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Alternative Web-Based Publication Systems
A moth ate a word. When I heard of that marvel, it seemed to me a strange fate that a worm should devour the speech of a man, that a thief in the dark should eat the words of the mighty and the book that contained them. Nor was that stealthy guest made any the wiser by the words that he swallowed.--Anonymous
One of my foes deprived me of life, took my worldly strength, wet me thereafter, immersed me in water, removed me again, set me in the sun, where soon I lost the hair that I had. The hard knife-edge, afterwards cut me, the impurities ground off; fingers folded me and the fowl's delight made tracks upon me with useful drops o'er the swart edges, swallowed the tree dye, part of the stream, stepped on me then, traveled on, leaving the blackest of tracks. Then a man bound me with binding boards, covered me with hide, clothed me with gold. So the work of smiths splendidly decked me, and the encircled me with wire. Now the ornaments and the reddish dye and the glory-dwellings attest afar the protector of people, no less the fates of foolish men. If the sons of men seek to use me they will be the sounder and surer of victory, the bolder of heart, the blither of spirit, the wiser of mind, the more friends they will have, the dear and the near, the true and the good, the kind and the faithful, who will add to their fame, their glory, and joy, and graciously then clothe them with kindness, clasping them firmly in the arms of love. Ask what I am called, of benefit to men. My name is famous, useful to heroes and holy itself.--Anonymous
Some Notes and Queries Upon a Minimalist Framework
Lewis Micropublishing has been publishing on the web since January 1st, 2000, the new millennium day on which we deliberately inaugurated the site in a quasi-formal manner. The first five years were not without their ups and downs. We had a slow start the first couple of years, and at several points it was not clear if the framework would survive another day.
Lewis Micropublishing has since come to provide the functional digital publishing framework for Lewis Works. Lewis Micropublishing therefore serves two sets of primary functions: a., to provide an on-line and hard-copy framework for the articulation of publications and publishing services for Lewis Works; and b., to provide a broader set of similar services and resources under its own banner to a larger community on the web.
Lewis Micropublishing remains steadfastly committed to the production and publication of quality texts and textual or text-related artifacts that have global reach and significance, and that remain at the cutting edge of human civilization.
Our goals are to:
On Digital & Virtual Publishing
There is no doubt that digital publishing is quickly changing the larger world of conventional publishing, and these changes are, like all changes, relatively permanent and irreversible. The great facility with which almost anyone, like myself, can publish to the web and achieve some measure of global virtual visibility entails that quality control and reliability and credibility become placed at a premium. People have visited us from every nation on earth, and keep returning for more.
One should not presume to define what is or is not possible in terms of the production of new texts and artifacts and the design of their forums of presentation on the web. I think the time will quickly arrive when computer-based and generated movies will no longer require human actors or even physical sets or settings, and one would be hard pressed to tell the difference. And such movies will become increasingly interactive, allowing for an almost unlimited number of possible pathways and alternative outcomes.
The question of received social legitimacy in the world never really goes away and must always be addressed at some level or another, and usually at multiple points simultaneously. Cross-cultural differentials clearly exist in this regard--many of our on-line publications tend to be better received in some parts of the world than in others. And often, if they seem well received in some key core locations in the world, it is probably for the wrong reasons.
What we have noticed is that our sense of social legitimacy has grown and improved in the world, in more places, and apparently, by a broader range of people who have been tramping through our pages on a regular and frequent basis. Markets and Minds are shifting gradually in relationship to the Internet and what it can and cannot do in commercial, communicational and informational senses. There is now a greater collective realism and skepticism, as well as a greater realization of the potentialities and possibilities represented by the web. We have striven to build upon this improved positioning for ourselves to further leverage, brand and enhance our sense of received legitimacy in the world to as broad and diverse an audience as we can manage.
Death Beckons Death beckons Just beyond My doorway Awakening me rudely From my dreams Entreating me to journey Somnambulent Into the dark night Death beckons Be shrouded by the darkness Cloaked by anonymous shadows Death visits by night And knocks upon these portals Not daring to pass Into the lighted spaces And interior warmth of my little home So well lived by day
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