Free Download of Cory Doctorow’s Graphic Novels
Quick fyi for BoingBoing readers .… Cory Doctorow has just released comic adaptations of his award-winning science fiction stories — Futuristic Tales of the Here and Now. You can download them here for free, or buy the collection on Amazon.
Related Content:
Download free copy of Shake Girl
17 Free and Downloadable Graphic Novels
Read More...World’s First Robot Rock Band
Perhaps this is a little off topic, I know. But it’s fairly wild. And it’s the start of summer.
(For more good robot videos click here and here, and for more substantive musical podcasts, click here.)
Magnetic Fields Made Visible
Learn the Art of Photography: The Nikon Way
The advent of digital cameras has changed photography as we know it. It has dramatically lowered the cost of photography, and we’re now snapping more photos than ever before. But we’re not necessarily taking better pictures.
This is where Nikon steps in. Their cameras make casual photographers immensely better than they actually are. (Trust me, I know.) And Nikon has now set up a free Digital Learning Center that offers tutorials and tips for taking a range of different pictures — portraits, travel photos, nature photography, etc. Questions that get tackled here include, but are not limited, to: “How can I take better portraits?” “How can I take photos at dusk without having them look completely dark?” “How do I get true-to-life skin tones?” “How can I get the moving figures in my photos to look like they’re in motion and not frozen?” “My portraits have red eyes. How can I prevent this?” Give a tour of the Learning Center here.
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Related Content:
- If you’d like to learn about digital photography using podcasts, check out Digital Photography Tips from the Top Floor (iTunes — Feed — Web Site). And, for that matter, if you need to learn how to use a podcast, spend some time with our Podcast Primer here.
- Also Slate recently put together a nice gallery of images featuring the work of Henri Cartier-Bresson, a master photographer who is considered the father of modern photojournalism.
Great Stories from Everyday People
The name of the program is Morning Stories (iTunes — Feed — Web Site). The host is Tony Kahn. And the show is all about presenting great stories from everyday people — stories that get at something deeply human, things that other people can identify with, no matter what their age, background, or nationality. (Hence the reason why the show’s podcast has unexpectedly developed a considerable following in China.)
I figured that there’s no better way to introduce the show than to ask Tony Kahn to highlight some of his own favorite episodes. So that’s what I did, and here’s what he had to say. Once you get beyond listening to his favorites, you can peruse the complete archive here. Enjoy.
1. Over Here and Over There (mp3): Morning Stories Producer and Director catches up with his friend Fatima, by phone from Brazil, and recalls her story of the hopes that once made her flee her homeland for America, and the fears that sent her back.
2. How Can You Say No? (mp3): Jackie Lantry fights time and City Hall in China to give her son a family, and Tony Kahn and Gary Mott discuss their personal experiences with adoption.
3. Family Tree (mp3): Karen Dillon begins the podcast with a report on working with grieving children. Katrina Murray ends it with a mother’s tale.
4. A Lesson in Chinese (mp3): A caller from Xian, China teaches Tony the true meaning of “happiness,” “love,” and “volunteer job.” Also, Tony and Gary discuss the true meaning of “wanton.”
Ira Glass on Why Creative Excellence Takes Time
Ira Glass, host of the beloved radio show This American Life, offers a helpful reminder that excellence doesn’t come automatically. (See video below.) It takes work, years of it. And he revisits some of his early radio work in order to prove it.
The Glass video has been added to our YouTube playlist.
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Art by Committee: The Story Behind the Writing of “Shake Girl”
Here at Stanford, a couple of our teachers (Tom Kealey and Adam Johnson) took a novel approach to running a writing class. They wanted to see what happens when 14 students collectively write, edit and illustrate a graphic novel. (A graphic novel is a type of comic book that features a lengthy and complex storyline.) Fast forward a few weeks, and you can see what the class produced. Their novel, “a wildly ambitious, emotionally searing story,” based on a series of true events, is called Shake Girl, and you can start reading it here. Should you want to learn more about the writing of this collaborative novel, you can listen to this podcast that gives you the backstory and also read this section of the Shake Girl website.
Ninja Fast Dictionary
Long ago, I got in the habit of using Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary. And I’ve suffered through the painfully slow page loads for the better part of a decade. But then I stumbled upon a better alternative. NinjaWords is “a really fast dictionary … fast like a Ninja.” Give it a try. You’ll enjoy the speed.
PS Another cool option is Definr.com, which is fast and features a handy auto-complete function. Thanks to a reader for flagging that one for us.
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Tobias Wolff Reads From His New Collection
Segueing from our last post, I wanted to feature a reading given by Tobias Wolff, a master of the short story, who also happens to teach creative writing at Stanford.
In March, he released a new book, Our Story Begins: New and Selected Stories. And below we have posted a clip of him reading from a piece called “The Benefit of the Doubt.” As you’ll see, Wolff knows how to give his stories a very good read. Enjoy.
(PS If you like literature in audio format, then feel free to peruse our Free Audio Book Collection. Also note that if you sign up for Audible, you can download two bestselling audio books for free. Get more info on the deal here.)
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The Smithsonian Channel on the Vietnam War Memorial
As a quick follow up to our post earlier today, I wanted to highlight the Smithsonian Channel’s first broadcast on BlogTalkRadio, which aired tonight. Right in time for Memorial Day, the program features an involved conversation with Jan Scruggs, the founder and president of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, who conceived the idea of building the memorial in Washington. It also complements a Smithsonian Channel documentary ‘Remembering Vietnam: The Wall at 25′ (click link to see trailer). You can listen in on the conversation right below.
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Open Culture scours the web for the best educational media. We find the free courses and audio books you need, the language lessons & educational videos you want, and plenty of enlightenment in between.
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Open Culture editor Dan Colman scours the web for the best educational media. He finds the free courses and audio books you need, the language lessons & movies you want, and plenty of enlightenment in between.
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