Brian Sawyer

Updates from April, 2010 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

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  Brian Sawyer 1:25 pm on April 13, 2010 Permalink | Reply  

  David Foster Wallace on the iPad? 

  I’m thinking of the potential for one of my favorite books as an app, when it’s available for the iPad* (and when I actually own an iPad UPDATE 4/15: I got an iPad yesterday). I’d expect the capabilities of the device to enhance the already amazing experience I already had with the printed book, minus the few drawbacks of the medium in which I consumed it.

  When I read Infinite Jest, the 1,100-page book required two bookmarks to read: one for the body text and one for the 100+ pages of end notes, which actually advanced the plot and were not considered supplemental to the text. I would have loved to have a more convenient way to access these endnotes where they occurred in the main narrative, popping them open to read them and collapsing back to the main text when finished. And the end notes were in a tiny font, which I would have loved to increase to read more easily. And the book weighed more than an iPad, so reduced weight would also be a feature, not to mention an easier form factor (have you ever tried to hold open a 1,100-page book for reading over an extended period of time)?

  With regard to the endnotes, I could see many different ways of handling the content in ways much in the spirit of DFW’s intent. Here’s one approach that The Atlantic took for an online version “Host,” a print story by DFW that included heavy footnotes (linked as pop-ups on the page).

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  Brian Sawyer 5:43 pm on March 12, 2010 Permalink | Reply  

  Google Navigation: Free Garmin Replacement 

  

  Note: I’ve coauthored a book on Best Android Apps. I’m running this post simultaneously on my support blog for the book and at O’Reilly’s Answers site.

  Last night, I needed my Garmin to get somewhere important, but when I reached for it in the glove box, I remembered I’d loaned it out to the other car in our family and hadn’t gotten it back yet. What to do?

  No Garmin in the glove box, but I did have my G1 on me, and the directions on Google Maps had saved me on numerous occasions, so I fired it up and plugged in my destination:

  

  That Navigate option was new to me. I’d remembered hearing about Google Navigation coming to phones running versions of Android below 2.0 (my G1 is running Android 1.6, but note that Navigation is still not available for my Motorola Cliq, which is still back on Android 1.5), but I hadn’t had the chance to look into it yet. So, here was my chance. I pressed Navigate …

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  Brian Sawyer 6:04 pm on October 6, 2009 Permalink | Reply  

  My Turn as the Crafts Editor at a Smut Publisher 

  In a recent email exchange with a prospective author and an editorial colleague, I mentioned how I’d spent some time away from my current employer before returning as the prodigal editor for the series I’m working on now. When the author asked where I’d been and why, I just said that it was kind of a long story but that I’d be happy to tell it if he was interested. When my fellow editor added, “It is a very cool story, and if I recall correctly, there’s at least one kinky book involved,” it struck me that it was indeed a pretty good yarn, one which more than just this particular author might get a kick out of.

  Whether out of embarrassment, hesitation to speak ill (or say things that might be interpreted that way, just because of the content) of a previous employer, or just because of a need to put the experience behind me, I’ve been publicly silent on the topic of my brief hiatus, but enough time has gone by that I think I can safely tell the tale to a wider audience. Still, because I generally intend this blog to be appropriate for all audiences, I think I’ll use the “Continue Reading” link for the first time ever on this particular post.

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    Elisabeth 12:24 pm on October 7, 2009 Permalink | Reply

    Great story Brian. Glad you decided to share. Definitely made my morning