Recently I received an email about renewing the hosting for Team Hamster Hat. Since we haven't been updating as regularly these days it seemed like it might be a waste to renew. Still, I think we've got some great stuff on the site so I wanted to keep it available. The solution? Move the site! I created a new subdomain on this server and moved the whole Team Hamster Hat operation to the Dinosaurs Eat Everybody server. Now all your THH can be met here at http://thh.dinosaurseateverybody.com. We might still post updates every once in a while, so keep an eye out.

So, this summer has been incredibly busy, despite not having classes. With the comic to draw every week, several camping/outdoorsy trips, moving, and various get-togethers with friends I've been booked pretty solid these days.

The comic is going really well so far. I'm having a lot of fun writing/drawing it and I'm learning more about comics with each on I draw. I bought Making Comics by Scott Mccloud and that was really helpful. I'm trying to draw whenever I can to help improve my art, which is still developing and still takes a LONG time to do. I'm excited about where the story is going and I have big plans for it, hopefully it won't be too hard to keep it up once school starts up again.

The move is also going well. With the help of Josh, Chris, Rich, and the old neighbors we got all our stuff moved over to our new apartment. It's a really cool looking 2 bedroom place in Wrigleyville (right in the heart of Boystown). The previous residents were artists and had spent the last 16 years remodeling the place as their own live-in art project. We're still unpacking and getting things set up, but we want people to come visit soon! We're working pretty hard to get things pretty much together this week because my dad's side of the family is having a big get-together this weekend and a few people might need to stay with us on Friday.

The American Autumn is playing shows again, which is totally rad. Things have been going great with the new lineup and we're starting writing again, too. The new songs have a little different feel and utilize a lot of piano (which is pretty fun!). It looks like we'll be playing quite a bit in August and September, so keep an eye out for more shows.

It really feels like the summer is ending quickly. August is already looking really busy and school starts up again in early September. Then things will really pick up...

So, as I've mentioned through several other forms of online communication, I launched my webcomic, Mount Saint Awesome, last Friday. It's a comic about a couple of people in their 20's who want to get back into playing music, so they start a band. Obviously, the idea is based on my own experiences of playing in bands over the years, but hey, write what you know, I guess! So far it's been a lot of fun to work on and I'm excited about where I can take this. I have a lot of plans to create extra content (like the Metal Band Name Generator) to augment the comic every once in a while. This should be a great outlet for artistic, musical, and nerdy ideas.

If you're not already doing so, you should follow the comic on Facebook and Twitter. I also have an RSS feed set up here (which required some fun new tweaks to WordPress's RSS generator). The comic updates every Monday, so be sure to bookmark it!

Eventually I may ask some friends to do guest comics in case things get really busy during the school year, but I'll have a solid archive by then. I have a few people in mind, but if anybody is interested, let me know and I'll contact you when I'm ready to start thinking about storing up supplies (err.. comics) for the long cold Winter (errr... Fall).

So I'm getting a little obsessive about this comic project (that I discussed in my last post). I spent almost all of last Friday working on the website and it ended up being much more custom coding that I had originally assumed (which is how almost everything works out). I had originally planned to use the ComicPress theme/plugin for WordPress to manage the back end/display/archive/everything for this, but after playing around with it for a while it just wasn't working the way I wanted to run my comic. The blogpost/comic association wasn't working the way I had envisioned and the file naming was to the convention I wanted (yes, these are valid concerns to someone like me). So fueled by too much coffee and some base code I had written for other projects I wrote a quick set of interface functions that allowed me to manage my comic (the way I wanted) with out-of-the-box WordPress. I'm pretty happy with the way things fit together. The navigation, blog post, and archive functionality all piece together in the way I really wanted and I can still use WordPress to manage all the content. It's not perfect and it's not something I could package up and distribute, but it works the way I want it to and I can build a site around it.

This Friday I would like to finish the site design and get it all built and looking ready to launch. I've got enough comics drawn to launch but I'd like to have a few more as a buffer. I've also finished building the first piece of "extra content" to go with one of the comics, which was really fun. I'm excited about this project, but also nervous about the commitment it's going to take to keep it updated. Drawing is still hard and I have a lot of work to do in order to improve. The art will be changing a lot over the first few strips. I'm learning a lot about both drawing and digitizing my art. Every comic is a chance to try something new.

When is this going to launch? I'd like to say in about a week, but it really depends on how much work I can get done this week/weekend.

In other project related news, Juli finished the GIGS Feed icon designs and the look awesome! As soon as I get a final hi-res version I'll post it. Thanks Juli!

July 6th, 2010|1:02pm

You're Welcome!

Juli

So, one of my big projects this summer is something I've talked/thought about for a while; a webcomic.  I've been casually thinking about a theme/characters for a while, but knowing how much time it takes to do it right I never really wanted to get started.  After classes finished up this year I finally sat down and got serious about the whole comic idea and I've been having quite a bit of fun with it.  I've talked to a few people about the basic idea, as well as some large scale plans for this project, but so far I've just been figuring out my characters, writing scripts, and trying to work out my drawing process.

I currently have 2 strips finished (I'm trying to build up a good archive before I launch) and the 2nd one is much better than the 1st (and I assume the 3rd will be much better than the 2nd).  It still takes me a really long time to draw and I'm still working out the details of how I want to do everything (what size to ink at, line weight, where to color, how I want to do speech bubbles, how to work with this type of layout, etc) as well as the obvious challenge of drawing stuff that looks like the stuff it's supposed to look like.  I started coloring in Illustrator on the last comic and I really like it, it looks pretty good and saves a lot of time.  These first few comics are definitely a big learning process and will probably look pretty different from each other as I try new things.  I'm trying not to go back and change earlier comics based on new techniques because I feel like I could just do that forever (though I might recolor the first comic because I've already changed the color of the walls and couch I'm using in the background).

The really nerdy part of me is pretty excited to build out the site (most likely a back end of WordPress + ComicPress with a custom built front end), but that will be a pretty big undertaking itself (and will need to be squeezed in with other web development projects I have this summer).   Things have been moving forward slowly, but steadily and I'm happy to say that I've been pretty good at sticking with this so far.  I really hope I can see this through and make it as cool as it looks in my head.  I'm planning on taking a drawing class this summer, so hopefully that will help out with this comic.  I'm waiting to have a few comics backlogged (probably about 5) before I launch this.  I'm not sure how long this will take, but I'm hoping to do it soon.  There's a lot I want to do with this project and I really want to make sure that it sees the light of day!

June 24th, 2010|1:16pm

Did the DB move work?

Dave

With classes now over for the summer (woo!), I've been really excited to get working on a bunch of projects that have had to take a back seat to other responsibilities.  Recently I've been getting more and more into the GIGS Feed idea that I started last year.  The spec for the language is pretty much set right now and I really just need to write some good documentation about the elements and how to use it.

Last night I finally got the GIGS Parser library that I've been writing up to a point where I would consider calling it a "beta" version (meaning, it works as far as I can tell, but nobody besides me has ever used it).  I've been using Google Code as a central location/subversion server for this project, so it's been kind of fun to learn about open source project hosting a bit through that.  The GIGS Parser library is basically a few files that you would include in your website so that you can use the GIGSParser class to open and display a table of shows, read from a GIGS Feed ( probably a .gigs file).  A download of the code is available on the GIGS Parser project site.

Once I finish documenting the GIGS specs and have a proper website displaying the information I'm going to start contacting bands and band related websites to see if I can spark any interest in the format.  I'll also be building a GIGS Feed generator service, because right now The American Autumn website is the only site out there that generates a GIGS Feed for shows.  Juli agreed to help me out by designing the GIGS icon (similar to the RSS icon), which is very awesome because Juli is an Adobe Illustrator master.

It would be really awesome if I could get this format to really catch on and see it used by some major sites like MySpace, PureVolume, and last.fm.  I think something like this would really make life easier for a lot of artists (and fans). Even if it doesn't take off I've learned a lot working on it and had quite a bit of fun.

I've got a few other projects that I'm getting really excited to work on (both for myself and for other people).  I'll start talking more about those when they start really coming together.  This summer is going to busy and fun and hopefully very productive!

June 14th, 2010|3:27pm

I think this project is pretty awesome, and I hope you can get some interest. If (when) we get The Van Goghs website up and running, I'll be using this, without a doubt!

bryan

Often we are able to take a look back at "brilliant" tech and chuckle about how absurd it was that people could be all that excited about these retrospectively ridiculous ideas.  Often times these ideas seemed to solve real problems or add real value.  Maybe they weren't even bad products, but they just missed a crucial sticking point in becoming "the next big thing".

Because I am a big important internet personality and my opinions matter, I would like to make my predictions here about 3 technologies that seem awesome now, but will show up on several lists of "The 2010's Biggest Tech Flops".

3D TV

3D TV is like a flying car.  It should be totally awesome and you almost feel guilty for not wanting it more because it looked so cool in Back To The Future Part II, but when you really think about using it in day to day life it seems kind of dumb.  Most movies/TV shows really aren't made any better by being in 3D and nobody wants to put on special glasses to watch The Office.  Even big budget eye candy movies only gain a negligible benefit from being in 3D. 3D is a novelty, it' was kind of fun to see Avitar in 3D Imax, but the amount of times I want to see something in 3D in no way justifies having a TV in my house that supports it.  HD TV worked because it was an upgrade similar to that of CDs compared to tapes.  There was a real quality difference and additional benefits (also the industry embraced it pretty well).  I really think people are going to look back on ads like this and laugh at what "we" thought the future of TV would be.

LCD eBooks

I've talked before about how much I like my Kindle, and I've recently gotten to play with the eBook app on the iPad (and apparently this is coming to the new iPhone, too).  I think this is another example of end users getting excited over the wrong things in a technology.  Yes, Apple's iBook interface looks a million times better than the Kindle.  No I don't think that eye fatigue is as big of an issue as most people make it out to be in the LCD vs eInk discussion.  But, I do think that for digital books eInk (or something similar to it) will be the prevailing technology.  Books are not movies.  Books are not photos.  Books have a tangible hurdle to overcome in winning people over to the digital space that music did not.  Reading on my Kindle is like listening to music on iPod.  When I first started using my iPod it just wasn't a different experience than listening to music on my CD player, it was just more robust.  The same is true with reading an eInk screen.  I don't think about the fact that I'm reading on a screen until I'm able to do things that I couldn't do on a dead tree book.  The technology needs to advance quite a bit and device makers need to really up their game on interface design, but in the end I see devices like the Kindle or Nook being the dominant digital reading devices much more over something like an iPad or other tablet computers.  (which leads into my final prediction)

Tablet Computers

This is something else I just don't see being that big.  A lot of people are excited about tablets.  As of writing this over 2 million iPads have been sold and I just saw an article today about how Ubuntu wants to get into the tablet OS market.  I admit, the iPad is fun, tablets are pretty cool but they seem to create more problems than they solve.  Yes, bringing a tablet on a plane would be nice way to watch a movie, but in most situations a tablet is an awkward device.  You can't really walk and use it as much as phone, setting it down on a desk and using it is less ergonomic than a laptop would be.  It's technically more probable than a laptop, but you can't put it in your pocket, you still need some sort of bag to carry in.  The ergonomics of tablet use were such an issue that Gizmodo did a whole predictive piece how how people would hold the iPad, back before they launched.  Tablets, while an interesting form factor right now, just seem like they don't really bring much to the table.  Right now having a tablet doesn't negate the need for a smart phone and/or laptop in most situations.  They seem like a solution for a problem that doesn't really exist.

June 10th, 2010|1:09pm

Getting an iPad after owning an iPhone seems kind of like buying a brick phone after owning one of those little Nokias everyone had in 2002. It's not a perfect analogy, but I can't shake the image of someone trying to talk on an iPad like it's a big iPhone. Couple that with the resurgence of 3D movies/tv and all the girls who are wearing American Apparel leggings as though they were pants (stretch pants, anyone?)... the only logical conclusion is that 2010 is the 80s of the future.

Mike S

June 12th, 2010|4:51pm

Every time I think of 3D television (or see that awesome commercial where the dudes are playing soccer and the ball is coming RIGHT AT THEM!!!), I think of all the banal stuff that people actually watch on TV, like Good Morning America and Anderson 360 and...commercials. And I wonder what the point is. I'm not the tech nerd that you are, but it does make me doubt this technology. Sure, some things would be neat-looking in 3D, but the content wouldn't necessarily be better.

I'm trying to think of an apt metaphor, but everything just ends up sounding stupid. Here's the best I've got: 3D television, to me, is like adding some neat technology to your microwave that makes it look like your food is dancing while it's cooking; sure, it's amusing to watch your green beans boogie, but they're nothing more than steaming green beans when you take them out.

Dane!

So as I may have mentioned in the past, I am a fan of both Ayn Rand novels and the Kindle.  When I  got my Kindle one of the first books I purchased was The Fountainhead.  I've read it a number of times, but I like to reread it every once in a while, as I tend to get something new from it each time.  When I bought this book from Amazon it was  $5.99 (and Atlas Shrugged was $9.99).  These are pretty standard prices for Kindle books and even though I own dead tree versions of both of these, it seemed worth the novelty of buying one for my Kindle (I still haven't bought Atlas Shrugged).

I was looking through my recent Kindle purchases and when I clicked on The Fountainhead I noticed that the Kindle price had shot up to $27.99 and the title had been changed to  "The Fountainhead (Centennial Edition HC)".  Atlas Shrugged has received similar treatment.  I'm not sure when this change was made, but I bought my version of The Fountainhead on April 10th, 2010, so it must have changed sometime after that.  The price of these books has been set by the publisher, Penguin Publishing, and shows a clear misunderstanding of how eBooks work.  There is no such thing as a hardcover eBook. I cannot stress this enough.  These Kindle versions also have the text-to-speech feature disabled, making less valuable than the audiobook version (which sells for $18.35).

I read a comment on another blog discussing this price change implied that a capitalist like Ayn Rand would love this price hike.  Sure, the "heroes" in Rand's novels often want to make as much money as they deserve, but this price increase is totally detrimental to the eBook sales model.  Penguin is charging more for a product that costs less to produce and has fewer features than the dead tree or audiobook versions of these novels.  The pricing increase is based on a nonsensical "hard cover" version of the book and is totally out of form from standard eBook pricing.  This misunderstanding about how eBooks work and what their market is like is actually detrimental to profits.  When I convinced Eileen to read The Fountainhead book she was more than happy to buy the Kindle version (even though I own a physical copy) until she saw the price.  She was unwilling to pay $28 for a eBook and reluctantly borrowed my old dead tree version.  She would have been more than happy to pay $9.99 for it.

I hope this is just an oversight by the publisher and is rectified soon.  I really like my Kindle and I'm really trying to embrace the idea of eBooks.  Nonsensical price deterrents like this can really scare people away from what is otherwise an excellent new medium for reading.

June 2nd, 2010|1:35pm

What's that, people are buying our product for only $10!! That must mean they really like it. Welp, supply and demand, time to hike that price!

Hmmm, now no one is buying it. Guess demand went down. Good thing there's no such thing as "supply" with e-books anyway.

Bryan

This afternoon I finally finished the mixing for the most recent song that Eileen and I have been working on (under the name Packets and Waves).  This is a cover of Dolly Pardon's Jolene.  It's actually a pretty cool song and I know the White Stripes did a sweet cover of it, too.  After having done the music for this a few months ago, we just finished up the vocals last night and it's great to hear it finished.

It's a short, simple, but passionate song, with a lot of room to really explore.  I had a ton of fun with the music, making it very organ and guitar riff heavy at parts.  I used two different acoustic guitar parts, both rhythm and lead electric guitars (both recorded out of my crappy old Peavy in my bathroom in order to get a really dirty, hollow sound), bass, a couple different organ parts, and some auxiliary percussion (some real some synthesized) to piece it all together.  I think it sounds much more full than the music on Piece of My Heart.  Eileen, of course, did the lead vocals and her voice worked amazingly well for this song.  She managed to get this awesome vibe of aggression and desperation that was really perfect for this version of the song.  I did some background vocals for the choruses as well as some ooo's and ahh's in the second verse, which was fun!

I'm just really happy with how this song turned out and I can't wait to work on some more like this!  Please, download it, listen to it, and let us know what you think!

Enjoy! Jolene (Dolly Parton cover) by Packets and Waves

So last week I turned 27.  Yea, I'm old.  These things happen.  My continued survival was celebrated with lots of good food and friends.  One of these feasts was with Eileen and my parents at Uncommon Ground (fantastic restaurant!) where my parents presented me with a shiny new Kindle.

I had written a post a while ago about my mixed feelings on eBooks and how I hoped I would come around to them as I did to the iPod.  I really like the idea of having my books as consolidated and easy to travel with as my music is, but the tactile aspect of holding a book and the satisfying stack of books next to my bed are things that I worried I would miss.  There really is something nice about a full shelf of books to thumb through.

That said, I now own a Kindle and I've started reading on it (even while I'm working on finishing a dead tree version of a Christopher Moore book I recently started) and I like it.  It's certainly not perfect yet, but it's a good way to read and I think it will only get better.  I really like the eInk screen.  I guess I don't have a problem looking at LCD screens (I do it all day at work) but I really do forget that I'm looking at a screen when I'm reading on my Kindle, it's nice and the battery life you get from it is great.  The down side, of course, is that it's a dingy black and white.  I've read a few articles about eInk and they are really pushing forward with color and faster refresh and I think that in a few years we'll see eInk screens that are at least newspaper quality.  This would be really nice for a Shelfari/iPad type interface for your books, as cover art is definitely lacking from the Kindle.  All in all, it's a nice form factor.  The UI is ok, not great, but it works.

Buying books for the Kindle is awesome.  Almost too awesome.  I'm worried that I'm going to spend way too much on books now.  I've only picked up a few books for now, but I love that I can buy a new book on the train or in the car, if I want.  I've also picked up a few of the free (published pre-1923) books from Amazon.  There's a pretty cool selection of these free books and they're really worth checking out.  I'm also planning on buying my text books on the Kindle.  They're much cheaper and it's nice to not have to lug around 3 large books for class.

What about reading books I already own?  Well, this is  an issue for me, because I really like to reread books.  Gizmodo had a good article about the ethics of pirating ebooks you already own.  I tend to agree with their stance that it might still be legally wrong, but morally ok.  I paid for these books already, I'm not consuming any more physical resources from the publisher or author, so it's pretty much like ripping a CD to my computer.  I really hope more publisher adapt the model of selling physical copies of books with a free eBook version.

I'm also pretty excited to use the Kindle for reading academic papers.  I end up having quite a few long papers in pdf form to read for school.  Sometimes it's useful to print these out if I'm making EXTENSIVE notes on them, but often I just need to read and discuss them, so it will be nice to not need to waste 30 pages of printing for something I'll read once.

So yes, I'm cautiously optimistic about my movement from dead tree to digital.  I certainly don't think I've bought my last physical book, but I think that I will be using my new Kindle quite a bit for the vast majority of my future reading.

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