John August

John

To live and not die in LA

Los Angeles

Perhaps because of freak crimes like the Ronni Chasen murder, Americans perceive Los Angeles as being much more dangerous than it is.

For 2010, the murder total in Los Angeles has [dropped below 300](http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-la-crime-20101217,0,1871598.story), its lowest number since 1967. ((And one should note that the population of LA grew 35% from 1967 to 2010, so the per capita is even lower.)) Yes, that is still a lot of dead folks. But keep in mind that Los Angeles has 3.8 million people:

> The city’s total translates into roughly 7.5 killings per 100,000 people and puts it in league with New York City and Phoenix as having among the lowest homicide rates among major U.S. cities.

In fact, the murder rate is lower than Memphis, Pittsburgh, or Oklahoma City. Or [twenty other cities](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_cities_by_crime_rate) you wouldn’t have guessed.

So if your parents are worried about you moving to Los Angeles, point them to the data. Maybe they’re the ones living in a comparative crime alley.

The Variant and Snake People

Books, Snake People, The Variant

If you got a Kindle or iPad for Christmas, I have two short stories you may want to check out. Each works as a nice palate-cleanser from too much holiday cheer.

snake people coverbook cover

The Variant
is a spy thriller with a strong dose of science fiction, in the vein of The Prisoner and The Man from U.N.C.L.E., or the short stories of Jorge Luis Borges.

Snake People
is a tale of underage drinking and reptilian fertility set in the armpit of Florida.

Each is available for 99 cents on Amazon.

For the iPad, you have several choices of readers. The Kindle app for iPad is terrific. I prefer its font to any of the choices in iBooks.

But iBooks can handle ePub files without DRM, which is why I can simply invite you to [download Snake People](http://ja-vincent.s3.amazonaws.com/SnakePeople-JohnAugust.epub) through a link. (This is link-handling feature is new for iOS 4.2, and extremely useful.)

If you got a Nook, they can handle ePub files as well. I had a chance to use my first Nook Color yesterday, and for its price, it seems really solid.

The Variant is also available as an ePub and pdf. Check out the details in the [Variant page](http://johnaugust.com/variant).

2010, the year in film

Film Industry, Video

I’m perpetually amazed by mega-edits like this one from [@genrocks](http://twitter.com/#!/genrocks), which combines pieces of [270 movies](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wv-PfzG8aGp43ZF-vARPbcJaRRSJWJ8FXlMcQIrOiOo/preview?hl=en&pli=1&sle=true#) from this past year. Who has the time to do this? Are there pharmaceuticals involved?

One thing to consider: These are almost entirely American movies. You can look at this as a recap of the American film industry’s output for the year.

We make a lot of movies.

(/via [kottke](http://kottke.org/10/12/the-year-in-film-2010))

Upgrading to the Air. Or not.

Geek Alert

For the past week, I’ve been debating getting the 13″ Macbook Air to replace my 13″ Macbook (Non-Air, Non-Pro), which is a couple of years old.

My main computer is in the office, so I only use the MacBook for travel. ((My iPad has taken over all the other light web surfing functions that my laptop used to perform.)) But lately, that’s been a lot. A few weeks in New York, three days in Austin, a blur of day/night in Beijing. I’ve been using it daily, and noticed it getting pokier and pokier.

The new Airs really are amazing to hold; it’s worth an Apple store visit just to admire the fit and finish.

The Air would actually have the same processor, so other than being thinner and lighter, it would be largely the same computer. But I didn’t like the keyboard as much when I tried it out in the store. And when I take my MacBook someplace, I’m mostly plopping it on a hotel desk, so it’s not especially crucial that it be lightweight.

I wasn’t eager to give up the optical drive or the ethernet connection. I often watch dailies and screeners on DVD, so it’s nice to have one always available. When I’m in a hotel room, I find it handy to share the wired internet connection with my iPad and iPhone using the Mac’s internet sharing feature. Without an ethernet port, that wouldn’t be an option. ((AirPort Express is another way to share a wired connection. But that means bringing an extra gizmo.))

In the end, I decided to keep my computer, upgrading the memory (to 4GB) and swapping the hard drive for an SSD (240GB). The process was remarkably straightforward — thank you [tutorial videos](http://eshop.macsales.com/installvideos/macbookpro_13_unibody_hd_m/) — and the result feels like a new computer: snappy and quiet. Final Draft opens in one bounce, rather than five.

Plus, I still have my DVD drive and ethernet port.

All in, the upgrades ran me $580, including the special screwdrivers. The resulting computer isn’t as light as the Air ($1599) or as zippy as the newest MacBook Pros ($1499), but feels like a happy middle.

UPDATE: My friend Troy [points out](http://twitter.com/tgaul/status/14449982539046912) that I’d be getting a higher-resolution screen with the new MacBooks.