By J. Timothy King on November 13, 2008
This is one of the outputs I wish Squidoodlr would give.
Squidoodlr is a page that generates possible topics for Squidoo new lenses. But these ideas are too specific, too useful to be randomly generated. For example:
- If beauty is based on bilateral symmetry, why are most hairstyles asymetrical?
- Places to cowork in NYC
- Mean tricks to play on your kids
- How to dry cotton T-shirts without wrinkling!
- Custom wheelchairs
- Geeks you love to hate
- When are you at your most beautiful?
- Is there a better alternative to Adobe reader?
- How to be a good grandparent
- … etc. etc. etc.
So my first question was: how does Squidoodlr actually work? It’s obviously not generating topic ideas with a randomization algorithm.
I thought it might be browsing the titles of top-rated web pages. So I searched for one of the topics it spit out, and I found this thread at Squidu. Squidoodlr doesn’t actually generate ideas. The ideas were submitted by users at the Squidu forum. Squidoodlr just selects a random one each time to call it.
Uh… That actually gives me an idea. The Quirkerator (fictional character idea generator), which I could seed with character traits from 1001 Character Quirks. What do you think? Any potential?
Posted in Technology
By J. Timothy King on November 12, 2008
That EW article on the new Star Trek movie reminded me to check this site (which a friend had put me onto before RSS was the rage): Star Trek New Voyages (now “Star Trek Phase II”). This is a group of fans who produce indie episodes set just after the original series, with the original-series characters. This is all done with new actors of course.
They had posted two new episodes since I had last checked. (And now, I’ve subscribed to the RSS feed.) Boy was I surprised to discover that they actually got Walter Koenig to play an aged Chekov in episode 2, and George Takei to play aged Sulu in episode 3! They also convinced Grace lee Whitney to reprise the role of Yeoman Janice Rand. And… did they really get Majel Barrett Roddenberry to do the computer voice (in the future)? Or is that just stock soundtrack?
Of course, this is now yesterday’s news. But it’s still news to me, and probably to other old ST fans, most of whom aren’t hard-core trekkies connected into every last bit of ST fandom.
Even though the writing of these indie episodes had me rolling my eyes within 2 minutes of the intro, it was worth sticking them out, just to see these actors’ performances. And actually, not all of the writing was bad. The thing they did with the old and young Chekov was pretty cool. And there were some other good points, too.
But you know what? Watching Walter Keonig perform on-screen, I didn’t feel any reminiscence of Star Trek: The Original Series. Rather, I felt a strong desire to watch Babylon 5 again, because (as you may recall) Walter Keonig played a recurring role in that story line.
I miss Babylon 5, and I don’t yet own the DVDs, because they’re too expensive, what with kids to feed. Maybe I’ll Netflix them.
-TimK
Posted in Entertainment, Television | Tagged Star Trek |
By J. Timothy King on November 12, 2008
I hardly believe it myself. I’m actually feeling anticipation, actually looking forward to the new Star Trek movie. Ever since I saw this exclusive photo of the new film’s Enterprise.
But I’m also wary, with some trepidation, because the story is supposed to return back to the beginning, with a young Captain Kirk (played by Chris Pine) and Mister Spock (Zachary Quinto). I have no problem with different actors playing the Star Trek characters, because I already know I can adjust to that. I also have no problem with new-fangled gadgets and special effects, because–hey–if I can adjust to knobby-headed Klingons, I can adjust to anything… Er, almost anything.
What worries me is that the writers will lose the magic of the original story. I’m afraid they’ll try to make it all about the ACTION!, or high tech gadgets, or the drama or suspense. Or even worse, I’m afraid they won’t be able to figure out where they’re even going with the story. I’m afraid they’re going to turn it into some gimmicky, 21’st-century, studio tripe, of the sort that A-list bloggers swoon over and proclaim “the best movie ever made!” Meanwhile, I just want it to end so that I don’t have to watch any more.
Can you say Battlestar Galactica?
Yes, for the record, I am a crotchety old man, who likes to watch what I like to watch, because I’ve seen and appreciated at least a little more great fiction than those 20-year-old newbies, you know, the ones who still think they know everything.
Interestingly, I do remember being right at least once, when I complained about fatal storytelling flaws in The Longest Journey (a computer game). At the time, everyone was swooning over it. But years later, in retrospect it appeared, people started to agree with me.
-TimK
Posted in Entertainment, Television | Tagged Star Trek
By J. Timothy King on November 12, 2008
Just discovered this site, www.MaskelyneMagic.com, which contains a series of well-researched articles that Richard Stokes wrote to set forth the true story of Jasper Maskelyne, the so-called war magician.
Legend has it that magician Jasper Maskelyne orchestrated a number of grand illusions during World War II, in order to foil the Germans and help the Allies, including vanishing the Suez Canal. But Stokes research has cast doubts on many of these purported accomplishments. Stokes’ goal is to question the Maskelyne legacy as an historian, but he ends up also providing a fascinating (to me) set of facts for ideas for my own fictional story.
I haven’t read through the entire site yet, but I’m thinking: This is so cool! Ted is a student of magic and an amateur magician. He is about to become a founding member of the Conscience. Maybe his knowledge of the principles of illusion will be valuable to the team.
In fact, this is the type of thing I’ve been doing with the story, increasing the complexity of the espionage tactics the Conscience will need to use. Right now, they’re still unformed, and Clyde, God love her, is behaving like the amateur she is. Michael will pull her together, though. (Michael has a secret, in case you haven’t figured that out.) And now Ted has more than the obvious to contribute.
-TimK
Posted in Novels, Stories, Writing
By J. Timothy King on November 11, 2008
A few weeks ago Seth Godin wrote that a business can be “too small to fail”. That is, while bigger businesses can afford to take risks without going under…
A small acting bank would never have invested in tens of thousands of loans that they hadn’t looked at. And a small acting startup wouldn’t hire dozens of people before they had a business model… and then have to lay off a third of them just because their VC firm showed them a scary PowerPoint.
As we enter a maybe-recession (and maybe worse), several wise businessmen–unfortunately, I don’t remember exactly whom–have pointed out that small businesses are also mostly likely to succeed in the uncertain economy, because small businesses can adjust to new situations and capitalize on them.
Encouraging.
-TimK
P.S. More recently, Seth also wrote that productivity is what generates wealth. (Trading stocks doesn’t. Government action doesn’t. Tightening one’s belt doesn’t.) And it reminded me of a lesson: find the things you can do better than others in your field; you can charge as much as they do, and yet spend less, because you’re more productive.
Posted in Business, Entrepreneurship, Leaving Normal, Stories, True Stories
By J. Timothy King on November 7, 2008
Just catching up on my TV viewing, and I want to know…
What’s with all the sex on Private Practice?
OMG! Is it going to turn into another Grey’s Anatomy?!
Here’s a better question: Why aren’t there any nighttime TV dramas about computer programmers? Is it because software developers don’t have ethical conflicts?
-TimK
Posted in Uncategorized |
By J. Timothy King on November 6, 2008
As an indie publisher, I’ve picked up a few ideas and tricks from direct marketing gurus. Here’s one on designing a book cover.
The thing about a book’s cover is that people actually do judge your book by it. That is, the book cover is going to be one of the first things someone sees. The book’s cover is therefore the book’s own advertisement. So why not design it as such.
Start early in the process, and test several cover designs. I talked about this a little in my post “How Much Does It Cost to Publish a Book”. Different elements of the book cover you’ll want to experiment with include the graphics, the title, the subtitle, the layout, the color… even the size of the title text verses the size of the author’s name. (You’ll note that The Conscience of Abe’s Turn cover doesn’t even have my name on it at all. This is not an oversight. I had determined through ad testing that no one cared what my name was, which makes sense, because I’m Tim King, not Stephen King.)
One thing you can do on the cheap is to print out mock-ups of two or three different cover designs on your cheapo inkjet printer, wrap them around actual books of similar size, and show them to friends, acquaintances, and strangers. (You can see what I mean by a “mock-up” in this video about the Abe’s Turn ARC.) You especially want to find people in your target market. Show them one cover mock-up at a time, and for each one, ask, “If you saw this book sitting on a store shelf, would you pick it up to find out more about it?” In general, the cover design with the most “yes” answers wins. Then you can repeat the experiment with more and more refinements of the cover.
(Note that I haven’t actually tried this myself yet, but it’s based on sound direct-marketing practices. I’m expecting to do something like this, however, for an upcoming title.)
-TimK
Posted in Self-publishing |
By J. Timothy King on November 6, 2008
Jim Edwards posted a video about 6 weeks ago all about fear. (This is actually part 2 of a 2-part video.)
As you may know, I wrote about fear in my October newsletter (PDF), and our thoughts overlapped.
Watching Jim’s video, however, I began to think about the fear some of my friends have of the new president-elect. They’re convinced that he’s going to bring the country to its destruction. Or even worse (I imagine), that he’ll turn the country into a Garden of Eden.
Go read the newsletter and watch the video. Then answer these questions:
- How will our experiences cause us to grow as a country, having a democratic majority in Washington over the next 2 years? How will you grow as a participant in the political process?
- What will the 18-24 years-olds who voted against tax cuts learn about economic libertarianism? What will the democrats learn about their true mandate? Have you discovered anything about bundling too many issues into one office?
- Looking at the histories of other countries in similar situations, what can you do to help turn the country in a better direction?
- What’s holding you back, then? How big of a difference can you make by taking action?
-TimK
Posted in Politics
