Filed under: Feedback, Harry Potter, Jim Dale, Podcast, Science Fiction, Writing stuff
Well, late yesterday afternoon I finished listening to the audio production of Communion of Dreams. Wow. As I told Scot at OwnMade AudioBooks:
Finished the last disc this evening, before dinner. Was a little disappointed – you need to have a closing spiel like Jim Dale has for the HP books. Seriously. It will add a nice “professional touch”. If you want to tag something onto the end of the last MP3, we can swap it out on the website (about 30 people had downloaded the audio version as of last night – not bad for the first weekend!).
Anyway, you may remember that I worked in radio for a few years before going to grad school. So I had been giving some consideration to doing an audio version myself. I’m really glad I didn’t – you make it sound easy. And I know better.
Your production values are really good – only once in a while would I catch a little ‘canned’ quality, likely from getting a little off from the mic’s sweet spot. A better studio might help here, or better equipment, but it will be marginal. The different voices were pretty identifiable – and only now and again did some of the characterizations seem a little overdone.
In all honesty, for the most part I didn’t notice your reading – it was simply an audio interpretation of the book, and you got me engaged in the story. That’s about the best tribute I can offer.
I know that they’re big files – total of about 1.2 gigabytes. But seriously, download them and give ’em a try. Feel free to burn them to CDs to take on a long car trip or something. As I have mentioned, I find the interpretation that he brings to the work to be a really good additional layer of understanding. And besides, they’re free. If you were to download a comparable amount of music from I-Tunes, it’s cost hundreds of dollars. Such a bargain!
Jim Downey
Filed under: Apollo program, Bad Astronomy, Buzz Aldrin, Government, ISS, movies, NASA, Phil Plait, Science, Science Fiction, Space, Walter Shirra
I’ve written previously about how the early NASA space program filled my youth and fueled my imagination, and how that enthusiasm persisted through the cynicism of young adulthood and even into the more resigned reality of my middle years. To this day, movies such as The Right Stuff and Apollo 13 trigger an upwelling of that excitement, that pride.
Some of the most iconic images from those movies is the actual launch sequence – the ignition of the rocket engines, of brave astronauts riding fire into space. Well, via Phil Plait, here is a wonderful video of the inside of the flight deck of Shuttle Endeavour during the final countdown and into low orbit of STS-123. As the Bad Astronomer says:
You can see three astronauts in their suits preparing for the mission, and it’s really remarkable how they act. They’re clearly excited, but mostly all business. During the actual launch, they seem to be very nonchalant, simply doing what they need to do; it doesn’t look much different then I must look as I fasten my seatbelt, adjust the rear view mirror and pull out of my driveway in my car.
It’s a really odd juxtaposition! All the usual words we hear when we watch a launch are there, but somehow I expected the astronauts to be more animated, more excited. Instead, they mostly just sit there. They look like they’re taking the bus downtown, not a multi-billion dollar rocket into space!
He’s right – but what a magic bus it is! It isn’t nearly as dramatic as the movies noted above make it look to be – it’s actually more like the sort of casual acceptance of spaceflight found in SF. Because for these people, it is reality.
The video is just under 24 minutes long – and most of the ‘action’ takes place during the first five minutes or so (the three minutes before launch, then the first two minutes of flight). Because of our conditioning by movies and television, you might find yourself getting bored by it all – reality seldom comes with dramatic music. But if you sit back, and try to let it sink in that this is actually happening (well, has actually happened, almost two weeks ago), there is almost a sense of awe that sinks in. At least there is for me.
Jim Downey
Filed under: Augmented Reality, Babylon 5, DARPA, Government, J. Michael Straczynski, JMS, movies, Predictions, Science, Science Fiction, tech, Wired, Writing stuff
Of all the many wonderful characters created by J. Michael Straczynski for his Babylon 5 universe, I have always been particularly fond of the Technomage Galen. Why? Well, actor Peter Woodward is just plain cool (he understand real weapons and fighting like few actors or fight directors do – his ‘Conquest‘ series for the History Channel a few years back was one of the best such documentary series I have ever seen). But more than that, the character Galen uses *exactly* the kind of technology that I envision is commonplace in the world of Communion of Dreams: the cyberwear which allows the user a functional augmented reality.
Recently, I wrote about how researchers have made a first important step in this direction, with the development of “a flexible, biologically safe contact lens with an imprinted electronic circuit and lights.”
Well, now Wired is reporting that – surprise, surprise – DARPA is interested in the development of this technology. From the article:
Today, a handful of soldiers with advanced gear can see a few digital maps, through helmet-mounted monocles. Some pilots can get data about their world, on heads-up displays. But one day, troops could see an info-“augmented” reality all around them, with contact lenses that provide “first-person shooter-type video game” environments to those that wear them. At least, that’s the idea behind the latest project from DARPA, the Pentagon’s blue sky science and technology division.
The agency’s Information Processing Techniques Office announced Wednesday that it’s looking for information on “the creation of micro- and nano-scale display technologies for the purpose of creating displays that could be worn as transparent contact lenses.” And not in some far-off future. But in “three to five years.”
Three to five years. As I said in that post in January:
Woo-hoo! I love it when my predictions start to become reality!
Jim Downey
OK, I’m a little less than halfway through the audio files that I’ve written about recently. Listening to the production is really compelling for me, perhaps moreso than it will be for most people, meaning that I get little else done when the thing is on.
Any good artist brings their own interpretation and understanding to their material, whether it is visual, performance, or written. That’s what Scot Wilcox has done with Communion of Dreams. His performance of the text adds something, even for me – and I have been listening to those voices in my head for well-on a decade now. I think that you will also find that it brings another layer to the book, and I would like to encourage all those who have already read the book to download the audio files (they should be available on my site later today). Naturally enough, there will be plenty of people who are introduced to Communion of Dreams by the audio book first, and I think that’s great – feel free to burn copies of the discs to share (it takes 12 CDs). Or if you want to pass along the MP3 files, that’s fine too (just be warned that the files are very large – it took us overnight to upload them to my host.) Scot has explicitly given me permission to share the performance freely.
So, check the site, tell your friends.
Jim Downey
Filed under: Cory Doctorow, NPR, Predictions, Press, Promotion, Publishing, tech, Writing stuff
NPR this morning had a segment on how publishers are starting to figure out that having electronic books posted for free download actually helps them sell conventional printed books.
Well, duh.
No, that’s not directed at NPR. It’s a comment directed towards the publishing industry in general, and a number of the large publishing houses in particular. As the NPR story indicates, there has been plenty of evidence that this works for at least several years, yet getting a large corporation to realize that their business model and mindset have been surpassed by technology is never easy. Just ask Cory Doctorow about his experiences in getting this done with his writing.
Anyway, I’m glad to hear that things are starting to sink in to the conventional publishing world. Downloads of Communion of Dreams are now approaching 8,000 – almost entirely by word of mouth. That has got to help my chances in finding a conventional publisher. And I have you all to thank for that!
Jim Downey
Filed under: Arthur C. Clarke, Book Conservation, movies, Podcast, Predictions, Science Fiction, Society, Space, tech, Writing stuff
I have been *really* enjoying the audio version of Communion of Dreams, which I discussed in my last post. And I think you will too, once we work out some additional logistical things on the hosting end (the files are very large, relative to the .pdf files of the text, and necessitate increasing my bandwidth allotment significantly.) With a little luck, we should have that ready to go by this weekend. My friend’s interpretation of the characters is quite interesting – some of them have caught me a bit by surprise, though I cannot object in the slightest to his artistic decisions. And he is very good, really getting into the pacing and mood of the story the further he goes.
In fact, listening to the book, and the need to catch up on book conservation work from the long break last week through this weekend, is responsible for my not posting anything yesterday. And that’s OK, since I would have been tempted to do what just about every other SF blogger on the planet seems to have done: write a tribute to Arthur C. Clarke.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Beyond being one of the best Science Fiction writers of the 20th century, Sir Arthur had an impact on the larger society, changing not only how we see space, but how we actually use it. It is completely understandable that everyone wants to write about him, and how his writing changed their lives (and writing). I did so in some discussion forums. And I have written about him here, and noted on my CoD site just what his influence has been on me as a writer.
But after I heard of his death all I really wanted to do was sit back and enjoy his vast vision. Tuesday night I popped open a beer, popped 2001 into the DVD player, and paid homage to the narrator of Tales from the White Hart.
Then yesterday, as I worked in my bindery, listening to my own story of humanity’s first encounter with an alien artifact, I thought about Clarke. A lot. And in thinking of him, and all that he accomplished, there was a danger, a tendency: to despair, to feel unworthy, to judge my own writing by his measure. Because I fall short, no matter how you look at it.
But that’s not what it’s all about. We all fall short of the best, at least in some areas. That does not negate the good work we do. Even Arthur C. Clarke had his failings. That does not change the fact that the world now is a poorer place for his absence.
Farewell, my old friend and mentor, though we never met.
Jim Downey
Filed under: Book Conservation, Feedback, Marketing, Podcast, Promotion, Publishing, Science Fiction, tech, U of Iowa Ctr for the Book, Writing stuff
A good friend – the one who actually got me started in book conservation (and has written a brilliant book on her time in the UICB program) – was by to visit for the first time in a long while. No discredit to her, we were just unable to have guests for the last year or two of caring for Martha Sr.
Anyway, last night, over a glass of wine and chatting, she handed over a wrapped package. “Your Christmas gift.”
(We’ve always been close enough friends that such things can be done whenever the timing works out, rather than obsessing over calendar pages.)
I unwrapped it. A small CD/DVD travel case. I unzipped it – and saw the first disc labeled “Communion of Dreams by James T. Downey.”
I was stunned. Gobsmacked, the Brits say.
My friend’s husband (also my friend – I’ve known them since they were first married) does custom audio books. He’d read Communion of Dreams last year, and really liked it. And together they conspired to produce the book as an unabridged audio production. 12 CDs worth.
I’m not sure yet just how long that is – I’m guessing about 20 hours. I just listened to the first chapter last night – and it was brilliant! A wonderful adaptation of the text, with some fun interpretations of the characters. Over the next few days I’ll get nothing much else done, I’m guessing, as I listen to the thing. Wow.
And here’s the best part: I have permission to use the MP3 versions that also came along with the gift as podcasts!
My good lady wife is starting to do the work of adapting my CoD site to host the MP3 files, and once we have all the details worked out, those will be available as a free download as well.
This is really cool – and really exciting! Just this past weekend downloads of the text of the book surpassed 7,750. I was just starting to think of contacting agents/publishers again – now having the podcasts of the book available will really help to promote the thing and make it easier to arrange conventional publishing.
Very, very cool!
Jim Downey
Filed under: BoingBoing, Civil Rights, Cory Doctorow, General Musings, Genetic Testing, Government, movies, Philip K. Dick, Predictions, Privacy, Science Fiction, Society, tech, Travel
Primary school children should be eligible for the DNA database if they exhibit behaviour indicating they may become criminals in later life, according to Britain’s most senior police forensics expert.
Gary Pugh, director of forensic sciences at Scotland Yard and the new DNA spokesman for the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo), said a debate was needed on how far Britain should go in identifying potential offenders, given that some experts believe it is possible to identify future offending traits in children as young as five.
‘If we have a primary means of identifying people before they offend, then in the long-term the benefits of targeting younger people are extremely large,’ said Pugh. ‘You could argue the younger the better. Criminologists say some people will grow out of crime; others won’t. We have to find who are possibly going to be the biggest threat to society.’
“We have to find who are possibly going to be the biggest threat to society” . . . and turn them into criminals by the way we treat them from the very start.
The Minority Report, anyone? No, not the movie, which was OK, but the original short story by Philip K. Dick, which also shows the dangers of a post-war military regime/mindset to a civil society.
See, here’s the thing: people will largely react to the way you treat them (yes, I am generalizing.) If you take one set of people, and treat them like criminals from early childhood, guess what you’ll get?
I am constantly dismayed by just how much Great Britain has become a surveillance society, to the point where it is a dis-incentive to want to travel there. In almost all towns of any real size, you are constantly within sight of multiple CCTV cameras, and there is increasing use of biometrics (such as fingerprint ID) as a general practice for even routine domestic travel.
But getting DNA of all five year olds, under the excuse that it will better allow for catching criminals? Scary. To then match that up with the notion that you can predict the future behaviour of a 5 year old, based on someone’s model of personality development is just plain insane.
And you know that if they can pull this off in Britain, there will be plenty of people who think it should be instituted here.
Welcome to the future.
Jim Downey
(Via BoingBoing. Cross-posted to UTI.)
Well, in spite of my optimism in my last post, it took us three full days to get through the first set of ammo/caliber tests, about one-third of the total we’re doing for this extensive research project.
Why? Well, we kept running into a number of minor problems which would slow us down as we thought through how to resolve them. Most of these pertained to difficulties with the base platform on which the whole tests are being conducted: a Thompson/Center Encore pistol. Don’t get me wrong – the gun is great, and the custom gunsmithing we had done on it to make it more suitable for our testing was fine. For the most part. But with any new gun, it takes a little while to get used to it, to learn what quirks and special needs it has. And in this case, the interchangeable custom 18″ barrels also complicated things, once they started getting chopped short. (For a basic description of the project, check here.) There were two main problems which cropped up: difficulty in managing a gun in which the (very) short barrel is essentially hidden by a shroud; and aiming such a beast.
The original design had no sights whatsoever on it – well, when you are aiming an 18″ barrel down the range and only need to be able to hit a dinner-plate sized target 15′ away, it should be simple, right? It was. But as the sight radius dropped lower, it became increasingly difficult to aim the thing. Particularly since the way the individual barrels mounted into the gun uses a large knurled nut – which would randomly obscure your vision. Add in the fact that while our cut-off saw was quick and effective for chopping the barrels one inch at a time, it was not a gunsmith-quality tool. We would ‘dress’ the chopped barrels, to remove slight burrs and whatnot, but even a slight angle on the chop can throw off a bullet. Basically, after each cut, we would have to learn all over how to point the thing, and hope for the best.
Which led to some hilarious results. All three of us – with over a century of combined experience in shooting all manner of weapons under a wide variety of conditions – actually managed to clip the vanes of the two chronographs (the bits that stick up like old television antennas). I got two vanes within about four shots – one on each side!
Our first effort to get around this aiming problem was to install a Weaver rail on the top of the pistol barrel housing (into which the individual barrels mount). This 4″ long U-shaped mount protruded past the front of the barrel, and in theory would give us something to sight down. In theory. But just when we would learn how using it related to where the bullets went, the thing would loosen up and shift a bit – and we didn’t have the appropriate loc-tite stuff needed to secure it.
We did finish up testing three full calibers, though: .380 ACP, 9mm Luger, and .40 S&W. Altogether, we recorded data for almost 2,000 rounds, including a number of ‘benchmark’ rounds to test the chronographs, as well as a data for several ‘real world’ pistols we own. And each round had data from two chronographs, specs from the ammo (bullet weight, lot #, manufacturer, brand), ambient temperature, and any additional notes we felt were needed. A lot of work, not always under the best weather conditions (yesterday it rained all day, and temps were in the mid 30s with a stiff wind).
But we got through it, and already this data would be a priceless contribution to the gun-using world. And it was a load of fun to do, working with two other people who are more knowledgeable than I am about guns (and I’m no neophyte) and share my joy at coming up with solutions to practical problems. As my buddy Steve said, there were enough difficulties come up to keep it from ever getting in the least way boring.
Combine the hard work and concentration of conducting the tests for 8-9 hours a day with evenings of good companionship, and I am one tired puppy. I’m glad that we won’t be conducting the next round of tests until the beginning of April.
But wow – when this is all done, documented, graphed, and put on a website for free access to anyone interested in the result – people are going to go nuts.
Or so I hope.
Jim Downey
Communion Of Dreams 