izzy’s
Can a computer write books?
From Jeff Gomez, author of Print Is Dead: Books in our Digital Age
Philip Parker, a science professor who has “written” more than 200,000 books…. But Parker doesn’t really write the books; instead he has invented a series of “computer algorithms that collect publicly available information on a subject… and… turns the results into books in a range of genres….”
…just because the rats in Ratatouille are computer generated, the idea and the story and the dialogue weren’t computer generated. Computers are increasingly helping us be more creative but, in the end, that’s all they’re doing: helping.
There’s already services available that convert blog content to book format. Like Gomez stated, it still requires the human touch to generate the content. Technology made it easier to collect the information into an enjoyable package.
I’m confused
Micheal Smith (head of the International Digital Publishing Forum) says”
E-books are a growing niche for now… but I certainly don’t see a time when everybody will be reading them. People just love what the traditional book represents to them. Link
Yet…
Public sightings of e-books remain rare compared to iPods or iPhones… Link
And…
Publishing house Penguin said today that it…. is… working on turning its 5,000 title Penguin backlist into ebooks for publication this year and next. Link
Yet…
The publisher is digitising its entire worldwide backlist so that it can make the most of the emerging ebook trend. It also hopes the print-on-demand opportunities – whereby customers can have one-off copies of out-of-print titles printed, bound and shipped to them – will give older books a new lease of life. Link
Does that last part make sense to you? Penguin plans to publish ebooks and POD out-of-print titles? Why? Why, I ask, if the ebook is available would you want a POD of that title?
Here’s an idea; why not offer limited edition printings of out-of-print titles to collectors and bibliophiles. Due to limited supply, Penguin could charge more for these special lifestyle objects. Ebooks are geared for a completely different audience—an audience who just wants the content and not the packaging. Don’t waste time on POD. POD books are for university creative writing students and vagrant poets.
“Ninety-two percent of word of mouth happens offline”
Why is it the more I am connected online, the more alone I feel? Because I a[m] missing the one thing that online can help facilitate, but never replace: the magic of a face-to-face encounter…. Yes, connecting people online is fantastic. But being able to connect them face-to-face heightens everything.
Spike Jones of Brains on Fire Link
(via AdPulp, Link)
Our always-on wired world doesn’t leave room for contemplation… Charles Bukowski once lamented that writing poems that were published soon after felt like throw-away journalism. But…. the Web never sleeps.
Jeff Gomez of Print is Dead (24 Hour Posting People Bloggers Feel the Pressure. accessed: April 7, 2008. http://printisdeadblog.com/2008/04/07/24-hour-posting-people-bloggers-feel-the-pressure/) Link
G.U.
43 Folders offers five tips on getting unstuck.
Down the road
Seth Godin writes:
“The best time to look for a job next year is right now.”
The best advice I received years ago by an old radio disc jockey was—always think two or three jobs down the road. It changes your perspective on what you are doing currently.
To hold a pen is to be at war.
Voltaire (via livejamie) (via brocatus)
This quote reminds me of this post about a fountain pen: Writing Like It’s 1884
Could it get any worse?
More doom and gloom about the declining influence of books and readership.
MSM outlets report these desperate stories, yet the printer who manufactures the books I help publish report that book sales increased from 2007 by 7.4% . Maybe people aren’t reading the books they buy. Juvenile hardcover increased 46% while adult hardcover is up almost 8%. Further, audio books is up almost 20% and e-books are up 23%.
Can Kindle increase the number of people reading?
When is the intro better than the quote?
“There are a multitude of ways to resist modern corporate culture. One can turn the TV off, walk to work or live off the grid.” Link
This intro copy is better than the actual blog post. I was hoping for a some business wisdom like a list of: ‘7 highly effective ways to resist The Man’ or ‘21 irrefutable rules for living outside the matrix.’ But, nay, verily, only a blog post about something that didn’t require reading beyond the intro paragragh.
[end transmission]
Take this poem and read it (or not, I was just suggesting you might like it… or maybe need it… oh, nevermind)
Deborah wonders if poets need to do a “better job of writing with an audience in mind.”
Seth suggests that people might improve their writing if they think like bloggers. He offers 9 tips:
- Use headlines.
- Realize that people have choices.
- Drip, drip, drip.
- It’s okay if you leave.
- Interactivity is a great shortcut.
- Gimmicks aren’t as useful as insight.
- Don’t be afraid of lists.
- Show up.
- Say it.
What would happen if poets adapted those nine tips into their poetry?
You don’t have ‘a facebook.’ Facebook is a place, a network, not a page. You’re ‘on facebook,’ or you ‘use facebook.’
Seth Godin Link
Every product starts out as inspiration, moves to the drafting board, the production line, and then goes into someone’s hands before ending up, finally, on the scrap heap.
Jeff Gomez, Print is Dead Link
[Originally uploaded by coffeehouse junkie]
Most Thursday nights a few years ago you would find me haunting the Beanstreets open mic. Then Beanstreets closed and there was an open mic vacuum.
The Dripolator used to offer an open mic event every Thursday, but that has changed to the first Thursday of the month. And it’s a different atmosphere from the Beanstreets days.
Courtyard Gallery has an open mic every Thursday. But last night it was canceled due to lack of host and attendees.
I sat on a bench beneath the Vance monument drinking coffee from a paper cup and wondered where to soak up some poetry vibes. Plenty of singer/songwriter open mics. But where’s a poet to go to squander a few verses on a polite crowd?
Nothing funnier than viagra being the topic coworkers choose to discuss at lunch
Seriously, being in the male minority at a Friday lunch with coworkers, it is equally humorous and awkward when female coworkers discuss why men think they need 4-hour sexual performance pills.
I don’t pretend to know how to respond to the question, “Why do men think they need a 4-hour pill? They’re just going to fall asleep afterwards.”
I thought about snoring loudly. But I can’t enjoy a jerked chicken sandwich while snoring.
Holy Shoot! Is this for real? From the Asheville Citizen-Times:
Two new high-rises planned for downtown
“…plans to renovate the Haywood Park Hotel and adjacent properties between Page and Haywood avenues downtown call for adding a 25-story tower…. The new hotel… would stand alongside a more modern residential high-rise of 21 floors overlooking Haywood Avenue…. Fraga plans to add an additional 500 parking spaces underground, as well as convert the existing Haywood Park hotel space to office and retail space.”
and
Fraga unveils plans for 25-floor hotel tower
“Tony Fraga…. said…. ‘I believe that cities have to grow vertically. Instead of developing subdivisions and increasing our dependency on foreign oil, we have to go up in downtown, not up into the mountains. And in this area, we have a tower that was already planned….’”
For out-of-towners, the downtown Asheville area is so congested it is almost insane to consider high rises and the relative human element to fill those residential and commercial outlets. Asheville might as well rename the city—New York South.
For local Ashevegas residents, might as well get ready to change your colloquial expression of “Hi, ya’ll” to “Hey, yous.”
Assimilate or differentiate
Regarding generational synergy:
“there are opportunities to see where Gen Y is going by… looking at their relationship to… their Boomer parents, and other times in their shared code with Gen X. Codes of caution and status (Boomer) and codes of instigator and notoriety (Gen X). The reality is that generations are shaped by the ways they choose to assimilate or differentiate from the other generations in their world”
(via Brand Noise) Link
YAYss! Thank you Deborah. Couldn’t agree with you more. See previous post for context. Link
When describing what you want in a design, make sure to use terms that don’t really mean anything. Terms like “jazz it up a bit” or “can you make it more webbish?”. “I would like the design to be beautiful” or “I prefer nice graphics, graphics that, you know, when you look at them you go: Those are nice graphics.” are other options. Don’t feel bad about it,you’ve got the right. In fact, it’s your duty because we all know thaton fullmoons, graphic designers shapeshift into werewolves.
Ways to drive a Graphic Designer mad. #5. (via yyoyoma)
My new favourite is ‘I’d like it look more designed”.
(via misssnowwhite)1
NOTE:
1) Account deactivated December 2013.
Biltmore Village – The Bohemian Hotel: The new Bohemian Hotel creates a concrete canyon in the Biltmore Village and dwarfs almost everything around it.
Biltmore Village new construction: Chico’s and Talbot’s extends their reach into the Biltmore Village area—physically imposing their presence in this new commercial development.
Coffeehouse Junkie 