JanerBlog

That Kindle Text-to-speech vs Audiobook argument.

Recently, there's been a lot of discussion over whether the text-to-speech reader in the new Kindle 2 constitutes a violation of copyright. Here's the basic argument: If you purchase an e-book for your Kindle, and use the TTS reader to have the Kindle read it aloud to you, that creates a derivative work without the permission of the author or publisher, (i.e., you're using the work in a manner that neither the author or the publisher intended).

I can see the point here, but I think the argument's largely nonsense, and many other prominent authors agree. Rather than link to them individually, I'm going to send you over to this very well-reasoned and well-written rebuttal by Wil Wheaton, who not only links to the other authors' opinions, but also demonstrates the point by first reading a passage from his new book, and then having it read over a TTS reader on his Mac. Make sure to listen to the whole MP3 -- it's about 10 minutes long, but it's an excellent demonstration, and the passage Wheaton chooses is excellent as well.

He also defends the "Oh, well someday computers will be able to do voice inflections just fine and then we'll really be in trouble it's a slippery slope after all" argument well in his comments section, as does Neil Gaiman in this post over here. Good reading.

How not to behave after seeing Slumdog Millionaire

Via BossyMarmalade. I'm sending you there because I just don't know what else to say about stuff like this.

I think I'll be reading the book this movie's based on, instead of seeing the movie.

Radium-free steamery

It took a while for me to get around to it, but today I brought a pile of returned steampunk jewelry up to Western's Chemistry department to be scanned for radium. The good news is that every piece came out squeaky-clean, no problems whatsoever. If you sent me jewelry, expect it in the mail soon.

The other good news is that I walked off with this:

Y'see, the Radiation Safety Officer received two of these guys as a donation from a Big Local Company. He was going to scrap them (send them out to be recalibrated and donated somewhere else), but he decided to give me one of my very own. It's not going to give me precise measurements, but if I decide to buy any other watch parts, it'll be responsive enough to tell me if I've got anything radioactive.

Plus, it'll make an outstanding prop for costumery of all sorts.

Man, I live a really weird life.

A Breach of Peace

Kalamazoo Public Library hosted a talk by Miller Green, one of the Freedom Riders, in support of the new book, A Breach of Peace. Powerful stuff, and causes me to re-examine how little social justice work I've been doing in the last four years.

Tartsville, redux

Hey, does anyone besides me miss the community that used to surround the Sequential Tart messageboards?

If so, go on over to the new LJ community, Tartsville.

I made so many friends through ST, some (*choke*) ten years ago when I was still slaving away on the first Vögelein book. The internets have largely moved away from message boards (with the exception of a few mega-blogs, like SA) and into social networks and individual blogs. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I still miss the original Warren Ellis Delphi Forums (the WEF) and what Tartsville once was. It's pretty useless to try and revive a zombie-board, but maybe the LJ approach will garner new fans and foster new conversations.

I've been stewing a lot lately about my relationship with Comics-as-a-whole, and trying to find where I can fit in, these days. I never fit anywhere as well as I did in Tartsville, and I hope that community will continue to reach out to the upcoming group of female creators as openly and warmly as it did to me, a decade ago.

Thanks to BossyMarmalade and all the rest for starting this new community. Now go join up!

WisCon?

Hey, is anyone around here interested in attending WisCon this year? I've never been, but I'm interested in going this year because it seems to be a place where a lot of good conversations will be happening. It's a 5-hour drive from Kalamazoo, and it sure would be nice to share that trip with someone.

Two blog carnivals

One to read now:
Tell it WOC Speak: Hear us Roar, a blog carnival for Women of Color, organized by Renee of Womanist Musings. Contains Deepa D.'s excellent essay "I Didn't Dream of Dragons," along with many other excellent reads.

And one to read soon:
Call for Submissions: The first Asian Women Blog Carnival, organized by Ciderpress.

Scalzi weighs in on GRRM

You know, after reading this, This is not to equate myself with GRRM (nor to divorce myself from the group of fans that really wants to read Dance with Dragons), but it does enforce the concept that it's better to have a book done right than done fast. The comics industry trains us to expect new work every month -- but that's from company-produced books made by teams of creators working full-time. Me, I'm just slogging away after spending eight hours at the day-job, trying to make something worth reading.

If there's one regret I have about Vögelein:Old Ghosts, it's that I didn't have another six months to sit on it and then run it through the strainer one last time. . Other people are much more prolific and much faster than I am; I have sped up my page rate considerably, but I'm still a slacker compared to folks like Colleen and Carla. I just have to come to grips with the fact that I can only create so fast, and that it's better to be happy with a slower work than churn out something I'll wish was better, later.

YAY PUBLIC TEE VEE

I was flipping through channels this evening, thoroughly disgusted with the state of non-cable television, and was about to give up, when I remembered I hadn't checked the local PBS affiliate.

Paul jumped a couple inches as I immediately shouted "Holy shit, that's Jake von Slatt!"

A few minutes later, after a very nice piece on Steampunk culture, Jake's workshop, and how to do brass-etching, the show's bumper came on between segments. Paul jumped again as I shouted "Holy shit, Make has a TV show now?!"

Seriously, why didn't anyone think of this sooner? Make Magazine and PBS are totally made for each other. Let's hope they stay BFFs for a long time to come.

Laura Hudson Hearts FINDER

Hey, you all already know how I feel about Carla's work -- but it's always good to know I'm not alone in my lurve.

Dang, Jay Smooth

Another one out of the park:

More links to think about

Ciderpress' profoundly important essay on being someone else's "learning experience".

A comment from that post, on being thanked for your oppression.

Another impressive post by Deepa D., followed by a tremendous set of quotes and poems and videos and song lyrics.

A comment from that post, on the "Fail Better" quotation I used earlier.

Comparing these links with my previous posts only highlights how much I still have to learn. This iteration of the Cultural Appropriation Debate ended with a whole lot of hurting, and little of it mine, save for the sting of self-recognition when other White people were acting like jackasses. Not acknowledging others' hurt while leaving my last public statement on the matter essentially as oh wow I'm learning so much is a pretty lousy thing to do. Thank you, writers, for your bravery and honesty, and for taking the time and energy and personal risk in putting posts like these out there. Your work is so very important.

Aw, Goddamnit, Barack.

Remember how I said that, while we should take time to celebrate the genuine achievement of his election, eventually the Obama administration would foul up good and we'd find reason to start criticizing them?

Well, it happened yesterday. I mean, I knew there'd be disappointments and all, but I didn't think they'd be this big and this soon. Man.

Some days the internet brings you good things

Because I am still in STFU&L mode (because I am still working through my own mental Long Tail after the Great Cultural Appropriation Debate, and there are already too many posts by White people finally learning to parse their privilege), I present a really good blog that I'm reading closely: Womanist Musings by Renee. It's really, really good stuff.

Also, did you know that there's a free podcast with all the TED Talks on it? Video and audio. I listened to about twenty individual podcasts over the weekend, and boy are they good.

It's good for me to stop and listen to people who are way smarter than me.

One too many Cobenzls.

I was doublechecking some facts tonight about the end of Kempelen's life, and son of a gun, if I didn't pick the wrong Count Cobenzl for the opening scene. Even if I had got the right Cobenzl, I apparently completely overlooked his dates of birth before I sat down to draw -- Ludwig Graf von Cobenzl, the one I picked originally, would've been seventeen when he played the automaton, not fiftysomething as I drew him. The correct Cobenzl, Philipp Graf von Cobenzl, would've been twenty-nine, which is better: that means I can just subtract some wrinkles "in post" and I should be fine. But still. This error would've slipped through the cracks if I hadn't suddenly added an extra scene to the tail-end of Kempelen's life, wherein Cobenzl makes a surprise re-appearance.

The most important question here is, of course: why the hell do I care about stupid minutia like this?!

Seriously, I have the most nerdiest life ever.

A long-overdue promo link --

Last week it occurred to me that I'd never gotten around to giving Rich Watson's new webcomic its proper talking-up. This is especially rotten of me, considering that Rich has been one of my earliest and most fervent supporters -- he even gave me a very nice nod in his most recent year-end wrap-up.

For those of you unfamiliar with Rich's earlier work as a comics creator, you may recognize him from his more recent and prominent contribution to the field -- he's the guy who founded the Glyph Awards. I've long admired Rich on many levels -- he's an outstanding human being, a talented artist, a thorough and respectful journalist, and perhaps most important of all, he's out there every week putting his time and energy into making comics a more open, wide-ranging and diverse medium. He's a proud champion of underdog and indie books, and without his coverage, many great small-press books would go unnoticed. (And did I mention he created the Glyph Awards?) He's also been promising to start up a new webcomic for literal years now, and the rest of us midwestern small-pressers have all been egging him on to get going already.

So you can imagine my pleasure and excitement when he announced his return to comics with City Mouse Goes West. It's part autobiography, part slice-of-life, and part local political commentary: a pleasant mix of storytelling topics that cover Rich's move from New York City, where he was born and raised, to his new home in Columbus, Ohio, and all the changes and transitions that await him there. Like: a distinct lack of public transportation. The Columbus Dispatch ran a nice story on him a few months ago, and you can read the whole thing here.

So yes, everyone take a second and go check out Rich's work if you haven't seen it yet. Rich is one of those folks in comics whose work passes too often unnoticed. So go notice him already! He's worth it. Plus, if more people notice, he'll keep making more comics, and that'll make the world a better place.

25 things about me. ME ME ME.

Facebook x-post time, since I'm lazy and the blog has been light on posts lately. Enjoy.

1) I abhor memes. I really don't care which Beatle I am or how many lines I recognize from Princess Bride. The only reason I'm doing this one is because everyone else's answers were so interesting. And no, I'm not tagging anyone.

2) The hardest part about doing this was finding things to say about myself that don't make me sound fussy or whiny. Uh.

3) I am happier now than I have ever been in my entire life. Probably my entire life put together. I need to remember that more often.

4) The most recent movie I've seen is Pan's Labyrinth, and it just about did me in. I cried for a while afterwards because it was the bleakest thing I'd seen since Brazil. But it was also gorgeous and stunning and really well made. I wouldn't change a thing about it, but I may not ever feel strong enough to watch it again. It's also the first movie that ever made me cover my eyes and not watch a scene -- twice -- both for elements of extraordinary human violence.

5) For all the times I've tried to learn, and for all the tunes I know, I still can't read music past puzzling out treble-clef one slow note at a time, like a hunt-and-peck typist. A proper understanding of modes and key signatures still eludes me, regardless of how many times friends have explained them. I don't get it either.

6) I've never drunk a major-label domestic beer. This is due in large part to the fact that I was a teetotaler until I was 23, and when I finally did start drinking, my friends started me on really good stuff like ten-year-old port and double-bock microbrews. I have good friends.

7) I have a 12-year-old bachelor's degree from Eastern Michigan University: a double-major in literature and life drawing (which I love referring to as "a degree in drawing naked people"). The education quality was pretty crummy (with the exception of a couple amazing teachers), the degree was pretty much useless for anything but a career in making comics as a hobby, but the friends that I made there are the best friends I've ever had, and I'm still in close touch with most of them.

8) I wish that, instead of telling me I was a smart kid, teachers would've told me that I was a hard worker. It would have made learning difficult things easier.

9) I have a love/hate relationship with technology. I adore technology that does what I want it to, but I despise technology that intrudes on my life without my permission. Hence, I love my old-school iPod because all it does is play music, but I will probably never own a smartphone because of its constant demands on my attention. Facebook is already grating on me, but it has its purposes.

10) I am ready to stop swearing as much as I do, because I know how juvenile it sounds. However, it's a really fucking hard habit to break.

11) I heavily abuse the words "really" and "awesome". And "dude". Goto 10.

12) I met my husband at a comics convention when he reviewed my portfolio. Six years later he finally realized I liked him, but not before other people openly assumed we were already dating.

13) For as many years as I've spent making comics, I'm still caught in a perpetual spin-cycle of being amazed at how much I've accomplished on my own, while still never feeling accomplished enough to deserve a spot at the big kids' table. I need to get over this.

14) My younger twin brothers and I used to fight constantly as kids, to the point where my parents would never leave us alone together. As adults, however, we've really grown to enjoy each other's company, and I'm excessively happy about this, because my brothers are both really great people.

15) My first job, which lasted three summers, was selling peaches from a roadside stand. Ten years later, church ladies still called me "Peaches".

16) I am incapable of sneezing fewer than three times in a row. My average is seven, and my record (so far) is sixteen.

17) Glen Alt in County Sligo, Ireland is the most beautiful place I've ever seen in my life. Nothing before or since has even come close.

18) All of my favorite comfort foods are from different Asian countries: Bi bim bop, oyako don, pho, pad thai, tom yum gai. Forget mac and cheese, pass the chirashi sushi.

19) I believe strongly that every omnivore should, at some point in their life, be handed a live chicken and a hatchet and get told to make dinner. I think there would be many more vegetarians if people were forced to reckon with the realities of their diet.

20) I continually struggle with my faith. For the last ten years I've felt most at home with the Quakers and their absence of dogma, but I still have trouble with certain tenets of their system. While I'm glad that I'm constantly re-evaluating my beliefs, I wish I felt more sure of the path I was on.

21) I have a hard time respecting people that can't have a good heated debate and still come away as friends. Even if I wholeheartedly disagree with you, that doesn't mean I don't want to hear your opinion, and I hope you'll want to hear mine. I've had my mind changed many times by a rigorous discussion, and I treasure friends who challenge my opinions and force me to see the holes in my defenses.

22) I'm a thrift-store/eBay obsessive. Buying 90% of my clothing and entertainment pre-owned lets me splurge on expensive food and occasional big-ticket items (like printing graphic novels), which means a lot more to me than if my jeans are name-brand.

23) While I have reasonably good luck with my garden, I will kill just about any plant that I bring indoors. If I don't neglect it to death, the cat will inevitably eat it.

24) I don't own any makeup, with the exception of this one tube of concealer that I got from being in a wedding four years ago. I still occasionally use it if I get a nasty breakout. I have also never changed the color of my hair, with the exception of one St. Patrick's Day dare. I joke with my mother that I will have grey hair before she does.

25) When other people tell me how much time they spend just watching television or sitting around doing nothing, it makes me wish there were a way for me to purchase their idle time for my own use. Not them -- just their hours. I clearly need a clone.

Man, once you take off the privilege goggles, everything looks different

Paul and I rewatched one of my absolute favorite movies last night, The Commitments.

In light of The Great Cultural Appropriation Debate of DOOM 2009 (TM), however, it read as a completely different movie from the one that I fell in love with as an Ireland-obsessed highschooler.

Wow.

Still mulling over the implications from this. There's a really fantastic essay about this in the book Soul by Monique Guillory and Richard C. Green that's really worth reading.

I still love the movie -- even with the privilege goggles off. It certainly holds up better than Blues Brothers, which I rewatched a couple months ago and couldn't get past the image of all the marginalized Black superstars crunched into supporting roles for the White guys. But it does give me a lot to think about.

Boy, *that* was no fun.

For about a half-hour this morning, we thought my cubemate was dead. Turns out that another man with his exact same name who lived in Battle Creek died in a car wreck last night. Then cubie came walking in and everything was okay.

Not a good way to start the workweek.