Phew... I have been away from this blog for some time, but I'm still vertical.
And there's quite a bit to tell you.
Keynote Time
Phil Schiller is presenting us the iPhone 5!
LTE, bigger screen, Apple A6 CPU... well...
Only an 8 MP camera... couldn't there be an improvement? At least better low-light shots. ^^
Aaaaand we've got a panorama-mode: 28 MegaPixels. Plus three microphones.
The connector is a "Lightning" - 8 pins, small and you can stuck it into the iPhone 5 in any direction.
Also, Apple introduced a new Maps app - turn-by-turn navigation is free with iOS 6.
iOS - Siri: Facebook integration. And the iPhone 5 is available in black and white.
The iPhone 5 is available in $199 (16 GB), $299 (32GB) and $399 (64 GB), iPhone 4S $99 (16 GB) and the iPhone 4 for free (8 GB) with a contract. And we'll get a new iTunes app - Available in October.
iPods: New iPod nano - tiny, tiny phone. You can watch videos again - tiny...
iPod touch: Apple A5 CPU and 16:9 display ratio, no micro-SD slot, but a 5 MP camera.
Apple Loop: A loop for your iPod touch so you won't drop it. And Siri for the iPod touch with Bluetooth 4.0. The iPod touch is available in 5 colors.
New earbuds: called Earpods, included with all new iPods.
iPod shuffle is $49 for 2 GB, nano is 16 GB for $149, old iPod touch is 16 GB ($199), 32 GB ($249), new iPod touch ($299 - 32 GB), ($399 - 64 GB). Nano and new touch are available in October.
Yup. That's it.
But I've got more:
I have made some more sound changes for my Romance language - most important is <ng, nj ->ñ/gn/nh> and <-cl-, lj -> ll/gli/lh> written nj and lj respectiveley (because I wanted to make it geographically/nationally independent). The declension system is itching. AGAIN.
Verbs look French in the 2nd plural (-ti-/-di- > z, -te- > zi). Not much more news.
On the iWizard side I've been writing a bit more - a sad part is coming soon.
I'm also on DeviantArt.com (http://imarkus.deviantart.com) - a new Youtube video is coming soon after I've got OS X 10.8. And I've got Parallels Desktop 8, which will be reviewed in the video as well.
That's it - Stay hungry, foolish and tuned!
Mittwoch, 12. September 2012
Donnerstag, 9. August 2012
Last Days of Holiday...
So I came back from Poland and I've got a bunch of news for you...
iWizard
Indeed, I squashed one more chapter into the book: “Last Fight for Lost Friends” is going to be number 8 because of some recent events (mostly in Poland). It would be kind of sad, but it would throw another spotlight (not the OS X search function) on the family of the main character [spoiling: werefoxes :-D] and - as announced - another fight will be going on. So the book will span from October 6, 2011 until August 21, 2012 (the death of Steve Jobs and the end of this year's summer holidays in a specific federal state of Germany, respectively [do the research if you don't believe me!]).
As I said, I got many, many ideas during the three weeks I spent in Poland, but I also wrote a bit more into my Italian notebook (where iWizard is going to be in a beta version).
Heading over to something else...
Romanice (i.e. Lingua Romanica)
I have some good sound changes (and a kind of metaphony) for my Italo-Western-Romance, but I came to the conclusion that one strict “kind” of LR could prove problematic (both grammatically and due to different vocabulary in Spain and Italy [plus France, as a link]).
To overcome this, I decided to create dialects of my Romance (like do real languages have - compare Standard High German and Bavarian or Austrian German, Salesian and Standard Polish or northern Italian and southern Italian). And I wouldn't forget pronunciation variants (like Spanish).
To make the thing even more funny, I planned to drag the development of LR from 400 AD to this date.
Other than that, I finally got my copy of Mark Rosenfelder's Language Construction Kit.
Even if I don't understand every single word, it indeed proves helpful.
And it turned out I'm on point 2 of the Rosenfelder-Skala; inventing a Romance language.
And I got an accompanying book for my calligraphy: Michelle Brown's A Guide to Western Historical Scripts from Antiquity to 1600.
It not only provides me a look on writing styles as the Visigothic Script or the many variants of Merovingian scripts, but also on previously unknown, like the Ravenna Chancery Script.
The book is good enough, except that the example of the Beneventan Script is a bit early (10th century, I prefer 11th or 12th century) and the Italian vanriant of the Carolingian Script is missing also.
But then again, the book is quite old (contents from 1993, reprinted in 2007) and it is in black and white (due to its age, which is better, sometimes, than a blurred, hard-to-read color facsimile).
That's it for this time. Stay hungry, foolish and tuned!
Oh, one more thing: Since OS X Mountain Lion is out, I tell you that I'm going to upgrade to v.10.8 in September (- when Facebook integration arrived, but on my birthday anyway -) when some bugs are erased. And maybe I can install it together with Parallels Desktop 8 if it's on the market early enough (I won't wait for my local tech shop to have some copes anymore [because they did never have had the previous version when I asked for it]!).
iWizard
Indeed, I squashed one more chapter into the book: “Last Fight for Lost Friends” is going to be number 8 because of some recent events (mostly in Poland). It would be kind of sad, but it would throw another spotlight (not the OS X search function) on the family of the main character [spoiling: werefoxes :-D] and - as announced - another fight will be going on. So the book will span from October 6, 2011 until August 21, 2012 (the death of Steve Jobs and the end of this year's summer holidays in a specific federal state of Germany, respectively [do the research if you don't believe me!]).
As I said, I got many, many ideas during the three weeks I spent in Poland, but I also wrote a bit more into my Italian notebook (where iWizard is going to be in a beta version).
Heading over to something else...
Romanice (i.e. Lingua Romanica)
I have some good sound changes (and a kind of metaphony) for my Italo-Western-Romance, but I came to the conclusion that one strict “kind” of LR could prove problematic (both grammatically and due to different vocabulary in Spain and Italy [plus France, as a link]).
To overcome this, I decided to create dialects of my Romance (like do real languages have - compare Standard High German and Bavarian or Austrian German, Salesian and Standard Polish or northern Italian and southern Italian). And I wouldn't forget pronunciation variants (like Spanish).
To make the thing even more funny, I planned to drag the development of LR from 400 AD to this date.
Other than that, I finally got my copy of Mark Rosenfelder's Language Construction Kit.
Even if I don't understand every single word, it indeed proves helpful.
And it turned out I'm on point 2 of the Rosenfelder-Skala; inventing a Romance language.
And I got an accompanying book for my calligraphy: Michelle Brown's A Guide to Western Historical Scripts from Antiquity to 1600.
It not only provides me a look on writing styles as the Visigothic Script or the many variants of Merovingian scripts, but also on previously unknown, like the Ravenna Chancery Script.
The book is good enough, except that the example of the Beneventan Script is a bit early (10th century, I prefer 11th or 12th century) and the Italian vanriant of the Carolingian Script is missing also.
But then again, the book is quite old (contents from 1993, reprinted in 2007) and it is in black and white (due to its age, which is better, sometimes, than a blurred, hard-to-read color facsimile).
That's it for this time. Stay hungry, foolish and tuned!
Oh, one more thing: Since OS X Mountain Lion is out, I tell you that I'm going to upgrade to v.10.8 in September (- when Facebook integration arrived, but on my birthday anyway -) when some bugs are erased. And maybe I can install it together with Parallels Desktop 8 if it's on the market early enough (I won't wait for my local tech shop to have some copes anymore [because they did never have had the previous version when I asked for it]!).
Sonntag, 1. Juli 2012
Phew... Another Post.
It was some time since I wrote something into this blog. A bit trouble, some loss and just having "nothing to say" were the reasons. But now, I've got news for you.
iWizard
One of the saddest parts of iWizard are about to be sketched down. I won't tell you this one.
But, recently I had some ideas for the last chapter - Heading two Last Terms which is not that sad. iWizard should not become too sad, so I try to make the best of what happened.
Lingua Romanica
Some progress...
- stress rules <to be continued>
- definite articles (they look like crap -.-)
- some interrogatives
- personal pronouns <to be continued>
- relative pronouns (they look and sound worse than the definite articles and need to be finished)
- conjugation tables of regular present and simple past verbs, planned subjunctive present, past (future) and maybe a dedicated passive like Latin, present conjugation of "to be" (essere, stare)
- 22 of 256 basic words (8 in family, 6 in religion, 5 in animals, 3 in colors)
A partial description of the sound changes from Vulgar Latin to Lingua Romanica is on paper:
- collapse of quantities (a vowel trapezium has been made: seven (or eight, counting y) distinct phonemes, like Italian and Spanish), nine in an older variant (Proto-Romance in general)
- collapse of diphthongs
- r becomes a or u in certain places, cl becomes chi before a, o, u, an i is added to initial s
- open e and o become ie, uo in open and closed syllables (except former æ)
- various cases of metaphony (e.g.: vinea -> vinia)
For this reason, I try to obtain The Language Construction Kit and its addition Advanced Language Construction Kit (if it is available in fall/autumn this year).
Oh, right: I'm very impressed by the new MacBook Pro's Retina display. And price.
*$ 2600 for a thing with no hard drive and no optical drive - they must be kidding...*
That's it for now - stay hungry, foolish and tuned.
iWizard
One of the saddest parts of iWizard are about to be sketched down. I won't tell you this one.
But, recently I had some ideas for the last chapter - Heading two Last Terms which is not that sad. iWizard should not become too sad, so I try to make the best of what happened.
Lingua Romanica
Some progress...
- stress rules <to be continued>
- definite articles (they look like crap -.-)
- some interrogatives
- personal pronouns <to be continued>
- relative pronouns (they look and sound worse than the definite articles and need to be finished)
- conjugation tables of regular present and simple past verbs, planned subjunctive present, past (future) and maybe a dedicated passive like Latin, present conjugation of "to be" (essere, stare)
- 22 of 256 basic words (8 in family, 6 in religion, 5 in animals, 3 in colors)
A partial description of the sound changes from Vulgar Latin to Lingua Romanica is on paper:
- collapse of quantities (a vowel trapezium has been made: seven (or eight, counting y) distinct phonemes, like Italian and Spanish), nine in an older variant (Proto-Romance in general)
- collapse of diphthongs
- r becomes a or u in certain places, cl becomes chi before a, o, u, an i is added to initial s
- open e and o become ie, uo in open and closed syllables (except former æ)
- various cases of metaphony (e.g.: vinea -> vinia)
For this reason, I try to obtain The Language Construction Kit and its addition Advanced Language Construction Kit (if it is available in fall/autumn this year).
Oh, right: I'm very impressed by the new MacBook Pro's Retina display. And price.
*$ 2600 for a thing with no hard drive and no optical drive - they must be kidding...*
That's it for now - stay hungry, foolish and tuned.
Freitag, 8. Juni 2012
Italy: The Penultimate Chapter
Well... There's not much to explain the title of my newest blog-post: I'm really going to visit Italy. And if you know that I write a fantasy-themed book, it's not difficult to imagine what it will be about. Anyway, there has not been much progress (neither on paper nor on my Mac) of actual writing, but I have accumulated many ideas in my brain.
You know how quickly your plans can be ruined. I'm no different:
In iWizard, a friend of mine (I mean, a friend of the main character) should have attended the class trip to the Tuscany, but she is unable because of various reasons.
First, I was like *damn crap, the best part is ruined*, but on the second thought it turned out better for her.
What a good thing I get new ideas within a blink of a second...
For Lingua Romanica I have arranged a past tense, two connection words ("and" and "or") and a few words have found their way into the language: religious terms as well as family related words.
And more ideas of sound change are yet to be written down (my language will look like freaking Italian of the Middle Ages...).
And there is one more thing: On June 11, there will be the WWDC Apple Developer Conference. ...What the hell? I won't be up-to-date for 4 more days after the event! Damn...
Anyways, stay hungry, foolish and tuned!
You know how quickly your plans can be ruined. I'm no different:
In iWizard, a friend of mine (I mean, a friend of the main character) should have attended the class trip to the Tuscany, but she is unable because of various reasons.
First, I was like *damn crap, the best part is ruined*, but on the second thought it turned out better for her.
What a good thing I get new ideas within a blink of a second...
For Lingua Romanica I have arranged a past tense, two connection words ("and" and "or") and a few words have found their way into the language: religious terms as well as family related words.
And more ideas of sound change are yet to be written down (my language will look like freaking Italian of the Middle Ages...).
And there is one more thing: On June 11, there will be the WWDC Apple Developer Conference. ...What the hell? I won't be up-to-date for 4 more days after the event! Damn...
Anyways, stay hungry, foolish and tuned!
Sonntag, 13. Mai 2012
News...News...News...
Today I voted for a new parliament in the politically most important state of Germany since the old coalition failed to survive two more years - Losers (actually not funny, but it's ridiculous).
Anyway, there are more news than that:
iWizard
After a damn day on a lake (this part has to be rewritten to *be* on water and in another place anyway - work is being done) the main character has to collaborate on a poster presenting the research output. It would be better if he was not so tired.
In an argument, regarding his ongoing rests from work he quickly leaves the hostel.
After a seemingly endless struggle within pain he realizes that he changed (again).
Looking up to the sky he knows what happened with him. Then, he hears someone coming near him...
In this part I tried to explain some magic scientifically. Even if it's productive nonsense, I do so because certain religious groups say that magic is a sin (or similar). I once read something like "Every technological advance unexplainable to us is magic". So I could sell this book not only as a fantasy novel, but a science-fiction novel as well. Also, the part is lighting a little bit on the "magic society" of Germany.
Another thing is that the book becomes more embarrassing to write the further it goes (don't ask me why), but this shall not hinder me. Also, I'm trying to be a bit more secretive with iWizard (not with Lingua Romanica, however).
You would be surprised to hear what ideas are coming to me (and into this book) while I am at school - especially one teacher is literally a co-author. ^^
Well, no news for Lingua Romanica (yet), so stay hungry, foolish and tuned!
*EDIT* I found the quote: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." - Clark's three laws (Wikipedia).
Anyway, there are more news than that:
iWizard
After a damn day on a lake (this part has to be rewritten to *be* on water and in another place anyway - work is being done) the main character has to collaborate on a poster presenting the research output. It would be better if he was not so tired.
In an argument, regarding his ongoing rests from work he quickly leaves the hostel.
After a seemingly endless struggle within pain he realizes that he changed (again).
Looking up to the sky he knows what happened with him. Then, he hears someone coming near him...
In this part I tried to explain some magic scientifically. Even if it's productive nonsense, I do so because certain religious groups say that magic is a sin (or similar). I once read something like "Every technological advance unexplainable to us is magic". So I could sell this book not only as a fantasy novel, but a science-fiction novel as well. Also, the part is lighting a little bit on the "magic society" of Germany.
Another thing is that the book becomes more embarrassing to write the further it goes (don't ask me why), but this shall not hinder me. Also, I'm trying to be a bit more secretive with iWizard (not with Lingua Romanica, however).
You would be surprised to hear what ideas are coming to me (and into this book) while I am at school - especially one teacher is literally a co-author. ^^
Well, no news for Lingua Romanica (yet), so stay hungry, foolish and tuned!
*EDIT* I found the quote: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." - Clark's three laws (Wikipedia).
Sonntag, 29. April 2012
Multiplication...
OK, I've diverged from my iLog style, but I'm stepping back into it.
iLog - April 29, 2012
iWizard
I have juggled with the idea of increasing the number of chapters in my book to seven. I'll do it.
I'll do it because of the relatively short storyline (8 months) and it's better to accommodate the titles to the occurring events in the book. I have the titles, but I have to sketch down some dates.
Lingua Romanica
I have scribbled down a true latinate neuter for my "replacement Latin", seemingly switching genders whether it's singular or plural (having endings in -o in the former and in -a in the latter case). I've kept the situation that neuter singular endings are built from masculine singular accusative (or in this case, directal [combined accusative and ablative]).
And I currently reorganize my scribbling pad, as I use it to rapid prototype my whole grammar book before I transfer it into my iMac - using iBooks Author, making already the preview a perfect product - with just few corrections.
So, that's it for now - stay hungry, stay foolish, stay tuned!
iLog - April 29, 2012
iWizard
I have juggled with the idea of increasing the number of chapters in my book to seven. I'll do it.
I'll do it because of the relatively short storyline (8 months) and it's better to accommodate the titles to the occurring events in the book. I have the titles, but I have to sketch down some dates.
Lingua Romanica
I have scribbled down a true latinate neuter for my "replacement Latin", seemingly switching genders whether it's singular or plural (having endings in -o in the former and in -a in the latter case). I've kept the situation that neuter singular endings are built from masculine singular accusative (or in this case, directal [combined accusative and ablative]).
And I currently reorganize my scribbling pad, as I use it to rapid prototype my whole grammar book before I transfer it into my iMac - using iBooks Author, making already the preview a perfect product - with just few corrections.
So, that's it for now - stay hungry, stay foolish, stay tuned!
Donnerstag, 19. April 2012
Back on the Line
Phew... I was away - I spent my holidays in Poland - and had no sufficient access to the internet.
At least, I've got to tell you some things.
I I finally brought the official biography of Steven Paul Jobs four days ago - I'm almost through it (over 620 pages).
][ My selfmade Romance has got a major overhaul - again - in grammar. I've taken a look at the "inspiring spark" - Wenedyk, a constructed alternative language: If Polish became Romance...
So I have stripped a couple letters off the "oblique" case and shuffled around in the "directal" case.
I began the work on personal pronouns and interrogatives (that is - words for asking a question).
Also, the first small batch of (general) vocabulary is coming to paper - categorized.
/// My book has gained only a couple of lines - nothing special is going on there. It is so boring I don't want to proceed, even if the best part of the first chapter is just ahead.
Also, I've been reckoning to break up the tree chapters into a total of seven... maybe.
This was four days ago.
Today Lingua Romanica might get an additional declension class - the neuter would become a sole class, inheriting classical Latin neuter endings (u or o in singular, a in plural), the "neuter class" up to now would become a general class for all genders (actually, that's what it is now anyway), a kind of "consonant" class like in Latin. But for this, I've got to get feedback from other conlangers.
Why a fourth class? Because Spanish and Italian have a class ending in -e, which is used for all genders.
And Lingua Romanica will be related very closely to Latin, Spanish and Italian, no matter how much I will work on making it different from actual Romance languages.
Furthermore, I have tinkered about incorporating some Greek and Slavic (Polish) elements.
I have been thinking about giving my language a proper place - in a different world.
It would be used as a de-facto standard language in Italy and Spain, where the emperors of 10th-century Europe have agreed on thee Romance languages to be used as a substitute for Latin and the local forms of Vulgar Latin. And where Poland was not too weak to fight against the Germans in later centuries, forming a commonwealth with Lithuania, Czech territory (then Bohemia) and a part of the Ukraine and fighting successfully against their enemies.
I got the idea while creating a map of western and central Europe for an old strategy game.
What a plan...
Stay hungry, foolish and tuned!
At least, I've got to tell you some things.
I I finally brought the official biography of Steven Paul Jobs four days ago - I'm almost through it (over 620 pages).
][ My selfmade Romance has got a major overhaul - again - in grammar. I've taken a look at the "inspiring spark" - Wenedyk, a constructed alternative language: If Polish became Romance...
So I have stripped a couple letters off the "oblique" case and shuffled around in the "directal" case.
I began the work on personal pronouns and interrogatives (that is - words for asking a question).
Also, the first small batch of (general) vocabulary is coming to paper - categorized.
/// My book has gained only a couple of lines - nothing special is going on there. It is so boring I don't want to proceed, even if the best part of the first chapter is just ahead.
Also, I've been reckoning to break up the tree chapters into a total of seven... maybe.
This was four days ago.
Today Lingua Romanica might get an additional declension class - the neuter would become a sole class, inheriting classical Latin neuter endings (u or o in singular, a in plural), the "neuter class" up to now would become a general class for all genders (actually, that's what it is now anyway), a kind of "consonant" class like in Latin. But for this, I've got to get feedback from other conlangers.
Why a fourth class? Because Spanish and Italian have a class ending in -e, which is used for all genders.
And Lingua Romanica will be related very closely to Latin, Spanish and Italian, no matter how much I will work on making it different from actual Romance languages.
Furthermore, I have tinkered about incorporating some Greek and Slavic (Polish) elements.
I have been thinking about giving my language a proper place - in a different world.
It would be used as a de-facto standard language in Italy and Spain, where the emperors of 10th-century Europe have agreed on thee Romance languages to be used as a substitute for Latin and the local forms of Vulgar Latin. And where Poland was not too weak to fight against the Germans in later centuries, forming a commonwealth with Lithuania, Czech territory (then Bohemia) and a part of the Ukraine and fighting successfully against their enemies.
I got the idea while creating a map of western and central Europe for an old strategy game.
What a plan...
Stay hungry, foolish and tuned!
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