Category Archives: Author Writing

Christian Thriller: Spitzer Hafen by Randall Franklin

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When I received my review copy from the author, I was a little concerned. My experience with Christian thrillers has often been boredom. As I started reading it, I was immediately drawn into the story. My only concern originally was that the evil dudes weren’t nasty enough, but they were truly horrid as I got to know them–absolutely ruthless. They were just always laughing and having a good time as they destroyed their targets and wreaked havoc … Continue reading →

From Mason to Minister: a gentle ride

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  When Nordskog Publishing sent me this book to review: “From Mason to Minister Through the Lattice” I was expecting another Masonic expose. I’ve certainly seen enough of those and I’m well aware of the problems with the Masonic religion as practiced by the more occultic members. However, this book is not about that. The Lord can use anything to save his sheep What I found was a delightful story about a man who was saved through … Continue reading →

Fontographer: Practical Font Design for Graphic Designers

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    Why do you want to use Fontographer? For the fun of it! When I received the opportunity to go back to my roots, and see what the new Fontographer was like, I was a little concerned. I had just spent nine years painfully teaching myself to letterspace by hand, to write OpenType features, and to become accustomed to the tool set of FontLab. Don’t get me wrong, FontLab is a great program and I am … Continue reading →

Accused of being religious?

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Accused of being religious — I hope not. What a horrible thing that is! I am certainly not religious, at least not too much. According to dictionary.com: a religion is a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs. The problem is that sets are defined and God is beyond definition—at least my God is. Sets of beliefs become merely  points of argument: think waste of time. Yes, I can define many of my beliefs. Many of them are Biblical. I do see the … Continue reading →

The key role of Fontographer in the font revolution

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An excerpt from my newest book, due out in late fall of 2011… The world of font design has radically changed in the digital world of graphic design. We no longer make huge careful drawings, reduced to perfection, and exquisitely carved out of metal or exposed onto film. We make mathematically precise, infinitely editable, completely resizable shapes output as code. The software that brought about that change is the focus of my new book: Practical FontDesign for … Continue reading →

The mission of the church during apostasy

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The mission of the church during apostasy. Things have gotten much worse during the nearly ten years since I wrote this post. Let’s get one thing straight, I am not a fan of the organizations I see. My experiences with the church organizations of the 21st century are not good, and I expect them to get worse. [Ed: though we finally found one In Rochester, NY in 2019.] Back in 2011, I had just heard about the … Continue reading →

A look at the ebook revolution: known & unknown

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Four years into the ebook revolution: things we know and things we don’t know – The Shatzkin Files. I received a link to this from Joel this morning. It’s a good review and an eye-opener, if you haven’t been paying attention. Mike says: “One could say (and I would) that the ereading revolution is coming up to its 4th anniversary since it was late November 2007 when Amazon first released the Kindle. There had been dedicated ereading … Continue reading →

Fontographer 5.1 book: proofing release extended

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I’ve decided to extend the proofing release for at least another month until I decide what to do with letterspacing in Fontographer. I want to develop an easy way for font designers (who do it for fun) to letterspace their work. I no longer believe that Fontographer will auto space well enough for pro releases of fonts for sale. Please take a look at the proof and let me know what you believe. http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/practical-font-design-for-graphic-designers-fontographer/17144172 The PDF download … Continue reading →

Book Making: Lightning Source vs. CreateSpace from Michael Marcus

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Book Making: Lightning Source vs. CreateSpace again. I’ve always been happy with Createspace. I like Lulu for many things. I’ve never tried Lightning Source, but this leads me to believe I’ve not missed, much.  

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Why I switched back to Fontographer 5.1

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Personally, I started in Fontographer in the early 1990s and gradually built a little sideline of designing fonts. They were selling a little on Myfonts.When OpenType became viable with the release of InDesign I needed to find something else. My old version of Fontographer would not run in Mac OSX very well. Thomas Phinney, then of Adobe, told me I had no option but to go to FontLab. This transformed my career. I learned how to write … Continue reading →