Introducing the iPad

Well Apple has been promising (threatening) to introduce a tablet computer and some have been speculating that it will be the "Kindle Killer".

The prospect of an e-reader that would be able to do all the things that the Kindle can do plus more (animated content? Annotations? Full colour magazines!) had me getting fairly excited. Maybe the era of the e-reader as a real replacement for the printed book has actually arrived.


Well, the day came today and Apple's iPad is... not so much.


For one thing, the sucker is huge! Look at it in Steve Jobs' hands.

Unless he is freakishly small this thing is not going to replace a discrete paperback anytime soon.


Here's what the Globe and Mail had to say:

Partnering with a number of big-name publishers, iBooks represents Apple's attempt to position the iPad as a superior product to the traditional e-reader -- of which Amazon's Kindle is perhaps the most popular. Indeed, the iPad is about the same size as Amazon's larger, more expensive model, the Kindle DX. However even if Apple's estimate of 10 hours battery life is correct, e-readers still beat the device on battery life.

But ultimately, what separates the iPad from its iPredecessors is its more powerful computing ability, something that plays out in the realm of high-definition content. Mr. Jobs was quick to showcase the tablet's ability to play high-definition video from sites such as YouTube. The iPad is configured to run all the existing iPhone applications. But product demonstrations focused on applications that use more processing power, such as graphics-intensive games.

So an e-reader it is among other things. A "Kindle Killer" it is not.


And certainly no replacement to the paper bound book. Books are still the most perfect technology for the delivery of the written word.


Thank you Herr Gutenberg.

I've been here and there. I've drawn a lot of pictures. I've written a bit, too. I'm not good at this self-promotion thing. Look, you want to know about me? just visit these websites. Okay?

http://mdjackson.deviantart.com

http://community.imaginefx.com/fxpose/mdjacksons%5Fportfolio

SCOTTISH SF & FANTASY

In honour of Robbie Burns Day I present a list of Scottish science fiction and fantasy writers.

(Undoubtedly incomplete as the list is culled from Wickipedia, so take it with a grain of salt.)

• Iain Banks
• J. M. Barrie
• Chris Boyce
• Michael Cobley
• Arthur Conan Doyle
• Hal Duncan
• Matthew Fitt
• Gary Gibson
• Richard Gordon (Scottish author)
• Gavin Grant
• Alasdair Gray
• Nicholas Stuart Gray
• Robert J. Harris (writer)
• Alan W. Lear
• David Lindsay (novelist)
• Duncan Lunan
• J. T. McIntosh
• F. Gwynplaine MacIntyre
• George MacDonald
• Ken MacLeod
• Angus MacVicar
• Donald Malcolm
• David I. Masson
• Steven Moffat
• Dan Morgan (writer)
• Ricardo Pinto
• Michael Scott Rohan
• Brian Ruckley
• Margaret Ryan
• Charles Stross
• Emma Maree Urquhart
• Jack Whyte

Now I plan to go home and dig out a dust covered bottle of scotch that I have in the back of a cupboard. I will drink a toast to each and every writer on this list.

I've been here and there. I've drawn a lot of pictures. I've written a bit, too. I'm not good at this self-promotion thing. Look, you want to know about me? just visit these websites. Okay?
http://mdjackson.deviantart.com
http://community.imaginefx.com/fxpose/mdjacksons%5Fportfolio

MEET HOLLYWOOD'S NEW CONAN

No, I'm not talking about the red-haired late-night talk show host.

Robert E. Howard's immortal creation Conan the Barbarian, has been adapted by Marvel Comics among others, and in the early 80's had two movies made about him starring Arnold Schwarzeneggar (yes, there were two, although I can understand completely if you've forgotten the second. I try to). He has also been played on television by Schwarzeneggar wannabe Rolf Mueller. (Actually that's unfair. Mueller was a good actor in his own right. Didn't you see him in GLADIATOR?). Now he will be played on screen again in Marcus Nispei's (PATHFINDER) new film version by Hawaiian born actor Jason Momoa.

Momoa will be familiar to Stargate fans as Ronan Dax from Stargate Atlantis.

Allready comments on various blogs have been turning towards the negative, but I am pleased for once. I enjoyed Stargate Atlantis and particularly appreciated Momoa's presence in the show. Over the course of four seasons Momoa was able to display a depth that I think will surprise people.

If Nispei is trying to bring the character of Conan back to his roots, as he says that he is, then Momoa is entirely appropriate for that role. Conan is not the oafish, teutonic bodybuilder that the Arnold version would have you believe. That Conan was Howard filtered through Lin Carter and L. Sprague DeCamp, filtered through Roy Thomas and Marvel Comics, then filtered again through the film's director John Boorman Milius.

And Frazetta. As much as I loved Frazetta's depiction of Conan (and who doesn't) it is not truly Howard's character.

I am usually very sceptical of movie adaptations and I have been disappointed enough to justify that scepticism. I'm still not convinced that this movie will be completely faithful to Howard, nor would Momoa be my first choice (mine would have been English actor Ray Stephenson). Nevertheless I am pleased that Momoa has been tapped for the part and will go and see the movie with just a little bit less trepidation now.

I've been here and there. I've drawn a lot of pictures. I've written a bit, too. I'm not good at this self-promotion thing. Look, you want to know about me? just visit these websites. Okay?
http://mdjackson.deviantart.com
http://community.imaginefx.com/fxpose/mdjacksons%5Fportfolio

EARLY BIRTHDAY PRESENT

Tomorrow is my birthday and it looks like my people are on their way to take me home, according to the Associated Preess:



Mystery object to whizz close by Earth on Wednesday

Tue Jan 12, 3:22 PM
By The Associated Press

WASHINGTON - A mystery object from space is about to whizz close by Earth on Wednesday. It will not hit the planet, but scientists are stumped by what exactly it is.
Astronomers say it may be space junk or it could be a tiny asteroid, too small to cause damage even if it hit. It is 33 to 50 feet (10 to 15 metres) wide at most.
NASA says that on Wednesday at 7:47 a.m. EST, (1247 GMT) it will streak by, missing Earth by about 80,000 miles (128,750 kilometres).


So it looks like this might be my last blog post. Gotta pack before the Mothership gets here!

Bye all! It's been fun!

I've been here and there. I've drawn a lot of pictures. I've written a bit, too. I'm not good at this self-promotion thing. Look, you want to know about me? just visit these websites. Okay?
http://mdjackson.deviantart.com
http://community.imaginefx.com/fxpose/mdjacksons%5Fportfolio

I'm Still Here

No I was not assassinated by gunmen hired by Al Gore or David Suzuki. And look! It's the new year, we signed a pretty much toothless Copenhagen accord and our country is still free!

I just took a break for Christmas and Family. Now, of course, there's lots of work to do both designing and doing artwork.

I will post something more relevant (and more SF/Fantasy/Pulp oriented, rather than politically contrarian) in the very near future.

I've been here and there. I've drawn a lot of pictures. I've written a bit, too. I'm not good at this self-promotion thing. Look, you want to know about me? just visit these websites. Okay?
http://mdjackson.deviantart.com
http://community.imaginefx.com/fxpose/mdjacksons%5Fportfolio

The end of the world as we know it?

Marc Sheppard at the website American Thinker has said:


"Tomorrow, over 20,000 delegates from 193 nations will gather in Copenhagen to craft an agreement which would not only force American power consumption to levels equal to those of about 1910, but would also have us pay reparations for an imaginary “climate debt” we’ve accumulated by building the world’s greatest economy of all time. That debt is based on the amount of CO2 our financial growth has purportedly pumped into the atmosphere, which, according to the conclusions of the IPCC, based largely upon reports from the CRU, has selfishly imperiled the planet by inducing climate change.


Of course, asking Americans to pay reparations based on the claim they’ve done harm to other nations by spoiling the climate is like asking me to pay damages to my neighbor based on his claim that he can’t sell his house because my great-grandmother’s ghost is haunting it"

If the accord is signed at Copenhagen the world will be re-ordered to suit the United Nations, one of the most inneffectual and corrupt organization that exist in the 21st century. The sovereignty of the United States and, as a result, that of Canada will be suborned to the will of that organization.

The UN is not an elected body. Populations have no control over appointees to the U.N., but they will have been given authority over sovereign nations and will have the right to dictate the terms under which those nations are allowed to develop.

Who stands to gain by this? Certainly not you or I. In BC we are already subject to a Carbon Tax. Soon we will find that the price for basics - food - will skyrocket.

Amarica and Canada are currently free countries with democratically elected leadership. I fear that if the Copenhagen deal goes through, that will end.

I hope I am wrong. I fear I am right.


I've been here and there. I've drawn a lot of pictures. I've written a bit, too. I'm not good at this self-promotion thing. Look, you want to know about me? just visit these websites. Okay?
http://mdjackson.deviantart.com
http://community.imaginefx.com/fxpose/mdjacksons%5Fportfolio

David Suzuki is full of shit

The news broke this past weekend that the IPCC has been using fudged and manipulated data to make the case for Anthropogenic Global Warming. It has also been further revealed that the key scientists involved have used strongarm tactics to discredit and ruin the careers of anyone who disagrees with them.

I would expect Al Gore not to know the difference between good and bad science, or not to care as long as it makes him rich, but these key scientists knew the difference and went ahead anyway. As a result they received millions in funding from the UN.

I have never believed in the validity of man-made Global Warming and for that I have been a heretic. Now my position on the issue has been validated. The leaked documents that implicate the scientists is a smoking gun that proves that I am not a crackpot nor in the pay of the big oil companies (Hah! I wish!).

For more on what should be headline news, but is being ignored by the mainstream media, I recommend starting at James P. Hogan's excellent website http://www.jamesphogan.com/. It is an excellent place to get acquainted with all sorts of heretical science.

Until then, keep idling your vehicles. Greenhouse gasses are the only thing that will save us from the forthcoming ice age.

I've been here and there. I've drawn a lot of pictures. I've written a bit, too. I'm not good at this self-promotion thing. Look, you want to know about me? just visit these websites. Okay?
http://mdjackson.deviantart.com
http://community.imaginefx.com/fxpose/mdjacksons%5Fportfolio

A Princess of Mars: The (cheezy low budget version) Movie!

Hey! Why wait for Pixar! Check it out now! Asylum Studios, Traci Lords and Antonio Sabato Jr. have done it first!

I wish I were joking. God help us all, indeed.


I've been here and there. I've drawn a lot of pictures. I've written a bit, too. I'm not good at this self-promotion thing. Look, you want to know about me? just visit these websites. Okay?
http://mdjackson.deviantart.com
http://community.imaginefx.com/fxpose/mdjacksons%5Fportfolio

We're all Ed Wood Now

Mr. Door Tree on his excellent blog Golden Age Comic Book Stories recently posted a number of photos celebrating the low-budget filmmaker Ed Wood Jr. The post got me to thinking.

Ed Wood made films in Hollywood completely outside the studio system which, at that time, was the only way that most movies ever got made. Wood made movies because he loved the cinema. Sure, he made what has been rightly called "the worst movie ever made", Plan 9 from Outer Space, but that doesn't matter. What matters is that Ed Wood did what he loved to do, on his own, completely outside of the massive studio system of Hollywood. Wood was a maverick and a visionary. He was no Orson Welles, but I would wager that over the years more people have likely seen Plan 9 from Outer Space than have seen Citizen Kane or The Magnificent Ambersons.

Today independent producers are a dime a dozen in Hollywood, but Ed Wood's spirit lives on in the rest of the world. All of us who create something and post it on the internet just because we love to do it, are just like Ed Wood. Anyone who creates a comedy sketch or a music video because they love to do it, and posts the results of their efforts on Youtube, is Ed Wood.

Anyone who makes a fan film of their favorite show or movie and makes them available for download or other methods of distribution, is Ed Wood.

Anyone who creates a comic book or a magazine sheerly for the love of doing it and puts it out there, either with mimeographed copies, or publishing through Lulu, is Ed Wood.

Anyone who starts a blog because they love to write is Ed Wood.

Anyone who does what they love to do, with little or no expectation of remuneration, and puts the results out there either via the web or local cable channel, or photocopies that they sell on the street is Ed Wood.

I'm not saying that these projects are bad. Some are bad. Some are good. Some are excellent and some are better than the "professional" projects. The quality doesn't really matter.

What really matters is that we are doing something that we love to do. We put our attention and care into the project because we love it., whether it be movies or books or comics or art. When we do this we are Ed Wood.

You know, Wood's movies are terrible, but they have stood the test of time in a way that neither Ed Wood himself or anyone else could possibly have foreseen.

Any of us who does what we do should be as lucky as Ed Wood.

I've been here and there. I've drawn a lot of pictures. I've written a bit, too. I'm not good at this self-promotion thing. Look, you want to know about me? just visit these websites. Okay?
http://mdjackson.deviantart.com
http://community.imaginefx.com/fxpose/mdjacksons%5Fportfolio

GEEK OUT FRIDAY: TREK LOVE

It doesn't get much geekier than this.

I've been here and there. I've drawn a lot of pictures. I've written a bit, too. I'm not good at this self-promotion thing. Look, you want to know about me? just visit these websites. Okay?
http://mdjackson.deviantart.com
http://community.imaginefx.com/fxpose/mdjacksons%5Fportfolio

Bizzare Creature Found In North Carolina Sewer

Some say it's a colony of tubifex worms, but I'm not convinced. It looks pretty... eldritch... to me.

I've been here and there. I've drawn a lot of pictures. I've written a bit, too. I'm not good at this self-promotion thing. Look, you want to know about me? just visit these websites. Okay?
http://mdjackson.deviantart.com
http://community.imaginefx.com/fxpose/mdjacksons%5Fportfolio

BORIS!

I made a lucky find last week. I had no idea that this book even existed.


Back in 1978 I loved Boris paintings. I have become less enamored of them over the years but this collection from Maryland's Anaconda Press  really reminded me of what it was that I found exciting about the fantasy illustrator all those years ago. Here are a few random pages.

I've been here and there. I've drawn a lot of pictures. I've written a bit, too. I'm not good at this self-promotion thing. Look, you want to know about me? just visit these websites. Okay?
http://mdjackson.deviantart.com
http://community.imaginefx.com/fxpose/mdjacksons%5Fportfolio