Hidden costs

So while I was away I decided to resume the fine art of daily illustrated blog posts. Which is all great and wonderful, except that once I returned I discovered that my new computer renders my scanner… well, impotent. Dead. Unusable. It’s not such a terrible thing, since the scanner was really in pretty crappy condition after five years of regular usage and was due for a replacement anyway. But it does mean I can’t get on with posting the wicked sweet sketches I tossed together over the weekend. (Note: some wicked sweetness may have been compromised by having been drawn in the middle of rough turblence at 15,000 feet.)

So, can anyone recommend a reliable, and hopefully somewhat portable, flatbed scanner for a reasonable price? Please? It means free entertainment for you so I hope you understand that compliance with my request is in your own best interests as well.

Also, I wrapped up Issue Six‘s text this morning on the ride to work. See down the page behind that link where it says DONE? Yeah, that’s right… only about 32 months late. Go me! The final text document clocks in just a little under 20,000 words, so it’s probably going to take me a while to complete the layout and come up with enough art to prevent it from looking like a big boring slab of grey. I can’t imagine doing my mailing any later than the end of May, even with E3 standing athwart my near future like an angry colossus made of pain and PR junkets. Plus I’ll be including a few extras with each issue as a small apology for all the delays. (Buttons, magnets, mail-order brides, that sort of thing.) Initially I’ll be shipping out copies only to people who have outstanding orders, but I imagine there’ll be enough left over that any interested newcomers to the site can grab a copy as well. (“Newcomers” in the sense of “having started reading the site within the past couple of years.” The timeline of this particular publication is rather epochal in nature.) I’ll have more details once I see how everything shakes out.

Incidentally, if your mailing address has changed within the past three years I’d really recommend dropping me an email soon to let me know your current info.

19 thoughts on “Hidden costs”

  3. Layouts? I was going to go the old-fashioned route and rewrite everything by hand and then cut-and-paste. Or maybe I’ll just go with InDesign (since I can’t use Quark anymore).

    And again, anyone who didn’t order a copy a million years ago is gonna have to wait until I fulfill my outstanding obligations.

  4. While I can’t vouch for it on a brand-spankin’-new Intel Mac, I’ve been pretty happy using an HP ScanJet 4670 on an iMac with 10.4 installed. You can read more about it here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000C9ZJT/ ; I bought mine when they were selling it through the Apple store, so it carries that cred.

    And being able to remove the top is really handy for scanning (sketch)books.

  5. So, being off vacation now, does this mean we get to read about your (presumed) suffering through Gunstar Heros soon?

  6. You can draw during turbulence? I have to usually hold on and close my eyes for fear of getting sick. Although during my Tokyo trip, I took mad dramamine and felt OK.

  8. This is a carryover from your 1up blog, because here I don’t have to sign up/log in for anything. Yay!
    My question being, have you set the time to play through Cave Story yet? Because wow, that game is good. Were it professionally published (with PR and stuff) back in the SNES days, I feel pretty sure it would be one for the top-10 lists of many gamers. One of the best 2d platformers ever.

  9. Cave Story is being “published” “officially” by Variant Interactive, the cruel taskmasters who circumvented you from ever playing Mythri any time soon. They’re “making it” for the PSP. So if it’s ever “released” be sure to check that out.

  10. Yeah, the whole Cave Story thing seems a little sketchy. I was planning to just do the free version. And that ScanJet looks completely fabulous.

  11. When I read this post, there were 10 comments. The link to this page announced it clearly, but I was surprised to read “Ten commandments”, and almost regretted my sinful ways. Almost.

  12. Yes, I would have to agree that Cave Story is one of the most enjoyable 2-D games I played in a long, long time. Multiple endings in a platformer? Sign me up.

  14. Don’t get a Lexmark :(

    Also I don’t remember if I have issue 6 on order… it’s been so long!

    I think I even submitted a review or something!

  15. JuanFrugal, didn’t you know there were actually Fifteen commandments? (Moses dropped one of the tablets…)

  16. QPCES: Honest to Gob, I have no idea who this “Moses” fellow is. Is it somebody’s screen name?

  17. I have moved within the last year, but I can’t remember if I told you my new address last time you called out for changes. It’ll be easy to tell the difference, though: if you have a Nashville, TN address, that’s my old one. If you have a Decatur, GA address, that’s my current one.

    Assuming you ship before July. I’ll be moving the weekend before Independence Day.

  18. yeah stay away from lexmark and visioneer or whatever. I personally use a canon 4200f and I loves it, me being somone who mostly scans sketches and inked work. Bit loud and bulky though, you might be better off with the previously suggested lide. Canon makes a pretty good scanner, and I’ve had some baaad scanners in my time.

    lide also seems to get better reviews: http://www.pcmag.com/products/0,,qn=Scanners+Canon,00.asp

  19. I somehow totally failed to register that that last sentence applied to me despite being bright enough to remember that I did actually pay for two-thirds of a subscription back in 2003. So, um, yeah, I’ll send you another email with my current address.

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