Wednesday, July 30, 2014

I Will Miss Being Here

It's the middle of Week Six now, the final week of Clarion West 2014, and I've turned in my final story for critique tomorrow morning. It's all downhill from here: just seven more stories to read and give feedback on, then we party and clean up the house before scattering to the winds.

I'll miss being here, but I'll also be glad to go home. I'm planning to take a week off to catch up on sleep and filmed media (the last two episodes of Orphan Black season two! Movies, including but not limited to How To Train Your Dragon 2 and Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes!) and generally recharge my brain. Then it's straight back into rewrites on the Kangaroo novel.

Because I have an agent now! Sam Morgan of JABberwocky Literary Agency is representing my novel WAYPOINT KANGAROO, and I couldn't be happier.

Without going into too much detail, Sam made me an offer on July 7th, I did my due diligence for a couple of weeks (while at Clarion LIKE A BOSS), we signed the paperwork on July 23rd, and then Sam beat me to the punch on Twitter.


That's fine; I was busy writing a new, 6,000-word Jake and Andy mystery which didn't totally suck. I'll super-spam my friends and social media followers next week! STAY TUNED.

Curtis

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

I Love the Internet...

...for many reasons, and not least because it makes things like the following videos possible.


http://youtu.be/LCDgJiPBxfI


http://youtu.be/bTGdGKEEiYE


http://youtu.be/-w-58hQ9dLk

(Thanks to my fellow Clarion Westies Michael and Alison for sharing these.)

Curtis

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

I Saw These Videos for the First Time Last Week

And I must share them with you. I must!

First up, an Australian PSA demonstrating the terrifying consequences of illiteracy:


http://youtu.be/STHpMUYeznQ

Next, a genre-riffic advertisement for a vocational school in Perth:


http://youtu.be/4Am7oKBD3PU

Both of those were made by comedy duo Henry & Aaron, who also produced this seven-minute-long NSFW "Perfectly Adequate Christmas Special" (WARNING: includes profanity and Santa Claus).

And now for something (almost) completely different:


http://youtu.be/zWH_9VRWn8Y

Which leads, of course, to Where's Waldo?


http://youtu.be/EvWh6PMi9Ek

That is all.

Curtis

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

SnoutCast #207: The Last Six Months

It's been half a year since we changed up our podcast format. How do we think it's going so far? (And what do you think, listeners? Contact us!)


[ Download mp3 ]

Show length: 34:17
File size: 32.9MB


The women of SnoutCast 2014 (so far):
Follow @teamsnout on Twitter for more!

What Else?

Tell us we're wrong on the Internet! E-mail podcast@snout.org or post a comment at www.snout.org/podcast.

Music: instrumentals from "Code Monkey" and "A Talk with George" by Jonathan Coulton

[ Subscribe to SnoutCast / iTunes link ]

Curtis DeeAnn

Wednesday, July 09, 2014

I may have some big news to share soon...

...but not quite yet. #WaitForIt

Meanwhile, please enjoy this short video of sea otters holding hands:


http://youtu.be/epUk3T2Kfno

Curtis

Wednesday, July 02, 2014

I Really Want You to Install This App

Like I said last week, go check out the SafeTrek app. I like having it for peace of mind, if nothing else.


Now here's my legwork on what the people behind SafeTrek have done so far in 2014...

In late January, The Maneater, the University of Missouri's student newspaper, ran a story titled "Student-run SafeTrek app gains popularity," which stated that the app had been downloaded over 5,000 times. Another story, "Failing Forward," appeared in the university's alumni magazine MIZZOU in late February.

The SafeTrek app is now free, but it didn't start that way: the original price point was $5 (late 2013), then $2 (Jan/Feb 2014), then $1 (April 2014). The makers made it available for a lower price or for free as temporary promotions a few times during that period, but it's been free for everyone since early May of 2014.

So how does SafeTrek, the company, plan to make money if they're now giving away the app for free? This segment from Good Morning America offers a clue:


http://youtu.be/9J5AL5Ve8Z8
Original: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/safe-trek-app-alerts-authorities-feel-unsafe-23317306


In April, SafeTrek co-creator Zach Beattie received the University of Missouri System's 2014 Student Entrepreneur of the Year Award, which includes $2,500. In May, the app was recommended by Kansas State University in "Safety options, services for students on campus, off campus" and highlighted as an Apptimize case study for increasing app store reviews.

Finally, to close the loop on that funding question: a May 21st interview with Beattie in Missouri Business Alert explains that "SafeTrek intends to sell data collected from its thousands of users as its main way of making money." So there's a potential privacy issue there, and it'll be interesting to see how it all shakes out.

Curtis