Introducing... Junkk Male TweeView, too!

And, at present I have zero idea how I did that.

Zippy. Nada. No.... clue.

I know what it is meant to be.

I vaguely remember toying with a a few buttons on the host site.

But how the heck this epic got produced... beats me.

There appear to be topic headings I chose, and most seem pretty OK.

However it's also clear a bunch of things are getting hoovered in according to basic default settings I have never seen before.

So, Dr. Frankstein gets jiggy with Dr. Jekyll.

So long as it doesn't drop me in it, fine. Seems OK so far.

But have to say that a magazine with a bot as an editor is freaky.

One day I'll remember the passwords and figure out how to get in the back end, much less actually figure out what the thing is up to.

Still, in the absence of a Junkk Newsletter for half a year, I'll live with it for now.

Save the trees. And reading.

Ignoring the whole 'servers cooking the planet' counter-argument (which they kinda are/will whatever), this is an interesting thread on paper vs. online.

ONLINE VERSIONS OF MAGAZINES - GOOD? BAD? JUST PLAIN WRONG?

I have note weighed in on the eco aspects as this is not what it's about, but I have to say there is another aspect.

And that is, of the several digital efforts I have subscribed to, I have yet to read one. Just can't seem to get the mood to work with the tech. Yet on a Sunday PM in the garden I hoover through a good dozen.

Go figure.

The little things

With a Mum next door I need to keep an eye on all day, I am quite sympathetic to those in a similar position, and appreciative of any efforts to help.

Hence I was more than interested in a BBC piece, fronted by Tony Robinson, pointing at a booklet by the Alzheimers Society, called 'Putting Care Right'.

However, in downloading this PDF, I am minded of some design principles I'd really like to advocate, especially when it comes to web publishing (and a few hard cover books taboot).

It can be done, and may even be an option here, but as it is not obvious that is in fact a good first point:

1 - clearly point upfront to a/the eco-print option!

Then there are a couple of others:

2 - Don't use reverse text. It gobbles ink!

3 - Make the most of the page. If you have to have a super-cool design, fine, but for printing just get the info across in as economical a way possible. Small pictures and fill the page.

Yes I know, I should leave it on screen. But at often a few Meg I actually deem printing and deleting the file possibly more eco (see a previous Prof's Poser), and in any case defy most to say this is not something they'd prefer printed out to refer to and carry about, for instance when visiting a home.

I'm virtually ecstatic!

I have been meaning to write about my feelings (hey, it's Friday) on the subject of e-publication for a while, and now I have had the perfect prompt *(see below).

PRW is an excellent resource for folks like me (however in it's full monty title of Plastics and Rubber Weekly, a majority of Junkk.com readers may pass). It not only is an easy read, but very topical. And I get pots of good leads. I've even been known to write in.

And, as you'll gather, on top of a nifty way of making a silk purse from a sow's ear they have come up with a cunning marketing wheeze: an e-version.

I already get several. And some I pay for. In a few cases quite a lot. The Ecologist is one. Trouble is, having got to my annual renewal reminder, I have realised I have never read it... online at least. On a few occasions I have even bought a copy at the newsstand - on top.

It may just be me, but I can't get into them. I think part of it is that when I work 12 hrs a day in front of a screen anyway, adding to that eye and RSI-strain a second further with my background reading is not an appealing prospect. Because I have to remain rooted here to do it.

No deckchair in the sun. No quick few pages in the small room (excuse the image that may have created). No catch up in the train (I don't do power-exec lappy space hogging).

I know it's not perhaps very eco to admit it, but it just doesn't appeal in comparison to having a page that I can fold, tear or highlighter-pen... and then stuff in my pocket... to hand. Sorry.

So I'll look forward to my copy in the mail (while the GPO are still in business - at which point I may have no choice, and trees may breathe CO2 easier). But meantime this is a nice complement.

*Unfortunately, the postal strike is likely to delay the delivery of your copy of PRW magazine this week.

However, you can view the latest edition right now by clicking here.

The full issue is available on-line.

The digital edition is exactly the same as the printed issue, which will reach readers next week when the strike ends.