Found this on Boing Boing: “Cory Doctorow: From Charlie, this 1933 scanned article from Modern Mechanix discussing all of the then-successful comic artists, how they got their start, and how comics are made and distributed. Includes Ripley’s Believe it or Not, Buck Rogers, Mutt & Jeff, Mickey Mouse, Popeye, Rube Goldberg and a lot more. ‘The ‘funnies’ you read every day bring $8,000,000 a year to a small group of 200 cartoonists’. How they rose to the top and how you can enter their select circle is told here by leading comic artists…” Good stuff! Here is the link.
Category Archives: Thoughts
"Baby bonus" turns into PR headache
From Reuters Oddly Enough: “ROME (Reuters) – It all started with a pre-election letter by Italy’s prime minister to more than 600,000 newborns…”
Apparently outgoing PM Berlusconi promised 1,000 euros to all babies born in 2005, but forgot to mention only Italian babies would qualify. Now the government’s asking immigrant families to return the money… (!) Here is the link.
Apple to expand recycling
From CNET News: “Apple will allow U.S.-based purchasers of new Macintosh systems to ship their old computer for free to its recycling program.” Here is the link.
Microreactor for biodiesel production
From Gizmag: “April 21, 2006 — Another wondrous enabling technology has been announced – a microreactor, about half the size of a credit card that produces biodiesel by combining alcohol and vegetable oil directly, greatly speeding and simplifying production compared to traditional methods. By stacking many of these microreactors in parallel, a device the size of a small suitcase could produce hundreds of thousands of gallons per year of biodiesel — enough to power several farms. The device could significantly reduce farmer dependence on mass-produced petroleum. ‘This is all about producing energy in such a way that it liberates people,’ said inventor and OSU Professor Goran Jovanovic. ‘Most people think large-scale, central production of energy is cheaper, because we’ve been raised with that paradigm. But distributed energy production means you can use local resources – farmers can produce all the energy they need from what they grow on their own farms.’ Jovanovic is seeking to partner in order to commercialize the technology…” Here is the link.
Attack of the viral campaign ads
From Wired News: “It’s the hottest new trend in political advertising: Lampoon your opponent in an online cartoon, and hope it goes viral. By Steve Friess.”
Problem is, we tend to be less critical of critical cartoon ads… When an opponent muckrakes another in a real ad, we think he’s a schmuck. But when he does it in a cartoon, we think it’s cute, yet the same message is gotten across. Yes, cartoon ads are more powerful, and in that sense, more dangerous than real ads. This is a problem! Here is the link.
Raoul Pop 