eBook design and motion graphics :: Seth Godin

If it’s worth doing, it’s probably worth paying to do it very well. If you’re going to do a presentation or write an eBook, spend the money to do it right.

Paul Durban created this example of motion graphics. It’s a lot easier to do now than it used to be, so you get a lot for the energy and money you invest. If you can’t be there in person (with an eBook, for example), the energy you get from great design really matters.

If someone sends me a PDF that’s just a word file, I rarely make it past the first page any longer. Time to raise your bar.

Source: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/07/ebook-design-and-motion-graphics.html

3 Penguins Design :: Design – Motion Graphics – Video Editing

Apple and Labels Hope to Reinvent Digital Album as Something People Buy

The view that technology is an unstoppable juggernaut moving at lightning pace isn’t always accurate. Sometimes the simplest ideas take years to realize — even when Apple is involved and the future of the recorded music business could be at stake.

Take today’s widely-echoed Financial Times report about “Project Cocktail” — an attempt by Apple and the four major labels to re-imagine the digital album with soft (as in onscreen) album art. They hope album art that embraces digital technology, rather than merely providing a miniaturized version of the original album cover, will entice music fans to start buying digital albums again. Apple and the labels envision fans gathering ’round the glow of their laptops — or tablet PCs — to listen to music together, the way they used to before they retreated into their own digital pods.

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DIGG

Pearl Jam Unveils Backspacer With Online Easter Egg Hunt

Pearl Jam’s latest effort, Backspacer, doesn’t arrive until Sept. 20. But the venerable rock band is already mobilizing its online Ten Club followers for an internet Easter egg hunt built around the album’s cover art, which was designed by hilarious political cartoonist Tom Tomorrow.

Wired.com has logged onto the party, hosting one of nine images from Backspacer’s cover art that are scattered around the web.

“The artwork collaboration between Tom Tomorrow and the band for this album is so compelling, we felt like it deserved its own online gallery showcase,” said Ten Club’s manager, Tim Bierman.

The image, at right, fits into the larger visual puzzle of Tomorrow’s art on Pearl Jam’s official site for Backspacer. Once fans click on all the images from around the internet and assemble them on the Backspacer site, they will be rewarded with a freebie that Pearl Jam promises is better than the usual free MP3. If you’re one of these rocking souls, click it, pic it and groove on. [read]

David Allen – Best Practices of Processing

davidco.com — David Allen’s his team share about processing, including keys for getting to inbox zero, why things get stuck, the process for deciding and more.

This is a podcast and is also available as an MP3 download.

Source: http://www.davidco.com/podcasts/play/30.html

DIGG

What is Bing?

If you’ve been hearing a lot about something called “Bing” lately, it’s because the rebranded search engine is expected to (finally) give search king Google a run for its money.

Bing search service was unveiled last week, and its beta version is available now (officially launches June 3). The re-tooled Microsoft Live (also known as Kumo) has so far received favorable reviews from the tech community. So, why is Bing different than Google? That’s the big question.

First, Microsoft is marketing Bing as a “decision engine,” stating that the search functions bring more relevant results and organizes them in a more meaningful way. Bing offers tabs for different kinds of searches similar to Google and including “images,” “videos,” “maps” and “shopping.”

Aesthetically, Bing’s home page has been called “prettier” than Google’s, often featuring landscapes and other stunning photography, and is set to change daily.

According to Microsoft, Bing isn’t expected to be a “Google killer,” but merely a start to more improvements on their search engine that are to come; so if it doesn’t quite tickle your fancy yet, come back again soon.

Source:

Search Engine Land: Meet Bing, Microsoft’s New Search Engine

Search Engine Land: Microsoft’s Bing Vs. Google: Head-to-Head Search Restults

Changing Color in Photoshop

Sometimes in post production you will want to change the colors of an object in your photos. Photoshop has a number of tools that you can use to change the color in an image, and in this post I’ll show you some of these which you can use without having to make a selection on the image.

Before I begin, a word about the photographs I’m using. They were shot by Jacinta Oaten, a 15 year old Australian sports photographer with a promising career ahead of her as you can see. Jacinta kindly let me browse her photo collection to select some images to use for this post – thanks Jacinta!

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Marstrand – A Beautiful Destination

Marstrand is the smallest town in the county of Västra Götaland, but is the principal summer resort. A place for pleasure and a place to love for its cultural history, its buildings, its tall stories and legends – but also for its royal splendour. Marstrand is of course most renowned as a playground for sun-worshipping, bathing and sailing folk.

I’m slightly jaded in that I spent the first seven years of my life here and still call it home.

[Visit]

Apple rejects Google applications for iPhone

Apple has banned iPhone applications based on Google Voice in a new sign of growing rivalry between the powerful Silicon Valley allies, which have drawn recent regulatory attention for their close ties.

An Apple representative on Monday told Sean Kovacs, an independent programmer whose GV Mobile app was rejected, that some of the small program’s functions were too close to what the iPhone already offers.

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Financial Times Confirms Apple Tablet for September

The Apple tablet rumors are coming so thick and fast now that the big surprise would be for Apple not to announce one. The austere and reliable Financial Times has just thrown into the game with an article that confirms a September release for the new oversized iPod Touch, a timing that ties in nicely to Apple’s yearly September iPod announcements.

The device will probably have a 10-inch screen and come without a cell connection. Somewhat bizarrely, the FT describes it as being pitched at rejuvenating sales of the multisong music album. “It’s all about re-creating the heyday of the album when you would sit around with your friends looking at the artwork, while you listened to the music,” a source told the FT. How will this happen? Liner notes and artwork on the big 10-inch screen.

[read]

7 Great VoIP Alternatives To Skype

Skype is one of the most widely used VoIP service providers for computer based communication in the world. The success of VoIP has taken the world by storm and most likely given many telephone providers a run for their money due to their great pricing structures.

To me, Skype has long been a useful business tool which I use to stay in touch with clients worldwide. It certainly beats using the land line which costs me a fortune for international calls, especially for countries such as Switzerland (where my family and some of my best friends live). You can imagine that a weekly phone call on a land line would cost me about $60 and this is with a reduced plan already.

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