Thou, Luddite

Section from a larger image. Image PD-1923

“Next time I do a play — no author!” — (Max Bialystock to Leo Bloom in Mel Brooks’ The Producers) Amazon is the king of self-publishing. Millions of books — literally millions — have been sent to them by everyday writers of greater or lesser ability. Amazon has (or should have, IMHO) the text of […]

Non-Traditional Documentation

E6B computer

We writers live for words. But sometimes, more words are not what you need. I’ve been fascinated for years by non-traditional types of documentation, vehicles to convey information that are… um… not books or web pages. Publishers Clearinghouse is known for expertise in direct mail marketing. Opening an invitation from Publishers Clearinghouse is like opening […]

Creating File-to-File HTML Cross-References in Adobe InDesign Books

You can use Adobe InDesign to output cross-references in both PDF and HTML files and maintain both outputs using the same source material. Adobe InDesign does an exceptional job of helping you create file-to-file cross-references when you prepare a book for export to PDF. InDesign also does a creditable job of automatically outputting an HTML […]

Espiration: Machine creation outside of the mind

four trends in technological development

Inspiration means inhaling the spirit of creativity; expiration ultimately is surrendering that spirit. But what can we call computer-sourced creativity? I call it espiration (e for “out of,” as in E Pluribus Unum). I suppose you could translate espiration — badly — as “out of breath.” We’re not out of breath, yet, but the technological […]

A better horse

Henry Ford is supposed to have said, “If I’d asked people what they wanted, they’d have told me ‘a better horse.’ ” That’s the nature of innovation — and of linear extrapolation. Star Trek (the original series) featured a single computer; now we carry computers around in our pockets. Until someone thinks of it, it […]