vast neon wolf
Plunging the knife of clarity, into the breast of obscurity
Support Australian Publishers. (If you can afford it)
03 years ago
by StefWill
in Random Thoughts
Buying books in Australia is becoming an expensive game.
That said, I spend more money on books than on any other “luxury” item I buy. I love supporting Australian industries, but the Australian Publishing industry is making that really hard.
Some people have already noticed that there is a problem. In Rosemary Sorensen’s Book Wars article in The Australian (July 26, 2008), she says:
It’s not that long ago that Australian readers could expect to pay under $20 for a paperback and under $30 for a hardback; now it’s likelier to be $33 and $50, a disincentive of a different kind for readers.
I have only recently encountered this rise in prices. My Girlfriend works for a publisher, my little heart did a leap for joy when she told me that she got a 50% discount on retail. So I quickly jumped over to their website and started making my list. As with all publishers site, the book blurbs where the only info available. I toddled off to Amazon.com and started looking for some realistic reviews of the books in my wish list.
On average Amazon was AU$2-5 cheaper per book than the discounted price I had direct from the publisher. Oh and that was including shipping via surface mail (20 odd days). I don’t mind waiting.
Now I saw a book review in my news feed from the Guardian. A new book called Coming of Age in Second Life. So I called Dymocks in Collins St to see if they had it. No, but they could get it in for me. Oh and the price? “… about $90″ the shop assistant kindly informed me. A quick check on Amazon… $38.01 inc. shipping.
Now as I write this I thought I should look around for a better price in Aus. So I fired up Google and found that the Melbourne University Bookshop has it for $57.95 ($46.95 + $11.00 delivery) or $42.26 in store.
As much as I want to support Australian Publishers and Booksellers, I can’t afford it.
Authority. Old media had it but is new media getting it?
03 years ago
by StefWill
in Random Thoughts
Thanks to the MWF, The 7:30 Report and Radio National, I’ve heard and seen a lot about Bloggers, Citizen Journalism and “New Media” journalism in the last week. All of the discussion seems to point to a decline in the quality and authority of traditional journalism and a consequent rise for Bloggers, although the kinds of websites that are producing quality reporting can hardly be called blogs any longer.
Show us yer Nogs!
Nogs, an abbreviation of News Blogs … No I really don’t think that will catch on.
We need to define a new language to talk about this emerging form of media. If traditional blogs are akin to the old pamphlets that were circulated after the printing press was developed, that would make News Blogs more like the first newspapers – reactionary in some cases and toadying in others.
When the US Constitution guaranteed “Freedom of the Press” it wasn’t talking about the big newspapers, it was aimed at those tatty and often downright wrong pamphlets and Broadsides. They were printed by the radical fringe (on both sides of the political divide) but also by concerned citizens with something to say – they where the bloggers of their day.
One of the most important things for a blogger is authority, or so they say. So in a world where “old media” journalists are loosing their authority, we have to ask “where does authority come from?” How do we decide that Baghdad Blogger has the real poop but Al Jazeera doesn’t? (That said even Salam Pax has an occasional column in the Guardian.)
So do we turn to the plethora of Blog Rating websites, judge by the number and quality of a blog’s posts and comments or perhaps the recommendations of our social networks?
All of these options have their flaws. Rating sites can’t all be accurate. A blogger and their audience may be articulate but delusional. Our social networks can be a good bet although they can limit our field of view – in that we tend to like the same things – so exposure to new ideas could be less frequent.
How do you decide that a blog has authority?
How do you decide who is telling the “truth”?
How much do you trust what you read in blogs?
For me it’s about comparison, about reading widely and not sticking to one source. If I read a post that piques my interest I’ll go searching for more info, I’ll try and read the same story from as many points of view as I can. Only then can I decide what I believe is true.
So here we are…
0It’s time to get serious with regards to updating this blog. So I’m going to start posting quite a bit from now on. It may only be one or two posts a week to start with but that will change over time as I get back into the swing of things.
To kick things off.
I’m addicted to Google Reader! It’s a web-based RSS feed aregator that has some features you won’t find anywhere else. The best of which is the ability to share posts with friends via email or with anyone with a Gmail account in your Google address book. Take a look at the GReader articles I’m sharing. I’m only subscribed to 14 feeds at the moment but it is already consuming a vast quantity of my day. Not that I’m complaining mind you 
How did I get into GReader?
I blame Mark Pesce, you may know him from the ABC’s The New Inventors. I feel like I’m stalking him. I’ve subscribed to a few of his feeds (including Twitter), I don’t regret it, even if his Twitter feed does get a bit crazy, but thanks to Mark I am reading some very interesting blogs.Like:
- Alternet.Org – A unique model of journalism to confront the failures of corporate media.
- Brazen Careerist – A great collection of career and life posts.
- Cory Doctorow’s Craphound.Com – A mixture of articles and blog.
- The Fourth Estate – An insightful look at the changing face of the bussiness of media.
- the human network – What happens when we’re all connected?
It is these blogs (and anything eles I find) that will be the source of most of my posts. This isn’t going to be a “link list” or an angst blog, I’ll be talking to and answering the blog posts that spark something me.
I hope you stick around.
Software for Writers
0Most writing software is only used once the hard yards, the research, the brainstorming and sleepless nights organising index cards are over. If all you need is a glorified typewriter, MS Word is fine. But if you’re like me, and you need a way to organise the random ideas in your head before you can get them onto the page, then you should try Scrivener for Mac or yWriter for PC. These are programs written for writers by writers.
yWriter for PC
Easy to use and free,yWriter is a simple program but with the features a writer needs to organise and, most importantly, finish their novel. You can import your novel, after a few minor formatting changes in Word, and yWriter will break it up into chapters and scenes ready for you to start work. Once imported, you can add descriptions, status, goals, scene notes, viewpoint details, and more. yWriter will also give you a word count (by character if you want) and will even tell you how often you use certain words. You can also create character bios with images, location list and details, and a storyboard. The actual text editor is pretty low on features but this program is more concerned with helping you create quality content rather than making it look pretty.
Scrivener for Mac OS X
Scrivener is not free, but at around $45 it’s well with in the means of the struggling writer. Before you commit, download it for a free 30-day trial. After importing your masterpiece into Scrivener you can begin to organise it by chapter and scene. Scrivener also provides a “research folder” that can hold Word, PDF and RTF files as well as images, audio and video. Using the split screen feature you can view a picture of a character, video or notes in the lower half of the screen while you write about them in the top half. Using the Keyword feature you can tag chapters, scenes or research materials by assigning keywords that enable you to quickly find anything in your project. A virtual corkboard lets you storyboard you novel and move scenes.
It’s only democracy if we like you
06 years ago
by StefWill
in Random Thoughts
Well the people of Palestine have expressed their will by voting for Hamas and it looks like Bush is a tad pissed.
According to Condoleezza Rice “You cannot have one foot in politics and the other in terror.” Unless you are the United States of course.
“I don’t see how you can be a partner in peace if you advocate the destruction of a country as part of your platform and I know you can’t be a partner in peace if your party has got an armed wing,” said Mr. Bush.
I really want to point to the US Army but can’t really justify it other than it sounds good.
Basically I just want to say that if you advocate democratic elections you have to accept who ‘the people’ elect, regardless of how stupid their decision seems. If States ignored each other because they didn’t like the elected officials then America would have been isolated after 2000.