somethings a fellow author thinks about other authors

wait what

  • DagwoodIII@piefed.social
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    1 day ago

    “The League of Frightened Men” by Rex Stout.

    One of the earliest, and best, of the Nero Wolfe mysteries.

    As a young man, an author was crippled in a hazing accident. While he’s gone on to become a successful writer, many of his classmates feel he is planning vengeance.

    They see hints and clues to his evil intentions in the books he writes.

    Fun read and an interesting look at the times it was written in.

    https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-league-of-frightened-men-rex-stout/c9085896005074a6?ean=9780553762983&next=t

  • lmmarsano@lemmynsfw.com
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    1 day ago

    Needs accessibility: pure image of text for no legitimate reason.

    Explanation of text alternative.

    Images of text break much that text alternatives do not. Losses due to image of text lacking alternative:

    • usability
      • we can’t quote the text without pointless bullshit like retyping it or OCR
      • text search is unavailable
      • the system can’t
        • reflow text to varied screen sizes
        • vary presentation (size, contrast)
        • vary modality (audio, braille)
    • accessibility
      • lacks semantic structure (tags for titles, heading levels, sections, paragraphs, lists, emphasis, code, links, accessibility features, etc)
      • some users can’t read this due to lack of alt text
      • users can’t adapt the text for dyslexia or vision impairments
      • systems can’t read the text to them or send it to braille devices
    • searchability: the “text” isn’t indexable by search engine in a meaningful way
    • fault tolerance: no text fallback if
      • image breaks
      • image host is geoblocked due to insane regulations.

    Contrary to age & humble appearance, text is an advanced technology that provides all these capabilities absent from images.

  • yesman@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    If there was any connection between an author’s work and their actual life, I’m grateful that Cormac MccArthy has been stopped.