Ken Newquist This week’s weigh-in was 211 lbs., down two pounds from last week, three pounds since I started this two weeks ago. Three pounds in two weeks isn’t bad, but I also realize that this is the beginning, and it’s always easier to lose a few pounds at the start (or at least, it is for … Read more
Wizards of the Coast is killing Gleemax. WotC is refocusing their efforts after the fumbled launch of the D&D Insider initiative (ok, I say “fumbled” you say “catastrophic failure…”), which failed to include the over-promised and much coveted online gaming table and character generators for D&D 4th Edition and the painful Magic Online v3 upgrade … Read more
After long months of intermittent exercise brought on by family craziness, business trips, bouts of novel writing and a dozen other excuses, I’m finally getting back to a consistent exercise regime. I had been getting to the gym and pool intermittently over the spring and summer, but for the most part, I’ve been slacking. And … Read more
The Dark Knight is brilliant. It’s intellectually challenging. It’s psychologically terrifying. And there’s a damn good chance it’ll scare the living daylights out of your 13-year-old. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to those who saw Batman Begins. The movie hews close to the comic books, which have run to the dark side ever since … Read more
We’re about halfway through our Planetorn play-test campaign, with the fourth session happening today, and perhaps another three or four to go before it runs its course. This milestone has me reflecting on where the campaign’s been, where it’s going, and what I hope to accomplish before it’s all over. Today’s adventure finds our heroes … Read more
TinyMCE and CKEditor (formerly FCKeditor) are two of the most popular open source WYSIWYG editors for web applications. I’m researching which would be the best to implement at the day job on a campus-wide basis; ideally I’d like to pick one editor, and then use it with all of our web apps. Here’s a run … Read more
D&D 4th Edition — particularly the Player’s Handbook — taken a lot of criticism for being 99% crunch, and 1% fluff. It’s also taken hits for the gutting of many of the role-playing aspects from earlier editions, including skills like craft, profession, and perform. All of this is true, but 4E’s saving grace is the … Read more
On this episode of Nuketown Radio Active I talk about my trip to Shea Stadium to watch the Mets, give an update on my summer reading list, and talk about planning the next Nuke(m)Con. In Netheads I speculate about this year’s PodcampPhilly podcasting conference at Temple University, check out Dark Horse Comics’ online preview of … Read more
The Gods of Geekdom have heard my prayers. Or at least Hallmark has. After years of giving us dud ornaments (the Scorpion from Star Trek: Nemesis) and more so-so ones (how many variant Enterprises do we need?) they have finally released the Star Trek ornament I’ve wanted most: The Reliant. Yes, the Enterprise’s nemesis from … Read more
My gaming group is contemplating running a Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic campaign, and that’s led me to start searching for Star Wars RPG sites (which in turn will likely lead to a Knights of the Dinner Table column). I’m primarily interested in sites that deal with Saga Edition (the latest version of … Read more