Hypercompendia

Using the example of purchasing a camera, Mark Bernstein steps us through the qualifying factors to show a comparison study of different camera availability based first on price and resolution and from there, building into a Tinderbox mapview what turns out to be a visual graph or chart that tells a story.

With color and size of note boxes assigned for the variety of styles, sizes, and other features, Tinderbox can be reliably used as a fairly accurate simple visual with no text detail necessary at this point. 

This is going to be another amazing Eastgate adventure!

The idea for the story was right there in the park in Pittsburgh.  The visuals, the things I watched and thought about that blossomed into concrete narrative right there in front of me.  Back and forth I wondered whether I should take a few pictures; the pigeon, the people, the shoe.

No! the purist in me shouted.  You are a writer first and foremost and should not need the graphic image to enhance the story.  You should be able–if you’re any good at all–to draw the images with words.

Well, I can try to do that, yes.  The problem though is that I’ve just considered that this will be a short story in Storyspace (because that’s the form the story seeks and wants itself to be!).  And then it comes to me that perhaps this particular story is the perfect vehicle for implementing the audio and visual opportunities of Storyspace that I’ve wanted to play with way back when.

The sound is humming in my mind, the pictures flashing through; and here I sit without a single dopey pigeon picture.

It was tedious but easy enough to maneuver this weblog’s Storyspace category postings into reverse chronological order then copy and paste them into Pages.  One problem came up however and while I went back and managed to insert the images it didn’t process and the font it wouldn’t copy there still is the question of uncopied linkage.

I realize that again it’s likely my own lack of knowledge with the Mac Pages program–since I’m sure that if Windows does something well, then Mac would certainly be at the very least on par with that.  There is a "paste as" format  tool but I saw no  difference in the result.

Now why would I need links for a hard copy?  For one thing, the document will always be on the hard drive and there the links would be accessible.  For another, it would at the very least show up on the paper pages and a footnote or endnote could be added to spell out the referenced link.  Here, the link doesn’t show up as a link at all, in any way whatsoever, so the intent of the original posting is lost.  Another thought:  the importance of the semantic  link is shown for its full value, otherwise this becomes useless:  "You can read the full post here."

Perhaps I should’ve gotten on the Latitude for the transfer, or attempt a PDF on the Mac.  Or just learn the right way of doing it in Mac Pages.

Maybe it’s not yet automatic in the writing, but the editing seems to hold me to the writing space.  I keep it open, send it to the Mac Dock to keep it out of the way yet ever at the ready.  I rewrite knowing that it will be rewritten again. The space is here and now, and like the eventual reader, I can move on but I shouldn’t need to. 

It’s the focus of the hypertext environment, particularly in the Storyspace program, that holds me to the writing space arena.  I presume I’ll end up knowing this side of this boy quite well before he and I move on.

Caveman’s Crib has updated to include several videos now and some interesting embedding of more videos.

Haven’t had a chance to just sit and play with the project, but I find myself thinking about more things that are relevant to the sixteen different containers (each holding a particular project I’m currently or about to start working upon) and making little notes and sticking them in their compartment.  I can visualize the concept of what I’d like this program to do for me and I don’t want to just forge blindly ahead without knowing what’s likely the best way to go about it so I’m not getting too elaborate with the note boxes nor the messages just yet.

One thing I have started is including weblinks to many of the projects that relate to the topic.  These could be resources or the whole reason for the project, for example, the changing over from weblogs to websites that need by done before November when my Typepad contracts are up.

I’m seeing Tinderbox as a reminder calendar, a log, a planner, and an all encompassing view of whichever project I’m working on as I’m working on it. 

Neat, huh?

Well, yeah, I did it without warning you as I promised but it’s already done and put back in correct chronological time–that is, blogging time which places the latest entry on top instead of after the previous one–so if you didn’t visit in the 40 minutes it took me to copy and paste then likely don’t even know something was wrong here.

And, it was easier sometimes and sometimes it was the most frustrating transfer of information ever.  For some reason, the Mac is set up not to include images or to replicate font, or font size.  It also refused to let me copy more than one post at a time (and that had to be copied backwards) if I didn’t catch it at a header.  In other words, it was a royal pita and it would’ve taken more time for me to figure out why it wasn’t working than to just work with its moods.

So now I have a copy of all Storyspace posts in chronological order in document format.  All I have to do is pretty it up a bit with the images and type.

Got this in the mail today and I’ve just had a chance to read the first few pages of this supplement to the Tinderbox experience. 

First impression?  The author (and designer of Tinderbox) Mark Bernstein is much too modest.  This program rocks! I don’t know exactly what I’ll be using it for, but I’ve already put it to use to control and compartmentalize the rash of creative ideas I brought back with me from Hypertext 08.  I can see this as an ongoing project and have ideas as well to use the program to consolidate my writing efforts into some semblance of form whereby the straight narrative, the Storyspace ventures, and the imminent forays into Inform and flash will be completely contained within a project file that will include all links to files, websites, images, etc. that will pertain to each piece of work, complete with submissions and of course, those damned rejections as well.

The neat thing about Tinderbox is that it is a creative way to corral the wild horses of a creative mind.

A lyrical hip hop performed by Chelsie and Mark on So You Think You Can Dance was not only beautifully done, it was specifically noted to be telling a story and I was thrilled to see that point brought up.  These dancers know that each step, each gesture, is story, but the audience doesn’t always think of it that way.

I brought this up as a starting point in my workshop presentation at Hypertext 2008, the concept of all art as interpretation of narrative event, and the opportunity of Hypertext being yet another tool for the artist/writer to experiment with and use an extension of their perception. In this dance performance, the story of a workaholic and the woman who felt a resulting loneliness was poignant and dramatic.  It was obvious from movement and facial expression and tempo that the choreographers had something to say and knew how to convey the message.

Beautiful.

Here’s downtown Pittsburgh from my room on the 9th floor of the Omni William Penn Hotel:

I
sat in that courtyard watching people and the activity and what it
produced is a story.  There were about twenty teenagers skateboarding
off a ramp one early afternoon; there were pigeons flying in flocks or
pecking around for food, seeds tossed by an old woman from a brown
paper bag.  One pigeon sat in a tree where a boy’s shoe was wedged
inextricably between trunk and branch. A shabby-suited man sat on the
granite bench, expressionless, staring out at it all.

Hypertext will tie this moment together, the branches of the individual characters combining to come to this single event.  And Storyspace is going to help me tell it.

(Dupe Post on Spinning)