The Big Picture

Recently, I ran across a marvelous site on the web titled "The Big Picture." Hosted by the Boston Globe, this site shares the news through astoundingly beautiful photographs. The images are of a quality that I would expect from such magazines as National Geographic or Life. I particularly enjoyed the "Sailing Around the World" gallery, as well as those that covered the inaugeration. 

Go to "The Big Picture" and enjoy the view yourself.

The Graveyard Book

The cover from "The Graveyard Book."

Every once in a while, I run across a book that I am so excited about that I have to recommend it to all my friends. ("Push onto my friends," is more like it. Is it a crime to be a book pusher? I hope not.) But I digress. The book.

I ran across an early promo online of "The Graveyard Book" well in advance of the book's official release. Now, I like Neil Gaiman's books, and I've read (and enjoyed) "Coraline," his previous book aimed at younger readers. (He has published some picture books as well, one of them being "The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish," a very lovely book.) But often, I find Gaiman's work lacking in a kind of character development and depth that would cause the book to linger in my mind for days afterwards. But, because I liked the concept, I picked up the book. There is nothing lacking in the "The Graveyard Book," nothing at all except that it had to end. This is a book that still lingers in my mind, and I finished it well before Christmas. 

In "The Graveyard Book," Nobody Owens comes to live in a graveyard due to tragic circumstances. Yet, his life is far from tragic. And while many of the characters are dead, the story is one of life and the living. (And I think I'm partially in love with Silas.) 

Truly, I don't want to spoil the book. If you want to read a full description, go to Amazon.com and read one. Yet, you should still read the book. If you want to hear the book, hear the first chapter instead of read it, go to http://www.mousecircus.com/videotour.aspx to hear Mr. Gaiman read the book, chapter by chapter. (He read sequential chapters on a 9 city tour.) Marvelous stuff, though I'd recommend you read the book yourself first. 

This is a book to treasure. If you ask me what my favorite book is, at least this year, my answer will be "The Graveyard Book." I suspect it will be a favorite next year, and in many years to come.

Crayon Physics!!!

A screen shot from my game of Crayon Physics.

OH MY GOSH! I have discovered the most WONDERFUL PC game! Anyone who knows me, knows I can't play first person shooter games, or other games with a lot of motion on the screen, 'cause I get nauseous. I tend to play games of strategy or puzzle games, with some favorites being Startopia, Zeus, and Dungeon Keeper 2. Well, this game has to join my favorites list. How much fun is this?

To download the demo and/or buy the full game (only $19.5) go here: http://www.crayonphysics.com/index.html

I hope you enjoy this as much as I am enjoying it!

Puppy Love

In spring 2008, I found a tiny black kitten while my husband and I walked our dogs. The kitten was very young, very wet, and very cold. None of the neighbors claimed him as theirs, and so he became a part of the family. For most of 2008, he lived outside and in the garage with our other cat, Smudge. When Smudge went missing, the tiny black kitten came inside. Now, any other cat would have been doomed to live outside, for my husband had decided that, and I quote "We'll have no more inside cats!" 

Thing is, my husband loves our cockapoo, Lucy. And Lucy loves the little tiny kitty. And so, the little tiny kitty came inside.

Here is a video of Lucy and Seely (or Tiny, or Tiny Kitty, or Mr. Boo), playing. They are bestest buds, BFFs for ever and ever. :-)

Awwwww...isn't that cute?

Iron Man 2!!

A scan of a page from Iron Man vol. 4, issue 23, page 20, drawn and inked by Jackson "Butch" Guice, a piece that happily hangs on my family room wall.

Okay, so this really is a daily ramble, with no other point than to express my joy over the Iron Man movie franchise from Marvel Studios. I'm a huge Iron Man fan, having read the comic book from about the time I was 12. I used to buy issues, as well as issues of "The Avengers" at Waldenbooks, a much missed bookstore that once resided in the Markland Mall. I still have most of those issues, many purchased for something like a quarter a piece.

So when the first Iron Man movie came out, I was understandably nervous. How often does Hollywood mess up comic book movies? (The answer is "Often, with as much cheesiness as possible.") But Iron Man was wonderful. Truly. The movie remained true to the comic, and was also a good movie in its own right. Robert Downey Jr. was perfect as Tony Stark, and how cool did that armor look?

After Iron Man 1, I had actually read rumors saying that John Favreau was not necessarily going to be hired as director for the second movie. (Say what???) Of course, that rumor was happily unfounded. John Favreau is back, Robert Downey Jr. is back, as is Gwyneth Paltrow. Here is a good update article on the second movie, and from what they are saying, it is all good! Excelsior!

Link to Article: http://www.reuters.com/article/filmNews/idUSTRE5070ME20090108

Google Book Search

Recently, Google reached a settlement with the Authors Guild, the Association of American Publishers, and a handful of authors and publishers who filed a class action lawsuit against Google Book Search. As a result, Google plans to continue with Google Book Search, expanding the services they currently offer.

A link to Google's statement concerning the settlement is here:  http://books.google.com/googlebooks/agreement/

The Association of Research Libraries has info on this agreement on their home page, and they also offer a guide outlining what this agreement means for book readers, buyers, publishers, and in my case, libraries and librarians. 

Here is the link to the ARL info bit: http://www.arl.org/pp/ppcopyright/google/index.shtml

A direct link to the guide, titled "A Guide for the Perplexed: Libraries and the Google Library Project Settlement." is here: http://www.arl.org/bm~doc/google-settlement-13nov08.pdf

Google plans to expand their Google Book Search services in a couple of very interesting ways. One, they plan to offer many in-print books, as well as out-of-print (but still under copyright) books for purchase through their site. Most articles I've read seem to indicate this price will be typically low--$5.99 or under. Books would be readable through your Google Books library interface, and so would still be copyright protected. 

Also, Google plans to put public access terminals in every academic library. (One per library, from what I've read.) If the library subscribes to Google's book database, then those library users who read books through the public access terminal would have full access to ALL of Google's book content. (As opposed to limited previews, as we now find for many books available on Google Books thru the web.) Users would be able to print material from these books, for a fee, though Google may also watermark the printed pages. 

I am very excited by these plans for expanding Google Book Search. While Google's online offering of full book content may be detrimental to other book database providers, Google's book reader and user interface is wonderful--heads and shoulder above most other interfaces offered by other book database providers. Google manages to protect content (you cannot print book pages from Google Book Search if the content is copyrighted, at present), and yet allows you to read with ease and speed. 

For researchers, keyword searching through millions of sources allows them to undercover facts and information they would never have uncovered by reading the print books on the shelves. For example, I recently put in the names of a couple of my great-grandparents into Google's Book Search, and was astonished to discover that their lives (and the lives of some other relatives) are discussed in some books that cover the early history of the Fort Wayne area. I never would have found this information by looking at print sources. 

The New York Times highlights what Google is trying to do with their book search in a recent article They discuss more fully what Google's plans are for allowing users to purchase books, and how this might benefit publishers and authors alike.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/05/technology/internet/05google.html?_r=1&scp=6&sq=google&st=cse