The Null Device

For the best part of a decade, the application for anyone who wanted to make their own fonts (PostScript or TrueType) was Fontographer. Then, sometime in 1997, Macromedia (who had recently acquired it) abandoned it. They kept selling it, but no new development took place, and advances in font technology (such as, say, Unicode and OpenType) passed it by. Even worse, the last version turned out to not work at all under MacOS X, presumably due to the programmers having used some sort of undocumented shortcut that the Classic environment couldn't handle.

Anyway, now Fontlab has acquired Fontographer from Macromedia Adobe (who have no font editing tools of their own on offer and no intention to change this; which is rather surprising from the inventors of PostScript), to integrate into their font-editing product. It'll take the mid-range niche, between basic font editing program TypeTool and the high-end FontLab package.

(via gths) ¶ fontographer osx software typography 0

According to former RRR announcer Cousin Creep (since working on US radio), the latest thing in radio formats in the US is a format called "Jack". The Jack format appears to consist of the equivalent of an iPod full of songs from various incompatible genres put on shuffle, with prerecorded "short patronizing voice overs with lame postmodern attitude" between the tracks (whatever that means); apparently it appeals to the ever-shortening attention spans of the public or somesuch, and also means that stations don't have to employ DJs.

Could the radio format which only plays "the best 30 seconds" of each song be far off?

(via Rocknerd) ¶ jack media music radio 0

A map of Neverland Ranch, Michael Jackson's estate/theme park, for those curious about what goes on behind the kingdom walls of the world's only living fairytale prince. Note the graphic of a little boy on the moon (shouldn't Mr. Spielberg's lawyers be on the phone about that?), the usual vaguely Edwardian childhood affectations, facilities run by other friends of children such as Nestlé, and other things (is Club KISS run by Gene Simmons, or does Michael Jackson actually mean "kiss" in the other sense?). Not to mention two train lines, one seemingly leading out of the estate to parts unknown.

(via bOING bOING) ¶ michael jackson neverland 0

According to a report by the American Institute of Religions, the Church of Scientology is steadily losing members to Fictionology, a new religion created in 2003 by Bud Don Ellroy, author of Imaginetics: The New Pipe-Dream Of Modern Mental Make-Believe.:

"Unlike Scientology, which is based on empirically verifiable scientific tenets, Fictionology's central principles are essentially fairy tales with no connection to reality," the AIR report read. "In short, Fictionology offers its followers a mythical belief system free from the cumbersome scientific method to which Scientology is hidebound."

Fictionology's central belief, that any imaginary construct can be incorporated into the church's ever-growing set of official doctrines, continues to gain popularity. Believers in Santa Claus, his elves, or the Tooth Fairy are permittedeven encouragedto view them as deities. Even corporate mascots like the Kool-Aid Man are valid objects of Fictionological worship.

Ah, so Fictionology is like the entire set of Discordian/SubGenius-inspired "churches" formed on the net over the past decade then? (I'm not sure whether there was a Church of the Kool-Aid Man, but there could well have been.)

(via reddragdiva) ¶ cults religion science scientology the onion 1