http://awritings.com/ Essays and other writings by Jose Manuel Riveros en jose@awritings.com Copyright 2011 2011-11-25T23:04:22+00:00 http://awritings.com/log/note/video-jonathan-hoefler-type-at-the-crossroads An encouraging presentation by Jonathan Hoefler, type designer, historian and co-founder of Hoefler & Frere-Jones about the challenges facing designers and foundries when preparing typefaces for the web. Design, Typography, Web Fonts, 2011-11-25T23:04:22+00:00 http://awritings.com/log/note/css-shaders-cinematic-effects-for-html Although the potential of using these kinds of filters for the web is exciting, I admit being wary of the kind of design this will enable once these shaders become part of every designer’s toolkit. Certainly, John Nack is cautiously optimistic. To me page turns, offset placement of objects and tactile simulations are sentimental. A pastiche of feigned emotive experience. Design, HTML5, Web Development, 2011-10-17T20:22:19+00:00 http://awritings.com/log/note/movie-studio-angst-over-content-delivery The story goes: movie studios have seen their revenue from home entertainment media sales fall off a cliff; during the same time, Netflix nurtured a successful subscription service through streaming content and DVD mailings; movie studios realize their best interests lie in digital content delivery and have sought to re-price their licensing agreements with online providers; Netflix, in turn, having no choice, enter into these contracts and pass the costs to its customers; these very customers react negatively to the price increases and leave en masse; in order to clarify their long-term strategy Netflix announces it will divide its streaming service (Netflix) from its DVD mail service (Quickster), further angering its customers. Cinema, Commentary, Culture, 2011-09-28T18:13:42+00:00 http://awritings.com/log/note/here-be-dragons A slideshow of map illustrations collected by Ken Jennings. (See also Seth Stevenson’s review of Ken Jennings’ book, Maphead: Charting the Wide, Weird World of Geography Wonks.) Curation, Literature, Science, 2011-09-22T22:28:10+00:00 http://awritings.com/log/note/marian-bantjes-creative-inspirations I am not currently a subscriber at lynda.com, but when I sign up again I plan to watch this documentary on Marian Bantjes. One of the more important graphic artists working today. Aesthetics, Design, Typography, 2011-09-21T18:00:29+00:00 http://awritings.com/log/note/in-pursuit-of-authorship-shakespeare Can the director of such populist films as 2012, Independence Day, Godzilla, The Day After Tomorrow and 10,000 BC tackle the difficult subject of what is mostly an academic controversy—did William Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon write his own works? Can such a question be the driving force for a two-hour thriller? Or, is it even worth asking? Cinema, Culture, Literature, 2011-09-20T21:14:01+00:00 http://awritings.com/log/note/dinosaur-feathers-found-in-amber Gallery of pictures depicting what appears to be dinosaur feathers, which are part of a newly revealed trove of likely dinosaur and bird plumage found trapped in amber in Alberta, Canada. The feathers have been preserved for 70 to 85 million years. (via boingboing) Curation, Photography, Science, 2011-09-20T17:30:05+00:00 http://awritings.com/article/evernote-an-everywhere-app Going paperless is an idea I have struggled with for some time. I’ve tried various applications and methodologies in the past only to be overwhelmed by the effort or dismayed by the lack of cross-platform support. Beyond the paperless ideal, data management, efficient note taking and good writing habits were also objectives for which I could not find workable solutions. My digital documents were scattered across different computers much in the same way my physical paper was carelessly stuffed in bankers boxes. I have been a casual Evernote user for some time and a Premium subscriber for about a year. But, it was not until the recent release of the Android application for my NOOK Color that I have decided to fully use Evernote as my organizational tool. Design, Technology, Writing, 2011-08-09T23:30:41+00:00 http://awritings.com/log/note/vanguard-of-neo-analog-culture I appreciate Mr. Tenner’s thoughts and his coined term of “neo-analog culture.” As physical books move away from being vehicles of information to unique objects waiting to be discovered, I would like to understand the true motivation behind the rediscovery of the analog printed object through the push-back of digital media. Bibliophiles have always put a great value on rare editions of books—more as an artifact to be collected. But, what is described in the source article is more akin to a cultural study of human interaction in the form of the hand-crafted printed object. Is the motivation sentimentality? Nostalgia? Historicism? A pursuit of authenticity? Commentary, Culture, Literature, 2011-08-04T20:53:56+00:00 http://awritings.com/log/note/faster-faster-frame-rates To better understand what a faster frame rate would look like, watch a movie on a 1080p HDTV with a 120hz or greater refresh rate. It is not necessarily an apples to apples comparison, but it gets you close to what you should expect. Two good examples would be the blu-ray discs of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and District 9. Considering the high production values of the former, the audience gets a you are there experience; while the documentary film-style of the latter is well served by the higher refresh rate. It should be noted that Neil Blomkamp shot District 9 on the Red One camera and the Sony EX1 camcorder. Cinema, Commentary, Theory, 2011-04-02T21:35:17+00:00