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Below are the most recent 25 friends' journal entries.
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| Friday, August 29th, 2008 |
drivingblind
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5:43p |
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xiombarg
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4:30p |
Delicious LiveJournal Links for 8-29-2008 |
drivingblind
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2:38p |
That's How We Roll - Out of Town #2 - House of Hanrahan, Part 1 [46min 7sec] Fred Hicks and Chris Hanrahan (of Endgame in Oakland, CA and the 2d6 Feet in a Random Direction podcast) sit down for a conversation just a week or two before GenCon, to talk about Evil Hat, what they play, and the nature of the publisher-retailer relationship, among other things. Part 1 of this conversation focuses mostly on Evil Hat things -- though in the House of Hanrahan, things do tend to get a bit random here and there... Find the podcast episode here: http://thatshowweroll.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=372929 |
adamdray
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1:40p |
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scott_wells
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11:14a |
Work conversation snippit
Tech: Can't you make it *do* something
Me: No. They say Windows uses an Active Desktop, but really it just sorta sits there. |
spiritseeker
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11:09a |
Games. Games. Games. I'm getting the itch to run something again, and my long-standing game, while fun is hard to schedule. I've two leanings worth exploring. Feel free to comment if you'd be interested in either. 1. You are the crew of a small tramp freighter with a less than stellar reputation. Can you make a living ont he shady side of life while running from the law and your pasts. 4ish sessions, 4 to 6 players, Fate system in my home-brew Etherspace setting. 2. You thought you knew what what life was about, you thought you knew where you were going. But then something happened and life got very, very strange. A loosely connected series of one-shots for 3 to 5 players. Trial of home-brew rules in a home-brew modern supernatural horror setting. Any takers? Current Mood:  hopefulCurrent Music: Mars Volta - Interiatic ESP |
xiombarg
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10:36a |
Quote of the Day Apparently, I'm about to install Linux so I can download data about my sleep cycle from a very large watch. When did I become Cory Doctorow? - hotdogsladies Current Mood:  awake |
spiritseeker
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9:33a |
Dreaming of a Big House This morning I had a dream. We bought a huge house. Huge. A massive, sprawling Victorian farm-house with freshly painted yellow clapboards and yards and yards of crisp white trim. Downstairs, rooms led to rooms led to rooms. The second floor had eight bedrooms at least, and the third was a stand up attic so tall it could be renovated and still leave room for another attic above. But the strangest part was I was planning to move into this massive home with my entire family, my parents, my brother and his girlfriend, my sister and her girlfriend, the whole shebang. And somehow I was at peace with this idea. Well, mostly. At one point my mother said, in all seriousness that there was no reason why the kids (my bother, sister and me) shouldn't live on the third floor.As if the eight bedrooms on the second floor wouldn't be enough for the four couples. But after I got over that, my brother and I went out to the four car garage/barn and started to figure out what we would need to do to turn it into a suitable workshop for his business and my hobby. Weird. Current Mood:  cheeredCurrent Music: Obama's Acceptance Speech |
bar_sinister
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9:14a |
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kickinthenuts
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7:05a |
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locke61dv
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1:38a |
a petty brag Meme: I know engishes! (I'm expecting many of you to pull similar scores.) ( Read more... ) |
| Thursday, August 28th, 2008 |
locke61dv
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2:20p |
JUSTICE TO THE FACE
"The Harvard Alumni Association is excited to again offer Michael Sandel's "Justice" course to alumni worldwide."
I should not be interested, because (1) I took this already, and (2) while it was interesting, it wasn't very deep, and (3) I'm uncertain how much value I'd get from an online course. |
zoatebix
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2:01a |
Stasia asked me to tell her a bedtime story. And I did. I shared it with Elisabeth ( ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) withans) as well. I started making big revisions in the first paragraph, but then I decided to keep it as close as I could to its original "written on demand" form, while changing a few things to conceal its instant messenger window composition. Once upon a time there was a little girl. The skies are vast, and people only live in such tiny corners. The little girl knew just where she had to be: in the spaces in-between, where all the people's wealth had to travel before it was safely at home. The little girl would be a space pirate. And not just any space pirate - one day they would call her Pirate Queen Emerald. But first, she needed a ship; a home.
Hitching a ride to the empire's dry-docks only took a few bribes, but getting her hands on the prototype cruiser there was another matter entirely. "Simply acting like you belong is a very powerful tool," the little girl thought to herself, and walked with the confidence of a naval officer three times her age onto the lower deck of the L. Zunshine. As easily as she slipped aboard, she found an alcove and stepped out of sight. "They would figure things out quickly if I just pull a fire alarm," she thought, "I better make a real emergency!"
She squeezed into an access panel and crawled through the bowels of the ship from stern to bow, making hundreds of tiny holes with her hat-pin in an empty fuel line. She knew a sealing agent in the fuel would easily fix each hole, but she hoped their sheer number would look like a catastrophic failure and prompt the evacuation of the ship.
She waited for the crew to pressurize the line and perform their pre-flight checks. Alarms rang out, and the little girl heard booted feet moving hurriedly toward the exits. When she couldn't feel the pounding on the deck anymore, she slipped out of the access-way and onto the bridge. Now all she had to do was convince the ship's security system that she should be allowed to fly - and quickly, before hazard-suited men came to clean up her mess! She stood up from her knees, took three graceful steps to the helm, and placed her palm upon the controls... her gloved palm, clad in her father, the admiral's command-glove.
"Check the status of the self-sealing starboard fuel-line and close all hatches. Prepare for immediate take-off." The ship did as it was told and she took the helm in preparation for her escape. A flick of one finger, almost as an afterthought, sent scrambling signals across every communication channel. Her pursuers didn't know there was anything to pursue until hours after they had any chance to catch her.
And that's the merest beginning of her adventures. Goodnight! |
harano404
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11:13a |
They way the mind will lean under stress is strongly influence by training. The Mind can go either direction under stress–toward positive or toward negative; on or off. Think of it as a spectrum whose ends are unconsciousness at the negative end and hyperconsciousness at the positive end. They way the mind will lean under stress is strongly influence by training.
-Bene Gesserit Axiom Current Mood:  determined |
spiritseeker
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10:19a |
Relief Every morning I feel a little more human. May the trend continue. Current Mood:  relievedCurrent Music: Natalie MacMaster - If Ever You Were Mine |
scott_wells
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8:03a |
Word for the week... Panic I'm not sure whats up with me this week, but its been all about panic and anxiety. I went to bed somewhere around 11:30 last night, and then was up at 5am despite my usual doses of ambien and trazadone. Its work, of course, thats the problem. I think its say a lot that when they revised the 'core Company values' earlier this year, they made one 'urgency'. Yes, panic has been evelated to a core value in our company. Now, most people might assume this means that we are expected to work quickly for our customers. In point of fact, what it means among our management and above is 'Wait until the last minute and test nothing before instituting company wide changes.' Hence, panic. However, on the bright side, I spotted a job at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History for a full time instructor. While my degree is in ACTUAL history, my minors were in Anthropology and Archaeology, and included coursework in physical anthropology, cultural anthropology, human paleontology, and Ohio prehistory. Plus one on my concentrations in history was 'Ancient' which starts, rightly enough, at the end of prehistory. Combine that with an astronomy hobby, and a lifelong familiarity for the museum in question, and I may just have a shot at it. AND, I just heard from the third person I asked to be a reference for me, so I've met that requirement as well. So, I'm keeping my fingers crossed, but I'm not going to count on getting that position. One of my big problems is that I'm just not sure I want to continue doing work in IT. But there isn't much left I'm qualified for, at least in the fields I would like to get into. oops... gotta go to a meeting. LAters... Current Mood:  uncomfortable |
| Wednesday, August 27th, 2008 |
judd_sonofbert
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10:13p |
Comic Book Therapy Work was rough today and on my way to get my cell phone fixed, I stopped off at the comic book store for some therapy.My monthly regular comics habit is supplied from a comic shop online that gives me a deal but I occasionally stop by the local store for impulse buys or to pick up a single issue that is eluding me. So, here's what I got: The Amazing Spider-Man #569: After reading Ellis' take on Norman Osborn (two parts George W. Bush, one part Joker) I was curious to see how Norman would be in a spider-book. Also, after years of reading and digging Ultimate Spider-man I am curious to see how a Spider-man my own age is doing. The use of Eddie Brock was nifty, as a kind of recovering addict of the Venom symbiote and Osborne is cuh-razy, though has amnesia apparently, so he only remembers that there is some link between Parker and as Osborne calls him, "the bug." I waited all issue for Spider-man to correct him about being a bug and it never happened. It was okay, nothing special. If it is a late night at Wegman's and I need something to read with my sherbert binge, I'll give a future issue a shot. Air #1: It is a Vertigo title and it had an endorsement quote from Neil Gaiman. It was about a stewardess and it was trying to make some kind of a statement about terrorism and airlines. I couldn't get through it and skimmed to the end just to make sure there wasn't some kind of a big reveal that would blow my mind. There is always that feeling when you pick up a Vertigo title. Am I getting on the ground floor of a Sandman, a Preacher, a 100 Bullets, or a Fables? No, not this time. Doktor Sleepless #3 & 4:I wasn't thrilled with the first issue of Doktor Sleepless and Elllis' work on Avatar's label has been hit or miss for me, mostly miss. But issue 3 had the words, "Don't worry ma'am we're from the internet" on the cover and I couldn't deny it. I came away with the same feelings I had from Global Frequency, each issue had a cool idea and just not enough going on around it to make it worth my while. Ellis has cool ideas about the future but there wasn't enough character meats to keep me chewing. But I'll always go back to Ellis and give him a few issues worth of a shot because you never know when you might stumble into Planetary, Stormwatch, The Authority, Black Summer, Transmetropolitan, or my favorite of his, Fell. Anna Mercury #1 and 3: I have no idea what is going on. Maybe this is because I am missing issue 2. It is perhaps more telling that I just don't care about not knowing what is going on. This is a neo-pulp comic book about a fictnaut (yeah, he doesn't use that word but its right out of Planetary) with red hair, wielding two guns in a tight leather outfit in a fictional zeppelined out city called New Ataraxia. The city is stunningly rendered with signs that say things like, "Magnetism: The way of the future." No idea what is going on but I'm in. The reveal at the end of issue 3 is fun stuff and the constant banter with Mercury Launchpad reminds me a whole lot of Lacuna's Control. I'm in. You got me. Batman R.I.P. #679-678: What is Grant Morrison up to? I had read the first arc of his Batman run and while the introduction of his son via Talia from the Batman: Son of the Demon graphic novel, the first hardback comic book I ever owned, tickled my geek, it just wasn't that damned compelling. I talked with my buddy, Pete, about Batman comics and neither of us knew what was going on with it. So, I picked up the most recent issue off of the rack and it grabbed me. Also, Marvel announced a big, purty hardback for Morrison's six issue mini-series, Marvel Boy and that was a doozy of a fun, rockin' comic. Long story short, Batman is having a nervous breakdown, folks are digging up stuff on the Waynes and it isn't all that nice. Turns out Martha and Thomas had a hard party streak and there were even rumors back in the day that their first born son, Bruce, might've really been the son of the BUTLER! I have no idea if the villain of the piece is really a fractured piece of Bruce Wayne or what. I'm intrigued. I'm in. A nice phone conversation with Janaki while watching some pretty people play volleyball, nine comics, a talk with Bret about Dogs in the Vineyard and our yearning to play us some Darkpages and the work-day is long behind me. |
kragar00
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6:15p |
RPGs
I finished reading Dogs in the Vineyard, an interesting RPG where you play the equivalent of Judge Dread style Judges in a Mormon Utah during the US westward expansion, all with the names filed off....
In addition to the setting being pretty unique, I wanted to check out the mechanics, that use a poker type mechanic of sees and raises, only with dice....
The mechanic sounds like it would work well, both fostering narrative and pushing for the escalation of conflict (don't want to lose a shouting match? Hit some one... Gonna lose a fist fight? Pull a gun!)
The game is built to allow players to explore morality, seeking to put them in the position of passing judgement on their flocks... Should they show mercy or be severe in their punishments? Can they ignore certain problems, should they take a direct hand in righting wrongs, or should they work in an advisory capacity to lead the flock to righeousness?
There is helpful advice on creating towns rampant with varying levels of sin, all to test the players and let them explore moral choices... And when creating the towns, secrets and intrigue become important themes... This worried me at first, as I was a bit intimidated by the notion that I was designing a web of secrets that the players may never uncover... However, towards the end of the book, there is helpful advice about having the NPCs approach the players to fix their problems... While they may not tell the truth, they will heap their problems on the players and then stand back for the players to fix them.... This creates a very neat and clean method for introducing the players to the secrets... Either through lies or legitimate concerns... And allows the players to advance the plot on their own terms....
I also began reading the Cortex system... Already knowing the core mechanic through Serenity, I skilled the mechanics and started with the sample settings.... I was especially interested to see how they treated the Star of the Guardians setting, based on the books by Margaret Weiss that I read nearly 15 years ago... Even back then I knew that the setting was very much a rip off of Star Wars, but the writing and plot captured me the same....
That said, I found the setting presented flat and boring.... It was like a book report written without any enthusiasm for the story... It presented many concepts with the expectation that you were already familiar with the setting, like characters, themes, and plots in the books, but then explained who key characters were at their most basic function as an after thought, like they were speaking to someone on the edge of a conversation....
And all throughout this, it stripped out all the coolness that the setting had.... There was nothing inspiring about the write up, nothing that made me want to play the setting.... Which is a shame, because the books were cool and the system is a nice, streamlined rule set....
I hope that the other 2 sample setting are presented better.... |
xiombarg
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5:00p |
Delicious LiveJournal Links for 8-27-2008 |
ad1066
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4:02p |
Spookybeans Playtest Session 1 I meant to post this earlier in the week, but got caught up with other things.
( Gaming Stuff )
-- Ben |
fascinoma
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1:09p |
Anal Aggro Kid, Heart Attack Man, Vinnie "the Fish" Cushing's thugs, and Homie's crash pad. First there was Anal Aggressive Kid, with his baggy pants and spray-paint can, and his archenemy Anal Retentive Man, a guy with a huge stomach, wearing a suit, who's always trying to keep Anal Aggro Kid in line. Then there was Heart Attack Man, the superhero who's one step out the door on his way to a day that needs to be saved, before he starts experiencing heart attack symptoms. Maybe he's out because there's intracranial pressure somewhere, and the mobster Vinnie "The Fish" Cushing and his three thugs are on the scene... Brady (who's too slow to be a good thug), Louie "the Chain" Stokes (weapon is a length of chain, and he breathes funny), and the Big BP. The latest of my characters to help me with my homework is Homer ("Homie") O'Stasis. He owns a house that his buddies stay in and they all do their part to keep things running smoothly. But Homie doesn't like there to be any discord. Everyone pitches in to help Homie out. Let's say his buddies have a tiff. One of the buddies gets a call on his phone (receptor) that two of the other buddies are having an argument. So, the buddy takes a five dollar bill (input), drives down Afferent St. (it's a one-way street) and goes to the liquor store (control center) and buys a six pack (output) and drives back down Efferent St. When six pack arrives back home, Homie turns on the TV (info sent down efferent pathway activates effector). The pals all watch the game and the tiff is forgotten and Homie's happy again (response of effector feedback to influence magnitude of stimulus and return variable to homeostasis). Not a great analogy, but it helped me remember. It's a pity I can't seem to ever get the same kind of mechanism at work for doing math, which is one of the reasons I struggle with it... I don't seem to be retaining anything I ever learn in math. It takes me years to learn stuff. I'd really love to be in an anatomy class that assumes more science background, than the one I'm taking. I want to headdesk every time I hear the teacher say something, or read something, that takes about two sentences to describe in "plain English" when one science term will do it. |
spiritseeker
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1:41p |
Motes of Happiness
The dog is under my desk, lying on my feet. I'm so happy I could cry.
Current Mood: complex
Current Music: Hawthorne Heights - Niki FM |
kragar00
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10:07a |
Fear mongering at it's best... Or worst... http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-health/20080826/MED.Hot.Dogs.Cancer/
"CHICAGO — A new TV commercial shows kids eating hot dogs in a school cafeteria and one little boy's haunting lament: "I was dumbfounded when the doctor told me I have late-stage colon cancer.
It's a startling revelation in an ad that vilifies one of America's most beloved, if maligned, foods, while stoking fears about a dreaded disease.
But the boy doesn't have cancer. Neither do two other kids in the ad who claim to be afflicted.
The commercial's pro-vegetarian sponsors say it's a dramatization that highlights research linking processed meats, including hot dogs, with higher odds of getting colon cancer.
But that connection is based on studies of adults, not children, and the increased risk is slight, even if you ate a hot dog a day. While compelling, it isn't conclusive."
Where to start the rant.... |
judd_sonofbert
|
9:39a |
60 Minutes D&D Coverage from Back in the Day W.J. Walton, webmaster of The Escapist, has the old 60 Minutes stuff posted up.This shit drives me nuts. I love how no one blames the guns. And the mother who didn't even know her son played the game and then goes on to say how perfectly healthy he was, just before they get a tearful confession from the boy's younger sister, whom he had threatened. I remember a guy who worked with my dad telling him that he shouldn't allow me to play role-playing games because they are Satan's work. My dad replied, "We're Jews; Satan doesn't bother us." |
| Tuesday, August 26th, 2008 |
xiombarg
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4:30p |
Delicious LiveJournal Links for 8-26-2008 |
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