This makes my life better
cherry valley forever
Game of Thrones Daily
PUT YOUR BEARD IN MY MOUTH

blake kathryn

No title available
let's talk about Bridgerton tea, my ask is open
hello vonnie

⁂
d e v o n

JVL
almost home
YOU ARE THE REASON
i don't do bad sauce passes

❣ Chile in a Photography ❣
Cosimo Galluzzi
Keni

pixel skylines
sheepfilms
Cosmic Funnies
RMH

seen from United States
seen from Türkiye
seen from United States

seen from Malaysia
seen from India

seen from United States

seen from Australia

seen from United Kingdom

seen from United States
seen from United States

seen from India

seen from Austria

seen from Singapore

seen from Australia

seen from United Kingdom
seen from United Kingdom

seen from United States

seen from Türkiye

seen from Türkiye

seen from Germany
@arielhud
This makes my life better
webtoon / website / facebook / twitter / patreon
Barnes and Noble, Union Square, NYC
If you had to make a vision board of your own personal cyberinfrastructure, what would it look like? Here's mine! #posiel
Do Not Touch
(With apologies to Gary Larson.)
MARK TWAIN: An Educational Journey
tumblr / twitter
Literally me right now. :P
On September 20, 2014, I became the proud owner of my very first ereader–a Kindle Paperwhite. After years of avoiding ebooks because I preferred the texture of paper, a life in Japan had left me yearning for English language books that didn’t cost an arm and a leg to have shipped across the pond. I even bought a nifty case that made my Kindle feel like a real book. My journey into owning a digital library had begun.
What I didn’t know at the time was how many restrictions that content came with. All I could see, as a casual consumer, was that any ebook I wanted to purchase would cost the same as a paperback or hardcover edition.
Of course, I would learn later the many intricate reasons behind this pricing model, but that’s a tale for another day. More to the point was the idea that I was receiving as close to the same product regardless of what format I purchased it in. Which one would expect, given how much you pay.
That’s not actually the case.
When a consumer buys an ebook (regardless of the retail site), they are not actually buying a book. They are buying an extended lease to the content. That content is not only chained to the platform you got it from (through DRM), but it is also, contractually, linked to your current account, and that account alone.
Have you ever tried to transfer iTunes purchases to a brand new account? Move an old MP3 library to a shared computer? Maybe you tried to download an ebook you previously purchased from an account where the credit card on file is now expired. Perhaps you attempted to share an ePub or MOBI file with a friend the same way you would lend a physical book. Maybe you wanted to bequeath your digital library to an heir.
No matter your motive for trying to move that content from one device to another, you’d be violating the lender’s term of service. As snarky Mr. Know-It-All Brendan I. Koerner from Wired states:
If convenient euphemisms could somehow be outlawed, the “Buy now with 1-Click” button on Kindle pages would have to be relabeled “License now with 1-Click.” Amazon’s terms of service clearly state that, unlike those bulky slabs of arboreal matter that imparted knowledge to generations past, Kindle books can never be owned in the traditional sense. Instead, your $12.99 merely earns you the right to view the work on your Kindle. This arrangement gives Amazon the authority to snatch back that content if the company thinks you’ve been naughty—say, by copying and distributing ebooks or by engaging in fraud with your account.
Look at it from Amazon’s perspective: Part of the rationale for letting you resell old-school books is that you can do so only once—after the transaction is complete, the physical book is, by definition, no longer in your possession. That’s not necessarily the case with ebooks, which can be duplicated with ease. If Amazon grants its customers true ownership of Kindle books, it will have no quick recourse against scoundrels who resell books multiple times without deleting the original. Wiping someone’s Kindle stash is a lot easier than filing a lawsuit.
Which brings me to a court case happening in the U.S. Court of Appeals this week. ReDigi, an online marketplace that enables the resale of “used” digital content, is being sued for by Capitol Records for copyright infringement. The case could very well set a new precedent for what ownership means in the digital world, and ebooks could be greatly affected (self-publishers should probably pay attention, too).
ReDigi emerged in 2012 with a patent that promised “copyless” resale of digital products, including music, audio books, ebooks, and anything else that can be transferred via the Internet. As described in court filings, ReDigi works by running continuously on the user’s computer, ensuring that any music listed for sale on their site no longer exists on the seller’s computer.
The case is of interest to more than authors, as retailers like Apple and Amazon have also taken out patents on similar services. It was certainly of concern to the Association of American Publishers (AAP), who added their own evidence to the court via an amicus curiae:
The Association of American Publishers (AAP) today filed an amicus curiae brief in Capitol Records, LLC v. Redigi, Inc., an important copyright case concerning whether “used” creative digital content can be resold in the online environment. AAP has urged the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to affirm the district court’s decision, which found no plausible legal interpretation under the Copyright Act that would permit a company to reproduce and resell digital music files without a license. In addition to rejecting application of the “first sale” doctrine under Section 109 of the Act, the district court found that all four factors of fair use under Section 107 weighed against the defendant ReDigi which has appealed the decision.
In its brief, the AAP notes that the rapid growth of digital publications (including eBooks, professional and scholarly publications, and adaptive educational content) make the threat of Redigi’s business activities to publishers and their markets “not hypothetical.” AAP explains the critical interest of publishers in ensuring that federal courts apply the first sale doctrine as a defense against infringement pursuant to the plain meaning of the statute, which limits application of the defense to situations where the owner of a lawful copy of the copyrighted work embodied in a tangible “material object” chooses to distribute that particular copy. The owner of the lawful copy cannot assert the defense if distribution of the work is achieved by reproducing the copy.
Putting aside the somewhat distracting argument of whether ReDigi’s business is copyright infringement or not (which allows publishers and retailers to brush aside the bigger issue of ebook cost and ownership), this case could be a pretty big deal. If the court rules in ReDigi’s favor–citing the existence of used book, CD, vinyl, and DVD industries–the ebook game could change pretty drastically. The ability to resell an ebook would mean that books, which are less likely than music to be revisited, could be discarded after they are read or abandoned, diminishing the need for anyone to buy an ebook “new.” In effect, the ebook industry would turn into a rental economy, and ebook rentals (and subscription services) haven’t done well in the past.
Why Should Authors Care?
If this all seems like problems for the publishers and readers, there’s another point to be cognizant of: royalties.
Currently, the used book market is really the one place where authors do not collect royalties on legitimate sales of their work. Authors are entitled to royalty only on the first sale of their book, whether that happens on Amazon, iBooks, or in a brick and mortar store. Depending on what country you live in, you might even have access to a fund that provides you some cash to offset what you might have lost by having your book in a public library.
But there’s no way to track an author through the system when it comes to resale, so it’s simply not done. While the U.S. Supreme Court rightfully protects the right for consumers to resell tangible objects, digital files don’t degrade or corrode over time. Unless the technology format completely changes (which happens), the file is usable, and re-downloadable, as often as the user likes, as functional as the first time. The concept of “used” digital media is pretty ridiculous.
For authors, and especially self-published authors (who see, on average, smaller returns for each individual sale due to competitive pricing), a used ebook market could mean a deep cut into their annual profits, with no recourse. The self-published community has worked hard to build perceived value into ebooks since the $0.99 craze years ago, with average ebook pricing now sitting at $3.99 for most fiction titles. Used ebooks could see that number crash to the same microscopic numbers again.
The Other Side
Of course, it isn’t all bad news. If the court recognizes that the fight isn’t with copyright, but with ownership of the object, that might make retailers and publishers alike rethink how they define an ebook. After all, if you’re paying the same price, you should be getting the same product. What do you all think? Would you prefer a market that fairly prices “leased” ebooks in juxtaposition with their physical counterparts, or would you rather keep the current pricing model, and do away with DRM (and truly own your ebook) permanently, even if that ushered in a secondary used ebook market?
But I Paid for It! Ebook Ownership and the ReDigi Case On September 20, 2014, I became the proud owner of my very first ereader--a Kindle Paperwhite. After years of avoiding ebooks because I preferred the texture of paper, a life in Japan had left me yearning for English language books that didn't cost an arm and a leg to have shipped across the pond.
Extended Absences
Extended Absences, or Why I've Been Away So Long
I meant to write so much sooner. To capture every moment and share something meaningful or profound. But life happened, and happens, and at times getting home was all I could do after the longest days. Things out of my control thrust themselves forward as priority. Things in my control took precedent. And as every day, then week, then month passed by, all of the things I wanted to write…
View On WordPress
Rise of the Indie: Print Markets and the Road Ahead
Rise of the Indie: Print Markets and the Road Ahead
When publishers rejoice at the “failure” of the digital market, they aren’t actually celebrating the preservation of print: they’re reacting to the preservation of their market share as compared to the self-published industry. But print isn’t safe from the rise of the indie market, and it’s important for publishers to be prepared to compete where they have for so long dominated.
When tablets and…
View On WordPress
This is a continuation of “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.” View the previous stanza here.
Stanza 4:
The Wedding-Guest sat on a stone: He cannot choose but hear; And thus spake on that ancient man, The bright-eyed Mariner.
‘The ship was cheered, the harbour cleared, Merrily did we drop Below the kirk, below the hill, Below the lighthouse top.
This is a poem remediation project that invites artists and poets to submit work. If you have a project in mind, please get in touch, or help us illustrate the rest of “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner!”
This is a continuation of “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.” View the previous stanza here.
Stanza 3:
He holds him with his glittering eye— The Wedding-Guest stood still, And listens like a three years’ child: The Mariner hath his will.
This is a poem remediation project that invites artists and poets to submit work. If you have a project in mind, please get in touch, or help us illustrate the rest of “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner!”
This is a continuation of “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.” View the first stanza here.
Stanza 2:
The Bridegroom’s doors are opened wide, And I am next of kin; The guests are met, the feast is set: May'st hear the merry din.’
This is a poem remediation project that invites artists and poets to submit work. If you have a project in mind, please get in touch, or help us illustrate the rest of “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner!”
Power is not everything, it is the only thing.
Taking responsibility not only for his own life, but the lives of others, the Ruler is one of the most recognizable and easily corruptible Jungian archetypes. This is the archetype of power, plain and simple, but what comes with power is a dangerous tightrope walk between order and chaos.
As I have mentioned in prior posts in this series, this collection of essays deal with the archetypes first put forth by psychiatrist Carl Jung, and the use of these archetypes in fiction. Every post deals with the motivations, character profiles, and Shadows (or negatives) of each archetype. This week we conclude our look at the group known as the Self types, which are defined by goals related to the Ego, or agendas that serve to improve personal spiritual, mental, or physical standings with the world. The Ruler, driven by a need for power, is (fittingly) the final of the twelve archetypes in the series.
THE TWELVE ARCHETYPES
The Ruler
Also known as the king, queen, boss, leader, politician, role model, manager, or aristocrat, the Ruler is always at the top of the food chain, and is generally wholly responsible for the atmosphere of the world in which they inhabit. For this reason, it is quite common to either find the benevolent ruler killed or otherwise maimed early on in the story, or the evil dictator, who is the main villain the heroes must overcome by the end. Why is this? Because if the Ruler is available and doing her job properly, there would be no story to tell!
The Ruler is concerned with creating wealth and prosperity, and in order to do that, they must obtain absolute power. By the end of the story, many Heroes may, in fact, be on the path to become Rulers themselves. Unlike the Hero, the Ruler isn’t concerned with a singular purpose—they must way the entirety of the community they oversee, and as such, are rarely universally loved. In fact, there may even be a benevolent ruler who appears wholly the villain, simply because they can not grant the requests of their followers. They exert their power as a first course of action, with or without counsel.
The Ruler, therefore, also has a very real fear: being overthrown. In the Ruler’s mind, he is only doing what is best for the world, but the world may not agree, and so, as the story dictates, he must fall, so the cycle can start again.
The Ruler is one of the most dangerous archetypes to fall into shadow. Aragorn becomes Sauron. Peter Pan becomes Captain Hook. Katniss Everdeen becomes President Snow. When the Ruler falls, they fall with absolute power on their side, and are difficult to overcome without heavy costs to the opposing side.
EXAMPLES
Enter Gallery Mode for Captions
Darth Vader’s rise to power was ABOUT power. More of it, always. To the point that an imbalance in the universe’s Force was created. To the end, he believes he is doing what is right, corrupted by an evil magician (as many of this archetype are).
King Arthur, the original Ruler archetype, must obtain power to bring his kingdom together and overcome the forces that would seek to destroy it. But when his rule is challenged (as in the movie, “Excalibur,” he soon enters shadow, never to return.
The Red Queen learned long ago that to rule a place like Wonderland, you have to do so with sheer terror. Decapitations, bizarre game rituals, her court has it all–and I’m sure if you asked her, she’d tell you her way was the very best way.
Mufasa, of “The Lion King,” is a classic benevolent ruler (though one can wonder why, if he was so benevolent, why Scar starts the movie where he is)… however, because there is nothing but love for this ruler, he must quickly be put out of commission for the story to continue.
Claude Frollo is a master manipulator and controller, keeping Quasimodo locked in a tower for his entire childhood, and seeking to possess the gypsy Esmeralda. Not every Ruler needs to be a king or queen–they need only hold power over another soul.
Peter Pan is a great example of the Ruler. He is wholly in-charge of the Lost Boys, and the world he reigns over. In fact, Captain Hook, his spoiler, is merely a shadow of what he is/was to become, had he grown up entirely. And when the new children (especially Wendy) seem to garner more attention than him, his shadow side surfaces, Pan playing cruel pranks to lower the status of interlopers in the eyes of his followers.
Though Marie Antoinette was a real person in history, the movie adaptation of the same name creates a persona that embellishes just enough to add her to this fiction-centric list.
Miranda Priestly, of “The Devil Wears Prada,” has worked hard to get her position of authority, and fights to keep that control. As a result, she comes off as cold and calculating; nearly like the devil.
Tony Soprano, like most mob bosses, has to keep a tight rein on his underlings. Any exposure of weakness will be exploited, and so, though he (at heart) does not like to do some of the things he orders, he does them anyway, in the name of maintaining his territory and his position within the mob.
King Aragorn is shown at the peak of his arc–there’s no story to really tell after his ascension to the throne–but he embodies all that is benevolent and powerful. Give him a dark side, and he’d be King Arthur, who eventually fell to ruin, or Sauron himself.
Ah, Voldemort, seeking to cleanse the impurities from magician bloodlines–corrupted wholly the moment he seizes any sort of power, and unable to be stopped until he nearly destroys the whole of the wizarding world. He is an excellent example of “absolute power absolutely corrupts.”
Ash Ketchum, of “Pokémon,” is a character on the road to becoming a Ruler. His one goal in all of his travels is to become #1, capture all the pokémon in the world, and win the championship (his world’s ruler standard). He may never achieve it, because then the story would have to end (no one has any interest in watching their beloved character get unseated!)
President Snow, from the Hunger Games, is not exactly a unique villain, but his complete belief that he must do what he does to maintain the safety of District 1 is one of the reasons that he stands out in this list. He even knows that once he is gone, only another corrupt leader will take his place.
The Terminator may seem like an odd choice for this list, and you wouldn’t be wrong! But, in the end, the Terminator is the force of absolute power in his world, and his decision (though suspect as it might be) relies on the understanding that his solution is the right one, and that, in turn, people will follow him for its success. (Of course, subsequent revivals of the series may have botched this theory–I’ve never watched the new movies.)
Recommended Reading:
Character Archetypes 101: The Ruler @ The Character Therapist
The Ruler Archetype @ Prezi.com, by Mark Ricalde
Other Posts in this Series:
What do Tony Soprano, Ash Ketchum, Peter Pan and Aragorn have in common? Read this: Power is not everything, it is the only thing. Taking responsibility not only for his own life, but the lives of others, the
December 21st was the longest night of the year, or the winter solstice. To celebrate, I headed out to Granville Island for the Secret Lantern Society‘s Winter Solstice Lantern Festival. The festival has three locations, typically, in Yaletown, Strathcona, and Granville. This year I chose Granville, though next year I might try out Yaletown! Yaletown and Granville Island converge at the end for a grand finale of fire dancing at Ron Basford Park.
The event was absolutely amazing. There was a carnival band that made me feel like I was right back in the French Quarter; the Vancouver Morris Men, who sang traditional English folk songs and performed a Christmas “mummers play” in which Saint Nick and Beelzebub made an appearance; Zlatna Mountain, a harmony of singers who performed an arrangement of Balkan songs; community square dancing with Paul Silveria and the Coachmen; a labyrinth made out of paper lanterns; and of course, the fire dance at the end. There was so much to do, and all of it was entertaining and top-notch performance. I was alone (NJ had to work) but I felt fully in the space and engaged, and all of this, for only $7 (free if you don’t want to see the labyrinth). I’ll definitely be going next year!
Secret Lantern Society Winter Solstice Festival December 21st was the longest night of the year, or the winter solstice. To celebrate, I headed out to Granville Island for the…
Transforming Your Magazine Into a Powerhouse Online Presence
Transforming Your Magazine Into a Powerhouse Online Presence (Notes from MagsWest) #marketing
Way back in November, I attended a conference in BC for magazine publishers. I attended for free as a student of Simon Fraser University, and went to get information for a magazine I volunteer with. I went to a few panels, took a lot of notes, and figured I’d share the tips from one of them here. Keep in mind that the notes that follow are for meant for magazine publishers, but can be repurposed…
View On WordPress
With school out, I finally had some time to go out and enjoy this beautiful winter weather Vancouver has been having. British Columbia was hit by a “blizzard” that left several feet of the loveliest snow… and it’s hard to not want to go out and play in it! NJ and I decided to head out to Olympic Village in Vancouver to walk through Enchant, a Christmas Light Maze. It’s a really fun maze of lights and funhouse mirrors, with a hide-and-seek objective of finding all of Santa’s reindeer throughout the maze.
If you live in the Vancouver area, there’s still time to go see it (and it definitely won’t be as cold as it was for us!) Find more info here: http://enchantchristmas.com
Enchant - A Christmas Light Maze in Vancouver (Photos!) With school out, I finally had some time to go out and enjoy this beautiful winter weather Vancouver has been having.