May 2008
19 posts
Robocop in 3D
Bloody Disgusting has a snip from MGM chairperson Mary Parent about a Robocop remake: “For MGM, among those is a continuation of Bond and Pink Panther sequels, an announced remake of “Fame” and a not-yet-announced remake of “RoboCop,” possibly in 3-D. “‘RoboCop” would be great in 3-D, as would something we’re hoping to announce soon,”...
Website in a Box
The DNL version [of real-estate publication, Nextville] features the complete text of the print book, a video of the author and an interactive quiz. The book is being sold in a Try Before You Buy Format—the first two chapters are dowloadable for free from Hachette’s Web site; readers can then unlock the rest from inside the e-book itself using a credit card. “We continue to look for innovative...
The Summoning →
People Loved Their Horses, Too
Jeff Bezos talks about the Kindle to Walt Mossberg at the D Conference. He notes that 6% of all books (120,000 in all) available in both paper and e-book formats were Kindle books. Walt: How worried are you about loss of the intangible things offered by physical books? Bezos: We’re not that worried. “People loved their horses too,” he says, noting that you don’t keep riding your horse to work...
The E is for Enhanced
How do you make someone buy a book they probably already own, and can get for free either legally or illegally? You enhance it:The first title in [the Penguin Enhanced e-Book Classics series], Pride and Prejudice, will debut this summer and include such bells and whistles as reviews (of the original publication), a filmography, recipes and notes on etiquette. Nine more titles will be released as...
Judging Books By Their Covers
FWIS is running a neat book cover discussion project. Here’s some feedback on Michael Fusco’s cover design for the Apocalypse Reader (Fusco’s own comments can be found in the thread): “A designer’s instinct is to make lists ASAP (As Small As Possible) to minimize clutter – sales and marketing insist they be big as selling points. Mr. Fusco achieves a pleasing balance,...
Another Day, Another Giant Cephalopod →
Natural Language
I have problems with Inform 7 being described as a natural language. In this instance, yes, perhaps: Definition: a person is dying if it was last fed way too long ago. But this is just taking the piss: Before burning something with a new strikable-match (this is the prior lighting rule): say “(first [if the player does not carry the second noun]taking and [end if]lighting [the second...
Open Facebook
Michael Arrington says: Sometime soon, perhaps this week, Facebook will turn the year-old Facebook Platform into an open source project, multiple sources have told us. The immediate effect will be to allow any social network to become Facebook Platform compatible - meaning application developers can easily take their Facebook applications and have them run on those social networks, too.
“Le Blanc’s skin was peeled off and dispatched to the Atno Tannery on...”
– The story of Wallet Man.
Dignity Schmignity
Tim Dean notes Steven Pinker’s essay on the problem with dignity, and in particular, how such a ‘relative’, ‘fungible’, and ‘dangerous’ term is used by conservatives and religious folk (‘theocons’) to influence bioethics. As someone who wholeheartedly (dangerously, and somewhat irrationally) encourages individuals to undertake self...
“The deep waters, black as ink, began to swell and recede into an uncertain...”
– The opening line of a story written by The Internet.
WatchNot much science, but Will Wright does say things like ‘panspermia’ and ‘planetary biosphere’.
Top 5 Lovecraft Games →
Mouldy and Shadowy and Full of Dim Rumours →