Diary of a Network Geek

The trials and tribulations of a Certified Novell Engineer who's been stranded in Houston, Texas.

11/28/2014

Self Publish Your Book

Filed under: Art,Fun,NaNoWriMo — Posted by the Network Geek during the Hour of the Snake which is mid-morning or 10:00 am for you boring, normal people.
The moon is Waxing Crescent

Theoretically, if you’re participating in NaNoWriMo this month, you should be just about done with your novel.

I’m going to assume this is true and that you’ll want to publish your novel, eventually and that, in the spirit of NaNoWriMo, you’ll want to do it on your own terms.  So, in that spirit, I’m offering you some resources to self-publish your book.

First, here’s a link to CNET’s article Self-Publishing a Book: 25 Things you need to know by David Carnoy.  It’s…
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5/30/2014

Create Ebooks from Webpages

Filed under: Fun,Fun Work,Things to Read — Posted by the Network Geek during the Hour of the Hare which is terribly early in the morning or 6:33 am for you boring, normal people.
The moon is Waxing Crescent

Okay, this isn’t exactly a new idea, but it’s still worth sharing.

I got this from Lifehacker back in 2012, but I’ve been behind in my link sharing, so I’m just getting to it now.
The idea is simple.  Reading on-line is rarely the best, most comfortable, most convenient way to keep up with all the things we want to read, especially all the “long form” articles that really get in-depth on topics we care about.  That’s where Readlists comes into play.

This…
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10/12/2012

Book, with occasional music

Filed under: Art,Fun,Things to Read — Posted by the Network Geek during the Hour of the Tiger which is terribly early in the morning or 5:55 am for you boring, normal people.
The moon is Waning Crescent

Do you hear music when you read?

No, I don’t mean, “Do play music while you read?”, but, rather, do you hear music, like a movie soundtrack while you read a book?  I know for awhile, I was so immersed in movies and the movie experience that I couldn’t help hearing certain kinds of background noise and sound effects when I read certain kinds of books.  But, what if that happened on purpose?  What if you had a way to synchronize an actual soundtrack, complete with mood music and sound effects, with the book you were reading?

Well, if you read books on your Mac, PC, iPad, iPhone or Android-based e-reader, you actually can, thanks to Booktrack.  They’ve developed an app that will run on all those platforms which will adapt a soundtrack for your book, complete with sound effects, to how fast you read.  The download is free and I’m not sure if there’s a “training period” where the app learns your regular reading speed, but I sure do like the idea!  I’m sure the selection of books is a little limited right now, but, with any luck, more people will show interest and more books will get added to their list.

So, what the heck, it’s Friday!  Turn your volume down and go check it out!

8/3/2012

10 SciFi Books “Everyone” Claims To Have Read

Filed under: Art,Fun,Things to Read — Posted by the Network Geek during the Hour of the Tiger which is terribly early in the morning or 5:17 am for you boring, normal people.
The moon is Waning Gibbous

Okay, that may be going a bit far.

I mean, I know a lot of people who aren’t into science-fiction at all, so they may not claim to have read these books or have any interest at all.  But, they are a pretty good hit-list of interesting ideas in science-fiction.  And, I suppose that’s why the folks over at IO9 probably suggested that instead of claiming to have read these books, that you actually read them.  I’m pleased to say that I’ve read several of the books on the list, though not all, and they do make a good suggested reading list for people interested in science-fiction classics.
IO9’s list of 10 Science-Fiction Novels You Pretend to Have Read (and why you should actually read them) are:

  • [amazon_link id=”0060512806″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Crytptonomicon[/amazon_link] – by Neal Stephenson
  • [amazon_link id=”0441013597″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Dune[/amazon_link] – by Frank Herbert
  • [amazon_link id=”0140188592″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Gravity’s Rainbow[/amazon_link] – by Thomas Pynchon
  • [amazon_link id=”0553382578″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Foundation[/amazon_link] – by Issac Asimov
  • [amazon_link id=”1582344167″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell[/amazon_link] – by Susanna Clarke
  • [amazon_link id=”0452284236″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]1984[/amazon_link] – by George Orwell
  • [amazon_link id=”0486219623″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]First and Last Men and Starmaker[/amazon_link] – by Olaf Stapleton
  • [amazon_link id=”1612420133″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]The Long Tomorrow[/amazon_link] – by Leigh Brackett
  • [amazon_link id=”0375706682″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Dhalgren[/amazon_link] – by Samuel Delany
  • [amazon_link id=”0316066524″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]The Infinite Jest[/amazon_link] – by David Foster Wallace

I’m pleased to say that I’ve read a significant number of these, namely Cryptonomicon, Dune, Johnathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, and 1984.  And, The Infinite Jest is in my To Be Read pile.  I have to admit that I tried reading Foundation, but it just didn’t appeal to me.  I know his work is classic and he was a genius and all, but Asimov’s work always read like a Physics lecture to me.

In any case, there’s a bit more for your Summer reading list to go find and read instead of working on a Friday afternoon.
Enjoy!

 

7/20/2012

More Free eBooks!

Filed under: Art,Fun,Things to Read — Posted by the Network Geek during the Hour of the Tiger which is terribly early in the morning or 5:11 am for you boring, normal people.
The moon is Waxing Crescent

Well, at least if you’re a Kindle user.

Recently, I acquired an older Kindle from a friend who had upgraded and was in the process of shedding “extra baggage” before moving.  I’ve passed it on to the woman I’ve been seeing for the past several months.  (If you’re friends with me on Facebook, you already know this and her name.  And, if you’re not, you don’t need to know her name!)  She loves her “new-to-her” Kindle, of course, and has transferred her books from her PC Kindle app to her new device.  But, we’re both pretty cheap, so when I saw OneHundredFreeBooks.com I got excited for her.  This site, which is updated regularly, as in multiple times a day, shows you Kindle books offered on the Amazon.com US site for free.  Yes, free!
But, of course, prices change, so these books may not stay free.  The only thing the site owner promises is that they were free when he put them up for you.

So, what a great way to add to your Summer reading; free books!
And, you know, since it’s Friday, you know you aren’t really doing anything important, so you might as well go take a look at the books they have listed!

4/15/2003

Hack Your Weight?

Filed under: Fun — Posted by the Network Geek during the Hour of the Hare which is in the early morning or 7:24 am for you boring, normal people.
The moon is Waxing Gibbous

A “Hacker’s Diet“?

Well, why not? It’s actually an interesting e-book written by John Walker, founder of Autodesk, Inc. He approaches weight loss as an engineering problem, as opposed to a moral, physical, or other kind of problem. He really does take a scientific approach to input and output and how that applies to the human body and weight. Besides, the title alone might just get some over-weight hackers to do something about their weight! Sometimes, it takes a wakeup call.
My personal wakeup call was a picture of my gut hanging over my belt. It was a candid shot of me while we were looking at our new house, before we bought it. Thankfully, that was more than 40 pounds ago and now I feel much better. A little less intake, a bunch more output in the way of exercise and some conscious effort was all it took. Well, that and ignoring the grumbles of an empty stomach. Oh, being out of work for most of a year and short of cash helped some, too. It’s amazing what a little fear will do toward curtailing conspicuous consumption!!


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