Month: February 2008

Ever since I did the ol’ switcheroo to Apple a few years back, I’ve really been enjoying John Gruber’s info-licious blog, Daring Fireball.

In addition to being an immensely nice guy (John and I spoke on a panel together at the “South by Southwest” conference a few years back), John is the master at finding useful and interesting Apple tidbits that no one else does. And then he adds a really insightful, funny commentary on top, like a whip cream of awesomeness.

If you’re a Mac lover, check out John’s work over at Daring Fireball.

I particularly like that Arthur’s first Facebook activity was to throw a frog at someone. Seems
appropriate, somehow.

Sheldonista Stacey G. sent me a really nice e-mail from Facebook headquarters, this morning. Today’s Sheldon strip is already up at Facebook…next to some hallway artwork:

So, I’m in the process of filming a “How I Make Sheldon” video to show you guys, right? And I borrow two digital cameras from friends, and set them up on either side of my drawing-desk chair, right? ‘Cause that’ll be fancy, and will allow me to edit back and forth in those moments when my hands are blocking what’s being drawn, right?

Awesome. Great idea. Let’s do it.

So I set the two cameras up, and test them both to make sure the POVs are clear and the tapes recording well…and then sit down to begin making a Sheldon toon.

And two hours later, when I’m done with the toon, I stand up to check the recording…and it’s two hours of the back of my head. IN BOTH CAMERAS. Sure, I had tested the cameras before I started, but I forgot to test them when I was in my “drawing posture,” which of course is gonna have a forward lean to it.

So, yeah. Awesome. A collective four hours of the back of my head. Well done, Captain Brilliant. Film School, here I come!

You may have already seen this…but in the odd chance that you haven’t, allow me to share THE MOST ADORABLE THING I’VE EVER SEEN: A 3-year old explaining the plot of Star Wars.

Thanks to Sheldonista Carlos Z. for forwardin’ that along!

LINK ONE: There is something entrancing about watching human beings re-enact “Space Invaders” in an auditorium.

From an aesthetic perspective, I think the choice to use a human voice to recreate the sounds of the game was a great touch. It adds a whole different layer of whimsy to it.

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LINK TWO: You know those moments when Flaco is riding Arthur who in turn is riding Oso? (Here, for example.) And you thought was was fake! Well check it out, it exists in the real world!

My favorite moment: When the cat is licking the rat, as the rat is licking the cat. That’s ridiculous and awesome at the same time.

I’m sure you’ve heard the modern-life truism that the Library of Congress has less trouble preserving their “old-time” documents and data from hundreds of years ago, but are terrified about all the varying ways they can lose digital, CD/DVD, and tape-recorded data from the last 50 years. The sad truth of it is, modern data storage is handled much the same way as a fast-food restaurant is built: We only expect it to last for 5 or 10 years.

I went out to dinner with a friend of mine whose specialty is JPG compression, storage and retrieval, and he terrified me with stories of massive data loss.

Which is why I’m so excited about Apple’s Time Capsule. The ability to be constantly backing up my data via Wifi is a brilliant idea. Taken with offsite storage (I use Apple’s .Mac iDisk, but there are plenty of good options), and a Lacie external drive…I think my thousands of scanned Sheldon toons are finally getting the redundancy I should’ve had a long time ago. So hopefully they’ll last a little longer than 5 to 10 years.

…But Abraham Lincoln’s hand-written letters will still outlast all of them.

And maybe that’s OK.

A while back, when I tried to link to my favorite coffee shop, the only link I could find was on a site called “Yelp”. I hadn’t heard of Yelp before, but it turns out it’s a consumer-review site for restaurants and stores and stuff.

It occurred to me this morning that I’d love Sheldonistas to be able to use Yelp to review the Sheldon Store. If they got themselves a book…Was the experience OK? Was it great? How was the customer service? Would they recommend it? That sort of stuff.

So I set up a Yelp page for the store…

…Please chime in with a review if you’ve ever bought a book, a shirt, some original art, etc. And please be honest about it: No sugar-coating necessary! We work really hard to make sure you’re happy with your purchase, but I want you to be honest, if we were lacking in any way!

If folks like the Yelp reviews as a resource, I’ll add the link into the store itself and into all our shipping-confirmation e-mails. That way, you can read reviews before you buy, and add your own when your order arrives.

Feedback on this idea? Know of a better review site? Let me know in the comments section, below. Thanks!

Certainly not these people.

This is pretty awesome, and definitely worth a watch.

A lot of new folks have discovered Sheldon these last few months… so between now and Saturday, here’s a cool offer for these new readers: Get a FREE Sheldon t-shirt when you order the 4-Book Collection, the 5-Book Collection, or the 5-Pack which includes the “Artist Edition.”

You can pick any shirt you like, including: “Coffee: It’s What’s For Dinner” [Unisex: S, M, L, XL, 2XL], “What Would a Klingon Do?” [Unisex: S, M, L, XL, 2XL, 3XL] or “Lucky Duck” [Ladies: S, M, L, XL, 2XL]. (…Do make sure you check the sizing chart, as our awesome American Apparel t-shirts may be more fitted than you’re used to.)

HOW TO GET YOUR FREE SHIRT…

3.) Click THIS LINK and let us know what shirt you’d like. Then, bam! Free shirt for you!

Check it out! All the pics are finally in at the Sheldon Photo Gallery! It’s a collection of every Sheldon event, gallery show, book launch, convention, and reader-submitted pic!