Category Archives: Media

The Beauty of Books

Posted on October 3, 2014 by ricbret

In 1981 an Italian artist, architect, and industrial designer named Luigi Serafini worked for three years crafting an alien artifact that pushed the concepts of beauty, alienation, and book craft to new dimensions. Serafini created a tome, thick and large, embellished with impenetrable glyphs and symbols that by style and repetition of forms can be nothing but a language, but one no human has ever spoken.
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Considering the Blue Pill…

Posted on September 19, 2014 by ricbret

Sure, and there’s stuff you can do with digital that you could never do with physical media. I travel with hundreds of books in my backpack. I can choose what movie I want to watch on the plane. Mix tape from 100’s of albums when and where I want? Sure, I’m future boy!

It’s all upside, right? What could be wrong? But about this time in any SyFy movie, you know the foreboding music is about to rise and everything you’ve been enjoying is about to turn on you. Continue reading →

Posted in Audience, Books, Entertainment, Geeking around, Media, Movies, Personal, Random thoughts, SciFi Fantasy, Software, Technology, Travel, Writing | Tagged apple, browser, comics, digital, fanboy, media, technology | Comments Off

Swallow the red pill…

Posted on August 7, 2014 by ricbret

As you may already know from prior posts, as well as producing the weekly podcast, I often write for a website called Fanboy Planet. Fanboy Planet reports on all the silly and serious aspects of being a fan in this … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Entertainment, Games, Geeking around, History, Media, Movies, Personal, Random thoughts, SciFi Fantasy, Software, Technology, Writing | Tagged business, comics, digital, fanboy, geek, hacking, Internet Explorer, media, money, music, pirate, rights, software, technology, writing | Comments Off

Take the Red Pill…

Posted on July 26, 2014 by ricbret

As well as producing the weekly podcast, I often write for a web site called Fanboy Planet. Fanboy Planet reports on all the silly and serious aspects of being a fan in this modern day. Being involved in fannish media is … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Design, Entertainment, Geeking around, Media, Movies, Personal, Random thoughts, Software, Writing | Comments Off

And another new blog… Book Judgement

Posted on July 10, 2014 by ricbret

Have I mentioned Book Judgement? It’s a project I’ve wanted to do for years, but never figured out exactly what it was and how I would do it. Together those are pretty inhibiting factors. Simply put, I love books. Not … Continue reading →

Posted in Audience, Books, Design, Entertainment, Geeking around, History, Media, Writing | Comments Off

Leap Motion – First Impressions and Demo

Posted on July 23, 2013 by ricbret

Postman bought my new Leap Motion controller this week. Minutes after installing it (and figuring out I’d placed it on the desktop upside down!) it was up and working. This video is my first few impressions of the orientation application … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Geeking around, Hardware, Media, Personal, PowerPoint, Presentations, Software, Technology, Thoughts | Tagged 3d, controller, cross-platform, demo, geek, leap, Microsoft, motion, ui, user interface | Comments Off

How Screwed-Up is Apple Safari? I Think It Needs Therapy.

Posted on June 23, 2013 by ricbret

Some people think that because I worked for Microsoft for so many years that I’m an Apple hater. Well, that’s not actually true. Fact is, I’ve had a Macintosh on my desks, at work and home, pretty much constantly since … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Design, Geeking around, Media, Organizations, Software, Technology, Thoughts | Tagged apple, Chrome, Internet Explorer, Microsoft, Safari, WWDC | Comments Off

Rotten Bitter Apple

Posted on April 10, 2013 by ricbret

Update: Word from comiXology now after many hand-wringing updates overnight is that Apple didn’t prevent comiXology from pushing to iOS apps, but comiXology made the call. In a letter on their blog page, comiXology CEO David Steinberger noted: After hearing … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Entertainment, Geeking around, Media, Organizations, Personal, SciFi Fantasy, Thoughts, Writing | 2 Comments

The Facebook Face Flip

Posted on November 13, 2012 by ricbret

This is not a political post, although a quick reading without comprehension will surely give some that impression. Trust me, and read on. I was reading this evening about how you can actually see people “unliking” Mitt Romney’s Facebook page … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Design, History, Media, Organizations, Personal, PowerPoint, Presentations, Random thoughts, Technology, Thoughts, Writing | Comments Off

PowerPoint History, 25 years ago…

Posted on May 25, 2012 by ricbret

This has to be quick. Sorry for any typos or errors, but I’m packing, medicating, and generally running about today and this could not wait. I got a very nice letter from Bob Gaskins yesterday. If you don’t recognize the … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Business, Deals, Design, Geeking around, History, Media, Organizations, Personal, PowerPoint, Presentations, Software, Technology, Thoughts, Writing | 2 Comments

This is so easy to do…

Posted on April 19, 2012 by ricbret

There are some things that are such a pleasure to do, to pass along, to endorse… it kind of feels like cheating, like “duh” this doesn’t even have to be said. Yeah, this is one of those. I love the … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Design, Geeking around, History, Home and Family, Media, Movies, Software, Travel | 3 Comments

How Facebook Will (May Have Already) F#@k You Up

Posted on December 11, 2011 by ricbret

Really, I’m not doing much here. Just trying to draw your attention to someone else’s work on how Facebook’s recent bout of ill-conceived changes continue to mess with your privacy, your communications, and your ability to actually use the system … Continue reading →

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The value of writing reuse…

Posted on August 12, 2011 by ricbret

Every now and then I start off a blog entry with “I really don’t write often enough…” But that’s not really true. I write a ton of stuff, it just doesn’t always end up here. The articles I write very … Continue reading →

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And about that moon…

Posted on January 13, 2011 by ricbret

Sometimes you just do things for fun. For the last four years I’ve produced a weekly podcast and occasionally written articles for a web site called Fanboy Planet. There’s no money in this, but usually it gets you into conventions, … Continue reading →

Posted in Entertainment, Geeking around, Media, Personal, Random thoughts, SciFi Fantasy | Comments Off

The Garr Box…

Posted on September 23, 2010 by ricbret

To be honest, I’m having a little trouble getting to the point where I write every day. But I’m lucky, I have inspiring friends who help me get past this without even trying. Today is Garr Reynold’s turn. It’s Wednesday … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Design, Media, Personal, Presentations, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

The Walking Dead…

Posted on September 21, 2010 by ricbret

AMC just released a new bit of advertising for the October 31st release of their “The Walking Dead” series. That’s it over there on the left. The series is based on a comic by the brilliant Robert Kirkman. The stark … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Media, Movies, SciFi Fantasy, Thoughts | Comments Off

Want to show off your presentation design skills?

Posted on June 2, 2010 by ricbret

Rick Altman of the Presentation Summit conference wants to have you join his festivities for free. Continue reading →

Posted in Design, Media, Presentations | Comments Off