Here are a couple of Kindle screens I made using Wordle’s free word cloud web-app. To be honest, I’m still undecided about whether the cartoons add too much clutter, but I thought these two were fun regardless considering the subject matter.
Make your own text-based screensavers at Wordle.net.
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Wednesday, July 28th
“Face of Betrayal” by Lis Wiehl
Price: $0.00
“While home on Christmas break, a seventeen-year-old Senate page takes her dog out for a walk and never returns. Reporter Cassidy Shaw is the first to break the story. The resulting media firestorm quickly ensnares Federal Prosecutor Allison Pierce and FBI Special Agent Nicole Hedges. These three unique women, life-long friends, call themselves The Triple Threat–a nickname derived from both their favorite dessert and their uncanny ability to crack cases using their three positions of power.”
Tuesday, July 27th
“Curious Folks Ask” by Sherry Seethaler
Price: $0.00
“Top science writer and San Diego Union-Tribune columnist Sherry Seethaler brings together 162 of her best answers to science and health questions. Want to know how canned air works… or nuclear bombs? What causes goose bumps, earwax, dandruff, headaches? Whether it’s healthy to crack your knuckles, drink decaf, eat chocolate? What it costs to run all those LED lights around your house? It’s all here–and a whole lot more!”
Monday, July 26th
“Your Credit Score” by Liz Pulliam Weston
Price: $0.00
“MSN Money/L.A. Times personal finance columnist Liz Pulliam Weston has updated her best-selling book on credit scores to show how you can maximize your score right now—and save yourself a fortune! Weston reveals the tough new realities of borrowing and credit scoring, and shows why they aren’t going to change any time soon. She rips away the mystery surrounding credit scoring, including the FICO 08 overhaul, and tells you exactly how to use the new system to maximize your score.”
Sunday, July 25th
“The Skull Ring” by Scott Nicholson
Price: $2.39
“With the help of a therapist, Julia is finally piecing together childhood memories of the night her father vanished. But when Julia finds a silver ring that bears the name ‘Judas Stone,’ the past comes creeping back. Someone is leaving strange messages inside her house, even though the door is locked. Her lawyer boyfriend turns violent. And the cop who investigated her father’s disappearance has followed her to the small mountain town of Elkwood.”
Saturday, July 24th
Bright of the Sky by Kay Kenyon
Price: $0.00
In a corporate-controlled near future, career pilot Titus Quinn and his family disappear during a flight. When Quinn returns months later, his memory is gone and his wife and child are missing, and he must return to an alternate universe called the Entire to free them. The first of four books, it’s being compared to high-SF sagas like Hyperion, Riverworld, and Amber Chronicles.
Friday, July 23rd
GONE by Karen Fenech
Price: $2.99
“FBI Special Agent Clare Marshall was separated from her sister Beth in childhood when their mother tried to kill them. Now Clare learns that Beth lives in the small town of Farley, South Carolina, but when she goes there to reunite with Beth, Clare discovers her sister is missing and that someone in the town is responsible for her disappearance.”
Thursday, July 22nd
Out of Water by Colin Chartres and Samyuktha Varma
Price: $0.00
“Out of Water doesn’t just illuminate the coming global water crisis: it presents innovative solutions in agriculture, engineering, governance, and beyond, including state-of-the art techniques for integrated water management. This book will help raise the level of debate about water to the highest levels of government, and identify workable reforms and incentives to help water users utilize this crucial resource far more efficiently.”
Woah, that wordle.net site is actually pritty good. Iv just wasted 1 hour on it messing around on it!
thanks!
These are absolutely gorgeous screensavers. I’ve just put both of them on my Kindle. How did you include the cartoon? Just superimposed the Wordle creation over another picture?
@Debra: Thanks for the compliment. As to how I made them, I just drew the cartoons around the words. I actually made a bunch of text clouds at Wordle first using the same text but experimenting with settings. Then when I found a grouping that sparked some visual image in my mind, I saved it and used it for the drawing. It’s been a while, but I think I may have deleted some stray words in both cases in order to create a more precise silhouette.
I drew the cartoons in Photoshop or GIMP (I forget which computer I was on) using a cheap graphic tablet & pen that I think I found on sale somewhere for, like, $30.
The even cheaper low-tech option, of course, is to print it out, draw over it, scan it back in, and ta-dah you have a new screensaver!
Hi, Chris. I’m afraid this would be beyond my abilities even if I had the software and tablet! Thanks for the explanation. I’ll enjoy these every time they come up in my screensaver rotation.