George and Wiley check out Linux.

As many of you know, I’m a Linux user and advocate.  It’s a great operating system.  Linux is safe, secure, and free. But best of all, it’s supported by a terrific community of volunteers and users.

You meet these folks through online forums. To get started using and understanding Linux, simply visit one of the many community forums. Create an account, introduce yourself, and jump into the conversation. New users are always welcome. And, there’s no such thing as a stupid question. Everyone, at one time, was a Linux beginner. There’s even an area within the forums dedicated to beginners. It’s sort of the “Bunny Slope” of Linux.

If you recall when first learning Windows or Mac, you had a lot of questions on how to perform certain tasks, save files, play video and music, etc. You probably asked friends who were more experienced in using Windows or Mac. You asked them and they gave you an answer. Pretty soon, through daily use and experience, you became the friend who gave answers to new Windows or Mac users.

The forums are the same thing. It’s a place where friends meet to exchange information about Linux, get answers, and offer answers and help to others. The only difference, instead of the help coming from a next door neighbor, you’re getting it from an online neighbor.

These online neighbors take you under their wing, show you the ropes of how Linux runs, answer your questions, and generally de-mystify this wonderful operating system. I like to call it, “E Mentoring.” Because the internet is your main pipeline to the Linux community and its many instructors.

So, give Linux a try! Download it and, at the very least, run the Live CD.  Join a forum and meet other Linux users. Once you try Linux and see how easy it is to use, you’ll wonder why you didn’t use it earlier! You’ll be free of Window viruses, malware, and spyware. (Linux is immune to these Windows problems.)

And, pretty soon, you’ll be the one doing the E Mentoring.

One of the fun things about being cartoonist is trying out different art tools. Like a lot of cartoonists, I’ve experimented with my share of pencils, pens, drawing nibs, and graphic software applications. After all this testing, you tend to settle in on a few that become tried and true.

But you continue to try new tools as they cross your path.  And, every once in a while, a new tool does comes along and you wonder why you never used it before!

Such is the case with my pencil sharpener.

I have a couple of really nice electric pencil sharpeners. One is a Boston electric pencil sharpener. The other is made by Panasonic. I’ve had both for years. Again, the result of trying out different tools. I’ve used the Boston pencil sharpener for quite some time. The Panasonic is tucked away just in case the Boston sharpener burns out. With such terrific electric powered devices, little did I ever think that I’d go back to using a hand held pencil sharpener!

How did I discover this nifty little studio assistant?  Well, I was looking for some new paper, pens, and non-photo blue pencils for my comic strip George.  I contacted the folks at Faber-Castell. I discovered that their home office in NE Ohio wasn’t very far from my home. I spoke with one of their Consumer Relations Representatives. I explained that I was a cartoonist and looking for some new artist supplies.   I asked if she could recommend a particular Faber-Castell paper and pencil.  I also inquired about Pens. (As I mentioned, I’m always on the lookout for artist pens.)  Lastly, I asked where I could purchase these.  I live out in the sticks and art stores are pretty rare in my neck of the woods.  It’s always a treat to find an art supply store while on a road trip.  Otherwise, I’m purchasing these things online.

She told me she’d be happy to send some samples.  A few days later, I received a large envelope.  (When art supplies arrive, it’s just like Christmas!)  The package contained pencils, pens and paper. Inside there was also a really neat looking pencil sharpener.

It’s called the GRIP Trio Sharpener. It’s double sided. One side has two sharpener openings, and the other side has one. These accommodate different size pencils and give you three different point shapes. The sharpener opens in the middle. When you sharpen a pencil, the shavings collect inside. You simply snap off the case to clean. It’s quite portable and looks great on my drawing board. And it’s always handy. It’s my favorite tool! I use this sharpener all the time!

So, instead of spending 50 bucks on an electric pencil sharpener, pick up this little gem! It’s affordable and does a great job of sharpening your pencils! Plus, you can take it with you when you’re on the road with a sketchbook.

By the way, the pencils they sent are fantastic and the paper is top notch!  I’m using a Light Phthalo Blue #145 for my non-photo blue sketching of the comic strip.  You can find the pencils here.

The pens are terrific!  These are Faber-Castell’s Pitt Graphic artists pens.  The pens use India Ink.  The Pitt pen makes lines that are solid, crisp, and dark.  It does a wonderful job of final inking completely covering my blue sketch lines.  The ink dries to to a waterproof finish.  Best of all, the pen is odorless.   And, they come in a variety of line widths.  Coincidentally, I’ve discovered that many of my cartoonist friends use these pens.

I highly recommend the Faber-Castell line up of art supplies. You can get them online or at your favorite art or office supply stores.

Double Take Back To School T-Shirt for mom.

Mom’s Happy! Back To School!

Mom is smiling! She’s just plain happy! The new academic year is starting and the kids are going back to school!

To celebrate Back to School , we offer the Double Take Back To School T-Shirt exclusively for Mom! (But you can get other styles and sizes, too).

This is the actual Double Take comic game panel that appears nationally through newspaper syndication. (Look for Double Take in your local paper!) The panel features mom smiling as she sends little Johnny off to school.

It’s also available as a binder! The kids will love having this cartoon game panel on a school binder. It’s fun to play Double Take with friends on the school bus!

Plus, we’ve made our original Back to School design available on a binder, too!

The Double Take Back To School binder.

Georgetoon.com Back To School Binder

Three great new products at the Georgeton.com Zazzle store! Celebrate back to school with a Georgetoon.com T-Shirt or binder for mom and the kids!

George and Newton react to the 35 dollar tablet PC!

The specifics are still being reported, but it appears that India has developed a tablet PC that will sell for only $35.00.  You can read some of the details here and here.

The Indian government is still looking for a manufacturer to produce the prototype.

This Tablet PC is aimed at the developing world and is India’s answer to MIT’s One Laptop Per Child program.  OLPC sells laptops to developing nations for only $100.00.

Even though the $35.00 tablet is aimed at developing nations, all this could prove to be a huge step forward in affordable tablet computing.   I’m not sure you could call this an i-Pad killer, but it’s certainly nice to see more competition.

The question is, how can they do it?  How will they possibly be able to produce a tablet computer for only 35 bucks?  It’s a given that  manufacturing and labor  costs are lower in India.  However, one of the key ingredients is found in this quote from the CNN article, “The Linux-based computer is equipped with an Internet browser, a PDF reader and several other facilities, she said.”

Linux!  That’s where a lot of the cost savings is!  Linux is free, open, and available to everyone.  Including a tablet manufacture.  Because Linux is freely given and freely used, any manufacturer can obtain Linux, look under the hood, tailor it to their needs, and implement it on any device.

Google’s Android operating system for  mobile devices is a perfect example of this.

So, if your device(cell phone, Tablet PC, Laptop PC, etc.) runs Linux, that means manufacturers didn’t have to pay a per PC/device licensing fee to Microsoft for Windows.   You get cutting edge technology and a cost savings.

Technology is moving fast. So who knows?  This time next year, you could be reading this blog on a similarly priced device running Linux!

I was driving home the this past Friday and a summer thunderstorm rolled through the area. It wasn’t a fierce storm.  It had its share of rain, lighting and thunder.  But it was sporadic. It was a welcome break from the heat and humidity the area had been experiencing the past few days.

I continued traveling east with the early evening sun behind me.  As I drove the country road, I looked up through the trees and noticed a glowing.   It appeared that the leaves were glowing green and blue and a bit of orange.  I couldn’t figure it out.  After a few more miles, the trees lining each side of the road  thinned out and I noticed where the glowing was originating.

I was actually glimpsing, through the leaves, a low hanging rainbow.  It was so low, it was just above the horizon.  And it was almost completely horizontal.

I’d never seen a rainbow like this before.  And I’d never seen one this low in the sky.

A Low Rainbow

I pulled to the side of the road.   I got out of my car and snapped a photo with my blackberry.  You can see the rainbow sitting above the valley.   But if you look closely, it just cuts through the tops of the trees on either side of the road.  So you can understand how, earlier up the road when I was at a higher elevation, the rainbow appeared low and almost in front of me.  It wasnt even above the trees. I’ve driven under a rainbow before, but never through one.

I mention all this because it’s times like these that end up, somehow, becoming a comic strip idea.  The idea doesn’t always come at the same time as the event.  But this is something I’ll file away in my memory bank.  Sometime soon, I’ll end up recounting the story to a friend or  thinking about it, and POP!  An idea will come out of the blue, inspired by this little event..

So, when you open your local paper and read George and that day’s strip it has to do with a rainbow, you’ll know where I got the idea.