I doubt others would go for this, but the two lists (if any) I would most like to see on the home page are works from my connections and, to encourage reviews for new members (to keep the site up and funded), a list of new member works. The others I have no use for. I doubt that's true for those who dabble in poetry or essays, etc.
Either get rid of the lists as Vern suggests, or make them collapsible, as others have suggested. Like Vern, I can live with whatever the decision.
Dirk
As long as we're redesigning the home page for Sol (grin), I suggest adding the genre for works listed on the page. There's enough room next to each work, since the icons are tall enough. I was browsing the latest ten looking for sci-fi stuff. I know it's only a few clicks away, but as long as we're going to display the works on the home page, we might as well add other useful information.
Thanks, as always.
Dirk
JP, after reading your post about the images, I went back to look at them on my home page. While they could be reduced further, it was during the act of looking at them all that I spotted an essay by Erndog, whose work I had never read before. I now have several new sci-fi books to try that may be along similar themes to mine. I might have spotted the essay on the old site anyway, but the image caught my eye.
Of course, if we're going to dedicate space to images, new users should definitely be encouraged to use images, since the sea of generic red book covers from so many authors is just background noise to me. I rarely notice them. I'm guilty of judging a book by its cover, but with so much to read.... New users should also be encouraged to make their Book Content Summary as informative as possible, as if they were writing the back cover of their printed book, the target audience, the kind of feedback desired, etc.
Perhaps, a hyperlink called "Not getting enough reviews?" at the top of the homepage of users with suggestions for how to increase reviews....
Dirk
Another idea would be to find an in-your-face place to put a site tip to encourage new members to go introduce themselves and their work in Premium and ask for feedback. And nudge them to do reviews to get reviews. Perhaps they get a popup tip right after posting.
Dirk
One minor aid might be to highlight works from new members, not as a separate list of ten, but just something like you do in the forums where you highlight online/offline with the green dot. Perhaps color their pen name differently in the lists of works, with a tooltip that says "New Member".
I'm happy to review something coming from new members from time to time.
Dirk
I also prefer to have Connections at the top. Those are the ones I'm most interested in. New entries (not of my connections) could be next.
Well, the problem is that new writers are joining the site and not receiving any reviews. If this continues I'm going to need to tweak the point system. New members aren't going to stay if they post their content and receive a resounding - nothing. Putting connections at the top will only exacerbate this problem.
Good point.
Dirk
Home and End keys in Google Chrome appear to be exactly what I wanted.
Dirk
Sol, do you know if there is a keystroke combination that jumps to the bottom of a web page?
Thanks
Dirk
It looks good, Sol. My personal preference would be to have writing from my connections at the top. When I have the time (if ever), I go through the other lists for new authors to read from. Not sure how others feel about the order of the lists.
Thanks.
Dirk
Two other things that increase the likelihood of a purchase from me are, of course, the book content summary on the back cover, and a free sample of chapter one. I focused a lot of effort on getting those right, including even the opening sentence. My space opera book starts with "Battle stations!" and takes off from there. I've tried to encourage other new writers here to write their book content summary as if it was for the book's back cover, as a way of trying to draw in more reviewers.
Jack, although I do sometimes give credence to verified purchases, I give the most weight, by far, to the quality/depth of the review and the number of people who found it helpful, including the most positive and the most negative helpful reviews.
Does anyone know, off hand, if Amazon allows authors/sellers to respond to reviews? That might come in handy for those of us with controversial subject matter (e.g., an irreverent look at Christianity in the fifth millenium, a sci-fi story). I have a pretty thick skin, but it would help to know I can respond to flaming reviewers, if supported.
Thanks.
Dirk
I could've sworn I read an article that talked about reprogramming DNA. I thought it referred to doing it in living organisms, but that does seem hopelessly complicated.
Someone I knew had a rare childhood cancer where tumors doubled in size every 24 hours. It was based around a defective gene that, once turned on, couldn't be stopped.
Personally, I always hope there'll be a keyboard for computers. It's the perfect interface for buggy software - something you can hit. Over and over. It never fixes the bug, but it sure feels good. Rumor has it that Sony had to build extra strong keyboards for use with Vista.
Japanese researchers reported a few months ago that they had successfully transmitted power using microwaves, so it's close - as long as you don't get in the way of the microwave blast. Solar and wind power would go a long way toward solving energy needs, provided battery tech to store extra power improves. It's bizarre that oil companies keep fighting it, rather than leading new advances in energy tech to diversify their companies away from one source of revenue.
What's the cure for cancer you're referring to? I know there's research going on that can specifically target cancer cells without killing healthy cells, but I'm guessing the cancer cells will find a way to mutate to survive that too.
I need to pick up the pace of my writing to stay ahead of all the new tech. At one point I had several balding characters until I realized 2000 years ought to be enough to cure that. I do have a military man who shaves his head, but he doesn't live long enough to even warrant mentioning it.
Dirk
Thank you, Philisha. I started with alternating POV in chapter 2, where I introduce the two MCs, so I may end up going back to it as the story nears its conclusion. In fact, I can already see problems a couple of chapters ahead where I may have to do so.
Dirk
I love it when there's no concensus. :-)
I'll try writing it as I have been and let people tell me if it works.
Thanks all.
Dirk
My book alternates back and forth between two characters, chapter by chapter (i.e., one chapter for Joseph, one chapter for Apollo, then another for Joseph, etc.). I'm having increasing difficulty keeping to a linear timeline as I go back and forth. For example, if a week elapses in Joseph's chapter, and then I return to Apollo, I've generally picked up Apollo's story as if that same week had already elapsed for him too. For most of the book, I've managed to make that linear timeline work. However, I'm now running into the problem that a lot is happening in a short period of time, and I need things to run concurrently for the two characters (i.e., a week elapses for Apollo, then I switch to Joseph and tell his story for that same week), otherwise I have to tell too much of the story as flashbacks. I could switch "scenes" back and forth, featuring both characters going back and forth in the same chapter, although that would break away from the storytelling approach I've been following for 25+ chapters, a pattern I think the reader would expect to continue.
I was wondering what other authors do when one scene (or chapter) gets far ahead of another in time. Do you always maintain a linear timeline as you move forward from scene to scene, or do you allow successive scenes to run concurrently in time?
I hope the question makes sense.
Thanks.
Dirk
I tend to find balance by standing with both feet on the ground, rather than just with one. :-)
Dirk
Thanks Alkemi.
This is along the lines of what I was originally hoping to do. I had an open vat coated with teflon in mind, covered with a force field that would allow me to lower things into the superacid (fluoroantimonic acid), but keep the churning liquid and gases inside, to be be extracted once the solid was dissolved. The force field would be the same tech as on my starship hangar bays that allow fighters (solid objects) to move through, while keeping the atmosphere (a gas) inside.
Based on what I've learned here, the recycled materials will later be extracted by a means I don't plan to explain, since that's where the process becomes too complicated for my story. The temperature in the vat will be such that someone can walk right up to it. There will be an odor from the liquified vehicle (e.g., like the smell of rubber in a tire shop), but not strong enough to be toxic to humans.
For added simplicity, I may even do away with the force field, which rules out a superacid because of the explosive reaction and noxious fumes. I'll have to wave my magic wand and ignore the fact that bacteria or nanoids might release gases too. I'll probably have the liquid bubble a little for effect, perhaps from air trapped in the vehicle as it dissolves.
I ultimately plan to keep the process to a paragraph or two. Something a plant manager could explain to a visitor of a recycling center, without the process being totally impossible in nature. Let's face it, it's already improbable as hell. :-)
Thanks to all.
Dirk
I've narrowed it down to espresso or bubble bath. :-)
Thanks to all. I'm still mulling over which approach to use: acid, nanoids, or bacteria. Should be fun to write. The last two seem easier to justify the lack of an exlosive, noxious reaction between the vehicle and the goo.
Dirk
Thanks, Vern. Also a great idea.
Hello Norm, I am slower on the uptake than others and been left behind by the way this discussion has progressed, but years ago I was an inorganic chemist and actually worked with superacids, mostly fluorosulfuric but also some of the mixtures (stronger acids) with antimony pentafluoride. Basic answer to your question is that the strongest of these acids will protonate (add proton to make a positive ion, so copper metal reacts to form Cu++ and soluble in the acid, for example). Same happens to almost anything so you would generate a lot of ions in solution and a lot gases (hydrogen and other gases depending on the nature of the acid that are produced by the disolutions) that will boil off making frothing etc like you suggest. Separating out all those ions would take engineering solutions that are beyond current day technology (chemists can do it on a small scale, but not an industrial one, at least not cost effectively).
One difficulty you would have is that all superacids react with water so your vat could not be in our atmosphere because the acid would react with the moisture in the air. They would also react with metal containers or glass containers (not all of them, fluorosulfuric acid and triflic acid are stable in glass but the stronger superacids would not be). Some fluorocarbon plastics (teflon for example) can be used for containers.
On a different level aren't you asking an old alchemist question, the one about alkahest, the universal solvent. If that's where you're going I would suggest a superacid that protonates just about anything is as good a bet as anything else.
Hope this is some use.
Alkemi, thanks for the confirmation about superacids. I decided that keeping them contained and capturing the gases produced was too difficult to tell and beyond the scope of what I was hoping to try. I decided to go with a 41st century brew that liquifies everything put imto it, except of course, teflon and air. That way, I won't worry about having to contain fumes, explosive reations and frothing, and extraction of elements from the resulting crystals. I simply invented something that I'll proibably call espresso, to liquify anthing put into it, with no toxic fumes, except for a few bubbles to help visualize the scene. I'm also considering naming it for its inventor, Gaius Olympus Octavian, using his initials, GOO, among other choices.
Thanks
Dirk
Sol, is anyone else reported having trouble getting email links to work on Android phones (using the phone's default mail client)? It's the links you provide in emails about new content, new messages, new forum posts, etc. The email shows the link's html text, but it's not clickable. The same email opened in gmail from my desktop has the clickable link and works as expected. I'm running Android KitKat on a Moto G phone.
Thanks.
Dirk
While I have everyone's attention, I'm open to names for my new goo. I usually use tongue-in-cheek type names for something like this. So far all I've got is espresso and rotgut. :-)
There's a Latin theme in my book, so I'm going to look up a few terms in Latin as well.
Thoughts?
Dirk
