DrupalCon Boston is looming large, but before I get there I decided to go visit my sister in New Hampshire. It's a long trip -- seven hours or so from Easton, longer with the family in tow -- so I had plenty of time to get caught up on my podcasts.
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February 2008
Mac Productivity Hacks
I spend a lot of time on the Mac -- at work, at home, when I'm dreaming. These are the hacks that I use almost every day to get the most out of my computers.
Zoom in on anything
For a zoomed in view of anything on your computer, hold the CTRL key and then brush upwards on your trackpad with two fingers. To zoom out, hold the CTRL key and brush downwards with two fingers.
Get Google Talk working with iChat
There is no Google Talk client for the Mac, but you can access its instant messaging capabilities by setting up Jabber in iChat. This will not support voice chat, but it works just fine for text. Learn how to set up Jabber via this Google help page.
Fast launch applicatons from the dock
Sometimes you want to quickly browse your full list of applications without delving into the Finder and clicking on the "Applicatons" folder (or following a shortcut from the Desktop).
A hack I learned by visiting the Apple Store was to drop a shortcut to my Applications folder. Under 10.4 Tiger, you could then right-click on the folder and see a full list of all your apps. Then select the one you want, and it launches.
Radio Active #62: Do Macs Dream of Electronic Balticons?
On this issue of Nuketown Radio Active I struggle to wake my narcoleptic MacBook Pro, try out The Bourne Ultimatum as a movie on demand, discuss my upcoming convention trips to DrupalCon Boston and Balticon 42 and spend some time trying to infiltrate the Secret Lair podcast. In Netheads, I figure out how to actually enjoy exercise and take a look at a Savage Worlds wiki, and then spend some time ranting about why Wizards of the Coast has chosen to slash and burn Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition.
Space Hulk Stop-Action Fan Film
I've never been a huge Warhammer 40,000 fan, but it's been slowly corrupting my brain for the last few weeks as Berin's been talking about the novels on and off at Uncle Bear and fellow Blackrazor Damon picked up not one, but two copies of the Warhammer 40K: Dark Heresy RPG. I'm sorely tempted to start picking up the books myself, but for now I'll confine my fix to this Space Hulk stop action fan film. My only complaint about it would be that it ends on a positive note -- really, how often does that happen in the Warhammer universe?
Random Thoughts on LOST Season 4
Why was the the Looking Glass station setup to connected to Penny's office?
We don't know where Penny, or more specifically, her father and his corporation, fits into the larger LOST conspiracy, but I think its safe to say that Ben is interested in anyone who's interested in the island. My guess is that the Looking Glass station was used as a spy station in addition to being a communication jamming station. It likely uses the island's strange properties to spy on the mainland. Thus the reason why Looking Glass was able to contact Penny; they'd been watching her office all along.
Why did the new arrivals flash back while everyone else is flashing
forward?
Because the new arrivals are flashing forward, at least relative to the Island's place in the time stream. It's been clear for a while that time on the island moves differently from that of outside; this was confirmed in Episode 3, Season 4 with the rocket experiment, as well as the teenage Walt's appearance on the Island at the end of Season 3. I don't think that travelling to the island is exactly the same as travelling backwards in time; it's more like it takes you out of the time stream. Think of the island as a rock in the middle of a river; once you stand on it, time just keeps slushing by.
Why does Naimi have a flashforward if she's dead?
Why WotC is Slash-and-Burning Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition is coming, slashing and burning all that has come before to create a new game that ignores the tropes of classic sword-and-sorcery in order to embrace the always-on, always-cool mechanics of digital fantasy.
We see it at every turn. The lack of a 3.x-to-4.x conversion guide. The admonishment to wrap-up old campaigns in favor of 4E. The impending decimation of the Forgotten Realms, and the planned 100-year leap forward in its timeline. Succubi are now devils. Devils are fallen angels. Gnomes are monsters. Tieflings are cool. Evil elves worship Grummosh, formerly god of the orcs. Warlocks are the new baseline of character power.
Wizards isn't just burning their bridges. They're annihilating them.
Knights of the Dinner Table #132 Available as Free Download
If you ever wanted to check out my "Summon WebScryer" column in Knights of the Dinner Table Magazine, but were never able to pick up a print issue, here's your big chance. Kenzer & Company is has posted Issue #132 as a free download.
It's a full-version of the magazine, including 26 pages of comics, plus a wealth of regular features. In addition to my column, which rounds up official and fan web sites dedicated to RuneQuest, theres also Mur Lafferty's print version of "Geek Fu Action Grip", which deals with the rise of social networking.
You can also check out the Lost Game Safari (reviewing Greyhawk Wars) , Tony DiGerolam's "Lookin' At Comics focusing on Dragon Con finds, and Noah Antwiler's infamous "A Gamer's Rant on the Movies", which takes on Babylon 5: Lost Tales. On the gaming side of things, there's "Treasures and Mysteries", "Deadly Trappings" Casting Call", "Bait and Tackle", "Dungeons: Ready to Occupy" and more.
Top of the Pile: Uncanny X-Men, Astonishing X-Men, Red Hulk, Nausicaa
My comic collecting has entered the mid-winter doldrums; the big X-Men crossover has just ended, and while DC's Countdown is approaching it's end, that means little to me since I haven't been keeping up with it.
Instead, I'm waiting for the first few issues of the rebooted X-men titles and checking out the occasional one shot or limited series. The most recent of these is Hulk #1, which looks to be a relaunch of the Incredible Hulk title, but I'm also going to be checking out Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind as part of my gaming group's Graphic Novel Book Club.
Game Day: Gating to Random Destinations
This week's Game Day sees us returning to the Dark City campaign to wrap-up our quest to save a bunch of kidnapped kids from some dungeon-dwelling kobolds. It's a fun adventure, but I find myself straining to connect it to a Game Day column. So instead I'm going to stick with the semi-random rambling approuch that I took last time around.
I just discovered GamerBling earlier this week; digging through the site turned up a review of Q-Workshop dice. In short, they like the dice, but have issues with clarity and inking. Now that I own two sets (Elvish and Cthulhu), I'll agree with the clarity issue. While these are beautiful dice, some sets -- like the Elvish runes -- can be hard to read once you start throwing them around the table. I prefer my yellow-lettering-on-black-background Cthulhu dice, which are far easier on the eyes.
Gamer Bling: Ultimate DM Screen of Dooooom!
Imagine a castle. Now imagine it as as your Dungeon Master's Screen. This is probably about as close as you can get to putting and actual wall between you and your players.
Certain game designers and players I know would probably say this speaks volumes about the adversarial nature of the GM/Player relationship in Dungeons & Dragons. Me? I'm waiting for the DM siege weapons so I can fling dice across the table at anyone who isn't paying attention. Or maybe a pencil-firing ballista... ok, yeah, that would poke and eye out, but damn it YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN FOCUSING ON THE GAME!