the insignificant ramblings of a disturbed graphic designer
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Thursday Top 5
An Epic Conversation with Cory Doctorow and John Scalzi, Part 1 An conversation between Cory Doctorow, (technologist, author, and BoingBoing mainstay) and John Scalzi (sci-fi author and noted purveyor of Whatever). The video editing is a bit annoying. Actually, I like all of it except the incredibly annoying, loud intro music. They also use it between cuts. Laaaame. Oh, if you are interested, part two of the video is here.
“This I Believe” by Robert A. Heinlein This short piece makes my cry every time I read it. The Heinlein Foundation recently found a recording of the original radio broadcast for Edward R. Murrow’s radio show in 1952, and posted an MP3. www.heinleinprize.com/rah/thisibelieve.htm
Caduceus Cellars Tool’s Maynard James Keenan has a winery. www.caduceus.org
Waxing the winker A couple guys go to LA’s (apparently) famous waxing salon Pink Cheeks. Yeah, um, definitely NSFW. And btw, “anal bleaching?” Ew. www.current.com/items/89138614_waxing_the_winker
io9 was doing an article Russian science fiction book cover artwork and must’ve seen the book cover I posted to my Flickr group Heinleinia.
The book in question (pictured here) has always been a bit of a mystery to me. It’s a Russian edition of Stranger in a Strange Land published in 2003, but because most of the text is in Russian, I can’t get much information from the title and copyright pages. I found the book for sale on eBay last year.
One of the commenters on io9’s post noted that the cover of the Heinlein book features a painting by Donato Giancola, which was a nice find. Giancola’s produced some great work in his portfolio. Though I’ve never been able to figure out why this particular piece was chosen for the Heinlein book, as it bears no resemblance to anything in the story.
Orwell Diaries The Orwell Prize, a British award for political writing, is publishing George Orwell’s 1938–1942 diaries as a blog. orwelldiaries.wordpress.com
Free Rice Play a vocabulary game, and feed the world at the same time. www.freerice.com
Posted by espd at 8:13 AM |
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Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Where have all the citations gone?
A few lifetimes ago I was a marketing and communications specialist for nonprofits, most notably for Bay Area Action and its later incarnation as Acterra.
For a few years I wrote and/or edited weekly email newsletters and action alerts. I started doing this for the Headwaters Forest Project at BAA, then created a weekly EcoCalendar of events all around the Bay Area, and later founded Acterra's first general email newsletter.
During that span of about eight years, I also performed a lot of other communications functions, especially surrounding the Headwaters issue. For a few years my website and email list were the best sources for news on the controversies emanating from the North Coast, and I fielded inquiries from small and big sources alike, everyone from elementary school students to the big media outlets such as Time and CNN.
I spoke at events (the Green Party's state convention comes to mind) and universities (I presented to a Stanford law class once, which was a bit unnerving, but then I reminded myself they were just students), I did radio interviews, I fielded calls and emails and faxes from reporters all over the world, and my email list contained addresses from places as far-flung as Japan and Australia and people from the press, government, and even Hollywood.
Copy this, please
This all happened in a time when the migration of such information to the Internet was much, much less frequent, and a lot harder to do. Nevertheless, lots of people copied my emails and forwarded them along to others. Which is what we wanted. Unlike commercial material, for which one might have copy-protection concerns, we wanted this information spread far and wide. Granted, we didn't want people to re-edit the information, so I simply attached a footer to my email template that stated that permission was thereby granted to forward the email in its entirety, for non-commercial purposes.
And people did it. In droves. They forwarded it on to their friends and family, co-workers, whomever. Some maintained their own large lists of concerned citizens interested in environmental issues, and they sent my emails along to them. Others posted my newsletters and action alerts on their AOL and Geocitieshomepages, on university listservs, and lots of other places.
Here are a few examples, still archived in various niches of the 'net:
Later, as search engines became more adept at crawling and indexing the content of the web (this had all occurred before Google existed), I'd be doing Headwaters research on AltaVista or Yahoo! or Dmoz, and come I'd across some of my old emails and articles scattered across the web.
Fading way
In more recent years I've noticed that Google's algorithm seems to be devaluing these old (nearly ancient in Internet time) posts, probably for fairly legitimate reasons (the HTML of those old web pages would not withstand semantic rigors of modern search technology), so they rarely show up in results, or if they do, they're buried many, many, many results pages deep. It's probably that a lot of those pages are simply gone now too, as people fold their old accounts or Geocities pages get closed down, or whatever.
When I first started noticing this, I must admit that it was a little sad, as it seemed almost as if my contributions were disappearing from the universe. I know this is not strictly true, but in a world where we seem to rely increasingly on Google to provide us with what we want to know (I'm certainly guilty of this reliance), it's disappointing that the content of those older articles is devalued in large part because the method used for archiving them did not use the modern HTML standards.
It's a little like devaluing the best encyclopedia in the (physical) library because its publishers have not yet made it available online. Perhaps the actual content contained in that encyclopedia is of better quality than anything published on the web, but most people would never know it because they'd never see it.
I'm conflicted about this on many levels. Partly because I believe passionately that people should have access to the best quality information (so I want people to go the library, or wherever they need to go for that single best source), but I also want that high-quality information to be much more widely accessible than that. Let's face it, the researcher in Prague seeking information on West Coast salmonids can't easily get the 700-page document off the dusty shelf of the tiny library of the Northcoast Environmental Center in California, can he? But what if it's the single best source, and it's not available online at all?
Technology will catch up
I believe (nearly) all of these documents will be available online someday. It may be a decade or more away, but it will happen.
And I will do my part. I have archived all my data from the Headwaters Forest years, and all my BAA articles and photos, and while they're not really in any usable order right now, I am confident that technology will continue to advance in ways that make the data easier to sort and publish. It's already been happening, with sites like Flickr making it easier to share photos, and tools like blogs and wikis making it easier to publish and collaborate.
Not all my contributions have faded away
Interestingly, search technology has more recently broadened to include the content of printed books too. Google Book Search began scanning the collections of several leading universities in 2004. While Google's tool is still in beta and it comprises mostly academic works, I was mildly surprised to see my name turn up with a few results. I was cited in Earth for Sale: Reclaiming Ecology in the Age of Corporate Greenwash, by Brian Tokar, and Writing for Real: A Handbook for Writers in Community Service , by Carolyn Ross, Joseph M. Williams, and Ardel Thomas. I'd forgotten that I was also thanked in Inciting Democracy: A Practical Proposal for Creating a Good Society, by my friend Randy Schutt.
Posted by espd at 1:03 PM |
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Sunday, July 20, 2008
Tor.com finally relaunches
The science fiction and fantasy publisher has been teasing people for months with free desktops and even full-length book downloads, in anticipation of the relaunch of their website. It went live today, and they've linked to all the previous free downloads for one final week. Hop on over if you like John Scalzi, Charles Wilson, Harry Turtledove, Peter David, et al.
Posted by espd at 4:20 PM |
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Tuesday, January 29, 2008
The Tales of Beedle the Bard
J.K. Rowling mentions The Tales of Beedle the Bard in the last Harry Potter book, and it later surfaced that she had hand-written and -illustrated seven copies of the 157-page book of wizarding fables.
Amazon.com purchased one of the seven copies at a Sotheby’s auction, for a whopping £1,950,000 (donated by Rowling to charity), and has now released some photos of the book and synopses/reviews of the stories contained therein.
I can't remember where I heard about Thomas Allen's book, Uncovered, but I mentioned it to Jason the other day and I thought I'd post it for others as well.
Allen's photographs breathe new life into vintage books and magazines by literally liberating some of the heroes and heroines from the pages, sometimes (as in the example above) creating a new pretext in the story.
Posted by espd at 6:13 PM |
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Thursday, November 15, 2007
Thursday top 5
Donate to Wikimedia Foundation Okay, the close-up on the eyes and the creepy hand-wringing is weird, but the rest of this video is good. I'm going to talk with Velma about adding the Wikimedia Foundation to our giving list. And if you've ever used Wikipedia for anything at all, you might consider a donation too. wikimediafoundation.org
Also Also is a really cool design company with a really cool site. Jason will probably like this one. I think he should redesign his site something like this — using Flash to tell an amusing story that's also the site's navigation itself. www.also-online.com
Julia Rothman Julia is a partner in Also (mentioned above) and does all their illustrations. She also does really cool pattern and surface design independently of Also. And if that wasn't enough alsos, she also runs this great blog called Book By Its Cover covering artful books about comics, design, etc. (below). www.juliarothman.com
The in-law peeps, Dave and Terri, have been featured in a cool new book for hip knitters: KnitKnit: Profiles + Projects from Knitting's New Wave, along with our buddy Sarah Kohl, who makes ultra-cool handbags out of Ozark Handspun.
I'm still their "webmaster" (man, that term sounds so outdated), making occasional updates, especially to the ever-growing list of stores where you can get the yarn (now in four countries!).
Posted by espd at 6:15 PM |
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Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Mobile Web Design
Cameron Moll has published a new book titled Mobile Web Design. I don’t have it yet, but based on his previous work I'd bet it's pretty good.
Despite the name, this book is not just for designers. You may want to check it out if you are in any way part of the development of content for mobile devices. There's a general dearth of info available on mobile web development, so it's probably a good addition to your library.
It’s only available as a PDF download now, and I’m not sure if it’s going to bookstores and Amazon later or what, but I’d be willing to bet it will. However, you can get it cheaper as a PDF now ($19), and the first 599 buyers will entered in a drawing to win an iPhone.
Posted by espd at 1:28 PM |
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Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Towel Day
A few weeks ago I was outside of my office in SoMA/Downtown San Francisco at lunchtime and I saw two different guys walk by, at different times, wearing bathrobes. I wondered if they were celebrating Towel Day, but later I looked it up and it was the wrong day. I still have no idea what these two froods were doing.
Towel Day is, in fact, this Friday. Learn more about the genius of DNA and Towel Day here or here.
Posted by espd at 3:13 PM |
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Thursday, May 17, 2007
Books about Headwaters Forest
I've been compiling this list for over a year and finally decided to post it. It's an ongoing list, of course, and I'd love to hear of any other suggestions from people, or your thoughts on these books.
The Last Stand: The War Between Wall Street and Main Street over California's Ancient Redwoods by David Harris published by: Sierra Club Books (paperback ed.), 1997; 384 pages espd's rating: buy it
From the Redwood Forest: Ancient Trees and the Bottom Line: A Headwaters Journey by Joan Dunning (author & illustrator) and Doug Thron (photographer) published by: Chelsea Green, 1998; 272 pages espd's rating: buy it
The Legacy of Luna: The Story of a Tree, a Woman and the Struggle to Save the Redwoods by Julia Butterfly Hill published by: Harper San Francisco, 2001; 288 pages espd's rating: buy it
A Good Forest for Dying: The Tragic Death of a Young Man on the Front Lines of the Environmental Wars by Patrick Beach published by: Doubleday, 2004; 288 pages espd's rating: buy it
Timber Wars by Judi Bari published by: Common Courage Press, 1994; 343 pages espd's rating: buy it
Who Bombed Judi Bari? (audio CD) by Judi Bari published by: Alternative Tentacles, 2000 (audio CD) espd's rating: buy it
The Secret Wars of Judi Bari: A Car Bomb, the Fight for the Redwoods, and the End of Earth First by Kate Coleman published by: Encounter Books, 2005; 261 pages espd's rating: This is an error-riddled hit piece published by a right-wing publishing house. Don't bother unless you really want your collection to be all-inclusive. buy it
The Devil in the White City I’ve been enjoying this dramatic history about the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago and the associated story of H.H. Holmes, who was perhaps one of the country's first serial killers. Author Erik Larson, like Simon Winchester, proves that historical books don’t have to be snores. » tinyurl.com/yufask
Picnik This beta site describes itself as "online photo editing made fun." It's possibly the best online tool I've seen in two years. Really excellent. » www.picnik.com
Posted by espd at 2:11 PM |
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Thursday, December 22, 2005
An Adams fan finally speaks the truth about the Hitchhikers movie
I was uncharacteristically silent here about my opinion of the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" movie after I saw it earlier this year. Since then, when asked by friends what I thought of the movie, I have said something like "I liked it but I was somewhat disappointed."
But I've always felt a twinge when I said this, like it was a cop-out. I've finally come realize that I was probably not willing to admit to myself that I was more disappointed in the movie that I had originally thought, that I just couldn't bare to face the reality that the filmmakers had released such a phenomenal cock-up on the millions of fans of Douglas Adams' work.
MJ Simpson is a longtime Adams scholar who was privy to much inside information during the making of the film, including a pre-release screening last March. Simpson then published a scathing review on his website and subsequently suffered an onslaught of negative feedback because of it.
But I have to admit that he's essentially spot-on about each and every criticism. I applaud Simpson for putting his honest opinion out there, and for taking the shots that came from it. And I say he's right.
The filmmakers took out almost all the jokes. They removed the funny from Adams' trademark funny dialog. The movie suffers from a twisted and nonsensical plot that was made even worse from an utterly outrageous editing job. Simpson says it and I'll say it too: It's okay to mess about with the plot. Adams did it in every version of Hitchhikers. But the dialog still has to be funny.
It's a long review, it took nearly an hour to read, but it's worth it.
After all this, I still can't get past the fact that I really, really want the DVD [Update: I broke down and bought it]. I just can't help it. I'm a rabid collector of Hitchhikers stuff and I admit I simply must add the movie to my collection.
And maybe a part of me is hoping that I'll grow to like parts of the film more by watching it a few more times. I mean, it wasn't totally abysmal; there were some good bits. Just a shame it wasn't as good as it could have been.
Posted by espd at 1:37 AM |
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Tuesday, July 05, 2005
Eritrea
All the news coverage of the G8 meeting (on NPR and the BBC at least, since you won't hear anything about it on the US media) has meant that I've heard an unusual amount lately about African nations that one doesn't normally hear covered that much even on NPR and the Beeb. Within two hours today I heard two pieces on two different shows about Eritrea.
You've probably never heard of Eritrea. Neither had I in 1993 when I met a tall, lanky Eritrean named Teclu Tesfazghi. At that time, almost no one had heard of Eritrea, because it was the world's newest nation, after having just won independence after 30 years of war with Ethiopia.
Tec asked me to donate my design services to help fundraise for the International Committee for the Eritrean Blind (ICEB). Three decades of war had devastated the small North African country's population. Nearly everyone had been touched by the war; tens of thousands had lost limbs, eyes, and so on.
The ICEB was establishing itself in the U.S. through expatriots living and working here. Tec was doing some contract work with the City of Palo Alto, where I had worked until very recently, and he was volunteering to raise money for the ICEB.
I designed and wrote content for a calendar that was to be sold by local volunteers to raise funds to send back to Eritrea, in order to create skills-building programs that would allow the blind to go back to work.
We had almost no photos or other graphical assets for the project, and it's not as if you could go to a stock agency for photos of Eritrea, so I had to be very creative. I also had to do a lot of research on this country, in order to create some interesting text for the calendar. This was a bit of a challenge, since the country was brand new and encyclopedias still had it listed as a province of Ethiopia, if it was mentioned at all. This was, I might add, before the time that the Web made such research a lot easier.
In the years since the project I've followed the small nation's progress with interest, whenever I came across and information on it. While Eritrea's future was very bright in the mid-1990s, war with Ethiopia flared up again and the democratically elected head of Eritrea shifted towards dramatically totalitarian policies.
In one of the NPR pieces I heard today, I learned some new things about Eritrea I had never known, but which shouldn't surprise me. For example, I didn't know that the U.S. had poured money and weapons into the country for years and had maintained a strategic listening post there for use during Cold War spying on the U.S.S.R. and other nations. Terry Gross interviewed author Michela Wrong, whose new book, I Didn't Do It For You, is a history of Eritrea. I should very much like to read this book. I have strategically and un-subtly added it to my Amazon Wish List in case you would like to purchase for me as a belated birthday gift ;)
There are precious few books about Eritrea, but another one I enjoyed quite a bit was To Asmara by Thomas Keneally, who is most well known for having written Schindler's List (the book which the movie was based on). To Asmara is a novelized version Keneally's own travels in the land during the last years of the revolution that set Eritrea free from Ethiopia, and it was a very good book indeed.
Posted by espd at 4:25 PM |
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Wednesday, March 09, 2005
Art of Modern Rock: The Poster Explosion
This is a great book. Expensive, yes, but big and beautiful and full of thousands of cool posters, and I'd been coveting it for over two months. Finally I got it on sale.
Adobe Books has allowed it's books to be rearranged by color by a Bay Area artist named Chris Cobb.
Adobe Books is one of my regular stops in my neighborhood. It's on 16th Street, between Guerrero and Valencia, and near enough to one of my favorite takeout places that I can stop in there while my food order's coming.
I learned about the impending color-coding a few weeks before it happened. Several of the bookstore's employees were less than enthusiastic about the impending exercise, and one in particular grumbled audibly about it on more than one occasion when I was browsing the pre-reorganized shelves.
A couple weeks after the change, the Adobe was the buzz of the town. There was a busy opening night (I've never seen so many people in that little store), the press were calling (I saw it on SFGate/the Chronicle, and heard it on NPR), and people have been coming in droves (well, not quite droves, but some other word that means more than normal amounts) to see and browse. And hopefully they'll buy a book or two.
The employees haven't seemed nearly as angsty about the whole affair since it meant so many new patrons, and the colorful run has been held over a number of extra weeks. As of this posting, it's still there, or at least was last night. But it won't last! Check it out soon.
For a few years I wrote and/or edited weekly email newsletters and action alerts. I started doing this for the Headwaters Forest Project at BAA, then created a weekly EcoCalendar of events all around the Bay Area, and later founded Acterra's first general email newsletter.
Interestingly, search technology has more recently broadened to include the content of printed books too. 
This is an error-riddled hit piece published by a right-wing publishing house. Don't bother unless you really want your collection to be all-inclusive.
Aaron
Alexis
Anne
Anya
April
Ari
Bo
Brian
Bryan
Chris
Dave & Terri
Dave H.
Debby
Drue
Fibu
Four Waters
Fwegan (aka Ynnej)
Holly
Hilary
Internet Rockstar
Jason
Jen
Jesse
Jessica
Kansinee
Karl
Laura
Leah
Marc
Martin
Matt
Mike
MJ
Morgan
OkayDave
Olya
Paco
Peter
Rick
Rocky
Ryan
Stellah
Tatum 
Trent
Velma
Veronica
Yu-Po