So Misguided

Plain words, uncommon sense

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Book Review: The Magician by Michael Scott

imageThe Magician is the second book in the series “The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel” and I like it a lot.

The first book The Alchemyst introduces readers to the legend of Nicholas Flamel.

Flamel was born in Paris on September 28, 1330. He is acknowledged as the greatest alchemyst of his day and it is said that he discovered the secret of eternal life.

My Harry Potter friends will know about him and the Philosopher’s Stone.

The records show that he died in 1418 but his tomb is empty.

The legend is that he lives on by making the elixir of life and that the secret of eternal life is hidden within a book that he protects called the Book of Abraham the Mage.

Michael Scott’s series is based on this part of the legend–that the book, in the wrong hands, will destroy the world.

The Magician, Dr. John Dee, plans to steal the book and bring about its prophecy. The Alchemyst, Nicholas Flamel, must protect the book and the good side of the prophecy, which is that twins–Sophie and Josh Newman (regular kids) are the only hope.

The Twins have powers that can be awakened and if they stay on the right side of the battle, they can save the world from the Dark Elders.

I know in writing it seems flaky, but it’s a great, page-turning adventure. I like these fantasy books that are based in reality but have a side of reality that we just don’t see or understand. We ignore magic because it’s just not sensible.

6 books in the series. Books 1 & 2 are in stores.

The Magician by Michael Scott is published by Delacorte Press (part of Random House)

Why Microsoft Sucks

I’m sure there are many reasons but this is the one presenting itself to me today.

I have been sent an xml file created in Word. A file that really wants to open in Word despite my best efforts. The good news is that Microsoft Office recognizes that I’m on a Mac and there’s a converter that I can download and then I’ll be able to open the document. Do I want to do that?

Yes, I do.

I click the link to download the converter. But I come to a page where I find out I have to download the upgrade, install, then download the converter. Ok.

So I’m downloading the upgrade. This is all taking too much time. I’m having to read a lot of text to make sure I’m doing this correctly. The text suggest that I might want to print the page for future reference. That’s not promising.

Happily once clicking the download link, I get another page of instructions.

“In the File Download dialog box, do one of the following:”

Mmmm, that looks like important instructions? Ones that should be legible at all costs. Perhaps the most important text on the page. Here’s what I see.

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Maybe it’s just me, but I feel like Microsoft should be better at this.

Harry Potter: Beyond the Book

I met several really cool people this weekend at Portus 2008 who are involved in various Harry Potter fan sites. Here’s a few you might like:

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Azkatraz, Harry Potter conference next year in San Francisco. July 18-21, 2008. There will be a Wizard Rock show at Alcatraz.

Infinitus 2010 is the next Harry Potter conference AND it’s in Orlando, Florida, which will be the home of the “World of Harry Potter” theme park. I am incredibly excited about this conference.

My loot bag photo includes the links to lots of fun stuff that I discovered at Portus. Click on the photo to view it in Flickr and mouse over areas to see the info.

My Loot

Portus: July 12, Masquerade Ball

Saturday I gave my keynote at the luncheon and that evening was the masquerade ball. A little wrock (wizard rock for you muggles) and lots of costumes.

I went as a stylized version of Hedwig.

Monique & James

Malfoy

Malfoy

A Sugar Plum Fairy

Cute as a button!

Nearly Headless Nic

Nearly Headless Nic

Hedwig & the Phoenix

Phoenix

Bad guys have great costumes!

Great Costumes

Good thing my Gryffindor buddies are around.

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Hep & Aziza

More costumes

Snape & Dumbledore

Snape & Dumbledore

Narcissa

Narcissa

Poor Winky. Fell off the butterbeer wagon.

Portus 2008: July 12

Albus? Aberforth?

Dumbledore

The Craft of Portus

Lots of fans make incredible art.

Portus 08: Harry Potter dolls

My absolute favourite paintings were by Elizabeth Wu. This one in particular I really, really wanted.

Hermione by Elizabeth Wu

I have to mention my totally cool Snapefest bag. If you’ve never heard the Snapecast podcast, have a listen to the snapey, snarkiness of Snapecast.

Portus 08: Most Precious Gift

The People of Portus

Jim Dale, narrates on the North American audio books. Brilliant.

Portus 08: Masquerade Ball

Henry Jenkins, smarter than Hermione, Director, Comparative Media Studies Program, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Portus 08: Henry Jenkins

Kindle Sales 12% of Amazon Sales

RyanSpoon.com: Great post on Kindle Sales

Quote:
Amidst all of the discussion about the iPhone 3G that hits stores tomorrow, another industry changing gadget is getting overlooked. According to Time Magazine:

“On a title-by-title basis, of the 130,000 titles available on Kindle and in physical form, Kindle sales now make up over 12% of sales for those titles,. At a technology trade conference in May, CEO Jeff Bezos said that Kindle sales accounted for 6% of book titles sold for the Kindle and in print. So Amazon appears to be selling more e-books.”

Those are big numbers. 12% of sales for books that are available in print AND on the Kindle are purchased for the Kindle

Read the full post …

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