Generational Dynamics World View News

[John]

** 01-May-2019 Graphics tools

> Ah,.. you might want to check "Inkscape" for vector graphics
> (cover art). And it's free, of course.

> Ya' don't get the jaggies, 'though I'm not sure how your
> publishing service would deal with vector files (as opposed to
> raster files like .jpg's and others).

> My apps of choice are:
> Gimp - Raster graphics
> Inkscape - Vector graphics
> Blender - 3D modeling, animation, some video
> FreeCAD or LibreCAD - CAD per se
> FreeShip - Naval architecture
> BigPrint - Scaled printing utility (makes correctly sized
> multi-page printouts for "real" model making)
> Unity - Game engine, modeling, other weird stuff
> Ardour - DAW (digital audio workstation) for music/sound "composition"

That's a useful list of tools.

I recreated the cover of the China-Japan book using Inkscape. It
worked pretty well, except when it came to exporting the graphic. The
program gives you only almost no options -- a png file with very
limited resolution options. And it turned out that that resolution
gave me nearly inscrutable problems with Amazon's KDP. So I had to go
to a fair amount of trouble to figure out to convert the file to have
the correct resolution parameters.

This brings me to one of the tools not on your list. I've
been using ImageMagick for a variety of purposes for many
years. It's a command-line image processing program that's
used in many places, and is probably used as a library by several
of the tools that you've list.

So, using Imagemagick tools, here are the properties of
the png file output by Inkscape:

Image: cover.png
Format: PNG (Portable Network Graphics)
Mime type: image/png
Class: DirectClass
Geometry: 3907x2775+0+0
Resolution: 37.8x37.8
Print size: 103.36x73.4127
Units: PixelsPerCentimeter

After screwing around with different options for a day or so, I
finally came up with the following Imagemagick command:

convert -units PixelsPerInch -density 96 -resample 300 ^
-density 300 -resize 3907x2775 cover.png cover.jpg

with the following resulting properties:

Image: cover.jpg
Format: JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group JFIF format)
Mime type: image/jpeg
Class: DirectClass
Geometry: 3907x2775+0+0
Resolution: 300x300
Print size: 13.0233x9.25
Units: PixelsPerInch

And Amazon KDP was happy with that.

So I'm almost ready to click the "Publish" button for the China-Japan
book. I still need to rewrite a couple of sections, and read the
whole book through 2-3 more times to make sure everything's ok.

There's no news today, except for people shouting at each other in
Congress.

[John]

** 01-May-2019 World View: Venezuela Wednesday riots

Analysts can't figure out whether the anti-regime demonstrations in
Venezuela are growing or fizzling.

Today there were more pro-opposition mass protests, but there were no
signs of defections by army generals, which is really the deciding
factor.

Furthermore, American officials are saying that Russians and Cubans
are heavily involved, and they even convinced Nicolás Maduro on
Tuesday not to flee to Cuba.

Venezuela's last generational crisis war ended in 1958, so the country
is only a couple of years into a new Crisis era. Generally, a crisis
civil war requires that the country be at least five or ten years into
a Crisis era, so it seems most likely that the current protests will
fizzle.

The United Nations is accusing the Venezuelan security forces
of using excessive force on protesters.

--- Sources:

-- Venezuela crisis: Protesters gather after Guaidó call
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-48123569
(BBC, 1-May-2019)

-- Comment by UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Marta Hurtado on
Venezuela
https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pag ... 4&LangID=E
(United Nations Human Rights office)

[FishbellykanakaDude]

** 01-May-2019 Graphics tools

> Ah,.. ....

That's a useful list of tools.

I recreated the cover of the China-Japan book using Inkscape. It
worked pretty well, except when it came to exporting the graphic. The
program gives you only almost no options -- a png file with very
limited resolution options. And it turned out that that resolution
gave me nearly inscrutable problems with Amazon's KDP. So I had to go
to a fair amount of trouble to figure out to convert the file to have
the correct resolution parameters.

This brings me to one of the tools not on your list. I've
been using ImageMagick for a variety of purposes for many
years. It's a command-line image processing program that's
used in many places, and is probably used as a library by several
of the tools that you've list.

So, using Imagemagick tools, here are the properties of
the png file output by Inkscape:

Image: cover.png
Format: PNG (Portable Network Graphics)
Mime type: image/png
Class: DirectClass
Geometry: 3907x2775+0+0
Resolution: 37.8x37.8
Print size: 103.36x73.4127
Units: PixelsPerCentimeter

After screwing around with different options for a day or so, I
finally came up with the following Imagemagick command:

convert -units PixelsPerInch -density 96 -resample 300 ^
-density 300 -resize 3907x2775 cover.png cover.jpg

with the following resulting properties:

Image: cover.jpg
Format: JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group JFIF format)
Mime type: image/jpeg
Class: DirectClass
Geometry: 3907x2775+0+0
Resolution: 300x300
Print size: 13.0233x9.25
Units: PixelsPerInch

And Amazon KDP was happy with that.

KDP seems to want the cover to be at least 2560x1600px (pixels) at 300ppi (pixels/in) for the "Marketing Cover", so you've got LOTS of pixels for them to use since you've got 3907x2775px at 300ppi.

Yeah,.. since KDP wants pixels, and doesn't use vector graphics files (svg's, which is the native format for Inkscape) for cover art, I'd just create the original hi-res image in a pixel based program (gimp, whatever), and not bother with Inkscape at all. (KDP does seem to allow svg's for up to 24 images in the body, but,.. ok,.. that's a thing.)

..unless the tools are better, and the rasterization is very clean, of course.

Anyway,.. YAY..!! Loooookin' good!

I'll look into ImageMagick. A format converter is quite useful.

I also left out "Non-Linear Video Editors", like Premiere Pro, as I don't have much call for that at the moment, but as I like OpenSource products, or at least "free" ones, this seems a good list: https://www.techradar.com/best/best-vid ... emium-free

..I'm kinda gravitating to the Blender VidSequenceEditor, which doesn't yet exist in Blender2.80, so I'll have to wait on that one. Lightworks and HitFilm Express look pretty good...

Oh BOY,.. another time waster for me to research...! Excellent.....

[Guest]

Doesn't Amazon just offer a cover art app? Why go through all of this?

[John]

** 02-May-2019 World View: Syria and Russia advance assault on Idlib

With major crises going on in Venezuela and over Russia collusion
in Washington, something that's completely off the radar in news
coverage is the growing assault on Idlib province by Syrian regime
forces using barrel bombs and Russian warplanes.

As we recently described, Idlib is the place where all the Sunni
Arabs fled with their home regions were being targeted for ethnic
cleansing by the regime forces of Bashar al-Assad in 2014-2018,
doubling the population of Idlib from 1.5 million to over 3 million.

The UN on Wednesday said 140,000 people were displaced in Idlib since
bombing began to intensify in February.

The attacks since February were mostly mortar bombs, but the assault
escalated sharply on Wednesday with intense strikes by Russian
warplanes and by helicopters dropping barrel bombs.

According to reports, the barrel bombs are targeting hospitals.
In the past, al-Assad targeted women and children in schools,
marketplaces and residential areas. The barrel bombs contain metal
and explosives to kill as many women and children as possible.
In the past, al-Assad's barrel bombs have contained chlorine, but
there have been no reports of chlorine at this time.

This escalation has been expected for a long time. A full-scale
assault on Idlib would result in a proxy war with Turkey.
Hundreds of thousands of people would pour across the border into
Turkey, and from there many would try to continue into Europe.


--- Sources:


-- Syria’s civilians suffer under Russian and regime bombardment of
Idlib
https://www.thenational.ae/world/mena/s ... b-1.856196
(The National, UAE, 2-May-2019)

-- Assad, Russia step up attacks on opposition areas in Syria's Hama,
Idlib, activists say
https://www.dailysabah.com/syrian-crisi ... ivists-say
(Daily Sabah, DPA, 1-May-2019)


-- Turkish-backed rebels send massive convoy of reinforcements to stop
Syrian Army’s Idlib offensive
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/tu ... offensive/
(Al Masdar, Damascus, 1-May-2019)



-- Escalated bombing in Syria’s Idlib displaces nearly 140,000, UN
says
https://www.france24.com/en/20190502-es ... n-refugees
(France24, 2-May-2019)

---- Related:

*** 30-Apr-2019 World View: Battle for Idlib may be starting in Syria
http://gdxforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php ... 418#p45418

[Cynic Hero 86]

More neocon outright BS, Why do globalist insist on violating Syria's sovereign rights? Why to they (the globalists and neocons) insist on impeding and preventing Assad from Carrying out his business? This is tyranny.

[John]

** 02-May-2019 Amazon

> Doesn't Amazon just offer a cover art app? Why go through all of
> this?

Amazon is like a centipede where the legs are tentacles that worm
their way into every aspect of human life -- tracking all your
purchases, listening to you and your wife having sex, and so forth. I
use Amazon as absolutely little as possible, and only when absolutely
necessary. The fact that I use it at all just shows how ubiquitous
and necessary it has become.

[Guest]

** 02-May-2019 Amazon

> Doesn't Amazon just offer a cover art app? Why go through all of
> this?

Amazon is like a centipede where the legs are tentacles that worm
their way into every aspect of human life -- tracking all your
purchases, listening to you and your wife having sex, and so forth. I
use Amazon as absolutely little as possible, and only when absolutely
necessary. The fact that I use it at all just shows how ubiquitous
and necessary it has become.

Doesn't Apple offer self publishing services?

[mps92]

** 02-May-2019 World View: Syria and Russia advance assault on Idlib

This escalation has been expected for a long time. A full-scale
assault on Idlib would result in a proxy war with Turkey.
Hundreds of thousands of people would pour across the border into
Turkey, and from there many would try to continue into Europe.

John what do you think the US should do? This is really terrible what Assad is doing, but the West is on a collision course with the Sunnis. If Assad stays in power, perhaps that means the US has another ally when the clash of civilizations happens. Should the US get involved or allow Assad to perform genocide?

[Trevor]

I'm noticing there's increased talk of a coming war with China, but most of what I read is rather dismissive of their capabilities. "We can beat them easily. Their entire Navy will be destroyed in a matter of days." and similar sentiments. If I remember my history lessons correctly, we said something very similar about Japan before Pearl Harbor.