OK, so NOW I feel trusted (-:

My favourite scifi author has just thrown a manuscript of a little (very little) under 300,000 words at me and asked me for some continuity checks based on some indexes I’ve built of his published works.

I’m allowed some minor gloating (you’re looking at it now), but no disclosures.

David Weber (and his publisher, Jim Baen) is unique in being an early adopter of a useful and very effective form of almost-openness. His earlier books are up on the publisher’s website for all and sundry to get hooked on — er, I mean read — and buying a hardcover version of one of his later books often gets you a CD packed with his works and the works of co-authors like Eric Flint. You’ll be pleased to know that sales of his earlier books picked up shortly after he started giving them away.

It’s viral marketing at its best. Those who can’t afford to buy books get to read a time-delayed version for free and tell others; those who can afford it buy many more books than they would have without the giveaways. “Everybody happy, everybody sing!”

Anyway, if I go quiet for a while, you’ll now know why. This is definitely compatible with lying under a Lappyvator.

Comments

every-application-is-part-of-a-toolkit at work

I have a LibreOffice Impress slideshow that I wish to turn into a narrated video. 1. export the slideshow as PNG images (if that is partially broken — as at now — at higher resolutions, Export Directly as PDF then use ‘pdftoppm’ (from the poppler-utils package) to do the same). 2. write a small C program (63 lines including comments) to display those images one at a time, writing a config file entry for Imagination (default transition: ‘cross fade’) based on when the image-viewer application (‘display,’ from the GraphicsMagick suite) is closed on each one; run that, read each image aloud, then close each image in turn. 3. run ‘Imagination’ over the config file to produce a silent MP4 video with the correct timings. 4. run ‘Audacity’ to record speech while using ‘SMPlayer’ to display the silent video, then export that recording as a WAV file. 4a. optionally, use ‘TiMIDIty’ to convert a non-copyright-encumbered MIDI tune to WAV, then import that and blend it with the speech (as a quiet b

new life for an old (FTX) PSU, improved life for one human

the LEDs on this 5m strip happen to emit light centred on a red that does unexpectedly helpful things to (and surprisingly deeply within) a human routinely exposed to it. it has been soldered to a Molex connector, plugged into a TFX power supply from a (retired: the MoBo is cactus) Small Form Factor PC, the assorted PSU connectors (and loose end from the strip) have been taped over. the LED strip cost $10.24 including postage, the rest cost $0, the PSU is running at 12½% of capacity, consumes less power than a laptop plug-pack despite running a fan. trial runs begin today.

boundaries

pushing the actual boundaries of the physical (not extremes, the boundaries themselves) can often remove barriers not otherwise perceived. one can then often resolve an issue itself, rather than merely stonewalling at the physical consequences of the issue.

Plantagenet Penguinista

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