I'm excited about your switch because now I can post comments! Before typepad would always run a 404 error after I would type in the "human verification" text.
Ohh. So I'm apparently not cool enough to Plurk, but if you want to create a gradient along a curve, you can do it with gaussian blur. Just fill one side of the curve, and then blur the whole thing for the number of pixels wide you need your gradient. Then just trim away the fill.
My wife made a book like blurb.com, except she used viovio.com. Mainly, because she didn't have to use their template. It was just "upload a pdf" and we got a book back in the mail! So if you want to have full creative control, that's a pretty nice way to go.
Ricky, I apparently have problems with my computer at work and typepad. I was unable to post that I was indeed able to view the video about 5 minutes after my previous comment. Thanks for posting it!