Via Cynopsis Digital: Google is now enabling authors
and publishers who sign off under various
Creative Commons licenses to
distribute their works for free using the Google Books platform. The highest profile comic-book that would be immediately eligible for inclusion would be Cory Doctorow’s Futuristic Tales of the Here and Now comic miniseries from IDW Publishing.

The
Creative Commons organization has been busy this year launching programs
like the

Attribution-ShareAlike agreement with Wikipedia that enables
interoperability between Wikipedia licenses. This new alliance allows
independent writers, artists and publishers, both existing Google
Partners and
non-partners, to distribute, commercialize and protect the reuse of their
works. It’s a flexible license built for the digital age, with settings
that authorize creative remixes and mash-ups that give credit where
credit is due.

Books that have been made available under a CC license
have been marked with a matching logo on the book’s left hand navigation
bar, allowing users to download the books and share them freely. “If
the rightsholder has chosen to allow people to modify their work, readers
can even create a mashup ­- say, translating the book into Esperanto,
donning a black beret, and performing the whole thing to music on
YouTube,” writes Xian Ke, Associate Product manager, Google Books in
a

blog post.

Google says representatives of the
Book Rights Registry
intend to allow rightsholders to distribute CC-licensed works for free,
pending court approval of a settlement. In the meantime, Creative Commons
proponents such as

Lawrence Lessig have make their works available on Google Books using
the CC licenses.

The title is a killer: When zombies attack!: Mathematical
modelling of an outbreak of zombie infection (Infectious Disease
Modelling Research Progress 2009, in: J.M. Tchuenche and C. Chiyaka,
eds, pp133-150).

Abstract:

Zombies are a popular figure in pop culture/entertainment and they are usually portrayed as being brought about through an outbreak or epidemic. Consequently, we model a zombie attack, using biological assumptions based on popular zombie movies. We introduce a basic model for zombie infection, determine equilibria and their stability, and illustrate the outcome with numerical solutions. We then refine the model to introduce a latent period of zombification, whereby humans are infected, but not infectious, before becoming undead. We then modify the model to include the effects of possible quarantine or a cure. Finally, we examine the impact of regular, impulsive reductions in the number of zombies and derive conditions under which eradication can occur. We show that only quick, aggressive attacks can stave off the doomsday scenario: the collapse of society as zombies overtake us all.

Kudos to Philip Munz, Ioan Hudea, Joe Imad, and Robert J. Smith? (yes, his last name is Smith? with the question mark) for doing the hard work. So when the zombies come and the cops don’t warn us, we know we’ll have to act quickly. Don’t listen if they say <a target=”_blank” href=”

rel=”noopener”>they’re not unreasonable.

Or, if you want a really scary vision, here’s science fiction writer John C. Wright’s view of a horrible future of moral decay because of homosexuality actually being tolerated by people.

Remember, kids: even if it’s your name, you’re not always (W)right.

UPDATE 4:30 PM: Mike Weber notes below that the original link above no longer works. It seems that a lot of people took him to task, but what apparently shamed him into changing was someone pointing out what his recently adopted Catholic Church has to say on the matter:

“It is deplorable that homosexual persons have been and are the object
of violent malice in speech or in action. Such treatment deserves
condemnation from the Church’s pastors wherever it occurs. It reveals a
kind of disregard for others which endangers the most fundamental
principles of a healthy society. The intrinsic dignity of each person
must always be respected in word, in action and in law.”

– “On The Pastoral Care Of Homosexual Persons”, by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

Accordingly, Wright has taken down the original post, and I feel no further need to shame him about it, preferring to believe that he’s going to try and reconcile the matter in his heart and with his God.

“The Comix4Sight.com benefit for comics veteran John Ostrander has raised $31,322.00 thus far,” committee co-chairperson Mike Gold revealed today. “And we still have more than 100 great pieces of original art, signed books and prints, and manuscripts to auction off!”

“Contributions are continuing to pour in, even after the benefit at the Chicago Comic-Con,” program coordinator Adriane Nash stated. “In the past several days, we’ve received material from Paul Gulacy, Jason Owen, golden age great Fran Matera, the cast of The Simpsons, and so much more.”

“The auction held last week at the Chicago Comic-Con raised half the current total in about two hours,” Nash continued. “We wouldn’t have had time to present everything if we had all night.

“Details about the upcoming auctions, including a full schedule of sales, will be posted online at www.comix4sight.com beginning Wednesday August 19th. As we’ve stated, we will donate any excess revenue to other comics professionals suffering from major vision issues or to The Hero Initiative, whose help and assistance has been critical to our success,” Nash concluded.

A 27-year veteran of the comics field, Ostrander is undergoing a series of operations and medical treatments to fight off blindness and glaucoma. “The response from the entire comics community has been overwhelming,” Gold noted. “The cost of these John’s procedures has been through the roof and are only partially covered by insurance.”

The Comix4Sight.com committee includes Nash, Gold, writer Gail Simone, and getthepointradio.com’s Mike and Kai Raub. Auctioneers included WGN-AM radio news director Charlie Meyerson, artist Hilary Barta, comics/movie attorney Ken Levin, and yours truly. Monetary contributions are also gratefully accepted by check or through PayPal at Comix4Sight.com. Individuals and corporations interested in making contributions should send them to:

Mike Gold and Adriane Nash
arrogantMGMS
304 Main Avenue, #194
Norwalk, CT 06851

A full list of contributors will be posted at Comix4Sight.com.

(CNN) — Les Paul, whose innovations with the electric guitar and studio technology made him one of the most important figures in recorded music, has died, according to a statement from his publicists. Paul was 94.

Paul died in White Plains, New York, from complications of severe pneumonia, according to the statement.

Paul was a guitar and electronics mastermind whose creations — such as
multitrack recording, tape delay and the solid-body guitar that bears
his name, the Gibson Les Paul — helped give rise to modern popular
music, including rock ‘n’ roll. No slouch on the guitar himself, he
continued playing at clubs into his 90s despite being hampered by
arthritis.

“If you only have two fingers [to work with], you
have to think, how will you play that chord?” he told CNN.com in a 2002
phone interview. “So you think of how to replace that chord with
several notes, and it gives the illusion of sounding like a chord.”

“The world has lost a truly innovative and exceptional human being
today. I cannot imagine life without Les Paul,” said Henry Juszkiewicz,
Chairman and CEO of Gibson Guitar. “He would walk into a room and put a
smile on anyone’s face. His musical charm was extraordinary and his
techniques unmatched anywhere in the world.”

I had the privilege of seeing him perform live– he was doing that for years, playing in a jazz club in New York once a week, giving unlabeled and almost unheralded master classes on how to create. Yeah, people would pony up big bucks to see Eddie Van Halen or Jimmy Page or the latest flash in the pan, but here was the guy who had been playing the electric guitar longer than anyone, by definition.

It’s hard to thnk of someone in comics who was at the level of Les Paul was for creating new technology and ways to tell stories. Steranko is about as close as I get. Who’s your nominee?

Available in finer comic book stores everywhere, GrimJack: The Manx Cat #1 from John Ostrander, Timothy Truman, John Workman, and Lovern Kindzierski. Only $3.99 for 26 pages of story and art. Remember: the more copies you buy, the sooner we get to work on the next one. (more…)