Booktype is a free, open source platform that produces beautiful, engaging books formatted for print, Amazon, iBooks and almost any ereader within minutes. Create books on your own or with others via an easy-to-use web interface. Build a community around your content with social tools and use the reach of mobile, tablet and ebook technology to engage new audiences.

"So wait: build native apps and be ever restricted by Apple or build web apps and work across devices, across platforms, and even have non-Webkit browsers compatibility?"

"If the “social” web can only rep­re­sent arbi­trary facts about people’s beliefs and inter­ests, then it’s not social."

"When in doubt, remember how to do what you love."

Texts is a new kind of editor for creation of text structure and content. Books, articles and blog posts written once in Texts can be processed and published in many formats.

PressBooks lets you and your team easily author and output books in multiple formats including: epub, Kindle, print-on-demand-ready PDF, HTML, and inDesign-ready XML.

This website is intended to be an offloading point and information depot for a number of archiving projects, all related to saving websites or data that is in danger of being lost. Besides serving as a hub for team-based pulling down and mirroring of data, this site will provide advice on managing your own data and rescuing it from the brink of destruction.

"For the next thirty days, I am exclu­sively com­mit­ting to what I call “pro­duc­tive con­sump­tion.” That is to say, the only things I will con­sume will result directly in the com­ple­tion of goals and the acqui­si­tion of valu­able knowledge."

Selling stuff has always been a pain. No longer! Get back to creating.
We make selling stuff as easy as sharing a link

These are “official” Hallmark 3 x 5’s. The story goes that the founder of Hallmark, J.C. Hall, asked the pressman to trim down the waste bits of paper into 3 x 5’s for him to write notes. He was seldom ever seen without a handful in his pocket and soon others were asking if they might have a stack.

easybook is an application that lets you easily publish books in various electronic formats. Originally it was designed to publish technical programming books, but you can use easyboook to publish any kind of book, manual or documentation.

"Good writing is not a natural gift. You have to learn to write well."

This. Looks. AWESOME!!!

"In 1930, Iowa artist Grant Wood painted American Gothic. The models he used for the painting were his sister Nan Wood Graham and his dentist, Byron McKeeby. Here they are next to the painting."

I have no delu­sions of being put on this earth to be remem­bered and lit­tle incli­na­tion to make such a thing hap­pen, so I’d hes­i­tate to say what I’m con­cerned with is lack­ing a legacy. I’m not look­ing to build a pyra­mid in my honor.

What I long for is self-sufficient, man­ual creation."

"The ease of producing, distributing, and messing around with text has resulted in an effectively infinite supply of great expression, information, and entertainment being written and read in this wonderful medium. Whatever you want to read, there’s already more of it than you could read in a lifetime, and there’s probably more being produced right now."

Very interesting approach to the “temporary-drag-and-drop-drawer” app category.

Skeleton is a small collection of CSS & JS files that can help you rapidly develop sites that look beautiful at any size, be it a 17" laptop screen or an iPhone.

So full of win! — RT @KyleSacks: What I love about Hibari is that the timeline is customizable with CSS.

"For myself and perhaps many other Mac nerds, the reasons why we like to configure and run our own servers boils down to giving ourselves the power and control many of us crave over our own data."

"On my first run without technology, I remember noticing the discomfort was gone. I was several miles into the run and feeling fine. I let my mind wander to any thought that entered it and I explored those thoughts without limits. I was aware of the nature surrounding me and I was in tune with my breathing."
Distance didn’t matter. Pacing didn’t matter. Alternatively, my experience during the journey mattered. Process mattered.

Incredibly proud of the client website @etherdust and I soft launched this morning:

Simple and client maintainable.

Giving Hibari a try because I appreciate a good software story and a statement of an app’s philosophy:

"Forget the books you want to write. Think only of the book you are writing."

Beatrix's friend Governor Dayton is a BadAss™. Watch as he rubs some GOP nose in their own mess:

"When we decide to write for yourself, when we decide to keep a journal, we’re making a promise to ourselves."

"How do you know when you should abandon a project? Here’s the simple answer: never."

Really good details as to why self publishing is great but also why it is even better for bloggers.

Great profile of my good friend and master golf course designer Bill Coore. Mainly focuses on his work on Pinehurst 2

Saying no to say yes to other things…Practically Opaque:

"I’m greatly dis­ap­pointed that the web allows medi­oc­rity to be so eas­ily dis­trib­uted, but I should not over­look the fact that it also offers this cheap, world­wide dis­tri­b­u­tion to the thought­ful and the tal­ented. If you work hard to learn a craft and even harder to mas­ter it, if you put great thought into what you say and who you want to say it to, then there’s no bet­ter place to be pub­lished than on a web­site you your­self own."

"In other words, I want to use a search engine that I, along with you, and everyone else on the web, own."

"I’m thinking there may be a market in being the guy who helps to un-train you of all the ‘tips’ that the ‘experts’ teach you.”

Get ready to listen to an incredibly pen and paper nerdy discussion because @dowdyism was this weeks guest on Enough:

I asked my Twitter followers who the smartest people they read regularly are. These are the answers.

Answer = Nobody really knows. —Freakonomics » How Much Do Music and Movie Piracy Really Hurt the U.S. Economy?:

"I find myself seething at the men­tion of pub­lic edu­ca­tion. Never again have I had to endure some­thing so petty, legal­is­tic, thought­less and malign. Some­thing so cease­less and unnecessary."

To quote a single sentence of this would be a disservice to you, J.D., and the web as a whole. This is a must read.

"Once a year, put your best images (stories) in a book. It’s not for you. It’s for anyone who enjoys a good story, even long after you’re gone."

Fascinating story about an inventor who invented a revolutionary show then proceeded to shoot himself in the foot (figuratively) at every turn.

Great short article on GORUCK and the GORUCK Challenge (which I'm likely going to do in May).

A decent short bio of my Grandmother, an amazing lady by any standard.

Just found out these were online. A number of letters between my Uncle Talbot (WT Handy) and Martin Luther King, Jr.:

"The MPAA studios hate us. They hate us with region locks and unskippable screens and encryption and criminalization of fair use. They see us as stupid eyeballs with wallets, and they are entitled to a constant stream of our money. They despise us, and they certainly don’t respect us."

Why are all the clocks set ahead by random increments? Here's the reason.

"Apple didn’t make publishing easier... They made it easier to get your ideas into digital print. There’s a huge difference between printing and publishing." — @sethgodin

My wife breaks down the problem with HSAs for freelancers: Small Business Health Rant:

Just in case there was any question who Facebook's real customers are:

Nice exercise: Capturing the Extraordinary Sweetness of Existence (A 2-Minute Mini Practice)

Nice to see at least one of our Representatives take a side and a stand. Go Keith!:

I'm completely smitten with them both. — all that's past is prologue...: Learning to Love (More):

These compilations are the only music local on my MB Air. – 50ft Radio Volume Six:

Cloak is a service for your Mac, iPhone, and iPad that keeps you safe when you’re connected to public wireless networks like those found at coffee shops, hotels, airports, and conferences.

What is software could be affordably tailored?

Recently, I made some big changes to my Monday to Friday schedule. For a long time, I did things just like all of the other coders I know. But during the second half of 2011, I started experimenting to see what type of daily schedule makes me most productive. This is still a work in progress, and I do not work on military precision - I may get up 20 minutes earlier or later, for example - but here is my current schedule

"I am getting to the point where I want to stop everyone but people I know and work with from emailing me. I don’t want people calling me on my phone to sell me stuff or inform me of things that they think I should know. My email is rapidly becoming that way. No more newsletters, advertisements, or enticements."

Been using this for my daily list far more than I though I would.

You don't need a merchant account or gateway. Stripe handles everything, including storing cards, subscriptions, and direct payouts to your bank account.

To make it all happen, we work closely with some of the best financial institutions in the world.

No further comment needed. – Twitter CEO says SOPA blackout protest "silly" - Boing Boing:

"In addition to refocusing on my own path of growth in 2012 and closing the door on daily social networking, I’d like to reorient my social life to spend more time connecting with others who have similar priorities when it comes to pursuing growth experiences. I had hoped I might meet such people through the social networks surrounding my work, but that didn’t happen. One reason is that such people would rather engage in growth experiences than in discussions about growth. They’d rather travel than talk about travel… would rather speak than discuss speaking… and would rather start a business than talk about starting one."

All products have a philosophy. When we use them we are subject to it. The only sure fire solution to having products perfectly aligned with your philosophy is to opt out and build your own.

What non-violence sounds like.

If you find a girl who reads, keep her close. When you find her up at 2 AM clutching a book to her chest and weeping, make her a cup of tea and hold her. You may lose her for a couple of hours but she will always come back to you. She’ll talk as if the characters in the book are real, because for a while, they always are.

Related: Better Activism Day —

Some amazing aerials by @bengarvin at #crashedice.

"Electronics are our talismans that ward off the spiritual vacuum of modernity; gilt in Gorilla Glass and cadmium. And in them we find entertainment in lieu of happiness, and exchanges in lieu of actual connections."

Excellent review of the Nest thermostat.

"A project might last a decade or a generation, but if it is to be a project, it must have an end."

I love making onto @dowdyism's Ink Links:

"The Pens and Notebooks I Use"

"Let me guess: check the incoming. Check email or traffic stats or messages from your boss. Check the tweets you follow or the FB status of friends.

You've just surrendered not only a block of time but your freshest, best chance to start "something new.

This is the @GORUCKChallenge for anyone not familiar:

Great video example of nib sizes by @dowdyism

New social productivity app Do has the cutest promo video ever: (via @52tiger)

In 1825, the year before his death, Thomas Jefferson — the 3rd U.S. President and a Founding Father of the United States of America — was asked by a father to supply some words of wisdom to his young son, Thomas Jefferson Smith, who had recently been named after him. Jefferson graciously responded with a handwritten letter, at the end of which was the following 10-point list of advice for the youngster, titled, "A Decalogue of Canons for observation in practical life."

Each and every word still rings true.

No. Words. – Holy Jesus, look at what this ballerina can do!:

Musically, one of the most amazing and original things I have seen in a while.

A review, of a sort, of the Pelle Journal courtesy of @dowdyism and @JetPens:.

It’s the viscerally wrenching incapacity to decipher your own thoughts into alphabetic form.

It’s the writhing, agonizing frustration that comes from not being able to render or abstract your mind’s vision to a transferable medium.