The semester has ended and I’m starting to play with some other projects like C++ coding, working on the next mythology book (this time the educational focus is Latin, rather than science – but I consider it part of the same series) and some other writing projects. In my most recent C++ coding problems I’ve been trying to get a good handle on how to manipulate objects and create vectors (like arrays) of objects. In order to do this, I’ve made several simple projects to generate a vector of objects (I’ve chosen my vector to be a clown car and my objects to be clowns).
The basic setup was a little tricky (for me), but I managed it with a little help from the good people at dreamincode.org. As the next step in this project, I’m expanding my program to allow for the clowns to interact with one another, eventually kicking one another out of the car. I’ve outlined my basic project on my ayearincoding blog. If you have any interest in coding, take a look there and either learn along with me or help me out.
In looking for some clown art for these posts, I came across an interesting article in smithsonian magazine about the psychology surrounding people’s fear of clowns. The reason I find this particularly interesting right now is two-fold: 1. I’m reading Stephen King’s ‘It’ right now. 2. My wife doesn’t believe me that anyone is afraid of clowns.
Zeus is not one to be trifled with. And Sisyphus has been a thorn in his side, defying him at every turn, yet escaping every punishment with uncanny cunning. But this time, the mortal has gone too far and Zeus has a special punishment befitting Sisyphus’ persistence.
The Curse of Sisyphus is the tale unlike others you may have heard about him before. Here you can find out exactly how Sisyphus defied Zeus yet again – and learn about the physics of motion, gravitation and orbit at the same time.
The Curse of Sisyphus, from DownHouse Software is coming soon to iTunes.
Sisyphus’ is a tale of cleverness and cunning in which the malevolent King Sisyphus offends and then repeatedly infuriates Zeus until the King of the Gods is forced to personally curse Sisyphus to a punishment befitting his crimes: To slave beneath a stone, pushing it each day to the peak of a great mountain in the underworld and then have it come crashing down upon him, leaving him to repeat the task again … and again … and again, throughout eternity.
But Zeus has tried to hold Sisyphus captive before only to find that the clever human is not so easily trapped.
In this volume, Sisyphus taps into the vengeance of scorned brother, the wisdom of an oracle and the might of a demigod as he masters the rules governing gravitation and motion to escape his punishment.
I have an inexplicable love for mythology, even bad… very bad retellings of it.
I feel like I needed to open with some sort of explanation for even watching both Clash of the Titans (2010) and Wrath of the Titans (2012). Because these are not good movies. I admit to having loved the original Clash of the Titans (1981). I was young – It had some of the last stop motion animation by Ray Harryhausen, the man who did all the effects from Jason and the Argonauts (1963), 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958), etc. – and, there were some great moments in that film. Admittedly, these great moments are nestled between a lot of terrible acting.
So, there it is, that’s my excuse for even considering watching these films. What did I think? Well, #1 both Clash of the Titans films bastardize a lot of mythology, but frankly, that doesn’t bother me. After all, they’re just stories. People have been reshaping them for hundreds of years in order to make them their own. #2, despite all the money, the 2010 film undermines our concern for the characters by giving us only spectacle. If I did care about a character, it was Hades. A slow moving medusa in the ’81 version draws you in infinitely more than than the lightening swift one in the remake. I don’t have a lot of film-making cred, but I do know that pacing generates tension, and sometimes it’s what you don’t see that is scariest. #3 Thanks for the cameo of Bubo. He was a great device in the first film, but would never have worked twice. All in all, 2010 the remake was watchable if you already knew it wasn’t going to be that good and you just want to spend an evening with your brain off.
Wrath of the titans makes me with that the the world did end in 2012 so I would have died without watching this crap. What the hell was it supposed to be? A buddy movie? Zeus and Hades test their filial bonds over a power struggle and learn that they always did love each other deep in their hearts? Ares and Perseus learn that being half brothers isn’t quite good enough to not want to bash each other’s heads in? And am I supposed to know this bastard whelp of Poseidon? This film fails on so many levels. #1 Everything that was wrong with the 2010 film was more wrong here. #2 this film actually tries to make us care about the characters that they spend about 17 seconds developing. If you budget for special effects and just assume the script will write itself as you film, then don’t even try to have dialog. Just have 90 minutes of action and let us go on our way.
Get Down with Education and download a free copy of The Thirteenth Labor of Heracles free this weekend in the US iTunes store. (by the way, if readers in any other country would like a free download, I’d be happy to extend our thanksgiving ‘sale’ to you.)
Today marks day one of my kickstarter fundraising. DownHouse Software is raising money to hire an artist to illustrate the second book in the mythic science series, tentatively titled The Curse of Sisyphus. This story explores the physics of motion and gravity using the story of King Sisyphus’ legendary punishment by the god Zeus. Additionally, funds will be used to improve the interface and gamify the DownHouse Software Website in a way that promotes exploration of DHS titles and provides a space to practice and expand the knowledge gained by reading the books.
DownHouse Software released The Thirteenth Labor of Heracles iBook today.
The Thirteenth Labor of Heracles is a mythological tale describing a forgotten labor of the great hero Heracles. In completing this labor, Heracles not only earns his freedom, but also gains an understanding of the natural world. Specifically, this tale centers around the laws that govern the behavior of gasses.
This reading, and the problems that it incorporates, complements an introductory chemistry or physics course discussing the states of matter. It presents clear descriptions of how the Gas Laws of Boyle, Charles and Gay-Lussac operate independently and how they come together into a Combined Gas Law.
The Thirteenth Labor of Heracles
Download the iBook for your iPad by following the link below
I’m very excited that I have just finished writing my short book on the gas laws (something you learn when studying the states of matter in chemistry). This book is set in the world of Greek Mythology and teaches some simple concepts of introductory chemistry. This is the first in a series of books I am working on that will all use mythology as a backdrop for introducing a number of scientific principles. I have three more in progress (one dealing with the physics of gravity, one dealing with population genetics and another dealing with inheritance / breeding) that I am hoping to finish up at a rate of about one a week.
My work on this actually gets me back to my original purpose in setting up this blog, that is to walk through the steps of producing material for sale through Apple’s app store / iTunes.
Just like app production, making and selling iBooks requires an iTunes Connect account (itunesconnect.apple.com) and several other hidden steps. One thing I was disappointed to find was that you can’t just use the iTunes connect account you may have set up to distribute apps. In fact, you can’t even use the same apple ID, email or address to set up this account (I believe that I mentioned this in a previous post).
You also need to download the ‘Book Proofer’ and ‘iTunes Producer’ programs to your computer. I confess, I have not used either of these programs yet, but I am anticipating problems – just because everything has baggage.
The last hidden issue I have found is that you need ISBN numbers for every book you produce. I expected this to be a free process through the library of congress, but instead, it’s a pay service through Bowker identifier service (https://www.myidentifiers.com). One ISBN costs $125, I bought ten for $250. If you are really producing a lot of books, you can get 1000 numbers for $1000 – certainly a great discount per number, but I’m definitely not going to be writing 1000 books no matter how easy it is!
by the way, I should give some recognition to my artist, Allyson Kelley, who has been a joy to work with. you can find samples of her art on her sketch blog http://allysonkelleyillustration.tumblr.com.
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