Thursday, February 24, 2011
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
The awesomest thing on the internet today: Dad Builds His Son A Playable Angry Birds Birthday Cake
via youtube.com
This is how you show someone you love them. Make them something they can play with, savagely demolish, and then EAT :)
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
NYT's global comparison chart "American Shame" is far more interesting for its comparative data on other countries.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/19/opinion/19blow.html?_r=2&src=me&ref=general
Obviously I'm pleased with my home country's performance on here, and as a proud (if occasionally concerned) citizen I agree with the perspective cast on it -- but this matrix has a funny way of mapping to common conceptions, if not outright stereotypes, on other countries.
Switzerland, for example, with its low unemployment, high democracy index and proficiency in mathematics has stupendous income inequality, which is in line with the image of the international Swiss banking paradise.
People in Denmark are happy but die young (perhaps they drink more than the Finns?) while the Japanese are super smart, long-lived, but deeply unhappy.
To be clear: this isn't my data, it's the NYT's collation of the sources mentioned under the chart, and while interesting on its own I'd be far more curious about seeing these metrics graphed over time. How were Greece and Spain ranked prior to their economic troubles?
"Tiger Whispers" from ChooChoo Clan
Friday, February 18, 2011
Photoshop Droste Effect by Josh Sommers
via flickr.com
Again via the always inspirational John Nack, created by Josh Sommers, a pretty awesome set of modern-day fractal droste effect photo-edits.
The whole set is worthwhile, though some are quite freaky: http://www.flickr.com/photos/joshsommers/sets/72157594405604955/
And he's even posted a how-to, for those daring and inclined:
Bacon to Apples: Escher would be proud.
via behance.net
Via the lovely John Nack of Adobe (though not created by him).
More exmples (and larger views!) here: http://www.behance.net/gallery/Ad/890303
Thursday, February 17, 2011
So the announced Thundercats CGI movie isn't happening, but this test clip isn't half bad. Mmm, kitty face lick.
Okay, so the face lick is gross. Character design is yummy, though. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtTZu9OlypU
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Recordings from last night's Ustream Writing Clinic with @Altivo, @buckhopper7, @skiprudder, @rebelsheart, @siphedious, @pslion and more...
What started as a neat little idea for a fun evening reading and discussing stories turned into quite a fantastic evening with a healthy crowd of listeners and participants.
Altivo Overo, Buck Hopper of the Furry Basketball Association and Skip Ruddertail of Bad Dog Books became impromptu co-hosts of the online equivalent of a very productive writing panel, where we read and discussed seven story samples sent to me from writers across the world — as far away as Jakarta, Indonesia. And with one exception (he didn't have Skype, alas!) we got to converse with all of them.
Over three hours, with ABSOLUTELY ZERO technical issues, all totally unrelated to my beloved Mac platform and wholly to blame on Ustream, Skype and the temperamental concoction of apps and services I had to use to be able to talk to people. I've just spent ten hours cutting it together and making everyone seem far more clever, awake and attractive than we were at the time, all for your enjoyment.
First we had Altivo Overo, who brought us a delightful sample of his work "Blue on Blue", which can be found here: http://www.furrag.com/viewstory.php?sid=590
Then a pi-rat story (rats who are pirates!) from PS Lion, a fellow European who burned the midnight oil with me.
Next was Buck Hopper, with an awesome interior monologue from his namesake in the FBA: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5241802
Download now or listen on posterous
Cybercoyote couldn't join us, unfortunately, so Buck Hopper, Altivo, Skip Ruddertail and I could say horrible things behind his back about his story, "The Last Flight of the Midnight Express".
Download now or listen on posterous
Tango, AKA Rebelsheart, seems to be an anime fan whose tale of converging universes seemed particularly upsetting to my fragile recording setup, and most of the Zero Technical Issues occurred here. But that's okay! It just means you get to hear it explained three times in a row.
And all the way from the beautiful island of Java, Sulartenem gives us a story with waterscooters and fish, and critically reviews the three words of Bahasa Indonesia I can say, but don't understand.
Download now or listen on posterous
Last but by no means least, Don Iago AKA Siphedious teaches me how to pronounce his name and closes the session with a noir stream-of-consciousness that Buck rightly described as a 'crackling read'.
Download now or listen on posterous
I'd like to thank all the authors who sent in their work, everyone who listened in and my impromptu co-hosts.
And for those who asked whether I'd do this again in future: absolutely. It was too much fun not to. Keep an eye out!
Meanwhile: please enjoy.
- Alex Vance
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Thursday, February 10, 2011
The Book Club's first proper episode is available, WHEREIN Toonces and Skip discuss "Sanguine and Clockwork" by K. M. Hirosaki.
via baddogbooks.com
Read up on the episode HERE:
http://baddogbooks.com/bookclub/2011/02/11/episode-001/
Or get it on iTunes HERE:
http://itunes.apple.com/nl/podcast/id418805268
And as usual, the story for the next episode has also been posted online. This time it's the cyberpunk actioner 'Double Blind' by Teiran. Go to the website and leave your smart, attractive thoughts and just maybe, the show hosts will discuss YOUR BRAIN on air during the next episode.
And while you wait for the next episode, you have a reading to look forward to, of this very same story, by the very same me. Coming next week.
http://baddogbooks.com/bookclub/2011/02/11/boudle-blind-by-teiran/
Enjoy!
- Alex
The Bad Dog Book Club: now live on iTunes
After a few days in the clutches of Apple's approval process (thank you, Steve, may I have another) it's done! Toonces and Skip's fancy new furry fiction podcast is now live on iTunes! http://itunes.apple.com/nl/podcast/id418805268 It's just the reading what I done of K. M. Hirosaki's excellent short story "Sanguine & Clockwork" for now, so go and subscribe so you'll get the first proper episode the second it goes live! - Alex
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
The Bad Dog Book Club
A few months ago, one of my Unpaid Interns at Bad Dog Books told me his friend had a neat idea about a podcast that might be cool to do under the aegis of BDB. I sensed immediately that their only intention was to abscond with hard-earned publishing funds in order to fuel their out-of-control canned tuna habits, but I played along.
"Sure," I said. "Hand over all creative control and obey my every whim, and we'll talk."
We negotiated from there.
They prepared a very good pitch document which suitably impressed me, and after we talked some more they went off to record a pilot episode. The recording quality was naturally dreadful, but the content impressed. Their banter was lively, their subject engaging and there was a clear passion that was hard to ignore. I was hooked. I was excited. I had just administered BDB's end-of-quarter earnings.
I bought them some decent recording equipment. A proper first episode was recorded, and in a few days, you'll get to hear it.
Why the delay? You'll understand when I tell you what the podcast is all about.
The Bad Dog Book Club is a biweekly podcast where Skip Ruddertail and Toonces critically and chitteringly discuss a furry fiction story. Naughty, nice, or otherwise. At the end of each episode they announce the next episode's story, and we put it online so the audience can read it and leave their own thoughts and comments. And for those who don't like reading (I curse you a thousandfold, you uncultured pigs) we release an audiobook version of the story narrated by a Celebrity Guest Reader in the intervening week.
The first episode, which is coming in a few days, is about a story by K. M. Hirosaki called "Sanguine and Clockwork" (click the link to read it!), which previously appeared in FANG Vol. 3, published (obviously) by Bad Dog Books. While it's nominally gay erotica, it's a bittersweet and thought-provoking fantasy story that deals with concepts of free will, sentience, class bigotry and the extremes to which our own cowardice can drive us.
Some of you have read it already (I bless you a thousandfold, you smart, attractive people) but those of you who haven't can do so now, so you'll know what Skip and Toonces are talking about — and so you'll get to enjoy a damn fine, rollicking tale in the process. For those of you who don't like reading (curse you pigs), but do like listening, I've recorded an audiobook version for you.
The site is here: http://www.baddogbooks.com/bookclub
Even though I'm involved in this only as a fixer, I'm very excited about Toonces and Skip's project. See, there's already a dearth of discourse about furry fiction, and when people do leave meaningful comments on a story they're either a simple statement of opinion, or they're a comment directed at the author.
What's missing is the singular delight of discussing a story with somebody else who's read it.
That's what the Bad Dog Book Club aims to do. The boys want you to read the story, and discuss it on the Book Club pages or send them e-mails about it so they can discuss your thoughts as well as theirs on the air. They want to rekindle the pleasure of collective reading, which is a notoriously solitary affair, and make it into a fun community activity.
And sure, there are already podcasts for furry writers (I'm a fan of Unsheathed), for furry society, news and fun (Knotcast, Unfurled, in no particular order) and even a Furry Basketball Association (any Stoat fans out there?). But the Book Club is for an audience that actually doesn't get nearly as much attention as it should:
Readers.
I'm totally behind this. I've put my money where my mouth is; I've bought them equipment, I've built them a website, I've helped them with technology, technique and I will now promote the living daylights out of them.
Have a look, have a listen. Subscribe to the podcast and you'll automatically get it when we post in in a few days, or keep an eye on myself or @baddogbookclub for the announcement.
And let us know what you think!
- Alex
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Readability: cutting the cruft off fiction and journalism on the web. Good for readers, good for writers.
A year or so ago my buddy Cinnamon pointed me to a little browser add-on called Readability by Arc90. This simple bookmarklet could take the text of an article you were reading and present it in a clear, configurable, easy-to-read style without any distractions like ads, sidebars, menus or comments.
This was a great way to read on the web, especially longer-form pieces on noisy or hard-to-read websites, since it could also intelligently string together the parts of a multi-page article. It was a huge hit; the code behind it was soon after integrated into Apple's Safari browser and the iPad Flipboard app.
A week ago, Readability relaunched as an ambitious and well-thought-out subscription service. They've partnered with Marco Ament's excellent Instapaper service and web/iOS app to basically do what Instapaper did before, but with a cunning twist.
Like Instapaper, the new Readability will let you save articles or stories you come across on the web to your Readability account and access that from any web browser or, in the next days/weeks, your iPhone or iPad. Undoubtedly more clients are on the way for other mobile devices.
Where it differs from the donation-supported (and totally worth it) Instapaper is the subscription model. A voluntary monthly contribution with a $5 minimum, paid via Amazon.com, of which 30% goes to Readability to maintain and upgrade their service. So what happens to the other 70%?
It goes to the websites you read and save with Readability. Those sites receive a portion of your monthly fee.
That's pretty clever! Simply by browsing, reading and saving articles and stories you like -- completely self-serving behavior -- you're also passively indicating which websites you want to support with a few pennies here and there. And it keeps the publishers and writers of those sites happy because they're making a tiny sliver of cash from your reading, probably more than they would have earned if they'd accosted you with the damn fool advertisements on their crummy website.
Over at SoFurry.com we're already looking at how we can integrate Readability into the site's fancy new 2.0 release. Money isn't a priority, and we likely won't be accepting any payment from Readability at first for a variety of reasons.
Obviously, I'm a champion for writers and readers within the development and the simple integration of Readability buttons on the website will make it much easier for people to read and save stories in a format they find comfortable. I have high hopes for the reading experience.
If you want to see what the fuss is about, drag the free bookmarklet to your favorites bar and give it a spin!
- Alex F. Vance
Monday, February 7, 2011
Fabelhaft. Train is only half as long as needed.
Couple dozen people, including myself, are left behind on the platform. Still, better than than being crammed in there like a sock full of ferrets!
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Good stuff in, bad stuff out: "Skin protected by gloves in a bottle."
I love, love, love products that tell the working man exactly what they're for and how people ought to feel about them. Even if the boast turns out to be hollow.
I'm assuming this is American. Any of my US brethren know what product this is?
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Stormtrooper RIP by Shobrick. Here, we salute the fallen.
via flickr.com
Apparently this is a clean in-camera shot, without any digital manipulation after the fact. Kudos on going the distance, Shobrick.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
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