Dane Cook: Comedy God?

Some people are famous for no apparent reason. Paris Hilton comes to mind.
But I'm not going to talk about her.
It's been done.
And overdone.

I just want to know one thing.
Why does everyone treat Dane Cook like he's a comedy god?
I can name a whole list of other comics who are ten times funnier.
To Wit:

Paula Poundstone
Robin Williams
Ellen Degeneres
Eddie Izzard
Kathleen Madigan
George Carlin
Stephen Wright
Kathy Griffin
David Cross
Maria Bamford
Ron White
Bill Maher

Those are just off the top of my head.

It's so obvious, too, that Dane Cook buys into this comedy-god thing. He prances about the stage, ultra aware of himself, too confident, too cocky, while delivering banter that is no funnier than slipping on a banana peel. I get it that he's cute and all, but cute isn't synonymous with funny. So how did he reach the status he enjoys?
I have no idea.
But I'd like to see those honors given to comics who are actually funny.

Movie Review: Already Dead

Whenever I watch a movie on FEARnet, I expect it to be a gory, slasher kind of thing. Most people who know me, know that I don't like slasher movies...what I would call gratuitous violence. This is exemplified with all the popular fare that includes some teenager wandering into the dark room, and having their head cut off with piano wire, or a scantily clad blond receiving a railroad spike in her forehead. This, for me, goes over a line. But in the interest of entertainment, suspense, or the elucidation of human nature, i do enjoy watching how writers render the reactions of human beings in challenging and frightening situations. That strikes to the core of who we are as evolved animals....

As a writer, I am familiar with the machinations of story-creation, and I understand what human nature responds to, even if sometimes it reveals an underdeveloped or afflicted psyche. I am not interested in feeding that group of readers. So when I do watch a movie with graphic scenes, I at least want it to be integral to the plot, and of course, that suggests that there IS a plot. My leanings in this direction are more in the genre of thriller and suspense, then...

Recommendation without giving it away: it's worth seeing. Tense, well-done, with an intriguing human element that gives it real bite.

Review-- SPOILER Alert.
Having said that, I was pleasantly surprised by Already Dead, starring Ron Eldard. He's one of those actors you recognize but can't place and know little about. He is perhaps best known for his roles in Black Hawk Down and ER. In this film, he plays a father and husband, Thomas Archer; a successful architect with an idyllic life filled by a loving wife and an adored son. Archer has suffered through a vicious home invasion, and the story begins by integrating present-time with flashbacks to build the story. At the beginning, we see him traveling via subway with a bag full of money, and periodically taking instructions from a cell phone about where to go to drop the cash. The clever part of this script, here, is that we assume he is paying off kidnappers. What we discover, however, is that he is paying for the ability to exact revenge on the man who killed his son in that home invasion. I was even more interested at this point, because it was setting up to be a movie about vengeance, in the vigilante category. I've always been fascinated by this area of the human psyche. I even wrote a screenplay about it years ago, and have recently been finishing up the novella version of it, both entitled Another Justice. In Already Dead, then, the reference is at first to Archer's son.

Through more flashbacks, we learn that the detective on the case notified Archer that he was being reassigned and the case was going to be dropped, but suggested he see a therapist the department used frequently for officers who had been through traumatic events. Since Archer can find no peace on his own, he goes to see the counselor. After several months of treatment, Archer feels no better and finally, the psychologist, played by Christopher Plummer, informs him of a secret group of men in various positions of law enforcement, who take matters into their own hands, rather than let criminals skirt the system. In this scenario, they offer up his son's murderer for the hefty fee of $500k, so that this grieving father can exact revenge. I would immediately be suspicious of an organization that claimed to be about seeking justice and then charged the cost of a home in an upperclass neighborhood to offer this option to someone who is devastated by grief. But maybe that's a clue to the nature of these men.

After we are made aware that his son was not kidnapped, but killed, and that Archer has accepted the option to exact revenge, we know that the money is to pay for the privilege of doing that. Archer winds up in a room located in an abandoned warehouse-type building. The killer is strapped to a chair with a hood over his head. On a long table in the room is every manner of torture device, to include many power tools. Through the cell phone, he is reassured that the best technology was used, including DNA evidence, to conclude that this is indeed the man who killed his son. There are cameras throughout the building and in that room, where the organization can watch him and monitor the situation. Archer pulls the killer's hood off and confronts him, eye-to-eye showing him a photo of his son, and asking him if he recognizes the boy. The guy in the chair denies any recognition. Eventually, Archer's grief and anger erupts, and he begins to inflict pain, first with a bat, and then eventually by nailing one of the killer's hands to the chair arm. This is where things get interesting. When he is about to crucify the other hand, he turns it palm up to drive the nail, and sees the guy's arm. He flashes back on the home-invasion, and recalls a tattoo on the invader's left forearm. Archer sees now that this guy he has just abused and nailed to a chair, does not have that tattoo.

Let the hand-wringing begin.

He points to the cell phone so that the guys behind the camera can see him, and they call. He tells them they have the wrong man, that he doesn't have a tattoo. They try to reassure him there is no mistake and that his mind is playing tricks, but he is certain he saw the tattoo that night. Frantic, he asks to speak to the psychologist who hooked him up with this organization, and so the therapist is on the phone, trying to talk him out of changing his mind. He warns that the agreement was made, and the organization cannot allow it to stop, it's gone too far. The job has to be finished. Archer says they can keep the money, but the man must be allowed to leave with him, safely. The doctor intimates that if he doesn't go through with it, his life is in danger. Ultimately, ethics win out over his need for revenge, and Archer refuses to continue. He destroys the camera.

The man in the chair asks for the nail to be removed, and Archer complies, and the removal is every bit as painful to watch as the insertion was. He answers the ringing cell phone and insists the doctor come to the room immediately. The doctor arrives, still trying to convince him to finish the job, and says that even if this is not the man who did it, this man is a criminal and deserves to be punished just as much as the man who killed his son. The man in the chair says he never killed children or beat women. Archer, of course, only signed on because he wanted to punish the man who took his son from him. He's not okay with being executioner for anyone else. He releases the man, who then hobbles over to a section of wall, knocking on it, suggesting there is a way to escape if they break through the wall. Archer gets the sledge hammer and starts whacking the wall. The doctor says that the men from the clandestine vigilante organization will arrive shortly, and they will not allow Archer or the man to get out alive.

So, Archer and the chair-man start their escape, hearing shots on the room behind them which they are sure is the organization killing the doctor. The next big chunk of the movie, is the two men trying to escape from the pursuing organization of masked men who needs them dead. Although Archer knows this man didn't kill his son, he also knows he's a criminal who probably killed SOMEbody...maybe lots of somebodys. Yet, they are forced to be allies to save their own lives. They do finally make it out, discovering one of the masked men to be the doctor himself. Archer cannot kill him, though he tries to pull the trigger. He says, "I can't kill you. You're already dead." The Chairman (hehe) does the honors, since it's obvious that the only way they will both continue to survive is if all the members of that small organization are dead.

The fait accompli comes in a tag scene where the Chairman opens the trunk of a car, and we see a bound man there, and the tattoo on his arm. This is the man who killed Archer's son. We watch as the Chairman fills him with a few bullets, and closes the trunk.

Overall, quite an engaging movie, and a peek into still another dark corner of the human psyche as well as the often nebulous region of right and wrong.

Who are you, WHO WHO

Mirror-posted from my forum, Vaporist, and my blog, Synaptic Circus
[new comments in red]

Submitted to World Health Organization

I must protest about the comments made by Douglas Bettcher in an article here:

In it, Bettcher is attributed to the statement that, "The World Health Organization says there is absolutely no scientific evidence that the electronic cigarette is a legitimate nicotine replacement therapy that can help people quit smoking real cigarettes." I know of at least ONE study.

My response would be STUDY ME. This is what I KNOW: I was a tobacco cigarette smoker for 25 years and I tried every other way available to quit, and was unsuccessful. I started using an eCig, and immediately stopped smoking, with NO DISCOMFORT, no JITTERS, no need or desire to buy another cigarette. IT WAS THE EASIEST HEALTH TRANSITION I'VE EVER MADE, AND MOST ASSUREDLY A RESOUNDING SUCCESS. The same is true for my best friend, and many others I know of through eCig forums online (to include a new one, I started myself to help spread the word).

According to this, your statements as an organization, and Bettcher's statements as your representative are erroneous.

The article also states that "also in certain jurisdictions where it is being used as well, it seems to be used to evade the smoking bans in public places and work places." Where are you getting this stance? Is it from WHO??? What's wrong with evading smoking bans by doing something that IS NOT HARMFUL TO ANYONE? isn't that the point?

Also in the article: "The electronic cigarette is not cheap. Bettcher says the whole apparatus in Bulgaria1 costs $100 and the rechargeable nicotine pack costs about $14. He says the product is sold around the world mainly through the Internet. This way he says, manufacturers can evade country regulations and taxes." Bettcher and WHO need to get with the program. Cheap is relative and subjective in this case. I spent $125 per month on cigarettes. I bought my first starter kit for around $107, and after that, it costs me around $40 a month to maintain.2 You can buy pre-prepared juice for around $8, which will last about a month; or you can buy 5 cartridges for around $5, or you can buy blank cartridges and fill them with smoke juice. That's CHEAPER than cigarettes, and it eliminated the 300-500 toxins found in tar....3
Also, Americans get eCigs from other countries because America has not yet realized the overwhelming potential electronic cigarettes not only as an economic boon, but as a way to eliminate one of our most pervasive and damaging health issues. I would think that WHO would be more excited about that, than degrading the technology of electronic cigarettes. Do you have some sort of investment in tobacco companies or stock in cessation-products? I can think of no other reason why you would be spreading such misinformation.

I implore you to please get the facts before you start discouraging new technologies that might help save the lives of millions.

Kelli Jae Baeli
Author, Webmaster, eCig Enthusiast

[ADDENDUM:
1. Bulgaria? Most I know, including me get them from manufacturers in CHINA--the patent is held by a Chinese citizen.
2. now, i mostly use a mini-ecig, which you can buy a kit for at around $40 to $80, and I use ejuice for refills, so now, my costs are even less than when i first wrote this.
3....and furthermore, it's not so much that they are evading paying any taxes or adhering to regulations, it's that the US is LATENT in the embracing this technology, and the socio-political machine, to include the FDA and the FTC, is once again standing in the way of things that would help Americans be healthier. So if these companies have to skirt things in some way, I say LET THEM SKIRT. The result is in saving lives and lowering the cost of health care]


Also note, that the WHO has stated in their report,

Quote:

"Cigarettes kill half of all lifetime users. Half die in middle age – between 35 and 69 years old. No other consumer product is as dangerous, or kills as many people. Tobacco kills more than AIDS, legal drugs, illegal drugs, road accidents, murder, and suicide combined. Tobacco already kills more men in developing countries than in industrialised countries, and it is likely that deaths among women will soon be the same. While 0.1 billion people died from tobacco use in the 20th century, ten times as many will die in the 21st century. Maternal smoking during pregnancy is responsible for many foetal deaths and is also a major cause of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Passive smoking in the home, workplace, or in public places also kills, although in lower numbers. However, those killed do not die from their own habit, but from someone else’s. Children are at particular risk from adults smoking, and even smoking by other adults around a pregnant woman has a harmful effect on a foetus."

And so I wonder why they seem to be so against electronic cigarettes, which eliminate all these issues? Does this make sense to anyone besides the World Health Organization?


Here we go again. Another site quotes comments by the World Health Organizations, and I, once again, posted a comment about it. Here's my comment:

Jae Baeli
posted 2/25/09 @ 3:52 AM EST*

It comes as no surprise to me that there are naysayers out there--what is surprising is that an organization like WHO, with the term "HEALTH" in their name, would seem so determined to spread misinformation about a product that could save the lives of thousands, maybe millions of smokers in this country. I tried to quit for 25 years, and was never successful until I began to use the electronic cigarette. The same is true for my best friend and every other eCig user I have talked to, seen posts on forums from, or heard about elsewhere. It's time the Powers That Be got with the program and started moving us into the modern era--an era free of tobacco products that kill millions. To be anything less than supportive of this new technology is to be an accessory to murder.

Jae Baeli
Former tobacco smoker and now eCig Enthusiast.
http://vaporist.forumotion.net/

ADDENDUM: I am trying to find a source/manufacturer that I can afford to buy from, so that I can sell eCig kits locally. As soon as I do, I'm all over it. I could have already sold about 40 of them here.

Movie Review: The Descent

The basic premise is that a group of women go spelunking, and find themselves in grave danger (or, in danger of a grave) from a cave-in, followed by the presence of mysterious subterranean creatures who seek to make a meal of them.

This was not what I would deem a "b" movie, though it might appear to be so at first glance. It is within the horror genre, but leaning heavily toward thriller/suspense, as any gore or violence is not merely gratuitous but integral to the plot.

There are spoilers in this review, so if you don't want to know these details, stop reading, watch the movie and return here to see if you agree with my assessment, or offer your own. (Comments welcome).

I won't belabor this review with details of actress names or character names, and just cut to the chase, except when needed for clarity. There was some initial character development with the women, and past tragedies which figured into part of the plot, so I was please d to see this aspect. The British actresses were all good, and few things are hotter than a tough, beautiful woman with an accent. I'm sure that was for the benefit of straight males and lesbians. I must offer my thanks, since I am a member of one of those groups.

With proper foreshadowing that caves are pitch black and can play tricks on the mind, the Juno character admonishes the others to remember that they might see things that aren't there, become disoriented, or have other adverse reactions. Once the women have hiked to the cave, and descended into the abyss of it to explore, they traverse various tunnels and crawlspaces until there is a sudden cave-in which blocks their escape the way they came in. At this point, it comes to light that the leader of the women (Juno) had taken them to a cave other than the one they thought they were in. There was no map to refer to for an alternate exit, as the cave had not been explored and she wanted them all to be the first to do so, and have the honor of conquering it and naming it. Thus, they are in a pickle, and Juno is not quite their favorite person anymore. They resolve to move ahead and seek a route out of the cave, as they cannot remain where they are without suffocating or risking another cave-in.

Let me just insert a sidebar here, too: I was already chewing my nails up to this point because I had to watch these women wriggle through these tiny tunnels the size of a paper towel tube--okay, not that small, but suffice to say, this inspired great phobic shivers in me. This is the last thing in the world I would do "for fun." I'd sooner perform an appendectomy on myself with a spoon. One of the women got stuck, and panicked just before the cave-in, and that would have been my reaction. Panic. First, I would not have crawled in that tunnel if I had the leas t propensity to panic in confined spaces. Which I do. So I wouldn't do it to begin with. I would not have rappelled into the cave either. I would not have gone on the trip at all. But if for some mistaken reason I did go on that expedition, I would have taken one look at those tiny tunnels and said. "I'll be up-top at the campsite, sucking on my electronic cigarette. See you later." Then I would have climbed my frantic ass back up to open air. So anyway, it did make me wonder why the writer had that character there in the first place. I guess for extra tension, so she could freak out. IF that character were me, it would not be for extra tension, it would have been for comic relief. I've been laughed at frequently for my responses to uncomfortable situations.

Anyway. I was already freaked out and expecting the tension to increase, because I hadn't yet seen any monsters and I knew they were just around a rocky corner. This was accurate. Juno warned the others to be mindful (mine-full?) that their batteries were going to run out in the flashlights at some point, and they needed to make haste to find an exit from the cave.

Sidebar: if I were going spelunking, I would not rely on the batteries of a flashlight. I would have invented an illumination device that ran on human fear. That visibility would have been celestial. Like a Hollywood Searchlight, or a Supernova. Barring that, I would have brought several of those crank-up flashlights that don't rely on batteries, but on manual turning of a handle. I would have just walked through those caverns, cranking like an organ grinder's monkey. (Wikipedia defined this partly by saying "The grinder would crank his organ in a public place..." I'm not sure I should align myself with something like that, but I was just trying to make a point.).

Back to The Descent: Shortly, one of the women was squinting into the darkness with her paltry flashlight, sure she was seeing a strange man lurking there. Any man who would be down there would naturally be strange. Her friends, of course, told her that her mind was playing tricks on her. I'm sure I'm not the only viewer who knew better, and yelled at the TV "She is NOT imagining the man in the dark! And it isn't a man!" The woman who saw the creature said that maybe he could help them get out. Yeah. In the stomachs of subterranean monkey-men (there's that monkey reference again..although these creatures were pale, I wouldn't label them White-Headed Capuchins.).

Sidebar: I think I just might have been more frightened by the idea of me being trapped in one of those paper-towel-tube tunnels, than by the subterranean humanoids...at least I could have some control over fighting them. And just like the flashlight issue, I would not be reduced to only pick axes. I would have brought an M-16, some tasers, blasting caps, and a machete. Throwing battery acid on them wouldn't have worked, because the fuckers were already blind, having adapted to living underground through some corrupted evolutionary process. (Perhaps the first humans to explore the cave evolved into these creatures...mmm...sequel).

Anyway, if you're stuck in a tunnel, you're stuck. And if there's a cave-in, you're stuck and squished. But if you have weapons and can move, there's a much better chance of survival. I'd rather go out in hand-to-hand combat, than being crushed in between a rock and a hard place.

One problem I had with the movie, like so many of its kind, is that it seems to be filmed too dark. My friend told me she saw all the details I missed. But she has a plasma TV. I reminded her that not everyone has a fancy-schmancy plasma TV, and they ought to make films for people like me, who can't throw their money around....Most of what I saw in this movie was figures with flashlights moving in the dark, screaming, and echo-location clicking, heavy breathing and grunting, slurping, and gnawing sounds. I might have to watch the movie again after I adjust the contrast on my television. My first thought, after the movie ended, was that I would love to see a sequel about what happened after the horror of what happened is shared with proper authorities and a special investigations team returns to that cave to gather information. All kinds of possibilities there. So, Overall, I would rate this film highly, if you enjoy movies that keep you mercilessly pinned down until it's over, while periodically shivering and choking on your soda and spewing popcorn.

KUDZU: Vonage

While they may have a catchy song in their commercials, and the commercials might be amusing, this in no way reflects the quality of their product.

I ordered Vonage and when I began to use it, it dropped calls and went out frequently. This was in no way a dependable line, especially if you are trying to use it for something important, like talking to a client. One could lose clients, and even a JOB if these clients pay to speak to you.

I emailed Vonage to cancel and received no response. Emailed again, no response. And a third time, no response. SO after five days of being ignored, I called and cancelled on the phone.

Now here's the rub: You get an Return Authorization number for the outside of the package to return their equipment, but they charge you 30-some odd dollars until they receive the equipment. Then they return that amount and what you paid to start your service--somewhere around $80. But they do expect YOU to pay to ship the package back. I think that's not the way to give good customer service. Not that it matters to them, since returning equipment means you are not oging to be a customer, and so they dont' have to care.

So I have to go to the post office and pay to send back their equipment.

Buyer Beware: the teechnology is not such that you will have a dependable phone line with any VOIP product--those that use broadband connections for phone service. If your cable goes out, your phone goes out. I had dealt with this before when i tried Cox Cable's Digital phone servvice. I DID LOSE a phone job from that case. And they were horrible at figuring out the technical aspects. Maybe another blog--but sufficeto say, Cox is NOT your friend in the digital age.

A good, old fashioned land-line is still the best way to go. And it's my next action.

KUDOS!!!! NJOY Alternative Smoking Device

I am happy to report that my newest purchase regarding my health has proved an effective and outstanding solution.

I speak of the NJoy Alternative Smoking device. This was my Xmas gift to myself. I knew that one of my biggest obstacles with quitting was my oral fixation. Yes, I'm orally fixated. My pleasure-center is my mouth. I like to talk, smoke, laugh, sing, drink coffee, have a beverage all the time, wear flavored lip balms, kiss, (and other intimate things)...to name a few examples. What i missed more than anything else whenever I tried to quit smoking in the past, was the actual ACT of smoking. There was no substitute for that behavior.

In the early 90's I recognized this fact and used it for a speech class wherein we had to develop a product and give a presentation. Unfortunately, I had some deadbeat (younger) classmates on my team. I had to do most of the work. I came up with the product (LifeLight, Vitamist) and presented it. It was an alternative smoking device that produced MIST or VAPOR rather than smoke, and worked electronically, providing the same pleasurable sensation, but also added healthy ingredients and flavors. I even had vitamins and herbal supplements in mine. But alas, I did not have the capital to patent or develop and market it.

Well, NJoy has a product like this, though they don't yet offer vitamins. They do have flavors (Apple, Vanilla. They also come in menthol and non-menthol).
It consists of a cartridge with a smoking tip (like a Tiparillo) and a rechargeable tube. The NCIG Burgundy Starter kit cost $74.99 and then I paid $19.99 for the extra cartridges. So for a little over $100, I was on my way to being a non-smoker. The kit comes with two rechargeable tube/batteries and the charger, plus the sample cartridges, but I ordered the extra box of 5 cartridges. They come in menthol and non-menthol, with or without nicotine, and in different strengths. So you can start with the nicotine, while avoiding the 300 toxins that are in most cigarettes, and then wean yourself off the nicotine by going lower and then to the nicotine-free cartridges. Or not. You'll still be doing yourself a HUGE health favor, by getting rid of the smoke and toxins.

Another perk? Cost. According to the literature, the cartridges are supposed to be equivalent to one pack or perhaps one and a half. I was delighted to discover that they last twice as long, or more, for me. I think they might even last 3 or 4 days. I'll keep track of that. So, that $125 per month I was paying for a pack a day habit--now will drop to about $40, maybe less. And I will always have the option of ceasing use of the NJoy. But I probably won't for reasons mentioned before regarding my fixation.

I've been using my NJoy for 5 days now, and NEVER WANTED TO SMOKE A CIGARETTE. I have three packs sitting on the corner of my desk and never once felt the need to open one of them. It has been amazingly successful. It has been the easiest QUIT ever. And I feel very strongly that it will remain easy, and I won't ever want to go back. No more smelly clothes or smoky house; no more ashtrays, no more cigarette burns, no more being banished outdoors to smoke, no more rejection from non-smokers, whether as friends or potential dates, no more health risk, no more huge expense, no more FEAR of cancer from smoking, no more tight chest and coughing, and no more continual underlying anxiety that goes along with doing something you know is flirting with your own early-mortality.

My best friend also ordered a kit and she is having the same wonderful results. Both of us have tried for years to quit and could barely get past the first few days. I have a feeling this is different. For one thing, I DON'T SEEM TO CARE about having a cigarette anymore.

Another good thing--we can smoke our NJoys ANYWHERE. Since it's vapor, and not smoke, there are no restrictions. We might have to pull out the explanation card provided by the company to explain to those who would banish us for smoking, but it's obvious there are no laws of rules that prohibit us from creating vapor. And I still get to enjoy my oral fixation. And I love sitting in a coffeehouse or restaurant and "smoking" while chatting over coffee. Now I can still do that. And it harms no one, not even me.

As I did years ago with my own version of this idea, I still believe it can revolutionize the health care industry as there can be fewer and fewer smokers, and thus, fewer deaths, and costs.

I checked into being an Independent sales Rep for them, but they require you to spend about $500 in getting stock, first, and I'm not willing to do that, since I'm trying to save money all the way around--for my relocation to Colorado. I wrote to them to tell them my thoughts about that. Maybe that will change. Because I do know that I will tell everyone who smokes and who asks, that they can be happy non-smokers without all the fuss.

KUDOS!!!!!!!

Kindle has a fatal flaw

Every so often there comes along an innovative and potentially society-changing idea. I will address one in this post, and another in the next....the interesting part about both these ideas is that I had them years ago, but, like most people, didn't have the capital to patent them or fund the development.

The first, is the Kindle e-book reader, and the Digital Text Platform offered by Amazon. I knew that the big reason e-books would not succeed was that people needed to feel that could be almost anywhere and read a book, and reading books on a computer monitor was just too cumbersome and limiting. I knew we needed something the size of a hardcover or paperback book, which we could see a page at a time, as if we were reading it in a physical, paper book. Enter the Kindle device. It aspires to provide this solution, but I fear its rise to universal usage is limited by its most prohibitive obstacle. Namely, the DTP format is not capable of handling the task.

On the Kindle Blog, this post espoused the glory of Kindle:

Amazon’s Digital Text Platform: Why You Should Sign-up NOW!

December 25, 2007 in Kindle Device, Kindle Tips & Tricks | 3 comments

Amazon’s Digital Text Platform (DTP) allows you, yes YOU!, to publish anything you want and put it up for sale in the Kindle Store. How cool is that?

Do you have an old novel that you wrote in college? or are you trying to find a publisher for your next best seller? Then Amazon’s Digital Text Platform is for you. So what is Digital Text Platform I hear you ask;

Digital Text Platform is a fast and easy self-publishing tool that lets you upload and format your books for sale in the Kindle Store.

You can read the FAQ which will guide you through setting up an account, formatting your document and how to uploading your content to the Kindle store. There is also a very active user forum for Kindle publishers to discuss the platform.

Now I think this is a very smart move by Amazon to offer this service even though we know there are a limited number of Kindles out there. Amazon is keeping tight lipped about the number of devices it has sold.

As more people get the Kindle in 2008, I think we are going to see an increase in the number of people, and companies, who decide to publish content through DTP. I don’t think its going to be just authors who use this service, its only a matter of time before blogs and print media truly jump onto the Kindle bandwagon and offer Kindle exclusive content, which I think is what Amazon wants them to do instead of just re-publishing their content in Kindle format. Think about it, soon we will be begin to see Kindle exclusive newsletters , novels, blogs entries and newspaper articles. DTP for me is what Kindle is all about, its going to give the power back to the writers. No longer is the publishing house going to decide whether you’re good enough to get published.

What do you think?

I posted the comment below:

This is all very well and good, but there is little information for the authors themselves, aside from a forum on the DTP site wherein authors like me post about all the issues, but don't seem to get a solution...oddly, there is no customer service to speak of--no one who seems knowledgeable about solutions to the many issues DTP presents to the AUTHOR. CreateSpace, (Amazon's POD publishing arm) on the contrary, has outstanding customer service, efficient and competent reps and their finished product is professional and high-quality. Why can't the Kindle/DTP folks follow their example? There are inherent and prohibitive problems with the DTP format. I am the author of 13 books with more on the way--I still have my Kindle/DTP account on a holding pattern, because I am not satisfied with the way the conversion MASTICATES the manuscript. Novels and books aren't just text files. They have a format, typographical elements, and often, images as well. These DO NOT translate well to DTP. In the case of one of my non-fiction books, if the images don't land where they are supposed to, or if they are not included, the text then makes no sense. I'm simply not okay with the fact that an image lands in the middle of a sentence and looks like it was taken with a toy pinhole camera made from a shoebox. The standard for publishing is the .pdf file. It keeps the layout, formatting and typography as-is, and prevents alteration of the text when used in e-book form. This is the obvious format for DTP/Kindle/e-books of all kinds. Perhaps the Kindle was premature. Ever heard of getting the cart before the horse? To the Kindle-Developers, et al: First, make sure the horse can maneuver the cart properly, before hooking them up together.

Until then, I suppose we authors will have to offer .pdf versions of our books on our websites, but without the benefit of the traffic Amazon has.