Blogs

The Book Publishers Association of Alberta is also hosting a Digital Publishing workshop on September 9th and 10th. Topics discussed will include the technical aspects of electronic publishing, xml and digital publishing.

The event will take place at McKay Avenue School on Thursday, September 10th for Edmontonians and the Memorial Park Library on Wednesday, September 9th for Calgarians. Both sessions run from 1:00pm to 4:30pm. The cost is $30 for Alberta Magazine Publisher's Association members and $40 for non-members.

The Book Publishers Association of Alberta is hosting an Adobe InDesign Webinar on Thursday, August 27th from 1:00pm - 4:30pm. The focus is on new InDesign CS4 features in regards to book and Web publishing.

Contrary to what people say, it hasn't all been done before. Runpee.com is a great example of a unique and useful service that nobody really thought to offer before.

The site lists times during popular movies where it's safe to go to the bathroom. Lulls in action and narrative are marked, along with triggers (such as spoken lines) and time limits for your sprint. There's even a scrambled spoiler, so you can catch up on what you missed. This is highly-useful information for folks with small bladders and a tendancy to upsize drinks.

It looks like you can fight big business and win, as Toronto-based software developer i4i proved this week by winning a lawsuit against Microsoft for patent violation. The settlement of $290 million comes as a result of Microsoft wilfully defying i4i's XML patents by including features in Microsoft Word 2003 and 2007 that allow for the creation of custom XML templates. This means that 60 days from now, Microsoft will not be able to sell current versions of Word that feature the XML template function.

I blogged some time ago about the Shootorials produced by Kongregate to help amateur designers produce custom Flash games. However, some people are coders, but not artists. Others can code and produce art assets, but lack the skill to create audio for their games.

This is an exciting time to be a consumer of modern technology. Every day, engineers are coming up with new input methods for digital devices, some innovative and clever, some... not so much.

Geeks, like icecream, come in many different flavors. Whether you're a fan of Japanese pop culture or just curious about how other geek subcultures do things, you're in luck: Animethon 16 starts today.

Did you know that July 31st is a very geeky day, historically speaking? From space exploration milestones to the birth of several notable physicists and mathemeticians, July 31st is a day for all geeks across the world to celebrate being special and different.

Thanks to Wired.com for the full list. Stay geeky!

It's a long-held belief that people of the geek persuasion don't get along with the sun, or as I like to call it, the Infernal Day Star. We at Guru decided to buck the trend last week by traversing the two-block expanse towards Churchill Square for A Taste of Edmonton 2009. Out of the ten of us that left the office, five burst into flames immediately upon contact with the sun's harmful rays. Those of us that survived, charred and hungry, made it to the festivities with little incident. 

In the past few weeks, we at Guru have been proud to welcome our first batch of Guru On Demand students. Not sure what Guru On Demand is? Here's what you need to know.

Basically, Guru On Demand is learning a la carte. You pick the subject, the skill level, and the afternoons you want to come in. Every topic we cover in our Digital Media Producer program, from Photoshop to Premier and AfterEffects, is available on request.