A Newbie’s Guide to Publishing: Presumed Inane This si interesting food for thought – a couterpoint to the usual amazon-is-bad publishing-industry rhetoric. I don't know if I buy it (and I don't know if I don't) but it's certainly made me think about some of the things I've taken for granted as "facts" in the debate.
On Improving iBooks – Connor Tomas O’Brien This is two years old, and I am frustrated that most of the things that are being talked about here are not implemented. At the very least, it seems it ought to be possible to make iBooks-DRMed content available to other apps on the same device, via API. Apple/Publishers still get to make their sales money, while another app could do the work of tracking my reading habits.
Large Bookbag – Henry Tomkins I think I may have found the bag of my dreams. Satchel strap, double buckle, with front pocket. Knocking on the door of 200 quid, as opposed to my current 40 quid effort, but oh, isn't it beautiful? Time to start saving.
Geeklist and a public apology In the spirit of fairness: Geeklist have made a pretty unreserved public apology in the time since I bookmarked that first link. I'm still annoyed that they didn't get it right first time, but then, who among can say that they always do?
Cow magnet – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia I have absolutely no reason to blog this, except that I did not know these were a thing, and the words "Cow Magnet" make me laugh. I also wish that there was an accepted a alt.fan.warlord syntax for blogging as this comment would have been shorter if I thought more than three of you would understand IHNW IJLTS "Cow Magnets" without having to look anything up.
OH HAI SEXISM · charlesarthur · Storify Short version: woman calls geek men on their sexism. Geek men lash out in a grossly disproportionate and unprofessional manner. This is nothing new, except that these people are in the same industry as me, with a product that is targeted at, well, people exactly like me – well, it's saddening. And pathetic.
Watercolour map of London Stamen design have used OpenStreetMap data to produce full zoomable maps that look like they've been made with watercolours. Beautiful.
The most highlighted passages of all time on Kindle Just 4 books account for the top 10. And I promise you that unless you've already looked at this, you will not expect what 2 of them, that between account for fully 7 of the top 10, are. The first one that is something I might myself have quoted comes in at 14.
Fairytales are all around us. Del spots a fairytale happening on her commute. This morning, I watched 2 JCBs do a mating dance, then wind up hand in hand, the scoop of one left resting inside the scoop of the other. What do you see on yours?
I can’t stop reading this analysis of Gawker’s editorial strategy » Nieman Journalism Lab Here's an interesting insight into the view-economics of web-based journalism. Short version: linkbait trivia attracts more views than serious writing, but not remotely significantly more, and basically, without the more serious stuff, odds are most publications would lose even the linkbaited audience – people will read the daft stuff from a publication they view as at least slightly credible, but not from somewhere that's obviously *just* trolling for eyeballs. Unrelated: welcome to the 21st century, where the utterly absurd phrase "trolling for eyeballs" makes perfect sense. My grandmother would be so confused.
100 Real Tweets from Homophobes Who Would Murder Their Gay Child Here is a dose of bleak for you all. Because I hate you, and want you to despair. Or, perhaps just because I think it does those of us who are decent, tolerant and human to be reminded who the enemy is every so often. (I am aware that some of us find it easier to forget than others.)
The Daily Mirror have use a photo of an innocent young woman as a serial killer Sounds ludicrous, doesn't it? They've thieved a photo from someone's on-line gallery (bad enough in the first place) and used it as a photo to illustrate an article about a real serial killer, as if the person in the picture was the killer. Said person is not even remotely connected with the crimes in question. I'm really just blogging this for the sheer WTF factor….
How to write faster. – Slate Magazine No shattering insights, but the sort of everyday tips that it's worth reminding oneself of every so often, particularly the importance of routine over quantity.
Sun Drums I wish to acquire this for to listen to on the electrical ipod. I must remember to download it when I get home. For free and everything.
PayPal Here Paypal have launched a competitor to Square. Neither are available in the UK, so I don't care that much, but they're an indicator of the future, and it's good to see competition in this space. Although frankly, I think you'd have to be mad to try and run a serious business with Paypal, given their oft-demonstrated willingness to simply seize their users assets for spurious reasons like "we thought you were making too much money".
Rob Reid: The $8 billion iPod | Video on TED.com It's not going to come as a galloping shock to anyone here to discover that the numbers quoted by the pro-copyright-enforcement lobby in terms of lost revenue and jobs are total crap, btu this TED talk makes it clear just how much total bullshit they are. And is funny. Go watch.
Amazings This is brilliant, but I don't live in East London. This does not seem like the sort of thing it would be hard to roll out to new areas, mind. I just wish they'd hurry up and get to poor neglected Tooting.
Internet of Things Camera – I have often thought that I should learn a bit about this arduino business that all the cool kids are playing with. This one speaks directly to my interests, and looks (relatively) simple. If I find the spare time and cash, it might be a good place to start.
Crossed Mr Spurrier has a new free-to-air weekly webcomic for your delight and edification, which I urge you to read. I cannot possible top the official blurb for it, so here it is: “Wish You Were Here is a story about a fixed community on one of the bleak little rocks off the coast of Scotland. It’s about monsters who look like people, and people who act like monsters. It’s about how a changed world changes its inhabitants. It’s about class and violence and dignity and love. It’s about twenty-four doomed souls, each with their own story, trying to find a reason to Stay Alive. It’s about resources and strategy and survival. It’s about faith and art and misery. Oh, and in Episode #3 a cow shits out a grenade and explodes.”
3.1 Million Pixels Are Heavy (Global Moxie) Food for thought as regards serving images to the iPad3. And, indeed, any similarly hi-res display. Even if one were tempted to pretend the problem didn't exist for now, because it's "only" the iPad (and I'm aware of the absurdity of that position already, in any case), we're clearly going to reach a point where other displays are as good as well.
A Precious Hour I am generally at my happiest when I do this. I should make sure I do it more.