Tag: technology

Categories
Social Media

Permanent Record

Sketch of a man surprised by seeing his permanent record

I was thinking about permanent records this afternoon. They may have been out there before, but the Internet has made record keeping so much easier and effective. It’s almost too easy.

I’m not one of those people who fret for the good, old days. Each era has its own triumphs and trials. Sure, the seventies were fun, but you couldn’t make me go back and relive grade school. You couldn’t even bribe me with my permanent record.

It’s a new era, and we must be aware of it. Whatever I do or post, can be out in cyberspace forever, or at least until all the world’s servers give up the ghost. I want to make sure whatever I post will be okay with an older me, or my kids… maybe grandkids. How about you?

Categories
books

Is it a Book?

I read an interesting blog entitled, “I Declare the War is Over: We need a new word for the things we used to call books.” The premise is we are in an era where the traditional book doesn’t adequately describe the many ways we package book content.

The article complemented the Pew research study that says e-reader and tablet ownership nearly doubled over the holiday season.

This threatens many people within publishing. But should it? All these readers still need content. Without something to read or view, e-readers are useless. Authors and publishers need to come to grips with the fact we are in the content business, not the product business.

I’ve come to realize we’ve fooled ourselves over the millennia. Publishers claimed it was all about the content, but the profit came in the physical book. We claimed the ideas within the books were important, but we were really selling the pages and cover.

Now that we’ve entered a new age, the ideas within the “book” really will matter. Let’s start selling worthy content, and not worry about what form it could take. Leave that to the consumers.

The businesses that the most to lose are the printers, not the publishers. Heaven help them!

Categories
Adobe Photoshop

Superstitious Photoshop

Apple Insider is reporting new details into Photoshop CS6, codenamed “Superstition.”

Among the new features, some of the items that excite me is there may be more 3D features coming to Photoshop including a perspective crop tool and 3D material eyedropper.

AppleInsider is also reporting the interface will look a little darker, like what is used in Aperture. I’m not sure what to think about that yet. But I’m not too worried if the look changes. If everything stays the same, the old noggin turns to mush.

This is the kind of superstition I wouldn’t mind. They are predicting Photoshop CS6 will release next spring, 2012.

Categories
webcomic

Off the Chip: the First Episode

Chip gives Rodney a cheery greeting. Rodney sees it as a veiled threat.

This was the first in a series of comic strips I drew for a NAEN Ministries about ten years ago. The ministry has since left the Internet, so it was time to bring them back.

Chip is a nice guy working in a technology company. Rodney is the bitter, older curmudgeon who sees Chip’s cheery disposition and a threat to all humanity. Yet, they seem to get along.

I’ll see about posting the strip each Monday.

 

Categories
Children's Books

Jabbing at Picture Books

Cartoon of a dad reading a bedtime story to his son. The son says, “Read me the one about the dad who loved his son no matter what!”

USA Today has an article about the guys from JibJab getting into the picture book market. Gregg and Evan Spiridellis are using iPads and what they’ve learned from the e-card market  to bring kids into the picture book… literally.

I loved the fact that technology can bring picture books into a new realm. Just think what could happen in a couple of years! We could have animated picture books where the child is embedded into the story as if it was a home movie. There could be pop-up books that utilize 3D technology to put the child in the story. How would a kid react to see themselves pop out of the story? Wouldn’t that be awesome?

Some people may see this as a bad thing. But I believe any technology used to tell a story can be just as legitimate as any other. Content is the important thing. A poor story will flounder whether it is done traditionally or with every bell and whistle a programmer can throw at it. At the same time, a good story will shine whether it is done on back of napkins or in an iPad app.

However, technology can get in the way of a parent. If an e-reader is used in the place of a dad who doesn’t want to read that dad-blamed story for the one-hundredth time, then something very valuable is lost. Kids need to have their parents read to them whenever it is possible.

What are your thoughts?