Recent Posts

9901

General Software Discussion / Re: dell laptop, vista won't activate

« Last post by 40hz on September 22, 2009, 02:50 PM »

edit-post install: I have come to the conclusion that my laptop just hates vista, and I wasted my time filling out that replacement disk form. My stupid laptop still wont pre-activate vista.

-nite_monkey (September 22, 2009, 01:15 PM)

Sorry to say, but it looks like the time has come to make that phone call we spoke about earlier...  

Good luck.

P.S. One thing you might try is flatlining your HD first. Grab a copy of Darik's Boot & Nuke and let it run for about 15 minutes on the "Quick" setting. Then try your reinstall and see if that flies. Long shot, but might be worth a try.

9902

General Software Discussion / Re: MOGware's FileHamster (Complaint)

« Last post by 40hz on September 22, 2009, 02:12 PM »

We have stopped promoting the 'free' version and in its place have an evaluation version that follows Droid #1.  During the 30 days, it unlocks all the features but also includes some visual indicators designed to remind the user they are using an evaluation version.  Unfortunately, these visual indicators do include the annoying bubble you are not so fond of but those bubbles do ramp in over time so they are not so annoying in the beginning.  At the end of the 30 day evaluation period, we had two choices...Cut off the user or just leave the evaluation running in an expired state.  We opted the latter as that still offers those users a choice to continue using the product in that state; sometimes, even the expired state is all a user needs and we'd rather see them continue to use the software rather than forcibly cutting them off.

-Mogware Support (September 22, 2009, 01:34 PM)

It's nice of FH to do that (except for the bubbles ) but I think it raises the  question of just how serious FH is about people buying the product. A rule that goes unenforced is no rule at all. And it tends to reduce credibility.

I still think you'd be better off with a free version that will only monitor something like 10 files and one folder after the expiry point is reached. But maybe that's just me.

Either way, I wish you all success with your product. It's a very useful niche application that I'm sure will find its place in the market. I had tried a previous release for about a month some time ago. It worked well for the most part. I thought FH had real potential despite what appeared to be some occasion quirks in its behavior. (I've since gone over to a full VCS so I haven't paid much attention to FH since.)

Suggestion: develop and market an add-in version of FH for use with screenwriting and creative writing apps. (Think: Final Draft, Movie Magic, Truby's Blockbuster, StoryView, et al.) Possibly even license it to be built into the app itself.

Because if anybody is paranoid about losing a revision, it's screenwriters and authors.

Income opportunity (hint, hint)!

Luck!

9903

General Software Discussion / Re: Complaint: BitDefender Internet Security

« Last post by 40hz on September 22, 2009, 01:39 PM »

@40hz - I am also in favor of letting each tool do what it does best, but then you triple your cost.
Why both ThreatFire and Avira?
I am not very familiar with ThreatFire (not at all familiar would be more accurate) - isnt it another antivirus?

-SectorSeven (September 22, 2009, 12:15 PM)

It is, but it isn't, so to speak.

This article can explain it better than I can:

http://pcworld.about...tfire-4-5-Free-A.htm

9904

General Software Discussion / Re: Complaint: BitDefender Internet Security

« Last post by 40hz on September 22, 2009, 11:25 AM »

FWIW, A few years ago, I gave up on all-in-one suites and opted for a mix & match approach.

For external facing machines, I use the following products in tandem.

• Avira Antivirus
• PCTools Threatfire
• Comodo Firewall Pro

(Note: I generally disable all heuristic-based options if the software supports such detection methods. IMHO, these 'features' are far more trouble than they're worth. And there's also significant informed disagreement over the effectiveness of these methodologies.)

To date, this combo has given me very adequate levels of protection with the least amount of aggravation. And the overall performance hit from this combo has been negligible. Each app does its job well, yet still manages to play nicely with the others.

9905

Living Room / Re: Show us a photo of your mutt or other creatures..

« Last post by 40hz on September 22, 2009, 10:34 AM »

I removed the funny pictures of my dog Cliff, because he became a very heavy brain damage last night and so I had to put him down today

-Crush (September 13, 2009, 08:25 AM)

My condolences, Crush.

That's always hard. Been there more than once. It never gets any easier.

But in a way, I don't think we'd ever want it to.

9906

General Software Discussion / Re: Do you touch-type or hunt-and-peck?

« Last post by 40hz on September 22, 2009, 10:26 AM »

the foot pedal mouse

-Paul Keith (September 22, 2009, 03:59 AM)

Not too far fetched actually. I knew a real gearhead who actually rigged up a small dual foot pedal to control forward and backwards scrolling and paging actions. That way, he could always keep his right hand on the keyboard and his left hand on his mouse. At least that was the plan.

Needless to say he spent the bulk of his time in front of a computer and didn't get out all that much. Loved the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. (Had a real thing for female bodybuilders too...but let's not get into that. )

9907

General Software Discussion / Re: Most Recently Installed Programs

« Last post by 40hz on September 22, 2009, 10:13 AM »

 

That happens to me all the time.

"I have not lost my mind. It's backed up on a CD. I just can't remember where I put it."

9908

General Software Discussion / Re: Most Recently Installed Programs

« Last post by 40hz on September 22, 2009, 09:59 AM »

Revo Uninstaller will show you that information. Run it, and then click the top of the Installation Date column to sort oldest to newest,  or vice versa. Piece of cake!

Info here: www.revouninstaller.com/

Download page: www.revouninstaller.com/revo_uninstaller_free_download.html

If you look, there's also a portable version available. Great for if you don't want to make it a permanent part of your machine. (Although I can't imagine why you wouldn't.) It's a great utility.  

9909

Living Room / Re: OK - lets get to know each other... who are you, what do you do, where from?

« Last post by 40hz on September 22, 2009, 09:49 AM »

@olla86 - Welcome, welcome, welcome. I spent some of the most enjoyable years of my life in Boston. If you're smart (I wasn't) you'll stay there!

9910

General Software Discussion / Re: Good news for any InfoSelect users

« Last post by 40hz on September 22, 2009, 12:28 AM »

I'm not sure if there's any connection here, but back in the old days on Windows 98, before things started sliding and fading and glowing with silky looking gradient toolbars and such, computing seemed to be a lot faster. It's hard to explain, there just always seems to be some kind of ever-so-slight delay with the prettier programs. Everything seems to take a half a second longer - entering text, saving work, making selections in drop-down menus & buttons, everything. InfoSelect is really, really fast, so after a while, the aesthetics became less important to me.

I'm sure it will look better soon, though  .

-SKesselman (September 22, 2009, 12:02 AM)

You make an excellent point. The more eye-candy you have, the greater the demand on system resources. And the trend does seem to be to make up for it with faster and more expensive graphics hardware.

Personally, I'm partial to "flat" icons and simple well coordinated color schemes so I see what you're saying. But you could avoid a lot of that and still have an attractive interface.

I think the following greyscale skin looks nice without being "blingy", but maybe it's just me!



I guess the point I was trying to make was that attractive interface design, and what you're saying, aren't incompatible goals.

9911

General Software Discussion / Re: MOGware's FileHamster (Complaint)

« Last post by 40hz on September 21, 2009, 11:53 PM »

The ‘UpgradeBubbles’ were a controversial topic internally to Mogware so their implementation was carefully thought out.  The ‘UpgradeBubbles’ are only present in the free version.  We needed a way to try and convert our free users into upgrading;

-Mogware Support (September 10, 2009, 10:55 AM)

Understood.

But "carefully thought out" how?

Did the decision to use phrases like "convert our free users," and terms like "UpgradeBubbles," help sell what management wanted to do to the dissenters in your company?

Calling a nag pop-up an UpgradeBubble doesn't change the fact that it is still just another nag device. I'd personally have a lot more respect for what FH is trying to accomplish if it could stop using euphemisms and just call things what they are.

It also would be nice if we could drop the sales lingo and switch to standard English.

You don't "convert" people. You convince them to buy. So next time, instead of saying "convert our free users into upgrading" why not just say "convince the people who downloaded the free version to buy the paid version."

The ‘UpgradeBubbles’ slowly ramp in over the course of 2 weeks and only promote our products as we try to encourage them to upgrade.  If the user chooses not to upgrade, the bubble will then slowly transition over to an alternative ad campaign.

And since FH is using a nag feature to do this, why not be honest and say:

"This product is designed to bug the people who downloaded the free version of FileHamster with increasing frequency until they (hopefully) buy the paid version. Furthermore, if the original nag technique doesn't work, this software will automatically switch over to using some other negative incentive to further encourage them to buy it."

Maybe not as pretty sounding. But a lot more up front.

At the end of the day, we can’t only have free users and still sustain the tool.  At least this way, the users who don’t want to pay for the tool can still use the tool.

Part of the problem is that FH is trying to straddle the fence.

I think you guys really need to decide what you want to do, and stop playing 'head games' with yourselves and your potential customers. Because "at the end of the day" a so-called 'free' product is either free - or it's not. So if, for whatever reason, your company really can't afford to offer a (genuinely) free version of FileHamster - then just don't offer one. That's a perfectly understandable and acceptable situation.

I think it would be better if FileHamster either went the 'time limited evaluation' route; or offered a 'feature limited' freeware edition. That's what almost everyone else does, so I'm guessing either approach plays equally well in the marketplace.

Look at it this way: When somebody upgrades from a feature limited version of a product to the full version, they're gaining something positive (i.e. more and better features) for their money. When somebody buys a product after an evaluation period they're gaining something positive (i.e. the ability to continue using the product) for their money.

But when you use some form of nagging technology, what additional value does your customer get for their money? The simple answer is: Nothing other than relief from an arbitrarily imposed annoyance. Doesn't sound like too good a way to "win friends and influence people."

If you had to pick one of these three droids, which would you choose?

• Droid#1-  "I'll work for you for free - for 30 days only - doing anything you command. At the end of that time, you can either buy me, or we call it quits. No hard feelings either way."
  
  
• Droid#2- "I'll work for you for free - and for an indefinite period of time - as long as you will at least consider buying me. But I will only work on a limited group of tasks. However, if you do eventually buy me, I'll do anything you command. No hard feelings either way."
  
  
• Droid#3- "I'll work for you for free - and for an indefinite period of time - doing anything you command. But I will also ask you to buy me several times a day (and with increasing frequency) for the first two weeks. If that doesn't work, I'll just try something else to convince you. And I'll keep this up until you either do buy me - or get fed up and kick me out.

Now think about the message FH's UpgradeBubbles and "slowly transition over to an alternative ad campaign" approaches are sending to its potential customers.

I'm not surprised UpgradeBubbles were a "controversial topic internally."



Just my 2¢  

------

**NOTE: Any use of the  words 'you' and 'your' should be taken in the collective sense. Please don't interpret my comments as being personally directed at anyone working for FileHamster.

9912

General Software Discussion / Re: Good news for any InfoSelect users

« Last post by 40hz on September 21, 2009, 09:12 PM »

Minor quibble: What's with that ulgy archaic GUI? It looks like it hasn't been updated since Windows 95 hit the racks.

At $250, an attractive interface should be a given.

9913

General Software Discussion / Re: Do you touch-type or hunt-and-peck?

« Last post by 40hz on September 21, 2009, 08:51 PM »

Just imagine what he could have done with a pair of 5 button mice. 

-app103 (September 21, 2009, 08:34 PM)

Actually, the story I heard said he was an accomplished trumpet player, so depressing various combinations of three keys is what seemed most natural to him. (I guess we use what we know best for our models.)

But why stop at just two mice?

Imagine what he might have accomplished if he also thought to remove his shoes?  Look at all those virtuoso church organists. It works for them!

9914

General Software Discussion / Re: Do you touch-type or hunt-and-peck?

« Last post by 40hz on September 21, 2009, 08:30 PM »

Re: One-handed typing:

I've been flirting with the idea of getting a Frog-Pad keyboard ever since I saw one on ThinkGeek's website.




It did seem workable. There's a YouTube video of somebody using one here:

http://www.youtube.c...&feature=related

(Note: the product is available in either a left or a right handed key layout so the above picture may be different from the one in the video.)

Basically, it's a rehash of several old** ideas about using multi-modal control interface to permit single handed alphanumeric and function key entry.

The Frog Pad appealed to me primarily because I though it would be a rather neat accessory to carry around for all those times I needed to plug a small USB keyboard into a server. I also wanted it to save some desktop 'real estate' when I was back home. The device measures something like 3 inches by 5 inches.

So far, I've held off for three reasons:

1) @ $159 USD, Frog Pad Inc. must be extremely proud of their little darling. Perhaps I'm one of those people who "know the price of everything and the value of nothing" as Oscar Wilde once put it. Nevertheless, I still think that price is fairly outrageous for a Bluetooth keyboard. Especially when you can score a top of the line gaming keyboard/mouse combo for less.

2) Frog Pad's online store seems to be "out of stock" more often than most. That makes me think they're doing very limited production runs - as in "not a lot of demand" - as in "high risk of this soon being an orphan product."

3) It's no longer available from ThinkGeek. This leads me to suspect that it has been weighed in the balance and found lacking by the real gadget freaks out there.

So, is anybody out there using a Frog Pad?

---------------

** Historic Note: Long before mice were popularized by Apple, one Xerox PARC researcher envisioned doing all computer input using nothing but a mouse. His idea called for the use of two 3-button mice - one for each hand. He had actually worked out what was dubbed a chording scheme that allowed you to type using various combinations of the six available buttons. As a "proof of concept" he taught himself to do all his keyboarding using a pair of these mouse prototypes. Word was, he became a very accomplished typist using this approach.

Now how utterly Ubergeek is that?

9915

General Software Discussion / Re: Do you touch-type or hunt-and-peck?

« Last post by 40hz on September 21, 2009, 06:28 PM »

I am not a touch typist, nor am I  "hunt & peck", since the use of the word "hunt" would imply that I don"t know where the keys are, when that just isn't true.

I am primarily a one-handed typist, a righty, with the left hand only playing a minor role in my typing. I am probably the fastest 2-3 finger typist you have ever seen.  

-app103 (September 20, 2009, 09:01 AM)

Wow! I used to type that way. It was a skill I learned back in the days of mainframes and real TTY terminals.

In those days we always used the thumb, first, middle and ring finger of the right hand for "data and code entry"  - and kept the left hand free to hit various control and 'operator' keys when using a keypunch machine.

The "IBM Guys" at the campus computer center used to call that tech (or crab-crawl) typing, as opposed to touch typing I guess.

Brings back memories...

Those days are gone forever. (Thank heavens! )

----

@SKesselman - very impressive nails. My sister just said she's envious.  

9916

General Software Discussion / Re: Complaint: Softwrap (nasty eula)

« Last post by 40hz on September 21, 2009, 12:16 PM »

I don't know what softwrap makes

-lotusrootstarch (September 21, 2009, 10:00 AM)

Then perhaps you'd best find out before you weigh in on the discussion, don't you think?

Just a thought.

9917

General Software Discussion / Re: dell laptop, vista won't activate

« Last post by 40hz on September 20, 2009, 01:23 PM »

If I supply computers to people I set them up for them and do the backup my self and explain why it is important to keep those discs safe.

-Carol Haynes (September 20, 2009, 04:02 AM)

Well done!


Like you, we've tried spelling out to our clients how important it is not to lose media. But "this is America" over here, so our words often fall on deaf ears. But being firm believers in the notion of redemption (and that a burned hand teaches best), we've since come up with a practice that semi-solves the problem, and garners us a deal of goodwill.

On a new or reinstalled system, we make and archive a full image backup before delivering the machine. If our client loses the media, we'll do a basic recovery (one per client) for free. After that, we charge our regular service rates.

Wherever possible, we keep also track of as many "details" as possible (i.e. serial numbers, activation keys, purchase dates, configuration settings, registration information, etc.). This gets done automatically for anything we sell, install, or repair. We keep this information in a secure database for retrieval as needed.

It doesn't cost us much (other than disk space) to do any of this this. It's been a lifesaver for our clients on several occasions. And that gets translated into customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Just a thought.



 

9918

General Software Discussion / Re: Freeware Website Creator For Dummies?

« Last post by 40hz on September 19, 2009, 06:11 PM »

You might not want to do this right now. But sooner or later you'll probably want (or need) to know a lot more about how to really code a web page. When that time comes, there's an excellent free e-book that will walk you through everything you need to know about doing one up from scratch.

It's called (appropriately enough) The Web Book, and you can download a free copy here:

www.the-web-book.com

At 355 pages, this book isn't something you'll be able to skim through over a rainy weekend and completely digest. The author suggests it will take two focused weeks of effort to absorb everything that's in it. He may well be right.

I popped a copy over to an employee of one my clients when I first learned about it. (She got handed the responsibility of staying on top of her company's web presence after a technical debacle caused by the people who do their web design.) In two weeks she went from knowing zero to having a very decent competency in web technology. Now she's hooked. She told me she plans on sticking with it until she "knows as much as the people we're paying beaucoup bucks to."

There's ambition for ya!   And who knows? This could be the start of a new career path for her.

About The Web Book
 
If you want to know how to create web sites,  there are hundreds of books and web pages that
claim to show you how.  Some of them are very good indeed.  But this book isn’t like all those
other books and web pages, for a number of important reasons:
 
1.  The Web Book is an electronic, or e-book.  You simply download it as a PDF file from
www.the-web-book.com and print it yourself.
 
2.  The Web Book covers all of the technologies that you need to know in order to create Web
sites, both using static html pages and database-driven sites.  
 
3.  Unlike many books on the subject that were written some years ago, The Web Book
teaches you up-to-date methods.  Follow the instructions here and you can be confident
that you’re doing things in the right way, rather than using old-fashioned techniques that
are now frowned upon.
 
4.  The Web Book is written for people with an interest in creating web sites.  Whether you
want a couple of pages for your personal site, or perhaps a site for your school, college or
club, this book will tell you what you need to know.  If you want a full-blown site for your
small company, perhaps with added features such as a customer mailing list or a picture
gallery, you’ve come to the right place.  I’ve tried my hardest to keep everything non-
technical.  If you’re "into" computers, you should be able to follow everything just fine.  
You certainly don’t need to be a professional techie.  In fact, if you are, you’ll probably
take offence at the way I’ve simplified things.  For which I apologise.  
 
5.  If you already look after a web site, perhaps for your school or college, or the department
you work for, you may be itching to take your web development skills to the next level.  Or
maybe you didn’t actually get much training when you took on the responsibility, and you
don’t really understand how everything fits together.  In which case, this book is perfect
for you.  We don’t just tell you to press buttons.  We explain what those buttons do, and
why you need to press (or not press!) them.
 
6.  Here’s the best bit.  The Web Book is free of charge, for non-commercial use.  Yes,
completely free. So if you want to teach yourself how to do Web stuff, just grab a copy of
the PDF file, print out the book, and away you go.  
 
You can always download the latest version of this book from www.the-web-book.com
 
-----------------
 
One word of warning, though.  Creating a web site and doing it properly isn’t a simple task that
can be done in an afternoon.  Yes, we’ve all seen 2-page magazine articles that like to imply
otherwise, but sadly it’s just not true.  Even at 355 pages, this book is only a basic introduction to
some of the more complex topics. It’s quite  possible to buy books on HTML, CSS, PHP and
MySQL which each run to 800 pages. I wouldn’t recommend it, however, unless you have
trouble sleeping.

Too bad this book wasn't around back when I bought a few of those 800-page web design books (@ approx. $55 each!) you find at Borders.  

Worth a look.

9919

General Software Discussion / Re: Graphic Design question: Services and prices?

« Last post by 40hz on September 19, 2009, 08:47 AM »

Most people don't know that Lewis Carroll did the original illustrations for Alice.



Carroll and his publishers thought his books needed the touch of a professional illustrator, so Sir John Tenniel was hired to do the work for the published book.




Interestingly enough, both illustrations are equally valid in my mind. I think I slightly prefer Carroll's original. Carroll's Alice has more depth of personality to my eyes. Tenniel's is more technically accomplished. But his Alice is interchangeable with almost any other 'young girl' illustration from the Victorian period. It's only time that's taught us to see her as a uniquely recognizable book character.

And many others have taken a crack at Carroll's world. (If you write it, they will draw."  ) Some of the interpretations are quite valid as far as I'm concerned. Take a look at all the Alice 'riffs' here:

http://www.lewiscarr...org/graph.html#Other

So the point I'm trying to make is that it isn't the degree of technique you bring to the illustrations that's the key.

It's the integrity of your story line - and the authenticity of the related art - that makes it work.

You have your story. And it looks to me like you've got enough artistic talent to roll your own illustrations.

If I were you, I'd go for it.



<EDIT: Was typing a little too fast. Minor changes for clarification made in green above. Sorry!>

9920

General Software Discussion / Re: dell laptop, vista won't activate

« Last post by 40hz on September 18, 2009, 02:36 PM »

What is strange tho is that my xp disk does activate autimaticaly.

-nite_monkey (September 18, 2009, 10:41 AM)

Not really. XP is XP - and Vista is Vista.

The folks who like to play games with Microsoft have gotten smarter over the years. And so has Microsoft's activation mechanisms.

It should come as no surprise Mr. Bill & Co. have gotten less and less trusting over the years. We can thank the scam artists now that we all get to experience the inconvenience and annoyance of product activation.



@nite_monkey:  So! Have you finally gotten around to giving Microsoft a call? They can get you activated pretty quickly once you talk to them...

As an aside - the sticker Windows codes on the bottom/back of computers hardly ever work these days and MS won't activate them manually either.

-Carol Haynes (September 18, 2009, 03:30 AM)

Wow!
I haven't ever run into that in the USA. I wonder if it's an overzealous local Microsoft policy (or senior employee) that's responsible for it where you live. Over here, Microsoft's rule has always been to give the customer the benefit of the doubt in a situation like you're describing.

Has anybody else had an experience where Microsoft refused to activate an OS reinstall from the OEM CD back to the original machine?

9921

General Software Discussion / Re: Freeware Website Creator For Dummies?

« Last post by 40hz on September 18, 2009, 01:57 PM »

If you're serious about it being a single page, take a look at WebDwarf from Virtual Mechanics. It's a drag and drop page creator that works surprisingly well. Very simple to learn.

If you need it any easier than this, you'll probably have to ask someone to do it for you.

http://www.virtualme...cts/dwarf/index.html


Caveat: WebDwarf is designed for the creation of single page web projects. If you want to do a multipage website, you'll need to find something else.

9922

General Software Discussion / Re: Graphic Design question: Services and prices?

« Last post by 40hz on September 16, 2009, 03:52 PM »

Just another thought:

Don't rule out manipulated photographs. You can do amazing things with a group of image files, Adobe Photoshop, and some creativity. Done correctly, they can be hard to distinguish from "hand drawn" digital art.

Here's a quick & dirty example. Let's say I need a character something like Angelina Joli's character in Sky Captain. But I plan to make my character much more 3-dimensional so a woman in a leather flight suit just isn't going to cut it. I envision her as a study in contrasts, and somewhat of an enigma to her fellow officers. I want a military physique, and an intriguing face. Calm and gentle, but with a bit of spark obviously lurking just below the surface. I want a look that almost contradicts the fact she's a highly qualified and capable field commander.

Ok...

Start w/pretty athletic woman. Fitness model type for the military physique:



Do some paint overs, color adjustments, and drop in a background... and voila!

May I introduce my new character: Alliance Fleet Strike Commander Deborah Jorr, caught in a rare off duty moment aboard her ship the SVN Donneybrook.



Not the greatest, I'll admit. But I cranked it out in about ten minutes as a proof of concept. A real artist could do it 100 times better.

Something to think about.

P.S. be sure you only use your own photos (or images you have a legal right to use) when you do this.

9923

Living Room / Re: Hell has frozen over - 802.11n is Finalized!

« Last post by 40hz on September 16, 2009, 12:38 PM »

Like Carol, I've been using draft N for a while. For the most part it worked reasonably well although there have been some maddening anomalies and intermittent problems. Speed advantages were mixed, but the improved signal strength was well worth whatever else you had to put up with.

Hopefully, this standard will get most issues cleared up once updated device firmware is available for download.

Fingers crossed.

9924

Living Room / Re: How should I diagnose this hardware issue?

« Last post by 40hz on September 16, 2009, 12:21 PM »

Frankly at my age I'm not the slightest bit interested in the snarky sniping pedantic nonsense and am seriously starting to lose interest in this forum.

-Stoic Joker (September 16, 2009, 08:53 AM)

@Stoic Joker - Hope not. I enjoy reading your posts and have benefited from them on several occasions. I think it would be a loss if you stopped participating.

(P.S. I agree with the pink eraser technique. It does work.)

9925

General Software Discussion / Re: Graphic Design question: Services and prices?

« Last post by 40hz on September 16, 2009, 12:03 PM »

Awesome!

Let me know how you make out.

I ran it past my sister, who is a "graphic designer - not an illustrator" (her words). She said she had the feeling what you're looking for is going to run some serious bucks unless you're lucky enough to hook up with a talented newcomer who is willing to take it on as a 'portfolio piece.'

I asked her what she thought it might cost if somebody like a book publisher were handling the project.

She said that around here (think metro NY market so prices will probably be higher than in most places) commissioned art like the above runs around $300+ per illustration. She also mentioned that for that degree of originality, most professional illustrators will also expect to get a 'piece of the action.' What that means is some sort of royalty arrangement or a restricted use clause.

Restricted use means what it says. Say you bought the illustrations for a book and somewhere down the road Dreamworks decided to make it into a movie. If the illustrations were used as concept art, or the look of the film closely matched the illustrations, the illustrator might be entitled to a cut. On a less esoteric level, rights might only cover a USA release. Foreign rights might need to be negotiated separately. Ditto for hardcover, second printing, paperback, graphic novel, video game, audio book (don't laugh - think cover art) yadda-yadda...you get the picture.


So anyway, whatever you do, make sure you have a clear understanding with anybody you're working with. And if you do enter into an arrangement, get it in writing - and be sure to have a competent attorney review it before you sign.

Keep us posted.

Luck!

P.S.  I don't know if it's still as true today, but in the past, most publishers preferred to use their own stable of illustrators. The reason they did that was because most artists were totally clueless about how to create what was called press reproducible artwork. Basically that meant art that was amenable to the color separation process and reproduced well on a standard 4-color press. Not all art fits into that category.

If you're planning to 'print publish' your project, do yourself a favor. See if you can find a designer or art director with publishing experience who is willing to bring you up to speed on what's involved. Most of them love to pontificate, so it shouldn't set you back more than a pizza and some beer to get a good crash course on how these things work.

OK...I'm rambling, and the server I'm working on just finished updating so I'd best get back to work. Bye!