Home | Comments | IM or Webcam Chat | Forum
email me: chris@chris-karath.com

September 2011

<--Previous Month | Next Month -->

Blog starts below


Ptw Rainbow

Ptw Rainbow

Flickr: Fri 09-30-11 22:21:00 -0400


Ptw android flickr tesr

Ptw android flickr tesr

Flickr: Thu 09-29-11 16:50:40 -0400



Wed 9/28/11 11:16am #

New Amazon News

Here's what they announced

$79 Kindle eReader (Wifi, buttons but no keyboard, no touchscreen)
18% smaller than the Kindle 3.
Really nice pricepoint, hard not to want to spend $20 more and get the touchscreen though)

$99 Kindle Touch eReader (Whispersync 3G, No Keyboard, touchscreen, eink, also a 3G version for $50 more.)
Great pricepoint.

$199 Kindle Fire Tablet (Wi-fi, Cloud storage, custom Android inplementation, access to Amazon App Store)

Amazon Silk Browser proxy- Optimizes your web browsing for the Kindle Fire (sortof like Skyfire) Interesting, but basically you are then using Amazon as a proxy for all your browsing, which means they are collecting info about everything you read and everywhere you go.

The $79 Kindle is a great pricepoint, and event though I already have an iPad, I could see getting one of these for that price just to have an eInk device.

The $99 Kindle Touch is also a great price point, so nice in fact that it's hard to imagine not spending the extra $20 for the touchscreen. Will have to see in person to see if the touchscreen makes the eInk more cloudy and see if it's really worth the extra $20.

$199 Kindle. This is a nice alternative to the iPad for people that just can't see themselves spending $500. Unlike other Android tablets, Amazon can really provide an end to end solution, so I'm guessing it's going to work really really well for the things it's designed to do. This could be a great tablet for a non-tech savvy parent or a younger child/teen perhaps. While I'm looking forward for a chance to play with one, it seems like this device will certainly be completely redundant for an iPad owner.

$199 seems a great price point, and there are some people who just will not spend more than that for a computing device of almost any type, but if Apple drops the iPad 2 pric e point next week a hundred bucks or so, Amazon Fire might be more likely to kill all the other tablets than do much to the iPads sales.

I want to hear your




Sun 9/25/11 9:34pm #

Let's Go Surfing

- Clibe
source: Cool Hunting

Clibe is an interesting iPad notetaking app. Has a neat scrapbooking vibe.

- The Classic Comic Cool Of Ryan Kelly
source: Neatorama

Ryan Kelly's art blog. Some nice stuff on there.


- Introducing Engadget Distro!
source: Engadget

Looks well thought out and useful digital magazine. Video demo at the link.

- A week with Google Wallet (video)
source: Engadget

I absolutely cannot fathom how this is easier to use than just swiping a small plastic credit card.

- 6 affordable 3D printers that allow you to print your own toys
source: DVICE

Nice round up of various 3D printers.

- Pow.illustration by Chris Sprouse ::...
source: Hey Oscar Wilde!

Nice illustration the way all the Bat Villains are represented.

- 15 years ago, a young Geoff Johns pitched his future Teen Titans plots in DC Comics' letter column [Comics]
source: io9

Well, I suppose becoming the CCO of DC comics is one way to make your letter collumn speculations come true.


- C-Loop Camera Strap Mount
source: Cool Hunting

Neat idea. A bit rediculously priced at $40 though. You could probably accieve the same thing with a basic bold tied to a string.

- How to Turn a Milk Jug into a Sandwich Box
source: Curbly Recent Posts

Neat.

- Elizabeth Warren


I hear all this, you know, “Well, this is class warfare, this is whatever.”—No!

There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own. Nobody.

You built a factory out there—good for you! But I want to be clear.

You moved your goods to market on the roads the rest of us paid for.

You hired workers the rest of us paid to educate.

You were safe in your factory because of police forces and fire forces that the rest of us paid for.

You didnt have to worry that marauding bands would come and seize everything at your factory, and hire someone to protect against this, because of the work the rest of us did.

Now look, you built a factory and it turned into something terrific, or a great idea—God bless. Keep a big hunk of it.

But part of the underlying social contract is you take a hunk of that and pay forward for the next kid who comes along.


- Personal transport pods unveiled at Heathrow Airport
source: Likecool

This is very very cool. forget bike lanes are cities should be overhauled to have lanes for these.


- Chucks.illustration by Terry Fan :: via flickr.com
source: Hey Oscar Wilde!

Those are some nice Chuck Taylors.

- Turn Empty Bottles Into a Candy Corn Display The Swell Life
source: Apartment Therapy - Chicago

Interesting. I've never thought to take a can of spraypaint to a regular bottle or jar before. Neat idea.

- Sprout Watering Can by Evan Gant
source: MoCo Loco

Or, you could just poke holes in the front top of the Milk Jug.

- Small Budget for Building a Fabulous Contemporary Home
source: Furniture, Gadgets, Inspiration and More for a Better House

Neat small home.

- Scion iQ
source: MoCo Loco

Cool looking little car. Although there's still the problem that you could buy a much nicer car that was only a couple years old, for what you'd buy this new.

- This iPad case expands your screen to about 150 inches
source: DVICE

Cool video at the link. Now they just need to cut the price down to about 10% of the $30K they want for the 70" screen.

- Orgio 3D printer turns kids' drawings into toys
source: DVICE

This is going to be the sortof tech that really shakes things up. Yeah, biotech is cool, but replicators in people's homes? That's going to change retail and manufacturing profoundly.

- Chuck & Beans
source: Shoebox


- Tardis Cat Fort
source: Craftzine.com blog

Neat.

I want to hear your



Ptw Turns out a sock is the perfect size for a cover for my bluetooth keyboard box

Ptw Turns out a sock is the perfect size for a cover for my bluetooth keyboard box
And fortuntely I had a clean unused sock that matches my iPad Case

Flickr: Sun 09-25-11 15:51:11 -0400



Sat 9/24/11 11:37am #

Action Figures

New Action figures for this week

Got a bunch of Action Figures this week. Catman was picked up for me by a coworker, the other six, came in a giant box from Big Bad Toy Store.

From left to right: Green Lantern: Galius Zed, Daughter of Golden Age Green Lantern Alan Scott:Jade, Hawk and Dove, 3rd string Batman villian and Secret Six member: Catman, Green Lantern Villain: Hector Hammond, and Green Lantern: Isamot Kol.

Catman in package front Catman in package back
Catman

This Catman is one of my favorites of recent figs. Part of the more Premium Retail Store Batman Legacy Line. Great paint detal, nice touch with the facial stubble and the claw weapons are a nice include.

You may also be able to notice there is a slight upturn to the toes on the feet, which help pose him in a nice action stance.

Secret Six

Catman with a DCD Deadshot, and a Bane figure. I also have the larger Build a Figure Bane, but didn't want to go digging for it for this pic.

Hawk and Dove


Hawk and Dove. Nice figures. I consider these B list figures as they've been both Teen Titan Members and have had their own book. There aren't alot of B-List characters that haven't been made in the DCU, so these are nice additions to the collection.

Originally, the first Dove was a male character, Don. I like the concept of Dove being a male character more than a female character. It's less cliche than this current status quo having the chaos figure be male and the peace figure be female. But a Don as Dove custom wouldn't be too hard to make, so maybe someday.

Jade and Kyle Rayner

While I probably wouldn't consider Jade a B-Lister, she's certainly a top-tier C-List character that I'm surprised it's taken this long to make a proper figure of. There was an "older" Kingdom Come Jade many years back but nothing current until now in the 6" size.

Jade is the Daughter of the Golden Age Green Lantern: Alan Scott. She was born with a birthmark on her hand called the power pulse that gives her the same powers as the Golden Age Green Lantern but with no need for the ring.

She was an Infinity Inc. member (a sort of Teen Titan's to the Justice Society of America) and she was a supporting character and love interest for Green Lantern Kyle Rayner in his solo book.

Her twin brother Obsidian is also currently in stores, (but I have yet to see him on the pegs) I'm certainly more eager to find Obisidan now.

Ga;ois Zed and Isamont Kol

What a great couple of years it's been for Green Lantern Action Figures, first you had the popularity and merchandise associated with the Blackest Night comic stories, and then of course the movie came out this year.

Above the movie version of everyone's favorite floating head Green Lantern: Galius Zed, and the more recently created second class, "sub race" Thanagarian Green Lantern: Isamont Kol.

Really great articulation on these figures too.

Star Saphire, Hector Hammond and Sinestro

Hector Hammond, nice top-tier Green Lantern villian, making his first appearance in 6" (although actually more 5" really") Thanks to his blue suit, he fits in pretty well with Star Saphire and Sinestro.

That's alot of figures for this month, but sometimes the various release schedules of the various lines align like that. Hopefully not too much though. Puts a small dent in the wallet :)

I want to hear your



Ptw New Bluetooth Keyboard

Ptw New Bluetooth Keyboard

Flickr: Fri 09-23-11 12:15:11 -0400


Ptw Dinner

Ptw Dinner

Flickr: Wed 09-21-11 17:33:14 -0400


Ptw Not sure if we are going to go for a walk or if she's going to run!

Ptw Not sure if we are going to go for a walk or if she's going to run!
Taken with Magic Hour

Flickr: Tue 09-20-11 19:10:13 -0400



Mon 9/19/11 12:36pm #

New

Normally fall is my favorite time of year. New stuff starts to happen in the fall. New school year. New products. New ideas. New is alot of fun.

Just not feeling the new yet.

I want to hear your




Sun 9/18/11 6:16pm #

Grand Rapids

I was randomly surfing and somehow found myself on this city info site: Bestplace.net page for Grand Rapids, MI and spent some time reading the comments. There are only 3 pages of comments or so, spanning a time period of 5 to 6 years. It was interesting to note how consistent both the negative and the positive posts.

I won't repeat the negatives or positives here, you can click on the link above if you're interested in those.

There is one point, as a long time transplant to this town, that I will add that noone seems to have commented on at the above site.

Grand Rapids has a small population. Its handful of tall buildings, many deceptively larger in appearance due to their location on hills-- and it's densely built downtown give the impression that this is a bigger town than it is, but In my experience Grand Rapids is much much smaller than it thinks it is.

At it's heart, Grand Rapids considers itself a little Chicago of sorts. Chicago has a population of 2.8 million. Grand Rapids has a population of 196K.

For perspective-- Ann Arbor, MI has a population of 113K. Flint, MI has a population of 111K.

Grand Rapids sees itself as the "Capital of West Michigan", and it is, but it also sees itself as the west side of the state's equivalent to Detroit. But Detroit which is largely abandoned, anchors its metro area with 900k people. 5 times the population of Grand Rapids.

So that's been my experience, and the point I would add to the linked comments above, in my opinion, GR is a much much much smaller city than it thinks it is.

I want to hear your



Ptw Whoa, meta. A cookie based off of a desert that includes the same cookie

Ptw Whoa, meta. A cookie based off of a desert that includes the same cookie

Flickr: Sun 09-18-11 16:18:45 -0400



Sun 9/18/11 10:44am #

Let's Go Surfing

- Use Doritos to start a fire in a pinch
source: The Red Ferret Journal - gadgets, cool sites, freeware and tech trivia

Interesting.

- Timerrr is a virtual timer for your computer
source: The Red Ferret Journal - gadgets, cool sites, freeware and tech trivia

timerrr.com - very nice visual web app/timer.

- Karlsson Wall Clock Pure White Board has the best of both worlds
source: The Red Ferret Journal - gadgets, cool sites, freeware and tech trivia

I've seen this sortof thing before, but it's neat.

I want to hear your




Sun 9/18/11 10:19am #

Let's Go Surfing



- Future Photography Tech Makes Focusing an Afterthought
source: Unplggd


This just really looks like the sortof tech that changes alot of things in design and entertainment, doesn't it?

- music video made from gifs
source: Likecool


Weird little music video made from animated gif memes.

- Samsung Galaxy Note comes with 5.3-inch HD Super AMOLED Display
source: Likecool

Very cool. Wacom preasure sensitive screen. screen capture by pressure stylus button and tapping screen. Nice high resolution screen. I'd love it if they'd incorporate this tech into the iPad 3.



- The Rise of the Generalist
source: Â Modeled Behavior

The Rise of the Generalist from Modeled Behavior by Karl Smith

I dont know if Ive heard anyone say this and I am not quite sure what I think about it myself, but one way to view the economy in the Information Age is that the returns to specialization are falling.

So, those who like such things can go all the way back to Adam Smiths pin factory and think about all the tasks involved in making pins and how each person could become more suited to that task and learn the ins and outs of it.

However, in the information age I can in many cases write a program to repeatedly perform each of these tasks and record every single step that it makes for later review by me. The individualized skill and knowledge is not so important because it can all be dumped into a database.

What really matters is someone who gets pins. Not the various steps involved in making pins but the concept of the whole pin. What makes a good pin a good pin. How do pins fit into the entire global market. What the next big thing in pins.

This individual will be able to outline a pin vision that she or just a few programmers can easily implement. One could say this is the story of Facebook or Twitter. Really good ideas and just a few people needed to implement them.

However, as IT progresses and machines can do more things it could be the story of the economy generally.

In contrast to The Great Stagnation, I would call this The Rise of Generalist or perhaps to be consistent The Great Generalization.

Even if you stop and think for a minute about all of the things that your computer or now even your phone can do, are you now wielding the most generalized tool ever conceived?

Interesting article, the downside that I see is, I'm not sure we have a form of corporate structure yet that rewards the generalist over the defined and hierarchicaly placed specialist.

I want to hear your



Ptw This is how Leki chills on a Saturday night

Ptw This is how Leki chills on a Saturday night

Flickr: Sat 09-17-11 19:57:24 -0400


Ptw Yesterdog and Jersey Junction

Ptw Yesterdog and Jersey Junction

Flickr: Sat 09-17-11 16:28:20 -0400


Ptw Eastown street fair

Ptw Eastown street fair

Flickr: Sat 09-17-11 15:14:23 -0400



Sun 9/11/11 7:57pm #

Reprints

Noticing alot of Comics press stories about this, that or the other DC book going back to print for a second printing.

Digital never has to go back to print.

Won't there eventually be a trade paperback of this anyway? Why bother with more floppies?

Their heart isn't really in this digital thing yet.

I want to hear your



Ptw I AM OMAC!

Ptw I AM OMAC!

Flickr: Sun 09-11-11 13:54:25 -0400



Sun 9/11/11 12:26pm #

Let's Go Surfing

- PopCultureNetwork.com reveals LOSH Release Date and Price
source: The DC Universe Classics (DCUC) Info Archive

15 minute long video breakdown of the Legion of Superheroes Action Figure box set.

- On Rick Perry and Superman
source: ill doctrine

Video. Ha.



- Coming Soon: The Zen of Steve Jobs
source: Robot 6 @ Comic Book Resources - Covering Comic Book News and Entertainment


- You'll soon be able to pick up your Amazon packages at 7-Eleven
source: DVICE

Very cool. This needs to become much more widespread.

- P:R Redesign: Paul Bonzulacs Fantastic Four!
source: Project Rooftop

Nice Project Rooftop redesign.

- HEROCLIX ONLINE DEVELOPERS RELEASE STATE OF THE GAME
source: Action Figure Insider - Best Toy News on the Web!

I have yet to try this, but it looks very cool. Wish it was on the iPad instead of PC.

- Papercraft Sentinel (Marvel Comics)
source: Super Punch

I don't buy Mini-mates, but if I did, this Sentinel would be a must to make.

- Final Frame: What's So Special About This Desk?
source: Unplggd

Interesting desk design, the wooden part completely slides under the metal part.

- Micro-Cycle looks like a cross between a motorcycle and a Segway
source: The Red Ferret Journal - gadgets, cool sites, freeware and tech trivia

That looks like fun.

- Atari Arcade Duo-Powered Joystick for the iPad
source: The Red Ferret Journal - gadgets, cool sites, freeware and tech trivia

I'm not much of a gamer, but this looks like a neat attachment.

- Oggboard brings tabletop games to the 21st century
source: The Red Ferret Journal - gadgets, cool sites, freeware and tech trivia

What a cool looking idea. Move the little pieces on the table and see the sumented reality version on your iPhone or iPad.

- Necker Nymph is the coolest submarine youll never own
source: The Red Ferret Journal - gadgets, cool sites, freeware and tech trivia

The future is here, it's just not evenly distributed.

- FreeMake Audio Converter packs a lot of features
source: The Red Ferret Journal - gadgets, cool sites, freeware and tech trivia


- Bandai Thundercats Classics Lion-O
source: ActionFigurePics.com


- DC Universe Classics Wal-Mart Exclusive Crime Syndicate Of Amerika Quick Pics
source: ActionFigurePics.com

Owlman in this set is very very nice, not nice enough to warrant buying the whole thing, but hopefully I'll see him at a con, loose, in the future.

I want to hear your




Sat 9/10/11 3:56pm #

Let's Go Surfing

- Jonny Quest opening title sequence redone as stop motion
source: Boing Boing

Very cool video, click and watch it.

- The Mean Men of coffee advertising
source: Boing Boing

Oh the 1950s.

- 100 years of East London style in 100 seconds
source: Boing Boing

Neat video.

- Mike Maihacks Supergirl/Batgirl sort of does happen
source: Robot 6 @ Comic Book Resources - Covering Comic Book News and Entertainment



- People looking for 'more of the same' aren't actively looking
source: Seth\'s Blog

While there may be a lot of them, they're satisfied with what they've got, which means that they're hard to attract.

No, the real opportunity is in reaching out to the dissatisifed, to those in search of something new.

- Family Network UI
source: Dribbble/Popular

I want to hear your



Ptw Garfield Park Craft Fair

Ptw Garfield Park Craft Fair
Taken with Magic Hour

Flickr: Sat 09-10-11 12:45:08 -0400



Fri 9/09/11 9:34pm #

Random Non-Sequiters

We went to the Upper Peninsula this past week. There was some absolutely beautiful weather while we were there. Clear blue skies, 68 to 72 degrees, really fantastic. We checked out the falls, walked around the woods abit. Nice time.

The Upper Peninsula is beautiful, but also largely empty. Very little in the way of even small towns across much of it. That's sortof something you notice as you drive at all north of Grand Rapids or Lansing-- just how empty this state really is. Lots of wide open room for the most part.

Got a great deal through Tiger Direct on a new LCD monitor. Only $60 for a 19" wide screen. Yeah, not very big, but I do have two and they work fairly well for home.

I haven't been using the desktop much anyway since the iPad. The iPad is such an addictive device. Greatest timesink ever invented.

A little disappointed that there wasn't an Apple event this week. Looks like it will be in another week or two. Tech news has been really boring the last couple weeks (last month or two really) with possibly the exception of the HP Touchpad craziness a couple weeks back.

I went to Friend or Follow and took a look at my Following/Friends/Fans stats. I have about 80 in the Friends category (I follow them, and they follow me). I looked over the icons and did a mental check of how many of those 80 icons in the friend category I thought were really active, in that they post several times a day and/or I interact with them regulary. I think it's something like 12 to 20 people on that list that I'm really engaged with depending on how you slice it.

Everyones social media experience is different I imagine, but as more and more brands and corps continue to come online, it's been my experience that social media continues to move from a discussion forum to an information consuming medium. And conversation does seem to continue to move more and more in an affirmational only direction. If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all, more and more that seems to be the motto. Sure, people occasionally blow off steam still, but as the social circle has grown, the topics people feel comfortable about having a strong opinion on seem to be shrinking. Again, your millage may vary, but that's the trend I've been seeing.

I've had an opportunity to read almost a dozen more of the New DC 52 Comic relaunch. Overall, my feelings have been pretty mixed about it. For the most part, I don't think they're any worse that the stuff that came before the relaunch, not terribly better either though (Unless you are a new reader. Then maybe I could see these new issues being abit more accessible than a standard #1 relaunch, at least by regular DC standards.) I did a fairly lengthy monologue on my thoughts about the new Digital DC last Saturday, and my thoughts haven't changed much in the last 7 days.

I want to hear your



Ptw Jenn thru tree

Ptw Jenn thru tree

Flickr: Fri 09-09-11 11:34:10 -0400


Ptw Falls pictures from earlier in week

Ptw Falls pictures from earlier in week

Flickr: Fri 09-09-11 11:31:33 -0400


Ptw GR

Ptw GR
Taken with Magic Hour

Flickr: Thu 09-08-11 17:36:33 -0400


Ptw single stuff vanilla and single stuff chocolate with 3 cookie wafers

Ptw single stuff vanilla and single stuff chocolate with 3 cookie wafers

Flickr: Mon 09-05-11 17:37:56 -0400



Sat 9/03/11 8:21pm #

Let's Go Surfing

- Press release: iPhone app developers create solution to simplify multi-app photo-editing
source: The iPhoneography Blog

This is really cool, I hope alot of the iPhone apps get on board with this?


- Street art: Super Mario
source: Likecool

If I had a pipe like this, I think I'd have to make a mural like that.


The Offline Social Network

I want to hear your




Sat 9/03/11 3:27pm #

Let's Go Surfing


Always Connected

Amusing infographic about the always connected lifestyle



Cat Elevator, what a neat kindof crazy this is.



Nothing new here, but still a nice video on copyright, even though it's probably likely that his Star Wars example would get mired in Trademark law too.


The last line was nice.


Mario Godfather.


Game of Thrones with Lyrics

Tim Gunn, Project Runway - A look at the the Green Lantern Costumes




Pink's Raise Your Glass, Cosplay edition

I want to hear your



Ptw Cat in Jenn's lap.

Ptw Cat in Jenn's lap.

Flickr: Sat 09-03-11 13:03:11 -0400


Ptw Kick Ass, Lion-O, and Robocop

Ptw Kick Ass, Lion-O, and Robocop

Flickr: Sat 09-03-11 12:43:07 -0400


Ptw Toys from mail today

Ptw Toys from mail today

Flickr: Sat 09-03-11 12:19:21 -0400



Sat 9/03/11 10:02am #

Thoughts on Digital Comics

Hey, this is a really long article, who has time for this? I hear you, I don't have time to read it myself, so I got this robot to read it to you, if you're a busy muti-tasking type (or maybe you like robots):

Robot speech not your thing? All the text is below...

It's nice that DC is going day and date digital, meaning they are available online the same day as in stores, but comics have not gone digital yet as many of the stories claim, here's some thoughts as to why that's not the case.

Print and Digital come out at the same price. $2.99 is too much for a digital comic that will take 15 minutes to read. Sure a novel is $9.99, but by comic logic, you should be able to read that novel in 45 minutes. Most $10 novels take the average person days to read, not under an hour, so even eBooks which most people still feel are too high based on their lack of corporeal form, are an order of magnitude higher in value than a comic priced at $2.99.

Ah, but after the first month, the price drops to $1.99, that's a better price point right? Yeah, $2 isn't terrible, I'd pay that to an indy book I liked, but Marvel and DC with all their crazy Underoos and licensed lunchbox money? Surely you could go down to 99˘. but for the sake of argument lets talk about their one month later $1 price drop. It's not a digital way of thinking. In a digital world, it's what's new that grabs the news cycle. Watch this exchange:

"Did you hear about that new Justice League comic"

"No, is it good?"

"Yeah it's great and you can download it online"

"That sound's cool, how much?"

"$2.99, but if you wait a month it drops to $1.99 and if you wait several months it might drop to 99˘!"

"Oh, ok, well maybe I'll download it in a couple months then..."

Do you think that guy is going to download the comic in a couple months? No, he's going to forget about it the next day and never get it at all, the news cycle is that short. In a couple months He'll download "Angrier Birds 10: The re-angering".

Ok, but they'll figure out the pricing eventually right... so then they're golden right?

No, they won't be because at 99˘ they'll still be stuck in a brick and mortar thought process, why? Because of NEW COMIC WEDNESDAY!

New Comic Wednesday, whereby all new comics come out every Wednesday is a brick and mortar thing, makes sense there, you can't expect a customer to drive out to their comic store every day, and it'd be silly to mail a retail store new comics everyday when you can put them all in one big box once a week, so we have New Comic Wednesday.

What do we know about digital content though? We know that to keep mindshare you need to have new content everyday, so that checking out your content becomes a daily habit for your customer, and so that you can potentially be part of the news cycle every day instead of oh, I don't know, just Wednesday.

Comics should come out every day, don't ask a customer to buy 5 digital comics on Wednesday. You just asked him to dump $15 on your merchandise, ask that customer to drop $2.99 a day on a comic every morning with their Starbucks coffee, $3 a day, $15 by the end of the week is going to go a lot easier than that $15 all at once. People don't buy 10 apps all at once, they buy one or two at a time to play around with.

Ok, now you're spreading out the week's releases all week long, instead of chunking them altogether on a single day – there's still another problem you need to address – 22 pages a month doesn't work online.

That comic needs to at least be weekly. You know what else is weekly? TV shows. Consumers have the weekly mindset. Action Comics should come out every Monday, Batman should come out every Tuesday, Justice League should come out every Wednesday, Green Lantern should come out every Thursday, Flash should come out every Friday.

You get it? Now customers are talking about you all week long, they'll be talking about your comics like they would the next episode of Doctor Who! Plus each of your books gets it's own day to shine.

Flashpoint #5 came out on the same day as Justice League #1? both of those books could of sustained it's own news cycle, why cannibalize your own word of mouth with a same day release? That's not digital thinking.

But, back to that weekly thing, comics creators can't create comics on time monthly, much less weekly, how is that going to work? Glad you asked. The creators can create them monthly, and the publisher can save them up until they have enough of a backlog to release them weekly. Again let's look back at our TV model. It takes more than a week to make a TV episode, but you know what they do? They start a few months out and they save them up so that they can release them weekly. And just like TV, you have an off season, and you can then capitalize on the season premiere when you start back up again. This isn't rocket science, TV knows how to build an audience, obviously by comics low numbers, they don't, it's not a problem with the medium, comics are awesome, so it must be a problem with the business model right?

So high priced comics with a pricing model that encourages fence sitters to wait, all released on the same day – so that PR for mid-interest books gets drowned out by being released on the same day as your superstar creator offerings. Same old story, but hey it's digital and it's going to work now?

No, comics aren't digital yet.

But comics should truly get a digital mindset, do all the above because comics are awesome, they can succeed, but the publishers that put out comics, it's like they want their stuff to fail!

I want to hear your



Ptw downloaded a chalkboard app for the iPad called Bord

Ptw downloaded a chalkboard app for the iPad called Bord

Flickr: Sat 09-03-11 08:41:45 -0400


Ptw Me and Peppy

Ptw Me and Peppy
A photo Jenn took, that I tweaked ever so slightly in photoshop.

Flickr: Thu 09-01-11 23:11:56 -0400



Thu 9/01/11 10:33pm #

George Lucas before Congress in 1988 -- Oh what a difference a couple decades makes.
via Topless Robot

"My name is George Lucas. I am a writer, director, and producer of motion pictures and Chairman of the Board of Lucasfilm Ltd., a multi-faceted entertainment corporation.

I am not here today as a writer-director, or as a producer, or as the chairman of a corporation. I've come as a citizen of what I believe to be a great society that is in need of a moral anchor to help define and protect its intellectual and cultural heritage. It is not being protected.

The destruction of our film heritage, which is the focus of concern today, is only the tip of the iceberg. American law does not protect our painters, sculptors, recording artists, authors, or filmmakers from having their lifework distorted, and their reputation ruined. If something is not done now to clearly state the moral rights of artists, current and future technologies will alter, mutilate, and destroy for future generations the subtle human truths and highest human feeling that talented individuals within our society have created.

A copyright is held in trust by its owner until it ultimately reverts to public domain. American works of art belong to the American public; they are part of our cultural history.

People who alter or destroy works of art and our cultural heritage for profit or as an exercise of power are barbarians, and if the laws of the United States continue to condone this behavior, history will surely classify us as a barbaric society. The preservation of our cultural heritage may not seem to be as politically sensitive an issue as "when life begins" or "when it should be appropriately terminated," but it is important because it goes to the heart of what sets mankind apart. Creative expression is at the core of our humanness. Art is a distinctly human endeavor. We must have respect for it if we are to have any respect for the human race.

These current defacements are just the beginning. Today, engineers with their computers can add color to black-and-white movies, change the soundtrack, speed up the pace, and add or subtract material to the philosophical tastes of the copyright holder. Tommorrow, more advanced technology will be able to replace actors with "fresher faces," or alter dialogue and change the movement of the actor's lips to match. It will soon be possible to create a new "original" negative with whatever changes or alterations the copyright holder of the moment desires. The copyright holders, so far, have not been completely diligent in preserving the original negatives of films they control. In order to reconstruct old negatives, many archivists have had to go to Eastern bloc countries where American films have been better preserved.

In the future it will become even easier for old negatives to become lost and be "replaced" by new altered negatives. This would be a great loss to our society. Our cultural history must not be allowed to be rewritten.

There is nothing to stop American films, records, books, and paintings from being sold to a foreign entity or egotistical gangsters and having them change our cultural heritage to suit their personal taste.

I accuse the companies and groups, who say that American law is sufficient, of misleading the Congress and the People for their own economic self-interest.

I accuse the corporations, who oppose the moral rights of the artist, of being dishonest and insensitive to American cultural heritage and of being interested only in their quarterly bottom line, and not in the long-term interest of the Nation.

The public's interest is ultimately dominant over all other interests. And the proof of that is that even a copyright law only permits the creators and their estate a limited amount of time to enjoy the economic fruits of that work.

There are those who say American law is sufficient. That's an outrage! It's not sufficient! If it were sufficient, why would I be here? Why would John Houston have been so studiously ignored when he protested the colorization of "The Maltese Falcon?" Why are films cut up and butchered?

Attention should be paid to this question of our soul, and not simply to accounting procedures. Attention should be paid to the interest of those who are yet unborn, who should be able to see this generation as it saw itself, and the past generation as it saw itself.

I hope you have the courage to lead America in acknowledging the importance of American art to the human race, and accord the proper protection for the creators of that art--as it is accorded them in much of the rest of the world communities."

-George Lucas, 1988

I want to hear your



<--Previous Month | Next Month -->