Thursday, April 10, 2014

Intro to Tumblr project.


The only other “outer space landform” besides Earth that a human has stepped foot on is the moon. However, there are currently efforts that are being developed to change that long-standing statement. As science and technology advance we are able to send humans closer and closer to other planets. Sometime between Dec. 25, 2017 and Jan. 5 2018, NASA will be launching a married couple toward Mars to take advantage of a rare and favorable alignment of Mars and Earth. The couple would cruise within 100 miles of the Red Planet’s surface for 501 days in space. Inspiration Mars officials say that the flyby mission will help inspire the next generation of researchers and engineers, preserving America’s competitive edge in science and technology. It should also lay the foundation for even more ambitious manned exploration of the solar system.
            The next manned space mission is the Mars One project. Mars One is a not-for-profit foundation that will establish a permanent human settlement on Mars. Mars One will establish a permanent human settlement on Mars. Crews of four will depart every two years, starting in 2024. Their first unmanned mission will be launched in 2018. The Mars One mission plan consists of cargo missions and unmanned preparation of a habitable settlement, followed by human landings. In the coming years, a demonstration mission, communication satellites, two rovers and several cargo missions will be sent to Mars. These missions will set up the outpost where the human crew will live and work.
            These two space missions will test the intelligence, adaptability, and durability of the human race. We will gain more knowledge and insight about space and the habitability of our planet. Pushing the limits of our existence.

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

"Quotes."

I honestly ran a blank when trying to think of something to write about for the first option and the second option was about something I already commented on in another blog post. So I decided to collect quotes that I found to be compelling to me.

"Suppose within every book there is another book, and within every letter on every page another volume constantly unfolding; but thesevolumes take no space on the desk. Suppose knowledge could be reduced to a quintessence, held within a picture, a sign, held within a place which is no place." —Hilary Mantel (2009)

“No thought can perish,” —Edgar Allan Poe

“The Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them,” says Genesis; “and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.” For each creature one name; for each name one creature. Soon, however, Adam had help.

“The name of a man is like his shadow,” onomatologist Ernst Pulgram in 1954. “It is not of his substance and not of his soul, but it lives with him and by him. Its presence is not vital, nor its absence fatal.”

"You should no more grieve for the rest than for a buckle lost from your first shoe, or for your lesson book which will be lost when you are old. We shed as we pick up, like travelers who must carry everything in their arms, and what we let fall will be picked up by those behind. The procession is very long and life is very short. We die on the march. But there is nothing outside the march so nothing can be lost to it. The missing plays of Sophocles will turn up piece by piece, or be written again in another language." —Septimus

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

take a wiff

".... a "library-scented" perfume — "old English novel, leather and just a hint of wood polish" — created by a Brooklyn-based artist-perfumer." This sentence from the reading kind of weirded me out. Why would anyone want to smell like that? Nostalgia? Maybe.
I can still remember the smell of the local library I would go to as a youngin and I would not want to wear that scent as a perfume. Smells like... doctors office, with a hint of rubber, and a splash of old people. But what ever floats your boat, I guess.

Will people sometime be wearing "e-book scented" perfume because we'll go through a revolution where e-books will be a thing of the past and be sought out as "vintage"?

What would that smell like?...

 Metal.

Monday, February 3, 2014

Ch-Ch-Changes

In my opinion and from past experience, it seems that people sometimes take what they have and is happening in the present for granted. Whether it be people in their lives, education, technology, health, etc. It usually isn't until something changes in their life (usually not for the better) to make them realize how good they had it before. Or one day someone they know is suddenly taken away from them that they realize how precious their relationship with them was and they they took the time they had with them for granted. I could see how books are all of a sudden becoming more "precious" as soon as books are more widely available online. It's a new technology that some people are still getting use to. Or maybe some really just don't like reading unless its on paper and therefore rebel against new technology, but without the past there would be nothing to learn from. People just don't like to let go of the past or don't like change. But we need change and learn from the past in order to move forward with new technology and to advance our human race. I'm not saying to get rid of paper books all together, but lets embrace change.

Monday, January 27, 2014

3

In Print On Damand, Ludovico talks about how Philip M. Parker discovered a unique approach to POD. Parker designed a software for collecting freely available information and compiling the results into books which can then be printed using POD. Each book is then readily accessed through the internet. Parker states that "My goal isn't to have the computer write sentences, but to do the repetitive tasks that are too costly to do otherwise." This means that each book breaks even as soon as the first copy is sold because there is no investment to be recovered. This new software makes it simpler to alter the content of a publication at any point during the production process. "The POD process actually makes it possible to continuously update the content—thus bringing a defining aspect of online publishing back to the printed medium." I think this is a great way to bring people together if the author and publisher open editing up to the community. People can work together to help update or add content and fix errors. However, this makes me think if Wikipedia where anyone can add or update the content on the page. You have to be careful then what you read on these typed of sites. I believe they have a way of screening the content before it stays too long or is published on the site. This is something that POD would have to consider.