Dancing with Radio Userland

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 19:15:17 GMT

"Making Books" video from 1947

1947 film about how a book is made. It starts with the writer -- "This man in an author. He writes stories. He's just finished writing a story. He thinks many people will like to read it. So, he must have the story made into a book." -- and ends with a finished, bound book.

Along the way, we are taken on a tour through the printing and bindery process. In a factory full of machinery that would give an OSHA inspector a heart attack, we see a typesetter making lines of type from molten metal, a composer laying out the lines of type, a workman fitting the lines into metal frames, an operator converting the soft metal plates into wax plates, another worker dipping the wax plates into a tank filled with copper to form a solid plate, another worker cutting the plates into individual page plates with a sharp saw, another workman (he's called the "ready man") preparing the plates for printing by placing 64 pages at a time in the printing press bed, a workman examining the printed sheets, another worker inserting the sheets into a folding machine, another man to check the folder to make sure the pages are folded in the right order, a room filled with "girls" in the gathering room stacking the folders in piles and sorting them in bins, another group of girls taking the assembled folders to a machine that sews them together with thread, other workers trimming the sewed folders with sharp knives, An operator over seeing a machine making covers from paperboard, a machine that gluing cloth to the paperboard, a machine stamping the title of the book on the cover, and a machine gluing covers to the book. Whew!

(via Hang Fire Books)
- Mark Frauenfelder [Boing Boing]

Very close to my heart. This was the status quo when I started in NYC but it was hanging from a thread. Photo-offset was next and then came the Mac!

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 19:07:40 GMT

Long absence, but I'm back. And my back feels like shit.

Mon, 18 Feb 2008 06:13:29 GMT

Reprint and Fragrance Education: Perfume and History

Fragrance - Is it Heaven Scent?

By Andrew Regan

These days, the vast majority of men and women consider a quick squirt of their favourite perfume or aftershave an intrinsic part of their morning ritual. You could argue that the criteria for the scent you wear each day should purely be based around the smell that you, yourself, find most pleasing; but the marketing of fragrances means that they are considered a key tool in alluring a partner and therefore at either a conscious or sub-conscious level we are all buying fragrances that we hope will please others too.

So, from this can we deduce that fragrances were developed to assist in our mating rituals? Actually no - the history of perfume actually has more spiritual roots, originally created for religious purposes to honour the gods. It is recorded that ancient civilisations dating as far back as 7000 years ago were using fragrance as part of their offerings to their countless deities. Fires were created, to which were added a fragrant 'pot pourri' of aromatic wood, incense, gum resins, herbs and spices and people walked through the smoke to wear the perfume. In fact, the word perfume stems from the Latin term per fumum, meaning "through smoke".

It was from these origins that the concept of perfume arose, with techniques for extracting and preserving fragrances through boiling, pressing, drying, distillation and even blending with fats practised throughout the ancient world. However it was not until Roman monks discovered the distillation of alcohol that perfume production, in the true sense of the word, became possible.

The multi-million pound industry that we know today perhaps began its journey in earnest in the 18th century, with the establishment of a number of perfume houses. Techniques were improved and the "juices" as perfumers called their products became more sophisticated, and throughout the ages women have loved perfume including many famous women of our times.

At one time fragrance was a luxury for royalty; in 800BC, The Queen of Sheba used perfume to seduce King Solomon. Catherine de Medici - future wife of Henry II - brought her own perfumer with her as part of her entourage when she came to Britain, and she even established a perfume laboratory in Provence! Queen Elizabeth I was famous for her love of perfume; her clothes, gloves and shoes were steeped in the fragrance from damask roses and even the rooms of her palaces were sprinkled with scent.

Perhaps these historical women were the forerunners of today's celebrities whose names are now closely associated with fragrance - albeit for more commercial reasons! Kylie, J Lo, Sarah Jessica Parker, Sean Paul and even Jade Goody have all placed their monikers on a bottle of scent! In fact, it could be argued that in today's culture there are some who see celebrity as an almost 'god-like' status, so perhaps we haven't come that far from the religious roots of perfume all those thousands of years ago.

Andrew Regan is an online, freelance author from Scotland. He is a keen rugby player and enjoys travelling.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Andrew_Regan http://EzineArticles.com/?Fragrance---Is-it-Heaven-Scent?&;id=966066

Mon, 18 Feb 2008 05:45:27 GMT

China Bans Horror Movies

By Zonk on won't-someone-think-of-the-braaaaaiiinnnnsss

KublaiKhan writes "According to an article on Reuters, the Chinese censors have decided that horror movies are verboten. 'Offending content included "wronged spirits and violent ghosts, monsters, demons, and other inhuman portrayals, strange and supernatural storytelling for the sole purpose of seeking terror and horror," the administration said. This is apparently a sort of Chinese version of the Jack Thompson effect, as the "mental health of adolescents" is cited as one of the reasons for the ban. Presumably, this ban Ñ much like the spitting ban Ñ is intended to improve China's image in the rest of the world before the Olympics open; but given the Streisand effect, would this ban perhaps unintentionally spur a surge of horror movie popularity in China?" Blizzard has had trouble with skeletons in World of Warcraft , and I imagine this decision stems from similar objections.

Is Microsoft just Screwing with Yahoo's Mind?

By Zonk on inserting-the-nano-probes

The Narrative Fallacy writes "This week Cringely offers up a speculative piece asserting that Microsoft might not really care if its bid to buy Yahoo succeeds or not Ñ Bill Gates just wants to disrupt Yahoo and poach the company's employees. 'Microsoft's offer for Yahoo has thrown that company and several others into a tizzy. Yahoo can't be getting much work done, that's for sure ... Redmond's real goal may be simply to poach people from Yahoo, and this deal could help them do just that.' Cringley says there is plenty of precedent for Microsoft's behavior Ñ Microsoft's bids for Borland and for Intuit back in the 1990s sent both companies into a tailspin. 'A failed Microsoft bid, even one involving a termination fee, could lead to horrific results for the company. Remember that Yahoo is staggering here while Intuit was at the top of its market and its game.'"

Skin as a Battlefield. What causes the burnlike skin lesions associated with Stevens-Johnson syndrome? By C. CLAIBORNE RAY. [NYT > Health]

more info than this is needed

Sun, 20 Jan 2008 17:54:36 GMT

Reading Infinite Jest and comprehending it in 31 days is like trying to juggle a herd of cats. At least.

Sun, 20 Jan 2008 17:50:26 GMT

Sun, 20 Jan 2008 15:29:57 GMT

The Infinite Jest Challenge

two readers, one great book, 31 days
well it's better than watching my room mate struggle with Windows

Sun, 20 Jan 2008 13:56:02 GMT

Mon, 31 Dec 2007 13:17:48 GMT

Mon, 31 Dec 2007 13:13:37 GMT

etherflyer on flickr posted the picture above of:

The iconic building is the Oriental Pearl Tower (Dōngfāng MÕngzhūtǎ, 东方明珠塔). Gaudy and impractical, it somehow sums up the spirit of Shanghai better than the remaining ñhistoricî buildings.

This is a three-exposure HDR made with Photomatix using the details-enhancing setting, and then tweaked with Aperture. No tripod, so there's more ghosting than I'd like (look closely at the top of the tower). I know the colours are a bit too flashy and overdone, but then so is Shanghai!

Location: Pudong (Pǔdōng Xīn Qū , 浦東新區), looking across the Huangpu River (Huàngpŭ Jiāng, 黃浦江) from The Bund (Wöitān, 外灘), Shönghǎi (上海市), PeopleÍs Republic of China (Zhōnghuà RŽnmÕn G÷nghŽguÑ, 中华人民共和国)

See where this picture was taken. [?]

Sun, 30 Dec 2007 16:53:32 GMT

Le Coucher de Sappho, Charles Gleyre, 1867