comic

Comic Sans began 15 years ago as a project by Microsoft to add a note of informality for its ill-fated computer companion Bob.

But while Bob was euthanized years ago, Comic Sans has remained a staple of faux informality in the computer age, despite a decade-long effort to press the delete key on the comic book-style font. There's even a Ban Comic Sans Web site.

But as many people as hate it, more still use the font, only fueling the anger of its detractors.

The Wall Street Journal has a Page One story on Friday tracing the typeface, its … Read more

Calibre is a cross-platform, open-source library for your e-books that can also sync them to your e-book reader. Available for Windows, Mac, and Linux, it offers a massive range of individual book customizations, as well as format conversion and newspaper-style RSS feed grabbing, but lacks a slick interface that would go a long way toward convincing skeptics that it's a powerful tool.

The number of things that Calibre can do for your digital book collection is stunning. You can view books in a basic spreadsheet layout or with an adaptation of Apple's Cover Flow. Cover Flow here lacks a default image, and the sudden white rectangle where the book cover should be is jarring. It can be toggled with the big, white arrow icon in the bottom-right corner of the main window--an equally awkward placement. … Read more

E-mails from security firms such as Symantec saying your computer is unprotected and you need to spend money right away to buy that company's software can be quite worrisome. And many times, I have frowned while at the airport, wondering what the Homeland Security Advisory System's Elevated threat level really means.

I know security is a serious issue, but how about some laughs for a change?… Read more

If you can't get enough of Watchmen: Justice is Coming, you'll find in this massive multiplayer online game an ambitious attempt to play against anyone else connected to the Net from your iPhone or iPod Touch. You get to create a character with gender, skin color, and even personality based on what you see in the character Rorschach ink blot.

Meanwhile, whether you're just trying to get your feet wet in a world where Nixon remained president well into 1985 or whether you're quoting the comic back at the screen, the "Watchmen" app might … Read more

WonderCon 2009 might've had a smaller crowd than in previous years--it certainly felt that way walking the convention floor at San Francisco's Moscone Center. Just don't tell anyone who was there.

From lectures on superhero physics, to an impressively diverse display of costumes, to discussions with Pulitzer Prize-winning authors and fan-favorite writers, San Francisco was the place to be for fanboys and fangirls last weekend. There were even deals on Obama comics.

While fans combed the floor for deals, CNET's Eric Franklin was there to document even more WonderCon action.

Looking at that picture on the left, I'm reminded of the days when buying a comic book and keeping it in pristine condition was the most important thing in my life. Didn't matter which comic, either; all of them were treated with the same reverence. Ah, the good old days when I actually thought my comics would be worth something.

It's those first appearances you had to get in on. The most important first appearance took place in 1938 in "Action Comics" No. 1. That was the first appearance of Superman. Today someone will attempt … Read more

There's no question that comic books and magazines will eventually have a portable platform suited to them, just as the iPod took nearly four years to reach a saturation level as the de facto portable music player.

The Kindle 2 might have been that device, had Amazon found color e-ink to be cost-effective. For now, though, we're stuck with struggling innovations, and iVerse Media has made a big push to get theirs out.

Earlier this month, just in time for WonderCon 2009, the big comic book and media convention in San Francisco, iVerse launched its comic book-reading app for Android, following on the heels of its iPhone app that debuted in November of last year.

The thought of cramming the detail-rich comic book page onto the tiny touchscreen of a smartphone seems ridiculous, because it is. iVerse solved the problem by chopping comics into panel-size chunks.

On both Android and the iPhone, you slide your finger across the screen to move on to the next panel. Slide it in the other direction to move back. Reading the story is surprisingly clear and clean, and although it may seem counter-intuitive, there should be no concerns about eyestrain from squinting because it's one panel, presented in high resolution.

From there, the Android and iPhone apps diverge in functionality, though the features remain largely the same. I tested the Hexed No. 1 comic for both the iPhone and Android. … Read more

This free iPhone app is the first issue of Boom! Studios' comic book "Hexed" reformatted for your iPhone. Instead of looking at a full comic book page, you advance from panel to panel by sliding your finger across the screen. Reading the story is surprisingly clear and clean, and although it may seem counter-intuitive, there should be no concerns about eyestrain from squinting.

When you tap the comic, a small and nearly invisible "I" appears in the bottom right corner. This information button wasn't as responsive as we would've liked, but eventually it will … Read more

On this week's installment of the Digital City podcast, we discuss Acer's new ultra-cheap Netbook, share tales from the recent New York Comic Con, and how Lara Croft is getting sold to the makers of the Final Fantasy games.

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