The Journeybook

Free 40 page sampler now available to download*

http://undergrowth.org/journeybook_sampler_free_to_download

Journeybook is an essential map of hyperspace for the contemporary
psychonaut and the uninitiated alike. Travel through time and space
and partake of mushrooms at Harvard, hemp in Nimbin, DMT in the
Amazon and anti-depressents in the suburbs of the West, to name but a
few of the experiences which await you. Dance at Dionysian festivals,
meet alchemists in the laboratories of Switzerland, trippers in the
corporate highrises of Brisvegas, and journey to the edge of the
universe within our anthology's pages...

Journeybook is a collection of tales of altered states, essays,
history and manifesto for psychedelic culture in the 21st century. It
covers the modern usage of sacramental plants and offers insights
into traditional and contemporary shamanism, as well as analysis of
the current state of global psychedelic culture and its place in a
sustainable future.

It features interviews with Terence McKenna (previously unpublished),
Dennis McKenna, Daniel Pinchbeck, as well as articles by Rak Razam,
Erik Davis, Graham St John, Tim Parish, Tim Boucher and a fresh
selection of bold new writers from around Australia. At 250 pages, it
is fully illustrated with dozens of paintings, photography and
digital graphics from the Undergrowth art collective, including new
works by Gerhard Hillmann, Oliver Dunlop, Iswoz, Ahimsa:Love, Tim
Parish and others.

Journeybook is an essential handbook for those interested in the
subject of consciousness, spirituality and understanding the rich
pharmacopia of thought that exists beyond the confines of mainstream
cosmology.

Read on. Tune in. Discover.

http://undergrowth.org/journeybook_sampler_free_to_download

*SPECIAL OFFER*
We are offering online readers and community the opportunity to
support Journeybook by purchasing a pre-launch copy and save $10 on the
cover
price. Payment can be made through Paypal on the website. Please
forward this email to your networks.

.Undergrowth #8: JOURNEYBOOK will be launched at the Entheo Genesis
Australia 2007 on November 30th.
http://www.entheo.net/2007sounds.htm

{why do green things reach for the sun?}

{why do green things reach for the sun?}

there's another one by Douglas Rushkoff which sounds interesting also - he sent the note about his course via his blog mail list, so that's how I came across the PKD one. there's others by R.U. Sirius of Mondo 2000 fame which I wouldn't mind checking out also. some of the others on the site seem a bit out there! but it's interesting to find out about things I don't know much about.

I have these books back home, but I'm going to have to find new versions here - I can't read hebrew and most of the book titles are in hebrew so I can't even tell if the book's in the stores here! time for amazon I think. we have to read a couple of books and watch Bladerunner (one of my favs) & A Scanner Darkly (saw this in sydney when I was home last)

the course site is http://www.maybelogic.org/ and the forum lives at http://www.maybelogic.net/

(the promo blurb from the site in case anyone else is interested)
http://www.maybelogic.net/

" Once a purely cult figure, Philip K. Dick (1928-1982) is now widely recognized as a pulp visionary of the highest order. This course will approach his work not as science fiction but as crazy wisdom. We’ll explore how his texts seem designed to illuminate our posthuman problems and our most ancient philosophical questions — and to then scramble those insights with a cheap ray gun. We will read two of Dick’s major novels, both chosen for their heavy gnostic themes. We will discuss drugs and archons and machines that break down, including, possibly, yourself. We will also explore the two greatest examples of the many PKD movies to date — further evidence that Dick’s spirit will only continue to permeate the culture at large. "

http://www.worldchanging.com/book/

the blurb from the site:

[quote]
"Worldchanging: A Users Guide for the 21st Century is a groundbreaking compendium of the most innovative solutions, ideas and inventions emerging today for building a sustainable, livable, prosperous future."

"From consumer consciousness to a new vision for industry; non-toxic homes to refugee shelters; microfinance to effective philanthropy; socially responsible investing to starting a green business; citizen media to human rights; ecological economics to climate change, this is the most comprehensive, cutting-edge overview to date of what's possible in the near future -- if we decide to make it so."
[/quote]

last year I was asked (albeit last minute!) if I'd like to contribute to a book tentatively called Videoblogging Hacks so I wrote up the following rather quickly and sent it off. I'd been playing with creating html links and href tracks previously and I think I'd mentioned it on the videoblogging yahoogroups list. anyway, the book was published and is now available from various online stores.

the book is called Videoblogging and the authors names are Jay Dedman, Joshua Paul. I received a copy and had a quick look through it on my last trip home to Sydney - it's a very throrough book! so grab a copy if you get the chance.

my section was cut/edited quite a bit. I was surprised it made it all. so below is what I sent through - I need to find the images and post/links them also. it's a useful reference for me also, but most of the info below is already available on the internet.

I did find it hard to locate information at the time, so this was a way of bringing it altogether in one place as a reference.

attached are the doc and rtf versions - hopefully the images show up in them. I can't see them here on the mac but perhaps I don't have the correct viewer installed.

there's a couple of other good books on videoblogging also along with the one mentioned above :

Videoblogging by Jay Dedman, Joshua Paul

Secrets of Videoblogging by Michael Verdi, Ryanne Hodson, Diana Weynand, and Shirley Craig
( this one's available on safari techbooks online if you have a login there )

Videobloggin g for Dummies by Stephanie Cottrell Bryant

---

Creating Clickable Hyperlinks in QuickTime video movies.
-- Kath O'Donnell

Everybody knows that html links, or hyperlinks make the internet go 'round. Wouldn't it be cool to include clickable links in the video files you create and publish also. Think of the possibilities! Depending on what your video content is, the links could enhance the viewers experience whilst watching your video and allow them to gain more information or visit your homepage once they've finished watching your video. Clickable links turn your video file into an interactive video.

Including hyperlinks in your video using Quicktime is a simple step involving adding a text track and HREF codes or adding a HREFTrack, but surprisingly few people use this feature. More advanced options include being able to display the clicked link into specified html frames or windows, or even sending JavaScript code or parameters to JavaScript scripts on your website. SMIL movie files can also be used to create links, though if you decide to use this method, you need to be aware of the different ways SMIL files can be played on a computer ie it may be played in a non-QuickTime Player so could behave differently to what you expect. For this reason, this guide concentrates on creating clickable links using text tracks in QuickTime PRO.

To create a hyperlink in your Quicktime movie, you'll need to create a Text Track in the movie, then modify the text and include the url and hyperlink codes. Here's a step by step guide to show you how this is done. The instructions below are using Quicktime for Microsoft Windows XP, so if you're using a Mac, you'll need to use the corresponding Apple keys/menus. If you're using other versions of Microsoft Windows, adjust as appropriate also. This example in this guide adds a html link to a short video which then opens the videoblogging yahoogroups mail list page in the viewer's web browser.

This example will take you through each step in detail.

Once you've followed this procedure once or twice you'll be able to fly through the steps without needing to read all the explanations and minor details.

The attached word document and rtf document outline these instructions also. (the images are clearer in the document versions. These are also attached to this article or use the links here.

Step 1 : Create a text track in your QuickTime video movie

1.1 Create a plain text file, add some text and save it using an appropriate filename eg texttrack.txt (Example 1)

1.1.1 Open Windows Explorer and navigate to the directory you wish to save the file

1.1.2 Right click using your mouse, select "New" - "Text Document"

1.1.3 Give the file a name. Make sure you keep the .txt file extension

Note: if you save the file as textrack.mov and try to open it in QuickTime automatically you may receive an error, so it's best to save it using a .txt extension.

Example 1 - create a plain text file

Step 2 : Convert the plain text file to a QuickTime text track and export to a new file

2.1 Open your new text file in QuickTime

2.1.1 Select the file in Windows Explorer if it's not already selected

2.1.2 Right click on the file using your mouse and click "Open With". Select QuickTime Player from the list of applications if it is already listed, or click "Choose Program" and select QuickTime Player from the list, or browse to the QuickTime application if you cannot see it in the list of applications.

Note: for default Microsoft Windows QuickTime installations, QuickTime should be found in C:\Program Files\QuickTime. Select the QuickTimePlayer.exe application file.

2.1.3 Once the text track is open in QuickTime, it should look similar to Examples 2a-2c. The first line of your text should be displayed in the QuicktTime movie at time position 00:00:00 (Example 2a)

2.1.4 Don't worry if you cannot view the text at this stage. This is most likely due to the text colour being the same colour as the background. You can fix this in a later step.

2.1.5 Congratulations! You've just created a QuickTime text movie. Now it's time to jazz it up a bit.

2.2 If you like, you can play the QuickTime text movie as you normally would play a QuickTime video movie. It will display each line of text from your plain text file (if colours are correct) at different time positions in the file.

2.3 Try resizing the QuickTime window. See how the text resizes cleanly without aliasing effects? (Example 2d) This is one of the biggest benefits of using text tracks in QuickTime rather than inserting text images. Reduced filesizes are another benefit, as well as the ability to turn on or off the text track and select a different text track (similar to selecting a foreign language subtitle text track on your tv) (Example 2e)

Example 2a - start of text movie

Example 2b - 2 seconds into the text movie

Example 2c - 4 seconds into the text movie

Example 2d - resizing QuickTime Player without losing text quality

Example 2e - Text track properties

2.4 Export the text movie in Quicktime format

2.4.1 Click on the File menu, then click Export or press Ctrl+E

2.4.2 Select the appropriate directory to save the file and type in a filename. It's a good idea to use a different name to the plain text file you created in the previous step so that you still have that file to refer to if required.

2.4.3 In the Export field, ensure "Text to Text" is selected

2.4.4 If this is the first time you are exporting a text track, click on Options and ensure the "Show Text, Descriptors, and Time" radio button is selected, then click OK to save your option settings. (Example 3) If you have performed this procedure before, your previous options should have been saved last time you did this if you're using "Most Recent Settings" in Use field, but it never hurts to check again.

2.4.5 Click Save to save the text track file

Example 3 - Text Export Settings - Options window

Example 4 - Text Export Settings

Step 3 : Modify your text track as required using appropriate QuickTime Text Descriptors

3.1 Open the QuickTime text track in your text editor (Example 5).

3.1.1 Insert a Carriage Return character (ie press Enter on your keyboard) if you want to reposition the text so you can see all the codes.

3.1.2 Be careful not to delete the last line containing the timecode of the end of the movie and the blank line below it. Some versions of QuickTime need the blank line at the end of the file, so you may have problems playing the file if you remove this.

3.1.3 There are many codes which can be used in the file. It is a good idea to visit the QuickTime Text Descriptors page for information on the available codes.

http://www.apple.com/quicktime/tutorials/textdescriptors.html

3.1.4 For this example, we'll leave the colours, font types and sizes as they are for now, but you can experiment with your own files as required. Open/Play the file in QuickTime to view what your changes look like.

3.1.5 For this example, we'll change timecode positions slightly, so the text "Want to find out more about videoblogging?" will be displayed at the start of the text movie, then 2 seconds into the text movie the url will be displayed. We'll change the total duration of the text movie to 4 seconds ie replace the 8 second entry with 4 seconds and delete unused timecode positions. (Example 6) Adjust your text timecode positions as required.

Example 5 - Initial Quicktime

3.1.6 If we were to add this text movie as it is to a video movie, it would display as white text over black background and we would not see the actual images of the video movie. ie it would display as text -> video -> text -> video depending on the timecode position we inserted the text track into. This may be the effect you are after for certain videos, but in this example, we'll make the text display using a transparent background so the tex is overlayed on top of the video so you can still see the video movie whilst the text is displayed. ie the movie will play as text+video -> video -> text+video -> video -> text+video -> video.

3.1.7 To use transparent background text, insert the {keyedText:on} code into your file. (Example 6).

3.1.8 If you play the file in QuickTime at this stage, you won't see the transparent background text effect of this yet until you add the text track movie to a video movie. We'll do this in a later step then you can come back and adjust the text track if required.

Step 4 : Add the hyperlink tags to the url to make it clickable

The HREF & endHREF tags are used to specify the url similar to the tags used in html. There are a few types of hyperlinks which can be included in a QuickTime movie depending on the location of the QuickTime player (eg embedded in a webpage, or playing via an external application).

Examples of these are:

4.1 Clickable link which opens in a new browser window - Clickable text

4.2 HREFTrack where whole video is clickable and displayed in a targeted frameset or window

4.3 Clickable HREFTrack which instead of using a URL, triggers a JavaScript function in the current HTML page or which passes JavaScript code or parameters to a script

This guide will provide detailed instructions for option 4.1 with basic information and urls to check if you're interested in creating 4.2 & 4.3 types of links.

4.1 Clickable link which opens in a new web browser - Clickable text

To create a clickable hyperlink that opens the url in a browser window, use the following instruction (Example 6)

		 { HREF:http://groups.yahoo.com/group/videoblogging }Click here to visit the Videoblogging discussion list...{ endHREF }

4.1.2 Note: the curly brackets {} are used to surround the HREF tags and a colon : is used between the HREF and the actual url

4.1.3 If you were to play this file in QuickTime now, if would look like Example 7

4.1.4 This is the simplest method of including hyperlinks. One disadvantage is that it can cause clutter on your desktop and take the viewer away from the video movie but is useful in many scenarios, including watching video in a standalone player whilst connected to the internet.

Example 6 - a QuickTime text track with hyperlink. Text displayed with transparent background.

Example 7 - text hyperlink which opens url in new browser window

4.2 HREF Tracks - making the whole video screen clickable instead of just having a text link

If you're viewing the video movie on a webpage or system which is using framesets, there is another option which can be used to display the movie in targeted named frame. In this case, you would embed your video player in one frame, then use an adjacent or upper or lower frameset to display the linked url. This is useful as both the video and linked page are displayed on the same page so the viewer can still watch the video whilst seeing the extra information.

The whole screen becomes clickable rather than just the text link.

QuickTime supports this function via the optional targeted "T" frameset instruction. The format of the url instruction is slightly different than plain clickable urls.

For example, use the following instruction to display the clicked video in an existing, targeted frame or window called "urlframe"

		
< http://groups.yahoo.com/group/videoblogging > T < urlframe >	

Ensure there's no spaces between curly brackets {}. Ensure the T is capitalised. Ensure the url and targeted frame name are between <> brackets.

To convert the text track to a HREFTrack, you'll need to open the Movie Properties window and rename the text track to HREFTrack. Type this code exactly as specified here as it is case sensitive and won't work if not named correctly. Uncheck the HREFTrack so it is not visible.

An HREFTrack is a hidden track - it doesn't display text but instead the whole video window is clickable.

You can schedule changing links by changing the links against different times in the text track that you just created (now HREFTrack).

Close the Movie Properties window, then save the file.

Other options are available such as "A" for automatic urls

( A < http://groups.yahoo.com/group/videoblogging > T < urlframe > ), and T< myself > 
( < http://groups.yahoo.com/group/videoblogging >T< myself >)

to open the url in the current QuickTime file.

This can be used to play consecutive movies in the current QuickTime player. If a movie is embedded into a webpage, the T instruction can be used to force the movie to play in an external QuickTime Player application rather than the webpage.

Refer to http://www.apple.com/quicktime/tutorials/hreftracks.html for more details.

4.3 To create a clickable HREFTrack which instead of using a URL, triggers a JavaScript function in the current HTML page or which passes JavaScript code or parameters to a script, replace the URL in example for section 4.2 with the JavaScript code or .js parameter to be passed.

Refer to http://www.apple.com/quicktime/tutorials/hreftracks.html for more details on this option also.

Step 5 : Add your QuickTime text movie which now includes the clickable hyperlink to your video movie.

5.1 Open your text movie containing the clickable link you just created if it's not already open

5.2 Select the whole text movie by clicking Edit menu, then Select All or by pressing Ctrl+A

5.3 Copy the whole text movie to the clipboard by clicking Edit menu, then Copy or by pressing Ctrl+C

5.4 Open your video file in QuickTime Player.

5.5 Move the timecode input marker position where you want the text track to be inserted. For this example, we'll insert the text at 2 seconds after the start of video.

5.6 Paste your text track into the video movie by clicking Edit menu, then Add to Selection and Scale, or by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Shift+V

5.7 Play your video to confirm text links are working and text & links are displayed when you are expecting them to. Your video will look similar to Example 9a-9c. Note the text is overlayed over the video.

5.8 The positioning of the text may require adjusting - this can be done by inserting blank lines in the text track and recombining it with the video movie. You may also want to adjust colours, typefaces, text box size at this stage also.

Example 9a - first pass text + video movie, start of video

Example 9b - first pass text + video movie, 2 seconds into the movie : first piece of text displayed

Example 9c - first pass text + video movie, 4 seconds into the movie - the url link is displayed (until end of movie)

5.9 If it is not correct, you'll need to delete the text track you just inserted (Example 10) by clicking Window menu, then Show Movie Properties or Ctrl+J, select the Text Track and click Delete from the menu. Save the movie after deleting the text track.

Example 10 - Movie Properties - prior to deleting text track which needs modification

5.10 Edit the text track as in previous steps, then reinsert the text track using step 5.6. Then repeat these steps until you're happy with the final result.

5.11 A quicker method is to paste the modified text track into the video movie and if it's not correct, press Ctrl-Z to Undo. This will save you deleting text tracks each time, but it is handy to know how to do this.

You will get into the swing of things if you have the text file open, make your change, open it in QuickTime, select all, copy, paste into the video file using Add to Selection and Scale, then undo in the video file and repeat as required.

(Note: Movie Properties window is also where you can select different tracks if you had multiple tracks in your movie file)

5.12 Example 11 shows the final text track instructions used in this movie example. Examples 12a-12c show the final example movie

Example 11 - final text track

Example 12a - final video + text movie : start of movie

Example 12b - final text + video movie - displayed text

Example 12c - final text + video movie - clickable url

Step 6 : Save your file and publish

6.1 That's it! Congratulations, you're finished. You should now have a Quicktime video with text track and clickable text.

Upload to the internet as you normally would and confirm it still works once published.

References and more information
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/tutorials/textdescriptors.html
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/tutorials/hreftracks.html

Google searches on QuickTime clickable links, QuickTime HREF, QuickTime SMIL should supply more examples and references.

--

more to think about and research though!

[quote]
More bout NODE.London:

NODE.London [Networked, Open, Distributed, Events. London] is committed to
building the infrastructure and raising the visibility of media arts practice in
London. Working on an open, collaborative basis, NODE.London will culminate, in
its first year, in a month long season of media arts projects across London in
March 2006. http://nodel.org/

Media Mutandis: A NODE.London Reader:

A survey of media arts, technologies and politics which aims to provide a critical
context for NODE.London's activities as an evolving media arts production and
infrastructure-building project. A 1000 publications will be printed initially and
sold at a low price at the events of the March season. Contributing authors and
artists include: Armin Medosch, Simon Yuill and Chad McCail, Adam Hyde, Sabeth
Buchmann, Ruth Catlow and Marc Garrett, Michael Corris, Matthew Fuller, Graham
Harwood/Mongrel, Richard Barbrook and Neil Cummings.

The publication is engineerd via the Print On Demand system by NODE.London partner
OpenMute. It will be available as a printed and bound volume, a PDF document on
the publication website (url tbc) and the texts will be made available in
formatted versions individually for editing and recompilation by readers, who can
either order a printed and bound version of their selections through Print On
Demand or simply print them off at home. Readers can also become 'agents,' or
distributors - please see www.metamute.org for a fuller explanation of the magic
potential of POD.
[/quote]

http://www.stealthmag.com/board/viewthread.php?tid=6280&page=2

[quote]
here's a few ideas - not sure if they're inline with what you're already planning or if aren't feasible due to financial or time based reasons. plus some could be used in conjunction with the existing print mag

- website with back issues, and online, searchable articles available to subscribers via login. preview to visitors to the site
eg http://mitpress2.mit.edu/e-journals/Leonardo/ or http://salon.com/ (not hip hop related examples, but they have a good rep and product also)

http://undergrowth.org/ is another aus project I was working on. they have a pdf mag and have just upgraded their site and are trying out the collaborative publishing features (so the load is shared & streamline the process - has workflow, different approval levels, notification + heaps more)

- rich media pdfs - eg embedded quicktime video in pdf (large file size). pdf-cast the pdfs (even just back issues or special releases)

- podcast / videocast - audio interviews, video mag (including still images/photos)

- POD - print on demand distribution.
http://www.metamute.org/files/pod_distribution_w2p.pdf
their site is currently using drupal CMS which can do all the above also - I use drupal also. highly recommended. I'm not sure what your printing costs are currently but the ones they quote seem reasonable. though it's colour cover with b&w pages for the book, but there'd be other publishers out there which might be more suitable.

eg a couple of example scenarios:
1. website contains articles in secure part of site (or open depending on how u want to model it). site member tags articles they want to include in their personalised book. they hit the POD-me button and a custom pdf is created for them to download.

2. website contains pre-edited versions of the mag. the site member creates their order then a copy of the book is printed on demand/ad hoc. you already have the number of copies required for existing subs so can arrange for them to be printed. it might not be too hard to setup an sms or email subscription order so if a person saw an ad or flyer or poster or whatever, they sms/email a special account (or you) and their order is placed. use paypal or bank transfer etc or existing payment options.

- standalone stealth cds with pdfs on them for music shops. or interactive so they open the webpages if u are networked.

I'm suggesting online content /distrib as it's usually quicker to publish and easy for contributors to help with. perhaps do a 'special print edition' or annual book with collection of articles etc like the disrupt guys. it costs more to buy and comes out less, but is fat and full of articles and there's info on their site in the meantime. so it's like the collectors version compared to the ephemeral version

> so it's like the collectors version compared to the ephemeral version

by this I don't mean the current stealth mag is ephemeral - I mean the online content if this type of scenario was used. eg news/events/msg boards/short articles
[quote]