Nice video showing the difference between Apple and Microsoft, and the advantages of using empty space in design.

Apparently this is an internal Microsoft video, according to http://battellemedia.com.

I’ve been studying potfolio sites recently – figuring out what makes the best ones great and what doesn’t work on others.  Here are two that inspire me to greater work.

I like these so much I started a page for them on the right, so that I can update it with new sites as they become available.

James Jean portfolio
www.jamesjean.com
Wonderful site showcasing James’ work.  I like the way that hundreds of pieces of artwork are available from the front page, though the site design is clean and easy to navigate.  From this site, I can infer:

• This guy gets work.  A lot. 
• He’s published a lot of places – click on “Illustration” and you see a list of the (well-known) magazines that have published his work.  He’s established in the field.
• Each “news item” links to new pieces.  He’s constantly cranking out art.
• He’s got a blog at www.processrecess.com (available from the “Blog” link) which showcases his creative process in detail.

Okaydave 
www.okaydave.com
Wow.  Dave Werner’s portfolio – another site containing a ton of information in a seemingly small space.  I love the way it makes you WANT to learn more about Dave’s creative process; the way you can see his skills without the use of a list of skills (other than his resume).  His blog at www.okaysamurai is impressive as well. From this site, I can infer:

• This guy’s a one-man media factory.  He can crank out video, audio, images, sketches, all from scratch.  He’s got a podcast and vodcast (no wiki – yet).
• He’s got imagination; all of the work appears to be original.
• He’s got mad tech skills. Flash, PHP, Photoshop, Illustrator – you name it.
• He’s got artistic skills.  He knows how to edit video for maximum effect (see “Impact”), how to showcase relevant information through imagery (see “Logos”) and even how to spice up a Powerpoint presentation.
• He can bring his imagination to reality.  Online.

I finished the epic Master and Commander series last week. It was the gorgeous 5 volume set published by WW Norton, which ends with the unfinished typescript, a few pages of handwritten manuscript, and an incredibly satisfying afterword from the publisher. It’s bittersweet to end a story that I’ve been reading for so long (at least a year) but it felt good to take the 5 volumes off my “to read” shelf and place them onto the bookshelves that hold my small (but growing) library.

These books heighten your sense of what literature can be. O’Brien effortlessly blends history, witty dialogue, action, and emotion into the story, with an economy of words and lack of flourish. It reminded me of the video of Ana Forrest doing an asana, in that both makes their craft look effortless. Especially impressive for O’Brien, who manages to sustain the quality of his writing over the course of over 5000 pages.

I wish I had been able to attend a reading by O’Brien (who died in 2000, in the middle of writing his 21st manuscript), but reading the books was pleasure enough.  In addition, the back issues of the “Patrick O’Brian newsletter” are online here, providing more information on the man himself.

If you’re interested in reading them, you can order them from WW Norton or get them incredibly cheap at Amazon.com.

Finally finished a short story today.  There’s nothing quite like the feeling of typing your name, address, and the word count at the top of the page, and printing it for the last time.

I plan to use this post as an online record of where and how I should submit the manuscript.  Here are the links I have so far:

• Markets paying at least 3 cents a word: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~mslee/mag.html
• Asimov submission guidelines: http://www.asimovs.com/info/guidelines.shtml
• Fantasy & Science Fiction: http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/glines.htm

This may be more suitable for a wiki.  Think this’ll be a good reason to set one up.

Saw MI3 last Saturday.  Went in with low expectations, and wasn’t disappointed!

I was amazed at how similar MI3 was to the TV show Alias; not surpising since both were directed by J.J. Abrams. 

• Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) / Sydney Bristow (Jennifer Garner) is the secret agent who must hide their true identity from their loved ones, even at the expense of their personal life.
• Brassel (Laurence Fishburne) / Jack Bristow (Victor Garber) plays the strongarm head of the agency who may or may not be on the side of the secret agents.
• That Guy from Shaun of the Dead (Simon Pegg) / Marshall Flinkman (Kevin Wiseman) is the stuttery comic relief who’s a genius lab tech that gets to help out the main characters.
• The two other hot young superspies (Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Maggie Q) / The two other hot young superspies (Melissa George and Balthazar Getty) round out the cast.
• Luther Strickell (Ving Rhames) provides a sometimes comic bridge between Ethan’s personal life and superspy career in MI3, somewhat like the Michael Vaughn (Michael Vartan) or Irina Derevko (Lena Olin) contributions on Alias
• Greg Grunberg appears, cause why not.  A nod to the Alias fans.

Plus, Ethan Hunt’s wife looked a bit too much like Katie Holmes for me.  Every time they held hands and smiled at each other I got an eerie Scientology vibe.

But hey, the explosions weren’t bad and Philip Seymour Hoffman is always cool.  If you feel the need for a big action movie to kick off the summer you may as well go; otherwise I’d save your money for Superman Returns.