I have done a bit of tinkering tonight. The most productive of tonight's work was to slot in a couple of separate pieces I wrote quite a while ago. These were mostly dialogue but brought some interesting changes to the story, and even a bit more humour.
I had already counted these pieces into the word count so there's not a huge change there to boast about but at least I've sat down and worked on this story.
I've started work on another story while I was having a bit of writer's block with Coma City. This one is strangely turning out to be a romantic comedy. I don't even like Rom-Com's. It will be interesting how that turns out. If I ever publish it, I'll have to use a pseudonym, I wouldn't want people expecting that sort of story from me all the time :)
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Saturday, April 28, 2012
The Bank of Bastards
Continuing on from the last post - fast-fowarding the boring bits. We've found the house down by the sea, paid the deposit, sold our house at auction and got all our securities worked out with our bank.
Settlement day was two weeks ago. Have we moved in to our seaside home yet? No! (you must have known this was coming). Although we had all our i's dotted and t's crossed, as far as finances go, our buyers were not enjoying the same efficient service from their bank, who had mislaid a deed, or some such important document, and left it until two days before settlement to worry about it.
We have to cancel our movers and because we had packed everything during the Easter break we have no beds to sleep on, no cooking equipment, limited clothing and the kids are starting at their new school... forty kilometres away. Fortunately I have relatives on the Peninsula who are kind enough to allow us to live with them so at least we have that.
We expect the buyer's bank to get their shit together by the end of the following week. The day before the rescheduled settlement day they announce they have failed again. We're told that the person who was handling the account had been off sick. What idiotic banking establishment leaves an already overdue settlement in the hands of just one person? Well, I could tell you but in a round-about way my employment contract forbids me. Let me just say that in Australia there are four major banks, known here as The Big Four and it's one of them. My bank is also one of them but not the same one. All of The Big Four make multi-billion dollar profits by charging their customers fees for anything and everything but cry that times are tough at the moment so they have to put their interest rates up; despite the Reserve bank moving their rates in the opposite direction. Needless to say all The Big Four banks are bastards, but in my opinion, the bank my buyer's are with are the biggest bastards.
Our mover is not at all happy about having a day's notice of us cancelling again but we have little choice. Our vendor is also pissed off because they had hoped to buy a new property but had to let it go because they don't know when/if they will actually sell their house. And on Monday they hit us with a Notice of Default, threatening to sue if payment is not received in 14 days. We, of course, passed a Notice of Default on to our buyer's and the whole affair suddenly looks a lot uglier... and it was already pretty damn ugly.
Yesterday, I am told, the buyer's resubmitted their mortgage documents with a new individual at their bank (who had better remain healthy until this deal is done) and they will be ready to settle in 2 to 3 business days (god forbid they work on a weekend or any overtime). This is great news, BUT, why didn't it take 2 to 3 days to sort out when they first realised there was a problem. And why was the problem only discovered a couple of days before the settlement day, which was planned nearly 2 months earlier?
So, we're now hoping to settle some time next week (no one can say exactly which day) and we have one last chance with our mover. I really hope it happens, because a week from Monday is D-Day (Default Day) and I do not want this to end in court.
You might say that, in the grand scheme of things, this is not a major problem, we still have our health and do still have a house. But if a bank can make billion dollar profits, it can at least try to function efficiently, otherwise they will lose their customers and end up going under... and then they'll cry to the government to save them with taxpayers money and then that will affect even more people than just the three families whose lives they're currently making difficult.
Settlement day was two weeks ago. Have we moved in to our seaside home yet? No! (you must have known this was coming). Although we had all our i's dotted and t's crossed, as far as finances go, our buyers were not enjoying the same efficient service from their bank, who had mislaid a deed, or some such important document, and left it until two days before settlement to worry about it.
We have to cancel our movers and because we had packed everything during the Easter break we have no beds to sleep on, no cooking equipment, limited clothing and the kids are starting at their new school... forty kilometres away. Fortunately I have relatives on the Peninsula who are kind enough to allow us to live with them so at least we have that.
We expect the buyer's bank to get their shit together by the end of the following week. The day before the rescheduled settlement day they announce they have failed again. We're told that the person who was handling the account had been off sick. What idiotic banking establishment leaves an already overdue settlement in the hands of just one person? Well, I could tell you but in a round-about way my employment contract forbids me. Let me just say that in Australia there are four major banks, known here as The Big Four and it's one of them. My bank is also one of them but not the same one. All of The Big Four make multi-billion dollar profits by charging their customers fees for anything and everything but cry that times are tough at the moment so they have to put their interest rates up; despite the Reserve bank moving their rates in the opposite direction. Needless to say all The Big Four banks are bastards, but in my opinion, the bank my buyer's are with are the biggest bastards.
Our mover is not at all happy about having a day's notice of us cancelling again but we have little choice. Our vendor is also pissed off because they had hoped to buy a new property but had to let it go because they don't know when/if they will actually sell their house. And on Monday they hit us with a Notice of Default, threatening to sue if payment is not received in 14 days. We, of course, passed a Notice of Default on to our buyer's and the whole affair suddenly looks a lot uglier... and it was already pretty damn ugly.
Yesterday, I am told, the buyer's resubmitted their mortgage documents with a new individual at their bank (who had better remain healthy until this deal is done) and they will be ready to settle in 2 to 3 business days (god forbid they work on a weekend or any overtime). This is great news, BUT, why didn't it take 2 to 3 days to sort out when they first realised there was a problem. And why was the problem only discovered a couple of days before the settlement day, which was planned nearly 2 months earlier?
So, we're now hoping to settle some time next week (no one can say exactly which day) and we have one last chance with our mover. I really hope it happens, because a week from Monday is D-Day (Default Day) and I do not want this to end in court.
You might say that, in the grand scheme of things, this is not a major problem, we still have our health and do still have a house. But if a bank can make billion dollar profits, it can at least try to function efficiently, otherwise they will lose their customers and end up going under... and then they'll cry to the government to save them with taxpayers money and then that will affect even more people than just the three families whose lives they're currently making difficult.
Friday, April 27, 2012
Same old spots on this leopard
See what happens when an easily distracted guy who doesn't take anything too seriously decides to make a serious effort at writing a Sci-Fi/Cyberpunk novel... with a smattering of humour, of course.
Ha, six years ago when I wrote that comment I thought that, by making the admission that I am easily distracted I would be encouraged to prove myself and break this character trait. Seems now like it's more ingrained into my psyche than I realised.
Recognising you have a problem is the first step. Isn't that what they say? Well I've done that. Now what?
I need to be tougher on myself. More competitive. More... more not like myself. Not an easy thing to do. But I'm sure it must be possible. There must be thousands of books and online articles on the topic. I should look it up. Problem is that when there's thousands of options it's too easy to just give up and make the easy choice... stay the way I am and deal with it.
Writing promotes writing, I read somewhere once. This I have found to be true. Maybe that's what I need to do regularly: sit down and just write. I have written a couple of short stories in the last 18 months and they did bring about some ideas for Coma City, but so far not enough to get it finished.
I thought that a change of environment would bring about some new ideas and inspiration. My wife and I had been talking about getting out of the burbs and moving to a more rural locale, where the family could enjoy fresh air and an outdoor life. So, after much procrastination and searching we found our desired locale. About sixty kilometres from the centre of Melbourne but with reasonably easy access via motorways (with a new one to open next year), the Mornington Peninsula had all we desired: beaches, green pastures, vineyards, excellent eateries and, importantly for the kids, good schools.
We found a house with magnificent views across rolling green hills to Port Philip Bay that took our fancy on the first day of property viewing, but we didn't buy it right there and then. I wish we were able to make snap decisions like that, but we decided to keep looking to see if something better came up. There were a couple of contenders but they were either more expensive or required more work than we were willing to apply. So, after about eight weeks we went back to our first choice, had a long chat with the agent and finally made the decision to go for it.
Turns out that was the easy bit. I'll continue the story in my next post... yes, I will make sure I don't get distracted.
Steve
Listening to: Stronghold by Röyksopp.
Friday, September 24, 2010
I'm getting there but it hasn't been easy
Listening to: Sigur Ros, (3).
I've been reading William Gibson's Neuromancer - or re-reading to be precise, I've read it numerous times since I first came across it about 20 years ago (Gibson wrote it in 1983) - an amazing novel, even now that the World Wide Web has been around for 15 years and it was written a decade before the first browser became available, it's still a very credible story. Gibson has an amazing vision for sub-cultures and how technologies can affect humanity... way before the technology actually exists.
Revisiting Neuromancer has brought some inspiration back to me (the reason I dug it out of the bookshelf was in the hope that it would provide some motivation). I've cleaned up a little plot splice I had a few issues with and made that fit nicely with some new material I've been slowly working into the story.
After 5 years Coma City still isn't near finished but it's always nagging away in my mind. Sometimes that nag is loud enough to get me hunched over a keyboard for a couple of hours, other times it's barely a whisper.
To be honest I'm really pissed off at myself for not having finished the book. My sister was diagnosed with cancer at the start of the year and by the middle of the year her prognosis was very bleak so I set myself a goal of finishing my book for her to read, or at least having something close to a story, that flowed logically from beginning to end, within a couple of months. I had been telling her about my book for years and she was keen to see it come to fruition. Unfortunately her bleak prognosis of only surviving to the end of the year became a lot bleaker in August and she passed away that same month, leaving everyone with unfulfilled wishes and heavy hearts.
I love you Louise and miss you every day.
I've been reading William Gibson's Neuromancer - or re-reading to be precise, I've read it numerous times since I first came across it about 20 years ago (Gibson wrote it in 1983) - an amazing novel, even now that the World Wide Web has been around for 15 years and it was written a decade before the first browser became available, it's still a very credible story. Gibson has an amazing vision for sub-cultures and how technologies can affect humanity... way before the technology actually exists.
Revisiting Neuromancer has brought some inspiration back to me (the reason I dug it out of the bookshelf was in the hope that it would provide some motivation). I've cleaned up a little plot splice I had a few issues with and made that fit nicely with some new material I've been slowly working into the story.
After 5 years Coma City still isn't near finished but it's always nagging away in my mind. Sometimes that nag is loud enough to get me hunched over a keyboard for a couple of hours, other times it's barely a whisper.
To be honest I'm really pissed off at myself for not having finished the book. My sister was diagnosed with cancer at the start of the year and by the middle of the year her prognosis was very bleak so I set myself a goal of finishing my book for her to read, or at least having something close to a story, that flowed logically from beginning to end, within a couple of months. I had been telling her about my book for years and she was keen to see it come to fruition. Unfortunately her bleak prognosis of only surviving to the end of the year became a lot bleaker in August and she passed away that same month, leaving everyone with unfulfilled wishes and heavy hearts.
I love you Louise and miss you every day.
Tuesday, June 01, 2010
The e-book Revolution
All this hype about Apple's iPad and iBookstore may be becoming a tad tedious but there is reason for some of the excitement, especially for unpublished authors.
Some commentators are saying that the popularity of the iPad could bring about the return of low cost reading matter like the old dime novels / penny dreadfuls or even pulp magazines that were popular during the late 19th and early 20th century.
Of course there are other (and some would say better) electronic book readers than the iPad (such as Amazon's Kindle) and most of these are more than capable of bringing about the revival of a inexpensive short stories revolution.
There are some caveats to Apple's iBookstore that complicate things for a small time author hoping to distribute their work. The first hurdle is Apple's requirement for all books to have an ISBN, which can be quite a costly exercise. The second hurdle is the requirement for a US Tax ID, maybe not such an issue to US citizens as it is to those in the rest of the world and hopefully over time Apple will open this up to tax ID's for each regional iTunes store, ie. Australia, New Zealand, UK, France, etc.
On top of that, your book must conform to the EPUB format and be encoded by Apple's dedicated software on a Mac with an Intel CPU running OS X 10.5 (Leopard) or better.
Once over these, one must possess a valid iTunes account (so Apple can pay you) and one must be prepared to wait until enough of your books have sold to bring your balance over the earnings threshold set by Apple.
Does this all sound much too hard for a struggling author to cope with? Thankfully Apple have already anticipated your reaction and allowed for other self-publishing sites, such as Smashwords and Lulu, to do all the hard work to get your book on the iBookstore shelves. Most of these companies will also help authors (or anyone with something to publish) get their books into other e-book stores or even print hardcopies (I've mentioned Lulu in this regard before).
2010 is shaping up to be the year of the tablet (or slate) computer so expect to see more people reading e-books on these devices, as well as dedicated e-book readers, on a regular basis and hopefully authors will see a revolution similar to that being enjoyed by small time software developers creating apps for the iPhone (and other mobile device platforms). Stay tuned.
Some commentators are saying that the popularity of the iPad could bring about the return of low cost reading matter like the old dime novels / penny dreadfuls or even pulp magazines that were popular during the late 19th and early 20th century.
Of course there are other (and some would say better) electronic book readers than the iPad (such as Amazon's Kindle) and most of these are more than capable of bringing about the revival of a inexpensive short stories revolution.
There are some caveats to Apple's iBookstore that complicate things for a small time author hoping to distribute their work. The first hurdle is Apple's requirement for all books to have an ISBN, which can be quite a costly exercise. The second hurdle is the requirement for a US Tax ID, maybe not such an issue to US citizens as it is to those in the rest of the world and hopefully over time Apple will open this up to tax ID's for each regional iTunes store, ie. Australia, New Zealand, UK, France, etc.
On top of that, your book must conform to the EPUB format and be encoded by Apple's dedicated software on a Mac with an Intel CPU running OS X 10.5 (Leopard) or better.
Once over these, one must possess a valid iTunes account (so Apple can pay you) and one must be prepared to wait until enough of your books have sold to bring your balance over the earnings threshold set by Apple.
Does this all sound much too hard for a struggling author to cope with? Thankfully Apple have already anticipated your reaction and allowed for other self-publishing sites, such as Smashwords and Lulu, to do all the hard work to get your book on the iBookstore shelves. Most of these companies will also help authors (or anyone with something to publish) get their books into other e-book stores or even print hardcopies (I've mentioned Lulu in this regard before).
2010 is shaping up to be the year of the tablet (or slate) computer so expect to see more people reading e-books on these devices, as well as dedicated e-book readers, on a regular basis and hopefully authors will see a revolution similar to that being enjoyed by small time software developers creating apps for the iPhone (and other mobile device platforms). Stay tuned.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Progress
I haven't been here for a long (too long) while but a comment by an anonymous poster has brought me back.
Whilst here I noticed that the Progressometer, in the right column had disappeared (and was, of course, not up to date). It turns out that the site for the word meter I had used (zokutou.co.uk) had vanished off the face of the web.
After a little hunting and googling I found another word meter. This one is actually better than the previous because it uses straight HTML code rather than images hosted on sites far, far away. Thus if the creator's site goes off air the meter will continue to function.
I have set the little meter in place, tinkered with the settings and updated the word count so that I can revel in the wonders of my advancement (sarcasm pushed all the way up to 11). Thank you to the author for so generously providing this handy little device.
Ciao
Whilst here I noticed that the Progressometer, in the right column had disappeared (and was, of course, not up to date). It turns out that the site for the word meter I had used (zokutou.co.uk) had vanished off the face of the web.
After a little hunting and googling I found another word meter. This one is actually better than the previous because it uses straight HTML code rather than images hosted on sites far, far away. Thus if the creator's site goes off air the meter will continue to function.
I have set the little meter in place, tinkered with the settings and updated the word count so that I can revel in the wonders of my advancement (sarcasm pushed all the way up to 11). Thank you to the author for so generously providing this handy little device.
Ciao
Friday, February 20, 2009
Monday, December 08, 2008
Times are bad
"Times are bad. Children no longer obey their parents, and everyone is writing a book."
A quote from the Roman orator Marcus Tullius Cicero (106BC-43BC) as true today as it was in his time.
Thursday, June 05, 2008
Cheap Mobil Computing
Listening to: So Easy, Röyksopp
For a while now I've been considering getting a small notebook computer with the idea that its portability will allow me to write more often and even provide me with the opportunity to write in locations that might induce inspiration - with my book set in Melbourne it would be very helpful to sit down and write in the exact place I'm describing.
At first I was set on an Apple MacBook - a natural thought for one who already owns a Mac - but then I started to rationalise what I expected to be doing with a portable computer and soon realised that a MacBook would be overkill (and over priced) for what would basically be a typing and Internet browsing tool. It would be wiser for me to upgrade my eMac to a more powerful iMac, with a larger hard drive and bigger screen than spend around the same amount of money on a MacBook with smaller screen, storage and lesser processing and graphics capabilities. Of course the MacBook has a faster processor than my eMac but I don't really need that when I'm away from desk, which is where I do most my CPU intensive work, ie. video editing and DVD authoring. When I'm out and about all I need is a keyboard, a screen and a small amount of storage (wireless Internet access would be an added bonus so I can write on-line using tools such as Google Docs - which I used to write this).
Around the same time I came to this conclusion along came the ASUS Eee PC 701. For the next few months I enthusiastically followed news and blogs on this remarkable little "Ultra-Mobile-PC" (UMPC). It's tiny proportions (225 x 165 x 21mm) and around 900 grams in weight are also matched with a small price of around $400-500AUD which even includes Wifi and a web camera. But there were two other features that had the tech world going gaga: First is the operating system, it's Linux based and includes 40 Open-Source programs arranged under four simple to understand banners: Internet, Work, Learn and Play. There's two advantages to Linux: It's open source (meaning it's free) and a well composed distribution doesn't bog down a system like Windows does so less powerful (and therefore cheaper) CPU's can be used.
The second thing that captured the tech jornos imagination is that the Eee PC stores it's data on Solid State Drive (SSD), rather than the normal Hard Disk Drive (HDD) found in most computers. The big advantages of SSD's are lower power consumption and no moving parts - so if you drop your Eee PC your data is less likely to be lost (shame about that cracked casing though). The disadvantage is the cost per Gigabyte of storage; meaning the storage sizes on offer are a tiny 2, 4 or 8GB. Asus later offered the option of having the Microsoft Windows XP operating system installed, to tempt those who couldn't possibly live without Solitaire and several hundred thousand viruses to keep them busy.
Of course the Eee PC's small proportions also means a small display of only 7 inches and a small keyboard that many reviewers say is too cramped, or at best, takes a while to get used to. Then ASUS brought out a 8.9" display model called the Eee PC 900 in a casing that was only a smidge bigger than the 701 and still weighed under 1 Kilogram. A nice additional feature is a multi-touch pad that allows finger gestures to perform actions such as zooming and scrolling. However the tiny keyboard remained, leaving me pondering whether I could learn to live with an Eee PC.
Then, just this week, at the COMPUTEX expo in Taiwan, comes the announcement of a 10" Eee PC in 2 models the 1000 and the 1000H. The 1000H uses a 80 GB HDD (hence the H) and comes with Windows XP installed, while the 1000 sports a 40GB SSD and runs the Linux OS. Both now run on the new Intel Atom 1.6GHz processor (as does a new 8.9" model, dubbed 901) which benefits from some clever power conserving technology, allowing for longer times between battery charges (up to 7 hours!). Something worth noting about the 10" models is that their casings are larger than their 7" and 9" brothers and therefore allow for a bigger keyboard; ASUS are saying it's 92% the size of a conventional keyboard (it will be interesting to see what the reviewers think).
So, has my search for a small, light mobile computer ended with the Eee PC 1000? In a word, no. Not since the MSI Wind blew (excuse the pun) into the UMPC market. This one is practically identical to the Eee PC 1000, with one major difference, price. MSI will sell the Linux version of the Wind for $399 USD, ASUS have gone bananas and put a USD$600+ sticker on the 1000. The 10" Wind is even cheaper than the Eee PC 901, although, part of this price difference can be attributed to the fact that the Wind uses a hard disk for storage and lacks the multi-touch pad. ASUS kicked off the low-cost UMPC market with a cheap, feature rich device and now they look like they'll be beaten in the very market place that they created. I hope they enjoyed their year in the spotlight.
However, something else happened in the last week that made even the $400 MSI Wind look pricey. My employer was getting rid of some old computers and offered them gratis to anyone who wanted them. Amongst these cast-off's was a Toshiba Portege M100, of 2003 vintage, with a 12.1" display, 1.2GHz CPU, 512MB RAM and wireless (albeit 802.11b). Needless to say, I snatched this one up.
As always there's a catch: my employer wouldn't allow the computers to go out into the wild with hard drives still installed, lest they carry some data of a sensitive nature. It's also a bit scuffed and grubby but I can live with that (at least I won't have that horrible feeling one gets when they put the first scratch on their nice shiny new toy). It's also nearly one kilo heavier than the Wind but it does have something none of the low-cost UMPC's have; a CD-RW/DVD-R drive, which I've been using to boot a variety of Linux LiveCD's to try out - I've never been impressed by Windows and so decided to set myself the target of getting this computer functional for as little or no cost.
So far I've had Puppy Linux, gOS and Mandriva One running on the Toshiba and all have performed well. The most impressive, simply because of it's tiny size, is Puppy. The entire OS can be loaded into the computers memory (as long as it's over 256Mb) and run from there even after the CD has been removed. Amazingly Puppy still includes applications for web browsing, e-mail, word processing and spreadsheets, media players as well as a bunch of utilities and games. I was able to quickly access my wireless network and Puppy even asked if I wanted it to to save my configurations to a USB flashdrive (remember, I haven't instaled a HDD yet). At no time did I need to consult the manual or look for help. Microsoft should be paying close attention to how well Puppy operates using only as much space as a 2 page Word document would consume.
Mandriva One, which is the LiveCD version of Mandriva, is also impressive. It looks a lot more professional than Puppy (and is about 10 times the size, at 500+ Megabytes, so it ought to) and includes the OpenOffice suite, Firefox web browser, Gimp image editor and media players, plus all the utilities that most Linux's include. I was pleasantly surprised when I plugged in my Bluetooth dongle into one of the USB ports and it was instantly recognised and once the passcode was entered I was connected to my mobile phone and transferring files.
The only issue I had with Mandriva was that the CD had to be read when ever a new program was opened, meaning things took a bit longer. Of course this wouldn't be a problem if I had a hard drive and doubled the RAM to 1GB; something I could easily do with a visit to a computer swap meet and $50 spending money.
Looking remarkably like Mac OS X, gOS looks beautiful with a dock full of Google applications and very easy to use... as longs as you don't want to change any configurations. It took a bit of searching of the gOS forums (their online help is dismal) to find out how to enter my WEP password so I could access my wireless network - a program with the non-descriptive name of Exalt is the wireless manager, I found it tucked away in a sub-menu of a sub-menu. Still, once that was sorted out, there's much to be impressed about. Along with all those convenient Google application links on the desktop there's a solid collection of on board apps., including OpenOffice.
I haven't completed my quest yet. I intend to try out Ubuntu and Fedora before I settle on an OS for my new free laptop... Sure, it's not as petite and sexy as the modern UMPC but what fun! I'm like being a kid in a candy shop.
For a while now I've been considering getting a small notebook computer with the idea that its portability will allow me to write more often and even provide me with the opportunity to write in locations that might induce inspiration - with my book set in Melbourne it would be very helpful to sit down and write in the exact place I'm describing.
At first I was set on an Apple MacBook - a natural thought for one who already owns a Mac - but then I started to rationalise what I expected to be doing with a portable computer and soon realised that a MacBook would be overkill (and over priced) for what would basically be a typing and Internet browsing tool. It would be wiser for me to upgrade my eMac to a more powerful iMac, with a larger hard drive and bigger screen than spend around the same amount of money on a MacBook with smaller screen, storage and lesser processing and graphics capabilities. Of course the MacBook has a faster processor than my eMac but I don't really need that when I'm away from desk, which is where I do most my CPU intensive work, ie. video editing and DVD authoring. When I'm out and about all I need is a keyboard, a screen and a small amount of storage (wireless Internet access would be an added bonus so I can write on-line using tools such as Google Docs - which I used to write this).
Around the same time I came to this conclusion along came the ASUS Eee PC 701. For the next few months I enthusiastically followed news and blogs on this remarkable little "Ultra-Mobile-PC" (UMPC). It's tiny proportions (225 x 165 x 21mm) and around 900 grams in weight are also matched with a small price of around $400-500AUD which even includes Wifi and a web camera. But there were two other features that had the tech world going gaga: First is the operating system, it's Linux based and includes 40 Open-Source programs arranged under four simple to understand banners: Internet, Work, Learn and Play. There's two advantages to Linux: It's open source (meaning it's free) and a well composed distribution doesn't bog down a system like Windows does so less powerful (and therefore cheaper) CPU's can be used.
The second thing that captured the tech jornos imagination is that the Eee PC stores it's data on Solid State Drive (SSD), rather than the normal Hard Disk Drive (HDD) found in most computers. The big advantages of SSD's are lower power consumption and no moving parts - so if you drop your Eee PC your data is less likely to be lost (shame about that cracked casing though). The disadvantage is the cost per Gigabyte of storage; meaning the storage sizes on offer are a tiny 2, 4 or 8GB. Asus later offered the option of having the Microsoft Windows XP operating system installed, to tempt those who couldn't possibly live without Solitaire and several hundred thousand viruses to keep them busy.
Of course the Eee PC's small proportions also means a small display of only 7 inches and a small keyboard that many reviewers say is too cramped, or at best, takes a while to get used to. Then ASUS brought out a 8.9" display model called the Eee PC 900 in a casing that was only a smidge bigger than the 701 and still weighed under 1 Kilogram. A nice additional feature is a multi-touch pad that allows finger gestures to perform actions such as zooming and scrolling. However the tiny keyboard remained, leaving me pondering whether I could learn to live with an Eee PC.
Then, just this week, at the COMPUTEX expo in Taiwan, comes the announcement of a 10" Eee PC in 2 models the 1000 and the 1000H. The 1000H uses a 80 GB HDD (hence the H) and comes with Windows XP installed, while the 1000 sports a 40GB SSD and runs the Linux OS. Both now run on the new Intel Atom 1.6GHz processor (as does a new 8.9" model, dubbed 901) which benefits from some clever power conserving technology, allowing for longer times between battery charges (up to 7 hours!). Something worth noting about the 10" models is that their casings are larger than their 7" and 9" brothers and therefore allow for a bigger keyboard; ASUS are saying it's 92% the size of a conventional keyboard (it will be interesting to see what the reviewers think).
So, has my search for a small, light mobile computer ended with the Eee PC 1000? In a word, no. Not since the MSI Wind blew (excuse the pun) into the UMPC market. This one is practically identical to the Eee PC 1000, with one major difference, price. MSI will sell the Linux version of the Wind for $399 USD, ASUS have gone bananas and put a USD$600+ sticker on the 1000. The 10" Wind is even cheaper than the Eee PC 901, although, part of this price difference can be attributed to the fact that the Wind uses a hard disk for storage and lacks the multi-touch pad. ASUS kicked off the low-cost UMPC market with a cheap, feature rich device and now they look like they'll be beaten in the very market place that they created. I hope they enjoyed their year in the spotlight.
However, something else happened in the last week that made even the $400 MSI Wind look pricey. My employer was getting rid of some old computers and offered them gratis to anyone who wanted them. Amongst these cast-off's was a Toshiba Portege M100, of 2003 vintage, with a 12.1" display, 1.2GHz CPU, 512MB RAM and wireless (albeit 802.11b). Needless to say, I snatched this one up.
As always there's a catch: my employer wouldn't allow the computers to go out into the wild with hard drives still installed, lest they carry some data of a sensitive nature. It's also a bit scuffed and grubby but I can live with that (at least I won't have that horrible feeling one gets when they put the first scratch on their nice shiny new toy). It's also nearly one kilo heavier than the Wind but it does have something none of the low-cost UMPC's have; a CD-RW/DVD-R drive, which I've been using to boot a variety of Linux LiveCD's to try out - I've never been impressed by Windows and so decided to set myself the target of getting this computer functional for as little or no cost.
So far I've had Puppy Linux, gOS and Mandriva One running on the Toshiba and all have performed well. The most impressive, simply because of it's tiny size, is Puppy. The entire OS can be loaded into the computers memory (as long as it's over 256Mb) and run from there even after the CD has been removed. Amazingly Puppy still includes applications for web browsing, e-mail, word processing and spreadsheets, media players as well as a bunch of utilities and games. I was able to quickly access my wireless network and Puppy even asked if I wanted it to to save my configurations to a USB flashdrive (remember, I haven't instaled a HDD yet). At no time did I need to consult the manual or look for help. Microsoft should be paying close attention to how well Puppy operates using only as much space as a 2 page Word document would consume.
Mandriva One, which is the LiveCD version of Mandriva, is also impressive. It looks a lot more professional than Puppy (and is about 10 times the size, at 500+ Megabytes, so it ought to) and includes the OpenOffice suite, Firefox web browser, Gimp image editor and media players, plus all the utilities that most Linux's include. I was pleasantly surprised when I plugged in my Bluetooth dongle into one of the USB ports and it was instantly recognised and once the passcode was entered I was connected to my mobile phone and transferring files.
The only issue I had with Mandriva was that the CD had to be read when ever a new program was opened, meaning things took a bit longer. Of course this wouldn't be a problem if I had a hard drive and doubled the RAM to 1GB; something I could easily do with a visit to a computer swap meet and $50 spending money.
Looking remarkably like Mac OS X, gOS looks beautiful with a dock full of Google applications and very easy to use... as longs as you don't want to change any configurations. It took a bit of searching of the gOS forums (their online help is dismal) to find out how to enter my WEP password so I could access my wireless network - a program with the non-descriptive name of Exalt is the wireless manager, I found it tucked away in a sub-menu of a sub-menu. Still, once that was sorted out, there's much to be impressed about. Along with all those convenient Google application links on the desktop there's a solid collection of on board apps., including OpenOffice.
I haven't completed my quest yet. I intend to try out Ubuntu and Fedora before I settle on an OS for my new free laptop... Sure, it's not as petite and sexy as the modern UMPC but what fun! I'm like being a kid in a candy shop.
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
The Great Search for Life
I love science news and this past week has had some fantastic finds.
NASA have landed another robot on Mars, this time near the northern pole. Theyŕe searching for ice in the hope that the robots scientific equipment might find signs of the building blocks of life in the frozen water.
Meanwhile, another bunch of boffins, using a telescope atop a New Zealand mountain, have discovered a distant planet 3 times the size of Earth orbiting a distant dim star. Some have even speculated that the planet has a thick atmosphere and even liquid oceans and even the possibly of these oceans being made up of water. Again, the idea is that where thereś water thereś life.
And then comes a story from deep inside the Amazon jungle of Brazil of the discovery of a previously unknown tribe of indigenous people.
Ironic, is it not, that there is billions of dollars spent every year looking into space for life and yet new life can be found with a small aeroplane and a camera right here on Earth.
The Brazilian government have a no-contact policy for the many ¨uncontacted¨ tribes in their country, which I must commend . The worst thing that these people could have happen to them is to come into contact with the so-called Civilised World. First thereś all our diseases that no longer bother us thanks to our built-up immunity and vaccinations. And then thereś all the other things that would be horrible to pass on to these people; like money, TV, Top 40 music, the Internet and blogs :-)
I wonder what the policy is for when life is found on another world?
NASA have landed another robot on Mars, this time near the northern pole. Theyŕe searching for ice in the hope that the robots scientific equipment might find signs of the building blocks of life in the frozen water.
Meanwhile, another bunch of boffins, using a telescope atop a New Zealand mountain, have discovered a distant planet 3 times the size of Earth orbiting a distant dim star. Some have even speculated that the planet has a thick atmosphere and even liquid oceans and even the possibly of these oceans being made up of water. Again, the idea is that where thereś water thereś life.
And then comes a story from deep inside the Amazon jungle of Brazil of the discovery of a previously unknown tribe of indigenous people.
Ironic, is it not, that there is billions of dollars spent every year looking into space for life and yet new life can be found with a small aeroplane and a camera right here on Earth.
The Brazilian government have a no-contact policy for the many ¨uncontacted¨ tribes in their country, which I must commend . The worst thing that these people could have happen to them is to come into contact with the so-called Civilised World. First thereś all our diseases that no longer bother us thanks to our built-up immunity and vaccinations. And then thereś all the other things that would be horrible to pass on to these people; like money, TV, Top 40 music, the Internet and blogs :-)
I wonder what the policy is for when life is found on another world?
Monday, May 19, 2008
Peace During Wartime
Here's a photo from Afghanistan I found to be surreal and uplifting:
An Australian soldier on patrol in the Afghan province of Oruzgan greets a little girl amid the area's oceans of poppies. Photo: PA
The source article is equally inspiring. The Australian army are basically using the good old fashioned Aussie charm to make friends in Afghanistan and help the people separate themselves from the Taliban backed poppy industry.
An Australian soldier on patrol in the Afghan province of Oruzgan greets a little girl amid the area's oceans of poppies. Photo: PAThe source article is equally inspiring. The Australian army are basically using the good old fashioned Aussie charm to make friends in Afghanistan and help the people separate themselves from the Taliban backed poppy industry.
Monday, May 12, 2008
This could get ugly
Listening to: Breathe, Télépopmusik
Sorry but I have to vent my spleen.
Some people close to me have been preaching the much hyped book The Secret to me lately and it's really getting on my tit.
I say preaching because to me that is exactly what it seems. Praising and pushing something you believe onto another person is the same as a Seventh Day Adventist standing at your door step preaching their beliefs... and just as annoying. Except it's easier to tell a stranger to buzz off than someone who is near and dear to me.
And I personally believe that the connection to religion does not stop at preaching. Believers of The Laws of Attraction, as laid out in the book, seem to have found a new religion - Interesting that the word Sect can be found in Secret. Those who are currently preaching to me are Catholic educated but not necessarily practising to the full extent of the faith. Maybe they've lost some of their faith in god or their church, to which the author of The Secret, Rhonda Byrne (a fellow Melbournian I'm sorry to say) has managed to tap into that hole left by the exit of one omnipotent being and replaced it with another omnipotent being they call The Universe.
But hang on a minute! Isn't The Universe something physical? The result of the Big Bang 13 Billion+ years ago? Wikipedia describes The Universe as: Everything that physically exists: the entirety of space and time, all forms of matter, energy and momentum, and the physical laws and constants that govern them.
The way I see it - admittedly as an atheist - asking The Universe to fulfil your wishes is exactly the same as praying (to god or gods, saints, idols, deities, etc.). You are voicing your wishes and by doing so projecting a feeling of hope and positiveness.
And it is more likely that being of a positive attitude opens the mind to positive outcomes and tunes the mind to identify situations that would benefit your desires.
The opposite is also possible, where being of a negative frame of mind brings to focus more of the undesirable things in life. How many times have you heard someone explain a series of unfortunate events? "I had an awful day. I had a fight with my partner over breakfast. Missed my bus. Eventually got to work and the boss screamed at me for being late. Everything and everyone at work drove me nuts. And to top it all off I lost my wallet on the way home". Now, ask yourself, would all these things have gone wrong if the complainant had made mad passionate love to their partner instead of arguing with them? Sure they may still have been late to work but would they have been annoyed about being yelled at when the reason for being late was a nice bit of rumpy-pumpy? I doubt it. More likely they would continue smiling right throughout the day regardless of how many obstacles were put in front of them.
A Google search finds possibly thousands of staunch followers of The Secret willing to defend their new found answer to all their problems to anyone who dares to question it. And plenty of others who are more than willing to criticise the concept. Much like any two opposing groups - Mac vs Windows is a fine example - rarely will the two agree.
Before my recent encounters at the altar of the New Believers of The Secret, I had heard of the book but thought it's not for me but good luck to anyone who finds what they're looking for in its pages. But now I despise the thing and its author for corrupting the minds of people who are dear to me and now think that what they have learned is perfect for everyone. I am then forced to impart on them my beliefs: "I have come this far without believing in divine intervention I'm not about to start believing in any other kind of non-physical intervention."
I have no problem with people believing in something that they feel provides them with answers to their well-being. I DO have a problem with people telling me what I should believe.
Whilst Googling The Secret (to better my understanding of what all the hype is about) I stumbled across a book called The Luck Factor by British psychologist Professor Richard Wiseman (a wise man indeed). Prof. Wiseman studied two types of people; those who consider themselves exceptionally lucky and those who consider themselves exceptionally unlucky. His research (that's right, good old fashioned scientific research) identified four characteristics of lucky people: 1. Maximise Chance Opportunities, 2. Listen to Lucky Hunches, 3. Expect Good Fortune, and 4. Turn Bad Luck into Good Luck.
Thus, Prof. Wiseman's studies found that lucky people aren't born lucky as such but have instead unknowingly developed the above four principles through life experiences (Another, humourous, possibility is offered in one of my all time favourite TV shows, Red Dwarf. In the episode, Quarantine from series VIII, Lister, Kryten and The Cat have been confined to quarantine by Rimmer who has gone insane after being infected with a virus and has shut off oxygen to the room they're locked in. To escape, Kryten injects Lister with another virus, one that gives him immense luck, so he can correctly "guess" the PIN on a security keypad. See this video - skip through to 2 minutes, 50 seconds to view the scene I just described - makes me laugh every time I see it).
As a person who believes destiny is created by individuals, rather than appearing like magic out of thin air, I find this concept of creating one's own fortune easier to grapple with than "asking" for fortune from an omnipotent being. I'm sorry, but if you receive a pay rise or a bonus after asking The Universe for more money, you're selling yourself short (and The Universe didn't provide the job for you either. Your CV, cover letter and actions during the interview(s) are what made your employer decide to take you on). Please consider why your employer would offer this to you. Surely your manager wouldn't ask his superiors to go to their superiors to go to the board and ask for more money for poor old you even though you're completely useless at your job. You worked for it, you deserve to be rewarded. Don't distance yourself from what you have achieved.
Logic tells me that if I am optimistic and convey that optimism then people I meet will pick up on that. And the more people I meet maximises the chance that I will find someone who can be of some benefit to help me achieve my desires. Whether it be a new job, a relationship or publishing my book.
On the other hand. If I go around telling everyone I meet that I'm asking The Universe to help me out of a pickle then the majority of the people I meet will think I'm a fruitcake.
And if you seriously believe that you got that new house for the price you wanted because you asked The Universe, you're crazy. It's actually because the price you offered was suitable to the seller. If you offered $50 and the seller accepted (and the place wasn't built on top of an old toxic waste dump, or on the edge of a badly eroded cliff face, or riddled with termites, or some such seriously devaluing scenario) I'd still be inclined to believe it was more to do with luck than intervention by an omnipotent being... especially one that's 93 Billion Light Years across.
End of discussion.
Actually, my rant has been beneficial to Coma City. The main character needs a lot of good fortune to get him out of mess he finds himself in. I can probably build some of the arguments I used tonight into the story.
On a personal level, the four principles of luck would benefit me greatly at the moment. I shall look further into The Luck Factor.
Sorry but I have to vent my spleen.
Some people close to me have been preaching the much hyped book The Secret to me lately and it's really getting on my tit.
I say preaching because to me that is exactly what it seems. Praising and pushing something you believe onto another person is the same as a Seventh Day Adventist standing at your door step preaching their beliefs... and just as annoying. Except it's easier to tell a stranger to buzz off than someone who is near and dear to me.
And I personally believe that the connection to religion does not stop at preaching. Believers of The Laws of Attraction, as laid out in the book, seem to have found a new religion - Interesting that the word Sect can be found in Secret. Those who are currently preaching to me are Catholic educated but not necessarily practising to the full extent of the faith. Maybe they've lost some of their faith in god or their church, to which the author of The Secret, Rhonda Byrne (a fellow Melbournian I'm sorry to say) has managed to tap into that hole left by the exit of one omnipotent being and replaced it with another omnipotent being they call The Universe.
But hang on a minute! Isn't The Universe something physical? The result of the Big Bang 13 Billion+ years ago? Wikipedia describes The Universe as: Everything that physically exists: the entirety of space and time, all forms of matter, energy and momentum, and the physical laws and constants that govern them.
The way I see it - admittedly as an atheist - asking The Universe to fulfil your wishes is exactly the same as praying (to god or gods, saints, idols, deities, etc.). You are voicing your wishes and by doing so projecting a feeling of hope and positiveness.
And it is more likely that being of a positive attitude opens the mind to positive outcomes and tunes the mind to identify situations that would benefit your desires.
The opposite is also possible, where being of a negative frame of mind brings to focus more of the undesirable things in life. How many times have you heard someone explain a series of unfortunate events? "I had an awful day. I had a fight with my partner over breakfast. Missed my bus. Eventually got to work and the boss screamed at me for being late. Everything and everyone at work drove me nuts. And to top it all off I lost my wallet on the way home". Now, ask yourself, would all these things have gone wrong if the complainant had made mad passionate love to their partner instead of arguing with them? Sure they may still have been late to work but would they have been annoyed about being yelled at when the reason for being late was a nice bit of rumpy-pumpy? I doubt it. More likely they would continue smiling right throughout the day regardless of how many obstacles were put in front of them.
A Google search finds possibly thousands of staunch followers of The Secret willing to defend their new found answer to all their problems to anyone who dares to question it. And plenty of others who are more than willing to criticise the concept. Much like any two opposing groups - Mac vs Windows is a fine example - rarely will the two agree.
Before my recent encounters at the altar of the New Believers of The Secret, I had heard of the book but thought it's not for me but good luck to anyone who finds what they're looking for in its pages. But now I despise the thing and its author for corrupting the minds of people who are dear to me and now think that what they have learned is perfect for everyone. I am then forced to impart on them my beliefs: "I have come this far without believing in divine intervention I'm not about to start believing in any other kind of non-physical intervention."
I have no problem with people believing in something that they feel provides them with answers to their well-being. I DO have a problem with people telling me what I should believe.
Whilst Googling The Secret (to better my understanding of what all the hype is about) I stumbled across a book called The Luck Factor by British psychologist Professor Richard Wiseman (a wise man indeed). Prof. Wiseman studied two types of people; those who consider themselves exceptionally lucky and those who consider themselves exceptionally unlucky. His research (that's right, good old fashioned scientific research) identified four characteristics of lucky people: 1. Maximise Chance Opportunities, 2. Listen to Lucky Hunches, 3. Expect Good Fortune, and 4. Turn Bad Luck into Good Luck.
Thus, Prof. Wiseman's studies found that lucky people aren't born lucky as such but have instead unknowingly developed the above four principles through life experiences (Another, humourous, possibility is offered in one of my all time favourite TV shows, Red Dwarf. In the episode, Quarantine from series VIII, Lister, Kryten and The Cat have been confined to quarantine by Rimmer who has gone insane after being infected with a virus and has shut off oxygen to the room they're locked in. To escape, Kryten injects Lister with another virus, one that gives him immense luck, so he can correctly "guess" the PIN on a security keypad. See this video - skip through to 2 minutes, 50 seconds to view the scene I just described - makes me laugh every time I see it).
As a person who believes destiny is created by individuals, rather than appearing like magic out of thin air, I find this concept of creating one's own fortune easier to grapple with than "asking" for fortune from an omnipotent being. I'm sorry, but if you receive a pay rise or a bonus after asking The Universe for more money, you're selling yourself short (and The Universe didn't provide the job for you either. Your CV, cover letter and actions during the interview(s) are what made your employer decide to take you on). Please consider why your employer would offer this to you. Surely your manager wouldn't ask his superiors to go to their superiors to go to the board and ask for more money for poor old you even though you're completely useless at your job. You worked for it, you deserve to be rewarded. Don't distance yourself from what you have achieved.
Logic tells me that if I am optimistic and convey that optimism then people I meet will pick up on that. And the more people I meet maximises the chance that I will find someone who can be of some benefit to help me achieve my desires. Whether it be a new job, a relationship or publishing my book.
On the other hand. If I go around telling everyone I meet that I'm asking The Universe to help me out of a pickle then the majority of the people I meet will think I'm a fruitcake.
And if you seriously believe that you got that new house for the price you wanted because you asked The Universe, you're crazy. It's actually because the price you offered was suitable to the seller. If you offered $50 and the seller accepted (and the place wasn't built on top of an old toxic waste dump, or on the edge of a badly eroded cliff face, or riddled with termites, or some such seriously devaluing scenario) I'd still be inclined to believe it was more to do with luck than intervention by an omnipotent being... especially one that's 93 Billion Light Years across.
End of discussion.
Actually, my rant has been beneficial to Coma City. The main character needs a lot of good fortune to get him out of mess he finds himself in. I can probably build some of the arguments I used tonight into the story.
On a personal level, the four principles of luck would benefit me greatly at the moment. I shall look further into The Luck Factor.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Forget the Jasons. What about Steve?
Listening to: We Would Fall Against the Tide, The Radio Dept.
Enough about other people. Progress on Coma City hasn't exactly been going at full steam (as you have no doubt deduced).
I still haven't been able to put into words the scene (or scenes) I call the "Writer's Chasm". There's ideas, characters, a probable outcome and a fair amount of frustration. I really need to workshop/brain storm the thing, or maybe just do a bit more free writing and see what comes out - so far I haven't been pleased with the outcome of previous free writing sessions for this particular scene.
At least there's been some work on other parts of the story. Mostly freshening up and some character establishing, which I'm happy to report has helped build a picture of the main characters life prior to the event the story revolves around.
Word count is now at 22,727.
Enough about other people. Progress on Coma City hasn't exactly been going at full steam (as you have no doubt deduced).
I still haven't been able to put into words the scene (or scenes) I call the "Writer's Chasm". There's ideas, characters, a probable outcome and a fair amount of frustration. I really need to workshop/brain storm the thing, or maybe just do a bit more free writing and see what comes out - so far I haven't been pleased with the outcome of previous free writing sessions for this particular scene.
At least there's been some work on other parts of the story. Mostly freshening up and some character establishing, which I'm happy to report has helped build a picture of the main characters life prior to the event the story revolves around.
Word count is now at 22,727.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Cyber beggar or clever
Listening to: Immature, Bjork
What's with these Jason's? I just commented on Jason Heglund the minimalist blogger and now I'm reading about Jason Bartholme who is asking readers of his blog to donate money so he can buy an Apple MacBook because he has to pay his other expenses ("bills, diapers, baby food, etc.") but would like a new laptop that will "serve me well as an SEO and web developer". Donors in return will have their name listed on his web page http://www.jasonbartholme.com/donations-laptop-fund/
This seems to me to be a ludicrous request. Jason has his own web site, dedicated to web development and by his own admission is working in this line of work (Under the About tab is Jason's description of himself, "I am a ColdFusion application developer by day and an aspiring search engine optimizer (SEO) by night.") so he could save up and buy his own laptop or if he needs it ASAP (which he doesn't as he admits it is not a priority) he could always rent one and claim the payments on his tax return since the laptop would be used for work purposes. The point is he's not without the means of paying for his own trinkets - there's not even a sob story about being out of work or how his last laptop was stolen or his baby has a rare illness that requires an unusual amount of diapers.
Surely there's other ways to make some extra cash than begging. He has one Google ad on his
site, maybe he should look into increasing his advertising.
Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the man who created the World Wide Web in 1989, must be mortified by the many and varied means people (and corporations) use the web to pilfer from its users.
I also would love a new MacBook to serve me well as an author but until I can afford one I will make do with what I have. Thank you.
What's with these Jason's? I just commented on Jason Heglund the minimalist blogger and now I'm reading about Jason Bartholme who is asking readers of his blog to donate money so he can buy an Apple MacBook because he has to pay his other expenses ("bills, diapers, baby food, etc.") but would like a new laptop that will "serve me well as an SEO and web developer". Donors in return will have their name listed on his web page http://www.jasonbartholme.com/donations-laptop-fund/
This seems to me to be a ludicrous request. Jason has his own web site, dedicated to web development and by his own admission is working in this line of work (Under the About tab is Jason's description of himself, "I am a ColdFusion application developer by day and an aspiring search engine optimizer (SEO) by night.") so he could save up and buy his own laptop or if he needs it ASAP (which he doesn't as he admits it is not a priority) he could always rent one and claim the payments on his tax return since the laptop would be used for work purposes. The point is he's not without the means of paying for his own trinkets - there's not even a sob story about being out of work or how his last laptop was stolen or his baby has a rare illness that requires an unusual amount of diapers.
Surely there's other ways to make some extra cash than begging. He has one Google ad on his
site, maybe he should look into increasing his advertising.
Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the man who created the World Wide Web in 1989, must be mortified by the many and varied means people (and corporations) use the web to pilfer from its users.
I also would love a new MacBook to serve me well as an author but until I can afford one I will make do with what I have. Thank you.
I thought I had troubles
On Thursday 28th September 2006 a fellow named Jason Heglund created a blog entitled, Hard Part of Writing (http://writtening.blogspot.com/). It contains one solitary post which reads:
"the hardest part of writting for me is getting started.
revision technique best for me is rereading alot."
I'm not sure if Jason is just kidding around or what but he sure has nailed the difficulties of writing.
Actually, looking at Jason's profile he has 7 blogs, all created between 1st and 28th September '06 and all containing only one post. This might suggest that Jason doesn't have a grasp of how blogs work or it could be that the individual single entry blogs mean something to him. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and presume the latter.
One blog/post simply called "hook" (http://jasonshook.blogspot.com/) could give a clue to Jason's modus operandi.
One blog/post simply called "hook" (http://jasonshook.blogspot.com/) could give a clue to Jason's modus operandi.
"My hook is a long and interesting introduction to draw in the reader.
A writer must have a good interesting introduction to hook me."
Well, I guess 19 months (to date) is a long introduction, although I wouldn't say it's terribly interesting.
Strange what one finds whilst on an Internetional journey.
A writer must have a good interesting introduction to hook me."
Well, I guess 19 months (to date) is a long introduction, although I wouldn't say it's terribly interesting.
Strange what one finds whilst on an Internetional journey.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Easily distracted. Who me?
Listening to: Last FM
I started writing tonight but got distracted trying to find a song.
I went to Last Fm and the next thing I know 3 hours have past. I thought I'd just quickly set up an account, add a few songs to my playlist and be off in 30 minutes max. But that place is a time vortex; I started looking for The Cure song, Just like Heaven and ended up going through all my musical tastes of the past 25 years: New Wave, Rave, Chilled, Alternative Rock, Electro, New New Wave, the list goes on.
My playlist ended up looking like this:
Oh well, I suppose I'll write that chapter another night then.
I started writing tonight but got distracted trying to find a song.
I went to Last Fm and the next thing I know 3 hours have past. I thought I'd just quickly set up an account, add a few songs to my playlist and be off in 30 minutes max. But that place is a time vortex; I started looking for The Cure song, Just like Heaven and ended up going through all my musical tastes of the past 25 years: New Wave, Rave, Chilled, Alternative Rock, Electro, New New Wave, the list goes on.
My playlist ended up looking like this:
Oh well, I suppose I'll write that chapter another night then.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
The Cold Hard Truth
Listening to: Thoughts of a dying atheist, Muse
Just answered a couple of on-line surveys. Things look bad for me:
I've got a slim chance of surviving a zombie apocalypse.
46%
And when the zombies do finally get me...
$3890.00
But the worst news is...
44%
Only 44%!!! I need to inject an iPod and a MacBook into my veins.
Just answered a couple of on-line surveys. Things look bad for me:
I've got a slim chance of surviving a zombie apocalypse.
46%
And when the zombies do finally get me...
$3890.00
But the worst news is...
44%
Only 44%!!! I need to inject an iPod and a MacBook into my veins.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Playing God
Listening to: It's all in my mind, Beck
I'm toying/struggling with the idea of killing off a character. It's a tough decision, in some ways I think the character has run his course and death is a tidy way of removing him from the remainder of the story also, his demise will show the power the antagonist wields. But on the other hand there's only three characters and this one has become the comedy relief; I'm worried readers would be put off by his untimely departure.
Nick Daws (see previous post) has some tips on working through issues such as these. Basically by asking myself questions about the subject I can develop the story according to my answers... and my answers lean to death for the poor fellow.
If that's the route I take I will then need to work out how to do it. One thing's for sure I won't be bringing my story to life like an aspiring Mexican Horror writer has done. Police came to his apartment looking for his missing girlfriend and found some of her body parts in the fridge... he had even cooked some of it. Full story here.
Meanwhile, on a much lighter tone, I have updated the look of this blog (and the linked samples), taking advantage of the improved templates Blogger have on offer. Also, the Progressometer has been brought up to date by upping the desired total word count of the finished product by 10,000 to 50,000 words. The current count is 21,770.
Steve
I'm toying/struggling with the idea of killing off a character. It's a tough decision, in some ways I think the character has run his course and death is a tidy way of removing him from the remainder of the story also, his demise will show the power the antagonist wields. But on the other hand there's only three characters and this one has become the comedy relief; I'm worried readers would be put off by his untimely departure.
Nick Daws (see previous post) has some tips on working through issues such as these. Basically by asking myself questions about the subject I can develop the story according to my answers... and my answers lean to death for the poor fellow.
If that's the route I take I will then need to work out how to do it. One thing's for sure I won't be bringing my story to life like an aspiring Mexican Horror writer has done. Police came to his apartment looking for his missing girlfriend and found some of her body parts in the fridge... he had even cooked some of it. Full story here.
Meanwhile, on a much lighter tone, I have updated the look of this blog (and the linked samples), taking advantage of the improved templates Blogger have on offer. Also, the Progressometer has been brought up to date by upping the desired total word count of the finished product by 10,000 to 50,000 words. The current count is 21,770.
Steve
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Seeking Guidance
Listening to: 5-8-6, New Order
I mentioned before that I was having trouble moving my story past a certain point which I named The Writer's Chasm. Well I wasn't getting any closer to traversing this chasm so when I discovered Nick Daws, Write Any Book in 28 Days... or Less course I thought, what the hell, I'm not getting anywhere on my own.
I must admit I was sceptical (as is my nature) and the tacky website was a bit off putting but there were also some things that appealed to me and the price (US$49) and the 100% Satisfaction Guarantee helped make up my mind.
In the first hour of the course (which arrived within a week of placing my order) Nick discusses Freewriting and then sets an exercise to come up with three random, unrelated words and spend 5 minutes writing whatever comes to your mind. In 5 minutes, to my surprise, I had written a 200+ word story of a man who finds his teenage daughters dairy.
The next surprise came the other day, in the second module of the course, where Nick explains a "secret formula" used by Hollywood scriptwriters, I found that what I have written so far fits into this formula.
George Lucas used this methodology to write Star Wars but I'm not saying that this formula will guarantee my book will be a huge successt but it is nice to know I can at least lay out a story in an acceptable fashion.
So that's what's been keeping me busy of late.
Ciao,
Steve
I mentioned before that I was having trouble moving my story past a certain point which I named The Writer's Chasm. Well I wasn't getting any closer to traversing this chasm so when I discovered Nick Daws, Write Any Book in 28 Days... or Less course I thought, what the hell, I'm not getting anywhere on my own.
I must admit I was sceptical (as is my nature) and the tacky website was a bit off putting but there were also some things that appealed to me and the price (US$49) and the 100% Satisfaction Guarantee helped make up my mind.
In the first hour of the course (which arrived within a week of placing my order) Nick discusses Freewriting and then sets an exercise to come up with three random, unrelated words and spend 5 minutes writing whatever comes to your mind. In 5 minutes, to my surprise, I had written a 200+ word story of a man who finds his teenage daughters dairy.
The next surprise came the other day, in the second module of the course, where Nick explains a "secret formula" used by Hollywood scriptwriters, I found that what I have written so far fits into this formula.
George Lucas used this methodology to write Star Wars but I'm not saying that this formula will guarantee my book will be a huge successt but it is nice to know I can at least lay out a story in an acceptable fashion.
So that's what's been keeping me busy of late.
Ciao,
Steve
Friday, August 31, 2007
Plodding Along
Listening to: Silent Sigh, Badly Drawn Boy
It's funny how the human brain works. I hadn't added anything to Coma City for a couple of months and then on Monday night I'm washing the dishes and a whole new idea comes to me, complete with dialogue and locations.
I have no idea what stimulated the thought process, one second I'm wondering if I should wash the pots or the knives first, and the next, my mind is awash with fresh ideas.
Naturally, I got stuck into writing them down - after watching Californication, a TV show about an author with writers block :-). At first I only intended to jot down the ideas in point form but they were so vivid and the words were flowing easily so I just wrote until I came, much to my surprise, to the end of the chapter and the perfect ending for the story - but not the end of the book, I have an epilogue, of which I have already written about 75% of, that conveniently ties up the loose ends.
I was up until 3am but it was worth it just to get those 2000+ words down.
Word count is now at 18,888.
It's funny how the human brain works. I hadn't added anything to Coma City for a couple of months and then on Monday night I'm washing the dishes and a whole new idea comes to me, complete with dialogue and locations.
I have no idea what stimulated the thought process, one second I'm wondering if I should wash the pots or the knives first, and the next, my mind is awash with fresh ideas.
Naturally, I got stuck into writing them down - after watching Californication, a TV show about an author with writers block :-). At first I only intended to jot down the ideas in point form but they were so vivid and the words were flowing easily so I just wrote until I came, much to my surprise, to the end of the chapter and the perfect ending for the story - but not the end of the book, I have an epilogue, of which I have already written about 75% of, that conveniently ties up the loose ends.
I was up until 3am but it was worth it just to get those 2000+ words down.
Word count is now at 18,888.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)