.
29 Aug 2008: If you live in York, or are visiting this weekend
**UPDATED** She's found, locked in a neighbour's house when they're on holiday! Hooray! Phew, what a relief! Thanks for your kind comments.
Original post:
Can you help out one of Snowbooks' authors and keep a look out for this gorgeous cat:
She's been missing from this street since Sunday and really needs to be found now. Note the excellently distinctive nose. Email me or phone me over the weekend (number is here and starts with 0790) if you see her, and I'll put you in touch with the author.
Thanks, ever so. Having a cat go missing is one of the worst feelings in the world. Let's hope she gets found.
posted on August 29, 2008 05:31 PM | link | Comments (5) | Leave a comment
29 Aug 2008: Onix Central
Here's a new website, full of the joys of ONIX. Get in touch if you are a publisher who is ONIX compliant but who is only using their data to upload to Nielsen. I will show you how Your Life Will Never Be The Same Again In A Good Way - or how you can have Wednesday afternoons off because you have to do so much less work, because ONIX can be used to update any and all marketing and website materials you care to shake a stick at.
(Also, guess what, guess what? Rob and I just saw Patrick Stewart* in Chipping Norton in a left hand drive racing green Jag with the top down, looking fabulously Captain-like. Do you think he might just whisper under his breath 'engage' when he starts up the engine? Oh, I hope so...)
*Jean Luc Picard**, if you don't know.
**Lordy, if you don't know that, you don't deserve to know***.
***Oh, OK. STTNG****!
****Star Trek: The Next Generation.
George's link from his comment, below:
posted on August 29, 2008 05:19 PM | link | Comments (2) | Leave a comment
29 Aug 2008: Store Support Office
There's been news this week of the 'rejigging' of the Borders buying team. I feel for anyone going through organisational changes, simply because it's stressful and distracting, so wish everyone who's going, and staying, well.
But it reminded me of a point Rob first made ooh, about 12 years ago, because, in the press release announcing the news, Borders' Head Office was referred to not as the Head Office but as the Store Support Office.
Continue reading "Store Support Office" »
posted on August 29, 2008 04:10 PM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
29 Aug 2008: The most excellent spam email
Reproduced in all its finery for you, below.
Continue reading "The most excellent spam email" »
posted on August 29, 2008 03:53 PM | link | Comments (2) | Leave a comment
28 Aug 2008: Routine? Hmm. . .
Hey there -- it's Not-Often-Heard-From-Anna. It seems to me that whenever I make my presence known in the form of a Snowblog post, it's always because I have something to complain about. But not this time!
See, a friend of mine recently became unemployed freelance, and he was having a difficult time giving structure to his days. Knowing that I work from home, he asked me about my daily routine. I blinked a few times and then tried this new word out for myself. 'Routine?'
It turns out that some people are suited for working from home and some just aren't. And despite my utter lack of routine, I am definitely a work-from-home sort of person...
Continue reading "Routine? Hmm. . ." »
posted on August 28, 2008 03:12 PM | link | Comments (10) | Leave a comment
27 Aug 2008: Red Men
Check out this review of The Red Men, which gets it.
posted on August 27, 2008 11:09 AM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
27 Aug 2008: Parp
Where's that trumpet of mine? Ah, here it is.
posted on August 27, 2008 09:38 AM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
26 Aug 2008: Bulls*** Fail
Oh dear. It was a mistake to try to pull the wool over my eyes by bluffing about the capabilities of InDesign, as one hapless service provider has just tried to do. They wrote to say:
"The only templates that we hold are quark or pdf's. As we only accept high res pdf's we don't support indesign"
If you are au fait with typesetting software, you can imagine the email I wrote back. It was quite long. I haven't heard back yet...
(Apologies for the radio silence, by the way. I fancied knitting and pottering and tinkering with XSL over the weekend, rather than blogging. Still, back now, and at week 35 more well-rounded, in the physical sense, than ever. Hope you had a nice long weekend.)
posted on August 26, 2008 05:13 PM | link | Comments (1) | Leave a comment
21 Aug 2008: The Igneous Petrology of Ice Cream
Today's blatant lift from BoingBoing is a blog post discussing why ice cream is clearly an igneous rock.
posted on August 21, 2008 03:56 PM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
20 Aug 2008: Ghostly
I don't print much (aside from thousands and thousands of books, but I mean in the office), and my printer's been out of ink for a couple of days. I've just got round to topping it up, and it turns out there was a document waiting to print. Here it is.
My guess is that Rob has found out that the printer is installed on the server, not locally, so he can fire it up from anywhere else in the world. And yes, I did look round. Just in case...
posted on August 20, 2008 04:38 PM | link | Comments (1) | Leave a comment
20 Aug 2008: What do you think?
About the new site design, that is? Too spare? Or nice and clean? I thought the basic background could be quite low key so that when pictures and cover designs appear, they are the centre of attention. Is the font legible to everyone? Rob sent me through an idea for a lovely, delicate design yesterday, which made me think 'ooh, site redesign!', but when I started tinkering I couldn't get his lovely light design to look right and it evolved into this. I am less a designer, more a grand tinkerer.
Anyway, thoughts very much welcome. The only changes have been to the CSS and the images so it's a snap to tweak and fiddle. I use Firefox's Developer plug in to 'Edit CSS' in a live browser, so I can see immediately what the changes I make look like. Then I copy and paste that revision into a new doc and upload it. The only thing is you have to be very careful not to hit 'refresh' after tinkering for an hour, as I found yesterday...!
And of course, doing a redesign was a displacement activity to actually uploading some new content for our forthcoming books (which is also very easy, but I got sidetracked by the pretty colours). So those enticing new covers you see in the header up there? More news to come on them later in the day!
posted on August 20, 2008 09:22 AM | link | Comments (13) | Leave a comment
19 Aug 2008: Half-hearted
I've got to say, I don't give a rat's whiskers about the Olympics. However, apparently Team GB (yey, go us, bleaurgh) have just won some cycling races. So in the spirit of very half hearted marketing, please now be encouraged to consider buying one of our cycling titles (which are much more interesting and relevant than the poxy Olympics).
Both look nice. Both smell nice. Both are written by experts. Both will last you a lot longer than any excitement you might feel about the Beijing Games.
posted on August 19, 2008 02:11 PM | link | Comments (11) | Leave a comment
19 Aug 2008: The Affinity Bridge Special Edition
Ooh, I'm slipping. I forgot to put a paypal button on the slipcased Affinity Bridge post. Here they are:
For UK and Irish sales of The Affinity Bridge slipcased edition, priced at £30 with free delivery, click the button above.
...................................................
For non-UK/Irish sales of the slipcase edition, priced at £30 with postage at £2.75, click the button above.
posted on August 19, 2008 01:17 PM | link | Comments (1) | Leave a comment
19 Aug 2008: Social Problem Solving
Problem solving, when the problems aren’t too grievous or pressing, can be fun. Provided you’ve got a metaphorical easy-chair to recline in and a figurative pipe to puff upon, then thinking up neat solutions to whatever pickles you encounter in daily life can be every bit as rewarding as tackling crosswords, blurting out the answers to University Challenge questions or dreaming up revenge fantasies. Unfortunately, when the problem has a social dimension, there’s a temptation to come up with solutions that are a little bit mischievous.
Continue reading "Social Problem Solving" »
posted on August 19, 2008 08:21 AM | link | Comments (4) | Leave a comment
19 Aug 2008: Interfacing with taps
Lately, one of the books I’ve been visiting in my spare moments has been the semi-classic Design of Everyday Things by Donald A. Norman. There’s something very satisfying about reading the catalogue of bad designs which led D. Norman to put quill to parchment. Less thrilling, but rather unsurprising, is that what prompted Donald to begin the book was an extended stay in Britain where he was regularly baffled by which light-switch controlled which set of lights, or which combination of button pushes would put a telephone caller on hold. You’d think, like a stand-up comedian doing a routine about the difference between cats and dogs, there wouldn’t be much to say about the design of taps, light-switches, phone keypads and door knobs – but actually this book, which is now twenty years old, is full of critical observations which still apply and simple recommendations which still need taking up.
Continue reading "Interfacing with taps" »
posted on August 19, 2008 08:18 AM | link | Comments (1) | Leave a comment
18 Aug 2008: My weekend
You know when you've been hill walking for a weekend, and when you shut your eyes at night all you can see is maps? All I can see when I shut my eyes is piles of slipcases:
Continue reading "My weekend" »
posted on August 18, 2008 11:26 AM | link | Comments (8) | Leave a comment
18 Aug 2008: Monday morning, 11am: Quandary
Good-sized home-made blueberry tart plus risk of heartburn, or simple glass of water? I think we both know what it's going to be.
posted on August 18, 2008 10:40 AM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
18 Aug 2008: Larfs
Hey, look at this - Leila Johnston on the Actual Telly! She is a very funny lady.
posted on August 18, 2008 08:31 AM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
15 Aug 2008: Comfy Nordic Straitjacket
An article in today's Guardian talks about the high social price paid in Nordic countries for their amazing social programmes. The downside is that everyone is bound by a strict set of cultural rules which would be stifling and alien to most Britons. But the glimpses the article gives of specifics suggest they're not rules, as such, but principles: respect for each other and a determination to foster the common good. It sounds fantastic. And their reluctance to accept outsiders who don't want to abide by those rules could almost be called racism, the author points out. Well, that's not my definition of racism at all. The one example given of why this strictness is a problem is that the author, a Brit, was the only one whose family was running riot in a Finnish restaurant. Imagine, giving up the freedom to behave inconsiderately in exchange for a measly efficient and benevolent state. Pah. But what if you already happen to be the sort of person who thinks it's appropriate to keep your voice down in restaurants and to generally limit your own behaviour so as not to inconvenience or intrude on others? Do you have to go and live in Finland?
posted on August 15, 2008 06:56 AM | link | Comments (8) | Leave a comment
14 Aug 2008: Recommendation
I can heartily recommend Pelaw Presentation Packaging should you be in the market for slipcases. It's one of the few things that Haynes can't do, so I had to find another supplier. I found one, who turned out to be crap (not returning calls or emails, overpriced) and at the last minute googled to find Pelaw. I gave them a ring, said I needed a slipcase doing within the week, and would they oblige? They have been nothing but attentive, responsive and organised since. True, there was a slight hiccup with the die, but they kept me informed and we worked to resolve the issue. The final delivery has been made and the slipcases are spot on - even the delivery driver was charming.
More companies like Haynes and Pelaw, please, Universe.
posted on August 14, 2008 04:08 PM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
14 Aug 2008: No Good
They're greasy-looking and you can't trust them. Starlings, that is. Or what Anna would call grackles. It seems they've been stealing money. Who knows what they've been spending it on.
posted on August 14, 2008 02:25 PM | link | Comments (1) | Leave a comment
13 Aug 2008: I don't have time
But maybe we can pool our resources. If we each read the post and then, say, 25 comments, we could come back and discuss what this post means. Anyone game?
posted on August 13, 2008 06:20 PM | link | Comments (4) | Leave a comment
13 Aug 2008: My secret shame
Aside from the Wicker Basket of Shame which you were introduced to a few weeks back re: domestic filing, I have a further, deeper affliction. I have a relatively addictive personality and whilst I work hard to make sure that doesn't manifest itself in really bad ways (step away from the online gambling and G&Ts, Barnes), I do have weak spots which I indulge. One of those is collecting domain names.
Continue reading "My secret shame" »
posted on August 13, 2008 08:24 AM | link | Comments (4) | Leave a comment
12 Aug 2008: Bibliographic data management: how hard can it be?
Ah, bibliographic data. Always good to see when it works. I am, of course, being sarcastic.
Our latest Bike book, Bicycle Design by Mike Burrows, is at #38 in the Amazon charts in:
Books > Reference > Transport > Automotive > Trucks, Lorries & Vans
Trucks, Lorries and Vans, eh? I sure as hell didn't put it in that category. I wonder who did?
Still, I'm very pleased with the end result. That book nearly killed me, so it's good to see it looks rather fine. Smells nice, too.
posted on August 12, 2008 06:37 PM | link | Comments (3) | Leave a comment
11 Aug 2008: My first craving!
Woohoo. And guess what it was for? Ryvita and low fat cream cheese. How healthy is my subconscious?
posted on August 11, 2008 04:50 PM | link | Comments (3) | Leave a comment
11 Aug 2008: OW!
More pain. < mock wailing> Oh god, what have I done to deserve this? < /mock wailing> This time it's funny, though. I have been eating a bowl of strawberries, and absent-mindedly rubbed my eye which was sore. The strawbs must have been extra ripe or something, as I have now got loads of strawberry pips in my eye! My eye! Owowowww.
posted on August 11, 2008 12:02 PM | link | Comments (1) | Leave a comment
11 Aug 2008: Eh?
I don't understand this story about a 93 year old who's used her advance to buy a 5 bed house and escape some of her friends from nursing homes. Her book's published by AuthorHouse, a self-publishing business so presumeably not one that pays advances. But the Telegraph (sorry) article linked to above says she bought the house with her advance.
Someone explain it to me, please!
posted on August 11, 2008 09:33 AM | link | Comments (6) | Leave a comment
11 Aug 2008: *How* many weeks to go?
Well that was fun. A weekend lying on the sofa in varying degrees of pain as my bump exerts its ever-growing pressure on a range of ligaments, arteries and organs. I read ("Childbirth Without Fear" by Grantly Dick-Read, written in 1942, still relevant, except perhaps for the advice on how to suspend your stockings during your confinement) and knitted (bobble hat, in the round, drove me crazy, never tackling socks), but it wasn't particularly enjoyable. I should have sat at my desk - I have an excellent office chair which seems to make everything settle down. But no, the siren call of leisure smashed me into the rocks. Hey ho.
Anyway, whilst lying there, I was musing on lists. You know my view on them - I think lists are a very fine thing indeed. Life wouldn't run at all well without them. But I thought about a terrible flaw in a life of lists, and it is this: if it's not on the list, it doesn't get done.
Continue reading "*How* many weeks to go? " »
posted on August 11, 2008 07:46 AM | link | Comments (2) | Leave a comment
09 Aug 2008: Bah. Harmony.
I wish I could remember exactly the logical granny-knot my teachers used to tie themselves in when explaining what's so great about the Olympic Games. There was something about nations setting aside their petty differences and their pointless vying in order to scrabble for national glory in a range of slightly exotic sports - although it was never clear to me that they couldn't do both at the same time (or even the latter as a seamless extension of the former). And then there was something about how great it was to watch amateurs competing for once, instead of people who had dedicated their lives and careers to the sport. Of course that stipulation has now gone and achieving appropriate amateur status is as simple as saying 'I want to win a medal'.
Continue reading "Bah. Harmony." »
posted on August 9, 2008 08:12 AM | link | Comments (1) | Leave a comment
08 Aug 2008: Top notch
Read this piece celebrating Dyfed Edwards' (who may or may not be one of our top horror writers who goes under a pseudonym) prize winning abilities!
posted on August 8, 2008 09:52 AM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
07 Aug 2008: "Chutney - been off the taste map for a while."
I am quoting from one of the finest radio series to grace Radio 4 in years. It is called Fags, Mags and Bags and Rob and I are well on the way to knowing it off by heart.
I would strongly, strongly recommend that you listen to the 6 episodes right now, this afternoon. Nothing you might be doing at work is more important than being on the receiving end of this fine entertainment. If you're really on the clock, I would probably recommend the 'Wall of Crisps' episode. Oh yes.
Slightly low quality but perfectly listenable youtube version of Wall of Crisps episode here.
Part 2.
Part 3.
Textbook shop, Dave, textbook shop.
posted on August 7, 2008 04:27 PM | link | Comments (1) | Leave a comment
07 Aug 2008: Religion shopping?
Quaker William Penn - invented Pennsylvania
I'm not a religious person, and have in fact been known to say things which upset religious people on occasion* (though not through any wish to distress them), but I have to say that if I were in the market for a religion, I think I'd be taking a long, hard look at being a Quaker. They're peaceful (which I feel Jesus was more than clear about) and tolerant, and egalitarian and non-hierarchical and all in all pretty groovy. What's more, their beliefs fit pretty well with what I thought Christianity was all about when I attended lots of Sunday School: peace, love, acceptance, humility and being a good egg. And check this Wikepedia excerpt out: "many Quakers believe that the depth of [a] loving relationship is more important than [the] genders involved". Now that's some good religion. Not sure about the god aspect, but everything else gets a thumbs-up. They even eschew designer labels. I think Quakers are people I could really respect. Assuming my endorsement counts for anything.
*Though goodness knows you can't avoid upsetting some religious group whatever you believe. Oops, there I go again.
posted on August 7, 2008 11:15 AM | link | Comments (6) | Leave a comment
07 Aug 2008: Disagreeable pricing
I've been getting on very well with the covetable HP 2133 mini-notebook that I wrote about here. I did wonder whether a longlife battery might be a good idea, though. Apparently HP sell them for $129 in the States. Not a huge surprise to find that they were £109 here. At no time in the last six months has that been less than a 60% price hike for the same product on this side of the Atlantic. But I was even more horrified to see that a replacement screen could cost me £391. It seems a bit steep considering the whole machine retails for £300 + VAT. But then I suppose someone has to disassemble one, take out the screen and put it in a box. It's only fair to charge for that.
posted on August 7, 2008 10:45 AM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
06 Aug 2008: Making a business more plannable
No gems of wisdom here, I'm afraid. I'm after your ideas.
Continue reading "Making a business more plannable" »
posted on August 6, 2008 10:38 PM | link | Comments (7) | Leave a comment
06 Aug 2008: Lint: the movie
OMG...
Rob's Note: I'm pretty sure you don't want to go anywhere near that video if you suffer from photosensitive epilepsy
posted on August 6, 2008 01:04 PM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
06 Aug 2008: Today's project
Is this. I am going to collect some of the choicest (choiciest? A word only ever used to advertise pet food. I am unclear on the spelling) messages that I see on the bottom of emails that I receive today, and post them as they arrive. Sometimes they make me roll my eyes; sometimes they make me laugh. Usually they remind me never to work for a large company with Policies.
Continue reading "Today's project" »
posted on August 6, 2008 09:51 AM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
06 Aug 2008: Atomic bombs
Continue reading "Atomic bombs" »
posted on August 6, 2008 07:25 AM | link | Comments (15) | Leave a comment
05 Aug 2008: Clamour King review
Check out this lovely review of David Muirhead's The Clamour King from the lovely Bookbag.
posted on August 5, 2008 03:24 PM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
05 Aug 2008: Countdown
So it's just conceivable (geddit) that in as little as six weeks I will have a baby. Could be as long as ten weeks, of course, but point is it's rather soon. Read on for the latest update on how this will affect Snowbooks.
Continue reading "Countdown" »
posted on August 5, 2008 09:44 AM | link | Comments (2) | Leave a comment
05 Aug 2008: I'm 99% Male...
...and 1% female, which is a more definitive score than I'd expected. I went here and clicked on the button. A script ran, which analysed the history of websites I'd visited and worked out whether I was male or female. Clearly, when I've got a browser in front of me, I'm not in touch with my feminine side.
posted on August 5, 2008 09:19 AM | link | Comments (3) | Leave a comment
05 Aug 2008: Every day is Bring Your Pet To Work Day at Snowbooks
posted on August 5, 2008 09:14 AM | link | Comments (3) | Leave a comment
05 Aug 2008: Thanks for the feedback
Hasn't this been fascinating? Lots of detailed replies to my question about man-made climate change and those who doubt its reality. Given that so many people are working hard to begin a process that will turn the planet's economy upside-down in order to reduce CO2 emissions, and given that based on our little sample plenty of people think the whole idea is bunk, it seems like there's still a lot of work to be done on establishing the facts. I thought this debate had been settled and we were all just ignoring the inevitable. But it seems like the debate still needs to happen. Every bit of evidence that any of us have heard needs to be dragged out in public and affirmed, or debunked, and then placed in its appropriate pigeon hole in the consensus view of what's going on. Because we clearly need a consensus view of what's going on, and not just six billion different variations on anecdote, instinct, analysis and trust.
Continue reading "Thanks for the feedback" »
posted on August 5, 2008 08:02 AM | link | Comments (4) | Leave a comment
05 Aug 2008: Tools
I have to say I've been stunned by the comments to Rob's climate change post, which broadly say 'there's not much wrong'. It's shaken me because if you and I feel so differently, what can I say - about anything - that's going to resonate with you? So I find myself a bit short of things to say, because I have to recalibrate who I thought I was talking to. Instead of writing, then, here's a list of the webtools I use in my everyday life.
posted on August 5, 2008 07:43 AM | link | Comments (2) | Leave a comment
03 Aug 2008: Shazzam!
At last, a vaguely book-related post. Don't you love firmware updates? No? Well, my Sony e-book reader has a firmware update available for it and another due soon. So I download a file, load it onto the reader, and then it can do things it couldn't do before. Such as 1) reflow PDFs and 2) work with books stored in the .epub format. So without spending any money, I have a more capable device than before. (And yes, I know that it would have been nice if those features had been available from the start).
posted on August 3, 2008 07:20 PM | link | Comments (4) | Leave a comment
03 Aug 2008: Self-fulfilling lack of prophecy
Really getting freaked out as I keep reading estimates of how we've only got seven or so years to re-structure our industries and lifestyles if we're to avoid really cataclysmic climate-related damage. We should be seeing huge changes to our economies underway and there's no sign of them. Just out of interest, are any of the readers of this blog doubtful about the threat of man-made climate change? I'm not planning to ridicule you; I'm just interested to know if anyone feels the case has not been made yet? And if so, would you say the main reason you're not convinced there's a man-made apocalypse in the offing is that if there were, surely everyone would be talking about it and the government would be acting?
Continue reading "Self-fulfilling lack of prophecy" »
posted on August 3, 2008 06:43 PM | link | Comments (19) | Leave a comment
03 Aug 2008: Letting America have its way
Poor Gary McKinnon. An unemployed IT worker from North London, he hacked into the Pentagon and looked for evidence that the government knows about aliens. (Which is interesting, because he always looks like a vulcan to me.) He actually thinks he found some - but while he was rooting around he left a few messages on people's desktops. One said 'Your security is really crap'. That seems to be the extent of his crimes. But he's to be extradited to the U.S. so that they prosecute him for imperilling their national security. And apparently he caused $700,000 of damage. Though I've seen plenty of instances of how calculations like that are performed and I've yet to see one that isn't nonsense. They're probably including the cost of patching their own faulty security in that estimate. Anyway, sentences of 70 years are being mentioned (plus sketchy references to the death penalty). Thanks to Gary the Pentagon's security is now more secure and no one got hurt - just as he intended. If only he'd been sensible and killed someone. He'd be looking at a fraction of the jail time.
posted on August 3, 2008 06:26 PM | link | Comments (1) | Leave a comment
03 Aug 2008: Arresting sights
Just something the internet (which I have now officially got bored with capitalising) put my way. Imagine while you were out for a walk you saw that scene (click on the thumbnail for a larger version). Imagine how pleased you'd be if you got a really good picture of it. But even without the snap, you'd probably be able to remember what seeing it felt like for the rest of your life. (image source)
posted on August 3, 2008 08:46 AM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
01 Aug 2008: Boing Boing gakk du jour
As you know, I try not to copy-and-paste heaps of stuff straight from BoingBoing to the SnowBlog, but I make exceptions. I think in future I will set myself some sort of quota. Perhaps one poached link per week. Anyway, today's find is a priceless rap explaining the purpose, functioning and significance of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. So if you like high-energy physics and cute rap, go here.
posted on August 1, 2008 04:56 PM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment