Best-selling author Harlen Coben is teaming with Greg Malins, executive producer on How I Met Your Mother, for a new crime procedural series on Fox. The project, described as a drama with humor, sold at the first place it was pitched.
The hour-long show centers on a former private investigator suffering from a complete lack of inhibitions after a frontal-lobe injury. Working as a criminology professor at an UCLA-type school in Los Angeles, he teams with his students to solve crimes. The tagline: “They want to learn about the mind of a psychopath. Well, they are about to learn from the best.”
Mr. Coben is the author of 18 novels in the mystery and thriller genres. Thanks go to him and his Facebook page for the link.
Northshire Bookstore — located in Manchester Center, VT — is one of the first retailers in North America to acquire an Espresso Book Machine. The Espresso, which the employees call “Lurch,” resides in a corner behind the sales desk, steadily producing books on demand.
Northshire is being watched closely by the industry because success there could mean success elsewhere. Their “ATM for books” performs fairly well and should eventual pay for itself. According to The Boston Globe, the newest version of the Espresso costs from $79,000 to $95,000. It may be leased for $1,250 to $1,650 a month.
Many writers have expressed an interest in using the Espresso to self-publish. Unsurprisingly, the Northshire machine’s potential as a print-on-demand utility has attracted local authors. Northshire charges a $49 setup fee and a per-page rate beginning at 9 cents and going down depending on the number of pages printed. They also supply editorial and design services from third-party providers.
The Espesso Book Machine continues to be a powerful tool for both readers and self-publishers. It’s ideal for printing obscure titles, public domain works, reference books and summer reading material. It’s also great for vanity books, family histories, memoirs and niche-market titles.
How do you plan to use the Espresso? How far would you travel to gain access to one?
According to NewScientist, a study employing 14 cotton-top tamarins and nonsense words broadcast over speakers indicates the primates may intuitively recognise some rules of grammar. The findings suggest some of the skills required for language may be linked to basic memory functions.
The addition of syllables, either at the beginning or at the end of a word, is found across many languages. Researcher Ansgar Endress and colleagues at Harvard think this structure might be linked to basic memory functions that are independent of language. If their findings prove true, it will provide insight into how children learn grammatical structures.
This blog is for YOUR democracy-loving, 5th column bashing champions of justice. I exhort you in the name of Old Glory to wrack your brain in search of a superhero (or villain) who stands for SOMETHING uniquely American, draw said champion, and send it my way with a description.
The Center for Cartoon Studies – located in White River Junction, VT – offers a two year course of study centering on the creation and dissemination of comics, graphic novels and other manifestations of the visual narrative. Classes are taught by experienced and internationally recognized cartoonists, writers and designers.
The Schulz Library at The Center for Cartoon Studies resides in a restored firehouse on the bank of the White River. The room is filled with zines, graphic novels, cartoon collections, and related ephemera.
Scott Bazzle created The Star Spangled Symphony employing 382.5 GB of hard drive space, over three hours of footage and a whole lot of patience. He wanted to capture the look of “air guitar for the orchestra” and evoke a deep appreciation for The Star Spangled Banner.
Eye Care for Kids has provided humanitarian aid to more than 20,000 children since 2001. Their program helps visually impaired kids from poor and low-income families get the treatment they desperately need. They treat up to 200 children every week from across the state of Utah, including rural areas and Native American reservations.
According to state statistics, as many as 65,000 kids currently need the services that Eye Care for Kids provides free. Not only can this help with education and learning difficulties, it can prevent more serious long-term damage as well.
Their goal is to eventually help restore every child’s vision. 12fo12k has chosen to assist Eye Care for Kids throughout the month of July. We can make it more than just a vision; we can make it a reality.
One of my writing goals for 2009 is the creation of a weekly comic strip using Stripgenerator. Today marks the return to the weekly comic after letting that goal slip.
The last time I visited the adventures of Ruth and Gideon was April 18. I left off with Gideon about to attack a much larger force with only 300 men. Rather than continue the story today, I want to allow the cast of Amid the Alien Corn to wish everyone a happy and blessed Independence Day. You’ll have to come back next Saturday to see what happens to Gideon and his cat.
Without further ado, I give you Gideon, Gideon’s Cat, Ruth, the Angel of the LORD, Naomi, the Inexplicable Monkey and Judah with this special holiday message:
Follow Friday is a Twitter meme which seems to be spreading to blogs and other social networks. This is the second in a series of blog posts highlighting individuals and groups worth following on Twitter and elsewhere on the net. I forget where I saw it first, but I think placing the recommendations in blog posts is much nicer than short tweets.
The following people are all supporters of 12for12k, the non-profit which supports a different charity each month. War Child, Stop the Silence, Share Our Strength, Yehu.org, Hospice of Peel and UNICEF’s Believe in Zero campaign have benefited from the efforts of these people who believe the power of social media can change lives for the better.
Entrepreneur and single dad Darin is owner of All Aces Marketing Inc. and WSI Franchise. He’s a fan of Disney, but we’ll forgive him that. He also fashioned all those really cool 12for12k avatars. Rants, raves and other communications from Darin can be found at The Doc Block.
Danny provides branding and consultancy services to consumer and commercial markets. Not only is he my favorite Canadian, he’s also the founder of 12for12k. He keeps a social media and marketing blog by his name, and (for those who can’t get enough Danny Brown) posts insightful tidbits to Posterous.
It’s ZEES-nis. This crazy writer lady cool writer chick is a speaker, marathoner and freelance copywriter. Beth writes about the trials and tribulations of freelancing at Life on Avenue Z.
Last but not least, let’s not forget 12for12k itself. The organization’s aim is to raise a minimum of $144,000 for 12 charities over the course of 2009, with a new charity being supported every month.
The concept is simple:
12 months of the year
12 charities, a different charity each month
$12,000 per charity
If 1200 people will donate just $10 each month, we can easily give $12,000 per charity. All proceeds raised go directly to the month’s chosen organization. July’s charity is Eye Care for Kids.
I hope you’ll check out the Twitter feeds and/or websites of these fine people and 12for12k. There will be more to come next Follow Friday.
@DannyBrown When I switched ISPs last year, couldn't access 360 anymore. Never missed it, but it did eat some posts. Should've backed 'em up 1 hour ago
@DannyBrown I didn't know Yahoo! 360 was still around. It was my 1st exposure to social networking sites, but never worked well. I hated it. 1 hour ago
RT @mikesterling So Marvel's planning to do foil covers again. Sure, why not...what difference does it make at this point? 1 hour ago
RT @United4Africa 4 of 10 worst dictators in 08 are African Presidents! Why are they still receiving financial aid from International govts? 1 hour ago
