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A Better Pencil

November 12, 2009 by Roy Johnson

Readers, Writers, and the Digital Revolution

A Better Pencil is a study that traces the relationships between writing and reading and the technology used as the medium of communication – from the invention of writing, the development of the printing press, then the typewriter, to the modern computer.

It’s a book about how the digital revolution is impacting our reading and writing practices, and how the latest technologies of the word differ from what came before.

A Better Pencil - book jacketIn this sense Dennis Baron has produced a similar work to that of his namesake Naomi Baron’s Alphabet to Email though his emphasis is less on historical development and more on exploring topics related to the issue. In fact I was rather glad he didn’t take a strictly chronological approach, which would have delayed annoyingly any revelations he might have about electronic writing. But the problem with his thematic structure is that many of his observations are made over and over again, each one of which he seems to imagine to be the first.

The one basic argument which he repeats is that each development in the technology of literacy was at first introduction regarded with suspicion. Even writing itself, which it was thought (by Plato) would lead to the decline of human memory. Then printing, which some people opposed on the grounds that it would lead to the dissemination of new ideas and the loss of respect for the authority of the church – and they were right.

What he’s doing in fact is looking at commonly held notions about computer technology and trying to dissipate widespread fears and misconceptions. Will computers lead to a decline in literacy. Answer – No. Will they rot our children’s brains – no. And so on.

The idea that some people are suspicious of technology is examined at some length by a study of the Unabomber – the technophobe terrorist who was ironically caught out only when he published his manifesto. The story is well told, and it’s entertaining enough – but it tells us almost nothing about writing or technology that we didn’t already know. However, this is a book that becomes more interesting as it goes on.

There’s quite a good chapter on the history of the pencil (much of it taken from the work of Henry Petrowski) that throws up quite a few interesting observations. He argues for instance that writing in pencil lacks status because the pencil post-dates the pen in historical development. Its traces can be wiped out of course, yet some pencils do not have erasers – for very good reasons. Joiners don’t want to leave graphite smears on their work, and golfers should not alter their scores.

It doesn’t take us much closer to electronic writing, but there’s a very amusing chapter on handwriting in which he exposes the bogus claims of graphologists (sloping left script = suicidal tendencies: that sort of rubbish). He makes the more serious point that people repeatedly claim current handwriting practice is a falling off in standards from some previous golden era in which everybody wrote in beautiful copperplate script. This too just isn’t true.

Once he gets to word-processors all his lines of argument begin to come together. Anyone who has followed the development of writing with a PC will be fondly reminded of the early frustrations as he describes his experiences using VAX, WordStar, and WordPerfect. As he rightly claims, all new developments in writing technology seem to slow down the writing process when they are first introduced.

He looks at the conventions, plus the advantages and disadvantages of all forms of on-screen writing – email, web pages, Instant Messaging, and blogs. Each of these has so rapidly replaced its predecessors that the conventions often change with the matter of a few years. Something hip with the kids one moment becomes old hat the next – particularly when adults get involved. That’s happening on Facebook and Twitter right now.

Most of these are new opportunities for self-expression rather than new writing technologies – though he might have included text messaging as an almost coded form of communication. Wikis are also new in that they are anonymous user-generated writing in which individual contributors sacrifice notions of personal authorship for the sake of a common good.

He ends with a look at what he calls the ‘dark side of the web’ – the world of hate groups, email scams, and political censorship. I was glad he didn’t let the illustrious Google off the hook for the way in which they (and MSN) have capitulated to China, the world’s leader in state-sponsored cyber snooping (with an estimated 30,000 people employed in spying on their fellow citizens). And they’re not alone: Cuba, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, and Burma (Myanmar) are doing the same thing.

One of Baron’s other central arguments is that revolutions in our writing behaviour take place when the technology becomes cheap and ubiquitous enough to put new tools in everybody’s hands. Things are moving so fast in digital technology just at the moment that it’s hard to keep up or predict what might happen next. But this survey is an excellent account of the status quo at 2008/2009.

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© Roy Johnson 2009


Dennis Baron, A Better Pencil: Readers, Writers, and the Digital Revolution, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009, pp.259, ISBN: 0195388445


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Filed Under: Media, Theory Tagged With: Computers, Electronic wrriting, Technology, Theory, Writing skills, Writing Theory

A Brief History of the Future

July 11, 2009 by Roy Johnson

readable account of computer and Internet development

This is a fascinating history of the Internet – but given a personal spin. Journalist and academic John Naughton describes the technology of the digital revolution from a user’s point of view. What are the concerns of the average person? How does it all work? At each stage he explains the significance of each development. This approach will be very reassuring for beginners. A Brief History of the Future starts with potted biographies of Vannevar Bush, Norbert Weiner, and J.C.R Licklider as his version of ‘fathers of the Internet’, but it is Paul Baran and Vint Cerf who he tips as most important of all – because they came up with the ideas which pulled it all together.

A Brief History of the Future Naughton is good as explaining the details of the technology and engineering, and he puts his professional journalism skills to good use. Whenever necessary, he uses analogies with practical, everyday matters – such as packet-switching being like moving a house and its contents in separate trucks which take different routes to their destination, and then are re-assembled at the other end. He also writes amusingly about the pleasures and perils of email, and takes a refreshingly tolerant view on the issues of censorship and control.

There are some parts of the hard technical developments which he leaves out of his account – politely admitting that he has done so. This seems to me a wise choice, because the type of popular readership at which the book is aimed will welcome his focus on the personal achievements and his own enthusiastic account of engineering history.

Some of the other accounts of the Internet such as Hafner and Lyon’s Where Wizards Stay up Late and Robert Cringley’s Accidental Empires occasionally tax the non-specialist reader in this respect.

Like these other books, his narrative becomes chronologically scrambled at times, maybe because this reflects the disparate locations, enterprises, and time schemes [not to mention funding and government enterprises] involved in the enterprise. Naughton goes out of his way to be scrupulously fair to them all – including even monopolies such IT & T – which like British Telecom put a brake on the development of the Internet for a long time.

There is a particularly interesting chapter on the development of the UNIX operating system, and an explanation of how and why the Usenet News system evolved from it. He also provides interesting introductions to topics such the development of Linux and the Open Source movement which belives that software should be available free of charge.

He is at his best when describing the development of hypertext and the World Wide Web – perhaps because the story flows in an unbroken chronological sequence from Vannevar Bush, via Douglas Engelbart and Ted Nelson, through to Tim Berners-Lee and Marc Andreesson. He ends with a brief glimpse at the current dangers of the commercialisation of the Net and the reasons why it is almost impossible to predict its future.

Naughton offers a very readable, humane, and contagiously enthusiastic account of the Net and its major features. This is a perfect book for anyone who wants to know the background to this major technological revolution.

© Roy Johnson 2001

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John Naughton, A Brief History of the Future: The Origins of the Internet, London: Orion Books, 2000, pp.332, ISBN 075381093X


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Filed Under: Techno-history Tagged With: Computers, Cultural history, Technological history, Technology

Accidental Empires

June 13, 2009 by Roy Johnson

Amusing history of computers and the Internet

This book has two sub-titles: ‘The Triumph of the Nerds’ and ‘How the boys of Silicon Valley make their millions, battle foreign competition, and still can’t get a date’. You can see that Robert Cringely takes an irreverent attitude to his study of Internet history and computer development in the US. He looks at it in terms of business enterprise, scientific development, and as a collection of extraordinary and eccentric characters who were once skipping classes and are now running the shop.

Internet historyHis account is written in a breezy, amusing, self-deprecating style. He jumps around from one topic, one character sketch, and even one decade to another. One minute he’s tracing the history of software development, the next it’s business methods and biographical sketches of entrepreneurs. Much of his energy is spent on critiques of Chairman Bill and figures such as Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak.

It’s a sort of history of how it all happened – but rendered via a cubist form of narrative in which you have to reassemble the chronology yourself. Cringley is a computer magazine gossip columnist, and I’m afraid that ultimately, it shows.

What he offers is popularised science, via sound-bite journalism: “it takes thirty years, more or less, to absorb a new information technology into daily life”. These little aphorisms are sometimes amusing, but they’re just as often slightly silly, as in the basic statements on which he bases his claims for the entire book.

First, that the Internet happened more or less by accident. Second, that the people who made it happen were amateurs. Neither claim is actually true, but it suits his purpose to amuse. However, the moment you stop to think about these propositions, they evaporate immediately.

cringely-3And yet for all that he takes a jokey line, he offers lots of interesting insights – such as the reasons why some software lasts, unlike hardware which on average is replaced every three years. It’s a shame, because he is clearly well informed and at some points has interesting things to say about technological developments and even the philosophy of the internet – but his efforts are dissipated by a lack of focus. He throws off ideas and sketches topics every few pages which warrant a book in themselves, but he can’t quite make up his mind if he’s a historian of technology or a commentator on business methods.

The last two chapters are a 1996 update [made for a successful TV adaption] in which he admits the rise to power of Microsoft – but this is more business management history than an account of technological development.

The good side of Cringeley’s approach is that he offers a bracingly irreverant account of the US computer business which might encourage readers to take a sceptical view and not be overawed by Big Names. The downside is that his analytic method is anecdotal, and hit-and-miss. There is here the beginning of what I think will eventually make a fascinating study – the history of software development. Perhaps he ought to get together with a disciplined co-author [or an editor with Iron Will] and he could produce something more coherent and persuasive.

© Roy Johnson 2000

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Robert X Cringley, Accidental Empires, Addison-Wesley/Viking, 2nd edition, 1996, pp.358, ISBN 0140258264


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Being Digital

July 11, 2009 by Roy Johnson

why computers are important – now and in the future

Nicholas Negroponte is professor of the Media Lab at MIT and an enthusiastic spokesman for the revolution in information technology. He writes regular columns in WIRED, which have been expanded to form this manifesto for the future of digitisation. The fundamental thesis he expounds in Being Digital is simple but profound. He suggests that the revolutionary state we now inhabit is one in which the ‘bit’ is to be distinguished from the ‘atom’.

Being DigitalThat is, information encoded and transmitted electronically in binary form needs no material existence, whereas its physical realisation in print, film stock, or VCR is earth-bound and cumbersome. The bit can be transmitted instantly, globally, and virtually cost-free, whereas its tangible version in atoms immediately requires physical production, distribution, and storage. The future, he claims, is digital.

In the course of a dozen and a half short chapters he covers just about every aspect of modern communications. Developments in data compression; the next stages in desktop publishing; how the television monitor and the PC will merge; ownership and intellectual property rights.

He is particularly interesting on multimedia, [whose origins he reveals in the Israeli attack on Entebbe airport!] CD- ROMs [described as “the Betamax of the 90s”] the historical development of GUIs, and the politics of those businesses which are busy buying up information for “repurposing”.

En passant he covers holography, teleconferencing, speech recognition, virtual reality, and howPCs will develop. There’s something here for everybody.

As far as Negroponte is concerned everything is bits. For with digitisation, any one medium becomes translatable into another. A book chapter is no different from a video clip once it has been transposed into binary code (except that it takes up less space). The future of PCs for writing he sees being affected by miniaturisation, touch-sensitive screens, and “intelligent agents” which will learn to interpret our demands. All this is delivered in a breathless telegraphic style (which I suppose befits his subject) and he is deliberately provocative and cryptic in a manner which suggests that many of his ideas could be developed further.

It’s easy to spot the contradiction that this electronic vision comes to us in a form which he wittily describes as “ink squeezed onto dead trees”. In fact the book is produced on paper of such poor quality that you can read the print on both sides at once. [It’s not clear if this is a high-tech device or an ironic comment from the publishers.] In addition, for someone extolling the transmission of data in milliseconds, Negroponte does a lot of travellers name-dropping. One wonders why he has to go traipsing round the globe so much when he could do business using Email. But he has tips for travellers: boycott those hotels which don’t let you plug your laptop straight into the wall.

The persuasiveness of what he has to say arises from his own first-hand experience. As someone who has been in the business of computers and multimedia since the 1960s [whilst Bill Gates was still at school] he is well informed about the history of its technology, frank in revealing the true ownership behind corporate names, and generous in attributing credit for the technical advances we all now take for granted. However, if you can steel yourself against his breathless rush, one or two of the arguments can be made to tremble a little with some applied clear thinking.

He supposes for instance that writers would earn more if their work were distributed digitally (smaller profits, bigger sales). But would you want to download then print off a 500 page book to avoid the publisher’s price-tag? (This is already possible from databases such as Project Gutenberg.) Why have your edition of Moby Dick on 600 loose sheets of A4 when Penguin will supply a bound copy for less than the price of a gin-and-tonic? Nevertheless, this is just one small idea amongst many that he throws off in a series of elegantly catenated chapters.

Others ideas might be more disturbing for those professionally engaged in existing forms of communication – but they make sense when measured against common experience. This is what he has to say about manuals for instance. “The notion of an instruction manual is obsolete. The fact that computer hardware and software manufacturers ship them with product is nothing short of perverse. The best instructor on how to use a machine is the machine itself.” This is bad news for technical writers, but do you really refer to that 900 page manual any more? Of course not: you just click on HELP.

This is a stimulating and thought-provoking book, and unless Negroponte has it all wrong (which seems doubtful) it will provide ideas for the rest of us to work with for many years to come. Anyone who wants a glimpse into the future should start here.

© Roy Johnson 2001

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Nicholas Negroponte, Being Digital, London: Coronet, 1996, pp.249, ISBN 0340649305


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Blogging genius strategies

July 19, 2009 by Roy Johnson

web log writing techniques and software

Web logging, known as blogging, is an easy way of updating a web page via a browser without the hassle of launching an FTP client or HTML editor. Some people claim that the blog is an entirely new form of communication – and Biz Stone is one of them. Blogging genius strategies is written from the perspective of a breathless young enthusiast, and yet the guidance he offers is perfectly sound and well organised. He starts off by telling you how to establish your blog – which is what most people will want. He shows how to log onto the most popular site of all – Blogger – and establish your Web presence. It’s rather like the world of email and newsgroups ten years ago. (That’s about a hundred years in Internet terms.)

Blogging genius strategiesEveryone is posting their diaries, rants and raves, and creating gonzo journals with links to everything that’s hip. He gives an overview of major blog service providers – Blogger, Moveable Type, Diaryland, and Radio Userland. Then, assuming that you are keen to make your blog visually attractive, he throws in a little HTML coding advice. This shows you how to add colour, text manipulation, and layout variety to your pages.

In fact for the more adventurous he even goes as far as Cascading Style Sheets and JavaScripts – then on to the serious business of making money from your blog. How can this be done? Well, via micro-payment systems, affiliate programs such as Amazon’s, and even advertising – though I wouldn’t hold your breath on this last one.

There’s a chapter on arranging archives of your blogs, which can be done on a weekly or monthly basis. Then it’s on to group blogs, blogs which invite comments on themselves, and even corporate blogs.

You can add search engine features, and he also shows you how you can increase traffic to your blog. This goes from making connections at Google to trading links with like-minded bloggers. If that’s not enough, you can even syndicate your blog.

In the latest part of his advice the blog is elaborated and extended until it becomes, logically enough, a Web site. In fact he then goes on to discuss software applications which can download selected blogs you wish to read in the form of daily emails.

Since Biz Stone went on from writing this book to become one of the key players at Twitter – so he knows new media when he sees it. He takes the subject of blogging seriously, and leads you through all the basic elements to get you started, then on to the more advanced techniques which allow you to turn your blog into a modern communication art form. Why not start now – Its all free!

© Roy Johnson 2002

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Biz Stone, Blogging: Genius Strategies for Instant Web Content, Indianapolis (IN): New Riders, 2002, pp.309, ISBN: 0735712999


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Filed Under: Creative Writing, Journalism, Media, Publishing Tagged With: Biz Stone, Blogging, Computers, Journalism, Technology

Common file types

October 31, 2009 by Roy Johnson

Extension Type Characteristics
.aam media file MacroMedia Shockwave
.arc archive file
(obsolete)
Open with PKZip or WinZip
.asp web page active server page – used to code Web pages that connect to databases
.au audio Sound file – open with player – used on older Web pages
.avi video clip Audio/Video Interleaved – movie clip – open with mplayer, IE, or Navigator with plugin
.bak backup file Used by many applications – often created automatically
.bat application DOS batch file – run by double-clicking in Win95 – edit with Notepad
.bmp graphic file Microsoft bitmap – open in MS Paint or graphics program
.cab archive Microsoft installation achive (cabinet file) – similar to .zip archive
.cfg — Configuration file
.cgi — Common Gateway Interface – used to exchange information with a server (often used with Perl)
.chk — Data recovered after running Checkdisk
.css style sheet plain text file containing web page style preferences
.csv data Comma Separated Value file – a way of presenting tabular data in
a text file – usually viewed in MS Excel.
.dat data file Used by several applications. Not to be opened directly.
.dcr media file Macromedia Shockwave movie
.dir media file Macromedia Director file – provides animation and interactivity
.dll dynamic link library Software used by Windows to provide services to applications
.doc document Microsoft Word file
.dot template Microsoft Word template
.drv device driver Used to control hardware – (old)
.dtd text document type definition
.exe application self-extracting or executable file – run by double-clicking in Win95
.faq data file Frequently Asked Questions – almost always a text file
.fla media Macromedia Flash animation file – requires Shockwave
.fnt — Font file
.gif image graphic in GIF format – open in web browser or graphics program
.gz application compressed archive file created by Gzip in the UNIX operating system
.hqx archive Compressed Macintosh file archive created by Binhex
.htm text file hypertext document [same as .html] – open in a web browser – edit in any word-processor or text editor
Dictionary of the Internet - Click for details at AmazonThis dictionary explains the thousands of new terms which have come into use during the last few years. It includes the abbreviations of newsgroups, the language of e-commerce, and the scientific terms used to describe the structure of the Internet. It provides terms on the Web itself, software technology, security, and the arcane language of hackers.
.ico Windows icon Open with an icon editor
.ini — Initialisation file
.jar Java Java compressed archive file
.jav Java cross platform programming language used to create complex interactive forms and special effects
.jpg image Graphic in JPEG format (Joint Photographic Experts Group) View with web browser or image editing program
.js JavaScript part of Web page used to create interactive effects such as mouse roll-overs and pop-up boxes
.jso — Java server page
.kbd data file Keyboard layout data
.log data file Created by many applications – usually a text file – edit in any text editor
.mdb database Database file created by Microsoft Access, a widely-used desktop relational database program; contains the database structure (tables and fields) and database entries (table rows) as well as data entry forms, queries, stored procedures, reports, and database security settings.
.mid audio audio file in MIDI format
.mov video QuickTime movie – view using IE or Netscape using plug-in
.mp3 audio Audio file in MP3 format – CD-quality sound, with 10x compression
.mpg movie Video movie in MPEG format (Motion Picture Experts Group)
.odf data OpenDocument Formula. Spreadsheet formula used by OpenOffice.org and StarOffice Calc; allows the results of calculations performed within the spreadsheet to be automatically entered into one or more cells; based on the OASIS OpenDocument standard and formatted in XML.
.old — Backup file (generic)
.pdf application Portable Document Format – requires Adobe Acrobat reader
.pl application Perl source file – text file, editable in any text editor
.png image graphic in Portable Network Graphics format – can work on all platforms
.ppt application Microsoft PowerPoint file – used for creating slides and overhead presentations
.pub — Microsoft Publisher page template file
.ram audio Real Audio file – open in browser with RealAudio plug-in
.rtf application Rich Text Format –
word-processor file with formatting codes
.scr screen saver
.sea application Self-extracting archive –
Apple-Mac – requires Stuffit
.sig signature Appended to outgoing email messages – editable in text editor
.swf media Macromedia Shockwave Flash animation movie
.sys — DOS system file – device driver or hardware configuration info
.tar application file archive created in the Unix operating system
.tar.gz application .tar archive compressed by Gzip
.tif image Tagged Image File format – graphic file – editable in graphics program
.tmp — temporary file – used by many programs
.ttf — True Type Font file – view with fontview
.txt text contains only ASCII code – also called ‘text file’ – editable in any text editor
.wav audio Sound file in Waveform format
.wsz graphics Winamp skin – visual interface for audio control board
.xls application Microsoft Excel worksheet file
.xml Web page extensible markup language – a plain text file for web pages
.zip application compressed file – open with WinZip or PKZip

© Roy Johnson 2002


Filed Under: How-to guides Tagged With: Common file types, Computers, file extensions, file types, Technology

Computers and Language

July 10, 2009 by Roy Johnson

essays on computers, teaching, and writing

What has been the impact of the PC in the classroom? Computers and Language is collection of essays presenting the results of studies monitoring research on the subject, and it offers one or two extended position papers and guides to software. John Pratt for instance explores the commonly observed phenomenon that students tend to be less inhibited in exploring writing programmes than their tutors – a point reinforced by other contributions. Maybe the next generation will have a different attitude to composition if they have grown up in front of a screen rather than a note book?

Computers and LanguageChris Breeze argues in a letter to his headmaster that working on a PC encourages children to re-draft their work. Most teachers of writing would probably agree that this is something to be encouraged. It is interesting to observe however that one or two of the articles start out as a celebration of the PC as a liberating tool for students, but then gradually reveal the author’s wish to control production. Teachers rule – OK?

There are a couple of [obligatory?] chapters dealing with Hypertext as an adjunct to constructing narratives. Stephen Marcus inspects the use of Hypertext programmes [GUIDE, HYPERCARD] and makes what in the hands of school-age children might be rather ambitious claims for them. If the debates currently raging in the alt.hypertext newsgroup are anything to go by, this is still a contentious issue. There is as yet no fictional hypertext which has staked a claim for aesthetic distinction – but its defendants point out that no other medium produced a masterpiece at first outing.

The most engaging and informative contribution is from Noel Williams – a straightforward review of the software available to assist authors in the post-writing phase. He examines programmes such as GRAMMATIK (then still in version IV) WRITER’S WORKBENCH, and CORPORATE VOICE. In the end he comes down heavily in favour of Ruskin. Like most other commentators on this type of spell- and grammar-checking software, he suggests that people should not be intimidated by rule-governed programmes, encouraging us to “ignor[re] those parts of the system which do not match … writer’s needs”.

One of the main problems with articles and publications of this nature is that they are now rapidly superseded by software updates and discussion which takes place more immediately on the Internet. Nevertheless, there is probably good reason for a place for this collection in the departmental library.

© Roy Johnson 2001

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Moira Monteith (ed), Computers and Language, Oxford: Intellect, 1993, pp.159, ISBN: 1871516277


Filed Under: Language use Tagged With: Computers, Computers and Language, Language, Writing skills

Computers and Typography

July 17, 2009 by Roy Johnson

essays on readability and layout in electronic writing

As the price of scalable fonts has dropped and the range available has increased recently, many people have developed an interest in typography. For those with the slightest interest in the appearance of the printed page, the flight from Courier 10 c.p.i. is understandable. Those of us who have gone to libraries to dig out the available literature may have been impressed by the craftsmanship in print production which has been traditionally maintained by printers, type designers, and bibliographists of all kinds.

Computers and Typography But many will have been disappointed that there is so little available which deals with the type design which is now possible in conjunction with computers. Rosemary Sassoon’s book is one answer to this absence. She is a distinguished typographist, the creator of Sassoon Sans-Serif, a legible script for children’s books. This is her assembly of a series of articles exploring the theoretical and practical relationships between computers and what is possible in modern typography.

There are sections on Text Massage (line and word spacing) and the effect of layout on readability; the creation of new alphabets in Latinate and non-Latinate languages using bitmapped fonts; a couple of items on the history of typography and its effects; a piece on the visual analysis of a page of text; and then perhaps the most convincing essay in the book – Sassoon’s own essay on perception and type design related to writing for children.

This is a stimulating collection which I suspect will have an appeal for those interested in typography, book design, the new computer software, and the relationship between writing (and print layout) and our understanding of texts. There is a good index and each essay carries its own bibliography.

The message which emerges from a series of essays which are surprisingly varied both in length and written style is that we should learn from the good practices of our post-Gutenberg heritage – and we should not believe that access to a second-hand bundle of software will automatically make us layout artists.

As Alan Marshall argues in his cautionary essay on access to the new technology “So long as writing (in the full sense of the word, that is, spacing and layout as well as words and punctuation) is not taught at school and at university, most texts produced on micro-computers will never reach the standards necessary for the effective transmission of ideas or information from one person to another”. Be warned.

© Roy Johnson 2002

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Rosemary Sassoon, Computers and Typography, Oxford: Intellect, 1993, pp.164, ISBN: 1871516234


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Computers and Typography 2

July 17, 2009 by Roy Johnson

Rosemary Sassoon is a distinguished expert on handwriting, and a typographist celebrated for her font set ‘Sassoon Prima’, which helps young school pupils learn to read and write. Digital versions of her work are illustrated in Computers and Typography 2, her latest book. It’s a collection of essays on the role of digital type in graphic design and education. The emphasis in the first part is on page design. There’s advice on laying out web pages and a chapter on the typographical limitations of HTML.

Computers and Typography 2 The subject is then broadened out into multicultural aspects of typography. It looks at the way in which computerised type has affected other writing systems, and there are chapters on setting non-Latin languages and the differences between English (which has 26 letters) and Japanese (which has 10,000). The next section looks at how the introduction of computers has changed working practices, including the education of typography students. This is followed by a detailed account of the creation of a new font set for US telephone directories.

A chapter by Rosemary Sassoon on marketing her own digital typefaces will be of interest to professional designers. Of greater importance for most readers however is the excellent checklist of tips on making text readable on screen.

The next section deals with the making and shaping of letters, and the design of educational software completes the picture.

But for me, the most interesting contribution was the last, in which Roger Dickinson explores the interface between computers and learners – listing the devices and the technological strategies which can make learning more effective.

This is a good follow-up to Rosemary Sassoon’s first volume of Computers and Typography on topics related to digital type, and it will be of interest to web designers, information architects, and typographers – as well as ‘fotaholics’ .

© Roy Johnson 2002

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Rosemary Sassoon (ed), Computers and Typography 2, Bristol: Intellect, 2002, pp.158, ISBN: 1841500496


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Filed Under: Theory, Typography Tagged With: Computers, Computers and Typography 2, Typography, writing systems

Content Syndication with RSS

June 26, 2009 by Roy Johnson

Sharing headlines and information using XML

Content syndication means making headlines and information from one web site available for distribution to any others that want it. This is done technically by using RSS, which stands for RDF Site Summary, Rich Site Summary, or Really Simple Syndication. If you need to go all the way, RDF stands for Resource Description Framework. Ben Hammersley first of all explains the separate standards which have arisen, taking them in chronological order.

Content Syndication with RSS Then he describes the software which has been written both to generate RSS feeds, and to receive and read them on screen. There’s also a short XML tutorial, as well as a list of useful sites and resources. Unfortunately there are two camps of competing standards, each with two current versions – rather like the early days of the browser wars.

Fortunately he covers them all in his description of how to use RSS and what it does. The separate standards are complex in their differences, and he obviously belongs to one of the rival camps promoting them; but he is even handed in his treatment, and gives them all comprehensive coverage.

Much of the book is rather technical, with pages full of coding; but anyone familiar with HTML or XML will feel pretty much at home.

He gives fully written out examples of pages in each of the standards. As in strict XML, there is a complete separation of style and content. This is because the recipient might be reading the news feed as part of a blog, on on a PDA, or even as a text message.

RSS is sprouting all over the Web at the moment. Wherever you see one of the small buttons saying “News Feed” or “XML Feed”, you have the ability to receive information from that site. And of course it’s all free.

This publication is aimed at web developers and web site authors who want to share their site with others by offering RSS-based feeds of their content. It’s also for developers who want to use the content that other people are syndicating. As usual with O’Reilly publications, the presentation is impeccable.

© Roy Johnson 2003

Content Syndication with RSS   Buy the book at Amazon UK

Content Syndication with RSS   Buy the book at Amazon US


Ben Hammersley, Content Syndication with RSS, Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly, 2003, pp.208, ISBN: 0596003838


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Filed Under: Computers, Media Tagged With: Communication, Computers, Content Syndication with RSS, RSS, Technology

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