned by Penguin to write a compilation called Twitterature: The World’s Greatest Books, Now Presented in Twenty Tweets or Less.
The book will be made up of classic novels, abridged in the style of Tweets. (For those not familiar with the lingo, Tweets are short messages sent via the social networking site Twitter.)
At this time, it’s not known what literary masterpieces will be dramitically pared down but the book is expected to be released this autumn.
Tweet Tweet Buy My Book
Wednesday, June 10th, 2009
Gotta hand it to this guy for doing a great job of self-promotion.
Prior to the release of his book Dream On: One Hacker’s Challenge to Break Par in a Year, John Richardson used Twitter to build up his profile. The result? Last week Richardson’s Twitter followers pushed the book to top spot on Amazon’s golf chart and into the top 500 overall. Before the publisher had done any media pushes, the book sold out on Amazon as well.
Says Richardson, “I became fascinated by the opportunity that Twitter offers for its users to interact with authors. In the past, if you read and enjoyed a book, it was almost impossible to contact the author to let him or her know. Twitter provides a way for authors and readers to interact in a very contained and interesting way.”
About the book:
‘I have a friend, a guy called John, who is undertaking a golf challenge. He has a full-time job and a wife and child and he’s trying to shoot a level par round within the year. When he started the challenge he couldn’t break one hundred. So he’s trying to take thirty-three strokes off his game in one year and he asked me to find out your opinion on that.’ Sam Torrance laughed, then slowly contemplated the question. ‘Well, you can tell him from me to dream on.’ Meet John Richardson, a regular bloke who enjoys a round of golf in his spare time. That is until he sets himself the challenge of playing a level par round within a year. With no natural talent, precious little time and no fitness level to speak of, can John pull it off? In spite of Sam Torrance’s scepticism, John remains resolute and so begins an exhausting but exhilarating year of living, breathing, eating and sleeping golf. A rollercoaster ride from beginning to end, “Dream On” is funny and inspirational, and a must for any golfer who dreams of improving their game.
The Book Borrowers Exhibit at the Bellevue Arts Museum
Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009 
A week or so ago my boyfriend told me our plans for the day were a surprise, but that he was sure it was so up my alley it was practically made for me - and he was right. We went to the Bellevue Arts Museum in, well, Bellevue, and saw their current exhibition called The Book Borrowers.
The exhibit showcases the work of artists who, through various techniques and transformations, have created sculptures, objets d’arts from books. There was a copy of Shel Silverstein’s beloved book The Giving Tree in which the tree had been painstakingly carved and brought forward to cast its own shadow: a three-dimensional paper tree. The detail and intricate lines were amazing.
There was a half prone figure created from books. Encylopedias and phone books, sandblasted into the appearance of stone, became stumps, mountains, a replica of the grand canyon. Some works were minute, microcosmic, with moving parts (I had a very hard time keeping my hands to myself). Some were abstract and strange, clearly intending a subtext beyond form or function. Some were so amibitious their completion amazed me. But all began with the humble book, printed words and pictures on paper, and brought from it something new.
From the web site:
A book can be many things: an object, a source of knowledge, a cultural artifact or an idea. From each volume, layers of meaning and subtext can be mined, not only from the words and images inside, but from the subtle design elements, the materiality of its pages and spine, and its symbolic value as a recorder of human evolution. For 550 years, the printed page has been our primary means of communication, though it is steadily being overtaken in the digital age.
The Book Borrowers highlights 31 works from locally, nationally and internationally renowned contemporary artists transforming books into sculptural works. Pieces in the exhibition explore the book’s inherent qualities and reflect upon this unique juncture in time. Manhattan White Pages turned into the head of Buddha, laser engraved volumes poignantly dissected, stacks of encyclopedias sandblasted into monumental landscapes – the works in this exhibition reveal new and unexpected layers of meaning that go beyond the book as a source of information and offer a fresh look at its place in an increasingly digitally oriented world. The Book Borrowers is both a nostalgic homage to the book and a reflection on our current progression beyond it.
The second paragraph was printed on one of the walls of the exhibit, and I was surprised to find that while I was fascinated by it, it also made me feel very melancholy. The idea of print media ceasing to exist, or being something for specialty collectors (like music on vinyl now) rather than the norm is heartbreaking to me. I love books. I love the weight of them, the feel. I love the softness of the pages of an old, old paperback. I love the thin ribbon bookmark that comes in some hardcovers. I love when there’s a blank, creamy page, empty save for the author’s dedication. I love a stack of books next to my bed, precarious, teetering, enticing. I love a book that has been read in the bath, and the way its pages become wavy and crimped, like a cocker spaniel’s ears. The Book Borrowers exhibit was comforting in that it showed the book will always be valuable, always be art, even if its form changes. The obvious dedication, time and skill that the artists put into each piece suggested reverie and respect. Books will always be loved. But the sense of loss at the words on the wall was real.
The part that devastates me perhaps most of all is the idea of losing that bookstore smell. I don’t believe it will ever come to that entirely, and if it does it is a long way off, but the notion was jarring. The smell of new bookstores is different from used bookstores, is different from libraries, is different from antiquarian collections, but they all have the musty, spicy, underlying smell of paper at their root, and my nose knows nothing better. I have difficulty imagining walking into an e-reader factory, closing my eyes, inhaling and smiling.
*Exhibition ends June 14th, so if you’re in the Seattle area and want to view it, now’s the time!
Moby Dick Tweeted in its Entirety on Twitter
Thursday, May 14th, 2009
There’s….not much to say besides the headline, really… almost a year ago, a twitter user made a tongue-in-cheek comment that it would be cool if someone tweeted all of Moby Dick.
A light bulb went off for a twitter user named danco (Dan Coulter), and he endeavored to make it happen, under a separate Twitter account (complete with whale wallpaper, natch). 9 1/2 months and 12,849 updates later - that’s around 45 tweets a day, as twitter updates have a 140 character limit - the book’s last line: “It was the devious-cruising Rachel, that in her retracing search after her missing children, only found another orphan.” was tweeted yesterday, May 13th, at 7:08 a.m.
Danco is quick to assure audiences that it was a bot, not him, doing the day-in, day-out tweeting.
All 7 Nebula Short Story 2008 Nominees Available on Podcast
Thursday, April 2nd, 2009
How cool. StarShipSofa, the Audio Science Fiction Magazine, has done something nifty and made all seven of the 2008 Nebula nominees, short story category, available as free audio podcasts. So you can download the podcasts, listen to them at your convenience, and decide on your favourite contender before the winners are even announced (if you’re quick - winners announced April 24-25). From their web site:
“Tony, who helms the podcast, says, “The Nebula’s are a very special event in the SF world and I wanted the StarShipSofa to mark this occasion by doing something unique for this year’s awards. “I wanted to put out all the stories nominated in one day so people can, straight away, have them downloaded back to back… sitting on their iPod and, for the next few hours, submerge themselves in SF stories of the very best calibre. All for free. “Things are changing rapidly in this medium and this is one example of StarShipSofa pushing the boundaries of normal podcasting in both terms of quality and accessibility. “It’s what the StarShipSofa was built for.” “
For me, I’d rather read them than listen to them any day. For some reason, my attention span serves far better for reading than for listening, and I find with audiobooks, I really miss a lot of the intended twists and nuances. But for those who don’t find that a problem, this is a real treat.
And in case you missed it, AbeBooks has every book that has ever won a Nebula or Hugo Award in the novel category for sale, as well as comprehensive lists of the winners. Glorious science fiction!
Twitter book critic
Wednesday, March 11th, 2009There’s a Twitter book critic. A review in 140 characters or less.
If Jane Austen Was On Facebook
Thursday, January 8th, 2009Do you wonder what Pride & Prejudice could have looked like if Jane Austen had access to technology and social networking? Well wonder no more, thanks to Austenbook!
Austenbook tells the classic tale of the Bennets and Mr. Darcy through Facebook news feeds. If you’ve read Pride & Prejudice, or any other Austen book, the clever little annotations such as “Elizabeth Bennet promises never to dance with Mr. Darcy” and “Caroline Bingley is all astonishment” are highly entertaining.
Austenbook creator DeeDee Baldwin credits her inspiration to Sarah Schmelling, who wrote a Facebook news feed version of Hamlet. “Hamlet thinks it’s annoying when your uncle marries your mother right after your dad dies“…”Horatio says well that was tragic.”
A Wovel, and Choose Your Own Adventure Books
Wednesday, January 7th, 2009
1. blog = short for “weblog”, an online journal, diary, or log.
2. web + novel = wovel, online prose published a bit at a time, so readers can read along. The term was coined by Victoria Blake, former editor at Dark Horse Comics (who distribute Joss Whedon’s amazing Buffy thr Vampire Slayer Season 8 comics, by the way), and her partner Jesse Pollack.
“A wovel is a Web novel,” Blake says. “There’s an installment every Monday. At the end of every installment, there’s a binary plot branch point with a vote button at the end.”
The article on NPR calls the wovel a ‘literary alternative to browsing blogs’. I’m not sure I see the comparison, besides blogs and wovels both being readable, and found on the internet. That’s good news though, as that means there’s room for both.
The article goes on to compare the wovel to “Choose Your Own Adventure” books, which I adored in my childhood, and would read any chance I could put my hands on one.
For those who aren’t familiar or don’t remember, Choose Your Own Adventure books contain stories, but at several points throughout the story, readers are given a choice of actions/decisions the character should make. “If John puts on the magic spacesuit, turn to page 6. If John decides against adventure in favour of a nice bowl of oxtail soup, turn to page 19″. That sort of thing.
In retrospect, many of the Choose books were quite morally heavy-handed: I remember a particular title where Choose Your Own Adventure met teen romance, and as I recall, if you had the protagonist choose Johnny Football Hero in his mustang instead of her big-hearted and gentlemanly suitor, penniless and sincere, plans went awry and she ended up with no date for the big dance at all.
However, as an easily manipulated child who didn’t question too much, I happily enjoyed the Choose Your Own Adventure books, particularly because it was like getting multiple books in one - each time you read, you could choose differently, and enjoy seeing the different outcomes.
The wovel will be limited in that capacity, sadly - readers can vote on an outcome, but the winning outcome will be the only one written/posted.
I’ll be interested to go and check this out and see what it’s all about.
One bit I did take umbrage with, however, was the opening of the article:
The way we read is changing. Time once spent curled up with a good book is now often devoted to catching up on blogs, and browsing Web sites.
Poppycock and hogwash. While I’m delighted to have more ways than ever to access the words and thoughts of various kinds of writers, and have added time spent reading online to my day, I’m nevertheless spending as much or more time curled up with a good book. Nothing can replace a blanket, a book and my fireplace as some of the only peaceful, quiet time I get, and time that never feels wasted.
Google Chrome comic in demand
Friday, September 5th, 2008
We have noticed something rather interesting this week. People are searching AbeBooks for physical copies of the online comic used by Google to launch its new open source Internet browser, Google Chrome.
“Google Chrome” is one of the most popular search terms on AbeBooks.com following Chrome’s launch on 1st September. The comic was created by Scott McCloud, a leading name in the world of comics and famous for his science fiction series Zot!, and it effectively served as the press release for Chrome. McCloud’s work is much loved and can be collectible. He’s also written a highly regarded book called Understanding Comics.
The Google Chrome comics were sent to tech journalists and bloggers although some copies went out too early and forced Google to move forward the official launch. Most of the media and bloggers would have probably thought it was a clever way to launch a technology product and then dumped the comic in the garbage. A big mistake - a mint condition Google Chrome comic could be worth $1000 if only a few copies emerge onto the open market. Fans of Scott McCloud would be very interested to owning a copy.
Scott McCloud himself shed a bit of light on the Google Chrome comic at his own website.
Sony eReader vs books
Thursday, May 15th, 2008The new Sony e-Reader is reviewed in the Globe and Mail.
Technologically, perhaps. The Sony Reader PRS 505 is, compared to most of its competitors, small, capable of storing whole libraries, thin (15 mm, including its soft front and back leather-like covers), light enough (337 grams) to hold for a long period of time without fatigue, and ultimately really cool-looking. And the number of books being released is growing every day.
In short, wow.
But it still doesn’t supersede or even match the experience of reading a traditional book. In fact, it can be argued that technologically, the PRS 505 and all digital readers are still far behind the technology that has been stuffed into books made from paper since Gutenberg turned the crank on his press in 1454.
Oh thank God for that! I was worried there for a minute.