Building on an ongoing theme, it’s only fitting that I mention google office’s new presentation app. Unlike word processing and spreadsheets, I make power point slides fairly often, so I was pretty into the idea of a google-based replacement. The great thing about making slides online is that there’s not need to transfer them from one computer to the next (transferring slides sucks, since on Macs and PCs they may look different). Plus if you collaborate on a presentation (as I often do) everyone can edit the slides online. In fact, you can even gchat while both looking at the slides. Also google office provides automatic back up and version history. The key drawback of using google presentations though is that the app pretty much blows. It’s just nowhere near Powerpoint. For one, it doesn’t automatically resize text, the one things that makes using Powerpoint super fast. It’s true that Apple’s Keynote doesn’t do this either, but the google program doesn’t even let draw lines and boxes or edit themes. This is particularly frustrating since I was able to import existing slides that contained objects I couldn’t edit or create from scratch. I was also surprised I couldn’t embed content using google video (or google images). Putting video in Powerpoint is risky, so this seemed like a potential major selling point. There was also no way to select multiple objects. Anyway, here’s my sample presentation. You need a google account to view it, and also it doesn’t show up correctly in Safari. Hopefully this app will get a lot better real soon.
My another blog: women-look
Tuesday, 18 September 2007
Comic Books Go To the Movies
Comic books have been published in America for nearly 100 years, but they didn’t hit their stride until the 1940s when characters like Superman and Batman were introduced. Now, over 60 years later, comic book movies have become staples of the summer movie season. This year saw the release of “Spider-Man 3,” “Fantastic Four 2” and “Ghost Rider, “(all based on Marvel comic book characters). Plus, the surprise hit of 2007, the Spartan epic, “300,” was based on Frank Miller’s acclaimed 1998 comic book series. These four movies alone have made over $700 million for the bean counters in Hollywood. Not bad for characters that appear in $3 comic books each month.
2008 may be the best year so far for comic book movies, with Will Eisner’s (the father of the American graphic novel) “The Spirit” due in January, “Watchmen,” directed by 300’s Zack Snyder due in March, Robert Downey Jr. as “Iron Man,” Ed Norton as “The Incredible Hulk” and Christian Bale back as Batman facing off against Heath Ledger as The Joker in “The Dark Knight.”
Why have comic book movies become so big in the last decade? “Two reasons,” says Marc Bowker, owner of Alter Ego Comics, a comic book store in Lima, OH. “First, special effects technology has finally caught up with the imaginations of comic book artists.” The Spider-Man films are a perfect example of movies that could not have been done well without the advances in effects technology. (Want proof? Check out “The Chinese Web,” a Spider-Man TV movie made in the 1970s.) The second reason, according to Bowker, “Hollywood has run out of original ideas.” Most of the best films of the last 10 years have been based on existing material – novels, comic books, musicals, etc. Many comic book characters have 25-50 years worth of stories to choose from that would make excellent films.
Movie studios have taken over the biggest comic book convention in the world, The San Diego Comic Con, where they buy up the rights to comic book characters, big and small. The studios also use San Diego to make major casting announcements for comic-related movies and start building buzz around those films. At the 2007 San Diego Comic Con held in July, Zack Snyder was officially announced as the director of “Watchmen,” and key cast members were revealed. Warner Bros. also held a scavenger hunt to promote the 2008 release of the new Batman film, “The Dark Knight.”
The relationship between Hollywood and comic books shows no signs of ending anytime soon. There are dozens of movies based on comic books in active development, including non-super hero comics like Vertigo’s “Y: The Last Man,” and this fall’s “30 Day’s of Night.” As long as the comic book industry keeps creating memorable characters with great stories, Hollywood will be waiting to bring those stories to the big screen.
Sideshow Collectibles and Master Replicas
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Marc_Bowker
Marc Bowker - EzineArticles Expert Author
2008 may be the best year so far for comic book movies, with Will Eisner’s (the father of the American graphic novel) “The Spirit” due in January, “Watchmen,” directed by 300’s Zack Snyder due in March, Robert Downey Jr. as “Iron Man,” Ed Norton as “The Incredible Hulk” and Christian Bale back as Batman facing off against Heath Ledger as The Joker in “The Dark Knight.”
Why have comic book movies become so big in the last decade? “Two reasons,” says Marc Bowker, owner of Alter Ego Comics, a comic book store in Lima, OH. “First, special effects technology has finally caught up with the imaginations of comic book artists.” The Spider-Man films are a perfect example of movies that could not have been done well without the advances in effects technology. (Want proof? Check out “The Chinese Web,” a Spider-Man TV movie made in the 1970s.) The second reason, according to Bowker, “Hollywood has run out of original ideas.” Most of the best films of the last 10 years have been based on existing material – novels, comic books, musicals, etc. Many comic book characters have 25-50 years worth of stories to choose from that would make excellent films.
Movie studios have taken over the biggest comic book convention in the world, The San Diego Comic Con, where they buy up the rights to comic book characters, big and small. The studios also use San Diego to make major casting announcements for comic-related movies and start building buzz around those films. At the 2007 San Diego Comic Con held in July, Zack Snyder was officially announced as the director of “Watchmen,” and key cast members were revealed. Warner Bros. also held a scavenger hunt to promote the 2008 release of the new Batman film, “The Dark Knight.”
The relationship between Hollywood and comic books shows no signs of ending anytime soon. There are dozens of movies based on comic books in active development, including non-super hero comics like Vertigo’s “Y: The Last Man,” and this fall’s “30 Day’s of Night.” As long as the comic book industry keeps creating memorable characters with great stories, Hollywood will be waiting to bring those stories to the big screen.
Sideshow Collectibles and Master Replicas
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Marc_Bowker
Marc Bowker - EzineArticles Expert Author
Monday, 17 September 2007
iPhone Kinda Gets OS X Dashboard Widgets
Erica over at TUAW just managed to get OS X Dashboard widgets working on the iPhone. We say kinda, because some apps (Weather, ESPN and Calendar) work fine, but others work horribly. To get it on your iPhone, you have to upload the Widgets.app, copy over a support folder from your Mac, and then copy over each individual widget manually. See TUAW for further instructions.
Read other blogs: crausen and liligrim
Read other blogs: crausen and liligrim
Friday, 14 September 2007
new comic book
I've been working on a new comic book story these last few weeks and I've got another short one to do for next week as well as some promotional stuff for later this month. Busy, busy! It's been a damn long time....
I listen to music when I draw. Much more productive than TV. Icky Thump by the White Stripes is the shit, I've also gotten into Juliette and the Licks, the new EP 'Is Is' by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and the Life Aquatic Soundtrack.
Drink and Draw tonight. I drew Mike Anderson and Sue from Street Fighter. I tried a new kind of brush pen on Cammy. After a few drinks, I just get so ham-handed and make a frightful mess of things. Pen recommended to me by Sue Chanel and found for me by Mike Anderson.
I listen to music when I draw. Much more productive than TV. Icky Thump by the White Stripes is the shit, I've also gotten into Juliette and the Licks, the new EP 'Is Is' by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and the Life Aquatic Soundtrack.
Drink and Draw tonight. I drew Mike Anderson and Sue from Street Fighter. I tried a new kind of brush pen on Cammy. After a few drinks, I just get so ham-handed and make a frightful mess of things. Pen recommended to me by Sue Chanel and found for me by Mike Anderson.
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