The great philosopher (??) Pogo once famously said, "We have met the enemy and he is us." I reflect on that as I eat my words.
I joined Facebook.
I knew I didn't intend to, but I did after all. And now I wonder why all the fine classmates I visited with at last year's XLth (that's Roman numerals, not size) Reunion aren't likewise Facebooking, so we can keep up with each other. I guess they (as I) assumed it was a fad for young folk.
So that somewhat explains why my blog has been neglected of late. I've been connecting in another forum.
8/31/11
5/25/11
I Love House Designs!
When Brenda and I conceived the idea of downsizing our home once we became empty-nesters, we spent a lot of time thinking about just what kind of house we would like to move into.
Right at the outset, I'll admit that it was mostly I who wanted to nail it down. I grew up thinking that my money ought to spent mainly on durable goods. Pizza, or music album? I'll take the music album, thank you. And what's more, I internalized "A man's home is his castle." You spend a lot of time in your home, so it needs to agree with you and facilitate the way you live, not oppose it.
We started acquiring and poring over those books of home designs you can buy at home improvement and grocery stores. We would talk about what features appealed and which did not.
Then Brenda gifted me with "The Not So Big House" by Sarah Susanka and from it we learned a lot about the value of proportion and finish. We became more conscious of our activities and how we like to accommodate them. Not being formal people, we agreed to give up formal living and dining rooms.
Our time with books of plans began to be supplemented by walking through subdivisions under construction and discussing the designs that were being built. We started talking with the builders about why they put in certain things.
Now we found that there were large repositories of house designs on the Internet. I set happily to work to review them, and being an engineer, developed a spreadsheet for rating how closely a design follows the features we've identified as "desired."
We started talking with realtors about what's on the market. We rapidly found that their check-offs for "what everyone wants" are greatly difference from our wants. So, OK, we're going to be statistical outliers. No biggie - this will hopefully be our last home.
Brenda found us a class at Furman University on house designing and remodeling, led by an architect. That was good! We learned about "programming" a house, by considering each room, one at a time, and describing its function, its probable furniture, its probable size, its relation to other rooms in the house, and its relation to the outdoors, and also any change in function it's likely to undergo as time goes on. We wrote our own program - a 19-page paper describing how our "dream house" would fit together.
Knowing that the choice of a community and a specific lot will affect the choice of an optimal house design, I determined to put together a sheaf of the highest-scoring designs we had perused that would cover the bases of such things as: architectural style, foundation, window exposure, and footprint.
I know I've looked at over 2,000 home designs in our square footage range. I bought a home designer CAD program and I've "built" a couple of my own designs on that. All great fun. And someday, we'll actually make that move.
Where did this "hobby" come from?? Last Fall I was thinking about that, and I recalled seeing a LIFE magazine article in the 60's about a free-form house built with polyurethane sprayed over burlap. It was so different from the old farmhouse I grew up in that my imagination was piqued. So I, on a whim, googled for that house. I found the LIFE article:
http://books.google.com/books?id=qVAEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PP5&ots=qCXDlopRE0&dq=%22A%20House%20Made%20of%20Spray%22&pg=PA65#v=onepage&q=%22A%20House%20Made%20of%20Spray%22&f=false
AND, I found that old house was for sale! The owners died and their daughter lives in Mexico, so she's selling it.
It's called Ensculptic House (Environmental Sculpture in PLastic). Mechanically, the house needs work to be lived in again. The local realtors don't know how to price such a one-of-a-kind house, so it's listed for the land value (8.4 acres).
I've thought about Ensculptic House every time I play through one of those grottoes on miniature golf courses. They're made of gunite, but the vibe's the same. I try to imagine living in a house with no orthogonal corners. 'Way cool - and if I can find $194K I can try it!
Right at the outset, I'll admit that it was mostly I who wanted to nail it down. I grew up thinking that my money ought to spent mainly on durable goods. Pizza, or music album? I'll take the music album, thank you. And what's more, I internalized "A man's home is his castle." You spend a lot of time in your home, so it needs to agree with you and facilitate the way you live, not oppose it.
We started acquiring and poring over those books of home designs you can buy at home improvement and grocery stores. We would talk about what features appealed and which did not.
Then Brenda gifted me with "The Not So Big House" by Sarah Susanka and from it we learned a lot about the value of proportion and finish. We became more conscious of our activities and how we like to accommodate them. Not being formal people, we agreed to give up formal living and dining rooms.
Our time with books of plans began to be supplemented by walking through subdivisions under construction and discussing the designs that were being built. We started talking with the builders about why they put in certain things.
Now we found that there were large repositories of house designs on the Internet. I set happily to work to review them, and being an engineer, developed a spreadsheet for rating how closely a design follows the features we've identified as "desired."
We started talking with realtors about what's on the market. We rapidly found that their check-offs for "what everyone wants" are greatly difference from our wants. So, OK, we're going to be statistical outliers. No biggie - this will hopefully be our last home.
Brenda found us a class at Furman University on house designing and remodeling, led by an architect. That was good! We learned about "programming" a house, by considering each room, one at a time, and describing its function, its probable furniture, its probable size, its relation to other rooms in the house, and its relation to the outdoors, and also any change in function it's likely to undergo as time goes on. We wrote our own program - a 19-page paper describing how our "dream house" would fit together.
Knowing that the choice of a community and a specific lot will affect the choice of an optimal house design, I determined to put together a sheaf of the highest-scoring designs we had perused that would cover the bases of such things as: architectural style, foundation, window exposure, and footprint.
I know I've looked at over 2,000 home designs in our square footage range. I bought a home designer CAD program and I've "built" a couple of my own designs on that. All great fun. And someday, we'll actually make that move.
Where did this "hobby" come from?? Last Fall I was thinking about that, and I recalled seeing a LIFE magazine article in the 60's about a free-form house built with polyurethane sprayed over burlap. It was so different from the old farmhouse I grew up in that my imagination was piqued. So I, on a whim, googled for that house. I found the LIFE article:
http://books.google.com/books?id=qVAEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PP5&ots=qCXDlopRE0&dq=%22A%20House%20Made%20of%20Spray%22&pg=PA65#v=onepage&q=%22A%20House%20Made%20of%20Spray%22&f=false
I've thought about Ensculptic House every time I play through one of those grottoes on miniature golf courses. They're made of gunite, but the vibe's the same. I try to imagine living in a house with no orthogonal corners. 'Way cool - and if I can find $194K I can try it!
3/31/11
Curses! Foiled Again!
News today is that Google decided to make Kansas City the site of its next-generation superfast Internet demonstration project.
Sure, there was a lot of competition for the honor. Lovely Greenville, SC, threw its hat in the ring (see "Hi Google!" in my March, 2010, post). It would have been perfect! With Greenville County being the densest (population-wise! No smirks!) concentration of engineers in the nation, we have the need and the want. And as Greenville is on so many Top 10 lists of Places to Live, Places to Retire To, etc., there would be some extra cachet for Google if they built here first.
So where did their decision come from?? Was it a consolation prize for VCU kicking Kansas' butt in the Elite Eight? WHAT WERE THEY THINKING???!!
Sure, there was a lot of competition for the honor. Lovely Greenville, SC, threw its hat in the ring (see "Hi Google!" in my March, 2010, post). It would have been perfect! With Greenville County being the densest (population-wise! No smirks!) concentration of engineers in the nation, we have the need and the want. And as Greenville is on so many Top 10 lists of Places to Live, Places to Retire To, etc., there would be some extra cachet for Google if they built here first.
So where did their decision come from?? Was it a consolation prize for VCU kicking Kansas' butt in the Elite Eight? WHAT WERE THEY THINKING???!!
3/12/11
Googling Myself
Every now and then, it's instructive to discover what the Web knows about you.
After having preached to the kids that employers and other decision-makers will regularly check online for additional information about them, I decided to google myself.
When I was yet a teen, I realized that "Mark Smith" would be a name I shared with many others (and there were twelve others in the phone book, when I lived in Charlotte, NC!), and I decided then to use my middle initial to narrow down the field. Even "Mark F. Smith" isn't descriptive enough these days, with 310 million Americans.
I found the expected links to my audiobook narration. I found a link to this blog. I'm pleased I did not find links to a serial murderer or a scandal-ridden politician. There is a fairly good PhD out there with the name and there was an important executive in a nonprofit who is being missed. A list of "Mark F. Smith patents" went back only a few years and so did not uncover the two I was granted in the 80's.
But what moved me to write this post, is that there is someone on Facebook with the name, AND IT IS NOT I. So don't post to him, thinking you're reaching me! I have resisted the Facebook craze so far. Maybe later...
After having preached to the kids that employers and other decision-makers will regularly check online for additional information about them, I decided to google myself.
When I was yet a teen, I realized that "Mark Smith" would be a name I shared with many others (and there were twelve others in the phone book, when I lived in Charlotte, NC!), and I decided then to use my middle initial to narrow down the field. Even "Mark F. Smith" isn't descriptive enough these days, with 310 million Americans.
I found the expected links to my audiobook narration. I found a link to this blog. I'm pleased I did not find links to a serial murderer or a scandal-ridden politician. There is a fairly good PhD out there with the name and there was an important executive in a nonprofit who is being missed. A list of "Mark F. Smith patents" went back only a few years and so did not uncover the two I was granted in the 80's.
But what moved me to write this post, is that there is someone on Facebook with the name, AND IT IS NOT I. So don't post to him, thinking you're reaching me! I have resisted the Facebook craze so far. Maybe later...
3/11/11
Suicide Casanova Comes Out
The book's been done since January, but Iambik.com has orchestrated a full collection of crime thrillers that were simultaneously released today.
We narrators who contributed to the collection have been advised to yell, dance, jump up and down, post, and generally call attention to our offering! You'll find it here:
http://iambik.com/
I don't mind saying that Suicide Casanova was a difficult book for me to narrate. The language and the topics are raw; still, if you have a stomach for the seamy side of life, you'll find it entertaining. I got choked up at the conclusion, which resolved the issues in a manner I could not foresee.
3/6/11
Cats in Hats!
All the (local) TechSmiths were present for duty at the Make-a-Book station March 5, where we helped hundreds of kids make their own 6-page books, using markers, crayons, pictures clipped from magazines, and stickers.
1/7/11
A New Model for Synthetic Speech
It's I!
Toshiba Research Europe posted a letter on the LibriVox forum asking if it was OK with us if they contacted certain of our narrators to create synthetic voices of them for text-to-speech applications:
http://forum.librivox.org/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=30499
Today I got a private message through LibriVox from Dr. Buchholz, asking me if I'm OK with being a model! This doesn't require any involvement from me - they process my recordings to break down how I pronounce the various syllables in their various intonations. And they probably won't attribute the result to me; I'll probably be known as something like "U.S. male with little natural accent".
Toshiba is (at least at first) planning to improve computer-generated spoken texts. (They already have their technology aboard some GPS models.) But someday, when you buy a new "smart" refrigerator or car or some-such, you may be surprised to hear it using my voice!
Toshiba Research Europe posted a letter on the LibriVox forum asking if it was OK with us if they contacted certain of our narrators to create synthetic voices of them for text-to-speech applications:
http://forum.librivox.org/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=30499
Today I got a private message through LibriVox from Dr. Buchholz, asking me if I'm OK with being a model! This doesn't require any involvement from me - they process my recordings to break down how I pronounce the various syllables in their various intonations. And they probably won't attribute the result to me; I'll probably be known as something like "U.S. male with little natural accent".
Toshiba is (at least at first) planning to improve computer-generated spoken texts. (They already have their technology aboard some GPS models.) But someday, when you buy a new "smart" refrigerator or car or some-such, you may be surprised to hear it using my voice!
12/30/10
Off On a New Career
I started contributing to LibriVox early in 2006 immediately after I heard about it, because I like reading out loud. I think I do a pretty good job of interpreting an author. At the end of 2010, nearly five years later, I've accumulated a lot of practice in narrating - 56 solo books on LibriVox and a good deal more contributed to group efforts. I've progressed through four or five recording setups, trying to improve the quality of my sound.
Along about Book #20, I began to wonder if I could transition to a professional position. After all, my books were being downloaded in good numbers and I was receiving gratifying remarks in feedback. In late 2009, I was asked by iPublish Press of Canada to do "My Problem With Doors." LibriVox never criticizes its readers - that's a real draw for people who want to record their favorite books, to know they won't be catching adverse commentary if they don't live up to someone's standards! Since iPublish Press proposed to pay me for narrating their book, they had every right to editorially comment on every sentence I sent them. Despite the change in standards, the experience was a positive one, and I was pleased to know that I could make editors happy who are in business to make money.
This Fall, I began two new forays into professional audiobooks. Mike Vendetti, a LibriVox contributor who also runs "Audiobooks by Mike Vendetti" and sells them on Audible.com, asked me to read for him. My first book, "The Defiant Agents" by Andre Norton, was finished in November, but through some miscue at Audible.com has not appeared for sale yet. They've promised to fix that.
I also was invited to be part of a new organization, Iambik.com. The founder is Hugh McGuire, the same fellow who started LibriVox. His business idea was to partner with print publishers to create audiobooks that normally would never be produced under the industry's typical business arrangements. By making audiobook production a profit-sharing exercise between Iambik and a publisher, no one has to "front" any money - all the participants share directly in the sales. Since our output is digital files, we don't have to buy supplies or keep up with inventories.
I'm currently reading "Suicide Casanova" by Arthur Nersesian, with a promise date of January 31. This will be one in a batch of crime stories to be released together. Hugh promises we'll be doing campaigns in several genres, so we'll be seeing a deal of variety over time.
I plan to continue devoting the major part of my creative time to these new professional endeavors... although I will still keep my hand in at LibriVox!
Along about Book #20, I began to wonder if I could transition to a professional position. After all, my books were being downloaded in good numbers and I was receiving gratifying remarks in feedback. In late 2009, I was asked by iPublish Press of Canada to do "My Problem With Doors." LibriVox never criticizes its readers - that's a real draw for people who want to record their favorite books, to know they won't be catching adverse commentary if they don't live up to someone's standards! Since iPublish Press proposed to pay me for narrating their book, they had every right to editorially comment on every sentence I sent them. Despite the change in standards, the experience was a positive one, and I was pleased to know that I could make editors happy who are in business to make money.
This Fall, I began two new forays into professional audiobooks. Mike Vendetti, a LibriVox contributor who also runs "Audiobooks by Mike Vendetti" and sells them on Audible.com, asked me to read for him. My first book, "The Defiant Agents" by Andre Norton, was finished in November, but through some miscue at Audible.com has not appeared for sale yet. They've promised to fix that.
I also was invited to be part of a new organization, Iambik.com. The founder is Hugh McGuire, the same fellow who started LibriVox. His business idea was to partner with print publishers to create audiobooks that normally would never be produced under the industry's typical business arrangements. By making audiobook production a profit-sharing exercise between Iambik and a publisher, no one has to "front" any money - all the participants share directly in the sales. Since our output is digital files, we don't have to buy supplies or keep up with inventories.
I'm currently reading "Suicide Casanova" by Arthur Nersesian, with a promise date of January 31. This will be one in a batch of crime stories to be released together. Hugh promises we'll be doing campaigns in several genres, so we'll be seeing a deal of variety over time.
I plan to continue devoting the major part of my creative time to these new professional endeavors... although I will still keep my hand in at LibriVox!
8/28/10
My Opinion
There used to be a post on "Social Justice" here. As I thought about it, though, I began to think it was out of keeping with the rest of the site. Hitherto, this was only more or less a record of what I/we were up to. I guess many, or perhaps most bloggers use their digital spread for sounding off about topics that interest them. I can't resist the pulpit either... but I can cordon it off in its own space.
So I've started a new page, "Opinion" - available from the links on the right. If you're interested.
So I've started a new page, "Opinion" - available from the links on the right. If you're interested.
8/10/10
World Boardgaming Championships
I am recently returned from WBC, which is held annually in Lancaster, PA. About 1,500 gamers from all over the globe participate in 100 "Century" events and others which are on "Trial" status, over a week's time. The winners get plaques and notoriety. The losers get experience and the fun of playing.My status as a member of The Greenville Mafia meant I was part of the best-run team apparatus at the convention. The Mafia took four carloads of people, and we stayed in a block of rooms reserved for us. Our first activity was the ceremonial issuance of this year's Mafia shirt, a handsome grey polo with our Puppetmaster logo on the chest and a black heart embroidered on the left arm. Since Mafia people have been going to the WBC since it began 13 years ago, our veterans have more team shirts than they can wear in a week, so we had a schedule of what color to wear when. We newbies simply matched colors as best we could. When our group gathered, people noticed! One person spotted near the venue for "The Kaiser's Pirates" (a naval wargame played with cards) was asked if he were joining in the competition. His reply: "I see all those gold shirts! No way I'm getting sucked into THAT vortex!" (He was well-advised to steer clear! "Kaiser's Pirates" is a favorite of the Mafia, and our members won 6 of the top 7 spots!) The Mafia has class, too. There was a hospitality suite run for Mafia & friends. We had monogrammed drinking cups, dice - and even our own microbrew beer: Mafia Stout, subtitled "A beer as black as our hearts!"
As is my usual custom, I played group photographer, and I have a site up with pictures. However, as the pictures are just Mafiaites having fun, I'll not put a link here.
I competed in Union Pacific, Santa Fe Trails, Medici, B-17, The Kaiser's Pirates, and Robo Rally. My best finish was #5 in Kaiser's Pirates. I also took in several seminars and many demos of games with which I was unfamiliar. The Mafia overall scored big, as it usually does. I believe our final tally was six 1st-places. The plaques in our game room commemorating world championships will grow accordingly.
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