Archive - Apr 11, 2009
Friend or Fan?
Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on April 11, 2009 - 21:12
Unlike Facebook, Twitter is asymmetrical. Sometimes you follow someone else's twits and they follow yours as well. Sometimes it's just one way. This Friend or Follow site is a cool little thing that shows you who follow that follows you as well ("friend") and who you follow that doesn't follow you back ("following") and finally who follows you that you don't reciprocate with ("fan").
Spring Break at Fort Webcomic-Dale News Roundup
Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on April 11, 2009 - 20:21
TECHNOLOGY
Plastic Logic is a company reportedly working on an e-reader with a big size -- 8.5 x 11 inches - a piece of paper but still thinner than a pad of paper with "a high-quality reading experience". It looks like the earliest we'll see an actual product is the second half of this year. The first version looks like it will be grey-scale but the FAQ does say the company is working on a color version for the future.
INTERVIEWS
Newsarama has an interview with Daniel Govar of recent Zuda winner Azure.
TOOLS
Smashing Magazine has some tips on how to replace Photoshop with the open source GIMP.
COLLECTIVES
The Noir Project is looking for new members.
Webcomic Planet is having a contest -- find the eggs on the websites of members of the Webcomic Planet collective and win a cameo in one of their comics.
JUSTIFY MY HYPE
The Bad Chemicals is single panel mayhem. Often sick AND wrong it is nevertheless funny (say about 4/5ths of the time).
A Survey of Digital Comics Readers
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This article was originally published on webcomics.com in 2008.
Every few years, a traditional comics publisher makes a renewed plunge into the webcomics market. And each time they do, they feel the need to introduce some “revolutionary” new piece of comics presentation software, as if this is what some purely hypothetical online comics industry has been waiting for. “Finally,” we are meant to exclaim, “we can actually read comics online!”
Given how the vast majority of webcomics do just fine as a succession of image files on web pages, it is a curious phenomenon.
A Stray Thought on Digital Comics Hardware
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This article was originally published on webcomics.com in 2008.
When reviewing reader applications for online comics, I was struck by just how much effort Marvel put into solving the problem of presenting vertically oriented comics on a horizontal screen. With multiple layout options, including full page, double page, various zooms, and their elaborate Smart Panels solution, Marvel’s designers might be a bit overly concerned with this problem; after all, most readers don’t get up in arms over vertical scrolls these days. But I do have to admit, it really would be nicer to be able to see a full page of art at a readable size, rather than having to choose between full pages with illegibly small text, or readable text on incomplete pages.
Still, after reviewing five different comics readers, all of which attempt to address this issue to one extent or another, none entirely satisfactorily, I can’t help thinking that the final answer to this issue won’t be new software, but rather new hardware.
New Comic from Zach Weiner and Chris Jones and James Ashby
Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on April 11, 2009 - 10:02
Snowflakes is a new comic with art by Jones and word-stuff by Weiner and Ashby. I had meant to post about this earlier this week but I haven't had time for writing much this week. Anyhow, the comic is pitched as a PG-rated affair and is set in an orphanage where we've met the current cast of orphans. So far so good - I'm curious to see what PG-rated stuff these guys can come up with over time.
