Letterpress Lovers App

Posted on July 16, 2011 by Carolyn

If you’re into letterpress typography and design, a successful KickStarter project has just released their iPad app that will digitally allow you to create your own letterpress designs and save them as a file for your creative endeavors. The project was able to purchase a variety of typefaces and art collections from many sources in order to create an expansive selection for you to use. The iPad app, LetterMpress, is currently available for download at a cost of $5.99. Click on the image below to be taken to the official LetterMpress site for more information, videos, and instructions. This looks pretty amazing, and keeps the old art form alive virtually.

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Where Would You Want To Be Right Now?

Posted on July 16, 2011 by Carolyn

In honor of the construction that is prevalent all over California (and my own trials driving long distance through it a few weeks ago), I thought that I’d pose the question. If you were able to choose anywhere to be, where would it be?

Well, I love to satisfy my curiosity by delving into new places and experiences, not that I’ve had much time for it because of my writing schedule. When I was younger, I traveled much more because I was a military brat and had the opportunity to do so. From those experiences, I gathered that I love to look at history. Let me explore in an old temple or museum, and I’m like a pig in mud. Happy!

But on the other hand, I like to feel the experiences around me. Flying in a Cessna was one way that I used to get my adrenaline going. Going fast did it for me (as fast as a Cessna could go), but feeling free was the true rush.

So, if I had a choice to be anywhere, where would I want to be? Frankly the one place that sticks in my mind comes from a scene from Thor, the movie.

 

No, this isn’t the image that I’m talking about, but it involves Heimdall’s Observatory. There is a scene in the movie when Heimdall is looking over the universe from the gates of his observatory. As he looks down, the whole of creation is at his feet. And he has the power to go to different parts of that creation through the portal. Now, that is where I would want to be, except that I would have no limitations on where I could travel or when. To be able to see different civilizations, or even to see our civilization when those amazing pyramids were being built around the world. Now, that would be an experience!

So, what would your choice be?

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When Negativity Cloaks As Advice

Posted on July 16, 2011 by Carolyn

(this might be a bit long because the original content hit me hard, so bear with me)

As a technical writer who is working to turn over a new leaf, I’ve been spending some time visiting forums to look over advice for new writers. Since I have generated plenty of books in my time (from concept to published works), I know what advice to listen to and what to ignore. But when I read diatribes over what “you have to do” in order to achieve a successful writing career, it raises my fighting instincts towards non-conformity. As I’ve always said, it’s not easy being the square peg in a round hole…

There are plenty of people out there who have gone the traditional route of publishing in hopes of becoming the next BIG writer de jour. They slave away at each book, writing and marketing it as they would a war campaign because it’s all about the sales. And once they’ve tasted that success, they fall into the trap of complacency and forget the passion for the writing. They even forget that the audience is vast, shifting, and always searching. The volatility of the market is there mainly because of the volatility of the audience. It’s hard to trap a genie in a bottle because the genie doesn’t want to be caught. Sales never seems to get the message. Continue reading →

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The Magic Will Never End

Posted on July 15, 2011 by Carolyn

We’re coming to the end of a magical era. JK Rowling’s Harry Potter adventures has started its end run on 7/15/2011. This will be the last movie that we’ll ever watch showing Harry, Hermoine, and Ron grow from innocent childhood into an angst-ridden adulthood. Their anguish is on a scale that most of us will hopefully never encounter in real life. And no, I’m not speaking of the magic but of the harsh realities of life. Whether you consider yourself a sorcerer, a witch, or a plain old muggle, we all have had our shares of it. Magic might be able to disguise reality temporarily, but reality will always find a way to seep into our consciousness. I for one wish that their magic were truly a living, breathing thing because these are the type of things that I dream of. Continue reading →

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What’s The “State of The Internet” and More On Twitter

Posted on July 15, 2011 by Carolyn

I have finally succumbed to the call of Twitterverse. Yes, I have decided to join all of you who tweet about anything and everything. Because what I’ve learned is that while I was safely hidden behind my monitor, typing away at my own content, there was a world out there that wanted to be discovered. Well, actually I already knew that. But when I learned that Twitter was a good way to get interesting info fed directly to me without getting lost in Google (which is my savior) and Net surfing, I finally decided to finally give it a shot. Yes, I can sometimes be slow and hard to convince, but I do eventually learn. My mini-social wallflower etiquette is in for a big change.

So far, there’s a lot of stuff to catch up on. I’m not sure how all of you do it, so give me a few moments until I get my legs back under me. SIGH, I knew that I should have tried this much sooner!

One more question: Will I be able to function with an iPhone permanently attached to one hand? I’m not sure that I’m ready for TweetDeck just yet.

Here’s what I already found in just the first few minutes (god, I love data mining): Continue reading →

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Looking At the World Through Bits Pics

Posted on July 15, 2011 by Carolyn

We all know that our world can be very beautiful to look at, especially from up in the air. But have we ever thought about what it could look like through the eyes of technology?

Well, Eric Fischer was curious enough to create a series of Bits Pics images that depict the locations of Tweets and Flickr photo posts by using their application programming interfaces (APIs) to generate a location and time stamp for each separate post. They’re combined together onto a map surface, then voila! There’s a timed image of the activity in that specific location.

He’s made numerous such images for places all over the world, and they create a digital image of a very active digital world civilization. So go check out the image near where you live, and see just how active your community is on Twitter and Flickr. Even technology can make a beautiful picture!

More info:

Here’s the original story from the New York Times. Thanks for another great piece of discovery!

And you can follow Eric on Twitter: Eric Risher (enf) and his Flickr Photostream. He really loves his maps…

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John Carter – Tarzen meets Mars

Posted on July 14, 2011 by Carolyn

If you’re a fan of Edgar Rice Burroughs (creator of Tarzan), then you’ll be happy to see this clip. Disney has just released a new trailer for the upcoming “John Carter” movie to be released in 2012. Unlike his Tarzan novels, the Barsoom book series takes place on the faraway planet of Mars, although a civil war is also happening there on its frontiers. It’s good to see great stories coming back to life in the form of comics and movies.

It’s been years since I’ve read his books, but maybe it’s time for a return visit. And to make the news even better, Andrew Stanton of Pixar will be directing his first live-action movie with Taylor Kitsch (Friday Night Lights and The Covenant) in the lead role of John Carter. This looks to be a beautiful movie, and will hopefully do the dreams of Edgar Rice Burroughs justice.

Disney’s John Carter site will keep you up to date with the movie release.

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Thought For The Day

Posted on July 14, 2011 by Carolyn

Is it just me, or is creative inspiration becoming harder to find in the main stream? It’s completely evident everywhere else but there.

 

(although I may have to hold my judgment after finding out about the next news that I’ve posted)

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When Perfection Is Not So Perfect

Posted on July 14, 2011 by Carolyn

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Advertising is all about glorifying the beautiful and desirable. It is used to sell us things that we probably don’t always need, but still have to have at almost any cost because of that rampant desire that compels. Desire is that age old crux that can start wars as well as inspire creation. Some incredible imagery comes from the minds of advertisers. While the motive is usually capitalistic in nature, the outcome can sometimes be purely divine.

But what if our standard checklist of requirements for something beautiful is destroyed, and convention is thrown out the window? Suddenly the world is a much larger place with so many more selections. It’s like being a kid in a candy store. Everything has beauty in it, but sometimes it can take a while to find. It’s why some artists are more polarizing than others, because they choose to accept the unacceptable (by society’s standards). Continue reading →

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Oh no, Bots Are Taking Over Berlin!

Posted on July 13, 2011 by Carolyn

After the insanity that was the OhNo!Doom show, Imaginary Menagerie (which is still showing until the end of the month), Doktor A along with and a myriad of amazing mechanical talents will be bringing bots to life at the robot group show “Gentle Giants” opening at the Strychnin Gallery in Berlin, Germany on July 15, 2011. Continue reading →

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